I have mentioned Photographs Do Not Bend before--it's my favorite gallery space in Dallas. Tonight from 6-8 p.m., they are hosting an opening reception for a new exhibit that looks fantastic. American Roads is a series of images of, um, American roads. Duh.
Anyway, check ou the images in the link above: Airstream at Monument Valley, Arizona, 1979; Storm Clouds Over Eastern Idaho; Dinosaur, Highway 40, Vernal, Utah, 1974. They're a memorable glimpse back at our country over a couple of decades.
It runs through May 5. 1202 Dragon Street, Ste. 103, Dallas, 214-969-1852.
This just in from Quick columnist extraordinaire Jessica Burgess:
Last night, my husband and I went to FedEx Kinko's on Belt Line in Addison.
While I was looking for an adjustable-date stamp, my husband heard a guy talking on the phone.
"That voice sounds familiar," he thought. So he turned to get a look at the fellow.
"Hey," he said, poking me. "Does that guy look just like Stephen Baldwin to you?"
At first, I thought he was referring to the facially pierced employee behind the counter. "No. Leave me alone. I'm looking for a stamp."
"Look at him," he insisted. So I did. And there, having what sounded like a business-related discussion on a cell phone, was a guy whose face is extremely familiar to me from my repeated viewings of Cutaway.
I turned back around. "Um, that is Stephen Baldwin."
Too freaked out and giggly to continue stamp shopping, we left without further investigation, so I have no information on what kind of copies he needed at 7 p.m. on a Thursday night in Addison. Maybe he was running off reviews of The Unusual Suspect: My Calling to the New Hardcore Movement of Faith.
Jon Stewart led last night's Daily Show with that amazingly bad clip of Karl Rove rapping with the Whose Line Is It Anyway? guys. And he attempted to one-up them with a rap of his own:
"From the Western Wing to the Crawford ranch, Karl Rove has destroyed the executive braaaaaanch."
Check out Skin's latest edition of the Gemini Disco Soul Party PodQast, in which he plays the role of Casey Kasem, spinning new tunes by Big Daddy Kane, Bavu Blakes, Dirty Dialect Click and others.
It's right hurr, as Skin would say in an emotional long-distance dedication.
Goodyear is putting on a Final Four promotion Friday we all should get to play. According to the Associated Press, a student from Ohio State, Florida, Georgetown and UCLA will shoot a regulation basketball at a hoop measuring 100 feet in diameter. There is a catch: They'll be shooting from the Goodyear Blimp 500 feet in the air. A made bucket earns the student tickets for two to any sports event where the Goodyear Blimp will provide aerial coverage in the next year. Sweet!
Flavors from Afar in Snider Plaza has moved to a new location - across the parking lot. The specialty foods store has expanded to include a large tasting room, where it will host complimentary wine and cheese tastings this weekend as part of the grand opening.
Friday from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
6712 Snider Plaza www.flavorsfromafar.com
"Winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Titanic is one of the most unforgettable epics ever made inspiring the beautiful tribute: Titanic Barbie doll.
...
Beginning Summer 2007, the Pink Label Titanic Barbie doll will be available for an approximate retail price of $34.95 through the Barbie Collector catalong, Wal-Mart, select US dealers and www.BarbieCollector.com."
Today Apple announced its "Complete My Album" feature, which lets users who have already downloaded a track or two from an album buy the rest of that album for a reduced price.
Basically, it stops that annoying practice of charging you twice for a song, like if you only liked one song at the beginning and then end up buying the whole album later. Finally.
"For instance, most albums on iTunes cost $9.99 so a customer who already bought three tracks can download the rest of the album for $7.02." -- Associated Press
I have to admit, I'm a fan of this little girl. Bindi Irwin, firecracker daughter of the late Steve Irwin, has her TV career ready to go as of this week. Good for her.
Bindi: The Jungle Girl will premieres June 9 on the Discovery Kids Channel; the show aims to get kids fascinated with animal conservation, something her dad took quite seriously. According to this report, the 8-year-old will be playing with koalas, elephants and snakes. Sounds like fun.
A few days before that on June 8, little Bindi will be host of a one-hour special, My Daddy the Croc Hunter on Animal Planet.
Scholastic has released the cover art for the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And already, the analysis has started. What does the dramatic gold and orange sky mean? Why is Harry reaching upward? Will this book push author J.K. Rowling over the gazillionaire mark? How many kids will put on round glasses and stay up past their bedtimes waiting for the book to come out (aacck!)? And where's my cut for promoting this thing? Call us jaded muggles. And just for Quick readers, the entire first-time wraparound cover is shown below.
In case you didn't notice, the last two bands standing in our March Madness bracket battle are Dirty Dialect Click and Smile Smile.
In addition to the standard online voting (which you can only do once), we are adding unlimited text-message voting to the final round (party!). Go here for details. The unlimited voting isn't the only benefit to taking the texting route -- you are automatically entered in a contest with fabulous prizes. You can also enter the contest online by registering with your e-mail address.
In closing, just make sure to vote, and then tell everyone you know to vote. Or I'll have to cut you.
Former soccer star Mia Hamm, wife of Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, delivered twin girls late last night. These girls have to be on track for some impressive athletic ability. I'd say the U.S. women's soccer team's chances in 2027 are looking pretty good right now.
Garciaparra was flying to Los Angeles and didn't make it in time for the twins' arrival, but he was on a speaker phone with the delivery room during the births. That had to be a little odd, right?
Oprah's kicked her book club into full gear again after about a year-long hiatus. This year's first pick was Sidney Poiter's The Measure of a Man, and she's expected to have him on the show today to announce her second pick - Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which is a post-apocalyptic story of a man and his son's journey toward the sea and an uncertain salvation.
Good story over at The Bryan-College Station Eagle about the Aggies' efforts to hold onto Billy Gillispie. Students had yell practice outside his office. "Billy for President" shirts everywhere. And if Billy wants daily massages and free lawn care, the Aggies are happy to help.
Karma Police is a film about a man, Charles (Chamblee Ferguson), who is recruited to join a secret organization called Karma Police, that closely monitors people and secretly rewards the good and punishes the bad. Things aren’t quite what they seem, though, as Charles finds out when asked to spy on his boss, Barrington (John Wesley Shipp).
This blog follows the film's shooting and the subsequent development process.
Filming wrapped a little over a week ago for Karma Police, which was a relief to all involved. Director John Venable says, “If I had it to do over again, I would've scheduled a few weeks off in the middle for everyone. That would've been great. But as it is/was, we did manage to complete 16 days of shooting and about 100 scenes worth of shooting.”
DC Comics was kind enough to send me review copies of the newest and oldest series from its Vertigo imprint for mature readers.
Army@Love, which debuted last week, is about the U.S. fighting a war in “Afbaghistan.” Also last week, Hellblazer – the long-running series about mystical investigator John Constantine – got a new writer for its 230th issue.
OK, so the long-awaited lip-lock between Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox on Dirt last night was a major dud. It could be best described as a pursed-lip peck. Not exactly what the hype was all about.
Aniston's character did make a play for some grab-ass, and she made reference to some more explicit encounters in their past, but it was all fairly tame.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to ignoring this show forever.
If you're like me and play "Give It To Me" over and over and over, you might be interested to know that you can hear Timbaland's new album Shock Value in its entirety at the producer's MySpace site. Right now, I'm loving "Bounce," which features Dr. Dre, Justin (at least I think it's Justin) and Missy. The hotness.
Is the buzz around Grindhouse nuts or what? Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's new movie premiered in Los Angeles this week (that's Rodriguez above at the premiere with Marley Shelton, left, and Rose McGowan). It's great to see that early reviews are positive. Making news at the same time: E! Online reports Rodriguez and McGowan are "very much a couple." Yikes! Did not know that. Austin-based Rodriguez and his wife/producing partner, Elizabeth Avellan, reportedly split after Rodriguez and McGowan hooked up during the making of Grindhouse, the Web site says. The movie opens April 6.
"hi...
here's a few things you might wanna know about..
1. we have a new record coming out
2. it's gonna be sick
3. we're playing a bunch of shows this summer
4. they're gonna be sick
5. we're gonna play some instrumental only shows also... (you know..drums..bass..guitar..keyboard..percussion..)
6. better call your doctor..cause they're gonna be sick
7. it's gonna be a gala event
8. we're changing up the website...sick
9. got new gear coming soon...again...sick..
10. go see a tailor and get tapered up..."
The announcement of White House press secretary Tony Snow's new cancer battle was made by his deputy, Dana Perino. This prompted Cox Newspapers to file a scannable bio of Perino, 34, that included this tidbit:
"Of note: Esquire magazine, in last year's 'Sexiest Woman Alive' issue, listed Perino among 'Women We're Ashamed to Love.' Perino, the magazine concluded, is 'hotter than Tony Snow and Scott McClellan combined. Plus, the executive branch seems so much more capable in her dulcet voice. Lie to us, Dana. Lie to us.' "
Tonight is the much-hyped season finale of Dirt on FX. The show promises to be an intriguing drama that explores the social and psychological effects of .... aw hell, it's the one where Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox kiss.
Supposedly it happens at the end of the show, so make sure your TiVos don't miss it. If, I mean, that sort of thing interests you.
I was running some errands this morning and listening to sports talk radio in the car. The big topic was a new movie that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban may be distributing, Loose Change. The hosts on 103.3 FM were debating whether fans would boycott games or whether the team would be distracted by the movie, which apparently asserts that Americans, not al-Qaeda, were behind the 9/11 attacks. I don't know enough about the movie to make any informed comments, but I bet we'll be hearing more about it. At least, that is, if Bill O'Reilly has any say in the matter. Here's a short transcript of the Fox News talker confronting Cuban about the movie on his radio show yesterday.
Ashton Kutcher says he is pulling the plug on Punk'd. Did anyone else think the MTV prank show had been canceled years ago? All eight episodes for the eighth and final season are scheduled to air in an April 7 marathon. Then Kutcher will host a special Punk'd Awards on June 5.
But wait, is he punking us all again? He said the show was over back in 2003, too. If a tree is punk'd in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does anyone care?
Bruce Willis returns yet again as reluctant hero John McClane this summer in Live Free or Die Hard (Personally, I think Die Hard 4: Die Harder-er is a better title).
If they could find a way to revive Alan Rickman as the villain, or at least bring back Samuel L. Jackson as a mouthy ally, I'm in. So far, the trailer just features Brucey and Justin Long as a befuddled sidekick of sorts. See it here.
Comments from the judges are totally disturbing. "Very beautiful and dead;" "Even though she doesn't look dead, I think she still came up with a great picture;" "It's a great shot. Death becomes you, young lady."
Death becomes you, young lady? This sounds like a bad Tim Burton film.
Most messed-up are the comments on the decapitation scene: "All the other girls managed to have some sort of spark even in this sort of morbid situation. I think I look at you in this picture, and you actually just look dead. One of the simplest things, like acting dead, can be the most challenging. The problem is that you didn't do anything. You just gave up and thought that that was being dead."
I get that they are trying to push some sort of creative edge, but this is just ridiculous. Violence against women is a real problem in America and no matter how you spin it, this both glamorizes and dehumanizes the situation. It’s tasteless in the extreme.
Today show co-host Meredith Vieira crashed big time trying to attempt a figure-skating maneuver with Will Ferrell at the Rockefeller Center ice rink this morning. Couldn't resist sharing this awesome photo sequence of how it went down ... how she went down. Go here to see the video.
Ferrell, who is everywhere promoting Blades of Glory, was also a riot with Kenny Mayne as ESPN's Sunday Conversation. The two did part of the interview screaming at each other (since Will seems to talk that way in most of his movies). Ferrell also suggested Mayne use "Holy tornado!" while covering highlights in future SportsCenter telecasts.
"The Arcade Fire, Air, Deerhoof, Secret Machines and the Polyphonic Spree are among the first acts confirmed for the inaugural High Line Festival, which, as previously reported, will be curated by David Bowie. The event will run May 9-19 at venues near the High Line, a public park being created atop a long-abandoned elevated railway line on the west side of Manhattan."
Find out more here. Daniel Johnston is also in the mix.
I missed SNL this weekend, dangit, but there was good stuff from host Peyton Manning, some of which you can see on the SNL site. Here's a fake United Way commercial with lots of funny moments.
Local cartoonist and humor writer Kit Lively will be at Zeus Comics from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to promote and sign copies of the new National Lampoon book Not Fit For Print. The store is in Turtle Creek Village, at 3878 Oaklawn Ave., Suite 100E, in Dallas.
A little gossip from a Kate Walsh fan site about the still-untitled Grey's Anatomy spin-off in which she will star. According to the site, it's currently in development for the season on ABC and the studio has ordered a two-hour pilot.
Basic idea: After screwing up her marriage and having two affairs, Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery flees to Santa Monica, Calif., to seek solace with married friends Naomi (Merrin Dungey [Alias]) and Jackson (Taye Diggs [Day Break, Kevin Hill]). But the marriage is on the rocks and everybody is bed-hopping (not too different from the back at Grey's). "It's an intimate portrait of the choices and changes we make in our search for happy lives." Whatever that means.
Also stars Tim Daly (Wings, The Nine), Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy), Chris Lowell (Veronica Mars) and Paul Adelstein (Prison Break).
A whole-wheat glazed doughnut? Is that what the world really needs? Why is Krispy Kreme making our heads spin like this? ... Dazed and confused. Need help ... fast.
My wife received a copy of Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro for Christmas, and I've just gotten around to reading it. Published last year, it's a collection of Piraro's Bizarro cartoons and other art, but it's also his autobiography.
Two statements from the Kansas City-born, Tulsa-raised New Yorker really caught my attention:
-- "I made the colossal mistake of moving to Dallas, Texas."
-- "While I had some good times and good friends in Dallas and would never wish my children away, I deeply regret that I forsook my dream -- of being an artist living in a world-class city -- for money and middle-class comfort."
Well, here's a women who stole my idea: Queen Latifah is designing a new line of clothing for the woman who might actually have some curves on her body. It's appropriately named Curvation and it's a line of undergarments and apparel coming this spring.
As a woman who has been in the larger size ranges several times, I have long admired Queen Latifah's beautiful attitude toward the female body and her strong belief that a woman does not have to be tiny to look lovely. I know she went through some body changes in the last couple of years for her film parts, but I am glad she retained her curvaliciousness. In a size-obsessed culture, she is queen.
For those not familiar with this fantastic album, Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne explains to EW.com:
This girl, the Yoshimi character, is dying of something. And these two guys are battling to come visit her in the hospital. And as one of the boyfriends envisions trying to save the girl, he enters this other dimension where Yoshimi is this Japanese warrior and the pink robots are an incarnation of her disease. It's almost like the disease has to win in order for her soul to survive. Or something like that.
Sorkin, the man who brought us West Wing and Studio 60, is writing the script for the musical (which will include other Lips songs) and director/producer Des McAnuff of Jersey Boys and The Who's Tommy will also be a collaborator. Sounds terrific to me.
I am a super fan of all the animals at the State Fair of Texas: Pig races, petting zoo, livestock show, chickens, rabbits...This year's fair, Sept. 28 – Oct. 21, will have something new, a dancing dog show.
I have no idea what that means, but I can only pray it is wiener dogs tap dancing. That's not too much to ask, is it?
If you haven't voted on our band battle, get thee to this page. Voting closes at 3 p.m. We'll have the Final Four voting up later today and the Final Four bracket will be in print tomorrow.
Some notable notes of note:
* Odis has closed the gap on the Dirty Dialect Click.
* Smile Smile has opened a significant lead over Black Tie Dynasty.
* Steve Austin appears to be Final Four-bound over Fishing For Comets.
* And Max Cady is still up on the Coffee Nods.
As a reminder, you can only vote one time per matchup per round. If you have problems voting, do what our Web man Jason says: Clear your cookies. If you think that you have cleared your cookies, try from a different browser. You can also try from a different computer.
"Calvert DeForest, the white-haired, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry 'Bud' Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows, has died after a long illness."
I still won't be able to watch the Letterman show without halfway expecting this dude to pop out from behind the curtains.
I don't know when this happened, but the Mall of America in Minneapolis isn't the biggest indoor mall in the country anymore.
It's now the THIRD largest, and it wants to reclaim its No. 1 title by expanding to include a music theater, hotels and an ice rink. Said expansion would double its size to more than 3 million square feet.
How do you even get around such a place?
"Honey, I need a new pair of shoes. I'll be back in a week."
I love me the Texana/Americana music and one of the masters is making a pass through North Texas. Slaid Cleaves will be at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton at 9 p.m. Friday playing with a full band: Gurf Morlix on guitar (and opening), Ivan
Brown on bass and Mark Cousins on drums.
Slaid is a quintessential performer and interacts so fluidly with the audience. It's worth the hour trip north to Denton to see him play.
More than 3.3 million college basketball nuts filled out a bracket on ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge. Some fun tidbits from ESPN:
Good guessing: Only 45 entries correctly picked the Sweet 16, including USC possibly ending Kevin Durant's career at Texas.
How do you do that? There were 5,404 entries that picked none of the 16 remaining teams.
Sad, but true: Belmont rules! That's what 211 people thought when they picked the Nashville, Tenn., school to win it all. Of course, 312 picked Weber State to take the title, and 6,356 had Butler or Southern Illinois winning it all. At least the last two still have a shot.
I was watching Engaged and Underage on MTV last night (yes, cheesy, and yes, I can't avoid watching), and one of the couples was involved with an interesting charity. It's called To Write Love on Her Arms, and it raises money for "the treatment, recovery and support of young people facing depression, addiction and self-injury," according to the Web site, http://www.twloha.com. One of the ways the organization fundraises is by holding benefit concerts, and coincidentally, it's putting on a show in Dallas at the Door on Friday.
Here's the lineup: Anberlin, Bayside, Meg & Dia, Jonezetta The Door
3202 Elm St.
Tickets are $12 online, $14 at the show, and doors are at 7 p.m.
In my quest to view all the coolest pages on the Net, I ran across a site for writers. For those of us who don't want to print a thousand books, try blurb. And it's for Mac and PC users. Prices start at $12.95 per book with hard and soft covers. Check it out.
Wild On Dallas is reporting that Seven, the downtown/Deep Ellum club, will shut its doors on April 7, with plans to reopen later as "2505." A futuristic theme, maybe? Or perhaps a jump on the address-as-the-name trend. They're at 2505 Pacific.
I'd heard the place was going downhill lately. They hadn't been booking out-of-town DJs like they used to. (Full Access Dallas, who used to do shows there, has since taken their business to Karma.)
It's too bad, because they've been around for eight years, which is ancient in nightclub land. And they had a pretty big remodel in 2004 -- added a patio, VIP seating, a better sound system. Guess Dallasites got tired of the concept.
In other news, I also haven't heard much from Club One lately.... them, The Lizard Lounge and Seven were pretty much the oldest places in the area. Anyone know what's going on there? The lineup on their website looks pretty sparse.
I'm guessing the items won't be cheap, but sometimes it's nice to splurge on stuff that's made locally. The designers include Abi Ferrin, Donna Cameron, Anyaa Textiles, Alchemy, Choco Coco (children’s apparel), Nest Jewelry, SlipTease, ISISPORT, and Mistura Designs.
Army@Love No. 1: Rick Veitch writes and draws this soap opera about U.S. soldiers fighting multiple wars in the Middle East. What fun!
After the Cape No. 1: Even more depressing is this story of a superhero whose alcoholism forced him out of the business.
Hero By Night No. 1 (of 4): Here's one to pick up your spirits. This title exists only because its creator, D.J. Coffman, won a contest called the Comic Book Challenge.
I saw Dan's entry about the planned Marvel Comics theme park in Dubai. Marvel isn't the only Western institution setting up shop in the United Arab Emirates -- it's also getting branches of the Guggenheim museum and the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. (Yes, the Paris art landmark is now in the franchise business. The cost: About $1.3 billion.) Add in a massive indoor ski slope in Dubai, and it appears the UAE is trying to out-Vegas Las Vegas.
So I turn on the TV, and Adam Sandler is interviewing race car driver Danica Patrick (who has the shiniest black hair I've ever seen) on the Late Show. And he even throws his pencil at the camera. Have I entered bizarro world?
Turns out, David Letterman went home sick before the show. Sandler, slated to be the lead guest, filled in.
Take the top off and I fall in love. We hear the Camaro Concept Convertible was a big draw at the recent Dallas Auto Show. Gaawwwdddddd! What is it about a ragtop that makes us drool!?! The good news is Chevy will launch the Camaro coupe in late 2008 as a 2009 model. The bad news: It probably won't launch the Camaro convertible until spring 2009. Can you wait that long? I will. If the Pontiac Solstice doesn't steal my heart before then.
In a press release today, it was announced that a Marvel Comics theme park will be constructed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
One Newsarama.com reader has already theorized that this is the real reason Marvel killed off Captain America. Kind of hard to reach that Arab demographic with a character draped in the American flag.
Comedian P.T., whom McCann and I profiled in today's Orientations is one of those folks who has a million funny things to say. Alas, not all of our interview with the comic fit in today's print edition.
We're down to the Elite Eight in our band bracket, and the pace picks up with this round. The voting closes on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Some early notes:
* Could this be the end of the Coffee Nods' magical run? They're down big to Max Cady.
*The Dirty Dialect Click is whuppin' Odis thus far.
* Smile Smile has a solid lead over Black Tie Dynasty.
* And Steve Austin's in a tight race with Fishing For Comets.
Well, that whole Ameriquest Field in Arlington thing didn't work out because Ameriquest is struggling, so the Rangers are changing the name of their stadium to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In case you were wondering, the Rangers play in Arlington.
Some other names they may have considered:
* The House that Hicks Built in Arlington
* The Ballpark next to JerryWorld in Arlington
* Teixeira's Temple in Arlington
* Homer Park Presented by Josh Lewin in Arlington
* Steamy Hot Stadium in Arlington
The Winter Music Conference -- pretty much the SXSW of DJ world -- is happening this week in Miami. But the Miami vibe is also the sought-after thing in trendy Dallas clubs and lounges. (I've heard it mentioned numerous times by club owners: "We wanted a mix of Miami and Vegas.") I'm not exactly sure what the Miami vibe is, but I think it entails beautiful women and stark white decor. And bottle service.
After only one episode, I’m completely frothing at the mouth to catch tonight’s episode of The Riches on FX. If you caught the pilot last week you know why – besides being totally original, the show is an absolute riot. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver are superb as a thieving, scheming pair of parents who take over the identity of a dead couple, then move into their mansion and assume their lavish lifestyle.
The show comes on at 9 p.m. And if you’ve never seen Izzard’s stand-up – he’s an absolute, off-the-wall, side-splitting genius – you’re missing out.
Started the last night of SXSW out in style, at the Daptone showcase at Emo's Annex. Funkalicious horn ensemble The Budos Band warmed up the crowd quite nicely before Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings hit the stage for its 9 p.m. set. New York singer Jones' shows have that James Brown revue feel to them, which is especially important now that the Godfather is gone. Last night, Jones brought a succession of male audience members onstage to dance with her. Two of those lucky guys were the backup singers for Amy Winehouse. They were having more fun than anyone. More than me, which doesn't really seem possible considering HOW MUCH FUN THIS SHOW WAS.
Expectedly, everything I saw after Sharon seemed mild in comparison. That's not taking away from Dallas native singer-songwriter Kristy Kruger (above). She developed nice, witty banter with her audience at the Tap Room at Six. She told a story just before singing "Gold Rush" about how her drummer had a secret crush on her tambourine player -- not because she was cute, but because she played a mean tambourine. Kruger enjoyed herself on stage and looked stunning, with a crazy poodle skirt and multi-colored petticoats.
She was more successful at coming off as easy-going and funny than the next performer at Tap Room, New Jersey songstress Jenny Owens Young. Her cynical, dismissive dialogues didn't match up with her confessional songs. But the songs were good, particularly "What the [expletive] was I thinking?"
Not sure what I was thinking when I stumbled a block over to Cedar Street Courtyard. A growing crowd of St. Patrick's Day partyers had taken over the streets of Austin, and they made enjoying SXSW difficult. Tools, they were. Still, I caught some of the surprise set at Cedar Street by rapper Sage Francis (above). As if the guy isn't scary enough, he came out onstage in a robber's mask. What a way to close my week of music. Oy.
Very tired now and contemplating the drive back. I could stand for a little nap first. Hope you enjoyed this year's edition of "I'm crazy enough to not sleep for five days and try to effectively communicate my experience."
I sure am glad Amy Winehouse (above, blurry) decided to show up to last night's set on time. Despite her vocal not being turned up loud enough, she owned. Unlike the cute and adorable Lily Allen, Winehouse is fierce-looking, with edgy eye makeup, a beehive hairdo and killer abs. I'm pretty sure she could kick my ass. She danced along with her two male backup singers as if she were in an old soul review. Sounded like it, too. Seeing her channel Nina Simone on "I'm No Good" and "Rehab" gave me the goosebumps. Just freakin' cool. My friend stayed after Amy's set to see Mika, and she ended up getting her picture with blogger Perez Hilton. I'll post that when I can manage to pull the camera from her clutches.
Earlier in the day I saw Swedish powerpop band Peter Bjorn & John at the Pitchfork day party at Emo's. Whoever told me the previous day that PB&J put on a boring show must have awfully high standards. These guys were crazy fun -- jumping around and shaking their hair like shaggy dogs. I took some video.
I also captured a bit of the Polyphonic Spree's late-night showcase at the ballroom in the Austin Convention Center. The new military uniforms are stark, black, and much less creepy than the old colored robes. I was also impressed by the choreography and pace of the set, which included several songs from forthcoming TVT Records CD The Fragile Army. Tim DeLaughter danced robotically, made weird faces and conducted all the action on stage and in the audience, as six choir members swished their heads from side to side and flailed about. Everyone should see a Polyphonic show once in his or her lifetime.
It happens every year -- a much anticipated show is ruined by circumstances not related to the actual performance. This year, it was Nellie McKay's set at Exodus. Honey-voiced cabaret artist McKay played piano and delivered jazzy, pitch-perfect renditions of her songs. But the venue was overcrowded, with six rows of super-tall people in the front blocking the view of McKay on her piano bench. And everyone in the side bar talked loudly and slammed beer bottles into the trash cans. Oh, and somebody in front of me kept, um, releasing harmful emissions. If only she'd played in a venue with a raised stage, or people had shut the hell up during a show they presumably wanted to see, or Mr. Emissions had taken some Beano beforehand ...
Karma Police is a film about a man, Charles (Chamblee Ferguson), who is recruited to join a secret organization called Karma Police, that closely monitors people and secretly rewards the good and punishes the bad. Things aren’t quite what they seem, though, as Charles finds out when asked to spy on his boss, Barrington (John Wesley Shipp).
This blog follows the film's shooting and the subsequent development process.
After last weekend's epidemic of exhaustion and testy moods, week six wrapped without much incident. Maybe the few days off helped ease the tension. Although fighting off a sinus infection, director John Venable kept a clear head and had to improvise a little when a couple of the actors found a hole in the plot.
"We discovered on Saturday that there was a hole in the script on a motivation level," Venable says, "and whether or not a character would really say what was on the page and/or ignore part of what had just been said. This was a scene with Chamblee and Jessica and, in my opinion, is the most important scene in the film as far as where it takes Chamblee's character."
Thankfully Venable has been open to suggestion on the set. He admits, "I feel so fortunate to have such experienced actors and an atmosphere on set where they feel comfortable making suggestions about dialogue and plot points. Jessica and Chamblee had real issues with what I'd written and let me know, and they were absolutely right. We needed to make some changes, and quick. So in about 15 or 20 minutes while the scene was being lit ... we worked on the dialogue and ran the scene as many times as we could to get it to a place that felt more realistic."
The day also included a scene that took two hours and 10 costume changes for one actor, which probably equated to "about six or seven seconds of film," according to Venable.
Sunday involved getting actual Dallas police uniforms and a police car, which wasn't as hard to pull off as you might think.
There was a funny quip that helped the day end on a good note.
"We had a moment on set where something was uttered that I don't know will ever be uttered again on any movie set," Venable says. "[Cameraman] Red said, 'Hurry up, let's get this shot in before the monkey notices us.' There was a guy across the way in a monkey suit that was up to something. Red kept saying 'Don't look at him, don't encourage him,' and he was right. If we'd looked, laughed or pointed, he probably would've come over and tried to get on camera. Then somebody would've had to knock out a monkey, and it's never a good thing when that happens."
This weekend's shoot requires work that will take them away from the St. Patrick's Day parade. That has some of the crew bummed out, especially Venable and cameraman Jay Gormley, as the two have a tradition of going to the parade together every year. Hopefully someone will bring the crew some green beer to cheer them up.
There's a room called the Day Stage Cafe in the convention center where registrants can watch live music while getting a bite to eat. The Watson Twins set I just saw was much tastier than the burrito that accompanied it. You may recall that these girls backed Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis on her solo album Rabbit Fur Coat. The Twins' own material has a lilting, pop-country sound similar to what's on that record. Good stuff.
Comedian Zach Galifianakis (above) hosted a day party at Emo's Annex for Noise Pop and WOXY.com. Between sets by The Little Ones and Aqueduct, Galifianakis did a short comedy set, with jokes he'd just jotted down while sitting to the side of the stage. What got the biggest laughs, surprisingly, were his attacks on hipsters (who made up most of the audience):
"We're giving out an award today ... for most disinterested hipster. So if you haven't already, start looking disinterested."
"I like to go up to hipsters in the skate park and go, 'So, have you heard the new Sheryl Crow album?'"
"If you haven't figured it out, I hate hipsters."
After the host did his thing, Aqueduct continued the hilarity with a cover of the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited."
Let me start by saying the food is beautifully presented and all seven of our meals were super-tasty. The vegetable curry and sea bass were stand-outs. Unfortunately, we had to wait almost two hours to get our table because of some sort of mix-up and bad communication between manager and servers (and they were slammed and it showed in the service). The manager did eventually comp our whole meal, so that was fair.
My other complaint would be the prices: Fruity drinks around $10 a pop and $5.50 for a Miller Light. Ouch.
It certainly had atmosphere to spare, however. Even the bathroom was
all tikied out. Quite festive.
S4 tonight is hosting the Pride Radio launch party. It gets over at midnight, when the dance floor usually starts filling up anyway. (Regular cover charge -- $3 from 9-10 p.m., no cover 10-10:30, then $6 after that.)
Shameless self-promotion: You probably already read about this in Orientations this week -- if you didn't, Brandon's very disappointed in you. And I know I wouldn't want that.
We'll be there. So should you. And if you see us, say hi!
Before the official showcases started Thursday, a large studio audience was treated to a set by indie sensation The Apples in Stereo (including new drummer John Dufilho, on loan from the Deathray Davies) at the UT-campus set of television's Austin City Limits. Seattle radio station KEXP-FM is having live sessions there all weekend. Why didn't I realize that ACL is taped indoors? That set looks so realistic on TV. I'm probably just dumb. The Apples put on a fun, exciting show, with lead singer Robert Schneider's inherent spazziness rearing its adorable head between songs. The studio had comfortable stadium seating, but three hipster girls couldn't contain themselves when The Apples launched into "Can You Feel It?" from latest CD New Magnetic Wonder. They went out and danced in the middle of the floor. I danced with them in spirit.
If you haven't voted in our big bracket band battle bonanza, get to it. The Sweet Sixteen round ends Sunday at 3 p.m. We'll print the Elite Eight bracket in Monday's Quick.
Last night, in true South by Southwest fashion, was both exhiliarating and disappointing. The bad part first: After drunk-watching on 6th (above), I sat for an hour and a half in the humid upstairs part of Eternal Nightclub, waiting for U.K. it girl Amy Winehouse to bring her boozy ass to the downstairs stage at midnight. My friend and I got stuck up there because people were filing in so fast that it was too packed to get back to the bottom level. When Dallas hard rock band Fair to Midland started in Winehouse's place, confusion washed over the club. "Where's Amy?" people asked their friends. Turns out the two acts had switched slot times. She went on later, but I was long gone. I'll catch her tonight at La Zona Rosa.
I'm still glad I went to Eternal to wait for Winehouse, because I got there in time to see special unannounced guest Mika (above) wowing the crowd with some seriously high-energy powerpop. He's a British singer on the come-up who's a combo of "Bennie and the Jets"-era Elton, Freddie Mercury and Maroon 5's Adam Levine. Current yet classic. Sassy songs "Lollipop" and "Big Girls" will likely spread fast once they hit U.S. markets, so get wise early. Mika makes the Scissor Sisters look boring. He is one of several British acts making big waves here in Austin. A British music exec told me yesterday, "People like Mika and Amy Winehouse sell out stadiums in England, so it's quite a treat to see them in such small, intimate clubs here." He said he didn't care for Lily Allen, though. Wonder why. I thought she was [expletive] brilliant.
On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Illinois-Hampton branch of the Dallas Public Library (which is acutally a very swanky branch) is offering a free screening of LA FABRI_K, a documentary about two Cuban hip-hop groups, Obsesión and Double-Filo.
The doc follows them from their “humble Havana homes” to a U.S. tour, and an eventual show at the Apollo, where they perform next to Kanye West and the Roots.
Cuban hip-hop has kind of faded away from the scene for a minute, but a few years back, it was pretty big. Orishas’ album El Kilo got rave reviews in 2005. And the scene seemed to be everywhere in the news a few years before that.
Kind of unusual for the library to offer something like this, so support it if you can.
I don't feel so bad about missing British firecracker Lily Allen's official showcase now that I got to see her in a more intimate setting. She packed 'em in at Waterloo Records this afternoon, where she played a 6-song acoustic set. The laid-back approach to her material and a couple of cover songs (Blondie's "Heart of Glass" was one) took some of the edge off after hearing about the awesomely reckless profanity she spewed on stage last night. The Lily of today was downright adorable, with a huge smile and a colorful dress. One question, though: Is it me, or does her song "Littlest Things" sound a little too much like Cat Stevens' "Wild World"? Just asking.
Happy NCAA Tournament day. Hope your bracket is holding up so far -- and that you didn't fall for that Oral Roberts pick.
Doesn't it seem like the mascots are always hogging air time during the tournament? Shaking their ample fuzz. Here is a breakdown of the types of mascots in this year's field. Seven have a color in their names, including our Mean Green.
Here are some quotes from this morning's panel interview with Tom Anderson, the president of MySpace (and that guy in the white shirt that everyone is scared to remove from his or her friend list):
On the idea for MySpace: "I saw Friendster and other sites, so the idea wasn't all that original. I thought, 'let's see if we can do this, but do it better.'"
On meeting MySpacers: "People actually apologize when the meet me, like 'I took you off my friends list,' and I'm like, 'It's OK.'"
On the dangers related to teen users: "MySpace is really a reflection of what life is like and what schools are like. I mean, there were bomb threats when I was in school, before the Internet. So, while we try to do what we can to prevent these things from happening, we know we can't change the whole world."
La Duni is one of my favorite restaurants in Dallas; their cuatros leches cake and chimichurri sauce are the bomb. The fact that I can walk to the one on McKinney Avenue is a happy coincidence.
This July, owners Espartaco and Dunia Borga are opening a new restaurant, Aló Cenaduria & Piqueos, focusing on contemporary street foods of Peru and Mexico, especially the Chihuahua region.
Aló will be located in Knox Plaza at Central Expressway and Knox Street in the empty building that used to house Cajun failure Vermillion (never did like that place much).
Executive chef will be Julia Lopez, who has been with La Duni for three years and is well-known in the Dallas foodie community for her time under Dean Fearing at the Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Man, my feets hurt. I schlepped all over downtown Austin last night, and not even my brand new hiking shoes helped in the end. Maybe I'll try some pedi-cabs tonight, but those things make me feel lazy and guilty. Especially since I'm kinda big-boneded.
But enough about me. I'll sum up the shows not mentioned last night because I collapsed after walking in the door of my friend's house at 3:30 a.m. I'm still talking about me, aren't I? Dammit!
Following the jump: Tacks, the Boy Disaster, Cody ChesnuTT, Marc Broussard and the Lily Allen line from hell.
Britney Spears needs your support. A link on her Web site urges fans to send their thoughts and inspiration to Britney, and some of the messages are displayed for all the world to see. I will follow the Craig Ferguson line of thinking and make no razor- or umbrella-related comments.
I don't know how this happened, considering the games just started, but my bracket is already a mess.
All right, I keed. But I figured I'd put my Final Four out there, so that we can all look back and laugh in a few weeks when none of it pans out.
Hate to admit it, but I went with three No. 1 seeds: Florida, Kansas and North Carolina. Only went out on a limb with Texas A&M, who grabbed the fourth slot. Jut got a feeling about Acie and the Ags. And yes, being an intense Aggie fan has everything to do with it.
* Can the Coffee Nods (above) be stopped? Ben Rogers' hip-hop-juggernaut (hip-hoppernaut?) is a 16 seed but is steaming through the competition. The Nods are up 61.54 to 38.46 over Green River Ordinance.
* Tight, tight, tight race between Fishing for Comets and The Vanished. The Comets are in front, at the moment.
* Not so tight, tight, tight between a-dor-a-ble duo Smile Smile and rapper Big Ben. Smile Squared is up 83.65 to 16.35.
If you're feeling blue that you're not soaking up all the SXSW madness in Austin right now, perhaps a free party at the boogie spot wil serve as a little consolation. San Fran's J Boogie is puttin down his blend of hip-hop, soul and organic beats at a free party at Zubar. Good times!
Well, I've been trying to see the digital punk duo Best Fwends for years, and now I've finally experienced it. Really more performance art than a SXSW showcase ... if the performance art were conceived by 12-year-olds with nothing better to do than feed their ADD. The show was this: Two guys pretty much spazzed out and screamed into mics over a recorded track, and they made three of their friends hold up a large banner behind them. I can't decide if the whole thing was brilliant or completely indulgent. Who cares what I think, though? The 30 or so people in the audience ate up every weird dance move and played along.
Yes, I know I'm a crappy photographer. But the point of the above picture is to give you an idea of the size of the crowd packed into Momo's for Midlake's set. It was much more crowded than many of the official showcases I attended last year. Nice to see this Denton band play its heady from The Trials of Van Occupanther in such an intimate setting. Lead singer Tim Smith broke from his usually serious demeanor to laugh at himself when his guitar strap came undone. "I knew that would happen one day," he said. "I'm not too embarrassed, but I'm kinda embarrassed." Mixed in with the Trials tunes was a new one that was just as Fleetwood-Mac-y as "Head Home." Could that mean that the next record will maintain this obsession with '70s rock? I totally wouldn't have a problem with that. Listen to some Midlake here.
Got to the NX35 Denton music party at Momo's just in time to see Robert Gomez (above) and his 8-piece band play (he added one since last year). His music is pretty melancholy for a rooftop venue during the day. It's damn near shoegaze-y. But why look at your shoes when you can watch every player in the band get into the music? Gomez has the most enthusiastic xylophone player I've ever seen.
Lindsay Graham used to be a podcaster who critiqued local music on dconstruction.org, but now he's doing something even more, er, constructive. His newly founded label Junius Recording Co. already has a few projects in the works, including a CD by Dallas band Airline. Airline (above) played the Junius day party at B.D. Riley's early Wednesday afternoon, and what I heard onstage was straightforward, tight, catchy rock.
Lead singer and bassist Robert Holley has good energy, and even though the 35 or so people at the party were hangin' back from the stage, this is a band that could really connect with the right audience. Check em out here.
Now it's on to the NX35 Denton music party for Robert Gomez and Midlake. It'll be a good walk -- even though B.D. Riley's and Momo's are both on 6th street, that doesn't necessarily mean they're close together.
Have you wanted to see the Matisse: Painter as Sculptor exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Center but didn't want to shell out $20? Well, here's your chance. Starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, 500 free tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Bank of America is sponsoring the giveaway, and there will be another on April 19.
It looks like Kazakhs are interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan topped the order list for customers in the former Soviet republic last week, according to Amazon.co.uk.
Apparently the dance queens were dining at Breadwinners for lunch. I didn't see them, but our waiter sure was excited. They play at the Palladium Ballroom tomorrow night. Get your ticks at www.palladiumballroom.com or stop by the after party at Minc Lounge. Get more info on that at www.fullaccessdallas.com.
Annnnd we're off. I just got out of the long, snaky line for South by Southwest music badge pickup, which of course included a taped-off human-cattle section (above). Relatively painless process, though, and there are racks of every alt-weekly known to man and tables full of flyers and CDs to make the wait more interesting.
Once I had my badge, which had last year's picture on it (I got a haircut for nothing?), I went downstairs to get my "big bag," a fabric shopping bag packed with party invites, CD samplers and free magazine subscriptions. Life sure is hard.
The graphics on last year's bag were designed by Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips. This year's design is significantly less cool. It advertises the imminent SXSW British invasion. Artists such as Mika, Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen are some of the most buzzworthy at the fest. I'm seeing all three of those if it kills me.
More later, gators. I haven't even left the convention center yet. POINT ME TO THE PARTAYS!
The Sweet Sixteen are duking it out in our band bracket, and there's a tight race for the rap/soul crowd: Steve Austin has a narrow lead over singer Geno Young, 51.68 percent to Geno's 48.32.
Other noteworthy notes: The Dirty Dialect Click has put an early whuppin' on fellow rappers Mr. Pookie & Mr. Lucci, and Max Cady has a commanding lead over Johnny Lloyd Rollins.
What Were They Thinking: Go West Young Man: Ever seen Woody Allen's What's Up Tiger Lily? BOOM! Studios continues its similar What Were They Thinking series, in which old comics are reprinted with new irreverent word balloons. This time, it's a bunch of Western stories getting the satirical treatment.
Piracy is Liberation: Information Wants to be Free: Mattias Elftorp's 2005 cyberpunk graphic novel, which has been described as "political theory filtered through autobiography masked as fiction," is reprinted to set up a new ongoing Piracy is Liberation series.
Super Real vs. the Comic Book Industry No. 1: The cast of the reality show featured in Super Real take on thinly veiled representations of the world's most popular superheroes.
Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection Vol. 1: This trade paperback collects the first 13 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, a series about a young Spidey that is free of the character's 40 years' worth of continuity.
Complete Invincible Library Vol. 1: Not to be outdone, this hardcover collects the first 24 issues of Invincible -- every one of which bears this cover blurb: "Probably the best superhero comic in the universe" -- along with more than 150 pages of extras.
Is it just me, or is there a weird tension between late-night TV host Conan O'Brien and band leader Max Weinberg? I've been watching the show off-and-on for the last several years and it seems like in the last six months, there's been an odd dynamic when Conan talks to Max. Like a bit hostile.
The best American Idol ever made a surprise appearance at the Wreckers show in Ft. Worth over the weekend, and there's a shaky, bad-soundy YouTube video. Enjoy.
As I read my high-quality celeb magazines, I've been seeing mention of these so-called "fitness boot camps"--they appear to be an old-fashioned ass kicking that transform flab to muscle in a pretty short time, if you've got the chutzpah to do it. It's certainly more effective than my fitness regime, which is sitting on the couch, drinking Diet Coke and painting my toenails.
If you want to get in on the trend, certified personal trainer Natalie Thrash is offering a free session at 6:15 p.m. this Thursday at Cole Park (on Cole Avenue just north of Lemmon in Uptown).
Her spring season starts April 3 and attendees Thursday get some sort of discount. 214-334-9368 or nataliethrash@yahoo.com.
Trader Vic’s — the tiki-themed restaurant and bar that used to be inside the Hotel Santa Fe — was recently resurrected at the Hotel Palomar.
This was kind of confusing to me. Kitschy and chic, together?
Stopped by last weekend to check the place out. Although there was a limo waiting in the valet, the bar area — which is separate from the high-end restaurant — immediately reminded me of Islands, this tiki-themed casual restaurant chain out of California. There is a LOT of tiki at the Trader Vic's bar. And platinum blonde women in their 40s. Also, everyone dresses really nice, which is a little weird, because tiki makes you think of swimsuits and shorts.
The bar seems like a happening place for the late-30s-40 y/o set, though. We’ll see how it evolves, if it does. I recommend the passion fruit cocktail if you got the cash — it’s $9 for a small, served in a neat little chilled glass.
So I'm way behind in my blogging (it's election season for we municipal reporters). But McCann and I headed over to the Majestic on Friday to catch Sandra Bernhard's show, Everything Bad & Beautiful.
And let me tell you, she rocked. Literally. Bernhard doesn't just do stand up. She's also backed by a band lovingly called The Rebellious Jezebels. The show was one-part comedy, one-part commentary and one-part rock event.
It's Sweet Sixteen time in our big band battle bracket bonanza. Several favorites (PPT, the Feds, Baboon, Bosque Brown and Headkrack) got bumped in Round 2. Ouch.
Among the survivors: Steve Austin, Johnny Lloyd Rollins, the Dirty Dialect Click, Smile Smile and an intriguing Black Tie Dynasty-Shanghai 5 matchup.
The fact that the Mavericks lost to Don Nelson's Warriors again (Golden State leads the season series, 2-0) has to make Mark Cuban's blood boil. You can count on that. And, in case you've been trapped in a cave, the Mavericks' 17-game winning streak is over.
Cool stat from Elias on ESPN.com: The Mavs are 0-2 when scoring at least 100 points against the Warriors this season and 30-0 when scoring at least 100 points against any other team.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has agreed to do SNL in a few weeks. If it turns out anything like his commercials, Manning's appearance might not be too bad. Let's see ... Manning as a pimp? A country star? A record producer? Imagine the possibilities. Just no football skits, please.
Sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.
I'm trying to imagine what the songs might be…"Ballod of the busom babes?" "Curse of the late-night legal brief?" "Maxed-out Visa blues?"
At a speech at the University of the Pacific in California earlier this month, The Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder gave no firm answer on when his TV show will return to Adult Swim. TheImpactOnline.com reports that before he left the stage, McGruder grabbed a freestanding mic and said, "Oh yeah, yeah. The comic strip didn't get cancelled, I pulled it. It's so hard to write something like that every day. But [Huey] will be back. As will the show. The second season is looking even better than the first. Thank you." Seems a comic strip isn't the only thing that's hard to write. We keep waiting. We keep suffering.
"Dallas symphonic rock group THE POLYPHONIC SPREE have signed with TVT RECORDS for the release of their third full-length album, THE FRAGILE ARMY. ... The album will be in stores in June 2007 (exact release date TBA). ... THE FRAGILE ARMY is The Polyphonic Spree's first release via TVT Records."
Some of the Spree's new labelmates include Brian Jonestown Massacre, Guided by Voices, Lil Jon and Sevendust. Can't wait for that Tim DeLaughter-Lil Jon collabo. YAYUH!
Find out the many ways that the Spree will shake SXSW to its foundation here.
"While conservative pundit Ann Coulter has been dropped by several newspapers for using an anti-gay epithet regarding Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, she remains in good standing with her book publisher. The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., plans an October release for her next book, If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans."
This begs for mockery.
Possible titles for books by Ann-haters:
If John Edwards Were A Republican, Ann Coulter Would Love Him
If Ann Coulter Said Something Nice, The World Would Implode
If Female Columnists Had Horsey Faces and Adam's Apples .... ahh never mind.
Lauper. Cho. Erasure. Debbie Harry. Other special guests possible -- Rufus Wainright is doing a couple of shows. All on one stage, all in one day. Heaven, I tell you.
The True Colors tour -- which benefits Human Rights Campaign -- will hit Smirnoff on June 23. Tickets are $21 to $76. They go on sale March 24. (Dallas is one of 15 cities on the tour, which starts in Vegas and finishes in LA.)
Maybe Gay Santa will put a pair of tickets under my Pride Tree.....
I know he wasn't a huge star or anything (his biggest acting role was as Jim Carrey's sidekick in The Mask), but Richard Jeni was one helluva comedian. His last HBO special, 2005's A Big Steaming Pile of Me, was fantastic. It's one of those standup specials I always stop to watch when it's on.
Get your votes in before 3 p.m. for the 32 remaining bands in our battle. Looks like the clock might strike midnight for some of the first-round upsetters, 16th-seeded Saboteur, Teenage Symphony and Strange Boys.
As Hunter says, "Remember that you can only vote once in each matchup, so don’t just click carelessly."
DJ AM -- celebrity DJ and current boyfriend of Mandy Moore -- is now a quarterly resident at Ghostbar.
This is a big deal, people. AM has residencies at some of the hottest nightclubs in the country, and he's part-owner of LAX, which is one of the clubs in LA right now. Now he's coming here? We gotta ask him why. (Well, I'm sure we know why, they're obviously paying him a good amount of money, but why BEYOND that.)
He'll be back in town on Wednesday, March 28, so mark your calendars. Maybe Mandy will come too. Can you imagine? This town's head is going to explode from the sheer amount of celeb star power.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has released its list of the Definitive 200 albums, billing it as a collection of works "that every music lover should own." Like any such list, it's sure to not please everyone. And it certainly doesn't help that some of the facts are dead wrong. (Nirvana's Nevermind released in 1996? Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run in 1984? And those were mistakes I spotted on the first page.)
Among some of the more dubious picks: Kenny G's Breathless and the soundtracks to Dirty Dancing and Titanic.
TONIGHT Central Booking and Moliciouis present Purple Crush at Zúbar. They're pop-y and funky and jazzy and hip-hop-y, all in one. Sounds like a dance party to me. 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $10.
The Dallas Fashion Week After Party at the Empire Room, hosted by Kim Dawson model Shirley Selase. This venue has always sounded pretty swanky... a good excuse to check it out. Doors at 9:30 p.m. $10 to $20.
TOMORROW
Nationally known Japanese DJ Satoshi Tomiie at the Lizard Lounge. 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. $10-$15 presale; $20 at the door.
The Jamie Foxx Unpredictable After Party at Club Che. (You know it's going to be crazy when they have their own HIRED PR PEOPLE for this event.) Doors at 9 p.m., but Jamie's not getting there -- we hear -- until midnight. Tix at Tickemaster. $50-$150.
Many moons ago, I wandered into the Barley House to quench my thirst and happened upon one of the best live acts I've ever seen. Goldenboy is incredibly talented and entertaining. I love his indie rock-swoony-soulful style--and the fact that he plays these giant pedal thingeys with his feet on stage (can you tell I am not a musician?).
Anyway, he's back, playing at Barley at 8 p.m. Sunday and in-store at Good Records at 6 p.m. Monday. See him! You will be ever so happy you did. (If you happen to be headed to SXSW, catch him at 9 p.m. March 14 at Soho Lounge in Austin.) Barley House, 5612 Yale Blvd., Dallas, 214-824-0306.
Karma Police is a film about a man, Charles (Chamblee Ferguson), who is recruited to join a secret organization called Karma Police, that closely monitors people and secretly rewards the good and punishes the bad. Things aren’t quite what they seem, though, as Charles finds out when asked to spy on his boss, Barrington (John Wesley Shipp).
This blog follows the film's shooting and the subsequent development process.
“The three day shooting schedule certainly took its toll on the cast and crew by late Sunday afternoon and if it wasn’t for the laughing that got two crew members kicked off the set, there probably would not have been a smile on the set.” producer Brandon Jones says. As the crew trudged on over the long weekend, tensions rose and exhaustion seemed to be rampant.
Friday’s scenes were shot again at the Magnolia Hotel, which seems to be a very film-friendly place to shoot. Many rules were bent and the staff was receptive to odd last-minute requests from the crew. The film’s other notable name, David Sullivan (Primer), did all of his scenes in one day, which was impressive.
Saturday seemed to be the day of shooting luxuriously, as the shooting moved to Fort Worth for scenes at the mansion on the Freeman Estate. Following that, everyone moved over to the Alliance Airport, which had approximately $100 million worth of private jets in it. The sunset scene at the hangar seemed to happen at the perfect time. Director John Venable “pulled a Hitchcock” as Jones said, by putting himself in the film as the jet’s pilot. The set also had a visit by one of the investors, which wasn’t as nerve-wracking to the people on the set as one might think, as he happened to be one of Venable’s longtime friends. The day had its warm moments, too, with the scenes with the children in the film being shot, which went amazingly well.
Sunday was the day that seemed to crack almost everyone. Venable dryly says, “Some days are better not relived”. Fatigue set in during the shoots at the Jack Evans Police Headquarters and a law office downtown, where the lawyer, Steve Stodghill, made an appearance in a scene. Venable concluded, “We need a break, but there really is not one in sight. Hopefully we can get through these last days of principal photography, take a few weeks off, and then come back to work when everyone's schedules will allow and batteries have been allowed to re-charge a bit. I hope we can pick up all of the scenes that we need to pick up in a reasonable amount of time. We've only been shooting for five weekends, but since we all either go to school or work at our "real jobs" during the week, we're exhausted. It feels like five months - only two more weekends to go...we can do it, we can do it, we can do it.”
Denton's Midlake (left) and former Dallas band The Secret Machines have been nominated for this year's Shortlist Prize. The award for best unsigned album, picked by a who's-who list of musicians and tastemakers, has returned after being called the New Pantheon award for a year (feud between prize founders, long story, no need to go into it).
The way the Shortlist works: Famous listmakers nominate albums for a long list, and then the entire panel considers all the nominees and names a shorter list and a winner. Sufjan Stevens nominated Midlake's The Trials of Van Occupanther (which I chose as the best local album of 2006) to the long list, and Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody put up the Secret Machines' Ten Silver Drops for consideration. If Midlake wins, this could propel the group to fame and recognition it hasn't yet seen. Past winners of the Shortlist Prize include Stevens himself, N.E.R.D. and TV on the Radio. Find out more here.
Had an opportunity to speak with the "Human Highlight Film" today. Former Atlanta Hawk Dominique Wilkins -- in my humble opinion, the best dunker of all time -- was in Dallas to promote blood pressure awareness, particularly among African-Americans (check out www.shootingforhealthyBP.com).
Wilkins discussed a number of things, including the nickname, which he earned while in 11th grade. Not the NBA.
"At first, I didn't like the name. It was such a stupid name," he said. "Then I thought, 'You know what ... I can really play off this name.' It was a fun ride."
Great story out there today on Padres pitcher David Wells, who took a three-week African safari during the off-season. Wells seemingly ate everything in sight during his hunt.
"Ostrich was phenomenal. Warthog was outstanding," Wells told the Associated Press. “Hardebeest, wildebeest, gazelle, all that stuff. Very, very tasty. It’s just the zebra you don’t want to eat. We shot them for bait. For lions.”
Wells even ate dik-dik (yes, the small antelope), saying that was one of his best meals. "It doesn't sound good," he said. "Cute little suckers, too."
Ed Brubaker writes several series for Marvel Comics, including Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil and Immortal Iron Fist. But the one that caught the nation's attention Wednesday was Captain America.
In issue No. 25, Cap is being led into a courthouse to face charges related to his resistance of the Superhuman Registration Act. Before he can get inside, an assassin guns him down from a window across the street.
I had two big questions after reading the comic, so I e-mailed them to Brubaker, who was kind enough to respond.
Q: Your obituary will probably start with "Ed Brubaker, the man who killed Captain America, died ...". How does that feel?
A: Hopefully, that won't be all I'm remembered for. I honestly had no idea the reaction this would get. It's kind of like no one has ever killed a comic icon before or something.
Q: What do you say to people whose reaction is "Ah, those deaths never stick. They'll bring him back in a year or so."?
A: I say for them to just keep reading the comic and see where it goes.
We’re smack-dab in the middle of Round 2 of our March Madness battle of the bands. Remember that you can only vote once in each matchup, so don’t just click carelessly. Explore the artists’ MySpace pages. Make educated choices.
To get you in the mood, I've included three of the pairings that seem especially heated. These and more will appear in tomorrow's Quick.
Baboon vs. Dirty Dialect Click: Dallas’ rapping crew certainly has enough cockiness to put up a good fight, but come on … Baboon has survived since the freakin’ early ’90s. That has to mean something.
Teenage Symphony vs. Smile Smile: I have no idea what will pull out a victory on this one, the infectious love ditties of Smile Smile or the layered, experimental pop of Teenage Symphony. It’s also a toss-up as to who is more adorable.
Calhoun vs. Black Tie Dynasty: These two Fort Worth bands are battling to see who goes on to rep Funkytown in the sweet sixteen. Calhoun has the lyrical advantage, but Black Tie can make asses shake with the greatest of ease. Too close to call.
Somebody at the State Department has a sense of humor ...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Borat, that crass chronicler of the American condition, has been singled out by the State Department as a victim of suppression in his own homeland.
The department’s annual human rights report criticizes Kazakhstan for taking action against the satirical Web site of Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of the fictional Kazakh journalist in the film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” Baron Cohen also starred in the movie.
The movie depicting Borat’s pseudo-documentary wanderings across the U.S. became an unlikely hit and earned Baron Cohen a Golden Globe acting award. It also generated complaints that Baron Cohen duped his American subjects into making racist and sexist remarks and portrayed Kazakhs in a similarly unflattering light.
Borat, for example, asserted that Kazakhs are addicted to horse urine, enjoy shooting dogs, view rape and incest as respectable hobbies and are fond of “running of the Jew” festivals.
The House of Blues in Victory Park recently announced more shows for its opening week in May. Dallas resident Erykah Badu performs May 8, followed by British rocker Joss Stone on the 9th. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic will be in town on May 10th, and the Old 97's return to their Dallas roots with a show on the 11th.
It's great to see they're already bringing in some big-time performers, with more to come. You can buy tickets starting Friday and check out a more complete list at the House of Blues' Web site.
Besides the Civil War-related titles detailed below, here are a few more that caught my eye:
Dynamo 5 No. 1: Philandering superhero Captain Dynamo's illegitimate children, who each inherited one of his powers, band together to carry on his legacy.
Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness No. 1 (of 5): Bruce Campbell’s character from the Evil Dead flicks takes his chainsaw to flesh-eating versions of Spider-Man and friends.
Dead@17 No. 3: Speaking of the undead, Arlington’s Josh Howard continues his tales of teens who just won’t die.
Hulk and Power Pack No. 1 (of 4): The latest in a series of kid-friendly titles starring Marvel's pint-sized protagonists, Power Pack.
Y: The Last Man No. 55: The series about the only male survivor of a worldwide plague is about to end. The final arc begins here.
Our homie Tahiti from the PPT crew is a better filmmaker than rapper (and he's one of our favorite rappers). And we can prove it, but you gotta go to Spielberg's On The Lot website to check it out.
Apparently the site is for some sort of filmmaker reality show for FOX. Tahiti has posted a short called Box that he shot with Brian Vilim. The two previously worked together on the great Strange Fruit Project video for "Pinball."
Here we are, two weeks after the final issue of Civil War, and I haven’t told you how it ended. Now’s as good a time as any, since the first major ramifications will be felt in comics arriving in stores today. Stop reading now to avoid the spoilers.
It seems that the folks at Nike have run out of uniform combos for the University of Oregon football team and moved on to NCAA basketball. The company unveiled a new line of uniforms Tuesday for four top programs -- Florida, Ohio State, Syracuse and Arizona. The jerseys look really tight (and by "tight," I don't mean "good"), and the shorts are long and baggy. I can't imagine that the form-fitting shirts would be comfortable to play ball in (or look good on some of the, um, larger players), but what do I know. John Stockton is my basketball fashion icon.
A report from a Blah Blah Blaher who attended the Justin Timberlake show at American Airlines Center on Monday:
Pink struck me as super-fit, and then she proved it by doing some circus-style acrobatics -- the kind where the performer hangs from fabric draped from the ceiling.
The best part of the concert was when Justin Timberlake sang a couple bars of the infamous SNL "A Special Christmas Box" skit, but he backed off that one pretty quickly (hey, I'll give him a pass -- his grandparents were there). He cracked himself up, though.
After some voting glitches yesterday, everything seems to be going fine today. So get to the site and vote on Round 2. And if you have a problem, shoot me an e-mail.
From the looks of things so far, some asses are getting handily whipped. I saw several matchups with 70 to 30 and 80 to 20 percentages. You do have a week to vote, but you shouldn't sleep on it if you want your favorite act to move on.
Feel free to weigh in with comments about who you like and why.
Jealous doesn't even begin to cover it. Sheryl Swoopes is considered a goddess at Texas Tech, my alma mater. She was the star of the 1993 Lady Raiders basketball team, the only team in Tech's history to win a national championship. Lubbock's even got a highway named after then-coach Marsha Sharp.
Kudos to Uptown restaurant Urbano for doing something cool with music and food. Their Rock n’ Roll wine dinner last night was super fun — great apps (loved the pizza), great wine, and a truly fantastic wild mushroom risotto. We ate it all, plus a big ol’ plate of grilled meats, while DJ Cee Pee played a bunch of new indie music. Son Volt started out the night; the new Arcade Fire ended it.
In a clever touch, all the music was listed on one side of the menu, and the food on the other. So you could follow along as you ate.
Seriously, how cool of a concept is that? Plus it was only $30 per person, which is a good deal considering the amount of food and wine. (And music.)
Not sure when the next one is — the owner mentioned something about researching when the next slew of indie albums is coming out — but if you have the cash, you should check it out.
In case you haven't read it yet -- and we know you have -- we talk to John Amaechi and Sheryl Swoopes in today's Orientations. I promised Brandon, who was jealous that I got to interview Sheryl, that I'd post some excerpts from both interviews that didn't make it into the paper version.
Our favorite Icelandic singer and fashion disaster is releasing a new album May 7 called Volta. She's producing it herself according to her Pitchfork interview here.
The record has a global cast as well as a ten-piece Icelandic brass section. I wouldn't expect anything less from Björk.
The votes are in, D-FW. Round one of the Quick March Madness band battle is over, and I hold in my hand a list of who will move on to the next round of voting, beginning later today.
Before I get to the news, let me warn you that in the next round, you'll only be able to vote once on each matchup. This should ease our system a bit, and at the same time, make things a little fairer.
OK, you want the results. To get all Seacrest-y, we'll get to them .... after the jump.
UPDATE: We are getting some complaints that people are having technical difficulties with the voting in Round 2. We are trying to find out what's up. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Voting is scheduled to officially begin tomorrow, so if we take all night to fix it, don't be too mad, mmkay?
There's less than an hour left to vote before polls close for the first round of the band battle at 3 p.m. today. How's it shapin' up?
Coffee Nods has a solid lead over Midlake. Looks like Bosque Brown is gonna bodyslam Fat Bastard. Big Tuck may not look so big once Saboteur gets done widdim. The Centro-Matic-Strange Boys matchup is pretty close. As is Smile Smile vs. Hourly Radio. But neither of those is as close as Headkrack vs. Deathray Davies. I could go on all day.
You can change all of this, of course, by voting. Tune in later this afternoon for results. See you on the flip side.
Just heard that Tryst, the restaurant/bar above Nellies Sports Bar (where Gilley's and the Palladium are), has closed. Phone's disconnected and the MySpace page hasn't been updated either.
The place barely made it a year. Never heard much about the restaurant, but the bar portion seemed to have lots of stuff going on every weekend.
Wonder where chef Todd Erickson's going now? He left Hector's on Henderson (which we hear has gone downhill) to start this place up. Hmmm.
Let the countdown begin: Everyone's favorite Kazakh journalist comes to DVD tomorrow. (Everyone's favorite, that is, except my grandmother, who apparently shielded her eyes for much of the movie.)
Karma Police is a film about a man, Charles (Chamblee Ferguson), who is recruited to join a secret organization called Karma Police, that closely monitors people and secretly rewards the good and punishes the bad. Things aren’t quite what they seem, though, as Charles finds out when asked to spy on his boss, Barrington (John Wesley Shipp).
This blog follows the film's shooting and the subsequent development process.
After such a trying week last week, the cast and crew regrouped (minus John Wesley Shipp, who finished all his scenes after being “abused” by two very long days) and this week was almost just as hard. On Saturday, the scenes were shot on the 54th floor of the Chase tower downtown. Due to the dust storm and 60 mph winds, the building swayed a little, which made everyone a little woozy. It also made for constant lighting adjustments. The only humor for the day came when everything was broken down and had to be carried through a wedding reception, which made for a few odd glances. On Sunday, shooting resumed with only a decent break for the cast to watch the first part of the Academy Awards and eat some dinner (cold pizza). All of the big awards went unwatched, though, in director John Venable’s former place of employment, where things were pretty quiet over the day with the exception of a cleaning crew, whose shuffling, banging and moving around was equal to nails on a chalkboard for the sound technician.
All in all, the halfway mark was passed and everyone was relieved. “This is notable. Today I had 16 pages of shooting scheduled, which is unheard of, and 8 pages of V.O. [voice over] and you’re stoned if you think you can get that done.” Venable says. “We’re getting 12.”
“Think about this”, says a tired-looking Jay Gormley, Karma Police cameraman and Channel 11 anchorman. “All of us will work from 8 [AM] to 10 [PM] and then we have to go back to our normal jobs. I can’t call in to work tomorrow or anything. It’s sweeps.”
The week finished on Monday in Fort Worth, where a segment was shot with local band Green River Ordinance, who were the recipient of an award given due to good karma. The two members named Josh played an acoustic version of their song "Come On" at The Moon, where singer Josh Jenkins also shot some dialogue.
This next entry will cover three full days of shooting, which is sure to put more dents in the already-tired group.
Our battle of the bands is gettin' crazy-like! A single vote barely makes a dent now, in case y'aint noticed. So while you still can, go to the site and support your favorite acts so they can live on to fight in another round. Voting for this round will be shut down at 3 p.m. Monday, and later in the afternoon we'll update the site with winners and break it down further right here on Blah Cubed.
Let the all-night votin' party begin!
[Finds Foghat's "Slow Ride" in iPod, turns up the volume]
Guess what? I was watching MTV Jams this morning and saw DSR's Tum Tum. The video was Caprice Musik. Kool! It's a nice track. When I was in Louisiana this past weekend they were playing it on the Shreveport hip hop stations. Good one Tum Tum. I'll go to iTunes and buy that one. Hey, where is the Tussle video?
Had some voting quirks on the site this morning, but things appear to be normal now.
The first round of our Battle of the Bands ends Monday, and we'll shut down voting at 3 p.m. to get Round 2 together, later in the day. We'll update the brackets in Tuesday's Quick.
Some more brewing upset notes:
* Mighty rapper Steve Austin (above) is trailing "Gothspell" band The Angelus, 63.32 to 36.68 percent.
* The Coffee Nods are still leading top-seeded Midlake. A 16 seed has never topped a 1 seed in the NCAA, but it might happen here.
* It might actually happen twice. Tum Tum of the DSR crew is trailing Teenage Symphony, 58.04 percent to 41.96 percent.
Variety reports that ABC is developing a half-hour comedy based on the Geico caveman commercials ("so easy a caveman can do it"). The show, being penned by the advertising copywriter behind the commercials, will chronicle the lives of three prehistoric men who battle prejudice as they attempt to live as normal thirtysomethings in modern Atlanta.
TONIGHT George Acosta -- a Miami DJ who's been described as the "pinnacle of the Miami dance scene" and a "trance cowboy" -- at the Lizard Lounge. 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. $10 to $20.
And, if you're looking to hook-up with a young, pretty thing, and maybe want to play some poker:
Social Saturdays Goes to Vegas at Purgatory, with a bunch of DJs -- including New York's Jay Dabhi and Dallas' own Kelly Reverb -- spinning dance and Top 40. Plus there's roulette and poker on the purgatory level. (This is the middle level, between hell and heaven.) 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. $10 to $15.
Went to the Nove Italiano restaurant grand opening last night at Victory Park. It’s owned by the N9NE Group, the same folks who own Ghostbar and N9NE Steakhouse. (As a side note, they’re opening up another nightclub there soon, so the N9NE domination of Victory Park is almost complete.)
Nove was beautiful inside, but it reeked a little too much of Las Vegas — super-tall ceilings, a sunken-in dining room, excessively drippy chandeliers (which changed color!), svelte waitresses in corsets. There was also a gigantic light board, a la Lite Brite -- but not as lo-fi -- taking up one wall. And “electronic paintings” from Klimt and Botticelli that morphed into something else after you stared at them for a while.
Food was good, but not spectacular. (My fave: The lobster and arugula pizza.) With such a trendy, chic space, though, people obviously won’t be going there just for the food.
I just thought it was funny that the valet guys didn't know the name of the place. "You going to Nuvo?" one asked. Then: "You going to Nova?"
Apple's iTunes has a first. It has a video for $1.99 from an independent, a first. It's a snowboarding video that runs about 39 minutes. It's a start. Maybe this will help the independents. I'll buy it just to show some love.
* Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwellhas apologized for saying on their air that NBA game official Violet Palmer should get back in the kitchen and make him some bacon and eggs.
* Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who seems to be rumored to buy another franchise every other month, denied he's making an offer to purchase the Chicago Cubs.
* Rangers shortstop Michael Young is finally going to get paid like a star.
* Texas Motor Speedway canceled its International Race of Champions event this year because IROC lacks a title sponsor. However, TMS is turning itself into a giant movie theater for those who had tickets.
Friday night rock/hip-hop group Michael Franti and Spearhead will be at the Gypsy Tea Room as part of the "Yell Fire" tour. The album is a follow-up to a documentary, "I Know I'm Not Alone," that Franti filmed on a 2004 trip to Iraq, Gaza, Jordan and Israel. He and some friends traveled to the Middle East with little more than a video camera and a guitar to experience living in a war-torn region. His lyrics are powerful without being heavy-handed, and his message focuses more about moving forward than what went wrong.
They also perform in Austin on Saturday, which the city has declared "Michael Franti Power to the Peaceful Day."
It's day three of our Battle of the Bands, and some acts are on the comeback trail.
No. 1 seed Midlake is closing the gap with the Coffee Nods, which has been threatening a major upset in Round 1.
Second-seed Sorta (above) has caught up and passed the Dirty Dialect Click. This surge might have been sparked by Corby Davidson's urgent plea for Sorta votes last night on The Ticket. (Danny Balis, producer/afternoon cloud on the Hardline, is also in Sorta.) Made for some fun Community Quick Hits.
I know it's not Tuesday night, but this sounded too cool to wait until next week. Spike's hosting an old-school hip-hop party every Tuesday this month, with some of my fave DJs on the bill -- Willie Trimmer, DJ Love, Clever Monkeys. The flyer even has the old "YO! MTV Raps" symbol. Love it.
If, like me, you might use this as an excuse to buy some retro-inspired sneaks, may we suggest going here or here.
Remember this Vanity Fair cover? Of course you do. We all do. And because of that, it's No. 2 in the American Society of Magazine Editors' top 40 magazine covers of the past 40 years. Lots of iconic designs in there.
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"Winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Titanic is one of the most unforgettable epics ever made inspiring the beautiful tribute: Titanic Barbie doll.
From the Beastie Boys:
From AP:
Started the last night of SXSW out in style, at the Daptone showcase at Emo's Annex. Funkalicious horn ensemble The Budos Band warmed up the crowd quite nicely before 
"Dallas symphonic rock group THE POLYPHONIC SPREE have signed with TVT RECORDS for the release of their third full-length album, THE FRAGILE ARMY. ... The album will be in stores in June 2007 (exact release date TBA). ... THE FRAGILE ARMY is The Polyphonic Spree's first release via TVT Records."
Denton's 
Our homie Tahiti from the PPT crew is a better filmmaker than rapper (and he's one of our favorite rappers). And we can prove it, but you gotta go to Spielberg's 
