The Office - Holly

The US version of The Office has the special ability to evolve its characters and storylines with each passing season. This year, in Season 5, the inclusion of a new character called Holly (played by Amy Ryan) is a standout decision. Not only is she beautiful, talented, and cute, but she also has an amazing on-screen personality.

As Season 5 continues to air, one can see just how far the show has come - from its humble beginnings setting up characters, to where we are now with constant witty lines, and excellent characterisation. It's increasingly obvious why The Office (US) is an extremely successful show.

The Dø - A Mouthful

In case you want to spend the next few months of your life referring to this Paris/Helsinki-based band as "The Do" (like I did), heed my warning: it's pronounced "doe", as in female deer.

My infatuation with Olivia Merilahti started earlier in the year. I believe it was after hearing the song 'On My Shoulders'. If you read about the band anywhere, you'll most probably see a mention of Olivia's voice. It's hands down the sexiest female voice in the industry. A folk implosion, of sorts. For anyone who knows me relatively well - I actually think her voice carries more emotion than Will Sheff's of Okkervil River. Yeah, she's that good.

When I heard her cry out: "How long will I sit and wait like a soldier? How many summers will it take?", during the chorus of 'On My Shoulders', backed by blissful folk strings, it hit me like a meteroid. If that chorus doesn't get you somewhere, anywhere, then I pity you.

But that's not even where the brilliance of this album lies. The Dø are a duo, and Dan Levy provides the distinctive folk guitars, which are used to intense effect on 'The Bridge Is Broken' -my favourite track. Here, Olivia sings, "Boy you got nerve, to come along. You'll never learn I'm not your girl, not quite. Now please don't stand in my way." Thank goodness she's not talking to me!

And then there's the addictiveness of 'At Last', where Levy picks a steady, catchy riff. In fact, most of the songs are addictive, which is a massive feat considering there are fifteen tracks in total.

With that being said, you could argue The Dø have tried for too much on their debut album. 'Queen Dot Kong' is an indie rapper. It's not a bad track by any means, and it adds variety to the record, but it's really weird and slightly out of place.

Despite this, the fifteen songs comprising A Mouthful are wonderful and diverse. At one stage you'll be tapping along to some quality folk-rock, with Olivia Merilahti's emotional vocals carrying the song into outer space, then next you'll be hearing a "Song for Lovers". Whatever your musical taste, but particularly if you're into folk, you'll find it here on The Dø's debut album.

Rating: 9.7

The Dø - 'On My Shoulders'

Download:

MP3: The Dø - At Last

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

I've never liked many rap songs before, let alone albums. But that's why Kanye West's latest, 808s & Heartbreak, took me by surprise. After hearing the stellar single, I was compelled to hear the rest of the album. And it's equal in quality.

Dealing with the topic of heartbreak, Kanye uses a vocoder (essentially a vocal synthesiser) to help give an emotional vibe to the lyrics. It's heard on every song, and yes, that's a good thing. Very good. I actually connected with some of these gems because of it, which is almost madness for the rap genre!

'Say You Will' opens the album, with a nice piano chord leading into Kanye pleading "Hey, hey, hey don't say you will, unless you will!" The final three minutes of the song sets up the rest of the album's contemplative tone.

On Pinocchio Story (a live recording), Kanye freestyles the lyrics through the whole song. It's improvisation at its finest, and closes the album perfectly. It is, in fact, the best song on the album.

There are a couple of duds, one of them is actually of the 'more accessible for the radio-audience' variety. But on this track, 'RoboCop', one gets the feeling it's all a little forced and tongue-in-cheek. The epic string section towards the end is its only saving grace.

Even with some questionable lyrics ("My friend showed me pictures of his kids, and all I could show him was pictures of my cribs." ?!) Kanye West has released a highly commendable album. The emotional tone is everpresent, and the use of a vocoder is brilliant.

Rating: 9.3

Download:

MP3: Kanye West - Street Lights

The Meeting

On monday I went for my regular (boring as hell) shelving shift at St Peters Library.

When I arrived I asked my boss, Suzanne, if I could have a little meeting with her. My plan was to tell Suzanne that after I return from North America I would like to be cut off all future rosters at St Peters and Norwood. Why? Because they are terrible places to work. The only reason I haven't quit entirely is because I enjoy working at Payneham. And this was the focus of our discussion.

"So what are you going to do next year?" Suzanne asked me. I, of course, replied with a smile and said I'd be going to university. This was, effectively, my excuse to cut out the other two library sites.

"Well, when I get back from North America," I said, later on in the meeting, "I'd like to keep this job. But I was wondering if it was possible to work exclusively at Payneham?"

By this stage I was wondering if she'd cottoned on to the fact I hate working at her library. I actually started to panic a little - was I asking for too much? After all, I'm only a casual in a crappy library system that's about twenty years out of date.

Suzanne smiled and said, "So working exclusively at Payneham, is this because it's closer to Magill campus?"

Relief swept over me as an unexpected gift fell my way.

"Yes," I replied. "That's why."

Soon I will be free of St Peters and Norwood. In a perfect world I would only have to work at Enfield, Greenacres and Payneham, but alas, the world is not perfect.

Kaiser Chiefs, "Going down the wrong road."

When vocalist Ricky Wilson sings, "We're going down the wrong road, and it doesn't even matter," on the final song of Off With Their Heads, I can only agree with him. Except, in a way, it does matter. I know bands like to evolve over time and change their sound. Earlier in the year My Morning Jacket were able to achieve this with Evil Urges, and look at them - coming to Big Day Out after stating they wouldn't be touring outside of the US a couple of years ago! But this latest effort from the Kaiser Chiefs doesn't feel like a positive progression, and it disappoints me to say that.

I've never been able to decide which album I prefer - the brilliant debut, Employment, or the terrific follow-up, Yours Truly, Angry Mob. Both contain pop-perfect melodies throughout, inspiring sing-a-longs and smiling faces - the good stuff. Sadly, that feeling is lost on Off With Their Heads. Granted, there are some nice pop melodies that harken back to the earlier albums - 'Good Days Bad Days' is catchy as hell, while 'Always Happens Like That' carries a great beat.

On the flip side, the first single 'Never Miss A Beat' is a shocker. It's a contender for the worst single I've ever heard. Not only this, it lacks any sort of meaning or, well, point. Ricky told the world that on radio, so it's straight from the horse's mouth, as the saying goes.

Maybe it's only me, but I wish the Kaiser Chiefs would return to what they do best - making catchy pop tunes. You know, the likes of 'Ruby', which can get extensive radio play just as long as the fans have numerous hidden gems to find on the album. I'm still digging on this one ... 

Rating: 6.2

Download:

MP3: Kaiser Chiefs - Remember You're A Girl

Prospekt's March

When I first heard the EP title, I was skeptical. I've never really been a Coldplay fan - I find it all too mopey and overrated. Viva La Vida did plenty to change my opinion, but this just sealed the deal.

Prospekt's March, released on the same day as The Killers new album, is better than Viva La Vida. Yeah, you heard correctly. I connected with all of the songs (apart from Jay Z's rendition of Lost!). Definitely worth a look.

The lyrics on the song Prospekt's March/Poppyfields are some of the best I've heard.

The EP doesn't match Day & Age, but then again, not much will from here on out. That album was truly brilliant.

- Simon

Rating: 8.7

Download:

MP3: Coldplay - Life In Technicolour II

Day & Age/Road Trip

It's official: road trips are FUN!

The Killers released their amazing new album, Day & Age, yesterday. Of course, I downloaded a copy prior to release. In traditional honour of big releases, myself and Alex King went on a night drive to hear it through. Little did we know that, having left at 11pm, we'd end up out at Bordertown around 2.30am!

But there was a driving force that night, something that compelled us to continue onwards. Onwards into the dark of night, and remoteness of the country. As trucks whirred by in the opposite direction we powered through town after town, determined to hit the border with the feds on our tail. Well, we made it. And we took a photo in celebration of the event!

The journey there clocked in at around 4 hours, with a return trip offering moments of euphoria as dawn seeped over the horizon. Stopping at McDonald's at 6am in Murray Bridge provided a nice breakfast, and a chance to stretch our legs. Having stayed awake the whole night, high on Red Bull, a couple of hash browns settled nicely.

We arrived home at 7.30am.

The trip was so fun we want to do it again. Next destination will be Melbourne!

Here's our momentous photo from the Victorian border. Moments after taking the photo, we both heard a strange human-like cooing sound. Possibly created by a local Aboriginal tribesman, we were too scared to investigate ...

- Simon

Car Chase Terror

Simon here.

Today was quite frightening. As the title suggests, I had a near death experience. Here's the long version:

I'm hoping for a peaceful drive home from work. Heading back from Enfield Library I'm cruising along Portrush Road with Death Cab For Cutie playing from the speakers. So distracted by the notes of Ben Gibbard I fail to notice that a large truck has pulled over onto the side of the road, causing traffic to merge into the right lane -- my lane. I only notice this when the car to my side almost bumps into me. I freak out and speed forward. He pulls in behind and after getting past the truck speeds up next to me in the left lane. "You fucking idiot! Fuck you!" he yells. Of course, Death Cab is playing over the top of his voice so I barely hear him. I do happen to notice he has long hair, and is wearing an orange jacket -- a road worker. Great, the lower class ...

As we continue along the road he speeds up to me and dishes out some more harsh abuse. A few seconds later, he gets stuck behind some cars. Suddenly angered by this low-life I decide to give him the finger as I go past. Big mistake. The commodore quickly pulls out into my lane and the chase is on. As we approach the intersection of Portrush and Magill I quickly dive into the left lane, causing a truck to beep its horn angrily. The commodore keeps chase to my right. I can feel his dirty gaze upon my neck, the only thoughts running through his beer-drenched mind are "Kill the fucker."

Deciding to avoid catastrophe, I quickly turn left down a side street. Since the commodore is in the right lane I don't think he's stupid enough to cut across the left lane and keep chase. Alas, he does. Horns blare angrily in the seconds that follow. My heart is racing by this stage. I'm being tail-gated by a drop-out down a narrow side-street. Thinking quickly, I fumble for my cell phone and dial 000. The operator picks up and I ask to speak to the police. Noticing I have my phone to my ear, the commodore turns right and disappers from my tail. I breathe a sigh of relief and hang up the phone, as the sweat runs down my body in rivulets.

Had I decided to pull over, I'd have been bashed to death or lost all my teeth. Had I decided to continue along Portrush Road I would've crashed. Was I in the wrong? Should my finger have stayed down? Maybe. I think it was just the heat of the moment.

But today, at 2.55pm on 18/11/2008, Simon Welford escaped death at the hands of a madman.

P.S. Here is a picture of a baby blowfish.

Ben: Two Months To Go

Hello all
Not that I expect many people to read this, mainly Simon reading what I have written to see if I have made a fool of him, or made any spelling or grammatical errors. Well it's getting closer to the date we go away and I don't have enough money to go away yet so I think the next month and a half after exams are going to be non-stop work. It should be well worth all the hard work though.

Simon and I have planned some fairly cool stuff to do while we are over there. I'm mainly looking forward to the skiing in Canada, it is the main reason I am going, and also going to an ice hockey match will be fun. I plan to take a lot of photos and I will put a few up on this blog as we go along.

I will probably forget about this blog, although that will be hard with Simon constantly reminding me to write some stuff on here. Hopefully I do keep writing stuff because it's a good way to remember what we do when we are over there. We still have a heap of things to plan over christmas because of my uni exams and assignments not finishing till september.

well until my next entry
Ben

Adelaide, two months before departure.

Hi there. 

I decided to start a travel blog today. The day of departure is fast approaching, yet I feel there is so much still to be planned. I have my bag, it cost $170 ($230 after sale). I also have a few clothes that are supposedly tailored to the colder climate, but when I tried them in 15 degree weather a few weeks ago I felt cold ... 

For those who don't know I'm travelling with Ben Collie to the United States and Canada between January 16 and February 25 of 2009. We booked the tickets back in late August and paid mid-late September. Those alone cost a damn lot. We had originally talked about going for two months, but in the end money became too big an issue. There's plenty of time for other travels in the future, anyway. 

Unfortunately I haven't had the time to put up a map showing our travel route yet, but I will as soon as possible. Until then, we're heading up the West Coast - arriving in LA, then making our way north to Vancouver and then inland to Edmonton. 1 month and 6 days, excluding flight times. 

At the moment university is taking up a majority of Ben's time so planning has been minimal. We basically just need to book a place to stay for when we arrive in LA so that we're allowed into the country. Booking the flight to Edmonton from Vancouver will be easy -- and cheap! And I got my passport the other day, too. The photo is bad as, not to be confused with bad ass, so yeah. Here's to hoping customs will let me through. 

I'll keep y'all posted, 
Simon 

P.S. Here is a photo of an ostrich necking its egg.