A Movie Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story. Though I thought the actors in this movie did a great job (Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and Zach Galifianakis), I just can’t recommend this movie. Maybe I was just too tired while watching it, it being a Sunday evening. I just don’t think the movie really went anywhere. You’re in a medical ward, you find young love, you have people with fears and mental disorders, whatever, was there really any serious story line? It just didn’t work for me. Sorry. I’m not even sure I believed that Keir Gilchrist and Emma Roberts really liked each other – even though if I were Craig (Keir Gilchrist), I’d be head over heels in love with Noelle (Emma Roberts). And for some reason, I just didn’t buy the friendship that developed between Craig and Bobby (Zach Galifianakis).

Lucy Schwartz and The Fling at Satellite/Spaceland

If was off to Satellite/Spaceland to check out Lucy Schwartz and The Fling.

A friend and I are big fans of Lucy Schwartz and so it was a guarantee that we were heading out to Satellite on a recent Monday night.

Comment one: I see I have some werewolf friends out there tonight.

Comment two (after singing Graveyard): Thank you for the spooky light show.

Interesting note it that she grew up with the Belle Brigade siblings.

I do believe she won over the crowd. Of course, I'm not sure how she couldn't.

A couple of the members from Raining Jane backed her up on stage. And I guess you could say the audience played the backup role for one song.

I stuck around for The Fling. As my friend noted, they have a late 70s sound. They rocked the last three songs of their set.

I wasn't able to stick around for Belle Brigade, but as we were leaving Satellite there was one long line of folks wanting to get inside. I'm not sure all of them made it inside. Based on my previous visit to Satellite, they are well worth seeing.


Lucy Schwartz









The Fling

Up on Intraffik.com: The Smell

I'm up on Intraffik.com -- a couple nights spent at The Smell.

Canage Asada, Million Kids and Hidden at Mr. T's Bowl

It was off to Mr T's Bowl to catch some bands Carnage Asada, Million Kids and Hidden.

The night focused in on Hidden. I've never seen them before, but I was informed that this was a re-union show and that this band played the scene in the early 2000s. The gave close to a 1 hr set. Carnage Asada was the first band up. You've got to love a punk band with a cello. Million Kids gave an enthusiastic performance.

Carnage Asada







Million Kids







Hidden

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets: 24-19

Super Bowl #8 here we come.

This game looked like it would be a blow-out and then it started to look like a repeat of Pittsburgh-Baltimore, but with Pittsburgh letting go of a game.

The big news for Steeler Nation is probably on rather or not Maurkice Pouncey will be able to play in the Super Bowl. What I'm reading is that he has a high-ankle sprain. Doug Legursky did okay, but obviously was a cause for the touchback in the fourth quarter. Also, I can't help but believe that the Jets defense was able to deal with him in the 2nd half and that helped slow down the Steelers offense.

I loved hearing the announcers talk about how the Steelers' defense was upset about how they played against the Jets in the regular season. I remember them falling for all these trick plays and me being totally frustrated. In this game, the Jets tried one semi-trick play and the Steelers stuffed it.

Of the two Ben Roethlisberger interceptions, I'd say one was one of those random things that happen after Rashard Mendenhall had the ball tip off his hands in the "wrong" direction. As for the other, it was definitely Roethlisberger's fault as he threw behind his receiver.

The Steelers had one great goal line stance that was negated by a safety.

For that final catch for a first down, the announcers sounded surprised that the Steelers would throw it and risk a dropped ball and therefore a stoppage of the clock. I wasn't. After seeing half of their regular season games, I didn't think they would run it. The Steelers have two major vulnerabilities: special teams and pass defense. Considering how long the Steelers' defense was on the field in the second half, I suspected that even with the fact that the Jets had no time outs that the Steelers were going to try and get that first down via the air.

To a large extent, Troy Polamalu was invisible in this game. Hopefully, the two weeks off helps heal his injuries.

Derby Dolls Ri-Ettes vs. Team Legit: 96-125

A little disappointed that one of my favorite derby dolls, Laguna Beyatch, was out sick.

One has to say cheers to Cecilia from Team Legit. One has to admit she is unreal as a jammer. Her footwork was shocking. She'd do this walking thing and then suddenly switch to full skate speed. I couldn't see the whole track as I was on the floor, but there were moments where on the far end she'd be in the rear and by the time the pack came back in view she'd had broken through and you were like, "How did she do that?"

The Dollyrots played the half time show. A great short set. There was a group of Dollyrots fans. I think like myself there was a special incentive to go to this specific roller derby.

Anyways, this match stayed close for the first three quarters and then it was over. Cecilia played the mercy card during the last jam and didn't run up the score even worse than the 125-96 margin.

Duke Basketball vs. Wake Forest: 83-59

I caught this game with Duke trailing. The game was close for awhile and then Duke just started to pull away.

Ryan Kelly killed it. In past games, I couldn't figure out why he was so enamored with his three point shooting. Well, he was knocking them down in this game, going 4-4 from three point range and scored 20 points in total.

I don't think the announcers noticed that Andre Dawkins started the 2nd half and was pulled within a minute after he committed a foul due to not keeping step with a Wake Forest player. In response, he tossed a towel and was never inserted back into the game. I don't know, sometimes that guy just looks lost in the game. He also seemed rather unenthusiastic during the game as well. While other players were jumping from their seats during key moments, he'd remain in his seat.

Tyler Thorton took advantage of his opportunity, playing tough defense. The nice thing about Thorton getting playing time means that Duke looks like an 8 deep team. If Josh Hairston could go for 5 minutes, I'd call it a 9 deep team.

Miles Plumlee looked active.

What was amazing was how Duke essentially shut down Wake Forest for the last 8 minutes. I think Duke allowed like 3 points in 8 minutes or something crazy like that.

Belle Brigade, The Fling and Francisco the Man at Spaceland/Satellite

It was off to Spaceland/Satellite to see the dual residency bands of The Fling and The Belle Brigade. I also caught part of Francisco the Man. I knew there was going to be a line to get into Spaceland/Satellite. I'd seen it while driving by the previous Monday at 10 p.m. I just didn't realize I'd be waiting in line at 9:15 p.m. I did get to catch about half of Francisco the Man's set.

The Belle Brigade gave one cool set. At first, I wasn't totally into the music, but as soon as thier lead singer start bouncing all over the stage, I was sold. Just before one song, they invited a friend to model their t-shirts. He went up and then decided to stick around for one song to provide some interpretative dancing. He just stood there for about a minute, but than when the lead singer decided to dance with him, he went wild and the crowd went wild with him.

Of the times I've been to Spaceland on a Monday night, this felt like the first time the place has been "sold out" for awhile. The Fling and The Belle Brigade do have a following.

Francisco the Man





The Fling









Belle Brigade

A Movie Review: Megamind

Megamind. Okay, let’s get it out of the way, Roxanne Ritchi has to be one of the sexist female cartoon characters ever created.

Now with that out of the way, this was a fun movie. Yes, it has a similar theme as Despicable Me. Yet, it holds its own as a great cartoon movie.

Basic storyline starts with a Superman beginning, but this time with two babies sent off to earth: Megamind and Metro Man. Metro Man is good, while Megamind turns evil. When Megamind finally kills Metro Man (not so fast, of course), he gets to rule the city. Of course, he finds that being evil isn’t a very good trait. And so he slowly starts to realize that he needs to pivot towards being good. And in the end, yes, he gets to win the heart of one of the sexist cartoon characters ever.

Diane Birch on Jay Leno

For some reason, I can't seem to link directly to Diane Birch's segment, but in the below video just slide on over towards the end of the show to catch her.

Eastern Conference Champions, Gliss and Ruby Friedman at Troubadour

May do something on Intraffik about this night so just pictures for now of Eastern Conference Champions, Gliss and Ruby Friedman Orchestra.

Eastern Conference Champions







Ruby Friedman Orchestra













Gliss

Roses Pawn Shop and Old Man Markley at The Echo

This is a little dated. I went to the Echo on a Thursday night for Old Man Markley's album release party. Roses Pawn Shop was one of the bands that opened for them. It was a great night of bluegrass mixed in with punk rock. One can't complain -- though I do have a complaint. Why did the woman in front of me decide that it was her right to do a personal mosh pit with me as her partner? She had friends around her. Most pit with friends, not strangers.

Roses Pawn Shop



Old Man Markley

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens: 31-24

Did the Pittsburgh Steelers even show up in the first half? For some reason, I think that bye week might not be worth it, unless you have an injured player where the extra week will get him onto the field versus being on the sideline. Of course, the second half collapse from Baltimore might have been a result of their having to play during the bye week. Who knows.

Baltimore started the game almost making the Steelers look weak on special teams play again. Actually, it almost looked like a replay of the Oregon-Auburn game. Luckily, the Baltimore player was called down and didn't get the extra 15 yards, but that was just a temporary reprieve in the first half. I believe it was twice that the Steelers received a penalty on special teams that had their offense starting with their backs to the end zone.

Though the Steelers scored a touchdown on their first drive, one has to give it up to Ed Reed who stopped Rashard Mendenhall dead in his tracks on a play before the touchdown. Wow. Bang. I'm a Steelers fan, but you have to give it up for Ed Reed on that one.

The Ben Roethlisberger fumble looked just sad and seemed to represent the Steelers sleep walk through the first half.

The second half started with the Steelers' defense showing up. They just wouldn't let the Baltimore offense get going and it breathed some life into the Steelers. Yes, the offense scored the points, but the defense brought the energy in the second half.

As for the Flacco fumble from underneath center made up for Ben Roethlisberger's fumble.

Best catch: Antonio Brown using his helmet to control the football. Also interesting view angle. I swear it looked like Antonio Brown decided to toss the ball up in the air as he ran out of bounds, but from a better angle it showed that he just transferred the ball from the right hand to the left hand as he attempted to get the ball over the pylon.

Seville, Spain

During a recent vacation in Andalusia, I stayed in Seville -- doing a couple day trips from there. Below are some photos from Seville.

Triana, where is stayed



View of Seville



Giralda



I have no clue what this really is



Muralla Arabe



Gardens



A church piece



Alcazar