Spring has officially sprung

The sun crossed the equator today.

Congratulations.

Final Fantasy vs Wiener Stadtwerke

My friends of dcntrl lately published a story on plagiarism, what reminded me that I've wanted to do the same since a couple of weeks. So here we go.

Vienna's public service company 'Stadtwerke' commissioned advertising agency Publicis to create a really cool and nice TV-spot. The outcome is, in fact, very good, not to say: gorgeous. But have look on your own.



But now compare with that one:



Something SOUNDS similar, no? Publicis never commented on the case, Viennese Stadtwerke finally agreed (better: had to agree?) to support a mini-festival tour of Final Fantasy and some other bands. I love justice.

Final Fantasy - This is the dream of Win and Regine

I love useless knowledge!

Nothing can go faster than light, people are told when phantasizing about Star Trek. Yet yesterday I learned that in a veryveryveryveryvery.... early phase the universe itself expanded faster than light.

That is SO cool.



David Bowie - Space Oddity
The Strike Boys feat. c. dunbar - Outer space
Tahiti 80 - A love from outer space

Only littler later another big success - i discovered this cute little song:

The Mae Shi - Run to your grave

Live long and prosper!

Sweden vs. France II

In the story below I posted two songs, one done by a French girl, the other by a Suèdoise. Well, recently I was listening to FM4 and I caught these two GREAT songs. By coincidence, one is from French band The Teenagers, second from late Swedish Monica Zetterlund. The Teenagers I knew before for, ahm, dirty little video. Somehow I lost them out of sight, but now they reappeard on my radar, in a way, with that nice little song.

Saying little - The Teenager's song is yet NOTHING against the grandezza of Zetterlund's 'I New York'. Listen and thank the Big Rock and Roller upstairs for inventing music.



The Teenagers - Feeling Better
Monica Zetterlund - I New York

[Sorry, I'm too uninspired for a title today]

(Pop)Music is, as a matter of fact, dominated by men. This is also valid for the oh-so-sophisticated indie/alternative-scene. Indeed, espacially the latter mentioned seems to be a male issue, as already discussed here. Also here, on this site, shame on me, music produced and/or interpreted by women (I intentionally don't say 'girls') is largely underrepresentated. I promise, i try my best to give this a change.

Alors, here are two songs I fancy a lot at the moment. First one is done by French SoKo, second one by Swedish Lykke Li. Thumbs up!!!



Soko - I'll kill her



Lykke Li - Little bit

How cliché can you go?

Brits are said not to like Germans very much, mostly due to events that took place on battlefields - from Verdun over Dunkerque to Wembley Stadium. Nevertheless, they are also said to have a soft spot for German middle class limousins. At least, that is what French car manufacturer Citroën had in mind, when it commissioned the TV commercial for its new C5 for the British market.

The outcome serves every cliché people all over the world and especially the Brits have towards Germany and Germans - from saber-duells to motorways. But the spot also bows before the German's art of engineering and attributes all these special German characteristics - to a French car (!).



The vulture you see at around 00:30 seconds is definitely NOT todays Germanys heraldic animal...

And the Oscar goes to...[update]

surprisingly to Austria for 'The counterfeiters' by Stefan Ruzowitzky as best foreign language film. I promise you - almost no Austrian has seen it when it was in the movies. I didn't go, because critics were bad. Haha, never trust the newspapers, not even the so-called 'serious' ones. Nah, winning an Oscar doesn't make a movie automatically good. Remember 'Titanic'? Anyway, today I allow myself to be a little proud for my homecountry.



[update] As I just learned a veritable indie-song was chosen best song by the Academy. This is good and this is fair and this is right. It's a pretty pretty song, performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I post it below in the version of The Frames, whose singer Hansard is and whom i was lucky enough to see live in my city last year. I love Irglova for the words she found in her acceptance speech:

'Fair play to those who dare to dream; and don't give up.'

The Frames - Falling slowly