I'm going to do something a bit different this week. I'm going to admit defeat. Save for a handful of shows, New York is basically a buzz graveyard this week. A little festival called SXSW has tapped the city of most of its musical talent. We're talking bands, performers, promoters and even those who live to tell you about it all, like myself. I'm down here for the week and just got my WiFi hookup going so I thought I'd share some buzzable showcases with ya.
Tonight's NPR Showcase at Stubb's boasts a one two punch of indie legacy acts who couldn't be much different from one another. Both find themselves at SXSW at different points in their respective 2013 album cycles, the former having just released a much heralded record and the latter gearing up to drop a highly-anticipated major label affair. Push the Sky Away is Nick Cave's 15th studio release, and feels like quintessential Cave, despite 30 years of baritone rock deviancy. Remarkably, 10 years have elapsed since Fever to Tell helped put underground NYC music back on the map and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will begin their second decade of relevancy smack at the top of this showcase to promote their upcoming LP, Mosquito. Mercury-prize winner Alt-J provides high-level support along with Cafe Tacvba.
If you're like me, then you didn't hit the lottery to get into the NPR show, so you'll probably catch me at at my silver medal show tonight, the Vans show over at Mohawk. Vans throws some of the best free parties in Brooklyn all summer long, and their Austin bill brings two features two icons in their respective genres; punk trailblazers Iggy Pop and the Stooges and everyone's favorite Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah. Japandroids and Sky Fereira make this a one-two-three-four punch knockout.
Kendrick Lamar is probably the biggest name in the buzz game today. He's booked solid at SXSW this year and your best chance to see him is when he headlines SPIN's impressive showcase on Friday night at Stubb's with Solange Knowles, U.K. electro-pop trio CHVRCHES, Australian garage rockers Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ridgewood punks Parquet Courts, Trinidad Jame$ and Machinedrum.
Mohawk is holding it down with top-flight showcases all week. Ground Control Touring occupies the space on Friday night with a punk and dream pop-heavy lineup. Post-hardcore Odd Future disciples Trash Talk will be joined by Brooklyn's 2012 breakthrough band DIIV, Thurston Moore's new band, Chelsea Light Moving, Parquet Courts, Matt Mondanile's side project, Ducktails, Florida dream-punks Merchandise, Brooklyn haze poppers Widowspeak, and many more.
The most stacked lineup of the entire week might be the Pitchfork day party tomorrow. INHALES... Youth Lagoon, Toro y Moi, Foxygen, Andy Stott, Delorean, White Lung, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Parquet Courts, Mac DeMarco, Merchandise, Mikal Cronin, Waxahatchee, Autre Ne Veut, Rhye and California X... EXHALES. I almost passed out there, which is probably how you'll find me after the hard drinking that will take place during all of those sets.
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention a free show from one of the best live bands in music history, The Flaming Lips. Their psychedelic spectacle is on display on Friday night at Auditorium Shores with Jim James and Divine Fits.
It wouldn't be a trip to Austin without a trip to Emo's East, and Mad Descent and Fool's Gold have provided you with the best reason to drop by ALL DAY tomorrow. A-Trak, Flosstrodamus, Mykki Blanco, Tokiminosta, Icona Pop, Pictureplane, !!!, Andrew WK and Wavves are just a few acts on the seemingly endless bill that runs from noon til 1 a.m.
SXSW wouldn't be a REAL rager without a crazy warehouse show; and who better to play said rager than an unpredictable act like hardcore-rap hybrid Death Grips? Someone even more unpredictable... like Chief Keef. Saturday night's Boiler Room shitshow skews a bit more dubstep/EDM as the night progresses with Skream and Baauer, ensuring you'll end your SXSW dancing.
You'll have to travel 15 miles outside of Austin's city limits to catch this one, but it's at WILLIE NELSON'S RANCH. Like... THE Willie Nelson. The lineup isn't really my thing; Jim James and Phosphorescent are cool, but this one gets a special shout out for the experience.
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Gorillas caught in the crossfire in the DRCPublic release date: 13-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stephen Sautner ssautner@wcs.org 718-220-3682 Wildlife Conservation Society
Setting the record straight about Grauer's gorilla, potentially the most threatened gorilla in the world
NEW YORK (March 13, 2013) The world's leading conservation organizations have joined together to fight for the survival of the Endangered Grauer's or eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri).
Found only in the mountain and mid-altitude forests of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Grauer's gorilla is not only the largest of the four gorilla subspecies but also the largest primate in the world.
With their entire range consumed in conflict since 1996, important populations of Grauer's and their chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) relatives have gone largely unmonitored. Different sources have offered varying population estimates since that time, but their true status is unknown.
The Jane Goodall Institute, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), Conservation International (CI), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI), and local conservation organizations have partnered with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism (MECNT), national military and police authorities, and local communities to support the implementation of a recently completed International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Action Plan for great apes in the eastern DRC.
The action plan represents an important milestone in the conservation of great apes in the DRC, bringing together a large number of government and civilian stakeholders and a panel of ape conservation experts to identify essential actions to slow the decline of gorillas and chimpanzees in the region.
Dario Merlo of the Jane Goodall Institute said: "Conserving the remaining Grauer's gorilla populations, as well as chimpanzees in the area, requires a dynamic approach and the participation of all areas of society from national government to local communities."
Having identified and agreed on the need for a coordinated and consolidated approach, the in-country teams are now working closely, each taking the lead on a component of the plan while supporting the others with their expertise. One of the key activities identified is the need to assess the true status of gorillas and chimpanzees in the region.
The first-ever surveys of Grauer's gorillas were carried out in the late 1950s by George Schaller of WCS and John Emlen at a time when Grauer's gorillas were considered to be the same subspecies as the mountain gorilla. The initial surveys concluded that these gorillas were rare and rapidly declining due to habitat destruction, hunting for meat, and retaliation for crop raiding.
Subsequent surveys by WCS to establish a population estimate for Grauer's gorillas, which did not take place until 1994, included the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and its adjacent forests, the Itombwe Massif, and Maiko National Park. These surveys found that gorillas remained highly threatened, primarily from hunting and human settlement, and that several important subpopulations had been lost. Results of these surveys suggested that at the time the region supported approximately 17,000 gorillas. "In the 1990s, carrying out surveys in this region was challenging, but we did not have to contend with the insecurity that followed. Comprehensive follow-up surveys have been impossible until now" said Dr Liz Williamson of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group.
Andrew Plumptre of WCS said: "The Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora International and the Jane Goodall Institute have designed a new scientific approach to survey this endangered ape across its 80,000 square kilometer range with statistical help from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. Together we will be testing a new survey technique that will allow improved future monitoring of this species in a more cost-effective manner. This design will allow us to be more confident about the impacts of the civil war in the DRC on Grauer's gorilla numbers."
Lilian Pintea of the Jane Goodall Institute said: "With support from Google, DigitalGlobe and Esri, we are also applying innovative, cutting-edge mobile mapping, satellite imagery, and cloud-based technologies to equip survey teams with high-resolution base maps and enable local communities to contribute to ape monitoring efforts."
Since 2003, several attempts have been made to survey parts of the Grauer's gorilla's range. While results from these preliminary surveys found that gorillas still exist at several key sites, they also documented what appears to be a severe decline of 50-80% since the 1990s.
Stuart Nixon of Fauna & Flora International said: "Today, the remaining Grauer's gorilla populations are small and localised and occur in regions of intense illegal mining activity and insecurity. Until we can complete the much-needed surveys, our best guess is that between 2,000 and 10,000 gorillas remain in around 14 isolated populations. Without a dedicated effort, the next 10 years will be marked by continuing local extinctions of this forgotten gorilla."
Classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the new surveys are vital to accurately assess Grauer's gorilla conservation status and to identify the highest priority populations for focused conservation efforts and long-term monitoring.
WCS and FFI will begin implementing the surveys this month.
###
For Media Enquiries:
Wildlife Conservation Society (ssautner@wcs.org; http://www.albertinerift.org; http://www.wcs.org)
Fauna & Flora International (ally.catterick@fauna-flora.org; http://www.fauna-flora.org)
The Jane Goodall Institute (clairejones@janegoodall.org)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species http://www.iucnredlist.org
PDFs of the action plan in English or French can be downloaded from the Primate Specialist Group website: http://www.primate-sg.org/action_plans/
Partners
Conservation International (http://www.conservation.org/)
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (http://gorillafund.org/)
Frankfurt Zoological Society (http://www.zgf.de/)
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Gorillas caught in the crossfire in the DRCPublic release date: 13-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stephen Sautner ssautner@wcs.org 718-220-3682 Wildlife Conservation Society
Setting the record straight about Grauer's gorilla, potentially the most threatened gorilla in the world
NEW YORK (March 13, 2013) The world's leading conservation organizations have joined together to fight for the survival of the Endangered Grauer's or eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri).
Found only in the mountain and mid-altitude forests of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Grauer's gorilla is not only the largest of the four gorilla subspecies but also the largest primate in the world.
With their entire range consumed in conflict since 1996, important populations of Grauer's and their chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) relatives have gone largely unmonitored. Different sources have offered varying population estimates since that time, but their true status is unknown.
The Jane Goodall Institute, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), Conservation International (CI), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI), and local conservation organizations have partnered with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism (MECNT), national military and police authorities, and local communities to support the implementation of a recently completed International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Action Plan for great apes in the eastern DRC.
The action plan represents an important milestone in the conservation of great apes in the DRC, bringing together a large number of government and civilian stakeholders and a panel of ape conservation experts to identify essential actions to slow the decline of gorillas and chimpanzees in the region.
Dario Merlo of the Jane Goodall Institute said: "Conserving the remaining Grauer's gorilla populations, as well as chimpanzees in the area, requires a dynamic approach and the participation of all areas of society from national government to local communities."
Having identified and agreed on the need for a coordinated and consolidated approach, the in-country teams are now working closely, each taking the lead on a component of the plan while supporting the others with their expertise. One of the key activities identified is the need to assess the true status of gorillas and chimpanzees in the region.
The first-ever surveys of Grauer's gorillas were carried out in the late 1950s by George Schaller of WCS and John Emlen at a time when Grauer's gorillas were considered to be the same subspecies as the mountain gorilla. The initial surveys concluded that these gorillas were rare and rapidly declining due to habitat destruction, hunting for meat, and retaliation for crop raiding.
Subsequent surveys by WCS to establish a population estimate for Grauer's gorillas, which did not take place until 1994, included the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and its adjacent forests, the Itombwe Massif, and Maiko National Park. These surveys found that gorillas remained highly threatened, primarily from hunting and human settlement, and that several important subpopulations had been lost. Results of these surveys suggested that at the time the region supported approximately 17,000 gorillas. "In the 1990s, carrying out surveys in this region was challenging, but we did not have to contend with the insecurity that followed. Comprehensive follow-up surveys have been impossible until now" said Dr Liz Williamson of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group.
Andrew Plumptre of WCS said: "The Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora International and the Jane Goodall Institute have designed a new scientific approach to survey this endangered ape across its 80,000 square kilometer range with statistical help from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. Together we will be testing a new survey technique that will allow improved future monitoring of this species in a more cost-effective manner. This design will allow us to be more confident about the impacts of the civil war in the DRC on Grauer's gorilla numbers."
Lilian Pintea of the Jane Goodall Institute said: "With support from Google, DigitalGlobe and Esri, we are also applying innovative, cutting-edge mobile mapping, satellite imagery, and cloud-based technologies to equip survey teams with high-resolution base maps and enable local communities to contribute to ape monitoring efforts."
Since 2003, several attempts have been made to survey parts of the Grauer's gorilla's range. While results from these preliminary surveys found that gorillas still exist at several key sites, they also documented what appears to be a severe decline of 50-80% since the 1990s.
Stuart Nixon of Fauna & Flora International said: "Today, the remaining Grauer's gorilla populations are small and localised and occur in regions of intense illegal mining activity and insecurity. Until we can complete the much-needed surveys, our best guess is that between 2,000 and 10,000 gorillas remain in around 14 isolated populations. Without a dedicated effort, the next 10 years will be marked by continuing local extinctions of this forgotten gorilla."
Classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the new surveys are vital to accurately assess Grauer's gorilla conservation status and to identify the highest priority populations for focused conservation efforts and long-term monitoring.
WCS and FFI will begin implementing the surveys this month.
###
For Media Enquiries:
Wildlife Conservation Society (ssautner@wcs.org; http://www.albertinerift.org; http://www.wcs.org)
Fauna & Flora International (ally.catterick@fauna-flora.org; http://www.fauna-flora.org)
The Jane Goodall Institute (clairejones@janegoodall.org)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species http://www.iucnredlist.org
PDFs of the action plan in English or French can be downloaded from the Primate Specialist Group website: http://www.primate-sg.org/action_plans/
Partners
Conservation International (http://www.conservation.org/)
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (http://gorillafund.org/)
Frankfurt Zoological Society (http://www.zgf.de/)
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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It?s a universal question, whether you?re a professional cook, a passionate amateur or someone with enough interest to want to avoid ordering takeout every night. I?ll give you the answer here on Diner?s Journal every other Monday (alternating with another new recipe feature, Restaurant Takeaway).
What you?ll find: recipes for dishes that I like to make for weeknight dinners, a mix of tried-and-true cornerstones of my repertory and fly-by-night experiments that happen to work out well (we?re not going to talk about the ones that don?t).
What you won?t find: anything complex that uses too many pans (who wants to wash them all?) or calls for exotic ingredients that you can?t pick up at your local market on the way home. And while the recipes are not always going to be under-30-minutes fast, all are fast enough to get you fed by a reasonable hour.
One thing to note is that while not all of the recipes will be broadly child-friendly ? and this depends a great deal upon your child ? most of them can be adapted in some way to feed the whole family. I have a great fondness for anchovies, horseradish and chiles. My 4-year-old does not. But with a few modifications, we manage just fine.
This week?s recipe, for a hearty, pur?ed root vegetable soup, is something we eat at home at least twice a month. We vary the roots, change out the herbs or add spices, but the technique is always the same. Saut? alliums, celery and herbs in plenty of butter or oil, add roots, salt and water, and let cook until everything is soft enough to gum. Pur?e the mess and season liberally with lemon juice, olive oil, more salt and chile flakes or grated cheese. The soup itself is quiet and gentle and needs the seasonings to really sing, so don?t be shy.
Here?s a tip: The larger you cut your roots, the longer they will take to cook, but the quicker they are to prepare for the pot. If you cut your roots into very small pieces, they will cook quickly but take you longer to prep at the front end. So it?s up to you how you want to spend your time. I think hands-off simmering is preferable to protracted chopping, but maybe you?re better with a chef?s knife than I am. I usually cut the roots into large chunks and let them bubble away for 30 to 40 minutes while I get the child bathed, the salad made and the wine poured. But one day, when I?m really hungry, I plan to use the food processor to instantly grate all the roots and see if I can cut the cooking time in half. In the meantime, soup?s on.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion or 2 leeks (white and light green part only), chopped
2 to 3 celery stalks, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 rosemary or thyme branches
2 bay leaves
3 1/2 pounds mixed root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, celery root, turnip, rutabaga, sweet or regular potato), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
Juice of 1/2 lemon, more for serving
Extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Crushed Aleppo, Urfa or other chile flakes, optional
Grated Parmesan or pecorino, optional
Method
1. Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Stir in onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, rosemary and bay leaves; cook 1 minute more. Add root vegetables, 8 cups water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
2. Remove and discard rosemary branches and bay leaves. Using an immersion blender, pur?e soup until smooth. (Alternatively, you can pur?e the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.) If the soup is too thick, add a little water. Season with lemon juice and more salt to taste.
3. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, flaky salt and crushed chile or grated cheese, if desired.
MILAN (AP) ? Silvio Berlusconi's judicial woes weighed on Italy's political future on Monday as prosecutors in Naples requested an accelerated trial of the former premier on corruption charges, and Milan judges in his sex-for-hire trial ordered a medical visit to certify his ailments.
The judicial jockeying comes at a politically sensitive time for Italy, as it seeks to form a stable government following inconclusive national elections Feb. 24-25.
Democratic Party leader Pier Bersani, whose forces finished first in the lower house vote, has ruled out an alliance with Berlusconi's center-right coalition, which finished second. But Bersani's options are limited as comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo, whose movement finished third, refuses to align with any major party. Talks will begin March 20, after Parliament convenes Friday and votes in leaders of both houses.
Berlusconi has been seeking to have the two trials postponed due to an eye condition for which he has been hospitalized since Friday. Judges in Berlusconi's tax fraud appeal continued with Saturday's hearing after court-appointed doctors said his ailments were not severe enough to keep him from court.
Another court on Monday ordered a new medical visit to verify the severity of his ailments after Berlusconi's lawyers submitted three medical certificates, citing the eye inflammation and a heart problem to support a new delay request.
Prosecutor Ilda Boccassini had been scheduled to wrap up her closing arguments in the trial in which Berlusconi, 76, is charged with having paid for sex with an underage Moroccan teen and using his influence to cover it up.
Giovanni Orsina, a professor of political science professor at Rome's LUISS university, said the intensifying judicial attention on Berlusconi at such a delicate movement has negative consequences on the political process "whatever you think of whose fault it is."
The situation makes it even more difficult for Bersani to consider any sort of political agreement with the center-right, while further polarizing Berlusconi supporters who see him as a persecuted figure, Orsina said.
Berlusconi has long complained that he is the target of a judicial campaign, citing many trials mostly in Milan and mostly related to his business dealings.
He was convicted in October of tax fraud related to the purchase of the rights to air Hollywood movies on his television networks. Prosecutors in the appeals trial are seeking to uphold the four-year sentence, which includes a five-year ban on public office.
A verdict is due in coming weeks in both the appeal case and the sensational sex-for-hire trial.
Angelino Alfano, the head of Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party, said the pressure to conclude the cases is "an attempt to eliminate Silvio Berlusconi by judicial means, having failed by electoral or democratic measures."
Berlusconi also faces fresh accusations in Naples that he paid a senator ?3 million ($3.9 million) to defect to his party, significantly weakening the previous government of Romano Prodi. Prosecutors are seeking an accelerated trial that skips the preliminary hearing stage because they believe they have overwhelming evidence.
In yet another case, Berlusconi was convicted last week of breach of confidentiality for the illegal publication of wiretapped conversations by a newspaper he owns.
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Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
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