UWTL yet again, not ideal for a Monday night. I blame my dogged loyalty to LA sports teams for this one. That and general laziness, falling asleep on the couch, procrastination, etc. Spent a nice chunk of my evening watching the KINGS toy with me for 3 plus periods before eventually losing in overtime for the 3rd time in this series as well as losing their 3rd home game in the series and going quietly into the night for the 2010-2011 season.
It's a very depressing and interesting time for LA Sports now that Hockey in SoCal is kaput for the season (thank you DUCKS and KINGS), the DODGERS are just barely regaining their early season pulse, Hallelujah for Bud Selig (never thought I'd say that!). Meanwhile our beloved LAKERS are going through the 1st round playoff motions and opening themselves up to fatigue and injuries in what will be their most difficult title run this century (gonna be tough to win with the ghost of Pau Gasol at the 4 spot).
In my younger days (that's right, at 25 I'm old now), I'd live and die with the successes and failures of my teams (which besides for the Lakers, have tended to weigh heavily in the latter category). But as time's gone on and other life concerns/ issues have taken precedence, wins and losses are becoming more trivial by the day. A befuddling Kobe Bryant kamikaze mission just doesn't hold the same weight it used to (although I'd still hope we don't see one of those this time around).
You know you're a little jaded/ your perspective has changed when the most exciting thing to happen in sports this week is the plug being pulled on the up, down and recently beaten to the ground Frank McCourt era over at Chavez Ravine. Maybe LA won't win a thing on the field, ice or court this year, but at least our city's worst owner in decades (that's right, he's made Donald Sterling look like a beacon of all that's good in the world) has been cast out once and for all (I hope).
I'm sure I could continue this ranting and raving til the sun comes up, but I think I'll opt to hit the sack instead. Goodnight (or Good Morning to you early east coast risers).
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
COACHELLA!!!
Uwtl indeed. Shoulda gone to sleep hours ago but I had to make a quick round trip to a shitty Santa Monica bar for little reason. Pales in comparison to my night last Saturday, in which Arcade Fire and many other musical wonders were rocking my world.
Twas my first Coachella and will certainly not be my last. Went with a solid group and ran into a hearty helping of people, but couldn't even begin to see everybody. Don't you love that we live in a world where our live human and phone interactions are so muted that we find out after major events that all our friends were there? Or maybe i'm just a loser and am way out of the loop (the truth probably lies somewhere in the inbetween).
Anywho, it was really hot and sweaty and exhausting and fun and breezy and dark and bright and joyful and high and low and all kinds o' other stuff. And I was up way way way way too late every single night. Felt like a kid again, haha.
The lineup itself was not the most exciting one ever but for me I think that had something to do with the fact that i'm just not as on top of my music as I used to be. This was my feeling before but once I was there I got really stoked to re-see all my favorite bands i'd seen multiple times as well as anticipation of all the new acts i'd discover. A measly 300 bucks for a weekend of getting back in line with the pulse of the music scene these days was well worth it.
Highlights: Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Cut Copy, Kanye's first 15 minutes or so, Boys Noize and the DJ tent.
Lowlights: One Day As A Lion (the side project of the lead singer of one of my favorite bands in the history of everything, Rage Against the Machine). They sounded like a cheap rage rip off and only held my attention for 5 tracks or so.
Bands I regretted I missed: The Swell Season, BAD (Mick Jones' frickin band!), most of The Black Keys set (tho I did catch a bit of), Delorean and Francis and the Lights (both of which for various reasons I showed up after or near the end of their sets).
All the other bands/ acts I caught (some albeit for a few tracks):
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (yup, that's one act), Cee- Lo Green (who's sound was cut off, OUCH), A-Trak, Lauryn Hill, Cold War Kids, Yacht, Interpol, Sasha, Crystal Castles, Monarchy, The Chemical Brothers, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Radio Department, Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, Alf Alpha, The Twelves, Joachim Garraud, Laidback Luke, Broken Social Scene, Electric Touch, Mumford and Sons, Animal Collective, The Kills, The New Pornographers, Fedde Le Grand, Paul Van Dyk, Empire of The Sun, fun, CSS, Wiz Khalifa, Jimmy Eat World, Nas and Damian Marley, Death From Above 1979, Trentemoller (shoulda stayed the whole set), Duck Sauce, Ratatat.
Not too shabby for the 3 days in the dessert. I felt like I was back in college except without any studying and more fun. Except my college was probably 50 times smaller than the festival population.
Either way good times and can't wait til next year (but also can).
Twas my first Coachella and will certainly not be my last. Went with a solid group and ran into a hearty helping of people, but couldn't even begin to see everybody. Don't you love that we live in a world where our live human and phone interactions are so muted that we find out after major events that all our friends were there? Or maybe i'm just a loser and am way out of the loop (the truth probably lies somewhere in the inbetween).
Anywho, it was really hot and sweaty and exhausting and fun and breezy and dark and bright and joyful and high and low and all kinds o' other stuff. And I was up way way way way too late every single night. Felt like a kid again, haha.
The lineup itself was not the most exciting one ever but for me I think that had something to do with the fact that i'm just not as on top of my music as I used to be. This was my feeling before but once I was there I got really stoked to re-see all my favorite bands i'd seen multiple times as well as anticipation of all the new acts i'd discover. A measly 300 bucks for a weekend of getting back in line with the pulse of the music scene these days was well worth it.
Highlights: Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Cut Copy, Kanye's first 15 minutes or so, Boys Noize and the DJ tent.
Lowlights: One Day As A Lion (the side project of the lead singer of one of my favorite bands in the history of everything, Rage Against the Machine). They sounded like a cheap rage rip off and only held my attention for 5 tracks or so.
Bands I regretted I missed: The Swell Season, BAD (Mick Jones' frickin band!), most of The Black Keys set (tho I did catch a bit of), Delorean and Francis and the Lights (both of which for various reasons I showed up after or near the end of their sets).
All the other bands/ acts I caught (some albeit for a few tracks):
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (yup, that's one act), Cee- Lo Green (who's sound was cut off, OUCH), A-Trak, Lauryn Hill, Cold War Kids, Yacht, Interpol, Sasha, Crystal Castles, Monarchy, The Chemical Brothers, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Radio Department, Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, Alf Alpha, The Twelves, Joachim Garraud, Laidback Luke, Broken Social Scene, Electric Touch, Mumford and Sons, Animal Collective, The Kills, The New Pornographers, Fedde Le Grand, Paul Van Dyk, Empire of The Sun, fun, CSS, Wiz Khalifa, Jimmy Eat World, Nas and Damian Marley, Death From Above 1979, Trentemoller (shoulda stayed the whole set), Duck Sauce, Ratatat.
Not too shabby for the 3 days in the dessert. I felt like I was back in college except without any studying and more fun. Except my college was probably 50 times smaller than the festival population.
Either way good times and can't wait til next year (but also can).
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday April 9th, 2011
Pretty good day at face value but man am I worn out from last week. I can thank the sinus infection and various other causes for that.
Didn't get the movie in today that I wanted nor the work I would have liked to get done but still made a bit o progress and that's all you can really ask for.
Here's to hoping a full night sleep or two proves healing and all that stuff.
Getting really excited for my 1st Coachella next weekend and stoked for AMC's THE KILLING as always. So so blabadibla blog out.
Didn't get the movie in today that I wanted nor the work I would have liked to get done but still made a bit o progress and that's all you can really ask for.
Here's to hoping a full night sleep or two proves healing and all that stuff.
Getting really excited for my 1st Coachella next weekend and stoked for AMC's THE KILLING as always. So so blabadibla blog out.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday April 8th, 2011
3 UWTL's in one week! That's crazy! Why am I exclaiming!?! It's 2:20 in the morning! I assure you this punctuation does not express my energy level or current state of being on any level!
Last night's late night really but a crimp in today. Today was a rough one. But somehow today is not over. Don't get me wrong, there were some good times had, but many of which I could not tell you of due to being tired and stressed and cranky and generally unproductive.
One highlight of the day was definitely a little gem of a movie called CEREMONY that I hope gets a decent chance out there in a very unforgiving movie world. I went into it with pretty high expectations for a number of reasons. Firstly I'm friendly with the director and knew about it for a good while. Secondly it had a great cast and really sounded up my alley even way back as they were putting it together. And lastly, the trailer was damn good and seemed to paint the picture in a positive light.
As I sat down to watch the movie after a long, sick, anxious week, I had a tough time fully giving my undivided attention to the film. As a result, I don't think I quite got the full experience I would have if all was right in the world, and I could really truly escape for 90 minutes. That being said I really did enjoy the thing. The movie had a great look and feel and pace, and the acting was pretty stellar across the board with a few exceptions.
One huge standout was a kid by the name of Reece Thompson, who i'd heard great things about from a few indies over the years, specifically ROCKET SCIENCE, which I actually haven't gotten around to seeing. Maybe it was the way the character was written and the moments he was given but I just thought he was awesome. Mind you the Angarano's, the Pace's, Johnson's, Thurman's and Dill's of the world were also great, but he really stuck out which is saying a lot in this particular company. People have got to put him in more movies and I'm def gonna make a point to go back and watch some of his earlier stuff.
The night ended solid enough, with a nice chicken sandwich, a quick and fairly painless stop by a crowded bar for a friend's new job celebration. Then the night ended with a little housewarming at the new spot of some good friends. There was a lot of Turkish spoken so I wasn't entirely in the loop, but that was more than cool. I find that when the conversation's in english, plenty of it gets tuned out anyways, so always good once in awhile to find yourself in a social setting where there's just no way you're going to catch everything that is said. There aren't enough domestic get togethers and house parties in my day to day at the moment. Gotta find a way to change that for sure.
Alright, enough of my mildly interesting rambling. As matchbox 20 once said (remember them?) it's nearly 3AM and I must be lonely. Time to tinker away at a few things and hit the hay. G'night.
Last night's late night really but a crimp in today. Today was a rough one. But somehow today is not over. Don't get me wrong, there were some good times had, but many of which I could not tell you of due to being tired and stressed and cranky and generally unproductive.
One highlight of the day was definitely a little gem of a movie called CEREMONY that I hope gets a decent chance out there in a very unforgiving movie world. I went into it with pretty high expectations for a number of reasons. Firstly I'm friendly with the director and knew about it for a good while. Secondly it had a great cast and really sounded up my alley even way back as they were putting it together. And lastly, the trailer was damn good and seemed to paint the picture in a positive light.
As I sat down to watch the movie after a long, sick, anxious week, I had a tough time fully giving my undivided attention to the film. As a result, I don't think I quite got the full experience I would have if all was right in the world, and I could really truly escape for 90 minutes. That being said I really did enjoy the thing. The movie had a great look and feel and pace, and the acting was pretty stellar across the board with a few exceptions.
One huge standout was a kid by the name of Reece Thompson, who i'd heard great things about from a few indies over the years, specifically ROCKET SCIENCE, which I actually haven't gotten around to seeing. Maybe it was the way the character was written and the moments he was given but I just thought he was awesome. Mind you the Angarano's, the Pace's, Johnson's, Thurman's and Dill's of the world were also great, but he really stuck out which is saying a lot in this particular company. People have got to put him in more movies and I'm def gonna make a point to go back and watch some of his earlier stuff.
The night ended solid enough, with a nice chicken sandwich, a quick and fairly painless stop by a crowded bar for a friend's new job celebration. Then the night ended with a little housewarming at the new spot of some good friends. There was a lot of Turkish spoken so I wasn't entirely in the loop, but that was more than cool. I find that when the conversation's in english, plenty of it gets tuned out anyways, so always good once in awhile to find yourself in a social setting where there's just no way you're going to catch everything that is said. There aren't enough domestic get togethers and house parties in my day to day at the moment. Gotta find a way to change that for sure.
Alright, enough of my mildly interesting rambling. As matchbox 20 once said (remember them?) it's nearly 3AM and I must be lonely. Time to tinker away at a few things and hit the hay. G'night.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Thursday April 7th, 2011
Did not intend to be up anywhere near this late but procrastination and Gchat will do that to you.
Baseball's back but for a lifelong Dodger fan, it's anything but exciting right now. I've been pretty heated/ disgusted by this franchise this week. I can deal with dim prospects on the field or even embarrassing steroid busts, but I can't deal with lowlife owners and ritual parking lot beatings. If you're in LA and have been living under a rock this week, then maybe you didn't hear about the Opening Day beat down of an innocent Giants fan. There have always been plenty of shady, drunken, idiotic types filling up the Ravine, but a few individuals reached a new low by beating a fan within an inch of his life after an easy Dodger win mind you.
The occurrence itself was appalling enough on it's own, but it was our wonderful owner Frank McCourt's response, or lack thereof, which proved truly disturbing. After releasing a pedestrian joint statement with the Giants and MLB, the boys in blue have been deathly silent. Not an apology or a genuine well wish. The closest they've gotten to action or attempting to take responsibility is encouraging fans to contribute to this man's medical bills. FANS pay!? As if they were responsible for this egregious act because of the bad taste of 2 of our own? If anything the Dodgers as an organization should be offering to pay the bills in full and take care of this man in any way he needs. Instead, our cowardly owner who even before this seemingly couldn't get any more unpopular, remains silent. Trying to continue to save face when there isn't even an eyelash left to save. If there was any uncertainty of the kind of person Frank McCourt was, there's absolutely no doubt no. He's a fundless millionaire who's out for nothing except his own self interest. Maybe he'll buy another home with way more money than it would take to do the right thing and foot the proper bill, not the 1500 dollar dinner bill that is probably common place in his life.
As sad as it is to say, we can only hope that a number of good things can come out of this stupid stupid situation. First, that going to games becomes safer and people of all classes and creeds and inebriations respect each others right to cheer for and don their team colors. And second, that LA will finally be rid of the McCourts, no matter what corporate monster or a-hole takes over the team.
Gotta go to sleep now, more on this soon.
Baseball's back but for a lifelong Dodger fan, it's anything but exciting right now. I've been pretty heated/ disgusted by this franchise this week. I can deal with dim prospects on the field or even embarrassing steroid busts, but I can't deal with lowlife owners and ritual parking lot beatings. If you're in LA and have been living under a rock this week, then maybe you didn't hear about the Opening Day beat down of an innocent Giants fan. There have always been plenty of shady, drunken, idiotic types filling up the Ravine, but a few individuals reached a new low by beating a fan within an inch of his life after an easy Dodger win mind you.
The occurrence itself was appalling enough on it's own, but it was our wonderful owner Frank McCourt's response, or lack thereof, which proved truly disturbing. After releasing a pedestrian joint statement with the Giants and MLB, the boys in blue have been deathly silent. Not an apology or a genuine well wish. The closest they've gotten to action or attempting to take responsibility is encouraging fans to contribute to this man's medical bills. FANS pay!? As if they were responsible for this egregious act because of the bad taste of 2 of our own? If anything the Dodgers as an organization should be offering to pay the bills in full and take care of this man in any way he needs. Instead, our cowardly owner who even before this seemingly couldn't get any more unpopular, remains silent. Trying to continue to save face when there isn't even an eyelash left to save. If there was any uncertainty of the kind of person Frank McCourt was, there's absolutely no doubt no. He's a fundless millionaire who's out for nothing except his own self interest. Maybe he'll buy another home with way more money than it would take to do the right thing and foot the proper bill, not the 1500 dollar dinner bill that is probably common place in his life.
As sad as it is to say, we can only hope that a number of good things can come out of this stupid stupid situation. First, that going to games becomes safer and people of all classes and creeds and inebriations respect each others right to cheer for and don their team colors. And second, that LA will finally be rid of the McCourts, no matter what corporate monster or a-hole takes over the team.
Gotta go to sleep now, more on this soon.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Saturday April 2nd, 2011
Been a little while since my last post. What can I say? I'm quickly becoming an old man and 1am is generally way past my bedtime these days. That and I get particularly lazy about blogging on the weekends.
Wanted to take this moment to plug a couple of wonderful entertainments that have been so beautifully gifted to our universe this weekend.
The First: Duncan Jones and Ben Ripley's wonderfully entertaining, emotionally satisfying and thought provoking new film, SOURCE CODE. I must say, I run a little hot and cold on Mr. Jake Gyllenhaal but he came up spades here. Add along the brilliant Jeffrey Wright and the easy on the eyes, not to mention more than game acting of Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan and you've got an endlessly watchable piece of entertainment. The trailer is linked to the title, I highly recommend you check out this flick.
Secondly is a little big TV show premiering Sunday night on AMC called THE KILLING. The best network on television brings you yet another compelling drama that is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat. I highly endorse this show without having even seen the thing. I read the Pilot script last year and from that alone I feel more than comfortable giving it my highest recommendation. Add in the fact that my good friend Eric Ladin is a member of this loaded ensemble cast, and I can't imagine a better way to spend an hour of your Sunday night.
So if you're looking to be entertained this weekend or anytime this week, and have 3 or so hours to spare, I suggest you check out these two top notch entertainments of the small and big screen.
Wanted to take this moment to plug a couple of wonderful entertainments that have been so beautifully gifted to our universe this weekend.
The First: Duncan Jones and Ben Ripley's wonderfully entertaining, emotionally satisfying and thought provoking new film, SOURCE CODE. I must say, I run a little hot and cold on Mr. Jake Gyllenhaal but he came up spades here. Add along the brilliant Jeffrey Wright and the easy on the eyes, not to mention more than game acting of Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan and you've got an endlessly watchable piece of entertainment. The trailer is linked to the title, I highly recommend you check out this flick.
Secondly is a little big TV show premiering Sunday night on AMC called THE KILLING. The best network on television brings you yet another compelling drama that is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat. I highly endorse this show without having even seen the thing. I read the Pilot script last year and from that alone I feel more than comfortable giving it my highest recommendation. Add in the fact that my good friend Eric Ladin is a member of this loaded ensemble cast, and I can't imagine a better way to spend an hour of your Sunday night.
So if you're looking to be entertained this weekend or anytime this week, and have 3 or so hours to spare, I suggest you check out these two top notch entertainments of the small and big screen.
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