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Monday, June 24, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The Perfect Fit: Which Summer Music Festival Is For You?
It happens every summer: Lineup after lineup entices you to join their party, visit some distant city or town, and brave the heat and crowds in the name of music. Whether it’s trekking outside of Seattle, navigating traffic in Tennessee, squeezing onto the BART in San Francisco, or copping rides in Los Angeles — you’ll do whatever’s necessary to make that experience a reality.
Don’t you want to make it count, though?
Sometimes a festival isn’t for everyone. Maybe you’re not into mud. There’s a chance that agoraphobia of yours might act up at The Gorge. Who knows if you can handle the inner city pressure. That’s why we pared down the facts and assembled a diverse list of this summer’s biggest festivals so that you could find: The Perfect Fit.
Don’t you want to make it count, though?
Sometimes a festival isn’t for everyone. Maybe you’re not into mud. There’s a chance that agoraphobia of yours might act up at The Gorge. Who knows if you can handle the inner city pressure. That’s why we pared down the facts and assembled a diverse list of this summer’s biggest festivals so that you could find: The Perfect Fit.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Miguel, ‘How Many Drinks?’ Remix Feat. Kendrick Lamar – Song Review
Miguel‘s ‘How Many Drinks?’ gets a mini makeover in the form of an added verse from rapper Kendrick Lamar. It’s Miguel x Kendrick Lamar, and it’s silkier than anything you’d find at Victoria’s Secret, but it’s also got edge, like something you’d buy at Agent Provocateur when you want to get freaky with your significant other. An already good song got better thanks to the sprinkling of some rhymes.
Miguel, with his Usher-like falsetto, is one of the hottest names and voices in R&B right now, while Lamar is celebrated for his flow and represents the new breed of hip-hop. So it makes sense that the two would collide — or ‘Kaleid’ — for this new version of ‘How Many Drinks?,’ the original of which appears on the crooner’s ‘Kaleidoscope Dream.’ This reworked and remixed version is the third single from the album, and it’s all about making sexy time.
Miguel is the only voice in the game that comes close to Usher. He shifts easily from a buttery croon to a reach for the sky falsetto in this slow burning, romantic romp. He can hit those high notes without ever being shrill and he swoops back down to earth with a dreamy, rich tone. His voice has so much range, so when he asks, “How many drinks would it take you to leave with me / Girl you look good and I’ve got money / But I don’t wanna waste my time,” our knees get sorta weak.
Lamar drops his nasally verse over handclaps, adding some edge to an otherwise hot and bothered track about chasing tail. His rhymes cut through some of the thick sexual tension of the lyrics and soften Miguel’s “I’m trying to hit that” delivery. Lamar is the urban yin to Miguel’s leading man yang, and the song comes alive after Lamar’s verse. All the elements — Miguel’s croon, his falsetto, the lazy beat, Lamar’s raps — result in a fulfilling climax. No pun intended.
Miguel, with his Usher-like falsetto, is one of the hottest names and voices in R&B right now, while Lamar is celebrated for his flow and represents the new breed of hip-hop. So it makes sense that the two would collide — or ‘Kaleid’ — for this new version of ‘How Many Drinks?,’ the original of which appears on the crooner’s ‘Kaleidoscope Dream.’ This reworked and remixed version is the third single from the album, and it’s all about making sexy time.
Miguel is the only voice in the game that comes close to Usher. He shifts easily from a buttery croon to a reach for the sky falsetto in this slow burning, romantic romp. He can hit those high notes without ever being shrill and he swoops back down to earth with a dreamy, rich tone. His voice has so much range, so when he asks, “How many drinks would it take you to leave with me / Girl you look good and I’ve got money / But I don’t wanna waste my time,” our knees get sorta weak.
Lamar drops his nasally verse over handclaps, adding some edge to an otherwise hot and bothered track about chasing tail. His rhymes cut through some of the thick sexual tension of the lyrics and soften Miguel’s “I’m trying to hit that” delivery. Lamar is the urban yin to Miguel’s leading man yang, and the song comes alive after Lamar’s verse. All the elements — Miguel’s croon, his falsetto, the lazy beat, Lamar’s raps — result in a fulfilling climax. No pun intended.
Friday, March 22, 2013
We speak to the real London call girl
The meeting is arranged online. There's no mobile contact number, only an encrypted ''hushmail'' email address and instructions: at this time, be in this cafe in remote north-western Scotland. Dr Brooke Magnanti will see you now.
Magnanti, aka Belle de Jour, former prostitute, cancer epidemiologist and now author, is understandably cautious. Her anonymous 2003 blog, Diary of a London Call Girl, told how she sold sex to pay for life after college, in a series of graphic and often hilarious scenes, poetic asides and anecdotes.
The spin-off books and television series made her a big target. She was accused of making prostitution attractive to young women. One viewer said she - or at least her character, played by Billie Piper - should end up ''dead in a ditch''. The tabloids and the left-wing media don't hesitate to lay into her. She regularly gets threats of sexual violence, torture and death.
This is - to put it mildly - a shame, because Magnanti, 37, is great company: thoughtful, slightly nerdy, self-deprecating and entertaining on subjects from Doctor Who to German hikers. She tweets about Justin Bieber, food, knitting and homebrew. She gets all proud when one of her fiercest critics concedes that her husband is hot (yes, this bisexual fan of bondage, dungeons and open relationships is now happily married).
But occasionally there's a glint in Magnanti's eye, and Belle de Jour peeks out. As her alter ego, she called herself an ''alpha stiletto-wearing, lingerie-obsessed, Pulitzer-reading female'', and began book one with ''the first thing you should know is that I'm a whore''.
''Sex felt as much a spiritual calling as a biological need,'' Belle de Jour wrote.
''My friends always knew I was a slag,'' Magnanti says, laughing.
Magnanti grew up in Florida, her poor immigrant parents telling her, ''You are going to university, you're paying for it yourself and you're going to get a real degree.''
''Which, to my parents, meant science or medicine,'' she says. After maths and anthropology degrees she moved to Sheffield in England for a PhD in forensic science. But the dispiriting London job interview treadmill wiped out her savings, and she couldn't bear to cash a cheque that a friend sent as an emergency loan. So she became a call girl for £300 an hour, of which she kept £200, plus tip and travel expenses.
Magnanti writes in her latest book, ''the short hours of work I performed as a call girl left ample time to look for science jobs, finish writing my doctoral thesis, and participate in a demanding sport at high level. Juggling those things with a job as a professional waitress or behind a bar not only wouldn't have paid the bills, it wouldn't have left time to pursue a professional career.''
But she concedes it's ''a bit odd'' how her priorities work out.
''I think my moral compass is different from a lot of people's. I don't find it acceptable to take things from other people if you have literally any other option. I think it comes from my parents ... [after I was born] they went onto welfare for six months and I remember my father telling me this as if it was the most shaming thing that ever happened to him.''
Soon after starting as a call girl she found a day job as a computer programmer. It was boring, quiet and staffed by introverted male geeks. ''I kept escorting because it was a lot more interesting than my job,'' Magnanti says. For example, she had a hilarious afternoon with a photographer taking pictures for her agency's website. ''It was awkward and weird and the pictures are absolutely terrible,'' Magnanti says. ''I was thinking, I would love to tell my friends that, but you can't explain the situation without telling them everything else that's going on.''
So she started the blog. She had online exchanges with other sex bloggers - a porn star, a dominatrix, a stripper. ''It was like publicly comparing notes ... the way you'd get together with your friends and bitch about your bosses.''
The blog became a book, and sequels, and the television series. She moved on from escort work. It all went swimmingly, until she was unmasked.
In 2009, a tabloid got wind of her true identity after years of wild speculation. She decided to head them off by going to The Times.
The first problem was telling her parents. They were in the middle of another family crisis (her cousin had been kidnapped and held for ransom, chained to a tree in Ecuador). Magnanti had to quickly update them on her secret life.
''I realised I'd lost out on a certain relationship with my mother by not being able to be honest with her. She went out and bought all the books and then she gave them to my gran, and I was horrified, but she was like, 'Oh come on. Your grandmother was a nurse in the war and she's had five kids. She knows what goes where.'''
The real blow was the media backlash. She expected it from the tabloids. But she didn't expect a feminist bloc to pour vitriol over her in the broadsheets, accusing her of supporting hatred of, and violence against, women because she refused to be ashamed of her past.
''It was very personal,'' she says. '''You, Brooke Magnanti, you cannot be a feminist. You specifically are not a feminist.' Having a bit of your identity publicly denied and taken away like that was very hurtful.''
So she decided, OK, she wouldn't call herself a feminist. It puts her in interesting company. New Yahoo! chief executive Marissa Mayer recently said she wouldn't call herself a feminist. There seems to be a new school of not-feminists, tired of angry lectures on the patriarchy, though passionate about equality.
Magnanti's latest book, 2012's The Sex Myth, has again riled feminists. She applied scientific analysis to myths that have grown up about sex, exposing the lack of hard evidence for claims such as ''the porn industry objectifies women and leads to abuse'', ''strip clubs lead to a rise in sexual assault'', ''internet porn is harming children'', and the extent of sex addiction, sexual dysfunction and sex trafficking.
She provocatively brands old-school feminists as ''agenda setters'', like pharmaceutical companies or evangelist groups, who manipulate, distort or invent statistics to advance their cause, entrenching these myths.
She doesn't see it as a top-down conspiracy, just belief systems and practical needs distorting people's judgment. Behind it all, she thinks, a new conservatism has erased much of the sexual revolution.
''Our parents were more open-minded than we are,'' she says. ''I cannot believe sometimes that some of the people I end up debating [with] are the same age as me. I think, did you not live through the early '90s? That shit was freaky!''
Magnanti's position on sex work is like her position on sex. ''You could call it a simplistic view, but it basically comes down to: is everybody consenting to this?'' she says. ''Is everybody an adult? Is everybody alive? Is everybody human?''
She knows consent is tricky. Circumstances - often financial - make all of us do things we otherwise wouldn't. ''This is where a lot of opponents to sex work have a problem,'' she says. ''I think they believe that there will be some amazing revolution where people only make decisions uninfluenced by anything that goes on in human society.
''I get very frustrated. [Sex workers] don't have very many choices, so what we need to do is take their choices away?''
Magnanti's Twitter feed is, she sort-of jokes, ''basically hooker CNN with a bit of knitting and homebrew''. She believes the information age helps expose the shaky foundations of the agenda setters, hopefully leading to more rational public dialogue.
''You have to remain hopeful because if you lose hope ... why do anything?'' she says. ''I would just stay under my duvet all day.''
After the success of 'Fifty Shades of Grey', Magnanti's publisher asked her if she wanted to write a ''saucy book''. She said no. ''It wouldn't work. People would see it as being cynical, and it would be cynical.''
But still, Magnanti sometimes wonders if she should have written her life as a novel, to avoid the political blowback.
''I should have fictionalised my experiences, then people would love it,'' she says.
Magnanti, aka Belle de Jour, former prostitute, cancer epidemiologist and now author, is understandably cautious. Her anonymous 2003 blog, Diary of a London Call Girl, told how she sold sex to pay for life after college, in a series of graphic and often hilarious scenes, poetic asides and anecdotes.
The spin-off books and television series made her a big target. She was accused of making prostitution attractive to young women. One viewer said she - or at least her character, played by Billie Piper - should end up ''dead in a ditch''. The tabloids and the left-wing media don't hesitate to lay into her. She regularly gets threats of sexual violence, torture and death.
This is - to put it mildly - a shame, because Magnanti, 37, is great company: thoughtful, slightly nerdy, self-deprecating and entertaining on subjects from Doctor Who to German hikers. She tweets about Justin Bieber, food, knitting and homebrew. She gets all proud when one of her fiercest critics concedes that her husband is hot (yes, this bisexual fan of bondage, dungeons and open relationships is now happily married).
But occasionally there's a glint in Magnanti's eye, and Belle de Jour peeks out. As her alter ego, she called herself an ''alpha stiletto-wearing, lingerie-obsessed, Pulitzer-reading female'', and began book one with ''the first thing you should know is that I'm a whore''.
''Sex felt as much a spiritual calling as a biological need,'' Belle de Jour wrote.
''My friends always knew I was a slag,'' Magnanti says, laughing.
Magnanti grew up in Florida, her poor immigrant parents telling her, ''You are going to university, you're paying for it yourself and you're going to get a real degree.''
''Which, to my parents, meant science or medicine,'' she says. After maths and anthropology degrees she moved to Sheffield in England for a PhD in forensic science. But the dispiriting London job interview treadmill wiped out her savings, and she couldn't bear to cash a cheque that a friend sent as an emergency loan. So she became a call girl for £300 an hour, of which she kept £200, plus tip and travel expenses.
Magnanti writes in her latest book, ''the short hours of work I performed as a call girl left ample time to look for science jobs, finish writing my doctoral thesis, and participate in a demanding sport at high level. Juggling those things with a job as a professional waitress or behind a bar not only wouldn't have paid the bills, it wouldn't have left time to pursue a professional career.''
But she concedes it's ''a bit odd'' how her priorities work out.
''I think my moral compass is different from a lot of people's. I don't find it acceptable to take things from other people if you have literally any other option. I think it comes from my parents ... [after I was born] they went onto welfare for six months and I remember my father telling me this as if it was the most shaming thing that ever happened to him.''
Soon after starting as a call girl she found a day job as a computer programmer. It was boring, quiet and staffed by introverted male geeks. ''I kept escorting because it was a lot more interesting than my job,'' Magnanti says. For example, she had a hilarious afternoon with a photographer taking pictures for her agency's website. ''It was awkward and weird and the pictures are absolutely terrible,'' Magnanti says. ''I was thinking, I would love to tell my friends that, but you can't explain the situation without telling them everything else that's going on.''
So she started the blog. She had online exchanges with other sex bloggers - a porn star, a dominatrix, a stripper. ''It was like publicly comparing notes ... the way you'd get together with your friends and bitch about your bosses.''
The blog became a book, and sequels, and the television series. She moved on from escort work. It all went swimmingly, until she was unmasked.
In 2009, a tabloid got wind of her true identity after years of wild speculation. She decided to head them off by going to The Times.
The first problem was telling her parents. They were in the middle of another family crisis (her cousin had been kidnapped and held for ransom, chained to a tree in Ecuador). Magnanti had to quickly update them on her secret life.
''I realised I'd lost out on a certain relationship with my mother by not being able to be honest with her. She went out and bought all the books and then she gave them to my gran, and I was horrified, but she was like, 'Oh come on. Your grandmother was a nurse in the war and she's had five kids. She knows what goes where.'''
The real blow was the media backlash. She expected it from the tabloids. But she didn't expect a feminist bloc to pour vitriol over her in the broadsheets, accusing her of supporting hatred of, and violence against, women because she refused to be ashamed of her past.
''It was very personal,'' she says. '''You, Brooke Magnanti, you cannot be a feminist. You specifically are not a feminist.' Having a bit of your identity publicly denied and taken away like that was very hurtful.''
So she decided, OK, she wouldn't call herself a feminist. It puts her in interesting company. New Yahoo! chief executive Marissa Mayer recently said she wouldn't call herself a feminist. There seems to be a new school of not-feminists, tired of angry lectures on the patriarchy, though passionate about equality.
Magnanti's latest book, 2012's The Sex Myth, has again riled feminists. She applied scientific analysis to myths that have grown up about sex, exposing the lack of hard evidence for claims such as ''the porn industry objectifies women and leads to abuse'', ''strip clubs lead to a rise in sexual assault'', ''internet porn is harming children'', and the extent of sex addiction, sexual dysfunction and sex trafficking.
She provocatively brands old-school feminists as ''agenda setters'', like pharmaceutical companies or evangelist groups, who manipulate, distort or invent statistics to advance their cause, entrenching these myths.
She doesn't see it as a top-down conspiracy, just belief systems and practical needs distorting people's judgment. Behind it all, she thinks, a new conservatism has erased much of the sexual revolution.
''Our parents were more open-minded than we are,'' she says. ''I cannot believe sometimes that some of the people I end up debating [with] are the same age as me. I think, did you not live through the early '90s? That shit was freaky!''
Magnanti's position on sex work is like her position on sex. ''You could call it a simplistic view, but it basically comes down to: is everybody consenting to this?'' she says. ''Is everybody an adult? Is everybody alive? Is everybody human?''
She knows consent is tricky. Circumstances - often financial - make all of us do things we otherwise wouldn't. ''This is where a lot of opponents to sex work have a problem,'' she says. ''I think they believe that there will be some amazing revolution where people only make decisions uninfluenced by anything that goes on in human society.
''I get very frustrated. [Sex workers] don't have very many choices, so what we need to do is take their choices away?''
Magnanti's Twitter feed is, she sort-of jokes, ''basically hooker CNN with a bit of knitting and homebrew''. She believes the information age helps expose the shaky foundations of the agenda setters, hopefully leading to more rational public dialogue.
''You have to remain hopeful because if you lose hope ... why do anything?'' she says. ''I would just stay under my duvet all day.''
After the success of 'Fifty Shades of Grey', Magnanti's publisher asked her if she wanted to write a ''saucy book''. She said no. ''It wouldn't work. People would see it as being cynical, and it would be cynical.''
But still, Magnanti sometimes wonders if she should have written her life as a novel, to avoid the political blowback.
''I should have fictionalised my experiences, then people would love it,'' she says.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Spring Arts Preview 2013: Classical Music
Dateline: Paris, 1913. Russian composer Igor Stravinsky debuts his orchestral ballet The Rite of Spring (with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky) to a packed and eagerly awaiting house at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. But the audience is reportedly so confused and infuriated by the dissonant chords, unusual time signatures and freaky tonal structures that it begins to riot, rendering the music nearly inaudible. Such is the curse of being ahead of your time—since then, the piece has become revered as one of the most influential of all time.
The year’s only local performance of The Rite of Spring already happened (at Meany Hall in January), but this spring offers several chances to experience the trailblazing composer’s other notable work.
The Seattle Symphony brings Stravinsky’s music to the stage twice: First, in a mixed-bill matinee featuring his Concertino for String Quartet (4/14; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St.; 206.215.4747; seattlesymphony.org), a jarring piece that may test even his most die-hard fans; and second, his masterful, sweeping Firebird Suite (4/18 and 4/20), which first established him as a composer of note (this was before the Rite of Spring ruckus).
In May, as part of the Director’s Choice bill (5/31–6/9; McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St.; 206.441.2424; pnb.org), Pacific Northwest Ballet presents Stravinsky’s “Agon,” which he composed for legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Stravinsky’s love of abstract experimentation is in full evidence here. He based the piece in a “12-tone technique,” meaning all notes of the scale are emphasized equally; hence, the music is neither major nor minor, and has no set key. Listen carefully to his inventive genius—but monitor yourself for riotous impulses.
The year’s only local performance of The Rite of Spring already happened (at Meany Hall in January), but this spring offers several chances to experience the trailblazing composer’s other notable work.
The Seattle Symphony brings Stravinsky’s music to the stage twice: First, in a mixed-bill matinee featuring his Concertino for String Quartet (4/14; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St.; 206.215.4747; seattlesymphony.org), a jarring piece that may test even his most die-hard fans; and second, his masterful, sweeping Firebird Suite (4/18 and 4/20), which first established him as a composer of note (this was before the Rite of Spring ruckus).
In May, as part of the Director’s Choice bill (5/31–6/9; McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St.; 206.441.2424; pnb.org), Pacific Northwest Ballet presents Stravinsky’s “Agon,” which he composed for legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Stravinsky’s love of abstract experimentation is in full evidence here. He based the piece in a “12-tone technique,” meaning all notes of the scale are emphasized equally; hence, the music is neither major nor minor, and has no set key. Listen carefully to his inventive genius—but monitor yourself for riotous impulses.
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Sweet Revenge
Oh, thank goodness — these past two weeks of boring booty talk were just prepping us for the return of the off-the-wall craziness this group of women does so well!
Right off the bat, we’re given a nice juxtaposition of Kenya actually working out versus Phaedra’s talk of working out as they both start preparing for their competing butt-related workout videos. Since she literally cannot help but tell everyone in her line of vision about Phaedra’s unwillingness to pay her, Kenya informs her trainer, Mumbles McGee, that she is making a workout video. He agrees that no one wants to see a “chunky doody on a doggone video tape” — they want inspiration! They want Kenya!
Meanwhile, Phaedra is strapped into a peapod-green spandex halter getting her picture taken in a celebrity photographer’s dungeon with Apollo. She thinks that the packaging is more important than the actual workout she keeps threatening to unleash, so they engage in a number of classy poses like his ACTUALLY BENDING OVER AND MOUNTING PHAEDRA, and Phaedra licking Apollo’s shirtless body. So far, the only workout I will get with these two are the 2,000 calories I burn each week by laughing at their misguided attempts to be relevant. In the meantime, Kenya tosses around a medicine ball while doing crunches and discussing production values. There is no doubt that Kenya stole this idea, but I am intrigued by how much better equipped she is to actually see it through to completion. I have no horse in the stallion-versus-donkey race, but I’m probably not going to get much of a workout with the couple masking foreplay as a pathway to getting rid of my bingo wings.
Taking a cue from all of the other stretched-entirely-too-thin Housewives, Cynthia has now decided to get into pageants, as most of the people who come to her agency won’t have a snowball's chance in hell of actually becoming professional models. Rodney, the director of the Bailey Agency School of Fashion House of Pancakes, looks on as Cynthia meets with Cy, a delightful pageant imp brought in to tell Cynthia how to squeeze between $75 to $1,200 out of hopeful, desperate Georgians. Cynthia’s pen burst into flames as she quickly scrawled notes on what to charge for pictures, talent, makeup artists, and hairstylists; her eyes turned into dollar signs and strained against her skull, not unlike a cartoon wolf in a zoot suit salivating when a woman walks by. I’m actually really disappointed by this; I know that her agency needs to make money, but this pay- to-play pageant business just seems purposefully exploitative.
For some reason, Porsha agrees to meet Kenya for lunch even though they hate each other, and the inevitable shit show ensues. Porsha comments on the weirdness of the meeting, but Kenya insists she’s just looking out for Porsha since Phaedra is clearly taking advantage of her friendship. Porsha (surprisingly! accurately!) tells Kenya that she’s not a pawn, and she does not want to be part of this he said/she said malarkey. Naturally, Kenya cannot take being shut down, so she raises her voice; they both make a scene, grab their bags, and take it to the street, where Porsha insults Kenya’s ashy feet and sashays away on her hideous wedge sneakers, proving that there is no real winner in this fight.
NeNe and Gregg trampled around a furniture shop filled with alpaca goat footstools and bronzed monkey paws giving the middle finger looking for “ass-essories” while they simultaneously broke glass globes and thoroughly bored a doughy, humorless sales clerk, so their life in Los Angeles is still a train on the track to stardom.
Speaking of stars, Cy the Pageant Whisperer — bedecked in a casual faux-hawk, professionally ripped jeans, and a button-down Ed Hardy–esque shirt that is straining against his tan, slicked-up, distended belly — takes Cynthia to look at a potential venue for her Miss Moneybags 2012 show. For some reason ($$$), Cynthia has decided to invite Porsha along for help, since she technically runs the Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry and Homeless and the Star-Bellied Sneetches charity that Cynthia is giving a portion of her proceeds to. Both women salivate as Cy shows them crowns and sashes, since “that’s what makes the girls pay an entry fee,” and Porsha traipses around like a unicorn princess; she forcefully declares that she will be singing at the event, but frowns when Cynthia actually gives her a to-do list to help get this pageant in order. You see, all Cynthia has done is picked out a name and set up an offshore account, so she’s leaving the venue, entertainment, prizes, and contestant duties to Porsha, who, if nothing else, has absolutely demonstrated her unique ability to pay attention for five solid seconds and count as high as 40, so she’s perfect for this highly controlled and stressful job.
Elsewhere in Atlanta, Kandi rolls up to the Imperial Fez, a club that features belly dancers and food, to meet the rest of the crew. Porsha brought along her friend Shamwow! and no one sent Kandi the memo to wear a jeweled headband. There is a woman dancing around them with a lit candle on her head, but all eyes and ears are turned toward the center of the circle as they doggedly engage in a gossipy conversation about Kenya and Phaedra’s fallout from last week. Phaedra says her video is moving along, and not to worry about her, America! She knows everyone “from the vice-president on down and even Tyler Perry a little bit,” so she is sure to be successful in this and all of her dreams. As Porsha rehashes the lunch she had with Kenya earlier in the week, Kandi "Voice of Reason" Burress jams some grape leaves in her maw and quietly asks why the fuck she would agree to do that when they clearly hate each other. Porsha changes the subject to her crucial role as pageant songstress, giving everyone an opportunity to put her on the spot and ask her to belt out a tune. Kandi points out that everyone in Atlanta thinks they can sing, and I have to agree that it must be annoying for someone like her (who has actual vocal talent) to live in a city where everyone thinks they’re the next Whitney Houston. Shamwow! encourages Porsha, who managed to compare her sound to “Mary J. Blige, Beyoncè, and Rihanna” with a straight face, and after hearing her warble out exactly TWO NOTES before she was saved by the belly-dancing bell, I hope each of those singers hires a Wiccan high priestess to cast a spell forbidding their names from ever coming out of Porsha’s mouth again for the duration of her life, even in casual conversation.
Over in Los Angeles, NeNe tries to meet with her acting coach, Lee, and is momentarily thwarted once she sees Lee’s dogs in the yard. After the dogs are sequestered, Lee talks to NeNe about whether or not she should see race in her characters, and encourages NeNe not to see color, only to see character. NeNe is worried her “super blackness” is getting in the way of her finding the “white woman in her.” I was hoping Cornel West would pop out of the bushes and trounce them both with a copy of Race Matters, but instead Lee gives a raspy laugh and thinks out loud about how funny it would be to have a Freaky Friday–style switch allowing NeNe to access the whitest of all white women, Gwyneth Paltrow. If we have to deal with NeNe in L.A., I hope Lee is in every episode, particularly after hearing her throaty “These lips are made for kissing, bitch!” directive. God bless you, Lee! I hope your Marlboro points buy you the turquoise necklace of your dreams.
Back in Atlanta, Cynthia meets Kenya on the golf course to tell her alllll about the conversation the crew had at Imperial Fez the night before. This is why I cannot stand Cynthia; for all of her talk of loyalty, she is the shadiest motherfucker on the playground. Who is she actually friends with, and why does she feel it is her role to fill everyone in on every conversation? Do you remember last season in Africa when she practically broke her ankles running back into the room to tell NeNe and Marlo what Sheree said about them? Take a knee, Cynthia.
Later, Kenya meets Miss Lawrence at HerpDerp’s, where they have to compliment each other’s hair and outfits for two hours before they can get down to the business of drinking and gossiping. They immediately move the conversation to Phaedra and how she is going around town telling people that Kenya has a drinking problem, needs medication, and is chemically imbalanced. Lawrence points out that Phaedra never reveals anything about her past, making her a bad friend, and that he personally dislikes her because she apparently doesn’t like men who wear high heels. My favorite diss was Lawrence saying that Phaedra “is not up to par with what she should look like as a woman of 2012,” as if she should be floating around in a motorized bubble à la Judy Jetson.
Finally, Kenya and Porsha face off at NeNe’s charity event for Shoedazzle. Cynthia rolls in with her biggest Diane Ross–circa–Every Day Is a New Day weave; Derek, with his hot-dog pack of a neck, asks NeNe why she was not wearing her own shoe. As they’re driving in, Kenya and Lawrence exchange a bunch of “mmm hmmms” and “yes ma’ams” while discussing how Kenya’s outfit was going to shut Phaedra right up. When the outfit (if you can call it that) is fully revealed, we can see that Kenya went to comical lengths to prove her ability to laugh off her haters by wearing a giant wedding-cake hat, a deep-V bathing suit with a fishnet cover-up, and visible booty pads stuck to her ass. She looked like a cross between Sindel from Mortal Kombat and an extra from J.Lo’s “On the Floor” video. It was brutal. At first, NeNe was pissed — this was a charity event! — but she eventually fell out laughing. Kenya put her stanky, exposed butt crack directly down on a plush chair that any decent venue would burn immediately after she left, and started yelling at Phaedra about the slanderous claims she has been making all over town. Kenya finally insults Phaedra by saying she shouldn’t even be doing a workout video because “her body isn’t there,” even if she claimed in her confessional that she would never tell Phaedra her body “looked like shit.” Um, you just did.
What else happened? What about next week — why is Walter back on the scene? Why is Kandi “Queen of the Dildos” Burress singing gospel now? Why are Cynthia and Porsha fighting? Why is Bravo putting me on an emotional seesaw by showing Kenya getting a biopsy? There is a lot to discuss — see you next week!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Grimes @ The Corner Hotel,Melbourne (05/12/2012)
So Claire Boucher is a star. The 24-year-old’s emergence as the genre-taunting Grimes
has confirmed a few things that I was beginning to suspect, but namely
this: Charisma counts for a hell of a lot. Boucher has released an
ever-more assured string of releases in seemingly no time at all, but
I’d hazard to say that the main reason that we’re all crammed into the
low-slung surrounds of the Corner’s bandroom on a Wednesday night is
because, quite simply, she is compelling.
Supported by [aa.artist:Geoffrey O’Connor], Boucher was playing the
first of two sold-out shows at the Corner prior to her Meredith
appearance over the weekend. Boucher, rocking a super-endearing
teen-with-a-crush lisp, announced that, “Melbourne is officially the
farthest I’ve ever been from Canada”, and her excitement was palpable.
Hype being hype, Boucher had attracted a pretty eclectic crowd. There
were kindred spirits: Hardcore fans, cosplay types, queer kids and
crusties; there were envious musicians and sceney types, trying to
figure out whether to hate or to take notes; and there was the more
workaday set, looking for a beer and a chat while some freaky shit went
down onstage. All got what they came for.
But firstly, a word on Geoffrey O’Connor.
O’Connor, as always, was suave, absurd and a bewildering sight for
the uninitiated. As always, every song sounded like a hit from a
parallel universe, with his new material sliding in seamlessly alongside
tracks from last year’s excellent Vanity Is Forever.
Borderline piss-take? Yes. A seriously limited singing voice? Yes. Best
pop songsmith in Australia right now? Arguably, yes. The second-coming
of the Fariss brothers? Steady on now…
The move from bedroom producer to international headliner has been
rapid for Boucher: She would have been forgiven for palming off some
responsibility for her multi-layered compositions to a backing band, but
here she stubbornly takes on much of the keyboards, vocals, and sample
triggers herself. What’s more, rather than settling for the
not-unimpressive task of bringing her studio compositions to life,
Boucher takes great pleasure in stretching, extending, distending and
deconstructing her songs, even dancing gleefully throughout. It leads to
a decent number of glitches (the expletive-laden, and yet somehow
endearing, monitor-related meltdown in final song ‘Be A Body’ was the
most conspicuous example), but it also ensures that the set rises above
the karaoke-ish vibe that often afflicts programming-heavy acts when
performing live. Helping out in this regard were a pair of bodacious
dancers, looking like hallucinations from Game Of Thrones, who stepped out of the heavy blue mist to throw shapes while Boucher operates her console.
‘Oblivion’, given an airing early in the set, was given a startling
new dubstep outro; great polyphonic choirs of Grimeses connected one
song to the next; and piercing bleeps, squawks and drones periodically
shot through the room at unexpected intervals. The newly renovated songs
remind you that for all her K-Pop influences and the crossover
potential of Visions, Grimes’ instincts still tend towards
“witch-house”, or “grave-rave”, or whatever term we’re currently using
to describe dark, gauzy electronica with dance beats that aren’t really
for dancing. This was fine, as the pop moments forced their way through
anyway. Boucher’s solo take on ‘Phone Sex’ (a collaboration with Blood
Diamonds) was one such moment, a strangely effective, straight-faced
appropriation of seminal ’90s band The Vengaboys.
This was perhaps the most striking thing about Boucher’s performance –
its sincerity. She flagged that she had no intention of doing “the
thing where I go offstage, then you all clap, then I come back onstage”,
and requested the audience’s approval to ignore said ritual (there was
approval). When the beat finally kicked in during ‘Genesis’, Boucher
danced like a kid at a slumber party, feeding off the audience’s
excitement.
Her eclectic, up-to-the-minute influences and
so-unpretentious-it’s-pretentious tastes have led to back-handed labels
such as “post-interne”’, and a general suspicion that Grimes is a little
too good to be true. Not so. Boucher came across as a fan, as in love
with the music that she was channelling as her audience was with her
(excluding the talkative bros that the dotted the periphery of the
room). Boucher’s enthusiasm – and her charisma – were infectious.
Monday, November 26, 2012
$100bn in LNG investments ‘hang in the balance’: Chevron
The man at the helm of Rio Tinto’s China operations, Ian Bauert, has
warned that Australia risks underachieving during the Asian century due
to high costs and falling productivity.
As Chevron said more than $100 billion in LNG investments in
Australia “hang in the balance”, Mr Bauert said Australia had become the
miner’s most expensive place to do business after being the cheapest
five years ago.
He said Australia had to correct serious shortcomings to realise the aspirations set out in the Asian Century white paper.
The problems included competitiveness, productivity, infrastructure investments and attracting foreign capital.
“Unless the focus of future debate is on addressing such issues, my
feeling is we are likely to fall behind and seriously underachieve our
potential in the Asian century,” Mr Bauert told the University of
Western Australia’s In The Zone conference in Perth.
A series of resource companies have cited costs as reason for pulling back from projects.
Chevron is expected to next week release updated costs for its Gorgon
development. The budget for the nation’s biggest ever resource project
reportedly may have blown out by $20 billion to more than $60 billion.
Chevron Australian managing director Roy Krzywosinski said the LNG
industry’s confidence in making major capital investments was being hit
by the current fiscal environment.
“Most industry and political observers suspect further tax imposts on the industry,” Mr Krzywosinski told the conference.
“This should worry anyone who is interested in Australia securing long-term investment.”
He said the carbon tax had “imposed another cost not borne by overseas competitors”.
Australia was at a “cross roads” and government and resource
companies needed to work together to find ways to improve long term
competitiveness.
Woodside and NAB chairman Michael Chaney told the conference that
Australia would only get an acceptable level of economic growth through
improving productivity.
He said Australia had been able to grow in the past decade because of
high terms of trade, high levels of investment and strong population
and workforce growth. This however was masking the impact of declining
productivity.
He said further tax reform was also needed.
Monday, November 12, 2012
An interview with surfing's 14-year-old phenom, Jack Robinson
Kelly
Slater says, "He charges. He rips. He has a bowl cut. And his dad
doesn't let him hang out with other kids unattended. For his age, Jack's
pretty freaky at barrel riding and airs."
Not a bad claim by the Champ for the youngster with a Greenough hairdo and seemingly limitless potential. Jack Robinson grew up on the slabs of Western Australia, looking up to Yadin, Taj and hard-charging Dino Adrian, meaning his ocean-sense appears to come about as naturally as John John Florence's did at 14.
"I surfed with Jack in WA and the kid's the real deal," Grant 'Twiggy' Baker notes. "What stood out most for me was his composure in the lineup and that he was fully in control and getting the best waves."
OK, so it's clear: the kid can surf. But how well?
"He is a very freakish natural talent, especially in the tube, but his air game is also phenomenal," Jack's WA idol, Taj Burrow admits. "He's incredible...I think he'd have to be the best in the world for his age."
After hearing such credible testimony, and witnessing firsthand his uncanny knack for the tube last winter on the North Shore, Surfline decided to wrangle the little Aussie up to our office while Robinson was in town for the U.S. Open and sit him down to dig for more. Here's what he had to say...
Where did you grow up? In Margaret River, West Australia...it's a little town. I've been surfing there for ages. I've seen tons of good waves. But they've all been exposed...everyone knows about them now. It's pretty remote down there.
Yeah, it's like three hours from Perth. That's the biggest city. But it's pretty small still. Do you like that about Margaret's? Yeah, it's good. You don't have to look at so many humans everywhere.
How did you start surfing? I actually learned to surf in Perth when I was really young on my foamie at this little wave behind this small island. So I surfed that for a while and then went on to bigger and bigger waves. I upgraded myself. How old were you on your foamie? About three-and-a-half or four. Yeah, my dad was pushing me in...it was good. So did you go straight to The Box? No way! You'd drown out there. That wave is sketchy. I upgraded to the Rivermouth. I live on the river about four blocks up so I paddle down sometimes. It's a pretty good little wave. What was it like to progress from the Rivermouth to The Box? I started surfing North Point before that. The Ledge, though -- right in the inside at North Point. And then I surfed Gas Bay a little bit. I didn't really like Gas as much when I was younger. I used to surf the beaches more, not the reef. And then I progressed to The Box. I was maybe twelve, I think. It wasn't that big, though. But it's so much easier when it's bigger because you get the roll in. When it's small you can get hurt out there. It goes right on the inside and just clamps. A guy ripped his face off out there not too long ago. Have you had any gnarly wipeouts out there? I've gotten smashed a few times. You do hit the reef. But you don't want to go diving there and see what's down there. Some big sharks live down there, too. Big Brucey, eh? So were you scared the first time you surfed there? It was small, but I was like, "I hope it doesn't get too solid; this place is pretty heavy." The first time I surfed it heavy and everyone was out there like Dino Adrian and all of them. I'd go but I didn't charge too hard. I'd go over the falls and eat it. They'd tell me to go on the wrong ones.
Who are some of the West Oz guys you grew up looking up to? We'd go up to Yallingup a bit when I was younger. I used to surf up there and see Taj surfing Rabbit's. And I surfed with Yadin a lot when I was younger. But he doesn't live there anymore. He's an American now. Who are your favorite surfers?
I don't know...everyone. There's too many to name. Well, Andy had the best style for a while there. And John John is blowing everyone's minds now. Who gets you most psyched when you see them surf? Everyone in the videos. Like Trilogy, Lost Atlas and all that. I do get psyched to surf watching movies, but I get psyched by myself too. I get all worked up...just get frothed up by myself. Where have you traveled around the world to go surfing?
Indo a bit...a few boat trips to the Mentawais. Hawaii, France, Spain. And where else? Reunion Island -- I went there last year. And then California. Oh...Bali. The east coast of Australia. The Goldie. That's about it. Tahiti and Fiji are to come, I reckon. That'd be good. What do you do when you're not surfing?
I go fishing all the time. I got a jetski now so I'll probably go fishing even more. But it'd be scary because there'd probably be so many big fish coming up and bumping it. There are some big ones out there...big Whites. What else do we do? I play ping-pong. Go exploring...have a look around. Where we live, it's good to have a look around because we live in a national park. You're not doing a whole lot of contests right now, but will you eventually have competitive goals? Yeah. I'm just developing my surfing right now. So I'm just getting better and having fun. I'm gonna do more contests coming up. But right now I'm just focusing on my surfing. Focusing on getting better. Who cuts your hair? Oh, my dad always does that. He's good at it. I give him a few little tips and stuff, like how to do the front. Everyone says it's a bowl cut. It's not a bowl cut. It's a half-bowl cut. Have you heard of George Greenough? Yeah. He catches sharks. He used to live in Byron Bay. Isn't he embedded down there, in the pavement, in the Hall of Fame? Yeah. Is that where you got your inspiration? Or you just don't want your hair in your face when you surf? Yeah, I cut it for that reason as well. There are a few reasons. Everyone likes it so I'll just keep it like that. Might as well. Kind of like Dane Gudauskas too. Yeah, the Gudauskas' vibe. Did you see Tanner's haircut in Margaret's? That was a good Gudauskas vibe we had going there. I was part of their clan...their little brother. Onshore or offshore?
Umm...texture. Textured water. Half onshore, half glassy, half offshore. Onshore and offshore are both good at waves like North Point because you can do airs and get barreled. When it's onshore, there are the biggest air sections ever. Where do you think surfing will progress five years from now? Guys will probably be surfing Code Red swells in contests...like Teahupoo last year. But, yeah, they'll probably be doing crazy turns and different grabs and airs. Speaking of Code Red, do you think they should have run the Fiji comp that big day? They probably could have. But I don't think anyone wanted to go out there. That was gnarly. It would have been good to see the contest in that.
You're fourteen? When do you turn fifteen? The 27th of December. What's it like competing against guys that are five, six years older than you? It's way better for your surfing.
Who is your biggest competition? I don't know. It's yet to come.
Anything else people should know about Jack Robinson? I don't know. I think I said me life, didn't I?
Source http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/an-interview-with-surfing%27s-14-year-old-phenom,-jack-robinson-1_77234
Not a bad claim by the Champ for the youngster with a Greenough hairdo and seemingly limitless potential. Jack Robinson grew up on the slabs of Western Australia, looking up to Yadin, Taj and hard-charging Dino Adrian, meaning his ocean-sense appears to come about as naturally as John John Florence's did at 14.
"I surfed with Jack in WA and the kid's the real deal," Grant 'Twiggy' Baker notes. "What stood out most for me was his composure in the lineup and that he was fully in control and getting the best waves."
OK, so it's clear: the kid can surf. But how well?
"He is a very freakish natural talent, especially in the tube, but his air game is also phenomenal," Jack's WA idol, Taj Burrow admits. "He's incredible...I think he'd have to be the best in the world for his age."
After hearing such credible testimony, and witnessing firsthand his uncanny knack for the tube last winter on the North Shore, Surfline decided to wrangle the little Aussie up to our office while Robinson was in town for the U.S. Open and sit him down to dig for more. Here's what he had to say...
Where did you grow up? In Margaret River, West Australia...it's a little town. I've been surfing there for ages. I've seen tons of good waves. But they've all been exposed...everyone knows about them now. It's pretty remote down there.
Yeah, it's like three hours from Perth. That's the biggest city. But it's pretty small still. Do you like that about Margaret's? Yeah, it's good. You don't have to look at so many humans everywhere.
How did you start surfing? I actually learned to surf in Perth when I was really young on my foamie at this little wave behind this small island. So I surfed that for a while and then went on to bigger and bigger waves. I upgraded myself. How old were you on your foamie? About three-and-a-half or four. Yeah, my dad was pushing me in...it was good. So did you go straight to The Box? No way! You'd drown out there. That wave is sketchy. I upgraded to the Rivermouth. I live on the river about four blocks up so I paddle down sometimes. It's a pretty good little wave. What was it like to progress from the Rivermouth to The Box? I started surfing North Point before that. The Ledge, though -- right in the inside at North Point. And then I surfed Gas Bay a little bit. I didn't really like Gas as much when I was younger. I used to surf the beaches more, not the reef. And then I progressed to The Box. I was maybe twelve, I think. It wasn't that big, though. But it's so much easier when it's bigger because you get the roll in. When it's small you can get hurt out there. It goes right on the inside and just clamps. A guy ripped his face off out there not too long ago. Have you had any gnarly wipeouts out there? I've gotten smashed a few times. You do hit the reef. But you don't want to go diving there and see what's down there. Some big sharks live down there, too. Big Brucey, eh? So were you scared the first time you surfed there? It was small, but I was like, "I hope it doesn't get too solid; this place is pretty heavy." The first time I surfed it heavy and everyone was out there like Dino Adrian and all of them. I'd go but I didn't charge too hard. I'd go over the falls and eat it. They'd tell me to go on the wrong ones.
Who are some of the West Oz guys you grew up looking up to? We'd go up to Yallingup a bit when I was younger. I used to surf up there and see Taj surfing Rabbit's. And I surfed with Yadin a lot when I was younger. But he doesn't live there anymore. He's an American now. Who are your favorite surfers?
I don't know...everyone. There's too many to name. Well, Andy had the best style for a while there. And John John is blowing everyone's minds now. Who gets you most psyched when you see them surf? Everyone in the videos. Like Trilogy, Lost Atlas and all that. I do get psyched to surf watching movies, but I get psyched by myself too. I get all worked up...just get frothed up by myself. Where have you traveled around the world to go surfing?
Indo a bit...a few boat trips to the Mentawais. Hawaii, France, Spain. And where else? Reunion Island -- I went there last year. And then California. Oh...Bali. The east coast of Australia. The Goldie. That's about it. Tahiti and Fiji are to come, I reckon. That'd be good. What do you do when you're not surfing?
I go fishing all the time. I got a jetski now so I'll probably go fishing even more. But it'd be scary because there'd probably be so many big fish coming up and bumping it. There are some big ones out there...big Whites. What else do we do? I play ping-pong. Go exploring...have a look around. Where we live, it's good to have a look around because we live in a national park. You're not doing a whole lot of contests right now, but will you eventually have competitive goals? Yeah. I'm just developing my surfing right now. So I'm just getting better and having fun. I'm gonna do more contests coming up. But right now I'm just focusing on my surfing. Focusing on getting better. Who cuts your hair? Oh, my dad always does that. He's good at it. I give him a few little tips and stuff, like how to do the front. Everyone says it's a bowl cut. It's not a bowl cut. It's a half-bowl cut. Have you heard of George Greenough? Yeah. He catches sharks. He used to live in Byron Bay. Isn't he embedded down there, in the pavement, in the Hall of Fame? Yeah. Is that where you got your inspiration? Or you just don't want your hair in your face when you surf? Yeah, I cut it for that reason as well. There are a few reasons. Everyone likes it so I'll just keep it like that. Might as well. Kind of like Dane Gudauskas too. Yeah, the Gudauskas' vibe. Did you see Tanner's haircut in Margaret's? That was a good Gudauskas vibe we had going there. I was part of their clan...their little brother. Onshore or offshore?
Umm...texture. Textured water. Half onshore, half glassy, half offshore. Onshore and offshore are both good at waves like North Point because you can do airs and get barreled. When it's onshore, there are the biggest air sections ever. Where do you think surfing will progress five years from now? Guys will probably be surfing Code Red swells in contests...like Teahupoo last year. But, yeah, they'll probably be doing crazy turns and different grabs and airs. Speaking of Code Red, do you think they should have run the Fiji comp that big day? They probably could have. But I don't think anyone wanted to go out there. That was gnarly. It would have been good to see the contest in that.
You're fourteen? When do you turn fifteen? The 27th of December. What's it like competing against guys that are five, six years older than you? It's way better for your surfing.
Who is your biggest competition? I don't know. It's yet to come.
Anything else people should know about Jack Robinson? I don't know. I think I said me life, didn't I?
Source http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/an-interview-with-surfing%27s-14-year-old-phenom,-jack-robinson-1_77234
Friday, August 3, 2012
Tips for avoiding West Nile Virus
The Alabama Department of Public Health has confirmed four positive
cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in horses located in Dallas
County. There have been additional reports of cases in horses in Elmore
and Montgomery counties; however, laboratory confirmation has not been
performed.
In Baldwin and Mobile counties, four sentinel chickens have tested
positive for West Nile virus. The three sentinel chickens that tested
positive for WNV in Baldwin County were located in Gulf Shores, Magnolia
Springs and Perdido Beach. One sentinel chicken was positive for WNV in
the BelleFontaine area of South Mobile County.
Public Health receives positive case reports from the Alabama
Department of Agriculture and Industries, and the agencies work together
to identify areas of arboviral disease with in the state.
According to Dr. Dee W. Jones, State Public Health Veterinarian, the
significance of positive horses and chickens means the virus is present
in the mosquito population. He warns that the same mosquitoes that
infect animals pose a risk to humans. The confirmation of viral activity
is very common in the summer and fall months. Positive case counts in
the state vary from year to year based on mosquito populations. The
virus can only be spread through the bite of a mosquito and not from and
animal.
“With many people enjoying outdoor activities, it is important that
residents take every effort to reduce their exposure to mosquitoes,”
said Jones. “Keep your mosquito repellent with you at all times when you
are working or participating in recreational activities outdoors.”
Mosquitoes transmit EEE, WNV and other mosquito-born viruses after
they feed on birds. The same mosquitoes can then infect mammals,
particularly humans and horses, which can become seriously ill from the
infection.
Transmission to humans and horses can be decreased by persons taking
steps to avoid mosquitoes and by the use of WNV and EEE vaccine in
horses. According to Jones, although there is no vaccine available for
humans, vaccination for horses is very important in preventing infection
in these animals.
Since mosquitoes are commonly found throughout much of Alabama,
health officials offer practical strategies for the mosquito season:
Clothing and aromatics
•Wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothes to help prevent mosquitoes
from reaching the skin and to retain less heat, making yourself less
“attractive” to mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are more attracted to dark
colors.
•When possible, wear long sleeves and long pants.
•Avoid perfumes, colognes, fragrant hair sprays lotions and soaps, which attract mosquitoes.
Repellants
•Follow the label instructions when applying repellents. Permethrin
repellents are only for clothes –not for application in the skin.
•When using repellents, avoid contact with the eyes, lips and nasal
membranes. Use concentrations of less than 10 percent when applying
DEET-contatining products on children.
•Apply DEET repellent on arms, legs and other exposed areas but never under clothing.
•After returning indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water.
•Citronella candles and repellents containing citronella can help,
but their range is limited. Herbals such as cedar, geranium, pennyroyal,
lavender, cinnamon and garlic are not very effective.
Around the home
•Mosquito activity peaks at dusk and again at dawn; restrict outdoor activity during these hours.
•Keep windows and door screens in good condition. Replace porch lights with yellow light bulbs that will attract fewer insects.
•Mosquitoes breed in standing water; empty all water from old tires,
cans, jars, buckets, drums, plastic wading pools, toys and other
containers.
•Clean clogged gutters.
•Remove the rim from potted plants and replace water in plant/flower vases weekly.
•Replenish pet watering dishes and rinse bird baths twice weekly.
•Fill tree holes and depressions left by fallen trees with dirt or sand.
•Stock ornamental ponds with mosquito fish (ones that eat mosquitoes
in their larval and pupae stages) or use larvacidal “doughnuts” which
gradually kill mosquitoes.
It is important to do a careful inspeaction around the house to be sure nothing hilds water for longer than three days.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Rifts split Syria’s opposition at Cairo meeting
Syrian opposition groups struggled to
form a united leadership Tuesday at a meeting in Cairo that exposed the
vast disagreements that have prevented them from effectively leading the
uprising against President Bashar Assad.
The conference ended late Tuesday with
an agreement on two documents, both of them vague. One provides a
general outline to guide the opposition through a transitional period,
while the other lays out the fundamental principles envisioned for a
post-Assad Syria.
The delegates agreed in general terms on
support for the Free Syrian Army, the dissolution of the ruling Baath
Party and the exclusion of Assad or other senior regime figures from a
place in the transition.
But they failed to reach an agreement on forming a unified body to represent the opposition.
Arguments were rife among the roughly
250 conference participants over key questions, including whether to ask
for foreign military intervention to halt the violence and what role
religion would play in a post-Assad Syria.
In other developments Tuesday, Assad
told a Turkish newspaper that he regretted that Syria shot down a
Turkish warplane last month, and a U.S.-based human rights group said
the Damascus regime was running a network of torture centers across the
country, citing victims’ accounts of beatings, sexual assaults and
electric shocks.
Opposition group members interviewed at
the Cairo conference by The Associated Press brought into sharp relief
their vast disagreements on issues not addressed in the draft charter,
suggesting it papered over the divisions that have prevented them from
presenting a united front to the international community.
"It’s very dangerous at this point,"
said Abdel-Aziz al-Khayyar, who spent 14 years in Syrian prisons and is
now part of the Syrian National Coordination Body. "If we fail to unify
as the opposition, it is the greatest gift to the regime."
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tunisia's Leader: Activist, Exile And Now President
Tunisia's president is a former doctor and human-rights activist who was
jailed under the previous regime. In an interview with NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, he says expectations are high and jobs are scarce following last year's Arab Spring revolution.
NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep is taking a
Revolutionary Road Trip across North Africa to see how the countries
that staged revolutions last year are remaking themselves as they write
new social rules, rebuild their economies and establish new political
systems. Steve and his team are traveling some 2,000 miles from
Tunisia's ancient city of Carthage, across the deserts of Libya and on
to Egypt's megacity of Cairo. In Tunisia, he sat down with the country's
new president, Moncef Marzouki.
Decades ago, the founder of
modern Tunisia built a palace for himself. Habib Bourguiba managed to
peacefully win his country's independence from France in 1956, and then
proceeded to monopolize political power for three decades, a fact
represented by his palace.
The palace is a complex of buildings on
a spectacular site, facing the Mediterranean Sea and beside the ruins
of ancient Carthage. Visitors arrive through iron gates into a courtyard
vast enough to bring London's Buckingham Palace to mind.
From
there they enter through a hall decorated with grand columns, and wait
for the president in a special room with green stuffed furniture and a
Romanesque mosaic on the wall.
At some point, Bourguiba had his
portrait painted. Unlike so many leaders who have had themselves
portrayed as solemnly gazing up and into the distance as if seeing the
future, Bourguiba is smiling brilliantly. And he's also gazing up and
into the distance as if seeing the future.
In 1987, one of
Bourguiba's aides deposed him in a bloodless coup. Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali took charge of the palace, and the portrait of the smiling Bourguiba
disappeared.
Then, in early 2011, Ben Ali was ousted by
protesters and took up exile in Saudi Arabia. The new occupants of the
palace discovered the old portrait of Bourguiba and hung it up in the
entrance hall. The smiling face greeted us as we walked in to interview
Moncef Marzouki, the new president.
Marzouki seemed out of place when he arrived to sit in his predecessor's spectacularly overstuffed chair.
Rather
than being a strongman, he's a soft-spoken doctor and human-rights
activist who was jailed for several months by Ben Ali back in 1994. And
the palace no longer seems to fit the job description of its current
occupation.
The president of Tunisia no longer calls every shot.
Marzouki was chosen by the elected members of a new constitutional
assembly. And his current term, which began last December, is only
supposed to last a year while the assembly writes a new constitution.
Yet
he calls it a "dangerous year" because expectations are running high
and jobs are scarce following the revolution. When we visited, Marzouki
was wrestling with the assembly.
Preventing A New Dictatorship
We asked him how he was adjusting to his new job, whose parameters are still being defined.
"When
you have been under dictatorship for over five decades your main
problem is to prevent a new dictatorship," he said. "So now we are
discussing about how to share power between the prime minister and the
president so that no one can become dictator."
One example of this
balancing act concerns the former prime minister of neighboring Libya,
who fled to Tunisia as Moammar Gadhafi's regime was crumbling.
Tunisia's
justice minister said the former Libyan official would be returned home
for trial. But Marzouki said he would block the extradition.
"They
came to me and said, 'Mr. President, it's the national interest of
Tunisia to return this man back to Libya.' And my response is that
Tunisia has interests, but also has honor," Marzouki said. "You want to
make sure he gets a fair trial when he goes back to Libya — if he goes
at all."
The Tunisian president said his position was informed by his earlier work.
"Before
being president of Tunisia, I was a human-rights activist and I will
never return a man that I'm quite sure that he could be subjected to
torture, or the death penalty, and so forth, so I'm not going to return
him," Marzouki said.
We asked if there would have ever been such a discussion under in Tunisia under Ben Ali.
"Of course not, and you know it," he said.
A Troubled Economy
We
also asked the president about the economy, which has been struggling
since the revolution and suffers from an unemployment rate of about 18
percent.
"It's our main problem. It's a huge challenge. And we do
know that if we cannot succeed in tackling this issue — giving jobs to
people — then we can have a revolution within the revolution," he said.
"This is why we're working hard to attract investment. Because it's
really a matter of death or life for democracy in Tunisia."
As a
Mediterranean nation, Tunisia has been outward-looking and open to other
countries, including those in Europe, whose tourists have long flocked
to Tunisia's sunny beaches. But the revolution has hurt tourism and
other industries, and the president called on the West to assist Tunisia
and its troubled economy.
"We badly need the help of our friends
in Europe, in the United States, because Tunisia is now a kind of lab —
the whole Arab world is watching," he said. "This year, which is the
most dangerous year because it's the year after the revolution, and the
level of expectation is very, very high. And people are waiting for
everything — for a miracle."
The new government, he said, faced great pressure to deliver.
"People
are really expecting a rapid and massive solution to the problems," he
said. "But what we are trying to do is to tell them that now for the
first time they are free. For the first time they have no corrupt
government. For the first time they have men and women working hard to
resolve their problem and they don't have any other solution, [any]
other choice, than to wait for the result of this policy."
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
If you’re making noise, you’re making money
You’ve got to admire their tenacity. Whose tenacity? The long list of long-suffering bands, artists, and club owners attempting to create, recreate, and breathe some sort of life into a seemingly disinclined original music scene in Myrtle Beach. The latest club to tempt fate is the Sound Hole, a music venue/bar in downtown Myrtle Beach with a permanent P.A. system, a dedicated stage area, and a husband-and-wife team who work the bar, manage the business and love live, original rock ’n’ roll.
Owners Robert Rowell and his wife Shellie Rowell were both behind the bar during last week’s BBQ of Brutality, a five-band show that featured Nothing (Whiteville, N.C.), With Intent (Charleston), and Myrtle Beach acts Prowler, Circles In Autumn, and The Creepshow MoFo. “We have bands every Friday and Saturday,” said Robert Rowell. “We love anything rock ’n’ roll.”
The Sound Hole, which opened Oct. 29 at 1004 Chester Street, will be familiar to some locals who’ve visited in one of its past lives (the original Rainbow House, Two Dollar Bill’s, the Animal House, and others). The nearly 80-year-old house-turned bar/music venue oozes character, and dark rock ’n’ roll ambience. Outside the simple structure is white with blood-red trim – an ordinary looking home. Inside most of the walls are painted high-gloss black, fitting for the young crowd and bands (many in costume) at the BBQ of Brutality. With its metal motif retrofit, the bar felt like a freaky rock ’n’ roll haunted house, which I suspect was just what the Rowells were going for.
With a bit more than 30 days under its belt, the business is showing real potential, and if last week’s show was any indication, the Sound Hole has a shot at being a viable new home for young bands plying original material. “We’re slowly building,” said Shellie Rowell, a pretty woman whose face piercings, pink and black hair and tattoos helped her fit in with many of the patrons she was serving. If the anemic original music scene here in Myrtle Beach is terminal, as some have suggested, then the Rowells didn’t get the memo.
Plenty of adults mixed with the well-marked under-aged who roamed the multiple rooms (one with a pool table) and spacious open-air patio deck in back. “We’ve had a real good relationship with the police,” said Robert Rowell, who remembers things got a little dicey when the bar was The Animal House, a late-night venue in which he worked. “It [The Animal House] had a bit of a reputation,” he said. “So we went to the City of Myrtle Beach Police and said ‘We are not them. We are completely new.’ We invited them in, and have been open about everything. We’ve had a really good working relationship, and haven’t given them any reason to [worry].”
Friday’s music line-up at the Sound Hole was undetermined as of press time, but Saturday will feature Plus One, and The Izm, fresh off its battle of the bands win at Butter’s Pub, which no longer hosts live rock shows. Just as bands had found a new home in Socastee, after the closing of the Socastee Music Station, Butter’s, a sports bar/restaurant (and now former live music venue), has become the latest to pull rock ’n’ roll from its offerings. Butter’s canceled shows and removed its stage not long ago, without much comment. An employee stated last Monday, “One of the owners didn’t want [late-night music] anymore.” Another stated, “We’ll start up again with live music in the spring.” I guess we’ll see.
But the dream dies hard in Myrtle Beach.
Just before the Socastee Music Station pulled the plug on its live music, it hosted dozens of shows – some quite large – and even a fundraiser to put in a permanent “community” P.A. system, as it was called by the bands that played there. That P.A. is now at the Sound Hole, serving the bands and fans that helped purchase it.
“We got the P.A. system from The Music Station,” said Robert Rowell. “The majority of the P.A. is that same community system.” Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Chris King, or Patrick Best (Prowler), usually run sound. In addition to the weekend multi-band shows, the Sound Hole and King host open jams on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The venue also offers a variety of bar food items priced perfectly for younger patrons without deep pockets. French Fries for $1, burgers around $5, Chicken Fingers for $3.50 and a few creative, upscale offerings as well.
Open every day except Sunday, the Sound Hole has palpable energy and can get raucous. When the landlord, who lives next door, was approached by the Rowells, apologetic for a particularly loud evening, he commented, “If you’re making noise, you’re making money.”
Source http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/01/2526086/music-notes.html
Owners Robert Rowell and his wife Shellie Rowell were both behind the bar during last week’s BBQ of Brutality, a five-band show that featured Nothing (Whiteville, N.C.), With Intent (Charleston), and Myrtle Beach acts Prowler, Circles In Autumn, and The Creepshow MoFo. “We have bands every Friday and Saturday,” said Robert Rowell. “We love anything rock ’n’ roll.”
The Sound Hole, which opened Oct. 29 at 1004 Chester Street, will be familiar to some locals who’ve visited in one of its past lives (the original Rainbow House, Two Dollar Bill’s, the Animal House, and others). The nearly 80-year-old house-turned bar/music venue oozes character, and dark rock ’n’ roll ambience. Outside the simple structure is white with blood-red trim – an ordinary looking home. Inside most of the walls are painted high-gloss black, fitting for the young crowd and bands (many in costume) at the BBQ of Brutality. With its metal motif retrofit, the bar felt like a freaky rock ’n’ roll haunted house, which I suspect was just what the Rowells were going for.
With a bit more than 30 days under its belt, the business is showing real potential, and if last week’s show was any indication, the Sound Hole has a shot at being a viable new home for young bands plying original material. “We’re slowly building,” said Shellie Rowell, a pretty woman whose face piercings, pink and black hair and tattoos helped her fit in with many of the patrons she was serving. If the anemic original music scene here in Myrtle Beach is terminal, as some have suggested, then the Rowells didn’t get the memo.
Plenty of adults mixed with the well-marked under-aged who roamed the multiple rooms (one with a pool table) and spacious open-air patio deck in back. “We’ve had a real good relationship with the police,” said Robert Rowell, who remembers things got a little dicey when the bar was The Animal House, a late-night venue in which he worked. “It [The Animal House] had a bit of a reputation,” he said. “So we went to the City of Myrtle Beach Police and said ‘We are not them. We are completely new.’ We invited them in, and have been open about everything. We’ve had a really good working relationship, and haven’t given them any reason to [worry].”
Friday’s music line-up at the Sound Hole was undetermined as of press time, but Saturday will feature Plus One, and The Izm, fresh off its battle of the bands win at Butter’s Pub, which no longer hosts live rock shows. Just as bands had found a new home in Socastee, after the closing of the Socastee Music Station, Butter’s, a sports bar/restaurant (and now former live music venue), has become the latest to pull rock ’n’ roll from its offerings. Butter’s canceled shows and removed its stage not long ago, without much comment. An employee stated last Monday, “One of the owners didn’t want [late-night music] anymore.” Another stated, “We’ll start up again with live music in the spring.” I guess we’ll see.
But the dream dies hard in Myrtle Beach.
Just before the Socastee Music Station pulled the plug on its live music, it hosted dozens of shows – some quite large – and even a fundraiser to put in a permanent “community” P.A. system, as it was called by the bands that played there. That P.A. is now at the Sound Hole, serving the bands and fans that helped purchase it.
“We got the P.A. system from The Music Station,” said Robert Rowell. “The majority of the P.A. is that same community system.” Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Chris King, or Patrick Best (Prowler), usually run sound. In addition to the weekend multi-band shows, the Sound Hole and King host open jams on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The venue also offers a variety of bar food items priced perfectly for younger patrons without deep pockets. French Fries for $1, burgers around $5, Chicken Fingers for $3.50 and a few creative, upscale offerings as well.
Open every day except Sunday, the Sound Hole has palpable energy and can get raucous. When the landlord, who lives next door, was approached by the Rowells, apologetic for a particularly loud evening, he commented, “If you’re making noise, you’re making money.”
Source http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/01/2526086/music-notes.html
If you’re making noise, you’re making money
You’ve got to admire their tenacity. Whose tenacity? The long list of long-suffering bands, artists, and club owners attempting to create, recreate, and breathe some sort of life into a seemingly disinclined original music scene in Myrtle Beach. The latest club to tempt fate is the Sound Hole, a music venue/bar in downtown Myrtle Beach with a permanent P.A. system, a dedicated stage area, and a husband-and-wife team who work the bar, manage the business and love live, original rock ’n’ roll.
Owners Robert Rowell and his wife Shellie Rowell were both behind the bar during last week’s BBQ of Brutality, a five-band show that featured Nothing (Whiteville, N.C.), With Intent (Charleston), and Myrtle Beach acts Prowler, Circles In Autumn, and The Creepshow MoFo. “We have bands every Friday and Saturday,” said Robert Rowell. “We love anything rock ’n’ roll.”
The Sound Hole, which opened Oct. 29 at 1004 Chester Street, will be familiar to some locals who’ve visited in one of its past lives (the original Rainbow House, Two Dollar Bill’s, the Animal House, and others). The nearly 80-year-old house-turned bar/music venue oozes character, and dark rock ’n’ roll ambience. Outside the simple structure is white with blood-red trim – an ordinary looking home. Inside most of the walls are painted high-gloss black, fitting for the young crowd and bands (many in costume) at the BBQ of Brutality. With its metal motif retrofit, the bar felt like a freaky rock ’n’ roll haunted house, which I suspect was just what the Rowells were going for.
With a bit more than 30 days under its belt, the business is showing real potential, and if last week’s show was any indication, the Sound Hole has a shot at being a viable new home for young bands plying original material. “We’re slowly building,” said Shellie Rowell, a pretty woman whose face piercings, pink and black hair and tattoos helped her fit in with many of the patrons she was serving. If the anemic original music scene here in Myrtle Beach is terminal, as some have suggested, then the Rowells didn’t get the memo.
Plenty of adults mixed with the well-marked under-aged who roamed the multiple rooms (one with a pool table) and spacious open-air patio deck in back. “We’ve had a real good relationship with the police,” said Robert Rowell, who remembers things got a little dicey when the bar was The Animal House, a late-night venue in which he worked. “It [The Animal House] had a bit of a reputation,” he said. “So we went to the City of Myrtle Beach Police and said ‘We are not them. We are completely new.’ We invited them in, and have been open about everything. We’ve had a really good working relationship, and haven’t given them any reason to [worry].”
Friday’s music line-up at the Sound Hole was undetermined as of press time, but Saturday will feature Plus One, and The Izm, fresh off its battle of the bands win at Butter’s Pub, which no longer hosts live rock shows. Just as bands had found a new home in Socastee, after the closing of the Socastee Music Station, Butter’s, a sports bar/restaurant (and now former live music venue), has become the latest to pull rock ’n’ roll from its offerings. Butter’s canceled shows and removed its stage not long ago, without much comment. An employee stated last Monday, “One of the owners didn’t want [late-night music] anymore.” Another stated, “We’ll start up again with live music in the spring.” I guess we’ll see.
But the dream dies hard in Myrtle Beach.
Just before the Socastee Music Station pulled the plug on its live music, it hosted dozens of shows – some quite large – and even a fundraiser to put in a permanent “community” P.A. system, as it was called by the bands that played there. That P.A. is now at the Sound Hole, serving the bands and fans that helped purchase it.
“We got the P.A. system from The Music Station,” said Robert Rowell. “The majority of the P.A. is that same community system.” Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Chris King, or Patrick Best (Prowler), usually run sound. In addition to the weekend multi-band shows, the Sound Hole and King host open jams on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The venue also offers a variety of bar food items priced perfectly for younger patrons without deep pockets. French Fries for $1, burgers around $5, Chicken Fingers for $3.50 and a few creative, upscale offerings as well.
Open every day except Sunday, the Sound Hole has palpable energy and can get raucous. When the landlord, who lives next door, was approached by the Rowells, apologetic for a particularly loud evening, he commented, “If you’re making noise, you’re making money.”
Source http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/01/2526086/music-notes.html
Owners Robert Rowell and his wife Shellie Rowell were both behind the bar during last week’s BBQ of Brutality, a five-band show that featured Nothing (Whiteville, N.C.), With Intent (Charleston), and Myrtle Beach acts Prowler, Circles In Autumn, and The Creepshow MoFo. “We have bands every Friday and Saturday,” said Robert Rowell. “We love anything rock ’n’ roll.”
The Sound Hole, which opened Oct. 29 at 1004 Chester Street, will be familiar to some locals who’ve visited in one of its past lives (the original Rainbow House, Two Dollar Bill’s, the Animal House, and others). The nearly 80-year-old house-turned bar/music venue oozes character, and dark rock ’n’ roll ambience. Outside the simple structure is white with blood-red trim – an ordinary looking home. Inside most of the walls are painted high-gloss black, fitting for the young crowd and bands (many in costume) at the BBQ of Brutality. With its metal motif retrofit, the bar felt like a freaky rock ’n’ roll haunted house, which I suspect was just what the Rowells were going for.
With a bit more than 30 days under its belt, the business is showing real potential, and if last week’s show was any indication, the Sound Hole has a shot at being a viable new home for young bands plying original material. “We’re slowly building,” said Shellie Rowell, a pretty woman whose face piercings, pink and black hair and tattoos helped her fit in with many of the patrons she was serving. If the anemic original music scene here in Myrtle Beach is terminal, as some have suggested, then the Rowells didn’t get the memo.
Plenty of adults mixed with the well-marked under-aged who roamed the multiple rooms (one with a pool table) and spacious open-air patio deck in back. “We’ve had a real good relationship with the police,” said Robert Rowell, who remembers things got a little dicey when the bar was The Animal House, a late-night venue in which he worked. “It [The Animal House] had a bit of a reputation,” he said. “So we went to the City of Myrtle Beach Police and said ‘We are not them. We are completely new.’ We invited them in, and have been open about everything. We’ve had a really good working relationship, and haven’t given them any reason to [worry].”
Friday’s music line-up at the Sound Hole was undetermined as of press time, but Saturday will feature Plus One, and The Izm, fresh off its battle of the bands win at Butter’s Pub, which no longer hosts live rock shows. Just as bands had found a new home in Socastee, after the closing of the Socastee Music Station, Butter’s, a sports bar/restaurant (and now former live music venue), has become the latest to pull rock ’n’ roll from its offerings. Butter’s canceled shows and removed its stage not long ago, without much comment. An employee stated last Monday, “One of the owners didn’t want [late-night music] anymore.” Another stated, “We’ll start up again with live music in the spring.” I guess we’ll see.
But the dream dies hard in Myrtle Beach.
Just before the Socastee Music Station pulled the plug on its live music, it hosted dozens of shows – some quite large – and even a fundraiser to put in a permanent “community” P.A. system, as it was called by the bands that played there. That P.A. is now at the Sound Hole, serving the bands and fans that helped purchase it.
“We got the P.A. system from The Music Station,” said Robert Rowell. “The majority of the P.A. is that same community system.” Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Chris King, or Patrick Best (Prowler), usually run sound. In addition to the weekend multi-band shows, the Sound Hole and King host open jams on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The venue also offers a variety of bar food items priced perfectly for younger patrons without deep pockets. French Fries for $1, burgers around $5, Chicken Fingers for $3.50 and a few creative, upscale offerings as well.
Open every day except Sunday, the Sound Hole has palpable energy and can get raucous. When the landlord, who lives next door, was approached by the Rowells, apologetic for a particularly loud evening, he commented, “If you’re making noise, you’re making money.”
Source http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/01/2526086/music-notes.html
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Last best show: Steely Dan at the Wang
So whaddya you think of last night’s version of “Kid Charlemagne” at the Wang? Pretty damn good, right? More on that later.
Before jumping into a guitar-centric analysis a few non-six-string notes:
Steely Dan’s horn section is absurdly good. Transport the four-piece back in time 40 years and they could be sitting in with Miles. Make it 75 years and the guys could swing with Basie. My favorite bit was Michael Leonhart’s fiery Latin trumpet solo on “Your Gold Teeth.”
Donald Fagen’s voice is better than ever. OK, not better, it’s thinner and flatter, but he was almost too good, too alive for his deep, dense, dark lyrics in the ’70s. Like Tom Waits or Randy Newman, the older he gets the more he relaxes into his Statler-and-Waldorf sardonic persona.
Keith Carlock is a monster drummer – like Neil Peart with a wicked Gene Krupa fetish. Jim Beard’s piano opening to “My Old School” was freaky ragtime with a pinch free jazz (nearly as face-melting as any of last night’s guitar solos).
Now the guitar:
Walter Becker is a great player. He always got out of the way for those ’70s session men but he can wail. On “Black Friday” his chunky rock tone recalled Skunks best stuff. Then Jon Herington took over and I forgot Becker was even there (sorry dude).
Herington is insane, just insane. On “Hey Nineteen” he was note-to-note perfect and dead right with the tone. Then on “Show Biz Kids,” he went off the map. As the song swelled to a knot of fern-bar funk, Herington’s tricky licks zigged and zagged across the melody. This guy can clearly do anything.
For the solo in “Boston Rag,” he managed to squash together Jim Hall’s post-bop and Al Di Meola’s heavy ’70s fusion. Then, on “Bodhisattva,” just cause he can, he spiked the Hall-meets-Di Meola vibe with some Dick Dale surf and Django Reinhardt swing. Insane I tell you!
Then with “Kid Charlemagne” he– Oh, just forget it. Enough of what I think.
Guitar solos? Fagen’s voice? Horns? Drums? Whaddya think?
Source http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/guestlisted/?p=973&srvc=home&position=recent
Before jumping into a guitar-centric analysis a few non-six-string notes:
Steely Dan’s horn section is absurdly good. Transport the four-piece back in time 40 years and they could be sitting in with Miles. Make it 75 years and the guys could swing with Basie. My favorite bit was Michael Leonhart’s fiery Latin trumpet solo on “Your Gold Teeth.”
Donald Fagen’s voice is better than ever. OK, not better, it’s thinner and flatter, but he was almost too good, too alive for his deep, dense, dark lyrics in the ’70s. Like Tom Waits or Randy Newman, the older he gets the more he relaxes into his Statler-and-Waldorf sardonic persona.
Keith Carlock is a monster drummer – like Neil Peart with a wicked Gene Krupa fetish. Jim Beard’s piano opening to “My Old School” was freaky ragtime with a pinch free jazz (nearly as face-melting as any of last night’s guitar solos).
Now the guitar:
Walter Becker is a great player. He always got out of the way for those ’70s session men but he can wail. On “Black Friday” his chunky rock tone recalled Skunks best stuff. Then Jon Herington took over and I forgot Becker was even there (sorry dude).
Herington is insane, just insane. On “Hey Nineteen” he was note-to-note perfect and dead right with the tone. Then on “Show Biz Kids,” he went off the map. As the song swelled to a knot of fern-bar funk, Herington’s tricky licks zigged and zagged across the melody. This guy can clearly do anything.
For the solo in “Boston Rag,” he managed to squash together Jim Hall’s post-bop and Al Di Meola’s heavy ’70s fusion. Then, on “Bodhisattva,” just cause he can, he spiked the Hall-meets-Di Meola vibe with some Dick Dale surf and Django Reinhardt swing. Insane I tell you!
Then with “Kid Charlemagne” he– Oh, just forget it. Enough of what I think.
Guitar solos? Fagen’s voice? Horns? Drums? Whaddya think?
Source http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/guestlisted/?p=973&srvc=home&position=recent
Friday, July 22, 2011
Michigan Movie Notes: 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' starts filming in Pontiac
Filming has started on "Oz: The Great and Powerful" at Raleigh Michigan Studios in Pontiac, the Disney prequel boasting stars James Franco, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.
Heavy interest in the movie is making the Web all a-twitter about the slightest "Oz" details. This week, a photo with an "Oz" logo tweeted by cast member Abigail Spencer was spreading online like magic.
Spencer, best known as the schoolteacher who had an affair with Don Draper on "Mad Men," also posted a photo of herself at the Detroit Zoo looking cool in a hat that she later messaged was bought in Santa Fe while she was filming "Cowboys & Aliens," the sci-fi/Western hybrid with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford that opens July 29.
On Monday, she tweeted that "5 different Detroitonians in 5 minutes" had complimented her on her pants, which reminded her that the world premiere of "Cowboys & Aliens" was five days away. It's screening Saturday in San Diego at the annual Comic-Con event.
Did we mention Spencer's latest movie is "Cowboys & Aliens"?
Wyatt Russell goes 'AWOL'
The latest young actor to join the heat-wave hot cast of "AWOL" is the scion of Hollywood royalty.
Wyatt Russell, son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, will appear in the Vietnam-era movie, which is shooting in the Ann Arbor area and has the University of Michigan of those protest-laden times as a backdrop.
The film already has landed a number of rising actors, including Liam Hemsworth, Austin Stowell, Aimee Teegarden and Teresa Palmer.
The screenplay is by U-M professor Jim Burnstein and Garrett Schiff.
Russell also has a role in, you guessed it, "Cowboys & Aliens." His dad, Kurt, was in west Michigan last year to film the football-themed drama "Touchback."
Local director a new indie star
Rola Nashef is one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, an honor bestowed by Filmmaker magazine.
The local director is in post-production on "Detroit Unleaded," which is about a young Lebanese-American man who runs a gas station.
"Growing up I never saw people like me and my own experience in the movies," Nashef tells Filmmaker. "And I kept meeting these amazing characters who continue to inspire me. Our experience as Arab Americans makes for great storytelling. We need to be on a screen somewhere."
Glover joins 'Freaky Deaky' cast
"Freaky Deaky" just got a little freakier, in a good way.
The king of quirkiness, Crispin Glover, is joining the cast of the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, according to Variety.
The project is filming in and around Detroit.
The eccentric actor is replacing William H. Macy, who was previously attached to the project.
Glover was in the Motor City in 2010 to show two of his experimental art films at the Burton Theater. His decades-long career includes memorable roles in "Back to the Future," "Charlie's Angels" and, most recently, "Hot Tub Time Machine," in which he played a one-armed bellman. And, of course, he nearly kicked David Letterman in the head during a famous 1987 interview.
USA Today once said that his most magnetic quality was perhaps "his true, unabashed freakishness." Freaky, how this all worked out.
Source http://www.freep.com/article/20110722/ENT01/107220329/Michigan-Movie-Notes-Oz-Great-Powerful-starts-filming-Pontiac
Heavy interest in the movie is making the Web all a-twitter about the slightest "Oz" details. This week, a photo with an "Oz" logo tweeted by cast member Abigail Spencer was spreading online like magic.
Spencer, best known as the schoolteacher who had an affair with Don Draper on "Mad Men," also posted a photo of herself at the Detroit Zoo looking cool in a hat that she later messaged was bought in Santa Fe while she was filming "Cowboys & Aliens," the sci-fi/Western hybrid with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford that opens July 29.
On Monday, she tweeted that "5 different Detroitonians in 5 minutes" had complimented her on her pants, which reminded her that the world premiere of "Cowboys & Aliens" was five days away. It's screening Saturday in San Diego at the annual Comic-Con event.
Did we mention Spencer's latest movie is "Cowboys & Aliens"?
Wyatt Russell goes 'AWOL'
The latest young actor to join the heat-wave hot cast of "AWOL" is the scion of Hollywood royalty.
Wyatt Russell, son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, will appear in the Vietnam-era movie, which is shooting in the Ann Arbor area and has the University of Michigan of those protest-laden times as a backdrop.
The film already has landed a number of rising actors, including Liam Hemsworth, Austin Stowell, Aimee Teegarden and Teresa Palmer.
The screenplay is by U-M professor Jim Burnstein and Garrett Schiff.
Russell also has a role in, you guessed it, "Cowboys & Aliens." His dad, Kurt, was in west Michigan last year to film the football-themed drama "Touchback."
Local director a new indie star
Rola Nashef is one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, an honor bestowed by Filmmaker magazine.
The local director is in post-production on "Detroit Unleaded," which is about a young Lebanese-American man who runs a gas station.
"Growing up I never saw people like me and my own experience in the movies," Nashef tells Filmmaker. "And I kept meeting these amazing characters who continue to inspire me. Our experience as Arab Americans makes for great storytelling. We need to be on a screen somewhere."
Glover joins 'Freaky Deaky' cast
"Freaky Deaky" just got a little freakier, in a good way.
The king of quirkiness, Crispin Glover, is joining the cast of the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, according to Variety.
The project is filming in and around Detroit.
The eccentric actor is replacing William H. Macy, who was previously attached to the project.
Glover was in the Motor City in 2010 to show two of his experimental art films at the Burton Theater. His decades-long career includes memorable roles in "Back to the Future," "Charlie's Angels" and, most recently, "Hot Tub Time Machine," in which he played a one-armed bellman. And, of course, he nearly kicked David Letterman in the head during a famous 1987 interview.
USA Today once said that his most magnetic quality was perhaps "his true, unabashed freakishness." Freaky, how this all worked out.
Source http://www.freep.com/article/20110722/ENT01/107220329/Michigan-Movie-Notes-Oz-Great-Powerful-starts-filming-Pontiac
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tigers' rally falls short in 4-3 loss to Giants
Brennan Boesch made solid contact - and hit the ball to the worst possible place.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford caught Boesch's soft line drive near second base and quickly stepped on the bag to double off Brandon Inge, letting the San Francisco Giants hold on for a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. Detroit scored twice in the ninth and had the bases loaded with one out when the Giants escaped on the unassisted double play.
"That's just one of those freaky ones," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "For us, it was hit in exactly the wrong spot. For them, it was exactly the right spot."
Pablo Sandoval hit a tiebreaking double as part of a three-run top of the ninth for the Giants. San Francisco was coming off back-to-back losses to the Cubs - both in Chicago's last at-bat. The Giants nearly fell again.
Brian Wilson (6-1) won, but only after blowing a save for the second straight day. Wilson allowed Magglio Ordonez's RBI single in the eighth that tied it at 1.
After the Giants took the lead, Wilson started the ninth but had to be pulled with one out, the bases loaded and a run already in. Wilson slugged a cooler in the dugout with a bat after leaving the game.
"Give yourself 30 seconds to completely lose it, then come back and be a part of the team," Wilson said.
Jeremy Affeldt came on, and Detroit pulled within one when second baseman Emmanuel Burriss muffed a slow grounder for an error. Boesch was up next, and his liner probably would have scored the tying and winning runs if it had been a few feet higher.
"Great effort on our guys' part," Leyland said. "We just came up a little short."
It was Affeldt's third save of the season.
The Tigers dropped a half-game behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
Madison Bumgarner allowed a run and five hits over 7 1-3 outstanding innings for San Francisco. He struck out nine and walked one.
Bumgarner departed following a walk by Inge. Sergio Romo came on and got the second out of the inning, but Javier Lopez then took the mound and allowed a single to pinch-hitter Boesch.
Wilson was next out of the bullpen, and Ordonez greeted him with a single to right.
It didn't stay tied for long. Chris Stewart led off the ninth with a double, and Aaron Rowand followed with a single, reaching base as part of his broken bat went flying over the third-base dugout.
One out later, Sandoval hit a ground-rule double to left-center to make it 2-1. The Giants added two more runs when Jose Valverde (2-3) and Brayan Villarreal issued bases-loaded walks.
Rowand had three hits.
Detroit's Brad Penny allowed a run and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked two.
The Giants threatened early, putting runners at first and third with nobody out in the first. Penny got out of the jam thanks to a fantastic play by left fielder Casper Wells. Sandoval lifted a foul ball toward the seats, and Wells not only caught it amid reaching fans - but he also threw home to catch Rowand, who had tagged up at third.
"That was an extraordinary play," Leyland said.
Sandoval made the most of his next big opportunity. With Rowand on second and two outs in the fifth, he sliced an 0-2 pitch to the gap in left-center to put the Giants ahead.
Bumgarner has been excellent since being knocked out in the first inning of a June 21 start against Minnesota. In his two outings since then, he's allowed two runs in 14 1-3 innings, with 20 strikeouts and two walks.
Detroit's Lester Oliveros made his major league debut in the eighth, striking out two and allowing a hit and a walk in an inning. Oliveros was called up from the minors to replace Al Alburquerque, who went on the disabled list with inflammation in his right arm.
NOTES: Detroit 2B Carlos Guillen (left knee) is transferring from Class A Lakeland to Triple-A Toledo as part of his rehabilitation assignment. ... San Francisco plans to start LHP Barry Zito on three days' rest Saturday, with RHP Ryan Vogelsong taking the mound Sunday. Zito and Vogelsong both pitched in a doubleheader Tuesday. ... Victor Martinez has been with the Tigers barely a half-season, and he's already impressed Leyland. Martinez has made the transition to designated hitter look easy. He entered Friday's game hitting .329. "I can't say enough about him," Leyland said. "He's one of the best teammates I've ever managed or been around."
Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2015487409_apbbotigers.html
Shortstop Brandon Crawford caught Boesch's soft line drive near second base and quickly stepped on the bag to double off Brandon Inge, letting the San Francisco Giants hold on for a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. Detroit scored twice in the ninth and had the bases loaded with one out when the Giants escaped on the unassisted double play.
"That's just one of those freaky ones," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "For us, it was hit in exactly the wrong spot. For them, it was exactly the right spot."
Pablo Sandoval hit a tiebreaking double as part of a three-run top of the ninth for the Giants. San Francisco was coming off back-to-back losses to the Cubs - both in Chicago's last at-bat. The Giants nearly fell again.
Brian Wilson (6-1) won, but only after blowing a save for the second straight day. Wilson allowed Magglio Ordonez's RBI single in the eighth that tied it at 1.
After the Giants took the lead, Wilson started the ninth but had to be pulled with one out, the bases loaded and a run already in. Wilson slugged a cooler in the dugout with a bat after leaving the game.
"Give yourself 30 seconds to completely lose it, then come back and be a part of the team," Wilson said.
Jeremy Affeldt came on, and Detroit pulled within one when second baseman Emmanuel Burriss muffed a slow grounder for an error. Boesch was up next, and his liner probably would have scored the tying and winning runs if it had been a few feet higher.
"Great effort on our guys' part," Leyland said. "We just came up a little short."
It was Affeldt's third save of the season.
The Tigers dropped a half-game behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
Madison Bumgarner allowed a run and five hits over 7 1-3 outstanding innings for San Francisco. He struck out nine and walked one.
Bumgarner departed following a walk by Inge. Sergio Romo came on and got the second out of the inning, but Javier Lopez then took the mound and allowed a single to pinch-hitter Boesch.
Wilson was next out of the bullpen, and Ordonez greeted him with a single to right.
It didn't stay tied for long. Chris Stewart led off the ninth with a double, and Aaron Rowand followed with a single, reaching base as part of his broken bat went flying over the third-base dugout.
One out later, Sandoval hit a ground-rule double to left-center to make it 2-1. The Giants added two more runs when Jose Valverde (2-3) and Brayan Villarreal issued bases-loaded walks.
Rowand had three hits.
Detroit's Brad Penny allowed a run and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked two.
The Giants threatened early, putting runners at first and third with nobody out in the first. Penny got out of the jam thanks to a fantastic play by left fielder Casper Wells. Sandoval lifted a foul ball toward the seats, and Wells not only caught it amid reaching fans - but he also threw home to catch Rowand, who had tagged up at third.
"That was an extraordinary play," Leyland said.
Sandoval made the most of his next big opportunity. With Rowand on second and two outs in the fifth, he sliced an 0-2 pitch to the gap in left-center to put the Giants ahead.
Bumgarner has been excellent since being knocked out in the first inning of a June 21 start against Minnesota. In his two outings since then, he's allowed two runs in 14 1-3 innings, with 20 strikeouts and two walks.
Detroit's Lester Oliveros made his major league debut in the eighth, striking out two and allowing a hit and a walk in an inning. Oliveros was called up from the minors to replace Al Alburquerque, who went on the disabled list with inflammation in his right arm.
NOTES: Detroit 2B Carlos Guillen (left knee) is transferring from Class A Lakeland to Triple-A Toledo as part of his rehabilitation assignment. ... San Francisco plans to start LHP Barry Zito on three days' rest Saturday, with RHP Ryan Vogelsong taking the mound Sunday. Zito and Vogelsong both pitched in a doubleheader Tuesday. ... Victor Martinez has been with the Tigers barely a half-season, and he's already impressed Leyland. Martinez has made the transition to designated hitter look easy. He entered Friday's game hitting .329. "I can't say enough about him," Leyland said. "He's one of the best teammates I've ever managed or been around."
Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2015487409_apbbotigers.html
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
BlackBerry PlayBook Gets Panned by Reviewers
Research In Motion's iPad competitor, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, goes on sale April 19, but it's not ready for prime time. Reviewers who got their hands on the PlayBook early posted their thoughts on the tablet -- and it's not good news for RIM.
The 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook packs some impressive specs for its size and slenderness: a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, two high-resolution cameras (3MP front, 5MP back), micro HDMI out and it's pretty zippy.
But the software is what puts the PlayBook down: the new QNX-based OS on the tablet is only half-baked, the reviews show, with plenty of features missing, such as no integrated e-mail, calendar and address book (codependent on a BlackBerry smartphone), no video chatting app (despite a dedicated camera), and overall annoying software glitches.
First off, PCWorld's Melissa J. Perenson writes that the PlayBook "feels very much like a work in progress" because of its "limited app selection, software glitches, and choices in functionality or design." Perenson notes that "the PlayBook is the most impressive tablet I've seen to date" but points out "native apps like the PlayBook's browser have disappointing glitches, and you won't get much help from downloading third-party apps -- only 3,000 will be available at launch."
The New York Times' David Pogue asks whether "it make sense to buy a fledgling tablet with no built-in e-mail or calendar, no cellular connection, no videochat, Skype, no Notes app, no GPS app, no Pandora radio and no Angry Birds?" He mentions several times the buggy software and that "it's missing important features, like the ability to view e-mail file attachments or click a link in an e-mail."
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg believes that the PlayBook could appeal to those who find the iPad too large: "The hardware is sturdy and the back has a nice rubberized feel. While the PlayBook is 14% thicker than the iPad 2, it's about one-third lighter. [...] Still, unless you are constantly glued to a BlackBerry phone, or do all your e-mail, contacts and calendar tasks via a browser, I recommend waiting on the PlayBook until more independently usable versions with the promised additions are available."
Wired's Mike Isaac opines that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet lacks all the right moves: "RIM's WebKit-based browser is about as stable as your bipolar uncle. No native e-mail, calendar or contacts apps. App ecosystem is lacking. You'll need to install a driver before you can connect it to your PC or Mac. Runs Flash, sorta." However, Isaac gives the PlayBook brownie points for "a brilliant display, great sound and an HDMI output" and the two on-board cameras.
TechChruch's MG Siegler also takes a stab at the tablet's limitations: "So why not wait until there's a little more polish to get it out there on the market? [...]But given that it's selling at the same price points as the iPad, I find it hard to imagine they'll be able to compete in the consumer space right now. Maybe if they can nail the Android app support that will change the scene a bit."
Gizmodo's review from Matt Buchanan points out even more missing features in the PlayBook: "No Android apps yet. You can't create custom app categories. There's no universal search to quickly find apps. You can't rearrange your open app cards. Half the time you try to touch a link in the browser, you don't know if you touched it correctly or not -- the feedback isn't fast enough." However, Buchanan liked the PlayBook "for being so small, it's got tons of muscle, like a freaky little dude on 'roids."
Engadget's Tim Stevens wraps up saying that the PlayBook has "hardware that looks and feels great but isn't being fully served by the software. [...]And, ultimately, we have a tablet that's trying really hard to please the enterprise set but, in doing so, seems to be alienating casual users who might just want a really great seven-inch tablet."
Finally, LaptopMag's Mark Spoonauer nails it: "It's not really a matter of too little, too late with the BlackBery PlayBook. If anything, RIM's first tablet feels as if it was rushed to market."
Source http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=4B0BC7F4-1A64-67EA-E4E12FE0F2A4CC58
The 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook packs some impressive specs for its size and slenderness: a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, two high-resolution cameras (3MP front, 5MP back), micro HDMI out and it's pretty zippy.
But the software is what puts the PlayBook down: the new QNX-based OS on the tablet is only half-baked, the reviews show, with plenty of features missing, such as no integrated e-mail, calendar and address book (codependent on a BlackBerry smartphone), no video chatting app (despite a dedicated camera), and overall annoying software glitches.
First off, PCWorld's Melissa J. Perenson writes that the PlayBook "feels very much like a work in progress" because of its "limited app selection, software glitches, and choices in functionality or design." Perenson notes that "the PlayBook is the most impressive tablet I've seen to date" but points out "native apps like the PlayBook's browser have disappointing glitches, and you won't get much help from downloading third-party apps -- only 3,000 will be available at launch."
The New York Times' David Pogue asks whether "it make sense to buy a fledgling tablet with no built-in e-mail or calendar, no cellular connection, no videochat, Skype, no Notes app, no GPS app, no Pandora radio and no Angry Birds?" He mentions several times the buggy software and that "it's missing important features, like the ability to view e-mail file attachments or click a link in an e-mail."
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg believes that the PlayBook could appeal to those who find the iPad too large: "The hardware is sturdy and the back has a nice rubberized feel. While the PlayBook is 14% thicker than the iPad 2, it's about one-third lighter. [...] Still, unless you are constantly glued to a BlackBerry phone, or do all your e-mail, contacts and calendar tasks via a browser, I recommend waiting on the PlayBook until more independently usable versions with the promised additions are available."
Wired's Mike Isaac opines that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet lacks all the right moves: "RIM's WebKit-based browser is about as stable as your bipolar uncle. No native e-mail, calendar or contacts apps. App ecosystem is lacking. You'll need to install a driver before you can connect it to your PC or Mac. Runs Flash, sorta." However, Isaac gives the PlayBook brownie points for "a brilliant display, great sound and an HDMI output" and the two on-board cameras.
TechChruch's MG Siegler also takes a stab at the tablet's limitations: "So why not wait until there's a little more polish to get it out there on the market? [...]But given that it's selling at the same price points as the iPad, I find it hard to imagine they'll be able to compete in the consumer space right now. Maybe if they can nail the Android app support that will change the scene a bit."
Gizmodo's review from Matt Buchanan points out even more missing features in the PlayBook: "No Android apps yet. You can't create custom app categories. There's no universal search to quickly find apps. You can't rearrange your open app cards. Half the time you try to touch a link in the browser, you don't know if you touched it correctly or not -- the feedback isn't fast enough." However, Buchanan liked the PlayBook "for being so small, it's got tons of muscle, like a freaky little dude on 'roids."
Engadget's Tim Stevens wraps up saying that the PlayBook has "hardware that looks and feels great but isn't being fully served by the software. [...]And, ultimately, we have a tablet that's trying really hard to please the enterprise set but, in doing so, seems to be alienating casual users who might just want a really great seven-inch tablet."
Finally, LaptopMag's Mark Spoonauer nails it: "It's not really a matter of too little, too late with the BlackBery PlayBook. If anything, RIM's first tablet feels as if it was rushed to market."
Source http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=4B0BC7F4-1A64-67EA-E4E12FE0F2A4CC58
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
It's a golden age of gore
The undead appear to be multiplying.A recent cruise through the all-knowing Internet yielded more zombie-related info and creative projects than one would care to view in one afternoon. Gore-ridden explorations of the the living dead abound, from zombie flicks, TV series and video games to cell phone apps (Zombie Booth is particularly freaky), board games and books ("Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" anyone?), some in living graphic-novel color.
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video somehow is now even more ahead of its time.
And that's not counting all the zombie swag out there, like your standard action figures, T-shirts, calendars and, my favorite, zombie decoys (to distract an invading horde, obviously).
For some bizarre reason, we appear to be super fascinated with all things re-animated, but at the same time, naturally, we're more than a little freaked out by the prospect.
Just Google "zombie plan" - i.e., one's planned escape route and the necessary weaponry required should a zombie apocalypse go down - and many, many pages' worth of options pop up.
No thanks to George Romero, I'm hereby leery of any burial grounds within a few miles of my house (two), especially the one named "Resurrection Cemetery." In this neo-Atomic Age, on particularly dark nights, Max Brooks' "The Zombie Survival Guide" becomes more than just a funny little coffee-table book.
Even a lighter manifestation of zombie lore like Cracked.com's article "Five Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Happen" doesn't seem entirely ready to write off the undead as mere figments of our apparently disturbed imaginations. It tries to laugh off the lunacy of a zombie invasion, but then it tells us about horrible things like toxoplasmosa - a parasite that turns "victims into mindless, zombie-like slaves." Not funny. Especially when it goes on to report that half the world is infected with the stuff (with attribution).
So, we recognize this horror - we've examined it in gruesome detail - and yet we go back in for more. If you ask me, it's because we're all making zombie plans. Struck by the nightmare of society - indeed, our species - quite ended by what's pretty much a plague, we can't help but wonder how we'd perform in a zombie onslaught. Are we the unlikely hero or are we lunch? Could we strike down a loved one who'd been turned?
And now the truly terrible world of the undead will unfold right here in our little region. Hollywood just had to beguile more people with its slew of semi-hysteria-inducing zombie stories, and now we're going to have a film crew here dotting downtown Mystic and Norwich with zombie hordes as they film "Remains" for something called Chiller TV.
Great. Just as we calm down from last fall's TV hit "Walking Dead," we get to revisit the notion of the fall of the human race, right here at home. (Anyone else still haunted by that scuttling little girl in "Walking Dead" minus her bottom half?)
Well, if we must we must. But before I go and do a weapons check in my basement, I'm going to bone up with a rigorous Zombie Movie-Thon and take notes. Just in case.
Source http://www.theday.com/article/20110405/ENT09/304059996/1044
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