The Greatest Movie Ever Made? Well, maybe not, but certainly one of the most thought provoking and potentially life-changing movies I've ever seen is "What the Bleep Do We Know?
It is playing in Albuquerque now, and is destined for repeat viewing by me. I will talk about it more maybe later, but visit the site for now to learn more! I cannot recommend the film highly enough!
Zat's NOT Ichi! I am a HUGE fan of the old Japanese samurai movie series about Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, starring Shintaro Katsu. I was very interested to hear that Japanese "new wave" film maker Takeheshi Kitano had decided to revisit the character in his latest film. I checked the movie out today at my local gigaplex and came away with some very mixed feelings. Kitano blends comedy, action, drama and music all into one bizarre and not always tasty stew. There is more overt comedy here than usual, but the there is also much more brutality and bloodshed. The bloodletting in the action scenes has been enhanced, not always convincingly, by CGI effects. The original series was always very deliberately paced. Here the story is much more packed with various merging plot threads, and it moves at a lively clip. A definite plus, in my book. The biggest drawback is the character of Ichi himself. Shintaro Katsu always played Ichi as a gentle lovable soul who only resorted to violence when absolutely necessary. Here, Ichi is actually more like a vicious killer masquerading as a gentle soul. Also, Kitano plays Ichi as too old and doddering for my taste. And what was with all the "Stomp"-like musical bits scattered throughout? I thought they were just weird and out-of-place. Thanks for trying Kitano, but there will always only be one REAL Zatoichi!
Hey...what the...??? Things look a bit different around here, eh? On a whim, I decided to change the look of this sucker. Not bad, I think. The problem is, in doing so, I lost a lot of the customized bells and whistles I had added. I am slowly adding links to favorite bits and pieces. I will add a number of movie and video sites soon.
So what's new? Hey, that's a clever intro, smartboy! I kind of have the end of summer burn-out blues. I've been waffling between two major situations lately: I've either got too much to do and not enough time to do it in, or lots of time and no energy to do anything! I'm trying to utilize it better by actually sitting down and writing.
Catch an Invisible Audience. Went with three other folks from Unity Singles to check out the Catch a Rising Star Comedy Club at the Golden West saloon downtown last Friday. There were a total of 6 people in the "crowd." This is yet another "comic hell" scenario. Actually all three handled it very well. The comics were local comic Dana Goldberg, L. A. guy Gary Brightwell, and rubber-faced nutball John Bizarre. Bizarre put on an awesome show. Lots of goofy faces, weird voices, rude noises and bouncing around. He is one of the funniest guys I've seen in a long while. The comics and management encouraged us to hang around for the second show, as they weren't planning on a much bigger crowd, and we would "bulk up" the audience a bit. There were a total of 15 people for that show, and we were singled out as "those wacky church people." There were two bands performing after the comedy, the Memphis P-Tails and Deja Vu (Funny, I feel like I've seen them before.). I stuck around for the P-Tails, who are an awesome blues, boogie and rockabilly trio, but I left before Deja Vu, because their lead guy, clad in black leather pants, open aloha shirt and sleeveless undershirt seemed a bit scary to me. Sort of like a bad 1980s gay Aerosmith cover band. I left at midnight, but Theresa and James stayed for Deja Vu, and neither one could actually describe what kind of music they played.
Bottom line: support the Golden West and Catch a Rising Star. Great venue, great fun, and I'd say that even if I hadn't wasted the better part of my early thirties there ten years ago!
Smoke Alarm Fun. Catapulted myself about three feet above my bed at 4:15 this morning when I jolted awake to the lovely screeching hell-tone of my smoke alarm. Apparently the battery was dying, and rather than gently beep every so often, the s.o.b. decided to wail like a nuclear raid siren! I didn't have an extra battery at that hour so I took the battery out....beep...beep...beep .... every few minutes. Turned off the power in the bed room...squeal, beep, honk, snort, fart...any noise it could muster. Finally got a very fresh battery..put it in...it was still beeping occasionally earlier today, but hopefully it will behave.
Gorilla My Dreams. I did something very impulsive this week. I signed up for an eight week $210 workshop on improv comedy. SInce the "self-teaching" thing has been going pretty horribly in regard to the stand-up comedy, I thought this would be a great help. It's at the Gorilla Tango Comedy Theatre, an improv house that just opened downtown. Since I kinda dabbled in seat-of- your-pants comedy with the "Never-Ending Comedy Show" on public access TV nearly 20 years ago, I thought maybe this would be a bit easier, more fun, and more comfortable for now. It will also be a great aid in helping me think on my feet. (Duh, how obvious can you be!) And I also get free admission to any of their shows while I'm taking the class. Very much looking forward to it!
Concert Wars. From an enertainment standpoint, this was one hell of a week! Last Monday was the Rod Stewart show, Friday I attended the Delbert McClinton concert at the Rio Grande Zoo, and Saturday was the Earth, Wind and Fire and Chicago concert at the Journal Pavilion . See below for my impressions of Rod, but I'm going to have to say that on a combination of entertainment value, performance, venue and ticket price the clear winner was....
Delbert McClinton! Got there at about 4:45 pm to get a good place in line and, based on the previous Los Lonely Boys and Indigo Girls shows, prepare for the onslaught of the crowd's mad rush to find a good spot on the lawn. Well, to my shock and awe, I got a series of surprises:
1) I was only about 4-5 people back from the front of my line.
2) They opened the gates at about 5:40, not the expected 6:15.
3) I found a spot right in the very front of the lawn in front of the stage right speakers!
4) There was an opening band that played a half hour set at 6:00 pm; Hillary Someone and Hip Pocket, who were quite good.
5) Very well behaved, mellower older crowd, not too many drunken idiots like the Los Lonely Boys show.
Barbara joined me about 6:30, and our seats provided us with great opportunity to bump into many friends as they passed by the front. All the best folks attended this show. Delbert and band took the stage right on time, and proceeded to unleash a blistering set of terrific Texas roadhouse boogie and blues. It was damn hard to keep from moving one's posterior to the great music. Anytime anyone attempted to stop for more than a few seconds in front of the stage and dance, they were gently urged off by uniformed security officers. So after a while, small clusters of folks started dancing on either far side of the stage. Mustn't block the view of the stage, you know. Then came the guy in the blue shirt and shorts. This cat dances down the walkway in front of the stage, kind of goofing off for the crowd, and actually dances around one of the the rent-a-cops, kind of fooling around with the guy in a very good natured way. The cop guides him out of the way, and Dilbert sees this, saying, " Hey, Mister Poe-lease man! If the guy wants to dance, let 'im dance!" (This was one of the very few things he said all night.) Obviously this kind of ticked the D-man off, and within 5 minutes Ray Darnell and the rest of the Zoo powers- that-be made a snap executive decision and let the people dancing on the sides fill in to the walkway in front of the stage.
From this point on, the concert became a joyous old-fashioned dance party. I tried to get Barbara up to dance, but she was reluctant. Thankfully, my great pals Scott and Anita came up and pulled us both out of our chairs, and we joined the crowd. My friend Leah came up and joined us, and I danced until I was out of breath. Many people, including myself, found the guy in blue and thanked him. His reply was "It only takes one person to change things!" Wiser words were never said.
Anyway, this turned out to be the most fun I've had at a concert in a loooong, looong time, say maybe since the Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper show at El Rey Theatre in 1989? I surely haven't danced that much at a show since then.
Delbert played an amazing hour and a half set with no stopping, backed by an outstanding band, and I hope he comes back real, real soon. I don't care that he didn't say much, he said it all with his awesome music.
Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire. This was a much different animal. I went with Sue and Theresa, and we thought we left early, but apparently everyone in Albuquerque was going to this thing too! We finally made it into the venue five minutes before showtime. We rented chairs and went to find a spot on the lawn to sit. (Cheap seats-$30.50 including all the ridiculous service charges.) Theresa picked the spot as luck would have it we end up next to some people I vaguely know from Old Town; Michael, a kind goofy guy who drives a pedicab around the plaza and Julia, who owns a restaurant where Michael also works. Of course they were already on about the 50th adult beverage of the evening, and they sort of befriended us. Michael tried really hard to befriend Theresa, if you know what I mean. Anyway, the crowd was in a jovial mood, thanks partly to the music and partly to the good folks at Anheiser-Busch.
The show started with what I can only describe as what seemed like a live rehearsal. I think both bands were onstage, and I think they were attempting a couple Chicago songs, but things seemed very loose and people just seemed to be wandering around the stage. Finally, someone explained that they would flip a coin to see which band went first. EWF won, and started the show in earnest.
They were very good and played most of their big hits, and the stage energy was generated by the wild tazmanian devil-like bass player who darted around the stage frantically. They were fun, and got me up off my feet dancing on several occasions.
At the break, Sue and I went to look at t-shirts and find a restroom. The shirts were ugly (the EWF ones were remarkably plain) and overpriced. I found the men's room and was out before Sue even got near the Ladies' room door. She told me to go on ahead, so I tried to find my way back and was largely unsuccessful. I could spot neither Theresa nor Michael, and ended up at the blanket of three women who attempted to help me relocate myself, so to speak, I went up by the beer cart, which was my only true frame of reference and luckily bumped into Sue, so we both stumbled down the hill trying to find our spot. We found, three enemy chairs, no Theresa, no Michael, but recognized the people sitting in front of us. Once everyone came back, we settled in to enjoy the second half.
I really came to see EWF, but Chicago were a much tighter, more professional sounding unit. Their set was like one long greatest hits medley, punctuated by some cool instrumental solo moments, such as an awesome flute solo. I actually came away from the show admiring Chicago much more than I had.
Finally both bands joined together, ETW now in more or less coordinated white outfits, and did an awesome finale featuring both groups biggest hits. They really made one SUPER supergroup, and had tons of energy for this final set. Everyone was on the their feet dancing through stuff like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" " Shining Star" and "25 or 6 to 4" (which is a song that makes no freakin' sense to me at all).
Finally the show ended, and we made our way back to the parking lot, which seemed 6 miles away. It took us about 45 minutes just to get back onto Broadway. Then, being the genius I am, take Lead downtown, and decide to cut up 6th street. Wrong move, brainboy. I forgot that police block Central on Saturday night and divert traffic downtown. We were caught between Lead and Central for about a half hour. All the while Theresa is "mentioning" she has to pee badly. Urging me to cut down blocked streets with cops standing on the corners. Sorry girl, you're going to have to soil the upholstery first! Anyway, we finally make it to Central, and back home a total of 90 minutes after we got in my car at the venue!
Overall, too many people, too far away from the stage, too many drunks, too much traffic hassle, and I was already tired from dancing to Delbert the night before. Good value for your entertainment dollar, but that's the best of it.
Okay, to justify my earlier statement: Rod Stewart was the most lavish show I've seen, Rod was awesome, the songs great, but Delbert proved that sometimes, all you need is great music, dancing, and the freedom to enjoy yourself. Yes, less can indeed be more.
Quick Notes: For an awesome interview with Nicky Mehta of the world's greatest all female folk band, the Wailin' Jennys , go here:
Sir, you're 59 years-old! For the love of God, take off those spandex pants! I had the pleasure of seeing Rod Stewart in concert at the Journal Pavilion last night, and it was an amazing show. Rod is one of the very few "mainstream" pop artists of whom I'm a huge fan. I admit I prefer his work with Faces, the Jeff Beck Group and his early solo stuff to his later pop superstar status and his current phase as Tony Bennett gargling nails. But, that said, the man can still entertain with the best of them.
It rained through a good deal of the show, but that didn't matter. I had on my rain poncho on, and I was too captivated by the concert to care about the weather.
The show was by far the most elaborately staged concert I've seen yet. The first half was Rod on a white stage, backed by amps disguised as swanky white refrigerators, and a snazzy video screen. In this segment he did mostly upbeat rock and pop hits, while going from a nearly punk orange and red outfit to a sharp black suit. He nearly had as many costume changes as Cher. He still had all the rock star swagger down perfectly, and his voice was in fine form. He also let his seventeen year-old daughter come out and sing a Pretenders cover.
After an eleven minute break, the show changed considerably. The set was now an elaborate, old fashioned orchestra stage, with stairs in the center, backed by glittery gold drapery. Rod came out in a tux and sang old standards and some of his slower ballads. He got gradually less formal, sipped a cocktail on stage and ended the show in a red velvet suit kicking soccer balls into the audience.
I forgot to mention his three fabulous and fabulous-looking backup singers, who each got several chances to shine in duets with Rod or solo. Also, he had two gorgeous women in his band; a stunning thin blonde who played sax and a more mature, but dead sexy brunette on violin. Hey, Rod can get the ladies.
It was also nice to see that some of the proceeds Rod gets from his high ticket price obviously go
back into things like hiring the best people and getting the best possible stage design and production.
Rod, you are one classy dude. Keep up the good work!
My New Favorite Band. Sue and I went to the Bio Park Thursday Night to see three young female folksingers from Manitoba called The Wailin' Jennys. They were fantastic. Great three part harmonies, great humor, shining personalities, and they were way too cute as well. Especially the goofy redheaded Cara, who represented all my hippie chick fantasies come to life. I loved their discussion how their new favorite word was "Sopaipilla." I bought their album, got all their autographs and am now attempting to turn the world on to them. Their new album is on Red House records, the same label as Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkesen. Oh, Ruth and Nicky were actually in my shop on Friday, and Nicky bought a hair barrette. For all things Jenny, go to http://www.thewailinjennys.com/
Comedy Update. I actually got up in front of about 5 of my female friends Saturday night and tried out some of my comedy material, mostly the stuff about working retail. I have not really practiced ANY of this stuff, even in front of a mirror, so it was kind of a feet first thing. I was kind of surprised at what got the big laughs: pee jokes and stuffed monkeys, but that's ok. My performance was decidedly rough, and I looked at my notes a lot. My next step is to edit, streamline and rehearse. Smoothness will come in time. It was a lot of fun to do, and I winged a lot of stuff on the spot. I'm still looking at signing up on an open mike night by the end of August or early September.
Soul Food in Albuquerque. The most soul-less city in the Southwest, has a great new restaurant, called The Mahogany Cafe. This wonderful little place in a strip mall on San Pedro and Montgomery serves up a limited but delicious menu of southern soul food, like ribs, catfish, collared green and they even serve ho' cakes! Which I love. Which I want a huge barrel of. Them things is tasty, as Dave Letterman might say! The service was wonderful, bent over backwards for us, and was way more apologetic than they needed to be about our food taking so long to cook (There were six of us in our group.) They even gave us discounts, which were unnecessary. I will certainly return to the delightful and unique (for the Duke City) place. Highly recommended!
