The Slants bill themselves as "Chinatown Dance Rock," which means they have no problem copping to the fact they sound like "the Asian version of the Killers." The Portland, Oregon-based group, who come to Union Hall next month, made news recently when they attempted to trademark their name, but the U.S. Patent Office rejected their application, citing a section of the 1964 Trademark Act that they say shows "the slants" name "consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage." Given The Slants' heritage, this isn't exactly the same as our Worst Band Name in NYC contest winners, the much-maligned Ching Chong Song.

Simon Young, the band's manager and bass player, spoke with us recently about owning slanted eyes, appealing the right to protect his band's name, and asking the federal government to give the Slants the same legal protections as the Redskins.

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Any excuse to repost this logo again though

​For the past week, the controversy over Prime 6, an in-the-works "Yo MTV Raps 'bling-bling' vip club" set to open on 242 Flatbush Avenue, has stayed at the top of our Google Reader and Twitter feeds since "Jennifer McMillen," a woman who claims to live on the same block, created a petition suggesting that the club switch over to indie music, despite the fact that "R&B and rap happen to be [her] two favorite types of music."

Last night Community Board 6 met at Long Island College to discuss this and other, less bloggable matters. Although nothing was voted on (there will be another meeting a week from today), Permits and Licenses Committee head Mark Shames stated the community's position, and did so without having to name-drop his "African American friends and colleagues."

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​You will by now be familiar with Prime 6, the soon-to-be Park Slope club and already the site of much controversy. Will the neighborhood descend into an orgy of Yo MTV Raps, "Henessey" [sic], and "bling-bling" on account of the club's plans to play rap music? Or will the forces of "indie" prevail? Who knows, but the latter seems increasingly less likely. Since the petition to inform owner Akiva Ofshtein that "Indie Music Will Earn You More Than Hip-Hop!!!" leaked earlier today, the internet has stuck back, flooding the document with "signatures." We use quotation marks because, well, look above. Shout out Das Racist, Will Smith, Mel Gibson, Fab 5 Freddy, and Barack Obama, and no love to the people getting all ad hominem with this surely already deeply regretful woman (click to enlarge):

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​We did it, Internet! This week's subject of Deborah Solomon's occasionally derided, frequently entertaining, CONDENSED AND EDITED "Questions For..." column is none other than SOTC pals Das Racist. And if you thought they were backing down upon reaching the New York Times Magazine, well...

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​

Well, yeah, the only thing more predictable than this apology was him saying some variant of it in the first place. Long day on the internet for all kinds of people.

Dude you mispelled "SVU"

​Let it be known that John Mayer's candid-interview game is unstoppable right now. Hot on the heels of his bonkers TMI orgy of a Rolling Stone cover story ("The Joshua Tree of vaginas" and so forth) comes an in-depth chat with friend-of-SOTC Rob Tannenbaum for none other than Playboy. And while John reliably holds forth on masturbation ("There have probably been days when I saw 300 vaginas before I got out of bed") and his celebrity dalliances ("If Jennifer Aniston knows how to use BitTorrent I'll eat my fucking shoe"), the interview's most remarkable exchange dabbles in race relations:

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