The Killers: Battle Born - Review

Following up their debut, Hot Fuss (2004) with Sam's Town (2006), The Killers were set to rule the world. Their edgy rock, complete with poetical lyrics about love, America and let downs connected with generations Y and Z. The Killers set themselves with the task of become the band of the 2000s. Then came Day & Age (2008). While successful, it divided fans. More electronic and disco than before, the edge was missing and fans were unsure what was next. The Killers disbanded for a few months and embarked on solo projects, and it looked like they wouldn't rise to the heights they promised. After four years, along comes Battle Born.

Almost a statement that disco is a thing of the past, Battle Born ranges from the original post-rock sound to 80s style ballads to country jingles. Starting with Flesh and Bone, the album promises a return to Hot Fuss style rock, and together with A Matter of Time and Rising Tide, the mood is continued intermittently through the album to almost revive hope. But predominately, the gears have shifted completely from Day & Age. The sounds are remnant in the back ground of Here With Me and Miss Atomic Bomb, but decidedly slower.

Battle Born is a chorus led piece, with the verses reserved for scene setting. The Way it Was, Here With Me and Heart of a Girl are solely revolving on the chorus to provide some movement in the song. The young-love orientated lyrics of the album are a return to form, providing the kind of imagery The Killers have gone with for years. Battle Born marks a return to form for The Killers, managing to provide the classic heartland rock desired. The only real low points are Rising Tide, a heavy and serious song and From Here on Out, which unexpectedly and bizarrely slips into a country tune.

Battle Born will be a hit with Killers fans, and fans of classic rock. However it isn't quite the world dominating album that The Killers are waiting for. The highlights are Runaways, Flesh and Bone and Miss Atomic Bomb, all which will be single releases assumedly. Battle Born is a success, but it isn't truly the Killers music that fans originally fell in love with.

7.5 out of 10 - Very Good.

Looper - Review

It's not often a time travel movie comes along, that is not really about time travel. Looper is such a movie. From the mind of Rian Johnson, Looper is a story about characters and how love can control people. While the premise will invite science fiction buffs, the story will keep the rest. Looper is an intriguing mix of drama and science, it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe and Bruce Willis, as Joe. Just older.

Set in 2044, Looper introduces Joe (Gordon-Levitt) as a 'looper', an assassin who kills enemies sent back in time by mob bosses 30 years in the future. Now if you are still interested, Joe lives a wild life, a drug addict by night and assissin by day. Until he is told by his friend and fellow looper Seth (Paul Dano) that a mysterious 'holy terror' has taken over the future and is sending the future versions of loopers back in time, so they are killed by themselves. Joe encounters his Old Self (Willis) and faces a dilemma of whether to break the cardinal rule in looping: don't let your enemy escape.

Looper takes you through many twists and turns through it's two hours, including the introduction of Emily Blunt in a major role, but I don't want to spoil the plot too much. If you can wrap your head around the terms and customs of 2044, and what the plot all means enough to catch up on the real action it will be an enjoyable experience. Some will scoff at the plot and the futuristic nature of Looper, but overall if it is stuck with and trusted it reveals an interesting love story. If you are to see one science fiction movie, or one heart felt drama, or one action movie in the latter part of 2012, make it Looper. It is a winner on all levels.

Four and a half out of Five.

Second Test, New Life

Without doubt the second test at Wanderers was one of the all time greats, right alongside Edgebaston in 2005 as a modern great. Day five began poorly, with Clarke and Ponting falling reasonably early and South Africa becoming the favourites again. It ended with Pat Cummins blasting his way into folklore, much as he did earlier in the match with the ball.

Rain loomed over day five early and the first session was completely written off, and like the rest of the 'series' the gameplay was all about momentum. After the loss of Clarke and Ponting, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin were left to stop the bleeding. A 70 run stand was the result, with Hussey falling for 39 and South Africa again taking momentum. Haddin was met with Johnson, and the most important partnership of the match took place here. Both under clouds about their spots, and they played their own way. Flashy, risky but good enough. The partnership was worth 72, with Haddin falling with 23 to get. Siddle fell quickly, but it was Cummins, on debut, the man of the match, who hit the winning runs.

While it is time to look toward New Zealand in 9 days time, and speculate about the team for that match, perhaps we should just take a moment. Take a moment to think about the best test match in 6 years, about Australia bouncing back and returning to life.

A Fourth Day of Thirds

Day Four at the Wanderers and we are no closer to knowing the result. The day was split in three however, two victories to Australia and one to South Africa. Whoever wins the splits tomorrow will walk away with victory, and neither team will be confident.

The first third began with Pat Cummins, who officially announced himself as a star by breaking the firm stand of abdevilliers.com and Amla, and following Amla's century, a run out and wicket to Lyon, South Africa were reeling at 7-266.

The second third belonged to Dale Steyn and Philander who combined for a frustrating partnership of 48, finally broken by the golden arm of Cummins. Cummins knocked over Dorkel's castle first ball to register his maiden five wicket haul. Steyn hit out and fell on his own sword for 42, however the damage he had a part in with Philander was huge, changing a possible chase of 250 into a looming target of 310.

The final third, Australia's innings belonged to us. Despite the shocking start, Watson leaving a straight ball in the second ball of the innings, and Phil Hughes edging a push outside off, we were stuck at 2-19. Khawaja and Ponting resurrected themselves and their country in a strong partnership, worth 122. Unfortunately Khawaja fell within 5 minutes of bad light, and we are left at 3-142 at stumps, 168 left for victory.

Ricky Ponting holds the key, unbeaten on 54, he can guide us to glory or start the collapse. Recent form has us left expecting the worst, but history has us backing him in. Which will prevail, the question is to be answered.

Day One, Test Two, Year One.

The rebirth of Australian cricket began at the Wanderers stadium. Well, sort of. Of course, we haven't died, but there was a near fatal heart attack at Cape Town. But, with all new life, it is time to move on. A new test match, Usman Kahwaja is in for Shaun Marsh, who has been our best batsman of late. Our best bowler, Ryan Harris was injured, replaced by the great young hope, Pat Cummins. As usual, Clarke lost the toss, South Africa batting.

Mitch Johnson took the first wicket, hoping to save his career, Shane Watson took another and then promptly suffered an injury. And Jacques Kallis went nuts, scoring a 50 faster than he scores in T20 matches. Quck wickets to Pete Siddle and Cummins and we were on top. As usual we surrendered the adjacency with perplexing bowling changes and a streaky partnership between Ashwell Princess and A.BDevilliers.com. Princess gave his wicket away to Lyon to start the third session, abdevilliers.com skied a poor pull shot, and Cummins took a beautiful diving catch. Lyon had Vernon Philly LBW, and Spud Boucher skied Siddle on a poor pull. The tail was cleaned up by Clarke, and South Africa lost 6 for 25 to be all out for 266.

Of course, our bowling has never been the issue, however weak it has been. Not putting teams away with big totals and good batting is the problem. From the look of the pitch, it was a 400 first innnings par, and it looks pretty flat. The question hangs over Phil Hughes and Watson at the top, Kahawaja at three and Ponting at four. Have we ever had such an unknown top four? They seem to be so heavily unreliable, and they need to put our doubts, and their own at ease with big scores.  A lead of at least 100 is a must, and we should be aiming towards 200. But, batting has been our weakness. The second day of the new life will deliver more answers than the first. And the question is for how long this life will last.
We shall see tomorrow.

Vale Bob Davis

As a Geelong fan, who's jurisdiction reigns solely in the 21st century, my knowledge of the great Bob Davis is thin. I know he was a fantastic player, good enough to be named in the Geelong Team of the Century, and remained Geelong's last premiership coach from 1963 until 2007. Davis took part in the clubs second most successful era, the early 1950s where the cats won two flags and was pipped in the 1953 grand final in search of a three-peat.

Bobby, as he was affectionately known turned to media after his career and, along with Jack Dyer and Lou Richards set the standard for Australian Rules media coverage. The three great mates would participate in World of Sport and League Teams together, always with large humour and good fun. All this information has been passed down from the past to me. The beautiful thing about Bob Davis is that he made an impression even after his work.

Bobby was simply the last grand Geelong player, royalty in our town, representing the era of glory from the old days. His appearances became less and less as the years went by, yet whenever he was seen he was seen wearing a big grin, just for the pleasure of being involved in an event. For me, the lasting memory of Bob will certainly be the presentation of the 2009 AFL Premiership, flagged to present it if Geelong won in 2008, he was disappointed by a poor cats effort. The following year Davis handed it over, of sorts. As he gave it to Mark Thompson and Tom Harley, Bob seemed as if he didn't want to let go, and the players stormed the presentation, with Bob still clinging on to the cup. Bob Davis just wanted that last taste of the glory days, and nobody was going to argue with him, after all, that would be treason.

Holy Blogging, Batman.

Most of us know about this new Facebook feature, where there are poll questions asked of the public and they reply in kind. The polls range from all the important topics such as 'Eminem of Justin Bieber?' 'What hurts more, giving birth or getting kicked in the balls?' and 'Who do you hate more?' with the top vote getters being 'Fat sluts', 'Kids with rat tails and nike airmaxs' and 'General Cunts'. While these questions do prove to be quite interesting and vital to my lifestyle, one particular question caught my eye. 'Is there a God?'.


Facebook is not renowned for it's deep and meaningful efforts, but the sole question, 'Is there a God?' gave me an uplifting feeling. The votes, as they stand, 'No' has 226,463 votes. 'Time will tell', an extremely simple answer, sits with 211,242 votes, and 'Yes' has received 2,361,312 votes. More than ten times the other results, 'Yes' is the truthful answer, simply because it has the most votes.

God will never be proven, officially as existent. Yet there is no way to extinguish the hope of those who claim he is real, God will exist so long as somebody believes in Him. I, myself am not a believer in religion, yet the hope and joy it can offer people is one of the great things about this planet. Billions of people pour their souls out day after day, to a greater being above them without proof of existence. God doesn't represent an all powerful being, God represents the chance for humans to come together and believe.

While God remains an unknown property in this blog, the people who believe in him and trust in him are certainly there. God is the forefront for love and harmony, where the church built in his honour promotes   trust, happiness and love between all people. If all people joined into faith, we would be strong in our resolve to love one and other, trust each other and be happy in our togetherness, God would be proven as existent. Yet, as it stands there are many people out there who feel the opposite, and although the existence of a higher power, guiding humans along the road seems illogical to many, the morals and ethics behind him are not.

So while God remains unknown, the people who believe in him create him, and keep him alive to this day. God is forever to exist, simply because people think he does.