Not So Much...

Rilo Kiley @ Webster Hall

Marry me, Jenny Lewis.

To be honest, Under The Blacklight, Rilo Kiley's latest release, is already my least favorite album of theirs. Doesn't mean it's bad. Far from it. But I didn't feel attached to it instantly.

Anyway, to hear the songs performed live made me love songs I liked and like songs I didn't care for. My favorite songs from the night were "Dreamworld", "Portions For Foxes", "Silver Lining", "It's A Hit" (with Orenda Fink formerly of Azure Ray and now Art in Manila on trumpet), "Breakin' Up", "Does He Love You"...I'm going to stop because I'll probably end up listing them all.

I can watch Jenny Lewis on stage all night long.

I forget how short Blake Sennett. He really hasn't grown much from his Boy Meets World days

That said, Webster Hall is a weird venue for a rock show because you can hear the club music bumping down below. It's particularly awkward during slow, quiet songs. if your favorite band is playing here, double check to make sure they aren't playing anywhere else in the city.

Despite the venue, it was a great show.

All photos by Jenny Francois

Movie of the Week: 3:10 to Yuma

A good movie that could have been great.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale were awesome and the best non-action scenes of the movie are when they are talking to one another, trying to make the other understand why he is the person that he is.

Ben Foster stole the movie as Wade's (Crowe) insane second-in-command, Charlie Prince. He hammed it up a bit during some scenes but he was still great. Did anyone else think he was gay for Wade?

The biggest problem with the movie is the padding in the middle. There is one scene with some railroad men who have a beef with Wade which was completely pointless and could have been done without. It really slowed down the movie and removed some of the great tension that had been building.

Hopefully, on the DVD, that part will be one whole section that can be skipped.

Pseudorandomness

Here's some stuff going on that didn't warrant it's own post...like anything I write warrants it's own post:

• I lost a little bit of weight over the past few months. The problem is my pants don't fit very well anymore. They all require that extra tug of the belt that causes them to bunch up which makes my work shirts look bad. Now, I can go out and buy new pants but am I sure that i can stick to this weight/size? What if I get depressed? Or become a binge eater? Or worse, get a girlfriend (the cause of my last two serious weight gains)? Sure I can get them tailored but that gets pricey. I don't know.
  
• So...I bought an 4GB iPhone recently. The way I rationalized it was the price drop made it the same price as all the phones I wanted to get (in some cases the iPhone was actually cheaper). I wasn't pressed to get the 8GB one because I already have an 80 GB iPod so I'll never use the phone as my primary listening device (although I do use it for video). The weird thing is I find myself embarrassed when i take it out in front of people because it always becomes a big deal. "Oh, you have an iPhone?! How is it?!? Blah Blah Blah" I was at a gathering at a bar with some coworkers and I got a text message and I purposely didn't look at it in front of them. I like cool things but I hate the attention.
• Halo 3 comes out on September 25th and I can't wait. I'd be more excited if I had the time to play it. I have 4-5 games at home just waiting for me to sit down and complete. With Fall TV coming up, I don't think I'll ever beat Halo or any of the games collecting dust at my house. I still have Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2 and I barely gave it 5 hours play time.

Bye Fiddy

West's Graduation shifted 957,000 copies in its first week of sales while 50 Cent's album, Curtis, only sold 691,000, according to Billboard.

Before the albums went on sale 50 Cent vowed he would retire from making solo albums if he was outsold by West.

Maybe if he didn't leave the best song off his U.S. release, he might have had a chance.

Now the song is just prophetic (or he saw the writing on the wall).

50 Cent - "Smile (I'm Leaving)"