Amusement Parks on Fire at Echoplex

A friend of mine suggested checking out Kevin Bronson's BuzzBands.LA show at the Echoplex. Of the night, the band I most loved was Amusement Parks On Fire. The band's style is called shoegaze. I suppose this is correct, because throughout their set you're hit with a wall of sound: electronic guitars, bass, keyboards. It is just this beautiful sound that rocks your body. I loved this band from the start of their set. When it ended, people called out for an encore, but unfortunately they were finished for the night.

I suspect their set was cut short by a song. Towards the end of their set, the bass player busted one of his strings. He went scurrying around trying to find another bass -- I'm suspecting his own -- but none was too be found. He made a call out to one of the other bands to lend him a bass. Eventually someone from another band came to his help.

Photographers galore were around. If you want to see some hot photos of the night check out Kevin Bronson's blog site. Or here are some of my less worthy pics of the night.

The Monthlies after an ArtWalk

Art District (Edgar Varela Fine Arts) to see The Monthlies. This was one of those strange nights. A friend told me about this night. I checked in with her before heading out to see if she was still going out. She didn’t end up coming. I half thought about leaving once I was given the news, but I figured that since I was already there I might as well catch one band before taking off. The band I saw was The Monthlies. This is a four piece band. They have a smooth, melodic rock feel to them. The guitar player is the front woman who does the song introductions and provides the little stories versus the lead singer taking the lead. One little tidbit she told, “Don’t worry if I start bleeding. I just had an accident with my cat. Don’t ask.” She also mentioned that one of their songs was going to be used by True Blood as soon as they recorded it.


As for the location. It was off on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles. It was an interesting location. There was an art gallery on the top floor – nothing massive. The bands played outside, behind the back of the building. Just a bit down the street, the late night shift of warehouse workers were getting product ready to ship. The crowd was definitely an art crowd – it was after an ArtWalk.

Underwater City People and The Shakers at El Cid

El Cid with Underwater City People and The Shakers. This was a Rob Z night at El Cid. These nights are always special because everyone knows everyone else. Underwater City People was the first band of the night. I invited some friends for the night. They got there before me and I guess they initially thought that no one was around. When we went inside El Cid there was a decent number of folks for UCP and a friend said, “There are a lot of people here.” The emphasis being on “are.” And she continued, “Are they all here for Underwater City People?” I looked around and said, “It looks like it.”

The Shakers were up next. This was the second time around that I saw them. Jodie has a voice that screams in tune. Chris on guitar just can’t stop moving his legs. He does the jitterbug dance during the whole set. It’ll be fun seeing how this band develops over the next few months and years.

UCLA Achitecture Exhibition

A friend of mine invited me to attend the UCLA Achitecture Exhibition this past Monday night, June 8th.

I'm not an expert on achitecture so I'm not going to do any analysis of the various models.

There was an interesting gallery that showed a design of the San Diego ocean front for the American Cup.

It was a really nice night. They had a bar. And the exhibition covered two floors. I've actually taken classes at UCLA. I believe I recall seeing this event in the past, but didn't know what was going on.

Below are some photos.

Autopop, Neo Geo, Sucker for Pumps and The Shakers at Bordello

After Game 1 of the NBA finals, I headed off to Bordello to catch some local music. This was my first time at Bordello. It is on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles so I didn't catch any of the traffic leaving the Staples Center.

The first band I saw was called Auto Pop. A latin-flavored rock band.


Next up was a band called Neo Geo from Orange County. A female led band.


The third band of the night was Sucker for Pumps.


And finally, The Shakers. My main reason for coming out to The Bordello was to see The Shakers.



There is more to write about this night. I'll post something up on intraffik.com at some point.

Pu$$y Cow at Kibitz, I was sort of there

I headed off to Canter’s/Kibitz Room Wednesday night to catch one of my favorite local bands, Pu$$y Cow. It was an interesting night for me. I showed up around 10:30 p.m. Tina Stevens, a jazz singer, was doing her set. The set went on for awhile -- I think till 11:45 p.m.-ish. I spent my time just talking with various individuals.

Pu$$y Cow didn't go on stage till midnight. Now this is where I'm a bit of a loser. I stuck around for about two songs and then headed off to catch some zzz's. Oh well, my excuse is, I needed to work the next day and it takes thirty minutes to drive home, meaning I actually didn't get to bed till near 1 a.m. Does that stand as an excuse? Probably not. I suppose I need to be a bit more honest. I also wanted to catch some bands on Thursday night. It is sort of the same excuse . . . I just had to limit how late I could stay out on a Wednesday night.

My Spring '09 Movie Rankings

It stands alone:



1 Adventureland. Just the superior movie of this time frame.



Very Enjoyable:



2 Sunshine Cleaning. A lovely movie.



3 State of Play. Intense. Kept my attention.



4 Jesus People. Not in theatres. A movie to keep an eye out for.



Good, but not going down as classics anytime soon.



5 Fast and Furious. I wish I could drive that fast and dangerously.



6 I Love You, Man. A good laugh.



7 Knowing. Philosophical sci-fi.



Ouch



8 Earth. Animals running around. Oh fun . . . (not).



9 Monsters vs. Aliens. Maybe I'm bored with cartoons.



10 Watchmen. Painful. A disaster.

Earth: Movie Review

I’m guessing I must be anti-nature. I saw Earth at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. First, starting off with a positive spin, it was an interesting experience at El Capitan Theatre. There was a brief animal show with a fox, porcupine, alligator and lynx (or some manner of animals that are similar in nature – I’ve forgotten the exact animals.) As for the movie itself, I found it a tad boring. It wasn’t totally boring to the core, because there were moments that tugged at your heart. I found myself feeling sorry that the (SPOILER) father polar bear died. I was sad that an elephant got jumped by ten or so lions – what an ugly way to meet your end. Of course, I probably would have felt bad if the polar bear had killed a walrus or if an elephant had stomped on a lion (I wonder if elephants stomp on lions at times.) It wasn’t a long movie, but after awhile I just wanted it to end. If that is how I feel about a movie, I tend to describe a movie like that as a tad boring that failed to keep my interest.

Note: I mentioned to some friends that elephants must be really stupid animals. There is that scene where the elephant gets attacked by lions. If you have a defensive perimeter set up and you know there are lions, why would you leave the safety of that perimeter? A friend replied that the whole story wasn’t told. That elephant was a late arriver. Apparently, Earth is partially recycled from a television miniseries called Planet Earth. So maybe elephants aren’t stupid. I apologize to the elephants for questioning their intelligence.

Hollywood Forever Movie Night: Something to do in LA

I recently attended a Hollywood Forever Cemetery Movie night (Cinespia). I saw "To Catch a Thief," directed by Alfred Hitchcock and staring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Briefly about the movie: previously, I've always only caught maybe 5 to 10 minutes of this movie so this was the first time I saw the whole movie. I loved it. And Grace Kelly was a true hottie.

About Hollywood Forever: It is a cemetery on Santa Monica, between Gower and Van Ness.

The donation: $10. If you're gusty, you can probably donate less. It is a donation after all.

Parking: $5 or free. You can park inside the cemetery for $5 or you can just park on the streets for free. I'd suggest checking out Gower or Bronson. If you do park inside, you should probably plan on sticking around after the movie for 20 minutes or so. There were probably 2,000 to 3,000 people at the screening and since most of them go with free parking, you're going to end up maneuvering your car through pedestrians who believe they have the right of way.

Time: The movie starts at 8:30-ish or when it turns dark; however, people start lining up around 5:30 p.m. If you want the best spots for the movie as well as the prime street parking, you should probably show up no later than 6 p.m.

The location: It is on a grassy lawn -- without graves. So you're not watching the movie while sitting on someone's grave. They show the movie against a wall.

The sound system: The sound system is good quality; however, helicopters did fly overhead at times. In the case of "To Catch a Thief" a helicopter flew over during a very important confession.

Before the movie: Food and alcohol allowed. Many people ate their dinner before the movie.

Maybe important, maybe not: it got rather chilly. Of course, Los Angeles has had really nice weather recently. I don't know if during the height of summer if it'll get that chilly. Probably not.

Moments from my time there. In one of those photos, you can see a sea horse. During the movie, it floated away, giving people a good laugh. Also, during the start of the movie, someone was trying to find their seat. On screen, the cat burglar was making a move to steal some jewels.

Pu$$y Cow @ Juanita's with Beatmo and Bobot Audrenaline

This is one of those blogs I should have written the very next day after the event, but life sometimes gets too busy. Pu$$y Cow at Juanita's occurred this past Saturday night. It was Pu$$y Cow's 4th year anniversary. I do think that Pu$$y Cow is one of the few bands that celebrates their anniversaries. And each year, it is a night you don't want to miss. Not only because of the band, but because it is one of those special nights where everyone seems to know each other -- sort of like Cheers.

When I first walked into Juanita's, I noticed two things. First, they had the corner door locked, while the door parallel to York was open. It the past it was the opposite. Second, the stage was removed. I guess these moves were done to try and quiet down the music for the neighbors. I believe I mentioned in a previous blog how I'd hate to live in the area due to the sound that carries out from the place. Any moves they do to help out the neighbors ability to sleep at a decent hour must be appreciated.

The night started out with Beatmo. The last time I saw Beatmo was probably a year ago. It was awesome to see them again. What stands out in my mind wasn't the music, but what happened before they went on stage. The lead singer came right up to me and said, "Nice to see you again." It wasn't just me, of course. She went up to a number of people she knew and said hello. She has a very friendly outgoing style. Beatmo did have a first for the night. They had to go onstage without the lead singer's brother -- they mentioned they'd never done this before. Beatmo has a Latin flair to their music. The lead singer embodies this, dancing throughout the set. She dances and the crowd dances with her.

Stab City was supposed to go on stage next, but they had to cancel.

Bobot Adrenaline was next up. They're a three piece band. I always find Cory the most interesting character in the band. He's always moving around. Sometimes when other bands are playing their sets, he'll play around with their set lists. And well, he's a big Green Day fan. One time I was listening to some songs he had recorded and I swear I though I was listening to Green Day.

To end the night, Pu$$y Cow came on stage. Rob Z introduced them. They started off the night with a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Boy's are back in town." When their set ended, the soundtrack from the Olympics played while people chanted, "Four more years." What happened inbetween? The crowd was jumping. It got to the point, where Joe had to ask the men to calm down a bit, because they were getting in the way of the band and causing the girls some issues. The girls must have appreciated this, because as soon as the guys calmed down a bit, the girls came up front and started going wild. During one cover song, Chissum needed a cheat sheet. Joe made the comment, "What is that?" Someone from the audience decided to mess with the cheat sheet, but that was stopped quick enough.

If I'd written this up sooner, I probably could have written up a bit more but unfortunately work and other issues came up and so the brain is a bit clouded. Oh well . . .

A movie review: Knowing

A bit dated on the movie review, but oh well . . .

Knowing. This is a film that has an awesome beginning, middle and then . . . I wish the last ten minutes were written differently. Spoilers from now on:


Some random thoughts:


Why are the mysterious aliens so creepy? They're here to help save a part of humanity and yet they're just scaring people.


Those ships at the end reminded me of the Mars structure in Watchmen.


The tree at the end of the movie reminded me of the Biblical Garden of Eden.


My reaction:


As mentioned, I thought that most of the movie was fascinating. The assumption that life is pre-ordained and that trying to change it is useless provided a great premise. The movie doesn't cope out from its initial assumption. John Koestler cannot prevent disasters from occurring. Diana Wayland's death cannot be prevented.


What I hated were the last ten minutes or so. The whole rescue of humanity by these aliens that were rather creepy. And what did they do, they took children and dropped them off on a new planet. And they didn't group all the kids together. No, they dropped them off in different locations, probably a few miles away from each other. And does this represent a new Eden? If so, that would surely be destroyed in short order. Kids do not represent purity. They will grow up. They will have disagreements with others. And what, kids are just supposed to survive on their own, even if they find themselves on a pleasant planet?


Unfortunately, I thought this movie had a great start and middle, and then self-destructed with a rather silly ending.


Is it still worth seeing? I think it depends on rather or not you consider the ending plausible (taking into account that this is sci fi.) For me, I could have skipped this one.

Movie Review: Sunshine Cleaning

”Sunshine Cleaning” is a sweet movie about a family living a tough life and trying to improve their lot. Rose (Amy Adams) is a single mother who works as a maid. She’s having an affair with a local police officer. They used to date as lead cheerleader and high school quarterback. He’s now married to someone else, but continues to see Rose. She runs into a high school cheerleading classmate who is doing very well in life – either via marriage or the fact that she is doing well in real estate. Via the earlier storyline, we learn that there is a relatively lucrative career in biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service. She convinces her sister, Nora, to join her in the business.

I don’t think there are any great life lessons to take away from this movie. It is rather a simple movie that just happens to sweep you into the lives of the characters. I love the character of Rose. A single mother just living life, stuck in a rut of sleeping with former boyfriends and working a dead end job. Then she runs into her former classmate and she is essentially embarrassed into making something of herself. She jumps at an entrepreneurial opportunity, not having the slightest clue of what it involves. Honest truth, she probably isn’t even taking into account business expenses such as equipment and income taxes, because her first job pays only $500 while earlier you learn that someone else charges $3,000 for a similar job. She slowly finds out that there are certain certificates she must obtain and procedures she must follow. You get to witness her slowly developing a legitimate business.

With Alan Arkin in the movie, playing a father/grandfather role, you may think “Little Miss Sunshine.” I saw “Little Miss Sunshine” a long time ago so I won’t argue that there might be traces of influence, but this is definitely a movie that stands on its own.

Audra Mae and Dusty Rhodes at Silverlake Lounge

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to Silverlake Lounge on this specific Monday night, April 20th. Monday was that hot 100 degree day. I went home after work and fell asleep briefly. When I woke up, I was dehydrated and burning up. I made a quick dinner (turning on the oven, which made it even hotter – I have no central air) and turned on the television. Then the blurry vision arrived and I got worried about a coming migraine.

I’d mentioned this night to a trio of friends so I sent texts them, explaining that I wasn’t likely to make it. It seemed that one didn’t have the slightly clue what I was talking about. A second wasn’t planning on going. A third recalled our conversation and reading between the lines, had wanted to go. I decided to have a little water and then sat on the couch, waiting for the migraine. It never arrived. Perhaps my blurry vision was related to dehydration and heat exhaustion. I sent a text to the friend who seemed interested in heading out, mentioning the fact that miracles do happen. We met up at Silverlake Lounge.

I arrived to catch about two songs from Yellow Red Sparks. They have a stand up bass. I love the stand up bass. Other than that, I’m not sure what to say. I ran into anther friend of mine who saw the whole set and she said she loved them.

Next up was Audra Mae with her five-piece band and two back-up singers. She had the vocals going Monday night. Every single song was just slammed out of the park. I had this awful regret while listening to her regarding the fact that I had sent out a no-go text message a couple hours earlier. I wish I’d instead sent a text message saying that no matter the fact that I might not make it due to a migraine that my friends should head out anyways, even if it meant being at Silverlake Lounge by themselves.

While listening to Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, I wished even harder I’d sent out a text message saying that this definitely wasn’t a night to miss. This was the second time I’ve seen the band. The last time, I saw only about half of their set and was way in the back of Silverlake Lounge. At the time, I could only see the head of the keyboardist. This time, I was a bit closer to the stage. First off, this band has three vocalists who take the lead depending on the song. Second, you have Dustin Apodaca who does vocals, and plays keyboard and even an accordion for one song. Third, you have Andrea Babinski who plays violin and does some back-up vocals, and I do believe there was a mandolin in there. Anyways, their last song was extremely powerful. Not powerful in an emotional way, but powerful in sound. The floor and walls just vibrated and I felt my skin vibrating, as well. Way back when, I saw Mother Tongue and one of their songs just sent shock waves up my spine. The last song by Dusty Rhodes had a similar effect on my body. It was just this moment of, “Wow.”