Bear on a Wire

You've gotta love the ambition of this poor bear....



 And as a bonus, check out this friendly guy!

Peter Furler Band - "Sun and Shield" Album Review

Peter Furler's newest album (or rather I should say "The Peter Furler Band's" new album) "Sun and Shield" has just hit the streets, and Furler has certainly taken things in a new direction.
 
When they were saying this was going to be a more "raw" sounding record, I was bracing myself for a letdown just in case. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. When listening to these songs, you can quickly tell that Furler is definitely showing his continued maturity as an artist.

This collection has a much more "indie" feel, moreso than most of his previous solo album or his work in the Newsboys. More raw and stripped down indeed. Think "adult-contemporary punk".

If you're tired of the dubstep & electronics-heavy sound that is so prevalent today, this album should be a welcome change of pace for you.

This record has lots of vocal and musical/instrumental surprises to keep you humming and tapping your toes with each new track...

Lyrically, it also feels very alive and very fresh. It's chocked full of Furler's patented "encouraging-while-also-challenging" themes, and thankfully these songs don't rely on worn-out lyrical cliches or tired CCM motifs.

Oddly enough, the title track "Sun and Shield" - while a good song and perhaps most friendly to "CCM hit radio", might be the least interesting one on the album.

"Shame", the title to the 4th track, is also a theme that comes up a few times throughout this album, and as you listen to it you can almost feel the resonating reverberations of Newsboys "Not Ashamed" album from so long ago. In a way, it's like Peter Furler's journey coming full circle, if you will.

The track "Yeshua" (which features longtime Christian artist - and Peter's father-in-law - Mylon Le Fevre) starts out in way that you might think it will be just another bland worship song, but it doesn't unfold that way, it's stylishly devout and one of the album's nice surprises.

If we're talking about whole songs, other notably surprising standouts on this album include "Dare I Say", "It's Alright (For Lazarus)" and "The Overcomer"

You can tell these are very personal songs for Peter Furler, though they still retain plenty of catchy melodies, bouncy tempos and satisfyingly swaying melodies - just not necessarily in a "Newsboys" way. In short, songs that are indeed personal, but not what anyone could call depressing. These songs are not a chore to listen to.

For longtime Newsboys fans, you'll be pleased to know that Phil Joel is on this album a lot. So much so that I actually wonder why he's not on the cover as a full-fledged member. In any case, Phil's background vocals are thankfully as good as ever here.
 
"Sun and Shield" as an album feels like a nice cohesive experience, not just a collection of singles. If you were thinking of just checking out one or two songs from this offering, I recommend that you rather get yourself the whole album to enjoy all the songs in their full context. Trust me, the journey will be worth it - it'll make you smile, and maybe even cry. All in all, it feels like a really well-balanced album. 4 out of 5 from me.

"Sun and Shield" marks an intriguing, fresh direction for Furler, and given his penchant for blazing his own trails, I'm very interested to see what Furler comes up with next.

My Dad Said It #4

"They came up with a cure for Alzheimer's disease - they just forgot where they put it!"

Whovians! A Springfield Punx Update

As many have requested, I've drawn the new 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) for my Springfield Punx blog. You can go visit the site and see him (and much more) now! Thanks for the support!

http://springfieldpunx.blogspot.com/

JLA Adventures; Trapped in Time - Quick Review

JLA Adventures; Trapped in Time is a new animated DC film that was released just last week, in what's being called a "stealth release" as nobody seemed to know it was coming until days before it's release. This movie (to this point anyway) seems to be a Target exclusive.

Having seen this new film, I leave you with the following bullet points & review;

• It's called "JLA Adventures" - That's "JL" with an "A" at the end, as in "America". They dropped it for the "Justice League" animated series, and ever since it seems they have been shying away from that "A", but I like it.
• This one is aimed at a slightly younger or "all ages" audience. It's not "kiddie" or "dumb" necessarily, it's just not as "hardcore" as the regular DC animated films of recent years.
• In tone and in look, it's kind of a cool melding of the Superfriends, Young Justice, and Justice League animated series. You get the Lex Luthor led Legion of Doom and some high-flying adventure. You get a look at the future and a little teenage angst with the two Legion of Superheroes characters. You also get the JLA and all their gadgets, tactics, and teamwork to take down the enemy.
• Flash seems particularly similar to his counterpart in the Justice League cartoon. He, along with Robin, are the main source of comic relief.
• If you liked Diedrich Bader as Batman for "Batman; The Brave & The Bold" then you're in for a treat, because he's back as the Dark Knight in this!
• The costumes look great, taking inspiration from the New 52 versions but remaining clean and unique. I thought Robin's new outfit was especially cool.
• In any good time travel story, you have "rules" to deal with concerning paradoxes and potential alternate timelines and stuff. In this movie, they deal with it through a haunting character that is actually the living embodiment of this, acting as sort of a "time lord" (if you Doctor Who fans will forgive the expression). I thought it was a clever and interesting way to approach it.
• I know this is largely aimed at a younger audience with limited attention spans, but it does feel a bit too short. I might have liked another 15 minutes in the second half to fill the story out more.
• The way it ends leaves you with the impression that they want to do more original films in this series/universe.

All in all, it's a mixture of things we've seen before with some fairly cool new stuff as well. If you miss the Justice League or Justice League Unlimited cartoons, this should scratch that itch for a while.

I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Have you seen JLA Adventures; Trapped in Time? Comment below to share your thoughts on it!

Window washers at a children's hospital

 Love it!

via https://twitter.com/StayChiIl/status/297481516890595329

My Dad Said It #3

"If they had known how William Shatner would turn out, they would have called him Captain QUIRK! HA HA HA!"