Food

Food Review: Kane’s Donuts

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Kane’s Donuts in Saugus (MA) is the real deal!

I used to be a Daddy’s Donuts junkie before it closed its doors a few years back. They had a great honey dip stick and a pretty solid blueberry donut. Since then I’ve mainly been patronizing Honey Dew Donuts simply because I find Dunkin’ Donuts to be extremely lackluster. DD is the hallmark of meh doughnuts, in fact. Honey Dew is a bit better than Daddy’s was…I find the honey dip stick to be pretty filling and it has a nice amount of glaze. There is certainly the question of freshness in my mind when I eat it. Any questions or concerns I had were eliminated when I took my first bite of a Kane’s old fashioned glaze stick. It was as fresh as you can possibly imagine, overflowing with glaze, and very soft on the inside all around. Sometimes with Honey Dew I find the batter to be a bit hard on the inside. Not at all with Kane’s. I had a circular honey dip in addition to the old fashioned stick and it was awesome as well! Ten thousand times better than DD and much much better Honey Dew.

Grade: 9.5

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Ditzs use Facebook insteading 000(911)

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While watching Chelsea Lately, Chelsea had mentioned a piece of news in which two idiotic Austrailian girls–both 10 and 12–fell down a drain. Instead of using their mobile devices to dial 000 (their equivalent of our 911), they used their phones to update their facebook statuses for someone to help them. Curious, I went online to check and see if this story was true. Low and behold, I found this: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678945.htm. Wow, I’m completely at a loss for words at their stupidity. What is our world coming to? As one of the comedians on her round table cleverly put it “That’s like being lost in the ocean and deciding to burn the boat!” I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Music, News

Extension of KYLAM Coming!

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The capabilities of doing things other than blogging on WordPress are few and far between, at least to semi-beginners like me. I do prefer organized pages (see É2.0 Fail for more details) occasionally. I’ve added an extension of KLYAM that will strictly sort out all music related stuff. It’s in its very very early stages right now…I’ll update about it more. Click below to check it out:

KLYAM Music

Music

CD Review: Far

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Band: Regina Spektor

Spektor was in Boston earlier this week.
Spektor was in Boston earlier this week. Benny Boy got her John Hancock.

Label: Sire
Release: June 2009

1. “The Calculation” – 8.7
2. “Eet” – 8.9
3. “Blue Lips” – 9.1
4. “Folding” – 8.9

5. “Machine” – 8.5
6. “Laughing With” – 9.3
7. “Human of the Year” – 9.0

8. “Two Birds” – 8.8

9. “Dance Anthem of the 80’s – 9.2

10. “Genius Next Door” – 8.411. “Wallet” – 8.2
12. “One More Time With A Feeling” – 8.7
13. “Man of a Thousand Faces” – 8.6

Comments: I know this about Regina…she has a beautiful voice! I have a crush on her, sort of, not just because of her music. Like many of her contemporaries she has a great way with words and is obviously a tremendously skilled pianist. I prefer her minimalist, piano/vocals only numbers. It’s interesting how easily she can go from all anti-folkish to blarinly pop-ish. No “Us” or “Hero” kind of awesomeness, but that’s fine.

Grade: 8.8

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WTF? Lost Vegas

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The Sun

LOVEBIRDS Steven and Kathryn share a well-organised home in bustling Las Vegas.

They have a neat, if compact kitchen, a furnished living area, and a bedroom complete with double bed, wardrobe and bookshelf featuring a wide selection including a Frank Sinatra biography and Spanish phrase book.

And they make their money in some of the biggest casinos in the world.

But their life is far from the ordinary.

Because, along with hundreds of others, the couple are part of a secret community living in the dark and dirty underground flood tunnels below the famous strip.

Art, Culture Jamming, Music, Politics

Band Spotlight: Tom Jefferson

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Top Album: The Declaration of Independence (1776) This is Tom at his finest; one incendiary motherfucker. Before he completely sold out with 1803’s corporate shilling Louisiana Purchase. No expansion my ass!

Top Lyrics: “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.” and “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing… the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Chris

Music

CD Review: Album

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Minimalism
Album? Minimalism FTW

Band: Girls
Label: True Panther
Release: 2009

1. “Lust For Life” – 9.2
2. “Laura” – 9.0
3. “Ghostmouth” – 8.9
4. “Goddamn” – 7.7
5. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” – 9.6
6. “Hellhole Ratrace” – 9.2
7. “Headache” – 9.0
8. “Summertime” – 8.6
9. “Lauren Marie” – 8.4
10. “Morning Light” – 8.9
11. “Curls” – 8.2
12. “Darling” – 8.2

Comments: Girls!!! Omg! The whole internet is buzzing about Girls! Or maybe just a few “indie” sites here and there. But are they really deserving of the hype? Singer Christopher Owens has a (unique) voice that causes me to deeply wonder whether it is musically fit or semi-annoying. The melodies are there. Pretty damn awesome! Anthem-esque at times, sunshine poppy at others. A bit more obscure than say the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and maybe a bit more older sounding, but structurally there are similar elements between the two bands. “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” is one heck of a song, reminding me a bit of the lo-fi throwback elements of Wavves and Black Lips. The album’s throwback nature is sort of funny and maybe a bit superfluous…making it sound like a Weird Al original. There are some boring spots towards the end. Overall, this album will be memorable in some way at some point down the line. If they crank out more “Big Bad” tunes then I see a shitload of potential.

Grade: 8.7

Art, Culture Jamming, Entertainment, Music

Concert Review: The Rifles

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John: Last night, I ventured with Glen and Paul to the Great Scott in Allston, Ma. We went to see the two amazing acts: Mike Fiore, of Faces on Film and the British indie band, The Rifles. Though this was my first time at the Great Scott, I could tell it was a slightly smaller, and a bit more intimate venue than that of the MidEast. But, I liked it.
The gig was amazing, though that goes without saying. Mike Fiore had very passionate, and at times depressing, lyrics. His voice was like that of a male angel, singing the travesties of life, love and the injustices of the world. I especially loved when he sang something to the effect of “before she left I would never need medicine.” Thought not many people were drawn to him, I was. I could never be able to perform by myself in front of a few people, let alone a group of one hundred or so; and so, I commend him for his bravery. Due to being the lesser known opening act, most weren’t crowding around him. They were all waiting for the Rifles.

Glen: Mike Fiore did go a bit under-appreciated. I recognized a few of his tunes, notably “I’ll Sleep To Protect You,” “The Medical Mind,” “The Winners Daughter,” and the classic closer “Natalie’s Numbers.” For an acoustic solo musician, he deserves a lot of credit. The Rifles surprised me in a number of ways. I didn’t anticipate such a lengthy set (17 songs including the two song encore). The Rifles played seven songs off of their top 10 album of 2009 The Great Escape and a number of songs from No Love Lost. There were clap-alongs, sing-alongs, requests…you name it. Amazing drumming, amazing guitar solos, amazing singing. “She’s Got Standards” stood out as did “Romeo and Julie,” with its catchy “woh-woh-woh-oh” bit. I’m definitely glad I ventured out to see this show. It goes down as amongst the best.

The Rifles Set List
1. “Science in Violence”
2. “She’s Got Standards”
3. “Repeated Offender”
4. “The Great Escape”
5. “Peace and Quiet”
6. “Out in the Past”
7. “History”
8. “Hometown Blues”
9. “Spend a Lifetime”
10. “Toerag”
11. “Robin Hood”
12. “When I’m Alone”
13. “The General”
14. “Local Boy”
15. “Romeo and Julie”
——
16. Encore #1
17. Encore #2

Music

EP Review: Higher Than The Stars

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More of the same has never been better!
More of the same has never been better!

Band: Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Label: Slumberland
Release: September 22, 2009

Comments: Pains of Being Pure at Heart, on this EP, are still the Pains of Being Pure at Heart we’ve always known and loved. For whatever reason, the Pains did not churn out hardcore poppy numbers a la their eponymous debut LP, but they did make a quality recording! “Higher Than The Stars” is the best song of the bunch, featuring barely audible vocals, a neat keyboard riff, and a straight ’80s guitar melody. “103” is heavier, perhaps the band’s best attempt at post-punk revival. “Falling Over” is structured around an awesome drum beat. “Twins” sounds like it belongs on the LP…and is just awesome on all levels! I highly recommend this EP to existing fans and to those who love good old fashioned twee!

Boston based shows/fests – DIY, punk, noise