Frost/Nixon and UKZ

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in New York City, seeing two very different shows. In the early afternoon, I went to see the film "Frost/Nixon," and in the evening, I went to see the "new" prog band UKZ, featuring Eddie Jobson from the late 1970's prog band UK.

But, to start with, I went into the city around noonish, to catch the 1:50pm showing of "Frost/Nixon." I enjoy reading history, and learning more about the story behind the story of what has happened in the past, so I believed this movie would be a good way of seeing what happened behind the scenes with the Frost/Nixon interviews, which I do vaguely remember from my childhood.

Of course, I know that any recreation of history is simply that, a recreation, but going into it with that light, these types of films can be a great way to get a sense of the atmosphere of the time.

With that all being said, my verdict is that I enjoyed the movie. I didn't realize the struggle that Frost had to get these interviews funded and off the ground. I knew that Frost was a television personality, but I didn't know that at the time, he was considered to be a lightweight, and that an interview with Nixon wouldn't really have fit in with his past career. The movie painted Frost as someone who at first, was really only interested in the interview as a way to get Nixon on television, to be the "first" to really interview him after his resignation in 1974. However, the movie showed Frost truly getting interested in getting the 'truth' from Nixon after a late night phone call from Nixon himself during the course of the interviews.

I'm curious if that call happened, or if it was a creation for the film. More to learn...

Frank Langella played Nixon, and while he doesn't particularly have a resemblance to the old President, he did inhabit the character like an old glove. Langella had played Nixon in the stage play that the movie is based upon, so he did have a familiarity with the character that another actor might not have attained in the time it took to make the film.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. There was enough of the 'process' behind the interviews, to have it be a compelling story, but I would have actually liked *more* about that process. And Nixon himself could have had more development as a character. Perhaps this is just my own hankering for history, that I always want more from these films. I know that the original interviews have been released on DVD recently, it may be worth picking up to see what the interviews were truly like, and if there are any behind the scenes stories in extras on the discs.

Not exactly what you'd think of as a compelling rental or purchase, but for me, it's something that I would really be interested in seeing.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes, most certainly. I think it does a great job of showing the time, and the personalities behind the characters. My main critique, is that I did just want *more* from the film.

Then, after checking out a local arcade on 42nd Street after the movie, where I played trivia games for about an hour, I headed to the Town Hall for the premiere of UKZ, a five piece band featuring Eddie Jobson on keyboards and electric violin, Trey Gunn on Warr Guitar, Marco Minnerman on drums, Aaron Lippert on vocals, and Alex Machacek on guitar. This band is a 'recreation' of the band UK, which Jobson was a part of in the late 1970's, which at the time included (at different times), John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, and Terry Bozzio.

So, with Jobson really the only carryover from the old band, what to expect? My mentality was to go into the show with minimal expectations. I was going for fun, to enjoy myself, and to see a lineup of great musicians going for it. And fortunately, that is what I got.

The evening started off with Tony Levin's "Stick Men" project, featuring Levin and Michael Bernier on Stick, and Pat Mastelotto on drums. They performed for about 40 minutes, a variety of material written and performed with gusto, with lots of interlocking parts and fun playing. Levin and Bernier would alternate holding down rhythm, and playing lead lines on their Sticks. I enjoyed the material, but I think that some of it did begin to sound the same over the performance. One piece stood out for me though, where both Levin and Bernier used bows on their Sticks to make sound, versus the normal tapping that players usually use on the Stick. It was more a more breathy and atmospheric piece, some of which reminded me of the middle section of Pink Floyd's "Echoes." I'd like to see more experimental pieces from the Stick Men in the future, I'd gladly go see them again. Levin is always fun to see perform, and the band can really develop over time.

UKZ performed for slightly under 2 hours. If this band can sound this tight after what I would imagine are fairly minimal rehearsals, then I can only imagine what they could produce after a real series of shows. The band and performance was great! The first song was the UK classic "In the Dead of Night," which sounded both like the older arrangement, but had a great new edge to it. "Radiation," a new UKZ song followed, which while Crimson-like in its sound, was unique enough to keep this listener interested. The UK song "Carrying No Cross" followed, which was a really wonderful version, with emotional singing from Lippert.

The middle section of the concert included a number of solo spots, from Trey (with Marco the drummer), Eddie's piano and violin solo spot, a solo spot from the guitarist, and a drum solo which was both entertaining to see and amazing to listen to. To my taste, I think there was a bit *too* much of the solo spots in the show, but as a new band, UKZ still doesn't have a lot of new material to play live. If the band continues, and I hope it does, I would hope the solo bits would be cut down. I prefer solo bits that are incorporated into full band pieces...

The band played a few more new pieces, and ended the full set with another UK song, which I'm drawing a blank on, what the song actually was. I'm sure the full setlist is published on one of the other prog sites. The encores were King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic II," with Levin and Mastelotto joining in on the fun. It was great to hear the violin lines in that song played by a violin again! The final song was UK's "Caesar's Palace Blues," with (I think), the song "The Sahara of Snow" from Bruford (co-written by Jobson) tagged onto the end of the piece.

All in all, a good day spent in the city. The movie was well worth it, and the band was wonderful to see.

A note from Mom...

Good morning everyone...

I got a message from my mom about a conversation we had this past weekend, I thought I'd share it with you all.

----------------------

hi michael,
i've been thinking about something that you said when you were visiting yesterday,,,it was something like "life hasn't turned out the way you expected",,,and i hope you don't get depressed by that,,,i will go back to my own experience of having cancer which was without a doubt the low point of my life,,,and yet,,,and yet,,,exactly one year later max was born,,,i believe that when things are bad you have to realize that something beautiful may be waiting for you just around the corner,,,,i know from life this is true,,,,
so keep your spirits up and know that there are lots of people who love you and are all keeping good thoughts for you,,,,and you don't know what's around the corner,,,,;-)

----------------------

Just a little life lesson from mom. :)

Crimson in NYC

Hello all! I haven't written in awhile, so let me start back up with what I last wrote about, the King Crimson show in NYC from back on August 14th.

The show started at about 8:30pm, and I had a front row ticket, to the right side, right in front of Tony Levin, the band's bass/stick player. It was a great show, very intense, a lot of heavy music, lots of instrumental bits. I enjoyed it immensely!

I could see everyone on stage very well, although Adrian Belew, the guitarist/singer, would periodically block Pat Mastelotto, one of the drummers.

The setlist was (to the best of my memory, so the order may be screwy):

Drum duet

The ConstruKction of Light

Neurotica

Red

Dinosaur

Talking Drum

Larks Tongues II

Walking On Air

Three of a Perfect Pair

Level Five

B'Boom

Frame By Frame

Indiscipline

First Encore:

2nd Drum Duet

Elephant Talk

2nd Encore:

Vrooom/Coda

Thela Hun Gingeet

I may be missing a song or two in there, I'll have to check around on the web to be sure... The show was a great time, being front row I was able to really pay attention to the music, and get into it in a very fun way. I tend to "conduct" the music when I listen to this stuff, making some sort of odd hand movements along with the material. I don't quite know why, but it helps me really get into it when I'm at a concert.

Here's a photo from Tony Levin, where you can spot Zorky...

King Crimson!

Tomorrow, I'm heading into NYC after work, to go see the band King Crimson at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. I'm looking forward to the show, I *believe* my ticket will be front row. If so, it'll be my second front row King Crimson experience.

My first front row experience with the Crimson King was in Boston in 2001. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame was opening for KC, although it was almost more of a co-headlining show, as JPJ played almost as long as KC did.

Crimson is a very *intense* band, and this lineup consists of Robert Fripp on guitar, Adrian Belew on guitar and vocals, Tony Levin on bass, and Gavin Harrison and Pat Mastelotto on drums.

I'll be sure to post a review of my thoughts on the show over the weekend. The band is actually playing 4 nights in NYC, but this is my only show.... Unless I become inspired to try to go to Friday's show too!

This Saturday, in non-KC related news, we start our Resident Assistant training for this year. The schedule has come together nicely, and I expect that we'll have a good week training, as we get ready for the arrival of students on campus on August 25th and 26th.

More later...

Boston!

Sorry for the long time between posts, but I've been busy, and I'll try to write more as we move through the rest of this year.

This past weekend, I went to Boston to hang out with my friend Brian, so here's some photos of the weekend...

Here's Brian in his office, a few minutes after I arrived on Friday. From here, we went out and saw 'The Dark Knight,' which was excellent. Good storyline, and I would have never known it was Heath Ledger playing the Joker if it wasn't plastered all over the place...

Looking up Tremont Street in Boston, towards one of the old churches. One of my friends got married in that churck back in 2003 or so, it's a nice place. And, it was a beautiful day up there in Boston. Great driving up from New Jersey, and no real traffic problems, which was good.

That evening, Brian and I headed into Harvard Square, for a late dinner, and for this photo, which has a drug induced hippy feel to it... Do not take the brown acid!

The place is 400 years old, but yet they still build...

Back at Brian's. I scoff at the camera...

The next day, on Saturday, we headed back to Harvard Square. Across from Brian's, this cat was chilling out on the sidewalk. Pretty kitty!

Brian, his sister In, and I went to the Border Cafe, one of my favourite restaurants on the planet. And perhaps others too... I took this photo outside. I would have taken one inside, but the manager actually stopped me. I asked why, and he said that all the art and other things on the walls are custom made, and he's seen The Border's stuff show up in other restaurants. I thought it was a little extreme, not taking the photo, but hey, its his business, so I oblidged...

And what's a visit to Harvard Square without some street performers? Here's a guy with a nice little one man band setup going on... He had a shaker strapped to his foot, for a bit of percussion going on... No photo though, I didn't want to hang out taking photos of feet for that long...

On Saturday night, Brian and I just hung out at his place. I thought about going out, or contacting some other friends, but I was just too tired, and actually fell asleep for a bit... We are too exciting!

I was thinking of sticking around later on Sunday, to go to the beach with Brian for a bit, as he had some friends who were going to play beach volleyball, but I wanted to get back to NJ at a reasonable time. I'll hit Boston again sometime in the Fall, I'm sure...

NP: Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine (30 March 1994)

Blood donation!

Today at the college, the Community Service office sponsored one of their blood drives. As I was feeling good and ready for it, I signed up to donate!

Walking over to the room where the drive was being held, it was a beautiful day, so the bridge needed to be photographed....

Once we got all our paperwork in order, I had to wait until there was a free couch. Melody, one of my co-workers, was one step ahead of me. :)

Self portrait of the administrator as a blood donor....

By this time, I was stuck with the needle, and draining had commenced! Feeling good!

And afterwards, you got to have your OJ! Don't want to pass out!

And, finally, the aftermath. That's iodine on my arm, not anything else! They did use a lot of iodine compared to other times I've given blood, but it doesn't hurt or anything, so it's all good...

So, if you can, GIVE BLOOD!

NP: King Crimson - The Sailor's Tale (1971 04 13)

Saturday review

Today was a little different than most Saturdays, as I went to a memorial service down in Spring Lake, NJ, for a memorial service for one of my grandmother's cousins who passed away earlier this week. I'm not usually a person who is thrilled about the content of memorial services, as it seems to be people saying general platitudes about a person. However, the minister at this service actually appeared to know my grandmother's cousin, so I think the service was actually better than some others I have been to.

After that, I went to my mom's place in Asbury, to see her for a bit. She had a lamp that she had ordered, which had an issue with the wiring, there was too much wire, and nowhere for the wire to go. It couldn't be pulled through a different area of the lamp, or pushed into a segment of the lamp that could store it.

So, it looks like the lamp actually has a real issue...

Here's a photo of my mom out on her back porch.

We tried to entice Daisy, my mom's cat, out for me to pet, but Daisy is really only used to my mom... Here's a video of Daisy the fraidy cat...

But, she does make friends with my mom, as we can see here...

And finally, here's a photo of the ocean, from my mom's rooftop deck. It was a bit hazy, but still, I love the ocean, and could look at it all day...

NP: Talking Heads - Take Me to the River