AZEALIA BANKS - 212 FT. LAZY JAY

So I saw this playing at The Thrifty Nickel that night with Anna.



I was the 57,847,209th viewer on YouTube. I can see why

A Comeback?

It is sunny and I feel motivated. Both of these things happen less often than I'd hope. I started this blog with grand ambitions. I hoped to tie it to a buddies 'Trek blog called Trek is not a Dirty Word' and then I hoped to rope in more people, each of us with our own '____ is Not a Dirty Word', with 'Pop is Not a Dirty Word' as the home base tying them all together. This never really panned out. My focus would have eventually been 'Comics is Not a Dirty Word' with an opening post about how so many people misuse terms like 'graphic novel' to avoid calling them what they are, 'comics'. I may have even written that post, who knows. It has been about two years since I last blogged and more than that since I kept it up with any regularity. Not coincidentally, I found a job after several months off around the same time I stopped writing the bulk of the posts here.

I have come to terms with the fact that I am an average writer, but I would like to get better. The only way to do that is to keep writing, so I am going to try to get back into the habit. I recently wrote a thing for a friends "'zine"/final project and it really made me realize how two years off had made me dramatically less comfortable with writing, especially in a format that other people might actually see. I am easing back in now. I do not even have a particular topic in mind for this post and I am going to stay away from adding images for now since that part was always the biggest headache. If I can keep this up for a few weeks, maybe I will start working on making things look pretty.

As I said, comics is the main thing I think about, but pretty much anything is going to be fair game here. Movies,  Portland, video games, television, whatever. Writing about comics is too depressing. I spend way too much time reading a lot of great people on comics (and other media) and I cannot compete with any of them at this point, but I do feel like throwing my thoughts in from time to time. David Brothers, Matt Seneca, Tucker Stone, Chris Sims, Tom Spurgeon, Joe McCulloch, Chris Mautner, Sean Collins, Laura Hudson, Tim Callahan, and on. Reading other people's opinions on comics the last year or two has been as big a time sync as reading actual comics, in the best way.

Living in Portland, you'd think I would have stumbled into some real life comics friends by now, and as great of friends as I have made, I haven't had much luck there. I blew two(!) job interviews with Dark Horse in 2007. I shop at Cosmic Monkey and have regularly interacted with comics artist Zack Soto there. I have volunteered at Stumptown at least twice. That is about it as far as comics interactions go, outside of you know asking someone to sign my shit, which I still have not figured out how to do without feeling super awkward. I have taken to shouting out my comics thoughts on Twitter to pretty much no one. There have been two exciting instances where someone heard me. One resulted in a long argument, 140 characters at a time, with a Forbes blogger about Watchmen. The other was today when I got a reply to a stray thought about the already overly talked about 'The Avengers' box office. I want to put my thoughts somewhere and I want to get better at writing what I am thinking in a format longer than 140 characters. I have a lot of spare time so I don't see why I should not at least attempt to get back into this.



Next time: a specific subject! perhaps...

Yacht, May 14th at the Wonder Ballroom

YACHT

I bought two tickets the day of the show from the box office for $28. This was the last show on their tour. Since they live in Portland, it's a natural last stop for them. Claire Evans owned the place. She came out in a full body white jumper, a very 80's look with her short cropped blond hair. Very confident, great performance.

I imagined that Yacht was more of a duo, but they had a full band backing them up. So it was more than just a poppy electronic show. It really did rock. Jona Bechtolt wasn't upfront as much as Claire, he jammed out a lot on the keyboard. During their encore though, he manned mic and sang "Ring The Bell" I really love that song, a great message!

"It became clear, that there's no one else here"

No Encore Please!

I am sure encores at the end of successful music sets were novel and genuine celebrations of a successful show at some point. That time has long since passed. Encores are now a tired tradition, an obligatory, choreographed end to a set. Under most circumstances, at best an encore pleasantly extends a good show and at worst drains the energy from the whole room. It is time to retire these staged returns to stage, if only in hopes of a future encore renaissance.

There are exceptions to the unnecessary encore rule. I have seen some that occasionally rise above to make the set more memorable and personal. So here is a list of rules to help build a new age of relevant, sincere reprisals.


Yes I stole this photo from melophobe.com so check that page out!

1) Encores should only be considered at sold out shows. If the artist did not inspire enough interest to sell out the venue, he should not perform an extension to his set. The energy from a packed house is vital to a successful encore.

2) An encore should not be performed unless the crowd is actively requesting it. This one seems obvious, but the saddest encores are those that happen as the majority of the venue is emptying out. Sometimes the regular set was enough.

3) The encore should not be performed until the artist completely exits the stage. It is so silly to watch an artist feign exit, only to turn around and immediately keep going. Just extend the set by that extra song or two in this case. The drama encores add to a set is highly exaggerated.

4) The encore should not start until the house lights go on. Audiences have grown accustomed to this universal signal that the show is indeed over. If they are still cheering after this signal, they are sincerely enthusiastic and deserve a bit more. And it is not that difficult to quickly dim the lights again.

5) Encores should never be part of a set list. Encores should be at least partially improvised. Building them into the set defeats the whole purpose of encores. Artists can use the time during the set and feel the audience out. They can figure out what would best serve this specific audience and use that knowledge to end the set memorably.

6) Encores should be something unexpected. If the artist wants to send an audience out with his latest hit, he can end the set with it and perform no more. An encore is opportunity to present the B-Side to the main sets single. Covers, unreleased tracks, or rarely performed favorites are all solid options. A personal preference is when multiple artists perform something together to end the night. Instrument smashing and other theatrics are also encouraged if the mood is right.

I do not want to sound like a grumpy old music snob. I have never liked the idea of planned encores. And while a few have genuinely impressed, most feel like a chore for both the artist and audience. It is time to do something to change this.

Lost: The End Review

Because we need one more person weighing in on the Lost finale via their blog...

I have watched Lost since the first couple episodes aired. I have gone through years of intrigue and frustration. I have praised it and cursed it, and so it seems fitting that the ending would leave me with mixed feelings. I wouldn't read this if you haven't watched the finale yet.

I knew going into "The End" that there was no way Lost could conclude as cleanly as I wanted it to. I went in ready to give the creators a pass on a lot, but I still left the theater (I watched it at Bagdad Theater in Portland, Oregon) without any real sense of gratification.

The episode bounces between the remaining survivors on the island and the "flash sideways" world while explaining how the two are connected and concluding both threads. In one of the better moments, the story on the island ends with a final shot echoing the beginning of the series that is both satisfying and completely predictable. There are some strong moments leading up to it as well (Hurley and air punches), but just as many that seem pointless and not just a little silly (uncorking and corking the island). This time would have been much better spent attempting to answer at least a few of the many lingering questions of the island.


I think most people like Vincent more than Jack by now.

The "flash sideways" world is full of great moments where characters remember their time on the island with each other. Most of these scenes effectively pay off the emotional arcs running through the series. After a while though, it just starts to feel like a checklist of necessary character moments. I was close to tears a few times, but I felt less invested in where everything was headed than I have since early in season three.

Lost has some of the most effective character work in genre television. That is one reason it has been as successful as it has, whereas many genre shows fail to catch on. I am more or less happy with the endings the characters receive emotionally, but the show has always been sold as this epic mystery and, in later seasons, science fiction story. In the end, the show is just another character drama, one that happens to be wrapped in genre details. And not just a few details! There have been dozens of ideas planted throughout the show as late as this season (Why the hell do Jack and Juliette have a son if the "flash sideways" is just some post-life/pre-afterlife waiting room as opposed to an alternate reality?) that have been flat out ignored with this ending.

To end Lost with the island being this vague magic place and the "flash sideways" being this purgatory/limbo (which only makes less sense the more you analyze it) feels so cheap on both counts. So sure, emotionally you could argue this finale was a success. I have certainly seen worse. But to give this episode a complete pass, as many people seem to be doing, is crazy. This ending is a betrayal of the basic premise of the series in too many ways to ignore. I am glad the characters got theirs, but think of the mysteries! This ending makes way too much of the entire plot feel like sloppy storytelling at best or conscious deception to create buzz at worst.


Bummer that Aaron had to revert to being a baby in the afterlife.

As frustrated as I am by some of this finale, I cannot say I would not watch Lost again. It has been a viewing experience unlike any other. Besides the hours spent watching the show, there have been countless more arguing about it with friends and reading about it online. Some single episodes rank among the best television I have ever watched. Sure I would have liked the ending to wrap up with a few more concrete details, but maybe watching it again in a few years without that expectation will prove I did not need them all along.

Probably not, but at the very least, Lost beats Battlestar Galactica.

3/5

Iron Man 2 Review

Iron Man 2, one of the most anticipated films of 2010, has come. The first Iron Man set the bar for the franchise, and superhero films in general, exceedingly high. There was very little chance that the sequel could live up to the ever growing hype, but even so, I held out hope. The reviews came in decidedly mixed (57 on Metacritic) and I grudgingly lowered my expectations. After seeing it twice, I feel I can weigh in with my opinion.

Iron man 2 is awesome!

It is not a perfect film, and it does not present a completely cohesive narrative compared to the first film, or storytelling technique in general. I still had a blast the whole time through on both viewings and came away impressed by what Jon Favreau and Co. have accomplished with Iron Man 2.



The story picks up right where the first film left off, then quickly jumps ahead six months. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is struggling to regulate his company and his health. Most the players from the first film are back, including Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, previously Terrance Howard), Happy Hogan (director Jon Favreau), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, who you may have missed if you did not watch through the credits of the first film). This movie also introduces several new characters, including Justin Hammer (Sam "someone toss this dude an Oscar already" Rockwell), Ivan Vanko (Mickey "good work giving this dude an Oscar already" Rourke), Natalie Rushman (Scarlett "I'm here to make fanboys drool" Johansson), and Tony's father, Howard Stark (John Slattery). Besides juggling all these new and returning characters the film manages to tell a story about a self destructive Tony Stark cleaning up messes that he has effectively created, all the while being the lovable asshole we have come to know so well. The plot is cluttered and messy, but basically revolves around the ideas of legacy and (ir)responsibility. If this film was about three hours long and a little less precious with some segments, it could have probably juggled all the threads and told a more comprehensible story. It still works to introduce all manner of awesome into the Iron man and Marvel Studios universes.

Throughout the film, Tony is put up against a business competitor in Justin Hammer, a new super villain in Whiplash, and his own mortality as he struggles to find a different power source for the armor before it kills him. Tony's conflict with Hammer is probably the most enjoyable of these three conflicts, but Iron Man 2 stays engaging as the plot bounces around between each element. Some moments feel a little long, like watching a drunk Tony Stark abuse the Iron man armor. Some story pieces feel slightly glossed over, like the romantic tension between Tony and Pepper. Overall, the story moves fast enough that no mistakes significantly ruin the fun and momentum of the film. Watching Tony rediscover a new element is gloriously comic book-y, stopping just before the point of ridiculousness, but little moments like this also serve to add to the universe these films are building (if I am not mistaken, Tony found Vibranium, a fictional element that comes up in the comics). While it could be argued that Iron Man 2 tries to do too much, the plot serves the film well by carrying it through all the necessary character moments and action set pieces that a quality summer film should have.




The characters in Iron Man 2, just as in the first, are the most enjoyable part of the film. Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is perfect. He is everything you could hope for in the role, and the whole franchise succeeds on his shoulders. You cannot help but like him even while he does very little to earn it. It will be interesting to see him on screen against the younger Chris Evans, as Captain America, in the Avengers Film because they have always been presented as similarly aged in the comics. Gwyneth Paltrow does a great job sharing the screen with Downey Jr. I do wish there was another beat between these two before the last scene in the film, but she gets plenty of screen time to flesh out her character into an endearing equal, and much needed balance to the out of control Tony. Don Cheadle effortlessly picks up the role of James Rhodes and fits in this universe better than Terrance Howard did, though I never did have a specific problem with Howard's performance. Jon Favreau is clearly having fun with his screen time as Happy Hogan, but some of his scenes probably could have been cut to streamline the picture. Ear biting was funny 10 years ago, less so now. I enjoy Samuel L. Jackson in most roles, even some of his most outrageous, but I am still not sold on his Nick fury, especially now that there are talks to do an entire film based on the character. I would love to see a WW2 story featuring Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos, but I doubt that is the direction they will take with this character now. Jackson comes across as more of a super-spy than a hardened war veteran. Clark Gregg also reprises his role as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with more screen time and personality than before. With all these returning cast members, it is hard to believe there was room for more, but they managed.




The new characters' casting was handled spectacularly. Sam Rockwell steals scenes throughout the film as Justin Hammer, the wannabe Tony Stark. His performance sells the lengths that his character is willing to go to compete with Stark and almost makes his actions seem more pitiable than outright evil. Ivan Venko is an occasionally ridiculous creation, that is saved by Mickey Rourke's careful portrayal. I really could have done without the agonizing scream early in the film (this kind of scene is nearly impossible to sell in any film, writers/directors take note) and the whole bird subplot later on though. Ivan is representative of all the worst things Tony could have become if his world had not been handed to him on an iron platter. I am beginning to wonder if Scarlett Johansson is only an average actress, and I was too distracted to notice because of her other attributes. She doesn't ruin any scenes, but she does not add much texture to the film either. Her character could have her own spin-off film, but she never felt attached enough to the role for me to see that happening. She does fill out one particular outfit quite well. I was pleasantly surprised to see John Slatterly (Mad Men's Roger Sterling, one of the best television characters in existence) as Howard Stark. He seems like a mix of his character from that show and a vintage Walt Disney. I would love to see more of him in future Marvel films. Gary Shandling also deserves a mention for his role as Senator Stern. His courtroom scene with Downey Jr. is one of the funnier moments in the film. The strength of this cast could compete with Dark Knight and might even come out with an edge. I'd take Jarvis in Tony's suit over growly Bruce Wayne in Batman's any day. For a film without a solid emotional core, the cast really does a lot to make you care in as the film rushes through all the ground it has to cover.



Upon first viewing, I was not sold on the action of Iron Man 2. It seemed somehow underwhelming, but again I think that is just a testament to the strength of the acting in the film. Since then, I have heard people claim each of the major action set pieces as their favorite, which implies they are all successful. There is a scene on a race track, featuring villain Whiplash, early in the film that manages to be both exciting and humorous. It also introduces Iron man's suit case armor, which is one of the bigger "Oh Shit!" moments in the movie (slightly undercut by being present in the trailer). We also get a heated Iron Man versus War Machine battle midway through that demolishes a large portion of Stark's residence. This scene is a huge success and ends up being one of the more emotionally intense conflicts throughout. The big climax is a battle between Iron Man, War Machine, a whole heap of Hammer drones, and a powered up Whiplash (possibly a reference to Crimson Dynamo?). This extended set piece is technically impressive, but for some reason the stakes never feel appropriately insurmountable. The action choreography was an improvement over the first film in many ways. Jon Favreau never struck me as an action director, even after Iron Man, but he seems to be getting it down. I never felt lost in scenes and stayed engaged in the conflict even during the extended climax. The action is made possible by some truly impressive effects work as well.

ILM did a great job on the first film. The combination of practical and CG was almost unbelievable. There were no glaring issues, but Iron man 2 easily tops that already impressive display. The suits look great in every scene and there are many moments where I could not be sure if what I was looking at was practical or CG. Something about seeing believable robotic suits in live action is so satisfying. The action does well to not overshadow the story, and the effects do not overshadow the action. Everything works to form a momentum that had me entertained and engaged completely.



After that obligatory rundown of plot, actors, and action, I feel like I still have not accurately captured what made this film so good. Iron Man 2 is a delicate balancing act. It manages to cram in so much story, character, and action, even while laying significant groundwork for the Marvel Studios universe. It builds a believable world for Iron Man that feels like it could house Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Ant-Man (directed by Edgar Wright please!), and more. Besides the variety of Easter eggs strewn about the film to appease comics fans, Iron Man 2 manages to actually feel like a comic book brought to life. It juggles multiple plot threads, soap opera drama, sharp humor, heavy action, and extensive world building at the same time. It never feels like a chore. It is a very fun time. If this was the end of Iron Man's story, I would be inclined to agree with some of the more negative opinions floating out there, but this is is just one small piece of a larger story being told. Iron Man 2 satisfies on its own, but it also succeeds in building excitement for the future of these Marvel films.



There is a lot of talk about the illusion of change in comics and how it helps and hurts the stories that are told in the medium. These characters have to stay relatively static in order to be easily marketable. In translating a comic to film, it is easy to cherry pick from the decades of continuity to come up with some earth shattering plot, but it is admirable for Favreau and Co. to craft a straight up comic book story that is optimized to have fun in the established universe. Iron Man 2 is hugely respectful to the source without being obsessed with telling another person's idea of the definitive Iron Man story. Favreau is resisting pressure to delve too heavily into the classic Demon in a Bottle storyline that finds Tony Stark up against the villain of alcoholism (cue dramatic music), and I absolutely respect his choice to portray Tony as an unapologetic dick who stubbornly displays almost no growth throughout an entire picture.

"Truant! Truant!" they'll say!

There is no excuse, and also about a dozen of them. I haven't updated this site in almost six months. I aim to fix that in the very near future. I will not keep up the schedule I had before unless I find some other writers to step in, ahem.

As a reminder, this blog is a completely self indulgent exercise. I am going to write about what I am into. This list includes but is not limited to: movies, television, comics, music, animation, food/drink, Portland, and celebrities. Welcome back, or possibly for the first time, to Pop is Not a Dirty Word.

Also, did you know that Breaking Bad is an hour long and not 30 minutes? I am not sure if it is a testament to my idiocy or the shows quality that I assumed it was a half our.