The Useless Critic 2.0

Earlier today, Ellie Goulding tweeted a 24-second teaser for the music video for "Goodness Gracious," the next single from Halcyon Days . Personally, I was hoping "Stay Awake," "You My Everything," or "Under Control" would be picked as the next single, but I love "Goodness Gracious" too. The video looks amazing with all those neon colors, which really complement the carefree, electro-tropical vibe of the track. Plus, Ellie is lookin g pretty hawt . Listen to "Goodness Gracious" in full below:

You certainly have so  many to choose from. AHHHH Well. If you have any... ....

I'm banking my hope on this in particular: The Robyn/Royksopp tour-reunion may save us all. This article from Reader's Digest actually highlights several reasons 2014 could be/will be amazing. Reader's Digest is kind of wonky online, FYI.  A few weeks from now will be five years of the Useless Critic online. I'm pumped about this, but I also would actively like to be doing things differently. I want this to be more creative, more focused, more driven, more meaningful. So there's our goal to work toward in 2014. Things may change drastically; we'll see. I'm also beginning to implement a lot of personal changes- which hasn't been notable so far, but I think it will work out long term.

I want to devote January 2014 to seeing films that may garner Oscar nods. I know this could bankrupt me, but I'd love to attempt it anyway. How do we know about the Oscar nominations? It's partially intuition and partially because of the Golden Globes. ;) Here's a picture of Jennifer Lawrence since everyone loves her. Everyone except Joan Rivers . First Movie: "Her" by Spike Jonze starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Mara Rooney. Out nationwide Jan. 10. This has an incredible Rotten Tomatoes rating. Like, 92%? That is unheard of good! This will also be me come next year; I'm going to become enamored with my gophone I just know it. Second Movie: "Saving Mr. Banks" by John Lee Hancock starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. Out everywhere now, more or less. Did you know the writer behind "Mary Poppins" was a bisexual feminist who penned erotica? Me neither. Tom Hanks grates my nerves sometimes, but Emma Thompson is a g...

Song of the Day Why? - Twin sisters - From Australia & Sweden - Descendants of Steve Kilbey - Swedish twins....I have no other reasons here.

Song of the Day Listening to Moby the day after Christmas brings back a lot of memories. I got "Play" in middle school and I think it was a little too cerebral/soulful for a "tween." Here's a bonus for you. BTW, it's cold and snowy in Erie, PA.

I know I kind of sucked at doing this, so forgive me. But here's a song I just discovered with no relation to the Zombies' classic. Their voices blend together in such an unexpectedly gorgeous way; it's a pretty easy Christmas song to digest. Merry Christmas- enjoy yours!