inspirational art (sort of)

I have to credit Adverblog for this picture, which is pretty amazing:

After seeing the real thing in Florence, Italy, I must say this is quite an interesting spinoff of the classic.  If this doesn’t make you want to get some exercising in, then I don’t know what will.

By the way, the text below the statue says, “If you don’t move, you get fat.”  Hmm… how true.

blogs i love to read (and you should, too!)

My Newsgator feed reader probably includes way more blogs than it should, but I can’t help it; I love reading news this way.  Feed readers are for us lazy people who don’t want to seek out interesting stories.  Instead, they come to us.  While I really am actually subscribed to 26 feeds, I’ll share with you just a few of my favorites:

1.  Mashable: “All Things New On The Web”.  This tagline pretty much covers it.  If you like finding out about interesting and original sites that feature new ways to use the web, check it out.  

2.  Read, Write, Web: Very similar to Mashable, actually.  Features social networking news.

3.  Adgoodness: If you like viewing creativity at it’s best, look here.  This blog showcases the best (and worst) advertisements from around the world.  

4.  Adverblog: Comprehensive interactive advertising blog.

That’s it for now.  More to come later!

movie review: control

I’ll play film critic here and examine the movie “Control“, filmed in 2007, but looks and feels like a much older movie because of it’s late 70’s setting and it’s black and white filming.  In the span of about 2 hours, the movie examines the life of  Ian Curtis , lead singer of the band Joy Division.  As many musicians are, Curtis was deeply troubled and eventually turned to suicide, although only 23 years young.  He had been dealing with epilepsy, a hectic touring schedule, and a struggling marriage to top it off.  Ironically, Joy Division began to rapidly gain some traction after Curtis’ death, making his life somewhat Picasso-esque.  Overall, the movie had few flaws and was successful in it’s accurate portrayal of the Brittish rock and roll scene of the time (from what I know of it at least).  It even made references to some other great bands, such as David Bowie and the Buzzcocks.  Of course, there were also many Joy Division songs featured in the movie.  If you like Joy Division, this movie is a must see.  If you don’t like Joy Division, this movie is still a must see.

costly inauguration for poor country

The presidential inauguration held earlier today reportedly cost about 175 million dollars.  Now, I know this is like chump change to the government, but c’mon; it’s not like we have money growing on trees (unless by trees I mean China).

But is this the answer for a nation with a suffering economy?  Obama talks about “wise spending”, but maybe we should start talking about “wise saving”, instead.

best tunes of ’08

Now bear with me and understand that while I try to listen to as much music as possible, there are countless cd’s that were released in 2008 that I’ve never heard/heard of.  So, if your absolute favorite is not on my list, don’t rip my head off.  After all, this is my list, not yours.  That being said, here goes:

1.  Born Ruffians: Red, Yellow & Blue

2.  Why?: Alopecia

3.  Foals: Antidotes

4.  The Walkmen: You & Me

5. She & Him: Volume One

6.  The Black Keys: Attack & Release

7.  The Dodos: Visitor

8.  No Age: Nouns

9.  Girl Talk: Feed the Animals

10.  Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes