Concert Review: The Darkness at Promowest Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio (6.14.04)

For a brief, glorious moment, The Darkness were a lot of fun. Actually, it was more like a year. In Summer 2003, the band released their debut album Permission To Land. Over the top Freddie Mercury-ish vocals with massive glam metal guitar riffage? It was Buckcherry with a sense of humor, or Steel Dragon with a sense of taste, one of those out-of-nowhere, completely uncool-its-cool popular culture happenings that seem preposterous in retrospect, but at the time was a lot of fun.

I played the hell out of that debut album, learned various riffs on guitar, and generally enjoyed something so out of sync with the times, which was dominated by Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Kanye West and a lot of other very good, but also very serious, music. The Darkness were not serious, and it's good to have a balance, or at least that's what I've learned over the years. If all you do is listen to a very narrow sect of sounds, you're going to either burnout, or becoming boringly repetitive.

Concert Review: Shawn Smith & Happy Chichester @ Natalie’s, Columbus, OH (6/18/2014)

There are not many people I have on my “must see before I die list,” but Shawn Smith was one of them. Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhed, All Hail The Crown, solo albums – some people are obsessive about Bob Dylan or Robert Pollard, collecting every odd ball release, bootleg, b-side, etc. For me that’s Shawn Smith. I haven’t investigated, but I’m sure a fair amount of my external hard drive is taken up with his recordings, whether they’re studio albums, live bootlegs or Bandcamp demos.

Getting a chance to see him play solo, with just a piano or guitar, to a seated crowd of no more than 75 or so folks at Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza in the Columbus suburb of Worthington, seemed… bizarre. It shouldn’t be possible that this legend (in my mind) from Seattle would play at such an odd venue, but there it was.

Opening was Happy Chichester, who I had seen solo and with Howlin Maggie many times, and as usual, he did not disappoint. His manic energy, somehow channelling Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Stevie Wonder and Frank Black all one lanky, expressive form never ceases to amaze me. He’s managed to evolve and expand his songwriting pallet from propulsive guitar rock to soulful ballads and loop-based drones, while circling back on his most recent album to straight-up rock that made me fall in love with him two decades ago. But like I said, Happy has been on the Columbus scene forever, while most night’s he’d be the main attraction, tonight my mind was on Shawn Smith.

I could say he played the perfect set, but that would discount the 30 or so other songs I wanted to hear. Getting the chance to hear thundering piano of Not Too Late, the steady groove of The Day Brings, the stately swing of Wrapped in My Memory, and the gorgeous re-imagining of Mother Love Bone’s Crown of Thorns was just the tip of my fan boy iceberg. Shawn has never gotten his due, and the business of music seems to not be interested in a man who has without a doubt one of the most unique, interesting and gorgeous voices of the last 20 years.

Maybe he’ll always be on the outskirts, toiling away with self-released albums and low-budget tours, but I would like to believe that the public will catch up to him one day.

Two Word Reviews: Winter 2014

Recent movie and music reviews, with patent-pending two work reviews.

MOVIES
Interstellar – stellar movie
Zero Dark Thirty – nail biting
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 – weaker half
We’re The Millers: – not terrible
Non-Stop: logical problems
The Wolverine: slow moving
Jesse and Celeste Forever: charmingly honest
This Is Where I Leave You: overloaded characters
Guardians of the Galaxy: insanely fun
A.C.O.D. – unlikable characters

MUSIC
U2: Songs of Innocence – mostly dull
Spoon: They Want My Soul – quick bursts
Ex-Hex: Rips – ripping fun
Shellac: Dude Incredible – almost incredible
Damon Albarn: Everyday Robots – robotic boredom

Two Word Reviews: Summer/Fall 2014

Recent movie and music reviews, with patent-pending two work reviews.

MOVIES
22 Jump Street – bar set
Sunset Strip – debauched history
Pain & Gain – ultimate Bay-ness
Vehicle 19 – paper thin
Fast & Furious 6 – more nonsense
Ender’s Game – well played
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – enjoyably empty
Escape Plan – predictably dumb
Riddick – franchise revival
Gravity – tensely brilliant
Taken 2 – disappointing follow-up

MUSIC
Manic Street Preachers: Futurology – welcome detour
The Lees of Memory: Sisyphus Says – shoegazy fun
Weezer: Everything Will Be Alright In The End – needed return
Prince: Art Official Age – classic Prince

Two-Word Reviews, Spring/Summer 2014

My Music, Movie and Book intake for the last few months, with my patent-pending two-word reviews.

MUSIC
The Cure: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me – wild swings
Violent Soho: Hungry Ghost – alternative throw-back
Sleepmakeswaves: …And So We Destroyed Everything EP – epic instrumentals

MOVIES
Dallas Buyers Club – heart wrenching
Gymkata – awful awesomeness
Finding The Funk – funky fun
Cloud Atlas – interestingly confused
The Darkest Hour – crappy aliens
The Raid: Redemption – insane action
A Good Day to Die Hard – limp addition
Divergent – faithful adaptation
Now You See Me – ridiculous ride

BOOKS
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole – biting satire

Two Word Reviews, Spring 2014

Movie and music from the Spring of 2014, with patent-pending two-word reviews:

MOVIES
Captain America: The Winter Solider – headier follow-up
Draft Day – satisfying fantasy
Man of Steel – surprisingly tame
The Heat – more please
Neighbors – premise delivers
White House Down – suspect motivations
For A Good Time Call… – mostly fun
Godzilla – worthy reboot
X-Men: Days of Future Past – series highlight
Edge of Tomorrow – repeatedly entertaining
Pacific Rim – big fun
2 Guns – too stupid
The Purge – moronic premise
Tomorrow, When The War Began – redo dawn
Runner Runner – dumber dumber
The World’s End – fun decline

MUSIC
Jack White: Lazaretto – familiar ground
Fu Manchu: Gigantoid – gigantic success
M83: Oblivion soundtrack – exceeds movie

Reuben Tour of Columbus – Danny’s Deli (Downtown)

My last reuben stop during my downtown Columbus work adventure brought me to Danny’s Deli. Located in the heart of downtown at Front and Broad, Danny’s is the closest I’ve seen a Columbus deli recreate the feel and vibe of a New York City deli, right down to the subterranean location. But how about the sandwich?

Here’s the scorecard:

Corned Beef – massive amount, tender
Sauerkraut – light, but tasty
Swiss Cheese – melted
Thousand Island – none!
Rye Bread – good grilled crunch and chewiness

I’m giving Danny’s Deli a 4 out of 5, but if I were to revisit, this would probably move to 5 out 5. Why? Because there was no Thousand Island dressing on my sandwich, and turns out they don’t put it on unless you ask. An ordering quirk, but doesn’t detract from the overall fantastic sandwich. Best in Columbus? It just might be.

Reuben Tour of Columbus – Sunny Street Cafe (Downtown)

Although there are plenty of deli’s in downtown Columbus to visit for a reuben, sometimes it’s the unexpected places that produce surprisingly good results. In this case, that’s the Sunny Street Cafe.

Open for breakfast and lunch, Sunny Street is better known as the place you can get sausage stuffed biscuits and huge omelets rather than deli sandwiches. Luckily, I made it past the breakfast items on their menu and decided to try the reuben in their sandwich section.

Here’s the scorecard:

Corned Beef – plentiful, and juicy, not dry
Sauerkraut – good amount
Swiss Cheese – melted and gooey
Thousand Island – proportionate
Rye Bread – warm, buttery and good thickness

Sunny Street manages to pull all the elements together and make a better reuben than most of the deli’s downtown. Easily score a 4.5 out of 5, just wish the sandwich overall was a little bigger.

Pinterest Project: Pull-Out Kitchen Cabinet Drawers

While previous Pinterest projects have focused on more decorative ideas, I also found a number of very practical ideas that have turned into projects. The first one I tackled was for the kitchen. To the left of our refrigerator there is a floor to ceiling pantry. The bottom two units had two shelves a piece, the smaller top two had one shelf each. We soon discovered the problem with these units – depth. In order to reach a can of soup in the back, all of the items up front would have to be removed. And for someone like me who bakes a lot, trying to organize the flour, sugars, baking chips, extracts and various other items was not fun. I found a number of different approaches to building pull-out drawers for the pantry.

Using some leftover wood from the previous homeowner, as well as a discarded set of drawer rails, I built a prototype drawer and installed it in the pantry. Having worked out the mounting and spacing issues to ensure the drawer opened and closed smoothly, I felt confident enough to head off to the local big box hardware store to purchase more wood and build a complete set. Here’s a look at how the pull-out pantry drawers turned out:

The second project was for under the counter. while there was storage space, there wasn't any shelving. That meant the pans we were keeping there were just piled on top of each other. Rather than build just a shelf, I decided we need something sturdier. I didn't have much of a plan, just measurements.

I ended up with the base of the drawer, but added bigger end pieces, rounded at the top, with some rounded wooden bars along each side. Now the pull-out caddy contains all the pans and such that were previously stacked on top of each other.

Pinterest Project: Canvas Wall Art

One of the many things we wanted to do with the new house was add some new artwork to the walls, but nothing store bought. With my Mom being an artist, we have a plethora of her pieces around, but decided we wanted to try making something on our own. Of course, Pinterest provided plenty of ideas for making unique and individual art for the home.

We decided to go with a few pieces of canvas, paint them and then apply vinyl artwork we found on Amazon.com. Here are the results of our canvas art project:

Reuben Tour of Columbus – Darz Cafe (Downtown)

My third downtown trip for reuben supremacy took me to Darz Cafe on Nationwide Blvd in the Design Center in Marconi Square. There are a few seats in a hallway, but Darz is essentially all take out, nestled into a small corner of the building by the back door.

Here’s the scorecard:

Corned Beef – okay amount
Sauerkraut – good
Swiss Cheese – good
Thousand Island – on the thin side
Rye Bread – best rye bread downtown (so far)

Darz scores a 4 out of 5. Everything about the sandwich was good, just need a little bit more corned beef and sauerkraut, and then this would be a star reuben.

Two Word Reviews, Winter 2014

Recent movies and music I’ve checked out, with patent-pending two word reviews:

MOVIES
American Hustle – acting class
Identity Thief – stolen time
The Hollywood Complex – disturbing insight
Gangster Squad – shiny surface
The Master – superior performances
Searching for Sugar Man – fascinating tale
Oblivion – overloaded twists

MUSIC
Manic Street Preachers: Rewind the Film – welcome detour
Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt – vaguely familiar
Mark Lanegan: Imitiations – that voice

See What The Day Brings

Look what just arrive thanks to my better half - my vinyl collection has doubled! Miss the old cover artwork, but I'm not complaining. This is one of my all-time favorite 90s albums, and probably my favorite album featuring Shawn Smith, so happy to have Brad's Interior in my growing vinyl collection.

Pinterest Project: Pallet Wine Rack

One of the most interesting things I’ve found on Pinterest is the variety of projects involving old pallets. For over half a decade I spent morning on a loading dock never once considering the possibilities that these heavy space-eaters presented. The creativity involved in some of them is fascinating, and rightfully so things like pallet outdoor furniture can go for hundreds of dollars on Etsy. I made up my mind that my first attempt at a pallet project would be a wine rack, as it seemed the most manageable and provided plenty of options.

With these in mind, I was able to get my hands on an old pallet. I made some cuts, sanded it, pre-stained, stained and coated it with polyurethane before applying some stencils for fun. Here’s how my pallet wine rack turned out:

Pinterest Project: Picture Wall

Before moving into our new home during the Summer of 2013, my wife and I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at various ideas for the new place. Some ideas became reality, and the Pinterest Project series is going to document each one upon completion. For example, we really liked the idea of a picture wall we kept seeing - usually an eclectic mix of sizes and frames, combining artwork and photography.

So, with a big empty wall in our undefined living/dining area, we made our own picture wall – check it out:

Reuben Tour of Columbus – Belmont Deli (Downtown)

My second downtown deli visit took me to the Belmont Deli, located in (you guessed it) the Belmont Building. A small space with a big menu, I actually tried the Club Sandwich on my first visit, and that was good enough to get me to make a second trip.

Here’s the scorecard:

Corned Beef – decent amount
Sauerkraut – proportionate to the amount of corned beef
Swiss Cheese – melted, but not especially flavorful
Thousand Island – present
Rye Bread – rye flavor was good but bread was more of a wheat consistency

Belmont Deli receives a 3 out of 5. Not bad, but not great. The bread tasted more like wheat bread with rye seeds than actual rye bread.