This November, Be Thankful for Girl Talk

Girl Talk in '08, and how you should enjoy All Day

Girl Talk is back, and so is MES. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be dancing like a maniac right now.

And what better way to get back to updating MES than to post something that seems to incorporate all popular American music since the 60's? Despite the overwhelming menagerie of samples, Gregg Gillis's music is simple, tremendous fun. All Day is like the other GT albums in that it contains more WTF pairings per minute than his name contains G's per full name - an achievement not in any way to be snuffed at, but it's longer and somehow more cohesive than the first two. I've had it on repeat for several cycles now, and my head bobs are getting progressively more violent.

It just works, it works, it works, it works and then it works a little better. I'd go so far as to say it's the best free-album-released-on-a-Monday EVER.


download here (FO FREE and legally, despite what the name suggests), stream below

Three Beautiful Visuals that Accompany Great Songs

I'm not calling "music videos" of high/artistic quality "music videos" anymore. That calls to mind rappers with models and pop singers walking down streets lip synching into a camera, and that's not what I want you to think of when I introduce these visuals.

Cinnamon Chasers - Luv Deluxe

Winner of "Best Music Video" at South by Southwest 2010 (a.k.a. SXSW), "Luv Deluxe" is a song that I highly recommend playing around 2AM on steamy nighttime summer roads with the windows down. The visual tells the story that everyone imagines themselves at the center of as a teenager, but never lives out. Cinnamon Chasers have created a remarkably full song that will resonate with anyone who ever wondered what could happen if they picked up their keys and drove west.

Janelle Monae - Cold War

This video is so intimate it borders on discomfort. I felt as though I was violating Monae's privacy by watching all the through the video. On this striking accompaniment for a beautiful song, Monae sings:

I'm trying to find my peace; I was made to believe there's something wrong with me, and it hurts my heart. Lord have mercy, ain't it plain to see?

Yes it is, Ms. Monae. We don't need cuts to scenes of cliché domestic violence images to explain the emotion, and the director refuses to fall into that trap, letting Monae's tearful face and soulful voice cary it. It does so much more work emotionally then, say, a hobbit and Megan Fox can.

Kanye West - Power

Yes this is the second straight post with this song in it, but this video really has no precedent for what it's trying to do. It's laden with classical symbolism, and only lasts 90 seconds. While 808's crossed the line between different musical genres, this effectively marches straight through three different genres of art. The director, visual artist Marco Brambilla, said of the video to MTV (which provided the ultimate comedic juxtaposition by premiering this after Jersey Shore):

“It didn’t answer all the questions,” he added. “It just becomes more provocative and a little bit more tense at the end, because it cuts away just before the action within it resolves itself, so it kind of leaves you with the feeling that something’s about to happen.”

I am unspeakably excited for his album, which is now due out in November, and apparently will no longer be called Good Ass Job. A decision I agree with, as the former title sounds way too domestic to have a song like "Power" on it.

Summer Time

Since the last post here, somebody moved to Miami, Spanish deportes fans have had a lot to cheer about, and MES favorite Big Boi dropped an apparently stellar album (I haven't had time to give it a proper listen). It's the summertime and I'm putting in nine to five for the Man so I haven't had much time for new music, movies, ect. But with the World Cup over I've found time to listen to enough new stuff to put together this summer-themed post.

Please Note: Each of these songs, especially the last three, deserve their own feature-length article, so please bear with me as I pile them all into one, unworthy weblog post.

All Summer - Kid Cudi, Best Coast, and Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend)

Converse thought that the kinds people of people who listen to these three artists didn't wear Chuck Taylors enough so they commissioned them to do a song together. Anyways it's a fantastic union and the result is a catchy, laid back song that bears the trademark styles of each artist seamlessly. It's a song that fits naturally with memories of late night drives with windows down. It's warm, pleasant, and you'll want to hear it again.

The music video really sucks, and it's the first time I've really felt a music video detracted from a song. So I post the video above mostly for the sounds and to have something up there, but try and listen to it sans Converse provided visuals (free MP3 here or hit the SoundCloud stream below). The images of summer the song calls to mind on its own are more than sufficient.

____

Power - Kanye West

This is new shit for that guy from Chicago who dropped out of college or whatever to make music. This song is similar to Kanye's previous work in that it's better then almost all other contemporary hip-hop or pop and makes defending the genre as an art easier. And you can get into like all the drunk people who don't give a shit about hip-hop as art when you're maybe a bit intoxicated and you don't give a shit about anything. And that's what good music does.

Mr. West has the industry on his proverbial male reproductive organ, and he knows it. "No one man should have all that power," Ye says in the song. Maybe not, but I'm glad he has it and not someone else. His new album is supposedly called Good Ass Job, and supposedly comes out September 14th (the same day that Cudi's new album supposedly comes out).

Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem

Continuing on the inebriation and music theme, we have this gem from LCD Soundsytem, who have a long history of making excellent tunes, and this is supposedly (nothing is certain) the last album from mastermind James McMurphy under the guise of LCD Soundsystem. Savor this last, tasty album. (Entitled This is Happening and it came out earlier this year.)

This is one of those songs that slowly builds on itself until it all falls over in an excellent pile of noise towards the end of the track. A lot of their songs use this pattern quite successfully, but this one is a bit shorter than their norm and perhaps more digestible for the average listener. I could have put any one of the songs from the most recent album up here, but I felt this fit the mood of the post best. Check the whole thing out, please. (This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem)

Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective

This ain't new (it came out in January 2009), I know, but it needs to be here.

I love the lyrics of the song. I love the harmonies. I love all the crazy loops. Mostly though, I love the faceless dancers in eyeball things in the video. It all combines into something that perfectly conveys a feeling that everyone loves and knows. "A voice from the clock says you're not gonna sleep for a while; my bed is a pool and the wall is on fire." Indeed.

If you haven't been listening to Merriweather Post Pavillion for a year and a half now, get on it.

When the sun goes down we'll go out again!

Under the Radar

Pitchfork recently wrote an essay refuting the popular idea that hip-hop is "dead." The insightful and worthwhile piece concludes that the genre is thriving, just maybe not as much in the mainstream. "In the end, hip-hop is recalibrating, from a pop sensation back into an underground movement," writer Tom Breihand concludes. I couldn't agree more.

Following that idea, I wanted to feature two way-under-the-radar hip-hop acts and another that the aforementioned article touches on several times.

iRock

Chicago born emcee and producer Joshua "iRock" Adams makes music that sounds has an effortless but engrossing feel to it. His first mixtape, Demo THAT, shows that he is a well rounded hip-hop artist as he goes in with a quiet but confident flow that sticks to the beats, that he made, quite well.

It is on the beats though where Adams really shines brightest. They have a completely fresh sound, feature a lot instrumentation, and would make even the worst rapper sound respectable. The beats are good enough that they hold up incredibly well as stand-alone instrumentals. Go down the playlist on his page, and try not to nod your head to those beats. The tracks have a rich, layered sound that is effortless to enjoy. By the time you reach the end of the playlist, you completely forget that you were listening to instrumentals for hip-hop songs. These beats are full of emotion, and it will take a formidable rapper to do them justice.

Isaiah & Hovey

I had sung this Richmond based duo's praises before when I heard their astounding first two tracks, but now they're back with their first album, Dante's Love Inferno Machine (which you can download here).

Much like the first two songs, the album has a very polished feel. Isaiah's flow feels effortless and his witticisms are on point, especially in the second half of the album. Similarly, Hovey is making beats with a very clean sound. He uses a wide variety of samples and sounds that provide a consistently captivating for for Isaiah's smooth voice.

G-Side

This Huntsville, Alabama based outfit have a big, new, but unmistakably southern sound. The whole album is smooth as any hip-hop you'll ever hear, with smooth flows and entrancing beats. Pay special attention to the tracks produced by Block Beataz (listen to that whole playlist, it's damn good), whose beats feel somewhat outer-spacey while still keeping things catchy as anything.

G-Side represent a scene in Huntsville and the general south that is quickly growing and spitting out all kinds of great artist and songs (see Jackie Chain's "Rollin'" which is also produced by Block Beataz). Check out their most recent track that they recorded while in Norway earlier this year, their '09 mixtape, Huntsville International, and their '08 album, Starshipz and Rocketz. Both are off aptly named Huntsville label Slow Motion Sounds.

MacGruber

MacGruber: 5/21

More than a few years have passed since Saturday Night Live had a sketch funny and beloved enough to adapt it for the silver screen. Now, Will Forte and Kristen Wiig bring MacGruber, a recurring sketch about a mostly-useless bomb-diffuser, to life. If the trailer and early reviews are any indication, the film just might be enough to revive the SNL movie, a definite dying breed.

-By Sara Wakefield

Put the Windows Down!

It’s been three days since the beginning of summer vacay and it’s the perfect time to dip into pools of fresh music. Instead of relying on my usual new-music-source-finder, I’ve decided to scour the scene myself. What I found was glorious. So here’s a compilation of some sweet picks to kick off summer 2010.

Morning Benders- “All Day Light”

“Summer summer’s callin out my name” and so is this band’s upcoming album “Big Echo” which has accumulated near exponential hype (two months ago, “Excuses”, another song off of their album had nine views on YouTube – that number is now 75,325) “All Day Light” can be admired for much more than the title’s play on words. (Think The Strokes with a dash of Animal Collective). This group, I’m sure, has a bright future ahead of them and it starts here.

Sleigh Bells – “Tell ‘Em”

Simply put: This song kicks your earbuds' ass (in a good way, I promise). An absolutely perfect pick for a July 4th party or a roll-down-your windows jam out.


Big Boi – “Shutterbug”

Along with the standard references to ATL, Big Boi delivers his usual brilliance in this club bumpin, spit weaving track.

Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer”

My music source slipped me this one a little while ago, but I couldn’t exclude it from the list. Refreshingly retro, this ode to lazy summers makes it an easy candidate for this list:


M.I.A – “XXXO”

Look no further than M.I.A. for your summer fling anthem. Her beats never cease to please and this single is no exception.

- Written by Bethel Habte; I made the video frame yellow cause it's summer and grey is just not appropriate for summer and Tell 'Em is a must listen.

Letters to Juliet

Letters to Juliet: 5/14

Watching old people fall in love is … cool. OK, admit it — you became generally uninterested in The Notebook after Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling aged and became less glamorous. Letters to Juliet might suffer the same fate. In the film, an old woman attempts to reconnect with her former flame from the 1950s in Verona, Italy, with help from Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan. Seyfried and Egan, however, seem to have the charm to give this tale of years-gone-by, unrequited love some spark.



- By Sara Wakefield

MFA Poetry Reading

Last Wednesday, May 6, I was fortunate enough to attend the final reading of the graduating the poetry MFA program. It's nationally recognized as one of the best programs in the country, but it mostly goes under the radar around Grounds. This is regrettable as students are missing out on some incredible readings by very talented and thoughtful people.

This past week's reading was truly memorable and left me excited to see where the people in the program take their lives and poetry. Below I've posted one of the poems read by soon-to-be-graduate Sam Taylor, who has already published one book of poems. This link contains MP3's for each of the five readers. My favorites were Jazzy Danziger-Loyal's "The Psychiatrist’s Teen Daughter Self Evaluates" and Taylor's new poem, "Book of Poems" (which appear at 7:20 on Danziger-Loyal's MP3 and 11:40 on Taylor's). Check them out, come to readings next year.

SONG: INFERNAL


I was lost in the middle of my life
when the planes hit the towers,
lost in the middle of my life
when the glass gods, one at a time, cowered

and fell, when a bomb of blue sky
exploded a bride where she stood—
I was lost in the middle of my life,
far from a leopard, far from a dark wood—

when the night clerk at Circle K
handed me back too much change,
I was lost in the middle of our life’s way,
when an army of wings arranged

on flatbed trucks brushed past me on the road,
I was lost in the hallways of a glass dream,
trying to find my way out to the ground
turning in circles, crying secretly

in green languages, unknown even to me—
far from a lion, far from a dark wood—
with armfuls of fritos, and ribs, and iced tea,
and web pages circling through my blood.

There were wires all around, and siren wails
and people running about, bereft and intent
as I. I didn’t know whether to stay still
and wait for my life to grow transparent

there in my chair, with the sprinklers overhead
like golden showers of sorrow
and emergency lights flashing red
up and down the hall

or whether to run madly from stairwell
to stairwell, kissing women’s knees
and the foreheads of men, drunk on cries for help
beseeching and singing and weeping

entering one life after another
and leaping from each one. Yes, I
was lost in the middle of the tower
when I came upon my life.

Alderjam

It's halfway through exams, and the weather is awesome. But you're inside the bowels of Clark/Clemmons/Alderman studying Western European Politics. You don't care about Western European Politics and neither do I, but you have to care. How are you going to muster that extra bit of passion though? Seemingly, nay, completely out of nothing you have care about the workings of Germany's local parliamentary systems until your 9AM exam on Tuesday. You need something other than that grande Greenberry's.

We've all been there, and that's why I'm here, writing this post. Music gets me through those times. With the right type of music you, like my frail, soon-to-be-dead iPod and I, can endure. My recommendations below.

"1812 Overture" Pandora station. Why? because my fifth grade teacher told me classical music makes you smarter, and it fades to the background nicely. Sometimes though it gets interesting and you some real soundtrack type jams going on. Ideal for the last page of your ten-page paper, makes finishing it feel far more epic.

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Aphex's beats were completely revolutionary at the time, but now the sounds are somewhat commonplace in music, making this album interesting, but not distractingly so. This early electronica collection is makes a good base layer to build your consciousness off of as you ignore the prick two cubicles in front of you who believes Stacks is the best place to call his mom.

Anything by Pretty Lights This DJ's sounds really are perhaps best described by his name. Like a pretty light, this music is enjoyable to listen to but doesn't really have anything artistic in it to distract you. It uses minimal amounts of vocals, like most turntablist DJ's, but it's not quite as engrossing as say RJD2 in his Deadringer days and makes for great study sounds.

Anything by Ratatat Unlike all the other ideas I've thrown up so far, I actually listen to Ratatat outside of a study setting. Their music is almost too head-nod-inducing to put on this list, but I've listened to their stuff enough that it doesn't distract me too much. And it's all completely a capella (skip the Remix mixtapes for your studies).

Shine Blockas - Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane This is actually not a study song. This is just something I listen to when I'm tired of studying and I need a morale boost. This is off the forever delayed Sir Luscious Left Foot and was undeniably one of the best hip-hop songs from '09; I still can't stop listening to it.

I'd also throw in any music you know really well. Vocals can be distracting, but if you know them well enough they're more easily faded to the background.

Tim Be Told - A Cville Band

Tim Be Told is a Charlottesville based and "former UVa band," according to their press release. In the vein of Parachute and Dave Matthews Band before them, they're hoping to hit the mainstream. Check out this video and nifty download thingy below if you like the song.

Lady Gaga and Muse at JPJ

One of the best qualities of Charlottesville is the disproportionate amount of music and arts events going on around us relative to population of the area. In addition to the numerous smaller venues around town, we of course have John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium. In the past, some really huge acts have come through Charlottesville in these two On-Grounds venues, including Jay-Z and T.I., U2 and Muse, The Rolling Stones, DMB, John Mayer, Elton John, Metallica, and others.

I doubt these artists would have ever considered coming to Charlottesville without the reputation of the venues. That new tradition will continue this fall as Lady Gaga and Muse come through JPJ on September 8 and October 27 respectively. Both are renowned for having high quality live shows. Tickets have gone on sale for both acts, and can be purchased here. The videos above both show Muse and Lady Gaga have a taste for extravagant performances.

Help Bring Vampire Weekend to the National in Richmond!

Click This Link

And become a fan. The National, a music venue in Richmond - not the band, is trying to woo Vampire Weekend to its stage. Apparently if they get enough fans on that page, it woud be a significant boost to the National's cause. And don't think this this is some fan created page filled with false promises, the venues's management created the page.

The National is hardly an hour down the road from U.Va., and is ont of the better places to see live music in Virginia. Join that page, and maybe someday soon we'll be standing next to each other in the front row, trying to catch Ezra Koenig's guitar pick. And as we know, Vampire Weekend are great live.

Revolt Lit

If you write, you should read this. Revolt Lit is a new literary journal aimed exclusively at writers under the age of 25, and approaches the literary journal from a different angle. Founder, writer, and good friend of this blogger, Christian Harder had this to stay on the new project.

"Young writers do not get the respect or attention they deserve with the current market of literary magazines. Many well-known magazines require that a submitting writer have an agent's petition. This alienates the greatest group of America's literary talent- the youth."

It costs $15 to $5 to submit poetry, short fiction, or rap lyrics to Revolt, but that's really part of Revolt's appeal. The startup is completely non-profit and all proceeds go almost entirely to support various literacy charities. The rest of the fee covers the quality prize money sums. First places lands the writer with $500 for short fiction, $250 for poetry and $150 for rap lyrics. Check out Revolt's clean homepage for details on the rest of the prize money details and instructions on submitting.

Revolt is currently accepting applications for all sections, and will wait until September 2010 to publish its first edition. The journal is currently backed by faculty at Virginia Tech and is seeking support from the National Literary Society, and young writers everywhere. Cheesy lines aside, this is a very real opportunity to get your writing exposed, support a worthy cause and maybe make a little money at it.

Brooklyn's Finest

“It’s gritty like The Wire!” That was the reasoning behind me seeing Brooklyn’s Finest. Scratch that — it was my friend’s reasoning for me to go see the movie.

Brooklyn’s Finest is the latest film from director Antoine Fuqua. The story is set in the 65th precinct of the New York Police Department, which includes the notorious Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The film follows three different plot lines. Ethan Hawke plays Sal Procida, a devout Catholic detective who steals money from drug raids to provide for his family during tough times. Richard Gere plays Officer Dugan, a less-than-clean veteran cop with a week left before retirement. Don Cheadle portrays Clarence “Tango” Butler, an undercover detective who desperately wants out of the dangerous drug dealer scene in the Brownsville projects.

My main problem with the movie was with its lack of originality. Ethan Hawke’s story is of the clichéd “good cop doing bad things for good causes.” Richard Gere’s plot is of the stereotypical “miserable police officer with nothing else to live for.” Don Cheadle’s tale is, for all intents and purposes, the same as The Departed. And, frankly, The Departed is much better.

To be fair, there were a few things about the movie that I did like. The main cast’s performances were great. Brooklyn’s Finest marks the first time in a while that Richard Gere doesn’t play his typical charming-older-man character. Instead, his character is an ornate old man who is a terrible person with only a prostitute for a friend, and not a cutesy one like Julia Roberts.

One thing that bothered me about the movie was the appearance Hawke’s character. It was not the actual personality of the character or the way he was depicted — as both his sympathetic and evil sides were shown — but just the way he looked. Sal is profusely sweating and looks like crap throughout the entire movie without anyone ever fully explaining why. Although this may seem like a trite complaint, it’s very distracting to see a room full of normal-looking cops in a room before Sal rolls in covered in sweat and looking like dirt for no apparent reason.

I’m not knocking any members of the cast for their performances, for they were all on point. With an excellent cast and an enticing trailer, one would think that Brooklyn’s Finest would easily be one of Antoine Fuqua’s best. Sadly, it’s less like Training Day, and more like King Arthur. The story lacked spark and didn’t convey as strong of a message as the trailers had it seem.

That is not to say that this film — arguably a stereotypical model of the genre — will be the end of “gritty.” “It’s gritty like The Wire!” Perhaps so, but it’s not as good — and definitely not worth $9.

- By Rob Molster

Music Videos are Confusing

Music videos have an interesting role in today's manic music scene. Sometimes artists use them as artistic statements. 80% of rappers use them as opportunity to stand next to exotic cars with their crew, or to see how many models they can fit into a pool party scene. Many performers like to walk down a street and sing straight into the camera, and some seem to like singing during slow motion parties.

More recently, we have these crazy kids who go out of their way to be interesting and avoid any sort of formula. You've seen examples of this on this very blog, "ONE" (below), "Little Secrets", "The Reeling", "Giving Up the Gun". Maybe they're just trying to get publicity, but it's cool enough that I'm happy to give them my own bit of attention. Here are a few more that have been fit the anti-formula and make for great entertainment. Some are more

Animal Collective - "My Girls"

An appropriately trippy, underwatery video for this contemporary classic.

MGMT - "Flash Delirium"

A brand new song that really gives a good look at the direction MGMT are taking their music in with their new album Congratulations. Look for a review from tableau in the next two issues.

Gorillaz - "Stylo"

Bobby Womack and Mos Def guest feature on the vocals, and Bruce Willis makes an appearance in the video as an emotional father figure. Just kidding, he's a badass in a muscle car here.

Kanye West - "Flashing Lights"

Even if you hate Kanye, it's hard not to respect him for pushing mainstream hip-hop in a fresher, if not more artistic, direction. This video is one of the more interesting departures from your typical rap video format.

Erykah Badu - "Window Seat"

You can watch this one on her official site. Badu gets dressed in reverse in this NSFW video filmed in Dallas, in the same plaza where JFK was shot. Yeah, there's a lot to chew on with this one.

German Outreach Day

Interested in German culture? The University's Germanic Languages and Literatures Department, in conjunction with the Center for German Studies, will be presenting German Outreach Day March 22 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom.

Activities planned for German Outreach Day include the second annual Declamation Contest; a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall; and a piano concert featuring the music of Brahms.

For more information, check out the German Outreach Day website.

Yeasayer - ONE (Video)

Yeasayer's new album is wonderfully accessible psychedelic pop. It's also wonderfully strange. tableau staffer Campbell Bird aptly described their sound in his review.

"If you took Animal Collective, paired them with a barbershop quartet and sent them into outer space to form a band and record an album, you might be approaching the musical oddball that is Yeasayer."

I couldn't agree more. The video for "ONE" is completely deranged, and every description I came up with for it beyond that sucked. Just watch the video. It features a guy whose face appears to be melting and someone swimming in a tank of goldschlager.

Mission Accomplished

Normally here at Mise-en-Scène, we strive to bring you the best entertainment the world has to offer. With that mission statement in mind, I may retire from tableau after this post. R. Kelly, Tyrese, Robin Thicke and The Dream have made a truly momentous artistic statement, and in the process set an insurmountable bar for all who follow "Pregnant."

"Girl... If you choose me, I guarantee the rest of your life will be man-drama free,

ooooo ooooo ooooo."

R. Kelly

The Pacific Looks Awesome

I often wonder what life would have been like if I had left home to battle in World War II at 18 instead of engaging in my happy life at U.Va.

The producers of The Pacific, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, sought to answer that question as truthfully as possible when they made 2001's awe-inspring Band of Brothers. The ten-part series really felt more like a movie, and has had more replay value for me than any other show I've ever come across.

We're in for another ten-part epic starting this Sunday, March 13, on HBO at 9 PM. Somehow, HBO overlooked the Cav Daily when they sent out advance copies of the show, so I can't promise that you'll enjoy it. Though, I'm gonna wager this will be worth watching.

Oscars 2010

Despite an uneven show event, viewers for Sunday's Academy Awards turned out in droves, helping the floundering Oscars achieve its highest ratings in five years, asmore than 40 million viewers tuned in to see The Hurt Locker and Avatar duke it out on the most prestigious of stages.

And as tableau senior writer Dave Replogle so aptly predicted in his Oscars Preview, The Hurt Locker completely swept the night, which was full of historic firsts. Geoffrey Fletcher became the first black screenwriter to take home the Oscar, adding to thePrecious pile. And Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to ever win the prestigious Best Director title, edging out Avatar.

A few highlights: Ben Stiller dressed Na'vi to present the award for Best Makeup. Sandra Bullock's gorgeous Marchesa gown and compassionate Best Actress acceptance speech. (She also picked up a Razzie this weekend for the box office bomb, All About Steve.) The Hurt Locker, which took home six Oscars.

A few low points: Neil Patrick Harris and his awkward Vegas number, which didn't measure up to Hugh Jackman's previous performance. A random horror genre tribute presented by teeny-bopper stars Kristin Stewart and Taylor Lautner, and the subsequent montage that included films like Twilight and E.T. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin's lackluster tag teaming.

The Parking Lot Movie

"It's not just a parking lot," begins the tagline for this new documentary. The lot it's referring is, yes, that lot. The one behind Little John's that ninety percent of the student body has cut through en route to or from the Corner. I still subconsciously expect the next clause to involve garbage juice, or bar flies stumbling across the train tracks.

But no, "it's a battle with humanity." Well damn. The Corner Parking Lot and its attendants seem to preside over something much more important than the quickest route to the Elliewood bars.

Directing our attention to this epic struggle is producer and director Meghan Eckman, CLAS '00, an accomplished documentary filmmaker. For the documentary she amassed 150 hours over three years of filming, and boiled it down to something that really looks fascinating. What really captured my attention in the trailer, and the quotes page, is how interesting these characters are. These dudes, who appear so unremarkable as us students walk past, here come across as Kerouacian figures. Their everyday appears so grandiose.

The Parking Lot Movie premiers at the South by Southwest music and film festival, which runs March 12-20, in the "Emerging Visions" portion of the show. For those of us not fortunate enough to attend SXSW, the film will light up the Paramount Theater on Saturday, March 27 at 7 PM, and will be shown in Newcomb Hall Theater on Saturday, April 10 at 6 PM as part of the Student Film Festival.

"In the parking lot we were dynamos. Whirlwinds. We were rulers. We had complete autonomy. We had it all in a world that had nothing to offer us."
Scott Meiggs

Parking Lot Attendant 1996-2000

Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun (Video)

tableau writer Campbell Bird said he would recommend Contra to "just about anyone," while offering the caveat that Vampire Weekend "may appear to have an unquenchable thirst for all things bizarre and pretentious." This thirst manifests itself quite openly in their new video for "Giving Up the Gun."

It's quintessential Vampire Weekend. It makes you smile, ponder the lyrics, and want to write a blog post in atypically high diction.

Basically, if you like Vampire Weekend, you'll love watching a Jonas Brother, Wu Tang Clan member RZA, Lil' Jon, and a drunk and cocksure Jake Gyllenhaal in this slo-mo, tennis themed video.

UVa Drama Presents: The Seagull

Trigorin (Andrew Cronacher), Arkadina (Laura Rikard), Konstantin (Geoff Culbertson) and Nina (Isabella Sazak) from Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. ©2010 Michael Bailey

The University drama department continues its season with The Seagull, written by famous Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov and directed by University alumnae Amanda McRaven.

Like Woolf's To the Lighthouse, The Seagull centers around a diverse cast of characters vacationing together. Interactions among the main characters, all of whom are artists — or wannabe artists — lead to a love triangle and other dramatic conflicts. The Seagull tackles themes such as unrequited love, artistic ambition and jealousy. And although it was written during the late 1800s, it's a play that has survived the test of time to resonate with modern viewers.

The Seagull is running Feb. 18-20 and Feb. 24-27, with all performances beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 for students, $12 for seniors and faculty, and $14 for the general public. They are available online at http://www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/ and by phone at 434-924-3376. Alternatively, you can stop by the box office at Culbreth Theatre. Don't miss out!

Winter Olympics 2010

Women's figure skating is usually the biggest hitter on the ice for the Winter Olympics games. Usually the most highly viewed of all the events, this year stands to be no different, despite the lack of an American figure-skating superstar: Think Sasha Cohen, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski.

In fact, Team USA's best chance for a medal comes from two Olympics newcomers: 17-year-old Rachael Flatt and 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu. American girls are the underdogs in the game dominated by names like Mao Asada, Miki Ando and Kim Yu-na, the reigning world champion.

Known as "The Queen" in her home country of South Korea, Kim Yu-na has dominated the figure skating world during the past year and is the favorite for the gold. Yet if there's one sport where being the favorite is a pitfall, it's figure skating. World champions have often fallen to the incredible amount of pressure at the games, never skating their best.

And no skater has ever faced as much pressure as Kim. In Korea, three TV networks have played endless loops of her falling -- during a practice. Even a simple skate malfunction became headline news for the Ice Princess who has been declared the South Korean "Person of the Year" for the past two years and "Top Athlete" for the past three years.

But Kim continues to insist that she's doing it for herself.

"Competing or winning competitions, it's not for my country, it's for me," she said. "I am not skating just to win gold. I am skating for skating."

Don't miss the short program tonight, 8 p.m. on NBC.

Passion Pit - Little Secrets (video)

Not the most interesting video ever, but it is an opportunity to talk about "Little Secrets" again. Off 09's Manners, this song will have you smiling and attempting a falsetto. In public.

Fashion Week 2010

Fashion Week 2010 just wrapped up today in New York City, where established and up-and-coming designers debuted fall looks for next year. Check out photos from the runway at the official Web site .

Some of my favorites include 3.1 Philip Lim, Anna Sui, Elie Tahari, Lela Rose and Zac Posen. For a breakdown of the hottest trends to look forward to, check out the Fashion Week feature in this week’s tableau section.

written by Sara Wakefield

How to Make it in America

If you've ever wanted to move to New York to try and "make it," or if you just liked "Entourage," you should check this new show out. It has the same producers (including Mr. Wahlberg himself), and it also follows four characters trying to make their way in the world, except without the whole movie star thing going on.

Anyways, HBO "leaked" the first episode of "How to Make it in America" onto YouTube. It's definitely worth the 28 minutes. Look for a more in depth preview in next week's tableau.

Artist Watch: Theophilus London

It is now the fourth week of winter break, and I have completely run out of things to do. BOOM I come across this video, and I remember Theophilus London, one of those artists who has been around the edges of my musical radar screen for a while. Finally motivated by "Humdrum Town," I gave This Charming Mixtape a listen.

London's varied musical interests are on full display as he puts his flexible flow over a wide array of beats. Most have a heavy electro sound, but songs like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Crazy Cousins" show that London has been inspired by a truly diverse range of music. He's definitely an artist I'll be watching now.

You can download This Charming Mixtape here, and make sure check out his equally charming blog.

Artist Watch: Vampire Weekend

People say that Pheonix was the Vampire Weekend of '09. Well guess what. It's 2010 and we don't have to settle for electro-y, French indie rock anymore; we get the real deal. Vampire Weekend's next album drops just five days from now (January 12).

If the first two legitimately available songs are an indication of what the rest of Contra will sound like, we're in for another catchy, witty treat from the Ivy League rockers. Both "Horchata" and "Cousins" (awesome video, first official single for Contra) stay true to that "Upper West Side Soweto" sound that led to their success back in '08.

The whole album can be streamed from VW's official website.