“The more a man can achieve, the more he may be certain that the devil will inhabit a part of his creation.”
Norman Mailer
1923-2007
Photo by Carl Van Vechten.
Archive for the ‘The Arts’ Category
RIP Norman Mailer
November 10, 2007Beauty Pageant Contestant Performs “Star Wars” on the Trumpet
October 23, 2007
You heard me: Beauty Contestant Performs “Star Wars” on the Trumpet, and not just the theme song, either. Her interpretive dance of the opening battle scene is, admittedly, somewhat abstract, but no less so than Jake Lloyd’s performance in Ep. 1.
No, seriously. Dude. Seriously. Your brain will hurt. Take morphine beforehand. Lots of it. I’m not fucking around here.
From Who Sucks.
P.S. Dude. Seriously. You think it’s going to be bad… you have no effing idea. Dude. Serious. I’m telling you. Morphine. Seriously.
P.P.S. Oh yeah that reminds me… Miss Trannyshack is coming up.
Todd Blair
September 28, 2007My very close friend, Violet Blue, was married to this fantastic dude when I first knew her some years ago. His name is Todd Blair; he is a machine artist and teacher, and he is one of the most amazing, creative, kind, brilliant people I’ve ever known. He and Violet have since parted, but are still very close friends. Though I’ve run into him several times over the years, I haven’t talked much with Todd for some time, but magnificent people leave indelible impressions, and Survival Research Laboratories (of which Todd is a critical part) is packed with ’em. Todd is one of the coolest, always one of the people I looked forward to seeing during my time (tagging along with Violet) in proximity to SRL before I moved away from SF the last time.
Todd was in a terrible accident after the SRL show in Amsterdam this past weekend. Details are unclear, but he sustained very serious head trauma and will need to be in recovery in Amsterdam for some months. It’s unclear how extensive the damage is, but you can get more up-to-date details via the links below. His girlfriend Alex is with him now in Amsterdam, and is getting an apartment so she can care for him during the recovery period.
Todd’s one of the brilliant lights in San Francisco’s machine arts community, which as some of you may know is a vibrant world of gifted creators, amazing inventors, crazed visionaries, guerilla artists, wing nuts, and geniuses so brilliant it’s scary to talk to them. This is a blow to the underground arts community in SF and throughout the world, and to the arts world as a whole. I don’t pray, but if you do, please, now’s the time, and if you donate, that rocks too — apartments in Amsterdam ain’t cheap, and Todd’s supporters may need to be there for a while before he can safely come home.
You can find out more at Violet’s blog, follow Todd’s progress at toddblair.wordpress.com, and you can donate to Todd’s recovery fund via Paypal, which I beg you to do if you can. There is also some info in posts on Laughing Squid and BoingBoing about Todd.
I found out about this Monday and am blogging it late, frankly because I hoped that more information would be forthcoming about Todd’s condition, and there is definitely good news at the blog, but everything is pretty up in the air with an injury like this.
Thinking good thoughts for Todd, and hoping you’re doing the same.
Techyum Roundup 24 September
September 24, 2007
Extra Action Marching Band Seeks Flag Team Members
September 22, 2007
Li’l Mike at SF Metblogs informs us that the incomparable Extra Action Marching Band is looking for new members of its dirty-dancin’ flag team:
You don’t need to play a tuba, or memorize complex musical charts… you just need to move & groove with some distinctly discernible enthusiasm…The pay is apparently low to non-existent, but according to their fearless leaders, “rewards are vastly beyond logic and defy description“
Which I think is a nice way of saying that this is the drinkin’-est, smokin’-est, sluttiest, dirtiest, most hangover-burdened marching band that ever kicked marching band ass and took marching band names. If the EAMB held “Band Camp” it would consist of taking over a Bakersfield Motel 6 and turning it into a smoking pile of butt-laced rubble with a trail of empties leading to and from the nearest BevMo. They’re animals. Animals, I tell you. Run. Hide. Cower.
Image via EAMB MySpace page.
Hunter S. Thompson Impersonator Burns the Man
September 9, 2007
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, life often imitates something so weird no one could make it up, so it must also be life.
As it turns out, the gentleman who set the Burning Man on fire, and was promptly arrested for arson, was a Hunter S. Thompson impersonator interviewed by my friends at 10ZenMonkeys not long ago.
Said RU Sirius Show cohost Jeff Diehl: “He never asked for permission to smoke in my house. And he chain smoked the whole time, even though he doesn’t inhale.”
Via (or is that “Viva”?) Techyum.
Image by Scott Beale via 10ZenMonkeys.
Hunter S. Thompson Impersonator Burns the Man
August 29, 2007Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, life often imitates something so weird no one could make it up, so it must also be life.
As it turns out, the gentleman who set the Burning Man on fire, and was promptly arrested for arson, was a Hunter S. Thompson impersonator interviewed by my friends at 10ZenMonkeys not long ago.
Said RU Sirius Show cohost Jeff Diehl: “He never asked for permission to smoke in my house. And he chain smoked the whole time, even though he doesn’t inhale.”
Via (or is that “Viva”?) Techyum.
Image by Scott Beale via 10ZenMonkeys.
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion
August 11, 2007
Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Crucifixion” was a featured post on Wikipedia’s RSS feed recently, and it reminded me how disturbing I find his work.
Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion is a 1944 triptych painted by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The work is based on the Eumenides, or Furies, of Aeschylus’ The Oresteia…. The triptych was executed in oil paint and pastel on Sundeala fibre board, and was completed within the space of two weeks. The work summarizes themes explored in Bacon’s previous paintings, including his examination of Picasso’s biomorphs, and his interpretations of the Crucifixion and the Greek Furies. Bacon did not realize his intention to paint a large crucifixion scene and place the figures at the foot of the cross.
I also never knew the Bacon was Irish. Hooray for weird Irishmen!
Sexy Stripper Revives the Art of Burlesque
July 30, 2007
On CNN’s front page, there’s a headline: Sexy Stripper Revives the Art of Burlesque, with a link to a 6.5-minute video of Dita Von Teese under the heading “Breaking News Videos.” I always head to CNN for all the breaking news on current events. That was sarcasm. I know it’s hard to tell with me, so I’m trying to be more obvious.
Related links:
Eros Zine interview with Ms. Von Teese.
Eros Zine review of Dita’s book The Art of the Teese.
Eros Zine profile of Christophe Mourthe, one of Ms. Von Teese’s favorite photographers (also one of mine).
Eros Zine review of Dita show at Koko (London).
Eros Zine review of Dita show at Flesh Factory (Los Angeles).
Drawings of Audacia Ray From Dr. Sketchy’s
July 27, 2007
There are some great drawings of Audacia Ray from the last Dr. Sketchy’s over at her blog, Waking Vixen. Drop by and check them out! And don’t forget to check out the Dr Sketchy’s Barbary Coast Flickr Pool for even more pix of Audacia!
Drawing of Audacia Ray by Big Al, BigAlArt.com
Toxicography 