CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Invisible Girl

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Band: King Khan & BBQ Show
Label: In The Red Records
Release: November 3, 2009

1. “Anala” – 9.6
2. “Invisible Girl” – 9.8
3. “I’ll Be Loving You” – 9.7
4. “Animal Party” – 9.4
5. “Spin the Bottle” – 9.8
6. “Third Ave” – 9.8
7. “Tastebuds” – 9.7
8. “Truth or Dare” – 9.6
9. “Crystal Ball” – 9.8
10. “Lonely Boy” – 9.7
11. “Tryin’” – 9.8
12. “Do the Chop” – 9.7

Comments: This album rules! It doesn’t quite have the innate catchiness of most of the songs on What’s For Dinner? or The King Khan & BBQ Show LP, but it’s a lot more of the same great old-skool garage and doo-wop. “Anala” gets us right into things with King hollering his typical  “uhm-bau-wau-uhm-bau-wau” in the background of BBQ’s graceful ballad about making Anala (yes, Anal-a) cry. “Invisible Girl” is a bit of a change-up from “Anala” in that it is more modern garage-rock sounding, playful and as inviting as ever. “Purple, pink, and orange make me high as when the sky…” is the perfect line for a sing-a-long. A dirty sing-a-long at that; seemingly about fantasies of the cover-girl. “I’ll Be Loving You” is another powerful BBQ straight from the heart tune…different from the previous three because it is to a great degree innocent. “Animal Party” carries on the innocent vibe and could easily be played alongside children, provided it’s cleaned up slightly. Next is “Spin the Bottle” which really isn’t like anything KK+BBQ have done before. King’s “dirty” vocals fit perfectly in this raunchy-but-not-really-raunchy-at-all number. “Third Avenue” is probably the oldest sounding song on this album. Everything about it: the lyrics, the slow-strummed guitars and the light tambourine have a definite old skool vibe. “Tastebuds,” I imagine, will most definitely become a live staple for these guys. It’s so obnoxious and memorable that live crowds are bound to immediate recite the words like any old KK+BBQ classic. “Truth or Dare” is another party-game play-on that rocks. Just like “Spin the Bottle,” this song probably wouldn’t be the same without King on lead vocals. “Crystal Ball” wouldn’t be out of place on a Shrines record because it is so fast paced and feels like a complete experience…almost like there is a seven member back-up band. “Lonely Boy” is fast-paced too with a punk structure. I can definitely see this song as long-lasting addition to their set-list. “Tryin'” further exemplifies BBQ’s amazing vocal range as if you had any doubts before. The line: “The way you chew tobacco, baby, reading magazines/Makes me want to sit around and sow into your jeans” has awesome written all over it. “Do The Chop” isn’t really dancing music, but it’s definitely something to consider. I’d try to do the chop, if I could decipher what BBQ is instructing me to do. Stop, drop, and then do the chop? Damn, that sounds fucked up, but I might as well do it anyway.

Grade: 9.7

Entertainment, Music

Am I “Outta My Mind”?

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For going to Northampton tonight to see the King Khan & BBQ Show despite the fact that I am going to see them tommorow at the Middle East as well? Well…I really hope that I get there on time to see the Show. There is some risk involved and a question of: is it really worth it? Well, in addition to seeing two geniuses, I want to pick up a copy of their Invisible Girl LP that I will (hopefully) spend all tommorow listening to.

“Outta My Mind” or not…I don’t give a fuck!

economics, News

BHCC Makes NY Times Frontpage!

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New York Times
BOSTON — Winston Chin hustles on Tuesdays from his eight-hour shift as a lab technician to his writing class at Bunker Hill Community College, a requirement for the associate’s degree he is seeking in hopes of a better job.

He is a typical part-time student, with one exception. His class runs from 11:45 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., the consequence of an unprecedented enrollment spike that has Bunker Hill scrambling to accommodate hundreds of newcomers. In the dead of night, he and his classmates dissect Walt Whitman poems and learn the finer points of essay writing, fueled by unlimited coffee, cookies and an instructor who does push-ups beforehand to stay lively.

Similar booms have forced many of the nation’s 1,200 community colleges to add makeshift parking lots, rent extra space and keep thousands of students on waiting lists this fall. While Bunker Hill offers two midnight classes — the other is Psychology 101 — and Clackamas Community College in Oregon holds welding classes until 2 a.m., others have added classes as early as 6 a.m. to make room for the jobless and others whom the recession has nudged back to school.

More students –> More demand –> No room left during “normal hours” = Midnight classes

business, Entertainment, News, sports

Celtics Win Game One Against Cavaliers

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CLEVELAND – Oh, sure, it looks simple and obvious now. One team was fully ready for an NBA opener, and one team wasn’t.

Doc Rivers would have junked the final two exhibition games if he could. His guys were ready to go. Mike Brown would like another month of training camp.

And so the newly fortified Celtics are off and running in pursuit of championship No. 18. They got one thing out of the way early: with last night’s 95-89 conquest of the Cavaliers they already have won a big game on the road.

I don’t really care about basketball, but I know enough to be impressed that we beat LeBron and Shaq.

News, Politics

Gunmen Kill 12 In UN House

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Sad news in Afghanistan…

Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 12 people — including six U.N. staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month’s presidential runoff election.

One of the six U.N. dead was an American, the U.S. Embassy said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the early morning assaults, which also included rocket attacks at the presidential palace and the city’s main luxury hotel.

The chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack “will not deter the U.N. from continuing all its work” in the country.

The attack on the guest house sent people running and screaming outside, with some jumping out upper-story windows to escape a fire that broke out. One American man said he held off the assailants with a Kalashnikov rifle until guests were able to escape.

One rocket struck the “outer limit” of the presidential palace but caused no casualties, presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said. Two more rockets slammed into the grounds of the Serena Hotel, which is favored by many foreigners.

One failed to explode but filled the hotel lobby with smoke, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, according to an Afghan witness who asked that his name not be used for security reasons.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as “an inhuman act” and called on the army and police to strengthen security around all international institutions.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks in a telephone call to The Associated Press, saying three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the guest house assault.

Drugs, economics, Health/Science, News, Politics

US May Discard Unused H1N1 Vaccine

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government may end up throwing away unused doses of swine flu vaccine if people cannot get it soon enough, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Wait. Isn’t there a shortage?

Members of Congress questioned whether federal officials were too rosy in their estimates of how much vaccine would be available and when, and companies said they were still struggling to produce immunizations against H1N1.

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Films, reviews

Film Review: Zombieland

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Full Title: Zombieland
Year: 2009
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray
Running Time: 88 minutes
Rating: R
IMDb Rating: 8.2 ( #182 in the top 250)
My Rating: A- 9.0
Here’s Why:
Killing zombies, discovering new loved ones, and enjoying the simple things in life like a delicious twinkie! Who could ask for more? In a world run by the undead, what are you going to do anyway? Right? In this action packed Horror/Comedy flick, we learn how to survive a zombie world invasion and the seemingly harder task of creating a new family with the only humans left. This is being placed on my list for best of 2009. Don’t worry it is not knocking (500) Days of Summer or Inglourious Basterds out of their well desreved ranks. But, I strongly recommend everyone to journey to your local cinema and see this. The film masterfully keeps its viewers in suspense with humor, romance, and drama. I especially dug the narrator’s rules for surviving a zombie invasion. There were over thirty and if you wanted to live then you best follow them. Some included cardio, have to run fast from those bastards, the double tap: after shooting a zombie, shoot it again to make sure it’s dead, always checking the backseat, amongst others. Overall, this was a fun movie and a particularly great experience fore me because I saw it with a very lovely lady ;).

Chris

Boston based shows/fests – DIY, punk, noise