The National speak out on goose killings

Scores of readers have spoken out against the killing of hundreds of geese in Prospect Park, and last night, Matt Berninger added to the chorus.

The Brooklyn-based band, with members living in Park Slope, played to a sold-out crowd in a benefit for Celebrate Brooklyn at the band shell. And, according to Spinner, the band wasn't too thrilled about the missing geese, dedicating its song, "Geese of Beverly Road," to the dead hundreds.

"I'll be glad when I take off from LaGuardia, but for now I'm sad," said Berninger.

Looks like the cause has a new anthem.

Hear the song live in a performance last month in Toronto below.

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One 'Super' writer

Gary Shteyngart is a performer. He says as much in a recent interview in New York Magazine. With his quick wit and self-deprecating style, he always makes for an fun reading., and you can see him in the flesh this Friday when he reads at Greenlight in Fort Greene to celebrate the release of his new book, "Super Sad True Love Story."

Until then, check out the trailer he did for his new book - yes a trailer. And it has cameos by none other than James Franco and Jeffrey Eugenides.

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They're b-b-b-b-b-bad!

This show is guaranteed to be b-b-b-b-b-bad.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers hit Asser Levy Seaside Park hard on July 29 — and if that isn’t enough bad to the bone rock and roll for you, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will perform, too.

“I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve never played in Brooklyn before,” said Thorogood, best known as the man behind “The House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Shot, One Beer,” the anthem of bar flies everywhere, and “Bad to the Bone,” one of the best uses of the stutter since “My Generation.”

Now 60, the rocker claims he isn’t the badass he once purported to be. In fact, he’s written dozens of other rock-a-billy tunes which have nothing to do with hard drinking, carousing and womanizing, but — big surprise — his audience never latched onto them.

“I’ve only had three songs about drinking and I only wrote two of them,” he said. “But that’s what we cut our teeth on, and that’s what people turned onto when they were on the radio.”

Some would say Thorogood’s hard riffs and far-from-refined lyrics touch a primal chord with his audience. Yet Thorogood considers his music comfort food.

“There are few people in the world who enjoy a filet mignon and a glass of wine every day,” he said. “But everyone can enjoy a cheeseburger and a beer.”

We’ll drink to that.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers, plus Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at Asser Levy Seaside Park [W. Fifth Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island, (718) 222-0600], July 29 at 7:30 pm. Free. For info, visit www.brooklynconcerts.com.

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Shakespeare stripped down

Summer has always been a ripe time for productions of Shakespeare’s wildly popular “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” often as a light breeze suitable for children.

Finally, the bard’s comedic classic is being reinterpreted at Galapagos Art Space — so you can forget about bringing along the kids.

Tomorrow, Storybook Burlesque presents a stripped-down version — literally — at the DUMBO space with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play Within a Play Within a Burlesque Show.”

“We knew we wanted to do a Shakespeare show at some point, so ‘Midsummer’ was the perfect fit,” said South Slope resident Rosey la Rouge, the show’s producer. “We tell the story of the play through dance and minimal text for a performance that is more thought-provoking and visually spectacular and less about the striptease — though striptease is definitely involved.” (Get a taste of their last show here, in this Time Out New York spread.)

Yes, you can expect the traditional story of the four Athenian lovers, who, along with a troupe of silly, amateur actors, are manipulated by fairies into falling in love to near disastrous effects. But this production also adds a “punk rock” aesthetic.

“There is a hard, modern edge to this show and the design concepts behind it,” said la Rouge.

With that, the music will switch from Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga, and the performers’ costumes will range from period derivations to modern emo teen fare. That is, of course, when they are wearing any costumes at all.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play Within a Play Within a Burlesque Show” at Galapagos Art Space [16 Main St. at Water Street in DUMBO, (718) 222-8500], July 29, 8 pm. Tickets $10 in advance ($15 at the door). For info, visit www.storybookburlesque.com.

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Laugh on

Williamsburg funny man Hannibal Buress has a lot to be excited about lately. His Sunday night comedy show at Knitting Factory is still going strong. He was named one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch. And, this week, his new album, “My Name is Hannibal,” comes out.

The SNL writer joins the ranks of Patton Oswalt, Doug Stanhope and Maria Bamford on the label, Stand Up! Records, and the record features his own hilarious style of silly, smart humor that touches on race in one second, burritos in the next, all with a killer deadpan.

And yes, his name really is Hannibal.

See him live this coming Sunday at the Knitting Factory in Willamsburg. And for a preview, watch him on Comedy Central in the clip below.

Jokes.com
Hannibal Buress - Living Together
comedians.comedycentral.com
Roast of David Hasselhoff Big Lake It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

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This 'Kid' is Oscar bait

“The Kids Are All Right”

Three stars

By Thomas Tracy

Oscar and his friends at the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will have to cut their summer vacation short — “The Kids Are All Right” is out and destined to generate several acting nominations.

Yet these fresh and unique performances are the only aspect of the Lisa Cholodenko-directed family drama that elevates it above the morass of similar flicks found every Sunday night on the Hallmark Channel.

In fact, the story is so simple we’re surprised that we haven’t already seen it on the Hallmark Channel: Lesbian couple Nic (Annette Bening, “Running With Scissors”) and Jules (Julianne Moore, “Chloe”) have the perfect family, until their two kids take steps to learn about the sperm donor their moms used.

With one phone call, the motorcycle-driving, womanizing, free spirit Paul (Mark Ruffalo, “Where The Wild Things Are”) enters the picture and begins to turn the family dynamic inside out.

It doesn’t take long for the fractures that already exist in Nic and Jules’s relationship to become deep fissures, leading one of them to stray in a predictably trite way.

Still, stand-out performances by Moore, Bening and Ruffalo keep everyone glued to the screen. The mini-moments when Bening realizes everything’s falling apart are worth the price of admission alone.

But these Hollywood heavyweights have to watch out for a young upstart if they think their time on the red carpet is assured. Newcomer Mia Wasikowska (“Alice In Wonderland”) should also be considered for an Oscar nod. As Nic and Jules’s, daughter Joni, Wasikowska nails her performance of a young woman trying to find herself in that summer of purgatory between the end of high school and leaving home for college, proving that, in fact, the kids are all right.

“The Kids Are All Right.” Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Running time 104 minutes. Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use. Playing in Brooklyn at BAM Rose Cinemas and Cobble Hill Cinemas.

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Our Celebrate Brooklyn! pick of the week

The unlikely pairing of Irish rocker Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Markéta Irglová has been charming listeners since the understated 2007 musical “Once” introduced the world to their heart-felt folk rock, even earning them an Oscar for “Falling Slowly.”

Luckily, it wasn’t just a one-time thing, as the two have been collaborating ever since as The Swell Season, releasing two albums and touring all over the world — including the Prospect Park band shell on July 30 (see them in an intimate show for NPR first below).

Equally as lucky, the two’s romantic entanglement — and its subsequent dissolution, Richard and Linda Thompson-style — hasn’t prevented them from making hauntingly beautiful music together. The mismatched pair — he with his rough voice and heart-on-his-sleeve demeanor, she with her more youthful, calculated one — write swooning songs about love and heartache capped with gorgeous harmonies. It’s a performance that will surely stick with you long after you leave the band shell.

The Swell Season at the Prospect Park band shell [Prospect Park West and Ninth Street in Park Slope, (718) 855-7882], July 30 at 7:30 pm. For info, visit www.bricartsmedia.org.

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