Bertone B99 Jaguar Concept Car

As far as my vision of a dream car is concerned, I'm not ashamed to say that I became slightly aroused when I saw the pictures for the Bertone B99 Jaguar concept car. With Jaguar completely revamping the look and styling of its cars just a few years ago, the brand abandoned the trademark styling that really made the XJ (their flagship model) a standout.

I own a '99 XJ8 and what I like so much about this concept design is that it's taken the classic shape of the XJ, but given it a more aggressive and modern edge.  Instead of adopting an entirely different look, the car pays homage to the roots of the brand while not being so heavy handed with the old-world charm.  Although the design was not officially commissioned by Jaguar (Bertone presented this as a proposal) it's not entirely clear on whether Jaguar will be pushing ahead to put a car similar to this into production in the near future.  A guy can dream though.  I'm going to need some time to save up anyway. 

My First Dorm Room

My first taste of university life came in September 2002, when at the age of 18 I moved away from home and into the dorms at the University of Regina to study film production.  Dorm life isn't neccessarily the easiest or most attractive way to live, but the initial experience was invaluable.  I made new friends right off the bat, was within walking distance of all my new classes, and was forced to adapt quickly.

I didn't know it at the time, but for my entire university education I'd end up living in the College West dorms (with the exception of 4 summers).  From the disgusting shared bathrooms to kitchens dominated by fruit flies, I suppose one the greatest lessons I learned was how to avoid others germs (there's no shame showering in sandles).  By contrast, and because I probably wouldn't have been able to stand it otherwise, my dorm room quickly became a very personalized home away from home.

Compared with how ambitiously decked-out my dorm rooms became towards the end of my schooling, my first year dorm was tame.  It was also a shoebox, that was only marginally bigger than the bathroom in my current apartment.  After going through some of my old film school images, I thought it would be cool to post some of them.  I guess I was already anticipating my own nostalgia back then becuase I shot all of these on black and white film.

My first dorm room. I still have that Abbey Road poster (now framed) and you can still see the imprints of the bricks on it from me leaning against it.

The common area.  It was as hip and trendy as The Brady Bunch was . . . in 2002.

My desk. To be honest, the dated furniture didn't bother me. I was on a big fifties and sixties kick back then. Could you tell? 

The kitchen. I'm pretty sure we had just had a cleaning inspection before I took this picture. There was almost never counterspace (or clean dishes for that matter).

The roof court. One of the best things about College West was the open roof court that all of the dorms lead out to.  Of course, this was Regina so it was pretty much unusable 6 months out of the year.

For more, check out this video I made of the campus in 2002.

Inspired Singles: Detroit '67

Issue 20: Detroit '67 by Sam Roberts

Take a bit of history, some classic vintage footage, throw in some jaunty piano with a carefree bar crowd, and you've got Detroit '67 by Sam Roberts.  This isn't the first time that Sam has popped up in my Inspired Singles or on this blog - I saw him in Regina a few times, and he performed at the university for welcome week one year. 

With his signature folk rock sound, Roberts tells a story of Detroit in its heyday with almost care-free poetics that make you revel in both the history of Motown and the song itself.  Love at the End of the World is the third studio album from Roberts, and quickly became one of my favorites when it came out in 2008.  With Detroit having faced such a dramatic economic shift, more on that here, I just love the nostalgia and optimism of this track - that, and the music video is a work of editing art.