Not Your Usual Valentine’s Day Post

Valentine’s Day – the time we’re all supposed to show that special someone how much we love them… or so says Hallmark. Just because tradition tells you when to show these signs of affection though doesn’t mean they can tell you how to do it. That is why today I’m dedicating this post to sharing some non-traditional ways to spend your day. These can be for singles or couples, and shared with friends or lovers. The point is to have fun without doing the whole “dinner and a movie” thing that is your typical romantic evening. So, in no particular order, let’s get started…

  • Girls/guys night – I polled some folks and a popular thing seems to be getting together with a group of friends. One lady said she gets together with her sisterwives and puts on her fancy dress for a night with the ladies. Another fella said he was planning on spending the night playing D&D (that’s Dungeons & Dragons for you non-nerdy types) with his buddies. I like this idea, and it’s kinda similar to what I used to do in college, which brings me to my next point…
  • Stay in and watch a movie – This used to be my go-to for today. Usually I go for Boondock Saints or something equally violent. My boyfriend used to do similar, but with the addition of he’d use the day to clean his guns. (Note: we live on Long Island where this is perfectly legal and normal to own and maintain firearms). Obviously the second part is optional, but having a movie night, either by yourself or with your friends, is a great way to spend any evening, so why should tonight be any different?
  • Spend a night on the town – There are plenty of things to do besides go out to a fancy restaurant you can’t even really afford. Try going to your local bar, where you might see some familiar faces. My favorite watering hole is Project Parlor in Brooklyn. Tonight they’re having an event called “Everybody Gets Lei’d“. There will be a night full of DJs, good music, and of course lots of leis. This is where I’d be tonight if I didn’t have work. Which, I was going to suggest everyone come to the awesome burlesque show I’ll be at tonight after my shift, but I just got word about an hour ago that it is sold out. While I’m pleasantly surprised, I’m going to have to suggest you save the burlesque for tomorrow when D20 gives you their Villain-tines Day celebration. If you want a fancy dinner at fast food prices, try McDonald’s, which is offering candlelit service in certain locations. Perfect for the couple who likes eating off a white tablecloth, but can barely afford said cloth, forget the food it is served on.

I’m sure there are plenty of other fun things you could be doing this day without giving in to the hype and madness that tends to go along with it. Personally I’m going to work tonight, but spending tomorrow watching Warm Bodies, the romantic zombie movie, while devouring some discount chocolate I will likely pick up at 2am tonight when I finally stumble home from my job. What is everyone else doing? Send me your ideas and maybe they’ll be included in next year’s V-Day special here. Whatever you do today, don’t let the pressure (or annoyingly cute couples) get to you. Have fun and enjoy, today and every day.

Sherlock Keeps Us Guessing

Editor’s note: This post would’ve gone up on Monday, but I used this space to say goodbye to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who passed away the day before. Having said that, the Sherlock season finale was a great mental distraction from all the terrible realities life throws at us occasionally. I hope the show and this post give you a nice mental boost to get you through the rest of the week.

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog should know that I am a huge fan of the series Sherlock and it’s writer Stephan Moffat. The series 3 finale, which aired this past Sunday in the U.S., definitely did not let me down. I’m not going to spoil too much of the show since I believe half the fun is in the surprise, but if even my hinting at things will ruin it for you then you should wait until you have watched before you continue reading.

If you’re still with us then you know the finale had a LOT of surprises. The theme of the episode was secrets, both the power they have and what people will do to keep them. Discoveries were made about key characters, and there was the usual Holmes & Watson’s lives being endangered, as tends to happen in the finale. What was different was the ending. Yes, it was a cliff hanger, but not in the way you expected it to be. While I loved ever minute of the episode (and pretty much stopped breathing for an hour and thirty minutes) my favorite part was how the episode seemed to be over and the credits about to roll, but suddenly the rug was pulled out from under us. It was as if Moffat had yelled “PSYCH!” and completely fooled us. I’ve never been so excited to be tricked in my life.

I’m sure we’re all eagerly awaiting the return of our favorite detective. Good news: It seems that the BBC is making a push for a Christmas episode this year. Possibly bad news: Moffat has looked at the ratings for each season and took notice to the fact each season has been better than the last. That in itself is actually great news, but he takes it into account that there was a large break in between each series. So, while we might be getting a new adventure soon, it seems we also might be looking at a bit of a wait for a full new season. Mixed messages to be sure, but it’s also understandable considering the major players in the series all have other projects they are working on as well. However long we have to wait, I’m sure Moffat will make it worth our while.

RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman

I’m sure we all heard the news yesterday as it swept the internet – Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his apartment in the West Village (NYC). He was 46 years old. The cause of death was suspected to be a drug overdose, heroin to be specific. He was found with the needle still in his arm.

I found this out because of several posts about it on Facebook, and it broke my heart. I didn’t know the man personally, and rarely ever get saddened by a famous person’s death, but this one was different for some reason. I’ve seen many of Hoffman’s movies, but the one that sticks out in my mind the most was his award-winning role in Capote. Let me preface this by saying I have had a copy of “In Cold Blood” sitting on my bookshelf for quite some time, but have never gotten around to reading it until recently. It was given to me by a friend who was moving and wanted to have less stuff that needed to be tucked away into boxes. I took it and a couple other items, but never got around to actually reading them.

My second preface in this story is that a lot of the movies I watch have been sitting in my Netflix Instant queue for quite some time before they get viewed. Usually I finally get around to watching them because Netflix is about to take them off Instant. This was the case with Capote. I’m sorry I didn’t watched it sooner, because I believe it is one of the best films I have ever seen in my short little lifetime. This was thanks very largely to Hoffman’s chilling portrayal of the title character. After finishing the movie, I immediately picked up my copy of “In Cold Blood,” and have not been able to put it down since. I also looked up the other works that Hoffman has been in and realized I had seen quite a few of them already without realizing it (or at least without making the connection). Maybe I just never cared who he was until the Oscars, which is a shame because he is brilliant. This is the same reason it was sad to see him die so young. Whether the person is famous or not it’s always said to see a life ended too soon, but it’s even harder when you think about what they could have done with the time that was stolen from them. The fact that it was something like a drug overdose also makes me angry, because that means you let an addiction to a terrible thing control your life. I’m sorry to see him go, and I’m sorry for the reasons.

I had to keep myself off the internet for the rest of the day after hearing the news. This is my first time on in about 24 hours. I needed the time to process everything and also not let it get me down. I still can’t completely wrap my brain around it, but at least I hopefully spit out a coherent post. Sorry if it’s just a bunch of rambles. Equally sorry if it’s a bummer compared to my usually upbeat self, but it’s something I needed to do so I could move on without it hovering over me all day. Now I keep on living with the silent prayer for the family he left behind. They are the ones hurt most by this, and even though it is none of my business and outside of my control, I still am sorry anyone has to go through that, and I hope it gets better soon.

Trilogy Syndrome

I know I’m behind the times, but I just watched Taken 2, saw they were planning a third one, and had a few thoughts about the movie industry. (I also had the secondary thought of how I hadn’t posted in a week and this would make a good filler piece… so enjoy the fluff).

My real thoughts on Taken were as follows:

1) It wasn’t as good as the first one, but also wasn’t as bad as people claimed. This tends to happen to me a lot with sequels. I almost never hate them as much as everyone else, with the exception of The Dark Knight Rises because fuck you for completely diverging from the comic book and making Bane such a joke. I get so irrationally angry about that movie that every time I see it on tv (which is a lot these days) I yell at my boyfriend to just keep moving and no one will get hurt.

2) My second thought about Taken 2 was that it felt like a good way to end the series. You had two better-than-average movies. Leave it at that…. But no, we can’t because we have to make everything into a trilogy these days. Now, usually what happens is the first movie is great, the second one is terrible, and the third one picks back up to be on par (or close to) what the first one brought us. There’s another possibility though, and I’ve seen it a lot more recently than before. Lately what I’m seeing is movies start off great, so execs decide they should turn this into a trilogy and make buckets of cash off it. The second movie will probably be almost as good as the first, but rarely ends up being the masterpiece the original was. The exception that immediately comes to mind is The Dark Knight, because not only were the story and action excellent, but Heath Ledger gave a better performance than anyone could have possibly imagined coming from a superhero movie. The third movie in a trilogy, however, is rarely memorable as anything other than a waste of time. I think Taken is going to follow this formula. The first one was great, and the second one was pretty good, but the third one will most likely end up taking a great concept and making it feel old and used up.

Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. I honestly wasn’t sure how they would make a sequel to Taken work, but I think they did a fair job. I just don’t see how they continue from here without boring us. Hopefully they say “challenge excepted” and it turns out to be a great film, instead of a waste of time.

“My Name is Brook Pridemore, and I live in Brooklyn New York”

I consider myself lucky enough to call myself both a fan and a friend of Brook Pridemore. This musician from Brooklyn has had an interesting journey in his musical career, and now you can own a piece of that history with the live tape of one of his last solo shows he is releasing. The tape is very aptly called, “My Name is Brook Pridemore, and I live in Brooklyn New York.”

Of the record, Pridemore explains, “I made sure to include songs from all five albums, as well as a few B-sides. I don’t like greatest hits packages. Greatest hits packages are for people who’ve died. If one, however, were looking for an introduction to my songs, this would be a good starting point. The record was made at Sidewalk Cafe, in the East Village, because that’s where I learned everything I know about being a song and dance man.”

From what I’ve heard of his work so far, everything he knows is a lot. Pridemore has an honesty and passion in his music that is refreshing in a world full of fake, insincere people who may or may not be in this business for the wrong reasons. I’ve seen his live show before, and it takes the energy and cranks it up to 11. The release of the album, which will be available on cassette and as a digital download, is tomorrow, Wednesday, January 29th at Mercury Lounge. Don’t miss this chance to be blown away by some honestly good music.

Pandemics/Inspector 7/Mephiskapheles @ Revolution

Editors note: This post should’ve come sooner but I didn’t have internet for most of the weekend.

Friday night The Pandemics had a big show opening for Inspector 7 & Mephiskapheles at Revolution Bar & Grill in Amityville, NY. Everyone played a great set. Unfortunately my camera has been having some focusing issues, and by the end of the night I had mostly given up on getting anything publishable. That is why Mephiskapheles gets half the photos the other two bands have. Sorry guys, but I promise I liked you and had fun. Also, thanks for saving “Bumblebee Tuna” for last because it’s one of the most fun songs by any band ever; AND shout out to the lovely couple who got engaged right before the song started. Here’s to a good long musical life together.

Fooling April @ Bowery Electric

I first discovered Fooling April when I was in college, through Myspace of all places. Yes, back when Myspace was still a thing I found this band from Philly and saw they conveniently had a show scheduled in NYC on my birthday. I sent them a message telling them how excited I was about my accidental birthday show, which was at The Bitter End before they started getting super strict about their 21+ status.

After the band finished their set, I jumped on stage to introduce myself. They were pleased to see me and said if they had realized I had made the show they would’ve sung me happy birthday! To a shy girl from NJ who wasn’t used to being in the Big City, this made me very happy.

Fast forward years later to the present, and Fooling April still have some spark left in them. This past Saturday they played Bowery Electric, and yours truly was there to take pictures. Hopefully you enjoy them, and hopefully I get another chance to see this band again in a few months rather than a few years.

Sherlock, The Doctor, and Brilliant Writing

Sherlock season 3 started last night (for those of us in the U.S.), and instead of yet another review of what worked and what didn’t in the episode, I thought I might do a little piece about what I consider to be some of the most brilliant writing I’ve ever seen. No, this is not going to be a piece gushing over Stephen Moffat’s evil genius (at least not entirely). That’s not to say I don’t think he’s brilliant, but someone else was brilliantly writing the character of Sherlock Holmes before Moffat ever could have dreamed he’d be voicing the greatest detective of all time.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced us to Sherlock Holmes in 1887… just a little bit before Stephen Moffat’s time. The character has been in 4 novels and 56 short stories. Each story that Moffat uses in his series is at least somewhat based off one of these stories.

*mild spoilers coming up if you’ve never read Sherlock Holmes and/or didn’t watch the S2 final of the most recent series*

********************************************************************************

For those of you still with us, you will remember that S2 ended with Sherlock faking his death by making it look like he jumped off a building. Like everything else in the series, this is a modern retelling of a story originally written by Conan Doyle. In the original, Holmes falls to his death from a waterfall instead, but the motive is the same… he must fool his enemies into thinking he is dead.

While the original stories were written by Conan Doyle, Moffat does a brilliant job translating everything into a modern setting. Does anyone remember the animated Sherlock Holmes series “Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century”? That, too, had Holmes in a modern setting, but with far less satisfying results. When I first heard about the current Sherlock series, I was skeptical that a modern version of Holmes could work. The only reason I gave it a chance was because Moffat was behind the wheel, and I had faith he would be true to the original content. Just like he did when taking over Doctor Who, Moffat took an old concept and continued its legacy. It can’t be a coincidence that two of the only things on television I look forward to with such anticipation are both written by the same man. I know there are people who will disagree with me and claim that Doctor Who has lost something since Moffat took over, but I believe he has done a fine job keeping the spirit of the show alive. I also find it amazing he is able to keep both series consistently good, even if there has to be a bit of space in between each new season. No matter how long I have to wait to get my fix, I always am satisfied in the end and will keep looking forward to each new moment until the last, which hopefully is a long time from now.

Sherlock S3 Ep 2 will air on PBS Sun, January 26th. You can catch up with S1 & 2 on Netflix Instant.

Six Strings and Gasoline

A little background before this review… My friend Jonny Swagger is in a band called “The Swaggerin’ Growlers“. That band started out as him banging out tunes on an acoustic guitar at his house. Recently, he decided to go back to his roots and strip some Growlers songs back down to a more acoustic sound.

I say “stripped down,” but it doesn’t feel like anything is missing here. Swagger mixes drums, harmonica, and guitar beautiful together, and does everything all on his own. The name of this one-man band with the power of 5 (which was the number of members in the Growlers at one point) is Tail Light Rebellion, and what started as a side project and experiment has become something better than even Swagger himself could have dreamed possible.

He shouldn’t have been surprised though. From the first few notes of “Six Strings and Gasoline,” the debut album from TLR, I fell in love in a whole new way with songs I had been familiar with for years. Usually I am very adverse to change, never liking when an artist remixes old songs they have in their repertoire, but I was thoroughly impressed (and even excited) by what is presented in SSaG. There is a life in these songs that you wouldn’t imagine possible from such a seemingly simple idea.

The obvious disclaimer here is that, like I said at the beginning, Swagger and I are very good friends (and have been for years). Having said that, I am honest to God impressed with what he’s done here, and proud to know him. Don’t take my word for it though. Listen for yourself. If you like what you hear (and live in the Boston area) you can show him your love at his homecoming show at the Midway Cafe on Sunday, January 19th. It promises to be a great show, and I’d travel from NYC myself if I didn’t already have plans.

Music worth traveling for, that’s what TLR can give you… and that is a very good (and rare) thing.

Music For Car Commercials

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Brooklyn-based indie rock band Libel, and I have to say they’ve grown a lot. One thing hasn’t changed though – from the moment I first saw them they immediately impressed me. The music was loud and fun and made me want to rock with them. This was something I could get behind.

The music itself wasn’t the only thing that hooked me in that initial meeting, it was also how much the band seemed to enjoy doing what they do. Clearly they have taken that to the next level with their album “Music For Car Commercials“. It has the usual pop/rock sound you would expect from an indie band, but it’s like they’ve taken that sound and decided to have fun with it. I talked to lead singer Gavin Dunaway and asked him exactly what he was trying to do with this album.

“We’re just trying to make music with no ulterior motives,” was his response. He went on to say, “I wanted to write songs about refusing to feel powerless in a world where control seems to constantly elude us.”

Based on our conversation I would say he was talking about commercialism and how sometimes a great band doesn’t get recognized until their song ends up in a car commercial or something similar. Pretty deep stuff, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a light-hearted side to things. Mostly he wanted to “prove there’s still some life left in rock and roll”… and “wanted to make an album that defied subgenres”.

“I was hoping Libel could sound like something people couldn’t put their finger on.”

That’s the statement that hit me the hardest, because I can honestly say I spent half the record trying to decide who they reminded me of and coming up empty-handed. Maybe that’s because Libel has a unique sound, something familiar that is really it’s own thing. And that’s ok too. Not everyone needs to be a carbon copy of any one band or use some generic formula. If that’s you’re thing, fine. If not, there’s Libel.

Of all the songs in the album, I think my favorite was “Tomorrow’s Children,” which coincidentally is the song chosen for their music video.

Gavin’s wife Michela Buttignol was the creator of said video, and in my opinion she did a fantastic job.

As I said in the opening, I have always been impressed with what Libel has to offer. It may have been awhile since that first time, but I look forward to seeing if their live show has evolved as much as their music has. We’ll all have a chance to see for ourselves, as they have a show coming up this Friday, January 17th at Radio Bushwick.