"We Own the Night", a movie by James Gray

Family ties are broken as one brother decides on a life of drugs, clubs and money and the other following their father’s footsteps as a committed New York police officer.

The crowd dances up a storm while the lights illuminate with strobe light flashes the dramatic gold, fuchsia and royal blue costumes of the ‘70’s. Blondie plays at the club giving it a Studio 54 feel as the owner of the club, Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix), and his girlfriend (Eva Mendez) passionately kiss.

The scene quickly turns from all night partying to the serious New York Police Department during an award ceremony. The police chief, Burt Gruinsky (Robert Duval), congratulates his son and fellow cop, Joseph Gruinsky (Mark Walberg), on his dedication to the force.

The police violently raid the club after a suspicious Russian gangster is seen lurking about the place. Bobby then must choose between his family and his fast paced lifestyle.

"We Own the Night" is a drama filled film where two brothers from different worlds decide to work together as they are reminded of the importance of family, honor and forgiveness.

A Cabaret of Music

When you walk in, you first notice the regulars: The ones sitting at the bar ranging from age 40 to 60 who are usually singing along to the jukebox or chatting up the bartender. After all, that's what Deep Eddy Cabaret is, Austin's "Cheers".

You then notice how magnificently cheap the beer is; $6.80 for a pitcher of Lonestar, it can't get any better. Even though the beer selection is limited to 5 and a single bottle of red wine, Yellow Tail Merlot, more than that and the simplicity that is Deep Eddy would be ruined.

The actual bar lines the left side and on the other side are a hodge-podge of tables cluttered together making it hard to gracefully weave your way to a two-top. Neon beer signs spatter the walls as well as UT football posters and pictures of B.B King and Elvis Presley. Photos of staff past and present hang behind the bar alongside handwritten notices threatening underage drinkers to a severe beating if they try and drink.

About three fourths of the way down "The Eddy" is the jukebox. It illuminates from the corner and is the most wondrous anomaly to typical indie pop obscure-ness. This jukebox unifies Otis Redding with Buddy Holly and Peggy Sue with The Clash. Nowhere, under one roof, would there be such a great compilation of different tastes. It is the best jukebox in Austin!

Of course, like most bars in Austin after the smoking ban passed, Deepy Eddy magically made space for an outside area to accommodate their smoking patrons. While not strictly enforcing the smoking ban, they have created a small two picnic table outside area where the heavenly music can be heard underneath a canopy of trees.

Having been there numerous times, I experience the best of Deep Eddy. From the bartender who never forgets my name or what I want to drink to playing my favorite 5 songs on the jukebox, these simple pleasures are what I appreciate most.

Deep Eddy Cabaret
2315 Lake Austin Blvd.
78703

Twin Peaks

My sister bought the Season 1 box set of Twin Peaks, which is a TV show written by David Lynch and Mark Frost that aired from 1990 to 1991. It was the most popular show in the early '90's winning the Emmy, Peabody and Golden Globe awards.

I remember hearing about it but was too young to watch it when it was on television.

I can confidently say it is one of the weirdest, most disturbing shows I've seen.
The whole show is focused on the murder of a teenage girl, Laura Palmer, and her finding out who her killer was.

The story is pushed forward through the eerily eccentric townspeople and FBI detective Dale Cooper's dreams. Agent Cooper, played by Kyle Maclachlan, differs from the ordinary FBI agent because he bases much of his detective work on intuition and dreams. He uses his "6th sense" to weed out potential suspects and narrow down the perpetrator.

In one particular dream he sees a one-armed man named Mike who recites a poem:

"Through the darkness of future past/

The magician longs to see/

One chants out between two worlds/

Fire walk with me."

Mike tells Cooper about another man named Bob and how they killed together.

Agent Cooper then finds himself twenty-five years later in a mysterious red room where he encounters a small man who intones clues to Cooper in strange phrases while dancing to a jazzy beat.

(clip of Cooper's Dream)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gMXjjHFz__A


The character Bob is played by a man name Frank Silva who at first only worked on the set of Twin Peaks.


During one of the scenes Frank was accidentally caught in a shot behind Laura's bed and was so frightening that Lynch asked him to play the character BOB.



This is the accidental
shot that got Silva in the
show.










After seeing this first glimpse of Bob I was horrified.

Sarah Palmer, Laura's mother, sees him and freaks out...as did I.

I am a baby and got nightmares from the few episodes that I've seen so I haven't seen any more. Kirsten is trying to coax me into letting her rent them on NetFlix...but it's going to take a lot more than a pint of Half Baked Ben and Jerry's.

misty, water colored memories...

Austin City Limits Festival 2007!!

So I've been trying to write this blog for almost an hour now.

I've come up with really cool ideas...but can't seem to focus.

The first one was just to remember all of the fun things that happened during the ACL weekend, but that quickly became BORING.

Next one was to write a song about ACL.

Cute, huh?

Only problem was...it came out sounding more like a sarcastic poem containing lines like:

"It seems like it was never here."

Well, it was here!

Now it's gone.

I am sad,

and all alone.

Friends were here,

so were the bands.

We danced like crazy,

to Clap Your Hands.

Andrew Bird whistles like a canary.

Bjork's show was genius...and kinda scary.

LCD SoundSystem put me in a trance,

and The Arcade Fire took a chance.

Cold War Kids got their pardon,

The Decemberists were indeed meant for the stage.

Ben Kweller did not need a tampon,

and Bloc Party rocked...THEY should've made front page.

Now that it's over,

and as I look back,

this ACL was the best...

until next year's live music attack!

hmmmmmm...

Ode to pop-culture

Oh pop-culture!
Last night I was out having a few beers with a friend of mine and we started talking about the Harry Potter books.
I am currently reading the fourth one and have really enjoyed the series!
My friend or "He Who Must Not Be Named", does not.
He says that they are elementary and fluff reading.
While parts of this statement are true, the later books in the series mature with their characters, and the imagination J.K Rowling conveys is remarkable.
After this debate about Harry Potter, the coversation quickly escalated to all things popular.

He continued his rant regarding bands such as Coldplay and Snow Patrol who have gained worldwide phenomonal success.
Austin City Limits Music Festival is coming up, and I of course have tickets.
My friend does not because he:
1. Didn't have any money.
2. Claims that the audiences of these bands are complete "posers" who only know "That one song on the radio".
I of course had a problem with reason number 2.

Yes, I understand that I am getting older, and the large portion of my fellow concert-goers are 4-5 years younger than me, but their piercing screams and limited knowledge of "that one song on the radio" does not curb my enthusiasm for my favorite band.

Now, my friend, "He Who Must Not Be Named" says that he refuses to conform to popular culture because he thinks that makes people all the same.
My response is this: Go with what you like!
When you start lying about what you like to be different, you lose who you are.
Don't be afraid to like things other people like!
Things are popular because they are good!

I confess, I like Harry Potter.
I like Coldplay and Snow Patrol.
I played the first Third Eye Blind CD until I had to throw it away because it wouldn't play anymore!
I didn't know who Modest Mouse were until I heard 'Float On'.

There you have it, everything I've been too embarassed to say out loud.
Forgive me, for I am a victim of the pop-culture movement!