Walkin' Through Jacobus

It's always great for the mind, body, and soul to find new ground to wander, new paths to tread. (OK, that sounded a little hippie-zen-ish, but it's true).  In the last month or so, Jacobus Park in Wauwatosa (accessible in the area of 62nd and Wells) has become a favorite haunt for me.  I recently went with camera at the ready and snapped some photos of some favorite features.

On 62nd Street, a staircase greets visitors.  There's another staircase down immediately after this one, so it's a good start to a workout

Speaking of staircases, there are many in Jacobus Park, some straight up or down, some winding.

Picnic area/indoor meeting place

Pond beyond the meeting hall

Out of the woods and into the sun

Up the staircase, or to the left?

 

 

 

 

This time, the staircase leads out.  Jacobus Park is a short walk from Wisconsin Avenue or Wells Street, and it might be good to follow the workout with coffee or some breakfast at Alterra on 68th and Wells.

So long for now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kings of Summer, The Way Way Back

In The Way Way Back, Duncan and his family are headed with his mother's boyfriend's family to a beach house. Upon arrival, Duncan discovers that the beach house can be a nightmare, as he doesn't fit in with the kids, and the adults are busy either getting drunk or stoned. His mother's boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) is a constant antagonist, and Duncan's mom (Toni Collette) doesn't seem happy but also doesn't seem too concerned about him. Duncan takes to riding a bike during the day and stumbles upon a waterpark. The park's manager Owen (Sam Rockwell) offers him a job, and at last Duncan has an escape from the beachfront misery

In The Kings of Summer, Joe and Patrick seek escape from their unbearable home situations. Joe's father Frank (Nick Offerman) demeans Joe (and pretty much everyone else). Frank's parents are clingy to the point of suffocating. Joe gets the idea to build a house in the woods, and after initially being skeptical, Patrick joins him, as does an odd kid named Biaggio.

To me, the two films with similar premises offered a similar experience. These are two entertaining but not great films with noteworthy performances. The Way Way Back features Sam Rockwell as Owen, a waterpark manager that befriends Duncan, and the film is much better when Rockwell is on screen than at any other time. The film succeeds in portraying Water Wizz as an oasis for Duncan and his coworkers as a second family, but away from the park, The Way Way Back is nothing out of the ordinary (although Alison Janney does steal some scenes as a loose-lipped neighbor, and Carell plays a convincing jerk, something I've been waiting for after all his nice-guy roles).

The Kings of Summer covers familiar territory as well, and I think Offerman and Moises Arias (Biaggio) steal the show. Offerman's scowl and criticism drive his family away, but he also has some funny moments, and Arias provides the wackiness that an otherwise earnest film needs.

I'd recommend both films. They're not groundbreaking films, but have individual performances worth the price of admission.


　

　

　

　

　

　

Concert Review- John Mayer at Summerfest July 6, 2013

For me, John Mayer's show Saturday night already had a lot of intrigue going in.  I'd never seen Mayer live, didn't know the flow of his show, and was curious to see what he would perform and how he would perform, especially given that this was his first full set since his vocal cord scare sidelined him and nearly prevented him from singing again.  I also wondered about the opening act, Phillip Phillips, as I didn't really like his album but vaguely remembered enjoying his performances on American Idol.

Phillips was much better live than I imagined.  His songs gained new life on stage, from the opening "Get Up Get Down" through the rousing closer "Home", as he and his band added jams to nearly every song.  Phillips interacted nervously with the crowd but performed like a veteran and added some interesting twists (like adding a few verses of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" to one of his songs), so all in all he was much better than I had anticipated.

I'm sure John Mayer had some nerves as well when he stepped on the stage, but he settled in nicely with his large band in front of a virtual display of mountains and sky for "Queen of California" from his latest, Born and Raised.  His voice sounded a little different (some online reading uncovered that he's still, um, waiting on his voice to change as some Botox clears out) to start, but he looked relaxed and eager to go.

After "Waiting On The World To Change", he informed everyone that he was taking us on a trip and needed a little trust from us, which was a nice heads-up that he might be detouring from the hits.  Other than a few well-placed better-known songs ("I Can't Trust Myself with Loving You was jammed out, a rousing Mayer solo led to "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room", and the set closed with "Gravity", also jammed-out), Mayer stuck to Born and Raised, songs off his upcoming Paradise Valley, and a couple of covers ("Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" worked well, but "Free Fallin'" to me was the only bad choice of the night).  To me, it was an unusual approach to take, and might have tripped up a lesser musician, but Mayer and his band made it work, mostly because Born and Raised has a lot of good songs and Paradise Valley definitely sounds promising (I especially liked "Wildfire", which Mayer identified as the first track).  The virtual background added value, especially on "The Age of Worry", where the lyrics were projected on the screen.

Throughout the set, two women in the row in front of us kept leaning over and taking pictures of something or someone a bit far away.  I couldn't tell if they were taking pictures of friends sitting in another section, but it was definitely distracting for a little bit, but word got around that someone thought to be Katy Perry was indeed Katy Perry.  The two ladies left before the encore, which was too bad because  after his first encore song, Mayer went on a lengthly little spiel on how good Perry was to him when he was recovering and dedicated "A Face To Call Home" to her, and just before he did so, Perry walked right in front of our section (with security, of course).

All in all, it was one of the most entertaining shows I've been to.  I didn't hear many of the songs that I wanted to, but it just shows that Mayer is a compelling musician capable of taking any trip he wants to.

Lincoln (2012), Broken (2012)

Lincoln (Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones)

 

I'd put off watching Lincoln for a long time.  I guess I needed to be in the mood for a two and a half hour history lesson, but recently I did take the plunge. I recommend Lincoln for the performances more than anything else.  Daniel Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Lincoln, and he is excellent, but I found Tommy Lee Jones's performance as Thaddeus Stevens to be the best in the film, and Sally Field burns with intensity as Mary Todd Lincoln, a First Lady who feels hidden away by her husband.  The performances are excellent, but the film itself is very dialogue driven and procedural.  That's not to say it's dull, but it's less than scintillating in many parts.

Broken (2012)- Cillian Murphy, Eloise Laurence, Tim Roth, Rory Kinnear

Broken is the story of Skunk (Laurence, a girl living in North London.  Coming home one day, she is chatting with her friend Rick while he is washing a car.  Rick is savagely attacked by Mr. Oswald (Rory Kinnear) who believes that Rick has assaulted his daughter, and from there, we learn about the three families living on their end of the block.  Skunk's family has its share of complications (Kasia, the family's au-pair, has a rocky relationship with Mike (Murphy), who is also Skunk's favorite teacher), but the other two families have even more trouble brewing.  Rick is often institutionalized and is dangerously unstable, and the man who attacked him is an abusive single father whose daughters become absolutely ruthless bullies. 

Broken is a dark, often violent tale, but I definitely recommend it, as it's a suspenseful, well-told tale.  There are noteworthy performances here as well.  Laurence is very good as Skunk, a curious and perhaps over-trusting girl. Roth's character is loving but understandably baffled at times with his daughter, and Kinnear's presence is looming as Mr. Oswald, a character who seems to know nothing but violence as a way out of a situation.





 

Harry Connick Jr- Every Man Should Know

Twice was the charm for Every Man Should Know, Harry Connick Jr’s latest release.  The first pass didn’t leave much of an impression on me, and in fact I found it to be a little snoozy.  But the second listen revealed EMSK as a subtler pleasure, as Connick switches moods and styles pretty effortlessly.  He begins with the title track, and to me it’s a shaky and pretty sappy opener, as Connick reflects on what a man should be to a woman.  The next three songs are much sharper, as Connick goes from lusty (One Fine Thing”) to blissful (“I Love Her) to penning a tune that may become a wedding staple (“Greatest Love Story”). 

          The middle of the album is solid, as the mood shifts again from slightly desperate longing  (“Come See About Me”) to the complete opposite (the gleeful solitude of “Being Alone”).  Connick gets supportive with a gospel choir in “You’ve Got It”, and then follows the best track, “Let Me Stay”, which is a beautiful love song featuring great interplay between Connick and many instruments.

         Every Man Should Know doesn’t finish well, though.  I wasn’t quite feeling the more gospel-ish “S’pposed To Be”, and “Time To Go” is a downright puzzling choice to close.  “Time To Go” is told from the point of view of an aging performer whose days are long behind.   Connick has the audience in this song practically booing said performer (who is, incidentally, living out of his car) off the stage.  It’s an utter downer of a song and leaves a pretty bad taste.   Despite the last track, though, “Every Man Should Know” is an interesting listen.

Concert Review- Sting at The Ravinia Festival (June 7)

Friday night marked my fifth Sting concert, and this one was at a bit of a different venue.  The Ravinia Festival (in Highland Park, IL) is like a concert in the park on a much bigger scale, as concertgoers (at least the ones on the massive lawn) are also picnic-goers.  Showtime was 8pm, but gates opened at 5 (4:30 for Ravinia members).  For us non-members, 5 o'clock was a rush, as the gates opened and we looked for that ideal spot. 

Turns out any ol' spot would do, as very few of the lawn seats have a close-up view of the pavilion, so we set up shop near one of the many speakers and began to relax.  Our fellow concert-goers were very friendly, which was a good thing since we wound up pretty tightly packed.  Some of our neighbors brought games, and some even burrowed into sleeping bags as the chill in the air intensified as the sun made its way down.

Thinking back on it, it's hard to imagine a more perfect headliner for Ravinia than Sting.  Since his days fronting The Police, Sting's tunes have likely wound up as the background music for many a shindig, and they seemed to serve the same function even with him present, at least for many on the lawn.  Sting's music is pretty mellow, and the most raucous song of the night was "Demolition Man", which livelied up what had been a pretty sedate start.  He opened with two hits, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".  For me, it was good to hear Sting's playfulness within these songs (and all his songs, really), but the night really brought out to me what a tremendous songwriter Sting really is. As much as I prefer his work with the Police, his solo work really blends well in concert, especially with a tight band behind him.  As earlier stated, I've seen Sting five times, and for three of those shows, Vinnie Colauita was the drummer and really seems to bring the best out in Sting.  Dominic Miller has long been Sting's voice on the guitar, and it's a distinct voice, even on Police songs.  David Sancious provides a jazzy feel on keyboards, David Tickell had a couple of rousing violin solos, and backup singer Jo Lawry complements Sting very well (and he let her howl on "Hounds of Winter).

Sting himself is in incredible shape.  He hasn't lost anything vocally, and was very laid-back and comfortable on stage, as he seems to have found a good groove with his band.  Overall, they put on a solid show with distinctly different takes on the hits and good choices on the more obscure material.

Setlist:

If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Every Little Thing She Does
Englishman In New York
All This Time (introduced as a song about Newcastle, his home town)
Seven Days
Demolition Man (liked a lot with the guitar work at the end)
I Hung My Head (introduced as Sting's attempt at a country song)
Fields of Gold
Driven To Tears
Heavy Cloud No Rain
Message In A Bottle
Hounds of Winter (howling vocals at the end by Lawry and Sting)
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Band solos
Roxanne

Encore:

Desert Rose
King Of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next To You
Fragile



 

Quick Hits- Daft Punk and John Fogerty

I couldn't really get into Daft Punk's Random Access Memories as much as I was hoping to.  There are some catchy songs, but there are some awfully repetitive ones and some just plain worn-out concepts.  "Instant Crush" repeats its refrain to the point of exhaustion similar. "Touch", while having an intriguing beginning, becomes pretty soggy by the time it's (over)done.  "Giorgio By Moroder" uses an interesting technique:  Moroder introduces himself and explains how he got into music, and then the song kicks into gear.  It's one of the best tracks on the album, but perhaps DP would have been better served spreading this into two tracks, as repeated listening of the intro gets a bit annoying.  The last few songs are the strongest (concluding with "Contact", which sounds like a space shuttle's re-entry to Earth) and leave a good impression in the listener's memory, but the middle of RAM prevents it from being great.







I was surprised by how much I really got into Wrote A Song For Everyone, which features John Fogerty reworking his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs with other artists.  I think I've heard CCR on the radio about as much as I've heard John Mellencamp, which means that they're pretty burned into my brain.  I didn't have high expectations when I started listening, mostly because I've seen Fogerty perform his songs live on television a few times and he seemed pleasant enough, but kind of bland and boring.

I was thrilled that Fogerty really let his collaborators give their flavor to his songs, and having him in on it still lets in some of the original flavor.  Fogerty mostly trades verses on these songs, and it's a fired-up Fogerty.  The Foo Fighters rock the opening "Fortunate Son", Zac Brown Band lends their jammy country sounds to "Bad Moon Rising", and the title track is a soulful collaboration with Miranda Lambert and Tom Morello.  Fogerty sounds like he's having a blast, and Wrote A Song is a treat to listen to.  It's also an excellent choice for a long drive, as most of the songs are upbeat and pretty free-wheeling.