All posts by Chris Butera

Chris Butera enjoys going to metal concerts, reading and having a cold one with friends.
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Places to Eat: Kawaii

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Photo credit: Danny Chi
Photo credit: Danny Chi

Just past Brooklyn’s roast beef emporium Brennan and Carr and right next to Jay and Lloyd’s of deli fame is Kawaii, a hidden sushi restaurant that can go ten rounds with the two heavyweights above.

The cozy little hole-in the wall serves an abundance of food with a large menu ranging from several types of teriyaki, a multitude of salads (mango kani anyone?) and a plethora of special sushi rolls such as the Bloody Mary, Godzilla and the AK-47 at great prices with large portions to boot.

On top of that, Kawaii also has an extensive all you can eat menu with nothing off limits for $20.00. The only catch is that if you’re going to take that route, your entire party must also be on board.

If that isn’t appealing enough, your sushi will be served in a wooden boat if a large enough quantity is ordered.

The flavors in the special rolls and salads pop with no ingredients overpowering nor canceling others out. Every hint of citrus, caviar, and fish really come together in unprecedented fashion.

At times some of the grilled dishes may come out a bit dry or overcooked, but the sauces are very nicely done and do a great job of making up for what is lost if you should run into that situation.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty, Kawaii is a winner fully loaded with variety, diversity and generosity showing in their prices, menus and food.

Fun fact: Kawaii is the Japanese word for “loveable,” “charming,” “adorable” or “cute.”

How appropriate.

Music

Band of The Week: Kenneth Packard

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Prepare for some of the heaviest music you’ve never heard.

In the fall of 2011, Kenneth Packard walked into Kyle Wodzicki’s SUNY Oswego dorm room and proceeded to record his unique brand of Death Metal. Packard layed down bass and guitar tracks while Wodzicki would later program drums. Packard would record two tracks, “Equivocal” (above) and “Lay Dead” (below). The tracks are instrumental although vocals were originally planned.

“At the time I was playing with my friend Matt at home. I was up at school,” Packard said. “My friend Kyle Wodzicki had recording stuff in his room and I just approached him with recording the stuff that I had.  It was only for demo purposes but it sounded really good.”

The project Packard was working on eventually fell through and the recordings would fail to see the light of day until now.

The Bonesaw is proud to premiere these pieces of Packard’s legacy for your listening pleasure.

Gaming

Trailer Feedback: Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

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Although we just got Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 a short while ago, programmer Scott Cawthon has already been hard at work continuing his legacy.

Make no bones about it, this game is going to scare the hell out of people.

The cinematic graphics are fantastic and vibrant without the animatronics having to do much at all. We get the immediate sense of dread.The haunting music also does a good job of building the trailer. We get shots of the restaurant and the animatronics. Bonnie the Bunny’s eye slowly rolls towards the camera in chilling fashion.

The real head-scratchers here are in the text. “He will come back, he always does, we have a place for him” all appear in yellow before turning to red. Who are the possessed animatronics referring to? The killer of the five lost children the series story subtly revolves around? The phone guy from the previous games? Or is it you, the night guard?

We then get a shot of the creepiest thing these games have delivered us. The twitching golden animatronic (being called “Golden Bonnie” and “Salvage” by fans) who’s eyes looks more man than machine. And to make things worse we see what looks like gameplay footage of the creature skulking into the guard room, staring into the camera and emitting a shriek before the title screen appears.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Chuck E. Cheese…

Podcast, Pro Wrestling

Bonesaw Podcast Ep 1: Chris and Frank Shoot on Royal Rumble 2015

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We finally did it guys. Thanks for all your support so far and the support you will continue to give in the future. For our first episode I’m joined by my friend and former college buddy Frank Lucci where we let the fur fly as we express our thoughts on this year’s Royal Rumble event. Frank and I discuss what we liked, disliked, a WWE/Jetsons crossover and more. Our band of the week GZR is featured as well so sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Music

Band of the Week: GZR

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As much as people love Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell’s bass player Terrance “Geezer” Butler, rarely do they mention his solo project GZR (also spelled Geezer and g//z/r/ depending on which album you’re listening to).

1995 saw the debut album “Plastic Planet,” which contained darker melodies than what Sabbath fans were used to featured the brooding vocals of Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell, Pedro Howse (who is also Butler’s nephew) on guitars and Deen Castronovo’s (Journey) drumming abilities on top of Butler’s iconic bass playing. The album received mixed reviews but established a small cult following. Songs such as “Seance Fiction” were met with praise due to the heavy rhythms and haunting vocals.

1996 and 1997 marked two more releases from GZR, the “Cycle of Sixty” EP and their sophomore album, “Black Science.” The lineup shifted from Bell to Clark Brown on vocals due to Bell’s commitments to Fear Factory. The style of the album continued in the same fashion as the first and was met with similar reviews as well. 1996 also saw the project release “Outworld,” a song exclusively for the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. After a handful of live performances in 1997, GZR would disband until 2005 when they would release their last album to date: “Ohmwork”.

“Ohmwork” was met with praise and another lineup shift, this time in the drum department. Castronovo would be replaced with Chad Smith (not Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smith from Anacrusis), who had been brought in for live dates in 1997. While continuing the trend of scientific and horror based lyrics, “Ohmwork” was a sonically different record than its predecessors, using more ambiance than before.

Butler would eventually play again for Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell until this day, lending his expertise to several albums between the two bands. Butler has confirmed that GZR has been working on new material and is expecting to release a new album in 2015.

Pro Wrestling

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Thoughts

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Tonight from WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT; Booker T and Michael Cole agreed last night’s Royal Rumble was a night to remember.

While the above statement is true, the annual event in question will be remembered – but for the wrong reasons.

Wrestlemania season is supposed to start with a bang. New stars receive fresh starts with memorable moments and old ones get to bask in their nostalgic glory if only for a moment.

Instead for the second year in a row, the WWE Universe was not happy with their order both figuratively and literally.

While the Royal Rumble match itself did have its moments (such as Buh Buh Ray Dudley and Diamond Dallas Page making  returns that popped the crowd), the contest was booked very predictably with very little direction other than to highlight its winner Roman Reigns.

The contest started out well with surprise appearances, some nice feud teasing and immense potential. The Wyatts brawled with each other, Bray dominated the match and DDP dropped the Diamond Cutter like a man on fire. Daniel Bryan, the obvious fan favorite made his way to the ring at number 10 and immediately started hanging and banging with the best of them.

For about 10 minutes before he was unceremoniously eliminated.

That took the air out of the building faster than the New England Patriots.

Shortly after Reigns entered and the rest of the match was booed worse than last year.

WWE pulled all the stops to reverse the fans polarity, even having The Rock do a run-in to aid his real-life cousin Reigns, but even that was rejected.

For the love of God the fans were chanting for Rusev, a man whose character is a Russian sympathizer on American programming.

The saving grace of Royal Rumble was the Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship between Seth Rollins, John Cena, and  Brock Lesnar – who defended his championship in one of the best matches of each combatants careers.

Rollins’ ability is incredible as he demonstrated why he is the future, utilizing the psychology and dimensions of the match to his advantage.

Lesnar also played the odd man out to a “t,” double teaming his opponents and watching his back while laying waste to them at opportune times.

Cena also hit every aspect of the hero, but not in the force-fed way he usually is portrayed. This time around, it was believable and told a great story. Hats off to the three of them with hopes of this angle continuing in the near future.

The New Day vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd with Adam Rose was a decent warm up with a lot of very high spots. The finish was exciting as Cesaro and Kidd got the surprise win with great old-school heel tactics. Please give these men a shot at the titles.

Speaking of titles, The Usos worked another exciting match against The Miz and Mizdow for the Tag Team Championships. A lot of fun, but we’ve seen this already. The Usos need a new team to feud with.

Speaking of new teams, The Ascension defeated the New Age Outlaws in a quick match that unfortunately did nothing for either team. While it’s always nice to see The Outlaws, The Ascension were treated like toys on the previous Raw when the Outlaws and a slew of non-active wrestlers manhandled them in addition to their horrendous debut last month and childish promos. Hopefully these guys can be salvaged.

Speaking of things that can be salvaged (this is the last time, scout’s honor), The Divas tag match was much better than expected. The Bellas looked strong, but Paige and Natalya didn’t look like pushovers either. Paige was mostly left out of the match minus some quick action and a non-PG cover on Brie Bella, but this could be the seed for Paige vs. Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship.

Despite a major hiccup in the Rumble itself, the 2015 Royal Rumble event was OK; but just OK and that is a problem.

While we did have a few good matches, fun moments, and a show-stopping Championship bout, we got a lackluster main event that flopped on all cylinders. The issue with the Rumble was not who won, but how he won. When Big Show and Kane began literally dumping key players like Ziggler, Ambrose and Wyatt over the top rope without said key players even trying to fight back, there was no drama, and therefore no reason to continue watching. No drama equals no entertainment, and when your audience is not entertained, they don’t care about the product.

Pro Wrestling

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Predictions

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Another WWE calendar has come and gone and it’s time to start ‘Mania season off with a bang at this years Royal  Rumble installment. 30 men will enter, one man will leave with a Wrestlemania opportunity upon his victory in the rumble match but for the heck of it, here is what we’d like to think would happen in the 2015 Royal Rumble event.

Kickoff Match: The New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose – Even though the unlikely trio of Cesaro, Kidd and Rose have had their way with The New Day over the past few weeks, Despite Cesaro and Kidd being a newly formed team, The New Day is the stable that WWE is pushing so for that reason alone they will be the victors with an entertaining match to boot.

The New Age Outlaws vs.The Ascension – As is above will be so below.  The Outlaws are a classic tag team frozen in time. They have and always will be incredible to watch. Again, The Ascension is the team receiving the push so it is more than likely that the overall decision will be for Konnor and Viktor rather than The Outlaws – who are well established and have nothing left to prove.

Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) vs.The Miz and Mizdow – The Miz and Mizdow will invoke their re-match clause against The Usos, but it will do them no good as the obvious dissent in The Miz and Mizdows team is consistantly growing while The Usos brotherly bond remains consistent. Chances are that The Usos will retain their championships over some sort of “Miz” communication.

Paige and Natalya vs. The Bella Twins – While Paige claims she doesn’t need any assistance, Natalya begs to differ. While the two have proven their worth against Nikki Bella and her Divas Championship, Nattie’s hubby Tyson Kidd  proves to be the wild card in this feud;  often costing the woman he assists her match by hogging the spotlight. in short: there are too many variables for The Bellas to win than there are to lose.

The 2015 Royal Rumble Match – This is the meat and potatoes of the event. While it will be fun to see who enters in what order (and whatever surprises WWE has in store), our final four will see Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and either Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Rusev or Ryback. As far as the actual winner is concerned, it is a three way tie between Reigns, Bryan, and Ambrose. Ambrose is of course the wild card and the least likely of the three to win,  but it would be nice to see the WWE take a chance on the unstable young wolf. Bryan would be the safest bet to get the storybook ending he deserved last year as he seemingly has not skipped a beat in his injury related absence, but we feel like WWE will stick with what the dirt sheets have claimed to be “the original plan” and will decide Reigns your 2015 Royal Rumble winner.

Triple Threat WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins – Thank God Rollins is in this match because nobody wanted to see Lesnar vs. Cena for the third consecutive time. Not only does the inclusion of Rollins benefit the match from being another predictable “John Cena overcomes the odds story” but it also enhances the match itself with a wacky scenario: not only does Lesnar not have to get beat to lose his championship but Rollins can immediately cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase after the match itself if he chooses. If we were betting men we would say Cena wins (again), but we would not be surprised if Rollins or Lesnar walks out with gold around their waist.

Movies

Trailer Feedback: Popeye

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Although the world isn’t exactly clamoring for another throwback animation movie, Sony is giving us Popeye anyway.

While the trailer does not look terrible, everyone’s favorite sailor is noticeably missing some key features: his signature pipe and anchor tattoos.

Perhaps the film will focus on a younger Popeye embarking on an early venture that leads him to his first encounter with the love of his life, Olive Oyl.

This also could be Popeye’s first battle with Bluto over Ms. Oyl as well.

Despite the lack of spinach or Wimpy, it is a nice touch that Popeye features Eugene The Jeep – a mystical animal that is described as “living in a three dimensional world, but really belonging to a fourth dimensional world” by Professor Brainstine in a 1936 Popeye comic strip.

The animation looks fun and fluid, the quirky humor of Popeye is captured nicely, and the action is reminiscent of the classic cartoons (sans spinach) – with Popeye literally throwing the kitchen sink at Bluto’s goons.

We may not need another Popeye flick, but this doesn’t look that bad at first glance.

Music

Band of the Week: Blood Feast

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One of the unsung heroes of old-school Thrash – New Jersey’s own Blood Feast.

Taking their name from the classic gore movie, Blood Feast originally formed in 1985 as “Blood Lust.” They changed their name the following year, shortly after the release of their “Suicidal Mission” demo.

In 1987 Blood Feast released their debut album “Kill For Pleasure” and the “Face Fate” EP on New Renaissance Records. These releases were innovative with the speed and technicality of their work reaching a new level of ferocity in the Thrash Metal world.

Several years and a shift in the lineup would go by before Blood Feast would release their sophomore album, “Chopping Block Blues” in 1990 on Colossal Records. Guitarist Adam Tranquilli had left the band and Blood Feast would record “Chopping Block Blues” as a four-piece. Blood Feast then split up a year later in 1991.

Blood Feast seemed to be over, but they would later reform for two one-off shows in 1999 and 2007. The latter would lead to Blood Feast officially coming out of retirement with Tranquilli returning to the fold and a slew of lineup changes. Since then, Blood Feast have released two compilations (2002’s “Remnants: The Last Remains” and 2013’s “Last Offering Before the Chopping Block”) and have been working on new material for quite some time. The clip above is the official video for their new song “Off With Their Heads.”

The only question that lingers is if and when a new Blood Feast album will see the light of day. In the meantime just sit back, relax, and don’t forget to drink the blood of every corpse.

Movies

Trailer Feedback: Ant-Man

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Paul Rudd looks like a surprisingly good choice for Ant-Man; a secondary Marvel hero that you may or may not know of.

If you fall into the latter category, Ant-Man was originally a scientist named Hank Pym who created a substance called “Pym Particles” that allowed him to change size at will. Pym also invented a helmet that could control ants. Scott Lang became the second Ant-Man after stealing the suit from Pym to save his daughter’s life. However, Pym was not vengeful and in fact encouraged Lang to take up the mantle, effectively reforming him from criminal to hero. Later, low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. employee Eric O’Grady stumbles upon the Ant-Man costume at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters and dons the persona – but is not the nicest guy in the world and almost destroys Ant-Man’s reputation completely.

Fortunately, we’re getting Lang’s redemption story for the feature film. We see Rudd (as Lang) being arrested, being asked by Pym (played by Michael Douglas) to become Ant-Man, and showing affection for his daughter. Effective development in 30 seconds.

Let’s not forget the sweet Ant-Man suit.

We also get  nice shots of Ant-Man shrinking down, roughing up some bad guys and flying on a bug.

Ant-Man looks like it could surprise us as much as Guardians of the Galaxy did last year.