A Movie Review: Lincoln

Lincoln. This movie is more philosophy and politics than biography. That isn’t to complain. I found it fascinating to hear the wisdom that Lincoln spoke. I would guess that 80% of Lincoln’s scenes are shot within the White House. It is also confined to the final days of the Civil War. There is also the intrigue of politics and the attempt to abolish slavery. Fascinating.

A Movie Review: Skyfall

Skyfall. An action packed James Bond movie. This movie doesn’t allow you much time to breath. It just jumps from action to intrigue to action to intrigue. I loved it. Should have gotten a nod for best picture.

Duke Basketball vs. Maryland: 84-64

Luckily, I missed the Miami game.

It is hard to believe that Duke got destroyed in Miami while watching the Maryland game.  Duke played well against Maryland.  I'm not saying Duke should have beat Miami.  I'm saying, how did they get destroyed.

In this game, there wasn't some devastating run that Duke went on to blow the game out.  No, it was just a steady  pace game.  The lead just slowly built as time marched on.

For this game, there were 2 Duke freshman starting.

It appears that Marshall Plumlee is being used to provide quick spells for his older brother.  He racked up only 2 minutes.  Mason Plumlee racked up 37 minutes.  Someone got the other minute.

Interestingly, no one is there to back up Quinn Cook who played 40 minutes.

Currently, Duke is on a solid 7 man rotation.  Hopefully, when Ryan Kelly comes back, Duke goes to a solid 8 man rotation.

Santa Anita: 21 January 2012

So close.  That's my opinion of the day.

Just to say up front, I'm not a heavy better.  Per race, I make multiple bets that total $5 so I am not one of those folks putting down $20 a race.

First, I nearly broke even.  I ended up down $4.

Second, in the first race, I almost hit the trifecta.  I bet 1-3-2.  The final results were 1-2-3.  Ouch.

Third, in the eighth race, I almost hit an exacta.  I bet 6-3.  The final results were 3-6.  Double Ouch.

I might have walked off with over $50.

I went to a quick betting seminar before the start of the race.  The topic was the Pick 6, which I didn't participate in, but did take note of the suggestions.  Okay, picking on a guy for making a bad suggestion is just wrong, considering that I'm not guru.  But here's an amusing note.  For the 7th race, the obvious choice was considered to be Beholder.  I believe that the odds were around 1-5 by the time the race started.  The argument was made that it was possible that Beholder was past her prime so for the Pick 6, the suggest was to go with either Dawn's Charm or Lady Rosamond.  Guess who won:  Renee's Titan -- none of the three.  And what happened to the jockey once Renee's Titan won:  the horse bucked the jockey off the saddle.  

PAPA at the Bootleg Theater

PAPA is the January residency band at the Bootleg Theater.  I do believe this is the first time I've seen the velvet rope up at the Bootleg Theater since Honey Honey's residency.

And I totally got it.  From the very start their energy just set their fans afire.

Noticed:  their set list was written on a paper napkin.

Noticed:  they sang  a cover song from The Cure.  Props.

Noticed:  they had lamps up on stage.  The lamp fell over twice (maybe three times).

The lamps led to the comment of the night (directed at the sound guy):  You're still chill even though this lamp idea is f*#!-ed up.

Noticed:  A young woman screaming throughout their set.  She was up front and center.  I'm sure she was into the music, but also off to the side there were a handful of folks who couldn't help but show their amusement.

The crowd demanded an encore and the band delivered.

Jenny O at the Bootleg Theater

Jenny O hit the stage at a crowded Bootleg.  To my left, I heard a brief conversation.  One was there specifically for Jenny O.  Another was there specifically for PAPA.  Hopefully, they enjoyed both sets.

Jenny O and band did their set-up.  There was a brief conversation with the sound guy and then they took off.  Some last minute tweaks were being done by the sound guy.  The band was standing next to the stage -- except for Jenny O.  I could see the sound guy giving a thumbs up.  The band was looking around them for Jenny O.  She was no where to be found.  Eventually, one of them took off looking for her.

And so the set started.  A beautiful set carried by Jenny O's vocals.  She sang mainly from her upcoming album.

Amusing conversation going on stage:  Jenny O asked a couple times if any of them knew the time.  I guess no one had a watch or phone on them.


 

J. Thoven at the Bootleg Theater

J. Thoven started off a busy night at the Bootleg Theater.  Group harmonies drives this group.

The Dollyrots at the Redwood Bar

The Dollyrots at the Redwood Bar. For some reason, I didn't know about this show until the very last minute.  I re-arranged my schedule.  Hey, The Dollyrots were playing and all I had to do was head over to Downtown LA.  Are you kidding, I was there.

Set problems:  so parts of the drum set kept on tipping over during the first song.  When it first tipped over, one of their friends/fans jumped on stage to get it re-set.  As soon as he came off stage, it tipped over again. Hysterical.  He hit the stage 3 times.  I think at that point they should have made him an honorable member of the band.

Story of the set:  so Kelly was saying that she overheard a conversation in the washroom that went something like this . . . female in the washroom talking to her boyfriend or husband, "I told you I was going out to see The Dollyrots . . . go make nachos."

Yep, many of us love The Dollyrots.


 

Ingenue at the Redwood Bar

It has been over two years since I last caught Ingenue. Wow, time flies. I'm getting old.  It was a great set and I swear one of their songs had me thinking that it must have been written for angels.


 

Michael Van London at the Redwood Bar

It looks like I'm starting off 2013 by visiting some music venues that I haven't been to in awhile. First it was off to Club Moscow and then a couple days later it was off to the Redwood Bar where I caught Michael Van London.

Catching Michael Van London was a great way to start off the night at the Redwood Bar.  The crowd was packed in tight.  The photographers were out in mass.  And he was preaching his message of rock (see below picture).

  

Mike Taylor and The High on Lows at Club Moscow

The crowd at Club Moscow was there for one musician and his name was Mike Taylor. As the crowd was outside waiting to get in, he was surrounded by friends.  His set took a bit of time to get started.  For some reason, the drummer's seat had fallen apart.  He needed to cut his set short by one song, but I suspect the crowd would have enjoyed a set twice as long.

Comment of the set:  Who the F*!# is Mike Taylor.

The High On Lows set was delayed due to the late start by Mike Taylor.  I was only able to catch part of their set before having to run off.

The comment of the set:  Open your eyes or you will burn and learn.

Mike Taylor



The High On Lows

Michael Grant and the Assassins at Club Moscow

I finally made it back to Club Moscow. It was a solid crowd. As I walked in Michael Grant and the Assassins were in the midst of their set.  Ramped up rock, a perfect way to start off a night.

Duke Basketball vs. Georgia Tech: 73-57

Duke won after a bad first half.

What I didn't like:  in the first half, I swear Mason Plumlee threw up a couple shots without even looking at the basket.

What I did like:  in the second half, Mason Plumlee made sure he was looking at the basket when he shot the ball.

What I didn't like:  most of the first half.

What I did like:  most of the second half.

How is Seth Curry able to put on the scoring clinic that he does when from what everyone is saying he doesn't even practice?

It was nice seeing Rasheed Sulaimon getting his groove back.

The box score that I'm looking at says that Marshall Plumlee only played 1 minute.  Hmm.  I could have sworn I saw him inserted into the game 3 times.  Maybe not.

Ryan Kelly, get better soon.  Of course, on the other hand, maybe Ryan Kelly should be out at least 2 more games so that Jefferson, Murphy and maybe the third Plumlee can get themselves into the rotation.  Wouldn't that be nuts if Duke had a 10 player rotation.

A Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph. Ralph doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore in the world of video games. And why should he be as he is a person of good character. This cartoon takes you behind the scenes of a video arcade. It is fun and a movie that will have you cheering for the "bad guy." One of the coolest moments while watching the movie was listening to a young girl a few rows away first say about Ralph: "That’s not nice." And then after she fell in love with Ralph, "Is he dead?"

A Movie Review: Argo

Argo. Since the ending is sort of already known, even if you are too young to remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis or the fog of memory has taken hold, you might think that Argo has an anti-climatic ending. It doesn't. Argo is like the action movie we watch even though we already know that the good guy will win. This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time as you get to watch an amazing CIA operation take place.

A Movie Review: Taken 2

Taken 2. This movie will perhaps leave you a little under-whelmed, but it is still interesting to see how our retired CIA operative goes about trying to free himself and his wife. It is nice seeing the daughter take on a bit of an action role. And as for Taken 3, the daughter’s boyfriend gets kidnapped next? Hopefully, not. I could perhaps see the daughter aspire to be a CIA agent as she did handle herself well under pressure.

Duke Basketball vs. NC State: 76-84

This game didn't turn out the way one would hope.  NC State beat Duke in a game that was close, but not exactly a down to the wire game.  In the first half, Duke opened a decent lead, but NC State climbed back to take a lead going into half time.

Ryan Kelly wasn't able to play due to a foot injury that is going to keep him out for awhile.  Though that can't be too big of an excuse as Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson filled in ably.

What is a positive with Ryan Kelly out?  Perhaps Amile Jefferson will have played himself into the rotation.  If so, that would give Duke a solid 8 man rotation when Ryan Kelly comes back.

Crushed Out at The Satellite

Crushed Out was the last band of the night on a recent outing to The Satellite. This two piece band gave an energizing one hour country blues set.

I think I found a favorite Los Angeles drummer.  You could turn off the music and still find watching the drummer fascinating.  

Amusing moment of the set.  The lead singer was talking about the fried chicken at some New Orleans joint and how folks had to eat there.  Behind me, a young women said, "I'm a vegetarian."

Birds of a Black Feather at The Satellite

It was off to The Satellite to catch the last of the free shows that started off the year at The Satellite. A new favorite band called Birds of a Black Feather was playing.  Jeff of Automatic Music Explosion fame (a one-time local Los Angeles band) was taking bass duties.

It was a freezing night in Los Angeles, but once they took to the stage I forgot all about the weather.

Yellow Alex at The Satellite

Yellow Alex has the residency at The Satellite for January. What a way to start off 2013.

The set was Prince-inspired, which resulted in the crowd dancing throughout -- it was somewhat inspired by the lead singer saying that he heard a rumor that those in Silver Lake don't know how to dance.  Of course, the crowd wouldn't have been dancing if it wasn't for Yellow Alex.  The sound popped.  The choreography (see below) was perfect.

Amusing moment of the set:  The lead singer asked the crowd on his right to follow his lead (the following is the gist of how it went).  "Say 'Hollywood Forever' after I point to you.  Hollywood Forever."  Crowd, "Hollywood Forever."  Singer, "Let's try that again, wait until I point.  Hollywood Forever."  Crowd, "Hollywood Forever."  Singer, "You have to wait until I point.  I see musicians in the audience.  Let's get this right."  

Nightmare and the Cat at The Satellite

It was off to see Nightmare and the Cat at The Satellite. This is one of those bands that I keep on my list of bands to see. I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but I do try and catch them on occasion.

I was looking up my past posts on this band. I initially felt that their sound did have a nightmare-ish quality. Then I mentioned that their sound seemed to be more frenzied.

Well, now I'm saying that they are shifting to a dance sound.

Either my opinion of them is changing or they are changing their style of music.  I do plan to continue following them around.

As for photography:  their lead singer makes it fun. 

Mirror Talk at The Satellite

It was the first residency of 2013 at The Satellite. Mirror Talk was the first band on stage for the night.

Moment of the set: the lead singer got off stage and went around saying hello to folks in the audience. Something like that could be seen as cheesy, but it was done with such sincerity that it felt refreshing. 

Lostine at The Satellite

Okay, so a continuation from yesterday's post of a recent outing to The Satellite to see some new bands. If I understand things right, Lostine is a sort of reconfiguration of Gran Ronde.

It was a solid set and amusing in one regard. A question was asked if folks had fun during New Year's Eve. There were some rumblings in the audience. And so a follow up was made about how many of the folks in the audience had hung out at the lead singer's house and so they better of had fun.

Young Empress at The Satellite

It was a night of relatively new bands hitting up The Satellite. The first band for me was Young Empress. They call themselves a power pop band.

Duke Basketball vs. Wake Forest: 80-62

This one wasn't even close really.  Wake Forest did stick around for part of the 1st half (8 minutes into the first quarter they were within 5).  But you could tell that they were out-matched.

Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry were hitting the 3s.  You can't really criticize their play; however, Kelly did foul out after playing only 18 minutes.  Considering that the game wasn't really close, I suppose one could argue that Kelly should have played with better control.

Mason Plumlee was invisible during the first half.  I think this is a concern.  It isn't like Duke will always be hot from the outside.  It did look like he played passive in the first half.  In the second half, he started to demand the ball more.  I think it is important for Duke to have a good all around game:  inside and outside shooting.

For awhile there, Coach K tossed in the reserves:  Marshall Plumlee, Jefferson and Murphy.  They went in with Duke up 25 and about 11 minutes to play.  I was a bit surprised by this move.  It seemed a little early for Coach K to put in his reserves.  On the other hand, it was good to get those guys some playing time as hopefully at least 2 of them become part of the regular rotation (though perhaps playing only around 8 minutes a game). 

Final note:  it was interesting to see all the team bonding activities going on -- pushing and shoving.  At one point, I was thinking, is it possible that someone could actually get hurt -- not ready for the push and end up on the floor?   Hopefully, this all indicates that this team is prepared to win and lose together.

Up on Intraffik: Iceland Part 3

I'm up on Intraffik: Final Iceland post.

Up on Intraffik: Iceland Part 2

I'm up on Intraffik: Iceland Part 2.

Up on Intraffik: Iceland Part 1

I'm up on Intraffik: Iceland time. 

Duke Basketball vs. Davidson: 67-50

It was a close first half, 29-29.  Duke just couldn't pull away.  Seth Curry couldn't hit a shot.  Mason Plumlee was playing like a freshman -- turnovers like crazy.

There must have been some yelling at half time, because Duke played some lockdown defense during the first few minutes and opened up a solid lead.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski could be seen standing on the sidelines during the second half.  He was getting into the game during the offensive sets and then sitting during the defensive sets.  Admittedly, Duke was playing defense away from him, but I wonder if his standing during the offensive sets indicated that he was unhappy with how the offense was playing, but was rather pleased with how things were going on the defensive end.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-13

This was a rather painful season.  Luckily, I missed the Pittsburgh Steelers game against Cleveland.  Oh wait, they won.  No matter, it would have still been painful to watch considering that is was a worthless game.

In this game, Big Ben once again threw an interception in the closing minutes of the game.  Come on.

As for next year:  I'm not an expert, but honestly I think the Steelers had a team that should have had a much better record this year.  They have the receivers.  They have the running backs.  They have a front line.  I suppose they better upgrade that defense a little -- younger players.  The defense stood strong for most of the games they played -- I mean, look at this Cincinnati score.  But they are getting older.  I have to say I think next  year will be a good year.  

Top 10 New 2012 Bands/Musicans (new for me)

As with the last two years, my goal is to stick mainly to bands/musicians that I've at least seen twice (which could mean I saw them first in 2010 or 2011).  There are three cheats here.

Birds of a Black Feather means the return of Sarah Jeanette from The Mulhollands. Good news, Los Angeles.

Dum Dum Girls.  Nothing dum dum about the Dum Dum Girls.

Grace Woodroofe.  She's an Aussie who reminds America that we love Rock ‘n Roll.

Grimes set got cut short, because her fans went nuts.

GroupLove. Their song kept playing on the radio over and over again until I started get sick of it.  I guess I shouldn't say that about a band I'm saying is on my Top New list.  When I saw them at Make Music Pasadena, it represented the second time I saw this band.  They do give a show.

Lavinia Slaughter and Night Terrors of 1927 are new projects of Lauren White (lead for Lavinia Slaughter, keys for Night Terrors or 1927).  Need I say more?

NO is mesmerizing music.

Raw Geronimo.  I saw them throughout the year. I love the wildness of the lead singer.  Technically, I saw them twice in 2011 which should disqualify them from this list, but in 2011 I only saw partial sets.

Sky Ferreira.  I hope she makes it.  From what I read she's had some ups and downs.  I hope her an up year for 2013.

Zola Jesus.  She loves diving into the crowd.