Buzz Guide: Magpies, Puppies, and Falling Strawberries
It’s our job to be on the internet all day, the least we can do is share its treasures with you, right? Yes, your friendly Buzz Guides will sift through the nose that is the internet and pick the biggest winners that won’t come off our fingers. This week, El Rich brings you Murder By Death, four-legged hipsters, and falling strawberries.
MUSIC
Murder By Death – Good Morning, Magpie
I can only describe Murder By Death’s sound as something that would play in the recesses of my mind as I traveled the country in a box car with my good buddy Hobo Jack and ate sardines out of a tin can. Murder By Death is somewhat folk-y, but don’t let that scare you. This isn’t your granola type of folk, unless you like your granola soaked in alcohol.
Singer/Songwriter Adam Turla is at the helm of the tall tale tellin’. Adam’s voice is smooth and aged, yet rough around the edges. His voice is like a vocal shot of Bourbon that burns and intoxicates the soul as you drown in his rich lyricism. Like wheat blowing in a hot summer breeze on a vast, open plain, Sarah Balliet’s cello will have you swaying to and fro. Matt Armstrong’s bass backs this up fiercely and adds a new layer of depth deeper than any hand dug well that has yet to run dry. Dagan Thogerson’s percussion work can bring a sound like thunder that cracks across the lonely horizon or taps as gently as spring shower on the window pane of your heart.
Good Morning, Magpie was released in April of 2010. It’s a departure from their earlier concept albums that contains some of their best work yet. Visit them by going to their website MurderByDeath.com. Check out their tour dates and give em a listen. Also, don’t forget to follow their Twitter, @MurderByDeath.
INTERNET
Everyone loves puppies. Everyone hates hipsters. Those two statements are proven science fact. How then, are we to feel about the site Hipster Puppies? This confuses me. Let me dig into my American Apparel skinny jeans, pull out my iPhone, and see if there is a coin flip app that will decide this most monumental of decisions. Wait, though, because I need to have a drink of Pabst (or Stella Artois) before I put my thinking cap on. As I am busy drowing in irony, why don’t you take a gander at what this site is all about and judge for yourself:
This makes me frown. Not only do these dogs look super cute, they dress better than I do. I bet people actually love them and they have food in their fuzzy tum tums. Someone take me for a walk and clean up after me, please.
MOVIE
Hollywood has no shame. You would think that a remake of the 1981 classicClash of the Titans would be better the second time around. Sadly, all we get is a CGI wank fest that proves Hollywood has some sort of digital p33n envy complex. Everything in the 2010 remake is bigger, more explode-ier, and on fire. There are a few big names thrown in the mix (Liam Neeson as Zeus) but this is one of his less than stellar performances. This film managed to sucked the fun magic and awe that the original did so well with CLAYMATION and an awesome mechanical owl. Sure, the original is severly outdated in the graphics department but you got the whole kit-n-kaboodle, an amazing story with amazing actors and some wicked bad guys.
The Kraken, 1981
and today
Just because you have more teeth doesn’t mean your scarier. Well, maybe that isn’t true. I am a sucker for awesome CGI but have some story to back it up.
IPHONE GAMES
I love a good time waster. Thank the starry skies that the iPhone was invented. It gives me something to do instead of striking up conversations with the crazies that ride the trains every day while I’m on my way home from work.
Plants Vs. Zombies
Defend your home with an army of peashooters, sunflowers, and other types of garden variety avengers against waves of zombies. This game first came to us as a via computer but is now available for the iPhone. Getting rid of the undead has never been more fun or cute.
Words With Friends
Match wits with your friends in this crossword puzzle gone crazy. I don’t know how many times I’ve lost. This game is like crack for grammer whores. Can I type that? I guess we’ll find out.
Art
If you were to ask me to analyize something artsy, I would fail you. Is it shiny? Does it look pretty? Is there glitter? Bedazzles? Those are my chief concerns. At least people like Claire Morgan have an actual talent for creating things that aren’t kitsch and actual works of unique beauty that make me feel all fuzzy inside.
Her work is amazing. That’s really all I can say about these pieces. They pretty much speak for themselves. I could totally stare at these all day or slowly eat the strawberries in the first photo. You can check out more of her work by going to her website – Claire Morgan
That’s all I have this time around. Stay tuned for next week’s Buzz Guide! Have fun on the internet!
