|
by Mike Sheahan
H ere at The Goods, we sincerely wish
that you've all been taking your vitamins and getting plenty of
rest, for the coming week is sure to be epic enough that it will be
discussed for a long time. Maybe even until mid-March. Not only
does this week find us ready to fall squarely into the lap of
2004's Snowdown revelry, but Sunday brings us the 38th NFL Super
Bowl. The combination of the two should leave us a town exhausted
and sputtering on fumes. If New Mexico ever thought about invading
Durango and annexing it as a Farmington suburb, next Monday would
be the time. No one will have the energy to put up a proper
fight.
Super Bowl Sunday alone
is a day worthy of national holiday status. It is on this day that
the entire nation shuts down and everyone becomes a football fan.
Even those "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" guys.
In spite of the fact
that this year's big game match up (Panthers vs. Patriots) is about
as compelling as a "Queer Eye" episode, the entire country will
simultaneously tune in, eat plenty of nachos and drink plenty more
beer. For one all-too-short afternoon, it will be as if the entire
country is little more than a giant frat house living room. If we
don't all engage in this most patriotic of activities, then truly,
the terrorists will have won. It is our duty as Americans to get
tanked up on cheap beer and stay tuned in to what is sure to be an
insipid half-time show featuring the likes of Janet Jackson and Kid
Rock. Now sit right down on the divan, young trooper, and do your
country proud!
On a more local
front, Snowdown
is raging all around us and
these are a few suggestions to divert you from thinking about all
the time and money you spent (or tried to spend) getting Follies
tickets.
Thursday, Jan. 29, a big
Snowdown highlight will be Kave Krooner Karaoke (initials KKK) at the Wildhorse
Saloon. This is the time to get your pipes tuned up and impress the
judges with your version of "The Night the Lights Went Out in
Georgia" or some Toby Keith song. Cash prizes will be awarded to
the people who can best sing someone else's song and the to-do gets
doing at 7 p.m.
On Friday night,
Storyville hosts the return of the South Austin Jug Band . This Texas bluegrass band of
relative youngsters comfortably cradles the fine line that
separates real bluegrass from the more modern and jammy newgrass.
Normally, the lines are clearly drawn, you're either old-school or
jam, no questions asked. The South Austin Jug Band is a rare
example of a group that can pull off both styles without selling
either short. The result is a sound that appeals to, and should
attract, a large audience. Show time is 9:30 p.m. on the
nose.
Saturday, Jan 31, brings
a couple of fun-like ideas to the entertainment table. To start,
Gazpacho's hosts a Port-a-Potty Stuffing at 4 p.m. The idea is to cram as many
of your smaller-boned friends in to one of those rent-a-johns we
see everywhere. Yes, these are the same cans that force you into
the nearby forest at music festivals and make you cringe as you
drive by construction sites, but I've heard there's room for at
least one person in the bottom "compartment." Good luck SaniKan
stuffers.
Later that same night, the Summit presents ska legends Warsaw
, a local favorite. The twice yearly visitors will skank pridefully
as the Summit dance floor bounces up and down like a trampoline.
Sometimes it's hard to be on that dance floor without wondering
how long it'll take before the whole lot is dancing in Diorio's
one floor down. This show should be a great antidote, or addition,
to the extended madness of Snowdown Saturday.
Website of the Week: In these times of jingoistic faux
patriotism and with a presidential election looming, many
left-leaning potential voters may be wondering who will tell us
what to think. Without Ralph Nader this time around, I feel many of
my liberal comrades are lost in a sea of rhetoric and wacky ideas.
Author, director and receiver of boos at last year's Academy
Awards, Michael Moore hosts a website that will help even the most
wayward liberal find his way. Aptly addressed www.michaelmoore.com , the site has long been a staple
of my weekly web surfing. He's insightful, hilarious and serves up
a healthy dose of criticism of the beady-eyed creep currently at
this country's helm.
This Week's Album:
There are three solid
reasons to dislike the self titled junior release by the indie rock
group Phantom
Planet . First there
is the band's association with movie star Jason Shwartzman (Keanu
Reaves' Dogstar anyone?). Next comes the fact that the band is
responsible for the theme song for a FOX TV night time soap opera
and that, at times, they sound like The Strokes' little brothers.
Still, Phantom Planet is able to combine its obvious New York
garage influence and 1980s pop star yearnings with enough gritty
originality to make a few listens worthwhile.
It's not the band's
fault if some mouth-breathing, mono brow head at FOX wanted to put
Phantom Planet's song on TV. It is, though, the band's fault for
not finding its own voice after three albums. If, for some reason,
you haven't heard enough so-called modern New York garage music,
then pick up Phantom Planet. Otherwise, dig a little deeper and
find something by the Sonics or The Count 5. Even though Phantom
Planet is hardly doing anything new, it does it with enough style
to make it fun for a while.
Patriots-34,
Panthers-10. mpsheahan@yahoo.com
|
