SeattleCasbah.Com

Pela Ticket Giveaway!

courtesy of Pela and World's Fair Label Group, we (as in I) are proud to announce the first free ticket giveaway!

That's right - win the opportunity to save $16 on a pair of tickets to Monday's Pela/BrakesBrakesBrakes show at the Chop Suey, enough to buy yourself 2 drinks while tipping generously, 3 drinks while tipping standardly, or 4 drinks of the cheap stuff with no tipping at all (disclaimer: SeattleCasbah.com takes no responsibility for the negative karmic effects of this. you will probably lose an eye or a testicle).

All you have to do is email the correct answer to this query by noon PST Friday: Who was mayor of Seattle prior to Greg Nickels?

A random winner will be selected from the correct answers.

Where Shaun of the Dead left off...

oh man. Thanks to Sara for the heads-up!

Manhattanhenge

what follows is an account that will take place 8.5 million years from now, after extinction of man and the recession of the most recent ice age. It is the first scientific theory on the newly discovered "city" some have taken to calling "Manhattanhenge". By the way, in the future Earth's dominant species are teddy bears.

Much speculation has surrounded the engineering feats required to build Mannahattanhenge. Assuming the bluestones were brought from New Jersey by hand, and not transported by glaciers as some have claimed, various methods of moving them relying only on timber and rope have been suggested. An attempt was made to transport a large stone along a land and sea route from Wales to Mannahattanhenge. Volunteers pulled it for some miles (with great difficulty) on a wooden sledge over land, using modern roads and low-friction netting to assist sliding, but once transferred to a replica prehistoric boat, the stone sank in the Hudson River.

http://www.gothamist.com/2007/05/30/manhattanhenge.php

Pela in Seattle

Dear Seattle,

While I realize that this makes it a record fourth time that I'm talking about this band, on Monday June 4th my favorite new band, Pela, will be playing at Chop Suey.

As tough as it is to be in a touring band, its even tougher to play a show in the Northwest on a Monday night. Of all the reasons not to do anything at all and stay in, "Its a Monday" is probably the toughest Seattle-specific argument to counter. Its basically the "Yo Mamma" of retorts, where once uttered, you stand there simply in defeated acknowledgement. But here in this little space, I'm going to try and talk a few of you into it.

My first Pela show was in early October, shortly after arriving to NY. I had the good fortune of making it to a KEXP sponsored CMJ Marathon show at the now-defunct Sin-E bar in the lower east side (cool, I've been here long enough to remember a club before it closed). I had a lady with me, ran into Kevin Cole, and was in a packed, dirty club, ready for my first NY show. It couldn't have been better. True, I had food poisoning, but time tends to make you forget the bad stuff. Then Pela came on and reminded me of the reason I moved in the first place; to see and hear things that I've never seen, nor heard before.

My second Pela show followed shortly thereafter, when they opened for now disbanded Rainer Maria (and long enough to see NY acts break up, apparently). I'd never heard of Rainer Maria. Pela's performance was so passionate and fun that the recording has since become one of my favorite bootlegs. Rainer Maria followed and made me wish that someone had approached me while I was listening to crap acts growing up, like Snow and Ace of Base, then smacked the living crap out of me with their cassette tape. Just so much good stuff out there that I had never heard about - and I realized that this was the case for most of my friends. And really, I don't want you finally hear these guys years from now and wish you had heard of them much, much earlier.

So take this as my proverbial smacking you up the head. Throw away that Panic My Chemical Disco Romance shit you bought. You're 30, grow up. Get over to Capitol Hill on Monday early, appreciate the newest bar (MoeBar: http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/new_kids_on_the_block), and check out Pela at Chop Suey. They are opening for BrakesBrakesBrakes (another goodie), but I won't tell anyone that you had to leave before the main act came on stage. Tickets are on sale now, so order - and just go.

Meanwhile, follow Pela as they travel across the country: http://pelamusic.com/tourblog/

Happy Memorial Day!

Its a great weekend to be in New York. Sunny, clear skies, and an extra day off of work. Can you ask for more?

Its been pretty relaxing so far. Tomorrow I plan on meeting up with a friend to go kayaking in the Hudson. Today I stopped by the International Center of Photography for a few postcards, then headed down to Bryant Park for lunch and some sun.

Happy Holiday!

The Friend Profile: Tara

i'm really grateful for the emails I get from friends back home wishing me luck and happiness here in New York, so thought I'd share a little more of my life with you through some of the people I've met. No, New York isn't mean and dirty. No, the people here are very friendly. Granted, there is probably a higher instance of douche-baggery in NY than in Seattle, but then again the level of passive-aggressiveness in people is far lower, so there is that.

Anyway, onto Tara.

I can't think of one other person who has helped me acclimate to the city more than Tara. Random coincidence is that she moved to NY only a few days before me and is also from Seattle. She happens to know a few of my friends (and surprisingly some ex's), but I never had the chance to meet her until we were both here. Johnson came up to NY shortly after my arrival and arranged the introduction.

She's a talented photographer who works in the publishing field. If you are reading something from Harper-Collins, chances are it passed by her desk at some point in the book-creation process. She's also been slowly transforming my closet from its REI-based roots to something more suitable for life in NY (though I refuse to ever add a pink shirt to the wardrobe - the line has to be drawn somewhere). And she's funny as all hell. If you see me in Seattle or points outside of NY and ask me who's watching my dog, chances are its her - call my home number and give her a chat, she loves that shit.

Vegas, baby. Vegas.

Its close enough, I can smell it. Less than 3 weeks time.

"you're old now...but that means I'm even older!"

Mom: "So Jacob, you're birthday is coming up soon!"
Me: "Yeah, I know...I'm going to be 30."
Mom: "....30?!?!?!?! I thought 29!"
Me: "I'm old now."
Mom: "you're old now...but that means that I'm even older! I mean, 28, 29 was okay...but 30...that puts this whole thing into perspective!  Oh my goodness."
Me: "thanks."

When is an ottoman not just an ottoman?

disclaimer: I tried really hard not to post this. But this thing is so disturbingly funny on so many levels that I can't help it. I don't know what else to say except, NSFW.

Hey Seattle: Go see Once, featuring Glen Hansard!

What a weekend NOT to be in Seattle. I'm crushed!
Once is an independant movie garnering a lot of buzz. Featuring Glen Hansard of the Frames and Marketa Irglova of Swell Season, its a simple, moving story featuring some of the most amazing music to come out of Ireland.

And he's going to be in Seattle this Friday to show his little movie and play a little music afterwards. Do yourself a favor, read below, and go. Its free, I guarantee you'll enjoy it, and if you haven't heard of the Frames before, you'll have a new favorite band.

Go See a Movie featuring the Frames!
KEXP listeners are invited to attend a screening of the film, "Once" A modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin.  Featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band "The Frames," the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story. KEXP's very own DJ El Toro will be hosting the ONCE screening and the Q&A/Performance.

ONCE
Friday, May 18
7:00 PM
Museum of History & Industry - Prevue Theatre

If you want to attend this sreening send an email with this subject line "ONCE/KEXP" to: michelle@janetwainwright.com