Category Archives: Media & Entertainment

Barb rubs elbows with celebs

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crossroads-barb-pam

If you write a nice check (for a good cause) you get your picture taken with the celebrities. (Barb 2nd from the left; the lady in the middle is Pam, a high school friend).

The artists appearing with Sheryl Crow were pretty much unknown to me. I knew their fathers but haven’t followed their careers. And they play country music. “Redneck Country” in the case of Noll Billings, singer for Blackjack Billy. Looks like David Nail had a #1 song in 2012. They all have wikipedia pages if you’re curious. Blackjack Billy; Trent Tomlinson; David Nail

I assume it’s damned hard to make it in the music business so it does seem noteworthy that four kids from a small (10,000) town in southeast Missouri managed to do so well.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

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I’m a big fan of the Matthew Scudder novels of Lawrence Block. So I cringed a bit when I saw someone had made a movie based on the character. With Liam Neeson no less. In all fairness, I thought the first Taken movie was a pretty good flick and I didn’t see the sequals. I just didn’t see him as Matthew Scudder. But damned if I didn’t enjoy every minute of this movie.

The name Scott Frank (director) didn’t ring a bell but he wrote Minority Report; The Wolverine; Marley & Me; Out of Sight; Get Shorty. The last two being among my favorites. Turns out the guy can direct, too.

Blackhat

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Went to see Blackhat today. What can I tell you, I’m a sucker for any movie dealing with computers and the Internet. And Michael Mann has directed some of my favorite movies. While sitting through this longish (2 hours+) movie kept reminding myself to suspend my disbelief. Like from the observation deck of that tall-ass building in Dubai. Or better yet, put your disbelief on a bus bound for Boise.

I think the Jason Bourne/Matt Damon movies ruined this genre for me. Few films measure up. And the villain in Blackhat? Meh. And it’s not like Michael Mann can give us a good villain. Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde and Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter; Wes Studi’s Magua in The Last of the Mohicans; even Tom Cruise’s tool-cool-for-school hit man in Collateral. I fear that Mr. Mann’s mojo is on the same bus to Boise.

TV Night

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I don’t recall the last time I watched more TV in a single evening. Wasn’t planned, we just sort of stumbled from one show to the next. A new series from Amazon; one from Netflix; and a new one on the Syfy channel.

  • The Man in the High Castle, based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning novel, and executive produced by Ridley Scott, explores what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States.
  • 12 Monkeys. I was a big fan of the Bruce Willis (Brad Pitt) movie so wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. We’ll see if it has legs.
  • The big surprise of the evening was Lilyhammer. Steven Van Zandt plays a NY mobster who turns in his pals and has to relocate with a new identity and chooses Lilyhammer (Norway!) I think there have been two seasons of this so I’m late to the dance but boy I enjoyed the first installment. Van Zandt is playing the very same wise guy we got to know in the Sopranos but it some how works in the new setting.

Drone video of New York City

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The three days I spent in NYC last May were great. (One day with an experienced native-NY’er guide.) But the video below shows a NY I didn’t see. Couldn’t see. But one day will.

What would I be willing to pay for a real-time virtual drone tour of NY (or Paris or Rome or Tokyo)? I thinking high-quality goggles with nat sound (drone motors someone filtered out) or real-time voice-over by pilot/guide. Or just music bkg if I choose.

[Stipulation: There is no substitute for being there. “Real” experiences are superior to “virtual” experience. For now.]