Duke basketball vs Alabama/Arizona

I only saw portions of the 2nd half for these games -- holiday season and such.

I have to say:  the defense looks better, the offense looks worse.

Get it together, Duke!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Week of Wonders at The Smell

Weeks of Wonders.  A bit of Caribbean.  A bit of pop.  Put it all together and the result is some catchy tunes.

Comment of the set:  I'm so sorry for being difficult.

A family and Sundays

Every Sunday that I go out walking, I walk by this one house.  Every Sunday there are around 20 people out on the driveway.  A long table is set out and they're having dinner together.  Laughter.  Conversation.

I may have written about this before.  I don't recall.  Even if I did, I think it is such a cool moment of my walk that it deserves an encore blog post.

 

Duke Basketball vs. Vermont: 91-90

Duke better learn how to play some defense or they won't remain a top 10 team for much longer.  Their defense got shredded.  And even though it looked like they put more effort in the 2nd half, it didn't do much good as Vermont scored more points in the second half versus the first half.

The best moment of this game:  Dawkins' look on the sidelines after a put back slam by Parker.

Random Car Sighting

I was driving on Los Feliz when I noticed a car in front of me.  It had a sticker that said:  drive less.  I looked at the license plate:  Washington state with a 2014 sticker.  Drive less?  You could have taken the train . . .

Okay, I don't know the story.  The driver could have recently moved here, Los Angeles.  I just found it amusing.

Duke Football vs. Wake Forest: 28-21

The game didn't start out very well for Duke.  A fumble returned for a Wake Forest TD.  A bad punt that resulted in a short field for Wake Forest, which led to another TD.  But Duke came back and tied the score 14-14 at the half.  Wake Forest scored on their first possession of the 3rd, but Duke scored twice thereafter to take a 28-21 lead at the end of the 3rd.  The fourth quarter saw two Wake Forest turnovers.

Duke QB Boone played a solid game.  Hopefully, this indicates he's fully back from his injury as his games against Virginia Tech and NC State were marred by interceptions.

Time to take down North Carolina.

Maybe an inspiration for Duke would be for AP/USA voters to remove Duke from the top 25 rankings?  -- Not that I'd want that to happen.

Body Parts at The Satellite

Body Parts. Synchronized hand motions with some catchy tunes had the audience enjoying the final minutes of a Monday night.

Comment of the set:  Did you guys work?  Boo!!!

James Supercave at The Satellite

James Supercave.  Smooth, somewhat psychedelic sounds hit the stage of The Satellite -- along with some hipster gentlemen.

Air Life at The Satellite

Air Life.  This was Air Life's first show ever.  Yeah right.  No way.  This band was way too solid for a first show.  The band's sound has a jazz feel to it, which lit up the early Satellite night.  The band asked for folks to come up close to the stage.  The audience responded and stayed close throughout the set due to this band's extraordinary 30 minute set.  

The random complaint post

A victim of credit card fraud again.  What a pain.

Hey, why can't I get 50 mpg on my Prius?

Duke Basketball:  seriously, you only have 3 players that can score on that team?

What's up with my kitchen sink?!?

I think I'm getting old.  My exercise routine left me drained tonight.

Up on Intraffik: White Lung at The Echo

I'm up on Intraffik with a blog post on White Lung, NASA Space Universe, and Antwon.

Duke Football vs. Miami: 48-20

Last week, the quarterbacks stunk it up for Duke.  This week, the quarterbacks played solid.

In my opinion, after watching the first few Miami series, I felt for sure Miami would win this game.  The Duke defense was playing solid, but Miami's front line was just too strong.  Did Miami's quarterback ever get sacked?

It also seemed that Miami's running game just couldn't be stopped, which sort of makes me wonder why they ran only 29 times versus throwing 49 times.

I don't want to be too down on Duke's defense as they did have some great stops.

As for Duke's offense:  that team can rush down the throat of a defense.

A Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave. In some ways, I found this 12 years of squirming discomfort.  The movie is so graphic I felt the urge to walk out at times.

This movie does grab your attention and is a solid movie.  The imagery of slavery just drives home the point of how evil this was.

I did have a couple problems with the movie.  I wish the movie delved more into the reasoning behind why Solomon was sold into slavery.  Why would his two captors set up such a scheme involving music?  I have a hard time believing that they went around trying to find individuals who played music and then sell them off as slaves.  Were the two hard-up for money?  Were they given an offer they found hard to refuse?  Also, as the boat filled with prisoners was heading south, there was a scene where one slave was given back to his master.  The slave ran as if he was so grateful that he was returning to his master.  Didn't he run away in the first place?  I'd think he'd be scared to death.

  

A Movie Review: Gravity

Gravity. I didn't see this movie in 3D, but I have to believe the opening minutes of this film are just awesome in 3D. Seeing it in simple 2D had me feeling like I was going to fall out of my seat and nosedive right into earth.  This movie deals with how an astronaut attempts to find her way back to earth after a space disaster.  Is this movie Oscar worthy?  My only reason to not put this movie on my list of best movies of the year is the ending.  I swear I expected to hear the theme song from 2001:  A Space Odyssey blast through the auditorium.  That was disappointing.

Duke Basketball vs. Kansas: 83 - 94

Duke needs to learn how to play some defense and free throws.

Kansas appeared to drive to the basket at will.  Duke also hit only 16-28 free throws.  This game could have had a different tone at the end if Duke hit their free throws at the same percentage as Kansas.

Jabari Parker played a solid game though he got out of control during parts of the 2nd half.  Rodney Hood wasn't as impressive as he was in the first game.  Rasheed Sulaimon played well, but I wish he had been given a bigger role in the offense.  Amile Jefferson showed he can drive it to the basket.

For this game, Duke basically went back to a 7 man rotation of prior years. 

A Movie Review: Rush

Rush. This movie tells the story of two Formula 1 drivers: James Hunt (an English playboy) and Niki Lauda (an Austrian statistics guy: almost like the modern day Oakland A's management) from the 1970s. The movie delves into their rivalry. Their early individual careers are highlighted, but the movie focuses in on one season when the two are battling for the Formula 1 racing crown.

I am not a race care fan.  I've never watched more than 5 minutes of any car race.  That being said, I did enjoy this movie.  It is a rush.  I loved the interaction between these two individuals.  The very diverse personalities still eventually lead to mutual respect.

Now I did do a Wikipedia search on these two drivers.  They actually lived together when they started out. The movie initially portrays them as bitter rivals who eventually find common interest.  Instead, it was probably more of a Magic Johnson/Isiah Thomas type of situation.  Of course, making them bitter rivals provides a better storyline.

Duke Football vs. NC State: 38-20

It was a Duke sports for two days.  Basketball on Friday and football on Saturday.

How did the football team look?  I think the score doesn't indicate much in regards to the offense as special teams and the defense scored 21 of those points.  This, of course, means the defense was spectacular.  As for the offense:  QB Anthony Boone looked pretty bad throwing multiple interceptions.  QB Brandon Connette looked better, but still wasn't looking awesome.

Anyways, hopefully the offense figures out what is going on or the Miami game isn't going to be pretty.

Duke Basketball vs. Davidson: 111 - 77

If you took last year's team and put them up against this year's team, I think at this point in the season last year's team would win.  But come the middle of the season, I think this year's team would destroy.

The game was close for perhaps 5 minutes and then Duke just pulled away.  For awhile, it seemed like this was a Jabari Parker/Rodney Hood show.  I actually found this concerning.  You can't just rely on two players to lead your scoring.  I didn't have to worry too much.  Rasheed Sulaimon came in became a scoring machine.  And Quinn Cook -- at least to my eyes -- just picked his moments and came away with 21 points.

It appears that Duke will at least have an 8 man rotation.  This is far better than the 7 man rotations that they usually seem to have.  I have a feeling that folks like Alex Murphy, Semi Ojeleye, Marshall Plumlee and Andre Dawkins will combine for minutes that might equate to a 9 or 10 man rotation.

As mentioned on the broadcast, once Duke gets their defense down this team will be scary.  Yeah, if there is one thing to focus on would be defense.  Davidson did score 77 points.  Looking at the top 25 scores of the day, that was at the high end though other top teams also allowed teams to score in the 70s and Maryland did score 77 in their game against #18 Connecticut.

Duke vs. Kansas on Tuesday will be a very interesting game.

Mars and the Massacre at Silverlake Lounge

Mars and the Massacre started off their night with a bang.  Dressed in white with some fake blood on their faces, these vampire zombies shook the Lounge with their music.

Note:  prior to their set, they set up a television and a video game console.  Folks lined up to play.

Wasi at Silverlake Lounge

Wasi. I wish the lights were a bit more consistent at the Silverlake Lounge.  The guitarist of this band is sure fun to photograph as she is a ball of energy.

This band will have you dancing.

Santa Anita Park -- Sunday, November 3rd

So maybe I have a gambling problem, going to the track on both Saturday/Sunday for two weekends straight.

At least for this day, I came up big -- making up for my losses at the Breeders' Cup.

I hit two exactas.  How about that!

I could have even made more money if I'd gone aggressive and added some additional bets.  I could have hit a daily double, trifecta and that ever so rare superfecta.

Was luck on my side?  Well, I did do a lot of homework, but I have to admit some of it was luck.

Perfect example was the 10th Race.  I did my handicapping and came up with Trando's Tremor as my lead horse.  The odds on the horse were around 26-1 at one point.  I couldn't figure it out.  This horse looked good to me, but I decided to go with a show bet.  I figured why go for the win.  If the horse came in show, I'd still do well.  After making my bet, I read the notes in the Daily Racing Form:  The extended layoff is a valid concern; he has some work to do to match top kin and over $120K earner Itssultryinthecape; legged up at Los Al, would need to see a race.

I was like:  oops.  One of my things is that I don't like to bet on horses that have had long layoffs.  I had totally over-looked this fact while putting together my handicapping.  Well, the horse did show and I won money.  Sometimes betting is all luck and zero talent.

Breeders' Cup: Saturday -- Nov 2, 2013

I love horse racing, but I've never gone to the Breeders' Cup.  I decided to head off to the Breeders' Cup on Saturday.  The $40 entrance fee was unexpectedly high, but the whole experience was great.  The crowds were excited.  Folks were dressed as if they were at the Kentucky Derby -- not me.  I DVRd the event and caught myself on television.  YES!!!

As for betting:  lost money.  My system didn't work all that well, but then it is hard to distinguish between horses when most of the horses are top notch.  I was also shocked at how much money folks were putting down.  As mentioned here, I only place small bets.  In fact, I was at the window and one conversation went something like this:  I'd like to put an $1 exacta bet on 7-2 (made up numbers).  Window guy:  Just $1?  Me:  I'm a small time better.  Meanwhile, I saw one guy pull out $100 from his wallet.  I couldn't help but notice his wallet was filled with $100 bills.

The most exciting moment:  the last race --  Breeders' Cup Classic.   Everyone was cheering the horses as soon as they hit the track.  When the race started and the horses were racing past the stands, the crowd was roaring.  The favorite of the crowd appeared to be Mucho Macho Man.  I think part of the reason was that they loved the name, but I think the other reason was that they were all cheering for Gary Stevens.  

Conway at It's a School Night

Conway. It was my first time at It's a School Night in a very long time.  What got me out there?  A fellow music blogger sent me a text saying I needed to check out Conway.  So off I went.  She commands that stage and her vocals drill you with motion.

And for one of the worse photos -- I need to upgrade my point and shoot.

Santa Anita Park: Oct 27

One of my better betting days at Santa Anita.  Once again, I skipped the daily doubles.  No more doing that.  I also started to do my own handicapping and kept a very close eye on the horses beforehand.  For some reason I'm starting to feel like I can tell if a horse is nervous -- probably isn't true.  As for handicapping, I'd try to cut the field down to 3 or 4 horses.  And then I'd go for the remaining horse with the worst odds to come in place or show -- yep, gone conservative.  My best bet was in the 6th race when I went with #8 who had odds of around 21:1.  The horse just sneaked in to get show.

We'll see if I can keep winning using this method of self-handicapping and watching the horses closely before the race.  

Santa Anita Park: Saturday Oct 26

It was a break even day at Santa Anita Park on Saturday.  The first two races started out okay and then I went on a four race losing streak before turning it around towards the end of the day.

I've switched my betting habits to make it more conservative.  For a couple days at Santa Anita earlier this year, I started doing bets on daily doubles, which was an unmitigated failure.  Of course, I'm still betting the exactas and didn't win any of them.  If I dropped the exactas, I would have ended up pretty well on this day at the track.  

The six race was a crazy one.  The horses immediately banged into each other at the start.  Within a short distance, #1 veered into #2 who then veered into #3.  And #5 took the blunt of it and the jockey, Valdivia, was tossed.  Since Valdivia raced the next day, he survived just fine, which makes this race somewhat amusing.  Horse #5 (Oh Brother Go) kept on racing.  None of the jockeys wanted to pass the horse.  As they came down the final stretch, folks either started to cheer or laugh as #5 continued to take the lead and eventually "won" the race.  I'm sure this is one race where handicappers need to just toss out of the books. 

Max and the Moon at The Bootleg

Max and the Moon. A band with dual vocals that grab your attention.