Kevin Marshall's America
Upskirt shot, North Hall of EMPAC
EMPAC has released its schedule for the Fall of 2011. Check it out here.
Some of the things that popped out to me:
- Guy Maddin: Tales from the Gimli Hospital: Reframed (Thursday September 1, 7:30 PM) features members of Sigur Ros.
- Four Tet + Jon Hopkins (Thursday September 15, 8:00 PM) Hopkins collaborated with singer-songwriter King Creosote on “Diamond Mine” which is my pick so far for album of the year and one of the most gorgeous records I have ever heard.
- Phantom Limb: 69°S.: The Shackleton Project (Friday September 23 & Saturday September 24, 8:00 PM) What can I say? I love puppetry.
- Francis and the Lights: White Room (Friday October 28 & Saturday October 29, 8:30 PM) Rare performance by the acclaimed pianist and songwriter.
- The Eternal Return: Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys” (Thursday November 17, 7:30 PM) If you haven’t seen a film yet on EMPAC’s Theater screen: let me just tell you that they showed “2001” last year and it was transcendent.
Best year yet? Possible.
Look, I’m no professional, but if I’m handling a Presidential candidate, one of the main things I’d avoid is setting up a photo op where they awkwardly shove something in their mouths that looks like a humongous dong.
Then again, check out this one of Michelle’s husband Marcus:
He looks so happy. Don’t ever change, Marcus, not even if they make you go to a center where they try to “reform” you of your corndog-loving ways.
Reminder: Myself and two others on my team are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.
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One of the ongoing debates in our culture relates to overprotective smothering of children by young, well-meaning, paranoid parents. In a piece in Sunday’s Boston Globe (“The armored child”), staff writer Leon Neyfakh notes the increasing sales of things like baby helmets and harnesses and asks two important questions: are these parents going too far, and is the culture of helicopter parents a new phenomena or the evolution of long-held desires to protect our children?
One of the unsettling aspects of the piece is that there’s another question that will remain unanswered until it’s too late: what, exactly, are the long-term effects of tying children to harnesses and fitting them with helmets anytime they’re out of the crib? Critics charge that it may prevent them from being able to deal with and process adversity, as well as making them averse to taking chances.
Personally speaking, my stomach turns a little bit when I see a child on a harness. There seems to be something demeaning in applying the same practices to a toddler that you would to a dog, particularly when the child does not have any disability that necessitates it and the parent is healthy enough to care for it. All of my family members and friends are able to bring their children out sans leash, so it begs the question: is this necessary? Why subject yourself to unnecessary scrutiny? Is the statistically small risk of your child being seriously hurt or worse while in your immediate vicinity outweigh the potential long-term psychological effects? And do we give these parents a pass because they’re well-meaning or call them out for pushing their neurotic and paranoid tendencies onto their child in a very public and embarrassing fashion?
As you can probably gather, any attempt for me to appear neutral in the debate is for naught.
Thing is, there’s nothing on the side of baby helmets and harnesses that is rooted in science or statistics. Rather, it’s driven purely by emotion. One would think that the 21st Century would bring more rational thinking and logic to the discussion, but when it comes to the safety of one’s own children, that goes out the window. It’s a quandary as old as…well, the Middle Ages. From the article:
True, families in medieval Europe did not have great car seats. But the idea that they didn’t care about protecting their children from perceived harm – the idea that humans didn’t treat children as special until the dawn of modernity – is contradicted by evidence suggesting that parents in the Middle Ages worried about their kids no less than we worry about ours today. Parents without vaccines or childproof locks relied instead on amulets and rituals to protect their kids.
Amulets and rituals which, no doubt, were sold or traded by folks all too eager to cash in on groundless fear and parental paranoia. In the Middle Ages, a magical trinket purchased from an old woman would protect your child from consumption. And it’ll probably have the same success rate as a child in 2011 adorned in a soft styrofoam helmet.
If you’re a young or expecting parent, do your kids a favor: take the helmet off your baby, unhook the harness, and let the kid play.
There’s nothing I like about reunions. Bad food, forced conversation, and insincere remembrances and reconnections. I hates ‘em.
I do, however, like “Reunion,” the song and video from local musician Bryan Thomas that also serves as the lead track off his EP “Smash to Pieces,” which you can get here.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
reminder: Myself and two others on my team are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.
Tomorrow (Saturday, August 13th) is the 10th Annual Concert Under the Stars and Irish Festival at the Waterford waterfront from 3:0opm until 9:00pm.
The event is free and includes an Irish themed canal tour, food vendors, Irish merchants, family events, and performances by the Scotia Glenville Pipe Band, The Boys of Wexford, and Capital Region stalwarts Hair of the Dog.
More information is at the Waterford Museum’s website.
Head on down!
Much of Sunday morning was spent sleeping off the Philadelphia excursion for UFC 133 and cheesesteaks. It was so late and we were so tired that I’m not even sure what time it was when we finally got back to Manhattan. I can only tell you that it was sometime between 3:30am and 4:30am.
It seemed like we spent an hour just staring at the Manhattan skyline, which from the New Jersey Turnpike is so close yet because of the geographical layout of the surrounding area is always further off than it seems. When I’m first arriving for a trip, the delay builds a delightful tinge of anticipation. Now it was just aggravating. I was exhausted, felt fat, and wanted to be in bed as soon as possible.
I woke up around 11:30am, showered and took my leave from Brian and Marla, who it seems I never get to spend enough time with even when I’m staying with them. It’s people like that which make me realize that geographical cures are a fool’s errand. It’s the people and connections you make, not where they are, that should entice you to stay or go.
I ventured out into the street, bags in tow, and took the 6 an Q trains to Park Slope. On the 6, I struck up a very brief conversation with a young couple whose young baby kept staring at me and laughing. On the Q, I kept avoiding eye contact with a young pretty brunette who, thankfully, did not laugh while she stared at me. I got off the train at 7th and Flatbush Avenues then walked South to a place recommended by a Trojan transplant originally from the other side of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We had arranged to meet at 2:00pm.
I was a little over 45 minutes early, because I’m a big weirdo and do that sort of thing. Besides, I wanted to get a feel of the Tea Room before I met with Vic Christopher.
It’s rare that I post something and then am at a loss for words…
…but there you are. Good night, and I ain’t gonna peepee my bed tonight.
"Oh man. This is worse than that time I had to host a roast for Charlie Sheen." *cut to animated re-enactment of Stewie telling Seth MacFarlane's jokes* (Photo by Peter Kramer/Associated Press)
Never one to pass up an opportunity to make an easy joke that requires little to no effort, Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane has agreed to host the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, which is set to air in September against the season premiere of CBS’s “Two and a Half Ashtons Men.”
“In addition to his sharp wit, Seth is way more suave and sophisticated than we are,” said Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production at Comedy Central. “We continue to try and soil him.”
They’re joking, of course, because there’s nothing suave or sophisticated about Comedy Central’s Roasts, which choose easy targets – often those that are drug-addled and/or mentally ill but sometimes legit comedic legends – and pepper them with B-grade jokes about their most obvious and public failings.
It’s almost worse when they do it to someone legit, like Joan Rivers, who was actually legitimately hurt by the fact that the Roast reduced her and her long, storied career to a punchline. But there’s still something wrong with doing it to someone like Sheen, who is only getting it because of all the terrible things he’s done and the bad behavior he’s exhibited over the course of the past year.
Roasts aren’t supposed to be an opportunity to tear down a legend or pick apart an easy target. There’s supposed to be an art to it. The New York Friar’s Club exemplifies this with their roasts. The motto, “we only roast the ones we love,” isn’t an excuse, it’s an explanation. The jokes are biting, but not cruel. They zing, but don’t sting. They’re blue, not black.
I wouldn’t necessarily say I hold anything against Comedy Central or anyone that is willing to stand up and laugh about Charlie’s coke habit or call Joan Rivers old for the umpteenth time, because I get it. Money is money. I just wish they could find a way to earn it by doing a Roast that is more keeping in the tradition and that especially puts more deserving “targets” up for public display.
"Who farted?" - The internal dialogue of these two guys, judging by their faces
Myself and two others on my team are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.
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Even though UFC 133 was riddled with injuries, like so many other events that have shaky prospects it proved in the end to be one of the more entertaining events in recent memory.
The finalized main event of Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz had only been solidified two weeks prior and had metamorphosed from an earlier bout that was supposed to be Evans’ long-awaited title shot against former teammate and current UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. A hand injury that was supposed to keep Jones out until later in the year (but healed up in time for him to accept a fight for next month against Quinton Jackson) cancelled that bout. Jones was replaced with Penn State wrestling standout and rising star Phil Davis, who himself got injured three weeks out of the event and was replaced by Tito Ortiz, who took the fight just six weeks removed from his upset of former contender Ryan Bader.
Got all that? No? Okay, well, bear with me anyway.
A rundown of the event is after the jump.
I could feel their eyes on me, the man who hadn't showered yet that day.
Myself and two others on my team are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.
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I woke up early during my third day in New York. Well, as early as I’m going to be awake on a Saturday morning.
Brian, who I was staying with in Manhattan, needed as much time as possible to recover from his head cold. Bearing that in mind and wanting to give him as little distraction as possible, I took to the street sans a shower and headed to find someplace to get coffee that had WiFi. This turned out to be much harder than expected. I ignored the Starbucks that jumped in front of me every two blocks and made an earnest attempt to support a smaller business. The first two I came across had every table occupied and a line near the door. I stumbled upon Oren’s Daily Roast on Lexington, which looked promising. But I discovered when I sat down with my order that there was no available WiFi. Still, the fig bar was good and the coffee was adequate. It also gave me the opportunity (or perhaps forced me to) without the self-destructive distractions that being perpetually online provides me.
Matt Hamill squares off with Alex Gustafsson
I did need to clear out my work e-mail inbox before the end of the weekend, so after an hour at Oren’s Daily Roast I finally caved in and hit a Starbucks. The first one I encountered had a hand-written note saying their Wi-Fi was down and offering their earnest, most sincere apology. I knew they meant it because it was in the handwriting, which was distinctly feminine but possessed just a hint of sloppiness. I almost went there anyway to get more writing done, but naturally there was another one two blocks up that did have working Wi-Fi. As soon as I sat down, I suddenly remembered that I never really did care much for the whole “corporate/small business” delineation, much to my shame, and spent a brief moment trying to figure out why I’d made the effort in the first place.
After a few hours had passed I returned to the apartment and an awake Brian. We ordered a proper breakfast and got a phone call from Brian’s friend Gabe, who was driving us to Philadelphia for my first ever live UFC event.
STALK ME
