Road map to pop stardom

Behold: the "Fame 500" map, a nifty little scientific tool to map which British counties have the most talent per capita. Probably the most surprising revelation (those those of us of a certain age, perhaps, and by that I mean 23) Merseyside and London, the homes of The Beatles and Bowie only finished second and third, respectively, behind the relative isolated northern county Lancashire, home of Oasis and Morrissey. Imagine if this were transposed to the U.S.: While New York and California would obviously have strong showings, I would expect that Minnesota would naturally emerge somewhere near the top, what with Prince, Bob Dylan, and one of the dudes from "Dude, Where's My Car?"

Lately, with the debut in the UK of "Pop Idol," which later gave birth to, of course, "American Idol" with its cattle calls throughout Middle America, and the current British, Simon Cowell-driven talent show juggernaut, "X-Factor," has essentially democratized the achievement of national exposure and fame for aspiring performers. Now UK grocery chain Tesco is taking it one step further by introducing the 1Click2Fame talent competition. Using HD Green Screen technology placed in specialty audition pods inside Tesco stores during a national tour, residents of even the smallest hamlets can create professional quality audition videos, and not only send them instantly to friends, but upload them to the Web site for a chance at winning cash prizes, recording contracts and other goodies. Case in point: the first round winner was Lucie Evans, an impossibly lovable 16-year-old Lily Allen-esque pop singer who went from making her own audition video to recording in L.A. and auditioning musicians there for her touring band:


There's hundreds of videos already available to vote on, and a quick visit to the site proves there's a lot more where Lucie came from. You know it's only a matter of time before this hits a Stop 'n' Shop near you. So could this mean the end of "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?" Personally if it means the New Yorks and Londons of the world will lose their strangleholds on the entertainment industry, and no longer compel hopefuls to pay outrageously high rents for the privilege of being spat upon by talent agents and record execs, then 1Click2Fame may be the best innovation in entertainment scouting since FM radio. Long live the democracy of talent.

Mp3 - Lucie Evans - No Blue Sky

Join me Thursday for story time in Greenpoint

Here's your chance to hear me tell whatever stirring story I come up with between now and Thursday night (and that will most likely involve a penis, because as I've come to realize, at readings, much like in kindergarten, penis references are invariably gold) and if you're so inclined, join me and the other talented readers before and/or after for a drink and a hang. It happens this Thursday, November 19 at 8 pm at Bar Matchless, 557 Manhattan Ave. in Greenpoint. Detailed directions can be found here: http://www.barmatchless.com/about.html.

Vol. 1 Brooklyn Storytelling Series

Come wish us a happy winter break as we present our final Vol. 1 Brooklyn Storytelling of 2009. This month, we present two contributes to our site, and three newcomers to the Matchless stage.

:Porochista Khakpour
::Clay Mcleod Chapman
:::Tobias Carroll
::::Aaron Hartman
:::::Claire Shefchik

Hosted by Jason Diamond
http://www.vol1brooklyn.com

What's the deal? Your weekly Publisher's Lunch deal snark (God Bless America Edition)

Publisher's Lunch says: Todd Gitlin's UNDYING, about a philosopher, who is diagnosed with lymphoma while struggling to write a book contending that Friedrich Nietzsche's thought stemmed from his ill heath, and who is also compelled to contend with a severely errant daughter, as well as the trauma of George W. Bush's 2004 victory, to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

Indichik says: That second obstacle (after the daughter) is priceless. Or maddening, I can't decide which. In any case, eight years of Bush were bad enough -- do we really need to start reliving them through fiction?

Hartzveytik roundup, plus: The Shondes at SLC

First, over on Jezebel, Niina did an unbelievably complete job with recapping last Saturday's Hartzveytik: A Survival Society Social, a charity fundraiser at Southpaw, featuring the Low and the Lonesome, Royal Pink, Soft Power and of course, The Shondes (shown here).

Also: You can see The Shondes! But only if you go to Sarah Lawrence College. Or possibly, if you formerly went to Sarah Lawrence, as I did a relatively short time ago in another life, and still know your way around really, really well and/or still carry your expired student ID around in your wallet. If that's the case, they play Saturday, November 21 at 9 p.m. in The Blue Room.

Ben Yagoda writes in praise of the memoirist

Salon's Laura Miller has a long review of Ben Yagoda's new Memoir: A History (Riverhead) up. The book delves back in history to explain the motives of memoirists as early as St. Augustine. I suppose there are those who are interested in such things, but to me, the more intriguing aspects are Yagoda's arguments in defense of the current craze for memoirs of all types, and all levels of quality. One of these is that the current popularity of memoir now allows mediocre writers to get published. And that astonishingly, this is somehow a good thing.

Now missing The Shondes

I've now managed to miss Brooklynites The Shondes twice: once before Rasputina's last show at The Knitting Factory, and once Saturday at Southpaw at Hartzveytik: A Survival Society Social, because I had to leave before their set for a very oddly-timed work-related thing. If heir brand of riot-grrl-meets-traditional Jewish music appeals to you, than you must feel my frustration. I was however able to see Royal Pink, a shamelessly gimmicky '50s girl group throwback band (complete with pink poodle skirts) that got a little less gimmicky at the end, and a very small part of Soft Power, who play lovely laid-back pop. However, when The Shondes' album comes out (soon I'm told), Louisa has promised me VIP status (or something resembling it) and I'll have to be satsified with that. Meanwhile, here's their video for "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," courtesy of Niina.

If I ran the circus, it would look a lot like this

Photos from the cave of daring freaks and spectacular wonders, courtesy of testosterone-heavy email newsletter Thrillist party, Friday at Carnival. In the top photo are the beginnings of the balloon Elmo I had so generously mademe, complete with googly eyes (that kept popping off before he was finished). You could also win live goldfish by tossing ping pong balls in their bowls. The whole event was sponsored by Jolt Energy Mints and Canadian Club Whiskey, complimenting each other perfectly.