Arsenal - What Time Is It?

Don't look now, but it's time for our regularly scheduled late season collapse.
Good thing we got a head start this year.

Sure, we didn't lose in a must win game against Everton earlier this week.
But a last gasp wonder goal to secure a draw after looking clueless for most of the match is a long, long way from winning.
It's as if the fog on the field was a physical manifestation of the fog in the teams leadership and communication.
We lack clarity and creativity and every team we play believes they have a chance.

I shudder to think at where we'd be without RVP.
We're hanging by the hairs of his mohawk and the reinforcements can't come soon enough.
My three-year-old son announced the other day that Van Persie was replacing Sagna as his new favorite player.
When pressed, he explained the change was "because Van Persie scores more goals."
As much as I like Sagna, I can't argue - when chasing points, you need goals.

Which brings me to a giant hole in our game plan - Adebayor.
I checked his Premiership stats the other day and he's literally a third of the man he was last season - with only a third of the shots on goal and goals scored.
But most bothersome, is his general attitude and commitment.
After all we've been through, this is not a man who should be caught walking about the pitch and watching balls go by.
I can live with losing when a good, honest days work is put forth - it happens.
But Adebayor quite plainly is taking up space at the moment.
Sure, he's good for the occasional header but I think even big, bumbling Bendtner is a better choice if we're looking for height and physical presence - at least he plays like he's got something to prove.
Or even better, bring on Carlos Vela for a spark.
I just can't take Adebayor anymore.
I say bench him.
Bring his inflated salary and prima donna ego back to earth because his spaghetti leg strikes aren't scaring anyone.

And let's get back to the work of catching Villa.
Beating West Ham this weekend would be a good start.

Creators Media Group Website Launch

Our good friends at Creators Media Group approached us a couple of months ago to redo their website. These are exciting times for CMG – they just opened another office in New York as they expand their established video production services to be a complete creative communications solution, and we were happy to help them raise their game.

CMG came to us with a preliminary design in hand, a rough idea of what they wanted from their website, and a history of dealings with shady web companies who weren’t returning phone calls.

Our to-do list looked something like this:

• Redo design
• Redo website
• Create custom CMS so CMG can manage their own content – including video uploads
• Enable file-sharing capabilities with a simple login
• Make the site search friendly and hook-up Google Analytics
• Answer the phone

The site went live over the weekend and I think we delivered on all counts.

Check it out here:

creatorsmedia.com

David Binney 3.0

Just wrapped a major musician website platform upgrade for jazz sax man, David Binney. This release marks Dave's third major update since the original site. Dave’s website was the original model for the musician platform so it’s good to come full circle and hook him up with all the bells and whistles we’ve developed since.

The e-commerce system got a complete makeover with a new fancy custom cart and enhancements like the ability to gift music and redeem vouchers for stuff purchased at gigs. But the bigger news is the site is now Canadian friendly.

The front-end also got an update – things are generally bigger and easier to read and there’s less digging to get where you want to go.

We also set him up with a new custom email template to blast his list and keep his fans current on what he’s up to.

Check out the all new, bigger and better davidbinney.com

History

Steve and I made a coffee stop at the Peace and Love Cafe in Tribeca before a meeting with Turtle Pond yesterday. Generally, a good vibe all around throughout the day.

Arshavin to Arsenal?

It was a weekend of last gasp winners from the likes of Man U and Chelsea, who were both lucky to escape their games with maximum points.

We had a scare ourselves in our grudge match against Hull when they equalized in the second half, but we found another gear and I must say we looked quite good in the last ten minutes, scoring twice to turn the dagger for a 3-1 victory.

It's inspiring to see Van Persie finally emerge as the offensive threat we hoped he'd be all along.

I'm not sure what the guy has against goal posts, but he blasts balls at them like they owe him money.

For once, I think Bendtner proved his worth as an impact substitute, coming off the bench to score one on a rumbling give-and-go with Van Persie and he was unlucky not to score again on a powerful header in the final minutes.

The big Dane celebrated his 21st birthday the day before - is it too much to hope he's finally over his kiddie funny hair and boots phase and getting serious about football?

Adebayor looked ten feet tall on his leaping header and he scored just as I was about to chastise another lazy, ineffective performance.

Nasri continues to impress.

With a few more pieces in place we may still have a go at it.

I don't agree with Wenger that we've got all we need in the walking wounded who are set to return, but the thought that Eduardo may join us again in the coming months is enough to generate a real buzz of excitement.

Forget Rosicky.

Maybe we'll see Cesc again before the end of the season but I'm not holding my breath.

Which brings me to the Arshavin question.

I honestly don't know much about him, aside from a few glimpses during the Euro Cup and our reported pursuit of him immediately following.

From what I saw in the Euros, the surprise Russian team looked dangerous all over the pitch.

I was most awed by their powerful long range shooting.

All news reports indicate Arsenal officials are on their way to Russia to complete the deal as I type.

Of course, we all know better than to start counting chickens but I really feel like this deal is a must if we're to challenge for the top four this season.

I watched some Arshavin clips on Youtube yesterday and he looks like the consummate Arsenal player, brimming with skill and creativity to add another dimension to our play - a midfield dimension we've been lacking since Cesc went down.

Of course Arshavin doesn't do anything to plug our defensive holes so I'm hoping Wenger still has another card to play, but the deal, reportedly to be the biggest in Arsenal transfer history, is sure to give us a boost as we look to extend our streak of eight matches without defeat.

With Man City reportedly set to spend $200 million on Kaka it seems silly to quibble over a transfer worth about one tenth of that.

You could nearly field an entire first team of Arshavins for the money Man City is reportedly about to spend.

Crazy.

Hopefully, Arshavin will be wearing our shirt by the end of the week and we can maintain our focus for our FA Cup match against Cardiff City on Sunday.

Arsenal - Nothing Left to Lose

What else is there now that Fabregas is gone?

Such a cruel twist of irony - just a day after the Champions League pairing of Arsenal vs Roma (Danny's team) is announced we both lose our captains to injury.

Reports have Roma's talisman, Francesco Totti, out for two months.

Fabregas could be done for the season.

The only bright spot to emerge from all of this is that we put in one of the most fearless performances I've seen in a long time against lucky Liverpool.

I loved the ball from Nasri and Van Persie's battle to fire home a goal from a crazy angle.

Even without Cesc, and after Adebayor got tossed (who says Liverpool isn't lucky?) - I found myself believing not only that we wouldn't lose but I even considered for a moment that we might even win.

We didn't, obviously, but Liverpool were exposed as the weaker side, only managing a draw with an extra man on the pitch.

The team and the fans finally stood together and we played our hearts out.

This wasn't the desperate Arsenal we've seen so many times this season in the last minutes of the match, this was a dangerous Arsenal.

Let's keep it up against a Villa side who's got some injuries of their own.

We're not going to win the league.

But we can play for respect.

Artgig Annual Concert Series - Lake Trout

Artgig took the show on the road last night, celebrating the third year of our annual holiday concert series with our familiar favorites - Lake Trout.

Lake Trout is a great little genre-bending band that effortlessly moves from electronic to jazz fusion, to Radiohead-rock to flute, in an improve-heavy jam session that somehow mixes all of these influences and spits them out in a set that is at once fully satisfying and still leaves you wanting more.

Often hailed as the best band nobody knows, we saw Lake Trout at a nearly empty Highline Ballroom last year for our holiday celebration, and I've been hooked ever since.

Since then, the band has been spending a lot of time on the UNKLE project and when it was announced that they were making a rare appearance at The Mercury Lounge in the village, well, our holiday plans were sealed.

We arrived at The Mercury Lounge on a cold and blustery NY night to find the place nearly empty.

My good pal Nick joined us as a special guest, standing in as Lis's stunt double for the evening.

The opening line-up featured:

Charles Atlas

Wax Fang

Jones Street Boys

I didn't pay much attention to the opening acts - opting instead to spend some quality time at the bar.

Hats off to the bartender at ML - he even bought us a round!

During Charles Atlas, a girl stumbled out of the listening room as I was snapping this picture of the gang:


She was visibly shaken, and warned us not to take pictures, to erase our memories and forget this place because the music was just too depressing.

Skipped Wax Fang.

By the time The Jones Street Boys (I almost typed the Jonas Brothers) hit the stage, the place was pretty packed but we still had some elbow room.

They seemed to have a good following, I don't mind saying I don't care how much fusion you throw in the pot with Country - it's not for me.

They finished their set a capella - yee-haw!

We grabbed another round of Blue Moons and staked out our spots closer to the stage

The listening room at Mercury Lounge reminds me of the basement in my parents old house where I grew up - it's a truly intimate space and a real pleasure to see a band like Lake Trout do their thing up close & personal.

As the band made their way to the stage and did a quick sound check, a small pocket of nearby fans, announced their allegiance with scattered shouts of "Baltimore in the house."

And then Lake Trout did what they do - they just let it rip.



Nick came up to me after a few tunes and said with the greatest admiration, "they just came out and started jamming."

When the flute came out, he responded just as I had a year ago, "That dude, the keyboardist, is actually playing a flute - it's crazy."

And then it was over.

It was too short - I wanted more.

But Lake Trout had left the building.

Until next year...

Go pick-up the new live Lake Trout album for FREE at The Biggest Label Ever, an experimental site that offers free music, paid for by advertising.

All you have to do is register to get the tunes.

Happy Holidays!