Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn and John

Young Folks is the new Crazy"and Peter, Bjorn and John are the new Gnarls Barkley. This song makes me want to do the pogo (but I'd look dumb doing it.)

I really like songs that are throwbacks to old music, especially 60s stuff. In the 90s there was even a genre born out of 60s throwback songs called Shibuya-Kei. It started in Japan but nowadays most music that would be classified as Shibuya-Kei, like Young Folks actually comes from the States and Europe. One of the foremost Shibuya-Kei groups (and one of my favorites) is the Pizzicato Five. Here's my favorite song of theirs, It's a Beautiful Day, as a bonus.

Satoshi Kon's PAPRIKA

If Hayao Miyazaki is Japan's answer to Walt Disney, Satoshi Kon kicks both of their asses. His prior works include the films Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and the mind fuck of an anime TV series Paranoia Agent. Paprika is based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui.



Notice the music? Susumu Hirasawa is back with Kon to provide another trippy soundtrack. I can't wait to see this in a theater . . . if one in Kansas City will have the balls to show it. It opens in America on May 25th.

Rageh Inside Iran

The government seems to be pushing for a war with Iran. Granted, unless something severe happens (like the Ayatollah having a death wish for everybody) I don't think we'll be seeing an American-Iranian War but things are pretty hostile.

BBC journalist Rageh Omaar went to Iran to find out what life is like there and, for me, it was pretty surprising. I've heard that Iran is more liberal than it's given credit for but seeing it up close is really surprising. While on one hand you see that Iranians are upset with Westerners, especially in regards to Israel, they also show that they love Western (especially American) ideas and culture and want to be more connected with the wider world. Also, while the government there seems to be obsessed with Israel and America and creating a more conservative Islamic state (through deplorable means as we all know,) Iranian people have bigger concerns like...the same concerns we all have. (SHOCK!)

More and more I feel that our government and all other governments are too busy worrying about the problems in other countries when they should be focused on serving us, the common citizen. Also, while this film shows that Iran has a much more liberated culture than we tend to think they have, it makes me feel happy and blessed to have been born and raised in the United States. For all of the problems here, at least I know I can speak openly about them.



view video | Found via digg.com