navigate the 'nac
almanac mp3 archives almanac shared mp3 archive
live show photo archive boston-area live shots on flickr
'my life or some dream'
original mp3 compilation

free mp3 compilation on club fub
bands i've been in bands i've played drums in
the 'nac faq & contact info
contact info and more

the 'nac on the 'net

the almanac rss feed
subscribe to my rss feed
follow me on twitter the almanac twitter account
become a fan on facebook the 'nac on facebook
hype machine 'nac page the almanac hype machine page
the 'nac songkick gig page the almanac songkick gig page
almanac events on sponty the almanac sponty events page
the almanac last.fm page the almanac last.fm page

the almanac archives



search the 'nac


recommended boston area events

wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, march 18th

TOURFILTER DJ NIGHT!

when tourfilter's chris +

the almanac's brad (aka, me)

spin songs by bands coming to

the boston area sometime soon

9pm sharp @ river gods


thursday, march 18th

apollo sunshine

drug rug

@ the paradise


friday, march 19th

i, pistol

mascara

planetoid

forgetful jones

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 20th

the whitehaus family blastfest

needy visions, manners,

morgan shaker, avi jacob,

and many more

@ cambridge ymca theatre


saturday, march 20th

air

am

@ berklee performance center


sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott


wednesday, march 24th

extraneous noise presents...

golden spurs

spirit kid

some say fire

the novel ideas

@ the middle east upstairs


thursday, march 25th

"thursday night alright!" with

the beatings

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott


thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise


friday, march 26th

eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)

ryan lee crosby

ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)

@ the somerville armory


friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

magic magic

@ the paradise


saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues


sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise


monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott


tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears


tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott


thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

cassavettes

the grownup noise

kingsley flood (cd release)

spouse

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, april 3rd

black rebel motorcycle club

alberta cross

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

dawn landes & the hounds

@ the paradise


sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

black fortress of opium

@ tt the bears


tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 6th

ben folds & a piano

kate miller-heidke

@ the house of blues


wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott


thursday, april 8th

faces on film

hands & knees

st. claire (cd release!)

mr. sister

@ tt the bears


thursday, april 8th

thom yorke + atoms for peace

flying lotus

@ the citi/wang theatre


friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

screaming females

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott


sunday, april 11th

fanfarlo

lawrence arabia

robert francis

@ the paradise


monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 12th

titus andronicus

the babies

@ great scott


thursday, april 15th

jakob dylan with guests

neko case + kelly hogan

@ the wilbur theatre


thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, april 16th

guillermo sexo

freddie t and the people

(ex-june of 44 / hoover)

travels

ghost box orchestra

@ pa's lounge


friday, april 16th

have nots (vinyl release!)

the appreciation post

razors in the night

wicked whiskey

the swaggerin growlers

@ tt the bears


saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

heavy trash (w/jon spencer)

the konks

the cobra-matics

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston


tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

timber timbre

@ the paradise


tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, april 21st

the church

special 30th anniversary

acoustic career retrospective

@ the somerville armory


wednesday, april 21st through

wednesday, april 28th

the 8th annual independent

film festival of boston

@ various boston area theatres

including the somerville + brattle


thursday, april 22nd

the mary onettes

@ great scott


saturday, april 24th

graham parker with

the figgs

@ johnny d's, somerville


saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise


sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ great scott


monday, april 26th

echo + the bunneymen

hatcham social

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues


thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise


friday, april 30th

the everyday visuals

the lights out

the flying machines

aloud

@ tt the bears


friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues


friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, may 1st

white rabbits

here we go magic

@ the paradise


monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 4th

gregory & the hawk

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


tuesday & wednesday

may 4th & 5th

public image ltd.

@ the royale (formerly the roxy)


wednesday, may 5th

minus the bear


@ the wilbur theatre


wednesday & thursday

may 5th & 6th

jonsi (from sigur ros)

@ the house of blues


thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise


friday, may 7th

ok go

earl greyhound

robert francis

@ the paradise


saturday, may 8th

local natives

@ great scott


tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise


thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott


saturday, may 22nd

killing joke

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 18th

spectrum (featuring sonic boom

from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)

with the broken river prophet

@ the middle east upstairs


tuesday, may 25th

the smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

hearts!attack

a smile and a ribbon

horowitz

@ the lizard lounge


wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues


friday, may 28th

mono

the twilight sad

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, june 2nd

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise


wednesday, june 2nd

ryan bingham & the dead horses

@ tt the bears


wednesday & thursday

june 2nd & 3rd

the national

@ the house of blues


friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise


friday, june 18th

reigning sound

movers & shakers

triplethick

@ tt the bears


saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden


sunday + monday

june 20th + 21st

isis

melvins

totimoshi

@ the paradise


thursday + saturday

august 19th + 21st

tom petty + the heartbreakers

my morning jacket

@ the comcast center


visit tourfilter for more shows



Thursday, February 01, 2007

Boston: Mooninites Came, Conquered

As both a Boston resident and a longtime fan of Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force, how could I not comment on the multi-faceted mess that gripped our uptight little metropolis yesterday? I watched with both amusement and bemusement as the whole situation unfolded on the major news networks and ever-refreshing rss feeds in front of me. During a rare day at home, I was practically glued to the tube once I realized the "packages" that drove our city officials and talking heads into a tizzy were lit-up likenesses of the bitter little Mooninites known as "Err" and "Ignignokt". On a day when the real ATF took on the fictional ATHF, it's hard to say who came out on top. But our city's already-buttoned-up image sure took a hit.

Every single time WCVB-TV's Natalie Jacobson said the word "Mooninites", or incorrectly referred to CN's late-night block of animated shows as "Aqua Team" instead of "Adult Swim", I got a tiny thrill inside (she honestly said "... looks like a little Pac Man kinda deal."), but a few details started bugging me as the reports and news conferences piled up...

  • This entire debacle is being constantly referred to, both yesterday by officials and still this morning by the press, as a "hoax". Which is defined as: "something intended to deceive or defraud". Anyone who's been paying attention, whether or not they're a fan of ATHF or aware of modern viral-marketing methods, can see that deception was not the intent of either the marketing company behind this or the guys they got to put the signs up.

  • The objects in question, which have been accurately referred to as battery-powered signs or lite-brite-based graffiti, were not "packages", as officials and media-types keep calling them. Objects, maybe, but they were not wrapped or covered in an attempt to enclose the contents. They were flat 1-2 foot perforated boards with batteries attached, and a quick investigation could have determined what they were. Semantics are important here, especially given that...

  • During the first late-afternoon news conference, our obviously annoyed Mayor Menino kept calling the things "bombs", three times in fact, before correcting himself. From his mouth...
    "Earlier this morning I received a call from Commisioner Davis of a suspicious bomb at Sullivan Square in Cambridge..."

    and then...

    "We have been working together investigating all calls we've received about suspicious bombs in Boston and in Somerville."

    And while haphazardly calling these things "bombs", and amping up the fear, he made sure to say that...

    "This is no time for anyone to panic, we believe we have the situation in hand...".

    Until finally, it dawned on him...

    "The inidividuals who have placed these bombs, uhh, packages I should say, should be warned that there's a heavy penalty: it's imprisonment, two to five years for each one of them. This is about keeping a city on edge, it's about public safety, and when it comes to public safety, we're throwing everything at it."
    No time to panic, huh? His lack of self-awareness during this fairly important public moment could only have heightened the situation for casual viewers.

  • I've been seeing these things around town, and online, for a couple weeks. If this is, in fact, what terrorist devices may resemble, then our town is well and truly in trouble.


    Two distinct sides have formed in the unavoidable Boston Aqua-gate '07 blame game: Those who are pointing and laughing at our public officials (and the media machine they fuel) for what they consider an embarrassing overreaction VS. those who want Turner Broadcasting, Interference Inc. (the marketing company they hired), and both Peter Berdvosky & Sean Stevens (the two young guys who did the legwork) to pay dearly for a stunt that not only inconvenienced hundreds, but rung up a half-million dollar price-tag. And so far, the sides seem to be divided neatly between generations, or at least between those who keep a finger on modern media/technology vs. those who live in a paranoid pop-culture-free bubble.

    It's not hard to guess where I'm leaning, but I do think a very small amount of fault lies on the unfortunate placement of our Mooninite masters. While many of the signs were placed on businesses or random buildings, it was the ones under bridges and interstate overpasses that got this whole mess started. The one on Central Kitchen? Cool. Under this bridge? Minor mistake. On New England Comics in Allston? Nice. Over the Massachusetts Turnpike? Yikes.

    But one late fact has thrown the whole thing into a new light, and if anything it makes Peter and Sean the victims of some extremely unfortunate timing. It appears there were two unrelated fake pipe bombs found in Boston yesterday. That's what the originally-reported 1pm phone calls to the police were about, as opposed to the early morning report from an MBTA worker who spotted one of the lite-brite Mooninites near the Sullivan Square T station.

    So an actual hoax and a harmless display of urban marketing art got rolled together into one big unwieldy mess, and two guerrilla artists (and their hair) are caught in the misdirected crosshairs of some angry authoritarians.


    Here are a whole lot of relevant links I've collected over the past slightly surreal 24 hours...
  • Adult Swim's full apology, which appeared as pre-cartoon "bumps" when their block of programming aired last night, is now the front page of their website.

  • Peter Berdvosky's personal website (Zebbler.com, which hosted video of the marketing "mission" as he called it) is now down, either on purpose or due to total bandwidth overload. You can still check out video of the installation on YouTube. There were also lots of pictures from their cross-town art project, and all were dated no later than a week ago, of course.

  • It was just as amusing hearing Channel 5's Jorge Quiroga say "Mooninites" as it was seeing some networks spend time digitally removing their middle fingers.

  • Todd Vanderlin's flickr images, where the early evidence of the Mooninites appearance can be found. Images dates? January 15th. He also let the world know that it was Interference Inc. (whose page disappeared yesterday afternoon) handling the ATHF marketing duties.

  • And via Todd's images, even the excellent Make Magazine was pulled into the early news bites.

  • Yes, of course you can already buy t-shirts.

  • Naturally the Adult Swim messageboards have gone into a frenzy.

  • Was nice to see my neighborhood comic shop, Allston's New England Comics (and their 50% off sale), get some free publicity out of the deal, what with one of the Mooninites resting peacefully next to their storefront sign until it was confiscated...


    Store employee Gwen (who also happens to be the daughter of comics/novel writer Peter David) and manager Ben even got a little tv face time...



  • Lots and lots of area coverage and commentary can be found in an infinite number of places, including Universal Hub, Bostonist, the Phoenix's OTD, and Livejournal's B0st0n community.

  • "Bow your heads or I'll bow em for ya!" - Err












  • featured mp3 download
    sparklehorse
    live at the paradise
    in boston, mass.
    on monday, february 26th, 2009

    'nac twitter action

      latest live band pics



      recent posts on the 'nac...


      latest comments...


      on the mp3 player

      on the screen

      on the nightstand


      other boston-area music blogs


      boston music media


      boston live show / event info


      music blogroll


      music audiocasts


      surf-worthy


      other frequent haunts


      boston-centric


      some cele-bloggers



      Locations of visitors to this page




      Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

      This page is powered by Blogger Pro.

      Blog Directory - Blogged