Gillen and Turk

Last night, Matt Turk, a friend of my friend David's, was in town playing with his band mate, Fred Gillen. When I got the e-mail a few weeks ago, going out on a Tuesday night for a 10 p.m. show seemed like a good idea. No, I wasn't high at the time. Then came the NBA playoffs whose schedule revolves strictly around days that I don't work, not important. But the idea of watching the game then heading across town seemed like a lost cause. Luckily, my friend David invited me over to watch the game, then at halftime we would have dinner at the Newsroom where there are televisions.

As you know, when I travel across town, I like to bring a pack and some supplies. So when I showed up for lunch wearing jeans, Tim was pretty surprised. (For those who don't know, I have two uniforms: work and non-work. The former are black dickies, shirt and pants, and the latter is cargo shorts and t-shirt, usually white.) After my two gallon bowl of ramen, I headed over to Century City mall to see The Strangers. I was taken aback by how crowded the parking lot was in the mall. (Note to self, no one in Los Angeles actually works.) I found a spot, bought a ticket, and was scared senseless. The Strangers is about a couple who, following a wedding, head to the guy's family home in the middle of nowhere and are terrorized by people in masks. It was super unsettling and makes me want to live in a city.

I arrived at David and Megan's and watched the Lakers take a first half lead on their beautiful 60" screen. When we got to the Newsroom, I had to squint to watch the Lakers blow their lead on a 13" screen. The Lakers eventually won, which goes to show that I'd rather watch the Lakers win on a small screen than lose in person. By the way, I ordered super poorly. I don't know what I was thinking. I chose the mixed vegetables and couscous. For some reason, I forgot all my lessons from Morocco: 1) Don't order couscous. 2) Don't order tagine. Instead, I got the large bowl of grains with cooked carrots, and some squash and zuchinni. One more thing, I hate cooked carrots. Hey, the Lakers won, I would've been happy eating spam with cream sauce.

We headed over to Genghis Cohen. When we arrived, a guy sat on stage serenading 5 people. You see, I don't go to live music much. I always expect it to suck. Two exceptions: 1) I will travel as far as the valley to see Julie Silver. 2) When I take a break to pee at work, there's usually live music going on. That's the extent of it. So when Matt and Fred took the stage and launched into their first song, I was floored. They are both tremendous players with amazing voices. Their harmonies made them sound so much bigger than a duet at a chinese restaurant. At the end, I told them that if all live music was this good, I would go out far more. Check out their website, listen to their tunes, and buy a CD if you want to support two terrific musicians.

www.gillenandturk.com