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In a World Far, Far Away
San Francisco is the one place where a neighborhood mom and pop restaurant might have a menu of organic vegetables, foie gras and short rib crepinette, and a grumpy French waiter who makes guests feel like tourists in their own town. And this on a quiet street in the humble Richmond district, where the fog is often the first to arrive and the last to leave. |
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The Local Band Returns for Fillmore Show
Nearly 10 years after the group formed, Oakland punk band The Matches is gaining a national presence with a steady touring regiment and a new album on Epitaph that features nine producers on 13 tracks, including Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Blink 182 and +44 bassist Mark Hoppus. The band, which was originally called The Locals until a group with the same name complained, returns to the Bay Area on December 12th for a show at The Fillmore. Lead singer and guitarist Shawn Harris spoke with SF Station during a phone interview from a tour date in Chicago. |
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SF Station Blows It Up
So I was walking to the Bill Graham Civic last Monday to go see Tenacious D perform in front of 8000+ people and as I looked around I realized every single person was doing the same thing in trepidation. The opening act was a comedian named Neil Hamburger who shtick was jokes so bad that people threw change at the stage but from the first glimpse of the D it was worth it. The entire performance was more like a rock opera with set changes and a full band backing the boys. It was one of the best live shows I have ever seen... |
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Released on Universal South, 10/10/06
Jennings is the son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter and as such has a pedigree that involves a lot of Jack Daniels and, we presume, conversations that start with "Listen here motherf*cker." Jennings Jr. has been rocking out since a teen. For almost a decade he played the L.A. rock circuit in a G-N-R like concoction called Stargunn before embracing his legacy and putting together a new band, the .357's, and heading out to bring the world the raunchy swagger of country rock... |
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Released on Filter US Recordings, 10/17/06
Dustin O'Halloran is one lucky guy. Having begun his musical career as one-half of the Los Angeles pop outfit Devics and touring with the likes of Black Heart Procession and Sea Wolf, he then began to record and release the classical piano opuses he has been writing over the past few years while in Italy. He released these on Devics' label, home to bands such as Sigur Rós and The Panda Band, Filter US Recordings, which drew the attention of director Sofia Coppola who asked him to score two sections of her latest film Marie Antoinette. Not bad considering how difficult it is to get recognition for one's mainstream musical projects... |
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An Unholy Trinity
Coinciding with World AIDS Day, Thom Fitzgerald's cinematic triptych presents three disparate yet complementary stories about how this indiscriminate disease afflicts individuals, communities, and societies on three continents in very different ways. Based on writer/director Fitzgerald's experiences in China, South Africa, and the West (specifically Canada), 3 Needles portrays the AIDS pandemic on a scale that is alternately intimate and sweeping. As a result, the film is irresistibly watchable and ultimately disturbing... |
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An Enlightening, Moving, if Limited, Documentary
Freida Lee Mock's (Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision) latest feature-length documentary, Wrestling with Angels, covers a turbulent, three-year period in award-wining playwright Tony Kushner's life, beginning days before September 11, 2001 as Kushner prepared "Homebody/Kabul", a prescient examination of a "clash of civilizations" in modern-day Afghanistan, through his wedding in 2003 to his life partner Mark Harris and the premiere of his most recent theater piece "Caroline, Or Change"... |
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Away in a Manger
With the holiday season in full swing, studios are earnestly trotting out any and all films that tap into the "yuletide" spirit. Typically, these "holiday films" barely ascend a step beyond mediocrity (The Family Stone) and far too many fall many steps below (Christmas With The Kranks). One of this year's more intriguing yuletide flicks is Catherine Hardwicke's The Nativity Story. |
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Spa Therapy for Your Toes
If you thought smooth, callus-free feet and perfectly polished toenails were beauty considerations strictly confined to warmer months, think again. For the sake of hygiene and, well, hygiene -- do your tootsies a favor this winter season and give them some preventive care against the humid confines of boots and sneakers. Recently, I stumbled upon a couple of new favorites, who dispense with the fast, factory-line pedicure treatment and add some sanitary know-how to the brew of indulgence. |
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