Rastro

The subtle line between friendship and romance is tantalizingly erased in this
2008 raunchy comedy. I call it raunchy because most of the (1 hr. 41 min) movie
is about porno. The language is rough and the subject matter sometimes harsh!

At one point, the duo are shacked up in their platonic apartment with a bum-can
of fire in between them. "We could make a porno to raise the rent!" Zak muses.

She's fine with it eventually. And that's when the comedy starts rollin'

She soon discovers that she's more into Zak than she had previously believed.

There's a subtle reference to Capra's It's A Wonderful Life when the movie
cast appear at the door with a bag of money: That is, they paid the electric bill!

There's a lot to like in the dissection and description of relationships and
human sexual activity. Protagonist Zack (Seth Rogen) is foul-mouthed and raw.

That's OK: It's necessary and I suppose fits in with the plot-line. I walked
away wondering just what porno was doing in Life. Zak and Miri make a porno, ***
Bring earplugs.

(full disclosure:Bassist Stu is an amigo)

HeadRattlers
Frank Rogers - Guitar and Vox
Stu Constantine - Bass
Pete Christopherson - Drums
Sal Salta - Guitar
Anthony Masi - Sax

We used to call him Taco. He played an Uzi: A black fender with a couple of stickers and a few mods. Now he's the bassist of a Really good cover band. Saturday night, they raged through about twenty-five major hits from the 70's and 80's. Without fear.

Including a memorable tune off of Emotional Rescue. What is it about the Stones that makes women dance? Dunno. Maybe the organ!

The lead-singer recently had his appendix out. Yet he still managed to kick-out-the jam.
The keys? You ask. A genius with two boards.

The sax was an elder gent who definitely wasnot playing his first gig! He looked like a musician. And there was the drummer and Stu: emoting soul
through a four-string instrument of revelation.


Ice skating is an ancient tradition (apparently) and I highly recommend it for chasing the January Blues. As another friend R. says:
It's the cure for what ills you. As were the
Head Rattlers on a cold cold winter night
in smalltown Old Greenwich, CT. The best nights out are often the coldest, the snowiest, the hardest to get out and going. It's the humidity I propose. That which nobody controls and is simultaneously everywhere...
Picture used without permissions

If you haven't already, go pick up A Cure For Gravity a book by musician Joe Jackson.
It's a twisted tale of one musician's Love affair with Music. The son of twisted parents,
Joe claims that music saved his life, and I don't doubt it. I've been listening to Joe
caroon about unfaithful lovers, skateboard salesmen and jilted men wearing suits since
about 1982; and Joe's seen it all -- the perfect foil for adsolescence: a role model!?

Rain is both a CD and a DVD: You get them both. Here are the songs on the CD:

1. Invisible Man
2. Too Tough
3. Citizen Sane
4. Wasted Time
5. The Uptown Train
6. King Pleasure Time
7. Sold (so low)
8. Rush across the road
9. Good Bad Boy
10. A place in the Rain

Sound familiar? It shouldn't. They're all new as of 2008. But the song titles seem familiar to you? Joe Jacksonish?
I agree. He's got a system for naming songs. Joe's on keyboards on the DVD, bowing between songs.

Joe Jackson, Rain **** too short!

Two Boots in Bridgeport, CT is an excellent venue for pizza and bands.

I saw the Crustaceans perform -- a garage band with Surf roots!
The guitarist claimed to have had a mid-life crisis before picking up his 6.
And I believed him. Steady notes and solid chords but a tad shaky...

There's more Surf to come tonight.
(Saturday) Two boots has a solid celebrity pizza menu and plenty of beers to choose from.
Saddle up in a booth or enjoy a table by the stage. Two Boots, Bridgeport, CT ****

I was drifting through the Bargain bin at the local video store when I came across this gem for less than five dollars.
"Spin the wheel" I thought as I dug it out and blew the dust off it and dragged it to the counter. Now six months ago,
I might not have had the patience for a casual game like this. But then, I hadn't read: What can we learn from vg's?

The book's thesis is that little kids are learning ALOT from games. Especially about learning and I'm beginning to see
what tha author is talking about. In JN, you play a grammar school science whiz who has to solve some intricate problems and dilemmas.
Now, my school didn't look like this, but one gets the right idea immediately. The graphics are 3D and anything but subtle.

JN has teachers and objects to interact with. I've just started the gameplay so I'll return to JN when I progress a tad...

Jimmy Neutron for PS2 *** Jet Fusion, THQ recommended for little kids mostly.

Porchstock

If you think you're toiling in obscurity, you probably are
or so goes the old saw. Have you heard of Camper Van Beethoven? Leader D. Lowry (Cracker) continues to pump out
the high-Q no-name musika. I mean that as a compliment. I
believe the guy's great! Violins, harmonicas and banjos
round out this simply awesome DVD. There's some real obscure
tunes here culled from what is apparently the ramifications
of his Camper band. He's always unassuming and unpresumptuous, which a generation like my own can love.

Also included are the popular gems which probably will make
you say: I've heard this before!

Girl, you're a beautiful animal
I've got some funny ideas about what sounds good.
Take the skinheads bowling
What the world needs now is a new kind of tension
Cuz the old one just bores me to death

Look for the porch jam session that reminds me of many a night
of my own TOILING IN OBSCURITY on a porch (great plains).

Again, huge fan of a huge disc. An undiscovered gem of a disq

Carl Sagan was a curious fellow.

I should know. I've read just about all I can find by and about him. Including the unauthorized bio.

These are some facts about Carl Sagan:
He did not believe in a creator.
He died young of a rare disease.
He was base d at Cornell in Ithaca, NY
He smoked marijuana.
He had hoped to find life on other planets.
He authored numerous texts including Cosmos and Comet.
He was raised in Brooklyn, NY
His life partner was Ann Druyan

Of all of these facts, probably the most startling is that he never believed in a God.
All of the science, the exploration and discovery. All the wonderment and beauty and he still couldn't accept that the Universe had a single creator! So what?

Well, this fact is handled well in Carl's movie project: Contact. Wherein, humans make contact with extra-terrestial life and make a voyage to visit it. Jodi Foster plays the upstart idealist
who does the heavy lifting. Her romantic nemesis is M. McConaughy - the religious scholar, a man of faith. They do the obvious jousting and jostling and the movie is refreshingly devoid of TOO-MUCH-SKIN. A lot of really juicy tidbits of Science, belief and tech are brought to life.
It's not just a picture for nerds however. James Woods is an awesome authoritative technocrat. A realist. Clashing ideologies make for revealing truths!

I picked it up USED for $1 and recommend revisiting this 1997 showpiece of the future.
If nothing else, for the shot of Palmer Joss holding the compass in the palm of his hand!
Or: The opening sequence of Earth pulled back with radio transmissions from the 50's to the present day. Highly effective people were busy on this one. Isn't it amazing what people you never see do in your life? Who thanks these stagehands? How did they get there?
Incidentally, does anyone see the root word in Compassion? You see passion? I see compass.

Watch it with an open mind...you'll see Jody in a wormhole. It's not as big as the hole in Carl's life, however, as the theme of the film seems to be about what you fill that hole with

The life of Carl Sagan included many people. Including Rob Lowe apparently. e

Screen, stage and canvas.

Which of these three art forms do you consider IFFY for being considered a Fine Art?

For me, it's screen. There is so much shlock out there as film and Hollywood continues to generate cheese. Amazaing considering the stringen t requirements of film. A movie needs --
a steady script
actors
camera
lights
editing
a set
and no shortage of cash, time and patience. Not to mention the editing(!)

In the end, one hopes to raise a few questions if you're an artist. Or to r aise some cash if you're a capitalist. Nowhere does the possibility of generating a Wow! experience enter the equation.

With this mindset, I was pleasantly surprised by recent UCONN grad Michael P. O'Toole's entry to the biz with his take on 'Traps' by F. Durrenmatt. The drama considers the plight of a travelling salesman (1960's America) who happens upon a retired judge's home when his car breaks down.

The judge and his two retired cronies apparently spend their evenings filling the shoes of their for m e r working lives. That is, they hold court at the dinner table. I won't reveal any more of the story except to say that the film requires a facil knowledge of courtroom procedure and protocol. This is not Barbershop kids. It's high drama!

After the fi lm was over, Mr. O'Toole hosted an impromptu Q&A wherein, he likened the play (movie) to some WWII era conflict which I found fascinating. It included reference to Martin Luthur's anti-Sematism. Heavy.

As a critic, I have a laundry list of criteria I use t o determine a film's quality. Does the film put the viewer in the shoes of the protagonist? Are we able to feel the salesman's responses to the sometimes elegant interrogation? I'd say, Yes we do. He confesses to be enjoying is evening and I thought to myse lf, hmmm...I'm enjoying at as well.

Summarizing, look out for Michael O'Toole's future films. He's ambitious and intelligent and it shows in his craft. Amazing first effort.

Note: In the performance I attended there were some pretty serious sound issues, alas.
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