Best of 2007 (so far)

Half way through the year seems like a logical time to release our “Best of 2007 (so far)” list. I polled a group of five music lovers (including myself) - used a super secret scientific process to crunch the numbers to come up with our top 5 albums of 2007 (so far).

1. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

2. Interpol - Our Love to Admire

3. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

5. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Unbelievable! Vino test positive - Astana pulls out of the tour

Seriously, cycling is considered one of the dirtiest sports on the planet with respect to performance based drug abuse. Despite the recent positive tests of Landis, Basso, etc I was holding out hope that these guys would figure it out and stop.

There’s something about the mindset of the pros that I just don’t get obviously. When Vinokourov crashed and essentially lost his chance at the tour something in him clicked and he decided it was worth it to risk a blood tranfusion. And it worked…for a few days. He destroyed the field in saturday’s Time Trial. It was a super human feat akin to Floyd Landis’ superman run up the mountain in last year’s race. What did those superhuman feats have in common? Desperate riders who were facing losing their tour dream who took a chance on doping. Vino won 2 out of 3 of the last stages before the blood results surfaced. How does Andreas Kloden feel today leaving the tour and his 5th place position with his Astana team mates because of something Vino did?

Today…I am sad.

More HERE

Phil Liggett’s TAKE

New Ben Harper single - In the Colors

“In the Colors” from the forthcoming album Lifeline by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals.

Mrs. Figurhead and I will be seeing this live in Nashville on Sept. 12. Can’t wait.

The race starts again tomorrow

 

 Rasmussen the climber

 Cancellara and Rasmussen (one of my personal favorites) have done a great job defending the yellow jersey thus far in the Tour. Tomorrows 33.5 mile individual time trial will likely seperate the real contenders from those who’ve hung close until this point. I’d love to see Rasmussen hang on, but there’s just no way. He’ll sag back out of the top 10 probably. He’s just not a good time trialist. He looks best in polka dots anyway.

Valverde, Cadel Evans, Kloden, Contador, and Leipheimer should emerge as the real contenders tomorrow. Mayo is a pure climber and fits into the same category as Rasmussen when it comes to time trialing. He’ll have to push it to stay close to the contenders before heading back into the mountains. Sastre is a middle of the pack time trialist; that’s not good enough. Moreau can time trial, but he just lost too much time yesterday.

Can Vino pull a miracle comeback? No. It’ll be interesting to see just how far back he can get though.

Here are the Figurehead’s bold predictions for the podium in Paris:

1. Andreas Kloden - Kloden is a stud time trialist and he can climb. A rejuvenated Vino will help Kloden through the Pyrenees.

2. Levi Leipheimer - Levi is an improved time trialist and is a climbing machine. He and Kloden might actually race into Paris for this year’s title.

3. Alberto Contador - The young Contador will likely sacrifice his own glory this year for his team leader Leipheimer. If something goes wrong for Levi, Contador can challenge for the title.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova at Sundance

This is one of several songs that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova contributed to the soundtrack of the film “Once”. I love this vid, because it’s so raw…Glen and Marketa standing in the snow with one guitar and their voices. I like to imagine myself standing there with them, hands tucked into my pockets, my nose red from the cold, just hanging out listening to two old friends.

You might remember Glen as the guitartist in the film “The Commitments”. Oh yeah, he’s also the lead singer of The Frames.

Hallelujah

Two incredible versions of a great song:

Jeff Buckley

 Brandi Carlile: