On Friday:
It’s hot, muggy and rainy. A perfect night to see the new Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle. If you’ve never seen Miyazaki film before, don’t miss seeing this on the big screen. He’s a genious. And you don’t even have to like anime. He’s that good. Click for tix.
On Saturday

Don’t miss the Sweet Action Magazine Party
at the Tainted lady Lounge:
318 Grand St @ Havemeyer (7pm)
10 bucks includes:
– A free copy of Sweet Action #3!
– A Sixpoint Sweet Action Beer!
– Dick Readings by Madame Micole ($5 a head)
– Lots of raffle prizes!
Plus the people who run and operate Sweet Action are super cool. The upcoming mag features backpaker Beans nude.
Then on Sunday at 6pm
see the film Half-Cocked (1995) – because we love the Make-Up
Ocularis at Galapagos Art Space (70 N 6th St, Wburg)
6 bucks

from flavorpill
Half-Cocked is best known for its soundtrack, featuring ’90s lo-fi band the Grifters and riot grrrl math rockers Ruby Falls. The film chronicles the naissance of Truckstop, a band born of Gen-X boredom and timeless rock star aspirations. After jacking a van laden with another band’s equipment, a group of friends bluff their way into playing a local club. Because the band has no material, and none of its members play instruments, their musical signature quickly becomes volume and distortion. Don’t miss this rare chance to see Ian Svenonious (Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, Weird War, et al) and Tara Jane O’Neil lead the cast down the glorious road of rock ‘n roll destitution.

You know you want it.
Thanks Daily Refill…. click here to get it.

Miighty Flashlight

This event is a couple of weeks away, but we’re excited about the line-up.
saturday, june 25th. 2-6pm
East River Music Project presents

- 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)

Then at 7:30 as part of Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn:
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / STARS / THE SADIES
click here for info.

click for full size
This is bad, even for Dubya. I suppose its tough for him to care about the environment, since the Rapture is on its way:

From NY Times
A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.
In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.
The dozens of changes, while sometimes as subtle as the insertion of the phrase “significant and fundamental” before the word “uncertainties,” tend to produce an air of doubt about findings that most climate experts say are robust.

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Disturbing story/verdict aside – this sounds like a terrifying precedent:

From AP
A 19-year-old East Texas man faces a life prison sentence for causing his teenage girlfriend to miscarry twins, even though she wanted to end the pregnancy.
Gerardo Flores was accused of causing the miscarriage by stepping on his girlfriend’s stomach. He was prosecuted under the state’s new fetal protection law.
Erica Basoria acknowledged asking Flores to help end her pregnancy. But the 17-year-old can’t be prosecuted because of her legal right to abortion.
The defense contended that Basoria punched herself while Flores was stepping on her, making it impossible to tell who killed the twins.
The jury reached a verdict after deliberating four hours. Because prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty in the case, Flores received the automatic life sentence.

Tuesday, June 7 at 7:00pm
at Galapagos Artspace (70 North 6th Street in Williamsburg)
No cover. Free book give-aways. And yours truly (Robert Lanham) will be reading.
On Tuesday, June 7, editor Kevin Smokler and New York-based contributors to Bookmark Now will read from their contributions to the book, which features young writers on the state of the art—and the art of the hustle—in the age of information overload.
Bookmark Now contains 25 original essays written by authors who came of age professionally in the last decade. Raised by television, video games, and the internet, they still decided to become writers and readers, producers and consumers of literature at the most media-saturated time in history, a time when books have more competition from flashier distractions than ever before. How? Why? What does this say about the place of books in our hypermedia world? BOOKMARK NOW attempts to answer these questions. As book lovers, we are familiar with the gloom and doom attitude of these “Unreaderly Times.” But, there are still smart people everywhere who love books and are excited for the possibilities the future will bring for connecting books and readers. BOOKMARK NOW argues and celebrates that that future is already here.
Smokler will introduce readings by Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Robert Lanham, Benjamin Nugent, and Elizabeth Spiers of Gawker/Media Bistro fame. Sponsored by FreeWilliamsburg.com, the event also features audience giveaways of Bookmark Now and Lanham’s Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic, both of which will be raffled off in-between readers.

Interview by Monte Holman

New York’s The Cloud Room delivered their highly anticipated, self-titled album (on Gigantic Music) back in April. The record immediately faced the task of living up to the success of its first single, this summer’s anthem, “Hey Now Now.” The band serves up some throbbing beats and dark instrumentation that can be as Ziggy as Bowie and a joyless as Ian Curtis, all in the same measure. And all kinds of people are taking notice-The Cloud Room is hitting charts and airwaves all over the country, and they’re about to head across the pond with hopes of seeing the same success there.
The band’s lead singer, J, made us rethink the old adage about never trusting a man who goes by a letter or symbol. He was kind enough to speak with us about the band and the fallen virtue of Amy Grant.
The Cloud Room are Jason Pharr (drums), J (guitar, vocals), Benjamin Nugent (keyboards), and John Petro (bass).
MP3′s: Hey Now Now | Blackout
*****************************
FREEwilliamsburg: What’s your reaction to all the great press about your hit single, “Hey Now Now”?
J: It’s exciting. I wrote the song about a year ago, and I remember playing around on the guitar and coming up with this stupidly simple melody, and I thought, “Oh my god, that is so stupidly simple-am I allowed to do this?” (laughs) I just kind of went with it, and it became that song. I knew it was the most accessible thing I’d written up until then, but I didn’t know how the world would perceive it. Since we’re so new, that song has kind of preceded us in a lot of ways. I feel like it has overshadowed the rest of the record. The band thought the last song on the record was our best song.
FREEwilliamsburg: “We Sleep in the Ocean”?
J: Yeah, that’s my favorite song, but “Hey Now Now” is the most generally accessible song on the album.
FREEwilliamsburg: Has the expectation been daunting?

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Remember, there is no L service all weekend starting at midnight tonight. Rat bastards.
Friday and Saturday June 4 and 5
The Billyburg Film Festival
at Northsix in Williamsburg
66 North 6th Street
10 bucks – films start at 9pm

From Flavorpill
The folks at Rabbit in a Turtle Shell are back with a second Billyburg Short Film Festival, expanded to two nights of abbreviated cinema. The first program, Inspiration, highlights ten works that embody the organization’s definition of great short film, including pieces by Raising Victor Vargas director Peter Sollett, Interpol Short Film contest winner Greg Brunkalla, and the irreverent comic troupe Stella. The aptly named second night, Competition, is a juried screening of seven films chosen from over 130 submissions. (IB)
Note: Each night begins with Elijah B. Torn’s live laptop soundtrack and adult beverages from sponsors Brooklyn Lager and PBR. Local bands Professor Murder and Innocent Animals follow each night’s screenings, respectively.

by Dave Thomas

High Tension
Remember how I said that there would only be one good movie this month? I forgot about a movie that would be starting two days shy of the July 4th weekend. So maybe, just maybe, you’ll see two good blockbusters this month. (“Cinderella Man” doesn’t count. It’s a prestige picture. It’s supposed to be good.) And, as usual, the indie fare looks a little more promising.
June 3
SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
“Divine Teen Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”
WILL IT SUCK?
The cheese factor is here in full force. Director Ken Kwapis’ best-reviewed film on IMDB is “Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird.” Writers Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler have between them “Michael,” “Mixed Nuts,” “Someone Like You…” and “What a Girl Wants,” though, to be fair, “A Little Princess” is in there somewhere as well.

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Our friends at OneLouder are making us feel even worse about missing last night’s Kraftwerk show. Check out these great pix and their review.