State License Plates Part 7: Maryland

April 28, 1788. Breathe it in. That was the date Maryland became a state and gave a ceremonious middle finger to the Brits as it shoved a crab down their pants. Charming.

I’ve been to Maryland once, just once, and it was to see the Orioles play. On that night Mike Mussina was pitching and I had by far the worst hot dog I have ever had at a baseball game. It wasn’t until later that I learned that the best places to eat are at the restaurants just beyond left field on the concourse. You live and you learn.

Maryland is known as ‘The Old Line State’ which was bestowed upon it by George Washington as he associated the state with its regular line troops, the Maryland Line, who served in the Revolutionary War. It’s motto: ‘Manly deeds, womanly words’. Uh, OK. So they all speak niceties to each other but they act out aggressively toward others? Or do they open doors for ladies and speak softly to their companions? Strange motto for a strange state.

When I think of Maryland I think of crabs (the crustacean), the Baltimore Ravens, and subsequently Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Wire’, the aforementioned Orioles, and of course their wacky flag. What’s up with their license plate?

In short, I like it. They use a simple white background with black text/numbers that are a bit blocky but it gives them a clear definition.

I really like the font used for ‘Maryland’ and ‘www.maryland.gov’. It’s elegant, simple, and easily legible. Speaking of that wacky flag, it’s on prominent display in the centre of the plate in the form of a shield which – maybe I’m reading too much into this – looks to reference their state nickname and the Maryland Line that fought in the Revolutionary War.

*Upon further reading it harkens back to the George Calvert and his coat of arms (hence the shield form) and being that he was the first Lord Baltimore, why not infuse it with the state because the flag is unique to the state, and now the University of Maryland has wrapped its arms around their heritage and adopted it as a part of their uniforms.

Overall, this plate is simple, clean, neat and elegant. There are no distractions and the plate serves its purpose. I give it a an A.

(I’m not here to discuss the flag but there’s an interesting history behind it here that I think you should check out because it provides some perspective on the state history and the struggle within the state during the Civil War.)

The Best Pop Album of 2011?

The other day I talked about the best dance album of 2011. Today I am here to discuss the best pop album of 2011. Now, it’s a bit of a mishmash of an album I have chosen because it’s not a definitive ‘pop’ album. It’s a bit electropop and dance.

Now you might be saying: “Skillet, you already chose a Best Dance Album. If this one has dance infused with it doesn’t that make it a dance album?”

No. It’s my opinion, GTFO.



The album comes from Sneaky Sound System, who I fell in love with during my time in Australia in 2007. During that time they had released their self-titled debut album and it was blowing up all over the country and songs were playing at nearly every club I went into. Scratch that, I heard at least one Sneaky song every night I went out. Their tunes are just that catchy and danceable.

They followed up with their sophomore effort “2” and while I wasn’t in Australia to experience it I made sure I got enough Sneaky Sound System here so that I could fill the void. It’s a great album with memorable tracks and is something I listen to from beginning to end frequently.

Here they are, minus one member, in 2011 with “From Here to Anywhere” and it’s my pick for pop album of the year. It starts out strong with ‘Friends’ and singer Connie Mitchell belting out an important question ‘Why can’t we be friends?’. From there the next five songs deliver and continue with an electropop vibe with danceable beats and some great hooks.

If there is a fault with the album it lies with three out of the last four songs. The closing track ‘Lovetown’ is cheesy and goofy but is different in tone flavour than the rest of the album. ‘I Need You So’ and ‘1984’ are fine but just not as strong as the beginning of the album. It’s with ‘I’m Not Leaving’ that my faith in the group is restored. It’s an awesome track with Connie at her best.

All in all, a nice follow-up album and I just hope that the 2nd half of the album isn’t the direction that the group is headed because their strength lies with Mitchell’s vocals and their synths and beats. ‘Lovetown’ is, in all honesty, a crappy song that really diminishes the value of the album and I essentially skip over it every single time but the best parts of the album help overshadow that one tiny snag and make it my pop album of 2011.

Other tracks of note: ‘We Love’, ‘Big’, ‘Really Want To See You Again’

The Best Dance Album of 2011?

I am a sucker for pop music. Especially female-led pop music. There is just something about female vocals and catchy, vibrant tunes that really gets me going.

I first heard of September while I was listening to a Pandora station with mainly Kylie influences on their. I was hooked from the moment I heard ‘Cry For You’ and from then on I was looking for all things September. I created a Pandora station with her style of music and really just fell in love with her pop style.

I have never heard her songs on any US radio station and I probably won’t because she’s not Gaga or Beyonce. She doesn’t reinvent the wheel with pop but she does it well. That’s why I have proclaimed her 2011 album ‘Love CPR’ to be my dance album of the year.

When I say ‘dance’ I mean a song that you can hear at a party and just start dancing to because the beat and hooks are infectious. Needless to say September delivers on that with a massive 20 song album.

September kicks the album off with, one of my songs of the year, ‘Party In My Head’. A song that really brings out the dance vibe as she sings ‘I don’t care if the whole club is dead/because the party’s in my head’. It’s a song that illustrates that you can have a great time even if it’s just in your head and you don’t care how others view your joyous/dancing nature.

A real highlight on the album is that she includes 5 songs in her native Swedish. The standalone track being ‘Baksmälla’, which translates to ‘Hangover’. She sings about waking up late and f***ing up again and getting drunk and it’s mixed awesomely with rhyming vocals by Petter to give the track more of an edge. She also includes the Swedish version of ‘Me & My Microphone’ – which appears earlier on the album – and if you like the English version you’ll enjoy the Swedish one too.

Other tracks of note: Ricochet, Hands Up, Heat Rising, and Music.

‘Breaking Dawn’ nearly total yawn

I am no stranger to the ‘Twilight’ saga film series. I saw the first on a whim, enjoyed it for what it was but thought nothing more. I saw the second to see where the story would go, and wound up being angry at Bella for not choosing Jacob because he is clearly the better option because sure immortality is great right up until you know you have to leave your friends and family behind because they die and you don’t. I digress. I saw the third because I figure I’d already seen the first two that I might as well see the next one. You know what? The third was actually quite good. More action, back story, and the acting improved across the board. Now here we are with the penultimate film in the series, ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 1’.

**Beware Spoilers ahead**


No way I’m giving up now having already invested three separate movie-going sessions on the first films. Thus, I ventured out after the film had been out a few weeks (so to avoid the tweens and Twi-hards) and decided to formulate my own opinion on the film.

Meh.



I realise that the splitting up of the film is to make sure that as many details from the book can be in the film but I felt cheated. There were numerous montages of playing chess, vampire-human relations, and playful teasing in the form of lingerie (which I approve). And there was only ONE Taylor Lautner shirtless scene! C’mon! I thought this was a ‘Twilight’ movie! The film felt longer than it was and any drama was negated by its seeming never-ending length.

For me, the best portions of the film are when Esme and Carlisle are on screen. Elizabeth Reaser and Peter Facinelli are both capable actors who do well to make their characters more than just the leaders of the Cullen coven. The are there to guide them along their journey as they try to blend in with their community.
Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, has the dad nailed down and delivers some of the best intentionally funny lines of the film. Nikki Reed as Rosalie is another character I wish we’d see more of because she is there to negate Bella’s choice of becoming a vampire because she sees it as a lack of respect for mortality. An interesting parallel that is not fully explored, but then again this film series is about the romance.

The romance is not for me and I think she made the wrong choice with Edward so I move on.

So Bella gets herself knocked up and starts dying because the fetus is killing her. I had no idea there’d be a Roe v. Wade debate in the middle of this film and I was surprised so I sat up in my seat wondering how it would all play out. Sadly, that scene lasts a few minutes and then we move on. I guess we can’t get too heavy here can we?

The film is drawn out too long and when everything came to a head it ended soon after. There was this whole beef with the vampires and wolves fighting and Jacob leaving the pack (oh and we could hear the wolves talking – in wolf form) and then they were coming after the Cullens if Bella died and then it ended because Jacob decided he wanted some wolf-on-wolf action for himself by imprinting on Sam’s ex-girlfriend. Crazy.

The most intense part of the film comes at the end when Bella has delivered and Edward has given up trying to revive her. We see Edward’s venom surge through her body and attach itself to her heart, blood vessels, and reattach her broken spine. This is a very cool piece of digital camerawork as we see Bella being reborn as a vampire. Then they tease us with Bella waking up as a vampire. Gah! They’ve got me hooked. Looks like I’ll be seeing Part 2 next year when it’s released.