Knives Out

Last Friday, Radiohead was in Toronto to do a show at Downsview Park.  A few hours before it started, during some last minute sound checking, the roof of the stage collapsed.  Radiohead's drum technician Scott Johnson was killed.  3 others were injured.  It happened an hour before fans were let into the park and after the band was on stage doing their sound checks.  The concert was immediately cancelled and people who drove hundreds of miles, and had been waiting 7+ hours to be in the front row, all had to turn around and go home.  People as excited as I was to see their first Radiohead concert aren't going to be able to see them.  It's an unspeakable tragedy.  It is horrible for all involved.  After first hearing about it, those first few hours I couldn't help thinking about what could have happened if this had occurred during the show- it made me shaky.  It's such a horrible thing.  I am so sorry for Scott's family.  I'm just sick about it.  I thought about it during that whole night.  I worried about how Thom was doing.  I just felt like this would really affect him badly.  I even thought about all those beautiful monitors, and all of their equipment and guitars-  it had to have been totally destructive to all their stuff.  Not that it matters much in the face of death, but it still plagues my thoughts.  Everything about it is horrible.  The fans that were there, for the most part are being so amazing about their disappointment.  I think back on my feelings the hours before my show in AZ and can't imagine something like this happening.  

 Where were you Radiohead gods?  

Statement on Dead Air Space on Sunday:

We have all been shattered by the loss of Scott Johnson, our friend and colleague. He was a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew. We will miss him very much. Our thoughts and love are with Scott's family and all those close to him.

Philip

No word from the band since this statement.  They are scheduled to play in Italy next week and no one knows yet if they are cancelling the rest of the tour.  I wouldn't blame them if they did, it was a horrible thing to have happen not to mention the devastation of their equipment.  But I hope they pull it together and come back.  It would show a strength and love that would be amazing to see.   What a concert that first show in Italy would be. 

I just want to tell Thom, Jonny, Colin, Phil and Ed that I love you guys- I feel like this happened to friends of mine- it effected me the same way.  I am so sorry for your loss and I support you in whatever you decide.  RIP Scott, you were amazing at your job.  Hope you are at peace. 

I actually made this post for the purpose of showing this video:  (then decided I should say a few words about what happened)

The Flaming Lips happened to be playing a free concert that night in Toronto.  Many of the RH ticket holders ended up there.  As a tribute, they did a cover of Knives Out.  

What an emotional performance!  Wayne could barely sing and couldn't finish. 

Wayne- you're awesome. What a classy thing to do.  

What's up with your giant fur scarf?

*********Update************

They just announced today that they are rescheduling the European dates, and those dates will be posted in about a week.  Nothing about rescheduling Toronto though- hope they do something for those poor fans (but maybe not at Downsview..........).  

Read their official statement here.  There is a little bit of info on their equipment damage.

Worked hard, tried hard

 Rob bought me a new veggie scrubber.

I don't know-- I think the old one still had a little life left in it.

Poor little guy.  The new one looks so fancy and flashy next to it.  And  don't even ask how it scrubs a potato........

 

Fought hard, died hard.

Elle's favorite thing in the whole world right now

 Is this sticker.

She got it for being a big girl at Primary Children's Hospital this week.  When we got home, Scout put it on her crib so she could look at it and she hasn't stopped looking at it since.

She LOVES it like crazy.  The second I get her to her bed she is craning her neck to see it, even before she is out of my arms.  She laughs at it, talks to it and just simply gazes at it.  

I also have to prop her bottle up in a way that she can drink and stare at it, 

and when it is dark, I've now been keeping her lamp on

 (the first night I didn't and she weighed in with her opinion about that).  

It's really cute- she REALLY REALLY loves that Fozzie sticker.

This is what happens when we stay up too late playing Draw Something.

Any guesses?

Hint:  That is NOT a dog wearing a sombrero like I thought.

Random Sentences Heard at Our House, I

It's been a long time since I wrote a good old Scout post.  

For the last few months, I've been writing down sentences she says that I think- I wonder what someone would think if they just heard that and didn't know Scout? For those of us that do know her, I suppose we think pretty much the same thing......

(fast walking past Rob and I on her way to her room as we sit at the kitchen table)

"I need to go get more crow's milk before my baby starts to get fussy"

"Mom, what bird would you like to be if you were an angry bird that lived in an ipad?"

"Pretend I'm a panda and we just got dinner at Chick-Fil-Bamboo"

"I wonder if Jesus likes Utah [Utes] or BYU......"

"Mom- can I be a jackrabblit that laid a bunny egg?  I already laid a giraffe that likes cowboys"

I'll keep the list going.

What Emily's Been Watching, April Edition

Not a lot of watched movies this month.  I blame it on two things:  1. Much of my movie watching time this month was taken up by watching Radiohead concert footage and interviews (couldn't help it).........oh yeah- and blogging!  2. The trouble with watching French movies is that I can't multitask while watching, so I had to really set aside everything else, and that is hard to do when Plants vs. Zombies comes out with an ipad upgrade that has been keeping me plenty busy during prime movie watching time, so I would have to opt to usually not watch a movie and watch Letterman or something instead.  I still managed a few though:

L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE- I couldn't find the translated name of this movie! (2002) [R] comedy/drama/romance.  So this one was the prequel to Russian Dolls (which I watched last month and didn't know it was a sequel).  When I discovered this movie existed, I started reading things about it and everyone said that this was better then the sequel, but I kind of disagree.  I ended up liking the other one better, this one seemed to make the other one better to me.  I didn't dislike this one, but I think when it is all said and done, I enjoy the other one better.   Maybe I'm just weird and may give them both a go again some other time and watch them in order.  Maybe.  Although this one played "No Surprises" by Radiohead more then once.  That will raise it a notch or two.  Watch it if you want.  Or not.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) [R] thriller/horror.  This movie has been all the buzz since SXSW  (and before actually).  It is one of those "hush up about the ending" kind of movies (a la Catfish), so I knew that I needed to get myself to a theater quick before I heard something I shouldn't.  So when we made plans to have dinner and see a movie with my visiting cousin from California, this is the one we agreed upon.  Well, I gotta say (without spoiling anything)- what a crazy, weird, fun movie.  I had a blast watching it and really liked it.  But about half way through realized it was really NOT the best choice of movie to drag my 40 something (50?) year old cousin.  In his words, "I could have done without watching that".  Whoops.  But, we really knew little about it since no one was talking, so how could we know?  Anyway, my sisters and I loved it and I think my brother Ben liked it too.  It is a great movie for that person who likes horror movies, and all I will say about it is that it kind of deconstructs horror movies in a very fun, unique, and enjoyable way.  There were parts about it I REALLY liked and the third act was about as much fun as I've had watching a movie in a LONG time.  Advice for when you see it:  go in with a sense of humor, don't pigeon hole it or the actors upon first meeting and let things fall where they may and go with it.  Oh yeah, and did I say to have a sense or humor? Because that is key.  Emily recommends this movie for the scary movie watching crowd- in fact, for that crowd, I'd say this is a must (although, it really isn't scary)- but trust me on this.  But you have to follow my rules, or I can see not liking it.

Embedding of trailers was disabled for the two I tried, but perhaps that's for the best.  It doesn't spoil much if you want to seek it out- there are still PLENTY of surprises to be had.  But if  you'd like to see it totally fresh- skip the trailer.

OSS 117: CARIO, NEST OF SPIES (2006) [NR] spoof/comedy.  This was a movie that's been on my sights for a few months.  It is what Jean Dujardin (lead actor in The Artist) is famous for in France.  In fact it has the team of Dujardin/Bejo/Hazanavicius, so I was curious to check it out.  Conclusion:  after 35 years, I am still decidedly uncertain when it comes to spoofs.  I can enjoy a Mel Brooks film with the best of them- but they aren't all my thing.  I saw and laughed and quoted Hot Shots about a million times back in the day (still quote it from time to time), enjoyed Naked Gun 2 1/2 (have still never seen the first one) many times.  Other then that they tend to annoy me more then anything or they just don't make me laugh.  This movie was classic spoof and at first all you could hear were the crickets, but as the film went on, I found myself enjoying it more and more until by the end I decided I liked it well enough.  Don't know how much of a glowing review that was, but it is accurate.  Apparently, OSS 117 is France's answer to James Bond and stories about this detective have been made a lot, Hazanavicius decided to make a new OSS 117 film with a twist- make it into a comedy, and it worked.  This was a very popular movie and they made another one, but I've heard it isn't as good and since I wasn't totally wild about this one, I think I'll skip it.  Fun seeing Jean Dujardin doing comedy.  Emily can recommend this movie, especially for the spoof and spy movie loving crowd.  It's fun.  Great musical number towards the end I enjoyed immensely, but my favorite scenes hands down were the ones featuring the chickens- cracked me up! 

DINNER GAME (1998) [PG-13] comedy.  This is a classic French film that is one of those movies that America remade with it's own flavor and let me tell you (I think I already have)- that flavor for me was unpalatable.  I disliked Dinner For Schmucks a lot (but not as much as Rob- no one hated that movie more then Rob).  This one I thoroughly enjoyed.  It was funny without crossing that line into annoying.  "The idiot" was perfect I thought.  Funny, annoying, and believable.  It was really a great movie with some great scenes in it (I especially laughed at the main character's friend that comes over towards the last half.  He played a great role.  I liked how this one played out- in this version, they never actually make it to the dinner.  I thought that worked better.  Emily recommends this movie to anyone that liked or disliked Dinner for Schmucks.  Curious to see how both types felt about this movie.

Disabled trailer................grrrrr.  Find it here if you'd like.

Wall of Shame

CHINATOWN (1974) [R] drama/mystery/crime. I watched this because it's one of those movies that gets brought up a lot in movie discussion circles.  It also scores a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.  I liked this movie.  It was fun seeing a young Jack Nicholson playing a classic-style private eye.  It was also some good old film noir- which is always fun to look at and watch.  The story involved a pretty intricate crime story involving the man that controls LA's water system.  One of those that gets hairier the deeper Nicholson digs.  It remains interesting, Fay Dunaway plays a great character and it ends appropriately disturbing.  Emily thinks this was worth a watch if you have missed it.