Honey Honey and Milo Greene at Bootleg

It was off to see Milo Greene and Honey Honey at Bootleg this past Monday.

Honey Honey is an awesome band, but what also makes them fun to see is listening to Suzanne Santo's one liners.  And so I was feeling a little disappointed as Suzanne seemed to be sticking to a low key night.  I was not to be disappointed as towards the end of their set the one liners started to flow:


"Hot guy on the guitar. Hot guy on the bass. Hot guy on the drums. We'll work it out later."

"That was fast, did you wash your hands."

Ah, the perfect night, the sounds of Honey Honey mixed in with the random thoughts of Suzanne.

Anyways, I was told that the line for Honey Honey stretched down the street.  One friend took off.  Another stayed in line and eventually made it into the venue.  He said that when Honey Honey was going on stage, The Bootleg finally let everyone in via a side door and if you could squeeze in, you could squeeze in.

It was a good thing that my friend waited, because Honey Honey gave us a set that was perhaps 1 hr 15 minutes.  I didn't even notice the time lapse until they left the stage and were called back for an encore.

And not to forget . . . Milo Greene started the night off for me.  Per them, this was their first official set.  For this being their first official set, they sounded and looked good, professional to say the least.  I wonder if most of them haven't been in previous bands. 

Milo Green







Honey Honey

A Movie Review: Just Go With It

Just Go With It. Here we have Danny (Adam Sandler) traumatized when he over-hears his bride bad mouthing him. There goes the wedding. He soon learns that by wearing his wedding ring, he can gain sympathy from women. It is a nice way to have a sex life, but it isn’t a way to have a long lasting relationship. His friend/confidant/employee, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) finds his actions deplorable. He then runs into Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) at a party and he feels she is the one, but unfortunately for him she finds the wedding ring – which he’d hidden. He makes up a story about an ex-wife. She demands to meet the ex-wife. He convinces Katherine to play the role of the ex-wife and so we have the title of the movie.

I didn’t find this movie at all entertaining. The first half of the movie just felt awkward. I felt like Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler just weren’t clicking. And honestly I thought Nick Swardson’s (Eddie) character was just painfully outside the context of the movie. And as for Brooklyn Decker, she plays a sweet person who is also a teacher and she’s treated rather badly in the end. Skip it.

Chop Chop at the Altadena Music Festival

It was off to the Altadena Music Festival to catch Chop Chop.  The bassist is part of the intraffik.com family.  The lead singer loves to shoot off four letter words.  With young kids in the audience, her band mates had to remind her to watch her manners.  I didn't stick too long after Chop Chop.  I had a birthday party to attend.  Chop Chop will be having a CD release party on April 10th at Eagle Rock All Star Lanes.

A Movie Review: Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love. First off, I saw this movie while flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. Okay, I'm a Julia Roberts fan, but oh mercy what a boring movie. A search for the meaning of life that could only be discovered by someone who either has money or a job that allows for someone to take a year away from work. I would suspect that only a small minority of folks at the age of around 34 has the ability to escape from life. And in the end was there any meaning delivered from the movie? I have no clue.

It was off to The Mime to catch The Unstoppable Death Machines, J-Cocks and Stab City

It was off to The Mime to catch The Unstoppable Death Machines, J-Cocks and Stab City.  First off, for those who don't know, The Mime is at 1840 Glendale Blvd in Echo Park.  The Mime does have a blogspot, but it doesn't seem to be kept up to date.  Is this turning into the new Echo Curio?  Who knows.  It seems like it is all ages.  High school kids on up.

When I arrived, I ran into some friends who were also heading in.  The first band up was The Unstoppable Death Machines.  They're from New York.  They showed us Californians something about New York.  I only caught their last two songs, but I knew I'd missed a great set.  As they ended their set, they took their drum set and passed it around so that folks in the audience to keep the beat.  J-Cocks were next up, giving the audience enough inspiration to go for a mosh pit.  To end the night for me, we had the always enjoyable Stab City.  Two of the guys in the J-Cocks are also in Stab City so some double duty for them.   


The Unstoppable Death Machines







J-Cocks






Stab City

The Old Man and the Bike

So I'm driving down home after catching a movie. I look to my left and see this guy speeding down the sidewalk on a bike. Now what caught my attention was: 1.) the guy looked to be around 60, +/- 5 yrs. 2.) he was dressed in a black suit. 3.) he was on a BMX bike. Now that is amusing.

Up on Intraffik.com: LA Fashion Weekend (my photos)

Up on Intraffik with more pics from yours truly -- article written by another Intraffik.com contributor.

Duke Basketball vs. Arizona: 77-93

That was painful to watch . . . well, the last 15 minutes or so.

Duke did play a good first half.  They ended up 44-38.

And then things seemed to fall apart when two things happened:

Kyle Singler went out of the game, because of bleeding and Seth Curry got injured.  Up to that point in the 2nd half, the two teams were trading baskets . . . though I will admit that the momentum seemed to be with Arizona.  But after those two events, everything went south quick.

This may have been in my imagination, but it seemed like Duke didn't shoot many three pointers in the second half.

Also, there were a couple passes to Kyle Singler that seemed to just go through his hands.  In the second half, Singler took a hard fall.  He went out of the game and you could see the staff working his left hand.  I half wonder if Singler went and played the rest of the game with just one hand.

As for Andre Dawkins, he played a good game, but I think he can only play for certain stretches.  After awhile, his defense seems to falter.

As for Kyrie Irving, I think he was awesome.

And as for Arizona, mercy, they schooled Duke.  One has to admit that.  I'm not sure if Duke gave up.  I do believe that Duke got into rotational issues and that perhaps Singler was injured, but that really doesn't excuse being blown out of the water.  Duke's defense looked awful and on the other hand Arizona just didn't seem to miss a shot.  Rebounds that went to Duke in the first half, went to Arizona in the second half.  In essence, this looked like the St. John's game where Duke's big men just couldn't deal.    

46 Straight Days of Work with Fatigue Days Mixed In

So I was talking to my cousin-in-law. She mentioned that her husband (my cousin) had recently worked 46 straight days. That's right: 46. It is longer than Noah's Flood (40 days and 40 nights, by the way). And she mentioned that they were generous enough to offer two fatigue days every two weeks. Yes, instead of working from 6:30 a.m. till late at night, he instead got to cut back to an 8 hour day for two straight days. Sorry, not exactly something I could handle.

Up On Intraffik: LA Fashion Weekend Part II

Up on Intraffik with day two of LA Fashion Weekend. I took the photos, Intraffik editor wrote the article.

Up on Intraffik.com: LA Fashion Weekend Part I

Up on Intraffik.com with some photos from LA Fashion Week. I didn't write the article, but I took the pics.

It was off to Satellite to catch Blood Group and Living Things

I'm in one of my hibernation moods, which is resulting in me not going out to catch live bands as much as normal. Probably weather related . . . and admittedly work related. On Monday; however, I did drop by Satellite to catch Blood Group and Living Things.

When entering Satellite I noticed that the 10 p.m. band was called Blood Group.  Hmm . . . some crazy blood spitting band playing Satellite?  They looked rather normal when I saw them getting ready on stage.  They had some equipment problems due to the rain and it took them close to 45 minutes to set up.  Instead of some blood spitting band, they are an electro band.  And they're from Iceland.  I don't think I've ever seen a band from Iceland.  It also looked like they had a friend or two along for the US ride.  Danceable music.

Due to the late start of Blood Group, I only stayed for about half of Living Things. Solid rock set.  From doing a little research on Facebook, these guys are from Missouri.  I guess when I mentioned not having heard of them in another blog posting from a couple weeks ago, I had a good excuse.  Thumbs up to Satellie for occasionally breaking out of the grip of the Silverlake-Echo Park music sound.  Unfortunately, the audience tends to dwindle on Mondays when they take the risk, but it is cool that they occasionally bring us different music genres for Residency Mondays.

Blood Group









Living Things

A first half of a week

I'm watching football (so you know this is a little dated) on a Sunday. My refrigerator started to make some weird sounding noises. I decided to turn it off and turn it back on to see what might happen. It sounded like it was back to normal. Than I started hearing clicking sounds every couple minutes. Great. It is breaking down. I open the freezer and I could tell it was dying. Death of a refrigerator. After the game, I rush to Best Buy. Since I live in a small apartment, I don't have a large space for a refrigerator so I had about three selections to pick from. That made life easy. I made a decision and was out in about 15 minutes and went back home to catch the second game.

I was told that my refrigerator would be delivered on Wednesday. I would have preferred a delivery say on Monday, but it was what it was and luckily I didn't have much food that needed to be tossed in the first place.

Tuesday came around and I took my car to the mechanic. I didn't think much of it. I just want my rear brakes replaced. The mechanic called me up saying I had a cracked such and such. I'm a bit skeptical, thinking he's just trying to milk me for some money, but it is only $90 so I say go ahead and fix it.

I picked up my car and drove home. Well, I wasn't in the mood to cook anything since if I had any leftovers I couldn't exactly put it inside the refrigerator so I went off in search of the Kogi BBQ food truck. When I came back, I saw this pool of oil on the ground of my carport. What?!? I opened my car hood and there was oil all over the place. Great.

Wednesday arrives and I take my car back to the mechanic. Now this is also the day my refrigerator is supposed to be delivered. On Tuesday, I'd gotten a call saying my refrigerator would be delivered between 11 am and 3 p.m. Now considering that I am just down the street from Best Buy I had a suspicion that I'd be close to the top of the list.

I'm not too concerned on Wednesday. I figured, I'd drop my car off at 8:30 a.m. and then take the bus back to Glendale. Now I had two options. I decided to take the option where I'd only have to take one bus versus making a connection. In my mind, I figured that would make life simpler. Admittedly, the one bus route meant a longer walk to my apartment, but I figured it'd make up for the concern about missing the connection.

Before heading off to the mechanic, I knew the bus would come by at around 9:50 a.m. and I would get to the Los Feliz/Riverside around 10:30 and from there I figured I could make a 30 minute walk to my apartment. Maybe I'd be a little late, but not too late.

Now I did make it to the mechanic just fine and he was totally understanding and agreed to fix the mess. Cool. Now it was time for the bus and here is where the plans sort of fell apart. The bus didn't arrive till 10:00 a.m. And even with minimal traffic, it took an extra 10 minutes to get to my stop. So I arrived at around 10:50 a.m. I start walking as fast as possible. Come 11 a.m., I decide I better call to say I'm running late, but while I'm calling they're calling me. The delivery guys are at my house: 11 a.m. sharp. Mercy. I'm told they'll wait only 15 minutes. I can't live without a refrigerator for another day. I start running. 11:10 a.m. hits and I'm probably 5 to 10 minutes out. I call again and plead that they stick around for 20 minutes. The lady on the other line says she'll see what she can do. I'm running, walking, running as fast as I can. I see the truck. They're about to give up on me. I wave from about 100 yards away. I get my refrigerator. If everything had worked out just fine, I would have been on time or maybe no less than 5 minutes late.

And since my car is at the mechanics (near my work), I take a quick shower and then walk back to the bus stop where I proceed to wait 30 minutes for a bus, because I misread the schedule about when the bus would arrive.

Duke Basketball vs. Michigan: 73-71

This is a game that Duke seemed to want to pull away, but couldn't. In fact, they were up 15 with just a tad under 11 minutes left. Michigan didn't give up, but I also believe that Duke didn't show a killer instinct early on. Kyle Singler missed the front end of two one on ones. And Mason Plumlee missed two of his free throws. Let's assume Singler makes 3 of 4 and Plumlee makes 1 of 2, Duke is up 40-33 to end the half versus 36-33.

I thought Andre Dawkins played well. Ryan Kelly was solid from the floor. It was interesting that in the second half, Duke went away from playing the big guys. Towards the end, Duke had four guards and Kelly. I suppose it is good that Kyrie Irving is back (sarcasm, of course). As for Kyrie Irving, I thought his lateral defense was much better. He didn't make any major errors on offense. He didn't seem to have that speed to the basket like he showed during the first part of the season or during the last five minutes of the Hampton game. Of course, I'm sure that will come.

As for one reason why Duke gave up their 15 point lead, was because Michigan shifted to a 1-3-1 zone which neither Irving or Nolan Smith was able to breakdown.

Duke only shot 5-20 from the three-point range. It is nice to see that they can win when their three point shooting is cold.

A Movie Review: The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet. This is one of those so-so movies. Nothing awesome here, but nothing horrendous. So I'd say that if you're bored and you feel like catching a movie, this is a movie to go see. It isn't necessarily a movie to schedule your life around -- does that make sense? Enjoyable movie, but in the comic-book inspired genre, it doesn't rank up there with Batman and Iron Man.

A Movie Review: 127 Hours

127 Hours. I honestly don’t know if this movie deserved a best picture nod. It may have had something to do with me seeing it in an airplane versus a movie theatre. James Franco as Aron Ralston does a great job as you can see his mood swings from brief moments of panic to resignation to determination and everything in between. The cutting off of his arm is rather gruesome, but luckily there are some cut away shots so that the camera just doesn’t focus in on this obviously torturous process.

Duke Basketball vs. Hampton: 87-45

This game was more than just the return of Kyrie Irving.  Miles Plumlee was a rebounding machine.  By the time he hit the bench for the first time, he already had ten rebounds.  He also scored 8 points.  And when he got an offensive rebound, he went straight up to get some of those points.  Andre Dawkins (my belief being that Duke does well when Dawkins does well), was aggressive to the basket.  Driving the ball a number of times.  He did that when Duke played Virginia Tech, but he fouled out by being so aggressive.  He wasn't as aggressive against Carolina, but was back at it against Hampton.  Kyle Singler seemed to get out of his shooting slump.  Nolan Smith was handing out the assists.  Then we have Kyrie Irving.  First time in the game he looked awful, especially out of control on one of his drives to the basket.  Second time in the game, he took more of a back seat.  He took more of a survey of the game -- I wonder if the coaches told him to take it easy.  The last five minutes, explosion.  Two drives to the basket.  Two three pointers.  I think my only concern regarding Irving is his lateral defense.  He just didn't seem able to keep up with the person in front of him.  This will obviously come though I guess one has to wonder if it'll come in March Madness.  I suspect other Duke players need to make an effort to do some help defense for Irving.  I also didn't get the sense that  Irving being in the game caused as issues in regards to team play.

Now, of course, this was all against Hampton.  Who knows if Miles Plumlee will continue to be a rebounding machine against Michigan.  I suspect Dawkins will be just as aggressive, but must wonder if he'll get more fouls called on him.  Hopefully, Singler has his shot back.  And in regards to Irving, it'll be interesting to see if he gets 20 minutes on Sunday.  I would think he woke up sore this morning.  And it'll be interesting to see if he starts off like he ended the Hampton game.

A Movie Revie: Secretariat

Secretariat. The first thing I thought about when seeing this movie was to compare it to Seabiscuit. Though it has been awhile since I saw Seabiscuit, I say that movie ranks high above Secretariat. Secretariat isn’t a bad movie; however. I enjoyed it. The movie is highlighted by Diane Lane (Penny Chenery) as a woman determined to keep her father’s legacy alive. She makes an all in bet and wins. And considering that she was playing in a world dominated by men, it was all the more impressive.

I did do some research on the movie. There are some discrepancies between reality and the movie screen. I'd say nothing too big here.

Paul Feliciano, Secretariat’s first jockey, lasted two races, not one.

In the Wood Memorial where Sham comes into the picture, Sham finished second, not first. Secretariat came in third.

And though it didn’t seem to be emphasized in the movie, Sham faded to last in the Belmont. The jockey ran his horse too hard keeping up with Secretariat.

The Wild Feathers and Honey Honey at Bootleg

It was off to Bootleg to catch Honey Honey and The Wild Feathers. The Wild Feathers was a big surprise for the night.  There wasn't a link to their band page on the Fold's website and I didn't take the time to do any research on my own so I wasn't sure what to expect.  What a nice surprise. I loved them and so did the crowd.  I'm not sure the band realized how much the crowd like them.  Someone from the audience yelled out, "Where you all from?"  The response, "Some of us are from Tennessee . . ."  "No, seriously."  "Hollywood."  Their Facebook page doesn't have much info on them.  Hopefully that changes.

Honey Honey gave us a one hour set.  You heard that right, one hour.   I swear they're probably one of the few local Los Angeles bands that can pull off something like that.  For a lot of bands, they're pushing by going 30 minutes. 

Listening to Suzanne Santos rambling in between their songs is always a highlight of any Honey Honey set.

On telling a Ben Jaffe story that he wanted to tell on his own, "But I tell it so much better."
When Ben broke a guitar string, "But I think I will keep awkwardly talking."
On asked if she was feeling hot on stage, "I'm sweating like a whore in church."

Honey Honey had the stage decorated Western-style.  

They were thinking about setting up a kissing booth to collect money for Japan.  Hmm . . .

The Wild Feathers





Honey Honey

A Movie Review: Life as we know it

Life as We Know It. I found this to be a sick movie. The very set-up of this comedy is sick. The parents die so that two people can fall in love and raise a daughter together. There are some amusing moments in the movie. It is like eating some fun little sweats and then you realize towards the end of the movie that the premise is based on a depressing set of circumstance and you want to die.

Events on a Random Sunday Morning

Interesting thoughts/events on a Sunday morning and evening.

1. As I was driving to the Farmers Market, I noticed a couple ladies talking – well, one of them was talking. She was holding out a pamphlet. I’m wondering in the Sunday bus stop is the new place to find converts.

2. As I was passing various gas stations on my way to and from the Farmers Market, I found myself paying attention to gas prices at the various gas stations I was driving past. A thought passed through my head (a thought the passes through my head whenever gas prices start hitting the low $3.00 point, “I wonder if it would be cheaper for me to start taking the bus to work.”

3. There are always 20 or so taxis parked outside the W Hotel at 9 a.m. Is this to pick up those who partied till the early hours of the morning or those who spent the night at the hotel?

4. I was out doing my walking exercising when someone beeped their horn at me. I took a look at who it was. It was a couple friends that I haven’t seen in awhile. We had a quick chat and then I was off exercising again and they were heading off towards wherever they were going.

Up on Intraffik.com: Project Ethos, Los Angeles Fashion Week

I'm up on Intraffik. This is a fashion article on Project Ethos/Los Angeles Fashion Week. I didn't write the article, but I took the photos. Lucky me!

Some Random Sunday Notes

Some random things I saw on a recent Sunday.

1. The police were at the Palladium as I drove by. I noticed that the marquees near the exit were shattered.

2. I was walking across Vine and noticed that the street south of Sunset were getting re-surfaced.

3. At the Farmers Market, I noticed this twenty-ish male walking with a bunch of grapes, eating away. This caught my eye. I then walked passed the stand that sells the grapes and the guy at the stand was laughing as he talked to a customer, "Did you see that? He just walked off with the grapes. Oh well, he's homeless, he needs the grapes more than I need the money."

Intraffik Radio

If you hear any of the following songs on Intraffik Radio, yours truly made the selections:

Nico Vega

Burn Burn
Wooden Dolls

fr. Self Titled

The Monthlies

Horror Flick
The Road

fr. Horror Flick

Tijuana Panthers

Creature
Redheaded Girl

fr. Max Baker

Lucy Schwartz

Graveyard
Take a Picture

fr. Life in Letters

Diane Birch

Ariel
Don't Wait Up

fr. Bible Belt

Gliss

Morning Light
Beauty

fr. devotion implosion

Mister Loveless and Masks at 5 Star Bar

It was off to 5 Star Bar to catch Mister Loveless and Masks. This was during the Downtown ArtWalk.

The reason I knew about this event was because the intraffik editor suggested it.

Mister Loveless started the night out for me. They're from up north, but appeared
to have a decent fan base at the bar. Masks shares a studio with intraffik radio, which is why it was suggested to check out this night.

Note of the night: a guy deciding to create his own personal mosh pit. And in the process believing he should involve everyone else in it. The style of the two bands didn't lend to themselves to a mosh pit and folks seemed rather upset with the guy.

Random note: Blogger decided to update things. Loading photos for now is such a pain.  After about 30 minutes, I figured out how to post photos like I'm used to posting them.

Mister Loveless









Masks

Duke Basketball vs. North Carolina: 75-58

After getting beat rather convincingly at Carolina, I figured this was a measuring test for Duke.  They passed, essentially keeping Carolina out of the game the whole way through -- much like Carolina did just recently.

What was amazing?  Nolan Smith on Kendall Marshall.  Ouch.  And Kyle Singler on Harrison Barnes.  Ouch.  Kendall Marshall was locked down in the first half by Nolan Smith.  Kyle Singler kept Harrison Barnes in check after he scored 40 at Clemson.  That was some senior leadership on defense.

The Plumlee brothers got some points by playing like Brian Zoubek.

Andre Dawkins again played 13 minutes.  It wasn't a lot of minutes, but he was impressive on defense (even the announcers made note of it) and got his three point shot going.  You could tell on one of them he was thrilled.  Getting his confidence back?  I hope so.  For some reason, I feel that Andre Dawkins is key for how Duke plays.  He's not the best player on the team, but when he gets minutes he allows Seth Curry to get some rest.  You then get fresh three point shooters coming in to play.

What a game.  And later in the day we added a number one seed. 

Duke Basketball vs. Virginia Tech: 77-63

This is a game where I watched Andre Dawkins.  And boy did I think he came out to play.  He played some tough defense and on the offensive end he was aggressive.  Too aggressive perhaps as I believe he got two fouls driving to the basket.  But I liked it.  It was nice seeing him getting touches and being aggressive.  I was actually surprised he only played 13 minutes per the stat sheet. 

One concern for the game was the foul trouble.  Andre Dawkins fouled out.  The Plumlee brothers racked up fouls as did Singler.  Something to perhaps keep an eye on should Duke face a real physical team in March Madness.  They could run out of front court players, especially since Josh Hairston appears to be stuck on the bench until next year. 

Interesting enough,  I didn't get to catch the last couple minutes of the game.  I had set my DVR to record thirty minutes past the allocated time, but the Carolina game went into over-time and so that was that.  Oh well, I don't think I missed much.  Go Dawkins!!!

A Movie Review: Ramona and Beezus

Ramona and Beezus. Note that I saw this movie while flying from Madrid to Chicago. I loved this movie. It had a sweetness to it and yet addressed stresses that kids sometimes face when their parents suffer misfortune. Considering our economic times, the movie explored such issues as foreclosure and unemployment in a kid friendly way. Of course, the movie goes beyond just our economic hard times. The movie focuses on Ramona and her wild imagination that results in various hi-jinks. All the actors (kids and adults) had you cheering for them.

One complaint: In the end, the father finds a part time job as an art teacher. One has to assume the wife would also keep her part time job. There is no way the combined family income could keep the mortgage payments on what appeared to be a 3 bedroom 1 or 2 bathroom house -- especially considering that they quickly fell in trouble after the father lost his Vice President position.

Up On Intraffik.com: Mission Bay Jazz and Blues Street Fest

I'm up on Intraffik with a short write-up along with photos of the Mission Bay Jazz and Blues StreetFest. Go check it out.

Zig Zags and Bowery Beasts at Silverlake Lounge

It was off to Silverlake Lounge to catch the Zig Zags and Bowery Beasts. It was one of those nights where I wasn’t sure where I was going to go. Honey Honey was playing at Bootleg and I do love Honey Honey; however, I decided at the last moment not to go to Bootleg. I figured I’ve seen them plenty and they are playing all of March. I decided I would catch them on another Monday night (probably this coming Monday) and make sure on this particular Monday that I would catch one of the other residency bands. So I considered The Echo and Satellite. I’ve seen Spirit Vine before so I wasn’t in an urge to rush over to The Echo. I’ve never seen The Living Things, but I’m not so keen on one of bands that was on the bill – I won’t say which one. So after all that thought, I decided to head to Silverlake Lounge.

The first thing one has to mention is the fact that it was one windy night. The wind was howling around my apartment complex.

When I arrived at Silverlake Lounge around 9:45 p.m., the place was empty. I was thinking that it was perhaps the weather. Zig Zags at the time was setting up for their set. They’re a two piece set: a guitarist and a drummer. Both take turns on vocals. They put on quite a set. Thrilling. By the time their set was finished, the place had filled up nicely. Bowery Beasts is the residency band for March. I guess what first caught my attention was their dress. Some in tight jeans. Others not. Some wearing western-inspired garb, others not. Some in boots, others wearing athletic shoes. Just a mix and match of styles. They gave a set that energized the women in front.

Interest observation. One of the bartenders came out in front of the stage. Bowery Beasts had a photographer. The photographer seemed to believe that the bartender was not pleased with him. When the bartender went back to the bar, the photographer headed over to see what was going on. I’m not sure what the conversation was regarding. Anyways, the photographer continued to take pictures afterwards. Probably some misunderstanding.

Comment of the night (Bowery Beasts): You guys are a beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL crowd tonight.

Zig Zags





Bowery Beasts

A Movie Review: The Company Men

The Company Men. This movie focuses in on a group of upper middle class and wealthy individuals that are laid-off during our Great Recession. It follows three main characters. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) who is a relatively young mid-level sales executive, Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) who is an older mid-level executive and Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) who is a top executive. All three are let go as their company attempts to increase its share price and prepare for being bought out. Gene McClary obviously isn't impacted financially by his firing as he is a multi-millionaire just based on his stock holdings, but we watch as Bobby and Phil must deal with a new reality of unemployment.

I really enjoyed this movie. If you read my blog regularly, you know I am fascinated by economics. Unlike the documentary "Inside Job" or the movie "Wall Street 2," this movie takes a larger view of the economic crisis. "Inside Job" and "Wall Street 2" focus blame only on Wall Street. This movie takes the time to place the blame at the feet of everyone. Throughout the movie, in the background, you hear commentary regarding Wall Street and our government; however, in the conversations (especially those between Bobby and his wife) you learn of the mistakes made by folks who used to make high income salaries. Bobby Walker quickly faces financial distress faces upon getting laid off driven by over-consumption. A house that was around 5x his income and the fact that the only way the family could afford it was via an ARM loan that was about to re-set. A Porsche with a huge monthly loan payment. Golf Club fees. And simply no savings.

Top Fall Films of 2010

I wasn't too keen on the Summer 2010 movies, but I am high on the Fall 2010 movies. I saw some really great movies. In fact, it is hard to rank them properly. I think on any given day I could switch between Social Network, Black Swan, The King's Speech and True Grit as my favorite movie of the Fall.

Note: I'm being neutral on Inside Job. If you take the time to read my economic posts, you'll probably understand why I found the movie a tad boring; however, it doesn't mean that it isn't worth seeing for someone who isn't reading about the economy on a daily basis.

Tops

Social Network
Black Swan
The King's Speech
True Grit
Red
Never Let Me Go
Somewhere
The Fighter
Unstoppable
Tangled
Megamind
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Enjoyable

Gulliver's Travels
Tron: Legacy
Love and Other Drugs
The Town
Easy A
Let Me In
Blue Valentine

Neutral

Inside Job

Skip

Due Date
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Part 1
You Again
It's Kind of a Funny Story

A Movie Review: The Fighter

The Fighter. This is a based-upon-true-events movie about boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) who eventually went on to become a boxing world champion. As the story unfolds, we are witnesses to the challenges that face Mickey Ward. His family (which also helps run his career) is a mess. His trainer (and brother) Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) is a crack addict. His mother is his manager (Melissa Leo) and is obviously over her head. Yes, she loves her son, but she doesn't have the necessary skills to manager her son's career -- as well as the fact that she can't see that Dicky is a messed up human being who needs help. And there is the love story between Mickey and Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams)that brings the necessary stability to Mickey's life.

This movie kept my attention throughout. You can't help but cheer for the various characters: you want Mickey Ward to succeed, you want Dicky Eklund to conquer his addiction, you want Charlene not to give up on Mickey.

Comment: I did some research on the real life events. The after-story on Dicky Eklund is not as positive as the movie leads one to believe -- unfortunately.

Great Northern, Sabrosa Purr and Moving Picture Show at Bootleg

It was off to Bootleg to catch Moving Picture Show, Sabrosa Purr and Great Northern. I have to say what a night. First off were two bands I hadn't seen in more than two years: Moving Picture Show and Sabrosa Purr. I remember the first time I saw Moving Picture Show back in March 2008. I wrote the following on my old myspace blog, "The next band up was Moving Picture Show, which started their set off as a high school drum line. It was an interesting entrance. I think their bass player has experience in line dancing. " Who can possibly forget an entrance like that. They didn't do the high school drum line this time around, but did open by banging away on a marching band drum. For some reason, I seem to remember a female keyboardist back in 2008. I could be wrong about that memory as it was close to three years ago.

I saw Sabrosa Purr back in September 2008. I wrote the following on the old myspace blog, "Sabrosa Purr was up next. I loved their sound . . . I'd call them orchestral rock. The band is two guitar players and a drummer -- no bass." Those are some old memories. As for Sabrosa Purr, for some reason I remember an all guy band, but I could be wrong on that one, as well. Anyways, they are now a four piece band with two female band members. Amazing how time flies.

I've wanted to catch both bands since 2008, but never got around to it. Both put on amazing sets.

Comment of the night: Big sweaty hugs, they're only fifty cents after the show.

The comment was made by the lead singer of Sabrosa Purr who soon after went to hug his bassist. I wonder how she felt about that.

As for Great Northern . . . well, the first time I saw them was at the Eagle Rock Music Festival when they opened up for Monsters are Waiting. Of course, it didn't take me as long to see them a second time or a third and fourth and fifth. As always, I loved their set.

Moving Picture Show

Sabrosa Purr

Great Northern

Duke Basketball vs. North Carolina: 67-81

I always look forward to Duke vs. Carolina games. I grew up a North Carolina fan and then I went to Duke and became a Duke fan.

As for this one, this won't go down as a classic. Carolina controlled the game from start to finish. Yes, Duke put on a couple runs, but I think it was clear who had control -- especially since Duke (other than Seth Curry) couldn't hit a three.

Here's actually my big concern: does Andre Dawkins even care anymore? Yes, it looked like he played decent defense. But on the offensive end he looked awful. Those three missed free throws were just representative of someone who is off in space. Either he's transferring at the end of this season because he no longer wants to be at Duke or something is going on in his personal life (like a serious lack of confidence).

Note: I do have a soft spot for Andre Dawkins as he did help us with a national championship last year. I just wish that light switch would go on for him.

As for how the game could have been different? I suppose if Ryan Kelly had hit some of those threes at the start of the game maybe we wouldn't have had to play from behind the whole game (admittedly, we had brief leads, but I think those of you who saw this game know what I mean).

Up on Intraffik.com: February Playlist

I'm up on Intraffik.com with my February playlist.

Here's a list of bands.

La Bestia
Toys that Kill
Downtown/Union
The Submarines
Wait. Think. Fast.
Moses Campbell
Abe Vigoda
Insects vs. Robots
Shadow Shadow Shade
Lesands
Rocket
Wet and Reckless
Amanda Jo Williams
Gentlemen Prefer Blood
Icky’s Ego

Click on the links and you'll see song lists, photos and videos. Go check it out.

A Movie Review: The King's Speech

The King's Speech. I have to admit I walked into this movie with a bit of skepticism. How could a movie about trying to work through a King's stuttering problem really be that good? Why all the critical acclaim. Oh how wrong I was? This is a brilliant movie about a man who must not only seek help from someone who is "below" him, but must also rise up when the one in front of him can't measure up. It is also about how important a single man can be to the courage of a nation under stress.

Up on Intraffik.com: Rock N' Roll Glamour Show

I'm up on Intraffik.com with a write-up on a recent Rock N' Roll Glamour Show at the Troubadour.

Duke Basketball vs. Clemson: 70-59

I was only able to catch 15 minutes or so of this game. Once again I forgot to do the DVR thing.

When I turned on the television, I believe Duke was up by five and at one point it was done to a single point. And then everything fell apart for Clemson. Their guard Demontez Stitt got two quick fouls and it was over. I'm not even sure he should have gotten those fouls called on him. I have to admit that it seemed like there was a one or two minute segment of the game where Duke got some questionable calls in their favor. Of course, towards the end of the game, Clemson got some questionable calls go their way. Essentially, it seemed like a badly officiated game. My opinion.

One of my criticisms of Duke is their interior defense. I have to say it looked rather solid against Clemson. Good job.

As for a current criticism, what's up with this essentially six man rotation. Having Miles Plumlee and Andre Dawkins playing six minutes a piece seems like a recipe for an early exit from March Madness.

I read that there were rumors that Kyrie Irving would play this game. Let me say this: if he doesn't play this season, I'll be a bit pissed off. Why else would they put out that video of Kyrie Irving doing his physical therapy work outs if it wasn't to give us fans some belief that he's coming back this season.

A Movie Review: True Grit

True Grit. Sometimes you go to the movie and as people exit you find out that you have a striking difference of opinion versus most of the rest of the audience. As the movie ended, I was thinking, "This movie was just fascinating." And then you hear folks leaving with comments like, "That movie was so cheesy" and "We spent our money on that movie?" I don't know how they formed their opinions.

The basic premise of the movie is about a fourteen-year-old named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and her desire for justice. Her father is killed by Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Since her father is from out of town, the town sheriff doesn't consider Tom Chaney a high priority. For some reason (not really explained), Mattie Ross is sent to clear up her father's affairs while the wife/mother remains at home. She decides that she'll make Tom Chaney a high priority and enlists Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to chase down Chaney. In the hunt for Tom Chaney, is a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon).

The dialog between the three main characters is what is fascinating here. And Mattie Ross sure does hold her own with her obviously over-exaggerated intelligence level that is backed up by a sharp tongue. And I do like how Mattie Ross is portrayed. Yes, she's smarter than she should be, but the movie shows that though she might have courage, she does have her fears. When confronted with situations that she didn't normally confront such as a gun fight or being grabbed by a gang of outlaws, you can see the fear in her eyes.

I say this is a well done movie and unlike my fellow movie goers, I feel it deserves an Oscar nod for Best Picture.

A Movie Review: Black Swan

Black Swan. What was that movie? Total chaos. A constant transition from reality to a dream state and back to reality. And in the end, total enjoyment. Yes, I was riveted to the movie screen throughout – and not just during the make-out session between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. I found there to be so many fascinating relationships in this movie. Nina (Natalie Portman) and her mother (Barbara Hershey): A mother both jealous (to the point and wanting to keep her daughter psychologically imprisoned) and supportive of her daughter. Nina and Thomas (Vincent Cassel): is this teacher seductive or just trying to get the best out of his new star? Nina and Lily (Mila Kunis): Is Lily jealous of Nina or is Nina imagining the backstabbing?

Opinions. Thomas was more trying to get the best out of his new star versus trying to seduce her. Of course, he probably wouldn't have minded sleeping with her, but putting on a great show was essential. Lily is complicated. She was obviously motivated and would have wanted the lead. And I think like many she noticed that perhaps Nina had some short comings, but her pure joy for Nina towards the end of the movie showed that she was more friend than enemy. Nina, of course, portrayed Lily as her frenemy, which provided great motivation.

My complaint: I did find some of the dream states a bit over-the-top, especially the scene between Nina and Beth (Winona Ryder) at the hospital.

My opinion (potential mild spoiler as the ending is rather dramatic) regarding the ending: I believe that Nina reverted back to a temporary dream state. Blood always seemed to imply a dream state.