Featured Song of the Day = 'Don't Steal Our Sun' by The Thrills

Today's featured song is...Don't Steal Our Sun by Irish indie-rock group The Thrills. The Thrills originally formed in Dublin, Ireland back in 2001 and the band consists of members Conor Deasy (vocals), Daniel Ryan (guitar), Padraic McMahon (bass guitar), Kevin Horan (pianist), and Ben Carrigan (drums). Don't Steal Our Sun was the fourth single off of their 2003 debut So Much for the City album. This song reached would peak at #45 on the UK Singles chart. So this one is already over 7 years old, but still worth posting here. If you like what you hear be sure to check out their Myspace page HERE.

Brief Movie Review for 'Night Train to Munich (Gestapo)' (1940)

Night Train to Munich (Gestapo) (1940)

4/5 Stars ****

I enjoyed this one, and if you liked 'The Lady Vanishes,' you will like this one. This was even earlier, released in 1940, and at that point the War was still raging. The whole time I kept thinking how Rex Harrison reminded me of Jemaine Clement, and kept picturing him in that role, and Paul Henreid really reminded me of Kevin Spacey too...strange. Margaret Lockwood reminds me of someone too, but I can't quite put my finger on it. The scene on the Funicular/Teleferic was pretty awesome too, and the ending might surprise you too. Check this one out, especially if like older films. Sorry, couldn't find a trailer for this one....

Feature Song of the Day = 'Got No Charm' by The Words

Today's song is...Got No Charm, by Australian alternative-rock band The Words. The Words come out of Bunbury, in Western Australia, and consists of members Ben Macri (Lead Vocals, Guitars),  Clint Macri (Guitars, Backing Vocals), Dylan Macri (Guitars), and Ryan Mcdonnell (Drums, Percussion). Got No Charm comes off of their 2008 debut EP titled Running In a Maze, which is available on ITunes and Amazon, but if you want a lower quality free and legal mp3 download of this song (or a couple others) you can head over to their Unearthed page HERE, or just check out their Myspace page HERE for more info. Now, I am not for certain but their musical style reminds me personally of a mix of Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows, but I am referring to just a few elements in a few of their songs as they clearly have their own energy and unique sound. Check it!

Today's Featured Song = 'Easy to Love' by The Jezabels

Today's song is...Easy to Love, by Sydney-based Australian indie-pop-rock group The Jezabels. The band formed originally back in 2007 where the members met at University and started up the group, which consists of Hayley Mary (vocals), Heather Shannon (piano/keyboard), Nik Kaloper (drums), and Samuel Lockwood (bass guitar). Easy to Love came off of their She's So Hard EP, which was released back in 2009, so its not a new song anymore, and they actually have more recently released another EP titled Dark Storm. If you fancy what you hear then head on to their myspace page HERE, or even their Facebook page HERE.

Steve Judd: January 2011 Global Astrological Forecast (for all signs)

I already posted the Yearly 2011 forecast a few days ago, and now this is the Global (all signs) forecast for the month of January 2011. For the individual sign forecasts, blog, and more go to Steve Judd's website HERE. Enjoy!

Feature Song of the Day: 'What Do I Do' by Lanie Lane

Today's song is...What Do I Do by Australian pop-roots-blues-jazz singer-guitarist-songwriter Lanie Lane. Lanie Lane comes out of Sydney, Australia, and her musical style fits into many genres all at once. There is not a heap of biographical information on this artist, but I do highly recommend checking out her work, and if you are interested in finding out more about her you can go to her Unearthed page HERE, or her Facebook page HERE, or even her Myspace page HERE. Do note, that this song is still available as a free and legal MP3 download on her Unearthed page. Enjoy!
What Do I Do (Lanie Lane) from Lanie Lane on Vimeo.

Feature Song of the Day = 'Back to Back' by Wolf Gang

Today's song is....Back to Back, by English indie-pop band Wolf Gang. Wolf Gang is primarily the project of 23 year old musician Max McElligot, is based out of London, UK, and tours live sets with former The Rakes drummer Lasse Petersen. Back to Back is one of the first few singles this band has produced. Rumor has it they are set to release their first full length LP titled Suego Faults in mid 2011, which has been written and recorded solely by McElligot, and produced by Dave Fridmann. I am definitely looking forward to the release of that album, and they are one of these groups that is seriously under-played but who have great talent and great songs. The band has been on tours with bands like Florence and the Machine, and Metric in the UK, as well as performing at festivals in Australia. Keep your eyes on this band, and for more band info, track previews, and even a free download of this song head to their myspace page HERE. Also I have posted 2 other songs on this vlog by Wolf Gang that are also worth checking out, so be sure to look those up too. Snap!

Brief Book Review for 'The Dark River' by John Twelve Hawks (2007)

The Dark River (2007
  by Author John Twelve Hawks
My Rating:  4/5 Stars ****

I just finished the second book in this Fourth Realm Trilogy, titled The Dark River (published in 2007) by mysterious author John Twelve Hawks. This book is a continuation of the first (titled The Traveler (2005)), and now I have just started to read the third. I highly recommend these books to anybody, though you may come out of reading them just a bit paranoid and worried about loss of privacy in the modern world we are ever-creating and expanding with all of the new technologies that allow one's every move and decision to be monitored, evaluated, and judged by artificial intelligence programs (great, just great!). This book, like the first, and I presume the 3rd as well, is an action-thriller and you will have trouble putting it down once you get into the story a bit, as you will constantly want to know what is going to happen next. There is a bit of a sci-fi touch to this book as well and the style is reminiscent of Dan Brown, although I am not sure author's like to be compared like that but that is my take after reading the first two books. Nonetheless, like Dan Brown's books, I can easily see this series being made into a movie trilogy. For more info on this book check out the wikipedia page HERE, and remember, its just a story....really......!

Song of the Day = 'As Far As You're Concerned' by Last Dinosaurs

Today's song is....As Far As You're Concerned by Australian alternative rock group Last Dinosaurs. Last Dinosaurs are a trio with a unique sound that come out of Brisbane Australia (aka Brissie or Bris-vegas). The band consists of Sean Caskey (vocals/guitar) Lach Caskey (guitar) Danjuro Koyama (drums) and Sam Gethin-Jones (bass). This song comes off of their EP called Back From the Dead, which was released in March 2010. They are meant to release a full length studio album here pretty soon, although I haven't been able to find a pending release date for that, and it most likely will be available only in Australia, however I would love to hear them get some airplay here in the USA, as well as the UK, but at least they are up on this vlog for now. Check out their EP, and if you like what you hear be sure to also check out their Myspace page HERE, as well as my previous posts on this vlog. Skål!

Song of the Day = 'Growing Up Alone' by Philadelphia Grand Jury

Today's song is...Growing Up Alone, by Australian indie-rock group Philadelphia Grand Jury are a 3-piece band from Sydney, Australia but who are now based in the UK. They consist of band members Simon Berckelman, Joel Beeson, and latest addition Calvin Welch on drums. Growing Up Alone comes off of their 2009 release album titled Hope is For Hopers. I have posted a couple previous song by these artists because I think they are quite good, and they deserve some more airplay. They have also released a more recent album in October 2010 titled Hope is for the Hopeless, which I would also recommend checking out if you like this album. The only youtube videos available seem to be live gigs, so that is what is below, and I would recommend listening to the recorded version so you can hear the song properly, bam!

Brief Book Review for 'Catcher in the Rye' (1951)

Catcher in the Rye (1951)

So I finally sat down and read this one, after years of intending to (honestly just never getting around to it), and also seeing it on that Top 100 BBC Books List that has been floating around the social networks this past year. Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951, was written by author J.D. Salinger (who just past away a year ago in January 2010). After reading a little bit about the author's life (according to his wikipedia page) one comes to conclude that perhaps the book is actually written verbatim from his own personal experience of human interactions, and just going about his young-life in New York City for a few days. It is most definitely a book that will be less interesting to women, that is of course unless you wish to know how the mind of a young-male actually operates. This book also does a wonderful job of revealing the insanity of compulsive thinking, which is an affliction that affects almost every human being on the planet at present. I would recommend this book to you to read, especially if you are a male, and even if you a female too. I am not sure that I personally would put this book on the Top 100 of all time list, or consider it to really be one of the great American literary works as many do, but many acclaimed critics and people much more well read than I do. If it helps to unveil the insanity of the current state of human egoic consciousness to even a few people then more power to it. Check this one out!

Song of the Day = 'Let's Go Surfing' by The Drums

Today's feature song is....Lets Go Surfing by American indie-pop group The Drums. The The Drums originate out of Brooklyn, New York and consists of members Jonathan Pierce (vocals), Jacob Graham (guitar), Connor Hanwick (drums). This track, like the last one I posted comes off of their self-titled debut album which was released on June 7th, 2010. Let's Go Surfing was the third single to be released off of their debut self-titled album. This song was originally released in September 2009 on their EP titled Summertime!, but was later released on the June 2010 debut-studio album, and then it was released as an actual single in August 2010. This song charted at #63 on the UK Singles, but surprisingly haven't appeared on the US charts??? Apparently, The Drums are better known in the UK than they are in the USA, and that seems to be more of a target market for them, so I guess I am taking it on as partly my mission here to introduce/plug their work to an American/Australian/global audience, so I hope you enjoy this song, and do be sure to check out the 2 previous song posts I've done on The Drums. Oh yeah, and Happy New Year everybody!!

2011 Global Year Forecast (by Astrologer Steve Judd)