Ok, so I've been saying I'll post more content for a while and haven't gotten around to anything. Bad blogging practices. I actually have lots of post ideas I'd like to get to, I just haven't been inclined to write them up. I do, however, have a review of Ocean's 13, and hopefully it'll get me back in the mood to post regular entries.

The opening titles of Ocean's 13, ridiculously flashy technicolor lights, should clue you in the type of movie it is - one that is very stylish, light and fun. The plot is snappy and the dialogue recaptures some of the back-and-forth banter between Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) that made Ocean's 11 so enjoyable.

Al Pacino comes in to play the role of "villain" in 13 - Willie Banks, a multiple casino owner whose just built a gigantic spiraling one called The Bank in the middle of Vegas and cut partner Reuben Tiskoff (Elliott Gould from 11) out of the deal giving him a massive heart-attack. When Banks refuses to let Reuben have his share of the Casino back, Danny Ocean and Rustry Ryan re-assemble the old gang for one last sting - this time for revenge, not money.

To briefly sum up their scheme (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler) they plan to rig all the tables in the casino on opening night in order to break the The Bank. They'll need to create a fake earthquake in order to knock the ultra-smart security system offline among other things, and also make sure the hotel reviewer who hands out the coveted 5-diamond rating has a terrible stay.

The plot of 13 is quickly paced and filled with tons of schemes, chicanery and tricks - enough for more than a few heist movies. The difference between sly 13 and the overly tricky 12 lies in the type of ruses the crew pulls off. There may be a lot of tricks going on in 13 - and the film is structured smartly enough so you never feel too uninformed - but they're all pretty simple. Danny and his crew use bribes, weighted dice and roulette balls, and rigged card decks among other slights. In a sense, 13 takes things back to basics, and it works.

There's multiple sub-plots throughout the movie, and each of them work fairly well, without any major miss-fires. Some of the humor of 11 is lost here, probably due to the new writers (David Levien & Brian Koppelman.) Also, despite all the cool clothes and effortless style being flaunted around the film lacks the crisp freshness of 11 - but then again, after 6 years, that's to expected.

While the movie is the third in a trilogy, it might as well be the second part of Ocean's 11 - the movie they should have made last time. It isn't as entertaining as 11 but Ocean's 13 is certainly worth seeing, especially if you thought the crew deserved a more fitting send off than Ocean's 12.

The White Stripes have released a new single "Icky Thump", exclusively on iTunes, from their upcoming sixth album by the same title. Being a fan, I thought it deserved a look.

Their last album, Get Behind Me Satan featured almost no guitar work at all, favoring instruments such as maracas, piano, and many instruments not associated with rock albums. On their new single, however, Jack White indicates that the upcoming Icky Thump record will be a return to the guitar-laden heavy-rock style of albums such as White Blood Cells and De Stijl.

The track has a definite hard-rock style to it, with Jack White's great vocals screaming about Mexico and politics (occasionally). "White Americans, what? / Nothing better to do? / Why don't you kick yourself out / You're a an immigrant too? / Who's using who? / What should we do? / Well, you can't be a pimp / And a prostitute too." Personally, I'm not such a fan of political themed songs, which can often be heavy-handed and very contrived feeling, but "Icky Thump" handles the subject matter with skill.

As I said above, the song is certainly a return to the raw and edgy sound of their early work, although here it has a certain classic-rock vibe previously not there. After a few listens, I realized the song reminded me of a twisted, funk and blues-infused version of a Led Zeppelin rocker, with the huge guitar riffs and pounding drums.

For only a $0.99 on iTunes, it's hard to find a reason why you shouldn't buy this song.

After a very short spring and then a two week long return to the sub-60 degree weather of winter, it looks like summer is finally emerging here in Alabama. And with the warm weather, upbeat feel-good music seems to follow, so I've put together a list of my current "top 3 summer albums". They're all recent, available on iTunes, and a lot of fun to listen to.

The Fratellis - Costello Music

You've probably heard their song "Flathead" in the latest iPod commercials, and perhaps dismissed the band as a modern one-hit wonder. It would be too bad if you did, since they've gone and created one of the most ridiculously catchy albums I've heard in some time. Every song is pure pop-rock with plenty of "lalala"s and background yodels for good measure. In one word: Fun.

Read my full review of Costello Music on Blogcritics.org

Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger

Cheeseburger isn't a big name yet, but they certainly deserve to be. They know how to create great Iggy Pop and the Stooges-esque rock songs and have crafted one of the best all-out party albums of 2007. The tracks "Money for the Heart" and "Do You Remember?" are standouts of the album, but there really are no filler songs despite the CD's 16-track length. If you pick up only one album on this list, make it this one. Everything from the guitars to lead singer Joe Bradley's howled vocals are pitch-perfect.

Cat Empire - Two Shoes

Hailing from Australia, Cat Empire is a six piece band with a penchant for pure-entertainment songs featuring half-rapped vocals and heavy trumpet work. Their second CD, after their self-titled debut, finds the band ramping up the over-the-top energy that made them hugely popular on their native continent and adding a distinctive cuban feel to their music with piano and swinging latin rhythms (after all, they recorded the album in the famous Egrem Studios in Havana.) While they fumble things up a little on a few of the songs ("Protons, Neutrons, Electrons") the album is a superb mixture of hip-hop, rock, and reggae.

As you can see, my daily schedule was fairly rigorous (very rigorous for a "vacation" actually) but left the evenings free. In order to maximize the learning, and fun, I participated in numerous side trips (through the school mostly) to locales outside Cuernavaca. This not only helped further familiarize me with the landscape and history of Mexico but was a lot more fun than sitting inside each afternoon.

One of the first trips I went on was to an orphanage for 1st- 6th graders. It featured an incredible lush campus and was fairly large housing a few hundred kids. In a way, it was like a perfect communism. The orphanage featured its own farm and livestock and was self sufficient in almost every regard. All the children living there had a job to do and in turn they received housing, food, medical care and of course schooling. Whatever the orphanage didn't produce on its own was donated by organizations. It was quite the set up. One of the most interesting things was that once a child was accepted into the orphanage they weren't allowed to be adopted out by a family; they were there to stay. Apparently, this was to give the kids a sense of stability in their lives.

Of course, as any self respecting tourist in Mexico should, I went to visit some of the many pyramid ruins littered throughout the country. There were two large sites only a few hours outside Cuernavaca and I ended up going to both. The first site (sorry, I didn't write the name down and can't remember it now!) was the smaller of the two but far more interesting due to a great tour guide. He was able to get past the reciting of dull facts and figures that many guides get stuck on and really convey his passion for the mythology, religious aspects and history behind all the ruins. He made you feel very intrigued by everything. The second set of ruins, Teotihuacan, was far more impressive (they weren't ruins so much as full intact pyramids still) and being able to scale the giant pyramids made up for a relative boring guide. It was an okay tradeoff.

While perhaps a more savvy traveler would have limited his side trips to areas fairly close and easy to digest in one day, I decided to take on Mexico City come the weekend. A 2-3 hour drive from Cuernavaca, we left early to get there around 11am. I was set to tour 3 museums/buildings and also a large cathedral dedicated the Virgin Of Guadeloupe (Virgin Mary), quite the itinerary for one day. Well ... it started off okay. Our tour guide for the day, Pago, was respectable if not great and did a fine job in the first location. We toured one of the government buildings that doubles a museum and features some astounding murals by Diego Rivera depicting Mexico's history. So far, so good. Interesting paintings, nice buildings, etc. Then things went downhill. First, Pago hands us off two another tour guide to take on the next two museums. This guide was almost incomprehensible as it appeared he had memorized the lectures off of a Learn English tape. At least, that's what it sounded like. Secondly, I was starting to become increasingly hungry and we had multiple hours of artifact viewing to go. Lastly, said artifacts were simply not that entertaining especially with a bad guide and a growling stomach. Finally, around 2-3pm we left the last museum and I devoured my lunch. By this time I was completely worn out and ready to return to Cuernavaca. I couldn't take anymore museums. Mercifully, we skipped (for some unknown reason) going into the cathedral (I'm a little bummed about that now, but wasn't at the time). Upon arriving home around 6pm I promptly crashed out on my bed, spent for the day.

Of course, those were just a few of the side-trips I ventured out on during my two week stay. They were the most interesting and therefore the ones I felt like writing about. In the effort of being conclusive though, there was also a walking tour around Cuernavaca, a trip a small town called Buena Vista and an excursion to Taxco or the "silver town" as it's called. And with that, I wrap up my Mexico travelogue. Hope everyone had fun reading it. Normal blogging will resume soon. Oh, and I should have pictures of this up on my Flickr account by Friday at the latest.