A Book Review: Inferno by Dan Brown

Inferno by Dan Brown. Harvard professor Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital. He has short-term amnesia. His last memory is of him being in the United States. He has no idea how he ended up in a Italian hospital. Almost immediately, an assassin barges through the door and kills one of his doctors. The remaining doctor, Sienna Brooks, rushes him out of the room and they barely escape the assassin. Langdon has no idea why he is being targeting, but it soon becomes apparent that there is a mad man who wants to commit an atrocious worldwide genocide. Though Langdon has no idea of this horrible fact, Sienna Brooks and him are uncovering clues to help him figure out why everyone is chasing after him. For some reason, the clues revolve around Dante's The Inferno. 

I felt like I was reading the book version of Nicolas Cage's National Treasure. This book is like being on a roller coaster that blasts around curves without slowing down. Honestly, I'm not sure that is a good thing. The book deals with a very heavy topic: world over-population. And yet, there are only brief discussions of this issue and mainly from the point of view of the mad man. Instead, time is spent on describing tourist locations across Italy. Now if one wants to read about where to go in Florence and Venice that's just fine, but it seems like this book is discussing a theory that is never fully investigated. I suspect if sentences were eliminated from this book that over-describe various tourist spots, the book would be 20% shorter.

Now, of course, does the book have a few interesting twists? Yes. And as those twists were revealed, I scanned through some of the prior pages and came to the realization that I'd made some wrong assumptions. That was fun seeing how Dan Brown had manipulated my perceptions. Even then, I consider this book a let down when compared to The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Thinking about Religion in Today's World

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My ninth and final panel discussion that I attended was titled "Thinking about Religion in Today's World." There were three panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Reza Aslan, an acclaimed writer and scholar, is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news about the Middle East and the world. His first book, “No god but God,” has been translated into 13 languages. Other titles include “Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East” and his most recent, “Zealot.”

Tom Bissell is the author of eight previous books, most recently “The Disaster Artist” and has been awarded the Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He writes frequently for Harper’s Magazine and The New Yorker. “Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of Twelve” is just out.

Susan Jacoby is an independent scholar, noted speaker and best-selling author of 11 books, including “The Age of American Unreason” and “Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism.” Her new book is “Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion."

My observation:

So in my posts on the various LA Times Festival of Books panels I attended, I've tried to keep my opinion to the side, but for this one I'll at least give my observation. One might want to call this the equivalent of the Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier Thrilla in Manila fight. You're not supposed to talk about religion and politics, right? In this panel, they were throwing verbal punches at each other for the full hour discussion.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Jacoby. People under 30 are more secular today. It means that they don't have an understanding of Western history. We need to educate people on the role that religion played in American history.

Atheism is a pejorative for us. There are more atheist than will admit that they are atheist. Are they really "nones" or just won't admit they are atheist?

Ideas have consequences. How is it not possible to have antagonism when religious people impose their views on everyone around them. Their ideas have consequences. Constitution doesn't say anything about religion influencing others, but it does stand against imposing beliefs. This is the only country where one can believe as one wishes. The beauty of this country is that the majority can be Christian, but the government isn't.

The problem is that the American government only talks about Christians being killed, but doesn't say anything about free thinkers and Muslims (who don't agree with ISIS) who are being killed.

To the extent where life is awful, the afterlife has an appeal for the poor and uneducated -- they're not stupid, just poor and uneducated.

Humanism is the ethics of this world. Religion was a way to explain the world before science could. The science of this world is physics.

You can't predict if young "nones" will return to church when they have children. What will happen to those raised by "nones," that's the question?

Bissell. Even the religious are illiterate about their religion. This is especially evident since evangelicals are voting for Trump. Faith is based on untestable assumptions.

There is a problem when religion turns to fundamentalism. He was initially hostel to literalists.

There was early fan fiction of apostles in the early church.

Religious impulse can be a beautiful and dangerous thing -- to engage with the imaginary.

Religious fanatics got pushed out of Europe to America. The Christian role in US politics is only recent, the last 30 years. In the late 70s/early 80s right wing Christians and Jews joined forces. Fundamentalist Christians got aggressive.

Why can faith be the only thing that can speak out after tragedy?

Aslan. Issue of identity: 71% of Americans view themselves as Christian. They are making a statement about who they are. National identity means they are American. Flag and cross.

Secularism isn't on the rise. "Nones" is on the rise. The "nones" refuse to mark the box as atheist of agnostic. Only 3% of Americans atheist and 4% are agnostic. "Nones" refuse to identify with a specific religious faith.

Ludicrous to think that faith didn't have an impact on America. There are protections in constitution. Sometimes these protections do fail when the majority believes one way.

Religious identity is on the rise. Not religion, but identity of religion over nationality. We shouldn't be surprised that cobbled together nation-states are falling apart and people are identifying with there religion. This is why we need to become more literate as people identify this way.

Faith vs religion. Religion can be based on parents, but faith is far more mystical. Belief that there is an afterlife is ingrained in our DNA and is not just a wish fulfillment.

My Final Thought:

That wraps up the various panel discussions I attended at the LA Times Festival of Books. I will be eagerly awaiting for next year's edition.

Transviolet with machineheart and Chelsea Lankes at The Satellite

Transviolet

Transviolet brought their alternative rock style to The Satellite for the month of April. April's Mondays at the Satellite got a thrill as this band put on a great show. Their lead singer Sarah put on some moves, which included jumping off the drum set a couple times. She also damaged one of their synths by accidentally knocking it over. Hopefully, it didn't break.

Opening up for Transviolet were machineheart and Chelsea Lankes. Machineheart features former American Idol contestant, Stevie Scott. I say bring on the great 80s sound of Belinda Carlisle. Chelsea Lankes came on next in some sexy short shorts. I have to say this is the first time I've seen Chelsea Lankes where she wasn't the opening act. I have to say that alone made this a unique experience.

What did I notice specifically:

Stevie Scott is a tall front woman. When Chelsea Lankes and Sarah of Transviolet came on next, I couldn't help thinking, "Yes, Stevie Scott is really tall compared to them."

What was specifically noted by Transviolet:

All the bands were fronted by female lead singers.


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BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival 2016 Review

Street Fever

BROKE LA Fest. It was a perfect day for a Los Angeles music festival. The sixth annual BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival was blessed with great weather as well as a carefully curated lineup of bands. The festival also moved to a new location on 695 South Santa Fe Avenue, which was just a hop, skip and a jump from the prior site. The new site is more spread out with side corridors here and there, which gave the festival an exploratory feel.

I just can't wait until next year's edition. Oh wait, let's not get ahead of ourselves . . .

Favorite band:

DWNTWN. Okay, I'm a touch bias here as I've followed this band for a number of years. Their tunes are so catchy and their lyrics provide that lift through the emotional hard times that hit us all. One also has to love the sleeve shawl that Jamie (lead singer) used to full effect. She creating swirling motions as she twirled her left arm in motion with the music. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that many of the festival attendees were thrilled to see DWNTWN as the Cartel Outdoor Stage was packed for their set. "Let's get weird and dance," nicely summed things up.

Favorite discovered band:

Street Fever. The BROKE LA website says this, "Think dark wave disco meets cyber punk with a touch of seduction."  I'm not going to disagree with that. Dark wave disco: the techno beats just kept pulsating along with the timed floor lights. Cyber punk: think The Borg. Touch of seduction: a young woman came on stage, seducing us with her performance dance and at times French vocals. At one point, the young woman came on stage and knocked over a floor light. She pointed to it and a guy immediately rushed on stage to adjust it. Then she picked up a conductor's baton and made sure the crowd followed her lead.

Sometimes you need to make tough choices:

String Theory and The Fontaines. My first major scheduling conflict happened early. Both String Theory (Cartel Indoor Stage) and The Fontaines (Cartel Outdoor Stage) were scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Doing my pre-festival research, String Theory fascinated me with first, their awesome photo on the BROKE LA website and; second, their Soundcloud music. As for The Fontaines, I caught them a couple times during their residency at Silverlake Lounge and I wanted to see how they'd progressed musically as they were a relatively new group at that time. I did a split decision. I caught the first half of String Theory and the second half of The Fontaines. String Theory used a string harp installation that went from the stage to rafters in the middle of the building. It reminded me of a similar installation I saw a few years back when hanging out at an artist/music loft in Marina Del Rey. Did I actually hear them sing, "statistical byway?" As for The Fontaines, I say that lead singer Charlotte has taken on a Gothic look that makes a fun play with her Judy Garland classic vocals.

Second Helpings:

Saturday was the second time I saw Valley Queen and Yassou. Interestingly enough, I saw both of them for the first time at the Bootleg Theater though not on the same night. Valley Queen goes with a Southern rock sound. Did I hear lyrics that went, "Like a super nova?" Lead singer Natalie proclaimed towards the end of their set, "I used pedals on that one. I just started using pedals . . that was so fuzzy." Always learning. Yassou hails from San Francisco.  Lead singer Lillie leads a band that I argue can go from haunting vocals to Enya-like vocals backed by a rock band to chaotic sounds and motions. And then sometimes there is a sound of a mythological wisp.

I interviewed them:

During the BROKE LA media day, I got to interview Salt Petal. I also got to see their full set. This band fits the definition of multicultural. Their band is multicultural. And as lead singer Autumn stated before a couple songs, sometimes a song "requires some hip shaking" and sometimes a song demands that "we need to see you with your disco finger."

Quick hit thoughts:

I saw Alina Bea when she was in Body Parts during their Satellite residency. Her sound got my day going off on the right track. Dr. Doctor had a lyric line that went like, "Now I'm just listening. Just a memory now." The drummer had the most intense stare while the bassist was just calm, cool and collective. Jessica of Disco Shrine was extremely helpful during the BROKE LA media day. And on stage with Disco Shrine she was one high energy entertainer. Tennis System sped through their awesome set like the flashing of their light show. I definitely want to catch this band again. Vinyl Williams provided a sonic end of the night for the Cartel Outdoor Stage. Tolliver serenaded the Cartel Indoor Stage with the help of some guest performers. Did he ask me, "Did you just take a photo of my penis? I saw your camera shift down." Us photographers always seem to get in trouble when we are checking our camera settings (example, the photographer who was thought to be taking a photo of Priyanka Chopra's butt) or apparently just making sure we get a perfectly framed shot. Who wants to see a photo of a penis anyways? LOL. Brownies and Lemonade Stage was a fun way to end the night. I'm not even sure if that stage was following the schedule during the last 30 - 45 minutes. To me, it looked like a huge dance off party. The crowd was loving it. The DJs were loving it. I was loving it.

PS:

I ran into the former bass player of Missing Teen (was initially known as Future Ghost), Kim. I still remember when I first saw that band, an early time slot at Silver Lake Jubilee. After that set, I made sure I saw them again and again. The band stopped playing a few years back. This was the first time I'd seen her in years and she was as friendly as always. It was nice to know she also recognized me. (As I was writing up this blog post, I stopped by their Facebook page and played their music.)

I also ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in years. An awesome random encounter that was due to the BROKE LA Music and Art Festival.

Plug:

If you're interested in reading 3 interviews I did during the BROKE LA media day, feel free to click on the band names:

DWNTWN
Salt Petal
Annuals

And if you're interested in seeing additional photos, head on over to Intraffik.


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Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Everything Connects: Building Blocks of Daily Life panel

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My eight panel discussion that I attended was titled "Everything Connects: Building Blocks of Daily Life." There were three panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is internationally known for his popular books on archaeology, history and climate change and has won numerous awards for his writing. His most recent book is “Beyond the Blue Horizon: How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the Secrets of the Oceans.”

Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of 13 books, including acclaimed enviro-chronicle “Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair With Trash.” He is a recipient of the PEN Award and his writing has been featured in Los Angeles Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the New York Times. He resides With his family in Southern California, and his latest book is “Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation.”

Jonathan Waldman grew up in suburban Washington, D.C., studied writing at Dartmouth and then Boston University, and has since written for the Washington Post, the New York Times, McSweeney’s, Wired, Slate and Outside magazine. His latest book, “Rust: The Longest War,” is a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in Science and Technology.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Waldman. The military is losing too many ships to rust. We can't build ships fast enough. Rust is attacking material all the time. There was a bay for rusting ships in San Francisco for the Navy. It was causing pollution issues.

Impact of rust on the military: a study was done on how much is costs to repair military equipment for rust. The number came to $20 billion a year.

There is a science to making cans. Cans are made to rust (oxidize) from inside out. The can is a corrosion miracle. The science behind the can is more complex to anything we send to space. Energy drinks are tested at can test center. Many energy drinks are too corrosive, which indicates what you're drinking.

Can school shows how cans are made.

Humes. When Los Angeles shut down the 405 for expansion, it was called carmageddon. The 405 was shut down for 54 hours. During that time, traffic improved, pollution dropped. Now with the extra lane, traffic has gotten worse on the 405.

We need to change people's behavior. We need to make life better without spending money.

Amazon's one day delivery is horrible for traffic. People are mad at trucks on the road but want the convenience.

Just 160 transportation tankers emit more pollution than all the cars in the world. Tankers in Long Beach harbor emit more pollution than all the cars in the US.

3D printing might result in a return of local manufacturing and could reduce pollution.

Invention of shipping containers allowed for outsourcing. Shipping containers are low tech. The good or bad nature of outsourcing can be debated, but that is an unseen consequence of what was initially seen as an invention that would improve efficiency.

Fagan. The donkey adapted to semi-arid conditions and so can survive well in the desert. It is also easy to train. An ancient Egyptian trail indicates that donkeys were used. There are also trails between Iraq and Turkey. These details can be found in ancient letters.

Donkeys were worked to death. They were the ancient world's pickup truck. Domestication happened around 4000-ish BC. Wheels came in later for ox carts. Camel came later. Gold came from West Africa to Europe via the camel.

We are in this situation where we eat animals and treat them horrible, but we also have them as pets.

Horses were used around 3500 BC. Horses allowed for mobility; however, donkeys were the earliest pack animals. The ox needs too much water.

Pit ponies worked underground.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Biography: The Famous and the Infamous panel

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My seventh panel discussion was titled "Biography: The Famous and the Infamous." There were three panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Terry Alford is an author, historian and professor emeritus at Northern Virginia Community College. He is a founding board member of the Abraham Lincoln Institute of Washington, D.C., and is an internationally recognized authority on John Wilkes Booth and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. His latest book is “Fortune’s Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth,” a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in Biography.

Kirstin Downey is the author of two widely acclaimed books, “The Woman Behind the New Deal” and “Isabella the Warrior Queen,” both of which were finalists for the L.A. Times Book Prize for Biography. A longtime Washington Post reporter, Downey was a Nieman fellow and a finalist for the Livingston Prize for Outstanding Young Journalist in the U.S.

Charlotte Decroes Jacobs is a professor of medicine at Stanford University. Her first biography, “Henry Kaplan and the Story of Hodgkin’s Disease,” was called one of the best five books on doctors’ lives by The Wall Street Journal. Her second, “Jonas Salk: A Life” was named one of the 100 notable books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review and is a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in Biography.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Downey. Queen Isabella fascinated her as a little girl. Here was a woman who sent Christopher Columbus to the Americas. Queen Isabella made Spanish the second most spoken language.

Downey's book isn't just about Queen Isabella, but about what was happening around the globe during her reign. Queen Isabella grew up during a time when Europe was in opposition to the Ottoman Empire.

Downey looked at Queen Isabella from various perspectives. She went to Venice and looked at documents in Italian. The Catholic Pope at the time was Spanish so she looked at documents that were in Latin.

After Queen Isabella, the game of chess included a queen.

Jacobs. Jacobs' town was selected as a polio vaccine test city. She herself was an original pioneer of the polio vaccine. Jonas Salk became a hero. She decided to write a biography on Salk. What did he do as an encore? She found that he was enigmatic. He was loved by public, but shunned by the scientific community that saw him as conniving. He was controversial in the scientific community, because many felt that he was seeking all the glory for himself.

Jacobs had a hard time getting access to the archives. Salk's three sons made it difficult for her. She was given six months to review documents and then she had to ask again. The sons were protective of his image. They didn't want a People Magazine style biography. She did over one hundred interviews.

She found out near the end that Salk was a skirt chaser.

Alford. He always liked stories of unusual individuals, which drove him to write a book about John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln had actually seen Booth in a play. Booth was not a born loser. He actually had something to lose in his assassination of Lincoln. He was a successful actor. And by definition he was a great actor. His mother convinced him to stay out of the Confederate army.

Alford gained more respect for Lincoln, because his research showed how many extreme forces he had to deal with.

A BROKE LA Band Interview: Salt Petal

Photo Credit: Sebastien Vilensky

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview Salt Petal. ( I also interviewed Annuals and DWNTWN -- both interviews were previously posted). I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

Salt Petal

If you love to travel, like I do, you’ll loving talking with this band. I got to talk with Autumn (vocals, accordion) and Rodrigo (guitar).

Question:

So tell me about Annuals.

Answer:

Autumn: We were born on the moon . . . Most of the band is not from Los Angeles. There are 5 core members. I grew up in San Francisco, Marin County. I lived in Brazil for a while. When I was there, I got into Tropicalia music, which is a mix of Brazilian and 60s rock. I also spent time in Cuba via a school group. I loved it. The people were super nice. There was rationing, but folks invited us to eat at their homes. I got to see a band playing in someone’s living room, a concert out in the open.

Our first album came out in 2009, but we didn’t start playing as a band until sometime after that point. The core has largely been together for 3 years.

Rodrigo: I come from Buenos Aires.

Question:

What are some venues you’ve played at?

Answer:

Band: we played at Make Music Pasadena in 2013. We did the LA Times Festival of Books in 2015. We’ve also done First Fridays at the Natural History Museum. The Echoplex. We’ve also played at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz . . . to name a few.

Question:

What are some of your favorite local bands?

Answer:

Band: Avid Dancer. Lonely Wild. Chicano Batman. Sego. Aparato – they sound like The Cure mixed with Latin sounds.

Question:

Rodrigo, if someone was to go on a vacation in Buenos Aires, what would you recommend that they do?

Answer:

Rodrigo: Try to go to someone’s house on a Sunday for a BBQ and make sure you have some alfajores [a type of cookie].

Random conversation:

Me: So when I was in Buenos Aires, I took a train ride out of the city. When I went to buy a return ticket, the ticket person totally didn’t understand what I was asking. I spoke no Spanish. She spoke no English. There was this temporary fear that I was not going to be able to return to Buenos Aires.

Band: we had a similar experience in Barcelona. We got lost and no one would help us. We can speak Spanish, but folks there refused to speak to us in Spanish. They would only speak Catalan. We did learn how to ask for a bathroom in Catalan.

Question:

What’s coming up for Salt Petal?

Answer:

Band: We’re working on an upcoming 3^rd album. We’re deciding on how to put it out: CD, cassette, digital. We’ll be releasing a single from the album in May.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: History: Laws of Nature, Laws of Man panel

Festival Art

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My sixth panel discussion was titled "History: Laws of Nature, Laws of Man." There were three panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

(Winifred) Mary Beard is a professor of classics at the University of Cambridge. She is also the classics editor of The Times Literary Supplement and writes for the New York Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement and London Review of Books. She has made several TV series on ancient Rome for the BBC and is author of “Confronting the Classics,” ”Fires of Vesuvius,” “Laughter in Ancient Rome” and “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome,” which is a 2015 finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize in History.

Mark Molesky is associate professor of history at Seton Hall University. He received his PhD from Harvard. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants and has contributed to The Wall Street Journal and many academic publications. He has written two books, the most recent of which is “This Gulf of Fire: The Destruction of Lisbon, or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason,” a 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize finalist in History.

Michael Schuman is an author and journalist based in Asia. His new book, “Confucius and the World He Created,” was published in 2015. He is also the author of “The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia’s Quest for Wealth.” Schuman has been a correspondent for Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal and has contributed to Businessweek, Bloomberg View and the New York Times.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Schuman. How is teaching of Confucius impacting China? He is a guy who wrote 2,500 years ago and is influencing today. He spent time talking about good governance being more important than science. Really smart people were supposed to read poetry and not look into science. Was Confucius to blame for China's move from science technology? 

Now with the economy stumbling is he still a problem? Can you have a society that innovates and yet follows Confucius. This can impact China's future. 

Is Confucius over inflated? It is a way for the West to understand the East. The fact that there is a written record of Confucius shows how important he was to China.

The West learned of him when Jesuits arrived in China. 

Beard. There is something in your face about Rome. You still see the ruins. Why is the UK capital in such a stupid place? Because the Romans put it there for their convenience. 

Is the UK the inheritance of Rome or of the rebels. A statue of someone who rebelled against Rome has a quote about how UK will have a greater empire than Rome. 

American audiences focus on Rome's community, debates, their senate. What is it to be a citizen? At what point does security offset the need for liberty. We discuss this in the language of Rome. 

It took five weeks to get info from Rome to UK. The Roman empire saw itself as connected by roads. Christianity was first religion that used these connections of empire to expand. Even though counter culture, Christianity couldn't have grown without Roman roads. 

We have to remember that there were 2 Roman empires. We must look at the East and West to determine why the empire collapsed. The East lasted for a long time. As for the West, it couldn't manage the violence. It split into micro Romes. It got pressured from the outside and lost political unity.  

Molesky. The Lisbon earthquake was one of greatest natural disasters in world history. It caused a rare Atlantic tsunami. The earthquake was an 8.2 magnitude and was felt as far away as Norway. The earthquake started at 9:45 a.m. The center of city was destroyed. Half an hour later the tsunami hit and then a fire storm. Many felt this was Revelations, the last day. 

The king gave Marquess of Pombal power to deal with the situation. Martial law was declared. People were executed. He took revenge on his enemies: political and the Jesuits. This happened for 20 years. 

The country's infrastructure was destroyed. This caused the decline of the Portugal empire. 

Ripples of the earthquake were felt in many areas. Ships were prevented from leaving the Lisbon harbor. It took a while for the news to reach London, but when it arrived the stock market was shut down. There was chaos among British merchants. The UK king asked for a day of fasting. Everyone closed up shop, except for the Quakers.

There was a debate regarding the earthquake: was it caused by God or science? Scientists and religious leaders tried to come up with theories. Scientists argued there were fires beneath the earth that caused earthquakes. We have to remember that we didn't even know what caused earthquakes until the 1950s. Religious leaders used it as proof that God didn't just step back, but took an active role. 

It took a month for news to get to Brazil. There was concern about what was left in Lisbon. Lisbon downplayed the situation. Brazil was asked to pay a 4% tariff to help rebuilt Lisbon. There was eagerness to help, but at some point asked when would the tariff end. 

A BROKE LA Band Interview: Annuals

Photo Credit: Sebastien Vilensky

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview Annuals. (I also got to interview Salt Petal and DWNTWN. The Salt Petal interview will be posted later while the DWNTWN interview was already posted.) I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

Annuals

I got to talk briefly with Annuals before they had to do a BROKE LA interview. I got to talk with Adam (founder, songwriter, vocals) and Jordan (guitar, backup vocals). Though it was a brief interview, I uncovered a cool connection with the band – Adam is from North Carolina and I went to school in North Carolina.

Question:

So tell me about Annuals.

Answer:

Adam/Jordan: Annuals started in 2005. We’ve had ever changing lineups. The band started in North Carolina. It relocated to Los Angeles 3 years ago. Adam is from North Carolina. Jordan is from Texas. Another member of our band, Eric, is also from North Carolina.

Question:

Adam, the question that must always be asked from someone who lives/lived in North Carolina: are you a Carolina fan or a Duke fan?

Answer:

Adam: I actually went to NC State.

Question:

Adam, did you happen to know Delta Rae – a band that came out of Duke?

Answer:

Adam: Yes. I got to know Delta Rae. When they went on tour, I was asked by the drummer if I would take over his music students for a while. I made a lot of money.

Question:

How would you describe your music?

Answer:

Adam: Grandiose Jumbo Pop

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Past to Present: The Echos of War Panel

Festival Art

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My fifth panel discussion was titled "Past to Present: The Echos of War." There were three panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Rita Gabis is an award-winning poet and prose writer. She is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant for nonfiction as well as residencies at Yaddo and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She lives and teaches in New York City. Her latest book is “A Guest at the Shooters’ Banquet.”

Dawn MacKeen is an award-winning investigative journalist who spent nearly a decade researching and writing her grandfather’s story. Previously she was a staff writer at Salon, Newsday and SmartMoney. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Elle, the L.A. Times and elsewhere. Her book is “The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey.”

Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in the U.S. His stories have appeared in Best New American Voices, TriQuarterly, Narrative and the Chicago Tribune. He teaches English and American Studies at USC. His books include “The Sympathizer,” winner of an Andrew Carnegie Medal, the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller, among other honors, and “Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War.”

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Gabis. She comes from a blended family: Jewish and Lithuanian Catholic. She grew up understanding that her grandfather was a hero for saving his family during WWII. She later learned that her grandfather was a high ranking SS officer. He was the chief SS officer for an entire region where 95% of Jews were exterminated. How did her grandfather go from killing 8,000 Jews to becoming a tile inspector in America? How does one make that transition? 

She doesn't think everyone can do what her grandfather did in Lithuania, but what if there is a lack of resources such as water: will you share with your neighbor? 

MacKeen. Her grandfather survived the Armenian genocide. Her grandfather had to walk across a desert and drink his own urine. Her book is based on his journals. The books follows how he is pushed from Turkey to eastern Syria. She traces his journey. She wanted to tell the story of the Armenian genocide. What happened to 1.5 million Armenians? She did so via looking through the lens of one person. 

She wants to advocate about the genocide. Armenians just want to heal. 

Nguyen. He came to America as a four year old via Vietnam. Even at that age, he was still imprinted with the war. He was given to a family in Pennsylvania. 

In his fiction book, he attempts to tell the Vietnam war story from another perspective. What American culture looks like from outside America? His novel is critical of communist, south Vietnamese, and Americans. It is about how one requires empathy for those beyond your own community. 

Going to war is done for patriotic reasons so we never want to talk about the inhuman issues that take place in war such as rape. 

He did grow up reading about the Vietnam war so he didn't do a lot of additional research for the book. he did look into a detail timeline of the fall of Saigon.

A BROKE LA Band Interview: DWNTWN

DWNTWN

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same downtown Los Angeles street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview a band favorite DWNTWN along with Annuals and Salt Petal. I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

This post is my interview with DWNTWN. My interviews with Annuals and Salt Petal will be posted soon.

DWNTWN

We had a fun conversation before the official interview and during the interview. Food popped up a lot. The interview was held in a mini-bus (I don’t know what else to call it) with the full band, which includes Jamie (vocals), Robert (guitar/vocals), Chris (keyboards, bass) and Dan (drums). I highly recommend making time to catch this band at BROKE LA.  

Question:

My favorite DWNTWN song is ‘Stood Me Up.’ At the end of the music video, Jamie’s and Robert’s characters are eating breakfast at a diner. She then just takes off on him, leaving him with the bill. Has anyone ever done this or had it done to them before?

Answer:

Band: Robert does take off to go to the restroom whenever the bill is about to arrive. He leaves his wallet there. But no, no one has actually done the dine and dash.

Jamie: When the song was written, it wasn’t mean to be taken literally as someone getting stood up. It was about someone hurting me and me learning how to be stronger.

Chris: I don’t recall that part of the video. [Group response: have you watched the video?]

Question:

What are some of your interesting concert/show stories?

Answer:

Dan: A toothless woman tried making out with me – not that I have anything against those with poor dental hygiene.

Jamie: A guy wanted a photo and kept asking if he could kiss me on the cheek. When I turned my head, he kissed me on the lips.

Robert: We had a stalker in San Francisco. A blond guy. He was interested in my sister and I finally had to ask him to leave us alone.

Band.  We were on tour with El Ten Eleven. At the end of the tour, the band asked us if we wanted to snort fog juice with them. We were like, “Yeah, let’s join in.” [I was looking a touch confused so they explained.] Fog juice is the liquid you put in the fog machine, it’s a water/chemical mixture.

Question:

What are some of your favorite local Los Angeles bands?

Answer:

Robert: Midnight Faces. The lead vocal’s voice is insane. I’d really like to collaborate with them soon.

Dan: MUNA.

Robert: Little Wolves. Kid Cadaver.

Band. Dan also plays in band called raener.

Question:

Let’s talk about food.

Answer:

Jamie: Trader Joe’s is like church for me. A former executive is also opening up a grocery store called Daily Table that will sell low priced foods that are at the sell-by date or items like fruits and vegetables that don’t have that perfect look. There is just so much food that it tossed out.

Robert: I recently made Japanese curry with katsu chicken.

Jamie. I made some pesto pasta and a salad with vegetables from Robert’s mom’s garden.

Question:

So I have to ask, Jamie, how did you get to flipping your hair on stage?

Answer:

Jamie: My hair gets in my eyes so I have to flip it away. It is one of the only times I feel girlie.

Band: In all other aspects, she’s a dude.

Question:

Here’s a serious question, what are your goals for 2016?

Answer:

Jamie: I like to take one step at a time.

Band: We have new music for release. We have an EP ready. We want to share our music.

Dan: We want to see growth between our EP releases. See if we get positive reactions and build on that.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Religion, Politics and Violence: The Middle East and Beyond Panel

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My fourth panel discussion was titled "Religion, Politics and Violence: The Middle East and Beyond." There were two panelists.

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Laurie Brand is the Robert Grandford Wright Professor of International Relations and Middle East Studies at USC. A four-time Fulbright scholar, recipient of Rockefeller and Carnegie fellowships and former president of the Middle East Studies Assn., Brand is a widely published author on inter-Arab politics and on migration and diaspora politics in the Middle East and North Africa.

Veli Yashin is an assistant professor of comparative literature at USC. His work focuses on modern Arabic and Turkish literatures and the complex entanglement between cultural and political representation. He is currently at work on a book on 19th century Ottoman (Arabic and Turkish) literature, tentatively titled “Disorienting Figures: The Rhetoric of Sovereignty between the Arab and the Turk.”


The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Brand. She studied how state leadership regimes can re-script history. She looked at school books to see the messages given young people.

There can be differences by region. Also, urban vs rural. If one looks at post colonialism, one sees very little focus on religion. In the 1950s, the focus turns to pan Arab. The next focus shifted towards being Egyptian.

Today is dreadful in Egypt. The el-Sisi regime is attempting to put state control over religion and delegitimize the Muslim Brotherhood. It is part of process to gain control of the religious narrative.

The Middle East was greatly ensnared by the Western world. The Western world attempted to penetrated the political system. This abuse by outside forces has never been complete; however, it also hasn't ever been free. As the West attempted to gain control, the Middle East has rejected these attempts. Examples of the West attempting to gain control: French invasion of Algeria, British invasion of Egypt, Allied blockade in World War I of the Ottoman empire, British support of Israel, Iraq war over Kuwait, Yemen civil war via Western support for Saudi Arabia.

Many young people in Egypt who were involved in the overthrow are now oppressed. They can be thrown into jail due to how they use Twitter and Facebook. Many are now in jail, underground or have disappeared. There is no direct criticism of the government, more of a mocking stance. This might be the new narrative: mocking of government. It is very dangerous in Egypt.

What happened in Egypt was not a revolution. The bureaucracy in Egypt is a beast. Even though key people were put in prison, the bureaucracy still exerted itself.

Libya has been a disaster that is impacting potential success in Tunisia.

Yishin. The Saudi king recently visited Egypt. A statue was covered up. The statue was of an Egyptian leader who led an Egyptian/Ottoman effort to destroy the house of Saud. Egyptian leader el-Sisi who receives aid from the US and has connections to theocratic Saudi Arabia leader, toppled the Muslim Brotherhood. So it topples the Muslim Brotherhood, but has close ties to another theocratic regime.

Focus on religion and terrorism results in us over-looking the political interest. We need to look at the post Ottoman World. Traditional vs modernity. We can't capture what is happening in the Middle East by just focusing in on Islam.

Much has changed in Turkey over the last fifteen years. There was secular oppression of Islam, but it has now reemerged. Who is governing the public space? We also need to understand how the Middle East conflict has impacted Turkey. It supported certain fractions in Iraq and Syria and the result is some blow back due to this support. Turkey threw its weight around in the region and is dealing with the consequences.

We should focus on how we contribute to the violence in the Middle East. We need to take into account the historical context and not just focus on Islam. We need to ask: how are we complicit?

Iska Dhaaf with Ephriam Nagler and Shaprece at the Bootleg Theater

I

Iska Dhaaf

ska Dhaaf is doing the Bootleg Theater April residency, coming in from New York via Seattle. Per their Facebook page, their band name is Somali and means Let It Go. They also say their music is inspired by Sufi poetry. Well, that's an eclectic background. Their music is also nicely eclectic. This two piece band has a strangely addictive mix of garage rock, two piece rhythms and Sufi sounds.

Opening up for them was Ephriam Nagler and Shaprece. Based on research, Ephriam Nagler is a music producer and photographer. He also was backup for Iska Dhaaf for a handful of their songs. Shaprece is the songstress. She had the crowd cheering every song. I think her bassist stole the show. He had this cool stand up electric bass that he'd swing around with his bow. He's also do some quick dance moves on stage. He knows how to make a set fun to watch.

Note: all three bands had the most awesome projected images during their set. It made for some wonderful background for my photos.


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Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: State of Emergency: Homelessness in LA Panel

As mentioned in my earlier posts on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My third panel discussion was titled "State of Emergency: Homelessness in LA." There were two panelists (there were supposed to be 3, but one didn't show).

The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website: 

Marqueece Harris-Dawson is an American politician and incumbent member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing District 8 of western South L.A. He took office on July 1, 2015.

Ben Henwood is a licensed clinical social worker who has served as an administrator, clinician and researcher for organizations serving adults experiencing homelessness and serious health conditions. He helped start and served as the clinical director for Pathways to Housing, Inc., a Housing First agency in Philadelphia, where he also served as the principal investigator of clinical research.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Hemwood. "Housing First" is a programmatic approach. It moves individuals from the street to housing along with a wrap around approach. "Housing First" is a programmatic innovation that turned quickly into policy due to research. To succeed, it needs a sustained effort.

There is something dehumanizing about homelessness.

Tax subsidies for home owners is greater than what is provided for affordable housing. It costs more money to leave people on the street then to house them. Subsidized apartments is a money saver.

Evidence is based on actual situations such as a program in five cities in Canada. Housing First model gets people into apartments in communities without too much oversight. There are two ways to do it: designated housing and a scattered approach. The scattered model is better, but having designated housing is still an effective model.

Scattered is the approach adopted in Europe.

There is an uptick in urban areas where housing is not affordable.

There are a number of different ways to deal with the homeless issue.

Harris-Dawson.  Los Angeles has a comprehensive plan with 57 different strategies built into it. It does not leave out any strategic review. The strategies cover a mix of reasons for homelessness: drugs, physical abuse, mental illness. Also, applies a "no wrong door" approach. This means that anyone in city government can assist the homelessness in finding a home: police, librarians.  To implement this plan, the city needs to pursue more housing. The city is trying to figure out the money. The city will need to ask the voters for new revenue streams. The plan is to start at $100 million, but can't currently find that money to start the program. The need is $1.8 billion over ten years. The city is attempting to see what can pass: fees and taxes. Polls indicate that taxes applied to someone else is always a popular tax. Fees are popular, but bonds and a sales tax is not. There is an inverse between what will raise the most money and the popularity of that funding. The city needs something that hits everyone.

An effort ten years ago failed because voters said "no" to the resources. They said no when the economy was booming. Activists are playing a bigger role this time. We have less homeless now, but there are tents in strategic locations, which makes it more noticeable. Activist provide the tents that make it more noticeable.

Regarding recent clean-up of the streets by the city. There is no protection of property. The city is required to provide storage. Courts will play a role vs the new comprehensive strategic plan.

Los Angeles has a demand for housing that is low density. Developments get blocked due to environmental concerns, traffic. We don't build enough housing. Scarcity is enforced in Los Angeles. So Cal has turned housing into an investment unlike much of the country.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Writing Epic History Panel

Art at the Festival

As mentioned in my first post on the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the 2-day festival ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it.

My second panel discussion was titled "Writing Epic History."

There were three panelists. The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Jonathan Bryant writes about the 19th-century American South and American legal history. He is the author of “How Curious a Land: Conflict and Change in Greene County, Georgia, 1850-1885“ and “Dark Places of the Earth: The Voyage of the Slave Ship Antelope,” a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in History. He is currently professor of history at Georgia Southern University.

Dan Ephron was a Newsweek writer for nearly 15 years, serving as national security correspondent, deputy Washington bureau chief and Jerusalem bureau chief. His stories have also appeared in the Boston Globe, Esquire, PoliticO magazine, the Village Voice and The New Republic. “Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel” is Ephron’s first book and is a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in History.

Richard Reeves,  the best-selling author of such books as “President Kennedy: Profile in Power,” is an award-winning journalist who has worked for the New York Times, written for The New Yorker and served as chief correspondent for “Frontline” on PBS. Currently the senior lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC, his latest book is “Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II.”

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Bryant. In 1819, a slave trade ship called The Antelope left Cuba for Africa. The ship was captured and taken to Uruguay. There were 258 slaves on the ship. The average age of the slaves was fourteen. The slaves eventually ended up in Savannah. A US attorney argued that they were free people and should go back to Africa. The Supreme Court ruled that the Africans were property and property rights over-ruled human rights.

John Quincy Adams was involved in the case, arguing that the slaves were property. There was eventual redemption for John Quincy Adams via the Amistad.

Regarding the author's thoughts: Bryant was given over 100 boxes regarding the case that no one had ever looked at. So few people know about the case even though the decision legitimized slaves as property. He was surprised that we lost track of this case.

Reeves. Leaders fanned fear after Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans were held in relocation centers until ten camps were built. Even orphans were taken from orphanages and sent to camps. When people come to the US for jobs, they are discriminated against until they become us. We only remember what we did well and not when we behaved badly.

Supreme Court Justice Warren may have tried to make amends for his actions towards Japanese Americans in Brown vs Board of Education.

Japanese American internment was not discussed for 30 years. They volunteered to go to camps to prove they were Americans. Young Japanese Americans involved in the Civil Rights movement began to ask their parents. A massive oral history started. There was fear, greed, racism towards Japanese Americans. Bank accounts were frozen. Land and homes were lost.

Some German and Italian Americans were interned, but if the sames rules were applied there would have been 70 million Germans and Italian Americans in camps.

Ephron. The 1995 assassination of Israel's Prime Minister Rabin ended the prospect of peace. It represented a conflict between the quest of peace vs. quest to stop peace. The assassination resulted in a power shift from pragmatism to ideology. This is a story of change that has swept Israel for last twenty years.

People like to talk in Israel. Most speak English -- both Israelis and Palestinians. People will give you their cell phone number. Skepticism among both sides that the Oslo agreement would have succeeded if there was not the assassination. Rabin's legacy was cut short since he didn't get the chance to secure the peace.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Global Ideas Panel

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books ranks as one of my premier Los Angeles events of each year. I just love it. The reason I go is because I consider it a quick return to college. This year, as always, I went to a number of panel discussions. I'll be posting these over the course of the next few weeks.

First up was a panel discussion titled "Global Ideas: Shaping the Past, Shaping the Future."

There were three panelists. The following short biographies were taken from the LA Times Festival of Books website:

Sarah Chayes is the author of “Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security,” a finalist for the 2015 L.A. Times Book Prize in Current Interest. She spent most of 2001 to 2011 in Afghanistan, much of that time in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar. She then worked for two commanders of the international troops and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A Pashtu-speaker, she lived among ordinary Kandaharis. She is now a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Mitchell Duneier is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the author of the award- winning urban ethnographies “Slim’s Table: Race, Respectability and Masculinity” and “Sidewalk.” His newest book is “Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea.”

Mei Fong was a Wall Street Journal China correspondent, where she won a shared Pulitzer, as well as awards from Amnesty International and the Society of Professional Journalists. Her book “One Child,” predicting the end of China’s one-child policy, fortuitously came out as Beijing announced a shift to a two-child policy and has received acclaim in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

The following are my notes from the panel discussion. There are potential misinterpretations to what I heard so take that into consideration.

Mei Fong. She decided to look into the one child policy that went on for 30 years in China. What it meant? How did it impact people? There were academic books on the subject, but no general interest books. Mei is a female Chinese so she knows about the patriarchy society -- even though she is Chinese Malaysian. Even though China recently announced a change in policy, the one child policy hasn't totally ended. The rules are complex, like the US tax policy. There is still a bureaucracy behind it.

The one child policy has made an imbalanced society. Too many old people. Too many men.

She is sympathetic to population control goals as it impacts issues such as resources, but feels that there are other ways to get there. The policy led to human rights abuses. It was devised by engineers with no input from demographers or women. It was like a crash diet. Do you drink just lemon water or do you exercise and eat right?

With the current demographics issue, there is a backlash against educated women. There is pressure for them to get married. A new term called "Leftover Women" has been coined to pressure folks not to hold off on marriage. One is not considered an adult until they are married.

Will China's birthrate increase? Propaganda works. It is hard to change 35 years of policy. Other countries have tried, but not succeeded.

Mitchell Duneier. The ghetto has been around for 500 years. It was associated with Jews for 90% of that time. Only recently has the term been applied to African Americans. He decided to look into the ghetto as 1928 was the last time a book focused on the ghetto. The term began to be applied to African Americans during the Nazi era. Black intellectuals thought it was time to focus on the ghetto and point out the irony of the fight against German racial purity while African Americans at home were being segregated. It was an attempt to create an affiliation with Jews.

He grew up when real work started coming out on the Holocaust. He grew up on Long Island. Jewish use of the word seemed to be obliterated when he grew up.

Hitler used the word ghetto to convince the Catholic Church that he was simply doing what the Catholic Church did for years. At the same time, he told his advisers that he wanted ghettos so that Jew's could be observed as wild animals. Hitler tricked people. Even some Jews thought it was a good idea as Jews had done well in the ghettos. Due to this, many didn't realize Hitler's ultimate goal.

The idea of the ghetto coming to an end in America won't happen until whites are willing to give up their privilege. For example, even radicals (even more left than Californian liberals) will send there children to top schools versus the average American public school.

Sarah Chayes. Panama papers revelation reflects quality of the corrupt government structure. What the papers suggest are that these states are not weak, but sophisticated criminal states. Family members own construction companies. The construction done doesn't benefit the public. Instead the construction projects are used to funnel cash. What is interesting is that countries such as the US, Finland and Sweden who rank high in controlling corruption is where this money eventually ends up in and therefore provide support to the corrupt states.

She was told in Afghanistan that the US needed to control corruption to gain control of what what was happening. Corruption allows for personal dignity to get violated. And it isn't just money bribery that occurs. There is also sexual exploitation. For example, she knows of a Nigerian judge who took advantage of a woman. What does the family do? Does the brother turn to terrorists such as Boko Haram for revenge? The terrorist will tell the brother that this judge cannot be good. They make a moral argument. This results in violent religious reaction to extensive corruption.

So the question in Afghanistan should be: how do we build good governance? That issue never gained any traction until recently. The US foreign establishment is finally getting it.

A Movie Review: Zootopia

Zootopia. This is one fun movie -- though I do have one minor complaint that I will address below. As a child, Judy Hopps wants to become the first rabbit officer. No one believes she can do it. The town bully mocks her. Her parents suggest making another career choice. She ignores them all and when she is old enough she attends the police academy. After a rough start, she quickly finds her way to the top of the class. After graduating, she gets a dream assignment in the city of Zootopia; however, the chief of the police department, Chief Bogo, puts her on parking enforcement. She decides to make the most of it and starts giving out parking tickets left and right.

She soon runs into a couple low level, semi crooked individuals. One is a fox named Nick Wilde. She volunteers to track down a missing otter, which causes some political issues. Chief Bogo is unhappy with her for going above his head; however, Assistant Mayor Bellwether is pleased. She is given the case, but Chief Bogo demands that she wrap up the case in 48 hours and if she isn't able to do so she must hand in her resignation. Clues to the case are limited, but the one clue leads to Nick Wilde. She gets him on board and off they go searching for the missing otter.

I found this to be a really great story about perseverance in pursuing a dream -- even if it seems impossible. There is also the story of redemption, that even someone who no longer has a dream can find a dream later in life.

Beyond the themes of the movie, the story itself is just wonderfully done. It is a semi-complex movie; however, it is easy to follow. And though the villein of the movie becomes obvious about midway through, it doesn't distract from anything.

My one minor complaint: why do they have Judy Hopps being so overly-aggressive with handing out parking tickets? People like that are hated in Los Angeles. Maybe this is just a perspective of an adult versus that of a child.

Korey Dane with Buckaroo and Maxim Ludwig at The Echo

Korey Dane

The Echo had some greats acts this past Monday night. Opening was a band called Buckaroo. They seem to have an interesting situation. I took a look at their Facebook and Twitter pages. It looks like they started up in 2012 and played through 2013. Then they shut down in 2014 before re-booting in mid 2015. Interesting. They have a songbird sound with surprising vocal highs sprinkled around randomly. The set was opened with the lead singer saying, "It's like we're just playing in front of all my friends tonight." The band must have mumbled something, because she corrected herself, "It's like we're playing in front of all our friends."

The middle band of the night is a band I've followed off and on for a number of years, Maxim Ludwig. I couldn't help, but notice how well dressed the keyboardist was. Then there is lead singer Maxim Ludwig who, I believe, had a love affair with his mic stand throughout his set. Comment of the set, "This is a song. I mean they're all songs, but this IS a song. It is about when I got thrown out from across the street."

Korey Dane is the April residency band at The Echo. His music sweeps you across desert landscapes. I say that because a couple of the music videos that I watched are filmed in the desert. One video has him looking like he has a personality that is willing to piss someone off and maybe even get into a shoving mess. On stage, he definitely did not give off that attitude. Instead, there was a thoughtful desert soul on stage.


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Mating Ritual with Hudson Thames and Pompeya at The Satellite

Mating Ritual

Mating Ritual closed out my March residency cycle. Actually, my residency cycle had some shortfalls. I missed the Fell Runner residency at the Bootleg Theater, because one of the band members came down with food poisoning on the night I went.  I also missed the residency band at Silverlake Lounge. Mating Ritual is fronted by Ryan Lawhon, who sings with a falsetto vocal. His vocals glide as he swings his mic stand from side to side.

Opening up was Hudson Thames who had a nice crowd of fans. His pop sounds got his fans going. He is also an actor who puts those skills to good use as he put on a fine stage show. Pompeya comes from Moscow, Russia though I believe they live in Los Angeles now. They encouraged the crowd to come closer to the stage and the crowd obliged. They entertained the crowd with dance hooks.

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