Mobtown Shank

GodWatch: FOX Claims Left Hates Christ

So, according to FOX, the left is waging a war on Christianity because it's always disliked the concept of it. Perhaps it's time to bring God's warriors home from the Crusades and wage war against the heathen forces here in this country?

"This is a small part of a big, huge attack by the left on Christianity, which has always disliked the concept of Christianity, " complained Fox host Andrew Napolitano.

Source.

Random Factoid: Canadian Dollar Now = To American

by Benn Ray

Remember the days when an American dollar was worth more than the Canadian dollar? Remember when we'd shun Canadian currency if we ever inadvertently ended up with some, feeling slightly ripped off? Remember when we'd make jokes about the lack of value of the Canadian loonie (that's what they call it) compared to our good ol' American buck? Those days are over.

The Canadian dollar is now worth as much as the American Dollar.

From BusinessWeek.
The U.S. dollar reached 1-to-1 parity against the Canadian dollar Thursday for the first time since November 1976. That means one Canadian dollar now buys one U.S. dollar, so a bottle of maple syrup could cost an American as much in Toronto as it does in New York.

A combination of falling value of the American dollar (thanks in large part to the Bush Administration's economic policies) and the climbing value of the Canadian dollar has now denied us this long standing topic of ribbing for our northern neighbors.

U.S. Dollar
   1. Against Canadian Dollar: Down 10.58%
   2. Against Euro: Down 5.69%
   3. Against British Pound: Down 2.74%
   4. Against Japanese Yen: Down 3.66%
   5. Against South Korean Won: Down 6.21%
   6. Against Mexican Peso: Up 0.88%

Canadian Dollar
   1. Against U.S. Dollar: Up 11.88%
   2. Against Euro: Up 5.52%
   3. Against British Pound: Up 8.80%
   4. Against Japanese Yen: Up 7.79%
   5. Against South Korean Won: Up 7.75%
   6. Against Mexican Peso: Up 12.86%

So, who does a devalued U.S. dollar hurt?
A lower U.S. dollar diminishes the spending power of American tourists, while attracting foreign visitors seeking cheaper accommodations, houses and shopping. The dollar's decline means Americans will pay more for imports and trips to Paris, Rome, Bangalore and Toronto.

And who does a devalued U.S. benefit?
It also may drive overseas demand for U.S. goods and help raise profits at U.S. multinational corporations.

So, just to recap, thanks to the Bush Administration's economic policies, the American dollar has reached its lowest value point in over 30 years. This hurts American consumers (since most of what we purchase is imported now - some speculate the falling dollar could minimally help to offset our ginormous trade deficit) but benefits US multinational corporations.

Hm. Maybe some of this profit will "trickle down."

Source1.
Source2.

Tonight! Baltimore Crime Extravaganza! - Found Mag & Criminally Yours

  dirtyfound 
  Originally uploaded by sugarfreak

Friday, September 28
FOUND MAGAZINE!
with guests Criminally Yours

7PM. FREE! atomic POP.
Hampden, Baltimore.
3620 Falls Rd.

Davy Rothbart & the gang roll into town to celebrate the release of Found Magazine #5 (and appropriately enough, this issue of FOUND is the crime issue!). They'll be performing new founds and classics, and as always, the audience is encouraged to share their own finds.

Baltimore's very own crime zine, Criminally Yours, will open the show. Check out this week's CityPaper article on the zine and editor, Patrick Tandy.

Earlier in the day, Found Mastermind Davy and Popcorn Pete, AKA The Poem Adept, will be on The Signal.
The Signal - 88.1 WYPR FM
Noon & 7PM
listen live

"We talk with Davy and Peter Rothbart about the latest issue of Found, the magazine that collects lost and discarded letters, notes, photographs and drawings submitted by fans. The latest issue, Found #5, is all about crime."

Speaking of The Poem Adept, check out some songs...
THE POEM ADEPT
[mp3] The Booty Don't Stop (live, Minneapolis, 10/16/05)
[mp3] Fighting With Myself
[mp3] The Sight Of Any Bird
[mp3] Anne, Anne

And finally, a clip of one of Davy's Letterman appearances...

Check out The Found Library
Found Magazine #1
Found Magazine #2
Found Magazine #3
Found Magazine #4
Found Magazine #5
Found: The Book Vol. 1
Found: The Book Vol. 2
Dirty Found #1 - sold out
Dirty Found #2
Dirty Found #3
Found 7-inch
Found Greeting Cards
Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas
Found Polaroids
LaPorte, Indiana

And also check out the Smile, Hon library...
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #1
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #2
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #3
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #4
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #5
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #6
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #7
Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #8
Smile, Hon: Giving Up The Ghost
Smile, Hon: Show Me Yours, Show You Mine
Smile, Hon: Infestation
Smile, Hon: Criminally Yours #1

Also, The Shank is teaming up with Smile, Hon for Criminally Yours #2 (coming soon). Have a Baltimore crime story to tell? Tell us about it. Keeping it locked up inside will just make you bitter. After all, as our friends at Chunklet like to say, we're all in this together...

Links People IM Me: Got Some Extra Cash?

Missile Base For Sale
-Patrick Tandy

North American Union and Vchips

-Joseph Grey

The latest D.C. ruckus. Led by Vets. The cops were reasonable for the most part from what we could see.

-Jeff and Jane

How George Bush became the new Saddam.....

Why do the terrorists hate our underwear?

A new kind of net non-neutrality....

Where's the Charm City Roller Girls?

Why does Dubya hate my peace of mind?

UF Student Tasered During John Kerry Speech...
MSM version

Pall on the Mall...

I blame Mattel...

MSP lowlight...

Partia Kobiet....

"America has spent twice as much... as it did to rebuild Japan"....

General Heplaysus?

Making Baghdad safe for the Beagle Boys....

How white of us...

Taser this...

Sen. Reed’s Democratic Response Beats Bush Speech In Cable Ratings On Fox And CNN....

Plundering Iraq...

Condi's family values....

Caveat depositor...

Fox Cuts Off Sally Field's Anti-War Speech At Emmys.....
Sally Fields UNCENSORED Speech
Canadian broadcaster CTV did not censor Sally Fields.

Lower mathematics...

Resurgitation....

The great humiliation that's ours forever...

The ten minute gap...

The truth will out....

Evidently he ran into the room with cops in tow.....

Mythical global warming makes mythical Northwest Passage a
reality.....
Warming 'opens Northwest Passage'

Melting ice cap triggering earthquakes

Why does Dubya hate my freedom?

B-traeus as "an ass-kissing little chickenshit"....

Unguiltification?

Vitter is Diaperman no more...

Wear the wrong buton, that's a broken leg...

Lunatics Down Under....

President B-traeus? No wonder he wouldn't swear an oath....

You can't get there from here...

More flowers and candy....

I gots yer failed war.....
Richard Nixon at the 1968 Republican Convention

Nobody has to tell the truth in Congress anymore...
-Scott W. Langill

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WARNING: We make no guarantees about these pages, so if you are in a fishtank/cubicle environment and reading this, click at your own risk.

Overheard: The Mysteriously Hawaiian Burger

by Fred

SETTING: A diner when I was having lunch.
PLAYERS: New waitress being trained and her trainer.

TRAINER: This is our Hawaiian burger, it has Canadian bacon and Teriyaki sauce.

NEW WAITRESS: What's Teriyaki sauce?

TRAINER: It's... Hawaiian.

----------------------------------------------------
Email your Overheards (using this format) to: MobtownshankATatomicbooksDOTcom
Order your copy of The Shank's I Keee You!: A Collection Of Overheards. NOW AVAILABLE!

Shank Calendar 9.26 - 10.2

Wednesday, Sept. 26_____________________
TURBONEGRO
8PM. $17. Mainstage. The Black Cat. Washington, DC.
1811 14th St. NW

DIRTY PROJECTORS, ECSTATIC SUNSHINE
9PM. $10. Backstage. The Black Cat. Washington, DC.
1811 14th St. NW

LEAVING TEXAS, JUNE STAR, ALEC GROSS and the DISTRICTS
8PM. $8. 8x10. Federal Hill, Baltimore.
10 E. Cross St.

THE BARN BURNERS
9PM. Bertha's. Fells Point, Baltimore.
734 S. Broadway

MOBTOWN SHANK READING CLUB
7PM. atomic POP. Hampden, Baltimore.
Read Poppy Z. Brite's Liquor. Then stop on by for drinks and talk.

Thursday, Sept. 27_________________________
MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO, THE WATSON TWINS, DRAKKAR SAUNA
8PM. $13. The Black Cat. Washington, DC.
1811 14th St. NW

THE HIGH ZERO FESTIVAL
Baltimore Theatre Project. Baltimore.

THE ART OF JOHN MALLOY
THE HYMNEN, THE ORANGES BAND, IMPOSSIBLE HAIR
8PM. The G-Spot. Hampden, Baltimore.
2980 Falls Rd.

JUDY CHICAGO: JEWISH IDENTITY
The Jewish Museum of Maryland. Baltimore.
15 Lloyd Street.
Best times to visit are Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu afternoons -- tour the historic Lloyd Street and B'nai Israel Synagogues at 1 & 2:30 pm.

Friday, Sept. 28_________________________
THE HIGH ZERO FESTIVAL
Baltimore Theatre Project. Baltimore.

FOUND MAGAZINE & CRIMINALLY YOURS
atomic POP. Hampden, Balitmore.
3620 Falls. Rd.

SQUAAKS, SAVORY JAMES, JESSE HUGHES & THE SHACKELTONS
The Talking Head Club. Downtown, Baltimore.
203 E. Davis St.

AVEC, KARMELLA'S GAME, TWO IF BY SEA, THRUSHES
9PM. All ages. The Ottobar. Remington, Baltimore.
2549 N. Howard St.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
10PM. $20. 930 Club. Washington, DC.
815 V. St. NW

THE BARN BURNERS
10PM. Austin Grill. Silver Spring, MD
919 Ellsworth Dr.

BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL
City Lit Stage. Mt. Vernon, Baltimore.
Narrow House Night (Friday, 6:00)
For complete schedule go to www.CityLitProject.org

Saturday, Sept. 29_______________________
THE HIGH ZERO FESTIVAL
Baltimore Theatre Project. Baltimore.

BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL
City Lit Stage. Mt. Vernon, Baltimore.
First Books: Adrianna Amari, Larry Doyle, Maggie Leffler, Michael Salcman  (Saturday, 5:30)
Presented by CityLit Project in the Literary Salon
“Putting ‘No Child Left Behind’ to the Test” (Saturday, 12:00)
For complete schedule go to www.CityLitProject.org

IRON & WINE
6PM. $25. 930 Club. Washington, DC.
815 V. St. NW

THE BARN BURNERS
9:30PM. Bushwaller's. Frederick, Baltimore.
209 N. Market St.

Sunday, Sept. 30________________________
THE HIGH ZERO FESTIVAL
Baltimore Theatre Project. Baltimore.

BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL
City Lit Stage. Mt. Vernon, Baltimore.
Stephen Dixon, Meyer (Sunday, 12:30)
Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore reading (Sunday, 1:30)
Larry Abramson, NPR Education Correspondent; Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools;
Linda Perlstein, author, Tested; moderated by Marc Steiner, WYPR
Stephen Hunter, The 47th Samurai (Sunday, 3:00)
For complete schedule go to www.CityLitProject.org

MEGADETH, IN THIS MOMENT, THE CONFESSION
7PM. $40. 930 Club. Washington, DC.
815 V. St. NW

Tuesday, Oct. 2 ________________________
THE MELVINS, BIG BUSINESS, and a film by DALEK & HAZE XXL
9PM. All ages. The Ottobar. Remington, Baltimore.
2549 N. Howard St.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
To find MP3s & YouTube Vids of this week's performers, check the TONIGHT section.
To see more upcoming shows, visit THE SKAG section of the Shank.

GodWatch: It IS Called "Halo" After All...

We here at the Shank do not believe in ratings or warning labels or any of that crap that "concerned parents groups" like to lobby for in order to get a foothold on censoring the arts.

That's why we'd like to commend the bravery of Emmanuel's Rock (at the Hampden United Methodist Church - 3449 Falls Rd.).

On October 6, they will be hosting a HALO 3 night at Emmanuel's Rock despite the fact that the game is rated "M" for Mature.

According to the ESRB:
MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

In this era when video games are regularly coming under attack again and again for mature content, we are pleased to see a local church stand against that! We couldn't agree more!

For more information, call 443.983.6152.

GodWatch: That Biblical Gay Country?

A caller  from Glen Burnie on today's Marc Steiner Show (on WYPR). After she explained she had "gay in my family", she said the following while trying to explain why same sex marriage should not be allowed in Maryland:

"Everyone knows the story of Sodom and Gomorrah... Sodom and Gomorrah was a same sex country..."

Random Factoid: Baltimore Crime - You Are Not Alone UPDATED!

Other area blogs, especially ones that are obsessed with crime, like to point out with self-righteous indignation the violent crimes taking place in Baltimore City. We here at the Shank would like our readers to know that when it comes to killing each other, we may be the second best in the country, but the increase in violent crimes is something that is occurring on a national level.

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, on a national level from 2005 - 2006:
Robberies are up 7.2%
Murders are up 1.8%
Violent crime overall is up 1.9%

This is the second year in a row that violent crimes rose on a national level.

Now, what if we were to take the amount of money we've sifted off spending on ourselves that we are now giving to Iraq war contractors, and put it back into our own infrastructure and services - imagine what our schools could be like - imagine what our policing could be like - imagine what our social programs that help reduce crime would be like...

But no, I guess for some it's more fun to blame mayors who have ever-dwindling federal resources and get all indignant about people you try not to associate with offing each other. It's easier.

UPDATE: It is also, evidently (and sadly), easier to call someone a "douche" when you disagree with what they say.

Hey, crime fans, be sure to check out Baltimore's acclaimed crime zine, Criminally Yours! A MobTown Shank/Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore joint production.

 

Source.

RadioShank: Housecleaning Extravaganza

JEFF LEWIS & THE METEORITES
myspace
[mp3] Swamp Thing
Check out Jeff's comics, FUFF.

MONARCH
myspace
[mp3] Warning
[mp3] Regret
[mp3] Family Glue
[mp3] Obituary

OLD TIME RELIJUN
myspace
[mp3] Daemon Meeting

ADAM FRANKLIN
myspace
[mp3] Seize the Day
[mp3] Syd's Eyes

GREG SUMMERLIN
myspace
[mp3] Unlucky in Love

CANNONBALL JANE
myspace
[mp3] Take It To Fantastic

THE RAINCOATS
myspace
[mp3] Lola (cover)
[mp3] Fairytale In The Supermaket
The Shank recommends... The Raincoats CD.

SAINT BERNADETTE
myspace
[mp3] I Own The City

CELEBRATION
myspace
[mp3] Evergreen
The Shank recommends...
Celebration CD.
Modern Tribe CD (out Oct. 9)

ALEX DUPREE AND THE TRAPDOOR BAND
myspace
[mp3] Las Meridanzas
[mp3] #182 Runs Late
[mp3] Earth-Mouth
[mp3] Sarah Is Rising
[mp3] The Revolution Choir

SCOUT NIBLETT
myspace
[mp3] Kiss

JUNIUS
myspace
[mp3] At The Age of Decay

BAND OF HORSES
myspace
[mp3] Is There a Ghost?
The Shank recommends... Everything All The Time CD.

THE RUDE STAIRCASE
myspace
[mp3] Houses Are Burning
[mp3] Here Come The Red Teeth

ENON
myspace
[mp3] Mirrors on You

EARWIG
myspace
[mp3] Used Kids
[mp3] She Is A Witness

OKKERVIL RIVER
myspace
[mp3] Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
[mp3] Black
[mp3] No Key, No Plan
The Shank recommends...
Black Sheep Boy CD.
Black Sheep Boy Appendix CDEP.
Down The River Of Golden Dreams CD.
The Stage Names CD.

FRISBIE
myspace
[mp3] New Debut
[mp3] S.F.B.
[mp3] Yes Impossible
[mp3] I Speak Your Mind

THE SPECIAL PILLOW
myspace
[mp3] I Love Your Smile
[mp3] Your Dead City
[mp3] The Heaviest Week (So Far)
[mp3] Blue Always
[mp3] Good Night Morning, Hello Moon

TWO GALLANTS
myspace
[mp3] The Hand That Held Me Down
[mp3] Despite What You've Been Told
The Shank recommends...
The Throes CD.

ZOOKEEPER
myspace
[mp3] Snow In Berlin

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW
myspace
[mp3] Forever Heavy
[mp3]  Sun Lips
[mp3] The Afternoon Turns Pink
[mp3] Vietcatepillar
[mp3] I Am The Alphabet
[mp3] 1 2 3 Of Me
[mp3] Hazy Field People
[mp3] I Think It Is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too
[mp3] Boatfriend

WOODEN SHJIPS
myspace
[mp3] We Ask You To Ride

THE REAL TUESDAY WELD
myspace
[mp3] Last Words

SLEEPING IN THE AVIARY
myspace
[mp3] Pop Song
[mp3] Another Girl

HEALTH
myspace
[mp3] Crimewave
[mp3] Triceratops
[mp3] Perfect Skin

PASH
myspace
[mp3] The Best Gun
[mp3] ABCD
[mp3] Kill The Rich Boys

REALISTIC
myspace
[mp3] The Camera Track
[mp3] Snowday Plaything

THE PHANTOM FAMILY HALO
myspace
[mp3] Black River
[mp3] Lady Blue

STEVE GOLDBERG AND THE ARCH ENEMIES
myspace
[mp3] Summer's Ending

YEA BIG + KID STATIC
myspace
[mp3] Duck, Mother Fuckers!

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PLEASE NOTE: The MP3s listed here will not be available indefinitely. So if a file is missing, it's most likely because the source hosting the file has removed it.
Bands - email mp3 links here.
Send CDs for us to maybe recommend to The MobTown Shank, 1100 W. 36th St. Baltimore, MD 21211.