Web Sites »Tickets & Music

Tickets and MusicScouring the web for music tix

When it comes to purchasing tickets to live music events, sometimes StubHub and TicketMaster are your only options – but just as frequently someone’s trying to dump tickets through Craigslist and using a whole different rate structure. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a one-stop resource (that defaults to a home page showcasing immediately upcoming shows in your geographic area) that automatically returned all the available ticket options?

Enter Tickets & Music (the brainchild of our friend Marcus), an incredibly useful site that does exactly that.

A couple of days after Halloween, I was thrilled to discover that the one and only Blues Traveler was playing locally – but I was (understandably) stunned by the prices TicketMaster was charging. I checked T&M and discovered that some dude was getting rid of tickets through Craigslist for just $12! Armed with that kind of bargain basement price info, I quickly got in touch with Fred, who had worn a Blues-Traveler-themed costume just days earlier.

Of course, he firmly rebuked me for even suggesting that he’d want to attend such and event but, thanks to T&M, I was able to get the conversation going. Just wait until the Spin Doctors come to town!

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Posted on December 6, 2009

TV Shows »Wicked Attraction

Wicked AttractionOn the Investigation Discovery channel

Visually, it definitely takes some getting used to (the first time Brittany and I watched an episode we found the overuse of kinetic video techniques incredibly overwhelming – and distracting), but the concept behind Wicked Attraction is undeniably intriguing: the show profiles couples (usually romantically involved, but not always) who have gone on (usually murderous) crime sprees.

The great Honeymoon Killers examines the bizarre, but not unique, relationship of a pair of crazies who probably would not have been killers if they hadn’t met each other but, through some crazy shared world view (usually founded upon the romance of the outlaw lifestyle), became serial killers. Badlands is a pretty wonderful portrait of this kind of relationship – so is Natural Born Killers, for that matter.

What’s great about Wicked Attraction is that it examines tons of similar cases – as a tease, a photo of Karla and her husband Paul flashes across the screen in the over-done intro – most of which are not nearly as infamous, though no less horrific, than the few high profile couple-killer cases we’re all familiar with. One particular episode, about two guys who met in prison and bonded over their mutual interest in abducting, assaulting and torturing women then, upon their respective releases, went out and bought a van and murdered an untold number of young girls, is truly chilling.

The production staff is always saddled with too few photos to work with (see below/after the jump), so I can almost understand the use of all the stylized digital fire, spazzy zooms and quick blurs; the over-saturated dramatic recreations (told almost entirely in close up) are an entirely different matter.

Click here for the rest of Wicked Attraction

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Posted on December 6, 2009

Laughs »Ghost Hunters Academy

Ghost Hunters AcademyAiring weekly on SYFY

Let me just start off by making it clear that Ghost Hunters is a show that, unless you’ve seen it, you really can’t believe it. If you’ve seen clips on the Soup where a traditionally good looking guy is, in the parlance of McHale’s writers, “taunting the air”, that show is not Ghost Hunters but the free-wheeling, tongue-in-cheek Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures. Ghost Hunters, which airs on the newly branded SyFy, is a dour, sour, extremely self-serious program that follows the TAPS team (former RotoRooters – I kid you not, watch the animated intro) Jason and Grant as they travel the country proffering their special blend of dickish skepticism.

I’m not sure how to put this without sounding like a dick myself (I’d certainly like to suppose that I’m not without a base-level belief in the supernatural), but a television show about the (pseudo) science of ghost detection is, at its very core, problematic. I suppose what I have the biggest issue with is the way that a bunch of scowly douchebags have thoroughly stripped away the mystery and wonder of the spiritual realm and replaced it with a bunch of hard and fast rules they simply shat out over years and years of know-it-ally conversations. Ghost stories are always fundamentally people stories: once you’re dead, you can’t really do all that much – it’s the human element that makes tales of spookings and hauntings so compelling – and Ghost Hunters occasionally succeeds when it profiles individuals experiencing paranormal activity in their homes and places of business.

The interviews with the afflicted are always the most genuinely interesting parts of the show because, more often than not, the interview subjects cannot help but betray that the haunting is something that they’re kind of proud of, a fact that sparks a series of essential, and rather heavy, human experience questions: why do these people think they have ghosts in their lives, what’s going on psychologically? Why aren’t all of us affected by moving plates and dimming lights, bumps in the attic and visions of people not there? Ultimately: is there really an afterlife or are we doomed to haunt some tourist attraction for the rest of eternity?

After the interview and case history are established, a  bunch of DV cams, EMF detectors and rigid, jerky attitudes take center stage as the team tries to ‘scientifically’ establish whether or not the place is actually haunted. This ‘evidence gathering’ phase of the show is always tedious, once it’s completed the team studies the A/V record they’ve made and looks for pieces of the tape where they can almost detect a voice straining to say something like, ‘Help me”.

But I filed this under Brittany’s Laughs category for a reason: this show is hilarious.

Click here for the rest of Ghost Hunters Academy

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Posted on December 6, 2009

Spend a Couple Hours »The Parlour

parlour greenpointThis week Jim was so taken with a new salon here in Greenpoint that he volunteered this post:

I’ve never actually felt comfortable in a salon; I’m sure my own issues are a big part of the reason why but, personal hang-ups aside, I’ve always genuinely perceived a mild disinterest radiating from the staff, as if they didn’t exactly want me in their club house – like I was some kind of interruptive intruder.

Never again. The other day, under pressure from Brittany to trim my beard, I booked an appointment up the street at The Parlour (it’s on Greenpoint and Franklin, right next door to Brouwerij Lane). I’ve never in my life felt more welcomed in a place of hair dressing. Everyone is super friendly and I didn’t at all feel like I was disrupting whatever they were up to the second before I walked in.

For $25 I got a shampoo, neck and beard trim with a hot towel, which is both super relaxing and a pretty good deal – but what’s really key is that I was able to get my beard trimmed by someone who totally knew what she was doing – which has not always been the case at other local shops that boast of their tonsorial expertise.

In fact, the last time I got a trim I was so displeased with the results that I had to tinker with it at home for some time and, in an (ultimately ineffectual) effort to make it look even and regular, I gradually shortened my beard far more than I would have liked to; so I’m sure you can imagine how pleased I was that I walked out with a great looking beard.

But the Parlour offers far more than mere man maintenance packages, Nackie (who runs the salon) is a major hair stylist. She worked for a number of years at the Chelsea Hotel before opening The Parlour just a couple of months ago. She trimmed my hair and it looks excellent, so I’m sure that whatever kind of style you’re looking for, she and her team can totally deliver.

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Posted on June 8, 2009

Desserts »Candy Corn

harvest candy cornWhenever we find ourselves at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Brittany always pushes for candy necklaces at the sweet shop just visible beyond the central seating area. Actually, Brittany pushes for candy necklaces wherever they’re available, but this place has the candy corn I really like.

More than corn shapes, there are pumpkins and I think yams, and they’re delicious, but after a couple of days they start to harden up and go stale – which I actually find really reassuring,?particularly when I consider all the preservatives Brachs must dump into their vats of wax to turn out their batches of candy corn. Ahh, Unwrapped! You’ve spoiled it all by revealing the rubber gloves, hair nets and overhead florescent tubes that only serve to taint our sweetest childhood candy experiences.

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Posted on December 8, 2008

Web Sites »Son of San Guinary

Son of San GuinaryOne of the great things about my new job (besides browsing the stock image site we use with the adult filter turned off – which has been yielding a lot of semi-erotic scantily clad moms-to-be and Santa’s helpers this month) is the amount of time I get to spend Google image searching. I don’t care what you’re looking for, after about page 18 you’re going to start getting pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with what you’re actually trying to find. Following these weird images down crazy rabbit holes can be a great way to discover sites like Son of San Guinary.

It’s the home page of an Omaha monster movie show called Creature Feature that was cancelled back in 2003. A Z-level horror movie anthology, the original Creature Feature ran from 1971 to 1982 on KMTV and was a big hit back in the day when locally produced shows like this ruled the Saturday night airwaves. Alas, syndicated sitcoms soon replaced the crazy hosts and it was years before quality programs like She Spies stole back the airwaves.

Son of San Guinary sought to mine the Nebraskan TV audience’s nostalgia for the good old days of Saturday night television – but I think it’s a whole new game since the razor sharp MST3K metasized the bygone world of late night movies. Anyway, it’s not so much the show that caught my attention, but the crazy images. Here’s an awesome gallery of screen shots from the show itself; but it’s these stills of from the horror movies (located in the ARGHives) are truly something else. Hauntingly beautiful in the same way the Beast from Space trailer is (thanks again, Matthew), these lo fi effects are some of my favorite things on the internets – not because they’re cheesy (though it’s easy to feel that way once you notice the site’s background image), but because they’re actually unnerving.

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Posted on December 8, 2008

Restaurants »Daisy May’s BBQ

Daisy Maes BBQBrittany opted for a pulled pork sandwich and, to be honest, after having one of Ed Mitchell‘s there’s really no comparison – but I ordered the brisket and it was delicious. Tack on two low calorie sides (mashed potatoes + gravy and baked beans) and you end up with a pretty full stomach.

We went on a quiet Monday night and, although it’s a bit out of the way for us (11th at 46th Street), the dude-oriented environment was quiet and comfortable, for barbecue in the city, this is a pretty good option.

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Posted on December 8, 2008

Recipes »Chipotle Chili

chipotle chili homemadeMeaty and delicious with a strong smokey flavor, this recipe makes for fantastic recession era winter eating

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Posted on December 8, 2008

Laughs »Gino the Ginny

gino the ginnyI’ll be honest, the set up is a lot funnier than the videos themselves – be prepared for a wealth of bad titles and horrible club music. A couple of months back, my old co-worker Cody described the self-anointed YouTube sensation kind of like this (only Cody would affect a pretty good Long/Staten Island accent from time to time to emphasize the cultural criticism):

“It’s a 12-year-old kid imitating his older brother, who is a total Guido. He’s wearing a tank top and a gold chain and his hair is blown out and he talks about going to clubs, pumping mega-mixes, and taking ecstasy.”

It sounds hilarious, right? And it is, to a degree. He shouts things like, “If I’m not VIP, I’m fucking out of here!” and “Who’s DJing tonight? DJ Go-Fuck-Yourself!” Which is pretty funny; but the clips aren’t short and the lack of brevity kind of deflates the concept after a little while.

But this clip of Guido fashion police is pretty awesome: Get Juiced!

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Posted on December 8, 2008

TV Shows »The Young Ones

the young onesSure, lots of sitcoms “push the boundaries”, but is there really another show you could honestly attach the word anarchist to? Four students attending Scumbag College, Rick “The People’s Poet” (a pompous twit), Vyvyan Basterd (the deranged punk), Neil Pye (the defeated hippie) and Mike the cool person (not a actually all that cool) are roommates in a filthy flat back in the heyday of Thatcher’s England. Every character is an idiot and a horrible, horrible person – but this show is truly hilarious, especially to dudes in college.

Violent and mean spirited, it wallows in squalor and fuses high brow surreal antics with the basest comedy imaginable. Marxist comedian Alexei Sayle, whose bits I never quite wrapped my head around, plays a host of characters, notably the landlord, but other well known comedians pop up as well. And it’s got the best closing music ever!

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Posted on December 8, 2008