How do you blow a .49 on a breathalyzer? Does that mean that half of your blood is alcohol?

For the answers to these questions and more, we turn to 34 year old North Providence resident and former Brown University presidential chef Stanley Kobierowski, who recently crashed into an electronic message board on I-95 near the mall in what turns out to be the drunkest attempt to drive, or do anything except die, in the history of Rhode Island.

In fact, according to variousw booze-ologists unearthed by the ProJo, this dude should not have been concious:

“For the average individual, there is a very severe risk of death when you start to approach a reading of .4,” said James Harasymiw, director of Alcohol Detection Services in Big Bend, Wis….

“He is in a very small class of people because most people — even heavy drinkers — would be unconscious or approaching death to get up to .5. The danger with this guy is that with that kind of tolerance, you may appear to be fine one moment and unconscious the next.”

Harasymiw calculated… that the man would have had to have had roughly 24 drinks — defined as a 12-ounce glass of beer or a shot and a half of whiskey — over six hours.

For those of you keeping score, that translates out into a whiskey shot every ten minutes for six hours straight. (more…)

By: Lissa Jean

Remember the good ol’ days? When a crooked doctor could pocket thousands of dollars from a sleazy drug company, and not worry about attracting the attention of Congress?

Well, according to several pharma blogs those innocent times are coming to and end. The Senate Finance Committee is preparing to investigate Dr. Martin Keller, Brown’s head of psychiatry, for plump payoffs he received while researching the antidepressant Paxil. This is just the latest piece of bad news for Keller, whose reputation was recently shredded in “Side Effects,” Alison Bass’s new book about the dirty business of mood elevators.

After such a downer month, I imagine Keller might be tempted to pop a few happy pills. There’s kind of a sweet irony in that, don’t you think?

More info about the investigation after the jump

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July 19th marked the most recent performance in the Port Huron Project, brainchild of Brown professor Mark Tribe. At the library of UC San Diego, an actor performed a famous antiwar speech by Chicano labor leader César Chávez (right):

On May 2, 1971, about 200 uniformed police surrounded the perimeter of Exposition Park while 30-odd plainclothes officers circulated through the crowd as farm labor leader César Chávez delivered a brief but impassioned speech decrying the Vietnam War at a rally sponsored by the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice.

This marks the fourth manifestation of the Port Huron Project which has recreated protest speeches from the turbulent sixties across the country. More after the jump. (more…)

Fans of mediocre, overpriced coffee rejoiced today when they learned that Starbucks will not close any of its Rhode Island locations.

From the ProJo Biz Blog:

Fans of Starbucks coffee can rest easy as the Seattle, Wash., chain skipped over Rhode Island in a recently announced store-closure plan.

Starbucks this week named the 600 stores it will close around the country and no Rhode Island locations appeared on the list. Starbucks loyalists in Massachusetts are not so lucky, as the company will close seven stores in the Bay State.

So, if your feeling the craving for a Mint Chocolatey Chip Frappuccino with Whipped Chocolate Creme and scone that was baked last week, frozen, and shipped to thaw onsite, rest assured that you can stop by any one of the five Providence Starbucks locations within a one mile radius of each other.

That’s as good a description of Ponytail as anything I could make up. Tonight is our chance to find out what the Baltimore press has been going on about. Much high praise for the band but it’s

Molly Siegel, the screeching and cooing Thumbelina who sounds like Ari Up imitating Elmo and Cookie Monster, that makes Ponytail something special.

I’m not hearing Cookie Monster frankly, and the guys are pretty damn special too. Check out the Aug/Sep issue of Bust. The band takes you on a tour of Baltimore where they met at the Maryland Institute College of Art (wonder if they know my niece.) The amazing video on their myspace (very bottom) indicates that their tuition dollars were not wasted.

Check out songs ‘Beg Waves’ and ‘Die Allman Bruder’ and tell me they won’t be insane live. If you are in need of a soul-cleansing spazz-out then get your sweaty carcass out to Olneyville tonight. Dear god it’s gonna get ripe.

starts 11-ish/Jeremy’s Sloth Zone/50 Agnes Street

Here they are performing an acoustic set. They’ll be plugged in tonight or I’ll kick their ass.  Also tonight Chris Rosenquest and Michael Minto.

10PM/downstairs at Trinity Brewhouse/186 Fountain Street/no cover

What could be cooler than jazz? Check out Tim O’Keefe’s Listening Party, tonight with a couple of live sets by The Cozy Collective. Misters Crenca, Teixeira, Minto, Wood and O’Keefe will be showing the squares how it’s done starting at 10PM at Local 121.

tonight 10 PM/121 Washington Street/no cover

Okay everybody, so there is a lot going on tonight that discerning listeners will want to take part in.

Of course there is the official SS’08 fare at Black Rep. Soul/R&B/House/Funk singer and songwriter Eric Roberson headlines a night of the Funky (local artists Grow), the sparse and political (multifaceted NYC poet Oveous Maximus) and the Boom Bap (DJ Therion on the ones and twos). Chachi hosts in his weekly stomping ground with a beefed up lineup ($15)

Members of AUREA Ensemble headline tonight at Firehouse 13. AUREA’s concerts combine poetry, drama, epistles, classical and folk music, puppetry, and movement into performances that sweep from intimate chamber settings to major theatrical venues. ($10 at 8pm)

The Blackstone is featuring a night of sweet underground and independent Rock with Buffalo NY’s  Cacahouette local fave Roz Raskin and The Rice Cakes and Troop of Echoes . (FREE)

 At Tazza The Basement Bros will be playing live Jazzy, organic House and Tevallus will be playing something shimmery and sitar-based. ($3)

Local 121 is featuring Soul Psychedelicide in the speakeasy. Its the live project of genius Monday resident, and Prince aficionado, Abstract Soul. (FREE)

BBQ today chez Ari et moi. 5 - 8 P.M. at 63 Governor Street. Not a fundraiser; this is a chance to register to vote in District 2, to find out why you should support David’s campaign for reelection, and to sign up to volunteer. Oh, and we have a very big trampoline.

I’ve often seen gentrification as a difficult problem to tackle. For many of my friends—young, working people trying to live in diverse areas and support themselves on small, non-profit or public service salaries—it is a struggle to find housing without becoming an agent of gentrification. But a New York Times piece today about Mount Morris Park, a traditionally-black Harlem neighborhood, explores one of the uglier examples of that phenomenon.

Timothy Williams chronicles the recent dispute over the neighborhood’s Marcus Garvey Park where, since 1969, drummers from Africa and the Caribbean have played an important role in shaping the social fabric and dynamic of the place. “The musicians,” he explains, “who play until 10 p.m. every summer Saturday, are widely credited with helping to make the park safer over the years.”

Across the street from the park however, at 2002 Fifth Avenue, is “a new seven-story cream and red brick luxury co-op with a doorman, $1 million apartments and a lobby with a fireplace.” Predictably, there have been some disputes about the character of the neighborhood.

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From Rinku Sen, RaceWire:

On last night’s broadcast, a repeat from June 16, Colbert did the kind of thing that I almost never rely on white media figures to do. He was interviewing Kenneth Miller, who wrote a book about how the proponents of “intelligent design” are trying to teach creationism at schools. At one point, Miller compared creationists to women who fraudulently collect welfare checks, saying they’re asking for a government handout, “I would compare them to welfare queens,” he said.

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Table space is still available for the Providence Rock & Roll Yard Sale at the IndieArts Festival on Saturday July 19th. This all takes place in Burnside Park and the Bank of America Skating Center from 1PM to 11PM, with live bands and DJ’s, and food and drink, and tons of people walking by with plenty of money to spend on…. well, whaddya got? Books? CD’s? Vintage clothes? Crafts? Propaganda? Cookies? Please, someone be selling me cookies.

For info contact Jen or Chris at What Cheer? Antiques and Vintage, 861.4244, and get yourself a space (it’s BYO table). It’s only $25, but you must pay in advance. (Make credit card payments here.)

Mighty Crown is the shit, sayeth XLR8R of the recent World Dancehall Clash:

 … the main stage belonged to the now dominant soundclash team  Mighty Crown, also known as the “Far East Rulers.” Mighty Crown is the only non-Jamaican soundsystem to have won a World Clash event on Jamaican soil. The five-member crew’s latest victory cup will join a bursting trophy case. Crown has also won World Clash U.S. twice (’99 and ‘07), the U.K. Cup Clash (’02 and ‘05), and World Clash Antigua (’05). It’s a fitting win for the Japan and New York-based team. Mighty Crown will celebrate their 17th year in the reggae business with a number of high profile reggae concerts in Japan, where they’re known to pull up to 40,000 fans to their shows.

Go support them at Black Rep tonight: 276 Westminster between Clemence & Matthewson. Doors somewhere between $15 and $25 (this performance will be legendary).

SIMULBLOGGED AT RIPEYAMS.COM
Jazz is one of those idioms that doesn’t come easily to everyone. I’m not a Jazz head by any means, but I’ve certainly come around to a little bit of equanimity in my appreciation for Jazz. Where once the ambling solos, indirect melodic focus, rambling uneven tonal patterns and blue note syncopation, drove me up the wall, I’ve found a certain satisfaction with the music through learning its vocabulary and history. One of the things that can be said unequivocally for Jazz vocalists is that she must have an unflinching command of her instrument; its timbre, its range and its pitch must be mastered. Otherwise audiences are unable to transcend the lyrics. When I pump Ella, Sarah Vaughan or Jon Hendricks on my stereo, I try and train myself to hear the voice as if it were just another horn stepping out from the big band. This could be why José James is such a joy for me to listen to - he plays his voice like a horn. New York City, and the history of Jazz born there, shape James’ first release for world-acclaimed DJ Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label. The Dreamer is the title track and easily my favorite. Another standout from James’ album is Spirits Up Above, reworked here by Simbad. José James performs for FREE at 5PM on Tuesday, July 8th at The Providence Black Repertory Company as part of Sound Session 08. Tickets for all performances on sale now at Arttixri.com

Where: Westminster St., Downcity

When: TODAY!!!! Saturday 12pm-6pm

What: Over 40 vendors, including yours truely, funkepunkemonke at the Hydrogen2Foxygen booth on Westminster St. in Downcity Providence. Lots of fun and food. Providence’s only open-air market with tons of good finds all made locally by a select group of artists and crafters. Plenty of yummy treats too!!

Everybody knows that just before you get to New Haven proper on I95, there is this giant American flag. Its all tattered and brown, and it can’t always appear majestic because of its shear weight. RISD prof and local smartist  Liz Collins will be bringing 8 knitters and thousands of queers together to reimagine the original pride flag - maybe even surpassing 95’s old glory. The flag will incorporate the original hot pink and turquoise that we now see missing (representative of sex and art respectively). It happens today between 12PM and 6PM at Waterplace Park and is the fourth installment of Collins’ Knitting Nation project.