Monday, January 31, 2011

Cover. Monday. Git it.

Hello day after Sunday, why must you sneak up on me so? Monday's here and here's to another week of craziness. After covering X Games (ya heard of em?) and surviving the Sundance Film Festival last week this week it's on to Freestyle World Championships right here in Park City. I'm going to be maxed out this week and likely won't be able to update much, but the covers must go on!

Today's cover is by the band Youth Group. The song "Forever Young" has been all over the airwaves recently as a backdrop to the new Jay-Z. While I'm a huge HOV fan this song just didn't do it for me, maybe the radio killed it, so I'm glad someone else revitalized it. This cover has a bit of an ethereal feel, but I'm liking it. The old school vid is a definite plus. I'm really a sucker for the retro camera look, I wish I could figure out how to replicate that washed out kind of grainy look.

I'm trying to get into using Soundcloud, but I like this vid, so maybe next week. Cheers kids, and hey Bostonia, ship some snow West will ya?


Sunday, January 23, 2011

Utah, Get Me Two!!

Wow, this is a little overdue. When I last left you guys I had just found a place to live, but didn't have a bed. Well some things have yet to change...still bedless. On the other hand, a lot of stuff has changed and mostly for the better. Work out here is heating up, saw Shaun White working out in our gym the other day and just got assigned to cover some BIG freestyle skiing events in the near future..I'll let you guess what they are, pretty psyched about that though. I've gotten to ski close pretty much every other day, feeling pretty lucky about that. I'll get off work some nights and go night-skiing to unwind, something I could never do back east.

I've never been much of a morning person, but the view and sunrise outside my window is something that's really indescribable. The best way I can put it into words is someone throwing a light orangey pink paint at the sky and letting it slowly drip down the Wasatch Mountains, incredibly surreal.. sometimes you have to pinch yourself.

My roommate has been awesome so far, she's definitely one of the nicest people I have ever met, plus she cooks dank Mexican food- the key to my heart for sure. Her dogs could be my best friends out here so far ha, a lab named Chimay and a feisty little pug named Cosita. They're always down to chill.

I've been slacking on the camera work, but I promise I'll get better as I get more settled. That being said, I have a couple of pictures to tie you over..for now. I wish I could show everyone in person, but for now, my amateur camera work will have to do!

Cheers errybody, and to my Bostonia contingent, send some snow this way eh?



View out of my window: Morning

Dusk

Midnight
My two new buds: Chimay and Cosita

Night skiing looking back at Park City

Sunset from the lift

Desert Sunrise

Wasatch...dem mountains

Icicle Traffic Blur

Famous Egyptian Theater

Sundance in a nutshell...blur

Bing Bar, legendary

Blurz

Sundance 2011

Artsy photos take over





Cool angle, lots of different shapes/gradients

dirt mcgirt


main street moonin

main street sundance



kinda iffy vid quality, but you get the picture. outside my window..

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Shmonday Coverz

I've had this dude on queue for almost a week now, yeah, I was that excited, crazy I know. Sorry I'm slacking on the update posting from Utah, I swear I have a good one in line for this week. For now though, you'll have to be content with this cover of Jay-Z's "99 problems". This weekend I saw a dude perform an acoustic "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta" and I wish I'd recorded it, pretty awesome. But alas, this week's cover is pretty cool, so drop in and tune out...

Monday, January 17, 2011

MLK Cover

Tis Monday and even though it's a holiday, I'm sitting at work. Part of the reason for this is that it's raining in Utah? and I don't feel like shreddin the rainpuddles. Luckily for my faithful readers, that means that I WILL remember to post a cover today. Today's cover is courtesy of the Eric Dyer the "Derrminator". It's a dubstyley cover of the Beatles (ever heard of em?). Here's Easy Star All-Stars with "Lucy in the sky with diamonds". Enjoy muchachos.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

*Updated Upgraded*

Well my feet are finally on the ground here in Utah. I've started work at the US Ski Team and have a pretty busy schedule. They let me use the US training facility at lunchtime which is a huuuge perk, unbelievable setup in there. As far as everything else, I've been scrambling to fix my homeless situation, and I found a great place! I'm super excited to move in with some new people and I'm really close to town. Oh yeah and I wake up every morning and look out over Park City Resort and the Wasatch Mountains, no big. I'm getting my pass to Park City tomorrow and my skis came in today, so after a week of staring at the mountains I finally get to take my best shot at em tomorrow! Glad that everything is coming together, and hopefully I'll get some picture updates for you soon. The mountains are truly amazing and the sunsets can't be beat, I'm a sucker for that stuff. So despite living an unorganized whirlwind of a life, one thing is for certain...CAN'T KNOCK THE HUSTLE! ya digg?

And to all my Boston kids..enjoy the snow!


Sundance Film Festival in a week!!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

MONday Cover

Monday, Monday, MONDAY! Just started work today at the US Ski Team and have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed, lots to do! Regaaahdless I got a cover for you this week. This cover has been floating around the Interwebz for a little while, but maybe some of you haven't seen it yet. Amateur covers are always hit or miss, but I think you will like this one. Possibly the cutest cover of the year, here is Jorge and Alexa Narvaez's rendition of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's "Home". Enjoy..

Friday, January 7, 2011

Kerouac-ing

To whom (that's plural, grammar snobs) it may concern: Today is my last day on the Eastern Seaboard for an extended period of time. I am heeding Horace Greeley's call to "Go West Young Man", interning out in Utah. Today is supposed to be my travel day, weather permitting, so I threw together a collection of travel songs. Seemed appropriate. Good thing about posting is that I can do it from anywhere, so hopefully I'll still be able to make it rain from the Wild West. Keep it steezy tricks...







fav RHCP






This track is allowed to be used twice..


Wyclef? Check. Paul Simon? Check.


...because there's really no other way to end this post.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Sport

ESPN's "30 for 30" is absolutely incredible. The production of full-length documentaries highlighting some of the most fascinating stories in sports is something I've always wanted to do since I was little, and I have to be honest I'm a little jealous and ticked off ESPN got around to it before I could make my directorial debut. That being said, ESPN has chosen some amazing filmmakers with some amazing stories and should really be congratulated for their work on the project.


I was just recently blown away by the documentary "The Two Escobars". This story follows the lives of two famous Colombians, drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and soccer poster child Andres Escobar. Polar opposites, the two share little, except the undying passion for soccer, something that, perhaps tragically, connects the pair in the end. The story examines how Pablo's drug money fueled the Colombian soccer economy and made Colombia into a soccer force during the early 1990s.

At the head of this tour de force was defender Andres Escobar, who saw soccer as a chance to escape poverty and positively promote his country. Andres and fellow teammates embarked on a mission to put Colombia on the top of the soccer world and for the years leading up to the 1994 World Cup they did just that. Suddenly Colombia had become a competitor, and the country had developed a positivie cultural identity through their team and their sport.


This was something that struck me as particularly powerful. Here was a group of 22 soccer players, who through a sport, had put a nation on their back and dragged it to prominence. A nation riddled with drugs and crime, looked upon these 22 as beacons of something bigger, something that could transcend the problems of a nation and put them in the positive world spotlight, something that the people could be proud of. This is exactly what Andres and his teammates did for Colombia. This too is what makes sports such an awesome focus for a story, and perhaps why I have pursued it so. Sports has the ability to create a cultural identity and pride that no political or physical force has been or will be able to create. A passion can bond a people more than any policy, something that even the greatest politicians have realized.


Tragically sports can also be unpredictable and cruel and Andres' case this plays out to the extreme. As a captain of his 1994 World Cup squad, Andres scores an own goal that puts his team out of the Cup and contention. After overcoming the devastation of that moment, he returns home and shortly after is killed in a dispute outside of a nightclub, he was 27 years old. Many of his Colombian players were so distraught they immediately retired from international play, unable to continue without their fallen comrade. With the death of Andres Escobar came the death of the promising Colombian soccer program. Sadly life can sometimes intervene in the purest of passions.


Ironically, and quite poignantly after the fact, Andres' last words to many of his admirers and countrymen came in a newspaper column talking about that fateful own goal. In it he described his deep shame and sadness but also his hope for the future of Colombian soccer. Despite his team's and his nation's setbacks, Andres believed that all was not lost. He ended his piece with a statement that reads beautifully in Spanish but equally as powerful in English. In his final living testimony, Andres said, "porque la vida no termina aqui". Because life doesn't end here.


Now as a followup to that incredible movie, which I hope you will watch (free onDemand until jan 10), I had to make a short documentary this semester for class. Though lacking in the power of these other documentaries, it is my first effort and overall I kind of like it. It follows a unique group of athletes from an art school up the street from my university and I enjoyed their story. Definitely on the lighter side it puts a unique twist on the "jocks vs art kids" stigma. My only regrets from the piece were that I had to cut it down to 15 minutes and that I wasn't allowed to use real music (strictly unregistered and uncopyrighted loops, which are abysmal). Upload is taking forever, so I'll post this and then post the video as soon as it comes through. Ah technology you've trumped me once again...

Monday, January 3, 2011

Monday Coverage

Ok the jury is out on this Monday's cover. I'm pretty sure it qualifies as a cover, because it mimics the beat and includes some of the same lyrics/ cadence as the original. Either way, it's kind of a dope song, so because I am the overall ruler of this blog (so much for that jury), I'm giving it a thumbs up. The cover? Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" redone and renamed by artist jj. The song, "Ecstasy" was shown to me by my friend Natalie and it's definitely been an off-and-on favorite for almost a year now. It's just out there, gotta love it. Plus recently I've had this thing for those weird ethereal-esque singers, because, well, who knows where my head is at these days. Anywho, this is the first Monday Cover of 2011 and my last from the Ice Coast! Big moves ahead...latas kiddos...