A Movie Review: Machete

Machete. Okay, ignoring the politics involved here (which obviously will piss off 50% of the US population), what did I think of the movie? It was a fun movie. The ending is such a chaotic stupid frenzy that one just has to sit back and enjoy the whole mess. And one can't ignore the first five minutes or so that involves a beautiful nubile young woman and heads flying in every single direction.

The Lonely Wild and Family of the Year at Silverlake Lounge

I have to say I’ve seen some good bands at Silverlake Lounge over the past month. This time around I caught The Lonely Wild and Family of the Year. When I walked in The Lonely Wild were doing their sound check. “There’s some volume in the house.” “Yes, I can hear myself.” “I forgot about Eddie’s vocals.” They got everything worked out and then started out on what turned out to be a most beautiful set. Towards the end of their set, I heard someone yell out “Powerful” a couple times. The band was hitting their time limit and the lead singer wondered if they would be stepping on anyone’s toes by playing their last two songs. The crowd urged them to do so. If Silverlake Lounge had attempted to shut them down, there might have been screams of anger from the audience.

Next up was the residency band for the month, Family of the Year. Both The Lonely Wild and Family of the Year have an unstated folk sound that charms you the more you listen. The lead singer for Family of the Year was very happy about their residency. “It took four years,” I believe I heard him say. They had a couple friends from the band Black Flamingo joining them for their full set. Noticed: The keyboardist had notes piled up on her keyboard. Some fell off. The bassist picked them up during a break and the two exchanged a smile. Noticed 2. The lead singer kept asking the singer from Black Flamingo to hand over a glass of water that was off to the side. Finally, the singer from Black Flamingo had to point out that the glass was empty.

The Lonely Wild







Family of the Year (back-up singing from Black Flamingo)

Ida Maria song on the trailer of 'It's Kind of a Funny Story'

Last year I saw Ida Maria at Spaceland. Crazy set. I noticed her song 'Oh My God' was on the trailer for the movie It's Kind of a Funny Story. Check out the trailer. Her song comes up towards the back end.





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A movie review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Okay, this was the second movie in a mini-marathon at the theaters so maybe I was a little tired. I can't give it the rave reviews that I'm noticing from critics and my friends. Maybe I should have watched this movie first in my mini-marathon. I'm not saying it is awful, just not putting it up their as brilliant. Of course, there were more than a few times where I found myself laughing so take that into account. A nice fantasy love story with a video game bent.

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Eastern Conference Champions, Two Years Before Mast, The New Limb and The Shivas at Spaceland

It was off to Spaceland to catch Eastern Conference Champions, Two Years Before the Mast, The New Limb and The Shivas. There was something unique about this Monday night for me. I saw all four bands. This seldom happens as come midnight on a Monday night I'm usually closer to my bed than around Spaceland for the last band of the night. But on this night I didn't have to worry as I was taking Tuesday off from work.

I only caught the last two songs of Two Years Before the Mast. I was blown away. It seemed like much of the audience was blown away, as well.

The New Limb was a fill-in band. The band that was scheduled had to cancel for some reason. They were also well received. Someone bought beers for the whole band at the end of their set.

Eastern Conference Champions was the obvious draw here. My personal opinion is that their set at Sunset Junction was their best set that I've seen. They were trying out some new stuff on Monday night. I'm betting that by next week it'll all come together and they'll be setting the bar higher than their Sunset Junction set. I plan to go at least one more time this month to Spaceland -- at least one Monday night will be spent at Silverlake Lounge to catch the residency band over there.

The Shivas were the last band of the night. They had the quote of the night: Here's something we haven't done in a few days, which feels so long ago.

Two Years Before the Mast



The New Limb





Eastern Conference Champions











The Shivas

A Movie Review: Despicable Me

Despicable Me. The summer movie season is starting to heat up with some better movies. I thought it started out well with Iron Man 2, but then went into a tailspin until Toy Story 3 came out. Now there is another cartoon, Despicable Me. A tale of a villain who wants to be the most evil villain out there. He craftily adopts three young girls as a ploy to out do his rival villain. He finds himself falling in love with them. The movie is fun with cartoon action violence and humor that reminded me of the cartoons I watched as a child. And there is also the lovely redemptive story.

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A Movie Review: Dinner with the Schmucks

Dinner with the Schmucks. This movie is a one joke movie that sort of works. The premise: a boutique Wall Street firm has an awful sense of humor. Once a year, the partners invite idiots to a dinner in order to make fun of these individuals. A bright young analyst, gunning for an opened partner slot is invited to this dinner. He is obviously conflicted by this invitation. I found myself laughing, but towards the end of the movie it had over-stayed its welcome. I think they could have cut out a couple of the bit pieces in the middle and gotten to the dinner a bit quicker.

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Slow Death, Pu$$y Cow and Dharma Bums at Five Star

It was off to a new location called the Five Star to Catch The Dharma Bums, Slow Death and Pu$$y Cow.

The Slow Death was on tour from Minneapolis. I saw them previously at the Blue Star on their last time through town. Apparently, The Dharma Bums got confused and ended up at the Blue Star. Blue Star, Five Star, it is all sort of the same. Luckily, the two locations are reasonable close to each other. Pu$$y Cow played what seemed like a shortened set. It looked like Joe didn't have his microphone stand. During their second song, someone came around with a microphone stand and Joe quickly duck taped the microphone and all was good. The Slow Death played last. I'll call them punk rock awesome. They stole away the night.

Two hours, three bands.

The Dharma Bums




Pu$$y Cow



Slow Death

A Movie Review: The Socerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice just didn’t bring it for me. All the great action sequences were essentially wrapped up in the trailer. Nicolas Cage was sort of a bore in this movie. His acting seemed to belong in National Treasure or Knowing, semi-intellectual characters. Teresa Palmer as the love interest seemed to have been cased because in certain lighting she looked like Kristen Stewart. Jay Baruchel has that comedic movie role down, but acting in an adventure flick, I don’t know. Essentially, re-mix the actors and maybe you have a better movie – or maybe not. There is a scene where Dave (Jay Baruchel) need to clean up his laboratory in ten minutes before Becky (Teresa Palmer) shows up. It looks like a really sad re-make scene from a Disney cartoon.

One of the reasons I went to see this movie was because of all the negative press I’ve been reading about Jerry Bruckheimer having lost his touch. Well, I’d have to agree. Hopefully, he gets it back, because it would really stink if ‘Pirates 4’ stunk.

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Dusty Rhodes and the River Band calling it quits

I came across this sad news. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band are calling it quits. This band had quickly become one of my favorites. Best of luck to the various band members.

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Twilight Sleep, Gliss and The Hundred Days at Silverlake Lounge

It was off to Silverlake Lounge to catch Gliss and Twilight Sleep. I got there a little early and was able to see The Hundred Days. The Hundred Days are from San Francisco. I saw The Hundred Days back in January at Club Moscow. I caught their last three songs here at Silverlake Lounge. I forgot how much I enjoyed their sound. I thought they were supposed to go on at midnight. I guess the opening band had to cancel so The Hundred Days took the opening slot.

Up next was Gliss. This was my first time seeing them. I have to say I'm a bit embarrassed to say that. Their sound is just awesome. And when you see a handful of people sitting on the floor, you get the sense that you're in for something special. The fun thing about Gliss is that the three band mates switched up what instruments they played. All three took their turn on the drums. "We're mixing it up," was the comment made.

Noticed: Victoria either knocked down or turned the floor lights away from her. I understand why she did it. One of the lights she turned away ended up shining right into my eyes.

Twilight Sleep came up next, ending their August residency at the Silverlake Lounge. It would appear (and good for them) that they built a good sized fan base over the course of their residency. I went out to Silverlake Lounge earlier in the month (I had to skip out on Twilight Sleep that specific night due to the need for sleep) and the crowd was probably twice as large this time around. One thing different about Twilight Sleep versus the last time I saw them is that Tracy (lead singer) has passed on the synth duties to a new band mate.

Comment. This is our favorite night . . . no, I'm not going to say that.

I love that, perhaps a cliche statement, but then a willingness to admit that it isn't a 100 percent true statement.

Comment 2. No, I'm not trying to be sweet.

. . . which therefore makes it all the sweeter.

The Hundred Days






Gliss









Twilight Sleep







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A Movie Review: The Other Guys

The Other Guys. This movie is a comedy about two detectives who don't exactly fit personality-wise. They stumble on a bit case that might make them the top guys in the force if they can solve it. Here's my problem with this movie, I couldn't figure out the Mark Wahlberg character, Terry Hoitz. Was he supposed to be the straight guy or a bumbling fool. I don't know. His character seemed to switch personalities every ten minutes. If that character was better defined, I probably would have loved this movie . . . unfortunately, it wasn't so I can't recommend this movie.

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Congrats to Queen Kwong: Levi's Commercial

Congrats to Queen Kwong for getting her song 'Pet' placed in a Levi's campaign across the pond.

There is also a webpage dedicated to her.