Being in the audience last night at the Mercury Lounge could have felt awkward.

It was the first of a three-night stint of Noah and the Whale performances that mark the end of the band’s U.S. tour. Onstage, frontman Charlie Fink was confessing to having no one to love and captivating the audience with lyrics about the throbbing pain of separation—generally hitting home the agony of heartbreak that is a theme in the band’s second album The First Days of Spring, released Oct. 6 in the U.S.

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If you attend Ghost Light, currently onstage through Oct. 31 at 59E59, you should be looking for “a little bit of strange,” like the play's two main characters who go to a seedy motel room—complete with flickering light and ceiling mirror. In their case, it's an unlikely affair in which they dip outside their usual social circles in order to get something they want. But in your case, it being so close to Halloween, you probably want the kind of strange that just comes out and says Boo! already. Luckily, neither you nor they get the expected, making way for a tantalizing, utterly absorbing hour. But the allure of the crowd-pleasing, cheap scare is a strong one, my friends, and it’s no surprise that it even seduces José Zayas, this show's otherwise-precise director, in the end.

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Swimclub will be showcasing at CMJ 2009.  Join the band as they kick things off with a bang on the first night of the festival!

when: Tuesday, October 20th 8pm

where: The Rose
          345 Grand Street
          (btwn Havemeyer & Marcy)
          Williamsburg / Brooklyn

with:  Backwards
        Come On Caboose
        Robotanists

 

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My boys Swimclub are playing a free show at Lakeside Lounge this Saturday in preparation for their big CMJ Showcase on Oct 20th at the Rose. Show starts at 11pm and they're the only band. It's going to be intense. Lakeside Lounge is on the LES @ 162 Avenue B between 10th and 11th. Will you be there?

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Biltmore Who’s Who, an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 2006 and leader in networking and building business relationships nationwide, is proud to announce their A- rating with the BBB.  

Scoring an A- is considered to be an excellent rating, according to the BBB, and   Biltmore Who’s Who is very proud of their mark.  They continue to stand behind their commitment and quality to their current and prospective members, setting the groundwork for a bright future.

Once a business becomes an accredited member of the BBB, they have agreed to live up to their Principles for Trust, a comprehensive set of policies, procedures and best practices focused on treating the public both fairly and honestly in all circumstances.  Biltmore strives for not only a great score with the BBB, but more importantly, an even greater score with their members.

The BBB has a simple, yet thorough mission: to be a leader in marketplace trust through integrity and performance.  By creating a community of trustworthy businesses, setting standards for marketplace trust, encouraging and supporting best practices, celebrating marketplace role models, and denouncing substandard marketplace behavior, the BBB has proven to provide customers with the utmost accreditation.       Companies worldwide are invited to join the BBB if they can meet such high standards.  Those businesses with all the necessary criteria are then presented to local Boards of Directors, or designees for review for acceptance.

http://www.seflorida.bbb.org/BusinessReport.aspx?Company ...

For more information on the Better Business Bureau, visit http:///www.bbb.org.

About Biltmore Who's Who: Biltmore Who's Who specializes in providing members with pertinent biographical information of key Executives and Professionals that comprise its membership throughout North America. Biltmore Who's Who encourages all members to use the publication to contact and network with other members to enhance public relations or possibly develop mutual and beneficial business relationships.

To log on visit http://www.biltmorewhoswho.com

 

About Biltmore Who's Who: Biltmore Who's Who specializes in providing members with pertinent biographical information of key Executives and Professionals that comprise its membership throughout North America. Biltmore Who's Who encourages all members to use the publication to contact and network with other members to enhance public relations or possibly develop mutual and beneficial business relationships.

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The Make Music New York Festival is back for a third year of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City, all on the first day of summer. On Sunday June 21st Swimclub will preview songs from their upcoming debut CD out on August 4th.

Venue: Goodbye Blue Monday 1087 Broadway-Brooklyn, NY
Time: 4pm
Cost: FREE

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I am thinking about buying some wholesale water pipes from this company in China http://www.liangdianup.com/tobacciana_z.htm 
 but I am not sure if they are legal to bring in to the states? What are the laws on water pipes, bongs, and pipes?

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The main benefit of living in a large city is that interracial dating happens without any premeditation or preconception. You get to rub shoulders with friendly people from all over the world. A simple walk on the streets opens up a world of possibilities and could well turn out into you meeting a person from a different ethnicity who you like and may grow to like romantically.

When people from different ethnic groups meet, interracial dating usually makes parties involved take the initiative to explore each others cultures. They try to research as much as possible on the other person’s culture in order to capitalize on the common areas of their cultures.  And while doing this, one gets to learn what the other person holds dear about their culture and this is one of the ways to know if the relationship can work for both of you. Question is, are you willing to make compromises?

Over the years, people have had reservations about dating sites in general. And the biggest issue of all has been compatibility. “Will he or she be right for me? Going through interracial dating sites somehow helps one figure out the compatibility bit.  Search parameters for physique, hobbies, educational background, and race allow you to at gauge compatibility levels.  And with more people registering on a daily basis, each new interracial personals ad increases the odds of finding that compatible person. And since most of the interracial dating sites are chat enabled, it’s easier to get to know one another before committing into a romantic relationship.

Once you start interracial dating, be prepared for some flak from friends and family from both sides coz much as we like to think people of today are enlightened, not everyone will be comfortable with your interracial relationship. How you handle this will also determine whether you are right for each other or not.  If the two of you love each other enough, then you won’t feel this storm.

Much as some people still have issues about interracial dating, the beauty is that every additional relationship moves us much closer to global unification. And race will never determine whether your partner will be right for you. It’s their personality that counts.

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I was watching Chris Rock’s latest stand up comedy and couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his views on interracial dating – black and white dating to be precise. And after hearing what he had to say, I realized for as long as black and white dating exists, black women white men will always be at each other’s necks especially when a white man dates a black woman and when a black man dates a white woman.

Back to Chris Rock: In his view, all black men do when they date white women is exercising an option. And black women get upset by this. He says the real reason black women get angry is because they are not attracted to white men hence cant exercise their option. They will sleep with ‘pretty white boys’ when in real sense, they aren’t attracted to white men in general.

The blame games, the justifications and the prejudiced remarks never end when black and white dating is on the table. It’s like a constant tug-of-war between black men and black women. And over what …the other groups’ dating preferences? When black women opt for interracial dating, black men say they do it out of desperation. And Chris Rock’s explanation suggests so. It’s like black and white dating is a last resort for the black woman.

People date interracially as a matter of choice or preference. And for those who happened to stumble onto interracial dating, I believe it’s because they stumbled upon a gem … someone worth taking the risk of being stared at and possibly being rejected by family over.

Maybe Chris Rock is right. Maybe black women need to broaden they options and do more of black and white dating or date interracially in general. But no one should mistake this for desperation because its not. Everyone deserves to be loved and when you meet the one who sweeps you off your feet, instead of worrying about what the men or women of your race will think of it, act on your love impulse.

This getting worked up over black and white dating isn’t necessary coz while giving yourself peptic ulcers trying to come up with the most prejudicial reasoning for interracial dating, someone else’s peptic ulcers that were caused by years of loneliness are getting healed by interracial love which is as real as any other.

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He was once a child prodigy. Now he’s a prodigy of nature.

Abbey Simon is living proof that a musical career can be age-proof—and that human vigor is ageless.

Now 87 years old, the veteran pianist delivered a memorable performance at his April 21 concert at Alice Tully Hall, whose proceeds went toward the Music for Youth Foundation. He displayed ease and dexterity in his ambitious program, which spanned genres and centuries. Having been a child prodigy, he is the recipient of the prestigious Walter Naumburg Award, which consists of a debut concert at Town Hall in New York City. Simon then began performing at Carnegie Hall, and toured extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Canada. Simon briefly enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Doubtless, many of the pieces he played—a Bach toccata, sonatas by Clementi and Beethoven, classics by Chopin, Ravel character pieces—have long been grooved on his inner hard disk. But he played them with youthful freshness, and displayed an emotional depth that only age and experience can bring.
Simon’s rendition of the Bach Toccata in C minor was impeccable. He ingeniously interchanged the three voices in the fugual section and experimented with a wide range of dynamics throughout.

The Clementi Sonata in F Minor showcased Simon’s virtually flawless technique—each section and its reprise were played with subtle variations in texture. Simon’s trills perhaps weren’t as sharp as they once were, but the pianist more than compensated for any minor inadequacies in technique with breathtaking interpretations of potentially dull, repetitive passages.

The Beethoven Sonata in E Flat was not Simon’s strongest performance of the evening—the slower sections lacked the poignancy that the pianist demonstrated in the two former pieces. But the more rapid, ascending passages were well executed, and the subtle changes in tempo enhanced the colors and textures.

In the Chopin Waltz in A-flat major, Simon cleverly varied the reprisals of the theme, as in the Clementi. The pianist deftly articulated the dissonances of the Waltz in F major and pedaled with taste, but, again, did not convey the subtleties of the notes in the slower passages.  

Still, the second waltz received a standing ovation.

Simon’s rendition of Chopin’s Ballade in F minor exhibited the pianist’s masterful technique and seasoned expressiveness. He performed the four Ravel character pieces with extraordinarily nuanced expression. He delivered the syncopated sections flawlessly and toyed subtly with tempo.

At the end, the listeners roared with applause, shouting “Bravissimo!” and shunned their seats until Simon took his third and fourth bows.

Simon rewarded the crowd with two encores, the Edvard Grieg’s Butterfly and Chopin’s Impromptu in A flat major that were a delectable dessert to a rich classical feast.
Abbey Simon has received international acclaim for his solo concerts and recordings, and this was no different.



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