California....here I come!!!

Okay, 18 Milers, I'm going to be away from my blogger duties for a little over two weeks, since I'm heading California's Central Coast for a little vacation. Sorry to have to put a hold on updates (especially since I just started back up again) but, don't worry. You can keep up with my California adventures via Twitter, starting tomorrow morning, and I'll be back to 18 Miles before the end of the month! See you all soon and keep supporting local entertainment!

The Church coming to Tupelo

Tupelo Music Hall has been getting some decent shows lately, and their newest addition is no exception. 80's Aussie alt/rock band, The Church, will perform at the Londonderry venue on Friday, July 3, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $35 to $40, and can be purchased 437-5100 or at http://www.tupelohall.com/. Get them now, because Tupelo's shows have been selling out fast!

The band is best known for their Top 40 hit, "Under The Milky Way" off of their 1988 album, Starfish (on rotation on my iPod). If you are looking for more 80's across-the-pond shows, Tupelo also has The English Beat returning for two shows in May (one is already sold-out).

My mystery book...

Okay, this post really has nothing to do with entertainment, but I FINALLY got the answer to a question I've had since college. Let me give you the background story (don't worry, it's brief): when I was an undergrad student at New England College, I was walking towards the center of town one spring day. As I was crossing the main stone bridge that looks out over the Contookcook River, I noticed a large book sitting on top of it. I stopped and picked it up, and thought at first some kind of alien had left it, because it was without a doubt, the strangest, most surreal, most bizarre book I had ever seen in my life. It featured crazy illustrations that put Dali to shame and everything was written in a language I had never seen before in my life. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I thought I'd put it back on the bridge, finish my trip to the local coffeehouse, and when I walked back, if it was still there, I'd take it and see if I could find out what I could about it. So, I went to the coffeehouse, got my coffee and when I went back across the stone bridge, the book was gone. Ever since, I've tried to remember the title so I could find out what it was, and then this morning, I stumbled across this link, and all my questions were answered - whew!

Need your help for a new project!

As I've been working through my top 100 AFI list, I've started to think, what kind of project can I do next? So, I'm asking my 18 Milers for their help. What do you think my next project should be? Should I go through a different genre of films? Mystery? Comedy? Or should it be non-film related? Perhaps something in TV or music? I want to hear from you guys, so give me your suggestions in the comments section!

"This is the business we've chosen..."

Alrighty, 18 Milers, it's time for another AFI update. Had some top-notch flicks this time around as I creep closer and closer to the top of the list! Here are the films I saw:

The Godfather, Part II: This is one of the rare (hate to say, "sequels") that can measure up to the first film. Infinitely darker and more despairing than the first Godfather, the film opens with Michael Corleone now squarely taking the reins where his father left off. After an attempt on his life, he doesn't know who to trust anymore, so he doesn't trust anyone, including his weak-willed and inept older brother Fredo ("keep your friends close, and your enemies closer"). Throughout the film, we are also privy to seeing the origins of the Corleone family, and how a young Vito Corleone (played wonderfully by Robert DeNiro) got his start running the most powerful Mafia family in New York. The contrast of the optimism and success of the young days of Vito and the dark realities of Michael's reign is palpable (Vito starts from nothing and quietly and cunningly gains money and respect, Michael is dealing with a crumbling family and marriage, government inquests, and betrayers everywhere). Though clocking in at over 3 hours, this movie pulls you in and doesn't let go until the end.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: This 1975, Jack Nicholson-helmed film, sees a smart-ass ex-convict named R.P. McMurphy join the sad, strange, and downright kooky band of residents at a northern mental asylum. That's where he meets his strong-willed match, in the form of the chilling, white-clad presence of Nurse Ratchet (played with icy fortitude by Louise Fletcher, who won an Oscar for her performance). As McMurphy seeks to shake the routines and rules, the film becomes a battle of wills between his hot-headed rebelliousness and Nurse Ratchet's unflinching placidity. Along the way, he befriends the large and silent form of Chief, a Native American, who's ease of walk and dignified demeanor is strongly in contrast with the insanity around him. The staff and the audience soon learn that there are some spirits that can't be broken. Look for two very young Taxi cast members (Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd) as residents of the asylum.

The Maltese Falcon: This film is the stuff that sharp, smart, thrillers are made of. When Sam Spade's (played with snarky confidence by Humphrey Bogart) partner Miles Archer is murdered, he quickly gets caught up in a tug-of-war for a bejeweled bird called The Maltese Falcon. Everybody is playing everybody else, and Spade in particular seems to enjoy all the mind games and behind-the-back deals he gets to play too. It really looks like Bogart is having a blast in this film, and the pacing and dialogue is snappy, quick, and darkly humored. The film was actually based on a novel by the acclaimed mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, and includes Casablanca star Peter Lorre, playing, oddly enough, an Asian character (Lorre was actually of Austrian descent).

Next in my film queue: Apocalypse Now, Double Indemnity, All About Eve

Redwing Blackbird on WKNH tonight

The Peterborough folk duo, Redwing Blackbird will be on Keene's WKNH 91.3 FM tonight at 8 p.m. (EST). The two will be deejaying for the first part of the show and then playing live in the studio with bassist Jeff Murphy.

If you can't tune in on your radio, the show will be streaming live at http://www.wknh.org/

Back in full effect...

Well, 18Milers....hopefully you all are still out there! It's been a long time since my last post (August to be exact). Since taking the job as the music and nightlife writer for Hippo Press, all of my time has pretty much been devoted to that job. But now, I've decided to move on from Hippo and am excited about it! I've loved being there, met some amazing people, and learned a TON, so now I'm ready to take what I've learned there to new places. One possibility may be California, but not to worry - I will still keep 18 Miles going if I end up on the west coast....just may be a slightly different perspective. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, I'm still here in the lovely Granite State and I'm excited to start this blog that I love so much and you guys enjoy so much going again.

So a few updates...

• I will be heading out to California next week for an extended vacation/scoping trip, but you can keep up with me via Twitter (yes, 18 Miles has leaped into the technology age!). So if you feel like keeping up with what I'm doing, what I'm seeing over there, or if you just want to chuckle at a New Hampshire girl out of her natural element in La-La Land, go to Twitter and say you want to follow me (this blog's username: 18milesnh)

• One fairly new feature I'll be including in this blog is CD reviews (both local and national artists). Probably the biggest request I got from bands and artists at Hippo was to review their CD's, which actually wasn't something that my position did. So, I figure since there is such a call for it, I'd start including some regular music reviews. If you are a musician or band that has a CD you'd like me to consider for review, send it to:Dana Unger, Att: 18 Miles, P.O. Box 717,Henniker, NH 03242
  

• Be warned though - just because you send me your CD for review doesn't necessarily mean that, A: I will review it, or B: that it will automatically get a good review. Sorry...I'm not a pay-for-play type of gal. You ask for my opinion, and that's what you're gonna get.

• Also, my AFI movie updates will be returning! Yay! I have finally started my list back up again and I am only about 25 movies away from finishing (soooo close!). And of course New Hampshire music and entertainment will be back and better than ever!

For those of you who have stuck around with this blog, thank you so much, and for new readers, I hope you enjoy my own little take on the local entertainment scene and will let your friends know about it. Welcome!!!

18 Miles to Return!

Stay tuned folks....I'm coming back!!!!

Mea culpa...

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, gang! I've just spent my first week at my new job as the music and nightlife writer for The Hippo Press and it's been crazy! Will hopefully be back with new updates and info for you all soon!

Headin' out!

Hey everyone! This will be my last blog post for a few days - I'm heading out to Plymouth, MA to enjoy some much needed R&R! However, if you are in the Peterborough area tonight, I'll be checking out Redwing Blackbird at the Toadstool Bookstore at 5:00PM, so stop by, say hi, and listen to some great music! I'll be back with all new entertainment news and info on Friday!

Tonight's live music!

5:30PM The World Series (Rockos, Manchester - $10)
7:00PM Something For Nothing (Ground Zero, Suncook)
7:00PM The Skeleton Leaves (Fritz, Keene)
8:00PM Madness2012 (Penuches, Concord)
8:30PM Ethereal Sugar (EF Lane, Keene)
8:30PM Matt Langley/Root 3 (Lobster Pound, Weirs Beach)
8:00PM Sons of Kalal/Baker/open mic hip-hop (Bo Riverside, Manchester - $5)
8:30PM Synergy (The Derryfield, Manchester)
9:00PM BendingTunez (Vendetta, Keene)
9:00PM No Remorse (Whippersnappers, Londonderry)
9:00PM Jacques Raymond (Strange Brew, Manchester)
9:00PM Endif/Resurrection (Breezeway Pub, Manchester - $5)
9:30PM Chad LaMarsh (Murphy’s Tap Room, Manchester)
10:00PM Flatliners (Railroad Tavern, Keene)

"Badges? We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"

Got another great AFI update for all you 18 Milers today! Just a heads-up: I'll be out of town next week vacationing in lovely Plymouth, MA, so I'll be taking a short break from my blogger duties. However, I'm hoping to check out some of the music and arts scene there and will be back with lots of great finds and great pics so keep checking in!

Now...lets get to the flicks!

Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Fred C. Dobbs (a villianous and gaunt-looking Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin, are both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico. They meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially overwhelming greed threaten to turn their success into disaster. As the film goes on and all the men get weary with the travel, the tension builds and builds, with Bogey in particular becoming more and more paranoid about the other men stealing the gold for themselves. He really is chilling in this! This was one of the first American films to be made almost entirely on location outside the US, and the little boy who sells Bogey the portion of the winning lotto ticket in the film is Robert Blake (of "Baretta" and recently, of murder trial fame!).

The Best Years of Our Lives: This 1946 Best Picture winner, centers on three military men coming home and readjusting to life after World War II. Al Stephenson comes back to a prestigious banking job, but finds it difficult to decide between his loyalties to his fellow ex-servicemen and new economic realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary man who comes back to a wife who loves his war medal status more than the man himself, and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) is dealing with the harsh reality of having both his hands burnt off in battle.

An interesting fact: Russell was actually a former serviceman who had really lost both of his hands. He was discovered by the director in an army training film about the rehabilitation of wounded servicemen - that was his only previous acting experience! But, when you see this film, the honesty of Russell's emotions about his injury comes through vividly. One particularly moving scene sees a close up of his face as his dad gets him ready to go to bed. His expression is at once pained, numbed, and defeated as his father has to button his pajamas for him. For Homer, its one more reminder of what he can't do anymore and the weight of being unable to do that and many other simple tasks, seems too much to bear. Watching this film in the light of our own current conflict, I'm amazed at how the issues and difficulties of our service men and women have hardly changed since WWII, and no matter what your political beliefs are, this is an important film to watch....maybe now more than ever.

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: This Stanley Kubrick black comedy stars Peter Sellers (playing four different roles!) and George C. Scott. The story centers around a mentally unstable US Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, and follows the President of the United States, his advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer as they try to recall the bombers to prevent a nuclear apocalypse, as well as the crew of one B-52 as they attempt to deliver their payload. Its all very tongue-in-cheek and is really one of those films that, if you don't "get it", you don't get it. Its at turns bizarre, hilarious, and scary. In short, its a Stanley Kubrick film! Little fun fact: Peter Sellers effectively reprised his Strangelove role for one skit in The Muppet Show's second season, in which he played "Dr. Merkwürdigliebe" (Strangelove's German name), a slightly deranged German massage therapist sporting a Hitler-style moustache and the exact same voice that Sellers used while playing Dr. Strangelove.

Next in my film queue: Annie Hall, Bridge On the River Kwai, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Your weekend shows!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
7:00PM Stolen (The Sad Cafe, Plaistow - $10)
8:00PM Manchuka (Alpine Club, Manchester)
8:00PM Electric Marmoset (Christmas Island Steakhouse, Weirs Beach)
8:00PM Subliminal (Club 313, Manchester - $10)
8:00PM John Hyde, Steve Chaggaris, Tony Gallo (Michael Timothy’s, Nashua)
8:00PM Beechwood (Main Street Gazebo, Henniker)
9:00PM Baker (Milly’s Tavern, Mancheseter - $10)
9:30PM Tigerlily, Jon-Paul Royer (Paradise Beach Club, Laconia)
9:30PM The Mirage Band (Murphy’s Tap Room, Manchester)


SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
6:00PM Taxicab Dismemberment, HiveSmasher (Rocko’s, Manchester - $10)
7:00PM Zac Arnault, Mike Allard (The Governors Inn Cafe, Rochester - $5)
7:00PM Again She Said (Ground Zero, Suncook - $10)
7:30PM Brian Kellett (The Black Orchid, Nashua)
8:00PM Ra, Downstait, Rains (Milly’s Tavern, Manchester - $18)
8:00PM Divine Addiction, May Thorns (Ground Zero, Suncook - $10)
9:00PM Jammed! (Burgandy’s Billards, Derry)
9:30PM Tigerlily (Paradise Beach Club, Laconia)
9:30PM Terrapin Island (Harlow’s Pub, Peterborough - $5)
9:30PM Northern Junction (Hong Kong Gardens, Plymouth)


SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
5:00PM Electric Marmoset (900 Degrees, Manchester)
6:00PM Chad LaMarsh (The Derryfield, Manchester)
6:00PM Skamasutra (Milly’s Tavern, Manchester - $8)
6:00PM Again She Said (Wally and Bernies, Manchester)
7:00PM Grinning Lizards (Whippersnappers, Londonderry)
7:00PM David Sicilia (Canoe Club, Hanover)
8:00PM Silent Distortion, Forty Lashes, A Nation Under, Stay True (Ground Zero, Suncook - $10)

Thursday's live music!

Hola, all you 18 Milers! Got a super lineup of live music for your Thursday night to cure the "it's-not-Friday-yet?" blues!

6:00PM The New Groove Authority (The Brookestone Grille, Derry)
6:00PM The Searchlight Is Safety, Matt Aspinwall (The Kingston Plains, Kingston)
6:00PM A Drop Dead Star (Peterborough Library, Peterborough)
6:00PM The Breathing Method (Rocko’s, Manchester - $10)
6:00PM Michelle Ribeiro (Main Street, Meredith)
6:30PM Chad Verbeck, The Verbs (Salzburg Square, Amherst)
7:00PM The Fate Of Society, Dear Anyone (The Sad Cafe, Plaistow - $10)
7:00PM The Skeleton Leaves (Fritz, Keene)
7:00PM They and They Children, Kendra Deadvaeles (Peterborough Library, Peterborough)
8:00PM Dusty and The Know (Capitol Square Downtown, Concord)
8:00PM Flynn Cohen, Annalivia (Peterborough Unitarian Church, Peterborough)
8:00PM No Remorse (Derryfield Country Club, Manchester)
8:00PM The Alternate Routes, Virginia Coalition (Tupelo Music Hall, Londonderry - $15)
9:00PM EDon/Gotti Streetz (Milly's Tavern, Manchester - $5)
9:00PM DJ Thomas OneSound (Harlow’s Pub, Peterborough)
9:00PM Burnin with Bernie (Rednecks Bar & Grill, Antrim)
9:30PM Chad LaMarsh (Murphy’s Tap Room, Manchester)