Posted inCulture

After the (Wind)fall: How MIT math nerds beat the House in 21

Kenny Rogers was a much better gambler.Greed and need fuel our hero's intoxication with Las Vegas. And director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) sets up a house of cards in the film adaptation of Ben Mezrich's best-selling book, Bringing Down the House, which follows the true-life adventure of several MIT braniacs - led by math whiz Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe) - as they rake in millions by outsmarting casinos.
 
Smarmy but brilliant MIT math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) first recognizes Ben's aptitude for gaming when Ben gives an inspired answer to a challenging question during a class. Ben has been accepted to Harvard Medical School but needs to come up with cash for the $300,000 education. The powerful Professor Rosa lures Ben into a supposedly legal card-counting scheme with a group of gifted young math scholars. The result is a fortune made at the Vegas blackjack tables. At various intervals over a two-year period, they escape a drab, wintry-looking Boston to live like high-stakes rock stars in Sin City. Ben's original goal is to make just enough money to pay for Harvard and then stop. As fate would have it, greed and his own ego get the best of him. But, for a guy in the grip of temptation, Ben's understated character seems kind of flat.

Posted inMusic

From the Brain of a Rock Star Genious

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Real Emotional Trash
Matador Records
I've been pondering for a week if we have reached a place in time where we can discuss Stephen Malkmus without mentioning his long-time 1990s band Pavement. OK, we haven't. For two decades Malkmus has contributed dozens of unique recordings to our collective ears. But what has gone less noticed is his work as a solo artist, in particular The Silver Jews (listen to the band's phenomenal LP, The Natural Bridge.)

Posted inMusic

Still Stirring It Up: The Subhumans’ Three Decades of Fury

You don't see punk faces like that these days.The Subhumans have been pushing buttons for a quarter century, letting their frustrations with the world loose on stage while challenging audiences to rethink their values. The guitar riffs are infectious, the bass lines are distinctive, and the beats are furious, keeping new generations interested in the band's music. Singer and lyricist Dick Lucas (although he prefers just Dick), with his thick accent and British slang, still has something to say that's worth hearing - a rarity in punk rock these days.
 
The band has taken its share of time off from the music scene, twelve years in fact. But almost a decade since recording their last full-length studio album, Dick, Bruce, Phil, and Trotsky kicked out another disc, fittingly dubbed Internal Riot. The sound on the album is the continuation of the youthful energy and political discontent that fueled the Subhumans more than twenty years ago. Though the entire new album was recorded last year in a matter of 10 days, much of that music was written a good 20 years ago. The West Coast tour promoting the new album, which was released just this past August on the band's D.I.Y. label, Blurrg, stops Saturday night at the Domino Room. But before they show up, we thought we'd get a few words from Dick.

Posted inMusic

Power of Youth: Jackie Greene talks about playing the Dead and the tides of change

Such a nice looking boy, that Jackie Greene.Jackie Greene's electrified Americana sound has led many listeners to assume that the music is being made by a man much older than Greene's 27 years. It's been that way since he snuck onto the scene about a half decade ago. His music incorporates styles that became popular long before his birth, and his new association with the Grateful Dead empire suggests deeply rooted associations with legendary musicians.
 
A few days before his new record, Giving up the Ghost, hit the streets, Greene shied away from remarks about his age, which he's faced most of his career. But he doesn't mind talking about his new album - a record that's receiving warm reviews and being hailed as a positive step forward for the emerging star. Tracks from Ghost, like "Shaken" have a modern, Ryan Adams-like feel that are at the same time wrapped in a classic Jackson Browne model. Greene doesn't see the inclusion of these 1970s tastes as intentional or a conscious departure from his earlier work.

Posted inNews

Slick Willy on the Stump: After all these years, the big guy still has it

Notes? He don't need no stikin' notes. Hillary's husband looks quite a lot older than when he left the White House nearly eight long, long, long years ago. The hair is snow-white now and the gray suit fits a little snugly around the waistline.
 
But, damn, Slick Willy has still got it.
Bill Clinton showed up to Bend High an hour late, predictably, and spoke for 15 minutes longer than he was supposed to - also predictably. No matter. The crowd, which filled the upper bleachers and packed the gym floor, ate it all up.

Posted inOpinion

Dirty Harry vs. The Terminator: California Spurning, Carla Bruni and More

Your Terminated, "S"ucker. Carla Has the Brits Swooning
 
Members of the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Fan Club - which includes Upfront, we are proud to state - will be happy to know that they'll have an opportunity next month to purchase a nude photograph of the French first lady.
The catch is that it's expected to cost in the neighborhood of $4,000.
The photo, taken in 1993 by Swiss photographer Michel Comte, will be up for bids at a charity auction April 10 at Christie's in London, along with works by other noted photographers such as Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon and Leni Riefenstahl.

Posted inOpinion

Mike Dugan and Measure

Five years ago David Black made a big mistake. He got into an illegal nighttime drag race against two other cars on O.B. Riley Road.
 
Danielle Gates, the driver of one of the other cars, lost control of her car on a curve and slammed into the side of an oncoming van. Gates and the passenger in her car were killed, and the young woman driving the van was seriously injured.
A year later, David Black made his really big mistake. Convinced he was not guilty of the charge of second-degree manslaughter that Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan had brought against him, he decided to go to trial instead of cutting a deal.

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