10 Signs Turbonegro Will Own You By The End Of The Night:

I don't feel like I need to say anything here. Except thanks Cooking Vinyl, thanks Greg, and thanks to Logan from Endless Bummer for most of the pics, and wrecking me enough to stop me from drinking for October.

Guilty Pleasure: The Pick Up Artist

I'm addicted!

I hope there is another season...sure all the morals of the show are questionable, but I can't stop watching! I was so glad Kosmo won.

that's all.

<3

Alpha Motherfuckers Invade Boston

Myself and Xtine had the pleasure of experiencing the rock and roll fury that is Turbonegro last night at the Paradise in Boston. This was my third time seeing Turbonegro, and Xtine's first, so I was completely prepared for explosion of make-up, VillagePeople-esque costumes and homoeroticisim from the stage, Xtine spent the first couple of songs in shock, a reaction that I'm sure is pretty common at a first Turbonegro show. The majority of the main set was a lot of songs off of the band's latest, Retox, with a few of the older favorites mixed in, like "Back To Dungaree High" and "Get It On" from 1998's seminal Apocalypse Dudes. It wasn't until the first encore that they let the hits really fly, kicking it off "The Age of Pamparius" and eventually finishing up the encore with "I Got Erection." Their tour heads to NYC tonight and continues down the East Coast, dates here.

The Jerk is in Boston

This weekend was a rather adventurous one. Friday night, one of my favoritest people in the world was in town, and along with Planetarian Sean, we went and checked out Rilo Kiley play to a packed crowd at the Avalon. I didn't just enjoy the show for what Jenny Lewis was(n't) wearing, but the music was rather good as well! I've been firm in my stance on my thoughts on their latest album, Under The Blacklight, but the songs translated rather well, including my favorite "Smoke Detector." During said song, Lewis was totally making me have to about do the smoke detector ... what a fox. If only I had that picture of us from six years ago when they were on their first tour of the US, before the ego and all that comes with being a 'rock star.'

Better yet was on Saturday, when my visiting friend and I took in some time at the Museum of Fine Arts over on Huntington Ave. We were on the second floor, checking out some contemporary French works (I think,) and I start walking in to the next room. As I walk I turn to my left and see someone standing next to me. I continue to walk and I'm about in the next room when I stop, do a double take, and I see this man:

Yes, it was the wild and crazy man himself, star of one of my favorite movies (The Jerk,) Steve Martin! At first, I couldn't believe it, but I kept seeing him around the museum and remembered seeing his picture on the from of the Boston Herald last week, where they were filming scenes of The Pink Panther sequel over at Copley Square. He was wearing that mustache seen above, and maybe those exact glasses and have, except they weren't tinted. We kept seeing him as we continued walking around the halls and exhibits, but eventually we had gone in separate directions never to cross paths again.

The big question, of course is: Did you talk to him? My answer: of course not. We made eye contact the first or second time and that was enough for me. My Dad was upset that I didn't ask him to yell "He hate these cans!"

Working 'round the clock

From last night. When it's not bands and publications, it's DJs and photographers.



I'm starting to understand how fabulous the meaning of "weekend" is by getting sleep, rest, etc. Last Wedneday, I sat in my bedroom from around 7pm to 2am and did nothing...nothing of note. I felt a bit guilty (all the bills I could pay! all the extra Ptary work I could do! all the books I could read! the movies I could watch!).

But no, sometimes you just need to fricking take a seat and enjoy. We work our hineys off.
Coffee tiiiime.
xoxo,
V

Don't Tase Me, Bro

I hope this* goes viral.

*footage of University Police Department using excessive force on a student asking a question of Senator Kerry. The student's name is Andrew Meyers and he was arrested on September 17, 2007 for disturbing a public educational function and resisting arrest. The police did not inform him that he was under arrest and did not mirandize him while detaining him and electro-shocking him with a taser.


On a lighter side, the kids from YTMND are already on it.

An Open Letter To Ryan Adams....

Dear Ryan,

So, a lot of people are giving you flack about getting pissy and leaving the stage only an hour through your show last night in Maine. But hey, don't listen to them! The songs that you did play, they sounded AMAZING. When you came out and did "Goodnight Rose" for a second time, it was classic, and, "I Taught Myself To Grow Old" was fantastic. And, not to mention, but you played "When The Stars Go Blue," and that made my night.

Maybe I'm not bitter because I saw you the day before in Northampton, and that was really good too, even though you had the flu. Even with your fever, you played a really interesting rock version of "I See Monsters" that was probably one of the best versions of that song I've ever seen.

So really, what I want to say Ryan, is that you made my birthday weekend. Sure, neither of these performances were as good as you were at the Somerville Theater in June, but could any performance be better than that? I'm glad that you were the way I spent the last 2 days of my week-long self-indulgent 24th birthday week. When it comes down to it, you never really let me down.

<3

Make It Every Thursday

Last night was Make It New, a weekly event that happens on Thursdays at the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge. As you all can guess, I'm there often enough as my post about Hearthrob is enough of a giveaway. Nevertheless, MiN is much more chill, with a lot more minimal techno and occasional club or house often provided by our Icelandic friend, Baldur a.k.a. DJezus. After a really good yoga class at the BSC right by the Planetary office, I stopped home to make a quick meal and walk my dog before meeting up with two friends and heading over to Cambridge.



It's a nice atmosphere. More and more of our friends are showing up there recovered from their Hearthrob Hangovers, and while some ordered bottles of champagne or hard liquor, I stuck with one glass of red wine and found that I was more in the mood to dance simply because the music was so good.

Going to places with the word "lounge" in the name, lightly drinking wine, and dancing hard on a weeknight...I could really get into this. Plus, it will be all the better for my work ethic the next day, and the load doesn't get any lighter ;)

Today is another big one...Stretch Armstrong (the DJ, not the hardcore band) will be at the PUMA store to launch the new YO! MTV Raps sneaker line, Cheater Pint is having their CD Release show at TT's, Jess Pye (woop!) is bringing the Ptary Grp together at Charlie's to have drinks for her birthday, and DJ Die Young + Baltimoroder are continuing on with SOLID! at ZuZu's until death or 2am.

I'm sure there will be an afterparty somewhere ;)

Picture of the Week: Red Sox Win!

On Wednesday, I attended the Red Sox game vs. the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. My third game of the season, not only was I hoping for a Red Sox victory, but also, that I would finally see Jonathan Papelbon pitch. Since his cover on the Improper Bostonian back in April, I have been anxiously awaiting my chance to see "The Closer." Sure enough, my wish finally came true as JP came in to pitch at the end of the game, holding off the Devil Rays, allowing Big Papi to step up to the plate and his his game-winning two-run homerun. Take that Tampa Bay!

Wednesday is the new Sunday

Last night was Hearthrob, a bi-monthly Tuesday night dance party that happens at the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge. I'm the biggest fan of techno in the office, and get made fun of plenty for it (though the radio dept has been too busy lately - phew!), but Hearthrob is the apex of it all. I've compared it to church simply because it's something that I treat with necessity, as do all of my other close friends. We see each other plenty in the two weeks between one event and another, but Hearthrob is where we all come together to, well, get wastey-face on a Tuesday.

Okay, maybe not always. Last night was like old times (read: April), but in most cases we're there to dance, hear our friends mix the latest and best, and come together.

"Stress" by Justice, the kind of song that makes you go b-a-n-a-n-a-s, was dropped really early in the night by Morgan Louis, but it was a legendary move. School is back in session, and while all of the devotees were waiting on line outside, there were tons of newcomers who were standing around NOT DANCING.

Total crime.

Turns out Morgan played the track just to scare people away, and the words "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? OUR FRIENDS ARE WAITING OUTSIDE AND CAN'T GET IN!" popped up on the screen. Classic. ZZT's "Lower State Of Consciousness" was put in to Baltimoroder's set, and it was done so well (not an easy task!) that even at the bar, waiting for our drinks, we were going apesh*t.


photo provided by Becca, our new tour publicist who ALSO went to Hearthrob last night, yeow!

Nevertheless, it was a Hendrick's gin + tonic night. Ooof oof ooof. I hurt, but I'm here!

...and making coffeeeee.

MySpace: Hearthrob


Disclaimer: some like to call me the office drunk. I will accept this title, as everyone else is a damn fuddy-duddy.

Except for Pete...Pete's getting drunk in the New York office right now, probably.

Monday night = Great = Painful Tuesday

Last night I went to the Wildbirds show in NYC with two friends who both run websites. The Vinyl Farm & Endless Bummer. I saw some pictures on the Bummer, so I figured I'd throw a few here.

Both these guys are lots of fun, but I think they know every bartender and bar owner on the planet, which means it's never a good idea to go out with them on a school night. Great Monday night. Brutal Tuesday.


We got seriously rejected from the door, so of course I took crap for it all night. The show was great though, once we got in, and even the New York kids were dancing. There was some serious fandom going on, and I hear the band had a good time.

For a full antics report, check out "Unhappy Gilmore" at Endless Bummer.

New Local Music - Mean Creek

One of my favorite local Boston bands of the moment, Mean Creek, has made a video for their song "Not To Dream." Check it, and prepare your ears for audible deliciousness.

At The Movies: "3:10 To Yuma"

So, I saw this movie over the weekend called 3:10 To Yuma. I mainly went to go see it because it had Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in it (shhh, there's nothing wrong with that statement) but after watching the movie, I was really glad I went. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who dug the movie, as it was #1 at the Box Office this past weekend and reports on CNN.Com are already saying that this movie is likely to get Oscar attention.

Even if you're not into Westerns, this film proved to be pretty quality. Me, well yeah, I have a soft spot in my heart for Clint Eastwood/spaghetti westerns of the good ol' days but even if that's not your thing you need to check this out! It's more than a straight shoot'em up type of deal, and no, it is not another Brokeback Mountain so please refrain from making jokes about cowboys har har har. Basically, if you like good movies with plots that illustrate the complexity of human emotion, all the while people are getting shot all to hell, then you'll love this one, I promise!

ps - not to mention, Luke Wilson has a small role in it as well, and well, Luke Wilson is the best.

PB&J, Justice Lose VMA's; Rusty Not Surprised

Under normal circumstances, I would've posted this on the Stranded In Stereo blog that I live at, but I thought this post would also serve as a good inaugural post for my welcome to the Planetary blog.

It's been a few years since I watched the MTV VMA's; it has been that way for good reason. I mean I completely forgot the event went down last year until the morning after when I was told Panic! At The Disco won Video of the Year for that song with a title that is as long as a novel (like all their song's titles like their contemporaries and band they serve as understudy for, Fall Out Boy.) Really there was only one reason I tuned over at 8:59:58 last night away from the whooping my Dallas Cowboys gave to Ben's New York Giants (sorry Ben! I think you need to get Tiki away from that NBC desk job on the Today show) and that was to see the big ole Britney Spears comeback. It was the real reason everyone tuned in, and the second it happened, every blog and newstalbloidmagazineprogram sounded off on probably was single-handedly the worst comeback in the history of attempts at coming back.

If you didn't see it, I'm not going to spare you. MTV has the performance streaming, I'll just post a picture:













And, really, this picture about sums it up. Coming out and teasing us with the back of her head, she turns around to reveal she is wearing well - just about absolutely nothing. For the next three and a half minutes, she sluggishly shuffled through a dance routine, while she attempted to lip-synch accordingly to her new single, "Gimme More." Honestly, the woman looked like a deer in headlights: she haphazardly strutted across the floor, bumping and grinding with other dancers every once in awhile, in-between bouts of what appeared to be her trying to remember her moves. When it was done and she smiled and might've said thank you, cameras panned to members of the audience. Certainly, the expressions on their face said it all. Where the face of one celebrity showed an uncomfortable smile and applaud that clearly shouted "Thank God that's over, I sweated for her through that one," the big winner of the night Rihanna was conversing with a friend and probably saying "I can smoke this one."

And who do I feel bad for? Not those people in the crowd, or us sappy suckers for turning in who will be talking about it for another day or two, but her kids. They can look back at this moment 10 or 15 years from now when their Mommy's career firmly derailed and think, "Wow, my mom was a hot stripper!" With such calamity as there was in her performance last night, and the underwhelming appearance she brought forth, she looks like she could've been that stripper in that "Turn The Page" video.

The rest of the show, from what I saw, was very lackluster. I found it very lame that they mostly showed 60% of each performance, cutting to the "fantasy suites" that were being held down by Fall Out Boy, Kanye, the Foo Fighters, and others. Of the full performances that were shown and took place in the main room last night, lots of people are giving props to Chris Brown and his tight dance moves. Alicia Keys was alright, performing her new single before segueing in to a well presented rendition of George Michael's "Freedom 90." Of the winners, I really didn't care and was happy that Justice and Peter Bjorn & John walked home empty handed - why should they be tied to such a trainwreck of an event to be dubbed Best New Artist or Video of the Year.

I remember writing a review of the 1999 VMA's (that took place on 9/9/99, actually) for my paper in high school. It was so great that year - the return of Nine Inch Nails, the great comedic monologues of host Chris Rock. The operatic rendition of "Bawitaba" (PS - good job kickin' Tommy Lee's ass, Kid.) It seems that as time goes on and MTV continues to disinterest me and my generation of people who grew up in that time, maybe others still pay attention to this horrible display of celebrities trying to prove their machismo. I'm just hoping after last night, people will boycott future VMA's and it never happens again. I say I won't watch, but Dany is probably right - we say this now, and we'll be having this same conversation again next year.

Put Your Hands Up For Detroit

Last night was the godfather of house music, Juan Atkins, performing along the Charles River. I first heard about this from Mr. Boston himself, Adam Lewis (who, you know, owns Planetary), and while he was planning to go, he ended up ducking out. Booooo!

It was pretty incredible. For what it's worth, it was a small crowd of people that wanted to be there, and we were all stuck in a time portal between the 80s and 90s that sounded dated while incredibly fresh.

But of course there was the after-party, which raged on until I gave up at 5am. I woke at 10am to gratefully feel alive, happy, and read to go...after a large cup of coffee.

I freaking love this city.

MySpace: Juan Atkins

You Can Stand Under My-My-My Um Ber-Rellah

When I flip to MTV these days, sadly enough, I have NO idea who the frig anyone is. I do, however, know enough to love that Rhianna song, "Umbrella," whose remixes have exceeded the original's beauty by extreme measures. The greatest example is this four minute insertion in an hour 'n eight minute Diplo remix that was just released in conjunction with a lengthy interview he did with a recent tour publicist of ours, David Day. The interview itself is very interesting but the directions are as follows:

A.) Go here.
B.) Download this.
C.) Listen to it all, and focus on the 50min-54min mark.
D.) Die of pure joy.

Audible: Rhianna - "Umbrella (Vandalism Mix)"

How Art Made The World And BBC Made Me Grumpy

Rather than make a grand entrance, let me just get right down to business. September 1st is known as "Move In Day" in Boston, but it's also one of the most dreaded dates of the year. Everyone moves in this goddamn city. Nevertheless, I spent a lot of my weekend watching movies and hiding from the chaos outside watching documentaries on a borrowed XBox/projector for "home theater effect."



All in all, this was one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen. The honest truth is that I never made it to the end, and I was hoping for so much considering the combination of being presented by BBC America and narrated by a British man (can we say b0nerz for David Attenborough?)

I wouldn't recommend this to children in detention. Nor would I recommend it to any of my art-savvy friends for they'd probably fall asleep or end up breaking their televisions out of boredom. I'm still on the hunt for a really inspiring documentary about the varieties of 20th century art, and seeing how it intertwined with the rapid, untameable progress of technology from the 50's and on.

God, I'm such a freaking nerd. You will learn this over time.

Welcome to Planet Vicki.
-Your Captain

This Week in Pictures: Martha's Vineyard

Awwww, Pete is so sweet and sentimental speaking about us! We too enjoyed having sea britches in our Boston office, even if for a short while. In celebration of his visit here, the picture of the week this week from scenic Martha's Vineyard, a place our good buddy Pete likes to call home from time to time. I personally had never been there until recently, but it was a trip that I am glad I took. While I took a million pictures of a million neat things, this is one of my favorites:



When it comes down to it, I like things that are nautical themed - and this big ol' rusty anchor just looked super cool if you ask me. Overall, my trip to the island was a great one, albeit brief, and I can't wait to get back there again!

Head To Planetary Homebase!

Last week I went to Planetary Boston, my second favorite office in the world. Everyone's always happy there, (at least they're happy to me) and there's so much energy. It's always good to see all of them. I spent a quick two days there, and then went to the Biggest Little State in The Union (RI) to get into trouble.

Since I don't own a digital camera, I thought I'd borrow some photos from google to explain my trip. I think it will give a better view of it than I could explain.

5:30am: get up.


7:00am Catch the train at Penn Station. It was broken before it even got to New York. This wasn't going to be good.


Luckily I randomly met a friend, so at least she kept me busy.


12:00 Finally roll into Boston, and get to the office.


4:00 I get to meet some of the new people. They're all awesome.


7:00 We have a Planetary dinner.


I left early to find a place to sleep, and they ridiculed me right out the door. Man, that food was good though.

Next Day, 10 am Friday morning I roll back into the office. All systems normal. Monkeys at their stations.

Friday night I went to where I grew up. (Newport, RI) It was a long weekend. I cracked my head open,(don't ride fixed gear) spent every day with my new niece (no picture could begin to explain how awesome she is) and saw tons of friends.


Monday we rent a car and skee-daddled back to NYC,.


People are relaxed in NYC, and life is slow and easy. Not like Boston. I went to a roof deck BBQ put on by a bunch of texans, and then missed the Dinosaur Jr show because I passed out at 10.


That's it. No big deal. I'm a little tanner and a few brain cells lighter. Now I get to slow down, and figure out how to get to the Amiina and Cloud Cult shows this wed and friday. I'm happy to be back.