John Legend - Who Did That To You?

Here is an excellent new track from the soundtrack to the even more excellent movie Django Unchained. This is the latest film by director Quentin Tarantino which stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and the brilliant Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a fantastic movie! It has incredible acting, awesome bloody violence, a superb soundtrack, hilarious scenes and an overall great story. It's Tarantino at his finest and if you are at all a fan you must see this and preferably in theatres! Cool fact: when DiCaprio gives his big monologue towards the end of the film he slams down his fist quite hard, causing it to bleed. He keeps going on the take and the blood keeps flowing. This makes for an even more dramatic shot as DiCaprio takes what most would see as a retake and runs with it, turning it into cinematic magic. Watch for Leo to get a supporting actor Oscar nod.

I've always loved John Legend's voice; one of the purest in modern soul. He sings the hook on some of my favourite hip-hop songs ("The Believer" by Common and "The Fire" by The Roots). This particular song has a hip-hop feel to it but Legend stays true to gospel and soul. He sings with tortured pain and angst, perfectly utilizing his gospel background to convey the message of African Americans "living" before the end of slavery. This song is featured prominently in a key scene near the end of the movie which made me like it even more. The whole soundtrack is great, featuring tracks by the likes of Rick Ross, Jim Croce and 2Pac rapping over a James Brown beat. It is also scored by the master Ennio Morricone, famous for that epic theme to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. And, as usual for Tarantino soundtracks, it has great quotes from the film.

Some thoughts...

- So I made it all the way to the finals of Fantasy Football, facing a top regular season team but one that had been struggling near the end, never posting more than 85 points over the final 4 weeks... But his team stepped the fuck up for the final, putting up 105 points. My team did solid but leading up to Sunday Night Football (a game which I was going to between the Seahawks and 49ers) and I was 28 points back. He was out of players and I had only my running back, Marshawn Lynch. After grabbing 2 beers with my buddy before the game, causing us to be a little late, we got to our seats just as Lynch scored a TD. Cool, but still needed more points. Then BOOM! another TD! Suddenly this thing could get real interesting. Then late in the game I was 4 points back and the Seahawks were 2nd and goal about to hand it off to Lynch. I needed a TD for a 6 point play and fantasy victory. Lynch got the ball but  only picked up a few yards :( The next play the 'hawks threw a TD and that was it... so close...

- My 2 friends and I bought our flights today. We will be flying out of Vancouver at midnight on February 6th and heading to Manila, Philippines. We plan to spend the next 4 months or so tromping all over SE Asia visiting Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea and others along the way. So stoked!

- The Seattle Seahawks were victorious in the first round of the NFL playoffs this weekend, the only away team to win. We now face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday morning. Can't fucking wait!