INsite February 2014 Issue by INsite Magazine

FEBRUARY 2014

INSITEATLANTA.COM

VOL. 22, NO. 7 FREE

Sochi Olympics

And The...

Valentine’s Day Bill Murray Jane Lynch The Pixies

I R E N N I W is...

WORLD PREMIERE

Robert Battle Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya Associate Artistic Director

2014 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition Winner

For gamers & romantics at heart. By Madhuri Shekar Directed by Laura Kepley

FEB 13-16

This Valentine’s Day, share Ailey with someone you love

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January 31–February 23

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PG 2 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs

CONTENTS • FEBRUARY 2014 • VOLUME 22, NO. 7 Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

INTERVIEWS 06 Jane Lynch 10 Eugene Mirman 11 Alton Brown 16 Kit Harington 21 The Pixies 22 Bill Murray 23 Dave Mason 27 Pack Ad 27 Elder Brothers 28 Shawn White 29 Alex Morgan

FEATURES Budget Dining Romantic Movies Oscar Preview Atlanta Art Romantic Get-Away Valentine’s Day Travel to Costa Rica Sochi Olympics Sensual V-Day Gifts

COLUMNS 04 05 05 07 13 14 18 19 19 20 23 30

Around Town On Tap On A Dime Events Under The Lights Movie Reviews Home Releases Concert Calendar We Got Next Road Warriors Album Reviews Favorite Things Fanatic

28 PHOTO BY FRANK OCKENFELS | ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST

08 12 15 17 24 25 26 29 30

www.insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Stephen Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Managing Editor Bret Love bret@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Nick Tipton nick@insiteatlanta.com Sports Editor DeMarco Williams demarco@insiteatlanta.com Local Events Editor Glenn Lafollette glenn@insiteatlanta.com Music Editor John Moore john@insiteatlanta.com

Contributing Writers / Interns: Jon Latham, Ryan Loftis, Rodney Hill, Alex S. Morrison, Steve Warren, Dave Cohen, Jennifer Williams, Matt Connor, Ed Morales, Sacha Dzuba, David Weinthal, Benjamin Carr, Kalena Smith, Justin Patterson, Lee Valentine Smith, Amanda Miles, Patrick Flanary, Ian Coverdale CONTACT US 130 West Wieuca Road, Ste. 111 Atlanta, GA 30342 phone (404) 256-4328 • website insiteatlanta.com ADVERTISING INFORMATION (404) 256-4328 • ads@insiteatlanta.com Editorial content of INsite is the opinion of each writer and is not necessarily the opinion of INsite, its staff, or its advertisers. INsite does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertising or editorial content, nor do the publisher or editors of INsite assume responsibility should such advertising or editorial appear. No content, i.e., articles, graphics, designs and information (any and all) in this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from publisher.

Check out our Olympics coverage on page 29!

FEBRUARY 2014

INSITEATLAN TA.COM

VOL. 22, NO. 7 FREE

Sochi Olympics

And The...

Valentine’s Day Bill Murray Jane Lynch The Pixies

ON SALE NOW!

March 4-9 • FoxTheatre.org/Once

WINNER IS... is...

insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 3

Around Town

Theatre/Film/Performance

Georgia Reproductive Zoo Atlanta will host “Aventure Specialists is looking for nonCubs: Babies! Babies! Babies” smoking females between on Feb. 8 Toddlers and adults the ages of 21 and 31 who are can discover what its like as a interested in donating their eggs to infertile zoo baby on this single-day event. Book a couples who otherwise could not conceive. program at zooatlanta.com. GRS will offer $7,000 in compensation to qualifying participants. Visit ivf.com or email The Children’s Museum of donor@ivf.com. Atlanta will host a Target-free day on Feb. 11. This allows Back by popular demand, book the community to visit the clubs take the spotlight in the museum free, courtesy of Target. Visit New Year with the return of childrensmuseumatlanta.org for additional “The Book Club Play” by Karen details. Zacarías at Horizon Theatre. Performances will run through Feb. 23. Tickets may be Nikki Glaser visits Improv ordered by phone at 404-584-7450 or online Atlanta for three nights on Feb. at horizontheatre.com. 13-15. The gifted comedian first gained notoriety during The Atlanta Hawks welcome Season 4 of Last Comic Standing as a one of the league’s best on Feb. 4 semifinalist. Students receive $10 with ID. at Philips Arena. Don’t miss the Visit theimprovatlanta.com for complete Indiana Pacers at the Highlight showtimes and shows. Factory at 7:30. Tickets are available at atlantahawks.com. “Whales: Giants of the Deep” opens on Feb. 15 at Fernbank Winter Jam returns to the Museum of Natural History. Georgia Dome for Christian This interactive exhibition Music’s largest annual tour on will feature an exploration of whales and Feb. 8. Tickets the day of show their relationship with humans. Go to with only be $10 at the door. The event starts fernbankmuseum.org for more info. at 6pm. Go to jamtour.com for details. Rag-O-Rama will hold a Dollar Spiral Entertainment presents its Sale on Feb. 15-16 and Feb. 22own Oysterfest on Feb. 8 at Park 23. There will be tons of items Tavern. Doors open at 1pm for a for only $1 at both the store’s day full of beer, fun and, naturally, Sandy Spings and Euclid Avenue locations. oysters. Go to spiralentertainment for tickets. Go to ragorama.com for more.

FEB 08

ALL FEB

FEB 11

ALL FEB

FEB 13

FEB 04

FEB 15

FEB 08

FEB 15

FEB 08

Museums/Exhibits/Arts

Music/Comedy/Sports

Other Stuff

Craig Ferguson and his “Host Monster Energy Supercross and Crumpy” tour come to returns to the Georgia Dome Atlanta on Feb.16 at 7:30pm at Feb. 22 at 7pm. Don’t miss highthe Cobb Energy Centre. The flying stunts and excitement as late night host is also an accomplished the stars of Supercross show off their best stand-up comedian. Tickets start at $34.50. moves, most breathtaking stunts, and battle Go to cobbenergycentre.com for details. it out for the top spot. The event features the very best in motorcross entertainment Vaughan Williams takes center and racing. Go to supercrossonline.com for stage for a trio of shows by the details. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22. Tickets The classic “Gone With The are $24-$75. For more info, go to aso.org/ Wind” opens a new exhibition allvaughnwilliams. at the Margaret Mitchell House in Midtown on March Jennifer Nettles comes to the 1. For the 75th anniversary of the motion Fox Theatre on Feb. 22 at 8pm as picture version of Margaret Mitchell’s novel, part of her “That Girl” national the exhibition “Stars Fall on Atlanta: The tour. Tickets range from $29.50- Premiere of Gone With the Wind,” highlights $64.50 at foxtheatre.org or by calling 855- events and people in Atlanta surrounding 285-8499. The lead vocalist for international the world premiere in Dec. 1939. Go to super duo Sugerland is one of the most atlantahistorycenter.com for more details. popular singer-songwriters in music today. Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester offer the ultimate night out, transporting audiences to the high glamour of the Weimar Era in Berlin in the 1920s while celebrating their new release “Golden Age” during their March 2014 U.S. tour. They perform at Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts on March 8 at 8pm. Tickets are $46, $38 and $23. Visit rialtocenter.org for more.

FEB 16

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LOCAL EVENTS

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On Tap this Month

EVENTS HAPPENING FOR SMALL CHANGE IN ATLANTA

Know of a low cost event of happening? Event@AtlantaOnADime.com

EMAIL EVENTS TO ONTAP@INSITEATLANTA.COM Feb. 2-20: Various locations

ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is a 23-day cinematic exploration of identity, history and culture, as well as life in the State of Israel. Founded in 2000, AJFF ranks as the largest film festival in Atlanta, and second largest Jewish film festival in the United States. The 2014 AJFF will feature an international collection of 65 narrative and documentary films that explore the Jewish experience. Screenings are supplemented by guest appearances with filmmakers, actors, authors, academics and other expert speakers. For showtimes, go to ajff.org.

Feb. 12-17: Gwinnett Arena / Philips Arena

RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey returns to Atlanta this month with “Built To Amaze!” Andre McClain, the circus’ ringmaster takes the reins accompanied by his horse, Comanche, and leads his funny and mischievous super circus supervisors to construct The Greatest Show On Earth. More than 110 of the world’s best performers have been assembled to help build a super circus. Shows will be at Gwinnett Arena Feb. 5-9 and Philips Arena Feb. 12-17. Go to ringling.com for ticket prices.

Feb. 13-16: Fox Theatre

ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATER

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, beloved as one of the world’s most popular dance companies, returns to the fabulous Fox Theatre for its highly anticipated 2014 Atlanta engagement with exciting performances showcasing Ailey’s extraordinary dancers. Artistic Director Robert Battle continues to expand the company’s diverse repertory with premieres and new productions representing a wide range of important choreographic voices. Tickets start at $25. Go to foxtheatre.org for more details.

Feb. 15: Lake Lanier

POLAR PLUNGE

The Polar Plunge is the largest fundraising effort benefiting Special Olympics of Georgia. Participants collect pledges in exchange for the opportunity to jump into icy waters of Lake Lanier. Sounds great, right? All proceeds collected by plungers will benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Georgia. Prizes will be awarded for the best costume, highest fundraiser, highest fundraising team, and more. The event lasts from 11am-3pm. For a complete listing of event details, go to polarplungga.com.

Feb. 21: Cobb Energy Centre

AMY SCHUMER

Be sure to get some of Amy Schumer’s comedy when she hits Atlanta this month. Tickets for Inside Amy Schumer’s Back Door Tour will be available at cobbenergycentre. com. This is Schumer’s second national tour with Comedy Central. She will travel to more than 30 cities bringing her particular brand of humor along the way. Tickets are only $34.50-$42.00. Her show, “Inside Amy Schumer,” launched on April 30, 2013 and ranked as a top three program on cable among men 18-34.

Feb. 28: Fox Theatre

ALTON BROWN

Alton Brown, Iron Chef host and renowned television personality is taking his brand of quirky humor and culinary science on the road with the “Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour.” Brown will appear at The Fox Theatre at 8 PM. Tickets start at $39.50 and are available at foxatltix.com. Recently named Best Food TV Personality at The Munchies, Brown’s tour promises to be an eventful evening of stand-up comedy, talks show antics, multimedia lecture, live music and food experimentation. Be prepared. Ponchos will be involved.

SIPS IN THE CITY CALLAWAY GARDENS PHOENIX FLIES 2014 BRAVES CARAVAN August, Check for Deals Through Feb. 28,COUNTRY FREE Website

“CITYWIDEFebruary CELEBRATION Saturday, 1,Restaurants FreeOF LIVING LANDMARKS” Various Downtown Callaway Gardens March 5-20, Free Autograph Signings www.atlantadowntown.com 17800 Hwy 27 Around the City VariousUS Landmarks Academy Sports, McDonough 3:30pm - 5:00pm Pine Mountain, phoenixflies.orgGeorgia atlanta.braves.mlb.com This summer promotion encourages callawaygardens.com

patrons toBraves experience Downtown The 2014 Phoenix Flies: A Celebration Living The Country Caravan of is Atlanta hitting

on ice! the heated months of Admission Callaway Gardens is the roadThroughout through February 1st.by With stops Landmarks wastocreated in 2003 The Atlanta July and August, featured restaurants in the complimentary through the end of this in Georgia, Alabama, Preservation Center as aSouth way toCarolina, celebrateand the Downtown Dining District willrescue be offering month (Price is $15 for adults, Tennessee, the Braves will travel more 25th anniversary ofnormally the dramatic ofthan the refreshing signature cocktails, hip happy $6.50 per and child) providing guests with 3,000 miles thousands of fansAtlanta’s before Fox Theatre, anmeet event that changed hours and deals that you won’t want to miss. the team heads to Orlando for Spring Training. the opportunity to enjoy time with their preservation outlook forever. This year, the list Atlanta Braves players, alumni, Participating restaurants include Atlanta family friends reconnecting in Theatre, nature. includesand free guided tours ofcoaches, The Fox broadcasters, and team executives will make Grill, Azio Downtown, BLT Steak, Max Free admission includes the Virginia Piedmont Park, Historic Oakland Cemetery, community appearances at children’s hospitals, Lager’s, No Mas! Cantina and The Sundial Hand Callaway Discovery Center, Day Civil Warand Atlanta Walking Tour, Tullie Smith schools, military bases, for anda complete will host Restaurant. Visit the website Butterfly Center, Sibley Horticultural Farm House, Margaret Mitchell House, the autograph signings. list deals. Center, Mr. Cason’s Vegetable newofBeltline Park and much more. Garden, Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl, Overlook ATLANTA COMIC CONVENTION Garden, Discovery Bicycle Trail, Pioneer AMERICAN CRAFT2,COUNCIL IN ATLANTA Sunday, February 11:00am SHOW – 5:00pm, $5.00 Log Cabin, Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Marriott Hotel Century March 10-13, RegularCenter admission: $13 Chapel, nature trails and daily programs. atlantacomicconvention.com Children under 12: free Cobb Galleria Center THE UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS is a mix of The Atlanta Comic Atlanta Convention Two Galleria Parkway, comic book and collectible dealers Feb. 10 27, Tickets range - $35from craftcouncil.org/Atlanta from $15 aroundField the region, plus a selection of special Turner Green Lot guests fromAvenue, the worldAtlanta of television, movies, and 521 ThisCapitol 3-day event is the largest juried fine craft independent comics. If you come to the show universoulcircus.com Show in the southeast. The show has been in costume you get in for free along with a free the premiere marketplace for regional fine prize package while supplies last. UniverSoul craft lovers and The collectors, and offersCircus guests continues itsworksurge the chance to meet and purchase from 2013 NATIONAL CHEERLEADING AND YELLOW JACKET to around the toptheofcountry. the live esteemed artists from To DANCE CHAMPIONSHIP entertainment ranks FAN DAY reach first-time collectors and established craft February 14 - 16, $20 for 1-day pass with interactive funky Saturday, 6, 3pm –its6pm, Free collectors the newest show category for Kids UnderAugust 5alike, are Free rendition of a traditional Bobby Dodd Grant Field Under $100. Georgia WorldStadium Congress participating artists isatCenter Handmade UniverSoul has www.ramblinwreck.com cheersport.net Artists who sell workcircus. for under $100 will have captivated audiences their booths specially marked for patrons around the world Bring it on…this electrifying and Festivities at from 3ap.m. oncheerleading Callaway Plaza interested inbegin starting collection. with its unique brand dance competition features teams with music, prizes, inflatables andcompeting games for from across America. This year, itwill expects that blends circus arts, the kids. From 4-6 p.m. the gates open ATLANTA MOTORthan SPEEDWAY FREE OPEN HOUSE to grow larger ever with over teams and music. and fans can enter theater the stadium to900 meet the March 12, 11am-3pm, Free participating, from ages three through college. Founded in Atlanta over 2011 Yellow Jackets. Football players will be Atlanta Motorwas Speedway Cheersport bygroups all-star coaches 17founded years ago, the at audience seated with their position various 1500loved Tara competitive Place, Hampton who andasdance. willthewatch amazement stilt points on playingincheerleading field. Head coach Paul atlantamotorspeedway.com Check the website for the full competition walkers make their way across a tight Johnson will sign autographs from 4-5 p.m. schedule. rope, horse riders perform death-defying and be available for photographs from Visit will the track’s Open House for free. Activities stunts, and contortionists bend into 5-6 p.m. Please limit autographs to ONE WOMEN’S SOCCER U.S.A.VS. RUSSIA include championship legends racing on the incredible and beautiful shapes. item per player or12, coach. be the Wednesday, February 7:30pm quarter-mile “Thunder Ring.This ”, freewilldrawings first opportunity to get the 2011 football Tickets start at $29 for big prizes, drive your own car on the track poster aspurchase well2011 as ofschedule cards, ticket CHEERSPORT NATIONAL Georgia Dome with the Labor Day NASCAR information and other items throughout the ussoccer.com CHEERLEADING & DANCE tickets, fans can select their seats for the Labor afternoon. Most campus parking lots will Day Race Weekend, tour the Speedway’s race CHAMPIONSHIP The U.S. women’s soccer team plays for be available. control Feb. 18 –tower 20 and suites, take photos with the first time in Atlanta this month. The the Atlanta Motor Speedway pace the car and a $30 for 2-day pass game is the first match between SIMON GAMEPLAY TOUR NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner’s $20 for 1-day pass U.S. and Russia in2010@years and it’s the trophy, Saturday, August 10am,and Free discounts at AMS gift shop much Kids Under 5 are Free second time both teams will meet in amore. DiscoverWorld Mills Mall, Lawrenceville Georgia Congress Center span of four days. Kickoff for the USA’s www.simon.com 285 Young International Blvd., first Andrew match in the city of Atlanta andAtlanta cheersport.net first in the area since 2010. The Simon GamePlay tour will connect fans of all ages to the hottest video cheerleading games before Bring it on…this electrifying they are launched and available in stores. and dance competition features teams The recently launched Nintendo 3DS competing from across America. This gaming system will take center stage with U.S.A. to SOCCER year, it expects grow STAR larger than ever a “Nintendo 3DS Lounge, ” with couches, ALEX MORGAN with over 900 teams participating, from snacks and games. Nintendo also offer ages three through college. will Cheersport “Street Pass,”bytournament-style play loved using was founded all-star coaches who Nintendo 3DS devices. GamePlay will competitive cheerleading and dance. feature 10 gaming pods, including 2 mature Check the website for the full competition zones, with products from instrusty leaders schedule. like SEGA, Capcom, 2K and Atari.

By Marci Miller 2011 SOUTHEASTERN HUNGER WALK/RUN 5KFLOWER SHOW SNOW MOUNTAIN Feb. 25 27, Adults $18 in advance) March 13, Noon-4pm, $25($15 for runners 8th ANNUAL GERMAN BIERFEST Extended through Sunday, February 23

Youth/Student $7,27, Kids under Free for walkers Saturday, August – 7pm5 are Free $28 per person, $22 on2 Sundays Cobb Galleria Centre Parking is free $30 Online, $35Park At the Door Stone Mountain Two Galleria Parkway, Turner Field Green LotAtlanta Woodruff Park, Downtown Atlanta stonemountainpark.com sehort.org 755 Hank Aaron Drive, Atlanta www.germanbierfest.com hungerwalkrun.org Popular winter attraction, Snow Mountain Presented byone celebrates the Southeastern Thisbesummer event the greatness will extended additional weekend this Horticultural Society, this annual premier Join thousands of runners and walkers of German in 10-5 a family-friendly winter, Februarybeer 22 for sessions andat gardening promotes preservation this annual event thatsessions. benefits theauthentic Atlanta February 23event forComplete 1-4 On Sundays environment. with and awareness of flowers and only, through February 23rd, Stone Mountain Community Food Bank and five other local German food, activities for the kids, plants music Park will $6 off the price through education andregular artistic expression. nonprofits. Participants can register asofaSnow team and fun,offer the German Bierfest is not only Mountain (Regularly $28 for Adults Show activities include speakers, or individually online or register the juried dayand of the only authentic German Bierfest in Children. Not validwill February 16). Tickets can competition, kids’ activities, Landscape & the event.but There befamily-friendly activities for all beer ages Atlanta, the only only be purchased online. Discovery Gardens and more. including live entertainment & more. festival asgames, well. For the price of admittance,

Gates opencan at noon, & walk attendees drinktheall5Ktherunbeer theybegin can

OYSTERFEST at 2 p.m.consume.OAKHURST safely Designated –drivers are 10th FebruaryANNUAL 22 – 23, Saturday - 11amWINE 7pmCRAWL

encouraged attend Saturday, Feb.and 26, can 4 pm-7 pm for free. No one Sunday-12pm-6pm under the age of 21 will $25 in advance forSaturday, Tasting Glass A-TOWN DAYfor Tickets are $20 $10beforpermitted Sunday to consume alcohol. A designated driver $30 day26, ofNoon-8pm, event March Two-day pass for $20 $5 service will also be on site for those who Oakhurst LakewoodBusiness Steamhouse Lounge District find themselves in an unsafe condition to oakhurstga.org 2002 Lakewood Ave SE, Atlanta steamhouselounge.com drive home. atownday.com Atlanta gets anin early return to outdoor festivals Participants this year’s event will get in February with Oysterfest. Hosted by the to sample wines from around the world A-TOWN DAY is a health festival, concert, PIGS & PEACHES BBQcare FESTIVAL Steamhouse Lounge, the event is in its 27th while exploring all the businesses in the and a 26 major of 5pm Awareness August & 27,day Friday - 11pm celebrating year at 11th and West Peachtree Street. Oakhurst neighborhood. willbenefits beLive 20 all things Atlanta. A-TOWN DAY Saturday 10am – 10pm, FreeThere music, beer and heaping buckets of delicious, participating establishments and the event the of Atlanta and The Ben Diabetes RobertsonAssociation Community Center, Kennesaw fresh roasted oysters be available. expects to sell outwill quickly. Thewill Fur Bus B-Aware Foundation. This event feature www.facebook.com/PigsAndPeaches will be on hand to transport participants live music, poetry, car show and lots of family OAKHURST WINETickets CRAWL from bar to bar. be purchased friendly events. The event features acan Saturday, February 23, 4:00pm –non-sanctioned 7:00pm from Steinbeck’s Ale House, Backyard BBQ, Anything andUjoint, $25 in advance for Tasting Glass,Butt $30 day ofPeach event and Karvana Coffee Shop, all located in Dessert Contest, as well as a WEEK Kansas City INMAN Business PARK RESTAURANT Oakhurst District Oakhurst village. Barbeque Society oakhurstga.org March 28-April 3, $15sanctioned Professional Contest, is recognized $25 & $35which for three-course meal as a Georgia

State Championship Barbeque Participants in this year’s event willCookoff. get to IHOP NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY CELEBRATION inmanparkrestaurantweek.com

sample wines around world while Over $14,000 cash and prizes will be Tuesday, March from 1,in7 am-10 pm,the Free Pancakes exploring allHouse the businesses in the Oakhurst awarded to contest winners. Besides food International of Pancakes Savor historic Inman Park with three-course neighborhood. There willrestaurants. be 20 aparticipating for sale, from and free music from number of Locations throughout Metro Atlanta dinners 11 local Proceeds establishments and the event expects to sellhelps out local and national acts, festival goers will IHOPPancakeday.com will benefit Project Open Hand, which

quickly. Tickets be available to purchase on be treated to awill large Kid Zone (withchronic many people prevent or and better manage at Oakhurst Market Universal Joint. Cash attractions FREE to families), vendor On thisthrough day, customers willunique receive one disease care. only, no checks orcomprehensive creditexhibits. cards. nutrition booths andstack sponsor Silver free short IHOP’s $1 raffle tickets will(three) be soldofand willThe gofamous towards Wings paratrooper aerial exhibition buttermilk pancakes. All they askwill is team that the charity. The winner of the raffle win returns thed’ouerves, event,making andbeer willaand jump intoparty the patrons donation to a hostedtoconsider hor wine festival Saturday, August 27. through Crowds support local children’s hospitals at Park’s on Edge Restaurant for thirty of their will be Each treated to Network aPark wonderful display of Children’s Miracle or other friends. Inman restaurant will local bring aerobatics performances in charities. Since beginning tastes from and their patriotic restaurants foritstheNational winner. the There will be ainhuge, fireworks Pancake Day 2006, IHOP The sky. winner willcelebration be also announced at the end of grand finale.more has raised $5.35 millionfortoa the restaurant week.than Check the website support in the communities complete charities list of participating restaurants. in which it operates. FESTIVAL PEACHTREE LATINO Sunday, August 28, 11am – 7:30pm, Free Piedmont Park www.festivalpeachtreelatino.com

Festival Peachtree Latino has been the largest family & multicultural event in the southeast since 2000. They have featured hundreds of exhibitions, family activities, sporting events, parades, arts & crafts, ethnic foods and outdoor musical performances featuring renowned international musicians on two stages. The best part about it is that the event is absolutely FREE!! This year, Festival Peachtree Latino has more to offer, with new attractions and a larger schedule of musical performances.

UPDATED EVENTSWEEKLY. WEEKLY. SIGN UP BY RECEIVERECEIVE UPDATED EVENTS SIGN UPEMAILING BY E-MAILING SUBSCRIPTIONS@ATLANTAONADIME.COM SUBSCRIPTIONS@ATLANTAONADIME.COM

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GLEEFUL GAME NIGHT

Jane Lynch Signals the Return of the Prime Time Game Show

BY JENNIFER SMITH WILLIAMS

N FEBRUARY 3RD, RIGHT before we settle into our couch cushions and root for our country’s Olympic teams as they challenge Sochi’s steepest slopes and slipperiest rinks, a pressure-filled game of another sort will rock our world’s TV sets. This one puts celebrities such as Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis and supermodel Brooklyn Decker on the hot seat, challenging each other on NBC’s hit prime time game show, Hollywood Game Night. Returning for yet another season hosted by charming Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Lynch, the show pairs celebrities and fans on rival teams for some of the most fun, energetic, and occasionally drunken party games the writers can come up with, all for the chance to win $25,000 for the contestants and nice chunk of change for charities. Huge Lynch fans from her work with Christopher Guest, we got the chance to snag a quick minute out of this (really tall) powerhouse’s day for a chat about what the show has in store for the rest of this season. She spills on all things Sean Hayes and party etiquette, including giving credit where the credit is due. So tune in, pay attention and take notes, because it could be just the icebreaker for your own game night.

Okay, Jane. We’re big fans. But how do you think you would fare as a contestant on the show? I think I would do quite well. At least I think so. But a lot of people think they will do well, and then they fall apart. But I’m a pretty competitive person, and you’d want me on your team. You do not want to play against me. However, there are some games that I’m not as good at, especially the music. What’s your best game? I love Celebrity, and I love that we play that as the final round of every game. I’m very good at that. We also have some brand new games. There’s one called Four-Letter Word, where we put blindfolds on the contestants and they’re holding big foam letters. They have to work with each other to spell out a fourletter word. So they have to figure out what letter they’re holding and where it falls in the word, and they have to spell that word. And that’s a lot of fun. Is there a science to deciding which games to do on the show? Or, do you just pick your favorites? Does it involve science? (Laughs) You know, there is a crack team of game creators that we have on staff at

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just very natural for me to find a way to Hollywood Game Night, and they’re partake. So I don’t walk away feeling at all also writers and producers. And they’re ignored or cheated out of anything. I have always coming up with new games. And a great time. so the ones that you’re going to see that are What does a standard new, Four-Letter Words I’M A PRETTY Lynch game night being one of them, have COMPETITIVE PERSON, Jane party entail? gone through a rigorous I don’t have game testing process and AND YOU’D WANT ME then finally approved nights. I do a lot of dinner ON YOUR TEAM. YOU parties. Sean Hayes has by NBC. Then I think DO NOT WANT TO PLAY the game nights, and they’re trademarked as well. We have several usually the host at AGAINST ME. HOWEVER, he’s new games. But I am not his house. And he, of responsible for the new THERE ARE SOME GAMES course, is the creator of games. I do not have THAT I’M NOT AS GOOD this series. So it was very that kind of creativity. nice of him to cede that AT, ESPECIALLY THE control and give it to me Somehow, we doubt for the television version. MUSIC. that. We’ve seen you You know, putting get just as crazy as the together a guest list is contestants. Do you like being the steadfast the big thing, and trying to get the right observer of the craziness, or do you just people there. And it’s the same thing for bide your time until you can join in? me: I try to create an environment where Well, you know, [hosting] is a very people are going to have fun. natural role for me, so I don’t have to do that much thinking. I love hosting Why do you think Sean picked you out parties, and I love creating environments of all his amazing friends as the host for for people to have fun in and to be this idea? themselves. And then, you know, it’s I don’t know. I just feel really lucky!

THEATER

Under The Lights

Tickets as low as

$25

NEW THEATRE PRODUCTIONS! IN LOVE AND WARCRAFT

Jan 3 - Feb 23 Alliance Hertz Stage Box Office (404) 733-5000 AllianceTheatre.org/loveandwarcraft

In Love and Warcraft tells the story of Evie, a master of relationships. Other people’s relationships. That’s why she has a waiting list of classmate clients willing to pay her top dollar to fix their relationships. How? She uses strategy, finds people’s weaknesses, and then attacks with weaponized words using just the right amount of guilt, longing, and/or lust – whatever a relationship may need. All the skills and tactics she picked up on the way to becoming one of the best World of Warcraft players in the world. As for Evie’s real life relationships? Well, all the action she’s interested in is happening on the battlefields of WoW. When it comes to sex, Evie is a complete N00b and she’s just fine with that. Until she meets Raul. He may just prove to be the most devious “boss” she has ever faced. In Love and Warcraft is the 10th competition winner of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition spotlighting the best emerging playwrights in the country. ILAW is written by Madhuri Shekar.

SHREK THE MUSICAL

Feb 22 - Mar 16 Alliance Theatre Box Office (404) 733-5000 AllianceTheatre.org/shrek A delight for the whole family, Shrek The Musical based on the b e l o v e d Dreamworks film character and William Steig’s 1990s book will charm the ogre out of everyone. Watch Shrek the ogre leave his home and give up his privacy to rescue the princess Fiona, herself under a curse that makes her

nervous about her looks. In this fairy tale world, there is someone for everyone no matter what they look like. This wonderful musical ran for 12 months on Broadway and is now adapted to a family friendly one-act experience. Watch Shrek the ogre leave his home and give up his privacy to rescue the princess Fiona, herself under a curse that makes her nervous about her looks. In this fairy tale world, there is someone for everyone no matter what they look like. Under the guidance of theatrical magician Rosemary Newcott, this show will transport audiences to a rich visual experience with a hilarious take on fairy tales. Magic for the kids, romance for the romantics and snarky humor for all.

ONCE

March 4 - 9 The Fox Theatre (855) 285-8499 FoxTheatre.org Once is the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Aw a r d - w i n ning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, Once is a musical celebration of life and love. It is thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty and unforgettable in every way. Once is the winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. In 2007, Once won the Acadamy Award for music and lyrics including Best Original song for “Falling Slowly.” Once also and won an Oscar for independent film. Once is playing at The Fox Theatre for a limited engagement from March 4-9, as part of the 2013/14 season.

Magic for the kids, romance for the romantics, and uproarious humor for all. By Jeanine Tesori Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire Based on the DreamWorks Animation Motion Picture and the Book by William Steig Directed by Rosemary Newcott

Buy Early & Save!

February 22–March 16

As a healthy young female

, you have the power to give the gift of life and love. You can help a couple build the family they’ve dreamed of by donating your eggs...and receive $7,000 for doing it! Donation is completely confidential and health screening is provided at no charge. If you are a non-smoking female between the ages of 21 and 31 and are interested in more information about egg donation, please visit our website or e-mail us at

Tickets @ 404.733.5000 alliancetheatre.org/shrek Groups 404.733.4690

donor@ivf.com Family Series on the Alliance Stage

Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs

insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 7

Atlanta Dining on a Budget Great places in town to get a good meal without breaking the bank

subs are grilled, not nuked or pressed, and only the freshest produce garnishes every sub as ordered. Salads, soups and delicious baked goodies compliment a true value menu. Check out Baldinos $3.49 Daily Special - a different sub every day that will keep you coming back.

Eats

600 Ponce de Leon 404.888.9149 eatsonponce.net

Eats keeps their menu simple and their prices low. First choose from a variety of pastas. You pay by the sauce which range from $5.50 and $6.50 and includes: marinara, olive and garlic, pesto, Alfredo, creamy marinara, turkey meat sauce and chicken chili. All pasta plates come with garlic bread and you can add on extras from meatballs to chicken breast for just $2 more. They offer meat and vegetable plate dinners too. Choose from their prized jerk chicken, lemon pepper chicken and turkey meatloaf. Some of the vegetables include: couscous, broccoli, green beans, and collards. Vegetable plates are priced at $4.75 for three or $5.75 for four. A meat and two sides run $7.25 and $7.75 for three sides. Eats is open seven days a week from 11am until 10pm.

the Johnny’s Italian Special with sausage, mushrooms, onions, pepperoni and green peppers; large pizza is $19.75. All their menu items are also reasonably priced. They have a cheese Calzone for $5.55 and the Stombolli is $8.10. They have 11 subs on the menu for just $5.95. The Cheshire Bridge location featured offers lunch specials from $6.85 and enjoy $5 pitchers of PBR seven days a week. Johnny’s restaurants offer dine-in, take-out and delivery.

Baldinos Giant Jersey Subs 80 Powers Ferry Rd. 770.321.1177 5697 Buford Hwy. 770.455.8570 baldinos.us

Johnny’s NY Style Pizza

1810 Cheshire Bridge Rd. 404.874.8304 JohnnysPizza.com

Johnny’s Pizza has come to be synonymous with great pizza and subs in Atlanta. They specialize in NY Style pizza, which is thin in the middle and thick around the edges. Try

Since 1975, Baldinos has been repeatedly recognized for serving the best sub sandwich in the South. Their true New Jersey style subs are as fresh as any sandwich anywhere. The rolls are baked in-store everyday - all day; each sub is sliced fresh as ordered; hot

Chin Chin

Brookhaven 3887 Peachtree Rd. 404.816.2229 Multiple locations chinchinatlanta.com

new additions to the Midtown scene. Here you will find fine cuisine at affordable prices. Their inspired tacos come in a wide variety that includes Jumbo Shrimp, Hanger Steak and Braised Beef Tongue. Order by the taco, plate or family style. Escorpion also has great salads, quesadillas and an assortment of tortas (pressed sandwiches). Appetizers are priced between $4 and $8. Full entrees are also available.

Mediterranean Grill Chin Chin is consistently voted Atlanta’s Best Chinese restaurant. Their menu offers standard favorites and many exotic dishes in Chinese cuisine at affordable prices. The Brookhaven location featured offers over 30 lunch specials from $6.75 - $7.75. Choose an entree along with Vegetable Roll, Soup and Fried Rice. For dinner choose from over 20 chicken dishes for just $10.50 and over a dozen beef and pork dishes for $11.25 or less. Soups start at $2.50.

Escorpion

800 Peachtree St. 678.666.5198 urestaurants.com Escorpion is an authentic Mexican tequila bar and cantina located on the corner of 5th and Peachtree. The atmosphere is electric making Escorpion one of the hottest

N. Decatur Plaza 404.320.0101 Midtown 404.917.1100 East Cobb 678.996.0045 mediterraneangrill.com

Mediterranean Grill is the place to go for authentic Mediterranean food. Their loyal customers keep this family/chef-owned and operated restaurant busy. Here you will find regional dishes like gyros, falafel and kabob sandwiches. They have a great Business Lunch Special offering Shish kabob, Kufta Best Inexpensive Restaurant

AWARD WINNING CUISINE!

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or online at: www.agaverestaurant.com

242 Boulevard S.E. Atlanta 30312 PG 8 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

Februarr 22 & 23

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agave restaurant

www.ragorama.com

kabab & Gyro slices w/rice pilaf, salad, pita and drink ($7.60). Mediterranean Grill has tasty sandwiches including: Gyro, Kufta Kabob, Chicken Kabob, Falafel and a Grilled Vegetable sandwich. All sandwiches are just $5.75 and entrees start at $9.00.

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

848 Peachtree Street 404.870-0805 3242 Peachtree Road 404.264-0253 GordonBierschRestaurants.com

Green Chili Meatloaf and Ribeye Pot Roast. There are a wide array of sandwiches and salads to choose from plus an extensive selection of draft beers served from 32 taps. This is a great place to meet up for a business lunch or to get together with friends. They have private rooms that may be booked and a lively rooftop patio adorned with the beautiful Twin Peaks Girls.

Fritti

309 N. Highland Ave. 404.880.9559 frittirestaurant.com

MONDAY – Baldinos Extra Special (#7) TUESDAY – Like it Hot? Grilled & Toasted The HOT Italian WEDNESDAY – Ham it Up - (#5) Boiled Ham & Cheese w/ soup or side THURSDAY – “Check Out Our New Chicken Breast” – Try our #21 FRIDAY – Meatless Combo - Tuna (#10) or Veg Stir Fry (#27) w/ side SATURDAY – Steak Out- A-Steak Sub Your Choice (#11,13, or 19) SUNDAY – American Special - (#14) w/ choice of soup or side

Marietta 80 Powers Ferry Rd 770-321-1177 (closed Sundays) Gordon Biersch, an upscale brewery restaurant specializing in handcrafted German lagers brewed in-house. Gordon Biersch features an American menu with bold international flavors. There are an assortment of half pound burgers starting at $10.95 plus a wide variety of sandwiches beginning at $9.50. They also have many upscale entrees including steaks and seafood plus several pizzas and flatbread dishes. Their large menu offers something for everyone. Don’t forget to wash it all down with a fresh crafted brew!

Athens Pizza House

1341 Clairmont Rd. Decatur 404.636.1100 AthensPizzaAtlanta.com

Located in the heart of Inman Park, Fritti is nationally recognized for their pizza and state of the art brick oven. For lunch, Fritti offers a variety of Anti-pasta dishes for $10 or less including offerings of Portobello mushrooms, fresh calamari, and Sicilian risotto and Bruschetta. For Dinner, many of the lunch items are offered along with other dishes. One Anti-pasta to try is the Bresaola di Tonno (Cured sashimi grade tuna, arugula, radish and lemon); $10. They also offer a great Caesar Salad for $8. Among their great variety of pizzas include: The Salsiccia e Pepperoni (Italian sausage and roasted peppers) $13 and the Speck e Rucola (Smoked prosciutto, smoked mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and arugula) $14. 3652 Roswell Rd. 404.816.9090 Multiple locations at LandmarkDiner.com

The Flying Biscuit

1655 McLendon Ave 404.687.8888 1001 Piedmont Ave. 404.874.8887 flyingbiscuit.com The Flying Biscuit serves great breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week. One of Atlanta's home grown gems, they are best known for their mouth watering biscuits and original affordable menu items. The Midtown and Candler Park locations offer a wide assortment of bakery items as well as new beer and wine selections. The Flying Biscuit’s menu is organic friendly. Enjoy weekend Sweet Specials on a variety of pancakes including chocolate chip, blueberry and more. And don't forget, Kids Eat Free Monday thru Thursday from 4-7pm.

Twin Peaks

3365 Piedmont Rd. Buckhead 404.961.8946 twinpeaksrestaurant.com

Twin Peaks is more than great views. The mountain lodge-style sports restaurant features high-quality comfort foods like their

$3.49 All Day!

Doraville 5697 Buford Hwy. 770-455-8570

VOTED BEST SUBS IN ATLANTA

Landmark Diner

Since 1966, the Papadopoulos family has been serving up great Greek and Italian cuisine to the Emory / Decatur area. Athens Pizza is Zagat rated and winner of several awards including Best Greek Cuisine. So don’t let the name fool you, there is much more here than great pizza. Some of the favorite recipes on their Greek dishes go back over 50 years! Athens Pizza offers daily specials for lunch and dinner. They have an extensive catering menu while the restaurant can also accomodate parties large and small with their private room.

www.baldinos.us

FEBRUARY SPECIALS

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#1 Chinese Restaurant in Atlanta

Healthy Vegetarian Items Always Available

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3887 PEACHTREE RD • 404-816-2229 • BUCKHEAD/BROOKHAVEN DELIVERY (LIMITED AREA; MIN $10) CARRY OUT • CATERING • FULL BAR SERVICE

WWW.CHINCHINATLANTA.COM

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

Atlanta’s favorite diner offers great meals at affordable prices 24 hours a day. Start the day with an omelet ($10.99). Or get French Toast and Golden Pancakes for just $6.99. For lunch try one of their many sandwiches starting at $6.49. You will find everything from Sliced Turkey, Egg Salad to the BLT. You can also find several large burgers served “all the way” for under $10. For dinner try seafood dishes: Blackened Florida Grouper and Jumbo Shrimp Scampi; Italian dishes: Veal Parmigiana and Baked Lasagna; Greek dishes: Spanakopita and Rack of Lamb. Landmark is currently offering complete dinners with appetizer and dessert for $13.99.

Savage Pizza

484 Moreland Ave. 404.523.0500 115 Laredo Dr. 404.299.5799 SavagePizza.com

This eclectic neighborhood restaurant is a favorite hangout among residents of Little 5 and Avondale Estates. Both locations offer indoor and patio seating. Savage prepares all their menu items using only the freshest vegetables and first quality meats, cheeses, breads and pastas. On their menu you'll find innovative homemade sauces, fresh dough and thoughtfully prepared dishes, made from scratch every day. They offer is a wide variety of salads, subs, calzones and of course pizzas to choose from at affordable prices. Savage offers lunch and dinner and delivery to the area.

BEST PIZZA! ER! W INN

Multiple Atlanta Locations: www.JohnnysPizza.com insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 9

COMEDY

EUGENE MIRMAN

The Most Animated Comedian of Comedy BY BRET LOVE

ISING TO NATIONAL ACCLAIM alongside Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bramford on the Comedians of Comedy Tour nearly 10 years ago, Eugene Mirman is one of the most original voices in comedy. So it makes sense that some of his latest work has been in the form of voiceovers on hit animated sitcoms such as Bob’s Burgers and Archer. With the 39-year-old, Russian-born heading to Atlanta this month at Erikson Clock (Feb 10), we caught up with him for an interview about his college education (he majored in Standup Comedy), the evolution of the comedy scene, and Dionysian pot orgies.

I ran a weekly comedy show in the basement of my dorm where I would try bits and improve them week-to-week. My college experience ended up being almost like going to an artistic vocational school.

We’re coming up on 10 years now since you, Brian, Maria, Patton & Zach did the Comedians of Comedy Tour. Do you have any favorite memories from that time in your life/career? I have lots of great memories from both those tours and that time. Patton’s support early on was something that always meant a lot to me. I remember at some point in New Haven after a show wandering into some orientation party at Yale with Morgan Murphy and Zach Galifianakis. We had a nice time dancing and laughing to ourselves. Esquire has compared you to Andy Kaufman and Warhol, Mostly what made that whole tour fun was just traveling both of whom were pretty divisive figures. What’s your with everyone from city to city, eating delicious food, and take on the legacy of the artistic provocateur? having Brian Posehn confused how so many people could I think they said that about me because I used to wear a like Belle and Sebastian, when clearly blond wig and inspired Lou Reed. only way to convey the full range of IN GENERAL, I MOSTLY the human emotions is through the various LIKE TO WORK ON What’s your take on the recent publicity shades of Metal. stunt in which a woman claiming to PROJECTS WITH be Kaufman’s daughter got up at a NY FRIENDS. THAT’S THE I have a lot of friends who are standup comedy festival and said Kaufman was MOST ENJOYABLE FOR comedians in Atlanta, and it seemed still alive and living in hiding? ME. ME BEING CAST like that tour totally changed the game. I don’t really have a take on it, because I ON ALL THOSE SHOWS Can you talk about the significance of don’t know much about the incident, but I moving comedy out of the standup clubs HAPPENED BECAUSE do hope it made a child somewhere cry. THEY REACHED OUT TO and into indie-rock venues? Well, I think it’s actually an abnormality ME. I LOVE DOING IT. I’ve interviewed more than 100 to have comedy in standup clubs. Both comedians, but you’re the first I’ve ever before the late ‘70s and after the early heard of who actually majored in comedy. Tell me a little ‘90s, most comedy was in cabaret spaces, music venues bit about that program: What did you learn from it, and and theaters. It’s really mostly the ‘80s that there was so what was your thesis set like? much comedy in comedy clubs. Lots of standup and sketch I went to Hampshire College, where you can design comedy in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s was in those spaces. In your own major. It lets you create an inter-disciplinary both NY and LA in the mid ‘90s, comedy started returning curriculum in any subject and work closely with different to those spaces. Alternative rooms started popping up in professors on it. So I took classes in writing, acting, film, those cities, and that eventually started expanding. In the sociology, history, rise of mass culture, and then did late ‘90s I ran a weekly show at the Greene Street Grill in independent studies in various subjects relating to comedy. Cambridge, which was a sort of Caribbean restaurant/ For Natural Science I did a paper on the physiology of indie- rock venue. I remember seeing White Hassle and laughter, and for Social Science I did a paper on Lenny Eliot Smith there. In the early 2000s, David Cross did a Bruce’s effect on culture. My final project was a onetour of music venues. I did several tours opening for Stella hour standup act that I wrote, performed, produced, and (a sketch comedy troupe founded by members of The promoted. The set itself had a lot of the building blocks State) that were all music venues and theaters. And then, that would become my act — I told stories, had lots of of course, later with Comedians of Comedy we did lots of short, odd jokes, I did a bit with a guitar and giant chain, I tours and then made two films from them, which inspired read a letter, I had fake, weird fortune cookie fortunes, etc. a lot of people who were interested in comedy to do the same thing. But in general, I think after the comedy boom of the ‘80s, once you couldn’t really sustain 25 comedy clubs in a city, everything crashed and then slowly began rebuilding itself in a better way. I just realized that I sound like the Mitt Romney of comedy economics. But also, it’s pretty true! These days, at least in Atlanta, you can’t swing a stick without hitting some bar or rock club that hosts an Open Mic Comedy Night. Do you think that’s good for comedy and, if so, why? Ultimately, if it’s producing funny comics, it’s great. If not, it will fail as a business and something else will replace it, like a collage-making class. The thing that is great about comedy is that it’s mostly binary. You either make people laugh or not. Personally, it’s nice to see comedy in a place where people like it again. When I began in the early ‘90s, people had a strong association with standup being a deceitful art-form that involved lying to audiences about relationships while wearing a blazer. It’s nice to see that melted away, although I guess in a few years standup will be stereotyped as a bunch of confused people crying on stage about their childhood. It ebbs and flows. From Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Home Movies to Archer and Bob’s Burgers, you’ve done a lot of animation voiceover work. Is that by design or happenstance? What do you enjoy most about it? It’s happenstance, I guess. In general, I mostly like to PG 10 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

work on projects with friends. That’s the most enjoyable for me. Me being cast on all those shows happened because they reached out to me. I love doing it. In general, I’d love to be in more cartoons. It’s very fun. As a huge Archer fan, I get a kick out of the fact that you, H. Jon Benjamin and Kristen Schaal all work together on Bob’s Burgers as well. I picture it as this incestuous little community where you guys have huge Dionysian pot orgies every weekend after your voiceover sessions wrap. Would you say that’s an accurate description? Please? We are all friends and often hang out together– not always on weekends, but sometimes after we record. Most of us don’t smoke pot. However, we all like delicious food and, even more, our delicious friendship. So, our parties are not that Dionysian, but sort of somewhere between Thor celebrating a victory and Thoth talking about a story he read in the Washington Post’s Wonk Blog. Any chances Cecil will be making a return appearance on Archer during the new season? Hopefully. [Creator] Adam Reed had mentioned having me back at some point, but I don’t know if he has anything planned or not yet. Let’s talk about the new tour: What can fans expect from this show that they haven’t seen before? Standup comedy, me holding up pieces of paper to show that something I’m saying is true, reading a thing of some sort, some stories, some pictures and possibly, but probably not, a group hug. Maybe a video? You’ve done the albums, written a book, some TV shows, hosted comedy festivals and such. Are there any sort of big-picture goals for your career, or are you just taking it as it comes? Well, I’d like to do more of the sorts of things I’ve done in the past, like make more albums, write another book, etc. I’d love to do a travel TV show. I’d also really like to make a documentary of going back to Russia for the first time and explore comedy there. Anything else you’d like to add? Not really. That’s mostly it.

LOCAL

CELEBRITY CHEF ALTON BROWN

Returns Home to The Fox Theatre!

BY MARCI MILLER

OOD NETWORK STAR AND Atlanta resident, Alton Brown, has a long resume of hit shows including “Good Eats”, “Feasting on Asphalt”, “Iron Chef America” and more. And now, he’s taking his show on the road with the “Alton Brown Live: The Edible Inevitable Tour,” his first national tour visiting 45 cities through March 2014. Brown brings his brand of quirky humor and culinary-science antics to the stage. The ninety minute show is a unique blend of stand up comedy, food experimentation, talk show antics, multimedia lecture, and, for the first time, live music. We recently had the chance to speak with the celebrity chef to find out what exactly will be happening at the show and how he feels about playing The Fabulous Fox Theatre in his hometown of Atlanta. What can audiences expect from the live show? It’s a two hour food variety show. With puppets, filmed sequences stand up comedy wrapped around a food diatribe/rant. There will be live music, my trio is going to be doing three of the new songs off our upcoming CD and two very large, food demonstrations that will involve innocent bystanders, volunteers and more. Nothing has been done like this before. How long have you been on tour? We did our first leg of 19 cities in October and November but then I had to stop to work on my show called “Cutthroat Kitchen” on Food Network, and then there were the holidays, I had to go to work on another show called “Food Network Star”, so this the first break I’ve had and am able to getting back and going. We will start again in Austin and play 26 cities. What inspired the variety show? I love doing live shows. I’ve been doing live culinary things for years. But they always had to be small because you put together a one time show for one client, one event…you can’t do that much. So, I always wanted to do something with larger scale. So scale means tour, because you can’t just do it one time. Any show that has spectacle to it has to travel. So I just wanted to do this and I’ve been planning this off and on for six years. Trying to find the right partner to produce it and find the time and try to get all my ducks in a row. How does it feel to be returning home to play The Fox Theatre? The Atlanta date is special and different. Number one, this is home…I live here. Well, Marietta, but I can still call that Metro Atlanta. And it’s the Fox… it’s the freakin’ Fox Theatre. And, might I add, 4, 572 seats…its big. So I’m nervous about Atlanta, nervous and excited. It’s a big personal deal to me to play a show at the Fox.

You were one of the originals on the Food Network, why do you think it continues to be such a big success? Everyone is interested in food. Everyone likes to eat. It is one of the last things that we all have in common with each other. And so audiences are fascinated with it. Fascinated with the personalities, fascinated by watching it and it doesn’t wear out. Unlike many other celebrity chefs, you don’t have your own restaurant. Why not? I came out of television. I use to direct TV commercials and was a cameraman. That’s why my show “Good Eats” looked the way it did and felt the way it did. My whole life has been training to do what I do. I’m not making TV shows to put butts in restaurant seats. I’m a control freak and I know this and if I had a restaurant I would be in it everyday. I’m not going to say that I won’t do it, but I will say that I’m not there yet. You were raised in Georgia and live here in Atlanta…how has the South influenced you? My whole life is permeated by the fact that I’m a Southern man, in every sense of the word. I can’t live anywhere else. I spend large amounts of time in other places. I just came back from three weeks in Los Angeles. I work in LA a fair amount and I work in New York a fair amount. But I’m southern and I’m very influenced by Southern sensibility. I love Southern music, Southern flavors, real Southern flavors, not just what people think. If one more person asks me about fried chicken, I’ll keel the hell over. The south is so rich, so diverse. So lucky from an agriculture standpoint, our coast lines are teaming with live fish…so much. We are different. And hopefully we don’t fall prey to homogenization and political correctness and all those other things.

February 13-15

Nikki Glaser

Nikki Glaser first gained notoriety during season four of Last Comic Standing when she advanced to the semifinals. Since then, she has performed stand up on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Last Comic Standing 7.

February 20 – 22

Chad Daniels

In 2004 Chad performed in the New Faces show at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He’s appeared on the Tonight Show, Late Late Show and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham.

February 27 – March 1

Robert Kelly Host of the “You Know What Dude” podcast and from “Louie” on FX. Kelly’s unique, honest take on his own life and relationships make his comedy clever, abrasive, and funny.

Inside Andrews Entertainment District 56 E. Andrews Dr. NW Atlanta, GA 30305 • 678.244.3612 www.TheImprovAtlanta.com

$10 OFF with Student ID

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When you are in town, do you get the chance to try out all the new Atlanta restaurants? I am a creature of habit and I stay close to home. My favorite restaurants are in and around Marietta, Georgia because that’s where I live. And other wise I am going to cook at home. We do not go out very often, I don’t like being stared at while I eat. I am also a walker and I don’t go places where I can’t walk to or park easily. I don’t like the stress of parking. I don’t like to deal with traffic. I live in walking distance in the square in Marietta and we have a world class restaurant there now called Butcher Baker. And if I could, I would just walk to Butcher Baker and eat five times a week. Or, I’ll drop by Seed in East Cobb or Chicken and Egg. Are they Michelin Five Star Restaurants? Nope. But do they know me and do their bartenders know how I want my martini, yes. Is that valuable? You better believe it! I love familiarity. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 11

FILM

TRUE ROMANCE

Ten Fantastic Films That Redefined Love on the Silver Screen BY CHRISTIAN PEREZ

ROUND THIS TIME EVERY YEAR, THE WORD love begins to get tossed around in extreme excess. Everywhere you look there are balloons, candies and greeting cards, all slathered in a red coat and dripping with that wonderfully sappy sense of store-bought sentimentality. New rom-coms are premiering at your local multiplex every Friday, so a date night is guaranteed. Around the Valentine’s holiday, many people tend to want to watch a good ol’ love story. So I went ahead and compiled a left-of-center list of classic films you could watch that you may not have considered. All these films deal with love, passion, and/or relationships in one way or another. Some of them are well known, while others are a bit more obscure. But all are satisfying in their own distinctive way. In my attempt to sidestep lists that continually shine the spotlight on films like (500) Days of Summer and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, here’s what I think you should be watching in this season of love.

Amour

Michael Haneke is such an interesting director. Whether he’s showing viewers an obsessive interest in violence in Funny Games or the immense quiet and thrills of Cache, he always delivers the goods. And with last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, Amour, he gave audiences one of the most beautiful, heartwarming, and heartbreaking films ever made. The intensity of the love portrayed on film here is simply breathtaking, and Haneke guides us along as we love and cry with this couple that are nearing their final days.

Annie Hall

This masterpiece is responsible for almost all modern American romantic. Without it, films like (500) Days of Summer and Blue Valentine wouldn’t even exist. The film starts with Woody Allen telling you that it’s not a love story and that they have already broken up, and then takes you through the many different periods of his life, both in and out of the relationship with Diane Keaton’s character. This film laid the groundwork for how we view romance on film today, and definitely deserves a watch.

Antichrist

This one comes with a warning: Antichrist is graphically

PG 12 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

violent, and you’ll walk away not being able to remove many of the images from your mind. But if you are able to get past it, this story of a couple in extreme grief after losing their son is incredibly powerful. It’s more of an exercise in hate than love, but the amount of love the nameless husband (Willem Dafoe) attempts to bestow on his horribly grief-stricken wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg)– only to receive even more emotional, mental, and eventually physical pain in return– is brutally fascinating.

Audition

In Takashi Miike’s Audition, a widowed man allows his friend to conduct a faux audition for a film that doesn’t actually exist in order to find him a new wife. Things seem to go according to plan until he meets a cute, quiet woman who catches his interest above all the rest. They begin seeing each other, but, as time goes on, things are not what they seem and the woman reveals herself to be just as fraudulent as the audition process… but with much more sinister results. Audition has some extreme imagery, but the way it messes with you psychologically is far more disturbing than anything Miike shows on the screen.

struggling to make enough money to pay for an operation for her son’s eyes so that he does not become afflicted with the gradual, hereditary blindness that she’s experiencing. Her love and passion shines through in vibrant musical numbers that distract viewers from the sadness that flows throughout the rest of the film. Bjork is marvelous as the mother, whose love for both Hollywood musicals and her son completely consumes her life.

Her

I wrote a glowing review about this film in the previous issue of INsite. Now, after seeing it again, I can safely say that Spike Jonze’s latest directorial effort is one of the most powerful stories of love and humanity that I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever. It’s a gorgeous and odd story of a man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls for his computer operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) after his marriage falls apart, leaving him broken and alone. Jonze expertly takes viewers along on his journey to recovery, ultimately finding the peace that he so desperately desires.

Once

This is a love story about familial bonds, and the home that keeps them together. The film is gorgeous in its imagery, portraying the love between a father and his young daughter in a real and refreshing way that is rarely so excellently captured. The story feels so personal to director Benh Zeitlin, and it’s apparent how much the characters and the ruined landscape means to him. There’s so much beauty and passion on the screen, from its start to its finish.

Filmed almost like a documentary, Once tells the story of two musicians with an instant bond who met at the wrong time. Starring Glen Hansard, frontman of Irish band The Frames, it features their hit song “Falling Slowly” in one of its core scenes. The two musicians enter a music store to play a piano, begin to play the song in its entirety, and the audience just sits and embraces the beauty of their love for music and their unspoken love for each other. The film was released in 2006, and remains one of the greatest cinematic romances I have ever seen.

Beginners

The Wrestler

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Director Mike Mills’ intensely personal film won Christopher Plummer his first Academy Award at the age of 82 for portraying a character closely based on Mills’ own father. There’s romance in the film, but the real love is coming from Mills’s direction of the story based on his and his family’s lives. It’s incredibly tender and subtle, and grows greater with each and every watch. This is one film that leaves you with a quiet, sad contentment once the credits roll, and never fails to move those willing to let it.

Dancer in the Dark

Bjork made her film debut (and finale) with Lars von Trier’s devastating tale about an immigrant mother

Darren Aronofsky is a director known for powerful, intense, and often heartbreaking character pieces. The Wrestler is a prime example of his excellent craftsmanship. The film follows a deadbeat wrestler named Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), long past his prime and even further removed from his daughter. We see him struggle with reconnecting with his daughter, and maintaining an interest in/relationship with a stripper (Marisa Tomei). It’s often agonizing, but always affecting, as The Ram goes up and down in his personal and professional life, ending with a haunting and wholly satisfying open ending that leaves his triumph or failure completely to the viewer.

FILM FILM

TRUMP Movie Reviews CARD 12 YEARS A SLAVE (R)

 There have been other movies that didn’t flinched when it came to illustrating the physical atrocities of slavery. In a quiet moment, you can all still see the graphic imagery from Amistad and Roots in your heads. Yes, this movie —an adaptation of Twelve Years A Slave, Solomon Northup’s 1853 autobiography about being a free, successful black man in New York who was kidnapped and forced into nomadic servitude in Louisiana— has unimaginable moments where flesh is ripped and blood is spewed, but that’s not what’s most lasting here. What stays with youB.long after the cringing stops are thoughts By Love of the emotional toll the evil must have had on s one of AmericA’s most those exploited. Northup (a spectacular Chiwetel successful and high profile businessEjiofor), men, like countless others, was torn from Donald trump was well known his family. White overseers an eye long before survivor producernary markbat Burnett about ruining multiple lives with the exchange tapped him to star in the Apprentice. But of paperwork. Ourthat leadthe thinks of show his wife and there’s no denying reality two children often. Director Steve McQueen turned trump from a cartoonish curiosity heightens such moments with a into a bona fide phenomenon, with hisstubborn signacamera that focuses on Ejiofor’ s faceinextricafor 60 or ture catchphrase– “You’re fired!”– so entering uninterrupted seconds. owners wave bly the pop cultureSlave lexicon. the Bible and sometimes talk lightly (especially Although the Apprentice initially flounthe devilishly perfect Michael Fassbender), dered a bit in the ratings, Burnett and trump but sheerupon evil aspews from almostbyeverything stumbled winning formula recruitthey do. It’sand all such a confusing ing secondthird-tier actors, psychological athletes, dance, and but musicians McQueen’for s camera never blinks. models a celebrity edition His shots are stunning. Foghorn-like noises of the show. now in its third incarnation, are eerie. (Noted Apprentice composer Hans Zimmer handles the celebrity tosses disparate the such music.) CastingBret is amichaels, revelation.wrestler Benedict stars as rocker Cumberbatch, Pal legend Dano, Darryl Sarah Paulson, Paul Goldberg, baseball strawberry, Giamatti and Alfre Woodard all leave impact, former governor ron Blagojevich andansharon no mattertogether how littlefor screen time each gets. Still, osbourne a variety of teamit’s the moments Ejiofor and newcomer building exercises when and challenges designed to Lupita o, amettle. slave/concubine who picks test theirNyong’ business “the Donald, ” as fervor the crazy-coiffed realon the cotton with more than any man estate magnate oftentogether. known, recently held plantation, are inif shots The two familycourt with have reporters to discuss the less souls a brother-sister bondshow’s that feels current sincere.season. The lone casting call that feels forced is Brad Pitt’s as a Canadian anti-slavery advocate. Can tellsavior” us a little bit about selec-and Theyou “white air comes off a bitthe clichéd tion process? unnecessary. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t take it’sultimate very interesting, because so many the spotlight from Ejiofor and Nyong’o. celebrities want be onhow thetoshow after the Oscar voters willtolearn pronounce their success of theenough. previous two seasons. We names soon wanted some athletes, some actors, some –DeMarco Williams

it wants to be a romantic comedy or a dramatic look at modern love. Truth be told, it’s mostly like your last Match.com date— a confusing blunder you should probably stay away from. –DeMarco Williams

The Donald Waxes Rhapsodic On The Celebrity Apprentice, “You’re Fired!” & Fixing NBC

AMERICAN HUSTLE (R)

 When the ludicrous trailers for David O. Russell’s American Hustle were released, I was unimpressed. So when I walked out of the theater knowing I’d just seen one of the sharpest, most entertaining films of the year, I was pleasantly surprised. Christian Bale and Amy Adams star as Irving Rosenfeld Sydney small-time through reading and about themProsser, for so many con artists dupe people into investing their years, but awho lot of times somebody that you money in exchange for turns hollowoutloans. don’t think of so highly to beThey’re a star. quitejustsuccessful untilwhat undercover copwith Richie You don’t know will happen DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) catches them in the pressure and the heat of battle. act and forces them to play along with his plans What does adown celebrity have to dowith to really for bringing bigger crooks, hilarious set themselves apart and show that they’re results. Russell directs the film with a brisk pace, in it to wintheit?audience as the plot twists and engaging i canthe tellcharacters you from around seasonsand 1 and 2 andagain. turns around from Apprentice, people really Bale the stealsregular the show as the sometimes sleazy, want to win. and everyoften onceendearing in a while Irving, you’ll but overweight, have a quitter, it doesn’t as happen Jeremy Renner’sbut performance Mayoroften. Carmine iPolito think is thesurprisingly reason theygreat, do it is the level holding his ofown intensity feel for cast theirensemble charity. Unlike amongst they the perfectly (including the regular Apprentice, where somebody turn Jennifer Lawrence in an Oscar-worthy works for me for a pretty good salary for a as Rosenfeld’s harpie wife). American Hustle year, with this one the money goes to charis a consistently engrossing, wholly satisfying ity. Last with year awe raised millionsallofatdollars. picture, cast and director the top of everybody their game. has a charity that they love; some are foundations they’ve set up themselves –Christian Perez years in advance of the show. so i think they really fight more (NR) intense because it’s a charTHE ATTORNEY ity they’re fighting for. 

According to The Attorney, all you need to

What are your favorite challenges to watch practice law in Korea is a high school degree the celebrities tackle? and a business card that says you’re a lawyer. Well, we do have a lot of different challengSince it’s “inspired by true events,” that may be es, whether we go back to the selling of the true. In step with its hero, Song (Song Kanglemonade or doing something else very basic ho, who having starred to in deal my favorite Korean&film, The without with Proctor GamHost), the movie takes half its running time to ble or Kodak, etc. sometimes [sponsor-based get serious. Like The Wolf of Wall Street, Song challenges] are sort of interesting, but they’re gets rich quick thatthe rich,ratings but it’s suggest only 1978) expensive for us(not to do. with his scam. Then the government that the fans’ favorite part of the showarrests by a teenager Si-wan, and a boythe band member who far is the (Lim boardroom, boardroom models and some wrestlers, so i would say cangotten actuallylonger act) andover tortures him into confessing has the years because of probably six or NIGHT seven people to preaching communism to his peers. Rising ABOUT LAST (R) per spot we that. the challenges still have plenty of timeto were his defense, Song risks his business turning down. the hardest thing is that and we’re focused on both aspects,success but weand we have some good people his family’ safety.to Apparently wish I knew A really contemporary reimaging of thethat 1986want classic have been strying lengthen the(I boardroom tostarring go on very badly.and ButDemi i guess maybe more history whenviewer I see a movie like this) South Rob Lowe Moore, thiswe’ll About because of strong requests. save them for the next show, because it looks Last Night has all the makings of a warm winter Korea was going through a McCarthy-like era like that’sThe going under like a government resulting fromina the military winner. castto is ahappen. solid collection of attractive, You’re a prosecuting attorney coup, and theDoleaders controlled courts and fun personalities (Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, boardroom. you meter your the approach to How is this going to bewho different thanto the media. Director Yang Woo-seok smooths Michael Ealyseason and Joy Bryant) know how different personalities? past seasons? from engaging fluff to people effective Yes,transition i think you deal with different act. And the storyline of two horny types (Hart and the Well, when you have a success like we’ve courtroom/political Near the i deal withmelodrama. Goldberg differently Hall) who go on a date but bring along reserved differently. had, you don’t like to do too many changes. end the unfortunate use of Blagojevich. the phrase “citizens i deal with Governor i friends (Ealy and Bryant) who end up hooking up than What we do have is a different tone. the cast united” at aDennis rally may triggerand the wrong reflex in dealt with rodman Joan rivers on the first night isn’t groundbreaking, but it’ s not has been very interesting: they’ve been very American viewers. differently than some of the other contesbeen run comedic either. tough andinto verythe nasty, but mud there’s alsoWhat’ a lot sofoff tants. You have to have that ability.–Steve Warren about this movie is the same thing that’ s wrong fun and humor with respect to what happens, with isodon’t many would-be — the which think we hadrelationships in the last one. do you feel going back(R) in the boardAUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY timing sucks. So much about this film goes awry How With Joan [rivers] and with Piers [morgan], room after a little hiatus?  because of odd pacing, choppy edits and just it was really nasty people really hating each i just get a great kick out of it. i really like plain these ol’ mishaps with theeach plot.other, You’ll but be able other. people hate it’s to I hate reviews that focus on comparing a movie ittoa the lot. book they want to renew for another or play it was itbased on, so I’m get past endearing Ealy-Bryant moments that also funny. i think that might be the biggest two or three seasons, and we’re thinking going to despise this one. I’ve seen two stage are interrupted by bedroom trysts with Hall and differentiation in terms of the three casts. that. i like having Alliance a little bitTheatre’ of a break productions, including s, of Hart, but there’s a scene when Ealy’s character about between shows, where it goes on once a year. August: Osage County, and couldn’t help being quitsyou his usually job that won’t be sooff easy forget. Can tell right thetobat whoAfter is resigning, makes scene around Hart disappointed in Tracy Letts’ screen adaptation going to dohe well and this whobig isn’t? Do you ever feel bad about firing someone, and his always other former coworkers. He even that’s the most interesting ques-turns of his play. Opening it up to include Oklahoma is it justwhile part cutting of the job? landscapes large chunks of dialogue overtohismedesk. But ini’dnolike instance before that had or tion because to think of myself i always feel bad… no, not always. some-in a takes away from the sense of being trapped Stevewith Pinkpeople. (Hot Tub Time i’ll Machine) asdirector being okay But often say, times i don’t like people. the hard ones are house with the sometimes hilariously unpleasant shownonewhere the boss company were he really “this is going to beora star, ” and then when you really like and respect somebody bad toouthim. It’sajust oddnever moment. then extended Weston family, gathered after the turns to be dud.anYou reallyAnd know. they make ofa mistake. Like, (Sam as an Shepard). exdisappearance their patriarch there’ s the that known the picture know if and You feel likefact you’ve thesedoesn’t celebrities

HER WHAT HE PRESENTS IS A POWERFUL PIECE ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN INTERACTION AND RELATIONSHIPS, PROVING THAT HE CAN STAND ON HIS OWN MERITS BY DELIVERING ONE OF THE MOST PERSONAL, BEAUTIFUL, AND BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR.. Our review:  His pill-popping wife Violet, soon found to be (by husband-wife team Roberto and Kristen his widow, is a role designed to be projected to Anderson- Lopez) are among the finest in modern Disney history. FromIt Menzel (Wicked), the upper Streep It balconies. turnedMeryl out toknows Be how a good phrase, But was a Groff (Spring Awakening) (The Book to modulate it in durIng close-ups (though may FIrst FLuke. the you very show I wasanda Gad LIttLe not believe that if you’ve never seen it played of Mormon) to Roberto Lopez (who co-wrote exasperated wIth one oF the contestants and I used full-force on stage) to keep it from being pure Book of Mormon and Avenue Q), the film has whenBroadway [producer] Mark credentials, and it doesn’t camp, the but thatLIne, takes half“you’re the fun out ofFIred!” it. Julia SERIOUS Burnett and I agreed to dotakethe show dIdn’t have a genius to figurewe out that’ s where the story Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis headed“get next. It’sthe my favorite animated are excellent as Violet’ s daughters, as is the oftenthat. we thought we’d issay, heLL outmusical the last 20 years. underappreciated Margo Martindale as heror ofsoMethIng. oF here” –Bret Love sister. Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper scott and Benedict Cumberbatch areseason. good in fact that you raised such self-sufficient ample, Hamilton, from the last (R) of the theirfan lives, but it’s HER children? ithe hadlesser to letroles scott go. men i’m aingreat of scott: Well, i’m getting a lot of credit on the chilthe won women’ s movie. this  He olympic goldDespite medalssome and humor, he’s a great dren.Jonze everybody’s beenMalkovich, asking about ivanka champion. But he understood that hethe made (Being John Adaptation) visit to the other O.C. isn’t the comedy ads – Spike andnever the answer yes, she’ll be back on the aand mistake the show and i really had It’ nos still has been a isconventional filmmaker. With GoldenonGlobe nomination - suggest. show.hisButfirst they’re kids.on they choice. felt very about that, because film very basedgood wholly his went own a potentidrama youbadly can appreciate if you haven’t Her, to very material, good schools, and they wereshows greatjust iseen considered him to but be a mountain great person, buthas i original the writer/director a better version, of a play students. i couldn’t wait to get them have to do neveroffun, but it’s how beautiful the unconventional can on be.the The become littlewhat’s more right. than a it’s molehill a movie. show.takes i hadplace no idea show would advanced be into easier when i don’t like somebody–Steve or when in a the technologically Warren film itsninth tenth which prettyand they’re really, really bad. future thatand feels veryseason, much like the is present amazing in the world television. by Joaquin FROZEN (PG) follows Theodore (playedofwonderfully That line, “You’re fired,” became a pop cul Phoenix), who is broken from a recent split with There’s lots of(Rooney news surrounding NBC ture phenomenon. Canerayou talk1989-1999 about the(in his People talk about the from wife, been Catherine Mara). Avoiding lately, and your show does well for them. origin of it? which the studio produced classics such as The human interaction, even with close friends, he What you an think NBC needs to do tooperating get back it turned out toBeauty be a good phrase, it purchases advanced computer Little Mermaid, & The Beast,but Aladdin in the to ratings game? was a fluke. firstRenaissance. show i was” system keep him company. Over time, he and and The LionDuring King) asthe thevery “Disney Well, i know nBc aWith littlea exasperated with one ofThe the Princess con- & Samantha (voicedJeffbyGaspin Scarlett(chairman Johansson)ofbegin hot streak that includes Universal television entertainment) and, as testants and i used the line, “You’re fired!” the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and now this an intimate relationship as Theodore rediscovers you know, he’s new to the role. i think he’s When [producer] mark Burnett and i agreed incredible animated gem, I think we can consider his passion for life. What makes the film work so going do a spectacular jobfilm at nBc. they to the since showPixar we didn’t have that. is itstosubtlety: This is a quiet that presents thedoyears mastermind JohnWeLasseter well need more shows like the not thought say,company’ “Get the hell out of here” or its characters gracefully, and Apprentice. without judgment. took overwe’d as the s chief creative officer necessarily from a reality standpoint, but something. And all of a sudden America went the “Disney Renaissance: Part II.” Loosely based The marvelous cast (including Amy Adams and they need shows that capture the imaginacrazy over the show. it happens to be a great Pratt) really brings the film to life with on Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless fable, The Chris tion. catchphrase. tV Guide or one of the major Snow Queen, the film tells the story of fearless their realistic connections and chemistry. With frankly, certain shows that are on should entertainment magazines did a poll and, after princess Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell), who such an interesting concept, Jonze could’ve taken be changed because, while they get some “Here’s Johnny!” and one other great, it was in a million different directions. But what embarks on a quest to find her estranged sister, Her pretty good reviews, they don’t get people #3 on the top 100 phrases in television hishe presents is anice powerful piece on the nature of Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), whose icy powers tory! so that was a pretty big honor. it’s been watching. it’s to get both. We’ve had human interaction and relationships, have trapped their kingdom in an eternal winter. an amazing thing and an amazing phrase that emmy nominations and a lot of good proving acthat he can stand our on his own merits delivering Along for the s acaught rugged on, mountain just seems to journey work. itthere’ really and colades passed way, and that’sbyalways theultimately most personal, beautiful, best manbeen (Jonathan Groff),thing his pet reindeer, and a one it’s an amazing to watch. nice.ofBut you have to haveand people of the year. goofball snowman (Josh Gad). The story (by films watch. nBc is going to really do well. i know –Christian Perez JenniferdoLee) (Lee and Chris their leadership and i think they’re What you and thinkdirection is your biggest accomwinners, Buck) are impeccably crafted, and the songs plishment, your business success or the so i think they’ll turn it around. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 13

IF YOU BUILD IT (NR)

 Having been known as an “activities major” in college, I can appreciate the idea in If You Build It that students can learn more and become more engaged and enthusiastic by doing things than by reading and being lectured to in classrooms. Patrick Creadon’s documentary shows that theory being applied in Bertie County, North Carolina, by Matt Miller and Emily Pilloton, a country boy and California girl who had hit it off personally and professionally. The film omits a lot of details, including how their ten high school students were chosen and how the offsite activities of their “Studio H” fit into the school day, focusing instead on the things that were (and weren’t) accomplished and the roadblocks that interfered with them. No sooner do Matt and Emily set up shop than the school board dumps the superintendent who brought them in and withdraws the funding for their salaries, leaving them to finance the project with grants. After two smaller projects to accustom their pupils to the principles of designing something and building it, they embark on creating a farmer’s market for the dying town of Windsor. They underestimate the time it will take, and some of the students appear to lose interest some of the time, but Creadon tries to put a positive spin on the good news/bad news ending. Certainly other places should be inspired to try similar experiments, which can be win-win for the children and their communities. –Steve Warren

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (NR)

 One of my favorite foreign films of 2012 was The Other Son, a French drama about Israeli and Palestinian families who learn their teenage sons were switched at birth. Now comes a Japanese variation on the theme, written and directed by the brilliant Hirokazu Kore-Eda (Still Walking, Nobody Knows). This time the boys are only six when the truth comes out, and the families’ differences are of class, not race. I preferred the broader significance of the French film but this one should be more universally relatable. Kore-Eda focuses on one family, headed by a well-to-do, workaholic architect who gives his son everything but time. The other father runs a cheesy hardware store while his wife works in a fast food restaurant, but they still devote themselves to parenting their three children. The trauma both families suffer at the prospect of trading sons is palpable, even if I didn’t agree with all the specifics the filmmaker chose to make his points. –Steve Warren

THE OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2014: ANIMATED (NR)

 No contest here. The obvious winner is Get a Horse! an homage to Walt Disney’s early cartoons of the late 1920s, with Walt himself as

HOME RELEASES THE LATEST DVD, BLU RAY & VOD RELEASES

BY BRET LOVE AND JOHN MOORE

ARCHER: SEASON 4

Disclosure: I used to perform improv comedy with Amber Nash (Pam) and Lucky Yates (Dr. Krieger), two of the voiceover actors from FX’s cult hit. This is not to suggest I’m remotely impartial in my adoration of this brilliantly written animated spy epic. It’s arguably the cleverest comedy since Arrested Development, and season four found Archer, Mallory, Lana & Co. at their bickering, bumbling best, beginning with a Bob’s Burgers crossover and ending with a Sealab 2021 homage. The only problem is that, at 22 minutes, the episodes end just when the laugh train is rolling fullspeed. -BL PG 14 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

the voice of Mickey Mouse. It cleverly blends hand-drawn black-and-white images with today’s computer-generated, wide-screen, color ones. You’ve probably already seen it as the opening act for Frozen, so you shouldn’t waste your time on the other nominees. The best of those is Room on the Broom, with Simon Pegg delivering the Seussian-style narration. The rest of the all-star voice cast is wasted (mostly making animal noises), including Gillian Anderson as the witch whose cat gets jealous when she adds other critters to her entourage. It’s strictly for kids but won’t hold their attention for half an hour. A hunter adopts a feral child and tries to civilize him in Feral, with drawings that strive for impressionism but mostly just look blurry. The artwork is superior to the storytelling in the other two. In Possessions a Japanese Mr. Fix-It is tormented by inanimate objects when he seeks shelter in a fantastic house. The eponymous Mr. Hublot, who looks like a flesh-colored Minion in a steampunk world, adopts a dog that grows on him. After all these years, Uncle Walt is the winner and still champion (even if the Academy didn’t care for Saving Mr. Banks)! –Steve Warren

THE OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2014: LIVE ACTION (NR)

 Now that anyone with a cell phone can be a filmmaker, you wouldn’t believe how many short films were made in the U.S. last year! Even harder to believe is that the Academy couldn’t find one of them worthy of a nomination, turning instead to Europe for all five. The obvious winner-to-be is Spain’s That Wasn’t Me, about a white couple captured by rebels in an unnamed African country where children are forced to be soldiers. I was also extremely fond of The Voorman Problem, a dark comedy from the UK in which psychiatrist Martin Freeman (yes, Bilbo himself) is summoned to a prison to examine an inmate who thinks he’s a god. Ingmar Bergman meets Terry Gilliam in Helium, from Denmark, about a hospital orderly who invents an afterlife mythology to comfort a terminally ill boy. There’s no avoiding a sad ending so the challenge lies in how upbeat the filmmakers can make it. From Finland, Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? is an amusing trifle about an unsophisticated family trying to go to a wedding. Last and least, the French Just before Losing Everything wastes too much time being coy about the plot while immersing us in insignificant details before eventually building some suspense in what turns out to be the tale of a battered wife trying to escape. Still, there’s a lot more good than bad in this package. –Steve Warren

RIDE ALONG (PG-13)

 These days Kevin Hart is on a high that only Delta pilots and Colorado hippies know about. The diminutive comedian’s past three

BEING HUMAN: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON

The original TV show is almost always better than the American version (or in the case of Being Human, the Canadian version). This Syfy network series centers around a vampire, a ghost and two werewolves– all 20-something and cute (naturally)– who live together and balance their true identities with life in the “normal” world. The acting can be a little over-the-top at times, and the drama a little predictable, but overall it’s an entertaining show. -JM

CASTING ME

It’s clear that South African writer/ director Quinton Lavery is a big fan of Kevin Smith. From the B&W DIY aesthetics of

FROZEN THE FILM HAS SERIOUS BROADWAY CREDENTIALS, AND IT DOESN’T TAKE A GENIUS TO FIGURE OUT THAT’S WHERE THE STORY IS HEADED NEXT. IT’S MY FAVORITE ANIMATED MUSICAL OF THE LAST 20 YEARS. Our review:  or four movies have soared well past boxoffice predictions, with this one even setting records —Ride Along’s $41.5 opening weekend was the biggest January opening ever— along the way. Now, the things that moviegoers love most about Hart, his firecracker mouth and his goofball antics, are on full display here, so we understand the initial buzz. What’s vexing, though, is how the movie has been able to sustain its impressive weekly numbers. Sure, the thought of an in-over-his-head wannabe cop (Hart) tagging along with a scowling, hardass officer (Ice Cube) to prove he’s worthy of the cop’s sister (Tika Sumpter) is a tempting storyline, but things drag way more than it should. The comedic set-ups here are too simple—even for buddy cop standards. The twists in the plot can be sniffed out 10 minutes after the opening credits. Hell, even Barney Fife could correctly predict how Cube and Hart’s relationship will end up — but good luck getting fans of either actor to notice those things. All they’ll remember telling their buddies about the light-hearted Training Day attempt is that Cube ran the investigations and Hart ran his mouth. –DeMarco Williams

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (R)

Clerks to the more emotional (yet raunchy and witty) core of Chasing Amy, Smith’s style is all over Lavery’s hilarious indie. The semi-autobiographical movie is about Paul– a funny, but average looking casting director who finished the script debut directorial effort. Add in a frustrated girlfriend he’s trying to woo back, and the story is surprisingly sweet and funny. –JM

vast horde of marauding zombies; the whole shebang builds to an incredible, and shocking climax. The Blu Ray extras are exceptional, providing killer insight into the history of Westeros. -BL

GAME OF THRONES: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON

Picking up right after the battle for King’s Landing, season three of HBO’s hit dungeons-and-dragons fantasy epic was legen… (wait for it!) DARY! With the Lannisters clinging desperately to power; the Starks readying a strong challenge; Mance Raydar’s wildlings on the move; Daenerys Targaryen building a massive army in Essos; and did we mention the

 “Give ‘em to me young, hungry and stupid, and I’ll make them rich!” This disturbing and funny film from Martin Scorsese depicts stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leo DiCaprio) and his joyous abandonment of what he once held dear in the pursuit of being rich and feeling good. Based on Belfort’s book, the film drags viewers into his absurdly grandiose life of drugs, sex, intrigue, excitement, and betrayal. Belfort went from selling penny stocks in a strip mall to running a trading house with a thousand employees and being featured in Forbes, and eventually being chased by the SEC and Justice Department. In their fifth collaboration, DiCaprio and Scorsese tell a wild tale akin to seeing a train wreck full of circus clowns: We know how awful it’s going to get, and yet we can’t stop looking. DiCaprio’s Jordan is loveable, hateful, cruel and impossible to not watch. The supporting cast is full of surprises, from the off-kilter performance of “mentor” Matthew McConaughey to truly unsettling partner Jonah Hill. The term “epic” has been used to describe the scope of the film, but at times that means it simply feels very long. That being said, it was worth every minute. –Justin Patterson

NEWHART: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

For the uninitiated, this iconic CBS sitcom featured the legendary Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon, proprietor of a Vermont B&B. The situational humor involves a cast of offbeat characters, led by oddball siblings Larry, Darryl and Darryl. With a solid core of regulars (including the underrated Mary Frann as Newhart’s wife, Julia Duffy as the spoiled rich girl maid, and Tom Poston as the inn’s absent-minded handyman), the show still remains as fresh, smart and funny as it was when first broadcast three decades ago. Season three is scheduled for release in April. -LVS

FILM

THE OSCAROLOGIST’S PREDICTIONS (and Parenthetical Asides) BY STEVE WARREN

IKE METEOROLOGY, Oscarology is an inexact “science” that involves guessing the often unguessable. A few categories are as obvious as when a weather forecaster looks out the window, sees that it’s raining, and predicts rain; but mostly they depend on the collective whims of some 6000 Academy voters, which can be as hard to read as constantly shifting wind currents. Well, INsite doesn’t pretend to be a scientific journal, so let’s give it a shot. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that this will go down in history as the year Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa scored more Academy Award nominations (1) than Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Fruitvale Station, The Place beyond the Pines, Rush and Side Effects combined (0), and as many as Prisoners and Saving Mr. Banks (1). The Lone Ranger, despised by critics and largely ignored by audiences, got even more nominations (2). Is it any wonder I had to flip a coin to decide whether to write this column or stand on a street corner with a sign that says “The end of the world is near”? (Actually the sign won the toss but the weather convinced me to go inside and write.) The hardest part of predicting the Oscars is distinguishing between what I hope will win and what I think will win. This year is looking like a repeat of last year, when my favorite film (then Life of Pi, now Gravity) had to settle for the Best Director award while another (then Argo) won the Best Picture Oscar. This year’s race seems to be between 12 Years a Slave, the prestige favorite, and American Hustle, the popular favorite. I’ll give the edge to Slave because the Academy likes to do the right thing (even though they didn’t for Do the Right Thing). On the other hand, the Screen Actors Guild ensemble award has predicted the Best Picture Oscar five of the last eight years, and that went to Hustle this year. Alfonso Cuaron looks set to take the BEST DIRECTOR prize for Gravity, which is heavily favored in most if not all the technical categories it’s nominated in; and seven of its ten nominations are in technical categories. The trouble is, in this technically brilliant film, it’s hard to say where one job leaves off and the other begins. Did it take skill to photograph or did a static camera just record the special effects? Did the editors actually edit or was most of that done by the visual effects team? Was there much production design in the usual sense or was it all created in the light box, but didn’t that still have to be designed? And did the director have anything to do with the visuals or just get lucky by hiring the right people to make them happen? Gravity is also nominated for its audio quality, including its musical score. (Sound Editing and Sound Mixing for heavy breathing? You can get that in pornos!) With distributors holding back most of their best films until the fourth quarter, the end-of-year syndrome becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of the nominees in the major categories, only Blue Jasmine opened before October, and even it’s not up for Best Picture or Best Director. See the above list of films that received fewer

nominations than Bad Grandpa for an idea of who was hurt by this unwritten rule. The Screen Actors Guild is pretty good at forecasting the acting awards and this year I’m betting they’re four for four. The surest thing is Cate Blanchett’s Best Actress Oscar for Blue Jasmine, her best performance in a very distinguished career. She’s won nearly all the bellwethers, from the unreliable (critics groups) to the somewhat reliable (Golden Globes) to SAG. Less certain, but we’re still predicting it, is Matthew McConaughey’s win for Dallas Buyers Club. His main competition is Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave, but McConaughey has turned in a string of solid performances in the last couple of years and the cumulative effect shouldn’t be discounted, even though the Oscar is theoretically for a single performance. The longshot for BEST ACTOR is Bruce Dern. He has the sentimental vote all to himself, since Robert Redford wasn’t nominated in this category and the late James Gandolfini was passed over for Best Supporting Actor. The latter looks like another win for Dallas Buyers Club, for Jared Leto’s surprising work as McConaughey’s transgender collaborator. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS is a two-way race between Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle). Since Lawrence just won Best Actress last year the Academy will use this award to encourage another promising newcomer. That’s another reason Ejiofor won’t win Best Actor. The Academy hasn’t given Oscars to two black actors in 11 years, since Denzel Washington and Halle Berry both won. I haven’t seen Ernest & Celestine but the BEST ANIMATED FEATURE award will go to Frozen, easily the best of the other nominees and a huge box office success. I’ve only seen three of the BEST

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE nominees and my two favorites, Blackfish and Stories We Tell weren’t nominated. (I can see why the hardcore documentarians might have thought Sarah Polley took too much dramatic license with Stories, but Blackfish succeeded in raising public awareness on a controversial issue; I can’t understand why it was ignored.) Again the Academy could follow the critics (The Act of Killing) or the public (20 Feet from Stardom), but I’ll go out on a limb and predict victory for The Square. Though I haven’t seen it, I’ve heard enough positive things about The Great Beauty to go ahead and predict victory for Italy’s entry as BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM. Both writing categories are tough calls. Best ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY is between Blue Jasmine, one of Woody Allen’s best, and David O. Russell’s American Hustle (written with Eric Warren Singer). This will be Russell’s consolation prize for losing in the Director category. Arguments could be made for any candidate for BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY. Although squeezing 522 F-bombs into The Wolf of Wall Street was impressive, I think the Academy

will use this one to boost 12 Years a Slave’s total. The ORIGINAL SCORE nominees did what they were supposed to do, heighten their films without calling attention to themselves; so I hardly noticed them. As an Arcade Fire fan I’m rooting for Her, but I’m predicting this will be one of Gravity’s technical wins. BEST ORIGINAL SONG is between “Let It Go” from Frozen and U2’s “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Unlike the Golden Globes the Academy will pick the show-stopping former over the anthemic latter. In this category Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby was ignored in favor of nominating “Alone Yet Not Alone,” the title song from a film that, according to its poster, doesn’t open until this June. Gatsby may have a chance in the design categories, if Gravity doesn’t beat it for Production Design (I’ll give this one to Gatsby) and American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave doesn’t win COSTUME DESIGN. I’ll call it for Slave, which will be the first win on six nominations for 82-year-old veteran designer Patricia Norris. I’ll bet the Academy is sorry they started giving an award for Makeup and Hairstyling. I’m afraid they’ll have to give this one to Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, since Johnny Knoxville’s appearance had to fool people in “real-life” situations during the filming, and that’s harder than just fooling the camera. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY and BEST EDITING will go to Gravity, again if only because the Academy isn’t sure who deserves the credit; and of course BEST VISUAL EFFECTS goes to Gravity because you know the FX team was a big part of the result. Since Gravity isn’t as impressive aurally as visually (at least to my untrained ear), the sound categories will be a place to show some love to films that were otherwise ignored – let’s say Captain Phillips for Sound Editing and Inside Llewyn Davis for Sound Mixing. That leaves the short subjects. Turn to the reviews on page __ for my predictions in the ANIMATED SHORT FILM and LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM categories – I’ll be seeing those nominees after I turn in these predictions. My five-sided coin says the BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT will be The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life. On March 3 you can look back at this column and laugh. The winds and whims can change a lot in a month. For now, it’s the best I’ve got. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 15

FILM

WINTER IS COMING

Kit Harington on Game of Thrones, Pompeii, and Dragons

BY BRET LOVE

HIS YEAR I CELEBRATE MY 20th year of interviewing celebrities. After two decades, I don’t really get star-struck anymore, but I do have my personal favorite actors and characters that get my juices flowing when I get to speak to the former about the latter. Kit Harington, better known as Jon Snow on HBO’s Game of Thrones, is a perfect case in point. Where Robb Stark was too proper for my tastes, Sansa too prissy, and Arya too young for me to relate to on a personal level, the bastard son of Ned Stark had just enough existential angst about being cast out by Caitlyn, just enough courage in joining the Night’s Watch, just enough honor in protecting Sam to earn my respect. And when you consider that Harington was just 25 when he got the role of a lifetime, and his only previous performance of note was as the lead in the London stage production of War Horse, well… let’s just say he’s earned my respect as well. We were supposed to speak in-person the day the snowstorm hit Atlanta, but the weather had him stuck in Miami. So instead, I spent 20 minutes peppering him with questions about Game of Thrones; his starring role as a slave-turned-gladiator in Paul W.S. Anderson’s new disaster epic, Pompeii; and his goals for the future of his career. When did you start taking an interest in acting, and what got you interested in the craft? My mom used to be a playwright, so we would go to the theatre twice weekly. I think doing it that often will either put you off of it, like it did with my older brother, or make you passionate about it. That’s where it came from. I never thought about being an actor until I thought about going to university. At that point I was doing a lot of extracurricular drama, and I decided it was what I loved and I should do what I loved. Frankly, it was a stupid decision, but it paid off. Had you done much work before you landed the lead in War Horse? That was my first break, and it was a very, very lucky break. I got my brilliant agent through Sergio Drama School and

PG 16 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

he started getting me auditions. Lo and behold, there’s this leading role in a National Theatre production, which is the biggest theatre in London. It’s a dream to work there, even in a small capacity, let alone a leading role. I auditioned, and I got the part. That was the biggest lifechanging moment in my career, apart from maybe getting Game of Thrones. I did it for a year, and it is an incredible thing. If you’ve not seen the play, you must go and see it. I have a lot to thank for that.

How did you first find out about the role on Game of Thrones? Talk to me about the casting process. It sort of happened organically, like these things do. I finished War Horse and ended up getting an HBO pilot script sent through. HBO, for any actor, is big time, and the quality of the work is amazing. This was an utterly bizarre script, and I jumped on it. At the time it was only written as a pilot to see if it would go anywhere, and of course it did. Now, I’m doing movies. I’ve always wanted to do all three mediums– movies, TV and theatre. I’m passionate about all three, but I’d like to get back to theatre at some point. It seems like the scripts for Game of Thrones would really rewarding for actors with a theatrical background. It is a very theatrical show in a lot of ways. I can’t think of another TV show that is more of a natural ensemble of actors. There is no real lead role. There’s a huge amount of us, and we’re all playing our little part in it. So it is like a play in that way. For American audiences, they may not have heard of a lot of these actors. I was a very young actor and came out of nowhere. But some of the older actors are very well established theatrical actors in England. That may be where the theatrical element comes from. It is also seems rewarding in terms of the places you get to travel for work. Can you tell me a little bit about filming in Ireland and Iceland? As an actor, one of the greatest pleasures is being able to travel. At some point, I want to write about the places I go to. I absolutely adore Iceland. It’s the most desolate, romantic, amazing place, full of incredible people. It is otherworldly, really. Ireland is the emerald island. It is beautiful. It’s luscious and green, and we are very

I’M A BIGGER BELIEVER IN WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO DO THE WRONG THAT THEY DO. I THINK GAME OF THRONES SPELLS THAT OUT VERY WELL. IT’S ALL ABOUT HOW POWER CORRUPTS. lucky to be able to shoot there. The people are second to none. I find that’s what really makes a place– the human element. And now you’re in Pompeii, a $100 million epic action movie. as the lead. Were there any moments during filming where you had a “You know nothing, Jon Snow” kind of moment? (Laughs) I still don’t know what that means! But it was a thrill for me to take on a lead role. That’s the major reason why I did the movie. I want to be a leading actor. It’s quite scary doing the publicity, because there’s a lot riding on how it does and what people think of it. Was it a different sort of challenge for you? Yes, entirely different, especially the body transformation element of it. I’ve always been quite keen on doing that for a role. When the script came through and said he was a ripped gladiator, I thought, “I could really get into immersing myself in the training regime and the body transformation.” It was the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done– hitting the gym 3 times a day, 6 days a week, for three months, and eating a very rigid diet, and having a full time nutritionist and trainer, and doing gladiator training. It’s the most exhausted I’ve ever been and the fittest I’ve ever been. It will be a while before I do a movie like this again. I want to do as many different things as I can and I feel like I tipped that box with this one. You’ve also got How To Train Your Dragon 2 coming out this summer. Are you deliberately trying to pick projects that will allow you to try different things? Yes, I think your twenties are where you experiment. I’m lucky that I’ve got solid work with Thrones, and continue working on this character that I’ve lived with day in and day out for the last few years. But I also want to experiment with what I enjoy. The voiceover work of How To Train Your Dragon is great work to get, and I love those films. I also want to work with as many actors as I can. Thus far I’ve spent all of my time in period pieces. Now I want to

get into this century. How do you relate to Jon Snow on a personal level? It’s fascinating growing up with a character who is a young man and making all sorts of mistakes, like young men do. In my life, I’m making all sorts of mistakes, like young men do. I grow up, and around, and with him. The show has blown up, and it’s huge now. For a lot of people, I’ll be Jon Snow forever, and that’s an amazing thing. I love that! I think he is a good person. But what is interesting about this season coming up is that he has to let go of his honor a lot, and you realize that he can’t win by being good. We see that with Tyrion as well. This season, good people have to be bad in order to be good again. That’s what I love about the show: Nothing’s ever black or white, good or evil. Well, except Joffrey… I’m slightly against the concept of good and evil. I don’t believe they exist as clearly as that, and in movies we’re often told that they do. I’m a bigger believer in what motivates people to do the wrong that they do. I think Game of Thrones spells that out very well. It’s all about how power corrupts. Did you read the entire series of books, or do you wait for your scripts to come? I read the books right at the start, but haven’t gone back to them since. I go by what the scripts say now, because they’re starting to differ a bit. As much as we try to be true to the books, we also have to be true to the show and find a happy medium. It’s an interpretation of the book, so I have to go by what the show says. What are you most looking forward to about the forthcoming season of Game of Thrones? It’s my character’s biggest season, and it’s an action-fest. There’s more room to play around in certain people’s stories for longer. They are trying not to flip back and forth between people’s stories so much. If you’re a fan of the show, you’re going to love it. It was my favorite on paper by far!

LOCAL

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS

Pure Exhilaration!

Atlanta’s “Guerilla Arts” Scene Gains Steam BY BRET LOVE

VER THE PAST FEW DECADES, thanks to inflated costs and an economic recession the likes of which America hasn’t seen since the Great Depression, the arts have gained a reputation as something only the wealthy can afford. With average ticket prices for a ballet, concert or touring Broadway show ranging from $30 to $100, many people simply don’t have the disposable income to include “embracing the arts” in their budget. It’s ironic because, from ancient Greece to Shakespearian England, the arts were once as populist an entertainment form as TV and movies are today. Music, theatre and dance were considered essential elements of the community, vital to the cultural health of its members. But as the lines dividing art from commerce grow increasingly blurred, artists and audiences alike are beginning to feel the pinch. The guerilla, or “street arts,” scene is designed to take the arts back to the people, and is broadly defined as any form of art designed for display/performance in public spaces that is not specifically sanctioned or commissioned by government entities. Here’s a look at some of the Atlanta’s coolest guerilla arts projects:

ATLANTA DANCE TRUCK

Citing “a lack of accessible venues, limited performance opportunities, and a fragmented presence in the greater cultural community,” Malina Rodriguez co-founded Dance Truck in 2009 as an artist-centered creative collaboration. The concept is as brilliant as it is simple: Use a truck (ranging from pickups to food trucks) as a portable platform upon which to introduce innovative contemporary dance works to new audiences. “I think the Dance Truck story is representative of an Atlanta trend,” Rodriguez says, “performing outdoors out of necessity. We discovered it was a great audience development tool, and now our hope is that the success with audiences will translate into patronage, so that artists’ work can be sustainable and their careers in Atlanta truly viable.”

GOAT FARM ARTS CENTER

Any conversation about Atlanta’s indie arts scene HAS to include the Goat Farm, the 12acre creative outpost in West Midtown that houses 450 artists and 5 performance groups (including gloATL, Saiah Arts International

and The Collective Project), and presents over 150 performances and exhibitions annually. According to owner Anthony Harper, this dense collision of divergent disciplines is an experiment designed to expand the boundaries of each. “We want to develop a ‘Cultural Badge’ that Atlantans can boast of,” he says. “If you fancy yourself a forward-thinking person, then move to forward- thinking Atlanta and contribute to the social and economic fabric of this city. If a place like the Goat Farm can exist in Atlanta, then your unorthodox ideas might find a home here as well.”

LIVING WALLS

Founded in 2009 by Monica Campana and Blacki Li Rudi Migliozzi, Living Walls started as a concept for an art gallery show, grew into an annual conference, and is evolving into year-round programming designed to promote, educate and change perspectives about public spaces via street art. Communications Director Alexandra Parrish, who compares street art to the antiinstitutional philosophies of the Surrealist Movement, points out that graffiti has moved in recent years from trains and abandoned buildings to festivals and art galleries around the world. She says the group aims to connect artists with academics and the general public, to “creatively connect different parts of society without the filter of museums… reflecting a variety of methods that emphasize quality in production to create thought-provoking work.”

WABI SABI

If there’s one project that truly speaks to the need for fine arts organizations to become more approachable to average Joes, it’s Wabi Sabi, which was created by veteran Atlanta Ballet dancer John Welker in 2011. The stated mission of the performance series is to educate and inspire the community via new works that “challenge new audiences, foster the next generation of choreographic talent, and push the boundaries of ballet.” To do that, the company will step away from traditional venues and offer free, public, world premiere performances at the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre, Atlanta Botanical Garden, and other outdoor venues throughout the city. As with the rest of these exceptional artistic initiatives, Wabi Sabi’s objective is to encourage the creation of new works for new audiences in order to help the arts survive, and thrive, in a 21st century entertainment realm that offers myriad alternatives.

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insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 17

CONCERT CALENDAR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1 529 Heavy Chevy BLIND WILLIE’S Francine Reed EARL Radio Birds EDDIE’S ATTIC Blue Dogs FAT MATT’S Frankie Miller Group LOFT Wild Feathers MASQUERADE Dark Tranquility NORTHSIDE TAVERN Scott Glazer SMITH’S Cigar Store Indians STAR BAR Hollyfest TABERNACLE Moe. VARIETY ZOSO VINYL Howling Tongues WILD BILL’S The LACS SUNDAY FEBRUARY 2 EARL Bonaventure Quartet EDDIE’S ATTIC Paul Thorn FAT MATT’S Tony Bryant MASQUERADE Headbang for the Highway MONDAY FEBRUARY 3 529 Weary Hands BLIND WILLIE’S Bill Sheffield EARL Mutual Benefit EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Dry White Toast STAR BAR Monday Night Comedy TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4 BLIND WILLIE’S Mudcat CENTER STAGE Skinny Puppy EDDIE’S ATTIC Robbie Fulks FAT MATT’S Crosstown Allstars TABERNACLE Pixies WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5 BLIND WILLIE’S Andrew Black EARL Onchi EDDIE’S ATTIC Joe Pug FAT MATT’S Frankies Blues Mission PHILIPS Kings of Leon SMITH’S W.B. Givens STAR BAR Adron THURSDAY FEBRUARY 6 529 Dead Meadow BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall EARL Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys EDDIE’S ATTIC Sydney Rhame FAT MATT’S Chickenshack SMITH’S Sarah Michaud STAR BAR Mammabear VINYL Unlikely Candidates FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7 529 Jucifer BLIND WILLIE’S Bob Margolin EARL Sebadoh EDDIE’S ATTIC Robin Meade’s Round Robin FAT MATT’S Stooge Brothers MASQUERADE Yellowcard NORTHSIDE TAVERN Lola SMITH’S Alan Evans Trio STAR BAR Romeo Cologne’s Puppy Benefit TABERNACLE Panic! At The Disco VARIETY Angelique Kidjo VINYL Afton Showcase WILD BILL’S Jawga Boysz SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8 529 together Pangea BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson EARL Tedo Stone EDDIE’S ATTIC Rebecca Loebe FAT MATT’S Mike Lowry MASQUERADE The Slackers NORTHSIDE TAVERN Randy Chapman SMITH’S New Orleans Suspects STAR BAR Bigfoot TABERNACLE Corey Smith VINYL Afton Showcase SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9 EARL Georgia Slim EDDIE’S ATTIC Sam Lewis FAT MATT’S Tony Bryant SMITH’S Richie Ramone PG 18 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

MONDAY FEBRUARY 10 BLIND WILLIE’S Brandon Reeves EARL Yuck EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Dry White Toast STAR BAR Monday Night Comedy TUESDAY FEBRUARY 11 BLIND WILLIE’S Boo Hoo Ramblers EDDIE’S ATTIC Josh Schicker FAT MATT’S Crosstown Allstars WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12 529 Georges Bataille BLIND WILLIE’S Little G EARL Ben Trickey EDDIE’S ATTIC Alex Dezen FAT MATT’S Frankies Blues Mission MASQUERADE Chimaira STAR BAR The Dirty Magazines VINYL Jars of Clay THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13 529 Nameless Nameless BLIND WILLIE’S Deacon Bluz CENTER STAGE Val Kilmer EARL The McNifficent 7 EDDIE’S ATTIC Farewell Drifters FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE Manowar SMITH’S Tony Joe White STAR BAR Dog Bite TABERNACLE Ms. Lauryn Hill VARIETY Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14 529 Graveface BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall CENTER STAGE Val Kilmer EARL Hello Ocho EDDIE’S ATTIC Chris Cauley FAT MATT’S Johnny Scales Trio MASQUERADE Transit NORTHSIDE TAVERN Stoney Brooks SMITH’S Johnny Awesome STAR BAR Valentine Daze TABERNACLE Trey Anastasio Band VARIETY Jim Jefferies VINYL Prince 1999 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 15 529 Gold Sparkle Band CENTER STAGE Val Kilmer EARL Russian Circles EDDIE’S ATTIC Bruce Robison FAT MATT’S Sly Dog MASQUERADE Nocturnia NORTHSIDE TAVERN Breeze Kings SMITH’S Ray Wylie Hubbard STAR BAR Five-Eight TABERNACLE Flogging Molly VARIETY Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings VINYL Andrew Ripp SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16 CENTER STAGE Val Kilmer BLIND WILLIE’S Atlanta Blues Society AGM EARL Os Ossos EDDIE’S ATTIC Livings Taylor FAT MATT’S Tony Bryant MASQUERADE Paradise Fears SMITH’S Ray Wylie Hubbard VARIETY Dark Star Orchestra MONDAY FEBRUARY 17 529 Bleeding Rainbow BLIND WILLIE’S Barrelhouse Bob Page EARL Cibo Matto EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Dry White Toast STAR BAR Monday Night Comedy TUESDAY FEBRUARY 18 BLIND WILLIE’S The Hollidays CENTER STAGE White Lies EARL Gardens & Villa EDDIE’S ATTIC Lucy Wainwright Roche FAT MATT’S Crosstown Allstars LOFT The Expendables VINYL Water Liars

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19 529 Douglas’ Street Team BLIND WILLIE’S Electromatics EARL Red Wanting Blue EDDIE’S ATTIC Songs of the Fall FAT MATT’S Frankies Blues Mission SMITH’S The Mantras THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20 529 The Left Field Experiment BLIND WILLIE’S Sweet Betty EARL Drag The River EDDIE’S ATTIC John Driskell FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE For Today SMITH’S Sol Driven Train STAR BAR Tikka VARIETY Hard Working Americans VINYL Afton Showcase FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 529 Hospitality BLIND WILLIE’S Francine Reed EARL Leslie & The Ly’s EDDIE’S ATTIC Liz Longley FAT MATT’S Funky Bluester FOX Robin Thicke MASQUERADE Sick Puppies NORTHSIDE TAVERN Mudcat PHILIPS Demi Lovato SMITH’S Nine Times Blue STAR BAR Hawks VARIETY Delbert McClinton VINYL Kick The Robot

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 27 529 Spirits & the Melchizedek BLIND WILLIE’S Heather Luttrell EARL Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy EDDIE’S ATTIC Jim Avett FAT MATT’S Chickenshack SMITH’S Scotty TABERNACLE Austin Mahone VINYL Courrier & Melodime FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28 529 Ice Balloons BLIND WILLIE’S Anniversary Gala EARL New Madrid EDDIE’S ATTIC Mama’s Blue Dress FAT MATT’S Seminole Jackson FOX Alton Brown MASQUERADE The Gallery NORTHSIDE TAVERN Zydefunk SMITH’S Graham Colton VINYL Afton Showcase

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 529 Faux Ferocious BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall CENTER STAGE Mayer Hawthorne EARL St. Paul & The Broken Bones EDDIE’S ATTIC Carrie Newcomer FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe FOX Jennifer Nettles LOFT Taste of New Orleans MASQUERADE Crash Dragon NORTHSIDE TAVERN Mudcat SMITH’S Allgood STAR BAR Caroline & The Ramblers TABERNACLE The Giant VARIETY G. Love & Special Sauce VINYL Peter-Z SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23 EARL Georgia Mountain String Band EDDIE’S ATTIC Francine Reed FAT MATT’S Tony Bryant MASQUERADE Cedric Burnside SMITH’S Hey Alligator MONDAY FEBRUARY 24 529 Quilt BLIND WILLIE’S Marshall Ruffin EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Dry White Toast STAR BAR Monday Night Comedy TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25 529 Wymyns Prysyn BLIND WILLIE’S Timo Arthur EARL Justin Willman EDDIE’S ATTIC Caroline Smith FAT MATT’S Crosstown Allstars MASQUERADE Animals As Leaders PHILIPS The Eagles

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26 529 Off With Their Heads BLIND WILLIE’S Scott Glazer EARL T. Hardy Morris EDDIE’S ATTIC Teddy Geiger FAT MATT’S Frankies Blues Mission MASQUERADE Juicy J PHILIPS Imagine Dragons VARIETY Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirts

Robin Thicke at FOX THEATRE: Feb. 21

Road Warriors

This Month’s Hottest Shows BY SACHA DZUBA

FEB. 4 - SKINNY PUPPY

Center Stage One of the original progenitors of the electro/ industrial sound, Skinny Puppy’s sound has influenced many modern metal, hard rock, industrial, and dance bands. Trent Reznor even admitted the direct influence of “Dig It”, inspiring NIN’s hit “Down In It”. Skinny Puppy also became known for their theatrical, controversial, and horrorthemed live performances. Their strong opinions about political awareness and social issues, such as animal rights and chemical warfare, have always been prominent in their lyrics and performances which continues with their current works. Their latest sinister offering is Weapon. Strap your boots on and go help break the dance floor apart.

FEB. 4 - PIXIES

The Tabernacle The Pixies, one of the most influential and legendary bands in indie/alternative music history. Kurt Cobain, talking about “Smells Like Teen Spirit” said; “I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it.” Yowling and clean singing, female backing vocals, erratic-jarring guitars, and driving drums, along with a love of soft & quiet and loud & hard dynamics gives the Pixies their distinctive sound. The original lineup is back together, but sadly without Kim Deal; fret not though, seasoned performer Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle) is touring as their

bass player. Check out their new releases, EP1 and EP2. Know them and love them, or discover them for the first time, don’t miss the Pixies!

FEB. 5 - KINGS OF LEON

Philips Arena Hailing from Tennessee, Kings of Leon are southern rockers that brought out the fire and brimstone of edgy southern blues rock in their early efforts. Now into their sixth album, their sound has expanded to include elements of alternative and arena rock; with a bit U2 that likely rubbed off from their tour together. The three Followill brothers, along with their cousin, garnered critical acclaim early in their musical career, overseas and especially in the UK. They’ve grown together as a band and have accordingly grown as musicians, adding to and changing their musical style. Their latest effort, Mechanical Bull, should please their early fans with it’s southern rock and blues cuts. It is a rounded representation of where they’ve come from, where they are, and where they’re going. The crowd is sure to go wild when they play best love cuts “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire”. These boys are certainly southern rock royalty, don’t miss this chance to bow down to the kings!

FEB. 7 - PANIC! AT THE DISCO

The Tabernacle Panic! At The Disco came my attention with their album, Pretty. Odd., I realized that I was blushing from my new guilty pleasure. Incredible pop music; but there is surprising depth to their lyrical concepts and music. Their poignant and universal themes are bolstered by expansive, complex word choices and philosophical lyrics.

Layering their songs in lush string arrangements and vocal harmonies; these musicians have a unique take on melody and song. Their album Vices and Virtues, began their exploration of electronica, which has continued to influence their sound with the addition of disco beats and very Duran Duran like bass lines in their latest offering; Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!. These performers put on a dynamic and visual show that will have you dancing and bopping along. Go ahead, indulge your guilty pleasure.

FEB. 13 - MS. LAURYN HILL

The Tabernacle Lauryn Hill’s rise to musical stardom began first with her contributions as part of the Fugees; and then she released her groundbreaking solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. As quickly as she rose to fame, she began shying away from the media spotlight and has had only a few sporadic performances within the last few years; it has become a rare treat to see her live. She has released only two official tracks within the last decade; “Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)” and “Consumerism”. Ms. Hill’s rapid fire rapping skills punctuate dramatic reworkings of her songs, but these versions remain powerful and soulful in their reinterpretations. Don’t miss her new music along with the now classic hits from this enigmatic, genre defying and exquisitely talented musician.

FEB. 15 - FLOGGING MOLLY

The Tabernacle Flogging Molly blends the sounds of Celtic music with punk rock and introspective lyrics. The sounds of violin, mandolin, and accordion, mixed with pounding percussive rhythms and distorted rock guitars are just the right combination of raucous and traditional. Created by an Irish expat, Flogging Molly grew their fan base through regular pub performances at their namesake Molly Malone’s. Speed of Darkness, their recent release, features some of their heaviest, most passionate and dramatic music to date with a focus on the economic plight of the world.

WE GOT NEXT GATES

Their Green 17 tour is Flogging Molly’s way of counting down to St. Patrick’s Day, and they are kicking it off right here in Atlanta! Known for incendiary live performances, head on out to experience their infectious music and intense onstage energy; bring on the Shamrock Bombs!

FEB. 21 - THE FRATELLIS

The Masquerade Just the right kind of Brit-Rock for what ails you, The Fratellis are back from their “hiatus” and have a new record for your ear holes. We Need Medicine is a return to form for these Glaswegian Scots. Taking their name from the criminal family in The Goonies, these indie rockers bring a blues slant to indie/garage rock. You’re sure to hear favorites “Creepin’ Up the Backstairs”, “Flathead”, “Henrietta”, and of course “Chelsea Dagger”. These guys are energetic, full of upbeat and punchy songs that are gonna have you up on your feet and movin’. Open your ears and take a heaping spoonful of the brilliantly energetic and robustly tuneful songs that propel The Fratellis’ musical medicine, no sugar needed!

FEB. 26 - IMAGINE DRAGONS

Philips Arena Imagine Dragons, breakout artists of 2013, have been working hard at their success since 2008. Hard to believe these platinum certified artists were performing six hour gigs several years ago, without bathroom breaks, for taco bell and top ramen money at several casinos in Las Vegas; performing half covers and half originals. Singer Dan Reynolds says. “We were so desperate that we agreed.” Not so desperate now, these multiaward winning, internationally loved artists are embarking on their last tour before hitting the studio to create new music. 80’s synths with complex rhythmic beats and electronica, bolstered by sing-a-long choruses and full-bodied bass and bass drum hits characterize their signature sound. Their hits “It’s Time”, “Radioactive”, and “Demons” are sure to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Don’t miss this night of intense electronic rock!

Artists on the verge of making it big

Latest Project: You Are All You Have Left To Fear EP (Pure Noise) For Fans of: Pianos Become Teeth, Further Seems Forever, and American Football Why You Should Care: Because the New Jersey band proves once and for all that emo is not always a bad word.

BY JOHN B. MOORE

EW BRUNSWICK, NJ HAS AN impressive track record when it comes to contemporary punk rock. New York may have been ground zero for the genre in the ‘70s, but it could be argued that suburban Jersey has been far more dependable over the past decade or so when it comes to churning out memorable punk rock records. Indie emo/punk band Gates may just be the next great thing to come out of New Brunswick, NJ. The band recently signed to Pure Noise, who is reissuing their 2012 self-released You Are All You Have Left To Fear EP this fall. Guitarist Ethan Koozer and singer/guitarist Kevin Dye spoke with us recently about signing to the label, their new EP and rocking with three guitar players. How did the band first get started? Koozer: I moved to New Jersey in 2009 and met most of the guys through mutual friends. Mike, Dan King and Dan Crapanzano asked me if I’d be down to jam with their band, Bears and Bright Lights. From day one I knew we were on to something both interesting and unique. It felt right so we went with it. After a line-up change with Bears, we put out a classified ad on Absolutepunk.net for a singer/third guitar player.

Dye: I e-mailed the band on the request of my friend, who had seen their want ad and thought I should try out. I recorded the latter half of “Burned Us Alive” almost verbatim what it ended up on our first EP and sent it to them. Ethan called me about a half hour after I had sent the demo and asked me to come play with them. After a few jams and hang outs, the vibe seemed right and we jumped into recording. I finished writing the lyrics for the songs a day before our first show. I was still trying to memorize “In the Morning” before we went on. It was an entirely different experience for me since I had founded every band I’d ever been in up to that point, so being the new guy took some getting used to. I wouldn’t change the process for the world though. Most, if not all, of you guys have been in other bands before. When you started Gates, did you know what kind of sound you wanted or did it sort of evolve over time? Dye: When I joined Gates the sound was definitely pretty well formed, and I just added what I could to the songs that were written. At our first practice I was sounding off ideas, and at the time I was super into this band called Anathallo. I was asking if they would be into adding piano or auxiliary percussion or other instruments, and I remember our other guitarist, Dan, telling me that the idea was just to do something really cool melodically with three guitars. That was about the only guideline we had. The more involved I’ve been with the writing process, and the more we’ve learned to play off of each other’s strengths, the songwriting and style have evolved over time to incorporate all the different facets of each other’s influences and styles. Ultimately that’s really all our music is, is just an amalgamation of our musical personalities. I can see it only continuing to evolve as we go on.

You guys have self-released a couple albums so far. What have you found to be the biggest difference working with a label? Dye: I find the biggest difference is having people to bounce ideas off of and add ideas into the mix as far as releasing and promoting the music is concerned. We have always had a very strict idea of what our band is artistically, but we always had a hard time navigating the avenues to properly release it. Having someone with the experience and the enthusiasm Jake has for music backing us, and allowing what we do to reach more people has been really exciting. A lot of people have been commenting on the “weird fit” the Gates/Pure Noise partnership is strictly because of the types of bands Jake (Round) has signed in the past. To me, Jake fully understands who we are and what we want to do, and that’s the only thing that’s important to us. I’m stoked to see what we can do together in the future. New Brunswick has an impressive punk music history. Did you guys all grow up there? Inspired at all by the bands from that scene? Koozer: Kevin and I are the only ones that grew up outside of New Jersey. But even growing up in Nebraska, I saw The Gaslight Anthem and Thursday on MTV all of the time. I remember being in high school and searching for YouTube videos of Saves The Day at a New Brunswick basement show. I heard so many New Jersey references in a lot of the music I was listening to at the time. I wanted so badly to be a part of it. So it’s crazy now to be friends with people that have massive roots in the local scene. I definitely get some amount of pride saying that the band is from New Brunswick. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 19

MUSIC

Album Reviews JINGLE BELLS!

The Top Holiday Albums Of All Yule Time The Dean’s List

Reviews by Brett Love, John B. Moore, Lee Valentine Smith & Blue S

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

FLESHTONES – Wheel Of Talent VERY CHRISTMAS SEASON BRINGS (Yepa Roc) new batch of albums, and this seasons’ Yet another rockin’ romp with selection the undisputed slate includes a starry of kings of the cheer party from every possible genre of holiday music. New greetings from country-pop’s LVS:romp While it’s true Kelly Clarkson (a commercial called the world Wrapped In Red), soulful Mary J. Blige doesn’t (This particularly Christmas, a duet-heavy collection withneed guestsa new record by the Marc Anthony, Jessie J, and Barbra Streisand), prolific, BrooklynR&B nostalgia from Kool and The Gang (Kool based Fleshtones, Christmas features a set of standards and two their newest batch new songs), even punk stalwarts Bad Religion shakes and (a lean group of fast and ferocious rock aptly shimmies timeless favorites glee that is titled Holiday with Songs).a Television undeniably As from with theevery also get into the necessary. spirit with songs other of the 20+ releases by the band, soundtrack of Mad Men. Even the cast of the album is an instant party. One of the best Duck Dynasty have issued a batch. garage-rock bands still standing, the now-middle-aged madmen rock with the BING CROSBY energy, abandon(MCA) and mindset of 20 yearMerry Christmas oldsking and theChristmas excitement is decidedly The of all contagious. songs, Crosby’s version OneBerlin’s would “White have to be deaf or just plain of Irving dead to ignore Christmas” is one ofthe theinsistent, garbage-can beatpopular of drummer most records ofBill Milhizer. Paired the over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek allwith time. Constantly in shouting of frontman, lead vocalist Peter print since its original Zaremba, The Fleshtones turn their clever release in the ‘40s, the lyrics into Nuggets-style pop classics. song has sold, in various There’swellnothing formats, over 100particularly new here, from copies. the anthemic bombast of “What million You’re Talking About,” to the retro sway of “TearPRESLEY For Tear” but the raw energy of the ELVIS album carries (RCA/ the disc to the outer limits Elvis Christmas of fun. The title references an onstage Sony) proclamation ZarembaAlbum that the Combining Elvis’byChristmas and‘tones Elvis are a “Wheel of Talent” and with tracks as Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, this good as the punk tribute “Remember The collection is a two-fer grab-bag of The King’s Ramones, the self-imposedsongs titlefrom is a fact. most popular” holiday-themed the ‘50s and the early ‘70s. Of course, it includes SCOTT H. BIRAM – Nothin’one ButofBlood “Blue Christmas, ” arguably Elvis’ most (Bloodshot) popular releases. Texas singer-songwriter flirts with Blues, Punk and Gospel, brilliantly BARBRA STREISAND The Classic Christmas Album (Sony) JM: With a title like Released in September, Classic combines Nothin’ But Blood, the singer-actress’ two holiday selections, youAlbum half expect 1967’s excellent A Christmas and herthe from2001’s blues/ fairly recent return to the latest genre, with o utracks l / pfind u nthek / Christmas Memories. Thes’67 artist singer at her creative peak,Americana with lush Marty H. songs Biram to Paich arrangements, whileScott the 2001 be Foster-style a rowdy are of the more recent, David collectionAn of incredibly his loudest, burn-down-theproduction. satisfying bookend But this 14-track of house styles forcompositions. your holiday contemplation. effort is actually a pretty low-key. That’s certainly not a slam– far from it, as the ANDY WILLIAMS is simply Christmas amazing from the first Therecord Andy Williams Album track on– but more of a heads-up for (Columbia) anyone thinking Biram is unleashing Although he recorded at least eight officialhis inner Slayer fanover withthe this record. Christmas albums course of his With lyrics around booze, loners, career, the first one, from 1963, is the very sin, religion and redemption, all common best. An end-of-the-Camelot-era classic, the themes is for Biram byforthe the past two collection highlighted perpetual decades, the Most 14 songs on Nothin favorite, “It’s The Wonderful Time OfBut TheBlood Year.”come together to make this one of his most consistently solid releases since 2004’s The Dirty Old One Man Band. TONY BENNETT There’s the notTony an obvious theme tying the Snowfall, Bennett Christmas album(Sony) together– Biram even admitted Album in a recent interview that some of these From 1968, Bennett’s beautiful collection ditties tohave hanging continues radiatebeen the warmth of the around, season. unfinished, for years.byBut they all film flow Arranged and conducted noted tv and together vet nicely, from the the more raucous soundtrack Robert Farnon, record like quality “Only Whiskey” and “Church hastunes, a timeless that has endured the Point Girls, ” toadded threeAgospel tracks tacked decades. Bennett Swingin’ Christmas to his catalog in 2008, but Snowfall remains

PG 20 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

the truly essential holiday release from the on as aentertainer. bonus (“Amazing Grace,” “When I graceful Die” and “John The Revelator”). the uninitiated, just give this one a THEForCHIPMUNKS solid 20 minutes andChipmunks you’ll see why Biram Christmas With The has become a favorite among everyone (Liberty/EMI) from diehards to punk rockers and One ofblues the biggest albums of 1961 continues There’s something for everyone torednecks. be a popular holiday novelty. Mischievous to get Alvin, behindSimon with this one. ‘munks and Theodore, led by their perpetually perplexed human “parent” Dave Bagdasarian) romp through a wide TINA(Ross TURNER – Love Songs range of holiday standards and skits, featuring (Parlophone) the hitValentine’s single “The Justmassive in time for Day,Chipmunk a tough andSong tender (Christmas Don’t Be Late).” Fun for all ages. Turner collection

THE BEACH BOYS

LVS: If anyone The Beach Boys Christmas Album (Capitol) knows about the In 1964, the Beach Boystrials followed up “Little and Saint Nick,” their holidaytribulations hit from the of year love, before, it’s with Tinaa whole Turner. albums of traditional Her tumultuous life and original is the stuff fare, of torrid allpassion delivered in theand glorious redemption.familiar She harmonyrevisits the Beachpackaged Boy many moods of love laden in a newly style. Of the bunch, collection of her very best songs on the Brian Wilson’s wistful theme of amore. Day,” from The 18 tracks focus“Christmas on the albums Jardine her comeback periodfeaturing of the Al ‘80s. From on lead vocals,theis the her biggest hit, Private Dancer, new real standout for Love pure disc includes her version of “What’s joy. Got To Do With It.”Christmas For friction-prone lovers, “I Don’t Wanna Fight” could be a good pre-emptive VINCE strike GUARALDI selection for Charlie Brown February 13. And if Athat doesn’t help, “I Don’t Wanna LoseChristmas You” and(Fantasy) “Let’s Stay First appearing in 1965 companion Together” might comeasinthehandy at some soundtrack to the classic animated point. “When The Heartache Peanuts Is Over” TV jazz legend Guaraldi’s quiet, often andspecial, her cover of John Waite’s massive moody set of songs taken on a by life former of its hit “Missing You,has ” co-written own with new interpretations, annual for Atlantan Chaz Sanford, areandperfect reissues. It is currently available in a deluxe gift post-Valentine’s blues. package, with the newly remastered album and For proper balance, the album aconcludes DVD of thewith television show. “River Deep- Mountain High,” the dramatic, Phil SpectorVARIOUS producedARTISTS track she recorded with her Acombative Very Special Christmas (A&M/Universal) former husband Ike Turner in Originally issued to benefit Special Olympics 1966. in 1987, the collection has spawned a number of key tracks, often over-played on commercial radio and television. But it is undeniable an incredible time-capsule of popular music, pregrunge revolution. With appearances by U2, Whitney Houston, Sting, John Mellancamp, and Madonna, the all-star gang offer chilly MIDNIGHT RERUNS – Self-Titled renditions of standards. Worth having for (Good Land) the cover by Keith alone,upstarts the Power Popart is born againHaring in Milwaukee quadrouple-platinum-selling record remains a favorite with several generations. JM: In case you were wondering NAT KING COLE what happened to The Christmas Song (Capitol) Power Pop - with Originally released in 1960 as The Magic Superdrag packing Of Christmas, this compilation it in remains after cool their vocalist-pianist Cole’s most-popular front manrelease. found At over 6 million in official sales and inclusion religion and onMaterial countless various artists theit’s Issue long gone collections, – apparently tracks all instantly with in alive are andalmost well and living infamiliar Milwaukee; even casual listeners. Coles inventive delivery, the form of Midnight Reruns. at one inviting and experimental, continue to This jangle-happy guitar band, founded influence jazz vocalists every Christmas. after former Trapper Schoepp & The Shades guitarist Graham Hunt fled the MICHAEL BUBLE Shades and stepped in front of the mic, Christmas (Warner) plays a bratty fun mix of kick out the It’s a no-brainer Buble,with the newjams distorted that guitars sing-along generation Sinatra/Bennett, would createtrack a choruses. And while not every Christmas album. And the selections are no on their self-titled debut catches your surprise, either, but the disc sold like crazy

Rest of the Class

in 2011 when it was originally released. attention, songs thatrecording do, stickinclude with you Subsequentthe issues of the a for days. “duet” with Buble and Bing, on a reworked, The last three songs in enjoyable particular, questionably necessary but still (“Summer Smoker, ” “Signals version of “White Christmas. ” From the Blue” and “Basement Guy”) each with their own distinctive vibe from fast-tempo MANHEIM Replacements-esque rocker to more lowSTEAMROLLER key jangle pop, go to show the band’s range A Fresh Aire Christmas and wildly broad appeal. (B) (American Gramaphone) TheRAABE second edition ORCHESTER – Golden Age MAX & PALAST of holiday fare from (Decca) the often-maligned Puttin’ on the (early 20th century German) Ritz new-age conglomerate still sounds and cold BL: Max Raabe & and distant as when it Palast Orchester are was released in 1988. a living embodiment But it also remains a of Germany’s favorite with listeners, Weimar era offering familiar tunes (between the end of and highlighted by World War I in 1918 traditional German carol “Lo, E’er and theHow riseAofRose Hitler Blooming, an emotional piece that withstands in 1933), ”which is widely regarded as one andthe transcends the Steamroller’s synth of most intellectually andtypical creatively onslaught. fertile periods in human history. The 13-piece band lovingly revives the music JOSHCabaret-era GROBAN Berlin, including rare of Noel (Warner) German songs found by crate-digging in Themarkets mega-selling holidayrecords album offrom 2008 the flea for shellac returns with “Golden 20s.the ” popular vocalist tackling the predictable (“Silent Night”) the divine Since giving their andfirst public (“Petit Papa Noel”). wondrous resultshas performance in The 1987, the band achieved increasingly widespread international success, thanks in part to Raabe’s playfully cheeky sense of humor. The guy looks like something straight out of Taco’s video for “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” with perfectly coiffed hair, a dapper sense LphAREttA of style, and an effortless elegance Wy rarely seen in today’s pop culture. But their t showsAnSELL go beyondOAd mere nostalgia, incorporating droll interpretations of more modern pop songs (such as “Tainted Love”) in the 1920s/1930s style, as well as sly original tunes. Golden Age is a fine introduction to the band’s unique retro style, offering a taste of their surprisingly eclectic influences. LEASAnt They pay tribute to iLL German legends such as Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (“Youkali,” At ofAtELLitE Lvd icons like “Moon Alabama”); American Irving Berlin (“Cheek to Cheek”) and Cole PorterEhind (“Just One of Those Things”); and even modern pop stars like Britney Spears (“Oops! I Did It Again”) and Tom Jones (“Sex Bomb”). It’s not the sort of disc I’d listen to while driving, but if you’re looking to set a swanky, sophisticated mood at your next soiree, you could do a lot worse. (B)

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are a stunning mainstream effort from one of playing “Keep Hope Alive” (eventually today’s best singers. found on CM’s 1996 debut, Vegas) before shows. SUSAN When BOYLEthe full album came out, Vegas The Giftregistered (Sony) as a minor Big Beat classic, with pop-culture the key qualifiers The Scottish phenom’s being “minor” & “Big Beat. ” But even whena popularity has cooled strained through thebit rose-colored glasses in the last few years, of nostalgia, Vegas was a one-trick pony, but her second album with just one great song, “High Roller”. remains a testimony Nearly two decades later, to her rawThe talentCrystal and Method is still humping that onedelivery. trick like immaculate an enthusiastic dog who its She’sdoesn’t issued arealize follow-up sex partner is a Swiffer mop. Very little in cash-grab Christmas their sound has changed; just a bunch releaseit’sthis year, but skip of new audio parsley.and It was inevitable its hokey duet that tricks this band would go dubstep somethis point, and stickatwith one. sharing as they do a deep love of cheap repetitive gimmicks with the MANILOW purveyors of BARRY that contemptible genre. In The Swing Of From listening to their latest, The Crystal Christmas (Arista) Method, it’s safe to say they’ve been Forthat his third Christmas listening to a lottook of Skrillex (say hi to 2010 album, Manilow the stripped-down jazz for us!),approach–with because squelchy noise is wiped combo properly swinging, Mel all over mostresults. of the tracks. It also seems Torme-style they’ve heard a fair amount of Avicii in the four yearsBELL since 2009’s Divided by Night, JOSHUA because chintzy, treble-knob-breaking Musical Gifts From Joshua Bell And Friends synths (Sony) show up everywhere, too. As usual, thePopular production to bya afine gloss, violinistisBellbuffed is joined number of but it’sfor just on a very tired pigwith that guests thislipstick collaborative holiday affair, should’ve been converted to bacon ages robust appearances by Alison Krauss, Placido ago. Domingo, Chick Corea and Branford Marsalis. It’s not the worst electronic album of the last twelve months (nothing will match the rancid corruption of Avicii’s True), but I won’t go so far as to suggest that any of this was worth it. Save the money and buy “High Roller” on iTunes instead. (D+)

WE BUY & SELL

THE REBEL SET – How to Make a Monster (Silver Hornet) Garage rockers digging up the graves of Gene Vincent and Dick Dale

JM: For the Phoenix-based garage rock band The Rebel Set, musical inspirations likely ended sometime in the 1960’s. On the group’s sophomore full length, How to Make a Monster, everyone from Gere Vincent and Dick Dale to The Sonics still reign supreme. And while those were all great musicians who made fantastic albums that still remain relevant today, at some point if you’re not adding anything new, you’re risk becoming a glorified nostalgia cover band. THE CRYSTAL METHOD – Self-Titled There are some good tracks on this effort, (Tiny E) like “Outta My Mind” and “Back in Town” Taking the “I” out of IDM (both of which are impossible to listen to without picturing dancing Go-Go girls in BS: When The white vinyl boots). But 12IN tracks Crystal Method rose NERof! fuzzy W and guitars and rushed vocals the songs to modest power in start to bleed from one to the next. the late ‘90s, the Yes, The Black Keys and The White press was eager to Stripes both pinched liberally from the brand them catalog of old garage rock bands, but they “Chemical Brothers WWW.C REHthe OUS EATwith L.COenough M alsoDWA updated sound new West.” This wasn’t elements and other influences to come off entirely by coincidence: In addition to as original, making the music their own. their sound bearing a suspicious similarity Unfortunately the same can’t be said for The to their UK brethren, their English betters Rebel Set’s How to Make a Monster. (C) had given their own seal of approval by

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THE PIXIES GROW UP Influential ‘90s Band Happily Embraces Change and Maturity

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

What was the band dynamic at that point? You’d been away from each other for quite a while. We had to bury a lot of hatchets, and those were buried fairly quickly. Obviously, we were older and wiser and it was a comfortable touring situation because we could call our shots. But there was no new music at that point, only the past. I was happy in that respect. When you hit the reunion thing like we did, there’s a lot of nostalgia involved. People want to hear the songs that they’re very familiar with. We didn’t even entertain the idea of recording an album. I think the most important part was to vibe each other out, get a feel for each other again and then think about going into the studio, when everybody was comfortable again. And that takes touring, a lot of being on the bus together and hanging out. It took a long time to get that new music going. It did, but part of the reason was, we kept ourselves busy. We liked it, and the territories were always spread out. America, Japan, Australia; it was just interesting. So we kept going. By the time a year had lapsed, we would go again. We’d have some time off between tours, but we really didn’t have time to write and record. We talked about it, and finally set aside time to do it.

PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL HALSBAND

Did the new music sound like “Pixies songs” at first? How do you find that balance? Well, what is a Pixies song? Is it “Hey,” is it “Debaser,” is it “Tame,” is it “Anna”? We’re all over the place on styles. I see what you’re saying, and it always goes through the factory. It’s just natural to us. We covered Neil Young and Leonard Cohen and it sounds like the Pixies. It’s just the process of doing it. Now, it might sound more grown-up. But we did grow up, from Come On Pilgrim [1987] to Trompe Le Monde [1991]. I don’t know if growing-up is the right word, but stylistically it’s always been evolving.

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And it sounds spontaneous. But it’s not! (laughs)It’s not, not at all. It takes me a while to develop it. I come from the school where there’s always the right note and there’s always the wrong note, for the right place. So that’s the approach. Looking for the notes is the fun process of being, quote-unquote untrained. It’s good when you can actually hear what a person is going through to get there. What is your take on the fans’ decidedly vocal reception to the new music? Social media was a-buzz when the first new track appeared last fall and there were a number of harsh comments among the praise. Social media is awesome in that way; you get an instant response, but most of the criticisms we had, weren’t even criticisms at all. It’s a biased opinion. We’d lost them already, anyway. There was gonna be a PLEASE SEE PIXIES ON PAGE 23

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You’ve said in the past that you often focus on one word of the lyrics when you create your guitar parts. Yeah, I’ll hear a word, it’ll peak my interest and I’ll go from there. And I’ll go through a mathematical way of coming up with guitar parts, then some is by accident. Charles is influenced by the chord structure in what he’s gonna sing. Basically, the angst is already there and I just add to it. Sometimes quite by accident.

Buy Tickets (Duluth): GwinnettCenter.com • 1-888-9-AXS-TIX • Venue Box Office Buy Tickets (Atlanta): Ticketmaster.com • 800-745-3000 • Venue Box Office Groups of 10 or more, call (770) 578-5125 249088

When you got the call from Black Francis that the 2003 reunion was finally a reality, was it a shock? It was. Because it had finally happened. There were always rumors and fans wanted us to get back together. At times there’s be a very strong rumor but when Charles did call me, it was still a surprise. I knew the day would come, but I thought it was going to more of a warm up, but then he dropped it on the press. But you never know for sure, because he kids around a lot. This one was, “Ok, let’s go” and it was a good surprise.

NE OF THE MOST influential and difficult-tocategorize rock bands of the ‘90s, the Pixies returned in 2004 after an eleven-year hiatus. The popular, Bostonbred band toured extensively, while reigniting interest in their impressive back-catalog of material. Led by singersongwriter-guitarist Black Francis (Charles Thompson) and anchored by Joey Santiago (guitar), Kim Deal (bass and vocals) and David Lovering (drums), the band soldiered on for a decade without a new release. Fast forward to last year, when two crucial events happened. One, bassist Deal left the band and two, the Pixies began to issue new music, their first new burst of recorded energy in two decades. Now, with two new releases of songs to share, cleverly titled EP1 and EP2, they’re back on the road, with new bassist Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle, Zwan). During a break from a Pixies tour rehearsal in Northampton, Santiago spoke with Insite about the band, the new music and fan expectations.

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FILM

ASK ME ANYTHING

Bill Murray Owns the Internet With An Incredible Reddit AMA

BY ALEX S MORRISON

N THE MID-1990S, WHEN INSITE EMERGED as Atlanta’s premiere entertainment publication, film studios often promoted their movies by flying journalists from around the world to New York or Beverly Hills, putting them up in swanky hotels, and having them interview the stars of the film the morning after a screening. But in the Internet era, critics have basically been rendered unnecessary. These days, a huge star like Bill Murray will simply pop up on a site like Reddit, submit himself to their popular “Ask Me Anything” interview, and allow the general public to fire questions at will. The results, as you’ll see in the edited excerpts below, are nothing short of mind-blowing… and much more interesting than typically humdrum film junket fare. If you could go back in time and have a conversation with one person, who would it be and why? I like scientists, in a funny way. Albert Einstein was a pretty cool guy. The thing about Einstein was that he was a theoretical physicist, so they were all theories. He was just a smart guy. I’m kind of interested in genetics, though. I think I would’ve liked to meet Gregor Mendel, because he was a monk who just figured this stuff out on his own. group, and I see them working in the same way and making That’s a higher mind: They have a vision, and they see it scenes go. because they’re so connected intellectually, mechanically and spiritually. Mendel was a guy [who lived] so long ago Every year my dad and I watch Groundhog Day together that I don’t know very much about him, but I know that on Groundhog Day. It’s one of my favorite movies. What Einstein did his work in the mountains was it like filming the same scenes over in Switzerland. I think the altitude had and over? EVEN IF IT’S JUST an effect on the way they spoke and Well, that part was fine, because you A MOMENT WHEN thought. But I would like to know about know that’s what the story is. The script is YOU CAN REVERSE Mendel, because I remember going to one of the greatest conceptual scripts I’ve A MOVEMENT, the Philippines and thinking “this is like ever seen. It was so unique, so original, AN EMOTION, A Mendel’s garden.” It had been invaded and yet it got no acclaim. To me, it was DOWNWARD SPIRAL, by so many different countries over the no question that it was the greatest script WHEN YOU CAN QUIET of the year. To this day people are talking years, and you could see the children shared the genetic traits of all their SOMETHING OR STILL about it, but no one paid any attention to invaders, and it made for this beautiful SOMETHING AND JUST it at the time. It was a difficult movie to varietal garden. ALLOW IT TO CHANGE shoot because we shot in winter, outdoors. AND ALLOW THE REAL If you ever get to go to Puxatawney, you What do you think of the current should go: It is one of the few things that SPIRIT RISE UP IN SNL cast? is BETTER than advertised. It’s really SOMEONE… THAT They’re good. I don’t know them as something to see. But shooting the scenes FEELS GREAT. well as I knew the previous one. But I over and over, it’s like an acting challenge, really feel like the previous cast– with so you can try to make it better or deeper Kristen Wiig and all those character actors– was the best or funnier than you made it previously. group since the original group. It’s all about the writing: It’s such a challenge, because you’re trying to write backwards I just saw a trailer for Monuments Men. It looks like a to fit 90 minutes between dress rehearsal and the airing. movie I want to see. And sometimes the writers don’t get the whole thing Monuments Men has a great script and a fascinating figured out. It’s not like a play, where you can rehearse story that no one has ever heard before. And there are it several times. Good improvisational actors seem to be a whole bunch of great actors in the movie. You hate to able to solve writing problems during the performance and say that a film is important, but I think it’s a movie that make a scene work. It’s not like we were improvising when people will say enlightened them about something that was we made the shows, but you could feel ways to make things forgotten. And it’s a situation that exists around the world better. There are definitely some actors in this current now. For example, when we invaded Iraq, we weren’t really taking care of business, and a bunch of criminals went in and looted the museums. It’s happening in Syria now. It’s far worse than stealing gold or diamonds: It’s stealing a culture. If those works of art are stolen, we are losing the ability to learn about culture and about ourselves. What was the most interesting or surprising thing that you learned while filming the movie? Well probably the most horrifying thing was that there was something called Nero Edict that was distributed by the Fuhrer, Hitler, which said that, if the Reich should fall or if Hitler was killed or taken, that all the art that was stolen should be destroyed. A fair amount of the art was burned– things were burned that will never be returned– and a lot was burned even before the Nero Edict because the modern art, was [considered] degenerate. In the hunt for the art, which they found hidden in the salt mines, they found the ENTIRE gold supply of Germany. Like they had moved their gold, their Fort Knox, into a mine, and PG 22 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

this small group of guys searching for art in a mine found the ENTIRE gold supply of Germany. And this effectively ended the war, because, once we announced that we had all their gold, no country would sell them any more rubber, no country would sell them any more oil, no country would sell them any more anything. Is that surprising? I think it’s one of those odd, bizarre facts, to have this dinky group of guys looking for an art heist that effectively end the war in one fell swoop [by] cutting the arteries of the economy. How do you feel about recreational marijuana? Well that’s a large question, isn’t it? Because you’re talking about recreation, which everyone is in favor of. You are also talking about something that has been illegal for so many years, and marijuana is responsible for such a large part of the prison population, for the crime of self-medication. And it takes billions of dollars by incarcerating people for this crime against oneself as best can be determined. People are realizing that the war on drugs is a failure and that, with the amount of money spent, you could have bought all the drugs with that much money rather than create this army of incarcerated people. I think the terror of marijuana was probably overstated. I don’t think people are really concerned about it the way they once were. Now that we have crack and crystal meth and whatnot, people don’t even think about marijuana anymore. It’s like someone watching too many videogames in comparison. The fact that states are passing laws allowing it [to become legal] means that its threat has been over-exaggerated. Psychologists recommend smoking marijuana rather than drinking if you are in a stressful situation. These are ancient remedies, alcohol and smoking, and they only started passing laws against them 100 years ago. What is one of your best memories of meeting a fan? I met one person who said, “I couldn’t find anything to cheer me up and I was so sad. And I just watched Caddyshack– I watched it for about a week– and it was the only thing that cheered me up and made me laugh and made me think that my life wasn’t hopeless. I had a way to see what was best about life, and that there was a whole lot of life that was wonderful.” And I happen to know (from her own spirit) that that person has really triumphed as an artist and as a human being. Even if it’s just a moment when you can reverse a movement, an emotion, a downward spiral, when you can quiet something or still something and just allow it to change and allow the real spirit rise up in someone… that feels great. I know I’m not saving the world. But something in what I’ve learned how to do, or the stories that I’ve tried to tell, they’re some sort of representation of how life is or how life could be. And that gives [people] some sort of optimism. And an optimistic attitude is a successful attitude.

MUSIC

TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Hall of Famer Dave Mason Revisits his Past BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

EGENDARY BRITISH MUSICIAN DAVE Mason found early fame as a co-founder of the influential rock band Traffic in the mid-‘60s. Since then, he’s worked with most of the royalty of rock, in collaborations with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney and Bonnie, Eric Clapton, Mama Cass and Michael Jackson. Additionally, his lengthy solo career is highlighted by the massive ‘70s classic “We Just Disagree.” As a member of Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Mason was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. As that band’s 50th anniversary approaches, Mason is currently on the road, revisiting the hits of Traffic and his own material in a free-flowing evening he’s dubbed the “Traffic Jam.” When he’s not playing his catalog of classics, he’s busy with Work Vessels For Veterans (www. WVFV.com), a non-profit charity that helps veterans start companies and revitalize their lives. Recently, the soft-spoken vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/producer/ philanthropist talked at length with Insite from his home studio in Ojai, California. You have a new CD, Futures Past, on the way. It’s been a while since you’ve released a new album. Yes, over the last few years, I’ve sort of given up on the point of making CDs, frankly. But I still do a lot of recording when I’m home, and I accumulate stuff. It started out being an EP, then it expanded to nine tracks. It’s called Futures Past because I’ve revisited and redone a few things. Like,

“World In Changes,” from [Mason’s landmark 1970 solo album] Alone Together. Musically, it’s completely different. And I did a kind of re-write of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” so there’s a new version of that on there. A lot of cool pieces of music that still work. It’s coming in March or April and it’ll be available at davemasonmusic.com and at shows. You’re selling it directly to the fans and eliminating the label indifference. Right and the reality of it is it’s so hard for an artist like me to get new music exposed anywhere else. There’s just no national radio format anymore, unfortunately. Live, I do a song called “Good To You,” [from his independently released 2008 album 26 Letters – 12 Notes] and I know that 90 percent of the audience has never heard it. But it goes over like it’s one of the biggest hits I ever had! So your live set becomes the showcase for the old songs and the only real way to hear the new material. Absolutely. My longevity is the fact that I do try to deliver. It’s the real thing. There’s not a lot of hype going on out there. How did the idea of Traffic Jam happen? Obviously, you include a bit of Traffic music in your show from time to time. Right, I’ve been doing “40,000 Headmen” and that new version of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” for a little while in my own show. So “Traffic Jam” was an idea I’ve had for the last five or six years and it just got to the time when it became feasible to do it. How does it work, is it an evening of all Traffic material? And is it just from your time in the band or do you visit the entire canon of work? It’s a two-part show. The first part, obviously, is the Traffic stuff culled from my tenure, which is basically the first two albums [from 1967 and ‘68], though I do throw in a version of “Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys,” which is nothing like the original recording. And stuff like “Medicated Goo,” “Rock And Roll Stew” and “Heaven Is In Your Mind.” And some stuff that, frankly, I wasn’t even on. Because, back then, if one of us wasn’t around, they’d cut it and then we’d add something later. So it’s kinda fun revisiting that stuff and it’s going over well. And in the second part, I go into doing my solo things, with some new stuff thrown in there from the new CD. From some reports, the Traffic period was a bit tumultuous for you. Do you ever think of the backstory of those songs as you perform them? Well, other than when I’m doing interviews like this, I must admit that I don’t really reflect on a lot of the past stuff at all. But doing the interviews, I’m sort of forced to revisit the past. Which is cool, it’s fine. Things will come up and I’ll be like, “Oh, I forgot about that.” But we were kids, for Christ’s sake. I was like 19 years old. It was a great time. While we’re talking about that era, can you tell us about working with Jimi Hendrix on “All Along The Watchtower” in 1968? The story goes that you guys were hanging out and heard it at a party. Like everybody else back then, every new album that came

PIXIES FROM PAGE 21

biased audience since Kim Deal had left the band. And having said that, people’s criticism was, as they say, “No Kim, no Deal.” But what about the music? Also, thanks to social media, people knew about her departure almost immediately. Yes. You know, she left on her own accord. We wish her the best; she wishes us the best. It was the best parting a band could ever have. No one’s bitter, no one’s lashing out. That’s very healthy.

It’s very healthy, and that’s the hallmark of people growing up. That’s exactly what we are, very mature about it.

PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS JENSEN

out from significant artists, we wanted to hear it. The new Bob Dylan album John Wesley Harding had just come out, and someone had a copy before it was released. We were at their house, just to hang out and check out the new Dylan album. And that’s basically where Jimi first heard it and where he decided that, “hmm, ‘All Along The Watchtower,’ I think I want to cut that.” What was going on in his head, and how he was hearing it, I have no clue. Later, I went to the studio with him and Mitch Mitchell, at Olympic Studios in London, and I played the acoustic guitar part on it. What was he like in the studio? Was he a perfectionist and did he encourage improvisation? Very much so. He was all work in the studio, and very innovative. Not just in his playing, but innovative in the use of things in the studio. I mean, back then, we were recording on four-track tape. And a lot of the effects you hear on those records, they didn’t exist; you just found a way to create them. Nowadays you’ve got ProTools and 26 zillion tracks and all kinds of things. But the bottom line is, unless you’ve got a song and unless you can perform it, it doesn’t add up to much in the end. And intelligent audiences can spot a phony instantly. Yes! If it’s not real and fun for us, the audience will pick it up. There are artists out there who just go through the motions and do the rote thing. The bottom line for me, with all the things I’ve done, I need to send the audience out of that theater in the evening in a better mood than they were when they came in. That’s the essence of it all, that hour or two of just letting it go and feeling good, you know? Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam is 8 p.m. at the Variety Playhouse on Thursday, February 13. Tickets are $30 advance, $35 day of show. VIP meet-and-greet packages are also available, see www.davemasonmusic.com for details.

favorite Pixie. So when those people are gonna criticize something, I doubt they even listen to it.

It’s easy for people, fans or They should give it a I was happy in that anyone else, to embrace a because the new respect. When you hit chance time that no longer exists. music is a challenging body the reunion thing like of evolving work. Yeah, they forget that we did, there’s a lot it’s music; that they have That’s right. If we were to actually listen to it. gonna err on the side of of nostalgia involved. It’s silly. Don’t judge the pleasing people… well, we’ve People want to hear the never done book because the cover that. We’ve has changed. They hug on songs that they’re very never copied or embraced familiar with. to Doolittle or the entire or been nostalgic about our catalog and part of that sound, whatever it is. If we hugging is Kim Deal, the adorable one, the stayed the same, people would go, “Wait,

how come they didn’t sound any different?” You can’t hold on to the past if you want to grow, in any aspect of a creative life. Yeah, the people who are holding on to the past and criticizing, if they have kids, and they probably do, like we have. It’s like not wanting them to grow up! “Hey man, don’t learn to walk,” and you trip your little kid every time you can. It’s silly. You want people to grow up, you want to hear a little sophistication. Pixies play The Tabernacle at 8 p.m. on February 4. Cults open. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 23

TRAVEL

A ROMANTIC RETREAT

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation BY MARCI MILLER

OCATED JUST 75 MILES EAST of Atlanta, The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation is the perfect place for a romantic getaway. The Lodge offers the majestic backdrop of Lake Oconee and this February travelers will find additional touches of romance to enjoy.

Fire & Ice Package: Skate to Your Heart’s Content

Enjoy their expansive 5,000 square foot ice skating rink open through February 16. Setting the stage for romance, ice skating in the resort’s outdoor Pavilion accompanied by hot cocoa, will invigorate the senses and encourage some serious cuddling. Skating is complimentary for resort guests. Fire & Ice package also includes: Overnight accommodations in a resort-view guestroom, $100 food and beverage credit per day, S’mores turndown amenity and valet parking. Packages start at just $329 per night excluding tax. To book this package, call 800826-1945. The 26,000-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Spa features beauty, body and wellness treatments provided by licensed massage therapists. The Spa is adjacent to the hotel and has 19 private treatment rooms, one couples spa suite, 4 wet treatment rooms- including one hydrotherapy room, ladies and gentlemen’s relaxation areas with lockers and changing facilities, indoor lap pool, saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools, wellness center with movement studio for Pilates and Yoga, fitness classes, relaxation terrace, fullservice salon and spa boutique.

Couples Escape: The Perfect Way to Spend Quality Time Together at the Spa

The award-winning Spa is a warm tranquil sanctuary for guests to connect with that special someone. The Spa’s Couples Escape includes: Couples Massage with Soak (105 minutes); Couples Pedicure (50 minutes) and champagne for two. 3 ½ hours of pampering for $599. Reserve at 706-467-7185.

Valentine’s Spa Treatments: Chocolate, Strawberry, and Everything Nice

• “Just Give Me Chocolate” Body Treatment – This Vichy shower service begins with a mimosa sugar scrub to slough away dry skin cells. Next comes an antioxidant rich chocolate mask with cocoa, coconut milk and honey to boost defenses and soften skin. The finish is an aloe and shea strawberry smash moisturizer to protect skin from winter dryness. Then guests enjoy an indulgent chocolate truffle. 80 Minutes, $215 • Chocolate Truffle Facial – After a gentle exfoliation to renew skin cells, the face is drenched with a calorie-free chocolate mousse that fights signs of aging deliciously. Cocoa is rich in antioxidants and hydrating oils leaving skin smooth. A chocolate truffle is the very sweet ending to this pampering facial. 50 Minutes, $135; 80 Minutes, $199 • Chocolate Covered Strawberry Manicure and Pedicure – Guests sip a glass of champagne while hands and feet are exfoliated with a sweet cream sugar scrub.

PG 24 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

Warm steamed towels help a delicious dark chocolate mask to seal in moisture and nourish skin. A strawberry cream, rich in aloe and vitamin C, locks in moisture and leaves skin dewy soft. 50-Minute Manicure, $65; 50-Minute Pedicure, $85

Offered During February; For Spa reservations and information, call 706-467-7185. Have a truly romantic meal in a unique setting with Chiminea Dining during February. Guests dine under the stars, lakeside, on Adirondack chairs with blankets for coziness and choose from a three-course prix menu for two. Dishes may include an Artisan Cheese Plate, Filet Mignon with Cabernet Sauce & Grilled Salmon and Shrimp with Blood Orange Butter Sauce. Couples cap off the evening with S’mores or Chocolate Covered Strawberries. A bottle of wine is also included. $125 per person; reserve at least 24 hours in advance. Georgia’s Bistro restaurant specializes in casual, contemporary cuisine with a distinctive Georgian influence. A menu features simple, clean dishes using seasonally fresh, high-quality ingredients. There is an extensive wine list and signature desserts prepared daily by the pastry chef. His & Hers Valentine’s Day Menu ((Available February 14 &15). A delectable Four-Course Tasting Menu will be served for lovers from 6 to 9:30 p.m. $70 per person for Four Courses or guests may order items on this special menu a la carte. Also throughout February Georgia’s Bistro offers a 3 for $33 Chocolate-Inspired Tasting Menu – It’s a wonderful creative option for dining well with a very reasonable tab. The lakeside restaurant Gaby’s By The Lake features casual fare and cocktails throughout the day. Guests are seated at the water’s edge and can enjoy a lovely sunset each evening. Aphrodisiac Valentine’s Menu: (Available February 14 & 15). What would February 14 be if couples didn’t share some of the foods that are historically associated with love? Offered from 5 to 10 p.m., this special menu features: Starter of French Baked Egg with Fresh Herbs, Bacon, Parmesan, Fried Oyster Crème Fraîche and Caviar; Main Course of Crab and Andouille Crusted Red Fish with Blue Cheese Grits and Grilled Asparagus. To end this magnificent repast: Champagne Gelee with Macerated Strawberries and assorted Chocolate Truffles. For dining reservations, please call 706-467-7135. The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation features 251-rooms along 30 acres of picturesque shoreline of Lake Oconee, the second largest lake in Georgia. There are six golf courses on the property with 99 holes of championship golf run by the hotel. The Lodge lives up to its name with a lobby that features distinguished dark wood paneling, comfortable seating areas and a wonderful outdoor patio. The rooms are spacious with an elegant, yet casual feel. Deep candied colors of mahogany and cherry woods in custom-designed furniture figure prominently in the décor, with plush goose-down pillows, signature terrycloth bathrobes and luxury bath amenities. If weather accommodates, there is a heated waterfront hotel pool that has a lagoon-like feel with an infinity edge and great lake views. Walk or rent a bicycle and explore

their wooded trails. Or take a Segway Tour of the property and see the beautiful sights of Reynolds Plantation in a whole new way! The 90-minute guided tour offers an interesting history lesson about the property and how it developed over the years. Travel through trails, by the lakeside cottages and along the golf

courses. At night there is nothing like relaxing by the campfire at one of the resort’s fire pits while roasting s’mores. The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation 1 Lake Oconee Trail, Greensboro, Georgia 30642 706-467-0600 • www.RitzCarltonLodge.com

Performances

Exhibits

Dining

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (404) 817- 8700 atlantaballet.com February 7 - 15 Tickets start at $20

All the way from Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the Southeast premiere of this alluring, ethereal production of Roméo et Juliette redefines the classic love story of the two star-crossed lovers of Verona. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, Roméo et Juliette will take you on an emotional, cinematic journey that will leave you quivering in anticipation and breathless.

Thursday, Feb. 14 7:00pm - 11:00pm 404.876.5859 atlantabotanicalgarden.org $35 per person (Members $25) Enjoy an elegant evening of music, dancing, cocktails, desserts and orchids at the most romantic spot in Atlanta.Take a romantic stroll through the tropical conservatories, sample heart-melting treats from the city's top caterers, sip specialty cocktails from cash bars, dance to the sounds of Lethal Rhythms DJs and more!

242 Boulevard SE (404) 588-0006 This romantic eatery nestled in Cabbagetown is the perfect place to celebrate with that special someone. For Valentine's Day weekend, Agave has added to their award winning southwestern menu some playful dishes meant to be shared. Call for details; reservations recommended.

Improv Atlanta Nikki Glaser

Georgia Aquarium

Atlanta Ballet Roméo et Juliette

Atlanta Botanical Garden

February 13 - 15 5 Shows (678) 244 - 3612 theimprovatlanta.com $25 (2 Drink Minimum)

Thursday, Feb. 14 6:00pm - 9:00pm (404) 581-4000 georgiaaquarium.org $44.95 per person (Members $23)

Attention grown-ups! If you’ve been patiently waiting for your turn to see the aquarium solely with other adults, your wait is over. Introducing SeaNights, an evening just for adults age 21 and up to enjoy Georgia Aquarium while also enjoying cocktails and appetizers in our inspirational and romantic setting. It’s a unique opportunity to enjoy a more tranquil Georgia Aquarium “after hours,” all included for one package price. Ticket price includes admission, appetizers and two drink tickets (cash bar available if still thirsty).

Agave agaverestaurant.com

Sotto Sotto

sottosottorestaurant.com 313 N. Highland Ave. (404) 523-6678 Dinner at this award winning restaurant is sure to enhance your Valentine's experience. Sotto Sotto offers a romantically lit intimate dining room perfect for the special evening. Their celebrated menu is accompanied by an inspiring allItalian wine list. Make reservations early as seating is limited. Gifts

Alexander’s of Atlanta

2891 N. Druid Hills Rd. (404) 634-1397 alexandersofatlanta.com Alexander’s Of Atlanta has aspired to be the finest and most respected jeweler in the Atlanta area for over 50 years. We thrive from our steadfast commitment to providing the highest quality products and offer an uncompromised level of honest, ethical, and professional services possible. All that we do reflects our desire to make your special moments unforgettable! Alexander’s Of Atlanta, Celebrate Life’s Moments!

Got a Warm Heart and Some Guts?

Then you should PLUNGE!

Register today for the 5th Annual Polar Plunge happening Feb. 15th in the icy waters of Lake Lanier Islands Sunset Cove. Leading up to the plunge, you’ll collect donations that will benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Georgia. Prizes will be awarded for the best costume, highest fundraiser, and highest fundraising team!

Visit www.PolarPlungeGA.com to register today! Don’t love the Polar Bear habitat? We’ll have cozy, heated areas, warm beverages and fun souvenirs for you to check out. Hurry, time’s running out! insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 25

TRAVEL

CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK

A Journey Into Remote Costa Rica BY BRET LOVE PHOTOS BY BRET LOVE & MARY GABBETT

here’s a change that washes over me every time we venture away from the city and into the remote wilderness of a place like Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. It’s a mental, emotional, spiritual and physiological transformation, like taking the myriad pieces of the puzzle of my soul– which often feels discombobulated and disconnected by the daily complexities of “civilization”– and reassembling them into a perfectly congruous whole. My senses come alive; my eyes, heart, and mind are wide open; my spirit is filled with an almost childlike awe and wonder. It is in moments like these that I feel most like the man I was always meant to be, the NATURAL me, perfectly in tune with myself and the world around me.

OUT OF THE CITY & INTO THE WILD

As our Nature Air flight heads southeast of San Jose towards the tiny town of Palmar Sur (located near the banks of Rio Térraba in the Osa Peninsula), I can feel the stress and worry being shrugged from my shoulders. It’s as if I were shedding filthy work clothes and taking a hot shower at the end of a long day. We pass over impossibly remote mountain villages, winding rivers and, finally, the Pacific Ocean, and all thoughts of deadlines and other responsibilities begin to fade from my mind. My breathing slows, my body relaxes, and I begin to notice all the beautiful details– cottonfluff clouds caressing a verdant hillside, the vibrant hues of water where the river meets the sea, the impeccable symmetry of an oceanside palm plantation. Though I’ve been working like a dog and am going on less than 5 hours sleep, I find myself feeling renewed and refreshed. Or maybe that’s just the strong Costa Rican coffee… After a short drive from the Palmar Sur airport to the town of Sierpe, we rendezvous with our new friends (and fellow travel bloggers) Dan and Casey; our Casa Corcovado Jungle Lodge guide, Freddy; and, perhaps most importantly, our boat captain, Roberto, better known as “Eagle Eye.” As we put our gear into waterproof bags for the 2-hour boat journey to the lodge, that familiar Costa Rica climate kicks in, with the heat, humidity, and dazzling play of sunlight on the water of the Sierpe River combining their powers to create a pleasant, fuzzy-brained feeling I can only compare to a fever dream.

THE TÉRRABA-SIERPE NATIONAL WETLANDS

We’re less than 2 minutes into our journey to Corcovado National Park when “Eagle Eye” spots our first Costa Rican wildlife– a gargantuan American Crocodile (which average 12-16 feet in length) sunning himself on the muddy river bank just a few hundred yards from the dock. He holds his ground as the captain slowly navigates the boat closer to shore, providing exceptional views of his exceptionally sharp teeth and prehistoric-looking form. After posing perfectly while Dan and I snap shutters frantically in an effort to capture his fearsome presence, he slips into the river’s murky waters, eyeing us suspiciously. This river was considered sacred by Costa Rica‘s indigenous natives, who named it Sierpe (Spanish for “snake”) for the way it winds its coils through the Térraba River, creating a massive mangrove estuary now conserved as the 66,850-acre Térraba-Sierpe National Wetlands. Local legend holds that shaman apprentices, during their last week of training, were required to go on a vision quest. After climbing 7 cascades up a mountain to collect fungus they’d use to make a hallucinogenic tea, they’d spend 7 days drinking and fasting, spending one night at each of the 7 different river mouths (the heads of the snake). Spending time in each of these different locations was believed to impart different fields of knowledge, from astronomy and other sciences to spirituality and medicine. Only after going through this ancient rite of passage could a man become a shaman. PG 26 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

THE MAGICAL MANGROVES

As we venture off the broad expanse of the main river and back into the mangrove estuary, it’s easy to see why the native peoples believed this enchanting area to have magical, mystical properties. The forest canopy glows a brilliant green, with the gnarled tangles of roots creating stunning reflections on the mirror-like surface of the water. There’s a quiet stillness here, and a subtle feeling of being watched by things unseen. Tucked away from the blinding glare of the midday sun, the narrow channels prove to be teeming with wildlife. “Eagle Eye” more than earns his nickname by spotting a veritable cornucopia of endemic Costa Rican species, many of which are tucked so far back into the sanctuary of the woods that it takes several moments to spot them, even through my 500 mm lens. A napping Potoo (nocturnal insectivores related to Nightjars and Frogmouths) is so imperceptible, it might as well be The Predator, with camouflage allowing it to blend perfectly into the branch upon which it currently sleeps. A young Spectacled Caiman (the much smaller relative of the crocodile) is considerably closer, lurking hidden from view under the grass along the shore less than five feet from our boat. A flock of 5-6 Chesnut-Mandibled Toucans peers down from the trees, wary of our every shutter click. And a family of Spider Monkeys leaps like daredevils through the treetops, utterly oblivious to our presence. Not all of the animals prove quite so reclusive. A Basilisk (commonly known as the Jesus Christ Lizard for its ability to run on water) suns himself on a log at eye level right by the river. A Little Blue Heron perches on a branch directly above the water, watching for easy prey. And a troop of White-Headed Capuchins skitters busily in the trees along the riverbank, testing our patience (and photography skills) as they hop busily in and out of view in their quest for fruit.

CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK

Even after we leave the dim light of the mangroves, emerge back onto the broad main river, and make our way through increasingly choppy waters that make it clear the ocean is near, the wildlife welcome wagon continues to impress. Osprey, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Boobies soar overhead and alongside us, and a small pod of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins frolics playfully in front of our boat, like giddy horses leading us to some grand fete. By the time we disembark with a wet landing on the rocky beach at Casa Corcovado (a Rainforest Allianceverified sustainable eco-lodge located right on the fringe of Corcovado National Park), my transformation from bleary-eyed workaholic to wonder-filled nature lover is finally complete. Though the capuchins romping on the shore elude my lens and the skies suddenly open up with the sort of intense tropical deluge you rarely experience outside the rainforest, my spirit feels lighter, more carefree than it has in months. And as we sit in the lodge’s bar, savoring a welcome drink, watching hummingbirds flit about, and listening to Howler Monkeys calling in the distance, I know that, finally, I am home.

MUSIC

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNIN’

Garage-Rockers The Pack AD Sign With Nettwerk Records

BY JOHN B. MOORE

ANCOUVER GARAGE ROCKERS THE PACK AD didn’t initially start out as a punk band. But if you listen to their last few albums, you can’t help but pick up some strong, early punk rock influences. Do Not Engage, their latest album, is just as eclectic, with a bit more of a psychedelic rock vibe added in as well. The duo, comprised of drummer/ songwriter Maya Miller and singer/guitarist/songwriter Becky Black, worked with Detroit producer (and Dirtbomb member) Jim Diamond again for this, their fifth record. Black and Miller spoke with us recently about Do Not Engage, working with Diamond and finding a new label. The last two albums have a little more punk sound to them. Was that a conscious decision? Black: Not really. I think we tend to play around in a few different genres mostly to keep it from becoming dull for us. Sticking to one thing is just not something I’m capable of. That and making conscious decisions. I never know what I’m doing until it’s already done. Miller: I think it’s just where we were both at, at the time. For instance, the new album has a little more psych rock to it. In the end, I’m supposing a lot of bands make these types of choices consciously but we tend to just either like what we’re each bringing or we don’t and that in the end is really what dictates the music. Can you talk a little but about Do Not Engage? Any similar themes to the songs on this one? Miller: This album seems to have a lot of songs about flying and space and oh, the expected amount of apathy and animal references annnnd the usual loneliness which of course brings it full circle to being about flying and space. Black: Lyrically, I’m sure there are similar themes. Countless hours of sitting in a van on tour results in a fair bit of reading. A lot of our songs are based on books while some are separate stories on their own. I tend not to write much about personal

experience, at least not literally. But little bits and pieces do end up here or there.

Were you guys listening to anything particular that had an influence on this record? Black: I can never pinpoint any one musical influence only because I don’t consider one to be more important than another. Every melody I’ve ever heard has a place. At the same time I suppose it’s an impossible question to ignore. My turntable is my best friend when I’m not on the road. I’ll listen to everything from movie soundtracks to Black Sabbath, Eric Satie to The Buzzcocks, Patti Smith, Sidney Bechet, The Vaselines, The Zombies, Depeche Mode, The Ramones, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Billie Holiday, Billie Childish, Flipper, Flying Lizards. I could keep going but that would be tedious. I’ve also been into a lot of current psyche rock bands like Thee Oh Sees, The Black Angels, and Goat. I think we’ve even been subtly influenced by some of the bands we’ve toured with (NoMeansNo, The Sadies, Pink Mountaintops, Our Lady Peace) simply because listening to the same set every night enters your subconscious whether you want it to or not. You guys worked with Jim Diamond again on this one. Do you guys have a decent rapport with him at this point? Any big disagreements in the studio? Miller: The amount of times it almost came to fisticuffs, well, I could tell you...pretty much no stories like that. We’re all friends that mostly like the same things. Maybe the fact that it’s so copacetic is actually cause for suspicion. I’ll remember that for the future. Black: Yeah, it worked out well with Jim last time so it was an easy choice to stick to the same arrangement. We first met in him Detroit back in 2009, I believe, and we connected as friends immediately. It’s easy to work with someone you already know you get along with. On top of the fact that he’s got a great ear. I don’t think we ever disagreed. You guys are on a new label now. How did you guys connect with Nettwerk? Black: We finished our contract with mint on the last record

so we just went ahead and recorded this one on our own dime. Around the time we were looking to license it, Nettwerk contacted us. They were interested, we were interested, and the rest is history. Or I suppose it’s still current. It’s been a good relationship so far. Miller: We’re all in the same hometown of Vancouver and it just seemed to happen very naturally and at the right time. Do you plan to tour much in 2014? Black: Of course. And for the first time in a while I’m actually itching to get back out on the road. We almost burnt ourselves out a couple years back, when we were touring nonstop. But most of 2013 was spent in Vancouver working on the album and the artwork and signing contracts. We had a few short tours and gigs here and there but it was nothing compared to what we had gotten used to. I hope we didn’t get too soft. This year is going to be a busy one for sure. Those are all the questions I have. Anything else you want to add? Black: I’d like to subtract a few things here and there. But I’m going to try living with no regrets. Miller: Everyone should look to attend all these shows that we will be playing. They should also all buy our new album. They will not regret it.

BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER Kevin Geyer & Dan Rose Unite to Form Elder Brother BY JOHN B. MOORE

GUESS IT’S NOT CHEATING IF your partner knows about it. Kevin Geyer (of The Story So Far) and Dan Rose (with Daybreaker) spend a lot of time together. Both have been friends for a while; both are in popular indie/punk bands; and, not that long ago, the two shared a van together when Rose served as tour manager for Geyer’s group. So naturally, the two would eventually start making music together. The duo is about to release their debut for Pure Noise under the moniker Elder Brother. And while this is still a side project for both guys, they have already started talking about doing another record. Rose spoke recently about the project: how it began and what happens next. How did the idea for this project first come together? I started tour managing Kevin’s band in March, and on the tour Kevin and I kind of started joking about doing a project together. Eventually the joking became kind of a “so...do you want to really do this?” sort of thing. We

THIS WAS ONE OF THE FUNNEST AND MOST ORGANIC RECORDING EXPERIENCES I’VE EVER HAD IN ALL ASPECTS.

brought the idea up to Jake Round (Pure Noise Records owner/operator) and he was on board to get us a couple weeks of studio time to see what came out.

Was it difficult finding time to write together and record? Yes and no. Being on tour together every day for a month and a half, we’d kind of hear each other play something cool and be like “hey... that part is cool” and that was kind of code for maybe we could make a cool song out of it. After the tour ended in April, we would keep coming up with riffs and recording them on our phone and sending them to each other. By the time I flew out to San Francisco to sit down and write the record with Kevin, we had a bank of something like 15-20 ideas to pull from and start writing from. Some ideas were just a riff and others were almost completed songs, and we went through and listened through all of our ideas and just started fleshing them out. Are there others in the band besides you two? Since Kevin and I live on opposite coasts when we are both at home, having an official band is kind of tough and not really in the spirit of

the project. We had Gus Pesce (ex-Defeater) and Matt Vincent and Charles Vincent (The American Scene) with us to write and record on this record, but since they’re also in a full time band, trying to schedule shows and tours around four full-time touring schedules is a tall task, but we have a pretty big pool of friends on each coast that we’re excited to play shows with. How does this new record compare to your respective bands? Is the sound similar? I think you can definitely see aspects of each of our bands in this band, but I don’t think they really sound alike. Having played with the same guys for years, was it odd at all writing and being in the studio with someone new? This was one of the funnest and most organic recording experiences I’ve ever had in all aspects. We all have toured together pretty extensively at this point and we are all fans of each other’s respective bands, so whenever someone brought an idea to the table, it was met with enthusiasm. Sometimes when you’re in a band, exterior forces and pressures can find their way into the writing process and writing can get to be difficult. With this record, we were only focused on writing a cool album that we had fun playing, so collaborating between all of us was very easy. Who produced this one? We recorded with Sam Pura at the Panda Studios in Fremont, CA. What was the recording process like?

I flew to San Francisco about a week before we were scheduled to record and started going over ideas with Kevin. Then, Matt, Charles, Kevin, and I went to Panda lived there for a few days to write and finalize the record. Recording with Sam was great because we were all friends beforehand, so it was a really open and creative environment to throw ideas out. I’ve always loved the Desert Sessions records where Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age will hold psychedelic mushroom-influenced jam sessions in the middle of the desert, where they write songs in a matter of hours and then just record what happens. That sort of creative spontaneity and decisiveness is the spirit we tried to capture with this record. We recorded a lot of the record live in a room together, and I feel like that shows in the finished product. Do you see this as a one-off record or are you considering making more albums together? Kevin and I are already talking about doing more albums together. I’m not sure we’ll ever become a real full-time band, but I think that is what makes the project so much fun. We’re approaching it with the attitude where we’re going to do whatever we personally think would be fun. Do you plan to tour much after the album comes out? Our first show after the record comes out is going to be at the Pure Noise Five Year Anniversary Show where we’re hopefully going to play with the full lineup that recorded on the album. We’ll definitely do some sort of touring, when it is and how long it will be for is currently undetermined. insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 27

SPORTS

SKY HIGH Olympic Snowboarding Legend Shaun White Goes For the 3-Peat in Sochi

BY ALEX LASSITER

S A TWO-TIME OLYMPIC Gold medalist and an X-Games record-holder for both the most Gold medals and the highest overall medal count, it’s no surprise that snowboarding (and skateboarding) legend Shaun White has emerged as the poster boy for the U.S. Winter Olympics team as they head into competition in Sochi, Russia. White, who is going for the 3-peat in the Halfpipe Snowboarding competition, rivals Tony Hawk among the world’s most famous extreme sports athletes. And, at age 27, he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. So perhaps it’s no surprise that NBC (which will broadcast the Sochi Olympics) thrust White even further into the Olympic spotlight with its recent documentary special, Shaun White: Russia Calling. The hour-long film showed the San Diego native struggling to master a complex new trick, called the “Triple Cork,” which has never been attempted on a halfpipe before. White held a press conference the day before the film aired to discuss preparations for his third Olympic games, the controversy surrounding the Sochi games, and staying grounded in a stellar career that continues to soar. Why is this experience different from your past Olympics? I would say it’s more difficult than the other times just because I’m doing double events. I’ve got slopestyle and halfpipe, and with halfpipe I’m going for the three-peat. Slopestyle is interesting because I’ve had to do a lot of catch up work in a short span of time, really doing my best to get ready. That’s why I ended up pulling out of the X- Games. I really wanted to take the time and give this the right amount of training and preparation. To be honest, it’s been both the worst and best thing. It’s been a struggle, and that’s been nice. What in your Olympic journey has surprised you the most from what you expected it to be? In the very beginning, the Olympics

were just a dream. There was no Olympics [for snowboarders]. The X Games had just started, and there was no real shining future for me in the sport, or for anyone at that time. It was brand new and kind of a rebel thing. We weren’t even allowed on some of the mountains! I’d be lying to say I always knew that I would be here. I always knew that I could win the events, make an amazing living, and be the best at the sport. I think I’m here because I truly believed in it and didn’t really see any other options. When you’re that young, your goals seem so close to you. I really just ran for it, with support from my family. This is the third time around for me, and it’s definitely way more exciting because I get two chances to win medals. Did you prepare for the Sochi games any differently? I approached it slightly similar to the other events. I pictured where I wanted to be at and what level of riding I wanted to be at before the Olympics. I set my goal a year or so ago of what I wanted to do and to turn back now would be a shame. Certain things are slightly changed just because I had to divide my time. I ride the halfpipe, then I jet over and I ride the slopestyle course, then I come home and I play a band set. What can you tell us about your NBC documentary, Russia Calling? This is a first for me, to really let people in and see what goes into it. You see me falling, crashing, doubting myself, and changing plans. You see what happens behind the scenes, rather than just me showing up and winning some medals. I’m really proud of it because it’s the first time I’ve actually told my story rather than linking with a sponsor and having them tell my story. I picked the music, helped with editing, and planned it out. Can you talk a little bit about the recent controversies over security and gay rights in Russia? I can’t remember when security wasn’t some sort of threat, or something to be

IT SOUNDS CORNY AND CHEESY, BUT, IF YOU REALLY WANT SOMETHING BAD ENOUGH AND YOU TAKE STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TOWARDS YOUR GOAL, JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND KEEP GOING.

worried about. But I’ve never felt more secure. They really take care of the athletes and the staff. The Olympic Village is one of the hardest places to get into. I’m bringing my whole family, if that says anything. I feel very confident that we’re going to be well looked after. As far as the GLBT controversy, it’s unfortunate that there’s so much pressure already put on athletes, and then having to be isolated or feeling uncomfortable because of more pressure. I think that’s what is special about the Olympics– it brings all sorts of people together– and maybe there’s something to be learned from one another in this sense. I’m hoping for the best. What advice would you give to Olympians who’ve never been there before? I would say to just enjoy it all. Enjoy being an Olympian. When I first went, I didn’t know what that meant. Snowboarding is a very individual sport: You do your runs and you got your sponsors and your whole training regimen. And then all of a sudden you’re becoming part of a team, and you’ve got a flag on your arm. The dynamic has changed. Obviously winning medals is great, but just to be an Olympian is being a part of history. I think that’s the special thing about this competition– you’re becoming a part of something bigger than yourself. And just remember that it is a competition. You can put all the bells and whistles you want on it. But, at the end of the day, when I’m standing at the top of the Sochi half-pipe, it’s still just a half-pipe. It’s the same two walls I’ve been riding since I was 6 years old, and that really comforts me in the sense that I know my place, and this is what I do. It’s such a bizarre thing, but it’s like a complete focus, with the slightest bit of not caring what you’re looking for. But, you know, that’s just me being honest. How do you avoid losing yourself in the Shaun White brand? What do you do to keep who you are true to yourself as opposed to what we see on the magazine covers, the cereal boxes and the video games? Since day one I remember being very concerned and very intrigued by the sponsorships that I had, how they used

PG 28 • February 2014 • insiteatlanta.com

me in ads and how I was perceived. I remember this one time a kid came up to me and wanted me to sign a poster, and I was like, “This photo is terrible: Who picked this?!” Like, do I get a say in this? After that, I remember going to my agent and saying I wanted approval over these things. That’s how it started. It was a very natural thing, with me wanting to be informed about the way my likeness was used. I’ve been [signed] with Target for 12 years, Oakley for 12 years, and with Burton since I was 7 years old. These are longlasting deep relationships. They’re partners that I’ve been with for so long that they work with me instead of just telling me what to do. You’ve mentioned your band. Does that give you a different sort of outlet to express yourself? Yeah, music is really the only thing that I do that involves any sort of collaboration. It doesn’t matter how well I play the guitar; it only matters the sounds that we make together as a band. What I love about it is that there’s no competition involved. You just create. That’s been my favorite part about the music process, making the band Bad Things. Our album came out a couple days ago on iTunes, and it’s just been such an exciting time. These are the things that keep me grounded. What advice would you give to the kids that are going to be watching you during the Olympics? It sounds corny and cheesy, but, if you really want something bad enough and you take steps in the right direction towards your goal, just believe in yourself and keep going. That’s been the foundation of my career and my life, in the sense that I really set my goals high and I don’t change them for anyone or anything. Sometimes you achieve them and sometimes you don’t, and you just work harder the next time around. I think that’s what’s really kept me going this whole time is that I just believe that I can do it. And then, you know, you get others that believe in you and you surround yourself with the right people. So I say surround yourself with good people and really pursue your dreams. And tell them to wear tighter pants!

SPORTS

BEST FOOT FORWARD SOCHI WINTER GAMES U.S. Soccer Star Alex Morgan Gives Back What You Need to Know From A – Z Ann Swishelm While Looking Towards the World Cup BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

the sport. So, it’s a great age for me to be able to promote, because I feel like around 13-14 years old is exactly the age where teenagers have that hard decision on whether they would rather focus on studies and their social life, or if they want to continue with the sport. And this is a great way for Coca-Cola to give back.

HEN CONVERSATION CALLS for naming the best male soccer player in the United States, three guys dominate the talks of late —Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley. On the female side, the discussion is equally fierce, with the vet Abby Wambach and the young sensation Alex Morgan facing off for Why do you invest so much personally into the crown. the youth movement? Morgan, a 24-year-old forward from the You know, I’ve always focused on the L.A. burbs, has earned consideration off the younger generation. I’ve done that through strength of a three-year stretch where she my own Alex Morgan soccer camp. I’ve done was the youngest member of the 2011 U.S. that through my book series, which is called Women’s World Cup team, the breakout star of the 2012 U.S. Olympics squad and a finalist The Kicks. So, this is another stepping stone for the youth to continue in for the FIFA Women’s World their community, continue YOU CAN’T HAVE AN Player of the Year in 2013. OFF-SEASON WITH THE going out there and playing If she keeps up that kind of pace in 2014, she’ll battle GAME OF SOCCER. YOU’RE soccer — whatever they Brazil’s Marta and Germany’s CONSISTENTLY PLAYING ON want to do. Just getting out Nadine Angerer for top THE SOCCER FIELD, GETTING there and building character team sports [is billing in the globe when the FIT, STAYING IN SHAPE, through great]. So, it is a great thing 2015 Women’s World Cup PREPARING YOURSELF FOR that Coca-Cola is doing and starts in Canada. THAT NEXT LEVEL. I’m really happy to help build While the men compete excitement around it. in this year’s World Cup in Brazil starting in June, Morgan and two As someone who has been a part of it, what groups of talented young athletes will be is it about World Cups that separates it from in Rio at Copa Coca Cola, a free soccer the Super Bowls, Olympics and other sports? tournament held around the globe that’s I mean, it’s something so different than any meant to promote physical fitness and other sporting event in the world. I mean, teamwork. not only is only one played every four years, Morgan is a spokesperson for Copa, an event that begins with local rounds (including but the anticipation and the preparation of Atlanta) in February and March and concludes the teams is like no other sport. You can’t have an off-season with the game of soccer. with the finals April 18-20 in L.A. The You’re consistently playing on the soccer winning boys and girls sides earn a chance field, getting fit, staying in shape, preparing to see Donovan, Dempsey and all the rest yourself for that next level. If you take a battle in Brazil. We caught up with Morgan couple days off, that’s a couple days behind before Copa began to get her thoughts on youth sports, winning a World Cup and hiding you might be and another team might catch up. So, it’s really unique that soccer has its from fans. own language. I feel like everyone around the world can agree on that and communicate Alex, tell us a little bit about Copa through the language of soccer. You don’t Coca Cola. Well, Copa Coca-Cola is a nationwide youth need to speak English, Spanish or Portuguese or whatever it may be. In Brazil, you go there soccer tournament for teens hosted by Cocaand you play pickup soccer and all you really Cola. It is free to sign up and free to register, need to do is show up, be ready to play and which is pretty amazing. It’s going to be they will accept you. I think that’s the great played in 10 major cities throughout the US, thing about soccer, and also that brings with the final in Los Angeles. people together. It seems like the youth is where we need Tell me a few keys to Team USA making to focus our attention, if we want sure it brings home the FIFA Women’s to get soccer to that next level of World Cup trophy in 2015. respect and notoriety it deserves in Preparation starts now. It’s funny America. Would you agree? to say it, but we are really not that I think it all has started from far from the World Cup. And we’re the youth and that’s why there literally counting down the days. has been so much more attention We have Tom [Sermanni], our throughout the years for men’s coach, bringing in new faces and women’s soccer in the to practice against, and U.S., but we can’t relax. to try to get us as many I mean, 13 and 15 year friendlies as possible so olds are the age group we can continue playing for Copa Coca-Cola our game and preparing tournament. not only as individual That’s actually players but as a team. the age group Continuing that team where kids chemistry. So, I think typically the NWSL is definitely decide they helping us get games in want to commit and stay fit, but I think to soccer, hoping the more we can be to get a college with the national team, commitment, or the better. they kind of give up on

A- If you break down the U.S. contingent by AGE, curler Ann Swishelm (46 years old) and freestyle skier Maggie Voisin (15) are the most experienced and freshest athletes respectively.

B- Influential halfpipe skier SARAH BURKE passed away in a 2012 accident, but her spirit will live on in the form of a snowflake necklace her friends will wear in her honor —Burke had a snowflake tattoo on her foot— during the Games. C- Like a long-lost scene from the 1993 film COOL RUNNINGS, the Jamaican bobsleigh team qualified for the Winter Games for the first time since 2002. D- What’s “DOUGH” in Russian? When organizers put together the final numbers from the Olympics, don’t be shocked to hear that the total was well over $50 billion. (The 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City reportedly cost $2 billion.) E- Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis is hoping two bad EXPERIENCES IN past Olympics —a bonehead gesture cost her in Torino while a fall doomed her in Vancouver—don’t repeat themselves this time. F- The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will take place at the FISHT OLYMPIC STADIUM, a 40,000-seat gem that resembles a snow-capped mountain from a distance. G- Get to know the name GRACIE GOLD. By the time the 18-year-old American wins over the judges’ hearts, she’ll be on Wheaties boxes and Good Morning America. H- Sochi mayor Anatoly Pakhomov insists his city is without any gay residents. The politician follows that statement with a warning to HOMOSEXUAL athletes and attendees not to “impose their habits on others.” I- NHL fans know the ice can bring out some fierce competition, but the biggest battles of the Games could come in the form of rival ice DANCING duos from Canada (Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir) and the U.S. (Meryl Davis and Charlie White). J- Of the 12 new events in this year’s games, the one we’re looking forward to most is probably the barrier-shattering WOMEN’S SKI JUMPING, an event that is slated to run in its entirety on Day 4 of the action. K- ILYA KOVALCHUK and Alex Ovechkin, two Russian-born NHL stars, have the weight of their hockey-obsessed country on their shoulders, and are expected to lead their team over Sweden, the U.S. and defending champs Canada. L- Making headlines in the 2012 Summer Olympics more for her tweets than her hurdling, LOLO JONES is back at it—this time, making news for earning a spot on the bobsled team over athletes with more experience on the ice. M- When to comes to MASCOTS, the Olympics don’t have the best track record (Umm, anyone remember Izzy from ’96?!) The head-scratching tradition continues this year with a polar bear, snow leopard and hare. N- NORWAY’S MARIT BJOERGEN was

the most decorated athlete in Vancouver (three golds), and the 33-year-old cross-country skier has his sights set on nothing less this time around. O- The OUTBACK will be well represented in Sochi, thanks to a record 60-member Australian group making the trip. The previous high from Down Under was 40. P- PIONEERING speed skater Shani Davis, the first African American to win gold in the Winter Games, is aiming to break more ground this year by becoming the first athlete to win the same event (1000m) in consecutive Olympics. Q- Event ticket sales have been viewed as a relative disappointment in Russia —some reports say 30% of tickets remain unsold— and many fingers point to an absence of QUALITY accommodations for worldly travelers as a big reason. R- The RECORD for Winter Olympic medals held by an American is eight by retired speed skater Apolo Ohno. Skier Bode Miller currently has five, but he plans on competing in five events this year. S- Though threats of terrorism and other violence have overshadowed the Games’ prep, Sochi officials hope 100,000 SECURITY PERSONNEL can deter any ill intentions. T- NBCUniversal will TELEVISE 1,539 hours of programming across its family of networks. That’s more than the TV time for Torino and Vancouver combined. U- The U.S. is sending a record 230-member delegation spread across 15 disciplines to Sochi. V- Lindsey Vonn, the 2010 Winter Olympics skiing darling who won’t be competing this year because of lingering knee issues, recently announced that she will lace up the skates one more time for the 2018 Games in South Korea. W- Shaun White, arguably the most familiar U.S. personality in Sochi, is competing in two sports—the halfpipe and slopestyle. X- U.S. medal hopefuls like Canada’s Mark McMorris and Great Britain’s James Woods are keeping their fingers crossed that recent misfortunes in Aspen’s X GAMES don’t foreshadow any mishaps in Russia. Y- U.S. snowboarding sensation Arielle Gold and four other athletes participating in these Winter Games actually got their start on the world stage two years back by medaling in Austria’s WINTER YOUTH OLYMPICS. Z- Hyped as the ZERO WASTE GAMES by organizers, 12,000 tons of concrete were processed and re-used during construction and officials insist that all waste during the Olympics will be sorted for further recycling.

insiteatlanta.com • February 2014 • PG 29

MERCHANDISE

SPORTS

OUR FAVORITE THINGS

FANATIC

BY B. LOVE

e all know that Valentine’s Day is a bit of a scam. But it’s a nice excuse to spice things up a bit where your significant other is concerned. We’ve got a number of different gift ideas to help you do just that: MY FAIR LADY

A Monthly Sports Wrap-up BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

KEVIN DURANT

“No, I don’t think so. I mean, we’ve been in the Finals one time. That’s it. I try not to get into that debate. Those two guys, Bird and Magic, they’re on another level, and I try not to get into that. It’s KEVIN DURANT VERSUS LEBRON JAMES when we’re matched up on that court. But it’s Oklahoma City versus the Miami Heat. That’s how I try to look at it. And I try not to think about nothing else but who I’m guarding and how our team is going to try to come out there and get a ‘W.’” –Kevin Durant, speaking on a mostly media-generated rivalry with LeBron James It didn’t take a basketball genius to predict that KD AND KING JAMES would have phenomenal seasons. What took some serious hoops acumen, however, was predicting that these three things would happen this year: 3) The Brooklyn Nets, a sewn-together collection of all-star caliber players, would be under .500 going into February; 2) Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, with a career 11.1 ppg average, would have 16 games of 20-plus points at press time; 1) The underestimated Phoenix Suns wouldn’t merely be positioning themselves for the playoffs, but they’d be in a realistic fight for the Pacific Division crown, too. ‘’It was just one of those days that happens, and it was one of the trains I just couldn’t get off. There was nothing different with my ball-striking today (Tuesday) compared to last Saturday… I went home and had a nice day off. Worked on putting a bit in the backyard and that was it. I am not that far off. It’s just that I had one bad day, and that happens.’’ TIGER WOODS, after a forgettable Farmers Insurance Open performance where he had seven straight bogeys at one point January 29 was a tough day for RANKED COLLEGE HOOPS TEAMS. Wisconsin, UMass and Ohio State all lost to unranked opponents. But if you think that day was a memorable one, you might want to mark these February dates on your Outlook calendar: 3) Florida at Kentucky, Feb. 15, 9pm, ESPN; 2) Louisville at Cincinnati, Feb. 22, 12pm, CBS; 1) Michigan State at Michigan, Feb. 23, TBD.

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And finally… Lance Berkman has retired after a 15-year MLB career. Berkman, a borderline Hall of Fame candidate finished his consistent career in the top 100 all-time in home runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage… Though many NFL fans would agree that the un-conferenced Pro Bowl format was an interesting twist to the usually blah football game, the 2014 ratings (11.7 million) were actually worst than 2013’s (12.2)… The Phoenix Coyotes, who actually play in nearby Glendale, will be renamed the Arizona Coyotes in time for the start of the 2014-15 season… Speaking of Glendale, there are less than 365 days until the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs meet on February 1, 2015 for Super Bowl XLVIX at University of Phoenix Stadium.

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Now that SUPER BOWL XLV is over, football fans can get to the real issue: Will there be a 2011 season? If you let NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tell it, a new collective bargaining agreement is imminent. But listen to others close to the situation and they’ll say it’s not such a sure thing. While oﬃcials work out the numbers, Fanatic knows three things that’ll happen, lockout or no lockout: 1) An SEC defender (Auburn’s Nick Fairley or LSU’s Patrick Peterson) will be the No. 1 pick in the Draft; 2) An 18-game season will be approved; 3) Super Bowl XLVI will kick-oﬀ as planned on Feb. 5, 2012 in Indianapolis.

(Blake Griﬃn, L.A. Clippers); Coach of the Year (Gregg Popovich, San Antonio); Most Improved Player (Kevin Love, Minnesota); Sixth Man of the Year (Jamal Crawford, Atlanta); Most Surprising Team (New Orleans Hornets); Biggest Disappointment (Phoenix Suns).

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“He’s a beast. What can you say? Some of the shots he made, I was like, ‘Wow. Did he just make that in my face?’ A player like that, you have to live and die defending him one on one. If he makes big shots, you have to go to the other end and stay poised.” –New Mexico guard Dairese Gary, on JIMMER FREDETTE, BYU star and college’s leading scorer

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“St. Louis was fourth in baseball last year in attendance, but only 13th in payroll. InStevens other words the& Cardinals have money to burn, and it’s time to light the match. So Remy here’s what you do if you’re St. Louis: Whatever [Albert] Pujols wants, within reason, LaCroix you give it to him. What’s X Ze n 12No 00idea.Saturday, 15to a within reason? TheFclosest has had leshbaseball ligFeb h2001, t Her eN free agent likeow this!wasN Alex Rodriguez in when he PM ow8-12 inThat Sto k! million received $252 million for 10 years. wasc$25.2 annually, and that was a decade ago. And Pujols is better.” –CBS SPORTS’ GREGG DOYEL

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