A Movie Review: 50/50

50/50. A young man who lives a healthy lifestyle, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), finds out that he has a rare form of cancer and that his chances of survival are 50-50. We follow him through his cancer treatment and how his relationships are impacts. We see him growing closer to his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), falling apart from his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), and dealing with parent-child complications with his mother (Anjelica Huston). And, of course, one has to mention his psychologist Katherine (Anna Kendrick).

This is a movie that deals with the struggles of unexpected hardship (meaning I think folks can relate to this movie even if they haven’t dealt with cancer). This movie has a comedic bent to it and walks the delicate dramady combination well.

And note on Bryce Dallas Howard who has this gift recently of playing heartless characters.

A Movie Review: Moneyball

Moneyball. If you read my blog regularly, you'll notice I write occasionally about basketball and football, but never baseball.  The reason is that I'm not really into baseball.  But this movie had some pedigree.  The movie was based on a Michael Lewis book.  I've actually never read a Michael Lewis book, but he did write books that I am aware of:  The Big Short, Blindside, Liar's Poker.  And this movie stars Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.  It was also well reviewed.  And I got the impression the movie was about more than baseball; a movie about the implementation of a change in philosophy.

I'm not sure this movie deserves a best picture nod as some seem to be saying, but I definitely enjoyed it.  It is a movie about a General Manager of the Oakland A's deciding that he had to switch things up in order to keep up with money teams such as New York and Boston.  Sometimes you just have to think differently and sometimes thinking differently is actually the right way to go.

A Movie Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene. So maybe I should have paid more attention while watching this movie, because I obviously missed out on something. We have Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) who is given a nickname Marcy May by cult leader Patrick (John Hawkes), but where did the Marlene come into play?

The movie starts with Martha at cult's compound. She soon escapes to her family: her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), and brother-in-law, Ted (Hugh Dancy).  Her time with the cult causes a type of post traumatic stress disorder.  She fears that Patrick will go searching for her and she finds it hard to re-integrate into normal society.  Through flash-backs we find that her time at the cult initially started with sexual brainwashing but quickly spiraled into criminal behavior.

I am up in the air with this movie.  I loved the pacing of the movie, but some things just got me irritated.  For example, though her sister and brother-in-law in my mind want to help Martha (yes, they get frustrated, but wouldn't anyone get frustrated with the erratic behavior of a loved one), they for some reason seem hesitant to ask her deeper questions about her two year disappearance.  I don't even think they realize that she was in a cult for two years.  They seem to just accept the fact that she was in a bad relationship.  Of course, maybe when you haven't seen someone for two years, you're hesitant to ask the deeper questions.

Also, I didn't pay close enough attention to when the name Marlene came into play.  Maybe if I did the movie would make more sense.  Somehow I suspect the last few scenes would have played out better.  I'll have to catch this movie on the Sundance channel some day and re-review this movie.

 

Pu$$y Cow and French Exit playing Redwood Bar

Pu$$y Cow. Lead singer, Joe, pushed his way through the crowd a couple times. A comment was made that the men in the audience should show their bro-tatoes -- you needed to be there.

French Exit. This was my second time seeing them. I'm happy I saw them a second time. After their first song, I was thrilled that I'd stuck around to see them.

Pu$$y Cow



French Exit

Duke Basketball vs. Kansas: 68-61

My first Duke basketball game of the year.  Yep, I forget to DVR the Michigan State game.  For this game, I was looking forward to catching Austin Rivers, Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins.  Instead I got see see Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee controlling the game and Tyler Thorton hinting a miracle shot.

First thought during the game:  our guards can't get anything against Kansas.  Kansas played some tough defense.  Second thought during the game:  I really wish we had a post player.  Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee might not be Brian Zoubek types players, but they definitely kept Duke in the game.  Third thought during the game:  This is looking like a tough, close game.

Anyways, good, tense game.  Teams are still finding themselves so who knows if this victory is an indication that we'll go far in March Madness.  But we've played some tough teams so far (Ohio St is coming up) and haven't lost yet, which shows something good.

I still wish Coach K would play eight (Quinn Cook playing 1 minute doesn't count).

Raw Geronimo at Origami Vinyl

Okay, first off not the best Raw Geronimo photo, but I didn't bring my top end camera as I was coming directly from work. Anyways, lead singer, Laena Geronimo, gave one energetic performance. And the music is fun and raw.

Happy Thanksgiving: Enjoy it!

Little Hurricane and The Janks at The Bootleg Bar

The Janks. What wonderful sounding music.

Little Hurricane. I caught them at the Levitt Pavilion Pasadena. I decided to catch them again. Great set. Pounding beat.

The Janks



Little Hurricane

Underwater City People, The King Cheetah, Ol' Bessy and Drag News at Los Globos Nightclub

It was off to Los Globas Nightclub to celebrate Underwater City People's album release party. I got to catch The King Cheetah, Ol' Bessy, Drag News and closing out the night for me was Underwater City People. It was a good time to catch up with friends and celebrate a new album.

The King Cheetah



Ol' Bessy



Drag News



Underwater City People

Cal Poly SLO Basketball vs USC Trojans: 42-36

Okay. I usually talk about Duke Basketball, but I did attend Cal Poly SLO. And Cal Poly beat USC. Yes!!!! And the write-up about this game from the Daily Trojan:

“Our guys should be embarrassed by their play in the second half,” USC coach Kevin O’Neill said. “I would say maybe half of them are; the other half say it is [my] fault.”

Twilight Sleep and Empires at The Satellie

It was off to The Satellite to catch Empires and Twilight Sleep. Empires hail from Chicago. They had one major fan up front who actually got a number of people to get real close to the stage for their final song.  Maybe the guy was from Chicago.  I have to say I love the way their lead singer is staring out into the audience in the below photo.  Twilight Sleep hit the stage next.  I hadn't seen them since Silverlake Jubilee.  I say compare the facial expressions of the two lead singers in the below photos.

Empires



Twilight Sleep

Viper Room Photo: Badwater

I'm happy with the photos I took at The Viper Room so I'm putting up a series of them. Fourth up: Badwater.

Viper Room Photo: The Shakers

So I'm happy with the photos I took at The Viper Room so I'm putting up a series of them. Third up: The Shakers.

Viper Room Photo: AutoMatique

So I'm happy with the photos I took at The Viper Room so I'm putting up a series of them. Second up: AutoMatique.

Viper Room Photo: Willa Ford

So I'm happy with the photos I took at The Viper Room so I'm putting up a series of them. First up: Willa Ford.

Randomness while driving in Los Angeles

I was driving down a street at around 11 a.m. This car in front of me had a driver who decided that half the time he (or she) had to drive in the middle of the two lanes. Drunk or just a bad driver?

While driving, I saw what looked like a rather serious accident, a three car pile-up on the side of the road. After doing some shopping, I heading back that way – perhaps 30 minutes later. Thirty minutes later and not a sign of any accident. Impressive clean-up.

LA Derby Dolls: Sirens vs. Varsity Brawlers -- 127-139

I looked through my previous blogs and it would seem this was the first time I've ever seen the Sirens and Varsity Brawlers. I've usually gone to Tough Cookies vs. The Swarm games (a couple all star games tossed in there). This created a disadvantage for me: who did I want to win? I had no clue.

Interesting game. The Varsity Brawlers took rather significant leads in the 1st and 3rd quarters while the Sirens fought back in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Going into half time, the score was tied 66-66. Come the end of the third quarter, it was 117-75 Varsity Brawlers. As can be seen by the final score, the game tightened up with the Sirens making a game out of it. The Sirens fought back to actually cut the lead down to 129-127, but then there was a time out and a conference between refs. Penalties. It was a power jam for the Varsity Brawlers with 3:16 Cris Affliction lapping twice and racking up 10 points.

3:16 Cris Affliction. So I didn't come into this game knowing any of the Derby Dolls, but Cris Affliction stood out rather quickly. She's a very confident jammer. A couple times when she broke out of the pack, I noticed that she took a moment to wave to the crowd. Looking at the Derby Dolls website, I saw that she's the third best jammer so I guess she can take a moment to wave. I also noticed that for the last power jam (the jam that sealed the Varsity Brawlers' victory) that she called off the jam a couple seconds early even though she was in a power jam. You got to love that just a bit, the cockiness.

I went with a group of friends. In the second half, there were some very vocal derby dolls standing next to me -- very into the strategy of the game. I sort of wish I could have over-heard them better (it gets loud inside the Doll Factory). It would have been like listening to NFL television announcers.

Dream. the company dream

Dream. I had this dream that my company decided that to save money they were going to squeeze all of us into these dorm room like office spaces. I was stuck in one room with about 6 other people. And apparently to save money they bought really outdated computer monitors from the 1980s - monitors that were around pre-Windows. (I had just watched Ghost for some strange reason and the monitors in my dream looked exactly like those from the movie). The office was so crowded and the fact that I was also having computer problems, I went for a walk. I walked around and there were all these empty offices. I was like, why are we all being squeezed into a couple offices when there are all these other offices available.

Dreams: the Walking Dead

Dream. I watch Walking Dead. And so I had this dream where I was in Walking Dead. Now there weren’t any zombies walking around. It was part of the storyline where the group is at the farmhouse. Everyone was gathered around the dining table. The veterinarian was at the head of the table. He had this dark anticipated look in his eyes. Everyone got suspicious. Folks started to cough. He was trying to gas us all (perhaps for cannibalistic reasons). We scattered, running out of the house. As we ran, the kitchen blew up. I guess he didn’t judge the use of the gas properly.

Of course, why he was trying to gas us while at the table with us is an unknown – but it was a dream so it didn’t necessarily need to make sense.

I think the dream also reflects my suspicions of the veterinarian -- not that he's done anything to deserve it, I'm just suspicious of him.

A Sister/A Brother/A Shove

Funny little moment. I was walking to my car after shopping for groceries at a Trader Joe’s. I saw a brother and sister playing on a cement parking stop. The little girl decided to push her brother off the stop. He fell and started to cry. The little girl started to act as if nothing had happened. Of course, the father didn’t notice a thing.

The World Record and Hi Ho Silver Oh @ Silverlake Lounge

The Monday Residency rotation took me to the Silverlake Lounge for a couple bands. The World Record hit the stage soon after I arrived. My first thought, love the music. My second thought, what a close knit group of friends. The residency band for this month is Hi Ho Silver Oh.  Every so often, I get these e-mails that mention Hi Ho Silver Oh.  I'm happy I finally got to catch them. 

The World Record




Hi Ho Silver Oh

The Shakers, Willa Ford, AutoMatique and Badwater at The Viper Room

The Shakers, I love The Shakers. Anyways, before The Shakers hit the stage, I had to drive out to the Sunset Strip and The Viper Room. It isn't that I don't like the Sunset Strip. It is the fact that it is so far from Glendale. I'm getting old. If I lived in West Hollywood, I'd probably find my way to the Sunset Strip more often. Whenever I'm on the Sunset Strip, I always get this buzz from it.

I got to the Viper Room and found that I wasn't on the guest list. I had to get some help getting my camera inside. Once I got inside the Viper Room, I got to catch about half of Willa Ford's set. She was once a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. I wished I'd caught her whole set. She has a wonderful voice as well as a pleasant personality.

Next up was AutoMatique. They're a former Kiss or Kill band. They just blew me away with their thirty minute set.

The main act, The Shakers, hit the stage at 11-ish.  First two songs were all about Jodie.  It was like, "Wow, where did that come from."  Cameras were out.  Photos were being taken.  Amazing.  And it was one crowded, packed night.  I was basically stuck in one location, taking photos.  And when their set ended, I still couldn't move for awhile.  I swear I was stuck for about five minutes as fans filed out the door. If the Fire Marshall dropped by, I wonder if there would have been capacity problems.

Final band of the night was Badwater.  See photo below.  Hair was in.  A nice end to the night.

My comparison between women of the Sunset Strip versus women from the Silverlake scene.

Sunset Strip conversation

Woman:  I'm mad at you.  You didn't take photos that I would have taken.

Silverlake conversation

Woman:  So do you take photos for a website or the band?

I got to say, I'm a bit bias towards the Silverlake-type conversations.

Willa Ford



AutoMatique



The Shakers



Badwater

Up On Intraffik.com: Mondays in Los Angeles Part II

I'm up on Intraffik.com with Part II of Mondays in Los Angeles.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens: 23-20

Interesting how things turn out. The 2nd to last possession for Baltimore had the Steelers defense playing superb. For the last possession, the Ravens just cut them down, going 92 yards in just over 2 minutes. Of course, that last possession was driven by the Steelers offense not being able to run down the clock.

Once again, the Steelers front line held up. Unfortunate that Big Ben and the offense couldn't generate more points from their effort.

As for the game itself, very tense, very competitive. It was enjoyable except for the outcome.

Black Flamingo: The Smell

I noticed that Black Flamingo was going to play The Smell. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to catch their set as my friend and his band The Mo-odds were supposed to hit the stage at the same time, 10 p.m. Anyways, it so happened that The Mo-odds set got pushed until 11 p.m. and the two venues (The Down and Out being the other) were within a block of each other. So I walked up the street to The Smell.  Why do I love the Black Flamingo?  Love the vocals and the background of sorrowful wails.

LA Drugz, The Horror Squad, Pu$$y Cow and Attila & the Hunks at the Blue Star

It is a tradition by Pu$$y Cow to throw a Halloween show. This time around LA Drugz, The Horror Squad, (of course) Pu$$y Cow and Attila and the Hunks hit the stage.  Folks dressed up for the night, which perhaps out shined the music.  There were various custom contests:  scariest, funniest, sexist and best.  I would post some photos, but hate to post photos of folks who might not want to have their images posted on the Internet.

Witches, pirates, ketchup bottles, cats, Thor and many many more were represented at the Blue Star.  

LA Drugz




The Horror Squad




Pu$$y Cow



Attila and the Hunks

Saint Motel and Caught a Ghost at a Children's Hospital Fundraiser

A fun night was spent raising money for Children's Hospital. I personally helped out by selling raffle tickets. I think I did a rather good job at it. Along the way, I got to see a couple bands, Caught A Ghost and Saint Motel.

Caught a Ghost



Saint Motel

Up on Intraffik: Love Ride

Up on Intraffik with a short write-up on Love Ride for Autism Speaks.

Up on Intraffik.com: Project Ethos October 2011

Some additional photos from Project Ethos are up on Intraffik.com.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots: 25-17

This was an amazing game for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I was reading about how Tom Brady owned the Steelers and I had to believe those writers, having seen some of those games myself.  For this game, the Steelers dominated New England, mainly by keeping the football for long stretches of time.

What did I like:

The offensive line.  I've complained about the offensive line for awhile, but for this game (at least) they held the line.

The defense didn't give up much to Brady even if they had a rash of injuries.

What I did not like:

Even though they dominated, they won by only 8.  Based on their domination, I would think the Steelers should have won by 17.

They didn't win by more, because they couldn't score in the red zone.


 

LA Fashion Week: Favorite Photos Series

So the editor of Intraffik will be doing a real post on LA Fashion Week, but I figured I'd post some of my favorite photos. Kelly Nishimoto/LA Fashion Weekend.