Well sort of, anyways. The late great Don Van Vliet does a brief, throaty, whistled rendition with organ accompaniment of the Beatles’ standard which is about as random a moment as anything I can imagine. It’s the cherry on top of this amusing and good natured 1974 Dutch TV appearance which also features a mime-tastic version of “Upon The My-Oh-My.”
 

 
Thanks to Ace Farren Ford !

 
Let’s face it - with the Nineties revival beginning to build up steam, it’s only a matter of time before Friends becomes re-evaluated as not just mere trash TV but something deeper, something representative of the culture of the time. And who knows - maybe it was. If the culture of the time was utterly vacuous and so bland and white-washed that having bleached hair was somehow “edgy” and the most rock and roll thing one could do was attend a Hootie And The Blowfish concert. But that wasn’t the 90s I lived through.

Before we go hailing Friends as the voice of a dispossessed generation, let’s take a minute to pause and reflect on how the show represented gay people, and how much of the humor was based on a premise that being gay in and of itself was just so strange and unusual that it’s inherently funny. And that’s not even touching on gender roles as shown in the show - as a friend of mine commented on this clip:

I always thought Friends’ gender policing was outrageous - it seemed like every other episode centred around how hilarious it was that a man was doing things that normal men didn’t do.

Homophobic Friends is a re-edit compilation by Vimeo user WayOutEast, that compiles all the gay-based humor in the show and that runs for over 40 minutes. Bitch Magazine has an excellent feature on this video and its creator, real name Tijana Mamula:

Mamula found that the homophobic and transphobic jokes in Friends tend “to avoid provoking either aversion or anger, and instead prompts the viewer to be swept away by the hilarity of the situations.” Seeing theses moments altogether, one after another, you can see how the audience was presumed to just chuckle and move on. (I couldn’t help but be reminded of the site Microaggressions, which documents the little, caustic everyday incidents that add up to much more).

And wait, there’s more! “I noticed all sorts of other problematic content, some of which I found even more upsetting, like the place of women and foreigners…You could do a whole series of videos, like Misogynistic Friends and Xenophobic Friends.” (See also: this zany montage of the few black characters that have appeared in the show. The overwhelmingly white cast—including the extras, despite the show taking place in New York City—has often been pointed at as one of the show’s shortcomings.)

You can read the rest of that feature here. This is Homophobic Friends:
 

 
Thanks to Niall Ferguson.

 
Calling all budding horror directors! Looking for a unique, bizarre and terrifying mask to adorn the face of your killer? Then look no further - this is the Elliot’s Costume & Fancy Dress shop of Belfast’s “meerkat” mask. It’s based on the really fucking annoying “Compare The Markets” adverts in the UK. Here’s one:
 

 
So you see, it would also be giving your killer a satirical, anti-consumerist twist. And horror critics love that kind of shit.

The mask can be yours for only £8.50GBP - if interested, you can order it here. 
 
Thanks to Patrick Baston.
 

 
While British MP Tom Watson was discussing recent developments in “Hackergate” on Channel 4 News today, a strange, unidentified object sped through the back of frame, over the Houses of Parliament. Though best known for their hard hitting, intelligent journalism rather than any extraterrestrial frivolity, Channel 4 News still wondered if they had accidentally captured a UFO on tape? Or, perhaps the Murdochs leaving the country? What do you think?
 

 
Via Channel 4 News
 

 
Last week the British historian David Starkey got into a lot of trouble on BBC’s Newsnight by claiming that the English riots were caused by “Black” rap culture and praising the notorious politician Enoch Powell. As could be expected his views were jumped on by the far right British National Party, and there has since been a public outcry that many think spells the end of the broadcaster’s career.

Now YouTube user sweetbabyjesus has uploaded a great cut-up video turning Starkey’s statements on the news program into actually quite a passable little rap tune - for an English historian.
 

 
There’s also a sequel called “Even Starker”, you can watch it here.

 
It’s the summer of 1969 and The Parliaments (pre P-Funk) are conjuring a soul inferno in the studios of WGBH TV in Boston.

George Clinton, in a mohawk and purple jumpsuit (or full-body thong), is on fire. He’s joined by Eddie Hazel, Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Ray Davis, Billy Bass Nelson and Calvin Simon.

Like Motown on acid, this will take you higher and higher. Not even Sly Stone took it to this level of insane funk sublimeness. It just keeps getting more intense. This will sear the flesh off your face and your face will become a mask of cosmic goodness whereupon you will be beamed up to the mothership where George Clinton awaits you with open tendrils and a hamhock in your cornflakes.

Shit, I’m still vibrating after watching this.
 

 
Circle Jerks on late night TV show Rock Palace in 1985.

Founding members Keith Morris (in Michael Jackson drag) and Greg Hetson are joined by Chuck Biscuits on drums and Earl Liberty on bass.
 

Manchester’s Market Street branch of American Apparel, yesterday.
 
The wave of rioting has spread further across the UK, and last night it arrived here in Manchester. This is footage from Sky News of an interview with one of the rioters/looters.
 

 
I have been asked to transcribe this as the interviewee’s accent is thick. Here it is. I have transcribed the interviewee verbatim, but have sumarised the interviewer’s questions (I am sure we can all understand him):

Why are you masked?

Because the police will get me on camera, and then they’ll nick [arrest] me 3 months down the line.

If you were law abiding -

I’m not law abiding, nah.

So why are you doing this?

To piss the police off, do you get me?

Why do you want to piss off the police?

You don’t know what the police are like bro… no, I can’t explain in words.

Please try to explain - are you doing this out of anger?

I’m out for money [not for anger] because the police nick you for stupid things mate, and now this is our payback because they can’t do nothing to us today. So it’s like freedom, like do whatever you want today.

What have you been doing?

I’ve been doing what I want. Getting pissed [drunk].

After the jump, footage of Miss Selfridge on Manchester’s main thoroughfare, Market Street, being set alight.

 
David Bowie admirably keeps his cool in the face of TV host Russell Harty’s idiotic questions (asked via satellite) in a nearly futile effort to promote his then-upcoming 1976 “Isolar” world tour. In marked contrast to other TV appearances around this time, the thin white duke doesn’t seem to have snorted a pound of cocaine before the interview started…

Each time Bowie appeared on Russell Harty Plus in the 1970s, he was subjected to goading and borderline insults from the supercilious, patronizing Harty, who comes off here like a right prat. You have to wonder why he bothered. Bowie had then just finished his role in Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, briefly touched on here.
 

 
Thank you, Adrian Legg!

 
Behold one of the rarest collectible issues of TV Guide, the March 26, 1966 printing with a cover executed by Roy Lichtenstein. Featuring Adam West from ABC-TV’s Batman, this issue will set you back for $200 if it’s in good condition.
 
Below, the delightful movie trailer for the sixties Batman feature film: