Yoshi and Nevin arrive together, unnoticed. As the rest of the Bellhouse fraternity gather for Amateur Ping Pong, steadying our nerves with $2 Bud lights, infantile one-upmanship, and delusions of grandeur, Yoshi and Nevin take to the tables with their own balls and paddles, readying themselves with shadow play, carefully sand-bagging their way through the first few rounds.

It used to be that you had to either be Chinese, North Korean or an eighties throwback in matching sweatbands, tight shorts with a strong command of power-ballads to  command any respect from across the net. But times done changed and the Bellhouse has thrown it’s Amateur Ping Pong night open to any rank amateur, any dreamer that has awoke paddle in hand from another all-night training session, any heartbroken would-be-Olympian, any Brooklynite that’s grown weary of Skeeball, Shuffleboard, Barcade or lonely drunken nights with surly bartenders and country music, this means YOU.

Tonight is more about selling beer than discovering future champions, it is at once a clash of metal and pine, of Metallica and pong, it is an all swilling, all twiddling homage to the armchair athlete, a Wiifit gone 3D.

It was so supposed to be so easy. I, the reluctant hero, throw the requisite $5 in the kitty, biding my time in the early rounds, reserving my patented counter-clockwise spin serve for the Semis, my non-chalant smile and easy-going nature hiding the truth of my Machiavellian gambit.

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From Nathan Kensinger Photography:

The landscape of Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been radically transformed in the last decade. Located at the epicenter of New York City’s recent development boom, the neighborhood saw countless industrial buildings and row houses torn down by developers. In their place, dozens of luxury condominium towers were constructed, permanently altering the skyline. By July 2009, however, “The Billyburg Bust” was reported by New York Magazine, which wrote that the area was “littered with half-built shells of a vanished boom.” Like any gold rush, the aftermath of the frenzied push to develop Williamsburg has left permanent scars on the land.

Williamsburg has the highest concentration of stalled development sites in New York City, according to a 2010 report in The Real Deal.

More pix at Nathan Kensinger Photography. [via]

I’m surprised Centurion wasn’t developed as a miniseries. Set in 117 A.D. as Roman soldiers attempt to overthrow the Picts in northern Britain, Neil Marshall’s film tells what could have been an 8-hour story in just over 90 minutes. After quick introductions to the characters, a surprise ambush by the Picts leaves nearly every Roman soldier dead. Seven manage to escape – one of whom is our narrator, a Centurion named Quintus (Michael Fassbender). After an attempt to save their captured General Titus (Dominic West) goes wrong, the men spend the remainder of the film being pursued the relentless Picts, who are led by a mute female warrior, Etain, who is seeking revenge on the Romans who killed her family and ripped out her tongue. These characters would have been right at home in a longer, more thoughtful historical epic, but Neil Marshall (The Descent) has created a quick, thrilling, and ultra-violent game of hide and seek that serves them well. (more…)

We first heard about this label because we’re longtime fans of Ducktails. As you can see/hear below, Olde English Spelling Bee is putting out some stellar music and they’re never stingy with the reverb. Order away here.

Pigeons “The Paradise” from OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE on Vimeo.

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We all know the L train is the most romantic of MTA transportation. At least, if you consider missed connections to be romantic. Now, your missed love may be broadcast for an even wider audience. The Almost on the L Twitter page went up yesterday and shares the best lines from drunk lovers on the trains, such as “I couldn’t figure out your gender, but that doesn’t matter to me.”

From Lady Jays to Hachi, it’s hard to keep up with all the openings on Grand Street East. As Zagat Buzz reports, there are going to be a few more:

A branch of Singas Famous Pizza has opened, as evidenced by the rainbow-flagged photo above. The Elmhurst based-chain specializes in personal-sized, thick-crust pizzas (512 Grand St.; 718-782-2100).Just down the block, there’s a sign in window for a forthcoming restaurant called Taj Kabab & Curry (568 Grand St.).

Closer to Graham Avenue, a new bar called LP & Harmony will be opening this week. Expect pool tables, a backyard and open-mic nights (683 Grand St.).

Yep, that Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses fame. She’ll be reading from her (well reviewed) memoir Rat Girl tonight at Union Square at 7pm.

RSVP here and qualify for a free music download.

Matt & Kim have never given us a reason to dislike them. They run around naked. They are super appreciative of their fans and every type of success they have. I am sure they have never not been smiling. And so, of course, the first single off the upcoming  album Sidewalks, does not disappoint. “Cameras” is cheery, bouncy, tinged with horns and synths, and it declares that life is for living not for worrying about documenting! I’m sure twitpics are still cool, though. Am I right?

Listen to the song at the band’s Facebook or at 107.7 The End’s website. (Remember when the Real World worked at that radio station?)

Tech nerds will rejoice because this interactive film showcases the potential of HTML5. For everyone else, this interactive video is a pretty cool film featuring the music of The Arcade Fire. Make sure you enter your real childhood address. We were dubious too, but it’s worth it to get the full effect. (Best viewed in Google Chrome). Oh, and for the portion of our readership who aren’t programmers and think HTML5 is some mysterious new venereal disease, here’s a definition:

HTML5 is a standard for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. The new standard incorporates features like video playback and drag-and-drop that have been previously dependent on third-party browser plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Google Gears.

We are proud to announce our newest monthly series at Coco66, aptly named FREEwilly First Thursdays!!

The first installment will take place this coming Thurs Sept. 2nd with Apache Beat– one of our long standing favorites in the ‘hood who will be releasing their highly anticipated debut full-length, Last Chants, on October 5th. The album will feature guest appearances from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture, and Lightspeed Champion.

Blood Diamonds remix of “Another Day” has been making serious waves on the internet these last few days.

And speaking of Lightspeed Champion, we’ve got Blood Orange playing as well. Another project from the laptop/guitar savvy Brit, Devonté Hynes– who somehow translates his one man show into a sort of if-Prince-played-Market-Hotel sound.

Opening the night is We Are All Romans a duo which was brought together through a mutual interest in phase patterns, sampling and 20th century classical music. And according to Brian Patrick Hill (Guitar, Vocal, Synthesizer, Samples) and Angus Tarnawsky (Drums, Vocals, FX), WAAR is neither confounded by the future or nostalgic to the past.

The night gets kicked off with DJ Whitney Fierce, and is followed by DJ sets from Apache Beat’s leading lady Ilirjana Alushaj as well as musical selections from the boys of the summery lo-fi Brooklyn faves, Beach Fossils.

Doors 7pm | 21+ | $8

We’ll be announcing a handful of special goodies in the next few days, but for now, go RSVP for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the show!

Flyer by Behold the Destroyer