[Via papermag] “Along with graffiti and crime scene police tape, posters are what make the city pretty. They tell us when Danzig is playing next and what date Nelly’s new album drops. They allow us to be creative by drawing Hitler mustaches on Jessica Simpson’s face and changing the ‚”r” in rock to a ‚”c” so the poster reads ‚”Cock Show.” Secret Project Robot is paying tribute to the almighty poster at the Brooklyn Poster Show. Enjoy free drinks [on Friday April 7, 6-9pm] and local music while admiring walls full of rock show posters. It’ll be like staring at the walls of your high school bedroom with tipsy strangers.”
Secret Project Robot, 210 Kent Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 963-2020. 2-8 p.m. Free. Through Sun., Apr. 9.

Last year’s top record, Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois, is the gift that keeps giving. Now that we’ve finally managed to listen to the whole, sprawling record, Asthmatic Kitty is preparing to release “The Avalanche,” a collection of outtakes from Sufjan’s masterpiece:

[Asthmatic Kitty via BKVegan]The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in‚Äîas did the opinions of others‚Äîand the project was cut in half. But as 2005 came to a close, Sufjan returned to the old, forsaken songs on his 8-track like a grandfather remembering his youth, indulging in old journals and newspaper clippings. What he uncovered went beyond the merits of nostalgia; it was more like an ensemble of capricious friends and old acquaintances wearing party outfits, waiting to be let in at the front door, for warm drinks and interesting conversation. Among them were Saul Bellow, Ann Landers, Adlai Stevenson, and a brief cameo from Henry Darger’s Vivian Girls. The gathering that followed would become the setting for the songs on The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album.

(more…)

Here’s the story in full (since the Sun’s website keeps crashing due, undoubtedly, to high traffic volume)
Bush Authorized Leak to Times, Libby Told Grand Jury
New York Sun Web Exclusive
By JOSH GERSTEIN – Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 6, 2006 updated 9:02 am EDT
A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information from a closely-guarded “National Intelligence Estimate” on Iraq to a New York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush, according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case.

(more…)

The megachurches are gearing up for that huge Christian event that is almost upon us this Spring. No, not Easter. They’re preparing for the theatrical release of The Da Vinci Code. Evangelical media darling Rick Warren has been sending out disinformation tips to tens of thousands of pastors encouraging them to inform their congregations that the book is a sham.

Every Christian…. should know that skeptics who see the movie will feel they have been equipped to challenge the faithful. “Our people need to be equipped, too,” [says pastor Ken Baugh on Rick Warren's pastors.com]

Warren and Da Vinci Code debunker Lee Strobel are encouraging churches to preach on the heresy of the book:

[from pastors.com] My initial reaction to the book [says Stobel] was outright anger at the way it slanders Christianity… [Still] The Da Vinci Code offers terrific opportunities to preach on apologetics, doctrine, and church history in fresh and powerful ways… I know one church where attendance jumped 500 people when its Da Vinci series launched. Outreach, Inc. is offering materials to support your series, such as sample sermons, bulletin inserts, door hangers, banners, and invitations. And don’t forget to send a press release about your series to your local newspaper in order to garner free publicity….. “It would be a tragedy if all the churches across America miss this opportunity.”…

One church mentioned on pastors.com is taking drastic measures.

[Coast Hills Community Church in CA] plans to distribute more than 300 iPod Shuffles – all pre-loaded with the eight sermons from the Da Vinci series – to church members. Their mission: To give them away to friends, neighbors, co-workers, perhaps even total strangers, anyone who might be interested in hearing the sermons.
“They’ll be iPod evangelists. They will tell the person, I’d love for you to listen to this and then have coffee with me. I mean, who’s not going to take an iPod?”

Though some Christians will undoubtedly be organizing boycotts against Sony (who produced the film) most are following Rick Warren’s lead and organizing “truth squads” to counter “heretical” claims that the book makes about Jesus and the deceptions of the Catholic chuch:

[from Christian Science Monitor] Rather than organize protests or boycotts – steps taken in the past against controversial films – Evangelicals and Catholics instead are mobilizing “truth squads.” They’re producing books, websites, TV documentaries, DVDs, and study guides. Some hope to use the film as a “teachable moment” that could turn the occasion to their advantage.

Of course this all begs the questions: A) what are they so afraid of? B) Don’t they realize the book is a work of fiction? and C) Shouldn’t churches be worrying about things like ending poverty and hunger instead of obssessing about films directed by Opie?

Wed. April 5 at Glasshouse Gallery
38 South 1st street (between Kent and Wythe)
(with Bloody Panda + Skeletonbreath)
FREE – show starts at 8pm
read Kevin K.’s review here or download some tracks here

From the Associated Press

Dave Eggers, Jane Smiley and Daniel Handler, aka “Lemony Snicket,” are among those involved with the newly formed LitPAC, a coalition of authors that plans readings around the country to register voters and raise money for liberal candidates in this year’s congressional elections.
“We feel we can raise $75,000 in hard money for congressional candidates, at $5,000 apiece,” says LitPAC executive director Stephen Elliott, who has written four novels and a political memoir, “Looking Forward to It.”
“We’re not George Soros; we’re not going to make a massive impact. But if you ask any non-incumbent candidate if $5,000 is a big chunk of money, they’ll tell you it’s a very big chunk of money.”
Other LitPAC authors include Mary Gaitskill, whose “Veronica” was a finalist for the National Book Award, Tobias Wolff, Rick Moody and Anthony Swofford.

… It must be true. From the American Enterprise Institute:

Though the Bush administration hates to admit it, daily life in Baghdad has become worse. For those politically active, life is more dangerous now than ever.
It is irrelevant whether small businesses, imports, and school and hospital construction are doing better if Iraq’s political and intellectual classes (not to mention foreigners who are trying to help them) cannot walk out of their homes unguarded.
If Baghdad remains a killing zone, where Iraq’s leaders can safely gather only under U.S. protection, then the prognosis for the Iraqi national identity, which has always had Baghdad at its center, is poor. Lasting political compromises will probably be impossible if the increasingly vicious sectarian strife in Baghdad and its environs intensifies. Within a year, at most two, Iraq could become Algeria.