Site Feature: Astronomy Picture of the Day

Suspension Bridge Solargraph © Justin Quinnell

Hey, everyone in cyberspace – Wanna see some real space?

One of the coolest sites that you’re probably not checking every day, but should be, is Astronomy Picture Of The Day, from NASA.

It’s nothing you have to spend any real amount of time on – just an amazing picture each day to make you say things like “Wow”, and “Pretty”, and “Holy crap, I never knew what a long panoramic shot of Lisbon that was so wide it caught the sun setting on one side and the moon rising on the other looked like”.

If it’s your first time there, you can even head to the archive, which goes back for years and has tons of content to sift through. You can even do what I do, and save the beautiful shots of various nebulae and planets so you can put them on your ipod and gaze wistfully at them and pretend you’re going there when you are instead on the Q train headed to work in midtown.

Check it.

[official website]

- Goodchild

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SXSW Music & Film Festival 09

Following Langerado another big festival early this year is non other than the South By Southwest Music and Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The best thing about this festival is that it's about the up and coming artists and filmmakers rather than the established. As the Fleet Foxes did last year, many bands break out from this festival and hit it big. You can be sure there will be many indie labels and PR firms holding showcases there featuring their best artists and tons of industry people looking for the next big thing.

Some of the bands performing this year include Ra Ra Riot, Beach House, Ben Harper's new band Relentless 7, White Lies and a whole lot more.

Whether you want to make industry connections, attend panels or check out all the buzz bands, with Austin as it's background you can bet it's going to get crazy down there. The only problem I have with this festival is that it's so expensive, but if you got the dough it may be fun and good for your musical career?

SXSW runs from March 13-22
Interactive: March 13-17
Film: March 13-21
Music: March 18-22

[official website]

- Sonic

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Upcoming Movies: 01.30.09

Our first Vlog attempt featuring Sonic and Goodchild, bare with us it will get better.

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Video Pick: Battles: "Atlas"

It's not new, but "Atlas" by Battles is this week's video pick. A bunch of my friends put me on to them although I wasn't all that into it at first. An awesome song and a really simple but cool video, check it out.

- Sonic

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Obsession is a Dangerous Thing (Part III)

photo by VGBoxArt.com

(continued from Part II)

On March 3rd, 2009, Microsoft Game Studios will release the final Ensemble Studios game – HALO WARS. After making a huge name for themselves with the AGE OF EMPIRES and AGE OF MYTHOLOGY games, Ensemble Studios (ES) was purchased by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) and tasked with the first farmed out game in the HALO universe. As Bungie LLC, creators and makers of all things HALO related, had previously been owned by MGS, MGS owns the HALO name outright. With Bungie’s blessing, Ensemble was brought on to make a real time strategy game (what they were excellent at) with the HALO brand. I say “were” excellent at because MGS has recently decided to close ES after the release of HALO WARS, claiming that ES doesn’t fit in with their plans for the future. This is not too surprising if one notices that Microsoft has recently announced it will soon lay off thousands of employees (no one is safe in this economy), and that some will certainly be coming out of the entertainment division.

As I stated earlier, I am a huge fan of the HALO series. I thoroughly enjoy a good first person shooter, I extremely liked the story and campaign modes in the 3 games by Bungie, and the multiplayer is obviously incredible. But what I love even more is how the games were lovingly and artistically engineered by Bungie. The art direction, the level design, a flat out awesome physics engine, the music … everything about the games screams “professional grade”.

What I’m NOT a big fan of is RTS games. I’ve tried a few of them; ones that I’ve heard are accessible to the general public. Still, I’ve never found one that I’ve been able to get my head around and enjoy the way I know I should – not even the bare bones joke of an RTS in SOUL CALIBUR 3. I understand that many, many other people flat out love these games – I see that the joy is there. I just can’t seem to find it.

But still … it says HALO on the box.

I will be pre-ordering the special edition of HALO WARS, and picking it up the day it comes out. Am I excited for it? Kind of, I suppose. It is going to be a really big deal, and it looks really good – Ensemble, before being disbanded by MGS, did what appears to be an amazing job. They got the HALO feel down perfect – from the squeal of the engines as the warthog fishtails, to the sounds of the plasma pistols firing wildly as grunts gasp their last breaths. From some of the footage I’ve seen on the how the game works, it even looks as though the control scheme will be very intuitive and possible for someone of my RTS skills (re: anyone at all) to use.


But do I really need it the day it comes out? And do I really need to spend extra money on something that is in a genre I inherently dislike, meaning there is a large possibility that I may be disappointed that I spent all the money on something I don’t enjoy playing? Damn right I do.

The special edition of the game is the only way to get the Mythic Map Pack of 3 new HALO 3 multiplayer maps, made by Bungie, early. And gods damn it, I’m obsessed.

[official Halo Wars Community site]
Halo Wars [IGN]

- Goodchild

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Consumer Monument: Mitsuwa Marketplace

Shopping Isle - photo by Ishkibibble Fish on Flickr

Mitsuwa Marketplace is a real taste of Japan right outside the Lincoln Tunnel in Edgewater New Jersey and it definitely puts the super back in supermarket (yeah, I said it). It has everything you will find in a regular grocery store plus a whole lot of Japanese stuff you won't find anywhere else. From Kobe beef to beer and sake, this place has it all.

Food Court - photo by roboppy on Flickr

My favorite part of Mitsuwa is the food court. It has a wide selection of authentic Japanese eats and each dish is beautifully displayed so you won't have to ask what it is. Food display is an art form in Japan and it's pretty amazing how real they make everything look.

The Food Display - photo by wmliu on Flickr

Outside of the supermarket you will also find a bookstore, toystore and a pottery store where you can buy tea pots, plates and other items. Honestly there are so many things here to see and buy and say "what the fuck is that?" to, my crappy writing won't be able to describe all of it coherently. Just trust me if you like or have any interest in Japanese culture, go here and explore.

+ Mitsuwa Marketplace is located at 595 River Rd. in Edgewater, New Jersey

[official website]
Mitsuwa Marketplace [Yelp Reviews]

- Sonic

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Artist Feature: Spinnerette

Brody Dalle of Spinnerette - photo by Matthew Field on Flickr © 2008

There are three reasons why you may want to know about Spinnerette. First and most importantly, Spinnerette is the new project of ex-Distillers Brody Dalle and Tony Bevilacqua. Second, Brody Dalle is Tim Armstrong (of Rancid)'s ex, and current wife of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. Ok, that second part shouldn't matter and I feel like a cheesy tabloid even mentioning it, but you have to admit that does spark your interest in Brody Dalle and any musical endeavor she's involved in...... and even if you haven't heard of The Distillers, you've probably heard of Queens of the Stone Age. Third, the rest of the band is comprised of Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eleven) and Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven). Interestingly though, aside from Dalle and Bevilacqua, the band has a different line up for shows which to me is weird, but considering all the projects Irons and Johannes works on I guess it makes sense.

Formed in 2007, the band played some "practice" gigs locally in LA before releasing their EP Ghetto Love through their website in December of 2008. They are rumored to release a full length next month in February, but no official dates have been released yet.

Spinnerette's sound has that raw punk rock grit you love from The Distillers plus a new wave-ish groove thing going on, and Dalle's voice is definitely more soulful than what you may expect. Go and check them out, you can listen to their EP on their myspace page.

Tony Bevilacqua of Spinnerette - photo by Matthew Field on Flickr © 2008

[official website]
[myspace]

- Sonic

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Obsession is a Dangerous Thing (Part II)

(continued from Part I)

In Ohio, the story is entirely different. The teen involved here was obviously deranged, and fatally obsessive. Reports had it that, when the game originally came out and he was allowed to play, the youth played HALO 3 for up to 18 hours a day. This, if you ask me – and I am a huge fan of the HALO series, having even gone so far to take (paid) time off on the release of HALO 3 in order to play for a few days straight – is ridiculous. The good in this story is that his parents realized his obsession and moved to control it by taking the game away from him. The bad is that they didn’t take the situation seriously enough, or understand the extreme depths to which their son’s obsession had sunk.

Having planned his actions out carefully, the youth waited until his parents were together in their room. He stole the key to the family lock box, retrieved a pistol from it, then went to his parent’s room and told them to close their eyes because he “had a surprise for them.” When they complied, he shot them both in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. He then took only one thing from the house – his copy of HALO 3 – placed the gun in his father’s hand to make it look like a murder / suicide, and fled the scene.

video from CBSNEWS.com
Now, I see this story and part of me immediately wants to rant and yell at “the media” for their unfair and unjust portrayal of gaming. But, when looking at the facts as presented before me, I can only realize that – in this specific case – obsession with gaming actually did lead to murder. Now, saying that “gaming leads to murder” is obviously a gigantic leap. This child was certainly out of touch with reality, and that, therein, seemed to be the problem.

What is important here is that parents need to take an active role in their children’s activities – if not to participate, then to moderate and monitor. They need to make sure their children understand the line between reality and the fantasy worlds of games, and they need to constantly watch their children to ensure that there is no confusion about this. Obsession can, as we see here, be a VERY dangerous thing. My parents did this with me, and I have no problems differentiating fantasy from reality. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean I don’t have my own stupid problems with obsession.

While I myself am not about to commit any horrible and senseless acts of violence, obsession with gaming has, does, and will continue to lead me to do things I know full well I shouldn’t.

(to be continued)

Ohio Teen Killed Mom Over Video Game [AOL News]
Video Game Addiction: A Medical Disorder? [CBS News]

- Goodchild

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Upcoming Shows February 09: SI Bands Edition

Paragraph - photo by Carbavor on Flickr

Apparently a lot of S.I. bands are working on something new now, but we have a few shows in February you may want to catch. Paragraph performing as Prince and the Revolution?? That should be fun!

Paragraph
+ 02.02.09 - The Annex: New York, NY
+ 02.13.09 - Martini Red: Staten Island, NY (performing as Prince and the Revolution)

The Heavenly Tenants
+ 02.19.09 - Cake Shop: New York, NY

- Sonic

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Upcoming Releases: February 09

Plushgun on NPR

The new wave synth-pop trio from Brooklyn will be releasing their debut album Pins & Panzers on February 17th. Ok, so a quick history on these guys.... Their catchy hooks and a feature on popular web series "We Need Girlfriends" helped them gather an online following. They soon got together with Ourstage who sent them to SXSW, where they caught the attention of Tommy Boy Records and here we are.

Plushgun will be performing at Union Hall in Park Slope tonight (1/26/09)!


OTHER UPCOMING RELEASES:

02.03.09
The Von Bondies - Love, Hate, and Then There's You

02.10.09
Lilly Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Missy Elliot - Block Party
India Arie - Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics

02.17.09
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - The Century of Self
Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Plushgun - Pins & Panzers
Thursday - Common Existence

02.24.09
Hatebreed - For the Lions
K'Naan - Troubadour
Lamb of God - Wrath

- Sonic

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Obession is a Dangerous Thing (Part I)

It should be noted, dear reader, that obsession is a dangerous thing.

Also, that patience is a virtue. Bear with me here.

Recently, two stories in the news jumped out at me. So far in the month of January of 2009, two American teenagers were convicted of killing family members in cases that both mention that dastardly devilish device demoralizing us all – video games. In one of the stories, from Maryland, the nefarious “video games” are merely mentioned amongst the other, more important facts. In the other story, out of Ohio, a game – HALO 3, specifically – is listed as the reason for the crime.

Immediately, I found this odd. Not the story from Ohio – before I’d read full articles about it, I was convinced that it was just another opportunistic story for “the media” to jump all over gaming and tell the public how terrible and detrimental it is for our youth. What seemed odd was the story from Maryland – it basically stated that the youth shot and killed both of his parents, and both of his brothers, and then left the scene to go “play video games” with his friends. Aside from this brief mention in the story, games and the influence of gaming was not mentioned at all. Was “the media” slipping in my old age?

Video Game Addiction?
In the story out of Maryland, the attack perpetrated by the youth was horribly disturbing, and apparently may have been the result of a psychotic break brought on by a lifetime of abuse imparted upon him by his parents. At the sentencing, the youths extended family, including aunts, uncles and grandparents, all stood by him to show him their support and claimed that they had no doubt in their minds that he had been abused. This seeming to be the case, the press thankfully didn’t latch on to the small part of the story where he left to go play games.

Let’s take a look at this case for a moment. If the claims of abuse are true, then, from a psychological standpoint, one can draw certain conclusions. If we assume that past abuse caused the teen to “snap” from normal reasoning and was the major contributing factor in his actions, then we can extrapolate that leaving the scene to play games might have actually been somewhat therapeutic for him, providing that lost sense of normalcy after such a (though self induced) traumatic event. And so, while I usually get mad at “the media” for the way they portray gaming as evil every chance they get, I actually applaud them for their coverage here.

(to be continued)

Md. teen who killed family gets 4 life sentences [Associated Press]

- Goodchild

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Fanboys

Ok so the brief synopsis of this movie on imdb goes like this: "Star Wars" fans travel to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of "Episode I: The Phantom Menace." There's not much else you need to know, just check out the trailer I think this is going to be hilarious.

+ Fanboys is due out on February 6th

[official website]
[myspace]

- Sonic

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Video Pick: Animal Collective: "My Girls"

Animal Collective's video for "My Girls" off their new record Merriweather Post Pavilion is this week's video pick.

- Sonic

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New Release Alert: Thursday: Common Existence

The New Brunswick boys are back with a new record entitled Common Existence which is due out February 17th. They've come a long way since Victory Records and their record Full Collapse catapulted them to post-hardcore royalty back in 2001. Although they grew apart from Victory, tons of majors were willing to pick them up and they ended up in the hands of Island Records. The band released two albums with Island, but Thursday simply does not make the kind of music suitable for a huge mainstream radio hit, which is obviously what the label wanted or at least thought they needed.

They got back with Victory briefly to release their DVD Kill The House Lights, but were label-less for a while since then..... until legendary punk label Epitaph Records came along and gave them the complete freedom to explore new territory and do whatever they wanted musically. So with Dave Fridmann (producer of Flaming Lips, MGMT and tons of others) who also produced their last Island release A City By The Light Divided on board once again, Common Existence ventures off into the band's darker and more experimental corners.

From what I've heard so far this album is going to be pretty kick-ass. You can check out their new song "Resuscitation of a Dead Man" on their myspace page.

+ Thursday is also headlining this year's Taste Of Chaos tour

[official website]

- Sonic

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge Literal Video

A friend of mine showed me this video the other night and it is just great. It's the Under the Bridge music video by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.... literally.

- Sonic

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Langerado Music Festival 09

It's hard to believe here in New York where winter is really just kicking in, but Festival season is around the corner. Out of all the big music festivals that happen in the spring and summer time, Langerado might be one that you usually overlook.

This Florida based music festival is entering its 7th year, and this year they will be making Miami's Bicentennial Park their home for three days of all the live music you can handle. As their website states, Langerado began as a way to bring jam-based live music to South Florida. This year they are reaching completely outside the genre featuring acts from Snoop Dogg to Flogging Molly to Death Cab for Cutie. There are tons of great bands on the roster this year, so if you love live music, head down south and kick off the festival season right. Tickets are available now for one day or all three days.

+ FRIDAY MARCH 6th
Snoop Dogg - Flogging Molly - Broken Social Scene - The Faint - Chromeo - Tricky - Against Me! - Bad Brains - Devotchka - Lotus - Gym Class Heroes - The Aggrolites - Holy F*ck - K'Naan - The Virgins - Tortured Soul - Tiger City - more TBA

+ SATURDAY MARCH 7th
Death Cab For Cutie - Thievery Corporation (Live) - Slightly Stoopid - The Pogues - Umphrey's McGee - Cold War Kids - Public Enemy - Pepper - Robert Randolph & The Family Band - Steel Pulse - Mute Math - George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic - Tortoise - Ozomatli - Rebelution - Budos Band - Lucero - King Khan and the Shrines - Ra Ra Riot - Rachel Goodrich - Spam Allstars - Awesome New Republic - Suenalo - more TBA

+ SUNDAY MARCH 8th
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Matisyahu - Dashboard Confessional - Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Disco Biscuits - Cafe Tacuba - Girl Talk - Black Kids - Tokyo Police Club - Grupo Fantasma - The Egg - Zac Brown Band - Cloud Cult - The Gaslight Anthem - Murs - Blue King Brown - The Heavy Pets - The Postmarks - more TBA

[official website]

- Sonic

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Model Djs!?

The Stadj Model DJs

You wish you thought of it first, but it exists.... model DJs! Williamsburg based talent agency Stadj will deliver a hot chick to your party not only for eye candy but to take the musical reins and keep everybody dancing. All of the DJs at Stadj are professionally trained by 20 year veteran DJ and the agency's co-founder DJ EM. Honestly, I'm not sure how skilled they actually are but it almost doesn't matter now does it?

[official website]
Stadj Model DJs [Thrillist]
Evolution of the SheJay [psychoPEDIA]

- Sonic

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Nickelback: Recycled songs?

I hate to write a post just hating on something but Nickelback is one of those bands that makes me cringe. This is just a funny video on YouTube about what happens when you play 2 of Nickelback's hits together.

- Sonic

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Heath Ledger & The Curse of Terry Gilliam (Part II)

(continued from Part I)

Years go by, Gilliam only manages to make one movie, Tideland. It's not the worst film ever, but far from his "A game". So, lets fast foward the story to end of production of Christopher Nolan's soon-to-be-smash-hit The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger, fresh from filming as The Joker - the role that will now probably define his career and has a good chance to earn him posthumus awards - signs on with Gilliam for production of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. A filming schedule is made, Gilliam finally has his ducks in a row, production begins ... and Ledger passes away.


While this tragedy - a word used in its purest form here - adds hype and buzz to The Dark Knight, it seems to kill all hope for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Luckily for us fans, it looks like this one is really getting done. With Ledger's role started but not completed, Gilliam had a quandary - should he recast and then reshoot the entire film? Instead, a seemingly better - or at least more interesting and commercially viable - solution was reached. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law all signed on to the film to each take turns playing Ledger in the role as a last tribute to their friend. Reports even have it that the actors are giving their fees to Ledgers family.

When news of this becomes more widespread and more publically known, it will almost guarantee Gilliam a commercial success with the film. And why not? With his talent at the helm of it - and with Tom Waits playing the devil - this is the film I am most excited for in 2009.

[official website]
Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Plot and Concept Art [Worst Previews]

- Goodchild

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Venue Feature: The Bell House

photo by ryan muir on Flickr

Between working in clubs, touring, and going to a ton of shows, I rarely come across a venue that is not only "nice" but built in a way that makes sense. Why is the front of house sound guy set up all the way to the left? Why is there no space by the bar? Why am I carrying my equipment up and down 2 flights of stairs and through this narrow hallway to get to the stage? While The Bell House is no doubt a gorgeous music venue, the best part is simply how it's put together.

the front bar/lounge area - photo by Sam Horine

This first part of the venue is the 150 capacity front bar/lounge area where you can go out for drinks and hang out like you would at any bar. Although this bar is part of the venue, it pretty much functions on its own. You can choose to just stay here and drink without paying a cover or having a ticket. Actually, you may not even realize that there are band's playing in the other room.

If you do however decide to check out the live music, you go through a door which takes you to this hallway. The hallway serves to isolate the front bar with the main space, but it is also where the music venue begins. The ticket booth and merch tables are located by the door before you get into the main area, and this is where you take out your ticket and or wallet.

the bar area in the main space - photo by Sam Horine

When you enter the 350 capacity main space, the bar is to your left and the 450 square foot stage is to your right. The front of house is set up directly across and centered from the stage so the sound guy can actually HEAR properly, what a concept! There is so much space here and the 25 foot wooden arched ceilings makes it seem even bigger.

photo by Sam Horine

The best part of this venue for me is backstage. Let's just say, easy access to the stage, plenty of room to store all the equipment for all the bands, couches, tables, green room, bathroom and a tub of beer and water.

The Bell House is located at 149 7th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue in the Gowanus/Park Slope neighborhood (Brooklyn, NY).

[official website]
[yelp! reviews]

- Sonic

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Heath Ledger & The Curse of Terry Gilliam (Part I)

Though his "A game" hasn't been publically prevalent in the past few years (we'll be nice and say about a decade), Terry Gilliam is still my favorite filmmaker.
If you know anything about what Gilliam has been up to in the last 10 years, you know it certainly seems as though any and all of his productions have been cursed - and if you didn't, you do now!

Through this new year of 2009, the most famous exapmle of this curse can actually be found in a documentary film called Lost In La Mancha. My prediction is that the most famous example will soon be that Heath Ledger died suddenly while making Gilliam's new film - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Lost In La Mancha was supposed to be a different film froom the one that it became. Originally, the documentary crew received permission from Gilliam to document his filmmaking process throughout the production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. However, things started going wrong - VERY wrong - and the doc turned into what seemed to be recorded proof that the universe itself was trying to stop the film from being made.

There were many, many things that went wrong from the get go. Jean Rochefort, a Spanish actor cast to play Don Quixote, had to spend 7 months learning English. Through scheduling conflicts, it was not until just before filming that Rochefort and his costar, Johnny Depp, were able to get together to rehearse. The scheduling was ridiculously tight because the budget wasn't nearly what the script, or Gilliam's vision needed.

But perhaps the most extreme moment occurred when, while actually in the middle of the second day of location shooting with the Rochefort and Depp, a freak monsoon came from out of nowhere, reigning enormous hail on everyone, and causing a flash flood to literally wash the film equipment away. The flood and storm had changed the landscape where the filming was supposed to take place, before any of the shots had been gotten. Soon after, Rochefort was diagnosed with a herniated disc and could not ride a horse around - something completely imperative to the role - and a multi-million dollar insurance claim was filed, leaving the rights of the script in the hands of the insurance company. Production was completely over.

(to be continued)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus [NY Times]

- Goodchild

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Artist Feature: Ambulance LTD

photo by EAR FARM on Flickr

Ambulance LTD put out this awesome record entitled LP in 2004, then... they broke up! Oh yeah, there's that whole thing about their label at the time (TVT Records) going bankrupt, but the "band" was no longer. Singer slash guitarist John Congleton carried on with Ambulance on his own, and the rest of the band went on to form The Red Romance. Congleton began working with Velvet Underground's John Cale on a new Ambulance record which was rumored for a release in 2007. There was no release, but in 2008 Congleton finally came together with a solid line-up, and Ambulance LTD was back playing shows again.

Which takes us to 2009, and that long awaited album, still untitled, will be out this year. You can listen to their new demos and watch some studio footage at their myspace page. Let's just hope that this time the record actually does get released.

- Sonic

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Gadget Obsession - Flip Mino HD

Photo by psilver on Flickr.

In today's technology ruled world, an abundance of new gadgets are are invented everyday that it's almost impossible to keep up with the new trends. The technology industry is extremely saturated and highly competitive that when a great product is created it quickly penetrates through all the crap that is out there, and quickly rises to the top of the food chain becoming an obsession to the gadget craving community.

The obsession that took over the video camcorder market over the past few years and took the media by storm was the Flip Video by Pure digital. It's crazy that every since the launch of this new simple little toy back in 2007, it holds 13% of the camcorder market. Fast forward 4 generations later and the new HD version of the Flip Mino has been released, raising the bar even higher. The great thing about the new Flip Mino HD is that it's an HD camcorder that fits in your pocket and has a sleek look similar to that of the ipod. It's such a simple device that can be pulled out of your packet in a matter of seconds, and with one click you can capture an instant moment I'm sure most of you bloggers and youtube crazy kids can appreciate. Between its cheap price tag of $230 dollars and the high quality HD resolution you can't go wrong with this purchase. Just like the ipod and sidekick the Flip became a novelty embraced by the celebrity community from the likes of Tom Cruise, David Arquette, Oprah Winfrey, Jon Favreau, Hugh Hefner and Pamela Anderson to name a few. For all you youngsters, hipsters, skaters, bloggers and amateur porn film makers out there I definitely recommend this cool little gadget. See ya on the FLIP side and enjoy!


Video from Andy Ihnatko on Vimeo.

Obsessable Flip Mino HD Review [Obsessable Blog]
A Camcorder Insurgent Goes HD [NY Times]
Flip Mino goes H to the D with a WSJ review [Engadget]
Showcase showdown! Flip Mino HD versus Kodak Zi6 [Celestial Waste of Bandwidth]

- Mitch A.K.A Panda Bear

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Upcoming Shows January 09: Bowery Presents Edition

Devotchka Official Website

MERCURY LOUNGE:
+ 01.19.09 - Cursive (SOLD OUT)
+ 01.28.09 - Cold War Kids (SOLD OUT)
+ 01.31.09 - The Dig

BOWERY BALLROOM:
+ 01.21.09 - Animal Collective (SOLD OUT)
+ 01.28.09 - Annuals

MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
+ 01.18.09 - Nightmare Of You
+ 01.30.09 - Apes And Androids
+ 01.31.09 - Robbers On High Street / Takka Takka / Jukebox The Ghost (Guilty By Association Vol. 2 Release Party)

WELLMONT THEATRE
+ 01.21.09 - Reel Big Fish / Streetlight Manifesto

WEBSTER HALL
+ 01.16.09 - The Raveonettes
+ 01.24.09 - Devotchka

GRAND BALLROOM @ MANHATTAN CENTER
+ 01.20.09 - Animal Collective (SOLD OUT)

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
+ 01.29.09 - Kings Of Leon

- Sonic

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Halo 3: ODST Preview

On the Xbox 360, great titles like Alan Wake (by the team that made Max Payne) look extra interesting, but the most intriguing exclusive is also a "small" title, that is not up to full retail size - Halo 3: ODST.

Bungie, creators of nothing but the most fun to be had with a gun in your hand and an awesome physics engine to propel innovation, have revelaed their next "game" to be an add-on to the Halo universe, taking place between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3. The twist? You DON'T play as Master Chief. Instead, you're an ODST soldier, scouting out for lost comrades. Not being a super soldier, gameplay - though promising to be familiar - will be different than us Halo freaks are used to - and personally, I can't wait to see how it's going to work.

+ Check out IGN for more information on Halo 3: ODST

[official site]

- Goodchild

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Noby Noby Boy

Sure we could talk about the huge games for PS3 that MIGHT help Sony's games division see a profit (though their losses on hardware are going to make that tough), games like God of War 3 (w00t!), Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Gran Turismo 5 ... But lets focus for a moment on a smaller title that doesn't have a numeral at the end.

Keita Takahashi, creator the insane, inane and wonderfully quirky Japanese oddity that is Katamari Damacy, is releasing Noby Noby Boy exclusively on the PSN. In this bizarre little game, players use the two analog sticks to control a long worm like creature that will stretch out, interacting with the environments - I'd imagine eating things and getting bigger, if I've done my Katamari homework correctly. If Takahashi's past work is any indicator - which I'm sure it must be - than this little game will be excruciatingly fun.

- Goodchild

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Upcoming Releases: January 09

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand will be releasing their third studio album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand on January 27th, which reportedly incorporates dub and electronica influences. You can listen to the first single "Ulysses" on their myspace page.


OTHER UPCOMING RELEASES:

01.20.09
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
John Frusciante - The Empyrean
Reel Big Fish - Fame, Fortune and Fornication

01.27.09
Duncan Sheik - Whisper House
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Working on a Dream

- Sonic

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Taste of Chaos: 2009

It's about that time again for Rockstar Energy Drink's screamo-metal-hardcore tour, Taste of Chaos. This year the tour features Thursday, Bring Me The Horizon, Four Year Strong, Pierce The Veil and the Cancer Bats and a sprinkle of other acts depending on the venue. Tickets are only $25 a piece and are on sale now. With all those bands that sounds like a good deal to me. The tour kicks off at the Palladium in LA on February 14th.



[official site]

- Sonic

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On your next bar visit

Vodka and tequila are at the base of the most popular drinks in the bar scene. In your teen days you got wasted on whatever you can get your hands on; the 10 dollar bottle of Georgi or something decent from your parent's liquor cabinet but honestly what's the difference anyway? In college you learned the hard way that there is a difference, but you'd much rather save that extra cash for your next keg party. Now you are a learned drinking professional; whether you still party hard or you relax after a long day at work, you want the good stuff. And rap songs and the mass media has told us that Grey Goose and Patron ARE the good stuff. Being a bartender myself I know this to be true, and I know how convinced everyone is that there is nothing else worth drinking. Don't get me wrong, Grey Goose and Patron are both great, but if you dare to step away from the mainstream and be the cool guy/gal at the bar there are some great, even better options.

photo by rickyster91 on Flickr

If you think Patron Silver is smooth, Don Julio Blanco is even smoother. What you may not know is that a bottle of DJ in the store often costs a little more than Patron, but they are usually the same price at the bar. And expensive means better.. right? I've turned many people on to it at the bar but make sure you get Don Julio on your next round of tequila shots.

photo by gun show on Flickr

It's smooth, so smooth! That's what it's all about. Just a classy smooth vodka that you can sip on straight or on the rocks.

- Sonic

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The Mugs, Robbers On High Street at The Bell House

Robbers On High Street photo by Jason Lee Parry

THE BELL HOUSE - Brooklyn, NY
SAT 01.17

8pm - $10

The Mugs / Robbers On High Street / Mussels / Chocopine

also with DJ French Toast and DJ Humdrum Boy

The Robbers will also be playing at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg for the Guilt By Association Vol. 2 release party on January 31st.

- Sonic

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If you were wondering about Blu-ray.....

photo by /pitzyper! on Flickr

Just as VHS won the video tape battle over Beta, the Blu-ray Disc reigned supreme over HD DVDs. So yeah, the graphics are amazing, but what's the big deal? Well, first off it's not just video, the audio quality is much better as well. While CDs, DVDs, and Blue-ray discs are all optical disc formats which utilize lasers to read the information written on the discs, Blu-ray uses a blue-violet laser of a shorter wavelength which allows you to focus the laser spot with more precision. In a nutshell this allows BDs to hold more than 5 times the amount of information than a regular DVD. That's what it's all about, the storage space. This is the technology that brings you true HD movies and HD gaming experiences to your door.

photo by 37prime on Flickr

DVDs are not going to disappear over night, and quite frankly they still get the job done for me, but it may be worth your while to start making the switch. The prices going down on BD players, and I am even finding ones for under $200. The movies themselves are about $30 a piece, and when you are paying $20 for a regular DVD, it's really not that bad a deal...... and there's always the PS3 option so you can get the best of both worlds.

+ some prices for BD players at buy.com

- Sonic

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Reel Big Fish: Fame, Fortune and Fornication

Holy Shit, Reel Big Fish! I used to love these guys when I was in high school! If you were around for the late 90's Ska explosion this was one of the bands you definitely knew about. Their new record Fame, Fortune and Fornication comes out on January 20th and judging from the album art it looks like they have not changed one bit. I got a chance to check out some of the new tracks on their myspace page, and sure enough it's the same humorous, fun, upbeat ska songs you'd come to love when Turn The Radio Off came out almost 13 years ago. Ska may still be dead but these guys are still playing 2000 plus capacity venues across the country and have almost 15,000 plays today on myspace, not too shabby.

[upcoming tour dates]
[myspace]

- Sonic

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After Dark Horror Fest III: 8 Films To Die For

photo by After Dark Films

Horror Fest is back in their third year of celebrating the horror genre, once again featuring eight films to stimulate your eyes and jump start your heart. If you're a fan of the genre like I am, you might want check out a film or two this week. All of the selections are rated R and if your average Hollywood horror flicks don't do it for you, you may find one here that will...... or not. There have been quite a few misses in my past Horror Fest experience and I'm sure there will a bunch this year as well. Hopefully you choose wisely.

+ Horror Fest runs from January 9th till January 15th, check your local listings for showtimes and theaters.

+ For a brief synopsis on the eight films check out this article at about.com.

[trailer]

- Sonic

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Lord Of The Rings: Conquest

2009 is here and it's going to be a great year for entertainment. And that, I implore upon you, is a fact. How can I possibly know this as fact? Just look at the last few years - they've all been pretty great for entertainment. And all one has to do is just look at some lists of what is to be released this year to know we're in for a good time. Are you a gamer? I know I am. A quick look at what is coming out this year makes my face get happy and my bank account get sad. Where to even begin?

photo by IGN

Let's start in January. Tomorrow, EA publishes the new Pandemic game - Lord Of The Rings: Conquest. Now, I know, great, great, another LOTR game. But hold on a second there: Doesn't the name Pandemic sound familiar to you? If you're a gamer, I'm willing to bet you lost countless hours on two of their earlier games - Star Wars: Battlefront 1 & 2. Now take that incredible fun and addictive formula and gameplay, switch it from the stars and root it in middle earth - enormous battles, Tree Ents fighting Balrogs, Orc archers sniping Hobbits, deadly explosive combos and 16 player online matches. Not 100% sold yet? The demo is free on XBOX Live and Playstation Network now.

[game trailer]
[official website]

- Goodchild

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