more desirable

Jenny Lewis is Jewish.

Thought some of you might want to know.

Burma Afterparty

After the Feb 10 Mission of Burma show at Bowery Ballroom, head to Corner Billiards Bar for the afterparty.

If you're so inclined, you can find them at:
110 E. 11th Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave)
Admission is 21+

In other news, Burma has signed on the with the Live Music Archive.

So upload/download away. The band will post some of their own recordings soon

BEFORE THERE WAS WEEZER, THERE WAS WEEZE

If you haven't seen the video for Weezer's "Perfect Situation," please start watching MTV until you do.

It stars Elisha Cuthbert - which should be reason enough - but even better is Rivers enacting everybody's secret rockstar fantasy.

Or better yet, just go here and see it now.


see, the music's still alive at dave should get out more...

My incredible streak of luck

...begins with winning a contest from Brooklyn Vegan where I won a copy of the Indian film The Journey on DVD. then, a day or so later, I was notified that I had won a contest from burmakitty and I selected which Mission of Burma 7" I wanted (I chose the Roger Miller / Clint Conley collab The Wrong Pipe, which is as far as I know only available on 7").

then, on Friday night, after a spectacular few hours at K+1 and Ultragrrrl's Stolen Transmission, I found a copy of the We Are Scientists CD sitting on the sidewalk, propped up against a streetlight. Opened but near-mint, and since I hadn't gotten around to buying it yet, that was a clutch pickup. This after hearing Ultra or Karen put on the song I forgot existed that is now my jam: "Plowed" by Sponge. Girls, one of you is a fucking genius.


ALSO:
Art Brut - acoustic - mp3s from Planet Claire via rbally


Forget that Artic Monkeys news, it's only a secret presale for UK tourdates. UK readers just email me and I'll pass info along.

Down and Out in Brooklyn

Help out Kathryn Yu's Wrens documentary

Urban Outfitters vs. Johnny Cupcakes
Update: This site used to have some really-ought-to-sue evidence on the suckiness of UO, but now it's back to good old awesome shirts. pick yourself up a valentine's day special shirt for that person who you want to buy things for.

Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers have made their first album "Psalterie" freely available for download. I haven't gotten it yet but I like their newer stuff so I'm on the way.

Chan Marshall is like the prettiest most amazing girl ever.
proof
further proof

Apologies to Bryce, who has a really cool interview here.

And also to Natalie, who's got my provisional 2nd favorite movie of 2006 coming out soon-ish.

The reason it's my 2nd favorite:
The news of Sundance, as far as I'm concerned: Warner Independent's pickup of "The Science of Sleep," Michel Gondry's whimsical, trilingual surrealist romance with Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg. I can't imagine a premise more likely to get me to buy a ticket.

There's still time to see A Brilliant Play By John McEnroe, a play in which Ben Simington has an acting-role.

You can get some clutch DFA Radio Mixes (James, James, Juan) here.

Nick Sylvester sometimes calls the South Beach Diet the "South Bitch Diet." He also wrote a piece about hipsters who work out.

funny that the same day (a while back) that I read a piece citing Sontag’s Notes on Camp that I run across this:
Shatner!

Artic Monkeys news coming tomorrow, I (almost) promise.

OK, so some New York Times article talking about some book I don't care about said this:
"The plot sounds like one of those old folktales, in which a stranger knocks on the door of a house and asks for shelter from the storm — or says he has lost his way or claims he's an expected guest. His arrival is a test of generosity or gullibility or gumption, and it will forever change the lives of the occupants of the house.
A variation on this plot was used by Jean Renoir in his 1932 film "Boudu Saved From Drowning" and by Paul Mazursky in "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," his 1986 remake of "Boudu." Another variation was used by Pier Paolo Pasolini in his 1968 movie "Teorema," starring Terence Stamp as the mysterious stranger who seduces nearly everyone in the house before exiting their lives."

wait what? "his 1986 remake of Boudu"???

Photojournalism.

Foreign Born has released 2 demo recordings of songs expected to be on their album...

Chomsky says There Is No War On Terror.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Miami bass but were afraid to ask. Go ahead and ask already.

if you made it this far, go get yourself a cookie

jealousy

Mel Gibson is clearly insane.

In a good way.

After creating the highest grossing movie-in-Aramaic ever, he's now shooting Apocalypto in the Mayan Yucatec language (trailer).

So... someone is shooting movies in obscure and/or ancient languages, and making money with them, and not only is it not me (which is weird enough), but it's the guy who starred in Lethal Weapon. Huh.

Read some linguistic thoughts on the movie here.

also check this.

Roger in New York

f you just can't wait until February 10th, the Roger Miller/William Hooker duo will be at Pianos in NYC on Saturday, February 4th (yeah, that's Roger Miller of Mission of Burma). The duo features Roger on guitar and William on drums. They'll perform at 10:30.

Burma also expects to be releasing "a nice little pool of live Burma material" to be made freely downloadable sooner than later. They've promised more info in the near future

And you can still get tickets to see them at the Bowery Ballroom on Feb 10, with Battles as the opener. Let me know if (I know you and) you want to go.

Hamas

Ok, Hamas, now you get your shot.

Your stated committment to the destruction of Israel, all the rhetoric about an Islamic state in Palestine, the refusal to give up guns even as you try to govern...

An opposition party can always say 'what we'd do if...' Those days are over. Put up or shut up.

You didn't expect to win, did you? Somewhere in your bunkers you're celebrating, but behind all the (metaphorical) champagne you're thinking "What the fuck do we do now???"


right now, I don't even want to address the Iranian response


on an unrelated note... when did this man become a leader?

Christmas in March

There’s a This Heat Box Set coming out soon. Maybe I’ll throw a party to celebrate.


Don't call me excited; it's an understatement.

"We shall prevail"?

Time for me to engage in some mainstream fearmongering: Is he talking about Alito?

3 Blind Mikes

There’s Mike who lives on the Cape

There’s Mike who goes to Columbia Law

And there’s Mike who’s a sorta famous actor.



See Mike #3 play a show with his band tomorrow at Vicious

11 Stand
10 The Kites
09 Pagoda (featuring Michael Pitt) with Jamie Bochert
08 Meanwhiles


PS The drummer for Pagoda is actor/musician Ryan Donowho, who is Johnny on The OC. or he too busy shooting???

An interesting note: Willa Holland, who's now playing Kaitlin Cooper on The OC, was in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, as was Mike (Pitt).

Style? Us?

Your #1 New York-based blog for all things Mission of Burma- and Johnny Boy-related would like to announce:

Stylus has put up their review of the Johnny Boy album.

Thanks to Davo and Lolly for bringing it to my attention.

info info everywhere

work has taken me over
but ive been saving up content
the blitz starts tuesday

Johnny Boy album updates

OK, so I'm sure you remember seeing Pitchfork's news item about the new Johnny Boy album.

You may also know that Johnny Boy played a gig at the Debaser in Stockholm on Dec 27.
I had the pass up the invite but you can see someone else's photos, or read the setlist:
Johnny Boy Theme
Fifteen Minutes
Livin' In The City
War On Want
Formaldehyde
Bonnie Parker's 115th Dream
All Exits Final
You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes Any You Get What You Deserve

I'm not sure who the supporting musicans are bit I know they're playing with a 4-piece lineup nowadays, as of the Access All Areas Fest in November at the Kulturhuset in Stockholm [pix].

The band also reports that Martin Scorcese likes their music.


This post was inspired by Fluxblog's recent posting of a song from the new album.

As far as the album's US release... check the import bin.

Mac & Cheese

The dish:


The crowd:


The recipe.


Highly recommended.

Alito, Day 2.

DAVID KIRKPATRICK had a blog for the New York Times on the hearings as the day unfolds. His last post recounts Senator Lindsey Graham's joke about Judge Alito's unremembered past associations: "I hope you will understand, if any of us come before a court and we can't remember [Jack] Abramoff, you will believe us."

Read the detailed legal version of why 2 major gay rights groups think he shouldn't be confirmed here and here.

Questions

Slate finds some experts to draft questions for Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito. such as an NYPD detective who, I think, threatens to waterboard him. or, a nine year old named Max Freedman. or, Wisconsin Law Professor Ann Althouse, who writes one of my favorite 'serious' blogs, Althouse.

The Althouse posts on Alito are all worthwhile, but most importantly today she's the reason I know about the New York Times doing the same thing Slate does in asking various 'experts' to draft questions for Alito. Her favorite, as mine: "Is the fictional world of Philip K. Dick's story "Minority Report"- in which people are arrested for crimes they have not yet committed - becoming a reality in the United States?" [from Stanley Fish's batch of questions]

The other experts for the Times were
Leonard A. Leo
Cheryl D. Mills
Kenji Yoshino
John Yoo
Scott Turow

Alito's is VERY conservative - if confirmed, he might become the most right-wing judge on the court. This is particularly problematic in his disavowal of an inherent right to privacy to be found in the constituion. I see the appeal of a certain structural approach to enumerated rights, but his application of the lack of privacy rights has thus far meant that the government has the ability to intrude on your affairs to a level most Americans would not agree with. My other main qualm is his imperial view of presidential power. He cosigned a memo in 1984 "outlining a legal strategy to protect executive branch officials who ordered wiretaps" (LSJ). He has supported limits on Congressional power to protect American citizens based on a strict interpretation of Constitutionality: "Judge Alito has voted to strike down Congressional legislation banning the possession and transfer of machine guns, and legislation requiring that states fully comply with obligations to give their workers unpaid medical leave. He once wrote that it is not the role of the federal government to protect the 'health, safety and welfare' of the American people." [People for the American Way]. His textual approach might go so far as to see the Establishment clause as an invention of the Court. read more here.

I kind of want to go into more Alito detail but A) I worry that most of you don't care, B) I'd prefer to respond to the hearings as they unfold, and C) I would much rather go to bed. If I get the opportunity to put together a real post it may instead show up as a guest post on Institute for a Better American Future.

filler

Slate exposes the Starbucks price scam.

I was gonna say 'oh, I wonder who this is??', but the Jesse Camp guess had me at 'doubtful'

DVD, McSweeney's style: Wholpin brings you short-form video content from Miguel Arteta and Miranda July, David O. Russell, Spike Jonze, Turkish sitcoms, etc, etc.

It looks good, but I would be shocked - shocked - if it has anything half as awesome as The 'Bu. please watch episodes 1 through 8 in order immediately.
from the lads who brought you Lazy Sunday.

also from the Dudes:
The new hit song from the Bing Bong Brothers

I haven't gotten around to seeing either cut of Awesometown yet, but it's on the radar. trust me.


JT Leroy - officially outed as a hoax, pretty much. c'mon, folks, it's time to own up. most of us knew it way back when, and now the jig is officially up.

how, or why, is a jig actually up? does that mean it's time to stop dancing?
if so, rest those feet until Thursday. you'll need all your energy for the We Are Scientists show. or the afterparty [@Rothko]. or at least, to dance on some bartop after you get drunk on (not-so) cheap wine here.

further promises

I still owe you lots of promised material... links slowly being revamped... reflections on Oliver Stone's Alexander coming eventually, I promise... 'what mattered in '05' music posts to commence soon (as a series)...


I will also write a length piece on the best movie I've seen in the theatres in the last few years. for now, a recommendation:
SEE BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN


posts I should have written at work today on the way to keep your appetites whetted.

Wes Gully

Diplo

at the Guggenheim

tonight

9PM 15 dollah

essential

First Hugo, now this

Hey, Pat - thanks for clearing that up.

1 million people watch him every day?
What's wrong with this country?

Album Number 3

In case you weren't already aware - it looks as though Mission of Burma's third
studio LP (their second for Matador) is tentatively scheduled for release on May
9th.

The album title? "Aluminum Washcloth".

The band wishes to extend their apologies for those of you who urged on "Like a Drunken Stripper".

O, Draconian Devil!

Last week I read The Da Vinci Code.

I had been meaning to read it for a long time. It was so popularly successful that it was (almost) worth it on that alone. It was written by Dan Brown, who might now be Exeter’s most famous alum (that’s saying something). And there’s a movie on the way... I always like to read the book before seeing the movie. As a filmmaker, somehow it's important for me to know the source material going in.

The book lived up to my (fairly high) expectations. Sometimes the writing was annoying in it’s simplicity, and the cliffhanger-every-2-pages thing gets a little grating, but it’s rare that a book is so well-crafted narratively (especially one with such a cinematic sense of narrative form). It has an addictive sense of intellectual play, embedding puzzles within puzzles as mysteries to be solved reader and character alike. While it falls a bit short of high art, it is a very worthwhile read. After finishing it it’s all I thought about for days. I read probably a hundred articles on the Priory of Sion, daVinci, the Louvre, Chretien de Troyes, Nicholas Flamel, or anything with even a small connection to the book’s plot. I played the puzzles embedded in the text of the book and on the publisher’s website. I had dreams about Sophie Neveu.

That last part may have been slightly influenced by the fact that she’ll be played by Audrey Tatou in the upcoming movie version.

And what a movie it will be: Tom Hanks. Audrey T. Ian McKellen. Paul Bettany. Jean Reno. Alfred Molina. Directed by Ron Howard. Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman.
A Wesleyan-grad screenwriter’s adaption of an Exeter-grad’s bestselling novel - it’s time to flaunt my education.
[Actually, I'll let Joss do it for me.]

Ok, I’m done.

Sure, the book is a little narratively programmatic, but it’s compelling enough as an intellectual suspense movie to make up for it. And I’m not a Ron Howard fan at all; I think the best thing he’s done is give some chromosomes to Bryce. Still - I'm sure I'll be there opening weekend.

Of course, I’d probably be there opening weekend even if it didn’t have so much going for it, considering that Audrey Tatou is on the Toast List.*

Watch the Da Vinci Code trailer here.



*The Toast List - People that I would pay to see a movie to watch them make toast for 2 hours.
It’s not just about being pretty - it’s about having presence.

A starter version of the list:
Leonor Watling
Audrey Tatou
Naomi Watts
Gael Garcia Bernal
Scarlett Johansson
Shannyn Sossamon [why does she not get better roles?!?]

NOTE: The Toast List only includes living actors. Garbo, Dietrich, Marilyn, Françoise Dorléac, etc would clearly be on an All-Time Toast List if one is ever created.

played for 5 minutes, passed out

ha

WWDBD?

I'm not sure how I missed this for so long but this is The Greatest Tribute to D. Boon of All Time
by David Rees (yes, that David Rees)

"And just like that, elitism all of a sudden seems so justifiable."

Gawker's short-lived experiment in open commenting is - thankfully - over.

catching up

getting back on the interweb after an [unplanned] extended holiday hiatus

before I get started:
I finally got artound the watching the video of the Arcade Fire and U2 perform “Love Will Tear Us Apart” at a live show... Bono spent most of it crouching down, not singing, loooking like he’d never heard it before (as best as I could tell through amateur shakycam)... Win doesn’t do the song justice either, but seriously, Bono, if you don’t know the words, don’t join in for the final chorus and then sing it like it’s ‘Happy Birthday’. It’s fucking Ian Curtis - show some respect.
I'd put up a link, but seriously - don't bother.

things to look forward to (if you’re into that sort of thing):
revised/expanded Links
a look at Oliver Stone’s Alexander
the truth about the Da Vinci Code
the year in music 2005 (all the way to the end)

things to check out:
This list of the top 50 music videos of '05

things to do:
nurse your hangover