Our nemesis, The Cool Kid’s Club threatened to beat us up after school if we didn’t tell everyone about their amazing show:
“Cool Kid’s Club is a raucous live commentary show on vintage educational shorts. You’ll laugh as you learn about everything from personal hygiene to the rubber industry. It’s a can’t-miss-public-domain-laugh-riot starring Jeff Rubin (CollegeHumor.com), Dan Hopper (A Week of Kindness), Matt Esolda (matthewkpresents.com), Kevin Haulihan (Best Week Ever), and Steve Menegozzi (thisisalow.com). Holy crap have you gotta see this show.” [details]
WANT TO SEE IT FOR FREE?????
It’s contest time. Write a caption for the following photo (a still from one of the Cool Kid’s Club movies).
The answer that makes me laugh the loudest will will a pair of tickets to see the show on May 29th.
We just got an awesome offer from The Museum of TV and Radio. The first 10 people to email jschneider@mtr.org will receive a pair of tickets to this Thursday’s screening and discussion of A First Look at “Little Mosque on the Prairie”. All winners will be notified via email.
TIME: 6-7:30pm PLACE: Museum of TV and Radio, 25 West 52 St between 5th and 6th Ave COST: $15, if you use the discount code MTR2007
SUMMARY: “This hit Canadian sitcom from the CBC, centered on a Muslim community nestled in the wilds of rural Saskatchewan, has debuted to strong ratings and curious speculation: is it possible to find humor in Muslims interacting with suspicious North Americans in a post–9/11 world? Members of the cast and creative team will discuss the challenges that arise when sensitive social and political issues provide the context for a traditional comedy show.”
Even though it was advertised as being on Catherine and Cherry St [it wasn’t], I still managed to stumble upon the East Side Polo Invite earlier today. (It’s really in Sara D Roosevelt Park on Christie between Delancy and Broome).
Think upper- crust- Ralph- Lauren- wearing- tea- drinking jockeys riding properly upon horses. But replace the jockeys with punk-rock bike messengers, and replace the horses with banged up bikes, and replace the tea with Red Bull (plus. . . ).
In the time I was there I saw six guys fall off their bikes, one guy who loved throwing elbows, three guys dressed up like Mexican Wrestlers, one guy flip completely over his bike, one mallet get smashed to pieces, two instances of ironic facial hair, a token black guy, a token asian guy and a partridge in a pear tree.
Are they great athletes? No.
Is it completely exciting the whole time? No.
Did anybody get into a fight? No.
If you live in the neighborhood, should you swing by and check it out?
Definitely.
Sitting in the park is always a good idea, and it’s only enhanced by watching the players riding back and forth. Even I (usually anti-sports) got into it, and picked my favorite teams to root for, based on their awesome striped shirts.
Plus it’s one of those sports where something dangerous could happen, and those are the best ones to watch (the adult in me kept wanting to yell out that they should be wearing helmets).
Maybe if you go, you’ll get to see one instance of flying over handelbars, two punches thrown and one bike messenger brawl.
Despite their name, the Cool Kids’ Club is an event for uncool kids.
In a style popularized by Mystery Science Theatre 3000, the five hosts, Jeff, Matt, Kevin, Daniel and Steve show public domain educational films from the 50s (funny just by themselves) and add their own witty commentary. “Dating Do’s and Don’ts”, “Speaking of Rubber” and “Build Your Vocabulary” were some of the more benign films. They also showed “Boys Beware” in which young boys are warned about the evils of homosexuality and “Easy Does It” a film which illustrates that even though women are the weaker sex, their household chores can still be difficult. My personal favorite was “Soapy the Germ Fighter” (pictured), in which a young boy dreams of a giant bar of soap who teaches him the virtues of washing his hands.
If you’ve ever seen MST3K, then you have an idea of the commentary — responses to questions asked on-screen, pop-culture references thrown in where they don’t fit and speculations of the characters inner monologue. The hosts got a lot of laughs, abut they also got plenty of crickets. Just like uncoolkids, they were trying to be funny, but it didn’t always work. And even at their most clever, there is no way I would describe our hosts as “cool” (at least, not like Fonzi cool).
If you ever attend a meeting of the Cool Kids’ Club, you would be wise to bring along a six pack, like most of audience tonight did. This was the second meeting, and while only half the films were new, all the jokes were. This means that you can attend again and again.
Don’t let it blow your mind, but the UNCOOLKIDS whole-heartedly recommend the Cool Kids’ Club (but only because they really aren’t).
Three peephole boxes sit in a vacant lot on 13th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave as part of the Art in Odd Places Festival. I knew it was going on, but I wasn’t expecting to run into it the way I did — just randomly walking home. The festival is designed to let artists interact with public spaces, but it also lets the viewer stumble across it, making the city into a giant gallery.
The festival is only up until Sunday night, so I suggest that you get out this weekend and wander. Over 25 artists have pieces in the Lower East Side. You can either get a map and go find them, or just wander and discover them on your own. Either way, it will add some beauty to your world.
This past weekend was the Come Out and Play Festival, “a street games festival dedicated to exploring new styles of games and play”. Many activities were offered, but the one that appealed to me the most was the GIANT game of Space Invaders.
That’s right, GIANT. Designers Kuan Huang and Evan Barba designed a version of everyone’s favorite Atari game to be projected onto the side of a building, with the player’s body as the controller. How could this not be amazing?
Space Invaders was being run outside of the Come Out and Play opening ceremony, so luckily the wine was free flowing, and people were anxious to line up for the game. I waited for about 15 minutes before I got my turn. The way it worked was that they pointed a video camera at me which then was fed into a motion sensor program on a laptop and calibrated specifically for my height. At the top of the building across the street I could see the invaders from space, slowly making their way down the side. I could also see my spaceship at the bottom. If I leaned to the right, it went right, If I leaned to the left, it went left. When I wanted to shoot, I had to throw my hands over my head (really just one hand, but everyone was using both, it was hard not to for some reason). The whole thing was much more tame than I was expecting.
It was fun, and I’m glad I did it, but I wish it had been more exciting. I was anticipating running back and forth under the invaders. I thought I would be out of breath when it was over. They could even spice it up more if they gave you a plastic gun to aim.
Everyone who took a turn lasted about a minute before they got bored; especially because there was only one level. The general consensus of the crowd seemed to be that Space Invaders was way more fun to watch than to play. So, not quite amazing, but a really interesting start.
Season Six started with Lorelai and Rory not speaking. . .which went on for a torturous nine episodes. In the meantime Luke and Lorelai celebrated their engagement and remodeled Lorelai’s house so they could both live in it. Rory turned into the daughter Emily and Richard Gilmore never had, even joining the DAR. Eventually she came to her senses and reconciled with her mother and agreed to go back to Yale.
Just when we thought everything was normal, we found out that Luke has a surprise 12-year-old daughter. This caused the postponement of the wedding we had been preparing for all season, and much tension between the happy couple when Luke refused to let Lorelai be a part of his daughter’s life.
Rory’s dad, Christopher came into a large amount of money and offered to pay for her education, much to the dismay of Emily, who was already worried she had blown her second chance to be a part of her daughter’s and granddaughter’s lives — this led to one of the funniest episodes in Gilmore Girl’s history, “Friday Night’s Alright For Fighting” in which all four Gilmore’s finally said what was on their minds.
Rory and Logan were on-again, off-again all over the place, and after finally convincing Rory that he loved her, he hit her with the news that he was being forced by his dad to move to London the day after graduation. Rory’s season six ended with her saying good-bye to him as he left for the airport.
Meanwhile, unable to be a part of Luke’s life, Lorelai reconciled with Christopher, even babysitting for him and taking him as her date to Lane’s wedding (while Luke was out of town chaperoning his daughter’s field trip). Finally realizing that she couldn’t take it anymore Lorelai confronts Luke and tells him that they have to elope right then, and figure out how his daughter fits into their lives later. Luke answers that he doesn’t like ultimatums, and she calls the whole thing off. Then she goes to seek solace with the only person she can think of Christopher. Season six ends with us finding a regretful looking Lorelai in Christopher’s bed. DAMN!!!!
Often when I tell people about my love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am met with strange looks and people backing away. But on Friday night I was in good company when I went to the IFC for New York’s first Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sing-A-Long. Back in Season 6 creator Joss Whedon wrote a musical episode that has since become a favorite among fans.
Luckily I had bought my tickets in advance because when I showed up at 10pm to pick them up I was told the show was sold out and to come back early. I asked what time the theatre opened and was told “Not for an hour and a half; but because of the. . . uh. . .emotions. . . of the Buffy . . . people, the line will probably start any minute now.”
Here’s a tip I learned about the IFC: they let people drinking in the bar next door into the theatre first.
Everyone in the packed theatre started playing with their vampire teeth and little monsters from goodie bags being sold ($2 each). Clinton McClung (the organizer) came on stage and gave us our instructions - when to yell when to throw things (the goal is to make it like The Rocky Horror Picture Show). He then had people come up on stage to act along with a sad Buffy/Angel scene and do their best impressions of Cordelia and Anya.
When the movie finally started the crowd went crazy. For the entire length of the one-hour episode everyone in the theatre was singing, yelling, throwing things and sometimes even dancing in the aisles. Buffy fans may be considered weird in the real world, but inside the theatre we could embrace our inner dorks.
After the screening McClung joked about starting it over again, to which half the audiences members yelled “yes!”, but instead he showed us the original unaired pilot, which Buffy creator Joss Whedon himself says sucks-ass.
For anyone who couldn’t get tickets or just plain missed it, you’ll stll have your chance. The Sing-A-Long will be back in November and hopefully will become a regular staple after that.
Would Lenny Bruce be proud of the homage to him that was held on Wednesday night at the 92 St Y?
Maybe.
Everyone was shocking. Eugene Mirman punctuated each joke with the word ‘cocksucker’. Julie Goldman and Judy Gold spoke openly about their lesbianism, much to the dismay of the elderly group behind me. Lewis Black went on one of his trademark tirades about the state of our union. Surprise guest Sarah Silverman won the gold prize (and the audience’s heart) for her sexually scandalous remarks. Jeff Garlin and Todd Barry didn’t have shocking subject material, but did make ample use of the word fuck and I believe cunnilingus was also mentioned. But it was the author of the evening, Jonathan Ames, that I think paid the biggest tribute when he told a story about ending up in a run-down motel with a black transexual, smoking crack on Christmas Eve.
Lenny Bruce was the first comic that shocked people — sometimes it was just to be shocking — but most of the time it was done with sensitivity, intellect, insightfullness and passion. Most of the performers last night were just going through the motions; Black rehashed jokes from his show at Carnegie Hall, Mirman played a phone conversation that has been on his website for a year and Barry did his entire set that’s on MySpace right now, word for word (I think he even had on the same outfit). Ames alone seemed to tap into that special something that made Bruce legendary.
But that’s not to say that I didn’t like the show. One of my problems is that I love all of these comedians and go see them every chance I get, so of course it starts to feel stale. The crowd, mostly older, seemed to appreciate the evening — and since most of them probably saw Lenny Bruce live I should just shut the fuck up and defer to their opinion.
My parents made me get an American Express Card when I was in college for emergencies. I always thought it was a really big pain because I had to pay a yearly charge to keep it. But here’s a chance to make some of that money back.
If you are an Amex cardholder starting today you can get 4 FREE movie tickets in NY to be used between September 18 - September 24. All you have to do is go to the website and give them your name and card number (for verification purposes) and they give you a fandango gift code, good for four. YAH! That pretty much covers my yearly charge right there.
And while you are there sign up for the ‘Dining‘ alert, which will remind you to sign up for a free dinner for (up to) five at select restaurants later in the month.
I know I sound like an Amex commercial, but I’m just really excited about free stuff.
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Think upper- crust- Ralph- Lauren- wearing- tea- drinking jockeys 
In the time I was there I saw six guys fall off their bikes, one guy who loved throwing elbows, three guys dressed up like Mexican Wrestlers, one guy flip completely over his bike, one mallet get smashed to pieces, two instances of ironic facial hair, a token black guy, a token asian guy and a partridge in a pear tree.
In a style popularized by Mystery Science Theatre 3000, the five hosts, Jeff, Matt, Kevin, Daniel and Steve show public domain educational films from the 50s (funny just by themselves) and add their own witty commentary. “Dating Do’s and Don’ts”, “Speaking of Rubber” and “Build Your Vocabulary” were some of the more benign films. They also showed “Boys Beware” in which young boys are warned about the evils of homosexuality and “Easy Does It” a film which illustrates that even though women are the weaker sex, their household chores can still be difficult. My personal favorite was “Soapy the Germ Fighter” (pictured), in which a young boy dreams of a giant bar of soap who teaches him the virtues of washing his hands.
Three peephole boxes sit in a vacant lot on 13th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave as part of the 
This past weekend was the 
If I leaned to the left, it went left. When I wanted to shoot, I had to throw my hands over my head (really just one hand, but everyone was using both, it was hard not to for some reason). The whole thing was much more tame than I was expecting.
New Season of Gilmore Girls starts tonight!!!
Often when I tell people about my love for 
He then had people come up on stage to act along with a sad Buffy/Angel scene and do their best impressions of Cordelia and Anya.
My parents made me get an