MIchael Jackson Graffiti

I came across this on my way to work yesterday morning. It was located on 7th avenue around 29th street.
I like it for its simple yet effective design, as it looks like it was done with just a paint roller.

Sunny Day Real Estate reunion

Sunny Day is playing two reunion shows. I am hoping they'll do one in NYC...
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/06/23/sunny-day-real-estate-confirm-pair-of-fall-reunion-shows/

Old 97's at Maxwell's, Hoboken NJ

Old 97's played a thoroughly packed out and excited Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ last night.
Murray Hammond opened the show with a great intimate solo set which was only marred by a few in the crowd who would rather talk than listen to the music.
Rhett Miller played a solo set next which featured songs from his new self-titled album which was just released last week.
The 97's killed, as usual. They are playing 4 nights, and are trying to not repeat any songs. They sure did play a lot of songs I love last night, so I am curious to see what they are going to play on the remaining nights.
This was by far the smallest venue I have ever seen them in, and it was great to see them in a tiny club environment like Maxwell's. As the crowd filtered in for the show, you could tell who had never been there before, as their jaws dropped at how small the venue was.
The other shows are sold out.

Here are a few pics from the show:




You can see the rest of the pics over at my Flickr page: Link

Sirius XM launches iphone app...without Howard. WTF?

This morning, I logged on to Sirius, to listen online. A splash page on the website got me really excited. The Sirius XM iPhone app was live! Finally I'll be able to listen to Howard on my long daily train commute!
I immediately downloaded the app, and fired it up. It was then that I found out that the app only works if you have the Premium Internet Service. Now, I'm a little annoyed. In my household, we pay for three Sirius receivers. Sirius gets a nice chunk of change from us every month.
After some deliberation, I decide that 3 bucks a month extra is worth it to listen to Howard on the train. (Even though, I should be getting this service as a value add for my normal subscription). I spend about 2 hours and 20 minutes a day on the train, so being able to listen to Howard would be a big plus.
So I signed up online for the Premium service, and I was all set to test out the app. I scroll through all of the stations, and I am confused as to why I can't find Howard. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place...A quick search on Bing, and I find out that Howard is not available on the app.
My iPhone already has music on it. I don't need the app for music, so I call customer service, and cancel the previous transaction, because of course you can't cancel it online. It is never as easy to cancel something as it is to give someone money for something.
I am extremely disappointed that the app won't let me listen to Howard. Are they worried about bandwidth? Howard is surely the biggest draw they have. Without Howard, they would not be getting any money from my family. 3 full subscriptions down the drain.

Stay Classy NY Post

Here is the cover of yesterday's NY Post.

Do you think they could come up with a more inflammatory headline (no pun intended)?
If the NY Post reporters were even watching any of the footage of the protests, or knew anything about Iran, they would have noticed that the vast majority of people on the streets were not wearing turbans. Even Ahmadinejad does not wear a turban.
But that doesn't really matter to the Post. They want to appeal to their base, who don't really care about little things like facts.

Update: Not only is the headline awful, it isn't even original. They used the same headline to generate some mock outrage about Obama last year...
Link to old Post Article
If you are going to come up with some cheap racist jokes, at least be original.

Why does Richard Alpert never age?

Q: Why does Richard Alpert, the eyeliner'ed Other, AKA Batmanuel from the Tick, never get any older?

A: Heineken. Cold delicious Heineken.

Lost on Amazon

The Hold Steady at Music Hall of Williamsburg

The biggest show for the first night of the inaugural Northside Festival in Brooklyn, was The Hold Steady. As is par for the course, they played a kick ass revved up set, and the crowd was going nuts. The Hold Steady remain one of the best straight up Rock and Roll "bar bands" I have ever seen.
Here are a few pics from the show.
Opening act "Hype of the States":

Pow Wow! played on N. 6th for the Northside Festival.

As I was heading to the Hold Steady Show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, trying to find a place to park, I noticed a small crowd gathered around a band playing on the sidewalk. I parked my Jeep, and watched a short set by Pow Wow!
Here are a couple of shots:


You can check them out at their MySpace page:

Steve Wiebe is attmpting to break the Donkey Kong World Record live right now.

If you have seen the awesome documentary "The King of Kong", you know and love Steve Wiebe. Right now (June 2nd 2009) Steve is attempting to break the Donkey Knog world record. You can check it out here: http://www.justin.tv/g4tv_wiebecam

Of course if he breaks the record Billy Mitchell will probably release a video of himself breaking it in like 2 days.

New Son Volt July 6th

With all of the hype around the new WILCO album leaking, there seems to be little fanfare about the other half of Uncle Tupelo's new album.
Son Volt is scheduled to release American Central Dust on Kuly 6th on Rounder records.
The sound is not very different from what we've heard in the past from Son Volt. And the I am not hearing the horns like on their last outing. (I'm glad for that). I think it will be hard for them to ever top Trace, which is one of my favorite albums of all time, but if you are a fan of the band, it is worth checking out. It is definitely more mellow than Trace or Straightaways.

Track Listing:
1. Dynamite
2. Down to the Wire
3. Roll On
4. Cocaine and Ashes
5. Dust of Daylight
6. When the Wheels Don't Move
7. No Turning Back
8. Pushed Too Far
9. Exiles
10. Sultant
11. Strength and Doubt
12. Jukebox of Steel