When it was released in 1986 the first self-titled LP by Throwing Muses was, for me, a huge breath of fresh air. I loved that their songs were episodic with multiple and contradicting sections. It really was quite unusual to hear so-called indie bands do such complex and interesting music back then, so it was love at first listen for me and I’d go see them any time they came through Los Angeles. I tell you this because main muse Kristen Hersh is just publishing Rat Girl: A Memoir which is a look at the period in which the first Throwing Muses LP came together. My copy’s on its way, can’t wait !
 
Here’s the first song from said LP :

 
Kristin Hersh: The Powells.com Interview
 
Thanks Ned Raggett !

 
Another tasty Jim Steranko cover, this one from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s second issue, published in July 1968. The title is charming: “So Shall Ye Reap Death!”

From Charles Johnson’s Lizard collection over at Little Green Footballs.

 
From an ad on Craigslist. I appreciate that these Republicans are at least self-aware enough to add that this is for Jersey Shore lookalikes who “wouldn’t mind coming to a Republican party.” No pay, but free booze. Something tells me that most people who fancy themselves a ringer for the Situation or Snookie, free booze is probably pay enough…

We are looking for people who look like cast members of the jersey shore and whom wouldn’t mind coming to a republican party. We want basically anyone who even remotely resembles a cast member of the Jersey Shore, or who would not mind dressing up like a cast member of the show to come to our party. We want everyone to fill at least one role. Snookie, Situation etc. Send a pic with your response and your phone number. If you decide to attend we will cover your drinks and etc for the party. It’s not a big party, just a little get together very casual. It’s for a college club. Send an email if you are willing to show up to our party posing as one of these people (Anyones welcome, even if it’s a long shot to the way you look). Just send your number so we can call and talk about arrangements. Anyone looking to have some fun should apply!

On the other hand, Democrats who look like the IQ-challenged Guido and Guidette cast-members, might want to consider showing up in Jersey Shore drag, drinking all their Republican booze and puking all over the place. It would be more in character, anyways, don’t cha think?
 

 
You can’t look away, can you? Just try.

Thanks, Winslow B!

 
This culture always seems to conflate hip-hop’s artists-turned-marketing-moguls—Diddy, 50, Jay-Z—with its true renaissance people, those who are truly hands-on in many of the disciplines inside hip-hop. People like Bronx-raised Derrick Jones a.k.a. D-Nice, who for the past couple of years has put together the excellent short video series True Hip-Hop Stories.

Starting as a teen in the mid-‘80s Jones was the third original member along with KRS-ONE of Boogie Down Productions, and he put out a couple good but undersung albums as part of that crew. Since then, he’s become one of hip-hop’s original go-to guys for web design, and he’s also made his name via his photography and video work, along with getting back into DJing.

Basically he’s pushing culture rather than colored water or a clothing line. That’s refreshing. Here’s one of his first videos for the True Hip Hop Stories series—it’s Masta Ace talking about how he got in on one of hip-hop’s quintessential posse cuts, the Juice Crew’s fantastic “The Symphony” from 1988. It’s recommended you check out the rest of his vids.
 

True Hip-Hop Stories: Masta Ace from D-Nice on Vimeo.

 
After the jump, the damn funny official video for “The Symphony.”
 

 
Noah Scalin, known for creating a skull a day over the course of a year, recently created a massive one made of human brain slices for Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum.

Noah describes working with the museum’s curator and the process of creating his fascinating work of art:

Anna, the curator, asked if I could make a new skull for an upcoming project of theirs and of course I said yes, and then suggested that I make it in the museum itself. Since most of the items on display are very fragile I figured I’d be working with display jars or other non-historical materials. However, to my delight they had just acquired a collection of hundreds of beautiful real brain slices encased in acrylic (which had been dubbed “Zombie MRE’s”)! Since they’re very sturdy I was allowed to used them as my material and I was set up in a lovely room that holds the card catalog for their library. Over the course of two days I arranged the slices on two large old library tables and climbed a ladder over and over making sure the image looked right from a single vantage point (where I would eventually take my picture). All told I used 375 slices and a bit of fabric for the eye/nose holes…

As someone who has a thing for craniums and mandibles, I find this pretty damn exciting.

You can purchase Noah’s book ‘Skulls’ here.
 

 
Interview with Noah Scalin after the jump…

 
According to the cat, “I did it as a joke because I thought it would be funny. I never thought it would be trapped. I expected it to wriggle out.”

(via TDW)

 
I lived in Manhattan’s East Village from 1984 to 1991 and the sight of the great poet Allen Ginsberg around the neighborhood was a pretty common one, although it was still cool to see him each and every time, I must admit. Now the apartment where Ginsberg lived until the mid-90s has been renovated and come on the rental market. There is a link to the listing today—$1700 for the one-bedroom—on Gothamist:

Allen Ginsberg spent 21 years of his life (1975 to 1996) living in a fourth floor walk-up in the East Village, and now—following the death of his partner Peter Orlovsky, it’s on the rental market. Earlier this month, The Allen Ginsberg Project stopped by as it was undergoing renovations, and there’s little left of the poetic madman’s presence. For example, the bedroom that his pal Harry Everett Smith once resided in is now a bathroom (read an interview Ginsberg did with Paola Igliori in 1995, where the two discussed his one-time roommate)

.
 

Above: Harry Smith’s in the guest room, now a bathroom.
 

Above: Here’s how Wired’s Steve Silberman remembers the apartment:
 

Left to right: Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Louis Cartwright, Herbert Huncke, William Burroughs, Allen & Peter’s new apartment, 437 East 12th Street, New York City, December 1975. Photographer unknown. (Via)
 

 
Above: Allen Ginsberg on William F. Buckley’s Firing Line TV program in 1968.

There’s also a link on Gothamist to some photos of the converted YMCA on the Bowery where William Burroughs used to live, famously dubbed “The Bunker.” John Giorno, who took over the place when Burroughs left, kept his bedroom exactly as it was.