July 16th at Coney Island:
SPOON
BRENDAN BENSON
DUNGEN
Q AND NOT U
THE DEARS
AMBULANCE LTD
DETACHMENT KIT
MATES OF STATE
VHS OR BETA
SAUL WILLIAMS
DIAMOND NIGHTS
MORNINGWOOD
BE YOUR OWN PET
NINE BLACK ALPS
click for more info

Warren B. Kanders with his wife. This douchebag’s company can’t produce enough armor-upgraded humvees to keep the troops safe but has lobbied aggressively for an exclusive contract.
The New York Times had two very enlightening stories yesterday worth mentioning. The first discussed the Pentagon’s refusal to supply the troops with safer humvees. Turns out there’s an exclusive humvee production contract held by an inept company called O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt. Not surprisingly, Warren B. Kanders, the CEO of O’Gara’s parent company, Armor Holdings, was a big contributor to the Bush campaign. The failure to produce the humvees needed to keep our troops safe is in part a result of O’Gara’s lobbying to keep their exclusive contract with our military. From NYTimes:

The Defense Department continues to rely on just one small company in Ohio to armor Humvees. And the company, O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, has waged an aggressive campaign to hold onto its exclusive deal even as soaring rush orders from Iraq have been plagued by delays. The Marine Corps, for example, is still awaiting the 498 armored Humvees it sought last fall, officials told The Times.
In January, when military officials tried to speed production by buying the legal rights to the armor design so they could enlist other venders to help, O’Gara demurred, calling the move a threat to its “current and future competitive position,” according to e-mail records obtained from the Army….
Determined to hold onto its exclusive contract, O’Gara began lobbying Capitol Hill. Among those it drew to its side was Brian T. Hart, an outspoken father of a soldier who was killed in October 2003 while riding in a Humvee. Early last year, as a guest on a national radio show, Mr. Hart urged the Pentagon to involve more armor makers. Two weeks later a lobbyist for O’Gara approached him.
“He informed me that the company had more than enough capacity,” Mr. Hart says. “There was no need to second-source.”
Mr. Hart then redirected his efforts to help the company push Congress into forcing the Pentagon to buy more armored Humvees. With support from both parties, the company has received more than $1 billion in the past 18 months in military armoring contracts….
Meanwhile, the Army did not give up on trying to speed production by involving more armor makers. Brig. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly said several armor companies were eager to be part of a plan to produce armored Humvees entirely on AM General’s assembly line.
In January, when it asked O’Gara to name its price for the design rights for the armor, the company balked and suggested instead that the rights be placed in escrow for the Army to grab should the company ever fail to perform.
“Let’s try this again,” an Army major replied to the company in an e-mail message. “The question concerned the cost, not a request for an opinion.”
The Army has dropped the matter for now, General O’Reilly said, adding that he hoped to have other companies making armor by next April.
Asked why the Marine Corps is still waiting for the 498 Humvees it ordered last year, O’Gara acknowledged that it told the Marines it was backed up with Army orders, and has only begun filling the Marines’ request this month.

The other story was by Frank Rich (of course) and detailed a potential conspiracy behind the scenes at Tomlinson’s Corporation for Public Broadcasting:

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Christian Breakdancers at Flushing Meadows
We checked out opening night of the Billy Graham crusade last night with Cakehead. We may be sinners, but who can resist the evangelical freakshow of a self-proclaimed religious crusade. Highlights include us heckling a few teens holding “God Hates Fags” signs and seeing the Christian breakdancers pictured above. But Cakehead captures the crusade’s strangest moment best:

My favorite part of the evening was when they had the alter call. Billy said something along the lines of, “if you are open to making Jesus your personal Savior come forward towards me.” Then he said, “if you are in one of the satellite sections (where people could only watch Billy on the big screen monitors) walk towards the television screen.” The idea of these hungry christians walking towards a tv screen for salvation really cracked me up. Is this not perfect material for a zombie movie?

Read Cakehead’s full account here

Saturday, June 25th

Billy Effin Graham at Queens Meadows. He’s 86 and this will be his last crusade. This promises to be a freak show too bizarre to pass up. We hope to get filled with the Spirit. Provided the spirit is George Dickel, of course. We’re bringing a flask. Billy G is guaranteed to end early, so we’ll be checking out Comets of Fire at Mighty Robot afterwards.

Miighty Flashlight

Saturday, June 25th
If you’ve never been to The Mermaid Parade, check it out saturday at Coney Island. Otherwise, here are our picks:
East River Music Project presents
— Brasilia
— Grizzly Bear
— Soft Circle
— Miighty Flashlight (download mp3: 1 | 2)
— Pajo (download mp3)
(East River Park Amphitheatre NYC just south of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Manhattan side) This show goes from 2-6pm. It’s free

Then at 7:30, as part of Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn:
New Pornographers / Stars / The Sadies
click here for directions and info.
Sunday, June 26th
Gay Pride, of course. Click here for information.

by Monte Holman

Dear Teenage Fanclub:
Please forgive the sterility of the medium. Were we in the UK , we would do this in person. It’s been a while since your last solo effort. 2000 brought us Howdy!, and you released the collaboration with Jad Fair, Words of Wisdom, in 2003, which was great‚Äîdon’t get us wrong. But it’s been a quiet half-decade for new Teenage Fanclub material. Since you’re one of our very favorites and have been for quite some time, we were worried.
So you can imagine our excitement after hearing your latest, Man-Made. And on top of that, you collaborated with John McEntire on this one. Twin powers unite—form of wonderful addition to already stunning discography!
Anyway, thanks for answering our questions. So nice to hear from you again.
(Teenage Fanclub is Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Gerard Love, and Francis Macdonald. Norman Blake wrote us back.)
****************************

Norman Blake
This is the first album in five years – why the wait?
We released a compilation in 2003 to fulfil a contractual obligation that we had with Sony, after they inherited the remainder of our Creation contract. That precluded us from releasing a new album.
Why’d you choose John McEntire as a producer, and how did he affect the songs on this album?
Gerry had worked with John on an album that the Pastels had recorded for the soundtrack of a Scottish independent movie called the last great wilderness. When it came time to think about who we would like to work with, Gerry suggested John. We all liked the work that John had done with Stereolab, so he seemed like a good choice. John saw his role as primarily an engineering one (which he did very well). Leaving the song arrangements to us, however; he did some pretty creative stuff when we were mixing.
How do you feel about how Man-Made has been received? Lots of reviews note the album’s pop-ness‚Äîis that a compliment?

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And the irony is, Dems were looking for a way to end terrorism, Neocons like Bush were looking for an excuse to go to Iraq….

From NYTimes
Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11
By PATRICK D. HEALY
Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.
“Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

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The AFI just released their 100 best film quotes. We can’t believe they excluded Fight Club’s “My God… I haven’t been fucked like that since grade school.” Here’s the top 25. Add your favorites in comments.
1. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone with the Wind, 1939
2. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Godfather, 1972
3. “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” On the Waterfront, 1954
4. “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
5. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Casablanca, 1942
6. “Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact, 1983
7. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” Sunset Blvd., 1950
8. “May the Force be with you.” Star Wars, 1977
9. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” All About Eve, 1950
10. “You talking to me?” Taxi Driver, 1976
11. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” Cool Hand Luke, 1967
12. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Apocalypse Now, 1979
13. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Love Story, 1970
14. “The stuff that dreams are made of.” The Maltese Falcon, 1941
15. “E.T. phone home.” E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
16. “They call me Mister Tibbs!” In the Heat of the Night, 1967
17. “Rosebud.” Citizen Kane, 1941
18. “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” White Heat, 1949
19. “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Network, 1976
20. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca, 1942
21. “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
22. “Bond. James Bond.” Dr. No, 1962
23. “There’s no place like home.” The Wizard of Oz, 1939
24. “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.” Sunset Blvd., 1950
25. “Show me the money!” Jerry Maguire, 1996

Clifford the Big Red Dog, with Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and others, headed to a Capitol Hill news conference to protest proposed financing cuts for public broadcasting.
We couldn’t agree more with Representative Markey, but he definitely needs a more intimidating posse.

From NYTimes
WASHINGTON, June 21 – Sixteen Democratic senators called on President Bush to remove Kenneth Y. Tomlinson as head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting because of their concerns that he is injecting partisan politics into public radio and television.
“We urge you to immediately replace Mr. Tomlinson with an executive who takes his or her responsibility to the public television system seriously, not one who so seriously undermines the credibility and mission of public television,” wrote the senators.
They included Charles E. Schumer of New York, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, Jon Corzine and Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, Bill Nelson of Florida, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California.
Also on Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers joined other supporters of public broadcasting, including children and characters from PBS children’s programs, to protest House Republicans’ proposed cuts in financing for the corporation.
The Democrats’ letter follows a series of disclosures about Mr. Tomlinson that are now under investigation by the corporation’s inspector general, including his decision to hire a researcher to monitor the political leanings of guests on the public policy program “Now,” the use of a White House official to set up an ombudsman’s office to scrutinize public radio and television programs for political balance, and payments approved by Mr. Tomlinson to two Republican lobbyists last year.
Mr. Tomlinson said he would not resign.

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In addition to The New Pornographers show at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Saturday, our friends over at cakehead have listed some great picnic ideas for those of us feeling a little stir crazy inside our cramped apartments:

With that fluke of a heatwave far in New York City’s past and with free the concert season kicked off, it’s time to mark your calendar and prepare your picnic basket.
This week’s free picnic-friendly events include:
Tonight, June 21, 2005, 7 PM: The Metropolitan Opera performs Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Sa√´ns in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow.

Read the full list here

This isn’t until September, but worth mentioning:
9/24 – Coney Island, NY (at Keyspan Park)
White Stripes with The Shins and Brendan Benson