For reasons I have explained before, I am a big fan of the prosaic aspects of politicians being politicians: walking in parades, interacting with animals, using oversized novelty scissors to cut ribbons, and so on.
If you enjoy these sorts of things too, I invite you to friend me on Facebook, where I most often post pictures of this type.
In this week's issue of The Phoenix -- in print and online now -- I have a column about the early start in the hypothetical congressional special election to replace Ed Markey, should he become US Senator in the upcoming special election.
A couple of quick additional notes.
First off, state representative Sean Garballey lives in and reps Arlington, not Cambridge.
Metalheads today were greeted with some crappy news: Dave Lombardo is, again, out of Slayer. Worse yet, it's Bill-Ward-being-vibed-out-of-Black-Sabbath part deux; from Lombardo's own calloused fingers comes this Facebook missive:
Statement From Dave Lombardo Regarding Slayer Australian Tour 2013
Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.
All Star Sandwich BarAfter a few weeks of show spotlights, this week’s Playlist is a bi-polar look at opposite ends of the Boston rock spectrum. Leading off is a new track from Central Massachusetts’ post-electroni-core quartet HERRA TERRA, whose “Portals” off their new Hyperborean EP is a comet-trail of synth-song. While there are record release parties set for Worcester (March 22 at Ralph's with Animal Talk, RIBS, and Coralcola) and Providence (March 30 at Fete Lounge with Lovelife, Ravi Shavi, and the Kolour Kolt) we're holding on tightly for a Boston date to be announced shortly.
It's that time of year again -- to hit the streets and protest in the name of privacy and Internet neutrality. On February 23, the designated International Day for Privacy (#IDP13), local activists and advocates are planning to rally outside the Massachusetts Statehouse before hosting a CryptoParty at which they'll teach self-defense tactics for protecting one's self from the prying eyes of Big Brother.
In September 2011, DC Comics hit the reset button on their whole universe, resulting in, among other changes, a massive realignment of one of its lynchpins, the much-revered Justice League. JL is one of the longest-running comics of all time, existing in one state or another since 1960; with the reset (dubbed "The New 52" after the fifty-two comic lines relaunched), DC created offshoot Justice League International, wherein a UN-controlled team dispensed ass-kicking care packages to villains worldwide.
Good luck to city councilor Bill Linehan, who will take his first try
at hosting the St. Patrick's Day breakfast amid the Menino-Connolly
tension; the Collins-Forry tension; the Lynch-MeehanMarkey [oops] tension... oh, and
the Linehan-Lee tension.
I'm on record saying that the breakfast should be done away with once and forever.
How does a DJ and track producer, one of whose YouTube vidclips has over 12 million views get booked into Cambridge's Phoenix Landing, where the dance floor accommodates maybe 200 fans? Yet 12 million views it is, for Berlin, Germany's Michael Vater, who DJs as PHONIQUE. The vidclip in question is "Feel What You Want."
Doug Rodrigues, with a big-ass knife, in the kitchen at Clio.
"I'm kind of a live wire," Clio executive chef Doug Rodrigues told the Phoenix earlier this month. "I'm not consistent, and people can’t really read me most of the time. As soon as you think I’m some hard-ass prick, I’ll go soft on you."
Well, clarification: Rodrigues is no longer employed at Clio.
Though One Life (2011) offers the usual anthropomorphic wildlife-documentary narrative - baby animals and their parents - spoken by a resonant, top-tier actor - Daniel Craig, in this instance - the cinematography is especially striking, and the creatures and their survival tactics have to be seen to be believed.
Today pretty much everyone woke up to a Facebook and twitter feed wishing KURT COBAIN a happy birthday. As Richard Bouchard, Boston's Indie Rock Ranger, put it, "Cobain would have turned 46 today, if Courtney Love hadn't murdered him in the face and made it look like a suicide." We're sure he's just kidding, CoCo.
John Connolly's new campaign-finance filing today appears to confirm that he conducted some polling earlier this month, as he is inching closer and closer to a decision about running for mayor -- as I put it three weeks ago, we'll soon see just how big his balls are.
Andrew Ryan in the Globe is up with a story tonight that Connolly is considering running for mayor; Dave Wedge at the Herald is right behind him.
:: Here's today's BOSTON ACCENTS playlist, Tuesday, February 19, 2013, back in action after the three-day weekend. As always, you can listen online via WFNX.com, every day at 5pm EST.
BAD RABBITS “Fall In Love” -- We AVA'd this one earlier today, and added it into regular rotation on WFNX. American Love is our May 14.
Last month, we posted a Q&A with Beach Fossils singer/guitarist Dustin Payseur, where he explained the songwriting process that led him to his band's sophomore album, Clash The Truth. "It’s [about] a lot of frustration from a lot of different sources," he said. "Just kind of seeing the way that a lot of the rest of the music industry treats music and it seems silly, its just a game, there's so much involved with just purely about profit that seems so silly and so completely far from the point at all.
Some experiences need to be shared to be endured. The Academy Awards is one of them. Every year the Brattle Theatre complies by throwing a pre-program bash. Okay, it's $75, but it goes to a good cause, the Brattle Foundation, and it gives you a chance to put a buzz on before Oscar-show host Seth MacFarlane starts reprising his Family Guy voices and so that even if Les Misérables wins Best Picture, you'll be having such a good time you won't care.
There are countless reasons that Slaine has crushed the Boston rap game like a Budweiser can. For one, he tells the sort of bleak Boston tales that weren't always illustrated in hip-hop – stories about spots like Southie and Roslindale, which reek of their own unique stench. As important, though, is that Slaine hasn't alienated the rest of Hub hip-hop in the process – whether that means cats from Roxbury and Dorchester, or artists from outside of the immediate city like Termanology in Lawrence, or NBS and Lou Armstrong in Cambridge.