A Movie Review: Easy A

Easy A. Easy A is a pleasant teen movie. I wouldn't rank it up there with the teen movies I think are awesome like Clueless and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it does have its own charm. Olive (Emma Stone) finds herself in a situation where all the unpopular high school kids start paying her so that certain sexual rumors can spread throughout the school. Rumors soon start to develop that she's getting paid for prostitution and her life in high school heads south as even her best friend abandons her. It all works out in the end; however.

The movie is helped by some top notch adult actors such as Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow as a married couple at the school and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as Olive's parents.

Comments on Blog Posts

I don't know how many of my readers have attempted to leave comments and didn't like the approval process I instituted.

I've adjusted the comments section so that I don't approve all comments.

Instead, I've selected the word verification step.

It isn't like I get a lot of comments, but when I didn't have comment restrictions I got plenty of spam.

I'll see if this new option prevents spam from hitting. If not, I'll go back to the full approval process method.

Rocket at Three of Clubs

I once again headed off to catch Rocket the Band. Lead singer Lauren does like to just say whatever comes to her mind. "She (LaurenC) has her choice of lay-ers tonight. (Looking over to Sara) Was that inappropriate? Sorry, just thinking out loud." Second time around and I have to say that yes I am addicted to Rocket.

This time around, I stood in a different spot to get some different photo angles.

Amusing encounter with the door guy. I gave him my ID. He waved me in. I got stuck behind some folks for some reason. I don't know how that happened. The door guy then asked for my ID again. I was like, "Ah, you just checked my ID." I guess I don't stand out enough.

I parked my car somewhat far away down on El Centro. There is a bar/club on El Centro and Santa Monica. Let me tell you something -- and this will no doubt show my age -- if I lived on that street that bar/club would be getting a visit by the police. It was 1 a.m. and you could hear the music and the thumping of the bass rather clearly for at least two blocks. Way to be a cool neighbor.

Jail Weddings and Amanda Jo Williams at Bootleg

So it was off to Bootleg Theatre to catch Jail Weddings' CD release show. Opening for them was Amanda Jo Williams. Initially, when I walked in a young woman was up on stage. I was thinking, that sure doesn't look like Amanda Jo Williams. (Earlier in the day, I had gone to her myspace page.) And then I started to think, wasn't she part of a band I saw late last year, Venus Illuminato? Well, two photos are below. I'm not 100 percent sure about it, but I do believe I am correct. Anyway, the young woman on stage was not Amanda Jo Williams. As for Amanda Jo Williams, she has a very distinct voice, vocal style.

Comment. Amanda Jo Williams, "Okay, we'll do 'Sunlight.'" Venus Illuminato look-a-like or actual person, "Yeah."

After her set was finished, I got into a conversation with a young woman. I asked if she was in a band. She said yes. My problem at the moment is that I can't find the band on the Internet. I believe she said her band name was Dead by Dawn. Of course, it could have been Dead at Dawn or Dead before Dawn. If someone comes across this blog and knows the answer, leave a band link.

This was Jail Weddings' night, of course. A couple of my friends showed up, both newbies to Jail Weddings. I hope they enjoyed the set. They spent enough time dancing so I suspect they did. In fact, the front of the stage was turned into a swing dancing mosh pit. Rather cool. And it was fun seeing folks dressing up '20s style.

Side note: So I used flash in these photos. It looks like the Bootleg Theatre is cracking down on flash photography as I noticed the security guy going into the crowd and talking to people about the use of flash. It looks like one of these days soon I'll need to invest in a better camera so that I won't be so reliant on flash photography.

Amanda Jo Williams

Venus Illuminato

Jail Weddings

LA Derby Dolls. Swarm 135 vs. Tough Cookies 134

Derby Dolls. So it was my first time at the roller derby since March.

And what greeted me? Probably the best roller derby match I've ever seen.

In the fourth period, the Tough Cookies found themselves down 40 and then made a dramatic comeback that just fell short. In fact, it came down to the second to last jam when Stefcon 1 just wasn't able to break clear of the Swarm's pack. There were a couple Dolls in the Swarm's pack that just blocked her from breaking through. So close. I'm not sure I've ever heard a derby doll crowd screaming so loudly for a jammer.

Tough Cookies were getting players ejected left and right throughout the match. Towards the end, the Swarm also saw their share of players getting ejected. I'm rather sure that I've never seen so many Dolls ejected from the game so I suppose that was a first as well. On the other hand, I wonder if that helped the Tough Cookies make their final run as the jammer rotation got narrowed down to just three -- helped with the rhythm, perhaps?

And another first for me, I'm pretty sure that I saw a jam where the Swarm switched jammers in the middle of the jam.

My favorite jammers were obviously there: Laguna Beyatch and Stefcon 1. Laguna Beyatch has to be the Derby Dolls version of the NFL's James Harrison (Pittsburgh Steelers). When she is doing the pack duties versus being a jammer, you aren't going to find it easy to get past her. She does so rather cleanly, because I haven't seen her ejected from a match (not that I've seen a lot of matches). I might be adding another possible favorite Doll to the mix: Jackie Nimble.

Half time show: The Shakers. Oh yes. Ink stamped myself.

There is a no camera policy at the roller derby . . . so sorry for the lack of photos.

Update:

As noted in the comments section from Stefcon 1 (thanks for the comment, by the way), here's the link to some official photos from the night.

Intraffik Radio Play List

Have you been listening to Intraffik Radio? If you hear one of the following songs, you have me to thank for it.

Kissing Cousins "First in the Fire"
Lake "Breathing"
Finn Riggins "Pankakes"
Queen Kwong "Eddie the Kid"
The Mulhollands "Over"
Local Natives "Airplanes" and "Sun Hands"
Great Northern "Snakes"
Eastern Conference Champions "Bloody Bells" and "Common Sense"

Twilight Sleep and Wet & Reckless at Silverlake Lounge

After seeing Wait. Think. Fast. at Spaceland, I sped on over to Silverlake Lounge to catch Wet & Reckless. I didn't think I'd catch Twilight Sleep as they were scheduled to go on at the same time as Wait. Think. Fast., but luckily for me I probably only missed one song of Twilight Sleep. I say this band gets better every time I see them.

I started way in the back when arriving at Silverlake Lounge, but was slowly able to maneuver my way to the front during Twilight Sleep. For Wet & Reckless I was right up front. The bassist, Jessica, had her parents in the audience. She teased them that when Wet & Reckless was on tour the band tore up their house (parents were out of town). The lead singer, Emily, looks at the parents and mouthed, "No, we didn't." In regards to the lead singer, for some reason she looks very familiar. I spent some time trying to place her, but unfortunately I can't. Oh well, maybe it'll come to me some day. Wet & Reckless doesn't seem to be a band that would result in a mosh pit, but I got tossed around a little bit. All in good fun.

Noticed: A guy flirting with a girl and returning to another girl who seemed to be his girlfriend, because there was some talking going on there.

Twilight Sleep

Wet & Reckless

Wait. Think. Fast. at Spaceland

I caught only a portion of Wait. Think. Fast.'s set at Eagle Rock Music Festival. Luckily, I got to catch a full set at Spaceland.

Comment: We're Wait.Think.Fast. We have 6 songs. Some in English, some in Spanish.

Noticed: A little kick ball with a water bottle.

Rocket and Spider Problem at Three of Clubs

It was off to Three of Clubs to catch Spider Problem and Rocket.

A couple weeks ago, a friend mentioned he planned to go out and catch Rocket. My friend knows his way around the Los Angeles music scene so when I noticed that Spider Problem was playing with Rocket I decided I had to head out even if I had a head cold.

Spider Problem was up first and an announcement was made by Shayne, "Just ten minutes ago I threw up behind our van. You can smell my breath if you want." Shayne had another one liner, talking about how she was BFF with the lead singer from Rocket. "She's my sister from another mister." One of the fun parts of watching Spider Problem is seeing Shayne going crazy on the stage, everything from tossing aside the microphone stand as soon as possible to sliding herself across the stage on her back. This can lead to the occasional accident (as highlighted in the occasional blog entry on Spider Problem). Unfortunately, this was one of those nights as she tripped over one of the monitors towards the end of the set. She got herself up off the ground, but soon dropped the microphone and stood off to the side. A guy in the audience decided to jump on stage and take over the microphone duties -- though I have to say his vocals are questionable.

Noticed: At one point, it looked like the drummer wanted to tear her top off. Sex appeal.

Rocket came up next. A five person all female band that exudes sex appeal. What do I think about them as a band? Honestly, I'll need to check them out again -- of course, I'm doing so to take another listen to the music, it has nothing to do with their high octane sex appeal (examples, lead singer straddling the bass drum at every possible opportunity and teasing various individuals in the audience).

Comment: That's such a depressing note you just played, Sarah.

Anyways, while watching Rocket I was trying to see if I could compare them to other female driven local bands. Are they a younger more punk version of 'The Like?' One could say the lead female singer has many of the characteristics of Sarah Jeanette from 'The Mulhollands.' And there is the friendship with Spider Problem. And then I couldn't help but think about the movie 'The Runaways.'

Keep an eye out for this band.

Noticed: Lead singer likes to repeat what people whisper to her. "Shayne just told me she won't make out with me on stage, because her breath stinks from vomiting."

Spider Problem -- Sleeping on the Job

Rocket

Shadow Shadow Shade, Eastern Conference Champions and Lesands at Echoplex

It was off to the Echoplex to catch Shadow Shadow Shade, Eastern Conference Champions and Lesands.

While watching Lesands, I couldn't help but think about angles. I suppose it was driven by how the lead singer moved on stage. I enjoyed their set and set things up for a wonderful evening. Eastern Conference Champions came up next. Who couldn't help but like this band? I typed out on Twitter my thoughts: One must marvel at how great this band is. They also had the comment of the night: This is our first time playing here. Can you tell? Next time we'll bring a drum weight. During their first couple songs, they were having issues with the bass drum inching forward across the stage. Shadow Shadow Shade was the headliner of the night, it was their CD release party. This was my first time seeing Shadow Shadow Shade. My first reaction was that I'd seen the female vocalist in another band. Next, I was thinking they were okay, but nothing big. As their set went on, my opinion began to change. I really do like this band was my next thought. One of the best things about this band is how the female singer's vocals sneak up on you. I bought their CD and took it for a couple spins at work the next day -- well, ripped it to my hard drive and listened from there. A fusion of sound.

Lesands

Eastern Conference Champions

Shadow Shadow Shade

A Movie Review. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. This movie did keep my attention. Perhaps because the first half of the movie is a replay of the Bear Stearns collapse. The company that collapses is “Bear Stearns.” The couple references about how “Bear Sterns” refused to help out another firm in the past was a reference to Long-Term Capital Management. The NY Fed meetings occurred (Geithner was the NY Fed chair, FYI.) The movie also has some of the individuals who foresaw the crisis in cameo roles: Roubini and Chanos. But for all the fun in watching a fictional history on the screen, I have to say I hated the ended. Spoiler. Seriously, reconciliation with someone who heisted $100m from you? I don’t even care if it was emphasized in the movie that Winnie Gekko wasn’t into money. That is a rather big theft.

The Lonely Wild and Insects vs. Robots at Dragonfly

It was off to Dragonfly to catch The Lonely Wild. While there I caught Insects vs. Robots. What I learned pretty quickly about Insects vs. Robots is that the guitar player is a contortionist. Flexibility. I did enjoy their set. The band is almost more like a jam session band with the music over-riding the vocals. But when the vocals do arrive, the primal haunts drive you wild. During their last song, they had folks in a trance on the dance floor.

After Insects vs. Robots it was off to the side room to catch The Lonely Wild, which started almost immediately after Insects vs. Robots ended their set. I love The Lonely Wild, but it was hard to initially get into their set. In the main room, the DJ was playing the hits and the intersection of the two sounds was irritating. Also, I was sitting next to a drum set and the snare drum kept on vibrating throughout the set. However, by the middle of their set I was able to put this all to the side and just concentrate on the music. Awe, there last few songs were divine.

Insects vs. Robots









The Lonely Wild

Up on Intraffik.com: Summer is Over

I'm up on Intraffik.com with my summer music review. Go check it out and read about:

Nico Vega
Sweethead
Eastern Conference Champions
She & Him
Swell Season
Teen Inc.
Toadies
Walking Sleep
Lucy Schwartz
Aaron Beaumont

Nightmare and the Cat at Spaceland

It was off to Spaceland to see Nightmare and the Cat. I caught one song of Nightmare and the Cat at the Bootleg a week earlier and decided there that I wanted to catch a full set.

Noticed: Lead singer hanging out with some friends and then jumping onto stage as the band started their set.

Noticed 2: A nice crowd was out.

I wasn't able to catch the earlier bands. Something called work unfortunately got in the way.

For some reason, I keep on saying Nightmare and the Bat. Cat equals nightmare, not so much. Bat and nightmares, more likely.

A Movie Review: The Town

The Town. I have to say I really enjoyed this movie. This is a rather standard crime story with few twists and yet it just happened to hold my attention. I wouldn’t say this movie has much suspense to it. You sort of know what is going to happen. I suppose there are only two issues of suspense. First, will the girlfriend (Claire) turn in her bank robber boyfriend (Doug)? Second, will the gang of robbers pull off the final big heist? On the other hand, there are some cool chase scenes and gun battles.

My one issue here (SPOILERS) is the relationship between Claire and Doug. Claire eventually finds out that Doug in the individual who robbed her bank. He’s also the individual who kidnapped her. Now Claire does have this initial negative reaction to the news, but she obviously reconciles herself to this. Now considering that the end of the movie has a major gun battle . . . ah, Claire, your bad guy boyfriend really is a bad guy even if he does want to escape his current state in life.

Eagle Rock Music Festival

Went to the Eagle Rock Music Festival. A write-up will end up on Intraffik so just photos for now.

Seasons

Moses Campbell

Downtown Union

Manhattan Murder Mystery

LA Vampires

Wait. Think. Fast.

La Bestia

The Submarines

Walking Sleep

Toys That Kill