The 1-Upper: An Escape Series #3: The Phone Booth
Much like foul-mouthed Irishman Colin Farrel’s 2002 stinker, Afro Ninja’s most recent in An Escape Series has you locked in a phone booth, though there’s no crazy sniper with you in his sights. For some reason, though, you’re locked in a phone booth (bumbling ineptitude, I imagine) and you have to get out. Despite the fact that you probably haven’t even seen a phone booth in something like 20 years, the game is still a fun, but really tough, little challenge to figure out. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s unbeatable without the help of the handy-dandy walkthrough link at the bottom of the screen.
The Phone Booth feels a lot like those old point-and-click adventure games, like Shadowgate, that I spent most of my youth playing. If you’re not familiar with the games, all you have to do is click on various objects and around the screen to move around and pick up things that will help you on your way. Unlike the point-and-click games of yore, the cursor doesn’t light up when you move across something you can interact with. That said, it’ll take some guess work to get moving. If you find this one a little tough, try the earlier games as they tend to be a bit easier.
Play The Phone Booth here.
Unrelated, I wonder if Afro Ninja is related to this guy, who never fails to make me laugh.
Band of Horses, January 22, TLA
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Given the expansive and dreamlike nature of their records, it’s not hard to see how some people could write off Band of Horses as a live act. Those people are truly missing out. If anything, the equestrienne collective are a must-see as they proved Tuesday at the TLA.
The group, bloated out to six members doubling their usually svelte three-piece, came out to thunderous applause before opening the show with "Monsters" off their ‘06 release Everything All the Time. "Are you guys ready to have some fun or whatever?" asked front man Ben Bridwell before kicking things off. "Well too bad, because here comes a slow one."
What followed was an excellent set of hits from both Everything and last year’s Cease to Begin. Songs like "The Great Salt Lake" and "Weed Party" were given new life on stage by the pronounced drums, which gave the songs a new low not found on their records. I can’t for the life of me find this guy’s name anywhere on the net, which is a real shame considering how much his presence improved the songs.
Still, it was the tightness of the unit as a whole and Bridwell’s impressive vocal work that made the show. Despite the inflated numbers and the presence of looser, jammier tunes like "The General Specific" and "Ode to LRC," the band was the definition of tight. And Bridwell vocals were uncanny. His haunting falsetto voice crooned and stretched but never broke. Pretty impressive considering the man looks like a gas station attendant.
The set mixed slower numbers like "No One’s Gonna Love You" with anthems along the lines of "Is There a Ghost." However, the defining moment came near the end of the set when Band of Horses crawled into their best and most famous song, The Funeral. On record, the song is a head-bobbing anthem about life. On stage, the song becomes a monolithic wall of sound that rises like a wave, only to crash down and make the audience realize that something special is happening. To see such a well written song preformed to perfection is an experience like no other.
Believe the hype - you haven’t heard Band of Horses until you’ve heard them live.
White Rabbits, Jan. 23, Johnny Brenda’s
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| John Vettese |
Holy shit, so I was pretty blown away by this show last night, but I’m gonna remain calm and be a cynical bastard about it. Here’s why: gimmickry, the possibility thereof and the potential for backfire. Click For More »
An Interview with Ken Jennings
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A: This pop culture fixture, who ESPN: The Magazine once called "smarmy [and] punchable," recently released the largest published trivia collection in American history.
Q: Who is Ken Jennings?
The 33-year-old Seattle native, of course, is best known as "the Jeopardy! guy," but he’s also the author of 2006’s excellent (and best-selling) Brainiac. Last week, he hit the bookshelves again with Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days (Villard Books/Random House).
The incredibly addictive 531-page tome hits you like a fact-shilling tsunami, each day of the year crammed to bursting with everything from date-driven ephemera (on this day in 1991, a New Mexico rock station played "Stairway" for 24 hours straight) to themed sets of craziness ("A Matter of a Pinion — questions about wings, avian and otherwise") to the stuff of twisted high school history quizzes ("Match each famous name to its owner’s characteristic headwear").
Jennings (whose most triumphant Jeopardy! moment has been triumphantly immortalized on YouTube) was kind enough to answer some of our burning questions about his book, his life and trivia in general via e-mail. Follow the jump to learn about his favorite non-trivial diversions, what weird stuff he knows about Philly and which presidential candidate he’d most want on his Quizzo team.
The 1-Upper: Chain Factor
So CP’s Brian Howard sent this game my way a week or so ago, and it’s his fault I can’t stop playing. Chain Factor is like Connect Four, Tetris, and Plinko had a baby. In the game, you drop discs, numbered one through seven, onto the board, one by one. The point of the game is to line the discs up in horizontal and vertical rows, thus making them disappear. It’s a little confusing at first, and if you just start clicking away, it won’t make any sense. The discs will only disappear when the number of discs in its row matches the number on it. For instance, if you have a four, a four, a six, and then drop a two into the row, the two fours will disappear. You’ll also be given blank grey discs to drop, and they’ll start to crack and eventually reveal a numbered disc that comes into play.
The real fun of this game begins when you start linking chains of disappearing discs together, hence the name of the game. They’re pretty hard to plan at first, but you’ll eventually start to get the hang of it. It’s an oddly satisfying feeling to watch the chains unfold, kind of like when you’d clear a round of Tetris after that well was nearly full.
Go play Chain Factor here.
Extremities, New City Stage Co.
I think it’s impossible to feel satisfied by William Mastrosimone’s Extremities — and that’s the point.
Marjorie (Alana Gerlach) overpowers an attacker in her home (Paul Felder) — a disturbingly violent scene staged expertly by Ian Rose — and faces an impossible question: What can, and should, she do with him? The smooth-talking, lie-spouting assailant taunts her with assurances that if she calls the police, he’ll soon be released and will return to finish the job. He’s probably just trying to scare her and buy himself time - but Marjorie takes the threat seriously, realizing that the only sure way to stop this serial "raper" is to dispose of him permanently.
Mastrosimone builds the variables carefully: we hear Raul’s (his ethnicity suppressed in director William Roudebush’s production) tangle of lies, and his all-too-plausible threats. But just as we’re rooting for Marjorie to dispense justice, her housemates arrive. Mastrosimone frustrates our lust for revenge with both their high-minded ethical concerns (Does taking violent revenge make Marjorie no better than her attacker?) and their emotional responses (Did Marjorie steal Terry’s boyfriend? Does she, as Patricia claims, parade around half-dressed, flirting with their men?), all heightened by Raul’s devious manipulation.
Everyone’s view — including ours — is filtered through personal agendas. Terry (Ginger Dayle) and Patricia (Kristyn Chouiniere) pit sympathy for wounded Raul against fear for their own complicity, doubt Marjorie’s innocence and the inevitable selfish desire to just walk away from the problem. Everyone’s right, and everyone’s wrong.
Roudebush’s production, despite its lapses (Dayle’s cartoony dumb-blonde interpretation of Terry), dumps this huge emotional mess in our laps. The inevitable conclusion, we might all eventually agree, is the best resolution of an impossible situation. But Mastrosimone’s point is to make our journey to peace of mind as painful and scary as Marjorie’s, and in this, Extremities ably succeeds.
Top 10 Obscure Female Country Albums
Top 10 Obscure Female Country Albums
My parent’s South Jersey basement in 1976, my Dad’s love of music, and watching a very bouncy Dolly Parton on that old RCA turn-dial television sparked my interest in all things twang. My vinyl collection has since grown to more than 1,200 albums. These are my top 10 female country singers of note.
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1. Dolly Parton All I Can Do (RCA, 1976) and New Harvest - First Gathering (RCA, 1977)
Dolly Parton’s an icon now, but both of these albums characterize her earliest, most authentic work. In 1976, Parton had already won many Country Music Awards for duets with Porter Wagoner. (She won "Female Vocalist of the Year" in 1975). Both of these albums were recorded before her mega-crossover hit "Here You Come Again" (1977) and her role as Doralee in 9 to 5 (1980). All I Can Do, the final album produced with Porter Wagoner, reveals a pre-Hollywood Dolly. And New Harvest - First Gathering, although it did not sell well, is the first album Parton produced on her own.
Notable tracks: All I Can Do: Dolly’s precise Appalachian timbre brings jaunty commentary on falling in love with "All I Can Do" and "The Fire that Keeps You Warm." All tracks were written by Dolly, except a heart-wrenching cover of Emmy Lou Harris’ "Boulder to Birmingham" and an uplifting take on Merle Haggard’s "Life’s Like Poetry." On New Harvest - First Gathering "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is an anthem about her newly found artistic freedom, as "Holdin’ On to You" and "Getting in My Way" speak to the challenges of moving onto a new chapter in life.
2. Sammi Smith Help Me Make it Through the Night (Mega Records, 1971)
As Kris Kristofferson’s muse and Waylon Jennings’ band mate, Oklahoma-born Sammi Smith paved the way for the outlaw era of female country singers by topping the charts with the title track. Smith’s covers of "But You Know I Love You" and "Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down" are delivered with her characteristically smoky, on-the-road-again perfection.
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3. Bobbie Gentry The Delta Sweetie (Capitol, 1968)
Following up her debut album Ode to Billy Joe, raven-haired Bobbie Gentry penned most of the songs on Sweetie to reflect her Chickasaw County, MS roots, including "Okolona River Bottom Band" and "Reunion." Listeners get a great taste of Gentry’s gravel and grit pipes on "Morning Glory." In the 70’s, Gentry had success doing duets with Glen Campbell and went on to write and produce most of her recordings, most notably "Fancy," about a self-affirming prostitute (the song was later covered by Reba McEntire in ‘91).
4. Melba Montgomery The Mood I’m In (United Artists Records, 1967)
Montgomery penned many of her own songs on this album, most notably the western swing song "Big, Big Heartache." Montgomery, nicknamed the "female George Jones," was also a successful, though lesser-known duet partner of the famous crooner.
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5. Billie Jo Spears Mr. Walker, It’s All Over (Capitol, 1969)
Billie Jo Spears had a top-10 country hit with this title track describing a Manhattan secretary who is weary of pawing office and city life and decides to return to her hometown. The pioneering working girl’s country song could very well be added to the soundtrack of TV’s Mad Men as the secretary pool’s anthem.
6. Diana Trask Diana’s Country (Dot Records, 1971)
In the early ‘60’s, Australian country music singer Diana Trask was already a pioneer in Nashville, blazing the trail almost a decade prior to megastars Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy. On Diana’s Country, Trask co-authored "Hope I Don’t Feel Dirty in the Morning" and "Let’s Keep Her Free (America)." Her most notable song, however, features a Bobbie Gentry-like growl on "Mama Said, Yeah."
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7. Charly McClain Encore (Epic, 1981)
This little-known album features Charly McClain’s number-one country hit "Who’s Cheatin’ Who?" which says, "Makes you wonder who’s doing right, by someone tonight, and who’s car is parked next door." She had the looks (and lyrics) of an early Shania Twain and the timbre of Allison Krauss mixed with Reba McEntire.
8. Rose Maddox Reckless Love and Bold Adventure (Takoma Records, 1977)
In 1936, Rose Maddox ("Queen of the Honky Tonk") began touring with The Maddox Brothers at age 11, singing on the radio and on the country music circuit. On Reckless, Alabama-born Maddox belts out her namesake tune, "Heart of a Country Song (Rose’s Song)," and provides a honky-tonk rendition of Dolly Parton’s "Tennessee Mountain Home."
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9. The Carter Family The Best of The Carter Family (Columbia)
This quintessential family of country music has spawned countless country anthems that have since been covered by more contemporary musicians. This album, however, features Mother Maybelle Carter and her daughters Helen, June and Anita at their best. June’s "Ring of Fire," Helen’s "Poor Old Heartsick Me," and Johnny Cash’s "Big River" makes this a collector’s must-have.
10. Aunt Molly Jackson Library of Congress Recordings (Rounder Records, 1971)
Allan Lomax’s collection of Aunt Molly Jackson’s Kentucky coal miner protest and union songs were recorded a capella in 1935 and 1939. A politically active figure, Jackson set the tradition of storytelling that has long characterized 20th century country music (and influenced most of the other albums on this list).
The 1-Upper: Campaign Game
So, like turn-based combat games but does the fantasy or sci-fi genre not really do it for you? More of a nerdy, politico? Oh, boy, have I got the game for you. In the aptly named Campaign Game, you can step into the shoes of presidential hopefuls Obama, Edwards, Clinton, Giuliani, Romney, and Thompson (is he still in the race?) and duke it out over sections of the country backed by a CNN-inspired soundtrack. You get to hire three staff members (a combination of fund raisers, operatives, hatchetmen, and spin doctors, each with their own abilities) to do your dirty work for you, too, but decide carefully what kind of campaign you want to wage.
Campaign Game is tricky and takes some getting to, but, basically, it works pretty much like our political system: the more money you have the better you’ll do. Money fuels your abilities and actions, like smear ads, rallies, and bouts of flag waving. There’s an added bonus, which I didn’t try, in the game’s multiplayer mode, so call up your friends of the opposing faction and start flinging some mud.
Play Campaign Game here.
Commissioner Ramsey Townhall Meeting, Jan.14, South Philly High School
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| Stephen Falk l Philadelphia Daily News |
Only a week in office, and Mayor Nutter is demanding that the new police commissioner, Charles Ramsey come up with a plan to tackle the city’s crime by January 30, 2008. This has Ramsey scrambling around town holding six public townhall meetings to allow citizens to express their ideas and pose questions. The first was held last night at South Philadelphia High School, and for some reason I felt had to be there. Not so much that I had anything to say that would be different or earth-shattering, but I had to go see what this guy was about. I had doubts that many people would show up. Afterall, I attended a mayoral conversation a few months ago and there were about 40 or so people. About last night, I was wrong. Click For More »
Arts Presenters, Jan. 12, NYC
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| photo | Mary Armstrong |
| Slamm! |
The Arts Presenters conference is about the onliest thing in the world that could persuade me to head north in January. Five days of any kind of lively that can manage to scrape the cash together to put on a showcase at a highpriced Manhattan hotel or get itself booked into a nearby venue.
Yes, the folkies are in force: bluesmen Guy Davis and Eric Bibb are here. One showcase is titled Northern Realms, from which Le Vent du Nord reassures fans that while you may fondly recall the gorgeous and charming Benoit, the group continues to play with energetic dances and songs from Québec just fine without him. The Gothenburg Combo was charming, two classical guitarists so precise and delighted with what they were doing, everybody in the room grinned, too.
Hearing Strindberg and Steve Reich played next to Debussy’s “The Golliwog’s Cakewalk” -all on nothing more than two acoustic guitars is a real ear stretcher. Around the corner Salsa Celtica from Scotland convinced me with their live performance, something their studio CD had not. Yes, these guys have done enough listening/jamming in both traditions to now have pipes and tenor banjo seamlessly start up in a guajira and weave in a reel over the latin pattern. Add sax, four percussionist, one of whom is a Cuban vocalist, along with an able fiddler and the requisite latin keyboard and you have big fun.
Rock is not neglected here, from soft to raucous. Jeffrey Gaines was powerful, just himself and acoustic guitar. Watching Gaines feels like dreaming, his persona seems to swell and shrink, like a cartoon. He seems so candid, so intimate, yet he assures us, “It’s all context!” as he talks about revisiting his Harrisburg roots. “I’m here [at Arts Presenters] cause of a promise I made in junior high [to “rock on!’].” His boys came out to see him when he played the hometown saying, hey we don’t even listen to music anymore, too many kids, but “I saw you on TV!” Yes, he mused, it’s context. It looks impressive when your face is up in giant monitors on either side of the stage, but here, playing in one of a line of banquet halls, competing with how many others, “Who are you?” So, he repeats, “It’s all context. Create a context and I’m there for you!” pitching for work. He ticked off all the myriad gigs, from schools to… well, the only one he forgot was goat ropings.
At the other end of the hall Slamm! drummed and danced and got physical with drum kit and improvs -those plastic five gallon buckets sound just as good on stage as when the local drumkids press them into service. The group is sold by its association with “legendary drummer Carmine Appice” (“Do You Think I’m Sexy” etc) [according to the one-sheet]. Health problems kept him away.
Now he’s gonna be sick all over again, because rhythm addicts didn’t miss him. Ziolo and Veronica lead the way through set pieces and challenges, with Mattie and Felipe taking turns joining them. If you have any love for drums, keep an ear out for this new show.