Up on Intraffik: LA Fashion Weekend

I'm up again on Intraffik with photos from Friday's LA Fashion Week.

Up on Intraffik: Project Ethos Part II

I'm up again on Intraffik with another post on the Project Ethos fashion show.

Up on Intraffik: Project Ethos

I'm up on Intraffik with a brief write-up and photos of the Project Ethos fashion show.

The New Girl: Hutch

I like The New Girl. Not as much as Modern Family, but I still like it. My like is totally driven by Zooey. I just need to say I think a little bit more money needs to be spent on set controls. On the episode "Control," didn't the hutch that Schmidt totally destroyed show up again towards the end of the episode? Or maybe it was a new hutch?

 And by the way: why was Winston getting all demanding with Nick regarding poker losses when just an episode back all the roommates pitched in to pay for Nick's medical bills. Everyone knows that Nick can't pay off a three figure gambling debt.

Duke Basketball vs. Lehigh: 70-75

I figured Duke would at least get past the first game.  Oh well.

The whole game just highlighted the problems with Duke (season long problems and more recent problems -- and yes, admittedly, Ryan Kelly's injury did impact their game, but give me a break).

1.  Defense:  I'm not talking about the handful of fast breaks that Lehigh got off of long rebounds.  I'm talking about the second half.  There was one play where Dawkins was guarding a Lehigh player.  The player drove past Dawkins (fine), but then somehow weaved his way past two other players.  Seriously?!?  Then there was the one on one situation with Austin Rivers where he just got burned bad.  Then with the seconds dwindling, how in the world do you just let someone go free on an inbound past like they did for a quick slam.  I'm not sure which Duke player was guarding that guy, but from the television screen I could easily see the Lehigh player heading for the basket and the Duke player just letting him go.

2.  Three-point shooting.  This was a more recent problem.  For this game they went 6-26 and I believe 3 of those came in the last couple minutes so a more accurate reading might be that they went 3-22 or something like that.  Yeah, when your backs are against the wall the threes for some reason start going in -- I suppose it is due to the fact that you really don't need to think about it, you're just shooting.

3.  Guard play.  The three point shots weren't falling partially because none of the Duke players (except for Austin Rivers) can create their own shot.  Once they get the ball and if you're anywhere near them, they won't be able to shake you off.  Yes, the guards got into serious foul trouble, but a number of them were just stupid fouls -- two on Dawkins for sure.

As mentioned, it was a game that just highlighted the failings of this team.  I do believe that even DukeBasketballReport, which hardly ever says anything negative about Duke basketball was finally throwing digs at the team by mid-season.  Such as sad season for Duke fans.

A Book Review: The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. Jack McEvoy is getting laid off from the LA Times. He's a crime reporter and decides to go out with a bang. He starts to investigate a murder of a stripper. Working with his younger replacement, Angela Cook, he starts to follow leads. He soon hooks up with FBI Agent Rachel Walling as they track down a serial killer.

Interestingly, this book mentions The Poet a number of times.  I've read a number of Michael Connelly's books, but I don't believe I've ever read The Poet though I did read The Narrows.

Over-all, a nice quick read though I left just a bit disappointed.  There is a scene with Jack McEvoy in a hotel which just seemed way over the top.  I was into the book and then that scene hit and it kind of took me out of it.   I would rank this as one of the weaker Michael Connelly books -- though obviously it won't prevent me from reading another of his books in the future.

The Janks and The Wind at The Bootleg

The Monday night rotation continued with me heading off to the Bootleg on a Monday night. The Janks
are the residency band for March and The Wind was in support.  Here's one thing I noticed:  The Wind had problems with their bass and so needed a new bass.  The Janks had a problem with their snare drum and so needed a new snare drum.  Guys from other bands quickly jumped in to help, running to the back room of the Bootleg to find the necessary musical instrument.  I so love this.  It means that the bands stick around for each other.  Occasionally you go to a venue and bands appear and disappear around their set times, not sticking around for the other bands.

The Wind gave us some smooth rock.  One joke from a friend, "The bassist didn't get the memo."  Yes, he was the only one without long hair.  As for The Janks:  rock ballad.  That's what I thought.  Queen was mentioned during their set.  It seemed appropriate.  And there was some cool dancing being done by their friends during one song.


The Wind



The Janks

Up On Intraffik: The Lonely Wild/He's My Brother, She's My Sister/Bad Weather California

I'm up on Intraffik.com with a short article on Lonely Wild, He's My Brother, She's My Sister and Bad Weather California playing at The Echo.

A Movie Review. Underworld: Awakening

Underworld: Awakening. Kate Beckinsale is back kicking butt as Vampire Selene. The movie starts with humans finding out about vampires and Lycan. A purge happens. Towards the end of this Purge, Selene and Michael are captured and put into deep freeze. Via what appears to be a malfunction, Selene awakens after twelve years. She eventually finds that she has a daughter named Eve, who is very important to the group that had captured Selene and Michael. Of course, never get between a mother and her child.

I am an Underworld fan. I have to admit that this movie isn’t going to get any awards, but it is a fun movie. Selene is out there constantly kicking some butt. And the way the movie ended and considering that the box office did fairly well, we must assume that another movie is coming soon enough. The whole Eve storyline seems to be stolen from Twilight, but the introduction of Eve is many times more interesting than the most recent Twilight movie.

Saying good-bye to Alcatraz (television show)

Okay, I was looking forward to Alcatraz., but I have now removed it from my DVR automatic record list. There is just something that bugs me about the show. It isn’t the fact that both inmates and guards somehow disappeared in the 1960s. That is an intriguing concept for a television series – especially when the person developing the series is J. J. Abrams of Lost fame.

No, what’s got under my skin is the fact that there appears to be mass murders going on in San Francisco and there is no indication that the press is all over it. Now I admit that I don’t watch procedural shows, but I suspect that there are occasionally journalists who want to know what is going on with the various gruesome murders. How can you have sniper attacks, a poisoned pool where it looked like five or more swimmers died, landmines and a beheading happen all within a short time frame and journalists not asking what in the world is happening in San Francisco. And not to be class focused, but the swimmers and the guy who got beheaded were all wealthy individuals. At a minimum, you’d think when the 1% die in mass that at a minimum the 1% would start to get very concerned.

And I also don’t think the mystery of Alcatraz is being explored all that well. Seriously, in the last episode, the big takeaway about the 1960s Alcatraz was that the warden was a greedy SOB and apparently secured bars of gold that were hidden/lost/forgotten in the tunnels. Please.

And so with that said, I have one less show to watch for the rest of this television season.

P.S.  I do reserve the right to watch the season finally, which looks like it'll happen the last Monday of March.