Nothing like a little holiday spirit to kick off the shopping season.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I hope they throw the book at not only the people who trampled this guy, but everybody who walked past him as he lay there dying. Merry fucking Christmas.

Freddy Who?

The kid is back. Shivered my way through the USA’s 2-0 victory over Guatemala at the Dick last night, and since the US had already qualified for the final round, I got a chance to see head coach Bob Bradley turn the reins over to the youngsters. Boy, did they not disappoint. Jozy Altidore and Kenny Cooper got their long-awaited combination off on the right foot as Jozy set up Coop for the first goal, while Freddy Adu and Sascha Kljestan ran the midfield the way everyone hopes they will for years to come. Special bonus: getting to see Freddy notch his first goal for the senior national team on an exquisite free kick (at the 2:45 minute in the highlights video).

Two downsides. One, the sparse crowd. Yeah, it was cold and a meaningless game, but that was a pretty weak showing. I’d be shocked if Denver gets another game any time soon. And two, this video is the official US Soccer highlights video. Um, hi. You guys are US Soccer. This is a US Soccer match. Yet you couldn’t come up with anything better to post than this clip that looks like it was recorded on an overdubbed VHS tape from 1986? Lame.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Hopefully, lots of moviegoers in March. Based on the trailer, this is looking like a note-perfect translation to screen of one of my favorite stories ever—the trick will be to get people to watch a film about characters they don’t know. All the superhero archetypes are there, and while Watchmen may not have the immediate name recognition as the superheroes we all grew up with, the footprint it left on pop culture is hard to measure (although Entertainment Weekly did a pretty good job). Suffice it to say, Watchmen is directly responsible for the current dark, “grown-up” tone of superhero stories, where heroes are real people who feel the effects and consequences of each and every one of their actions. Without it, the modern era of comic book movies—from Tim Burton’s take on Batman all the way through to The Dark Knight—may never have come to pass, and you can even argue that its influence spread even farther into sci-fi and fantasy, leading to the strong presence of geek culture that rules the entertainment world. By making comics acceptable for grownups, there suddenly emerged legions of adult fans who showed they were willing to pay good money if movies and TV took them and their interests seriously. Without those fans, we might never have seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer reborn on TV or Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy make it to film, not to mention projects like Lost, 300, and the upcoming Star Trek reboot. So after all that, you can understand why there’s a bit of weight of expectation surrounding this movie. Enjoy the trailer:

Strange Bedfellows

Um, I don’t know who came up with the idea to put these two together, but that person is a genius. Best. Mashup. Ever.

The Art of Politics

One of the most impressive things about Barack Obama’s campaign has been the level of inspiration he brought out in his supporters. We saw the results of that yesterday in the turnout at the polls, but another area where I’ve been equally impressed is in his effect on the artistic community. Obama supporters have produced some amazing images over the past 9 months, starting first and foremost with underground artist Shepard Fairey’s ubiquitous “Hope” and “Progress” posters, which were originally produced as an independent guerrilla project, but were soon assimilated as official by the Obama campaign. This iconic image spawned numerous alterations, knockoffs and parodies (including a DNC-specific variation by Fairey himself, created for a certain Denver magazine), but one of my favorite remixes combines Obama and David Bowie circa “Aladdin Sane”.


While Fairey’s image was definitely the highest-profile of the campaign, there’s been plenty of creativity to spread around. A huge amount of original artwork was displayed in Denver during the DNC, but this image, produced recently by illustrator Patrick Moberg in honor of President-Elect Obama’s historic victory, is by far my favorite. Simple, yet effective, it truly embodies the old line about a picture being worth 1,000 words.

I, for one, hope that this creative explosion continues throughout President Obama’s entire term, and that he can continue to inspire all Americans, not just the artists, for years to come. (Clearly, my post-election afterglow hasn’t worn off yet. Hope, baby, hope...)

Change

Thank you, America, for returning to your senses.

Please vote responsibly

If you haven't made it to the voting booth just yet, here’s a little something to help your decision. One heartbeat from the presidency, folks...

Finally... MTV remembers what (part of) their initials stand for

Well, hidey-ho, everybody. MTV has gone back to the future by putting every single video from their entire archive up on their new website. Every free second I had over the next two months is now accounted for. See you in 2009!

Here’s one to start you off:

Guns N' Roses |MTV Music

The Roundup

Things I’ve been into lately:

The Apple Juice Kid, Miles Remixed. I like when DJ’s hook up classic jazz: the Verve Remixed series being the most high-profile example. This album sticks entirely to the works of Miles Davis, but still comes off as a diverse mix. Great stuff, and best of all, available as a free download.

Dead Confederate, Wrecking Ball. This Athens, GA-based band has created the perfect marriage of Southern classic rock, Neil Young-influenced grunge and Brit rock.

Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies. Definitely nowhere near as consistent as some of his great albums from the 90’s, but he can still turn the most innocuous song into a work of jangly, toe-tapping beauty. I bought the deluxe edition from iTunes (for an extra $3, you get 6 extra songs), and it was well worth it — the bonus tracks are some of my favorite songs.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Harmless and cute, but funny — good date movie. I think Michael Cera’s ability to play the awkward indie kid is still second-to-none, but he’s starting to seem a bit like a one-trick pony. One more movie like this, and the backlash will be in full effect.

The Venture Bros. Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has accounted for quite a bit of my TV watching in recent years (Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show, Sealab 2021), but nothing comes close to The Venture Bros. What started out as a simple Johnny Quest spoof has become a smart, wickedly funny action-adventure story with as many pop culture references crammed into each episode as humanly possible. With the first two seasons on DVD and Season 3 currently in reruns on CN, I’ve been watching at least an episode a day for the past month or so, and I still want more. Bring on Season 4.

“Lost” anticipation. Is it 2009 yet?

Posterized

Sometimes, I need a post like this to remind me why I read so many blogs. Good stuff.