ett skott till.

Caol Ila Moch

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:30:12 +0100

Caol Ila Moch
I love Caol Ila, the 12 and the Distiller’s Edition are two of my favorites. I was a bit surprised to find their new offering Moch at Systembolaget in Stockholm, but couldn’t pass up giving it a try. Since I noticed there were no reviews on here yet, I figured I’d do one right away (besides, my bottle of Corryvreckan is across the Atlantic from me right now).

Color: Fall sunset gold, slightly darker than the 12.

Nose: Surprisingly weak. Slightly medicinal, peat, ash.

Palate: Disintegrates on the tongue. Apparently, “Moch” means dawn in gaelic, and if the other Caol Ilas are a thunderstorm in the night, Moch is the dawn the morning after.
Honey, vanilla, mixed with peat and smoke, and a slight hint of tar.

Finish: Oddly, the finish is slightly stronger than the palate.
Lingering char and some flowery notes too.

Overall 89/100 with a recommendation.

The first thing that really struck me is how drinkable the Moch is. It’s very very light; probably the lightest Islay I’ve tried.
That said, it’s still pretty complex, and has that unique Caol Ila thing going. So if you’re a whisky enthusiast, but have a hard time getting your friends to try something other than Jim Beam and Jameson, this might just be the perfect dram to have at home and share with people who haven’t been bitten by the Scotch bug yet.

Dag tre.

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:19:59 +0100

Dag tre.

Så här klipper jag just nu.

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:18:04 +0100

Så här klipper jag just nu.

Photo

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:31:52 +0100

Ardbeg Uigeadail & Talisker 57North

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:34:00 +0200

A double review seems appropriate for these two, the Ardbeg Uigedail (54%) and Talisker 57North (57%).

Preface: Talisker and Ardbeg’s ten years are two of my favorite go-to whiskys, both seem perfect for everyday enjoyment.
When I went to Scotland, it seemed obvious for me to visit the Talisker distillery, where I tried most of their varieties, and I really fell for the 57North. Maybe it was the romanticism and beauty of Skye, or maybe it was the lovely company, but the fact that this photo was taken ten minutes from the distillery just seemed…right.

Anyway, on to the reviews!

Talisker 57North:

Nose: Pepper and sea. But not the atlantic, a less salty one. The mediterranean?

Palate: A co-taster said “Ew! Soap!”. I’ll agree it’s a bit too medicinal if you go neat, but with a drop of water the medicinal almost completely disappears, and what’s left is a deep, peaty, caol taste. I say coal, because it’s so heavy it almost doesn’t feel like liquid to the tongue. On the second sip is when all the flavors hit: Oak, seaweed (from the atlantic this time!), with a lingering sweetness. Surprisingly little smoke.

Finish: Oddly, a bit weaker than the ten year. Maybe it’s the overpowering sensation left over, but it almost feels like you just had a smoke, numbing the tastebuds.

92/100

Ardbeg Uigeadail:

Nose: Maple, burnt caramel, with a slight medicinal quality.

Palate: I have a habit of trying all my whiskys both neat and with a drop of water. I expected the Uigeadail (with its high alcohol percentage) to be better with water, but to my surprise I regretted the water drops. Neat it’s incredibly flavourful, but the balance is stunning, and the water ruined some of the composition. In my opinion, you don’t need to add water here.
Hay, pine, slight sulfur, and sleeping on a pillow left outdoors in the sun on a summer day.

Finish: Starts out with christmas nuts, smoked salmon, moss. The smoke lingers longer.

94/100

I’ve always loved Talisker, but Ardbeg has been a revelation to me. In this high ABV shootout, the Uigeadail wins out by a slight margin. Ardbeg’s entire offering is very impressive, and even the missus has conceeded that yes, we will be going to Scotland again and yes, we will be going to Islay (for the Ardbeg-Laphroaig-Lagavulin-Caol Ila-Bruichladdich quintet).

Caol Ila Distiller's Edition

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:14:01 +0200

The Caol Ila Distiller’s Edition came highly recommended to me, and I’m currently on a trip, so when it came to deciding what scotch to buy that I can’t get in my home country, the decision fell on the Distiller’s Edition Caol Ila. I love their twelve year old, as I find it one of the more complex and unique Islays.
I could only find two reviews of it in the archives, and only one of them was for this particular year (distilled in 1998, bottled in 2011).
Color: Slightly darker than the 12, it’s still a rather light golden oil.
Nose: Buttery oak, sea wash.
Palate: Neat I got caramelized, almost burnt onions, rosemary bread, and much more smoke than the nose. With a touch of spring water, the dram really opens up, and I get tomato, peach, pomegranate, and much more spice.
Finish: This is where it shines. Just like the Caol Ila 12, this stays with you for a while, and just continues to evolve. The peat is as silky smooth as any Islay I’ve tried, while retaining the distinct hebridean smoke.

Overall: 93/100

This is a fantastic whisky. I’m in the northeastern US right now, and it’s very hot both outside and in the apartment I’m staying in, so I was hesitant to write a review on my first tasting. It’s cooled down a bit today, so I went for a second go, and I’m happy I did. My co-taster (not pictured) thought it too intense neat, and I’m inclined to agree, but with a drop of water we both sat back and went “whoa”. This whisky rivals my favorites (Ardbeg Uigedail, Highland Park 18, and Talisker 57N). At the price point ($80 in store in Massachusetts), it could be hard to beat, and I definitely recommend it if you stumble on a bottle.

Presenting Budapest

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:43:00 +0200

At film school we were taught that every shot should mean something, in addition to saying something.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (directed by Brad Bird) and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (directed by Tomas Alfredsson) may not seem to have a lot in common, but they’re both masculine spy films, and they both spend their first couple of minutes in Budapest, where a minor character gets shot in a mission gone wrong. These are my thoughts on how the city is presented.

Ghost Protocol opens on a screen telling us where we are (so we know we’re in scary eastern Europe, where bad things happen), followed by your typical helicopter photography of landmarks (for some reason graded so that the Hungarian flag looks like the Dutch), finally pulling in on a roof where a spy is on the run (with some pretty ridiculous weather enhancing CGI).

In Tinker, the shot opens on a similarly gloomy post card view of Budapest, while the mentor character explains the gravity of the situation. Compared to the claustrophobic mood of the preceding scene, it’s a breath of fresh air.

But as the dialogue finishes Alfredsson is finally ready to set the scene. The camera pulls back, and we’re indoors again. We’re treated to the silhouettes of a school class looking at two Soviet jet fighters flying by.

So why didn’t Alfredsson settle for the regular aerial photography?
Ghost Protocol’s Budapest is lifeless, dull, just a backdrop. It’s a place where a character can get killed without anyone finding out who did it. And that’s fine.
When Alfredsson pulls out and shows a flock of children exalted at a military display it’s a juxtaposition to the dull postcard view. He wants us to know that it’s a city full of living, breathing citizens, and british agents still get shot on open streets. At the same time he takes us back into the muted claustrophobia that permeates the whole film, and reminds us that people actually live in that claustrophobia.
Ultimately, within the first few of shots of each film, we know that Ghost Protocol is a film about spies in exotic locales, and that Tinker is a film about people.

Brad Bird is a fine director, he’s made some of Pixar’s best films, and his debut live action Ghost Protocol is an exciting adrenaline rush, it certainly had me on my toes. But I’m pretty sure he was not in the helicopter when the aerial footage of Budapest was taken (if he’s even been to Budapest) whereas I’m almost certain that Alfredsson was all over shooting a post card pull out with child extras in a rainy Budapest.
Because that shot was part of Tinker’s Budapest, and no one else’s.

Musik och Leon

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:21:00 +0200

Jag kommer inte ihåg vem på filmskolan som visade mig det här men jag har funderat mycket på det, och expanderat teorin lite grann. Igår skrev jag ut det på reddit, och tänkte att det kanske skulle passa på bloggen också:

A lot has been said about the Leon’s relationship with Mathilda, and how weird it is that Besson made a film to explain his own relationship with a 16 year old girl, but I’ve never read anything about how wonderfully playful the film is in its meta moments.
Consider the sequence that starts with Leon going to the movies (39 seconds in):

Other than being a fantastic film sequence, what follows for about 5 minutes is Besson’s musings on music in film, and something I’ve never really come across in any other film. It’s no secret that Besson really likes to play with music in his films (just have a look at 5th Element), but this one really takes the cake. And this is coming from a filmmaker who doesn’t like to use music in his films. Bear with me here. I’ll assume you know about the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic music.
1, Meta-diegetic music: Leon listens to diegetic music in another film, Singing in the rain.
2, Outer diegetic music: Cut to Leon, in the theatre, listening to the music.
3, Inner diegetic music, that we can hear: Cut to the staircase, the music continues playing. We can hear it, but it’s actually still in Leon’s head. Meanings it’s Inner diegetic
4, Plain old non-diegetic music: Beautiful tango soundtrack for the full sequence.
5, Blending of outer diegetic music and inner diegetic music: Stanfield shakes his pill case. The pills make him hear music, he shakes and listens to the percussional sound they make.
6, Inner non-music: “I like these calms little moments before the storm”. Stanfield can’t hear the music yet.
7, Outer diegetic music that we can’t hear: The step mother listening to music in the hot tub. The music is diegetic, but we can’t hear it because it’s on her headphones.
8, I’m torn on how to classify “I’ll play you some”. Could be considered a repeat of #5.
9, Blending of non diegetic music (the tango) and the diegetic sounds, as Stanfield walks through the marble threads.
10, Stanfield shuts the non-diegetic tango off with the snap of a finger and goes into:
11 Inner diegetic music that we can’t hear: The whole “you don’t like Beethoven”-speech. He intersperses it with pretend-playing the piano, which I guess could be considered an inner diegetic/visual music blend.
12 And then finally, music as a physical, diegetic object: The LP collection. This is topped off with the biggest insult you can give an artsy person “What the fuck do you know about music?”.
And the film is full of meta-jokes like this. So say what you will about the subject matter, but this is a commercial film with high artistic values, and shouldn’t be dismissed as the pulp it (somewhat) presents itself as.

Det blev inga uppdateringar under resan. Oklart varför.

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:26:57 +0200

Det blev inga uppdateringar under resan. Oklart varför.

Det står att jag är klippare på den här videon. Vet inte om det...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:32:00 +0100

Det står att jag är klippare på den här videon. Vet inte om det borde göra det.

Har tydligen med James Joyce att göra. Det visste jag inte när...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:46:00 +0100

Har tydligen med James Joyce att göra. Det visste jag inte när jag klippte.

Det har varit en jävligt bra vecka för självförtroendet. Nu i veckan kommer Susanne Sundförs nya...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:48:04 +0100

Det har varit en jävligt bra vecka för självförtroendet.
Nu i veckan kommer Susanne Sundförs nya video, en liten del av det.

Jag vet att det är lite OC, men jag brukar ju ta tid på hur lång tid det tar min vattenkokare att...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:29:51 +0100

Jag vet att det är lite OC, men jag brukar ju ta tid på hur lång tid det tar min vattenkokare att koka upp. Den brukar variera med cirka 10 sekunder, men idag blev den klar hela 23 sekunder snabbare än snittet. Det ni.

Quiz Time!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:24:53 +0100

Maria’s blog challenge

I never do these, but when Maria requested that I take the challenge, I simply had to. Without having a blog of my own, I am temporarily hijacking Anton’s.

What were you doing ten years ago?

I was a freshman in high school; maybe anxious for the time to pass, or wondering what the conversations of the other kids were like; not sure what the month of January had in store for me.

What were you doing a year ago?

I was living back in San Diego, in a very charming house with a girl who is now one of my closest friends. I hated my job at a hotel front desk but continued to look forward to my exciting upcoming stay in Stockholm.

Five snacks you like

I assume snacks means salty things that you probably shouldn’t be eating. So with that in mind: Popcorn/Cool Ranch Doritos/Chex Mix/Cheez-Its/Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips

Five songs for which you know the whole text

Too many to count, but some of the highlights include: “Baby Got Back”/Les Miserables (from start to finish)/Every song from Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album/most of “Rent”/”God Only Knows” The Beach Boys

Five things you would do if you were a multimillionaire

Help my mom and step dad retire/Pay off my student loans/Fund Anton’s feature film/travel travel travel/Continue to work without being concerned with my salary

Five bad habits

Stay up too late/Too hard on myself/I can be a bit anxious/Sometimes overly practical/I’m sensitive

Five things you like doing

Eating/Cooking/Crafting/Traveling/Being with Anton

Five things you would never wear or buy

I’m not sure if I would give a definite NEVER but it would be pretty unlikely to see me in: a fur coat/dangerously high heeled shoes/brightly colored eye shadow/a hair straightener/ animal print anything

Five favourite toys

Computer/my glue gun /my first and current dollhouse/sewing machine/my future electric mixer

down.

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:55:04 +0100

Ibland när jag känner mig nere går jag till min hemsida och klickar random musikvideor jag klippt, och kollar kommentarerna.

Det finns folk som verkligen gillar det vi håller på med, vissa gillar det mycket mer än jag gör. Det är rätt skönt att höra såna här kvällar.

Min uppskattning på totalt antal views 2011 är runt två miljoner. Också rätt skönt såna här kvällar.

Puss!

Det här är Mukurob, The Finger of God, i Namibia. Enligt...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:19:00 +0100

Det här är Mukurob, The Finger of God, i Namibia. Enligt Wikipedia fanns det en Nama-myt som sa att när Mukurob föll skulle den vite mannen lämna Afrika.

Två veckor efter att Mukurob föll ner i en storm 1988 lämnade Sydafrika Namibia, och ett år senare var landet självständigt.

Så här ser det ut idag.

Musikvideor

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0100

Jag har inte sett tillräckligt många bra videor i år för att göra en vanlig topplista. Därför kör vi kategorier i år.

Obs. Efter en snabb genomtitt ser jag att väldigt mycket på listan kanske inte är helt rumsrent. Bäst att inte kolla på dagisjobbet.

Bästa skådespelare:

Rihanna & Dudley O’Shaughnessy i Rihanna - We found love.

Det var länge sen man såg ett så trovärdigt par i en musikvideo. Storyn och låten är väl så där, men man tror faktiskt på dem.

Bästa ljudläggning:

Justice - Civilization (oklart vem som ljudlagt)

Något så ovanligt som en video med riktigt bra ljud. Det finns något att lära sig här… om du ljudlägger en actionscen, lägg feta ljudeffekter i synk först, sen struntar du helt i synken och lägger dem i takt med musiken istället.

Bonus för Kenneth Anger-homagen.

Bästa klippning:

The Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (klippt av Stéphane Lafleur)

Jag håller på med en liknande video, och det är inte lätt. Speciellt när det är snygga bilder man jobbar med… hur får man harmoni i det? Monsieur Lafleur har gjort det ruggigt bra.

Om jag nu bara kunde få interaktiva versionen att funka…

Honorable mention: Kanye West - All of the Lights

Bästa video jag såg på bio:

Öppningsmontaget av Melancholia (regi Lars von Trier)

I stenhård konkurrens. Lasse har, till skillnad från vanliga musikvideo- och reklamfilmsregissörer fattat hur man använder sin Phantom. Tänk om han kunde göra en video till lite bättre musik också…

Bästa entagningsvideo:

The Black Keys - Lonely Boy (regi Jesse Dylan)

Stjärna i kanten för han i bakgrunden som inte vet att kameran rullar.
Det går en mytologi om den här videon på nätet, men allt begrundande hur den kom till spelar egentligen ingen roll. Snubben framför kameran är som gjord för youtubeåldern.

Bästa video med instrument i bild:

Battles - My Machines (regi DANIELS)

Om man ska låta ett band stå och spela musik i en video ska man sätta dem i ett vettigt sammanhang. Även om jag inte längre klassar Battles som ett av mina favoritband säger den här videon mycket om hur det är att gå på en av deras spelningar.

Bästa abstrakta video:

Gang Gang Dance - Mindkilla (regi Shoji Goto)

Jag måste ju erkänna att jag önskar att samma regissör gjort en video till årets bästa låt istället, men det kanske hade varit hopplöst. Istället fick vi ju den här läckerheten… teknisk perfektion, perfekt design, och skön retrojuxtaposition. I några dar trodde jag att den var 60 fps, men det visar sig inte vara så, han har på något sätt fått den känslan i 30 istället.

Bästa performance:

Nicki Minajs vers i Monster (regi Jake Nava)

Glöm resten av videon. Precis som i låten är det Nicki som dominerar.

Bästa sexvideo:

Handsome Furs - What About Us (regi Scott Coffey)

Bra exempel på varför musikvideor är så mycket bättre nuförtiden än när de skulle anpassas för TV. En hel del avant garde-regissörer från 60-talet hade nog gillat det här. Vackert, sensuellt, och helt perfekt till låten.

Bästa idé, samt bästa video:

Duck Sauce - Big Bad Wolf (regi Keith Schofield)

Det finns reaktionsvideor på youtube, folk som bara tittar på den här videon. Har det någonsin hänt med en musikvideo förr?

Keith gör årets bästa video igen. Han vet att om man får en bra idé ska man dra den hela vägen, och sen gärna lite till.

The thing is, 1.40 am is perfect for me. I just wish it was doable.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:42:26 +0100

The thing is, 1.40 am is perfect for me. I just wish it was doable.

goingforpicture: I made a film production bingo board. I hope...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:40:07 +0100

goingforpicture:

I made a film production bingo board. I hope you enjoy!

Photo

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:04:53 +0100