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It’s almost been a year since last summer’s devastating storms blew out power during a heat wave, and it’s been over six months since the ice storms did the same in the bitter cold.  But do you ever find yourself asking “what would I do if a mob of vicious flesh eating undead persons swarmed through my neighborhood during the middle of a blood shortage?”

We always thought we could just call out Beetlejuice or the Ghostbusters, but the Zombie Squad seeks to correct those popular survival misconceptions during this year’s Disaster Awareness Fair.  These defenders from the undead will be working alongside the Red Cross, Fire Dept, and other rescue agencies to help educate you at the Schlafly Tap Room & Brewery on Locust.  And while formal donations of blood will not be taking place, there will instead be informative presentations on zombie attacks and other equally likely disaster survival techniques on Saturday, July 21st.  And beer (hooray)!

Alongside the representative groups, you’ll want to stick around for Frontyard Features which will be playing Mad Max and Shawn of the Dead (more on that later) with instructional videos and PSAs in between.  Of course, should you make it through the flesh-devouring horde of zombies on the way in, you’ll want to bring surplus canned food for you and your friends to Feed My People.  Every 5 cans of food is good for a raffle ticket c/o REI, which give you a chance to win the Zombie Squad merchandise you’ll need to survive that night.  Until then, just stay tuned to the Emergency Alert System…

We know readers of Highway 61 are a relatively media savvy bunch, but sometimes even our staff misses out on the local media scoop.  Case in point - the Gateway Media Literacy Partners, whose Media Literacy Education Week is well underway this week.  In fact even with the coinciding National Media Education Conference wrapping up this evening, we’ve been given a chance to catch up with the conference online.  Already podcasts of the NMEC keynote speakers have been made available, and you can catch many of the events and speeches for the rest of the week via a streaming video feed on their website.  Of course you’ll probably want to check their schedule of events to at least tune in on time if not actually attend.

Of course if you’d rather spend your evening offline, GMLP is sponsoring a FREE screening of “Network” in the Webster Film Series.  Starting this Tuesday June 26th @ 7 pm, you can catch this previously unscheduled screening of the prophetic 1976 film which envisions a future full sensationalistic television news, followed by a panel-led discussion.  Did we mention you can watch “Network” for free?  We know you like free things,  “So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs….” for the Howard Beale in all of us.

We just got word that the original dirty rapper, Blowfly, is not only on tour for the first time in 35 years but will play at the Atomic Cowboy. The show will be this Thursday, June 28th for a mere $10 a head, but stick around for the weekly Funkbuffet, served as a natural accompaniment. And according to the Apop records culture bureau:

The original Rapp Dirty man himself is gonna be chillin’ over at Apop before the show at Atomic Cowboy this Thursday. He’ll be jammin’ and signin’ and bringin’ hella merch for y’all to pick up. In honor of his presence, we’ll be boozin and par-tayin it up from 6 pm until showtime. You can BYO–WHATEVER, but we’ll also be bringing the liquid funk.

But caution to those of you with innocent ears and loose morals; according to his website Blowfly says, “I am coming to St. Louis to stick my dick in that tight hole you call the arch!”  Don’t say we didn’t warn you…

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For those of you who missed it, here’s our perspective of the Pridefest St. Louis parade on South Grand and subsequent proceedings in Tower Grove Park - FlickR photo set page.  Of course we’re sure some people will be interested in the political appearances during this year’s parade, but for everyone else there’s unique floats and appearances from friends and even some churches in the St Louis community.  Needless to say, rain this last Sunday wasn’t about to scare off the crowd celebrating diversity and individual rights this year.

If you’re looking for yet another perspective, you should check out PubDef’s photoset, or show our friends from STL Metro Rainbow of the Deaf on their blog.  See you next year.

I’ve heard it over and over. It seems ska is teetering on a shoddy, slowly decaying limb in the social music scene compared to the surge of popularity it experienced in the early ninties. Just listen to some of the music in flicks from that era and don’t be surprised if you catch a couple lines of Reel Big Fish’s “Sell Out,” listen in on Toasters melodies in the background, or even hear some of Gwen Steffani’s pre-Hollaback Girl repitoire.

Locally, the ska bands have been washing out with the tide while we wait for the Fourth Wave. Swift Kixx broke up. Psycho Dad hung up its hat. Secret Cajun Band is on a hiatus. And then there was the Monskasities…

While the scene here in St. Louis may seem to be grasping and gasping for life between breaths for the next horn chorus, there are still staccatos of life peeking out through the spread. This Saturday, June 23 once local legends The Monskasities will be getting back together for a reunion show at The Creepy Crawl. These kids know how to have a good time and can balance their music with audience interaction and laughs. Doors are at 5:30. (Psycho Dad will also be playing a reunion set at this show!).

If you’re still craving more St. Louis ska, don’t forget the KDHX 88.1 Ska’s the Limit show hosted by the great Paul Stark on Friday nights at 8:00pm.

Or, pick up a record by MU330, the local ska band that actually made it to the national level (their name came from the music class where the original members met at SLU High School). They do remember to stay true to their STL roots and often make sure that we’re included for a show when they’re rolling through town. This past Winter, at a Christmas Eve-Eve show (Dec 23), the band even brought a multitude of presents and candy to pass around to the crowd and spread the holiday cheer.

St. Louis Ska Fest 6 will be coming up late in July as well, thought a lot of details are still floating in the air.

So if you’re up for it this Saturday night, put on those skanking* shoes, don your checkers, and take advantage of quality local ska nostolgia while it lasts.

*a note on skanking - don’t forget kids, that’s ska dancing, not street corner smut

Comic from Natalie Dee

It’s no secret to readers that this blog has a few fans of Big Muddy records, and now one of us even works for Apop records.  But one secret almost ran completely under our radar (and by radar, i mean the internet).  Fortunately, after hearing it mentioned up @ Apop records today, I decided to do the hunting for everybody else. 

From the Big Muddy records website (well, Myspace actually):

June, 16 2007 at THE BIG MUDDY BEACH BALL at THE SKATIUM!!!

Thats right, we’re doing it again!! This time its the “BIG MUDDY BEACH BALL” featuring all the Big Muddy recording artists you’ve come to know and love!! 7 SHOT SCREAMERS, THE VULTURES, JOHNNY O AND THE JERKS, and the MONADS! this is a BEACH themed party, so come dressed in your best beachy attire!! ALL AGES!!! BYOB!! !!

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Last weekend St. Louis held its own in 48 Hour Film Project. In case you weren’t involved in the actual filmmaking scrambles, you can still reap the entertainment value from the Project.

Each of the 71 participating teams that submitted their films last Sunday night have had the opportunity to screen at the Tivoli theatre through this week. As of today, there are still two screening groups left - that’s 23 groups with 23 different local film screenings to be entertained with. (Screenings 5 & 6: 7:00 and 9:15, respectively). There’s also a 48HFP Blog where filmmakers and spectators can talk about their experiences with the program as well as submit screening reviews.

In case you’re not familiar with the event, filmmaking teams are given different aspects of the basic movie. The team’s task is to bring these together to create a final short film. As the name implies, the 48 hour time limit makes the task a bit more daunting.

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Dateline, June 16th, I get up, throw open my window shutters and yell to a young newspaper boy:

“You down there, what day is it?”

“Today, why it’s Saturday.” 

“No you illiterate fool, it’s Bloomsday.”

Okay, so that never happened, but this Saturday is my big chance. 

With Bloomsday (the day in which James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place) just around the corner, how will you celebrate? Well, if you’ve never read Ulysses or if you have and you want the experience of hearing it, the good folks over at Subterranean Books are hosting a live reading of the novel in the store, from 11am to 10pm, with festivities (if that’s the right word to describe a reading of this tragic epic) moving elsewhere when the store closes. I’ll be there with my eyepatch and derby, will you? 

 A few months ago, a friend told me that she saw REO Speedwagon playing inside of a Wal-Mart outside of St. Louis (in Fenton, I believe). The stop was part of the Illinois band’s tour to promote their latest album.

Today, that same friend told me that Fergie is performing today in a Kirkwood Verizon Wireless store. Presumably, this is to promote her concert tonight at the Pageant.

I suppose that struggling pop acts now look to retail chains and mobile content-delivery corporations for support, but it seems like these sponsorships are starting to lead to anyplace with a sales floor becoming home to in-store performances.

Although it’s not as glamorous as a discount conglomerate or a cell-phone store, I’ll take my (hopefully) cramped, intimate performances in between racks of used vinyl and cds for now. Unless I suddenly find myself broke, out of toothpaste and longing to hear “Keep on Loving You.” 

To prepare for this year’s RFT Music Showcase taking place at various locations in the Loop, I’ve gone through their grandoise list of scheduled bands to compile a mixtape of the most promising sounds. Keep in mind these are only my personal favorites of what I was able to hear. It’s mainly indie pop/rock with a few surprises thrown in. All tracks can be found as free samples online, ususally on myspace pages but on occasion discovered after a little hunting on a band’s or label’s webpage.

A setlist, times, and stage locations can be found here: RFT Music Showcase 2007 Myspace Page

More on the showcase later, and onto the track listing!

RFT Music Showcase 2007: Rockin’ Full Tape
1. Your Days and Our Nights - Gentleman Auction House
2. Three Little Birds - Johnny-O & The Jerks
3. Devil’s Dog - Walkie Talkie U.S.A.
4. He’s A Cop Now - Jumbling Towers
5. Newlywed Deception - Team Tomato
6. Progress - So Many Dynamos
7. The Beat - Target Market
8. Out of Control - Say Panther
9. Mean Mean Miss Guillotine - Johnny-O & The Jerks
10. Oh, Sweet Beacon - Casey Reid
11. Search Party - So Many Dynamos
12. American Shogun - Spark Thugs
13. If It’s So Hard - Say Panther
14. Me & My Vampire Friends - Bunnygrunt
15. Summer Moon - Magnolia Summer
16. Worn Out Engine - Tom Hall
17. Misalliances - Berlin Whale
18. Of Cycles and Engines - Finn’s Motel
19. Commitment - Walkie Talkie U.S.A.
20. Halloween Song - Say Panther
21. M. And O. Blues - Tom Hall
22. In Saint Lou - 7 Shot Screamers