Results tagged “whati”

Dear Mamaist:

I'm a music guy. I listen to a ton of music, and because of Phillyist, I've been able to hear a lot of great stuff I never would have heard otherwise. But, no matter how much of a music fan you are, there are always some great albums that slip through the cracks and you don't manage to hear, even though you really should. So here are ten albums from 2007 I really should have heard by now, but for some reason haven't. Some are on this list because of critical buzz, while others are based on my own thoughts about the artists. And I pose the question to you, dear readers: Which two or three of these albums should I use my lovely Amazon gift card to buy?

To the Writers Guild of America: It's not that I don't support your fight. I do. I've signed your petition. I'm a writer myself, and I'd hate it if I wasn't profiting from my own work. (If I was working in TV or film, that is – bloggers don't exactly earn residuals...) But here's the thing: as I write this, I'm watching a month-old episode of Journeyman. My DVR is 95% full. I've just discovered...

Last night, I was at the Trocadero to see MGMT and what they’re all about. What I can tell you, amigos, is that these gangly dudes put out pure, unadulterated funk. The first song that I heard in its entirety was "Electric Feel." These are my thoughts, in retroactive real time, regarding what was going on in front of me:

In case you haven't noticed by now, this Phillyist likes Fair to Midland. A lot. We dug 'em when we saw them in July, so we jumped at the chance to see them again. We walked into the show expecting much the same as we got the first time around, and for the first time, that's exactly what we got. Darroh Sudderth is still a hell of a vocalist but something of a recluse in terms of the personality (or lack thereof) he shows on stage. And they still didn't talk to us between songs, but that could be because they were too busy rehydrating, which they would have needed to do with all the energy they put out in their songs.

Fair to Midland Ticket Giveaway
9/5/07-9/6/07

Recently, I attended a screening of Bratz: The Movie, which is being released in theaters everywhere today. This was my first movie screening and it was intense. Going in, I knew that it was a movie that chronicles the lives of four “BFF”s throughout the formative years of their high school lives. What I didn’t know was that it would be attended by 783 children between the ages of eight and thirteen. As I entered the theater, I looked both ways for Chris Hansen.

Scout Niblett (that's her with the monkey) is a woman who sings and plays guitar, and we like her 3-song EP Dinosaur Egg, released back in May. The title track is about really hoping your dinosaur egg hatches and your robot slave springs to life in time for that party on Friday, so of course we love it. There's also a neat cover of The Cars' classic "Just What I Needed," and a slower, lengthier, but still very groovy track entitled "Just Do It." It's all fun stuff, so we're betting when Scout plays the North Star on Sunday, July 15, it'll be a good time, especially since Scout will be there supporting St. Vincent, which is the band of singer and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, who's played for such indie luminaries as The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Steven.

Admittedly, when we were contacted by Fair to Midland's publicist, we agreed to cover tonight's show at the TLA (yeah, yeah, the Fillmore) without having ever heard a Fair to Midland song, owing solely to the fact that we liked the band's name. (We're big fans of "clever.") Also to the fact that we tend to be supportive of anything non-political that comes out of Texas. So we requested a copy of the band's debut CD and two tickets, and away we went.

Dear Philadelphia Motorists:

By now you may have read about the arrest of 20-year-old street singer Anthony Riley on charges of disorderly conduct. He is, apparently, one of several criminals (read: victims) recently caught by police in an attempt to quell the evil uprising of mimes, musicians and street-based merry-makers terrorizing our city's wealthier residents.

Tonight. 8 p.m. Damien Rice. Mann Music Center. Joygasm.

Know who's playing the Electric Factory this coming Thursday? Arctic Monkeys (MySpace) and be your own PET (MySpace). If you don't know why this will be an awesome show... well, first of all, where have you been and what's wrong with you? And second of all, these are both bands that are known to be even better live, and their recorded stuff already rocks. BYOP is Sonic Youth-approved, and all crazy lyrics and smashing indie rock. They've got a new drummer, a new album due out this summer, and are ready to roll. As for the Monkeys, they're one of those way-hyped bands that pretty much lives up to all the talk. The first time we heard Arctic Monkeys was on a live recording; it was so awesome, we picked up their first studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, right away, and were actually a little let down by it, not because it was bad, but just because it didn't have quite as energetic and explosive a sound as that live recording. Since then, we've also purchased their latest disc, released in April, Favourite Worst Nightmare, and it's more of that same fantastic, bouncy, full-on indie-rock-with-an-English-accent that we've come to expect from the Monkeys. The lyrics are clever and biting, the music grabs you and shakes you in your chair and won't let go. We've also made our peace with their studio sound, and are loving it quite a bit. But we're still looking forward to getting the real live experience on Thursday. Come on out, too, if you wanna. Tickets are still available as of this writing, but snatch 'em up, because we're sure they'll all be gone soon.

Fair to Midland Giveaway
5/2/07-5/6/07

Future Screenings: No future screenings scheduled

Bands I Caught: The Cobbs, The Asteroid #4

So this week, I left my apartment. Went to work, rehearsals, bars, shows, etc. What I didn't do was see a single new bathroom. I did, however, scrub mine. Forty-five minutes' worth of Scrubbing Bubbles, Cucumber Melon Method Spray, and Clorox wipes later, it shone. It's been a few days, but I still maintain that my bathroom is currently cleaner than my kitchen (disgusting, I know).

I am no stranger to St. Patrick’s Day in Philly. I know that many take it as an excuse to get all kinds of trashed. I know that after a certain point on March 17th, green beer stops seeming like such a gross beverage option. What I didn’t know was just how painful all this foolishness is when you have yet to imbibe any of the aforementioned foul-colored beer.

I would be a complete hypocrite if I said that I wasn't guilty of the occasional breach of decorum. I like to think that I'm better than most, but that doesn't mean I'm perfect. Fortunately, I'm the co-editor of this pretty big blog in Philadelphia, where I write a manners column, and I can use that column as a forum for others to learn from my mistakes.

Dear Retailers: I know that it's the holidays, and you're experiencing a serious crunch right now. I know that you have to hire part-time staff this time of year. I know that it's hard to train them while there are so many other things going on in the store. I know all of these things. I understand. What I don't understand is how you could fail to teach your seasonal employees important skills like...

Okay. Movie snob here. Seriously. Give me subtitles. Give me handheld cameras. Give me just about anything playing at one of the Ritz theatres.

One of my dearest, darling manhunting partners emailed me this today:

Dear Philadelphia:

On my usual walk home through the Gallery this evening, at around a quarter to 5, I took my iPod earbuds out because I was hearing this weird noise. Turns out it was the fire alarm, and folks were taking it seriously. Shoppers slowly began wandering out of the mall, and shops began closing up as employees filed out. I decided it would be prudent to follow, especially after I heard from several people that there was a real actual fire burning right then on the second floor somewhere. What I saw above ground seemed to confirm this rumor. There were a bunch of police cars and fire engines around, and Market Street was closed off for at least one block (between 7th and 8th). The south side of Market was closed to pedestrian traffic for that same block. The fire didn't seem to be affecting the PATCO train, as I was able to get into the station and catch my train from the 8th street entrance.

You may not know the name Jenny Holzer, but you've probably seen at least one of the products of her enormously influential body of work. For almost thirty years, she has explored the expressive potential of public text. On Wednesday, November 16, the artist offered a retrospective of her work and insight on her creative process to a packed house at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Part aphoristic philosopher and part conceptual installation artist, Holzer and her contemporary Barbara Kruger, with their emphasis on the word and on the ambiguities of received wisdom, have likely been among the most influential artists of the last quarter-century.

Chris and Phil return this week in the wake of a terrible sweep at the hands of the Wild Card leading Houston Astros. Today, Mustazza and Sandick tackle Billy Wagner's recent troubles, what the Phils' bullpen should look like next season, and how the Phillies have to play over these last 22 games in order to win the Wild Card.

Ronnie Polaneczky has read our minds. The Daily News columnist read Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's book and found - surprise, surprise - a massive amount of stinking hypocrisy.

But here's what he wrote regarding his demand that government increase the child credit and tax deduction for parents with kids: "The government actually provides less help the more children you have. The opposite should be true, and I am working on some amendments to fix this inequity for large families. (OK, I admit that with six kids of my own at home, I'm biased; but the tax code really has it in for big families.)"What I suspect he's really saying: An out-of-work mom with more kids than she can afford doesn't deserve the government's help. But a middle-class senator with more kids than he can afford sure does!Where he sometimes gets help instead: Santorum told the New York Times that his parents help him out financially. "They're by no means wealthy - they're two retired VA (Veterans Administration) employees - but they'll send a check every now and then. They realize things are a little tighter for us."Except that he makes $162,000 a year. I'll bet a welfare mom of six kids could live very well on that, so why is a 47-year-old man hitting up his elderly parents for cash? Or asking for tax breaks?But at least his folks have the money to lend him. That's because both his parents receive pensions. Why? Santorum grew up in a two-career family - a kind of family he deplores in his book as being obsessed with giving their kids "things" instead of time!