Summer arrived with a vengeance (two months late!) in Chicago yesterday, but luckily I was able to duck into the area's largest comic book convention, conveniently going on all weekend at Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. I must concede, however, that whatever shelter the massive hall offered from the hot, oppressive atmosphere outside was more than made up for by the writhing mass of humanity inside. Despite the discomfort, the show was a pleasant success here on the tail end of the summer convention season.As usual the Artist Alley commanded most of my time with guests including Christopher Mitten (illustrator for Wasteland), David Petersen (creator of Mouse Guard), and industry legend J. Scott Campbell. The high point, though, came from meeting Tracy Butler, whose Lackadaisy online comic is one of my absolute favorites. Hopefully the next time we meet I won't be in such a hurry to leave the convention and be able to muster more than a few words of thanks.And now, the spoils!
In what will go down as one of the most memorable baseball games I have ever seen (on television anyway), Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays here at U.S. Cellular Field today. Not a single Ray reached base, and since the Sox scored four of their five runs on Josh Fields' grand slam in the second inning, the game finished up in a blistering two hours. The highlight came with Gabe Kapler up for the Rays in the top of the ninth, when he launched a shot to left center field that Dewayne Wise (who had just been substituted into the game that very inning) had to reach over the fence to nab, bobble, then finally catch with his throwing hand as he came tumbling to the ground.
For more coverage from the Trib, visit the links below.
Today marked the longest total eclipse of the sun to happen this entire century. Unfortunately for those of us stuck in the Western Hemisphere, the eclipse was only visible in a swath from India to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. LUCKILY for us, though, The Big Picture compiled a stunning set of photos of the event from around Asia. See them here.
Baltimore's Otakon has come and gone, and its three wild days have left me with a smattering of memories and a mountain of spoils. Conventions, for me, are less about events and panels and more about the loot! This show was a huge success, as you can see from the photo above. Here are the highlights:
The absolute best pickup isn't pictured above because it didn't fit in my luggage - it'll warrant it's own post in the near future after I retrieve it from my folks in Cleveland next week. I also uploaded a handful of non-Otakon related photos to my Flickr page here.
Talk about combining all of my favorite things! Dr. Zilog from the 8bitcollective has put together a spot-on chiptune version of Animal Collective's "My Girls", my favorite song off this year's amazing Merriweather Post Pavilion. Not content to stop there, he also recreated the song's trippy music video in a suitably pixelated style. For you iPodders out there, you can grab the mp3 here.
[Via GameSetWatch]
Anyone keeping score at home knows how much I love this band, their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, a fixture in my car's CD player for weeks after its release. Late last week word came down from Phoenix's Facebook page that a live set and interview had been posted to Spinner.com, and I was all over it like white on rice. Phoenix did a short acoustic set on the program, followed by an interview covering topics like their songwriting process and the huge public response surrounding their fifth album. Here's the leader from The Interface:
Who: Phoenix
From: Versailles, France
Why We Love Them: The French quartet crafts a brand of power pop that makes us want to leave our computers behind and fly to Europe. With endearingly earnest lyrics, danceable guitars and synths, Phoenix have mastered the art of the summertime song.
Before jumping the Atlantic to promote Swoon, the Silversun Pickups stopped by MTV New York to lay down some acoustic tracks as part of the venerable 'MTV Unplugged' series. Silversun really came on strong with Carnavas a few years ago and their new album is every bit as excellent, with the same blend of stirring vocals and heavy distortion that drew so much attention back in 2006. This unplugged set features tracks off both albums recorded in a close, intimate setting. I'll let MTV introduce things:
In this 2009 'MTV Unplugged' performance — taped on location at New York City's Nyehaus — the West Coasters played in a living room-esque setting for a small audience of very lucky fans. The members of Silversun Pickups took their time to experiment with their songs in a whole new and different way. As Aubert puts it, "We want to incorporate the creepier, quieter moments," and they do so in part by bringing in a larger string section to augment their sound. Sampling from their three major album releases, the band performs "Well Thought Out Twinkles," "Panic Switch," "Lazy Eye," "Catch and Release," "Kissing Families" and "Getting Old is Growing Old" exclusively for MTV, taking each song to a mysterious new level.
Wow, Sonic Youth! This was one of those shows that appeared out of nowhere; even with a new album, you would expect Sonic Youth to start a fresh tour in New York or Los Angeles, not Chicago. The Eternal is one of their best records in the last decade, probably my favorite since Daydream Nation, and it was really exciting to see it performed for the first time right here in my own backyard.
Opening for Sonic Youth was The Entrance Band, a three-piece from Los Angeles that was a fantastic surprise. These guys were exploding with folksy, rock-powered energy - the drummer busted a snare after only a song or two. These were real virtuosos as well, with some seriously impressive guitar licks, driving drums, and bass lines that explored far beyond the droning rhythms you would expect from an average opening act. What won me over completely, though, was the bassist, who I fell in love with the second I saw her. Paz Lenchantin is incredibly pretty, hot even, and was that much more impressive in person than in any old Zwan video. Plus, she plays the bass with so much passion, it's entirely impossible not to be completely captivated by her. I was ready for a full show from these guys, but after forty minutes it was time to get ready for Sonic Youth.
Lee got things rolling with a quip about this show being the first of the new tour. At first it was exciting to think we were hearing these songs live for the first time, but as Thurston and Kim started getting lyrics sheets between every song I started to get worried. Then again, what fun is a live show that sounds exactly like the disc? Speaking of the disc, the first song of the night was the first song on the new album - "Sacred Trickster":
Things were shaping up to be a shuffle of the new disc until "Tom Violence" popped up as the fifth cut, though it was immediately followed by three more new tracks. Among those, "Antenna" is definitely one of my favorites off The Eternal, and was the perfect cool-down, down-tempo moment before what was about to hit us square in the face:
"HEY JONI"! At last, a song off Daydream Nation! Singing along with Lee for the entire song, I was really getting pumped at this point and was excited to hear some more oldies before the night was through. They followed with "Anti-Orgasm", a song with one great riff and probably the weakest lyrics on the disc, "Massage the History", and "Pacific Coast Highway". After the customary pre-encore disappearance, things got immediately exciting with "What We Know" and…"SPRAWL"! More Daydream Nation! I was in hysterics at this point, singing along with Kim on one of my favorite songs from the whole album. THIS is what I came for, new album or no. After a second (SECOND!) jaunt off-stage, Kim came back with "Bull in the Heather" - another huge favorite of mine - before they finished with "The World Looks Red".
Sixteen albums and twenty-eight years later these guys can still bring it.
The set list and some more thumbnails are below, with full size versions available in my Sonic Youth set on Flickr.
Every couple of years or so a quiet film with a limited audience and a limited release captures my attention so convincingly that I have to drag every person I know to the theater the moment it shows itself within fifty miles. In the past these have been directed by an Aronofsky or Miyazaki or Jeunet, starred a young Tautou or Cera, or pit a geriatric Elvis against a risen rest home mummy. This weekend was no different. How could I resist a film set on the dark side of the moon, starring a man in complete isolation with naught save his computer and himself (and quite literally himself) for companionship, and scored by one of my favorite musicians? How could I ignore a film directed by the son of David Bowie, and featuring, of all people, Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey? IMPOSSIBLE!
Moon is that rare work of science fiction (and all the rarer today) in which the science is merely a vehicle for the fiction, and not the reverse. Before its run is through it will meet with strong comparisons to other films in that tradition such as Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, and Silent Running - certainly desirable company for what is only Duncan Jones's first feature film. On an individual note, Rockwell's performance as astronaut Sam Bell is captivating; his struggle with physical and mental decay in the abyss of space is among the best performances this year. Lastly, Clint Mansell puts forth one of his finest scores yet, a haunting soundtrack that will surely garner attention during next spring's award season. Moon is a future classic, an art-house addition to a science fiction library sorely hurting for new blood, fresh ideas, and gripping performances by the highest caliber of actors.
Moon is now showing in select theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, moving to nationwide over the next few weeks. For more information visit the links below (and don't miss the trailer, it's stunning).
STEREOROBO is a personal smörgåsbord of gaming, music, and illustration blended into a pithy mush by Stephen Hack, a Chicago based arcade game developer and erstwhile polymath.
Summer arrived with a vengeance (two months late!) in Chicago yesterday, but luckily I was able to duck into the area's largest comic book convention, conveniently going on all weekend at Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. I must concede, however, that whatever shelter the massive hall offered from the hot, oppressive atmosphere outside was more than made up for by the writhing mass of humanity inside. Despite the discomfort, the show was a pleasant success here on the tail end of the summer convention season.As usual the Artist Alley commanded most of my time with guests including Christopher Mitten (illustrator for Wasteland), David Petersen (creator of Mouse Guard), and industry legend J. Scott Campbell. The high point, though, came from meeting Tracy Butler, whose Lackadaisy online comic is one of my absolute favorites. Hopefully the next time we meet I won't be in such a hurry to leave the convention and be able to muster more than a few words of thanks.And now, the spoils!
In what will go down as one of the most memorable baseball games I have ever seen (on television anyway), 
Today marked the longest total eclipse of the sun to happen this entire century. Unfortunately for those of us stuck in the Western Hemisphere, the eclipse was only visible in a swath from India to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. LUCKILY for us, though, 
Baltimore's 
Wow, 
