Labyrinth Ear – Amber from oof video on Vimeo.

I’ve spent years living in North Brooklyn but I really didn’t know anything about it until I was able to see how it was portrayed by 2 Broke Girls, a hackneyed, LA-filmed sitcom created by the “brain” behind Sex and the City and the “brain” behind Whitney. This column will keep track of all the knowledge dropped and questions answered, like: Why do hipsters wear knit hats? Because of Coldplay…of course (seriously, this was one of the first jokes of the series).

This week I learned…

Don’t Ever Ride the Subway, Ever

On television, the New York Subway system seems ever destined to be seen as a wasteland. A place worthy of a Hades comparison for more reasons than just that it’s also underground. 2 Broke Girls would lead its viewer to believe that the subways, regardless of the train, are filthy havens for the worst stereotypes of the types of New Yorkers who have been priced out of Manhattan and much of Western Brooklyn for at least ten years/never really existed in the first place—you know, men whose wardrobes resemble something between a pile of oily rags and Grizabella from Cats.

On 2 Broke Girls last night the subway shuffles our broke gals from wealthy, model-filled Manhattan to the drek of contemporary Williamsburg (well, a contemporary WB where The Edge is still just a punchline for a music joke and not also a gentrification one). The two try to share a sentimental moment in the wake of saving an overdosing model’s life, only to be interrupted by a stranger groping Kat Dennings cupcakes (and by cupcakes, I mean, her butt, not her actual cupcakes—this episode was lacking in cupcake porn). Our gals, and the audience, laugh it off because sexual assault is hilarious just as long as the offended party shoots a real zinger at the would be rapist. The Kat Dennings broke girl zinged that fella hard so let’s all just call it even. I don’t know about you but I’m more ready than ever for my sardine-esque, rush hour L-train commute.

[What I learned from last week's episode]

Show’s Tuesday February 7th at Union Hall.
Tickets $10, doors at 8PM

Show features:
Comedy from Ophira Eisenberg
Burlesque by The World Famous *BOB*
Nerdcore Rap by Schaffer the Darklord

in addition to burlesque from Cyndi Freeman
and storytelling by Brad Lawrence, Cyndi Freeman and Jeff Simmermon

and bullwhip/lasso artistry by Chris McDaniel

flickr

The Super Bowl is hours away and you need a place to watch it. Luckily for you, The Greenpoint Gazette published a list of 18 bars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that will be airing the game. I cut that list in half, narrowing it down to my top picks of which bars and specials sound best. Descriptions by the Gazette.

- Full Circle Bar (318 Grand Street, 347-725-4588): Giving out free Bon Chon Bowl wings, showing the game on three 40+ inch HD TV’s, and selling 24 ounces of Genesee Beer for $10.

- Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand Street, 718-218-8555): Serving up chili nachos ($7) and chili dogs ($4), $15 buckets of Budweiser and Bud Light (5 beers in each), and projecting the game onto the wall.

- Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, 347-529-6696): Showing the game on a 12-foot projection screen in the main room and on two 48-inch screens in the front bar, providing free snacks, and offering a food menu complete with pizza, wings, and party food. Reserve a party package and get seated before everyone else. The packages are First Down (12 beers, 1 pizza and a reserved table for $45), Field Goal (24 beers, 2 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $85), and Touchdown (48 beers, 4 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $150).

- Shayz Lounge (130 Franklin Street, 718-389-3888): Giving out free snacks, chips and dip, and cold cuts. For $10, you can join in on Boxes with a grand prize of $600. Game is being played on two HDTVs.

- The Pit Stop Bar (152 Meserole Ave, 718-383-0981): Free, homemade Italian food such as ziti and lasagna is being provided along with bottles of Rolling Rock, in buckets, for $10.

- Red Star (37 Greenpoint Ave, 718-349-0149): Showing the game on their 15 HDTV’s screens in the bar, and will have party food packages available on redstarny.com.

- The Gutter (200 North 14th Street, 718-387-3585): There is no cover charge to see the game being projected on the wall of the back room of the bowling alley.

- The Abbey (536 Driggs Ave, 718-599-4400): Free food available like ice cream, sandwiches, and wings. Playing the game on three flat panel televisions.

- Tommy’s Tavern (1041 Manhattan Ave, 718-383-9699): All the customers are bringing home cooked food, the regular happy hour is going on until 9 p.m., and the game is being shown on the bar’s big screen.

Oh, and if all else fails, NBC is streaming the game online for the first time ever.

Since I’m pretty confident most of our readers only watched her performance after the show aired, (because really, who spends a Saturday night watching SNL?) here is a clip from last night’s episode, Kristen Wiig as Lana:

The music stage on ‘Saturday Night Live’ is hallowed ground, and I failed to reach the high bar set by past guests like Bubba Sparxxx, the Baha Men, and Shaggy.”

Oh yeah, you can add Bon Iver to that list. He played on the show last night.

lana pic via flickr

Is that Lana Del Rey on the cover of a fictional magazine in MTV’s I Just Want My Pants Back? No, probably not, considering the network shot that first episode in September 2010 when Lana was still Lizzy. But wouldn’t you readers have hated it if it was?

But seriously though, Lana did travel back in time to appear in the John Hughes classic Sixteen Candles.

Visitation- Rites

It’s a blog eat blog world. That said, one of the dominating music blogs on the internet is no doubt, Pitchfork. But if you’re anything into indie music, you probably reaped over the discontinuation of Altered Zones. Altered Zones branched off of Pitchfork, featuring the most underground music. Basically, the ones that weren’t big enough to make it onto the main site. Fans were loyal to Altered Zones and their logo empowered the lives of many. Some hipsters even tattooed the design onto their skins.

Now, the grievance of Altered Zones can now be rejoiced because founding members, Emilie Friedlander and Ric Leichtung have started a new project called Ad Hoc. With the same elements of their previous blog, here is their purpose ” a collective of ten tastemaking music blogs from all over the world, Ad Hoc is a daily destination for MP3s, videos, mixes, interviews, artist’s writings, and cultural commentary– curated for quality, and with an emphasis on emerging artists and musical movements that best exemplify the new grassroots, Internet-fueled DIY.”.

Ad Hoc is an integration of physical and virtual writings from bands, blogs, magazines, and other music journalists. Just to name a few, Real Estate, Neon Indian, Dirty Beaches, Brooklyn Vegan, Impose, Decoder, No Fear of Pop, Chocolate Bobka and our head man of the DIY scene in Brooklyn, Todd Patrick is involved. To launch this project, Ad Hoc is using Kickstarter to raise $33,333. The link to their kickstarter page contains an intimate video of greetings and explanations of Ad Hoc. You might recognize some faces because the people affiliated are the same crowd at every show in Brooklyn. The video is quite friendly and welcomes all to support. Along with each donation, there are sweet rewards for every level of entry. This fund raiser ends March 5th, so do your share. Whether it’s $1, $5 or $100, feed the DIY music community now!

Jay-Z

The coverage of Todd P’s Real Estate show at K&K Super Buffet was pretty extensive, so we just wanted to take make one brief comment: The Most Blogged About Shows this Week team wants to apologize to the hosts of the random Bushwick loft party we crashed on our way home. Please let us know where we can leave the $2.79 we owe for the stove-top stuffing we stole on our way out.

If you have a million dollars, we hope you are seeing Jay-Z this Monday at Carnegie Hall. If not—and you’re interested in checking out a totally different hip-hop show—you should see Action Bronson, Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire and others at the soon-to-be-shut-down Southpaw on Thursday.

There are three great shows at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Nicolas Jaar tonight; the sold-out Tycho, Oneohtrix Point Never (bonus to those who can pronounce this band’s name) and Beacon on Saturday; and Dum Dum Girls, Widowspeak and Punks on Mars on Tuesday.

Finally, the show that we are most excited about is an all-star lineup of hardcore at (le) Poisson Rouge with Ceremony, The Rival Mob, Hoax, Kim Phuc, Gods & Queens and the amazing Pissed Jeans.  The show unfortunately sold out—if you have tickets, let us know so we can join you.

On to the top 10 shows for the next 7 days…

10. Class Actress @ 285 Kent Ave w/ Pictureplane, Beige
Friday, February 3rd at 8:00pm – all ages, $12

9. Cheeky Bastard at Yotel @ Yotel w/ The Rapture, Alex English, Cheeky Bastard at Yotel
Saturday, February 4th at 10:00pm – 21+, FREE! -> tickets

8. Wale @ Irving Plaza w/ Miguel
Friday, February 10th at 7:00pm – 16+, $45 -> tickets

7. Nicolas Jaar @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Acid Pauli, Valentin Stip
Friday, February 3rd at 8:00pm – 18+, SOLD OUT

6. Dum Dum Girls @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Widowspeak, Punks on Mars
Tuesday, February 7th at 8:00pm – 18+, $15 -> tickets

5. Ceremony @ (le) poisson rouge w/ The Rival Mob, Hoax, Kim Phuc, Gods & Queens, Pissed Jeans
Saturday, February 4th at 5:00pm – all ages, SOLD OUT

4. Dive @ Cake Shop w/ Caged Animals, Fabric, Heavenly Beat
Saturday, February 4th at 8:00pm – 21+, $8

3. Action Bronson @ Southpaw w/ Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire, Kyle Rapps, Soul Khan, Illustrate
Thursday, February 9th at 8:00pm – 18+, $15 -> tickets

2. Tycho @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Oneohtrix Point Never, Beacon
Saturday, February 4th at 8:00pm – 18+, SOLD OUT

1. Jay-Z @ Stern Auditorium @ Carnegie Hall
Monday, February 6th at 8:00pm – all ages, SOLD OUT

My Social List is happy to partner with Freewilliamsburg to bring you the best of music in the New York area.  My Social List tracks nine of the most popular music blogs and aggregates mentions of bands to create weekly Top 10 Lists of the city’s most exciting and highly-anticipated shows.

photos c/o Lanterloon and Fan Pop

INCONCEIVABLE! This Saturday and Sunday, Nitehawk Cinema will bring together two of the Y Generation’s most beloved pastimes: eating brunch and watching The Princess Bride.  The theater’s full brunch menu will be served along with early day cocktails like the Carrie (vodka, house Bloody Mary mix, pickled vegetables) and the classic AM Gold (prosecco with fresh squeezed orange juice). Breakfast tacos, Inigo Montoya…. What better way to start the weekend? Show times are 12:15pm this Saturday and Sunday only.

Nitehawk will continue to show awesome movies during brunch time as part of their “Nitehawk Weekend Brunch: Movies for Everyone and Everything” series. Check out some other beloved flicks that are coming up:

images c/o Nitehawk Cinema

Wallace & Gromit in the Case of the Were-Rabbit: February 11^th and 12^th at 12:15pm

Blazing Saddles: February 18^th and 19^th at 12:15pm

The NeverEnding Story: February 25^th and 26^th at 12:15pm

On February 11^th, the cinema will also be hosting an event called “Spoons, Toons, and Booze” in one of the other theaters at 12:00pm. According to their website, the epic brunch event will have an all-you-can-eat sugar cereal bar and extensive White Russian selection, which includes milky-vodka concoctions made with Cocoa Puffs and “Quik-induced flavors like chocolate, strawberry or banana.” More importantly, the cartoon selection is pretty epic, and the audience can vote on which ones will be shown. Here are some of the totally rad shows you could possibly see:

Duck Tales, Thundercats, Jem, Gummi Bears, Smurfs, Batman the Animated Series, Looney Toons, He-Man, The Real Ghostbusters, Garfield & Friends, Transformers, X-Men, Tail Spin

Oh, the memories! It’s like second grade all over again… with booze.