Review - Sherlock Holmes

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2010/01/05/sherlock-holmes-all-action-little-mystery

'Sherlock Holmes' full of action, devoid of mystery

photo credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

“Sherlock Holmes”
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams
Director: Guy Ritchie
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Grade: C+

Fans of the mystery and crime genres all know part of the fun of diving into a new tale is picking up on the clues along with the main character, or maybe beating him to it.

The film “Sherlock Holmes” must have missed this memo. Despite being based heavily on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories, following the famous fictional character of the same name, the film instead took the path away from mystery and focused more on the action.

The fictional face of Sherlock Holmes has been in the brains of fans since Doyle conjured him up more than 100 years ago. Holmes is a renowned character in fiction, with incredible deductive reasoning skills accompanied by a talent for acute observation and an eccentric personality.

At least the film got this right, with actor Robert Downey Jr. taking on the complex and sometimes flat-out ridiculous character of Holmes. At his side is Jude Law as Dr. John Watson.

On screen the two old partners must work together on what is to be their last case as a team. It involves suspected black magic and a dangerous, terrifying force which rises from the death of a corrupt lord intent on bringing about the subjugation of England, America and eventually the entire world.

The film portrays the incredible crime fighters as needing to use their fists and brains to fight their new enemies. At the same time both characters are supposed to be dealing with personal issues, such as Watson’s retirement. In addition to all that, both must deal with matters of love and lust.

It was a bold move, but it didn’t pay off.

Instead of allowing a strong plot baseline and character development, “Sherlock Holmes” carries on through the mystery swiftly and chaotically, with a strong score that pounds on the eardrums and explosions and deaths that are supposed to show off the power and danger the detectives are facing.

The mystery element of “Sherlock Holmes” is, in fact, almost completely lost among the chaos.

The settings and sets are more complete than the characters at times, with costumes and building designs setting the mood and scene perfectly.

By the end of the film, it’s revealed that Holmes himself had been mentally working through the case the entire time, but had in fact picked up most of his clues so early in the film that any audience member who may have wanted to solve the mystery themselves could hardly have done so in the short time span spent on the scene holding the key to the mystery.

Of course, the ending is predictable at best. The set-up for the villain, including his motive and crime, is mediocre. The mystery itself was hardly the most complicated of Holmes’ career and is supposedly connected to a larger crime, therefore setting the stage for a sequel, or perhaps an entire franchise.

Most offensive of all, the ending is an ending that should have been a beginning. The film literally stops as Holmes begins to suggest a larger plot than what he and Watson dealt with for more than two hours previously on the screen.

This new take on the character of Sherlock Holmes needs more work. Perhaps any sequel will be able to pick up the slack.

Ari Hest (older)

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/22/ari-hest-takes-inspiration-family-variety-talents

Ari Hest takes inspiration from family, variety of talents

photo credit: Courtesy Ari Hest

Ari Hest plays piano, guitar and teaches math.

Ari Hest
Thunderbird Café
Nov. 28, 8 p.m.
$14
412-682-0177

Press coverage has praised Ari Hest for setting himself apart in the musical field.

He has moved away from standard labels and created music that, according to the Washington Post, is a “melodic folk sound [that] bears hints of Bruce Springsteen.”

But even if Hest is aware of such praise, he might not accept such comments as praise at all.

“You can learn some things occasionally, but I don’t pay too much attention to critiques,” Hest said. “There’s no way I’m going to please everybody. If I get caught up in that, it’ll be dark situation. I rely on my own ear.”

The singer has recorded 11 albums and EP releases, all influenced by his upbringing.

He studied piano growing up, taught himself to play his mother’s guitar and listened to many of his favorite artists’ records, including The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins and The Police.

“Music is in the family,” Hest said. “They never pushed music on me, but I knew I could sing from the time I was a little kid. I liked playing guitar. When I was in high school, it was a nice outlet. It became a bigger part of my life when I got to college. I started to write songs, and little by little, it became a bigger deal to me.”

Hest also played baseball throughout high school. But in college, he said, he knew he didn’t have the talent to continue professionally.

“I didn’t really like academics, but I wanted to get through school,” he said. “After a while, [guitar] seemed like a better idea. At that point, I was playing at fraternity parties in college and getting my feet wet. I didn’t fully grasp things when I started to play, but I had very supportive friends [and family].”

Music not only became his priority, but it showed itself as his gift. Hest doesn’t have much trouble with songwriting.

“I have a head for it, and I’m lucky,” he said.

From his meager college beginnings, Hest began releasing his recorded albums.

His songs were a composition of lyrics inspired by his life and music he often hummed and thought out to himself rather than wrote out on paper.

“I didn’t put too much thought into production on the first album,” Hest said. “It was more my getting used to things. I didn’t know what made an album ... I tend to go from folk to rock to something else without hesitation. That’s the way I write. I don’t like to fit into one category.”

But the act of recording seems to be Hest’s major challenge.

“Recording feels pretty unnatural,” Hest said. “It’s hard to get to a natural place when you’re doing takes.”
Hest has also dealt with rocky times and felt insecure about his music career, he said. He might find an alternative to music, if he ever felt the need.

“I dabbled with teaching — not teaching music,” he said. “I kind of like numbers. I have taught math a couple of times for substitutes over the last two years just to see if it was something I would be interested in. I like it, but not at much as what I do now.”

For now, Hest said nothing is definite with him other than being happy where he is.

“I don’t have a plan for the future,” he said. “Last year, I did this one song a week thing. I wrote a new song and released it on my website ... This year, I’m wanting the pressure off and going more with the flow. I’m trying to do more shows out of the country. But I love what I do. I don’t feel pressure to be famous. I’d love more people to know my music, but I’m happy with the way things are.

“The thing I like the best is coming up with the song I like and feeling good about creating something,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to accomplish.”

Check out Hest's Myspace page here.

Good Brother Earl brings unconventional sound to Diesel

Good Brother Earl brings unconventional sound to Diesel

photo credit: Courtesy Joe Teplitz

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/12/10/good-brother-earl-brings-unconventional-sound-diesel

Larissa Gula
Staff Writer

Good Brother Earl
Dec. 12
6:30 p.m.
Diesel
$10 (includes new album Fiction)
(412) 431-8800

Good Brother Earl is a band with a weird name that doesn’t mean anything, yet it has a distinctive sound formed by a collection of rock, blues, country and pop influences.

It’s an unconventional sound for an unconventionally named band, but this gives Good Brother Earl an edge and more room to experiment. Apparently, the Steel City has the ability to produce an eclectic variety of musicians.

“We’re mostly all Pittsburghers,” Jeff Schmutz, the band’s acoustic guitar player and vocalist, said. He described the band’s journey to spread its name as a challenge that cannot be done alone.

“The local media has been extremely kind with both airplay and in support of not only us, but all local music in general,” Schmutz said. “Pittsburgh is no Los Angeles or Nashville, but it really has it’s own flavor.”

The flavor of Pittsburgh seems to include the media support — with positive coverage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and City Paper — and fan support alike.

“The folks that see our shows regularly are fantastic,” he said. “They are all extremely supportive.”

Good Brother Earl set out in 1998 as a college band, keeping its shows within the Northeast. It has played at multiple venues in Ohio, New York, Maryland and Pittsburgh, and with the CD release party tomorrow night, the band has released three albums.

Good Brother Earl has the oddball sound and name going for it, but where did the name come from?

“The name Good Brother Earl came from one of our previous drummers,” he said. “We needed to advertise for a show and he said, ‘What about Good Brother Earl?’ The name just ended up sticking.”

With a name chosen, the band went on to develop its sound and try to record albums without being signed to a record label.

“Although with the advances in recording technology, it has gotten much easier [to record albums],” Schmutz said, “Skip Sanders, our keyboard player, has a studio in his house, which ... is great because you don’t have to worry about time constraints. We get to be creative and stress free while we record.”

“Ultimately, I think we’d love to be on a label, because you get to reap the benefits of all the publicity and advertising they offer,” Schmutz said about record labels. “I will say, though, that being able to have the creative freedom of an independent label is very nice. As an independent, we are solely responsible for how the record sounds and what songs appear on it.”

After 11 years, Good Brother Earl has come to enjoy both the hardships of recording and the adrenaline of live performance.

“Recording allows you to put your song and performance under a microscope and shape it and really mold it into something you like,” he said. “It’s more creative. Playing live is great too, though. It’s all about the energy of the music, and the five of us all playing our parts cohesively to make the performance something people can get into.”

Behind the scenes, the band members’ musical tastes are very broad — part of the reason the band’s sound itself is very eclectic. Schmutz named Led Zeppelin, Dave Matthews, U2 and some classical and jazz music as some of the musicians’ favorite artists.

It created a sound so different that categorization isn’t possible.

“We’ve always had a difficult time in trying to classify ourselves,” said Schmutz, “I think that fact that we enjoy so many different styles definitely comes out in our music.”

Good Brother Earl believes it has found a substantial fanbase in Pittsburgh, and next, it wouldn’t mind winning over other cities.

“Ultimately, we’d like to be on a national level, getting radio airplay, touring around the country,” Schmutz said. “But for right now, our local fans and the support we’re received from the local media has been fantastic.”

Column 12 – Inspirational Halloween

(Belated posting, I know. I tend to wait to post these until RKYV is released, and this one came out late.)

Column 12 – Inspirational Halloween

Here’s to keep my miraculous appearance a second time running short and fairly sweet. Hm, sweet? Like, treat sweet? Trick ‘r Treat?

By the time you all read this, I’m sure it will be long past Halloween. (Sorry, Randy, but it’s true.) Still, I think my leading topic can be appreciated year round, especially when the sun goes down and the chill in the houses begins to increase.

Ghosts.

I’m willing to bet every reader has a single defining thing they gravitate towards when they hear that word. Some people probably think of the sheet-like ghost that’s a white see through mass. Others might think of a person, a relative or historic figure known to haunt a location nearby. Still others may go the extra length to think of malicious forces we cannot explain.

The thing is, we don’t know that much about ghosts. In fact, at least in the U.S., the majority cannot agree on whether they exist or not. (I know spiritually differs between cultures. Stay with me.)

But ghosts are pretty darn popular, at least in the U.S. I even went and wrote a story about ghost walks in Pittsburgh for the Pitt News. The newspaper wanted their share of ghosts, too.

Two things made my personal experience all the more worthy. One, our stories are often rooted in historical fact. Two, the man telling the ghost stories was a marvelous professional freelance story teller. Raconteur, was he? Oh yes, he was. He knew how to tell, what to include, what was entertaining, and in the end, how to build the story and keep it flowing right up until the end without letting the audience escape the hook and net he’d made just for them.

See the point yet? Whether these stories were true or not, whether the listeners believed or not: story telling itself is an act of creation. Another person would certainly have shared the tales in a different style and made them a bit different with their own style. It’s the nature of tales to be adopted and changed. Fairy tales are all said to originate from three basic stories that were elaborated on and changed for the cultures and times they existed in. I don’t even want to try to count how many exist now.

Not only that, but creation serves not only a personal desire, but a public desire. I could tell my tour guide wanted to share his stories, and I could tell the audience wanted to be there – or at least managed to enjoy themselves if they were dragged along. It happens.

It’s important to remember when working on artwork, you truly can’t please everyone, but on the other hand: maybe it’s not always the best idea to always create what you specifically want. There has to be at least a sliver of public desire for the artwork to be shared artwork. If you are happy keeping it to yourself as a hobby, by all means: go for it. But if you want to go public at some point, you can try to tone down your own artwork for the public, at least for a time. Maybe you can release a special edition later once you have fans?

This topic of ghosts may be as debated as the idea of being yourself versus selling to the public, and I am sure we all will take on other topics of questionable nature (what is more fun for an artist?) but I think peaceful debate is half the fun.

In the end, the best artist makes the art as believable as my ghost tour guide did – at least for a time. But preferably, permanently. (Which was the case with the walk. Congrats, good sir.)

To read the article I wrote for the Pitt News, go to http://trolleygirl13.blogspot.com/2009/10/pittsburgh-ghost-walks.html .

Best, and Happy Halloween,
-Larissa

Engineer Artwork

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/12/01/cecil-balmond-blends-line-between-engineering-art

Cecil Balmond blends line between engineering, art

photo credit: Courtesy Arup

Take a walk through a different kind of maze.

Forum 64: H_edge
Cecil Balmond
Carnegie Museum of Art
412.622.3131

An engineering degree doesn’t prevent the inspired from dabbling in the arts.

Engineer Cecil Balmond has a metallic labyrinth currently featured at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland.

The exhibit, “H_edge,” demonstrates how Balmond has used a visionary approach toward art and creatively applied mathematical formulas, ultimately challenging the definitions of architecture and engineering.

Balmond is an engineer of international recognition who has worked with many architects globally, as well as some artists, according to Raymund Ryan, architecture curator at Carnegie Museum of Art and curator for the exhibit.

“The key point on ‘H_edge’ is it’s an installation,” Ryan said. “It’s a labyrinth. The intention is people will enjoy wandering through this thing but be puzzled how it stays vertical.”

The structure seems so simple, yet it forms an elaborate and decorative maze. It’s composed of around 6,000 aluminum plates suspended between stainless-steel chains, which look like metallic ivy hanging from thin air.

The trick is that it’s standing from panels on the floor.

“The edges of leaves are inserted into the circles of the cables, and the whole thing becomes a taught system,” Ryan said. “It’s very light, but it creates a taut three-dimensional framework so that the thing can span like a portal or a doorway. But it looks very delicate. It’s strong and delicate at the same time.”

This delicate but sturdy creation is essentially an engineering and mathematical premise formed into a beautiful and intriguing object, he said.

“The end product, because it is so thought-out and more than applied science, becomes an art object in and of itself,” he said.

Born in Sri Lanka, Balmond is deputy chairman of Arup, the international design consultant firm based in London. Despite Balmond not being considered an artist by profession, Ryan believes “H_edge” is an admirable structure.

In addition to the actual metallic structure, there is a mirror on the wall that visually elongates the maze, as well as several information boxes, called light boxes, on the walls that contain designs and information about engineering principles.

For example, Balmond explains in short films embedded within the light boxes, the fractal “is a geometric idea that repeats at different scales.”

“In the light boxes especially ... you can see that the notion of a coastline becomes fractal,” he said. “As you zoom in further and further, it essentially maintains the same form. I think you can find these things in lungs. If you take an X-ray you can find strange patterns in the lungs. It’s the same pattern existing in the same scale within itself. That’s one idea he is interested in.”

The boxes also explain connections between cultures and nature that deal with universally important numbers and other ideas and patterns.

Informative as this may be, there’s another goal of the exhibit.

“It should be somewhat mysterious,” Ryan said. “We try to get the lighting right. We want the natural light there, as well, when possible. The light should bounce around the complicated structure and create a sense of mystery.”

All of this information and mystery is tucked into a single room, going by the official name “Forum 64: H_edge,” because Balmond’s installation is No. 64 to go through the separated exhibition space.

The room sits between the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Art. The little room usually holds contemporary works of art with just one or two pieces, creating a teaser for the visitors.

“‘H_edge’ appeals to the core historic mission of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh: the advancement of art and science,” Ryan said. “It plays to the issue of arts and sciences coexisting.”

On Saturday Nov. 21, a Pitt Arts-sponsored trip included a guided tour of the exhibit along with lunch at the Museum Café.

This exhibition takes place from Nov. 14, 2009 to May 30, 2010 in the Forum Gallery of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Balmond will also give a lecture Feb. 6, 2010.

Songwriters in Pittsburgh

Songwriters Circle allows creative outlet for local musicians

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/29/songwriters-circle-allows-creative-outlet-local-musicians

You don’t need to be signed to a major record label to release an album — at least not in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle has released five albums, all of them featuring an ensemble of local musicians and songwriters — none of whom consider making music their careers.

“I love writing songs just for the sake of writing songs, and the people who come to the Songwriters Circle are the only people I know who understand that,” songwriter Bruce Hoffman said.

The Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle is a local folk-singing group that meets at least once a month to share its appreciation of music and assist others in songwriting.

The meetings allow a chance for feedback and critique of personal pieces in a comfortable environment.

The group is free to join. It’s easy to get in, and yet even its members admit it took a while to grow completely comfortable in the group.

“What takes some work is for each of the members to decide that they finally want to show up and participate,” songwriter Peter Donovan said. “I am not unusual in the fact that I thought about going for years before I finally put my guitar in the car and drove to the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern.”

Hoffman also spent a period of time finding the courage to walk through the door as a newcomer.

“Once I did, I realized this was the place for me, and I have been a regular ever since,” Hoffman said. “I discovered that there were all these other people who shared my interests. That was a revelation for me.”

The shared interest allows for feedback on songs that otherwise might not be available, so composition is always encouraged.

“Songwriting in a vacuum is limiting,” Donovan said. “Sure, you can steal ideas from recordings, but it is so much more fun to steal ideas from talented people in the same room.”

Every month the songwriters pick out or are given an assignment to help narrow the focus of the song topic and idea, which also assists in the composition process.

“The more you [write], the better you get,” Donovan said. “It takes talent, practice and spark [to create music].”

“The assignment that we get each month pushes me to write, because I want to come back the next month with a new song,” songwriter Sue Gartland said. “There are so many different styles of writing represented in the group. One subject can be interpreted in so many different ways.”

With an assignment as a focus topic and limited songwriting time, the next step is to find some inspiration to write the song. The best inspiration seems to be everyday life.

“Real life is probably what informs and inspires all great songs,” Hoffman said. “Though they may be fictionalized or revised or taken way out of context, personal experiences, both past and present, pop up in my songs all the time.”

Donovan and Gartland agreed that their lives are what inspire their songs.

“The Songwriters Circle provides the camaraderie and encouragement and even the technique,” Donovan said. “But real life is what provides the fodder. That’s where the heartbreaks happen and where the spirit moves.”

Then comes the meeting and critique, and over time, the finished work is completed and recorded for CDs such as the newly released Collection 2010.

But organizing and maintaining the group can be a challenge, too.

“You need to have two or three people who are willing to take on the brunt of it and a few others to pitch in as needed,” Hoffman said. “We are lucky to have that. My hope is that when the time comes for those of us who take on those responsibilities to move on, there will be others ready to step up and take over.”

Despite the challenge of scheduling meetings, keeping members informed, recording and even advertising, the songwriters are happy with their group.

“I really appreciate that we have some members of the group that keep us all updated through e-mail, by reminding us that the first Tuesday of the month is coming up, reminding us what the assignment is and maintaining a MySpace site for the group,” Gartland said. “Our annual CD compilation is a project we all look forward to. [We work] on the project, and then when it’s done, [we get] together for our release party, [which] we just had. We have a great time supporting each other.”

Brett Gleason makes mediocre 'Dissonance'

Brett Gleason makes mediocre 'Dissonance'

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/19/brett-gleason-makes-mediocre-dissonance

Brett Gleason
The Dissonance
Label: Fluxure Advanced Motion Media, Inc.
Rocks Like: A grown-up Backstreet Boy
Grade: C-

Brett Gleason was spot-on in naming his new EP The Dissonance.

The album is inharmonious and tense in composition and style.

The entire album revolves around taking acoustics and revamping them into electronic keyboard mixes. It’s an interesting — if not necessarily good — idea, but it’s done poorly. The end result sounds unnatural and forced.

There is no accurate way to describe the music. Is it electronic? A failed attempt at rock? Maybe both?

The vocals seem to get a bit of a makeover through the synthesizer, making the overall feeling of the album even more unnatural.

The vocals are average, striving to hit the notes rather than convey any emotion. And where’s the emotion and passion within this melting pot?

With lyrics like, “Nothing comes when you need it to / When one thing goes wrong here, what I often do / Give up the hope to achieve it,” this isn’t exactly uplifting music.

But with the lack of emotion, these lyrics are just bland. If the lyrics have to be depressing, the vocals should be emotionally depressing to match.

Nothing on this album seems to mix well, and with its separate components clashing, it looks like the album is the one that’s “Futile & Fooled.”

Flyleaf Performs in the 'Burgh

Flyleaf hopes to leave musical 'Memento' in Pittsburgh
http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/11/10/flyleaf-hopes-leavew-musical-memento-pittsburgh

photo credit: Courtesy Flyleaf

Flyleaf melds alt-rock sound with dark and brooding lyrics.

Flyleaf
Mr. Smalls Theatre
Nov. 11, 8 p.m.
$25
412-821-4447

Its new album, Memento Mori, dropped on Tuesday and this week it’ll be making a stop at Mr. Small’s on tour. Welcome to Pittsburgh, Flyleaf.

Flyleaf began playing alternative rock in Texas as a two-member band, according to bass player Pat Seals.

Since 2000, the band has expanded, toured, released two albums and been voted as Best Artist and Best Band by MTV and the public on Yahoo! Polls, respectively.

Despite the fact that its first, self-titled album went platinum, selling more than 1 million copies in the United States, its goal remains fairly humble.
“Flyleaf’s mission is definitely to use our music and personas/careers as a platform to convey what has changed our lives,” Seals wrote in an e-mail interview.

“Our band would not exist today the way it does without the many people from home who believed in/helped us,” Seals wrote. “We had a really wonderful base of support from our friends and families, with [guitar player Jared Hartman’s] parents ... letting us use both of their vehicles to get ourselves and equipment to shows for just about two years. My folks allowed me to drop out of college and crash at home while Flyleaf was betwixt showcases and recordings.

“Also, a cadre of other local bands in the Belton/Temple, Austin, Dallas and Houston areas provided us a ‘scene’ in which to exist and gather influences,” he wrote.

Music composition can be difficult, but Flyleaf can make even the difficulty of combining many different and musical tastes work somehow work together well, he said.

“We have a pretty functional system in Flyleaf so far, so it’s only about as hard for us to write a song we feel good about as it is to mow a medium-sized lawn with a push-mower, but in April or so when it is not too hot outside,” Seals wrote.

Topic-wise, the band’s lyrics lean toward the dark and emotional.

“Frequent themes for me are dissatisfaction and longing,” Seals wrote.

“I’m no brilliant or prolific writer, but when I manage to write something I feel good about, it seems to be the result of many ideas I’ve culled by happenstance in a pedestrian manner that have been ‘put into my brain blender,’ so to speak, and then ‘poured into my song cup’ for others to enjoy ... or ignore.”

“I feel great about Memento Mori as far as quality — I also have very high hopes for it,” he wrote. “I feel that [Memento Mori] is a big step forward for us musically and sonically. When our self-titled was released in 2005, I had no idea what to expect or if it would be successful at all.”

With the release of Memento Mori and a tour to complete, the band’s life is surprisingly quiet, according to Seals. Occasionally a prank is pulled or a friend is seen at a show.

“Exploring creepy/haunted venues is fun, and seeing the sights of places we haven’t been before is always a blast,” Seals wrote.

The band continues to set up concerts for its tours, but Seals admits things could change if something unforeseen happens.

“We can’t predict the future — our careers could easily peter out in a few months,” he wrote. “We of course hope to keep doing this, but we are very happy to have what we have at this moment in time. If Flyleaf was over, I would not feel ungrateful for what we got to experience of the past six years.

“Many moments have arisen that made me question the lot in life I have chosen, but for each of those moments there are a few dozen others that confirm Flyleaf’s and my own decision to exist and persevere as the correct one. God has blessed us so immensely with each other, our crew and the ability and resources to do what we do. It’s not roses all the time, but it is honestly wonderful,” he wrote.

Column 11 - It’s Up To You

Column 11: It’s Up To You
Written for RKYV e-zine

She’s back! Although let’s be honest, probably only to disappear yet again. That bothersome illness [I was ill over the summer] may have finally disappeared into the abyss of the past, but college is back in full swing. I have a full course load on 18 credits, a part time job, an honor society to be involved in, and four total extracurricular activities. Did I mention I ran for floor rep in my dorm?

Why, why, why would I make things so busy I barely have time for myself, let alone a writing project?

The truth is, I’ve gotten pretty lax about my ‘writing’ ever since I got sick – at least, the casual short story and poetry part. I spent one day working on drafts for a fantasy novel idea, and I felt the writer’s equivalent of the Tin Man squealing, “Oil can!” between rusty lips. (What screams on or in a writer - fingers? Brain folds?)

But my priorities have shifted.

The truth is, with the occasional publishing in a magazine (I had yet another occur recently) and my writing for the Pitt News, I feel overall content. I very rarely, if ever, really work on my other ideas.

I suppose the question is, how does one know when they should be content and enjoy their successes, versus when they should enjoy the successes but still kick themselves into work?

Honestly, this is a question I simply cannot answer for you. No one knows you better than yourself. On the other hand, you probably love to make excuses (I do, too; don’t worry).

However, I can give you my secret to balancing time and picking the important things. This is a life saver in college; probably, it’s a life saver outside of college too. (Yay, good habits).

Maybe this is where you can put an old fashioned thing called a list to good use.

Also, it can be the really old fashioned pen and lined paper list, or the updated computer list. Take your pick. I don’t care which, because they serve the same function.

This is the point you just write down your life: your schedule, what you do in your free time, how much free time you have. Write down your hobbies, and any goals you have. Write down how much time you set aside to be with friends, who you spend the most time with – if it’s a part of your life, try to write it down. Get it out in the open.

Then look at it. Even share it with a friend, if you feel comfortable doing so.

If things are going good and you’re happy with them, OK. Congratulations. (Just be on the look out for the day you want to do something. Then it’s time to look over that list again.)

If you feel like you want to add something to the list (now or in the future), cut some things out or cut down how much time you spend on other things. It will not be easy, but you have to prioritize just like I did.

Just remember: be firm with yourself, but be flexible as well. Things happen, things get in the way. And as long as you work when you can, that’s OK.

In the end, it will be completely, totally up to you to decide if that project can be worked on now, or put off until later.

(Just don’t put it off until later next time. Unless you have a real crisis of an excuse.)

Best of luck,
Larissa

CD Review: Lights

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/27/debut-lights-album-begs-listening

Debut Lights album begs for a 'Listening'

photo credit: Lights

The Listening

Lights
The Listening
Sire Records
Sounds Like: Owl City meets The Corrs
Grade: B

Lights’ debut album, The Listening, is a surprisingly enjoyable first release from the electro-pop band.

The mingling of jamming techno beats with an old-school pop sound creates an interesting spin on the genre and is usually pleasing to the ear.

It embraces pop’s ability to carry a beat and allow for a theme about a love or a relationship that’s so frighteningly deep and intense, each lover can’t live without the other.

But nothing is perfect. Out of all the songs, a handful touch on the idea of being more than unhappy with where you are. It’s a little disheartening.

Sure, every person has experienced one of the multiple moments Lights breathes into musical form. On the other hand, it’s probably best to eventually be proactive about one’s life, which is exactly the opposite of what Lights seems to advise in many songs.

Don’t look to this album for much inspiration in that field.

Above all, it’s good entertainment. “Pretend” is an especially sweet track about playing pretend and remembering what it is like to be a kid. There are even two versions of this song for musical lovers: an upbeat techno-mix and a classical piano version.

By the album’s end, though, just don’t forget about moving forward and living for today after waxing nostalgic about your childhood.

Keller Williams Performing in Pittsburgh

Keller Williams balances music with family, blends eclectic styles

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/22/keller-williams-balances-music-family-blends-eclectic-styles

Keller Williams
Mr. Smalls Theater
Oct. 25, 8 p.m.
$22
412-821-4447

Performers love to sit back and listen just as much as they love to perform. Well, at least one does.

“I always consider myself a music lover first,” Musician Keller Williams said. “I’m always listening to different music.”

Williams uses tools such as Rhapsody, Pandora and even the ordinary radio to tap into newly released music.

“It’s something I’m into now, branching out and trying to hear the types of music I’ve never heard before,” Williams said. “There’s tons I go back to and listen to, but musically, there’s a wide variety.”

Variety seems to be a strength of Williams personally.

His genre of music has been described as funky, acoustic and electronic rolled into one. This was not intentional.

“It just sort of evolved on its own,” Williams said. “My first gig for money was in 1986. That was just from learning some chords and playing some songs on the radio.”

Between shows, Williams was a student who worked during the summer.

“Going out and playing on a stool made more money than those construction jobs,” Williams said.

But music wasn’t his career. It was something he did locally, he said.

When he began to travel and play as a career in the early 1990s, he didn’t travel far.

“I would try to open for bands on the weekend at different clubs,” he said. These performances became a cycle over the years.

“There was traveling involved, but it was on a regional level,” he said. “It wasn’t until I moved out to Colorado in ‘95 that I began to travel more.”

Soon, recording sessions accompanied his performances.

“It’s something I always wanted to do — make a record,” Williams said. “The first, ‘Freak,’ is tripping with energy. My records have definitely progressed since then.

“It’s definitely something I love,” Williams said about his music. “My mission is a relentless pursuit of entertaining myself. The fact that people pay a ticket price to watch me entertain myself blows me away. They want to see me having fun, I guess. I want to have fun and have that come across on stage and hopefully entertain the people who came to see me.”

Williams uses some improvisation on stage in his mission to have fun.

“I’ve always written and recorded as the songs come along, and I play whatever I want,” Williams said. “I try not to do the same show two nights in a row and to change things up in the venue since I last played there. The songs that I play are probably going to be different live then they are in the record.”

Conversations might inspire his song composition, but composing pieces is not a straightforward process.

“A lot of it kind of happens late at night,” he said. “Since I have kids, there’s not a whole lot of down time to sit and write. I have to go out of my way and stay up late, and that’s when it comes. It’s easy when it happens that way.”

Once written, it’s time to record. Williams has his own balance for the amount of technology used in a song.

“It’s hard not to use technology to clean up your sound,” Williams said. “But there’s a certain amount of organic-ness that I’m going for ... I use a little technology to right some wrongs. I call it creative editing.”

For the future, Williams has a list of things he wants to record.

“I have my work cut out for me for the next two and a half years,” he said. “I’m confident I’ll be making records and music.”
This is probably a good thing, considering there’s no planned alternative.

“There is no backup plan and no turning back,” Williams said. “This is what I’ll be doing.”

Check out Williams' Mypace page.

CD Review: Rooftop Trio

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/21/rooftop-trio-gives-pittsburghers-something-love

Rooftop Trio gives Pittsburghers something to love

Band: The Rooftop Trio

Sounds Like: The Avett Brothers, Ella Meno

Why do we love Pittsburgh? Is it the $5 pizzas or the fact that the city constantly pumps out new artists like The Rooftop Trio? Personally, I’m leaning toward the latter.

As the new band in town, The Rooftop Trio advertises its recordings as “Blues. Funk. Rock.”
It’s definitely not guilty of false advertising, and it really knows how to put together a nifty little piece of fun.
The band relies more on its music than lyrics, with instrumental solos lasting for about half of each song, creating a nice sound that is sure to relax listeners.

Its pieces are fun to listen to because of how pleasing the final product is to the ears.

The drumming is smooth and makes easy transitions between hard and soft styles. The guitar is passionate and demands that everyone pay attention to it. It has both a rock and a jazzy feel to it.

But don’t worry — when the band does sing, it reveals that it knows how to handle voices, as well as instruments. And it would never dare drown out the guitar.

Celtic Thunder

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/19/celtic-thunders-rolls-pittsburgh

Celtic Thunder rolls into Pittsburgh

photo credit: Courtesy Dan Klores Communications

Celtic Thunder’s talent spans across genres as well as generations.

Celtic Thunder
Heinz Hall
Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.
$47.50 - $67.50
412-392-4900

Decked out in plaid, one of Ireland’s most exciting vocal groups, Celtic Thunder, will rumble and roll into Pittsburgh this fall.

Celtic Thunder combines the talents of five men to create a variety of music, including Celtic ballads and popular hit songs. Some of its songs are acoustic, while others are products of an entire orchestra.

On stage backdrops are also used to give the setting a scenic feeling.

With props, the orchestra ensemble and even a composer, Celtic Thunder blows boy bands out of the park.

“It’s a unique show. It’s five completely different voices, five soloists in a show who just come together,” Celtic Thunder singer Damian Joseph McGinty, Jr. said.

Creator and producer Sharon Browne put the group together after hosting auditions in Ireland two years ago.

“It’s her baby. She thought it up,” McGinty said about Browne. “She tried to think of something the Americans would love. We’re working, making records, trying to sell our show.”

However, McGinty said Celtic Thunder does not fit the stereotype of boy band in any sense.

“It’s five soloists who sing their own show and come together to produce a few good shows,” McGinty said.

There is also an incredible discrepancy in ages.

“The age difference is huge,” McGinty said. “I’m the youngest. I turned 17 last month.”

Of the other four singers, one is 23, two are in their 30s and the oldest is 41.

“It’s a weird combination,” McGinty said. “[But] a different age attracts different people. It could attract the widest audience possible. You never see a boy band where age varies so much. It’s gone well so far, and we’re all enjoying it.”

The five different voices and vocal ranges can provide a challenge, but McGinty said their composer Phil Coulter does a good job creating the best pieces for the band’s lineup.

The wide range of musical instruments matches the wide range of vocal talent. Including everything from a full orchestra to a smaller string quartet, bass player, drummer and percussionist, a Celtic Thunder performance can be compared to a full-blown musical.

“The more instruments you’ve got, the more songs you can produce,” said McGinty.

Attracting the widest audience goes hand in hand with Celtic Thunder’s mission, which is not just to make money by selling records, but to make people happy, McGinty said.

McGinty recalled one woman who thanked Celtic Thunder for helping her through chemotherapy, saying the group was an inspiration to her.

“That’s an amazing thing to hear,” McGinty said. “We were all shocked. It was incredible.”

McGinty said the group does tries to advertise and make sure it can reach as many people as possible, which was a challenge to begin with.

“When we were released in March 2008, nobody knew who we were,” McGinty said. “We’ve done a lot of promotion around PBS and TV stations. It’s a challenge to get yourself known because it’s a big place. It’s part of the fun, though.”

Along with TV promotions, the group began recording its CD very early.

“We recorded the album in the summer 2008, and I was 14 at the time,” McGinty said. “I never really sang in a studio before. I wasn’t really nervous. It was so new, I didn’t understand the size and capacity of what I was doing. We were all excited. We all recorded the songs and had a great couple of weeks in Ireland.

“There’s a couple weeks off, then we’re being back in the studio,” he said. “Me, I prefer being on stage. It’s an incredible feeling. You don’t get a bigger buzz.”

The reactions of the crowd can especially assist in the buzz which stage performers like McGinty experience.

“Sometimes the crowds are absolutely incredible,” McGinty said. “If the crowd is incredible, then you’re not going to forget anything soon. Places like Pittsburgh — we were there last year, that was incredible.”

“We buzz off a crowd, the crowd buzzes off us,” he said. “We all look forward to Pittsburgh, and we cannot wait to play there.”

Pittsburgh Ghost Walks

Get spooky on a Pittsburgh walking ghost tour

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/13/get-spooky-pittsburgh-walking-ghost-tour

Haunted Pittsburgh: Ghost Walks

September — 7 p.m.
October — 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m
Starting from the Carson Street Deli.
1507 E. Carson St., 412-381-5335
Tickets — $15 purchased at the Carson Street Deli

Most of us may snore through history lessons, but we usually perk up at the mention of ghost stories.

But what do ghost stories and history have to do with each other? It turns out that in Pittsburgh, the answer to that question is quite a lot.

This October, the newly formed organization Haunted Pittsburgh will tell Pittsburghers the spooky stories of the city through Haunted Pittsburgh: Ghost Walks.

The group recently launched walking ghost tours in the South Side, with plans for dinners at Gypsy Café in October.

The group is the pet project of attorneys Michelle Smith and Tim Murray, who shared a vision of Pittsburgh ghost tours.

“We noticed that most large cities and lots of not-so-large towns have successful ghost tours,” Murray said. “A lot of these places regard ... ghost tours as civic treasures, and we wondered why Pittsburgh didn’t have a permanent, ongoing ghost tour in a big neighborhood.”

It’s certainly not because Pittsburgh’s devoid of ghosts. According to Murray, the city is full of stories.

“We began doing research, and we found that Pittsburgh has a plethora of wonderful ghost stories, a lot of them involving some of this town’s most important historical figures,” Murray said.

This includes the powerful Henry Clay Frick and Roberto Clemente, he said.

“[We] learned Pittsburgh is an absolute treasure trove of great stories — stories that few people are telling nowadays, because there just isn’t a venue for it,” Murray said. “We decided to start Haunted Pittsburgh to fill the void.”

According to Murray, Haunted Pittsburgh stands out from haunted houses in its style and message.

“We are more akin to historians and storytellers as opposed to paranormal investigators,” he said. “We focus on the ghost stories themselves and the history and tradition that surround the stories.”

Haunted Pittsburgh uses the South Side neighborhood for its walking tour and dinners. It’s impossible to have tours in every neighborhood with ghost stories, but the South Side has its benefits.

“South Side is unique because of its big population and heavy concentration of ... mid-19th-century homes and ... because of its sheer vitality,” Murray said.

“If you’re looking for ghost stories, ironically enough, you usually have to go where there’s a lot of life, and in Pittsburgh, that’s South Side,” he said.

In Pittsburgh, history and ghost tales will always include the old steel industry that gave Pittsburgh its nickname, “The Steel City.”

“South Side was a steel mill neighborhood,” Murray said. “The mills are imprinted on our town’s DNA, and they provide for some creepy ghost tales. Pittsburgh has famously been called ‘hell with the lid off.’ Our city’s character was forged in vicious labor strife and in pig-iron furnaces so hot that men and women sometimes forget their fear of hell. Any town that has lived through the turbulence and tumult we’ve experienced can’t escape its ghosts.”

These days, the friendly atmosphere in some restaurants allows introductions to other people in the community, including paranormal believers and real-life mediums, Murray said. He added that there is a medium who regularly attends the ghost walks and dinners.

“People are naturally curious, and they love to ponder mysteries,” Murray said. “There is no greater mystery than what lies beyond. Our ghost tour and dinner taps into that curiosity. Interest in what lies beyond predates recorded history. It really comes down to personal belief — religion grapples with these questions, and we’d defer to the theologians on these matters.”

People might struggle with the answers, but perhaps the answers are best left alone for now. It lends more mystery to the ghost tours.

“The good thing for us is that people coming to the walking tour or the dinner know going in that we’re not going to solve the great riddles of life after death for them,” Murray said. “They’re just looking to us to give them an hour of chills and goosebumps and maybe learn some damn interesting things about Pittsburgh’s great history.”

Haunted Pittsburgh’s tour guide is historian James “Woody” Cunningham, a true raconteur. He has done his research, and he thinks there’s something special about Pittsburgh.

“What makes [Pittsburgh] different from most [cities] that I’ve been to is that the more research you do into it, the more true they seem to be,” Cunningham said.

True or not, tours do not guarantee a ghost sighting. This is story time. Cunningham still warns any non-believers on the tour: “If you don’t like cats, they’ll sit on your lap. It seems to be the same thing with ghosts.”

The walk down several streets goes past old houses and businesses, while presenting a view of the river and city. Cunningham picks which stories to tell from his memorized bank of tales.

Tales include sweet hospital nuns, as well as unfortunate steel workers who fell into the vats.

The tours and dinners always end with what Haunted Pittsburgh calls “the 1129 Ridge story” — a tale about one of the nation’s most haunted houses.

It’s a chilling, graphic and even potentially dangerous legend. Decades ago, when Thomas Edison took one of his inventions — that could supposedly talk to the dead — in a house, he left and told residents to leave it alone.

This house no longer stands, which is probably for the best.

In the end, its demise leaves Haunted Pittsburgh with one hell of a tale to share.

Reservations for Gypsy Café ghost dinners can be made through the restaurant. Check the website for specific dates at hauntedpittsburghtours.com.

EOTO in Pittsburgh

http://www.pittnews.com/article/2009/10/13/eoto-infuses-music-party-mentality-bring-groove-club-cafe

EOTO infuses music with party mentality, to bring groove to Club Cafe

photo credit: Courtesy Ankur Malhotra

EOTO incorporates trippy lights with their far-out sound.

Think about the most memorable dance party you’ve ever been to.

Now imagine being in a band whose goal is to make every performance like that party, but better.

EOTO is the electro-house-dance music project of former members of The String Cheese Incident, Jason Hann and Michael Travis. The band uses live performance, improvisation and electronic music.

“It’s 100 percent improvised music, and it’s all live,” Hann said, “and it’s all being created in front of the audience. It’s a combination of DJ with all-electronic music that flows from one song into the next, but there’s also musicianship going on.”

Performing every night can be exhausting and stressful, but Hann believes it has helped him and his band partner Travis develop their performance skills.

“The best part ... is playing night after night after night,” Hann said. “We constantly get better because it’s a stretch to do something different. The same thing gets boring. The hard part is trying to inject new energy.”

These all-night jam sessions began between the two just for fun. Since then, their roots have heavily influenced their goal as a performance group.

“We started out playing for hours on end with no real agenda, just to have fun,” Hann said. “It slowly morphed into being able to [play] . . . music for hours at a time. It was much more fun than trying to put songs together on a computer. Much more fun to go out there with a blank slate and have the audience go through the same thing with us.”

Three years later, the pair stopped performing privately and spent all their time on the road. They want to perform abroad as well, Hann said.

They also performed with other groups in various genres.

“The fun part about interacting is that it makes us play a little bit [differently],” Hann said. “If we collaborate, then there’s a meeting halfway and something new comes out of it. It’s just nice to have something different to play.”

But they still love their hometown, Boulder, Colo.

“There was definitely a following there that we wouldn’t have been able to go national [so quickly] without,” Hann said.

There’s room for vocals at their jams, as well.

“We both do vocals,” he said. “Travis might do more things with words, but it’s pretty matched by effect. When I do vocals, I’m usually making up words or raps. I’m using syllables as opposed to speaking English.”

For a band that relies so heavily on improvisation, recording albums would seem like a challenge.

“The studio is basically how we perform live, but when we perform live, we basically transition from song to song to song and don’t stop,” Hann said. “[In the studio] we press record and we just go for it and use whatever we record. If we perform 10 minutes, we might take four to five and use that as our song.”

But the difference between the recording and the live performance is clear to Hann.

“It’s definitely almost ceremonial and communal in the fact that we don’t know what we’re going to play, and it develops a relationship throughout the night,” he said. “It’s a feeling between just drums, dancers and energy in the moment. It’s satisfying to feel that in the room. That moment will only happen that way that particular night.”

Lengthy studio work may not be for EOTO, but it’s not a bad thing.

“That’s just a whole other art form to be in the studio and create a song with different parts,” Hann said. “I have much respect for producers that go in there. I also do that on my off-time.

“I have done it for a long time. But for live, it is far more satisfying to feel you can go with a blank palette and begin creating something and create it on a level that strives to be as in-depth as a producer in the studio with all the time in the world.”