We all love a good drum circle. There's something about the wafts of incense, combined with random banging of instruments that creates a zen-like atmosphere only akin to pharmaceuticals. (Local hip-spot Martini Red even started to host their own monthly drum-session.) But the tragic news came out today that a drum circle could be harmful to your health.
The New York Times is reporting that a bunch of hippies in New Hampshire got together for a Drum Circle and Pasta Supper on Dec 4 when one woman became seriously ill from gastrointestinal anthrax. She apparently contracted the anthrax spores from the skins of the African drums which is made from the hides of animals.
"Investigators found traces of anthrax on two African drums and an electrical outlet in the room where the event took place, Dr. Talbot said, and are theorizing that the woman swallowed spores that were aerosolized by the drumming."
Will drum circles be outlawed? How will white people with dreadlocks react? Will life ever be the same?
We hope, for the sake of summer festivals, this was just a freak accident and the drumming can continue. But just to be safe the United Campus Ministry should probably change the info on their website:
First Friday of each month
6-8 pm
Drum Circle and Free Pasta Supper:
Good food! Fun music! Excellent company! What else is there to say?
New Year's Eve is the day when Time's Square turns into a tourist breeding ground and thousands of people stand in the cold for hours on end to watch a ball drop and get a glimpse of Anderson Cooper. We aren't fans of going there for New Year's Eve, there's better options, and this year will especially suck.
After the underwear bombing incident security will be stepped up. And now, some a-hole left his van parked in the area today, which closed down Time's Square and set off a flurry of speculation.
It turns out there was just clothes in the van, probably cheap knock-offs. Does anyone from SI actually go to Time's Square on New Year's. If so, why? Don't they realize it will be like 30 degrees outside, and probably snow, not a cool snow but a shitty slush snow.
Anyways, the Dump wishes everyone a safe and uneventful New Year's.
The Mets finally made a big off-season move and signed Jason Bay to a four-year contract for a shit-load of money (does it really matter how much?). But the question is: will the Mets still blow next year? Or, will they be awesome until September and then blow?
Bay had 36 homers, which is a lot in the post-steroid era, and he had 119 RBI. This translates to roughly 20 and 90 in Citi Field.
They've also signed 18-game winner Kelvim Escobar who will probably get injured sometime around July.
Could they pull off another late-season collapse that makes Met fans want to throw their televisions out the window?
Only time will tell. Just about 60 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
When we nominated both Ghostface Killah and Terrible Tim for Staten Islander of the decade we never expected this (actually we didn’t really expect much). But with two days left to vote Ghost is in the lead followed by, that’s right, the raunchy Community television folk singer Terrible Tim. Seen below in a gripping scene from America's Got Talent.
Terrible Tim on America's Got Talent (don't blink)
We had our researchers look into this and found that the two artists are actually more alike then you think. Both men smoke marijuana and say derogatory things about females.
Y'all be nice to the crackheads, everybody listen up
I shot one of my bitches, the hoe ain't trick enough
- Ghost or Tim?
I wanna get blunted so break out the blunts
Put an end to your frontin’ so break out the blunts
- Ghost or Tim?
It's uncanny, really.
There are plenty of dark horse candidates that can still mount a massive comeback like patriotic graffiti artist Scott LaBaido, or DJ extraordinaire and "Island's best blogger" Paul Bruno. Maybe Buster Poindexter and Jay Miller can combine forces to make the ultimate faux-rock band.
Anyway, we won't try to sway the last votes, if there are any. But we'll just leave you with this.
So we know it's cold out. And we also now know that Pablo is not playing tonight at the Mercury Lounge. And, to add insult to injury, the Headlocks are in last place in our album of the year poll with one vote (one vote, really guys there's like 15 people in your band?).
But despite all the rigamarole you all should go out and support your local musicians getting off their asses and playing somewhere besides the local mainstays. We also hear local jug band Wahoo Skiffle Crazies are playing. If you need to know anything else about this please read Ben Johnson's piece, he does this for a living.
Staten Island's Democratic Congressman Mike McMahon has had to beat back criticism from both the left and right as he tries to contemplate issues such as health care, national security, financial stimulus and energy independence.
Never mind the fact that as a freshman congressman McMahon has secured funding for local terrorism task force and to spruce up the Ferry. Also, forget the fact that as a member of both the committees on Transportation and Foreign Affairs McMahon has had a direct seat in negotiating vital changes in airline safety and fighting terrorism overseas.
He's also made strides on local issues including the Brookfield landfill, the new ER at Staten Island University Hospital and the Manor Road post office.
But none of this matters -- not to the Peace Action people on the Left and the Tea Party on the Right.
Both groups have been on a crusade to influence the congressman in blatant disregard for the facts that as a freshman legislator McMahon has gone a long way to do what's best for the Island and the majority of his constituents.
To be fair, we encourage civic engagement of any kind. But the criticism for both wings has been excessive and unwarranted.
Movement for a Democratic Society:
“He [ McMahon ] voted to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, once again, not only against his constituents’ wishes, but to aid and abet the further destruction of two countries that were invaded illegally and against the will of the people..."
Staten Island Tea Party:
"...the subjugation of the American people and their Constitution - is being accomplished by a Chicago punk and a radical Democrat Congress...."
Ease it up guys. I know we're all competing for Mike's attention, but we think a little more civility is called for.
Murders are down in NYC -- way down. Today Mayor Bloomberg announced that '09 is on track to clock less than 500 murders, the lowest rate since they started keeping records in 1962. That's down from more than 2,000 in 1990.
On Staten Island the murder rate was 16, according to NYPD figures. The South Shore had one whole murder this year.
With about 500,00 people, give or take, the statistical chance you will be murdered on Staten Island next year is about .0032 %.
But this hasn't stopped the city from investing $67 million in a new precinct on the Island's west shore -- ya know, just in case.
Kids in the Pacific NW discovered Pablo when they accompanied indie crooner Kevin Devine on that leg of his tour and KEXP in Seattle has been blasting them ever since.
The band's gone through some line-up changes and other documented issues but their new release, There's Rope to Leave, is by far the best thing we've heard out of Staten Island all year.
The band, fronted by Paul Schalda and beautifully complimented by brother Will, comes from a legit musical background and relies and stellar songwriting and angelic harmonies to make music that is more Neil Young-inspired then Pitchfork-approved.
Songs like "Holy Whore" and "Hey Luci" soar on Paul's fragile vocals as they rise and fall with the crescendos of acoustic guitars, light organs, and more importantly, those subtle harmonies.
The band actually pulls in more of a crowd at the Mercury Lounge on Houston Street then they do in Staten Island, which is a damn shame. SI needs to appreciate their talent, lest they move to Greenpoint and grow beards.
Pablo - "Morning"
Tryptophan - Destroy Fashion
Did it really take this long for Tryptophan to get a proper release out? This exceptional display of psychedelic folk rock is long overdue and is a tribute to these four(?) musicians' prolific contribution to the SI music scene.
Destroy Fashion wallows in tripped out Dark Side of the Moon-esque riffs with elements of classic psych tropes from bands like 13th Floor Elevators. An added plus is front man Ron Hill's YouTube channel which marries their twisted tunes to vintage stock video.
Songs like "That Front" go on some Pet Sounds-type shit as the band adds some strings into the mix. Vocals are manipulated, layered, then fucked with again. Guitars are fuzzes out, yet clear as day. And each song bleeds into the next making it an actual album - in the pre MP3-sense. These albums aren't made anymore. It makes me miss my record collection.
Tryptophan - "Pancakes"
Paragraph - Paragraph
Paragraph threw us a curve ball with their last release, which is heavy on the funk guitars, deep bass lines, and Prince-like falsettos. The band lost a valued drummer, ditched the indie rock stigma, and went full-on libido rock with one of the sexiest albums to ever come from of the forgotten boro.
Songs like "The Line" combine danceable riffs with double entendres, and even has a guest rap verse (damn smooth). "Body Part(y)" casually invites us to a make-out party with it's swaying open chords and drum shaker percussion.
Disclaimer: No Matter who you are, this album will get you laid.
Paragraph
The Headlocks - Cuckoo Bird
The party pack from the North Shore somehow managed to cram all the instruments into a studio in Brooklyn and record the most ambitious albums from a local act in recent memory.
The biggest accomplishment of Cuckoo Bird was how Rob Carey and friends managed to layer all the elements together into cohesive structures and songs, instead of a jumbled mess of instruments.
The band included all the old-school classics like "Driving in the Dark" as well as some new additions like "Ways and Means" and "Me and You." These guys are not complacent either, I wouldn't be surprised to see big things to come from them in '10.
Rob Carey and Friends - "Outside Lookin' In"
Dead Set on Destruction - Bloody Noses, Dead Sparrows
Few bands can light up the back of Martini Red like this crew right here. In a music scene which has seen it's art grow -- let's say -- more mature, Dead Set On Destruction pays homage to the hardcore the Island is famous for but brings it into the new century.
The band's new album is true to form as they blend Husker Du-style riffs and shout-a-long vocals with pummeling beats. Lead singer Todd Currier's knock-down screams are powerful, yet melodic.
Dead Set is one of the only punk bands which have made a foray into the Island new scenesters, and they should get more recognition from the North Shore intelligentsia. Anyone can try to recreate the early-'90s and claim to be "keeping it real" but these guys hold onto the aesthetic without sounding stale or formulaic.
Shoes in a basket. Things were easier back then. America was safer. The airport security, so unobtrusive.
That was before the attacks of xmas '09, when a terrorists strapped an explosive solution to his nether regions. The eyewitness account from Delta Air Lines describes the scene:
"They heard popping noises and smelled a foul odor and some saw Abdulmutallab's trouser leg and the wall of the plane on fire."
First 9/11, then the shoe bomber, now Abdulmutallab and al-Qaeda has opened a new front in the War on Terror -- and they're fighting with their intimates.
The Nigerian man was determined to bring dangerous materials from Amsterdam on a flight into the United States. Reportedly, he was trained by al-Qaeda in Yemen who instructed him to sew the pentaerythritol (PETN) into his undies.
America needs to wake up. We need to be vigilant. We need to profile both race and couture. All underwear is subject to screening. The next attack could come from anywhere.
al-Qaeda Gabbana?
America can not fall into a pre-xmas attack mindset. Al-Qaeda wants to destroy our society. They will infiltrate and undermine us anyway they can.
Is al-Qaeda recruiting your children?
Right now, Obama is on vacation in Hawaii, where he was "born." He needs to intervene right away. If George W. Bush was in charge we would invade Nigeria by New Year's.
The Founding Fathers did not intend for us to live in a society where extreme jihadis with exploding underwear can cross our borders and reek havoc. That's what the 2nd amendment is for: so we can shoot other people in the balls.
We like The Seconds, they remind us of Canadian band Broken Social Scene for the early '00s. They're playing tonight with the SI folk rock legends Tryptophan at Martini Red. There's a good write-up over at SILive. It's pre-New Year's Eve weekend, so take it easy.
The Seconds - Slip Away
Also, tonight is The Headlocks Draw-a-Thon show in Manhattan. It basically a mix of music, performance art, drawing, nude models, and costumes -- what else could you ask for in life.
Xmas is traditionally a low-staffed, slow news day. But a lot of nutty %ish happened today. So here's a round-up of all the stories you need to pretend you know about next time you make a trip to the water cooler.
Shocker: before he was embarrassing Italians on MTV's sleaze-fest Jersey Shore, cast member Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino was a stripper for All American Male.
The company, based in NYC and Atlantic City, has been voted- "#1 Male Strip Show & Hottest Male Strippers in the Nation by Male Strippers Directory." We have to admit, it's not much of a stretch. No surprises here. The site says it all.
Ladies Remember:
What Happens at "All American Male", Stays at "All American Male"!
That's right, a decade-end list specifically devoted to your favorite borough. OK, even if it's not your favorite borough, these people are golden and if you don't know about them , you probably should.
After a painstaking process our staff came up with the definitive list of 10 great Islanders. There are lots of honorable mentions that aren't included, and because this is a democracy we will accept write-ins. Also, none of this "I moved to Brooklyn" shit, those people don't count.
So get ready to celebrate Shoalin and all the ridiculous people on it.
Vito Fossella - Staten Island's political golden boy did lots of important shit in Congress, but the dude really put us on the map for being a major playa when he got caught driving shit-faced to his girlfriend's house. He tried to make a comeback recently until some asshole outed him at a local function.
Ghostface - We shouldn't have to justify this but let's just say: Wu-Tang, Fishscale, Tony Starks, Supreme Clientele, Theodore Unit, MF Doom, Bulletproof Wallets. Ghost even came out with a song in '09 called "Stapleton Sex." Don't forget your roots, boys and girls.
Paul Bruno - Those who attend any half-assed bar on the North Shore should recognize that DJ PB set the standard for Island shindigs in the early 00s, playing non-stop dance parties that mashed Le Tigre with Madonna before it was 'ironic' and Girl Talk was getting laid for it. Plus PB has a blog, and it's actually good.
David Johansen - That's right that David Johasen. The one from The New York Dolls and also his cocktail-sipping alter-ego Buster Poindexter. He raked in the royalties with "Hot, Hot, Hot" but he is still doing the solo thing and, more importantly, still living on SI. Way to go.
Terrible Tim - Tim's raunchy TV show has been entertaining late-night stoners for years and his folk act has been kicked out of every open mic session on the North Shore. But Tim capped off the decade with the most improbable feat of all: he actually made it onto the airwaves with the help of WXRP's Rich Russo who called his song "Nitrous Oxide" the next "Louie, Louie."
James Oddo - We're sure that Councilman Oddo has done lots for the Island (and if this was a respectable blog, we'd do some research on that) but he really made his mark when some Norwegian Jon Stewart wanna-be tried to punk him in his office. Oddo responded in kind with a proper "EFFE YOU!" Congrats Councilman, next time those fools wanna prank somebody they could go bother Marty Markowitz.
Scott LoBaido - If you haven't seen Mr. LoBaido sitting at the bar in the Cargo Cafe for, like, every night the past ten years you have definitely seen his patriotic artwork sprawled across the Island like graffiti in some 1984-like dystopian society. His American flag paintings are plastered on every school, deli, church, tanning salon.
Jay Miller - Mr. Miller started off the decade with his superstar fake punk band and ended it with an even more popular fake TV show --- and he did all this while holding down a real job. He's like a renaissance man on the Island and the youngsters should look to him for guidance, sorta like Yoda.
Douglas Franks - We don't really know why. It's Douglas Franks, of Douglas Franks Realty. He wears a cowboy hat. His picture is plastered all over the Island. He's always smiling. What else do you need? Douglas Franks, ladies and gentlemen.
Diane Savino - Plenty of people thought Staten Island was full of homophobes and guidos until Diane Savino came around to smack down the New York legislature. The NY State Senator made an impassioned speech in support of gay marriage on the Senate floor, giving hope that 2010 will bring a more progressive era to even the most backward of constituencies.
So the hipsters want to pretend they live in a trailer park. They've converted an empty factory into a garage for trailers because everyone knows making lofts outta that shit is so 2008. The new 'trailer park' is in Bushwick, which is where the kids started to migrate when the market tanked and the trust funds couldn't keep up with Williamsburg rents.
The only next logical step is that the hipsters move across the Verrazano to Staten Island, because who would expect that.
Here's a few reasons why:
We have Carnies: You would not believe how many shitty carnivals, second-rate circuses and generally sleazy ethnic fairs there are on Staten Island every summer.
There's a historic village: Just like in that Chuck Palahniuk movie 'Choke.' I know, it's not as violent as 'Fight Club' but look at what these chics wear. Who wants to be an administrative assistant when you can work at this place.
There is an actual trailer park: Over on the industrial end of the Island, where the fumes of New Jersey's factories drive across the Bayonne Bridge in buses, there is a real-life mobile home community -- or as the locals call them: garden homes.
So, what's it gonna be Brooklyn? Maybe this summer you guys can come here, work in a local attraction, live in a fine garden home, find a cute bumpkin to drink 40s with, fall in love, and listen to Crowded House just like this Michael Cera lookin' mofo in 'Adventureland.'
So the Advance is reporting that a man set himself on fire today in the Great Kills section of Staten Island. The story is laced with the usual bouts of vagueness ("...threw himself into the snow to extinguish the flames, apparently after they became too painful" -- duh!) anonymous sources ("According to a high-ranking police source") and completely inane video segments.
So how does this guy stack up to the competition? Like the all-star leader of the self-immolation movement, seen here, a buddhist monk protesting the South Vietnamese government in 1963 on the street in Saigon. This photo won a Pulitzer and is also known as the cover of the first, and only good, Rage Against the Machine album.
Two years later Norman Morrison, a Quaker protesting the Vietnam War, burned himself alive outside Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's Pentagon office. McNamara, whose disastrous Vietnam policies resulted in the death more than 500,000 people was interviewed extensively for the 2003 film "Fog of War" and said this:
"He came to the Pentagon, doused himself with gasoline. Burned himself to death below my office. (pause) How much evil must we do in order to do good? We have certain ideals, certain responsibilities. Recognize that at times you will have to engage in evil, but minimize it."
Then there is this scene from 2005's quirky indie ro-com "Me and You and Everyone We Know." In the midst of a divorce, nervous breakdown and act of desperation, John Hawkes' (Kenny Powers fame) character douses his hand with lighter fluid in a failed attempt at a parlor game to amuse his children. (Comes in about 3:35, but the entire scene is golden.)
And last but not least, the Liars early-00's dance-punk song, "Mr. Your On Fire Mr." The band went on the record scores of more albums relying on tribal drones, but the song was a pretty juicy pre-Rapture party hit and tells a tale of mistaken immolation, so I'll include it.
"Mr. you on fire, Mr."
"No sir I'm OK."
The video was filmed during the Siren festival in Coney Island, and there's extra bonus points if anyone knows what awesome band their bassist now plays in.
Just in time for Xmas, Staten Island's District Attorney has launched his second annual campaign to combat shoplifting in the Staten Island Mall, and it's a cross between The Scarlet Letter and candid camera.
This is how it works: repeat offenders will have their mug shots blasted across the mall billboards in a campy hollywood -style commercial that says, "Want to be famous? -- Shoplift in this mall and you could have your face right here."
The DA's office says the ads are funded by revenue seized from criminals. The spot is so corny and low-budget you can only imagine it was made by some local second-rate wedding videographer.
So it looks like President Obama and the Democrats will get their Health Care Reform after all. While DC and the rest of the East Coast was being blanketed by snow, Senators emerges from a 13 hour meeting with Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson to finally come to an agreement on abortion.
The bill will include some new taxes to help cover the over 30 million people who don't have insurance. One of these taxes struck me as kind of comical and I think will hit Staten Island hard: a tanning salon tax. This is no joke, according to the Times:
Mr. Reid dropped a proposed tax on cosmetic surgery and replaced it with a tax on “indoor tanning services.” Senate Democrats said the 10 percent tax was justified because ultraviolet radiation from tanning devices could increase the risk of skin cancer.
I wonder how all the tanning salons on the Island feel about this. Would Staten Island ever be the same without all the superficial orange people? Will MTV's Jersey Shore lose their endorsement deals?
If you've been down to the Alice Austen House Museum you've probably met Paul Moakley, the museum's curator and caretaker. He was profiled in the New York Times this week and, well, I think the piece speaks for itself. Well done Staten Island, be proud.
"TRUTH be told, life at the Alice Austen House in the Rosebank section of Staten Island was considerably livelier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Austen, one of America’s earliest and most prolific photographers, ruled the roost.
It was from this Gothic-Revival-style house that she used to take off on her bicycle, laden with 50 pounds of equipment, to photograph fishmongers, bootblacks and other working people. It was on the front lawn that she used to dance wildly with her female friends. Even more scandalous, she took pictures of herself with a cigarette stuck in her mouth."
They've been promising us 12-18 inches of snow all day long. Some of you are hunkered down with hot chocolate and ramen soup, but others are wondering about all the holiday bashes planned for the weekend.
Heard about the massive omnibus spending bill that passed in DC last week? Well, Maybe not, but Congressman Mike McMahon (D- Staten Island) has secured $3.5 Million in federal funds to combat terrorism in New York City.
The funds will go to a city-wide terrorism emergency task force to be stationed at the Fort Hamilton base just over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn.
"Having a task force devoted only to the City is a no-brainer," McMahon said. "Even though it has been over eight years since 9/11, concern of another terrorist attack still lingers in the back of every New Yorker’s mind."
The National Guard has been trying to secure this money for seven years. It's about time.
So this guy goes after Borough President James Molinaro, then gets arrested under shady circumstances.
Charges have been dropped. The NYCLU is now involved. Molinaro is mum about the arrest and the pending suit against the city.
The beep is not named specifically but Edward Sullivan says that he was arrested three days after he wrote an article about Jim "the penguin" Molinaro. He claims the cops told him he has "enemies upstairs."
(Update: Sullivan's Letter to the Editor is pasted below.)
From the Staten Island Advance on 8/8/09:
Enough is enough now with what is going on with the Home Port and the Lighthouse Museum.
It's time to turn these properties over to the New York City Parks Department and get on with it! These properties are owned by the people of Staten Island and the powers that be are just waiting to turn them over to private contractors to make a fortune on prime real estate without investing a penny!
This is our property, people! Don't let Borough Hall take away from us what is legally ours with some under-handed deal like what just happened at Brookfield landfill. We want access to the waterfront on the North Shore. We want a park. We want a National Lighthouse Museum.
We are told there is no money for a museum or a park. Where did the $100 million for the "mistake" in the Brookfield cleanup come from? What politician had $100 million sitting in their discretionary funds available to give it to a contractor? We want access to our property!
Enough is enough. Tear down the fences on the North Shore!
Election Day is less then 75 days away. Don't forget who did what for you in November.
KERRY SULLIVAN
ROSEBANK
[The writer is Executive Director of the Natural Resources Protective Association.]
The Staten Island Advance is salivating over the prospect of Vito Fossella running for congress again:
"A McMahon-Fossella matchup, which would no doubt revolve around hot topics like health care, Afghanistan and Fossella's scandal-scarred past, would no doubt be one of the most-watched races in the nation."
Did they just say "no doubt" twice in one sentence? Yes, they did
We all love a good drum circle. There's something about the wafts of incense, combined with random banging of instruments that creates a zen-like atmosphere only akin to pharmaceuticals. (Local hip-spot Martini Red even started to host their own monthly drum-session.) But the tragic news came out today that a drum circle could be harmful to your health.
