Neil? Yes, Amanda? – Performances and Q&A with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

Show date: June 3, 2009
Venue: Housing Works Book Store Cafe
Guests: Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

d42 was having a fan girl fit. Neil Gaiman, best selling novelist, comic book writer, tireless blogger, as well as Amanda Palmer, singer, musician, icon, and recently deceased, were going to be under one roof at the Housing Works Book Store Café! These two beloved icons gathered with us this night to promote Who Killed Amanda Palmer Photo Book for which Gaiman provided the text.  Kyle Cassidy, photographer (also in attendance, but on the sidelines), provided excellent pictures of Palmer bloodied and stuffed into a shopping cart, floating in a pond, as a gorgeous statue, and in various other poses, all having a lack of life in common. Continue reading →

2009
06/22
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CATEGORY
Interview
Literature
Music
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So, I like the Bee Gees?

Show date: April 3, 2009
Venue: B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, NY
Bands: Brendon Small and the School of Rock All Stars, Tragedy, Misstallica

Tragedy. Entertainment Factor -- Check!

Tragedy. Entertainment Factor -- Check!

Another Friday night spent at good old B.B. King’s, yet again hosting a night of peculiar musical stylings of combination comedy and metal.

The evening opened with a Q&A with Brendon Small. A small crowd of fervent admirers pelted him with questions which he answered informing and abusing simultaneously. Continue reading →

2009
05/30
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CATEGORY
Music
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“Wolverine: Origins” Review

wolv1

Many writers of superhero comics commonly write themselves into corners, and have no idea how to get out. They have their heroes defeated, the villains winning and everything looking hopeless. However, the good guys need to win so there can be an issue next month, so some superheroes are incredibly overpowered just so they can be thrown at problems to fix them.

For DC, it is Superman who is impervious to all types of damage and can punch through planets. Marvel has Wolverine. Wolverine is not as strong as Superman, but he can’t die either, and has a personality that is driven by more than a simple need to do the right thing. The main problem with this type of character is that someone who can’t die lacks a lot basic conflict and has problems carrying on a story of their own. This does not stop Wolverine from being popular, so to cash in on this Marvel has just released a movie about him. Continue reading →

2009
05/11
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CATEGORY
Movies
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Wacken 2009 Info

wacken-ticketI’ve got the golden tickeeeeet! And I hope you do too, because Wacken 2009 is SOLD OUT and if you still want to go you will have to deal with E-bay. This year is Wacken‘s 20th in the metal business, and also my third partaking of said metal. I wrote up some sort of an update or list every year, so I think I’ll stick to that. You can check out previous articles (links are at the bottom), but the most updated links and info will be here. Continue reading →

2009
04/22
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CATEGORY
Conventions/Festivals
Music
Travel
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Pagan Knights Walk the Highline

Show date: March 29, 2009
Venue: Highline Ballroom , NY
Bands: Tyr, Alestorm, Suidakra paganknights

Odin must have been smiling as three of the best Folk Metal bands around took the stage. Suidakra, Alestorm, and Tyr once again pillaged NYC.

The first of the night was a lesser-known (at least to me) band by the name of Suidakra. Hailing from Western Germany, Suidakra kicked things off with “War Tunes”, from their album The Arcanum, and didn’t let off of the throttle for the rest of the set. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem as enthused as I, or my partner for the evening was. They opened to a small crowd; which did grow as the set went on, but seemed mostly uninterested in what they were hearing. Arcaduis (lead vocals) did manage to get a “wall of death” going, though it was rather lack-luster.
Continue reading →

2009
04/20
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CATEGORY
Music
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Alexis Rockman’s Half-life at Nyehaus

Artist: Alexis Rockman
Dates: March 7- April 18, 2009
Venue: Nyehaus Gallery

rockman1

As my aunt and I wandered the streets of New York yesterday, she told me some of the history of Gramercy Park. She talked about the locked park itself, with the keys allowed only to the very select occupants of the surrounding buildings, and how the whole area was imagined, built, and then even mythicized.

We decided to check out a free exhibition at a gallery in that neighborhood. The art of Alexis Rockman promised to be surreal and I’m always up for something that looks like it’s been hallucinated. We searched for the Nyehaus Gallery expecting something like a store front, or maybe a tiny museum. What we found at 15 Gramercy Park was the National Art Club. It was a beautiful building with a twisting metal balcony and seemed utterly forbidding. Continue reading →

2009
04/16
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CATEGORY
Exhibitions
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Q&A with Brendon Small

Show date: April 3, 2009
Venue: B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, NY

Brendon Small intensely on stage

Brendon Small intensely on stage

Brendon Small is a 34-year-old musician, composer, comedian, writer, and the lead vocals in the invented band Dethklok,  from the animated masterpiece called “Metalocalypse”, which he created, co-wrote and co-produced. Small is the voice of Nathan Explosion as well as Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Pickles the Drummer.

Small was the opener to his own headlining act with the School of Rock All Stars. Sometime before our car was broken into that night (long story, cops are useless), he addressed, belittled and made fun of the early-comers at B.B. Kings. Here is the gist of what was said and a few bad pictures. Continue reading →

2009
04/16
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Interview
Music
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