Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrations!
September 24th, 2012 by Mr. C
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the most festive & celebratory holidays in chinese culture sitting right behind the Lunar new year blastoffs! The Moon Festival is a time to reflect back upon the thankings for the summer’s harvest, the fullness of the moon, and to pay respects to the folklore of the goddess of the moon. Eating and sharing Moon Cakes as well as lighting candles and lanterns are a few ways to celebrate the occassion with your loved ones. Many compare the Mid-Autumn festival as the chinese thanksgiving of sorts because of giving ‘Thanks’ to the abundance and generosity of food! Moon cakes are symbolic to this holiday of gratitude.
I started off the mid-autumn moon festivities by attending the 10th annual Autumn Moon Festival & Children’s Lantern Parade at Sara D Roosevelt Park in NYC’s Chinatown by Canal Street. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for very long but I was able to catch a few plates of ‘Dim Sum’ for the soul as the celebrations will continue onwards until September 30th. The event program included performances of traditional lion dancing, ballet, the children’s lantern parade, modeling, an Acrobatic Troupe, a modern dance troupe, Kung Fu demonstrations, singing, & a hip hop martial art dance troupe!
Get down with some moon cake today and celebrate like there’s no tomorrow! Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!
(Hosts – Jesse Chow & Mr. Wang(singer))
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8th Annual Vendy Awards NYC
September 24th, 2012 by chocko
Last Saturday, perhaps the happiest event on the planet happened on Governor’s Island…people ate delicious food, lounged out and then street food vendors got recognized for excellence in their craft. Yes, The 8th Annual Vendy Awards went down in NYC, my caloric intake went up with each food sample and pandemonium broke loose along with my belt buckle. Mr. C got to the event at a reasonable time and sampled almost all of the street food cuisine and did an excellent job covering the event. Check it out HERE. His Food Porn photos gets people breathing heavy and masticating vigorously! Chocko arrived on the scene late, but quickly went into rapid attack mode to try to sample everything on the menu.
Baby Got Back Ribs had a nice sampling of slow-roasted, fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs, with some apple slaw and jalapeno cornbread. Delicious!
To cool things off, a nice old fashioned italian ice from Andy’s Italian Ices & Expresso Bar did the trick. Its seems like everybody on the line ordered the mango flavor. The staff at the truck were quite efficient, friendly and cranked out the ice with the greatest of ease. Dolce è molto delizioso!
Mayhem & Stout had 2 different braised pork sandwiches on their table for the taking. The one with their famous Dragon Sauce (Asian BBQ) with spicy slaw is highly recommended and will have you kicking your favorite Bánh mì to the curb. Tasty meats, quality bread…Me love you long time.
This serving of MOMO from Chinese Mirch was a mashup of Chinese and Indian cuisine. Noodles topped with pan seared dumplings and spicy sauce will set your mouth ablaze with flavors. I was not ready for the onslaught of spice and quickly ran for cover and the comfort of a cool refreshment.
Monsieur Singh Lassi provided a cool, creamy treat with their Lassi Pops and Lassi Drinks. Their drinks and popsickles are made of yougurt, fruit, and herbs and spices. Look for their cart of goodies on a corner near you!
The Cinnamon Snail is a well known food truck that serves delicious vegan and organic food in NYC and NJ at reasonable prices. When I got to the front of the line, I got a box of heavenly goodness that consisted of a fig pancake, a cake donut with lemon lavender glaze and an out of this world white chocolate macadamia twinkie. I housed it. I went back later before the awards ceremony (they won the People’s Taste Award!) and they hooked me up with more sugary sweetness. Cinnamon Snail, you rock!
Pestle & Mortar don’t mess around when it comes to their Ceviche, a well known dish in Central and South America which features seafood marinated in citrus juices. Pestle’s technique was a lobster, shrimp and mango combination that won me over! You can find them every Saturday (now through November17) at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs served me up some yummy, marinated tender lamb kebabs made over a charcoal grill. They also serve beef and chicken wings. Look for them Monday-Sunday 10:30am-8:30pm at the corner of Forsyth and Division Streets under the Manhattan Bridge. Do it!
Tortas Nezas served up some heavy hitting tortas (each one is named after one of Mexico’s soccer teams). They are the real deal and have been serving Mexican food to the masses for over a decade. Find them daily from 1pm-1am at 111th St. and Roosevelt, near Citifield in Queens.
Congratulations to Sammy Kassan for winning the 2012 Most Heroic Vendor Award. Sammy is a vendor of Middle Eastern food in Bay Ridge Brooklyn and had been harassed constantly from neighboring restaurants, but after standing strong against adversity he remains on the corner of 86th and 5th to serve his customers and to make a decent living.
Chocko and Mr. C were busting out at the seams and sat back with fuller bellies and watched the Awards Ceremony where attendees and judges cast their vote for the best vendors in a variety of categories. James Cunningham, from Food Network Canada’s “Eat St.” provided the laughs and hosted the awards show. Check out the video below of some of the Awards Ceremony. We hope to be back in 2013 for more food and fun!
Tags: 2012, Andy's Italian Ices & Expresso Bar, chinese mirch, governors island, Mayhem & Stout, new york city, nyc, Pestle & Mortar, The Cinnamon Snail, Tortas Nezas, vendy awards, Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs
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Chinese Mirch Lion Dance at the Vendy Awards
September 18th, 2012 by Mr. C
The Chinese Mirch Food truck team stepped it up a gear or two at the Vendy Awards by serving delicious chinese food with indian spices as well as by hiring a troupe of traditional chinese lion dancers from the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Kung Fu School to mesmerize the crowd with some traditional drum beats and cultural dance with two performances throughout the day! The Mid-Autumn/Mooncake festival is just around the corner, y’all!
For excellent Chinese-Indian food visit Chinese Mirch at various locations including the food truck.
For excellent Hung Gar Kung Fu instruction and Traditional Lion Dancing visit the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute in Chinatown.
(All photos and video by mr c)
Tags: chinese lion dancing, chinese mirch, vendy awards
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2012 NYC Vendy Awards
September 17th, 2012 by Mr. C
(Pushcart Peddler on the Lower East Side of NYC in the late 1800’s – Photo courtesy of the NY Public Library digital gallery)
From the same vibe, struggles, and DNA of the storied New York pushcart peddlers of the past have come a new generation of street food vendor warriors walking the path of entrepreneurship and self-employment. With the ever rapid changes of ‘New Yawk’ at the speed of thought and dollars come the high rent and gentrification pricing out the local mom and pop shops out of the box in a New York minute. In comes the business model of the mobile food carts/trucks as a viable alternative for businesses with big hearts and passion for their products who can’t compete with corporations for the storefronts. That being said, surviving as a street vendor in NYC is no easy task in itself with no help from the City of New York. But thanks to organizations like the Street Vendor Project, a non-profit entity that helps unite the vendors together to create a movement of change, awareness of legal rights, instilling education as well as providing a voice to their members, the game is slowly changing for the better for our sidewalk vending warriors!
Fast forward to last Saturday where we had a chance to celebrate the gathering of the Best Street Food Vendors in New York City with an event which some dub as the “Oscars of food for the real New York”. The 8th annual Vendy Awards took place at Governor’s Island with about 24 vendors in the mix serving their pride and joy for all attendees to taste. Awards will be given. Bellies would be full. A few notches on the belt buckle would be cranked up and a fun time was had by all as well as a message of unity will be sent to the City of New York along with a note that the strength and community of the mobile food business is only getting stronger with every successful meeting at this event!
(The lovely ladies at the Merch/Vote Vendy table)
While writing this on Monday afternoon, a full 2 days after the Vendy Awards, I still haven’t fully recovered from the self induced food coma after sampling most of NYCs favorite street food vendors at Governors Island! I tried so many great eats that day that I almost needed someone to escort me out on a wheel barrow! Of the 24(Cambodian Cuisine was absent) 23 vendors at the awards, I was only familiar with one of the streetcarts which is based in Chinatown located underneath the Manhattan Bridge – Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs. My final tally was that I sampled 18 out of the 23 contestants! My favorites out of the bunch included Parantha Alley, Cinnamon Snail, Phil’s Steaks, Okadaman, Uncle Gussy’s, and Imperial Woodpecker SnoBalls! Every vendor brought a slice of the tasty, though! Congratulations to all of the Vendy Award participants as well as to all of the 20,000+ street vendors of NYC! You guys are the real winners! For more informatioin on the Street Vendor Project organization click HERE.
The official 2012 vendy award winners are:
The Vendy Cup: Piaztlan Authentic Mexican
Best Dessert: Melt Bakery
Best Market Vendor: Lumpia Shack
Rookie of the Year: Phil’s Steaks
People’s Taste Award: Cinnamon Snail
Checkout some photos that we took at the Vendy’s when we weren’t gorging out on food! We hope to get invited back to next year’s festivities!
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Phil’s Steaks
www.philssteaks.com
Location: varies
Check Twitter: @PhilsSteaks
Food: Cheesesteaks
Phil’s Steaks won the 2012 Rookie of the Year Vendy Award! Congratulations!
(Team Phil greeted me with open arms worth of cheesesteaks and blessed me with my first eats of the day at the Vendy Awards! The bread was firm, tasty, & had a nice bite. The bread proved to be a great carrier with holding in the chopped up tender steak dressed with cheese whiz which melted into my mouth at first bite!)
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Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebabs
Forsyth & Division Street
Chinatown (Manhattan Bridge)
Food: Xian Jiang style kebabs
(Awesome Lamb kebabs with spices unique to XinJiang cooked on charcoal.)
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Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls
www.iwsnoballs.com
Twitter: @imperialSNO
124 Macdougal Street
Food: New Orleans style shaved ice
(I voted for the Imperial Woodpecker SnoBall team as my favorite dessert pick!)
(The nectar cream and Mardi Gras King Cake flavors were divine on the shaved ice. Not too sweet – perfection!)
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Parantha Alley
www.paranthaalley.com
Twitter: @paranthaalley
Located at the Smorgasburg Market in Williamsburg
Food: Spicy Indian fillings in whole wheat roti
(working the parantha grill!)
(Parantha sampler: ground chicken,potatoes+peas, & Goat cheese. The side chutneys included the cilantro chutney, spicy pickled mango, cucumber spiced yogurt, & the radish relish.)
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Monsieur Singh Lassi
www.monsieursingh.com
Twitter: @monsieursingh
Location: check twitter
Food: all natural yogurt based drink and popsicle
(Lassi Drinks and Lassi Pops)
(Rose lassi pop)
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Uncle Gussy’s
http://unclegussys.com/
Twitter: @unclegussys
51st Street & Park Ave.
Food: Greek food
(Nicholas Karagiorgos serving me the sampler platter)
(One of the most delicious platters of the day that almost stopped me in my eating tracks. The food seemed to keep regenerating itself after a few bites! The platter consisted of sliced lamb, gyro meat, grilled BBQ Chicken,pork souvlaki,greek salad, rice, & fries. Wheew!! I voted for Uncle Gussy’s to win the Vendy Cup!)
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The Cinnamon Snail
www.cinnamonsnail.com
Twitter: @veganLunchTruck
Location: Check twitter
Food: Spicy, bold organic vegan food, & fresh made donuts & pastries.
The Cinnamon Snail captured the people’s hearts by winning the 2012 People’s Taste Vendy Award! Congratulations Team Snail!
(This was my 2nd favorite vendor of the day and a surprise to me considering it was vegan food. My friends had raved about this food truck when it hovered in Hoboken, NJ but I didn’t believe them because it was Vegan food for god’s sake! I’m a believer now!)
(The fresh fig pancakes were out of this world!)
(The white chocolate macadamia twinkie was delicious! I can’t/won’t forget about the chamomile cake & lemon lavender glaze donut as well! Hostess who?)
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Piaztlan Authentic Mexican Food
www.facebook.com/piaztlanBK
Twitter: @PiaztlanBK
Location: Saturday & Sunday 10a-8pm May-October Red Hook Ball Fields in Brooklyn
Food: mexican street food
(The winners of the 2012 Vendy Cup!)
(The delicous taco sampler of Goat, Al Pastor, & Carne Asada)
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Melt Bakery
www.meltbakery.com
Twitter: @meltbakery
Location: Highline daily
Food: Ice Scream sandwiches
(Melt won the Vendy Award for best dessert!)
(The Zen Ice Scream sandwich – Ginger cookie sandwich with green tea ice cream! Yes, the combo tastes as good as it sounds!)
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Baby Got Back Ribs
www.babygotbackribs.com
Twitter: @babygotbackribs
Location: Smorgasburg (summer) & Madison Square Eats (Fall)
Food: Ribs
(The ribs were tender and fell off the bone. Loved the slaw & cornbread!)
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Okadaman
www.okadamannyc.com
Twitter: @OkadamanNYC
Location: check twitter
Food: Authentic Japanese street food
(The chef that wore many hats that day at least for the first batch of Vendy attendees.)
(Crispy, tasty, & tender Karage served with rice & shredded lettuce.)
(Loved this rendition of the Osaka style Okonomiyaki. Pan fried omelete to a crisp with fresh veggies and of course octopus & squid topped with seaweed flakes!)
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Chinese Mirch
www.chinesemirch.com
Twitter: @chinesemirch
Location: Check twitter
Food: Chinese with indian flavors, just the way you would get in India!
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Lumpia Shack
www.lumpia-shack.com
Twitter: @LumpiaShack
Location: Saturdays at Smorgasburg
Food: Filipino inspired spring rolls
(The Lumpia Shack were the 2012 Vendy award winners for the Market Vendor category.)
(Real crispy spring rolls with thin wrappings and tasty fillings. They were serving Truffled adobo mushroom,Peking duck,Adobo chicken, & Original pork. The adobo chicken is below.)
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CoolHaus
eatcoolhaus.com/locations
Twitter: @CoolHausNY & @CoolHaus
Location: check website
Food: signature item is the made to order ice cream sandwich.
Tags: 2012 vendy awards, street vendors, vendy awards
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Adventures of an Autograph Hound Part III
September 14th, 2012 by chocko
One of Chocko’s hobbies is running around the Metropolitan area and collecting autographs at book and CD signings. First up…Blues legend, Buddy Guy at Bookends in Ridgewood, NJ. I brought some CDs along with his book When I Left Home for him to sign but his party pooper manager only allowed for books to be signed. Security was watching me and I got the stink eye when trying to slip Buddy some albums to get autographed.
Gianni Russo (Don Carleone’s infamous wife beating, double crossing Son-in-Law from the movie The Godfather) made an appearance at the Heights Beer and Wine Emporium in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ for a wine tasting last March. He signed my Godfather DVD Boxset and a couple bottles of Gianni Russo Merlot. Gianni thought Chocko was pulling a bomb out of the knapsack when asked to sign some DVDs. Baddaboom!
Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5’9″ and Crooked I) made an in-store appearance at the Best Buy in the swamps of Secaucus, NJ to promote the release of their new album Our House on Eminem’s label, Shady Records. A couple hundred fans were squeezed into the lobby and the hip hop super group performed 3 songs: Hammer Dance, Throw It Away and My Life. If you weren’t standing near the front, you couldn’t see jack! What’s up with not setting up a stage? Pictured above are Joell Ortiz (top), Crooked I (middle) and Royce Da 5’9″ (bottom).
Jimmie Walker (comedian and star of Good Times) had a funny and revealing Q+A before his signing of his autobiography “Dyn-O-Mite!” at Bookends at Ridgewood, NJ. The man shared lots of stories about his television and comedy career. I found his story about the short lived Starsky and Hutch rip-off, B.A.D. Cats which also starred Michelle Pfeiffer, quite amusing. Check out that Q+A with funnyman, Jimmie Walker here.
Korean actor, Choi Min-Sik was on a cigarette break during his appearance at the New York Asian Film Festival when all of us fanboys bum rushed him. He was cool and more than willing to sign and pose for photos. I got him to sign my Oldboy DVD. Read more about meeting Choi Min-Sik at the NYAFF at the Unseen Films blog courtesy of dbborroughs!
Jess Abbott from Now Now, the sweet indie band from Minneapolis. The band hung out after a recent show at Knitting Factory in NYC to meet fans and sign stuff. I got their Record Store Day 7″ signed. Jess said that it had been the second one of the vinyl singles she had ever signed. I also got their new album, Threads signed. That album is on Chris Walla’s label, Trans Records and is highly recommended for fans of ambient, indie rock!
ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard) were in the house at J&R Music in NYC, signing their new Rick Rubin produced album La Futura. They were all business and cleared out the line of about 100 fans in about an hour. If you were sneaky enough, they signed other albums too.
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Tags: autographs, book, buddy guy, choi min-sik, gianni russo, jimmie walker, joell oritz, now now, signing, slaughterhouse, zz top
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REEWIND: Joey Ramone’s Blitzkrieg Bash II
September 13th, 2012 by Mr. C
Chocko with a flashback update from the Joey Ramone Blitzkrieg Bash II show at Coney Island High on September 6, 1997. On the bill that night included The Fiendz, Motochronic, Blackfire, and Planet Chocko favorites – Joey & Dee Dee Ramone, Ronnie Spector, The Prissteens, and The Independents!
We also included some neat scans of flyers from Chiller Theater and the 1st annual Royal Fest ’98 – Zine Festival & competition whose advertisements we featured on the flipside of this Blitzkrieg Bash II writeup on our zine.
“Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go – I wanna be sedated!”
Tags: joey ramone blitzkrieg bash, planet chocko zine archives
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Fashion’s Night Out in NYC
September 7th, 2012 by chocko
Last night the freaky, stylish and flashy fashionista zombies of NYC roamed the streets showing off the latest trends while shopping and looking for free drinks and bargains. The Planet Chocko Crew put on their freshest gear (which is not really saying much) and took part in the gawking and cat-walking in the SoHo section of NYC. Anytime there’s free food and free music Mr. C, Joey Teacups and Chocko are not too far from the scene. Our first attempt at getting into a free performance was shot-blocked. We got to the MAC store on Broadway where the line to see Azealia Banks perform, spilled out in all directions. At least three lines formed to get in and most likely half the crowd had no shot in seeing Azealia rock the microphone. We elbowed our way to the next event.
We went to the Helmut Lang store on 93 Mercer St. to soak in some spirits and tunes spun by the Swedish electropop duo, Icona Pop. Aino Neneh Jawo and Caroline Hjelt were all smiles while they got the party rocking. We fist pumped and scored some free sandwiches to go with The Macallan. Next, we sashayed among the throngs of beautiful people to Prada (575 Broadway) a couple blocks away to catch the next show.
We waited for over an hour for the Brooklyn snythpop band, Chairlift to hit the stage at Prada. Free caramel popcorn served on huge silver trays kept the crowd at bay. The place erupted when Chairlift appeared. The duo of Caroline Polachek (synthesizers and vocals) and Patrick Wimberly (bass guitar) were accompanied by a drummer and played a set of songs which included a sultry reggae cover and a soulful cover of a Honey Ltd. song, “Silk ‘N Honey.” Their song “I Belong In Your Arms” is a bouncy, catchy song that will have you dancing like a fool. They recently recorded a rocking Japanese version of that song to celebrate the release of their album in Japan. It’s so good! Chairlift will be back in town when they open up for The XX next month at Paradise Theatre in The Boogie Down Bronx.
We kicked and clawed our way back to the Helmut Lang shop to catch Katy Goodman (Vivian Girls) and her other band La Sera. Katy sounded awesome and looked striking in her Helmut Lang dress and sneakers (keeping it real!). Chocko caught the last 3 songs in the set: Drive On, Never Come Around and You’re Going To Cry. Shoutout to Chris Cantalini of the blog Gorilla Vs. Bear for curating the evening’s music at Helmut Lang. We’re looking forward to next year’s Fashion Fright Night!
VIDEOS by CHOCKO and MR. C
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Tags: chairlift, fashion, fashion's night out, fno, helmut lang, icona pop, la sera, new york city, nyc, prada
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food pron <~> porn
September 7th, 2012 by Mr. C
Just a few photos of some eats that we’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks or so….
The Mile End Sandwich shop is a Montreal inspired Jewish Deli in New York City.
Mile End Sandwich
53 Bond Street
NY, NY (NoHo)
(The Ruth Wilensky – fried beef salami, mustard, onion roll – the roll was crispy, charred, & flavorful!)
(Smoked Meat – cured & smoked brisket, mustard, rye)
(Poutine – Classic fries, cheese curds, & gravy)
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The ramen noodles were springy and not overcooked. The broth was rich with miso flavor without being too rich or overpowering. A tad salty though – yes, I know it’s miso.
Ramen Misoya
129 Second Ave
New York, NY 10003
East Village
(Grated cheese miso based ramen with char siu – Hokkaido Style)
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Ramen Yebisu
126 N 6th St (between Berry St & Bedford Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Williamsburg – North Side
(Seafood Ramen – Whole prawn, mussels, snow crab, scallops, scallion, & seaweed).
Tags: food, photos
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aerosol art in Hackensack
September 4th, 2012 by Mr. C
Some really neat aerosol typography in wild style and burner formats exists near the Planet Chocko experimental labs and we didn’t even know about it until recently. Thanks to one of New Jersey’s finest old skool graff writers – ZAR – from Paterson, NJ for pointing out the location to us. ZAR is a frequent contributor to the eye popping lettering & artwork that lines the walls of the basketball courts in Hackensack and School 15 in Paterson. Graffiti writing crews such as EOS, FC, TDS, & COD have all graced us with some amazing pieces on the wall as well. SHIRO from Japan even made her mark here!
hey-hey-hey, don’t forget to use Atlantic Cleaning Services in Hackensack for all your cleaning needs! Fat Albert & the crew on Union Steet said so!
Tags: graffiti, new jersey, street art
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REEWIND: An interview with THE INDEPENDENTS
August 31st, 2012 by Mr. C
The Independents, a horror punk/ska band were one of our favorite acts to rise out of the east village punk music scene in the late 1990s most notably playing at clubs like The Continental, Coney Island High, and Brownies. Being from the dirty planet of NJ, Chocko and I also saw the Independents perform at Connections in Clifton. Joey Ramone of The Ramone’s would help steer the success of The Independents in the right direction.
Come every October during Chiller Theater convention time our cassette playlist would be amped up infinitely with tunes by The Misfits, The Undead, & The Independents to get us in that horror mood!
At live shows, Evil Presley – the lead vocalist of The Independents would have a habit of flipping Chocko’s baseball cap off his noggin’ while he enjoyed the show from the front row! Fun & playful stuff from the Evil one himself!
Chocko had a friendly chat with Evil Presley and Willy B which we shared on our zine sometime ago. Enjoy!
Tags: interviews, planet chocko zine archives, punk
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Detournement : Signs of the Times – art exhibition at Jonathan Levine Gallery
August 28th, 2012 by Mr. C
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Being the slackers that we are, we made it to the last day of the Detournement : Signs of the Times art exhibit. Thanks to @mondocurry for forcing the action. I had no idea that last Saturday was the end of the run. The Signs of the Times is a group exhibition that celebrates images that redirects the visual message of capitalistic signs and expressions into a parody of sorts.
(From Carlo Mccormick – the curator of the exhibition)
This exhibition is meant to both celebrate the lineage of detournement and bring attention to some of its current practitioners who embody its continued vitality through their art. We live in a forest of signs that are meant to confuse, distract and numb us to the more dire consequences of the human condition as it is. We do not need to follow these signs, we need to make our own so as to find a way out of the mess we are in. I cannot thank these artists enough for their contributions towards helping us find another way.
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(Artist: Ron English)
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(Artist: Shepard Fairey)
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(Artist: AIKO)
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(Artist: Steve Powers aka ESPO – ISLAM IS PEACE)
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(Artist: Mike Osterhout)
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(Artist: David Wojnarowicz)
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(Artist: Jack Pierson)
Tags: art, detournement, jonathan levine gallery, sign of the times
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Curtis Salgado + Joanne Shaw Taylor at the Blues BBQ
August 27th, 2012 by Mr. C
(All photos & videos by mr c except the Annie Lennox performance)
I eventually stumbled into the Blues BBQ Festival on Pier 84 last Saturday which was a stones throw away from the U.S.S. Intrepid if you are a major league pitcher that is. Earlier in the day, my mind was double pumping in the paint and it was starting to fake me out trying to decide if I wanted to attend the Afropunk music festival in Brooklyn or jam it out with some Blues at the Que. In the end, I drove hard to the west side basket without being assaulted and walked right into the set of Curtis Salgado and his band while Curtis was doing one of his epic harmonica solo pieces blowing out fire from his instrument! It was refreshing to hear some real soul and R&B! I was able to capture a performance of SUMMERTIME LIFE (Soul Activated – 2001) from the Blues BBQ.
(Curtis Salgado burning up the harmonica!)
The next act was a pleasant surprise – JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR – a contemporary Blues guitarist/singer/songwriter from England! Apparently she was discovered by Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics as a teenage guitar prodigy and a decade later she has released 2 albums (White Sugar & Diamonds in the Dirt) and a new third album – Almost Always never – set to be released on September 17th. Taylor also recently played lead guitar in Annie Lennox’s (former Eurythmic) band at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of the Buckingham Palace in London last June where she jammed out to an extended solo during the performance!
(Joanne Shaw Taylor at the merch table after her Blues BBQ performance)
(Video of Annie Lennox with Joanne Shaw Taylor as lead guitarist at the Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace – courtesy of Surethom @ Youtube)
Joanne Shaw Taylor blessed and addressed us with her smoky soulful vocals with attitude and fire coupled with her dynamic guitar licks and extended solos from the front to the back! Her performance at the Blues BBQ Fest was amazing! Some songs on her set from Pier 84 included Diamonds in the Dirt, Time has come, Goin’ Down, Kiss the ground goodbye, and Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix). Despite being a young lady, Taylor’s presence and spirit on stage brims with much gusto and confidence! I hate to compare artists but to me and y’all will probably think I’m crazy but I hear a bit of Norah Jones and Lisa Stansfield in Joanne’s voice albeit with a rougher edge and growl! Maybe it’s the tone of the voices that are just similiar or maybe I’m just obsessed about Norah Jones and Lisa Stansfield with their sultry voices! I can also see JST blending in just as smoothly as she rips up those speed induced solos in a metal band!
(Joanne Shaw Taylor performing at the Blues BBQ in NYC – vids by mr c)
Oh yeah – the BBQ part of day was fulfilled by:
Brother Jimmy’s BBQ
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
Tags: blues, blues bbq, r&b
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