Other, strange, interesting or whatever does not fit into my other two favorite subjects.
Shepard Fairey Designs ‘Occupy Hope’ Poster, Replaces Obama’s Face With ‘V for Vendetta’ Mask – Los Angeles News – The Informer: “Here we go again. L.A. street artist Shepard Fairey has released a second original design for the Occupy Wall Street movement — and this time, instead of playing it safe with a wistful scene out of an Angela Davis documentary, he’s given his own (in)famous HOPE poster from Obama’s first election campaign a rebellious makeover.”
Triangle-Headed Alien Mummy discovered in Peru — we’re not alone!: “Triangle-Headed Alien Mummy discovered in Peru — we’re not alone!
Triangle-Headed Alien Mummy discovered in Peru — we’re not alone! Behold a giant-headed alien mummy that turned up in Peru. Stare into the all-knowing eye sockets of an alien that somehow wound up on Earth many years ago, and was mummified by the locals. But what was is it doing here?”
World Map Made from Recycled Computers (7 Pictures) > Design und so, Netzkram, Sculptures, urban art > components, macs, old compoter, pcs, university, world map: “Besser kann man alte Computer-Kompenenten vermutlich nicht recyclen: die britische Künstlerin Susan Stockwell hat diese riesige Weltkarte aus alten Motherboards, Verkabelung, Ventilatoren, Platinen und Whatnots für die University of Bedfordshire zusammengebastelt. 2010 hat sie mit dem Sammeln begonnen und ist jetzt gerade fertig geworden. Papier kann sie übrigens auch.
“UK-based artist Susan Stockwell recently completed this gigantic world map made from recycled computer components for the University of Bedfordshire.””
The Top 10 Banned books of all time – ShortLists – ShortList Magazine: “1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
The gist: Written in 1931 and published a year later, Huxley’s parody of H. G. Wells’ utopian future in his novel, Men Like Gods isn’t wholly dissimilar to George Orwell’s 1984. Addressing the period’s core theme of industrialisation, Huxley explored the loss of identity and increasing dividision of society to devastating effect.
Why was it banned? Initially, Ireland pulled it off the shelves for its controversial themes on child birth, before several states in the US tried to have it removed from school curriculums due to its “themes on negativity.”
Vas Deferens Organization – “Eye Peels & Brain Picks”: “Last year’s Ninth Ward Fourth World LP marked the first Vas Deferens Organization (VDO) album in nine years (see AI #42), and now the band are back with a new set – Eye Peels & Brain Picks – once again featuring the trio of Matt Castille, Eric Lumbleau and Christopher Moock.”
Studio 54 – The home of decadence | Decadent Lifestyle: ““Studio 54 was the high temple of the Great Stoned Age, a nightly spectacle of wanton debauch fueled by four main ingredients – marijuana, alcohol, Quaaludes, and cocaine – all of them working toward a common end.””
Brilliantly Sarcastic Responses To Completely Well-Meaning Signs | Happy Place:
“Brilliantly smart-ass responses to completely well-meaning signs.”
Federal agency blocks FDA-approved marijuana research for veterans | The Raw Story: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has blocked a pilot study to examine the benefits of marijuana for veterans with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The study was sponsored by the nonprofit research organization the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and would have been conducted by Dr. Sue Sisley of the University of Arizona at Phoenix.
“Hundreds of veterans in medical marijuana states already report using marijuana to control their PTSD symptoms,” MAPS said in a statement. “The growing number of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat-related trauma combined with large numbers of treatment-resistant veterans highlights the pressing need for research into additional treatments for PTSD.””
Matt Stone Trey Parker Acid | Oscar Dresses | Video | Mediaite: “Like many a quinceañera I’ve known, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker delighted, intrigued, confused and repulsed people the world over when they donned copies of iconic celebrity dresses to the Academy Awards in 2000. “What are they on?” many must have wondered. And the answer to that is “acid, of course.”
The duo told Jimmy Kimmel about what exactly happened on that fateful and Lycra-encased evening:”
Limitless Space: Computerized Dataveillance Since 9/11 | Truthout: “Hundreds of state, local and federal databases clog our nation’s digital infrastructure, collecting, sharing and hoarding inconceivable amounts of information about ordinary people. From DHS to the DOJ to the DOE, from the state and local police all the way up to the military and CIA, our government is increasingly relying on a data-driven model of social control. Below is only a tiny sampling of the many hundreds of government databases containing personally identifiable information about hundreds of millions of people. Many of these databases are exempt from the Privacy Act. Some of them remain so secret we don’t know all of the kinds of data kept and shared, or how many records they contain. For more information about data collection and sharing, visit www.privacySOS.org/data.”
2 men allegedly took dead friend bar-hopping – CBC News: “2 men allegedly took dead friend bar-hopping”
Weed Temple: Review: Vas Deferens Organization & Brad Laner – Transcontinental Conspiracy (Niklas Records, 2011): “The reissue of the classic album by one of the most overlooked and underrated bands of the 1990’s on the Polish label Niklas Records brings not only the remastered material but also bonus tracks unheard on the original recording. In fact, every track on the album is so multi-styled, multi-layered and hard to describe it would take a paragraph for each track to even briefly describe the variety of sounds on the CD. The opening “First Plane Not to Plummet Seaward Dallas” stars with a bang: a bitchin’ old school hip-hop beat perfectly suited for a horrorcore rapper paves a way for the amphetamine tribal madness that comes after the distinctly “urban” intro. Everything in VDO’s music is soaked with a specific, surreal sense of humor – the distorted melody among the tribal madness seems to signify that it’s more of a parody of all the “tribal” psychedelic records than the actual “serious” ritualistic psychedelia. In case you didn’t realize the album was released in 1996, there are some mad jungle (or drum’n’bass, if you will) loops replacing the tribal drumming. After a short, quieter interlude the high point of the track (if not the whole album) comes: an electronic, glitchy madness set to a dancefloor-ready, post-punk beat, like the funkiest moments of late 70’s NYC scene meeting the dark experimentalism of This Heat. The nearly 4-minute “Monk Fish Liver Transplant Plate” might seem small and insignificant in contrast to the massive compositions before and after the track, but it’s still packing a nice punch of Oriental/synthesizer weirdness, seamlessly blending the tribal loops playing “normally” and reversed. The following 20-minute monster of “Last Few Days in a Land of Happy Dreams” summons surreal demons with distorted dreamy vocal loops somewhat in the style of Amon Tobin’s “Nightlife” (even though Amon Tobin’s Permutation will be released two years later). The explosions of low-frequency bass are set against almost unpenetrable walls of frying synthesizers, like the hyper-amplified sound of an egg frying or the sound of a tape completely melting from the endless sped-up processing on reel-to-reel. Again, the Amon Tobin implications appear (I wonder if Tobin ever heard Vas Deferens Organization?), with a looped jazz sample co-existing with bend glitches and bursts of noise. The jazzy interlude then reaches a low point, retiring to relative quiet with sparse drumming and finally it ends with a mangled and truly Dadaist sound collage of speech samples. Named simply “T”, the penultimate track on Transcontinental Conspiracy can be considered the “heaviest” track on the entire album, if by “heavy” we consider the sheer psychedelic power and ability to disorientate the listener. Beginning almost too “traditionally” to be considered Vas Deferens Organization material, the track unfolds like an extended psychedelic rock jam taking extensive cues from krautrock weirdness (I think I can hear a snippet of some kraut classic in the mix, possibly Guru Guru?), blending processed electric guitar carnage with field recordings (sounds of water pouring into a vessel) and towering, cavernous bass textures. The finishing bonus track “Scheming Foils” is almost “poppy” by Vas Deferens Organization standards: the vaguely oriental synth-driven jam goes into a whimsical transformation and finally becomes a soothing, ambientalized math rock jam featuring almost jazz fusion-like synth structures. The very end of the track is the last roar of the album, with a wild, distorted guitar solo piercing through the ambience. Transcontinental Conspiracy is a must-have for all fans of 1990’s experimentalism. Truly a band of open-headed professionals intended for truly open-headed listeners. The 2011 reissue gives a chance to open VDO for a new generation of listeners to whom the work of this Dallas (whose members are responsible for the mesmerizing Mutant Sounds blog) unit was completely unknown and whose music was, until now (hopefully?), known only to a close circle of hardcore weirdo psych enthusiasts.
The CD is available from Niklas Records. Buy it!!!”
