New Gig Review

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but I have a new gig review up at Beyond Race.

Bishop Allen @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg

"On the record, the songs are light and poppy, generally a breeze to listen through. The live show allowed for a few more rock and roll indulgences—muscular guitar parts here and there where pianos worked on the album—and, coupled with Rice's Beatles-style head-bopping and twitchy dancing, the band came across as having more amped-up energy than you'd guess from the sweetness of its sound."

Check back again soon for a capsule about Los Campesinos!

Time Out!

I was so pleased to see my article in Time Out New York, not just because I love to see my own name in print (which I do), but because I think the illustrations are awesome. The article is about "letterboxing," a secretive hobby that few people know about.

Map #011 Letterboxing

"One Upper East Sider who goes by the trail name SnapZ says, 'I had a box hidden in a hollow log in Riverside Park. One day, I found a flashlight and scissors there. Drug dealer? Homeless person? I never found out.'"

May Issue


May means the start of the summer season--and that means big summer movies. Hence, one of my favorite assignments of the year:

Summer Film Preview

A round-up of the must-see films of the summer: "Apparently, even after you find the Holy Grail, there’s still more whip-cracking adventuring to do. An older, crankier Indy takes young Mutt Williams (Transformers’ Shia LeBeouf) along for the ride this time."

Also in this issue:

Our Parents' Divorces

A lifestyle piece about what happens to people after their parents get divorced: "'When their parents divorce, many children go through an emotional roller coaster,' says Peter Salem, executive director of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. 'There is a fundamental change in the child’s world. There could be a change of residence, or the family income isn’t what it once was because it has to support two homes. The bedrock of their lives—the family unit—is being dismantled. The question turns into whether or not there will be emotional damage to the children and, if so, what the extent of it will be.'”

From CNN to ASU

A follow-up article with CNN's Aaron Brown: "In June 2005, we profiled Aaron Brown, then an anchor for CNN’s NewsNight and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Scarsdale</st1:place></st1:city> resident. Today, almost all of what we wrote has changed. He’s no longer with the cable net, having been replaced after four years by a certain silver-haired anchor whose name rhymes with Schmanderson Schmooper." (It's the sixth item down.)

UPDATE: This article was picked up for an item in Page Six. Read it here.

Ask the Expert

A tiny item about generic vs. name-brand pills: "According to the FDA, a store-brand or generic drug must be the same as the original in terms of dosage, strength, performance, use, quality, and safety. However, the look of the brand-name drug is trademarked, so the store-brand version uses the inactive ingredients to change the size, shape, color, or taste, and those ingredients may give you a different reaction." (It's the fourth item down.)

Culture, Etc.

Joan Osborne, Jacques Goudstikker, art galas, and more.

April Issue


The redesign of our magazine went live in April, and it couldn't look better. I placed these articles in the fresh-looking issue:

Oh What a Web We Need
A short list of our staff's we'd-die-without websites: "Who says that traditional media is afraid of the Web? Here at the magazine, we couldn’t live without the Internet (for work—honest)." (It's the fifth item down.)

Culture, Etc.
The B-52s, Ira Glass, Josh Ritter, and more.

In addition to writing the articles above, I assigned these meaty pieces:

X Saves Westchester
Our Subprime Crisis
Culture Shock

...And one last item of business:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 5

In the midst of preparing the April issue, one PopMatters review wormed its way onto the site, too: "If you’ve watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force or the show’s first feature film, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, you know that everything about the show defies logic. Especially the film which, for a full-length film based on an 11-minute, late-night cartoon about talking food, managed to be released in 877 theaters its opening weekend. And that’s after a viral marketing campaign for the movie caused Boston officials to call the bomb squad."

Much more in May!

PopMatters Day


Two of my PopMatters reviews went up on the same day. I love it when that happens.

quarterlife

Note: the lack of a capital "q" is the show's stupid stylistic decision, not mine. My review isn't much nicer: "This is the not-quite-true story of six friends picked to live in a house and have their lives taped, as one pensive video-blogger finds out what happens when people stop being polite and start being 'real'...A show where friends sleep around on each other, only to have truths revealed about their lives through a blog? It’s basically Gossip Girl, only without the awareness that it’s a total fantasy."

Right at Your Door

The movie was mixed, but it did make me jump up and buy a disaster-preparedness kit online: "Gorak manages to wring the maximum amount of fright out of this situation not by how large the disaster looms, but how small he makes it."

Also, PopMatters has now done this neat thing where you can search reviews by author, so you can see everything else I've written for them, too.

March Issue


Yes, suburbia still exists after dark.

Night Owls: The Bartender

A profile of people who work after dark: "At night, you can find bartender Tiffany Grimes under the flat-screen TVs and exotic animal heads at Hartsdale’s Mighty Joe Young’s, mixing up for thirsty patrons its signature 'Kenya, Willya, Wontcha?' But, as with other skilled bartenders, you can also picture her as Lucy from Peanuts, standing beneath a homemade cardboard sign that says 'The Doctor Is In.'" (It's the fifth item down.)

Arts & Entertainment

A zombie Girl with a Pearl Earring and lots more.

Okay, so this issue is a little light on bylines for me, but a lot of pieces I assigned to freelancers are in this one, including:

The Thrill of the Hunt

Is There a Critic in the House?

Evening Alternatives (halfway down)

From Cooper to Condo (second-to-last item)

February Issue

Mmmmm...all about food.

Parti Mardi

How to throw a real Mardi Gras party: "Looking to celebrate without buying a ticket to Nawlins? Consult our no-fuss, do-it-yourself guide to all the beads, booze, and beignets you’ll need. Just try to keep your shirt on."

Book Group

Advice for mid-winter reading: "From Russell Banks, the writer who previously brought us such memorable downers as Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, comes a tale about life in the Adirondacks during—how fitting—the Great Depression." (It's the fourth item.)


Great Places, New Faces

A round-up of new players in the local culture scene, including local maestro Itzhak Perlman. (It's the ninth item.)


Arts & Entertainment

Flamenco dancing, Eaglefest, and more.

Must-See TV Reviews

Today PopMatters released its ranking of the 30 best television shows of 2007. Unlike the film list—where I learned that my favorite films of the year just squeaked onto the list at spots 29 and 21—my TV write-up rose to the No. 1 spot! I'm glad I'm not the only one in love with Pushing Daisies.

High Redefinition: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2007

"Never before has a show so consumed with death been so darn perky."

It's also time for some mid-season debuts, and with the writers' strike on, it's a weak field. I scraped one review out of the bottom of the barrel.

The Celebrity Apprentice

"Both teams act like they’re extremely serious, and all pay due deference to Mr. Trump. This even if some of these celebrities are bigger brands than The Donald, at least among some viewers. (In my college dorm, I saw lots of copies of 1974’s Kiss, fewer of 1988’s The Art of the Deal.)"