In art, as in love, things can get a bit messy when the Internet is involved. In the old days of aesthetic courtship, the rules were simple: artist toils in obscurity; gallery discovers artist; the Whitney calls and they fall in love at the Empire State Building.
The campaign against secular holiday ads finally jumped the shark this year, and with only a few weeks left in the season, the ’09 Christmas War was shaping up to be a real dud. But then, an unlikely culture warrior stepped into the fray.
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When two aspiring hip-hop artists from Massachusetts were hauled into court last month and charged with making threats against police in a rap video, everyone in the court room, from the defense attorneys to the prosecutors, agreed on one thing:
Matthew Rufino, 24, and Jason Foley, 28, do not have a bright future ahead in hip hop.
Watch 4 Me, the low-budget YouTube video that landed the pair behind bars, shows Rufino and Foley rapping inside some kind of dark tent, with blurry google images of shootouts and mangled police cruisers to illustrate their violent lyrics.
The four-minute clip, posted by 508 Productions on Nov. 1, is an unmistakeably amateur attempt at gangsta rap. But unlike the commenters on YouTube, Massachusetts State Police didn’t take the video lightly.
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Rolling out the welcome mat for the new Urban Outfitters at 226 Harvard Ave.
Via David Day at the Weekly Dig.
With only 20 days to go until the preliminary election, the three men hoping to topple Boston’s longest-serving mayor finally got a chance to land some blows against him in a televised debate Wednesday night moderated by WBZ political analyst (and noted mustache enthusiast) Jon Keller.
A political juggernaut, Mayor Thomas Menino has been at the helm of the Hub since 1993, swatting away opponents to win four terms in office and garnering enough political capital to sidestep the debate process for 16 years. But with a sour economy lingering and voters across the globe tossing out tenured politicians, Menino was forced to strap on his pads and step into the lion’s den at WBZ’s studio in Allston to defend his record.
Flanked by at-large city councilor Sam Yoon to his left and developer Kevin McCrea and councilor Michael Flaherty to his right, Menino spent the hour deflecting barbs from his opponents on education, crime and the concentration of power in the mayor’s office.
And for the most part, the four men on stage played out the roles that had been written for them by political pundits in the lead-up to the debate — a fact that’s kind of borne out by these nifty word clouds that we put together this morning. If you’re not familiar with the concept, word clouds are a stylized way to count up how frequently different words show up in a chunk of text. In this case, we divided up a transcript of the debate by who said what and fed it into a word-clouderator to produce the images below.
*Note: This is not scientific or analytical in any way — it’s a fun exercise in pop psychology at best. Please don’t try to make political decisions based on word art. Not that you would, just sayin’.
One more thing…we really do have a transcript of the entire debate. You can read it here.
Jon Keller: Good evening and welcome to this WBZ TV news special. Welcome also to our listeners on our sister station, WBZ news radio 1030. On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Boston voters will decide which two mayoral candidates will square off for the office of mayor in November. They will choose from among the four candidates gathered here in the WBZ studios for their first debate of this campaign. And the candidates are:
Michael Flaherty: He’s been an at-large Boston city councilor since 2000. He is a resident of South Boston. Welcome, councilor.
Sam Yoon won his at-large seat on the city council in 2005. He lives in Dorchester. Welcome to you, sir.
Kevin McCrea is co-founder of a general contracting firm. He lives in the South End. Good to have you here.
And Tom Menino of Hyde Park was first elected mayor in 1993. He is seeking his fifth term. Welcome, sir.
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Music tonight:
» We Met Aliens, Scourge, Bathory Silence, Arkham White x Middle East Upstairs (18+ $9)
» Hollow Bones, Hume, Vandaveer x T.T. The Bear’s Place ($8)
» Love In Stockholm x Great Scott (18+ 9pm $9)
» Stephen MacDonald & The Okay Win, Ette, Big Big Buildings, Repeat The Science x Harper’s Ferry
» Bad Motherfucker, The Judo Heirs (ex-The Hidden), Stevus And The Deceivers, The Turkeys x O’Brien’s (9pm 21+ $7)
» String Quartet Showdown x Alchemist Lounge
» Cosmic Horn Power (Longy) x Outpost 186 ($10 o.b.o.)
The folks from Truth Serum are bringing Dr. Sketchy’s anti-art school burlesque show up the Avenue for a trial show at O’Brien’s Pub, the gritty, gap-toothed little brother of the Great Scott.
Secrets is the new electronic dance offshoot from the Basstown crowd, and it’s tonight at the Milky Way Lounge in JP, but don’t tell anybody. Here’s a promo mix from the residents.
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From the Archives: Artageddon at the Distillery Gallery»
In art, as in love, things can get a bit messy when the Internet is involved. In the old days of aesthetic courtship, the rules were simple: artist toils in obscurity; gallery discovers artist; the Whitney calls and they fall in love at the Empire State Building. Gallerists were the gatekeepers to the art world, [...]
Straight Outta New Bedford: 2 Men Arrested For Gangsta Rap Video»
When two aspiring hip-hop artists from Massachusetts were hauled into court last month and charged with making threats against police in a rap video, everyone in the court room, from the defense attorneys to the prosecutors, agreed on one thing: Matthew Rufino, 24, and Jason Foley, 28, do not have a bright future ahead in [...]
Glam Shots: Common Goes Goggling; House Of Pain Goes Green»
Photos by ThinkCommon.com Ever vigilant, our dude Brandon spotted these photos of Common doing some boutique goggle shopping in Cambridge. The southside rapper stopped by Concepts in Harvard Square last month and mugged for some photos.
