Ozil, Ozil, Ozil, Aaja, Aaja, Aaja...

A good weekend for Arsenal wouldn't you say?  I wonder if we've used up all our luck already...

But, if Flamini is back, does that mean we might see Bendtner in an Arsenal shirt again?  *shudder*

Dry Land and Other Stories

The work week was hard, so of course, distractions were necessary.  Here's what's distracting me now.

King Henry is back at The Emirates.  Unfortunately, Sir Robert will not be joining him - but he might come to India!  Whoa.  Move over India vs. Bayern Munich and testimonial matches.  What a great night though at the JN Stadium.  Poor Baichung, not the best farewell match to have.  Final score 4-0...

Granted Bjork has done some decent music, but most of the time I can't tell the difference between Bjork, Yoko Ono, and a seal whose flipper has been smashed into a car door.  Still, even without Bjork and the economic crisis music from Iceland survives.  They gave us Sigur Ros - check out their fantastic documentary "Heima" - here's a taste of their music.  There was also Ryoksopp in between.  Then they gave us Bloodgroup.  Their first album "Sticky Situation" was tonally harsher with a lot of heavy synth sounds (well they are an electro pop group so I should have expected that), but their second album "Dry Land" is a bloody revelation.  Beautifully arranged with lounging Enyaesque vocals.  Great stuff, definitely warrants a listen.  Here's a couple of my picks from the album:

"This Heart" and "Wars"... don't want to give the rest away.  And if you think these guys hide behind distortion have a listen to this version of "This Heart" at the GogoYoko Studio.

Shravan introduced me to the wonderfully quirky and funny world of David Sedaris - a comic writer - yet insight-fully cynical and sarcastic.  Presently reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day".

Maggie brought Neon's "Skydiver" as my staple office work listen.  You won't be able to get your hands on this easily since Neon only released this as a 12" LP vinyl single.  Trippy seven minutes.  Reminds me of Japanese DJ Quadra's "Get it by Your Hands".

Of course, what's been making the rounds even faster than "Kolaveri Di" is Walk of the Earth's cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" - over 11 million views in a week!  What a fantastic video - do have a listen.

Ok, everyone says this is one of the most overplayed songs of 2011, but I only discovered it recently.  Yes, it is Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks".  While the original might be over-played, I discovered two amazing covers.  The first a bluesy take by internet sensation Karmin, and the second by a one-man-band internet sensation Basement Alchemy.  Have a listen!

That's all folks!

The Great Depression

Another disappointing end to a promising season.  Another season racked with false hope.  Another season of crappy refereeing - please don't argue with me on this one.  Another season of squalid rumors about Wenger and Fabregas and Nasri and Co.  I don't particularly care that Arsenal hasn't won a trophy in six years.  What I care about is that they play good football.  Alas, of late, the team seems shaken with doubt and self belief - losing at home to Villa in a pathetic manner.  I want the team to stay together, I don't want anyone to go - ok, maybe Denilson.  Still, we have one of the sharpest strikers in the world, two visionary playmakers, a good man in goal, a vermin-exterminator on defense, and a warhorse in pits.  We can come back from this and we will, one day this walk of shame, will only be a distant memory.  Vive le Gunners.

"If You Don't Give My Football Back..."

In a mixed setting of World Cup fever and boredom at work, here's the complete Adidas Jose+10 video. One of the best ads out there, as good as, if not better than Eric Cantona's Joga Bonita Nike commercials. The music for part 1 is "D'allouette" by RJD2 and for part 2 is "Eanie Meany" by Jim Noir.




I may have missed a couple (or made a mistake) but here's a list of players, country and club (as of 2006, of course) on the ad:

Jose's Team:
Michael Ballack, Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Franz Beckenbauer, Germany
David Beckham, England, Real Madrid CF
Du-Ri Cha, Korea Republic, Eintracht Frankfurt
Damian Duff, Ireland, Chelsea FC
Steven Gerrard, England, Liverpool FC
Kaká, Brazil, AC Milan
Oliver Kahn, Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Juan Román Riquelme, Argentina, Villarreal CF
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Patrick Vieira France, Juventus Turin

Pedro's Team:
Djibril Cissé, France, Liverpool FC
Jermain Defoe, England, Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin Kuranyi, Germany, FC Schalke
Frank Lampard, England, Chelsea FC
Michel Platini, France
Shunsuke Nakamura ,Japan, Celtic Glasgow
Alessandro Nesta, Italy, AC Milan
Lukas Podolski, Germany, FC Köln
Raúl, Spain, Real Madrid CF
Arjen Robben, The Netherlands, Chelsea FC
David Trézéguet, France, Juventus
Zinédine Zidane, France, Real Madrid CF

Not my dream team (1 Brazilian?), but I wouldn't complain...