Event three, Straight No Chaser Concert ---- (5 of 5 event points)

As an early Christmas present to my dad, I took him to see one of his favorite accapella groups. Straight No Chaser started as a group of undergrads at the University of Indiana. In 1998 someone posted a video of them playing their most famous song, "The 12 Days of Christmas". The video was immediately a hit and in no time at all they had received over 10 million views. Shortly after they signed a 5 record deal with Atlantic Records and have been touring ever since. The show itself was decent, they try to break up their singing with a little bit of acting and comedy. They played at Harrah's Casino in Valley Center to a nearly sold out crowd. The crowd was definitely on the older side, being at a 21 and up casino probably attributed to this a bit, but the music in general was more geared around the middle aged adult. The crowd was rather involved in the music and seemed to be relatively entertained making the group sing 2 additional songs to an encore. I was a little disappointed that most of their music paled in comparison to their hit "The 12 Days of Christmas", but they did a good job. They won't be playing in San Diego until at least next year sometime (they have yet to post their 2011 tour dates), but if you get a chance to see them, I would recommend them although I probably wouldn't see them again unless someone else is buying!

Event two, 2 for 1; Music at Boar's Crossing in Carlsbad ---- (3 and 4 of 5 event points)

Originally I went to " It's A Grind" coffee shop on November 13th to see Mandobasso play, but that ended up being cancelled due to Gunnar Briggs being sick. Instead a couple of friends and I decided to grab some drinks instead of wasting the trip. So we ended up going to Hennessey's bar down the street. We had some conversations over some appetizer's and drinks. The following weekend on November 20th, I went to see a local band from Oceanside, California named Irieside at the Boar Cross'n bar in Carlsbad (definitely go here if you’re looking for a horrible girl to guy ratio as it was 90% marines. Lame).The band there was pretty good though. Irieside plays a mixture of Hip-Hop, Reggae Riddims, Rock and Funk music. They’ve been in the local music scene for the last 7 years or so. The band consists of five band members. Ben Blessing is the lead guitarist and vocals, Alex Earl plays the bass guitar, Sid Hilarides plays drums, Arjay Pantig plays trumpet, and Anthony Williams is the lead vocals and emcee. The croud was pretty pumped for the band and the bar was packed with fans. A quote from their site “With a mixture of Hip-Hop, Reggae Riddims, Rock and Funk… Irieside is known for making any crowd move… no matter age, race, sex, or creed. With an awesome stage presence and mood enhancing music, Irieside is sure to rock any crowd, anytime.”The music was pretty decent, might go and see them again sometime. You can check out their music at http://www.irieside.com/.

The Year of Living Dangerously

Mel Gibson has to decide between love and his career in the midst of a revolution in Jakarta, Indonesia. With the help of some locals, Guy Hamilton (Gibson) is able to to get into meetings with some the most powerful people in Indonesia. This makes Guy the center of attention in Indonesia as he reports for ABS news of Australia. During his stay though, he meets Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver) and they fall in love. Guy has to decide between his love for Jill and his love for his reporting as the country get's more dangerous everyday. The acting was poor, and the movie just average. I'd give it a B for being made in the early 80's. Otherwise a low C. 

Whale Rider

Yet another movie I would have never watched on my own if it wasn't for this class. The film is about a Maori  family living in New Zealand, but in particular the relationship between the grand daughter and grandfather. The granddaughter (Paikea) has only one wish, which is for her grandfather to love her. Her grandfather however, wanted Paikea to be born a boy and blames her for her twin brothers' death at birth. The Maori people have a deep bond and appreciation for whales and with the help of the whales, Paikea is able to gain her grandfather's love.

Manufactured Landscapes

Edward Burtynsky takes you through the world of industrialization and manufacturing from a viewpoint that is both awe inspiring and grotesque. The cover of the movie shows a giant manufacturing facility where ceiling fans are produced. The camera first focuses on the warehouse workers as whole but then zooms in on the tasks that the workers do day in and day out. The tasks are mundane and mind numbing. They ranged from rinsing small plastic pieces one at a time to wrapping a small piece of wire around an inch long tube. The film makes you realize that to have the things we 'need' or want we are destroying the world around us.

War Photographer

Christian Frei produced a stellar movie in War Photographer. James Nachtwey's photographs are truly heart/gut wrenching and although he doesn't care, this film proves that he is by far the best war photographer ever. He aims at taking photos that people here in the United States don't necessarily want to see because they make you feel terrible when you're out here having a good time spending money rather carelessly, while people all over the world are struggling. Not only struggling but being tortured, dying of starvation, and hoping that they will make it through tomorrow. A great quote from his website, "I attempt to become as totally responsible to the subject as I possibly can. The act of being an outsider aiming a camera can be a violation of humanity. The only way I can justify my role is to have respect for the other person's predicament. The extent to which I do that is the extent to which I become accepted by the other, and to that extent I can accept myself." -James Nachtwey

Shall We Dance, Japanese

This is the original Shall we Dance film title Shall We Dansu?. It is very similar to the American version with a few tweaks here and there. One being that in the Japanese version the family does not have a son where in the American version the family does. I enjoyed the American version more, I think mainly because I identified better with characters. It wasn't a bad movie though I could see why it won national recognition like it did. It's a lot harder to following along and appreciate foreign films when the language is not your own and the customs often don't make sense. Besides that, the acting was sub par actually probably about what you'd expect to see in a Japanese film.