Why The Internet Was Invented: LolSecretz

LolSecretz combines the emo melodrama of PostSecret, a site where people send in their innermost secrets on a postcard, and LolCats, which adds terribly-spelled captions to cute pictures of kittens. When LolSecretz combines the two, you get a whole lot of funny, and a bit of sad, really. Here are a few of my favorites. Behold, the end of the Internet:

"It's Alive!" Bennett Cain's Seed, A Brilliant Student Horror Film

A mask-like figure stairs out into the unknown. Dead and lifeless. Viny tendrils crawl achingly into the frame, ready to ensnare. The crackling, scurrying footsteps of insects punctuate hollow mechanical music. Is this a tomb? Was that a death mask? Wait…the mask turns toward us! In the words of Dr. Frankenstein, "It’s Alive!"

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed stop-motion animation this much. Bennett Cain’s Seed (Savannah College of Art and Design) is a stop-motion animated film on the level of the best work of the Brothers Quay (Street of Crocodiles). It presents an organic world hollowed out by mechanization, where if you step into it, you too might be transformed…to become a cog in a machine.

Seed is a purely visual experience. Cain doesn’t clutter up the narrative with explanatory dialogue or narration. He shows you what’s happening, rather than tells you. That’s the mark of a great filmmaker.

On a literal level the plot is easy to chart. A young man knocks on the door of a house. The inhabitants inside are already watching him through a surveillance camera. We don’t know why he’s come to this house, or why anybody would be watching him. He’s let in…and discovers a virtual chamber of horrors with denizens who seem to be human-machine hybrids, with machine components substituting for body parts. Despite being machines, these "people" occupy an organic space that seems to be decomposing all around them. Dishes clutter the floor covered in decaying food…or is it axel grease? One character even seems to have worms crawling out of his head in place of hair…or are they wires? Another figure seems to wind down only to be revived by having a battery inserted into his skull. And of course, a sinister "man behind the curtain" seems to control it all…

The idea of replacing body parts with mechanical components is particularly interesting, not only just for our contemporary sense of the horror genre but for understanding the history of cinema. Several hybrid characters in Seed have replaced their eyes with mechanical seeing apparatuses. They also spy on the young man through a surveillance camera, which could be seen as a mechanical eye. In the late 1920s Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov hailed cinema as the greatest art form because of its ability to change our way of seeing. He believed that the movie camera could become a mechanical eye (a.k.a. Kino-Eye) to jog us out of our accustomed ways of seeing and view the world with a new efficient, mechanized objectivity. Isn’t that what’s happening here in Seed? Not only do the hybrids themselves see the world through a mechanized lens, they want the young man, who we identify with, to share their perspective. That’s why he seems to become like them, part of the machine, at the end.

Bennett Cain’s use of stop-motion animation here is important too. What is stop-motion? It’s the process of painfully, meticulously photographing objects in various positions so that when cut together it will give the illusion of movement. In effect, stop-motion animates lifeless objects, making the lifeless appear alive. This happens narratively in Seed as well, when the "man behind the curtain" replaces one of the hybrid’s batteries, reviving him. Stop-motion is a mechanical way of making artificial objects seem real, exactly what the young man is confronted with, with these hybrid characters who seem alive but really aren’t.

Stop-motion can also be seen as a more specific form of what all cinema does. All films create the illusion of movement, of a life-like quality, by rapidly alternating 24 still frames per second. When these still photos are projected so quickly, it makes us believe that we’re watching a motion picture. What’s really happening is that a sense of dynamism is created from a succession of the static. Since still photography has often been paired with images of death, from 19th century death photos to 20th century war photography, we could also say that motion pictures are paired with life. But then again, the components of motion pictures are still photos. So, in cinema, a sense of the life-like comes out of a sense of death. Maybe this is why the mad scientist genre is so unique to film. From Frankenstein to The Re-Animator to Seed, the mad scientist genre always features characters who want to create life from death.

Seed is full of such moments, from the "man behind the curtain" reviving another character, to its inverse, when the living character, the young man, becomes part of the machine at the end. Seed considers the illusory nature of the life-like quality of film. It may be artificial, but for one brief moment, we think "It’s Alive!"

Best of The Office: "Local Ad"

In this week's fabulous half-hour episode, the Scranton branch is called upon to make a commercial. Michael obviously thinks this means he can make Threat Level: Midnight a possibility, but in reality, Corporate just wants to add 5 seconds to their national ad. Michael predictably says "nuh-uh" to this, and makes one of his own.

Great moment here? Calling on Darryl, Creed, Andy, Kevin, and Kelly to make the theme song. Which will be stuck in your head forever.



Obviously, Corporate ends up rejecting the commercial. But Jim decides to show everyone the finished product, Michael Scott-style.



And it's actually awesome! "You have a son, and it's me" is the greatest, as is Stanley in the orange jumpsuit.

Overall, a top-notch episode. We saw every supporting character, and there wasn't much dopey relationship drama. This is exactly what we Office fans needed, and it was great.

The Summer that Was...

Welcome back, film fans! A cool breeze is in the air, which can only mean two things--1) expect four months of temperatures that seem to approach absolute zero; 2) the season of quality filmmaking is upon us!

Yes, the fall, that golden harvest of Oscar-hungry prestige films which seek to challenge, question, and enlighten, with intricate plots, political subjects, actual character development, and the requisite overacting of Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon.

In the next few months, Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee goes NC-17 with erotic thriller Lust, Caution; Cate Blanchett dons face paint once again for Elizabeth: The Golden Age; the Coen Brothers enter Cormac McCarthy territory with No Country for Old Men; Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter show off their musical range (or perhaps lack thereof) tackling operatic melodies and syncopated lyrics from Tim Burton’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece Sweeney Todd; and Angelina Jolie strips down and gets covered in gold paint, in 3D, for Beowulf. Hmm, not quite how I envisioned Grendel’s mother…10th grade English class takes on a whole new dimension.

Anyway (focus Christian!), before plunging into films which actually make us think (Beowulf not included), I thought we’d take one last look at the halcyon days of summer’s sun-drenched, imitation-butter-coated movies. These are my picks for the best films of summer 2007...


1. La Vie en Rose by Olivier Dahan--The best musical bio-pic I’ve ever seen, La Vie en Rose stars French newcomer Marion Cotillard as the legendary French songstress Edith Piaf. Chronologically fractured, the film shies away from the bio-pic cliché of "here’s how this song was created," instead focusing on the accumulation of life experiences which informed the emotional content of Piaf’s songs. Full of gorgeous tracking shots worthy of Scorsese, which show both how life has unfolded effortlessly for Piaf, but also how confining the demands of her chosen lifestyle are, La Vie en Rose is not interested in a linear biography, but in capturing the spirit of one of the 20th century’s great artists.


2. The Bourne Ultimatum by Paul Greengrass--The rare genre film which critiques the foundations--or even necessity--of the genre itself. Director Paul Greengrass turned the conclusion of the Bourne trilogy, in which Matt Damon’s amnesiac super spy finally uncovers his lost past and confronts the sinister forces who made him a killing machine, a critique of jingoistic spy fiction like 24 and James Bond. Rather than sinister foreign forces conspiring against the free world, Bourne’s enemy is the establishment itself that would send him on illegal missions and then abandon him to save face. Docudramarian Greengrass’s handheld style is perfectly suited to capturing Bourne’s jagged life lived on the edges and the constant Orwellian techno-surveillance that pervades his world. Preferring immersive handheld camera angles to CGI, Ultimatum’s action scenes don’t even look like they’ve been staged, but have just happened to be caught on film while actually occurring, as if by a quick-thinking bystander. Greengrass’s style allows for immersion in a realistic world, a far cry from the top-heavy, distancing CGI of most other action films.


3. Sicko by Michael Moore--Both his most serious and funniest film to date, Moore’s Sicko mixes heartfelt interviews, humorous stock footage, and his trademark ironic voiceover to illuminate America’s healthcare crisis. From the guy who had to choose which severed finger to re-attach to not be bankrupted, to the tragedy of an elderly woman refused care and turned out to the streets, Moore convincingly makes the case that the right to affordable healthcare is part of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Mute Math & Eisley @ House of Blues, 10/9

New Orleans power band, Mute Math, made a stop in chicago on a tour promoting their self-titled album. The band has lately been making a name for itself by hitting the festival circuit, but it is their video for "Typical" that has been generating the most buzz, what with it being completely backwards and all. Not to mention the band's performance of the backward version of the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live last month.

Eisley opened Mute Math’s performance at the House of Blues with an ethereal, beautifully performed, but brief, set. The Texas family band is currently promoting their latest album release, Combinations.

After Eisley’s performance, the speakers were turned up several notches and Mute Math took the stage in an onslaught of bright lights and pulsating electro-rock from the booming speakers, shaking the floor of the House of Blues and inspiring some in the crowd to make an attempt at dancing. Valiant efforts, but let’s just say the members of Mute Math don’t have the most rhythmic fans.

Frontman, Paul Meany, however, does have a few moves he can boast about. He spent the entire time dashing up and down the stage, taking dramatic leaps and switching back and forth between the keyboard, keytar and guitar. His contagious energy infected the crowd and had everyone bouncing up and down. Props to Meany for not wearing himself out with his theatrics and keeping the vocals impeccable throughout.

While the band did crank out "Typical" for the fans, they opted for the straight album version. I don't about the rest of the crowd, but I was hoping for a backwards rendition. I mean, the guys (for some reason) took the time to figure out how to play a song backwards - might as well put it to use. Despite this disappointment, the evening's performance was energetic and dynamic. Mute Math definitely knows how to put on a good show.

Be sure to check out Mute Math's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13rc6DY74A

By: Blanca Mendez

Why The Internet Was Invented: Dancing Animals!

I feel like this video needs no introduction. So here it is.



Great, now a Backstreet Boys song is stuck in my head. Since when has that happened, 1996? This bird needs to update its taste in music.

Via Cute Overload.

Get to the Bomb Shelter: Best Picture of the Year?

This is it folks - we've reached the apex of society. Behold, the movie that will change the way we think about politics, religion, sex, America, music, and most importantly, ourselves.



I'm not exaggerating when I say that a little part of me just died. It's like I want to cry, but I've forgotten how to.

(In case the title confuses you, I'm going to post anything that bodes negatively for society under the headline of "Get to the Bomb Shelter," cause you know, stuff like this means the world's going to hell.)

Best Of The Office: "Money"

Finally, the last hourlong episode! I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of The Office being stretched into 40-ish minutes. It really feels like two episodes, with unnecessary plotlines thrown in just to fill time.

However, having said that, I feel like this week's episode was the best hourlong episode yet. And, fun fact, Paul Lieberstein (Toby), wrote and directed it! And played Toby in it!

Lieberstein has said in interviews he tends to want to stay offscreen as much as possible, since he prefers being on the writing staff to being in front of the camera. But thank goodness he didn't completely write himself out, because he was part of the one really funny scene this week, the "whomever" debate.



But besides this gem, this episode was one of the darkest ones yet, examining the effects of the Dwight/Angela/Andy love triangle, and the PB&J romance. Here's one of the saddest ones, featuring Sad Dwight, who deserves a character name all his own, because of the hysterical dying-cow crying sound he makes. I have so much love for Jim here.



And, in the scene immediately after this, I have even more love for Jim:



Okay, enough YouTubing for now. Bottom line: can't wait for the half-hour episodes to start. I need my classic Office back - less relationship drama, more nonstop laughs. That's the way I like my Dunder Mifflin.

Album Review: Chase This Light

Release Date: October 16th, 2007
Rating: 4 out of 5

For me personally, Jimmy Eat World is one more reliable bands I listen to, with wider array of albums I can listen to all the way through without skipping tracks.
Of course, there is a bit of a divide among fans, long-time or otherwise. Clarity fans will more often look down upon anyone who considers Bleed American due to their slightly more mainstream-pop rock sound (or they just ignore it all together).
Yet Chase This Light, their follow-up to 2004's Futures, draws from the best of Jimmy's older alternative sound while not completely ignoring the progression they've made since first dropping Static Prevails.
Songs like the fast-paced 'Big Casino' embrace the big made-for-radio play sound they've picked up on with other memorable (albeit now less tolerable) singles like 'The Middle'.
If anything, Chase This Light is a perfect example of Jimmy Eat World as they are now: still alternative with their not so subtle pop-rock undertones. It's almost predictable at this point, but it is a formula that they've managed to perfect in their favor if nothing else. There's nothing too surprising here, and it can be either a good or bad thing, depending on your expectations for this album.
The album keeps up the pace throughout, where as Futures was made up more of slower (if not emo) songs. There are stll some slightly mellow, catchy beats in songs like 'Carry You' and title track 'Chase This Light' help to overall balance out the album without dragging it down. And of course, tracks like 'Electable (Give It Up)' will take you back to 1998.
This album is definitely capable of drawing in older (less stubborn and/or elitist) fans, while still keeping their newer ones.

Ben Affleck: “Look, I don’t suck anymore!”

Lo and behold, Ben Affleck has remembered (or discovered, depending on your perspective) how to make good movies. In his mainstream directorial debut, Affleck has crafted a compelling tale about a missing girl in Boston and the private detective hired to help find her. The private detective (Ben’s younger brother Casey Affleck, in a surprisingly strong effort) delves into Boston’s underworld, and what he finds isn’t so great. Imagine more film hyperbole here centered around the fact that this movie is dark and ugly at times, but always with a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

It’s strangely paced – for one, there’s a rising action, climax, and resolution all within the first hour. My friend and I thought the movie was almost over until we noticed that just an hour had passed since the beginning – from there, it goes through several more plots, with several more climaxes. It builds up slow, but wraps up nicely – I was compelled for the entirety of the movie, even if some of it was a little dry.

More impressive is how great Affleck the elder is at creating tense situations – there are at least half a dozen scenes in the movie that had me and my Beantown buddy (who loved the movie, by the way – no surprise there) wide-eyed and open-mouthed. For the action scenes, Affleck switches to handheld cameras that are carried without a steady arm in order for maximum chaos to be communicated to the audience. This is where the movie excels – these scenes propel the movie from “entertaining” to “Oscar contender”.

There are some weak points. Michelle Monaghan is particularly useless as Casey’s girlfriend/business partner, and I’m not sure what Morgan Freeman added to his role other than being Morgan Freeman. But Ed Harris is great as a cocky policeman, and Amy Ryan is amazing as the missing girl’s coked out mother. I don’t know if Gone Baby Gone will get nominated for Best Picture, but I’d be surprised if Ryan was left out of the Supporting Actress category. The film ends on a morally ambiguous note, and the viewer is left to decide whether or not Affleck made the right decisions along the way. It’s a film worth seeing at least one.

Better than: Anything Affleck has done in the last half-decade

Worse than: The Departed

David Cronenberg: “Subtlety is for pussies”

Film auteur David Cronenberg doesn’t care about offending people, made strikingly clear in the first three minutes of Eastern Promises when a) a guy’s throat is slit in incredibly graphic detail, b) a pregnant girl starts bleeding all over a pharmacy floor, and c) the camera does a close-up of a barely alive baby covered in placenta and blood. It’s cemented when we get another slit throat, multiple shots of Viggo Mortensen’s genitals, and a guy getting stabbed in the eye. What makes all of the violence so shocking isn’t just how graphic it is, but how realistic it’s portrayed – Cronenberg is out to shock you, but not in a cartoony way. A movie like Shoot 'Em Up is more violent, but that's done for camp - this is about realism.

Eastern Promises isn’t just about uber-violence, with a solid plot augmented by great performances from Mortensen (as a Russian mobster) and Naomi Watts (as a midwife in far over her head). Cronenberg is a master of letting us know story details through subtle movements – very little is said outright, but it’s up to the viewer to pick up on clues in the backgrounds and infer what they can. He remembers that film is primarily a visual art, and doesn’t bog us down with exposition. Thus, all of his movies are open to interpretation – they mean what you want them to mean.

Much better than: Shoot 'Em Up

Slightly better than: A History of Violence

Worse than: Goodfellas

Why The Internet Was Invented: To Keep Andy Samberg Employed

Without the success of Andy Samberg's Lonely Island sketch comedy troupe, he wouldn't be on SNL. Without the YouTube potential of his SNL Digital Shorts, he wouldn't be famous.

Depending on your perspective, this is reason enough to wish the Internet out of existence.

Take this digital short, "People Getting Punched Just Before Eating," as an example.

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The first time I watched this, I laughed. Then I felt really bad about myself for thinking this stupidity was funny. Though I must admit, the Dave Grohl moment is fantastic. But Zombie Dance? Quit while you're ahead, Samberg.

Overall, Samberg's very hit-and-miss. My advice? Stick to singing love songs to Iranian presidents. Oh, and apologize for Hot Rod. That was just cruel.

Kiddie Corral

Oh, Kid Nation. What a fabulously intriguing little social experiment you've turned out to be.

In case you're not familiar with the premise, CBS shipped a group of 40 kids ages 8-15 out to a run-down ghost town in the middle of nowhere, New Mexio. The idea: to see if kids can do as good as adults at building a community. The problem: they bascially tell the kids what to do and purposely impose common societal problems on them. For instance, they're broken up into "districts" (though, to the kids' credit, they don't segregate or ridicule other groups).

The newest challenge: establish religious service.

So can the kids do it better? Well, some of them insist that mixing christians and jews and muslims and hindus is a horrible idea. Some argue for a non-denominational spiritual service. A handful of athiests would rather just keep religion out of the town. Some bond with others with similar views (my personal favorite is the "Jew Crew").

The kicker though, is that when given the choice between a huge mini-golf course and a library of religious texts, the kids actually picked the library. The same group who groaned for two days when their council chose a microwave over a pizza party picked a library.

Kids do the darndest things.

Grizzly Bear @ Park West, 10/10

If you haven't heard of Grizzly Bear, it's probably because it's one of those bands you have to "warm up" to, which is coincidentally 94% of all Pitchfork- and blog-endorsed music.

The quartet produces some of the least melodic, ethereal and winding music I've ever heard. But for some reason I've been taking cold showers ever since I heard their second album Yellow House last year.

So when lead singer Ed Droste--clad in an '80s sweater that gave me Williamsburg flashbacks--stepped out nursing an autoharp, I was so smitten that even my internal promise to never buy overpriced venue beer dissolved.

The show was like a terribly long game of Operation: Every note sang and played was so delicate, everything seemed on the verge of breaking. Almost every song was reinterpreted, and as expected, "On a Neck, On a Spit"--my favorite song of all time--left me as awe-stricken as I'm sure hair metal left many ladies unmentionables-less in the '80s. The rest remains a happy Miller Lite haze.

Best Of The Office: "Launch Party"

Hands down, this is the greatest moment from this week's episode of The Office.
Spoiler alert: Andy (Ed Helms) attempts to woo newly single hardass Angela (Angela Kinsey) with the power of song. Watch and love.



How could she not run into his arms after that? I don't understand!
Now, the close second best moment, one of the greatest cold opens in the show's history:



I was really impressed with "Launch Party," since it had a lot of laughs and tender moments (Jim and Pam's second rooftop date!). Honestly, though, I'll be happy when the episodes return to their half-hour format. The writers have been adding in a lot of unnecessary plotlines (like driving into a lake during "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" and kidnapping that pizza guy this week) just to fill time, so when that pressure is gone, we'll be back to "The Office" we all know and love.

OMG TL/RX

It will always be cool to see members of a band setting up their own equipment, which is why the Metro crowd freaked out last night when Ted Leo came out to do his own sound check on his guitar. Of course, it begged the question: how was there going to be any suspense for the show? He walked off after making sure his guitar was tuned, then five minutes later the lights went off and he came back out. As Yo La Tengo broke down the fourth wall by casually interacting with the audience, Ted Leo breaks it down by refusing to make a big deal out of being Ted Leo, even though he’s one of the most recognizable personas in the indie rock music scene.

Anyways, the show was almost identical to the one he played this previous April at the Metro – every song he played now he played then, albeit with a few omissions. After opening with the raucous punk stomper of “Sons of Cain” he blew his hit song wad by doing “Me and Mia”, which of course got the crowd going because it’s probably his most recognizable song. At first, he didn’t talk to the crowd at all, not even pausing to stop in between songs, the first half hour just a constant segue to different tracks. Later on, he loosened up and admitted he had been in a bad mood, which had been quickly negated by how awesome the Chicago crowd is.

Important to note is that Ted Leo passes the sweat test with flying colors: As a general rule of thumb, the more an artist sweats in concert, the more effort they’re putting into it, which means it’ll be more enjoyable. When Ted Leo swings his head, a sweat pattern is left floating in the air – after fifteen minutes, his shirt was drenched even though his light show wasn’t abrasively bright most of the time. Now, the sweat test is not a guarantee – exceptions are made for musicians who are naturally sweaty (like Built to Spill, because they’re fat and middle-aged) but when it works, oh does it work.

For me the highlights were the nostalgic ska-shout out “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?” which is the only song that’s halfway made me consider that perhaps ska is not the worst music genre of all-time and “La Costa Brava” off his most recent record Living with the Living, which is a beautiful Spanish-inflected rumination on the little things that make life worth living, a song that Chekhov could have written if he had an ear for punk rock (see a great solo version in the Youtube video below). Generally speaking, all the songs were enjoyable because Leo plays faster in concert in order to fit in as many songs as possible, which means that even when the melody was lacking there was still a lot of energy to be had.

Leo is also very good at making dull studio tracks into killer live tracks. On record, the song “The Unwanted Things” is a plodding pseudo-reggae number that goes on for far too long – in concert, it’s quicker, funkier, and fun to dance to. On record, “Bomb.Repeat.Bomb” is loud and annoying, but in concert the intensity is conveyed when you see Leo whipping around the stage floor like a charged Tesla coil, screaming like it’s the end of the world. He’s the type of artist that makes you love his records more after going to the show, and that is the best sort of lasting memory.

The lesson is that if you ever have the chance to see Ted Leo in a club, you should do it because he never gives less than 110%, in fact he is the person such motivational clichés were invented for.

Best line of banter: “You want the blues? Alright, I’m going to give you some blues…actually, did I just say that? Can we make a pact here amongst all of us to not let that show up on Youtube?”

Set list (what I took down, anyways):
The Sons of Cain
Me and Mia
Army Bound
Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?
Unknown new song dedicated to Chad
Bomb.Repeat.Bomb
Counting Down the Hours
Colleen
A Bottle of Buckie
The Unwanted Things
La Costa Brava
Who Do You Love?

Encore:
Timorous Me
Walking to Do
Suspect Device (Stiff Little Fingers cover)

Al Gore: "Yo lo tengo, bitches."

So, in case you haven't heard, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah, there was some other group in there, but no one cares, because: Al Gore. Won. The Nobel Peace Prize.

The decision will not only stop global warming dead in its tracks, but also cause all Hummers--and their wasteful, fat-cat owners--to spontaneously combust and turn all non-Hummers into hybrids.

Now, a rundown of past and future Peace Prize milestones:
2005: Bono nominated for AIDS/HIV work.
2007: Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tie for their work on global warming education.
2009: Kanye wins it all for his insights into the gold-digger epidemic.

The real question, though, is this: How much more smug can Gore possibly store in his overly swolen body before it, too, spontaneously combusts?

The Freewheelin' Yo La Tengo

Hyperbole: Yo La Tengo is the best band of all-time. Not hyperbole: Yo La Tengo played at the Lakeshore Theater last night as a part of their Freewheelin’ tour, and they were totally awesome. Basically, Messrs. Kaplan, McNew and Madam Hubley sat down before a packed crowd and played acoustic versions of their songs from their extensive discography and cover songs for an hour and a half, bantering in between and answering questions from the audience. (I would have taken pictures, but security threatened to take away cameras and I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off on my friend's camera. Boo.)

They opened with “Big Day Coming” off their 1993 album Painful, but I didn’t get excited until their stripped-down cover of “My Little Corner of the World”, which is my favorite song in their catalogue. The only notes I took down during the song were “My little corner!!!” and “Whistle solo!” because during the song’s normal guitar solo, the sound guy came on stage and whistled a perfect version of it, drawing rabid applause. (Check this song as set to a wicked Gilmore Girls montage:

Most of the songs came from their covers album (Fakebook), their masterpiece (I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One) and their most recent offering (I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass), and one of the highlights was an insane version of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind”, the opening track from the latter. Even though they were mostly unplugged and toned down, guitarist Ira Kaplan let squeals of feedback reverb from his acoustic guitar, using a plugged in distortion pedal to replicate the song’s waves of noise. Who knew you could shred while sitting down? Another highlight was "Black Flowers," which had Kaplan harmonizing the trombone part that's on the recorded version of the song.

The band got their name from a baseball slang, so naturally, Kaplan brought up the epic collapse of his New York Mets at the end of the concert, then speculated over who had it more painful: Mets fans or Cubs fans (the answer: Cubs fans). This was before launching into one of their encore songs, “For the Turnstiles” by Neil Young. It was the second Young song heard that evening, as opener Rick Rizzo covered “Through My Sails” as well. Since Neil Young is awesome, this was pretty good. They finished playing around 9:30 and would play a second set an hour later, presumably drunker and more loosened up. In retrospect, we probably went to the wrong show.

Best line of banter: Ira Kaplan: (about a Dead Boys show he went to) "Cheetah Chrome did perhaps the most punk rock thing I've ever seen, which was to play this show wearing a sweater."

Set List (what I took down, anyways):

Big Day Coming
Mountain of Love (Bill Black cover)
My Little Corner of the World (Anita Bryant cover off I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One)
Magnet (NRBQ cover)
Autumn Sweater
Nuclear war (Sun-Ra cover)
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
The Summer
Mr. Tough
Black Flowers
Johnny Thunder (Kinks cover)
Yellow Sarong (The Scene Is Now cover off Fakebook)
Sugarcube
Encore:
It's Alright (The Way You Live) (Velvet Underground cover)
For the Turnstiles (Neil Young cover)
Unknown song with lyric "every cloud has a silver lining" (so I've narrowed it down to a billion possibilities)

Why The Internet Was Invented: Cute Videos of Babies

I really wish I could be that easily entertained. Come to think of it, though, I was easily entertained watching this video about ten times. So maybe we're not so different after all.