Movie of The Month

Welcome to my latest monthly addition to 28 North Speaks: Movie of The Month!

For this inaugural installment, I have chosen the 1993 classic Airborne starring Shane McDermott, Brittney Powell, a young Seth Green, and a remarkable breakout role from Jack Black.  Now, if you have seen this flick or go out and view it immediately upon reading this blog post, you may ask the question: Ty, is this a fucking joke??!!  And the answer would inevitably be... yes.  Then again the answer would also be, no.  Truth is this: I.  Love.  This.  Movie.

It takes place in Ohio (fuck yah!), albeit Cincinnatti, involves a surfer dude from San Diego (Shane McDermott) who is temporarily transplanted to the midwest to live with his cousin (Seth Green), and revolves heavily around roller blading.  That is correct.  Roller blading.  Not inline skating.  This was '93, we called it roller blading back then.  At least I did. 

For those of you that are unfortunately unaware, the '90's were the peak of human civilization.  This has a lot to do with the quality of the cinema in those days.  I mean, Jurassic Park (also released in '93), Dumb & Dumber, Land Before Time II... tell me those titles don't cry: This is the best it gets!

Yes, this is all meant to be taken with a grain of salt and a chuckle, but I do encourage those that have not seen this quality film to run out and experience it for themselves.  Thank me later.  Or curse me, just watch the movie.

In other news,  we are only two days away from New Year's Eve and our big show at The Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh!  We are so excited to be rocking into 2013 with such glorious performers as The Poogie Bell Band, The Old E Allstars, and The Bridge City Bombshells.  Some tickets still remain and they are only $7!!!!  So grab them while you can, hope to see you there!!

Tickets/info

FACEBOOK event

Ty

Album of The Month

I know.  Where was the album of the month for the previous like three months.  I'm sorry, I've been slacking.  Nevertheless, I am committed to this cause.  For we all need music to inspire us.  Especially when we spend endless hours per day crafting our own songs.  It is only natural to fuel one's mojo with outside sources.  Music being an obvious culprit and of utmost necessity.

Personally, I have been binging on one of my favorite groups of today: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  This band, native to San Francisco and now based in Los Angeles, is a bit of an "indie-rock" favorite at this point in their career.  I confess I have not seen them live as of yet, but I hear from first hand sources that they an authentic brand of epic.  B.R.M.C. is now in support of their sixth full length album, Beat The Devil's Tattoo, which I am featuring in this post, with a seventh to be released next year.

B.R.M.C.'s sixth record, Beat The Devil's Tattoo, keeps to their previous standard as a journey through luscious lo-fi soundscapes that are fortified by beautiful, traditional songwriting accompanied by melodies that could soothe a lion.  Amidst the droning traditional blues riffs, the stomping thunderous drums, and the quiet serenity of intimate acoustic numbers are the concepts of temptation and redemption, struggle and victory.  It seems as though B.R.M.C. draws from the dregs of both the good and bad in life to concoct a remedy to your anxiety.  You can bang your head and pound your fists to this record as well as lose yourself in a meditative trance.

Please listen to this record and all other B.R.M.C. releases.

Ty

Puzzles! And New Year's Eve in Pittsburgh!!

Apologies for the crappy picture

That's right!  I'm into puzzles!  Possibly you have figured this out already dear reader.

I am very proud of my most recent accomplishment, Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.  This one was hard.  Really hard.  It is 1,000 pieces, the fourth installment of a puzzle this size for me and by far the most difficult so far.

28 North Puzzle Arsenal

At this point I have completed, with help of course, seven puzzles total.  Four 1,000 piece puzzles as I mentioned before, and three 500+ jobbers.

Now, I know what you are thinking.  You dorky fucking hipster, you think you are so quaint by entertaining yourself with an archaic form of hobby, why don't you do something more productive with your time?!  Fuck off I say to that.  I find the concentration and meditative qualities of doing a puzzle to be very stimulating.  And I am going to keep to puzzles.



Our next puzzle adventure is a very special puzzle indeed.  One of our biggest fans and friend Megan gave us a glorious gift indeed in the 28 North puzzle she bestowed upon us.  I could not have asked for a more appropriate present.

Next puzzle, Thanks Megan!

And on the suggestion of Taylor, no less, we will be looking into getting a second puzzle table going.  Yes, indeed.  There may be even more ludicrous puzzle behavior in store for the 28 North gang.  I'll keep you posted.

Also, we at 28 North are honored and supremely excited to be playing in Pittsburgh this New Year's Eve at The Rex Theatre!  We will be joined by the legendary Poogie Bell Band, the mega funky Old E Allstars, and there will also be sexy dancing by The Bridge City Bombshells!  This is a New Year's celebration not to be missed.  There will be free champagne at midnight and tickets are only 7$!!  So come join us ring in 2013 (it's 2012 right?) in roaring 28 North fashion, nestled in the bosom of the city that spawned this rock 'n roll outfit.  Can't wait!

Get you tickets early!!!

Tickets/info

Facebook event



P.S.  A quick BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT to my sister Claire and belated birthday shoutout to my dad. Happy Birthday!  Love you guys!

Ty

The Comedy Store

This last weekend we went to The Comedy Store and had the privilege of seeing some fine stand up comedians.  It was a first time for me in the Main Room; it's a great place The Comedy Store, dark and...well it's dark.  Literally, figuratively, that whole thing.  And I like that.

So we got to see some excellent, top of the game comedy including comedians such as Argus Hamilton, Sarah Tiana, Steve Trevino, and Benji Aflalo.

Also got introduced to the comedy of Dov Davidoff that night, he was hilarious.  Extremely quick, witty, and off the cuff.  Now, at a point in his set he asked the crowd what was new, anything interesting going on.  The short silence resulting from no one in the audience desiring to be the object of attention was pierced by Mike proclaiming, "My dog died."  So.  Where does it go from there?  I find the general situation pretty hilarious to begin with, but I'm sure that is not the topic a comedian would necessarily hope to provide comedic banter for.  Of course Davidoff handled it like a pro and said something equally funny and heart felt by asking what the dogs name was and following the answer of, "Joey," with, "I feel like I knew him..."  Which I thought was very funny.  Sorry if that threw you Dov, you killed it.  Dov Davidoff has a FREE podcast you can find here: ROAD DOG PODCAST on iTunes.

And of course the following comedian Marc Maron, a comedian I had not seen yet was most excited to see, came out demanding, "Where's the dude that said my dog died?!" and proceeded to comment on the ridiculousness of the concept of yelling something morbid at a comedian to make jokes about.  But it went no further than that and Maron proceeded to kill as well.  I have never seen a comedian before that can make you laugh and surprise you with incredible insight like he does.  Almost as if he is providing humor that rationalizes one's own discomforts and insecurities.  Maybe that's just simply what comedy is all about.  And maybe I'm just a rambling bonehead...  So by the by, I am a huge fan of Maron, regularly listen to his podcast WTF, and urge you all to sample it as well.  You can subscribe for FREE on iTunes.  In case you haven't noticed podcasts are mostly free guys, and if you're a digital hoarder like me you will be all over this shit.

Other highlights include Bobby Lee.  That dude is bouncing off the walls hilarious.  Mike and Taylor got to meet him outside after the show as well and got a great pic:

Also got to see Chris D'elia for the third time and he is fantastic, very naturally funny, guaranteed big laughs.

So, if you like comedy, check these people out, go to The Comedy Store (or the corresponding, quintessential comedy club in your city) , good stuff.

Til the next

Ty