mermaid sashimi

2010-03-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

life and times of jefron.
indonesian sessions.
you know you love it.

the life and times of jefron, child prodigy

2010-01-18T08:42:00.001-08:00

THE INDONESIAN SESSIONS: PART 002
ethnonoise psychouts.
play it loud in your living room with wooden floors.
and have some sort of club or stick or sword or something in your hand.
this will help.
rock it til your tape pops

the life and times of jefron, child prodigy

2010-01-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

THE INDONESIAN SESSIONS: PART 001
i don't know the tracklisting for this, i've lost it somewhere, but it starts off with some krautrocky stuff and quickly turns to amazing guitar freakout jams. this shit is amazing.
rock it till your tape pops.

life and times of jefron: child prodigy

2010-01-15T13:11:00.001-08:00

so um.
i haven't done anything on this here blog for a very very long time.
BUT!!!
the time has come once more to awaken the beast!!!
beginning with the indonesian sessions of my radioshow.
they're all in 59 minute blocks.
for umm, the first 15 i don't have the track listings.
sorry.
nothing i can do about it.
if there's something you really like i might be able to tell you what it is.
but, there's a chance that it could be too late, i could be in the middle of the jungle in cambodia or taking shelter in a himalayan cave and can't get to the internet in a timely manner.
we shall see.
stay tuned.

young turks be free tonight

2009-02-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

rod stewart.
killin' it as usual.
young turks was the first video on mtv to have breakdancing in it.

brian eno on music for airports

2009-02-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

brian eno on music for airports

neverland ranch auction.

2009-02-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

A portrait of Michael Jackson dressed as a king, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1995 and housed in an elaborate gold frame. Guide price $4,000-$6,000

Michael Jackson's auction: Michael Jackson's triumph era socks
A pair of Michael Jackson's Triumph-era socks with uppers covered in rhinestone banding. They date back to his 1981 Triumph tour with the Jacksons. Guide price $600-$800
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2009/2/12/1234456922097/Michael-Jacksons-auction--008.jpg
closeup of michael jackson as peter pan on electric cart.
guide price $4000-$6000

A robotic Michael Jackson head featured at the climax of his 1988 film Moonwalker, when he transforms into a robot and defeats Joe Pesci's evil character, Mr Big. Guide price $2,000-$3,000

A Brevetti Gaggia espresso and cappuccino machine. Two tone metal featuring polished chrome with bands of repouss&ecute; and reticulated brass. Tank bears a Neverland plaque, is flanked by decorative Turkish tea vessels and is crested by an eagle finial. Guide price $1,000-$2,000

A marble chess table supported by four parcel gilt horses on marble pillars. Guide price $2,000-$3,000

A Victory tour jacket worn by Jackson at the Kansas City opening of the 1984 tour with the Jackson. It is currently on exhibit at the Los Angeles Grammy Museum. Guide price $2,000-$4,000

Michael Jackson's auction: Michael Jackson's Coin operated fortune teller
A coin-operated Grandmother Predictions fortune teller in wooden cabinet. Guide price $1,500-$2,500

Inside the Rolls Royce, as designed by Jackson. Guide price $140,000 - $160,000

from the guardian:
In April, an extraordinary auction will provide an unprecedented look into the private world of Michael Jackson. More than 2,000 items, ranging from personal effects and costumes to pieces from Jackson's private art collection as well as fittings and furnishings from his Neverland ranch, will be up for sale at a four-day public auction at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.

This new auction seems to mark Jackson's severance from Neverland, his Xanadu and a symbol of his success as well as his largesse. The ranch opened as a private amusement park in 1988, with its own zoo and Ferris wheel, roller coaster and bumper cars. It was named after Peter Pan's fantasy island where children never grow up, and for years children would arrive by the busload, invited to play freely in its grounds. But following the 2005 child molestation trial - which saw Jackson acquitted of all charges - the singer never returned to the 2,800-acre property in the Santa Ynez Valley, 130 miles west of Los Angeles. There were stories of him pitching up in Dubai, Dublin and Las Vegas before he started renting a seven-bedroom mansion in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, earlier this year. The 50-year-old star was said to be defaulting on payments on vast loans, and while he is thought to retain an interest in Neverland through his involvement with a private investment company, Colony Capital, he has said that the police investigation of the premises "violated" it in his eyes.

Before it was recently renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch, and at Jackson's request, Darren Julien and his team were brought in to scrutinise the ranch. What they found inside was the most astonishing collection of objects these experienced auctioneers said they had ever seen in a celebrity home. "It seemed as if everything he owned was made of bronze and marble and gold," says Michael Doyle, who catalogued the sale items, as well as determining their value.

Jackson surrounded himself with regal finery. There were suits of armour, display cases of custom-made crowns and an ornately carved throne with red velvet upholstering in his bedroom. "King Michael" even had a royal cape, a Father's Day present inscribed inside with a message from his children "Princess Paris" and "Prince Michael". In the lobby of the house was a commissioned portrait of Jackson as a young man in Elizabethan dress, holding a crown on a velvet pillow. Julien and his team spent almost two months at Neverland last summer, meticulously cataloguing 2,000 items, which will be sorted into 1,500 lots. Cranes and forklifts were brought in to dismantle the fairground rides and move the ornate bronze sculptures scattered across 38 acres of the estate.

In a nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the famed gates of the Neverland ranch now sit against a wall. The interior of the warehouse is littered with the ornaments that once decorated the grounds. There are bronze statues of frolicking cherubs, replica marble busts of Roman emperors, a huge statue of Prometheus that used to sit on a skull near the entrance. On shelves there are child-size diesel-powered race cars that used to zoom around the grounds. There is a Pope-mobile-style electric buggy fitted with tinted windows and stereo system. Another buggy has the King of Pop's face painted on its bonnet.

The sale also includes vintage video game machines, as well as Jackson's collection of 18th- and 19th-century art. There are books about Disney, the Three Stooges, Peter Pan and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as a collection of black history books, including the autobiography of Malcolm X. Then there is a selection of his own stage costumes, dating back from the days of the Jackson 5 through to the present. There is one of the fedoras he wore in the video for Billie Jean; a pair of trousers so studded with diamanté that they feel as heavy as chain mail; there are customised military jackets, featuring insignia surely acquired on his global travels - including badges from the Royal Air Force and the Thai Narcotics Bureau.

While the lots are "priced as if you and I had owned them, not as if they were owned by Michael Jackson", according to Martin J Nowlan, the Irish co-owner of Julien's Auctions, this is "certainly not a fire sale" of Jackson's belongings - there is, he says, much more to the singer's hoardings. But it would seem to have a personal significance, perhaps symbolising the point at which Jackson himself feels finally able to divest himself of much that conspired to tarnish his career in order to begin anew.

TRON vs depeche mode

2009-02-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

here's more tron, as in... the fucking lightbike scene!

robot girl

2009-02-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

from project aiko:
A Young Boy’s Dream…

In the past year, I have been repeatedly asked why I wanted to build Aiko. It actually starts back in the 70s during my childhood where I spent a lot of time watching Japanese anime which often featured robot themes. I remember saying to myself as a child, “I will build one of those when I grow up.” Throughout my life, I have built many prototypes and smaller robots. However, the greatest motivation came after watching “Chobits.” That was when I decided I had to build a life size gynoid (robot designed to look like a human female). It was August 15, 2007. And I knew that all I needed to build it was a little inspiration and passion.

you can even design clothes for her and she'll wear them. but not blue jeans.
she can't wear blue jeans because it will turn her blue.
by far the best quote on the website:
Many people have been asking questions over the months, and since it is impossible for me to answer everyone individually, I will answer the most popular questions here.
Yes, Aiko’s entire outer body is made of silicone. Sensors and motors are constructed underneath the silicone outer shell. Yes, Aiko has sensors in her body including her private parts (breasts, and yes, even down there). AND NO, I do not sleep with her.

check out more at project aiko

joaquin phoenix on letterman

2009-02-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

joaquin phoenix on letterman from the other night.
i was trying to watch some movie and flipped to this by accident.

amazing.
reminds me of my all time favorite interview with crispin glover.

picture of the day

2009-02-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

by jan durina

Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch

2009-02-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch.
i don't know anything about this guy.
he lives in san francisco.
i love it.

pride and prejudice and zombies

2009-02-13T13:10:00.001-08:00

so i was on the worldsbestever earlier today and found this!!!

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone crunching zombie action.
buy it here, at the worldsbestever

a number of names - sharevari debut on the scene

2009-02-13T12:30:00.001-08:00

"sharevari" by a number of names is considered to be the first detroit techno record.
here's its debut on detroit's local dance show, "the scene in 1982.

fascist fashion

2009-02-12T23:43:00.000-08:00

from vice magazine in 2003.

In 1922 Benito Mussolini discovered something incredible: He was better than every living being in the universe. Wearing a simple suit and tie like those freedom-loving pussies wasn’t going to cut it. He needed an outfit––an amazing outfit that showed the world exactly how amazing he was. And it worked. Soon everyone from Hitler to Jean-Bédel Bokassa was at the sewing machine coming up with superhero costumes that would show the world how powerful they were. For some reason the Eastern Europeans and Africans really went for it like fucking crazy. Maybe it’s because those dictators were way, WAY, way better than everyone and had to really get the point across. The important thing is, they all looked great.

BENITO MUSSOLINI
(Italy, 1922–1943)

The originators of Fascist fashion, Benito Mussolini’s “Black Shirt” combat squads took their name from the uniforms they used to wear when killing everybody in post-WWI Italy. Mussolini, whose political ideology was fervently anti-individualistic, intended the Black Shirts to reflect his followers’ uniformity (Hitler would later nick the idea for his “Brown Shirts.” Oh, and by the way, I didn’t get into how good the Nazis looked because that already got James Brown fired from GQ and I need this gig). Once he gained power, Mussolini established Fascist youth groups for girls, whose members did their thing in a beret, white shirt, and black skirt ensemble.

FRANÇOIS “PAPA DOC” DUVALIER
(Haiti, 1957–71)

Obsessed with voodoo, Papa Doc based his personal style on the uniform of the Gede, the mythical guardians of the cemetery and “lords of the erotic.” His signature look was black-and-purple top hat and tails accompanied by tons of accessories, including mirrored shades, crosses, skulls, and marigolds.

His unofficial death-squad, the Tontons Macoutes, were rumored by natives to be actual zombies and wore denim uniforms with so many red neckerchiefs and sunglasses that they looked like some kind of gay Mardi Gras version of the Bloods.

Papa Doc claimed that he was immortal and he would rule Haiti forever, promising to return after his death to rule again. He was buried in full voodoo-priest regalia, and a permanent guard was placed outside his tomb that remains there today.

MOBUTU SESE SEKO
(Zaire, now the Democratic Republic Of Congo, 1964–1996)

The original “sapeur” dictator (see v10n2), Mobutu was almost as well known for his Parisian-made leopard-skin hat and penchant for French dandy fashion as he was for the time he rounded up every criminal in the country and slaughtered them underneath the boxing ring that he built for the Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.

For Mobutu, fashion was always more important than anything, and despite having to starve his country in order to gorge his appetite for Gucci suits and limited-edition Ray-Bans, he had no shame in instituting laws like the one forcing all men to abstain from wearing collars and go with the “abacost” (a collarless jacket worn with a cravat).

JEAN-BÉDEL BOKASSA
(Central African Republic, 1966–1979)

Bokassa the Bloodthirsty crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in 1977 with a $20 million coronation ceremony. After turning heads with his diamond-encrusted crown, flowing cape, and giant phallic staff, Bokassa would nod to his subjects and take a seat in the most enormous solid-gold peacock-shaped throne you could conceive of.

In April 1979, the country’s schoolchildren took to the streets after he passed a law requiring them to wear uniforms made by one of his own clothing companies. After murdering hundreds of the rioting schoolkids, he saved a few dozen of the more tender ones and ate them. Ooooooh kaaaye.

Eating children was bad for his career, and after being ousted from power and serving seven years in prison for cannibalism, Bokassa proclaimed himself the thirteenth apostle of the Roman Catholic Church and traded in his regal flesh-eating getup for flowing white robes and a silver crucifix.

IDI AMIN
(Uganda, 1971–1979)

Widely acknowledged as one of Biggie’s top fashion influences, Dada Noir’s shiny, medal-laden, tailored uniforms were polished hourly by teams of topless Ugandan beauties, personally selected by big poppa from the streets and brought to his lavish palace to tend to his every need. As well as putting 500,000 of his own people to death, Idi also banned them from wearing flip-flops and once rounded up hundreds of flip-flop wearers in the streets and forced them to either eat their footwear in front of him or be shot to death by his death squad. Oh, if only Idi were here in Williamsburg today.

AUGUSTO PINOCHET
(Chile, 1973–1990)

With a love of Saville Row suits that nearly matched his enthusiasm for inventing new and exciting ways of torturing and killing his own people, Augusto was most at home in his trademark white military uniforms. His buddy Margaret Thatcher, whom he helped during the Falkland Islands War of the 1980s, would often send him gifts of ties and scarves made by London’s finest tailors. Right now, he’s forced to wear hospital robes and casuals as he hides from international law inside different hospitals across the world.

ROBERT MUGABE
(Zimbawbe, 1980–present)

Like most dancehall singers, Mugabe hates homos. He stands there in gaudily colored, silky Versace shirts and pants, telling the media, “They’re worse than dogs and pigs,” like we can’t see that he’s wearing gaudily colored, silky Versace shirts and pants.

From the short, square moustache to the race-based genocide, Mugabe seems to see Hitler as his most important style influence. He uses spears and axes to give an earthy Nubian sensibility to the very European thick oversized glasses and tailored pinstripe suits he wears while rigging elections and slaughtering white farmers, their wives, and their children.

MIRA MILOSEVIC
(Yugoslavia, 1990–2000)

While her husband looks like the uncle you never like to see at Christmas, Mira is the true fashion iconoclast in the family. Widely regarded as the brains behind the Milosevic regime, the “Lady Macbeth of the Balkans” looks every inch the glamorous gangster’s moll.

Her classic look consists of a pair of ill-fitting Christian Dior specs, a touch of pale pink lipstick, platform shoes, and of course her helmet of carefully tended dyed black hair. Her favorite hairdresser—who was once given a $365,000 tip—also created her son Marko’s ill-judged peroxide look in the mid-1990s because Marko wanted to look like Montreal’s favorite race car driver, Jacques Villeneuve.

Unfortunately, after her husband’s arrest on war crime charges, reporters found that Mira’s whole look had gone to shit. She was at home, drugged up on pills, wearing a boring gray overcoat, and staring disconsolately at a plate of hot dogs.

SAPARMURAT NIYAZOV
(Turkmenistan, 1991–present)

While his personal dress code is not that interesting, this dictator has made sure that everyone else’s is. (He also made sure there were only eight months in a year so that January could be named after himself and April could be named after his mother.)

As part of an official campaign to further awareness of national identity, all schoolchildren and students in Turkmenistan are required to wear the Turkmen national headdress. Girls are forbidden to wear miniskirts, dresses with high splits, or trousers, but the dictator himself can still dress like Carson Daly.

KIM JONG IL
(North Korea, 1994–present)

Whether it’s geopolitics or fashion, North Korean despot/playboy Kim Jong Il likes nothing more than to be the center of attention. As that crazy gook midget said in 2001: “Throughout the entire world, I’m the object of criticism. But I see it this way: If I’m being talked about, then I’m on the right track.” A quip he stole from the irreverent Oscar Wilde.

Only 5’ 1” small, Kim was an avid tennis player in his youth, and now swims every day in order to get rid of his unfashionable beer belly. He also wears platform shoes and a weird frizzy perm in order to look more like an aged lesbian art dealer.

miss piggy sings peaches.

2009-02-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

here's miss piggy singing "fuck the pain away" by peaches.
yes.
that's what i said.

rupaul and the u-hauls

2009-02-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

this is probably my favorite video on youtube.
Rupaul and the u-hauls used to do a weekly instructional dance thingy on public access tv show dance-o-rama in atlanta in the early 80s.
in this clip he teaches you two dances.
the first:
the timothy leary inspired, "freakout" to the glass family's "i'm losing it."
and second:
the jimi hendrix inspired, "the o.d." to hendrix's "purple haze"

we're especially proud of the u-hauls tonight, they just recently got out of detox at georgia regional and they're just lookin' great!

glorious noise

2009-02-12T22:14:00.000-08:00

here's a few youtube video's of absolutely amazing live shows.
first, dillinger escape plan:
just watch the beginning.

fucking killer lightning bolt in "indonesia"

alice in wonderland

2009-02-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

so i was wandering around the internets the other day and discovered that tim burton is redoing alice in wonderland.
johnny depp as the mad hatter, crispin glover as the knave of hearts, anne hathaway as the white queen and helena bonham carter as the red queen. alice is someone named Mia Wasikowska.
this sounds good and horrible at the same time.
tim, you keep on making shitty movies.
don't fuck up this one like you fucked up willy wonka.

so to tide you guys over, here's something sent over from jeffery digital.

alice in wonderland remix.

audrey kawasaki's ffffound page

2009-01-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

Audrey Kawasaki has been a favorite of mine forever and a day.
so when the other day, i stumbled across her ffffound page.
which is totally rad, because you can see where she gets
alot of her inspiration for her paintings.

She went to Pratt for 2 years, and then left without a degree, because the new york art scene was conceptual bullshit. (i added the bullshit. i don't really know how she phrased it...)
and moved to los angeles. her style is usually described as a fusion between Art Nouveau and manga.

article from IdN

article from austrailian vogue.

ffffound page here.

gap + pantone

2009-01-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

so pantone and gap have joined forces temporarily and have introduced a little pop up store on 5th ave across from gap's flagship store.
they're going to be selling gap shirts in pantone colors and assorted other pantone things.

this, however, is what I want.
pantone flight stools made from birch veneer.
$549.

bike kill

2008-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

this is why i want to live in nyc.
from broke ya neck

life and times of jefron, child prodigy: 10.07.08

2008-11-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

to download scroll to bottom.

playlist:
01. Amon Duul ii - Wir Wollen
02. Amon Duul ii - Wilhelm Wilhelm
..."Originally released in 1975, Made In Germany is considered to be the last absolute classic in the Amon Düül II catalogue. The band wished to follow up the last release, Hijack , with a recording that was more distinctive and not just a combination of random tracks splashed together with little in common. What they really wanted to do was a rather unusual survey of German history, even if brief, in a pretty crazy story, which was supposed to form the framework. In her book Ingeborg Schober writes: In the beginning of June 1975 several musicians of Amon Düül II came to see me for discussing the concept of the new record, whose title was Made in Germany . As expected, the project had already dwindled away and the only option left was to fix a story, at least to some extend coherent, from the already available text material. Actually, the plot was based on Chris Karrer s song lyrics Mr. Kraut s Jinx , which already comprised one of the record s meanings . And what we end up with is a Düülesque distillation of Acid Rock, Space Rock and Krautrock that shows the band's knowledge of their own history. The record was recorded in Munich at Studio 70 with Jürgen Korduletsch as producer and David Siddle as sound engineer with writing credits to all members of the Klassic Kollective...."

03. Ash Ra Tempel - Ooze Away Live 1973
This is from the private tapes. released in 2006, a six cd compilation of previously unreleased material. A short bio from wikipedia is below.
The group was originally founded by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, keyboardist/drummer Klaus Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke in 1971. All three founding members had previously played together as part of the short-lived group Eruption founded by Conrad Schnitzler. Prior to that Schnitzler and Schulze had worked together in Tangerine Dream.
Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in June of 1971. This release is considered by critics to be a classic of the genre; Schulze temporarily departed for a solo career shortly after its release. Schwingungen (1972), Seven Up (w/ Timothy Leary) (1972), and Join Inn (1973) are all considered key works from the band. Pop-oriented 1973 album Starring Rosi was thusly named because it featured lead vocals by Rosi Mueller.
Their music is widely characterized as cosmic and atmospheric. The early albums were more psychedelic-oriented and all had one lengthy track per side: one more powerful and dramatic, the other of a more atmospheric nature.
ART's last concert performance took place in Cologne in February 1973.
Later, after recording the soundtrack Le Berceau de Cristal (1975; unreleased until the 90's) Ash Ra Tempel shortened its name to Ashra, making a more melodic, synthesizer-based music.

04. Dirty Three - Alice Wading
from AMG:
On She Has No Strings Apollo, the Dirty Three again offer up the sounds of their hearts and inner landscapes to the skies and whoever's listening. The band's tendency to start a song quiet, loose, and lovely and then slowly sweat it into a faster, intensified crescendo is familiar by now, but somehow remains vividly evocative. The emotional road from heartbreak and regret, expressed through beating music with wailing violin ("Alice Wading"), to feeling lost, heard in a song's slow unraveling ("She Lifted the Net"), and back again is part of humanity's oldest story, and is a tale that violinist Warren Ellis, guitarist Mick Turner, and drummer Jim White are good at telling. If you are a fan of the Dirty Three's past expressions, you'll be moved by their sound again as they relay new wordless tales of woe, sadness, and things past. Worth noting: The quieter, reflective pieces like "Long Way to Go With No Punch" deliver moments of reprieve, and bass guitar (played by Turner) is heard for the first time on a Dirty Three album since 1994's Sad & Dangerous.

06. Magic Lantern - Deathshead Hawkmoth
06. Magic Lantern - Cactus Raga
full on psyche bliss. from insound:
After far, far too long lost in the merch-less dark, the LBC's most married band, Magic Lantern, finally beam down the blinding full-length psych-statement we always knew they had hidden inside. It only took the Southern California sector a single 5-song demo plus a handful of incense-dense komische live flights to fully fall under the spell of ML's oncoming headlights, but now the rest of the globe can hop on the band's wild wagon. Hold on. High Beams throws out the total 20-sided die of the their illuminative powers, from stomping, storming show staples like 'Deathshead Hawkmoth' and 'Vampires In Heat' through to Sun Araw-vibed chime trancers ('Feasting On Energy') and even a good time acid-addled feedback boogie ('Cactus Raga'). These are all of the Lanterns' classic long-form anthems, captured in glorious high-def, thanks to Bobb Bruno's attuned production/recording capabilities and a radiant mastering job courtesy of James Plotkin. The riffs rip, the drums destroy, and the organ burns a hole in the sun. Walk into the light.

07. Rainbow Arabia - Omar K
08. Rainbow Arabia - See No Hear No
09. Rainbow Arabia - I Know I See I Love I Go
10. Rainbow Arabia - Tiny Tiny Man
I decided that Rainbow Arabia was my new favorite band. Then I found out that they were on tour. Then I found out that they were going to be in iowa city in a few days. Then i went to see them and they ruled. Then they decided to come back to fairfield with us. Then they slept in my living room. Then we went out to breakfast. Then we went to the golden domes. Then we went to the vedic observatory. Then they went to Kansas City and I went home. Awesome.
Adventuring on a dark star safari, Rainbow Arabia wearing their kaleidoscopic militia uniforms, and armed with unforgiving jet-black machine guns adorned with rainbows of ribbons, stampede into town on crystal war elephants, painted red with Nubian scrawl and decorated in chains of silver plated animal skulls, firing bullets into the sky to announce their arrival, creating the kind of noise you could imagine the DFA might make had they ever decided to throw a party in the underground ruins of Egypt, the ghosts of the Pyramids shaken into action by the sinuous rhythms and earth quaking basslines.
11. Burning Star Core & Zaimph - Live @ No Fun Fest 2007
Zaimph is the solo project of Marcia Bassett from Hotogisu, GHQ and Double Leopards (three of the best noise outfits around), how she manages to put out so much music of this quality I don't know.
Burning Star Core: A student of La Monte Young and Terry Riley's unorthodox school of scathing minimalism, Midwestern noise sculptor C. Spencer Yeh stands at the epicenter of the region's burgeoning noisecore underground. Like most of his noisenik peers, Yeh cut his teeth on a series of limited-edition CDRs and short-run LPs, collaborating with the likes of Thurston Moore, the Sunburned Hand of Man and Deerhoof in a career that is already well over a decade old. Over the past few years he has gained momentum, if not necessarily mainstream acceptance, and his current high standing among middle America's noisy tykes is certainly well deserved. While each of the album's four compositions is built upon layers of mind-melting drone and descending arpeggios, Yeh is careful never to bore his haywire vessels into the ground, adding layers of molten feedback and carefully chosen (if utterly demented) melody lines to weave their way through the debris.

12. Nishinihon - Super Station (Hell in a Call Version)
All-man hard rock group obsessed with the good old rock music of the sixties and seventies. that exploded into life at the very end of the 20th century. This was the first ever group to be led rockin' leader of the pack Tsuyama Atsushi.
The group's name, Nishinihon, refers to the west of Japan. The language and culture of this area is very different to that of Tokyo (which is in eastern Japan). Nishinihon's members are all from the west of Japan, and they all loath Tokyo with a vengeance.
Tight, tight trousers. Hot and sweaty performances. Massive volume, of course. Stoopid lyrics. Hot and sweaty vocals. Extended guitar solos. Explosive bass. Full-on drums. All of these qualities that rock used to possess back in the good old days are fully (and miracously) present in Nishinihon -- that rarest of beasts, an art rock band. (When records by Cream, Zep, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Soft Machine first arrived in Japan in the early seventies, they were known in general as art rock bands).
In order to renaimate the rock fantasy, the group's creed is to play old-fashioned, ugly rock n roll. They dream of one day creating an art rock youth movement.

download part one.

download part two.

download part three.

picture of the day: beauty

2008-11-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

holy fuck. this is fucking gorgeous. oh my god.

patty shakes

2008-11-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

hells yes.

life and times of jefron, child prodigy: 9.23.08

2008-11-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

playlist:

01. DJ Chaos X - Live Mixxx Happy Set 12
02. DJ Chaos X - Live Mixxx Happy Set 13
DJ Chaos X is Yamantaka Eye. From the Boredoms. The difference between this set and his DJ Pica Pica Pica stuff is that, umm.. this is really hard to find, and it's a lot more pop and punk samples than world stuffs.

03. Michael Flower Band - Balinese Falsehood
Michael Flower Band is Mick Flower from Vibracathedral Orchestra and John Moloney from Sunburned Hand of the Man. This song is fucking killer. recorded in november/december 2006.

04. A.M. - Halls and Malls
Off the album Red Rag Reverie.
"...full on over-the-top psychedelic noise guitar assault from Antony Miltons A.M project. With beats! Eschewing the last vestiges of embarrassment at several years 'lost' to rave culture in the late 90s A.M channels the furious ecstasies of phasing tones and pounding beats through electric guitar lined red hot into an ancient tape recorder to produce a riff driven avant-party album... With its endless driving riffs and noise incursions ascending to ever higher levels of intensity the sudden free falls into sudden deep ambient bliss are like the first glimpses of dawn on a mountain top on acid.."

05. Jazz Composer's Orchestra - Communications part 1
06. Jazz Composer's Orchestra - Communications part 2
"34-minute, two-part composition, a concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra, that finds the pianist at the height of his powers, just beginning to enter the third phase of his development where he fused ultra-high energy playing with rigorous logic and heartbreaking beauty. The breadth of this piece, its expansiveness, and its tension between order and chaos is one of the single high watermarks of avant-garde jazz."

07. Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End.
off the album 1990. this song is wonderful. daniel johnston is wonderful. yes.

08. King Crimson - Starless
off the album "Red"
"Starless", a piece in two movements. The first is a mellotron-string driven ballad with brilliant liquid-tone guitar playing from Fripp, a lovely soprano sax solo from former Crim Mel Collins, and a passioned vocal from John Wetton. This melts into a building section, highlighting Bruford's percussion again as Fripp plays repeated figures over and over again until the guitar and distorted bass echo each other and the piece explodes-- McDonald plays another brilliant alto solo, full of fire and passion before the two saxes restate the theme and the piece erupts like never before and comes to a conclusion. Its one of those magic moments on record, definitely a moment of pure brilliance.

This was unfortunately the last work of the '70s band-- McDonald was supposed to rejoin, but in a surprising move (given band history), Fripp left, which effectively ended Crimson for a further six years.

09. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Mouth of Ghosts.
"The Dillinger Escape Plan create maniacally intense, crushingly metallic, and decidedly hardcore punk-infused jazz-time-signature-invoking compositions displaying an unparalleled musical bravery, precision musicianship, meticulously thought-out, and complex structuring, and rigorous physical endurance. The band's guitarists and drummer are regular features in publications geared toward the guitar- and drum-playing set. The depth of extremity and mental challenge presented by their music virtually defies description, at once recalling the mind-wandering spirit of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the complex heavy metal of latter-day Death, Cynic's solitary death metal achievement, and the progressive hard rock of Rush. Their performances bring to mind the anarchic charge of early Guns N' Roses shows, and the sophistication that drives their craft should awe fans of classy art rock bands like Radiohead."
summary: this song will blow your head off.

10. Bill Fay - I Hear You Calling
"..."Enigmatic" was the tag oft-times tossed 'round Bill Fay, whose loyal cult following grew significantly over the years. Signed to Decca, the singer/songwriter and pianist released two albums in the late '60s and early '70s; their haunting, darkly shadowed songs were never meant to appeal to the masses, even at the height of the psychedelia-streaked introspection sparked by the soul-searching of the day. While the Beatles flew off to meet the Maharishi, Fay fell under the spell of a 19th century compendium of commentaries on the Biblical books of Daniel and Revelations, which would inspire his second album, Time of the Last Persecution. But before the born-agains jump on to the Fay bandwagon, they should be warned that the artist was equally influenced by the ravaging events of the day. The title track, "Time of the Last Persecution," was written in an immediate and visceral response to the killings of four students at Kent State. Even in 1971, the intensity of Fay's lyrics -- reflecting his commentaries in their poetical language, their highly introspective nature, the brooding quality of the music, all exquisitely enhanced by Ray Russell's evocative blues guitar work -- left most reviewers cold and confused. In truth, the album would have slotted much more neatly into the coming firestorm that descended on Britain later in the decade, and would have provided a surprisingly supple bridge between the apocalyptic visions of roots reggae and the political polemics of punk. The set certainly contains all the fire and fury of the latter movement, as well as the deeply dread atmospheres of the former. By 2005, with the rise of evangelicalism and Christian rock, Persecution no longer sounds so obscure or out of place; it is, however, a personal journey of spirituality, not a platform from which to proselytize. For all its dark vision, it's the possibility of peace and hope that shines through the gloom, and as for all the seeming quietude of the music, it thunders, too, with a power and emotion that speak in volumes as loudly as Fay's striking lyrics...."

11. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
..." In 2006, the release of Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped brought a lot of the band's ex-fans-- people who'd either gotten over them with the help of 2000's NYC Ghosts & Flowers, or just thought they'd finally aged out-- back to the fold. The more tuneful record was different from anything they'd done this decade, re-establishing the direct line many of us had to the Sonic Youth of our teenage years. At the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer, Sonic Youth played a well-received Daydream Nation, but a bunch of people I talked to after their set thought the group sounded even better during the encore, when they tore through a handful of newer songs.

As a separate entity from Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore's reputation as a basement icon precedes him. Where it was once surprising to find him at Connecticut noise shows, Brooklyn No Fun fests, and Western Massachusetts DIY open mic nights, his recent role as mentor to (and collaborator with) young rock dynamos has since made his presence in the underground a constant. Given these feedback showdowns-- not to mention the solo work of his distant past-- it came as a mild shock when his Ecstatic Peace label recently announced that not only was there a new Thurston Moore solo album in the works (his first formal LP since 1995's Psychic Hearts), but that it would also feature actual songs.

Trees Outside the Academy is, in fact, a song-based album-- and they're good songs, too. Rather Ripped had whistle-clean guitar lines and minimal melodies-- the noise had lifted to reveal Sonic Youth still picking out sharp hooks, with songcraft as sparkling as ever. Those pop songs were a good place for them to return to for inspiration-- they gave the band a form (rather than void) to play around with-- and Trees takes up a similar challenge: What can a guy like Thurston Moore do with the bare, noiseless architecture of an acoustic guitar and verse-chorus-verse structures?..."

12. Sun City Girls - Blue Mambo
From the album, Torch of the Mystics.
Torch of the Mystics represents the pinnacle of the first phase of the Sun City Girls. A concise, pinwheeling album that captures the band's pure commitment to emotional transcendence through music, the 11 songs here fly off into the netherworld of ethnic avant-garage rock with startling clarity. The band had never fully explored the Middle Eastern tones accumulating in their brains as they did on this 1990 masterpiece, nor had they been as clearly and smartly recorded as they are here: guitarist Rick Bishop's tone slices, drummer Charlie Gocher is wider than he has ever been, and bassist Alan Bishop rumbles with an ominous ferocity. Songs like the pile-driving "Esoterica of Abyssynia" sound like your radio has leapt into a dreamy foreign astral plane of its own volition. "Space Prophet Dogon" is a dance of the seven veils as played by the freaked-out Mothers of Invention, while "Radar 1941" crash-lands in the middle of Egyptian Top 40 as imagined by "Count Five." Every track contains a shimmering melodic phrase or haunting undertone that the Girls mine like pure manna, and the occasional bursts of delirious chanting still summon goosebumps on the listener's skin. Every argument made for the greatness of the Sun City Girls has its roots in this platter, and if you have never understood what the fuss is all about or if you ever needed something to convince you of their (deservedly) sterling underground reputation, this is the original testament.

13. Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth.
Brits Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power formed the group in 2004 with the goal of creating pain-inducing noise music, but soon became curious about mixing in prettier sounds, and adding structure and melody to their brutal tracks. Still, they never lost the aggression and abstraction of their noise leanings: They're not afraid to let a beat pound forever, or let a drone wash slowly, or let a pedal loop endlessly. Where more traditional groups might worry that a part goes on too long, Fuck Buttons seem fascinated by what will happen if it does, riding it just past the point of expectation before hitting you with the next big switch-up. It's a trick that gives Street Horrrsing a sense of constant tension, with another surprise detonation always looming around the corner.

14. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
If not for the Mahavishnu Orchestra's first album, The Inner Mounting Flame, this second, 1973 outing might well be considered the greatest of all jazz-fusion essays. Both are staggering calls to celestial coursing and reckoning, and to resolution. All is breathtakingly purposeful and assured, with vast group cohesion, and phenomenal contributions by keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird, torrential drummer Billy Cobham, and foremost, by the leader, guitarist John McLaughlin. One hears all the elements of his musical makeup: Tal Farlow; Django Reinhart's stunning single-note runs; flamenco guitar; sophisticated Delta blues; way-over-the-top arena-rock distortion, feedback, and power amplification; and Indian classical and folk music. All that, plus childhood lessons in classical piano and violin and recent studies with spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, set the cosmic stew to boil.
and for those not familiar with jan hammer, he went on to make the theme music for miami vice! fuck yea!

15. That's Rockefeller - Stimulan
This is live at the star deli in jakarta, indonesia,.
don't google this band or you might see them on youtube. and their music is a lot better if you turn it up really loud and jump around. to see them actually play it takes out some of the awesomeness. they need a little work on their stage presence. or i dunno, maybe i've been jaded by rammstien's giant flamethrower dildos and keith flynt from prodigy.

16. Ben Reynolds - Gravity Never Wins
Glasgow, Scotland guitarist Ben Reynolds has been a prominent player in and contributor to the United Kingdom's fertile underground psych/drone scene for many years. A current member of the long-running and highly influential Ashtray Navigations, Reynolds appears on numerous recordings in the tight-knit UK drone cabal, including those by the venerable Vibracathedral Orchestra and Sunroof, and is also active via his duo project Motor Ghost with Directing Hand's Alex Neilsen. A cascade of solo excursions documenting a fractal of avant-thinking themes are available in limited DIY fashion, while proper pressings are available through Last Visible Dog, Digitalis Industries and Time-Lag. Although Reynolds has touched on acoustic elements in the past, it has mainly been as a textural layer to his psychedelic whirlpools, at which he is so adept. Reynolds puts his electric guitars aside in favor of exploring expressionist acoustic steel string terrain on his astonishing new solo recording Two Wings.

download part one.

download part two.

the life and times of jefron, child prodigy.

2008-11-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

so...
in the last few months i've started a radioshow.
and in the last few days i've began to archive it online so that i can share it with everyone who isn't able to listen.
here's the first show i've archived.
it's from... umm.. i think 9.23.08.

BARACK EATS BABIES!!!

2008-11-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

RARARARARRAARARARA!!!!
this is fucking fantastic.
"oh gosh!"
"feed me!"
"MORE!!!"

it's alive. again.

2008-11-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

thanks to sadie. i've reopened this blog.

adidas torsion bank shot

2008-08-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

i want i want i want.

louis vuitton post 10,000: camo

2008-08-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

so fueling the louis vuitton obsession of mine is the new japanese Numero.

they're having some sort of contest (that i don't know the details of cuz i don't read japanese) where the winner gets one of these dope camo louis vuitton prints done by takashi murakami.

i think the print is rad. but umm.. it's a fucking mousepad. who has a mouse these days?
does anyone actually have a real computer? i feel like it's a laptop world these days....
also- on the murakami tip...
here's the video he did for "good morning" by kanye.

pistol cam

2008-06-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

blow someones head off and take a photo at the same time.
pistol cam.
you can go read all about it at like... pistolcam.com or at wired or something
we're more interested here in the shit we're going to start seeing on flickr.

han cholo x puma

2008-06-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

bling bling motherfucking bling!!!
so the new han cholo and puma collab is illin'
han cholo is illin'.
check out his website while listening to some shit off the valerie blog.
but this shit.. this shit is "the goldie han"

check the han cholo store in echo park if you want them. $300 bucks.
that's like, a tank of gas for all you kids living out in lalala

Pagan prisoners win right to have 'magic wand' twigs in cells under new religious freedom rules

2008-05-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

Prison bosses have been instructed to let pagan inmates keep twigs in their cells...to use as wands.
Officers have been told to allow prisoners to collect and decorate the twigs which they need for their rituals.

It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths.

Followers of other faiths are allowed items such as a prayer mat to allow them to worship.

The policy regarding pagans was announced by Justice Reform Minister Maria Eagle in a parliamentary answer.

She said: "Prison service policy is to enable prisoners of different faith traditions, including paganism, to practise their religion.

"Religious artefacts are allowed for relevant faiths within the constraints of good order and discipline. The religious artefacts for pagan prisoners include a flexible twig for a wand."

Tory prisons spokesman Edward Garnier said: "This sounds like an April Fool's Day joke. But there's genuine concern prisoners are taking the system for a ride."

Conservative MP Andrew Turner, who uncovered the new ruling, added: "This strikes me as bizarre. A lot of people would be worried about equating paganism with Christianity."

three year old has never slept.

2008-05-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A 3-year-old Florida boy with a rare condition has not slept in three years.
hett has never taken a nap or gone to sleep at night, forcing his parents to keep watch day and night.
"(My husband) has the day shift and I kind of have the afternoon shift," mother Shannon Lamb said. "We share the night shift because no one can sleep in the house when he is up anyway."
Lamb said she is working extra to pay for Rhett's large medical bills. She also said her husband, David, has given up his job to care for their child.
"I would give anything for Rhett to be this normal little boy who plays and has a good time," Lamb said. "If it takes going to every single solitary doctor, I will do it."
According to the May Clinic, chiari malformation is a rare abnormality where brain tissue protrudes in the spinal canal.
Part of the skull is abnormally small and puts pressure on the brain.
Rhett checked into a hospital for an experimental surgery Thursday.

Chiari malformations (CMs) are structural defects in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. When the indented bony space at the lower rear of the skull is smaller than normal, the cerebellum and brainstem can be pushed downward. The resulting pressure on the cerebellum can block the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord) and can cause a range of symptoms including dizziness, muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems, headache, and problems with balance and coordination. There are three primary types of CM. The most common is Type I, which may not cause symptoms and is often found by accident during an examination for another condition. Type II (also called Arnold-Chiari malformation) is usually accompanied by a myelomeningocele-a form of spina bifida that occurs when the spinal canal and backbone do not close before birth, causing the spinal cord to protrude through an opening in the back. This can cause partial or complete paralysis below the spinal opening. Type III is the most serious form of CM, and causes severe neurological defects. Other conditions sometimes associated with CM include hydrocephalus, syringomyelia, and spinal curvature.

dog carpets!!!!!

2008-04-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

ondrej brody

holy shit!

2008-04-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Gunman shoots at police, jumps park fence, robs dad and kids, sheds ankle bracelet, escapes police dogs, carjacks pregnant lady and surrenders to police ... wait for it ... completely naked!!!!!

HOUSTON—A gunman who prompted an evacuation at the Mercer Arboretum Saturday was arrested naked after leading cops on a wild chase.
The whole thing started when Precinct 4 deputies responded to a call about a domestic disturbance near the park.
When they arrived, they saw Raphael Jones, 19, in the street with a gun.
Jones was a parolee, and he had removed his ankle bracelet.
He ran from police, hopping fences and tearing through backyards in an attempt to lose them.
At one point, he shot at the deputies, but no one was hit.
When Jones climbed over the fence into the Arboretum, deputies evacuated the area and surrounded the park.
Once in the park, Jones robbed a dad and his kids of their cell phone and car keys and later carjacked a pregnant woman.
Deputies pursued Jones in the stolen car until he finally stopped and exited the vehicle with no clothes on.
It was unclear why he had removed them.
Jones is reportedly wanted in Louisiana for aggravated assault and kidnapping.

city scape combs

2008-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

by out of office collective

jay-z

2008-04-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

so i guess that somehow i totally like, misinterpreted something or other?
i thought jay-z retired.
wasn't he all like, i'm over rapping//i'm a business man now?
and then he came out with this shitty american ganster album.
and now he just signed with live nation for one gazillion dollars over ten years and three albums and a million tshirts and tours and basketball shoes.
and he owes def jam one more album too.
oh, and he referred to himself as "the rolling stones of hip hop"

false delusions.

2008-04-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

I have reported one such case that occurred in Oxford... The patient, a 43-year-old man, was brought into the Accident and Emergency Department following an overdose. He had tried to kill himself because he was afraid he was going to be "locked up". However, this fear was secondary to a paranoid system at the heart of which was the hypochondriacal delusion that he was "mentally ill".

He was seen by the duty psychiatrist and by the consultant psychiatrist on call, neither of whom were in any doubt that he was deluded. Indeed, both were ready on the strength of their diagnosis to admit him as an involuntary patient.

Yet had their diagnosis depended on the falsity of the patient's belief, as in the standard definition, they would have been presented with a paradox: if the patient's belief that he was mentally ill was false, then (by the standard definition) he could have been deluded, but this would have made his belief true after all.

Equally, if his belief was true, then he was not deluded (by the standard definition), but this would have made his belief false after all. By the standard definition of delusion, then, his belief, is false, was true and, if true, was false.

-Bill Fulford in the book Philosophical Psychopathology.

nazi sex scandal

2008-04-02T02:37:00.000-07:00

Max Mosley, president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, F1’s governing body, is facing intense pressure to resign from his post after being implicated in a Nazi role-playing orgy according to British tabloid News of the World.

The report detailed a five-hour “Nazi-style” orgy between Mosley and five prostitutes at a house in Chelsea. In a video on the newspaper’s Web site, it shows a man identified as Mosley arriving at an apartment. The man is then greeted by a woman playing the role of a Nazi prison guard, checking his hair to see if he has been kept free of lice “at the other facility.”
"Hurry up! Lie face down! Don't look at me!" Mosley meekly obeyed and was chained and manacled before another blonde dominatrix, wearing only a jacket, shirt and knee-length boots, entered the room.
Later, another woman in mock death camp garb enters the video and the man said to be Mosley is heard speaking German.

At one point during the video, the man yells “she needs more of ze punishment!” while brandishing a leather strap over a woman’s bottom before striking her with it and counting in German, as other women in Nazi-style uniforms look on.

He ends up having sex with several of them and of course, this being Britain, he shares a cup of tea with the women after sex.

While the Nazi concept is not unusual in sadomasochistic circles, playing both sides in such a kinky ritual is unusual, say sex experts.
"In most cases, they play one role or the other," said Judy Kuriansky, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University Teacher's College and member of the American Association of Sex Educators. "It's not as usual to play both roles. These are complicated psychodynamics."

Such practices have less to do with sex and more with power, she explains.

"Beating women and being beaten, it's not about the sex but about the power dynamics," Kuriansky said. "For people who are into S&M, the Nazi angle is one of the most typical out-there extreme examples. After all, they're always wearing leather and boots and latex clothing. It's in line with the concept of domination and submission."

marilyn minter

2008-04-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

Marilyn Minter was born in Louisiana and raised in Florida in an upper middle class household. Her father was an alcoholic, compulsive gambler, and occasional boxing promoter while her mom was a drug addict. When she was an undergrad at the University of Florida she took some photos of her mother which Diane Arbus, a visiting instructor at the time, saw the proof sheet and proclaimed it to be the only student work she gave a damn about that year. and so mortified her classmates with the end results that she didn’t show them again for nearly thirty years.

Minter moved to New York City in 1978, after finishing an MFA at Syracuse, and promptly entered what she calls a “coma”: nights touring the clubs of late 70’s-early 80’s downtown Manhattan, marathon boozing, and narcotic picnics back in an era when blow wasn’t supposed to be addictive. It was the perfect time to have a job teaching in a Catholic boy’s school, where she would chug Cokes and catch up on sleep in the minutes between classes. She’d been getting wasted since childhood, “on anything I could get my hands on,” and finally discovered in 1985 that the drugs had stopped working. Minter began the long, torturous task of cleaning up.
In 1989, after experimenting with dot screens and Pop Art, Minter felt compelled to do something completely new. “I thought, ‘I know—I’ll do pornography. I’ll do hardcore pornography!” If other women artists were exploring the erotics of objects, the erotics of consumption, then why not investigate the erotic itself? Scouring New York’s sex shops and adult bookstores for inspiration, Minter carefully selected and painted a series of close-ups that were compelling or funny to her. Three women croon over an erect penis in one painting titled The Supremes, which, with the exception of the solid white streaks projecting from the “microphone” onto willing fingers and tongues, is painted in seedy benday-dot fashion, as if seized from the back pages of a newsweekly, and presented on a bulky metal first-aid kit.

“I did these cumshots and thought they were really funny. I thought, ‘What’s the big deal?’ but people went nuts. Everybody likes to look at porn. I mean, the Internet’s there because of pornography. Let’s get real.”
Minter had no interest in the polite or tame. She zoomed in on blowjobs and masturbating women. She obscured faces, fragmented bodies, and made sexual anatomies seem like contraband, as if welcoming the charges of hegemony and objectification they would produce. Surely people would see the humor and irony behind them.

Minter’s 40-year career has only recently reached its zenith. After winning back the admiration of critics, the artist has had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and a much-envied spot in the 2006 Whitney Biennial in which her work was the invitation image. In 2007, her first retrospective monograph was published by Gregory R. Miller & Co., and she had shows in Sweden, the U.K., Spain, and France. Her photos of Pamela Anderson were commissioned by the art quarterly Parkett, later featured on the cover of Zoetrope: All-Story, which she guest-designed, and following that were used in paintings.

Supreme will release a series of limited edition skateboard decks designed by Marilyn Minter. The series will consist of three decks designed by Ms. Minter.
Available at the NY and LA stores on April 10th and online April 17th.
Japan will release the project on April 12th.

olga gromova

2008-04-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

Ukrainian fashion week is the future.

rich girls

2008-04-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

park avenue peerage is a blog that consists of pictures of hot society girls.
you cannot afford them.

oh, no no no more mosquitoes!

2008-03-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

southeast asia blog has appeared here: no more mosquitoes

bollywood

2008-02-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

this is amazing. i need to start making music videos.

meats.

2008-02-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

well, in celebration of eating tons of deer this last week.
here is some meats.

more here.

return of a clockwork orange

2008-02-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

Documentary about the controversy surrounding Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange

"Almost 30 years ago, Stanley Kubrick imposed his own ... all » censorship on one of cinema's most controversial films, A Clockwork Orange, refusing to allow it to be shown in public.

FilmFour looks at the furor that surrounded the film's initial release and offers a re-appraisal through the eyes of Alexander Walker, Mark Kermode, Camille Paglia, Tony Kaye and Steven Soderbergh."

from wikipedia:
United States censorship

The film was rated X on its original release in the United States. Later, Kubrick voluntarily replaced roughly 30 seconds of footage from two scenes with less bawdy action for a 1973 re-release, rated R. It is a common myth that only the R-rated version can be seen nowadays, but in fact the opposite is true: all DVDs present the original X-rated form, and only some of the early 80s VHS editions are in the R-rated form.[5]

The film was rated C (for "condemned") by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting because of its explicit sexual and violent content; such a rating conceptually forbade Catholics from seeing the film. The "condemned" rating was abolished in 1982, and since then films deemed by the conference to have unacceptable levels of sex and/or violence have been rated O, meaning "morally offensive".

[edit] British withdrawal

In the United Kingdom, the sexual violence in the film was considered extreme. Furthermore, it was claimed that the film had inspired copycat behaviour. In March 1972, a prosecutor at a trial of a 14-year-old boy accused of the manslaughter of one of his classmates referred to A Clockwork Orange, telling the judge that the case had a macabre relevance to the film.[6]

The attacker, a boy age 16 from Bletchley, pleaded guilty after telling police that his friends had told him of the film "and the beating up of an old boy like this one"; defence counsel told the trial "the link between this crime and sensational literature, particularly A Clockwork Orange, is established beyond reasonable doubt".[7] The press also blamed the influence of the film for a rape in which the attackers sang "Singin' in the Rain". Kubrick subsequently requested that Warner Brothers withdraw the film from UK distribution.

At the time, it was widely believed that the copycat attacks were what led Kubrick to withdraw the film from distribution in the United Kingdom. However, in a television documentary made after Kubrick's death, his widow Christiane confirmed rumours that Kubrick had withdrawn A Clockwork Orange on police advice after threats were made against Kubrick and his family (the source of the threats was not discussed). That Warner Bros. acceded to Kubrick's request to withdraw the film is an indication of the remarkable relationship Kubrick had with the studio, particularly the executive Terry Semel.

The ban was vigorously pursued during Kubrick's lifetime. One art house cinema that defied the ban in 1993, and was sued and lost, was the Scala cinema at Kings Cross, London, on the same premises as the present-day Scala nightclub. Unable to meet the cost of the defence, the cinema club was forced into receivership. [8]

Whatever the reason for the film's withdrawal, it could not easily be seen in the United Kingdom for some 27 years. The first VHS and DVD releases followed shortly after Kubrick's death. It was also shown in many UK cinemas.

david bowie

2008-02-10T23:48:00.000-08:00

so i'm thinking he's 16 or 17 here..
this is before he became david bowie.
"the mask"

and then we have life on mars? directed by mick rock.
this is unbelievable. look at that hair. and that fucking make up.

nations who have not yet joined the metric system

2008-02-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

louis vuitton madness

2008-02-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

louis vuitton pig!!!
by wim delvoye. an artist out of belgium who likes tattooing pigs. he does it at a place called the art farm in china. cuz the animal rights laws aren't quite as strict there... sneaky.
while we're on the louis vuitton kick.. we can add some li'l kim.. who got the LV treatment from dave lachapelle.

then we got the latest in louis vuitton disposable luxury:

and then.. we'll save the wildest for last....

An ad campaign for LOUIS VUITTON by Mamoru Hosoda (of Digimon fame). an updated alice in wonderland, in which a girl, searching for her lost cell phone, floats in a dizzying world of the company’s logos. While waiting to meet her friends outside of a Louis Vuitton store, Aya’s cell phone is eaten by the LV Panda, who then promptly swallows Aya - but the inside of his stomach is gateway to a psychadelic wonderland. Based on characters created by famed superflat artist Takashi Murakami.

flying hotel

2008-02-09T17:20:00.001-08:00

French designer Jean-Marie Massaud's dreams of opening a large flying hotel look to be coming true. Technical design is underway for Massaud's "Manned Cloud," which will carry 40 guests and 15 employees and house a restaurant, library, bar, fitness center and a rooftop sun deck. The big blimp-tel is being billed as an eco-friendly sightseeing destination.

kate moss statue for sale

2008-02-09T17:08:00.001-08:00

Artist Marc Quinn has agreed to donate Red Sphinx, a white-bronze sculpture of supermodel Kate Moss in a "heart-shaped yoga pose with red lips," to an auction on February 14 for Red, the brand created by U2 star Bono to raise money to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa, reports the Wall Street Journal. Another Quinn sculpture, Sphinx (not sure what the difference is between "Red Sphinx" and "Sphinx"), depicting Moss in what looks like Dwi Pada Sirsasana, received controversial coverage when it was unveiled in 2006 because Moss doesn't do yoga (a model posed for the artist) nor does she lead a very yogic lifestyle. Says Quinn, "Kate is a mirror of ourselves, a twisted Venus of our age."

In his exhibition at Mary Boone Gallery, Quinn lionizes Moss by portraying her in goddess form. However, with one exception -- which I'll get to later -- she isn't made to resemble any particular deity. Quinn's parenthetical titles are the only obvious indicators of the goddess implication. Each sculpture is called 'Sphinx' followed by a goddess's name: 'Sphinx (Venus),' 'Sphinx (Victory),' 'Sphinx (Nike).' Coated in a snow-white semi-gloss paint, the bronzes look more like marble than metal (Quinn likens their appearance to "egg shells" or "cinema screens") and show the bikini-clad model bending her body into implausible human-pretzel positions. The legs arch over the shoulders, backwards and forwards, and the pelvis always aligns with the head, so the viewer finds duel focal points -- the crotch and the borehole eyes.

Marc Quinn, previously a constituent of the Young British Artists, is known as something of a body artist. His signal piece is the 1991 self-portrait, 'Self,' molded in nine pints of his own frozen blood. The following decade, he cast a portrait of his newborn son in frozen liquefied placenta. More similar to the Sphinxes are the marble portraits of limbless heroes, such as his monument to the very pregnant and armless artist Alison Lapper, in London's Trafalgar Square. At first, the Sphinxes seem a deviation from the Lapper portrait -- extreme limberness versus underdeveloped limbs -- but both examples manifest a Hellenistic affinity for sculpting the human figure exerted beyond presumed limits.

In reality, Moss lacks the flexibility needed to achieve the knotty feats demonstrated by the Sphinxes (While the sculptor used Moss's proportions, he found a more elastic sitter to strike the yoga poses). Though, that's the point; the Sphinxes are mythical. Moss has long been criticized for setting unattainable standards of female body image. Quinn exaggerates this perception by casting the waif as an expert contortionist who can twist into tantric stances that the viewer could only dream of executing. "Let's see you try, you stiff-jointed fatty," the Sphinxes seem to mock. On top of it all, the model's thirty-something-year-old features have been smoothed to perfection, making her appear even more childish; the only wrinkles reside in the svelte fingers and ballerina toes -- life casts of Moss's real hands and feet -- and in the kissable lips. Likewise, the face of each sculpture is jarringly symmetrical. If not a goddess, she's certainly superhuman.

The conceptual taunt referencing ungraspable beauty is not entirely clear upon first encountering the bronzes. Rather, they look like slick, misogynistic throwbacks from the 1980s. Far more striking than the concept is the craftsmanship: the subtle feline smirk, the detailed digits, the stretched bellybutton, the convoluted compositions. Quinn seems to enjoy the challenges posited by the yoga postures.

teens scream against sex

2008-02-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

from gawker:
Were you alarmed by an unruly crowd of hundreds of screaming adolescents in the Times Square vicinity today? Don't worry. It was just the TEEN MANIA teens holding their RECREATE '08 rally, taking a vocal stand against those things young adults hate: "substance abuse, violence, premature sexuality, Internet porn and more." Least. Fun. Rally. Ever. Beware of New Jersey's Izod Center this weekend, where 10,000 more religious A students will gather maniacally. The press release explains their crusade of sobriety:

Hundreds of Teens Rally in Times Square to Change Pop Culture as We Know It, Feb. 8
While Presidential Candidates Promise "Change," Thousands of Teens Are Enacting Change and Asking the Candidates to Help

NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2008--Representing a movement of more than 400,000 teens, hundreds of teenagers will rally on Military Island in TIMES SQUARE, FEB. 8, 3:30 p.m. ET.

The rally will highlight teens' concerns about the toll today's pop culture is taking on their generation--the largest generation of teens in U.S. history.* The teens oppose the "cool factor" pop culture entertainment associates with substance abuse, violence, premature sexuality, Internet porn and more. The rally, called RECREATE '08, will showcase the thousands of TEEN MANIA teens who are out to RE-create entertainment, fashion, the arts, and the Web into products that build up, not tear down, their generation.

"I want to use film and television to give this generation hope that they can break free from depression, substance abuse and hopelessness in their lives," says 19-year-old Katherine Haller of Baltimore. Haller, an organizer of the RECREATE '08 rally, is currently receiving film and television production experience through Teen Mania's Center for Creative Media.

Fueled by their faith, these Teen Mania teens have sparked a movement of more than 400,000 like-minded teenagers who have gathered at arena events from coast to coast over the past two years to impact pop culture for the good of their generation.

The RECREATE '08 rally in Times Square will feature teens in the act of RE-creating some of their generation's favorite products including:

*

MTV videos
*

Teen-produced TV shows and movie-shorts running on the Panasonic jumbo-tron in Times Square
*

Tag/Graffiti artists
*

Dance and more . . .

CALLING ON THE CANDIDATES
The teens will also issue a list of 8 QUESTIONS for the presidential candidates that reflect their top concerns including: youth exposure to Internet pornography, media glamorization of drugs, sex and alcohol, and the AIDS pandemic.

Following the rally, more than 10,000 teens will gather at New Jersey's Izod Center for a two day RECREATE '08 event featuring: New York Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera, six-time GRAMMY® Award winner Kirk Franklin, the David Crowder Band, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and TEEN MANIA founder, Ron Luce.

picture of the day: powerglove

2008-02-08T13:54:00.001-08:00

norway vs sweden

2008-02-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

one piece at a time by johnny cash

2008-02-05T23:02:00.000-08:00

"one piece at a time" was written by Wayne Kemp and recorded by Johnny Cash in 1976. It tells a story from the point of view of a Detroit auto worker who watches Cadillacs roll by day after day on the assembly line, all the while knowing that he will never be able to afford one on his salary. Envious, he decides to steal a Cadillac, avoiding getting caught by taking parts from the factory, as the title suggests, one piece at a time (presumably one part per day). The worker takes the small parts by hiding them in his large lunchbox, while larger parts are smuggled out via his friend's mobile home. Many years later, he finally achieves his goal, albeit with a very odd-looking vehicle: it was created from parts of many different models (years 1949 to 1973), requiring extensive effort to make all the parts fit together. The vehicle title weighed 60 pounds, requiring the entire staff at the courthouse to type it.

Bruce Fitzpatrick, owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville, TN, was asked by the promoters of the song to build the vehicle for international promotion. Bruce had all the different models of Cadillacs mentioned in the song when it was released, and built a Cadillac using the song as a model. The car was presented to Cash in April of 1976. It was parked for a few weeks outside The House Of Cash in Hendersonville, Tennessee, until someone could find a place to store it.

Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
An' went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on cadillacs

Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black.

One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand.

CHORUS
I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round.

So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends
I left that day with a lunch box full of gears
Now, I never considered myself a thief
GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years.

The first day I got me a fuel pump
And the next day I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all of the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts, an' bolts, and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home.

Now, up to now my plan went all right
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong.

The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.

So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an A-daptor kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlight' was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on.

The back end looked kinda funny too
But we put it together and when we got thru
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail-fin
About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said "Honey, take me for a spin."

So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the court house they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff
And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds.

CHORUS
I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around.

(Spoken) Ugh! Yow, RED RYDER
This is the COTTON MOUTH
In the PSYCHO-BILLY CADILLAC Come on

Huh, This is the COTTON MOUTH
And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there RED RYDER
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Ugh!, what model is it?

Well, It's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56
'57, '58' 59' automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67
'68, '69, '70 automobile.

maharishi died.

2008-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

jai guru dev

aya takano

2008-02-05T12:29:00.002-08:00

Aya Takano's drawings and paintings reminds us the delicious souvenirs of game and innocence with a disarming sincerity and without ever sink into nostalgia. Although her universe is filled with mythic and cultural references, specifically japanese, she attains to make this universe strangely familiar and intimate. The immediate, the sensuality of her drawings address a message to the living and to the imaginative part of each of us, whatever his age or his origin. Once discovered, her work provokea a profound, and almost affectionate, attachment for the characters she brings to life. The use of diluted paint ( gouache, acrylic) as principal medium reinforces the sensual simplicity of her images which combines the febrility of a child's drawing and the virtuosity of the remarkable drawer she has become.
that umm.. was translated from japanese.
link to gallery

charles simic

2008-02-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

I was stolen by the gypsies. My parents stole me right back. Then the gypsies stole me again. This went on for some time. One minute I was in the caravan suckling the dark teat of my new mother, the next I sat at the long dining room table eating my breakfast with a silver spoon.
It was the first day of spring. One of my fathers was singing in the bathtub; the other one was painting a live sparrow the colors of a tropical bird.

photo by me. gypsy children in pushkar, rajasthan, india.

new joke

2008-02-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

g: knock knock.

p: who's there?

g: tom brady.

p: tom brady who?

g: EXACTLY!

japanese vinyl toys!!!

2008-02-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

so this dude has been collecting bandai ultra kaiju toys since 1981 and he's taken picture of them all.
they look totally rad. i want japanese monsters....

check out his flickr set here.

wk interact vs obey giant

2008-01-31T22:33:00.000-08:00

in other news

2008-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

Tom Cruise saved a hawk! He heard the bird was struck by a car in Arizona and had his private jet pick it up and fly it to a hawk sanctuary in Colorado for treatment.

rudy quits, terrorists win!

2008-01-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

from gawker:
Terrible news: America's Mayor, Mr. 9/11, twice-divorced opera-loving cross-dressing gay roommate-having Manhattan dandy Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of the race for the presidency after a dismal third place finish in the Florida primary, where he campaigned more and spent more money than any other candidate. He will focus instead on increasing his terrible blood-soaked fortune with speaking gigs and his near-criminal consulting firm. He will endorse insane old man John McCain.

les machines de l'ile

2008-01-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

the french city of nantes got attacked by a huge robot elephant, squid, and some other assorted monstrosities...
artists responsible are François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice.
site is here but in french.

youtube:

total eclipse of the heart

2008-01-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Moral Battle That Rages In Bonnie Tyler's 'A Total Eclipse of The Heart'

Russell Mulcahy's surreal or bizarre interpretation and adaptation of Bonnie Tyler's 'A Total Eclipse Of The Heart' video has been noted to have nothing to do with the song's original lyrics and is meant to stand alone as its own story. Though the video may appear at first glance to have nothing to do with the written lyrics, in fact Mulcahy has taken Jim Stienman's lyrics and has interpreted and enhanced them by creating a controversial and thought provoking subtext to the original lyrics through themes and images of what is morally right and wrong and the constant battle between them. These themes and images are produced through the representation of light versus darkness, religious images or symbols, and the sexual tension resonating within those religious images or symbols.

In Stienman's original lyrics, he appears to use many symbols through the representation of light and dark. In regards to light, there are many references to 'bright eyes'. The repetition of these two words within the lyrics can be found at the end of each verse (pg. 39 ln. 9, 11, 21, 23 pg 40 ln. 56, 58) and at the end of each chorus (pg. 40 ln. 46-47, 83-84). The repetition of 'bright eyes' throughout the song and within the last three lines especially, confirms the significance and power of these words in the song. Another direct reference to light that Stienman also uses is the phrase 'light in my life' in each chorus, lines forty-two and seventy-seven. Though it is not repeated as much as 'bright eyes' in the song, the fact that it is repeated only twice, only in the chorus, and being the only phrase in which the song that contains the word 'light', renders it to be heavily weighted and important to the symbolism in the song. The word and phrase stand out when read or heard despite that it is only used twice in the song's entirety. In terms of symbols relating to darkness within the lyrics, Stienman appears to place a heavier focus on these symbols, including taking the symbols of light and casting them into darkness. He uses repetition with words like, 'tonight' and phrases including, 'a shadow on me', 'I'm always in the dark', and 'love in the dark' as well as 'A total eclipse' used twice in each chorus and within the title of the song. These words and phrases are used similarly to how the ones resembling light are used, giving them the same relevance and importance through repetition. In addition to the phrase, 'light in my life', it is preceded by the words 'there was', referring to a state of absence. An absence in which the light from his bright eyes and therefore her life, is now without light and cast into darkness. Similarly with the lines containing the words 'bright eyes', these two words always appear to be preceding 'turn around'. The words 'turn around' are then interpreted as addressing the one who has the bright eyes, so the one with the bright eyes is being asked to turn around, thus implying that the brightness and light that these eyes cast are now diminished by turning around, thus also casting the persona requesting them into darkness. Each verse of the original lyrics is also accompanied by every other line starting with 'turn around', which creates a greater sense of pleading for the light to come back into her life. It appears that she is faced with a battle of longing for something or someone she used to have and is not able to get away from the emotional torment of wanting what is lost. This emotional battle can be expressed through Stienman's constant use of light and dark. This conflict between light and darkness within the lyrics are shaped through the persona's fight of once having light, now being shrouded in darkness and seeking that light again. Mulcahy's interpretation of Stienman's lyrics into a video, takes the symbols of light versus darkness Stienman has created and adapts them, even enhances them, to create a deeper interpretation of the original lyrics. Mulcahy takes the reference to 'bright eyes' and the importance it has within the lyrics and produces the images of young schoolboys and a young Catholic boys choir as having these 'bright eyes' (0:43-0:45, 3:27-3:38, 5:10). Based on the reading of the lyrics and the interpretation of the video, the person with the bright eyes is the one the persona of the song is in love with and is longing for, therefore, it is then assumed the one or ones she is longing for are the young school boys. Mulcahy also demonstrates and interprets the phrase, 'there was light in my life' through the use of light versus darkness throughout the video. He has the interpretation taking place at night, in the dark. He also experiments with the use of the light that emanates from each of the rooms Bonnie Tyler's persona looks into. Each room portrays a boy as one of her desires. They are presented to the viewer in desirable ways, wherein their shirts are open, clad in Speedos and drenched with water (0:53-1:12). The light from each room casts a glow from these desirable images into the dark hallway Tyler's persona is descending. This image provokes the similar interpretation of the phrase 'there was light in my life' as reading only the lyrics themselves; Tyler's persona is walking in darkness and the light from the boys she fantasizes about are shedding light into her darkness.

Mulcahy also deliberately addresses the battle between light and darkness as a symbol of the battle the persona of the song is struggling over within the lyrics, by using images of battle. He presents the viewer with images of black ninjas (1:15-1:19), white clad fencers fencing (1:34, 1:44, 1:50), and foot ball players in formation, as they would be at the line of scrimmage (1:40, 2:15). All of these images are shown and presented at night and in the dark, but are also lit by the light of the moon, displaying a very drastic example of light and darkness. Each image is also an example in which there is fighting or a battle to be had. Black ninjas are century old warriors that were mainly hired for espionage and assassination, fencing is a sport in which attacking and defence are done with a light sword, and the line of scrimmage is where each football team lines up to begin battle over the ball (they line up similarly to how soldiers used to line up in times of war for battle). These images have a direct link to the original lyrics and the interpretation of them into a video as a whole, wherein the persona is struggling with the battle between what is morally right and wrong. There are also the simple images and symbols that Mulcahy uses to represent the battle between light and darkness, such as the colours of black and white. Bonnie Tyler taking on the persona of the song, is seen throughout the video garbed in a white dress, there are black ninjas, white fencers; the outfits the choir boys are wearing are both black and white; as well, the boys ascending the staircase are wearing black sunglasses, jackets and pants. He continues to use images such as those mentioned above, during the course of the video; these images are merely a few examples to highlight his agenda and attention to detail in reproducing the symbols Stienman illustrates in the original lyrics of light versus darkness. It is these symbols that Stienman created and Mulcahy has enhanced through his interpretation of the original lyrics that represent the emotional struggle and personal battle the persona is fighting within her.

Stienman also constructs images and symbols of a religious nature within the lyrics as well. The title of the song, 'A Total Eclipse of the Heart', which is also repeated twice in each chorus is a direct reference to a form of a religious aspect and by having the title being of a religious nature, makes the entire song one to be addressed or examined with religious thought. 'A total eclipse' is defined as 'the total surface of a celestial or 'heavenly' body is obscured by or into darkness' (OED). There is an interpretation of these lyrics that is ripe with religious symbolism, and it is that the persona of the lyrics could be that of Mary Magdalene speaking about or to Jesus. This is definitely a topic that needs deeper exploration and research, but upon first examination could be deemed very relevant to this particular discussion. In the first and second verses of the song, Mary could be addressing her feelings about her sins and her feelings towards Jesus. Jesus could be seen as the 'bright eyes' and she is longing to have his 'light' and love in her life. The third stanza, that is not included in the recording of the song, could definitely be applied to Mary's thoughts about Jesus in terms of her thinking he never really had a childhood like any other boy, due to his responsibilities and acknowledgement of being the Son of God. In conjunction, Jesus was the only one who accepted her despite her sins, forgave her and 'saw her the way that she (truly) was' (ln. 49). She then proceeds with the statement that there was 'no one in the universe as wondrous and as magical as you' (ln. 53), addressing Jesus' miracles and that she believed he was truly the Son of God. She then also states 'there is nothing she wouldn't do'(ln. 55) for him, reinforcing her devotion to Jesus, his teachings and way of life. The chorus could be seen as her confession of romantic love and desire that she feels for Jesus and in her moment of need is pleading for him to feel the way she does, even though she is knowledgeable to the fact that he cannot. This interpretation also seems to follow similar conventions about her internal struggle of her desires and romantic love for Jesus and wanting that love reciprocated, yet at the same time also knowing that it can never be and also wanting to follow and be saved by him. So, perhaps Mulcahy has similar ideas or interpretations when examining the original lyrics and applies them to his adaptation of the lyrics into his video. The moral issue that develops within the reading of the lyrics of the persona as Mary Magdalene addressing Jesus gives fuel for him to create a modern moral issue for the persona of the song to be coping with (an older woman or teacher desiring a young adolescent or student) and in turn uses religious images to keep in stride with the moral issues and battle the persona of Mary Magdalene would be dealing with. To coincide with the religious reading of the lyrics is the sexual tension expressed in the chorus. The sexual tension is applied to Mary's inner desires to have romantic relations with Jesus, but is also aware of how wrong it would be, equalling the conflict of the persona in the video, modern day reading, or non religious reading (39 ln. 25-47, 40 ln. 60-85). The lyrics convey a deep yearning and want by the persona. With lines and words like, 'I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild' I get a little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms''(39), along with a music shift at the chorus, the lyrics become more aggressive, physical, and almost heated. Suggestive words like, 'need', 'tonight', 'hold', and 'forever' repeated throughout the chorus' also suggests a strong emphasis, which produces a feeling of urgency, want, and desire. All of these traits of feelings and emotions are what build the sexual tension.

The religious images or symbols and sexual tension represented in the lyrics are reciprocated in the video rendition as well. Mulcahy tends to make these themes a strong focus in his adaptation, so much so that they overlap and work together, sometimes as one. For discussion purposes, the religious images and sexual tension displayed in the lyrics that are portrayed in the video will be discussed as one. In reference to the uniforms that the young boys are wearing, while many private schools for young children and adolescents require their attendants to wear uniforms, it is also a requirement of students attending Catholic schools. In addition to this interpretation of the boys in uniform attending a Catholic school, are the images of the boys in choir robes (3:27-3:30). Mulcahy manipulates the religious image of these young boys as the subjects of the persona's desire and has in turn also made them appear very sexual. In scenes 0:56-0:57 and 3:49 of the music video, the boys in uniform are dishevelled and seen as sexually desirable because of their open shirts and bare chests. The first instance where these desirable and sexual young men are viewed, as mentioned above, is the line where the persona states, ''and I dream of something wild'(39 ln.14, 0:54-0:56). The way these young boys are presented to the viewer alludes to the fact that the persona finds these boys sexually desirable. Among all the images, Mulcahy has the persona of the song confronted with as she roams the dark hallways, a scene of five boys at a dinner table, wherein four of the boys at the table raise their glasses in a toast to the boy at the head of the table (1:23-1:27). This image of the five boys could be seen as a representation of The Last Supper. With reference to the depiction of sexual tension within this religious symbol is the final shot of the sequence, which also occurs at the climax of the music, just before the chorus. The image is that of a forceful clashing together of two of the glasses the boys were holding, in a toast that causes the liquid within the glasses to overflow and spill out, creating an image closely resembling that of the motions of an orgasm (1:29-1:30). This sequence of images of The Last Supper is also later shown in chaos. There are three shots in the video where the same boys toasting at the dinner table, are seen in chaos, destroying the dinner scene by tearing it apart (3:07, 3:11, 3:17). These disruptive and chaotic images correlate to the persona's inner struggle and battle presented throughout both the original lyrics and video adaptation.

With the introduction of there being three shots of a chaotic Last Supper, Mulcahy uses the symbol of the number three throughout the entirety of the video. The number three is a powerful number and has a variety of meanings when used as a symbol, but one of the main characteristics the number three represents as a symbol is that of The Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a religious reference to God the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Mulcahy uses the number three in ordinary ways, which upon first glance of the video could be undetected or unnoticed. It is the repetition and demonstration of the number three to create a strong emphasis, which is important and worthy of examination. The opening shot of the video is of three lit windows (0:06); there are then shots of three open doors; three lights hanging from the ceiling and each contains three little lights; three white lit candles; and three empty decanters within the first thirty seconds of the video (0:18-0:31). By presenting the audience with these images of three and the symbolism the number usually evokes of The Holy Trinity, subconsciously creates a religious viewing of the video, which in turn also produces a deeper moral issue for the persona of the song, as well as adding to the struggle and battle between what is morally right and wrong. Mulcahy continues with the use of the number three and the religious symbolism in a scene where Tyler is on a balcony above a set of stairs where six boys clad all in black leather are in rows of two, therefore making the number three the predominant visual, are ascending the stairs beneath her. While the audience is shown Tyler standing on the balcony with her legs astride, they are also presented with an image of looking down on the boys who then proceed to make actions that can be interpreted as beckoning Tyler's persona to come down to them, to join them. These images make it appear as though these desirable boys are asking her to make a decent into the underworld or to give into her temptations of desire and lust for them (1:55-2:04). The scene then ends with the camera panning down, and then zooming in for a tight shot on the architecture of an arch between Tyler's open legs (2:30-2:33). What is fascinating about Mulcahy's focus on this specific architecture, is that in many Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals, this Gothic style of arches have been used and are still incorporated into modern churches today is very sexual. These types of arches were normally found in the entryway to the churches and they were designed to look like the woman's labia, due to the fact that the church was thought of to be the female component to Christ, or in other words, the 'wife of Christ' (Marin). Weather Mulcahy deliberately presents the audience with this very sexual religious symbol; it does fit in with everything else he seems to be trying to accomplish with his video adaptation. These arches are probably the most sexually charged religious images within the video and in turn add to the previous scene of temptation the boys clad in black appeared to be offering her. Thus, also putting more of an emphasis on the sexual religious images, that in turn, fuel the persona's battle between what is morally right and wrong.

Jim Stienman's original lyrics to Bonnie Tyler's 'A Total Eclipse of The Heart' are laden with symbols and themes to emphasize the persona's internal struggle of desire from something she cannot have. Russell Mulcahy takes the internal struggle of the persona and the symbols Stienman created and propels and manipulates it into a music video adaptation. He not only draws on the original lyrics, but also enhances them, turning the inner struggle of the persona into a full-fledged battle within herself of what is morally right and what is wrong. Mulcahy accomplishes this feat by drawing on the themes Stienman created; the representation of light versus darkness, religious symbols and the sexual tension those symbols emanate. Though it would appear that when the lyrics and the video are examined at first glance, would appear to have almost nothing in common, but in fact correlate on a variety of levels. Both work together to create a piece of art that challenges social boundaries and the audience as a reader and a viewer to examine the efforts of their creators to see just how they work as one to draw attention to the moral issues faced by today's society.

- Princess_ck84, North Bay, Canada

no drugs were involved

2008-01-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

sid and marty krofft present h.r. pufnstuf:
a boy named Jimmy accidentally finds Living Island, a magical place where everything is alive. The Mayor of Living Island is a friendly dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf. Jimmy had been lured to the island with his friend, a talking flute named Freddie, by a magic boat which promised adventures across the sea. The boat was actually owned and controlled by a wicked witch named Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo who rode on a broomstick with a steering wheel called the Vroom Broom. Jimmy was taken in by Pufnstuf, who was able to protect him from Witchiepoo as the cave where he lived was the only place her magic had no effect. Everything on Living Island was alive — houses, castles, boats, grandfather clocks, candles, books, trees, mushrooms - all voiced in a parody of a famous film star, such as Mae West, Edward G. Robinson or most notably John Wayne as "The West Wind".

Marty Krofft said, "No drugs involved. You can't do drugs when you're making shows. Maybe after, but not during. We're bizarre, that's all."
Referring to the alleged LSD use, Marty said in another interview, "That was our look, those were the colors, everything we did had vivid colors, but there was no acid involved. That shit scared me. I'm no goody two-shoes, but you can't create this stuff stoned."

right. no drugs were involved.
and i would imagine that no drugs were involved in this next clip as well:

A quintessential New York underground film/video artiste, the late Tom Rubnitz took a bite out of the Big Apple and spat it out in a wild kaleidoscope of unequivocal camp and hallucinogenic color. The late John Sex, Happi Phace, the B-52s, Lipsynchia, Ann Magnuson, Quentin Crisp, Michael Clark, and Lady Bunny are but a few of the stars that shine oh-so-brightly in Rubnitz's glittering oeuvre. A genre artist par excellence, Rubnitz treated the sexy-druggy-wiggy-luscious desserty qualities of the '80s downtown club scene with the loving care only a true hedonist could show. Rubnitz passed away from AIDS in the summer of 1992.

--Video Databank Catalog

camels, cigarettes, snack cakes and pistols.

2008-01-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

At 20 points along the Gaza Strip's southern border, Hamas
operatives detonated explosives to topple an Israeli-built
fence, allowing as many as 200,000 Palestinians--13
percent of the territory's population--to cross into Egypt
and shop. The Gazans purchased camels, candy, cement,
chairs, cheese, cigarettes, computers, cows, doughnuts,
gasoline, generators, goats, mattresses, medicine,
motorcycles, pistols, potato chips, sheep, snack cakes,
soap, and televisions. Supplies at Egyptian shops
dwindled, prices spiked, and fistfights ensued. Several
Gazan women married Egyptians, and the Israel Defense
Force patrolled its southern border for would-be suicide
bombers and hostage takers.

tax on old english, swisher sweets, and cocaine

2008-01-25T13:27:00.001-08:00

Before you pour one out for your homies, read this. Yesterday, Governor Eliot Spitzer proposed a new budget aimed at reducing New York State’s 4.4 billion dollar deficit. Among cuts to health care and education aid, the budget would add or increase taxes on some of our corner store favorites, namely malt liquor, which would be taxed at $2.54 per gallon rather than 11 cents. That’s a 2,209% increase! The price of forties will rise by as much as 80 cents! Edward Forty Hands is going to cost more than 5 whole dollars!

The proposed tax also means higher prices for malt liquor energy drinks like Sparks. One Sparks enthusiast told us it was probably “healthier in the long run. I imagine some will turn to hard drugs more frequently. PCP perhaps.”

Asked whether he would buy less malt liquor, a Hells Kitchen man told the Times, “Nah. You got to do what you got to do. It’s like gas. You drive the same mileage for $2 a gallon or $3.50 a gallon.”

The new budget also includes increased taxes for “low-end cigars” like Swisher Sweets and taxes for illegal drugs, including $3.50 per gram of marijuana and $200 a gram for cocaine. City Room took a closer look at the ‘cocaine tax’ and found the fine print spelling out how drug dealers can go about paying taxes on their supply.

The tax is paid by the dealer, in advance of his or her receipt of the marihuana or controlled substance, through the purchase of tax stamps from the Department of Taxation and Finance (“Department”). Upon receipt of the product, the dealer must affix enough stamps to the packages of marihuana or the controlled substance in order to show the tax has been fully paid.

Odds of drug dealers paying taxes: low. very low.

david lynch on iphone

2008-01-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

loretta lux

2008-01-25T11:39:00.001-08:00

loretta lux

zombie elvis karaoke robot

2008-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

so dude found a elvis karaoke robot thrown away the other night.

horse masks, thongs, mushrooms. japan

2008-01-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

so there's this japanese dude... who only wears different thongs.. and a horse mask.
and umm, he dances around and picks, cooks, and eats wild mushrooms.
this is blowing me away right now.

beijing olympic stadium

2008-01-19T12:54:00.001-08:00

The new National Stadium is located on a gentle rise in the centre of the Olympic complex. It is conceived as a large collective vessel. An undulating composition of high and low elevations moderates the bulk of the vessel and gives it a dramatic sweeping form. The stadium's appearance is pure structure. Facade and structure are identical. The structural elements mutually support each other and converge into a grid-like formation – almost like a bird's nest with its interwoven twigs. The spatial effect of the stadium is novel and radical and yet simple and of an almost archaic immediacy, thus creating a unique historical landmark for the Olympics 2008.

The stadium is conceived as a large collective vessel which makes a distinctive and unmistakable impression both when it is seen from a distance and from close up. It meets all the functional and technical requirements of an Olympic National Stadium, but without communicating the insistent sameness of technocratic architecture dominated by large spans and digital screens. The spatial effect of the stadium is novel and radical and yet simple and of an almost archaic immediacy. Its appearance is pure structure. Facade and structure are identical. The structural elements mutually support each other and converge into a grid-like formation, in which facades, stairs and the roof are integrated.

Visitors walk through this formation and enter the spacious ambulatory that runs full circle around the stands. From there one can survey the circulation of the entire area including the stairs that access the three tiers of the stands. Functioning like an arcade or a concourse, the lobby is a covered urban space with restaurants and stores that invite visitors to stroll around.

The stands are designed without any interruption to evoke the image of a bowl. This evenly constructed shape serves to focus attention on the spectators and the events on the field. The human crowd forms the architecture. The facility provides good comfort, excellent views and a superb atmosphere. It will generate crowd excitement and drive athletes to outstanding performances.

The Exterior Shell – Inflated Cushions as a Filler

Just as birds stuff the spaces between the woven twigs of their nests with a soft filler, the spaces in the structure of the stadium will be filled with inflated ETFE cushions. On the roof, the cushions will be mounted on the outside of the structure to make the roof completely weatherproof. Whilst the rain is collected for rainwater recuperation the sunlight filters through the translucent roof providing the lawn with essential UV-Radiation. On the facade, the inflated cushions will be mounted on the inside of the structure where necessary, e.g. to provide wind protection. Since all of the facilities – restaurants, suites, shops and restrooms – are all self-contained units, it is possible to do largely without a solid, enclosed facade. This allows natural ventilation of the stadium which is the most important aspect of the stadium's sustainable design.

The Sliding Roof – the Lid of the Tin

The sliding roof is an integral part of the structure of the stadium. When it is closed, it converts the stadium into a covered arena. Just as a tin is only complete with a lid, the roof, whether closed or open, is an elementary part of the whole. With its own structural logic, it is also a grid-like formation that forms a waterproof shell together with the inflated cushions.

new york city

2008-01-19T12:48:00.001-08:00

nike commercials

2008-01-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

i really like this nike commercial.

happy birthday kate

2008-01-16T02:29:00.001-08:00

sly stone, you are my hero.

2008-01-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

hunter.

2008-01-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Tim Ferris [former New York Bureau Chief for Rolling Stone]: Around that time, I was leaving New York to go on tour with David Bowie. [Rolling Stone editor] Jann [Wenner] was in New York, and we had a meeting. I had my bag with me because I was on my way to the airport, and Jann fired me -- which happened periodically during downturns. When I called Owl Farm, Sandy answered and said that she had just spoken to Hunter, who was in his room at the Watergate. I asked her how things were going, and she said, "Pretty well, but we're worried about money. That's what we were just talking about. We only have four hundred dollars left in the bank and we don't know where any more money is going to come from." We talked a bit more, and then I hung up and immediately called Hunter. He said, "How's it going?" I said, "I just got fired by Jann." And Hunter said, "Do you need any money? I can lend you four hundred dollars."

vegetable orchestra

2008-01-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

so this just totally amazed me:

here's them.. live in vienna:

and then here's a little intro to making vegetable instruments.. but umm.. it's in japanese:

pompel & pilt

2008-01-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

The Norwegian TV-show "Pompel & Pilt" was both loved and hated in its home country due to the surreal, amoral personalities of its characters. After the series was broadcast in 1969, 1973, 1976, 1979 and 1985, the show was banned by NRK (Norwegian National Broadcasting) as it was deemed too dangerous for children. After this a huge cult-following grew, demanding to get "Pompel og Pilt" back on television and today the characters are considered one of the greatest pop-cultural icons in Norwegian television-history.

basically they are repairmen. and then there's a guy named gorgon. who has an obsessive compulsive disorder, constantly saying words that rhyme with "reparere". which means repair. and then there's some weird animal called a moffedille that eats keys and communicates through speech bubbles and howling noises.

episode one:

episode two:

episode three:

books

2008-01-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

Jesse P- "Bro, you should read this book."
Jesse N- "Books are like girlfriends; I hate 'em."

wind powered robots!!!

2008-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

wind powered robot!!!! future dinosaur!!! yaaahahhahhhh!!!!!!

the names bond. james what the fuck.

2008-01-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

James Bond fan David Fearn has changed his name - to all 21 official 007 film titles.

The 23-year-old is now called - 'James Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live And Let Die The Man With The Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View To A Kill The Living Daylights Licence To Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond'.

James, of Walsall, Staffordshire, said: "I wanted to be James Bond and now I am - it's the ultimate fantasy."

The 69-word name change is the longest in the UK Deed Poll Service's history.

SPACE!!!!!!!

2008-01-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

smithsonian on time machines

2008-01-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

A physical time machine—a device available at Wal-Mart, as opposed to a natural wormhole somewhere in the cosmos—is possible. You begin with something square. Next, install mirrors at the corners and send a beam of light, perhaps from a laser, at one of the mirrors. The light will bounce to the second mirror, the third, the fourth and back through this cycle forever.

The force of this constantly circulating light will begin twisting the empty space in the middle. Einstein's theory of relativity dictates that everything happening to space must happen to time, so time begins twisting, too.

To fit a human inside this time machine we need to stack a bunch of these mirrors on top of each other, and add more light beams. Eventually, we'll have a cylinder of circulating light. Once we step inside, we're ready to fly through time....
Here's the catch: The time machine only allows someone to travel as far back as when the machine was first activated. Since no time traveler has shown up yet—check-out aisle tabloids notwithstanding—no such machine has yet been invented.

rag chairs by droog

2008-01-06T19:24:00.001-08:00

this chair is made out of 15 bags of rags.
would look gorgeous in my secret gypsy tower.
cop it for $4200 here.

dash snow. nuff said.

2008-01-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

jesus loves you

2008-01-06T18:14:00.001-08:00

make: single speed

2008-01-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

how to paint laser graffiti

2008-01-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

pirates!!!!

2008-01-04T11:58:00.001-08:00

belvedere commercial

2007-12-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

terry richardson. vincent gallo. earsnot. rza. belvedere.

skate or die

2007-12-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

tony hawk. japanese tv. the fucking 80's

chicago runs shit

2007-12-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

us placers video by CRS.
directed by va$htie
which, um.. is lupe fiasco, pharrell, and kanye rapping
over a thom yorke sample.
hot shit.

the cool kids

2007-12-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

black mags

color fundamentals pack. superstar vintage.

2007-12-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

i want.

i am the party.

2007-11-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

Pythagoraswitch

2007-09-27T12:29:00.001-07:00