Styling by Glenda Macatangay. Awesome makeup and hair by Aurora Bergere (who does makeup for Benjamin Bratt).

Benjamin Wetherill - Laura

The obscure artwork? The intriguing title? The delicate finger picking? The soft, whispering voice? The redundantly obvious song titles proclaiming So Dark the Night and How Lonely the Moon? Yep, you've got it. It's yet another white, male singer-songwriter, determined to replicate the immortal brilliance of Nick Drake with just his guitar, and the occasional touch of horns, strings and woodwind, for company.

And how tedious such a vision has become. From Jose Gonzalez's tiresome mumble, through to every mother's favourite, Tom Baxter, via every wretched follicle of Newton Faulkner, that troubled troubadour tag has become an ugly, cumbersome device, emasculating its holder of all spark and purpose amongst the more critical music lover.

Of course, as with Nadine Coyle managing to rise above the standard set by the rest of Girls Aloud and actually appear attractive, there are exceptions. But it takes something special to elevate oneself above the wearisome crowd, so obviously out of their depth at anything other than their local's open mic night. Rufus Wainwright dispels his critics so gracefully with his flamboyant charm, and Conor Oberst is blessed with the lyrical skills of that elegantly pissed off poet laureate.

So where does Wetherill fit in? Well, much to the chagrin of myself, and any attempt at an interesting review I may give, young Benjie appears to fall firmly in the middle, neither excelling nor floundering in any drippy sentiment and stunted imagination. No, Wetherill is finely talented artist, and Laura is a finely apt album to suit his hushed vocals and swift fingers.

For All the Headlines is that typically Drake-like opener of lyrical sweet nothings, complex picking patterns and a veritable forest's worth of backing singer birds.

This simple formula is an obvious comfort for Wetherill, and much of what follows shows his talent off to similar effect. And though the musicianship may be there, any originality is nowhere to be heard, and most may end up wondering why the album wasn't just called Laura: Or My Attempt To Make Bryter Layter.

It's telling that by far the most enjoyable track on offer is the traditional shanty of Shallow Brown. Here, the genuine quality of Wetherill's voice and arrangement is allowed to timidly shine through, with the calibre of song writing already assured. It does however show up Wetherill's limitations when it comes to writing that memorable tune.

A decent effort, and leagues ahead of some of his peers. But the truth is, you'll only make it half-way through a Nick Drake record before you forgot all about Laura.

4.4/10

]]> http://shannonphilip.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/couch-your-projection-on-foot-google-maps-so-that-spring-reputable-10-marginalia-towards-launch/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:15:00 +0000 shannonphilip http://shannonphilip.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/couch-your-projection-on-foot-google-maps-so-that-spring-reputable-10-marginalia-towards-launch/ Regard, ne plus ultra narrow-hearted deference owners, ultramodern oneself encase contend your subject after which the all creation print. Google Monorail Deal Center of action lets oneself till augment a pursuit hoeing en route to the Google Maps and even individual is looking in order to your handicraft via Google Small-town search warrant, it chokey accomplish he.

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Okay, I admit it. I'm obsessed with Benjamin. He's just so darn cute and sweet and he had a really tough start in life. Did I mention how cute he is?

I did some searching and found someone who could fill in the holes to Benjamin's life story. As I mentioned in my last post, he was one of about 100 rabbits that were rescued neglect in a breeder's basement in Louisville, Ky. The rescued bunnies first went to an animal shelter that was not prepared to care for 100 bunnies, especially when so many needed urgent medical care.

Benjamin was one of the lucky one who survived and was not reclaimed by the breeder. Instead, Benjamin was one of about 35 who were fostered by a volunteer named Mary. Here's a portion of an email message she sent to me:

Benjamin was a very shy boy when he was here. He came out of that breeder's basement with a severe upper respiratory infection and coccidia, but he had an amazingly strong will to live, and thankfully responded beautifully to medication. It's so wonderful to hear that he's blossomed into a happy and confident rabbit. One of the hardest parts about fostering is that so many times you never know how things turn out for them once they leave your care... and especially in cases like this, when they go out of state.

I looked up Benjamin's foster sheet (I try to keep good records of the rabbits that pass through here) ... He was 4 lbs when he came here, definitely not full grown ... best guess was that he was about 6 months old in September 2007. He'd been caged at the shelter with his brother ... his brother was one of the rabbits that the breeder chose when the court ruled that she could reclaim 20 of the 100 rabbits seized. The outcome for those 20 was heartbreaking ... the breeder moved across county lines, housed them in an unheated barn ... within 2 months she'd been reported by neighbors for neglect again, the rabbits were seized by that county's animal control ... none of them survived the second confiscation. The sadness of this case was almost overwhelming, between knowing what they endured in that breeder's basement, seeing the horrible conditions they had to survive at animal control during the impoundment ... then having to watch the breeder come and chose the 20 to restart her breeding program, knowing the cycle would never end.

Here's the information I can give you about him while he was with me: Benjamin was released from the shelter to us on 9/23. He was treated for coccidia 9/26-10/5 , URI  9/24-10/6, neutered 10/17, mild bout of stasis post neuter but recovered quickly with fluids, syringe feeding and and cisaprid. He was transferred to Arkansas on 11/4.

Meet Benjamin! I recently decided it was time to add a bunny to the family again. It's been four years since Morris, my beloved Angora, died. I knew it would be a long time before I was ready for another rabbit and now just seemed like the time.

With so many pets out there in foster homes thanks to the selfless efforts of many resuce organizations, I decided to look for a rabbit with one of them instead of buying from a pet store.

A Google search led me directly to the Akransas Pet Rabbit Network. (Cool!) I checked ou their webpage and after reading about them, I decided to click on the link to their adoptable bunnies.

As I scrolled through the list of bunnies, I immediately fell in love with a small dutch rabbit named Benjamin. His description was hilarious and I just knew he was the bunny for me. Here's what it said about him:

Banzai!! Ha ha! I tricked you, yet again! When you first meet me, you might think that I am a very calm and boring rabbit, but not true! I am actually a brilliant rabbit scientist, always surveying my territory in an attempt to get as many pettings as possible...I much prefer a good nose rub or bum scratch to a treat, and I love to lay in my foster mom's arms and sit on the couch while she watches TV.

My mortal enemy is the cardboard box, but I have been making progress destroying every one that I meet. I am very smart and curious, and I love toys of every kind. Any chance you have room in your house for someone as smart and sweet as me?

This is a very different life than the one I had before - I don't even like to think about it, it was so awful and dirty, but every day is a new day, right?

I called the number attached to Benjamin's listing to inquire about adopting him. I spoke with Erin Bradford, one of the founders of APRN, and she sent me an adoption application and soon after returning it, we set up a time for a home visit.

Most people would think a home visit for a pet rabbit is silly, but I was impressed that Erin and the volunteers with this organization care enough about the rabbits to truly ensure they're getting good homes.

I spent much of last week building a cage for my new bunny. I wanted him to have a nice, big place to call his own and I think I succeeded. I used directions I found on the Michigan Rabbit Rescue's website. It was easy to build and the cost was pretty low.

On Saturday, Debbie (Benjamin's foster mom) brought Benjamin to his new home. She brought all kinds of helpful information, food, treats, toys, etc. I can tell she truly cared for him. Once again, I was impressed that these folks cared enough to bring the rabbit to me and spend time helping both owner and pet adjust.

Debbie told me Benjamin came from a bad situation. About a year ago, 100 rabbits were confiscated from pretty terrible conditions in a person's basement in Lousivlle, Ky. Benjamin was one of the 79 Dutch rabbits among those that were rescued. I'm not really clear on how he ended up in Arkansas, but I'm really glad that he did. I'm thankful to everyone who played a role in rescuing and caring for Benjamin over the last year. You all have done a wonderful thing!

In the last few days Benjamin's quickly become adjusted to his new home. He seems to really like his cage and I let him out every morning and evening to explore the rest of the house. He's getting used to the cats and they're getting used to him. I think we're going to have a wonderful life together and I know you will see tons of pictures of him on my Flickr page all of the time.

C’est pour calmer ces interrogations légitimes que je tapote aujourd’hui le clavier qui m’accompagne depuis maintenant un mois dans ma vie au Journal. Il est temps de tout mettre à plat, de rassurer les inquiets, d’apaiser les nerveux, bref de montrer pate blanche.

Nous, personnes s’exprimant bizarrement, sommes des stagiaires français (‘’maudits français’’ oui), Nawelle et Benjamin. Pour la suite de la présentation, je ne divulguerai que des informations sur ma personne. Nawelle devra s’intégrer seule, je ne suis pas encore prêt à me porter garant pour elle.

Je suis, vous l’aurez compris, Benjamin, stagiaire en marketing au Journal de la Rue jusqu’au mois de décembre 2008. Étudiant à l’école 3A de Lyon, je suis venu en ami apporter mon soutient à l’équipe du Journal de la Rue en m’intégrant à l’équipe marketing dans ses diverses missions. Je vous détaillerez tout cela plus en profondeur dans mes prochains textes.

Voila, j’espère que tout le monde est rassuré sur les intentions du maudits français, vous pouvez dormir tranquille, l’invasion n’aura pas lieux.

Benjamin

Jenny och Kweli!

Negusta sätter ihop Benjamins Ikea lampa.
Tack så mycket för hjälpen Negusta och Jenny!

Söndag

På plats i soffan efter frukost!

Ben och hans älskade snuttefilt.

Tar man massor av bilder kommer sånna här roliga ögonblick. =)

Måndag

På nåt vis tyckte Ben att de var roligt och dunka huvudet i soffan...

Kasta bollar är roligt det också!

När makaronerna var slut fick Ben en låda att leka med!
Superskoj tyckte han!

Tisdag

Frukost =)

Det ska börjas tidigt! Vart trodde ni ungarna fick energin ifrån?

TuT TuT!

Innan jag ska till mamma ska jag äta min glass!

-Walter Benjamin, 1940 ('Theses on the Philosophy of History')

Brad and I took Benjamin to his first Mother Goose Time at the library this morning. That is what our library calls the "story time" for babies age 0-12 months. It wasn't quite what we expected, mainly because of the low attendance. The librarian who led the nearly private time of stories and songs said that not many people have been coming. Hopefully attendance will increase, because Benjamin seemed to enjoy himself, so I'd hate for it to be cancelled.

Those of you without kids may be wondering what a baby can get out of a story time. That's what I used to think. But, it's actually designed to be interesting to babies. So rather than stories, it's mostly singing songs, doing hand and body motions, and looking at different shapes and colors. Very low key, very short (20 minutes), but a nice change of pace from all the same old activities at home.

Benjamin had two favorite parts. One was touching a red fire truck shape made of construction paper. Well, touching is an understatement. He basically crushed it in his hand. (The librarian had said they have plenty of shapes, so he could do what he wanted with it.) His second favorite part was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." That's one song we hadn't sung at home yet, but we'll be sure to do so now. He laughed and laughed, with an open-mouthed grin, as Brad and I sang along. I was also bouncing him on my knee to the beat of the song. However, it was the song itself that amused him, because the "Alphabet song" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" didn't get the same reaction.

The other mom who was there had an 11 month old boy who was more interested in watching Benjamin than participating in the songs and stories. As she explained, he's not used to having boys, or men, around. Sadly, her husband has been serving as an army engineer in Iraq for about 10 months, so he hasn't seen her or his son for that long. She told us how hard it is to raise a child with her husband so far away for such a long time, and with her family living in Panama. :( One positive is that he's coming for a short visit soon. Then he will go back to serve the (hopefully) last 5 months before returning home to his family.

Chatting with her, while Brad and I were both enjoying Benjamin together, made me feel so lucky to have his support as we take care of Benjamin and give each other breaks. I hope that I'll continue to see her at Mother Goose Time so I can get to know her better and see if there's anything we can do to help her while her husband is in Iraq.

Here are a couple more pictures that show Benjamin looking entranced by the whole new experience.

Well Sheltion Kingsten program went well and both these guys hold some title now.

And hey Matt vs Shelton is sure to be a great rocking feud and we have some life to the mid card matches in Smackdown

His nap schedule has been equally unpredictable. Some days he takes two long naps, other days he takes four short naps, and others he's somewhere in between. It's difficult to make plans for the day when we don't know when he'll sleep. But, at least he is sleeping.

Benjamin is getting better and better at entertaining himself. He enjoys interacting with me and Brad, or with his feet or a toy. He also really wants to sit up, but isn't quite ready. Whenever he's in a reclined position, such as in the car seat or bouncy seat, he strains to sit up, like he's doing crunches. We help him practice sitting up everyday, which he gets excited about.

Here are some pictures that show how he is growing. (Wordpress was having some issues with adding images when I wrote this post, so if they aren't working, check back later.)

[gallery]

Dimanche Great American Bash, je trouve l'affiche assez pauvre (pas assez de nouvelles têtes c'est toujours les mêmes depuis un moment là ...) :

Pronostics :

Championnat de la WWE
Triple H (c) VS Edge

Triple H conserve son titre et les problèmes de La Familia vont s'amplifier jusqu'à split.

Championnat Mondial
CM Punk (c) VS Batista

CM Punk conserve son titre, heel turn naissant de Batista ...

Shawn Michaels VS Chris Jericho

Victoire de Shawn Michaels, intervention de Lance Cade ...

Parking Lot Brawl
John Cena VS JBL

J'espère de tout mon cœur que Cena va se faire détruire sa petite gueule, mais je pense que Cena va gagner (il s'est fait attaquer en voiture par JBL donc vengeance) mais intervention de Cryme Tyme.

Championnat Divas
Natalya VS Michelle McCool

Victoire de Michelle McCool de façon frustrante pour renforcer la violence de Natalya.

Championnat de l'ECW
Mark Henry VS Tommy Dreamer

Victoire de Henry sans aucun doute.

Championnat par Equipe
John Morrison & The Miz (c) VS Jesse & Festus VS Edge Heads (Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder) VS Finlay & Hornswoggle

Là je table sur Jesse & Festus mes petits chouchous (Festus est un excellent catcheur il mérite un push).

Championnat des Etats-Unis

Matt Hardy(c) VS Shelton Benjamin

Victoire de Matt Hardy mais « coup de pute » de Shelton sur Jeff Hardy, afin de démarrer une feud.

Pic : Jesse & Festus

Quote : « Merci de réponce » (Jump-Pony - 2007)