Lucy Schwartz and Busy Living at The Bootleg

It was off to the Bootleg to catch Lucy Schwartz and Busy Living.  I arrived straight from work.  I usually like to head home first, but Lucy Schwartz was going on at 8 p.m. and I do love her music.  And for this night, she played mostly new material so I am doubly happy that I made it to her set.

Comment of the night:  I can't tell if that's a song from church or from the depths of Hell.

Check out the song list:  I love the Awesome Band comment.  And how about the detailed minutes and seconds for each song.

Busy Living hit the stage next.  They gave a more rock oriented set.

Interesting moment:  the trio from Haim walked in.  When started cheering on Busy Living.  The other two sisters moaned, one said, "Oh no."  They quickly scooted away.  Amusing.  

Note:  Grace Woodroofe had the residency for the month of April.  I stuck around for her set as well.  I will remain silent about it as I'm planning on writing about it on Intraffik.com.


Lucy Schwartz







Busy Living

Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech fired

I guess Hollywood isn't the only place filled with passive aggressive executives. Who announces a press conference about the firing of their coach without first telling the coach? Apparently, that is how things work in Virginia Tech and their basketball coach, Seth Greenberg.

And here is a classic statement by athletic director Jim Weaver when questioned about the basketball culture, "I'm not here to throw Coach Greenberg under the bus, bottom line, so I'm going to pass on that question."  I think you just tossed the coach under the bus.

I hope Duke never treats a coach like this. Sure, sometimes you need to fire a coach, but you don't need to be passive aggressive about it.

Up on Intraffik: No, Raw Geronimo and Black Flamingo at The Echo

I'm up on Intraffik with a post on No, Raw Geronimo and Black Flamingo. Go check it out.

The Child and Coco Morier at The Bootleg

It was off to The Bootleg to catch an addiction:  The Child.  I was listening.  I was smiling.  Life was good.

Comment of the night (from the audience) #1:  They're from Germany.

Comment of the night (from the audience) #2:  They're leaving the dudes to clean up the stage?

Next up was Coco Morier.  One strategy to find new bands/musicians is to catch bands that play with your one of your favorite bands.  And so on this night I was introduced to Coco Morier.  I think I'll be catching her again.  I clicked "like" on her Facebook page.

Comment:  It feels like an earthquake up here on the stage.

One I got to The Bootleg, the place was crowded.  The door gal told me that an industry event was ending. I need to find a way to get invited to those industry events.  I guess the answer is I need to actually work in the music industry.

The Child

Coco Morier

A Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans.  Is it possible that one could call this the condensed version of the three Lord of the Rings movies? Well, as a condensed version it didn't do the job all that great. It is a quick 99 minute movie with plenty of action and the occasional humorous moment via Agenor (Toby Kebbell). If I caught the plot point right, the gods are fearful of death (as the human population no longer honors them) so Hades and Ares devise a plan to create fear within the human population and force worship. Blah.

A Movie Review: 21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) used to attend the same high school. Schmidt was smart. Jenko was the jock. They didn’t interact with each other too much other than Jenko giving Schmidt some verbal abuse. Seven years later they find themselves at the same police academy. After failing miserably at the most basic police assignment (bike cops at a park) they are sent to 21 Jump Street, a unit that deals with undercover work at high schools. Now I say, put aside the question of why you’d send total failures to do investigative work, this is one funny movie. From the humorous take on excessive vehicle explosions in action flicks to changes in high school dynamics (since this was partially written by Jonah Hill, I suspect the changed dynamics is more about what has changed over fifteen years versus seven -- fifteen being the approximate years that Johan Hill has been out of high school while seven being the time leap in the movie), this movie will have you laughing throughout. Best comedy out there since Bridesmaids – to emphasize, this is the best comedy since May 2011.

A Movie Review: John Carter

John Carter. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) finds himself transported to Mars where he meets some fascinating characters who are entangled in a war. This movie got a lot of press for the huge write-down that Disney needed to take. As for the movie itself? Not bad, but not great. I do love attempts at a grand vision of a new world. For example, in literature, the Dune series. For movies, the first Star Wars trilogy or the Lord of the Rings trilogy (along with the books). An example of a movie that attempted this vision, but didn’t quite make it would be The Chronicles of Riddick. John Carter falls in the camp of Riddick. It just didn’t get there. One reason, and maybe my viewing was ruined by my reading Roger Ebert’s review before hand: if folks can shoot with what appear to be lasers and glide through the air in flying contraptions, why in the world was there so much sword fighting? Of course, one might want to view this through the lens of the Civil War-era when there probably was still a lot of close range sword fighting along with the use of guns. Beyond that, I didn’t feel that certain expects of the movie were explained properly. What exactly was the role of those god-like figures? And why did they not take a more active role in pushing their vision? I know this was all addressed in the movie to some degree so maybe I should give the movie another chance to grow on me.

Santa Anita Park: April 15, 2012

It was off to Santa Anita Park. I took a couple friends who had never gone before. I do believe they had fun. One came out a couple dollars ahead. Another came out $11 down. I came out an amazing plus $0.55. That's right, $0.55. We got into the track for free. As we were entering a guy gave us free passes, which included free entry into the Club House. It was my first time in the Club House. A nice area of the Park.

I came out ahead by only $0.55, but I believe this was the first time I won at least one bet on every race (we came in late, so we missed the first race). If luck had played out a little better, I would have been up significantly more as I picked the correct horses for races 2 and 3 for the trifectas, but the win/place/show didn't cooperate. I did win an exacta in the 8th race, but I only won $2.90. Why so little? The winning horse was expected to win. I believe the final odds came in at like 1/5. And there were only four horses in the race.

A fun day.

Dated Photo
 

Downtown/Union at Casey's Irish Pub

Casey's Irish Pub isn't one of my normal stops, but I've actually been there twice in the last couple weeks. Downtown/Union has a residency there.  I've seen these guys a couple of times.  Love their sets.  I don't know if this is the pattern, but on this night they were the first band up (or maybe the second, I showed up after they got on stage).  

 

Mr. Downstairs, The GT350s, Sunfall and Dear Left Brain at Club Moscow

Off to Club Moscow, a night I love because I'm always introduce me to new bands. The GT350s came up first. I'm not sure they knew how strict Club Moscow is about the start times.  Sunfall and Dear Left Brain followed. Sunfall had a bad connection that delayed their set. There was a lot of running back and forth.  It all worked out and their fans showed support.  Dear Left Brain's lead singer had a one gallon container of water next to him. No, he didn't drink it all.  The main band was Mr. Downstairs, which has some sweet catchy tunes.

Joke of the night: How much does a polar bear weigh?  Enough to break the ice.

The GT350s



Sunfall



Dear Left Brain



Mr. Downstairs

Jenny O playing the Bootleg

I was exhausted from a lack of sleep over the weekend, but that didn't stop me from heading out on a Monday night to check out Jenny O.

Comment of the night: Can I have less acustic guitar on the iPad?

Always a lovely night with Jenny O.  I wish I could have stuck around for the residency, but I'll be back around.

Murderland, Mikey Erg and The Maxies at the Blue Star

It was off to the Blue Star last Saturday. Yep, it does take me awhile to post photos. Playing that night was Murderland, Mikey Erg and The Maxies. Murderland really impressed.  This was my first time seeing them and I loved their set.  Mikey Erg gave a one man punk show.  The Maxies entertained, as always.  Unfortunately, I couldn't stick around for French Exit.

Murderland



Mikey Erg



The Maxies

A Movie Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Jeff, Who Lives at Home. This is one of those movies that critics gave thumbs up to and I simply don’t get it. Jeff (Jason Segel) lives at home, a bit too old to be doing so. He gets a random call. The guy on the other end asks for Kevin. Believing that nothing happens without a reason, he tries to figure out why someone was calling for Kevin. His mother, Sharon (Susan Sarandon), also calls and asks him to go to the store. Off he heads with the name Kevin stuck in his head.

Along the way, the movie introduces us to Jeff’s brother, Pat (Ed Helms), and his wife, Linda (Judy Greer). In my mind, the movie should have focused more on Pat and Linda. Their relationship is painfully self-destructing, mainly due to Pat’s lack of respect for his wife’s opinions. But instead this movie takes us on a meandering adventure with Jeff, which means the movie takes us on the idiotic search for reason behind why someone might call a wrong phone number and ask for Kevin. The multiple connections to "Kevin" makes one roll their eyes.

Up on Intraffik: The Child

I'm up on Intraffik with a post about a recent favorite: The Child.

And a most embarrassing error was corrected.

Sometimes a morning starts off with complaints

This past Sunday, Easter, I'm driving to the Hollywood Farmers Market.  I come up to the dreaded Los Feliz/San Fernando intersection in Glendale.  There is a red light camera there.  I hate red light cameras, but I despise this one.  The problem is that the stoplight can switch from red to green to red in less than 10 seconds (maybe it is less than 5 seconds).  You can be the third car at the red light and as you're entering the intersection, the light turns from yellow to red.  Both roads are four lane roads so it takes a few seconds to get through the intersection when you're driving at five miles an hour.  I did look up Glendale's red light camera policy and know that if you're in the intersection when the lights turn yellow that you don't need to worry about a ticket, but it is just so irritating that they put a red light camera at this spot where the stoplight doesn't even allow for three cars to go through before switching back to red.  It just feels like a ticket trap.

After doing my Farmers Market shopping, I walked back to my car and noticed a couple Metro employees hanging around.  Their Metro vehicle:  a GMC Yukon.  And you wonder why Los Angeles is broke.

Next up was the gas station.  A driver decides to pull up at the very first gas pump instead of the further open gas pump.  Now I ask:  isn't it common courtesy to pull up to the furthest open pump so that another driver can just pull up behind you?

A Movie Review: Safe House

Safe House. Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is working at a safe house in South Africa. This isn’t the most exciting assignment and he wants out as soon as possible. It isn’t long before the excitement picks up. Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a rouge CIA agent, turns himself in at the US Consulate in Cape Town. He is quickly taken to Weston’s safe house for interrogation. The safe house is soon attacked. Weston and Frost escape, but are on the continued run from this group of men.

This movie doesn’t break any interesting ground. You know that at nearly every turn that this gang of gunmen will show up no matter where Frost and Weston hide. You also know that the only way that this can happen is if there is some inside help. What keeps you glued to the screen:  Washington brings an intensity as the disillusioned ex-CIA agent and Ryan Reynolds brings the eagerness of a new agent. Does this mean one should go out and catch this movie in the theaters? Probably more like a rental title.

The Child: "The President" video

A music video by one of my favorite local Los Angeles bands.

Michael Davis with Lions at the Silverlake Lounge

I generally prefer to see at least two bands when I go out, but on a recent Monday night I was only able to catch the residency band at the Silverlake Lounge, Michael Davis with Lions.  It was a long day at work and things came up and so I ended up going later than I would have liked.  And well, they also went on stage at 10:30 p.m., which I always operate on the assumption that the residency bands at the Lounge start somewhere between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.  Maybe things have changed up.  Anyways, back to Michael Davis with Lions.  A wonderful sound that reduced those work stress tensions.

As always, I really wished more folks would show up to the Lounge on Monday nights.

The Mo-odds and Chance & the Choir at Casey's Irish Pub

It was off to Casey's Irish Pub to catch The Mo-odds and Chance and the Choir.  Chance and the Choir gave one inspiring performance.  It was a requirement as the drummer took the chance of getting fired from his job to play the gig.  The Mo-odds had a big time fan that night.  Okay, so everyone knew he was a little "faced."  He did keep things entertaining.  

Chance and the Choir



The Mo-odds

A Movie Review: Chronicle

Chronicle. This movie is about three high school guys who gain telekinetic powers after a brief encounter with an object that one assumes is alien. We have Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) who is an outsider, bullied by his classmates and his father. There is Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), a philosophical driven young man, who seems to occupy a space as the semi-cool high school kid, not overly popular, but well liked. And finally we have Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) who is the sports star who wants a career in politics and so is running for class president.

I tend to avoid high school centered movies. I’m older and really can’t relate, but the critics loved this movie so I decided to take a chance on it – it also had that Sci-Fi genre label, which I can be a sucker for at times. I really enjoyed this movie even though I feel it had some flaws. I felt the outcome was obvious.  You know immediately that if anyone will abuse their new found powers it will be Andrew. A more interesting scenario might have been Matt abusing his power, reasoning his way through his philosophical mind about why it all made sense to do so.  Also, I just couldn't see these three individuals ever getting along as friends.  I could see Steve and Matt fitting in well together. Steve is the politician. Matt could be his voice of reason, the chief of staff type. Andrew just didn’t seem to have the personality that would fit in well with Steve and yet the two seemed to gel well together.

But who cares about those complaints. This movie brings a wonderful mix of Heroes and X-Men.
And the sequel: I’m sure the alien contraption passed along powers that the three haven’t totally explored yet even if the ending appeared somewhat conclusive on the matter.

A Movie Review: The Grey

The Grey. Ottway (Liam Neeson) works near/at the arctic circle, an oil facility. This obviously isn’t the ideal location to spend your life so the job attracts those attempting to escape life (from flashbacks we can assume that Ottway’s wife has passed away) or needing a new start (due to criminal records).  The only way to occasionally re-acquaint yourself with normality is to take a flight down to Anchorage, Alaska.  On this one occasion with Ottway and his other co-workers, the plane crashes. Ottway and six other surviving individuals must attempt to find civilization while being hunted by wolves.

I have to say this movie didn’t excite me. Yes, I understand it is more philosophical versus action packed, but I think by the middle of the movie you’ve pretty much determined what the ending will be. Also, the philosophy is rather pedestrian.

And I couldn’t help but have immediate issues with the movie. Did they really need to leave the ruins of the aircraft and seek the protection of the forest? Maybe Ottway had a point about leading the group to the trees, but it soon looked like a mistake when the wolves started to pick away at the group anyways. One argument for leaving the crash site was because they needed to find civilization on their own, because the rescue units would never be able to find them. Black box, anyone? I thought the black box gave out signals. The other argument was that the open terrain gave no protection against the wolves and yet later the group of men find their backs against a “natural wall” and the argument is made that at least the wolves can only attack from one direction. Well, if you set up yourselves defensively within part of the damaged plane, wouldn’t you have the same protection?

I will say one thing, you half suspect that this movie closely reflects how Liam Neeson personally dealt with the death of his own wife, which makes it feel like you are invading his privacy.  This also makes it a reason not to see this movie.

A Movie Review: Haywire

Haywire. Mallory (Gina Carano) works for a for-profit special forces corporation. She is set-up by her employee to take the fall for a murder. She is able to uncover this plot and heads off for some revenge.
I have this love/hate relationship with Steven Soderbergh. I loved Ocean’s Eleven. I hated Ocean’s Twelve. I loved Contagion. I hated Informant! (well, the portion that I saw, I stopped watching after awhile). As for Hirewire, I am neutral on it. Neutral in the sense that this is a movie that you might want to watch while spending a lazy Sunday at home, but not necessarily at a movie theater.

Up on Intraffik: Dollyrots, Queen Caveat and The Cowboys

Up on intraffik with something other than fashion. Viper Room. Dollyrots. Queen Caveat. The Cowboys. Go check it out.