Ultra Records has been redeemed!

Remember waaaay back when I was complaining about how Ultra Records had sold out with abominable compilations like Ultra Dance 10? Well, I don't know if they're fans of my blog or if they finally woke up to all the controversy surrounding their recent turn, but they've turned back onto the path of righteousness!

Case in point: the new Ultra Trance 09! A new 2-disc techno extravaganza with literally some of the best hits of the '08 season and some new Summer '09 hits. The trance is back, with excellent artists like Armin Van Buuren, Oceanlab, and Kaskade headlining the project. Speaking of projects, this is the FIRST Ultra Trance compilation to top the itunes dance charts due to the strength of the new single "Infinity" by the Guru Josh Project and remixed by the very up-and-coming Klaas. Every song on the album is techno/trance brilliance, chosen carefully from the DANCE charts and not the pop charts. In fact, there's not a single pop remix to be found on the album. And Ultra has gone back to LEADING in the industry instead of following, including such breaking and more underground tracks like "The New World" by Markus Shulz.

The initial response from the techno community has been quite positive. "Infinity"'s succes has carried the compilation to the top of the itunes album and singles charts and is expected to fair quite well on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart this Thursday.

I personally am ecstatic that Ultra Records has returned back to their roots. I hope Ultra Trance 09 turns out well for them. For all technoheads out there, I would HIGHLY reccomending picking this album up.

Episode 3, 5/13/2009 – Bienvenidos a Sevilla

The plane ride to Sevilla happened without much excitement. Little bit of turbulence, but that’s about it. Once in Sevilla, some of us exchanged money, leaving Zack and I guarding the luggage with a mandolin. Very unique. The taxi to the hotel was apparently the “scenic route,” costing 20 euros instead of 15. Ouch. Better watch your back, next time.

After checking into the hotel and dumping the bags, it was time for food. It was around 12ish as I recall and we went exploring for, in Justin’s words, “anything edible”. We found this awesome Tapas place near the hotel, and after realizing in an awkward pause that we order at the counter, we sat ordered, then sat down and waited for dishes. The group consisted of Holli, Justin, Janine, David and myself, and funny/lively conversation abounded. Topics ranged from expectations about Sevilla, life at college/future plans, to the bizarre fact that Shania Twain’s “Don’t Be Stupid” (if I remember right) was playing in the background, along with “Material Girl” by Madonna and some oldish Alanis Morrisette.

Spain is not so different from America, really. It’s extremely Western. Like a sort-of New York built on ancient roots. A few exceptions: internet is not nearly as common, siesta REALLY exists (more on that later), and dressing fashionable is appropriate all the time for whatever age or gender. Especially, it seems, if you’re obese or ugly (hey, not so different from America, right?). Also to that woman on C/ Eduardo Dato: Uggs are still just as fugly in Europe as they are in America. Please change.

Back to lunch. We ordered a mystery tapa (randomly picked) that turned out to be goat cheese with honey and almonds. Very interesting, with a strong aftertaste. Then una tortilla de patatas, suggested by David as a kickass Spanish dish. VERY delicious. And lastly, French fries with bacon and cheese aka patatas fritas con queso y bacón. Classically delicious!

We started looking around a little, moseyed back to the hotel to check facebook and assure our parents that we were, in fact, not dead, just in Sevilla. I met my roommate, Michael, who would turn out to be my roommate for the entire trip. Nice guy, also a BSBA and Spanish kid, so lots in common. There was a trip to a cellphone store, but siesta’s full effect rendered acquiring international cellphones at this point as fail.

Dinner was at a very funky place next to el Real Alcázares, big enough to seat all of us studyabroad folks. It was hidden in back-alleys not much wider than a Mini-Cooper. I sat with David and Nick and waited about 3 whole hours for the damn dinner to be finished. It seemed like they were trying a little too hard to be pleasing to American’s taste palettes. We had basic salad, chicken and French fries, and chocolate ice cream (basically). Good, but not exactly what any of us had in mind.

My grand plans of going out were quickly shattered by the fact that I was exhausted. After a bit of facebook, I ended my first full day in Spain.

Episode 2, 5/13/2009 – On the plane again…Just can’t wait to get off the plane again.

The flight from Philadelphia is where it gets interesting. At the gate and almost immediately, I recognized my fellow study abroad group by the wealth of college-related paraphernalia we were all wearing. I joined the group for the rest of the plane excursions, re-met people I once knew and (attempted) to remember the names of the new folks. Haha, still working on that, but in all, very successful.

I spent the flight sitting next to Janine, watching a dumb movie called Inkheart, interspersing that with “Lord Jim” by Joseph Conrad and conversations about LOST’s upcoming season finale. Gotta love me my Des+Penny.

I’m convinced Tylenol PM is a sham, invented in collusion by doctors and Satan. It failed to put me to sleep (in a good way) on the plane and I spent about 4 hours in a bizarre intermittent zombie-sleep/notsleep period, crunched between my backpack and the lack of legroom on U.S. air flights. Icky, right? In any case, plane lands in Barcelona y todo cambio.

Thank you Mom and Dad, I had already acquired Euros (that magic tool for quenching thirst). First thing I bought was “Nécter de Piña,” aptly enough, pineapple nectar. It was excellent, but not very thirst-quenching. Plus, I really didn’t get a chance to use Spanish. A running gag in the entire trip goes like this:

Me (in broken Spanish): ….Ah….Quiero la Nécter de Piña, por favor.

Salesperson (in English): Oh, okay. That’s two euros.

I guess we’re dead giveaways for being American, right? I bought some souvenirs (mmmhmmhm….Wouldn’t you like to know what they are?) and waited for the plane to Sevilla.

Episode 1, 5/12/2009 – The Last Chic-fil-A in America

It’s a strange sight, really. The food court in Philadelphia International, I mean. Referred to by everyone as “Philly.” Take a look. There’s the Indian couple to the left, with their 10ish pink Indian princess taking pictures with her Dad’s camera and speaking in a cute, but grammatically torturous Tamil/English combo. There’s also the white basketball player dead ahead from UNCC. His backpack and “tall” attitude gives him away, besides the fact that he’s a freaking giant. He finished his fries, rubs his head, and leaves. Then there’s the old guy sitting to the right, looking like a blind man, his giant blue eyes so focused dead-ahead it’s almost like they can’t see at all. He’s reading a book called “Hitler’s Spies” and staring a hole into his salad. If he’d look up to the left he’d see a kid sitting alone at a red foodcourt table with his tightly-packed suitcase and his Swiss Army backpack. He’s eating a chicken sandwich and noticing everything, maybe even a little too much. He’s still and the rest of the world is moving around him That kid’s me. And this is my trip to Sevilla.

The Sevilla Travel Blog of Doom....and Pancakes -- Introduction

The Sevilla Travel blog of doom…and pancakes.

Introduction -

Hey guys, I've decided to blog about my experiences, since I'm in one of the most scenic, beautiful, and creatively fascinating places in the entire world. The point of this blog/journal/musings is not to have a definite purpose or a goal or even a consistent style. As they say in Spanish literature, the genre is “maqamat”. My “point” here is simply to tell. Whatever I feel like telling, from everything that I have seen. Please enjoy and give constant commentary, of course. :)

Movie Review: The Apartment (1960)

So I'd been thinking about transferring all of my old reviews from Flixster over to my blog. But after realizing that I rated about 266, I decided against it. Instead, what I'ma do is review movie that I RECENTLY have seen or movies that I feel I have something unique to share with you guys.

For this review, I'm cookin' up some old school flava with "The Apartment". Brief plot teaser: C.C. Baxter is a grunt at his insurance firm, but manages to ascend the corperate ladder by loaning his aparment to his superiors for their licencious extramerital affairs. Kinky...Especially for the 1960's. Add a crush on the elevator girl and one badass Fred MacMurray villain and you've got a hilarious and suprisingly deep comedy-drama.

Billy Wilder, of Some Like It Hot fame, scores again another comedy-drama masterpiece. His hilarious and deep original screenplay includes complex yet easily-identifiable characters, exhibiting the same idiosyncrasies and common flaws that normal people have. For example, even the seemingly insignificant inclusion of C.C. Baxter’s cold provides for great realism and comedy. Plus, the dialogue is hilarious and deliciously off-kilter. My favorite example of this is the classic “spaghetti-making” scene with the tennis racquet and the great line, “You should see my backhand.”

Plus, Wilder's always-inventive directorial style pushes new bounds of cinema (note the great opening scene). The thing that makes The Apartment so brilliant is the seamless integration of meaningful, well-written dialogue (“makes me look just the way I feel”) with well-shot dramatic situations and easily loveable/hateable characters to make it a satisfying film that we can watch again and again. Considered by many to be one of the funniest movies ever, The film lands at #93 on the AFI's (American Film Institute) list of Top 100 Films, as well as at #20 on their list of Top 100 Laughs. Check it out and laugh thy ass off.

A vlog apologizing for the lack of vlogs??

Indeed. Circuitous, but true. Sorry guys, but I've been busy. Promise to get on the ball again soon. In the meantime, keep sending my blog to all yo friends and help me with suggestions on how to improve the site!