Duke Basketball vs Gonzaga: 66 - 52

When this game started out one had to think that both teams would score in the 80s.  Duke especially came out shooting lights out.  Then the teams slowed it down.  Though Duke did fall behind briefly at the start of the 2nd half, for the most part Duke held a solid lead throughout the game.  I think it became obvious that Duke was going to win this game when they were able to hold Gonzaga's big men in check, Przemek Karnowski and Domantas Sabonis.  For one, Karnowski wasn't doing very many fancy passes like those highlight ones against UCLA.

What I noticed:

Unlike the Utah game, Duke went back to shooting three pointers.  They made 8 of 19.

Matt Jones stepped it up big time, tying Justise Winslow for a team high of 16 points.  He also had a key steal towards the end of the game.  Personally, I think Matt Jones has the weirdest jump shot.

Even though Marshall Plumlee played only 8 minutes and his stat sheet shows only 1 rebound, I felt it was a very solid 8 minutes.  I swear it didn't seem like there was much of a let down when he was on the court.

Defense.  Other than a few breakdowns to start both halves, Duke played some really solid defense.

I've noticed in a few of the games that towards the end of the games, the television cameras focus in on a kid who is crying because they know their team isn't going to win.  I think this is meant to represent the sorrows of a team's fan base.  Can I throw out a random thought:  I think it also represents the passion that young people have and something that many of us older folks lose as time goes by.  I might have a few tears if Duke wins, but I definitely won't be crying if Duke loses in either the Final Four or the Championship Game.

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Duke Basketball vs Utah: 63 - 57

Unlike the previous two games Duke played in this tournament, this one was competitive though perhaps a bit on the boring side.  For the first two minutes, neither team could score.  It was an up and down basketball game with no one able to score any points.  The drought was broken when Justise Winslow made 1 of 2 free throws at the 18:06 mark.  It then stayed that way up to the 16:08 mark.

Though this game was competitive, I'm not sure the final result was in doubt.  Duke just seemed to be superior.  Utah only led for a few moments of the game, leading 8 - 5 at one point.  Essentially, what kept it close was either Utah's tough defense or Duke's occasional loss of focus.  I'm really not sure which it was.  Duke had 14 turnovers and some of those turnovers were just stupid.  It was like at times that the Duke passers just weren't paying attention to what they were doing.  I didn't feel that Utah was exactly pressing Duke so I'm not sure why there were so many dumb passes being made.  I suspect that if Duke had been more careful with their passing, this game would have been won by double digits.

What I noticed:

Duke only attempted 9 three pointers.  They missed all their three pointers in the 1st half.  I scanned through a handful of Duke games where they scored around the same number of points.  Against San Diego State where they scored 68, they shot 14 three pointers.  Against Virginia (69 points), they tossed up 17.  Against Louisville (63), they attempted 15.  I have to admit that considering that Jahlil Okafor was almost constantly double teamed, I'm surprised Duke only took 9 attempts.  Of the 3 they made, all were made by Justise Winslow.

Best play of the game:  Amile Jefferson getting the ball, saw the defenders backing off, and then taking it to the basket for a slam dunk.

Defense defense defense.  I have to say I've been really impressed with how Duke's played defense throughout this tournament.  Actually, I'm astonished.  I've complained that it seemed to me that all a team needed to do against Duke was drive it to the basket, because there was always a wide open lane.  Somehow, over the course of the last couple weeks, Duke's learned how to play defense.  Let's hope they keep it up.

 

LANY and Conway at The Satellite

It was off to The Satellite for my standard Monday night rotation.  And what did I find, LANY!!!  On the rare occasion, I find myself immediately saying, "I'm seeing the next breakout band."  All LANY had to do was play a few chords and I was sold.  I wasn't the only one.  When I walked into The Satellite, the place was packed.  I had to squeeze my way to the front so I could take my photos.  There was a group at the front of the stage who appeared to know every word of every song, which always adds to the thrill of catching a band for the first time.  Why did I fall for this band so quickly?  I loved their subdued dance beats.  I loved the fact that the vocals blend so wonderfully with the music.  I wonder if someone took a music composition course and by the end was teaching the class.

Conway (photo to the left) is the residency band at The Satellite for March.  I always go back to the same thing when writing about Conway:  how many hours a day does she exercise?  I just don't know how someone can keep that level of stage energy throughout a 30 minute set.  I am in awe.  My one desire regarding Conway:  she moves so quickly across the stage, I want to capture the perfect shot of her doing one of her karate kicks.  Her vocals go for that spoken word slam contest.  There is a precision in every breath.  

Comment of the set:  Thank you for spending your time here tonight, because time is something you never get back.

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A Movie Review: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

The Asphalt Jungle.  The movie invites us to witness the shady world of illegal gambling and criminal activity.  Doc Erwin Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe) has just gotten released from prison.  He wants to make a massive heist and then retire outside America.  To do so, he needs some help.  He gets a shady lawyer, Alonzo D. Emmerich (Louis Calhern), to bankroll the heist.  Doc then hires a safe crack, a driver and a strongman.  They pull off the heist, but complications such as double crossing and unanticipated events occur.

What is really cool in this movie is seeing Marilyn Monroe show up on screen a handful of times as Emmerich's young girlfriend.  She's totally sexy in the role.  What older man looking to cheat on his wife wouldn't want to put her up in the second house.

The heist is awesomely filmed.  While watching, you can't help but think of Ocean's Eleven and The Italian Job.

What perhaps doesn't work as well?

One kind of wishes the movie went longer so that the post-heist events could play out better.

Some of the acting felt a little stilted, such as Sterling Hayden's.

The fight scenes could have been done better.

I also had a hard time hearing parts of the dialogue, which perhaps is driven by the age of the film.

Over-all; however, I enjoyed this movie a lot.

Duke Basketball vs San Diego State: 68 - 49

This game was over before it started.  Four of San Diego State's players were suffering from a stomach bug.  From looking at that list of four players (Dwayne Poll II, Angelo Chol, Kevin Zabo and Malik Popi), three saw playing time.

Player of the game was Jahlil Okafor who just tore it up with 26 points.

Best play of the game.  Justise Winslow blocks a shot, passes to Quinn Cook who then passes to Tyus Jones.  Tyus Jones then passed it to a running Jahlil Okafor who slammed it down.

It seemed like the game plan was to get some playing time for Grayson Allen.  He got into quick foul trouble so if that was the plan it didn't work out very well.  He was the only bench player to score.

Marshall Plumlee followed up his double double with donuts for points and rebounds.  Of course, with Jahlil Okafor playing so well maybe the coaching staff decided to let him show his stuff.

 

Duke Basketball vs Robert Morris: 85 - 56

This game had a little excitement in the 2nd half when Robert Morris made a run, but in general the outcome was never in doubt for this #1 vs #16 seed game.  Jahlil Okafor did a little showboating, which resulting in Coach K screaming bulls*it.   One can hope that Marshall Plumlee continues to play like he did during this game for the rest of the tournament.  Unfortunately, I think part of the reason he was about to get a double-double was driven by the fact that Robert Morris is a short team.  What was cool regarding Marshall Plumlee's play is that his teammates actually searched him out for passes.  So on the fortunately side, maybe there is a whole lot more faith in his ability to take it to the basket.  One has to love the fact that Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones didn't play long minutes.  Amile Jefferson showed that when given the opportunity, he can score.

My March Madness 2015 picks

I'm a big Duke fan, but I can't go with them to win it all (well, in my official bracket, my secondary bracket is another issue).

Here's my official bracket:

Round 2 

Midwest:

Kentucky
Cincinnati
Buffalo
Maryland
Butler
Notre Dame
Wichita St
Kansas

East:

Villanova
NC State
N. Iowa
Louisville
Dayton
Oklahoma
Michigan St.
Virginia

West:

Wisconsin
Oregon
Wofford
N. Carolina
Xavier
Baylor
Ohio St.
Arizona

South:

Duke
San Diego St
SF Austin
Georgetown
SMU
Iowa St.
Davidson
Gonzaga

Round 3

Midwest:

Kentucky
Maryland
Notre Dame
Wichita St.

East:

Villanova
N. Iowa
Louisville
Oklahoma
Virginia

West:

Wisconsin
N. Carolina
Xavier
Arizona

South:

Duke
SF Austin
Iowa St.
Gonzaga

Sweet 16

Midwest:

Kentucky
Notre Dame

East:

N. Iowa
Virginia

West:

Wisconsin
Arizona

South:

Duke
Iowa St.

Elite 8

Midwest:

Kentucky

East:

Virginia

West:

Wisconsin

South:

Duke

Final 4

Kentucky
Duke

Championship

Kentucky

Barb Wire Dolls at Whisky a Go Go

Seriously?!? I looked at my blog posts. It's been 4 years since I last saw Barb Wire Dolls. Ouch!!! Time flies too quickly.  Also, I think it has been close to a year since I was last on the Sunset Strip.

I really became a fan of Barb Wire Dolls when (I guess it was 4 years back) one of the the band members came up to me and showed me a photo.  He said something like this, "I know you've taken photos of us in the past.  We're trying to track down who took this photo, because we want to make sure we give credit."  I actually hadn't taken that specific photo, but I really loved the fact that they were going out of their way to credit the photographer who had taken that photo.

Back to Whisky a Go Go.  I do believe Isis Queen suffered a few seconds of microphone problems, but as soon as that got resolved she was shaking down the Whisky a Go Go with her punk powered vocals.  I have to say I just love how she roams the stage like a lioness and at times tantalizing folks lining the stage with her sexual flirts.

T-shirt message:  Make Riot Not War.

Mickey Leigh joined in for a song.

The photogs were out in mass.  I think there were at least 5 of us.

A dude in the audience brought in a guitar and was playing along with the band throughout the set.

The door guy was cool.  He took extra care while searching my camera bag, making sure he didn't accidentally damage my camera.  Thank you much for the careful search.

What I wished I'd heard from Isis Queen.  So there wasn't much talking, mostly singing, but . . . hey, they're from Greece.  Greece is popping back into the news.  I wouldn't have minded hearing a couple sentences worth of commentary on Greece.  Why not?


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A Movie Review: The Princess and the Pirate

The Princess and the Pirate.  Last month, I re-watched Ivanhoe.  I remember being young and enjoying the movie.  When I re-watched it, I was disappointed.  What would I think about The Princess and the Pirate, a movie that I also loved when I was  young?

Captain Barrett/The Hook (Victor McLaglen) has learned that Princess Margaret (Virginia Mayo) is on a ship, running away from her father, The King.  He decides to capture the ship.  Also on Princess Margaret's ship is Sylvester the Great (Bob Hope).  He's an actor who is constantly chased out of various cities due to poor reviews.

The Hook captures the ship and orders that all the men should be killed.  Sylvester the Great escapes such condemnation by dressing as a woman as well as receiving a little help from a pirate named Featherhead (Walter Brennan).  Eventually, Sylvester the Great and Princess Margaret escape the ship and end up on a violent filled island.  Princess Margaret is kidnapped by La Roche (Walter Slezak), the governor of the island who wants ransom money for her.
I grew up loving Bob Hope and I have to say that I found this comedy to hold up well.  Maybe I didn't love it as much as I did when I was young, but I still loved it.  The one note is that a few of the comedy bits make reference to Bing Crosby so unless you're familiar with the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movies a number of the jokes might just go over your head.  


      

A Movie Review: Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2.  Admittedly, as the movie started, I realized I probably should have watched the original Kick-Ass movie again.  The movie starts out with our now normal kids wishing to get back into becoming super heroes.  Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) skips school on a regular basis to train on her super hero skills.  Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is just a normal high school kid.  Eventually the two team up to train together.

A menace hits the scene.  Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) wants revenge for the death of his father.  After he accidentally kills his mother while throwing a tantrum, he becomes The Motherfucker.  The movie is set for a showdown between Hit-Girl/Kick-Ass and The Motherfucker.

In some ways, this movie just wants you to gag.  You have older high school kids telling a freshman about the joys of giving oral sex.  You have characters like The Motherfucker and Night Bitch, language constantly being tossed out on screen.  Mean girls are tormented beyond what they deserve.

And yet in other ways, the movie is fun to watch.  It is just all over-the-top.  Violence is done in a disgusting comic book manner.  Teen angst isn't portrayed as well as in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it still does a good enough job.

Essentially, this movie is a mixed bag.  Depending on your state of mind, you might find it mildly enjoyable or way too disgusting.        

Katelyn Tarver and Carlton at Bootleg HiFi

Katelyn Tarver (left photo).  She's the rare super cute girl in school who is totally unpretentious.  The anti-Mean Girl.  That's what I was thinking while watching her on stage.  Her lyrics are rather catchy, as well.  "Weekend Millionaires" has that Lorde/"Royals" vibe in the sense that both songs have this innocent desire to live like the top 5% for just a few hours.  Both songs also stick in your head.  She did her 30 minute set and it really felt much shorter.

The audience was in love with her as soon as she hit the stage.  The place was packed -- potentially to the point where folks were being turned away at the door or at least near that point.  And they were mainly young and beautiful.

Katelyn Tarver's opening act was a band called Carlton.  They had the young women lined up in front of the stage.  They have a smooth pop sound with perhaps a tinge of cool jazz influence.  Their stage show is also fun to watch.  All three members of the band put their all into their set.


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Dugas and Valley Queen at Bootleg HiFi

Dugas (photo to the left) is doing an interesting residency at Bootleg HiFi.  They're doing a 2 Sunday/2 Monday March set.  This two piece band is made up of siblings Sarah and Christian Dugas.  They're from Canada, but they are definitely American in style.  A bit of Motown.  A touch of Southern rock.  Add in a mix of dance.    

Note:  Christian Dugas has a new baby.  If I'm not mistaken, the baby was briefly in the venue.  The travelling family.  Awesome.

Valley Queen opened up for Dugas.  This band immediately had me missing The New LA Folk Festival.  Their music has that folk-like vibe and their fashion style has you thinking about seeing this band playing in a grass field.  And with lead singer Natalie singing barefoot just added to my impression.


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Duke Basketball vs. Carolina: 84 - 77

This game wasn't as nail biting as the first Duke-Carolina meeting, but that's a good thing.  In their first meeting, I complained that I felt that Duke disappeared for half the game.  Even though at one point Duke fell behind 42 - 49, it didn't seem like it was due to Duke disappearing.  It just felt like Carolina was playing better basketball.  I liked the fact that Duke played 40 minutes of solid basketball.  In doing so, they put Carolina way.

As for defense, I thought there were a handful of defensive letdowns, but over-all the team played solid defense.

Noticed 1:  Justise Winslow did a nice karate kick into a Carolina player.  I'm not sure if it was done on purpose.  It seemed to me his eyes were looking straight at the rim.  Of course, a foul was appropriate.  He also tripped another Carolina player.  That one, I suspect was just normal contact as they were tangled up.

Noticed 2:  With three Duke starters on the bench in the second half, the reserves took it up a notch.  I liked that.

Noticed 3:  Duke defense forced a ten second call.

Noticed 4:  After Winslow's first flagrant foul, he turned it on offensively for a three pointer, a steal and a dunk.

Noticed 5:  Four of Duke's five starters can take over the game at any point in time.  Awesome.



 

A Move Review: The Producers

Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once a successful Broadway producer who is now down on his luck.  In order to continue to produce plays, he romances elderly women who then provide him the funds he needs.  An accountant shows up at his door to audit his books.  This accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), uncovers a $2,000 error in Max's books.  Max convinces Leo to over-look the discrepancy.

Thinking out loud, Leo comes up with an accounting scheme.  The scheme would have a producer selling more than a 100% share in a new play.  If the play flopped, the producer could keep the unused funds.  It would also be unlikely that a flop would face an audit.  If the play was a success, they wouldn't be able to pay out what the investors expected.   The result would be prison.  Max hears this and convinces the rather neurotic Leo to help implement this scheme.  They decide to produce the worst play ever, finding it a play called:  Springtime for Hitler.  Well, the results aren't what they expected.  Initially, the audience finds the play to be in very bad taste, but they soon warm up to it.  It turns out that this play will become a huge success.

I initially found myself very annoyed with the zany antics of Gene Wilder.  Over-the-top was my reaction.  The movie does find its stride in the later half of the movie when we see scenes from the play.  The scenes of Hitler are hysterical.

Would I say this is a must watch classic movie?  No.  It has its moments, but I think one has to wait too long to get there.

 
 

A Movie Review: The Blue Dahlia

The Blue Dahlia is a film noir that stars a beautiful Veronica Lake and a stoic Alan Ladd.  Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) is coming back from his service in World War II.  His wife, Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling), has turned into a party girl and is having an affair with a club owner, Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva).  Johnny discovers this affair and a major argument erupts in front of her friends.  Soon after, he walks out on his wife.  Joyce Harwood (Veronica Lake) -- she just happens to be the estranged wife of Eddie Harwood -- is driving her car and stops to pick up Johnny.  There is an instant attraction.

From that point, we move into a murder mystery.  The following morning, Helen Morrison is found dead.  Johnny Morrison is the prime suspect; however, there are other potential suspects.  A military buddy of Johnny, Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix), also crossed paths with Helen after Johnny walked out.  There is also Eddie.

This is a movie that has it's moments; however, I had a couple of major problems with it.

1.  What are the chances that Johnny Morrison and Joyce Harwood would cross paths?  Two spouses with unfaithful spouses having an affair with each other.

2.  I don't think there were enough clues in the movie that hinted at who the actual killer was.  To me, a good murder mystery should result in an aha moment.

To me, those two question put a downer on this film.

I will admit that I loved watching Veronica Lake on screen.  After watching the movie, I did a little research on her.  She had a really difficult life due to mental illness.

We the Moon at Silverlake Lounge

So I was thinking, "What band should I catch on a Monday night?"  I went to the Silverlake Lounge website and clicked on the Facebook link for We the Moon.  First, I noticed that a couple friends like this band.  Second, I noticed that they have no band photos up.  Then finally, I listened to their single, "We're So Close." It was like I was in outer space.  I was sold.  I headed out to catch the band.

When I got to Silverlake Lounge, I couldn't help but notice that lead singer Chelsea gave off a Shirley Manson vibes.  Since I'm on the lookalike kick, let's say that guitarist Dan could pass as Adam Driver and drummer Matt could double for Colin Farrell.

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The Controversy/Charlie Bird/Green Gerry at The Satellite

This was The Controversy's album release party.  I've seen Laura Vall a couple of times, but I believe this is the first time I saw her band The Controversy.  Before The Controversy hit the stage, Charlie Bird did a short set.  Dressed in white, she performed a short 20 minute set.  The audience was highly appreciative towards the simplicity of her set:  her vocals, an iPhone and a keyboard.  I see something hidden with the simplicity of her song "Step On Your Throat and Die."  I see similarities to Queen Kwong there.  After she finished a set, a friend rushed up with a bouquet of roses.  With a shy look, she waved them off.  The flowers came of use when the next band, Green Gerry, hit the stage.  The lead singer during one song grabbed the bouquet and tossed a few out into the audience before destroying the rest in a frenzy of energy.  The remaining set a played on a bed of rose petals.  Their sound is roughed-up psychedelic.  To end the night for me, The Controversy hit the stage.  Laura Vall has gone from singer-songwriter to goddess of the impressionist dance.  There is this great melding of eurodance music with the American singer-songwriter genre.  I wish I had dance moves like her.    

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