Mahi Mahi tonight at AS220 with Herra Terra and Bright White Lights

(This should be good — V. von Ricci has much more time for practicing these days.)

Saturday/9pm/$6/ As220/115 Empire Street

The Cult tonight at Lupo’s.

tickets$30/$35 reserved seats/doors 7pm/show 8pm

Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel/79 Washington Street/331.5876

Fucking rad.

The rock duo Heart is the latest group to publicly veto a stump song, condemning the McCain-Palin ticket for using its ’70s hit “Barracuda” as the theme for Gov. Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women,” Heart members Ann and Nancy Wilson told Entertainment Weekly after the song played at the Republican National Convention.

“‘Barracuda’ was written in the late ’70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women.”

Loves it. Here’s a clip of the song, live circa 1977 with an intro in German:

New Location — Lippitt Park — more info

at the north end of Blackstone Boulevard where it runs into Hope Street

11am to 5pm Saturday/vegetables/fruit/arts/crafts/free admission

In twenty-seven years of living in Cranston and its environs I never once went to the Greek festival that takes place every September on Oaklawn Avenue.  But last night, on a whim, I headed over there and it was WICKED FUN! Spanakopita, grape leaves, dancing in a circle, an orchestra full of cute old men that play for five straight hours, fried dough balls, and cheap wine by the bottle.  (Or, if you prefer, there’s also Mythos, the Greek version of Rolling Rock.)

It runs through tomorrow, and according to the people working there it’s happening hurricane or shine.

To get you in the mood, here’s my girlfriend Kalomoira, the Greek (by way of Long Island) singer who was robbed at Eurovision this year:

We could certainly use you.  We need about 20 people to be working at every given moment from 7am until 9pm.  It’s caffeine and booze fueled, and actually a lot of fun.  We’re on pace to win by a hefty margin — but all of our work is for naught if we don’t run a successful GOTV effort.

Please email Will.Emmons@Gmail.Com if you have even a spare hour or two.

Pat reminds us about tomorrow’s Labor and Ethnic Festival:

Join the effort to put the Labor back in Labor Day by attending the Labor and Ethnic Festival on Sunday, September 7^th, Noon-5PM @ Slater Mill in Downtown Pawtucket.  There will be music, food, craft work, traditional dance, a petting zoo (and no, there is no truth to the rumor that Gov. Carcieri will be in the petting zoo).

Peter lets us know about the RI premiere of Diagnosis Now!, next Sunday, 7pm, at Blue State.

For his hit-and-run of a month ago, which illuminated his brain cancer.

And he deserves sympathy:  People are a function of their circumstances, — something largely recognized by liberals, and ignored/denied by conservatives.

So let’s hope that those who stand by Novak recognize the broader philosophical-socio-political implications of their support for him.

Proposed transit cuts go right to the bone, but RIPTA really has no choice. On the one hand, RIPTA is beset by high fuel prices to run the buses. On the other, the money to pay for that fuel comes from a fixed per-gallon sales excise, which accounts for 70-80% of RIPTA’s revenue, yet does not automatically adjust for price rise. When gas prices go up and people drive less, RIPTA loses vital revenue, both to cover their own rising fuel costs, and to accommodate the added demand of people hoping to ride instead of drive.

Already on the brink, RIPTA now faces a severe shortfall — right when we need them most. With no love from the state, and having already shaved costs to the bone, RIPTA now has no choice but to cut the bone itself, and soon. Current proposed cuts will eliminate a fifth of all service, starting with service to those riders who are known to have cars: park-and-rides and far-flung daily commuter services are first on the block, eliminating service to four towns, including all of Burrillville. Next up are local routes past the city line, infrequent route spurs and detours, and lower-volume night and weekend service.

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Hot Club Waterfront Festival starts at 8PM/Walkmen/Deer Tick/Brown alum Elvis Perkins/$5 before 10pm/$10 after.

B Sharp Music Presents: A Troop of Echoes; I, Crime; Spurs/ As220/115 Empire Street/9pm/$6.

Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence
Grand Re-Opening Celebration
Public Open House
Saturday, September 6, 2008
10AM - 3PM
Admission is free

Your All Access Pass to a fun-filled and activity packed day at the all new Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence. The Public Open House will offer patrons an exclusive behind the scenes look at the newly renovated building. With interactive games, contests, dance lessons, facility tours, and more, it promises to be an exciting and fun-filled experience for the whole family.

An awesome blog that warehouses a million kitchy conceptions of the world to come. Archives go all the way back to the 1880s.

Here’s ‘ Going to the Opera in the Year 2000‘:

Come purchase this tee at ShopH2F.com and support your local shopkeeper!

The Waterfront Festival starts tomorrow night. It features national acts — the Walkmen and Elvis Perkins, local favorites — like Deer Tick and Roomful of Blues, and this intriguing mish-mash:

Sunday provides another reason to justify a few early brews when Pawtucket emcee Chachi takes the stage with a crew of local all-stars known as the Trenton Street Rockers, comprised of various members of the Agents, ZOX, Fungus Amungus, and Soul Shot.

Sadly, Waterfront Fest will be competing with TONIGHT’S release party over at Firehouse 13, for the Low Anthem’s, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

Heaven-sent and handmade, the Low Anthem’s new disc, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, descends on its listeners like a paper airplane, wobbling lightly on the breeze. Its musical trajectory, pleasingly unpredictable, swings gently but widely — from acoustic reveries to indie Americana to a folkish interpretation of Tom Waits’s “Home I’ll Never Be.”

From the department of holy crap comes news that Sony has started work on Ghostbusters 3! Wait, that’s not even close to all of it, it’s being written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, writer/producers for a little-known sitcom called The Office. Alas:

“The original filmmakers, including director Ivan Reitman, and cast are aware of the project and involved in its development. Some original cast members might be involved, but not in central roles.”

Need some water over here!

Since Republicans and conservatives love it when everything is summed up with dollar-shaped bullet points, here’s a nice little fact for them: since Palin’s supposedly fiery and wonderful speech the other night (please) the Obama campaign has raised $8 million, and the RNC? Wow, $1 million. All that worshipping praise and pundit applause doesn’t add up to much, does it?