Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University and scores with all the ladies...
Wild At Heart
For someone who doesn’t normally like rap (at least current rap), I had a great time at the N.E.R.D./Common show at the Fillmore last night and I will be looking forward to seeing LL Cool J opening for Janet Jackson on their rescheduled Oct 28th date. However, I hated Plastic Little who opened for Santogold this weekend. I guess you can’t have everything.
I also enjoyed the Delerium show at Royal Oak Music Theatre. They are a side project for Front Line Assembly who switches between dark ethereal ambient, voiceless industrial soundscapes and electronic pop music. It was nice seeing Leigh Nash helping on vocal duties though she didn’t do any Sixpence None The Richer songs. I also got to hang with Elsianne Caplette (in her sexy dark blue eye shadow) of the electronic duo Elsiane. She grew up in Peru though is currently living in Montreal. Her rich voice blends elements of jazz and classical over an electrical soundscape and their debut album “Hybrid” is worth checking out (I play it frequently on my show on www.wxou.org ). Check out their stuff on www.elsiane.com .
This should be a good music and movie week. Staring off, WXOU is sponsoring a movie at the Uptown Palladium called “Sex Drive” so stop by the station for passes (basement of the Oakland Center on OU campus). The movie is about a high school senior who goes on a cross-country road trip to hook up with a girl he met online.
In theaters, we have a couple of new films. Chuck Palahniuk gained a lot of attention for his novel (and subsequent film) "Fight Club". I never read the book and I thought the movie was just a little bit average than most. However, most of my friends loved the movie and are very excited about his new movie, "Choke". Directing his first feature is actor Clark Gregg who you might remember from films like Hoot or Iron Man (he plays Lord High Charlie in this film). The film stars Sam (Green Mile, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy) Rockwell as Victor, is a sex addict who works as a reenactor of Colonial Times. Not an overly social or likeable guy, he is a con man who intentionally chokes himself on food in restaurants to get money from his rescuers. This money then goes to support his mother (Anjelica Huston) in an institution. Victor had a strange childhood, seemingly on the run with his counterculture mom (breaking animals out of zoos, etc) and wants to find out who his dad is before she is too far gone. However, she barely recognizes him when he visits which complicates matters. Things start to change in his life when he meets a nurse who he actually starts to care about and might help him get his life back. The film has some great characters and some uniquely dark comic moments which make this film to me, a superior film to Fight Club (though I expect I might be alone in that). This is not a film for kids so don't take them. I like Victor's journey and enjoyed everything from his best friend dating a stripper, the morons at the Colonial reenactment site, the crazy women at the hospital, etc. The film has a lot of true moments and I do recommend it. Grade: B+.
Also for action buffs, there is Eagle Eye, the new thriller by director DJ Caruso (Disturbia, The Salton Sea) and starring Shia (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull) LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The two portray a young man and a single mother who are framed by a mysterious organization and forced to carry out orders that might lead into one of the biggest terrorist threats the US has ever faced. The film starts with an assassination attempt on a potential terrorist and while everyone, including the president, calls for the mission to go ahead, the Secretary of Defense (Michael Chiklis) agrees with the abort recommendation which is overruled. It turns out to be only civilians killed and retaliatory bombing are carried out in response. Meanwhile, slacker Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) returns home from his brother’s funeral to find his apartment filled with a large amount of weapons, explosives, and forged documents. He receives a phone call from an unknown woman, who explains that the FBI are about to apprehend him in thirty seconds and that he must escape. He ends up caught and Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) and Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson) end up on the case determined to find out who he is working for. Soon, after an amazing escape, Jerry meets up with single mother Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) whose son has been threatened. The two of them go on a rollercoaster ride trying to figure out what there mission is and how to avoid the FBI. Their task turns out to be involved in the assassination of the President but who is pulling the strings? There is also a supercomputer, ARIA, which is a supercomputer (think Colossus the Forbin Project meets HAL) designed to stop terrorists that seems to be involved. Not a bad film though you really need to suspend disbelief for some of these scenes. This is either a “love it or leave it” type of film. Well, I guess I can say I like it with a Grade: C since the acting is decent enough to make the impossible parts entertaining.
I also spent some time at the Cranbrook Institute of Science for their new exhibit: Bats – Myth and Mystery. Taking advantage of their association with the Bat Zone, this exhibit is designed to help dispel some of the myths about bats and show us how important they really are by helping control insect populations and pollinating flowers (yes, like bees, they also help in this regard). There are hands-on interactive exhibits such as being able to listen like a bat using a pair of oversized, electronic, bat-shaped ears or practicing echolocation by shouting into a cave to determine its size. There are also displays of various bat species and my favorite, a series of bronze bat busts where you can how intricate their specialized features really are. Don’t forget, they also have live bats and guides to answer any questions you may have about these fascinating creatures. Make sure you get their early since the exhibit closes one hour before the museum to facilitate clean-up. You can also go over to the Bat Zone and take in some of the other nocturnal species on display such as a sloth, sugar gliders and various species of owl. The exhibit will be going on until Jan. 4, 2009 and will be an esp nice place for Halloween travelers. The exhibit is free with admission to the Center and is presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation and Cranbrook Institute of Science.
For more information, you can visit www.batconservation.org or www.science.cranbrook.edu .
For sports fans, the Detroit Pistons will be having an open practice at the O-rena on the campus of Oakland University on Thurs, Oct 2nd @ 6:30PM. According to Ryan Hooper, this will be a great chance for fans to get a good look at the Pistons who are dedicated to win this season to make up for the last couple of years getting sent out early. They are committed to bring a championship back to Detroit and feel this team is up for the task. Also after splitting games with the New York Liberty, the girls have a chance to make the finals for the 3rd season in a row with a win tonight as they play at Eastern Michigan (due to the fact that Weezer is at the Palace). The winner will go on to face the San Antonio Silver Stars who defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 2-1. Go Shock and bring home another trophy.
If you are looking for something else to do this weekend, don’t forget James Taylor will be putting on a free show at Border’s Bookstore in downtown Ann Arbor on Thursday @ 7PM. Recorded live with his full band in a barn in Massachusetts that was transformed into a studio, Covers is a treasury of songs James Taylor has performed live over the years, but never recorded. It is a significant work which pays tribute to classic American songs from Broadway to Nashville, Detroit to Memphis and across all boundaries. You will need to get their early since you will need a wristband to get in, but it is free.
Well, have a good weekend and thanks to everyone who stopped by at our WXOU fundraiser at the Crofoot last Friday. It was a great time and the Wild Years put on a wonderful show. Make sure to check out www.myspace.com/wildatheart_13 for more information on other events in my life.
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