 |
Spoon + Fork = Spork
Funny how the word "spork" makes one think about places like, say, KFC -- bucket meals, plastic utensils and fast-food. But put those thoughts out of your mind -- despite their digs in the former home of a KFC, there's nothing pre-packaged about Spork except its name. The atmosphere is sleek and quirky, with a keen attention to detail throughout, including large modern paintings of fingers, and a sleek bar with seating reminiscent of that found at a coffee shop, only cool, modern and in slate grey and chrome.
|
 |
Oakdale's Finest
Built like Alaska wasn't built in a day, but it was built in the basement of a big country house outside Oakdale, California by a couple of guitar-wielding 21-year olds. "The band started as a house thing, really," says lead vocalist Neil Jackson. "We wrote songs together -- mostly the kind of dumb acoustic stuff college kids write -- but we kept playing together, messing around..." The band, sporting an ever-rotating cast of musicians and a couple mainstays like Jackson, started landing gigs. Still, the quintet didn't have a moniker yet.
|
 |
SF Station Blows It Up
The Kentucky foursome return with a new album Bring on the Comets, released August 28th, and a badass visit to San Francisco last week. The boys performed new songs almost exclusively only breaking a few times to play their hits from their last record. As always Craig Pfunder's voice and guitar pushes sound to its limit and makes you stomp your feet.
|
 |
Released on Martha's Music/Reprise, 7/10/07
For fans of The Smashing Pumpkins, the seven year itch has been nigh on unbearable. While the "grunge" sound of the 90s that The Smashing Pumpkins were often erroneously lumped in with has come and gone, few can deny that 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was a seminal album and one of the greatest of the decade. The talent, imagination, and power of The Smashing Pumpkins was considerable. But, where does one go after such an epic album?
|
 |
Released on Capitol, 6/26/07
The Beastie Boys are inarguably one of the most dynamic, influential groups of hip hop/rock musicians. The one thing you can be certain of when giving a Beastie Boys album a listen is that you're going to hear more than a few tracks that feel like a marked departure from what they've done in the past. However, one common thread that unites many Beastie Boys albums is an affinity for instrumental music. Check Your Head was an album with numerous tracks that were pretty light when it came to lyrics and heavy on the instrumentals. With The Mix-Up, the B-Boys have completely indulged this affinity with a pure instrumental album.
|
 |
Released on Virgin, 6/26/07
As far as vocal stamps go, Bryan Ferry's musical crest has come a long way from Roxy Music unto the present. With Dylanesque, he pays tribute to none other than counterculture hero, Bob Dylan, eleven times over with his choice of iconic Dylan tunes.
|
 |
An Instant Cult Classic
One of the most anticipated movies of the summer, Stardust, lives up to expectations and delivers so much more. It succeeds as both a fantasy film and as a romantic comedy, which is a difficult feat. Some have compared it to the cult classic The Princess Bride, but while Stardust references other films, it is essentially unique.
|
 |
The Mysteries of Life
In 2002, the fascinating documentary, Spellbound, focusing on the 1999 National Spelling Bee caught the attention of countless moviegoers and the Academy resulting in an Oscar nomination for debut director Jeffrey Blitz. Spellbound was a breakout hit that engaged and entertained largely because of the quirky and endearing kids who participated in the competition. Blitz's love and affection for the awkward, unusual (but highly intelligent) young adult continues; albeit in a slightly different fashion in the painfully comical coming of age feature, Rocket Science.
|
 |
No Rush to See This "Hour"
Rush Hour 3 is an aptly titled bit of disposable celluloid, firmly lodged in cruise control, without momentum or apparent direction. Despite the long-rumored return of Chris Tucker, last seen in 2001's Rush Hour 2, it is a relatively joyless exercise in which characters who once seemed fresh are thrust into a routine caper, charged with the thankless task of invigorating it with sheer personality.
|
 |
Perilously Close to Foolish
Young Diana (Zoe Tapper), an ingénue with a heart of gold and a truckload of naiveté, heads to London in the 1930s to make it big on the stage as an actress. Despite the right kind of genes (her mother was a star on the stage), Diana finds the world of theater complicated, vexing, and more than she expected. This "revelation" leads to trials, tribulations, and adventures Diana never could have anticipated.
|
 |
For Bath and Body Beautiful
Freshening up Union Square and the 100-year-old Beaux Arts style Hammersmith Building is the newly opened Fresh boutique. Built in the year after the 1906 earthquake, the San Francisco historic landmark building is a pretty setting for a pretty store filled with pretty things to make one feel, well, you get the idea.
|
|
