To make these tasty undies you’ll need:

   2 lbs Ground Beef
   3 Original Slim Jims
   3/4 cup Soy Sauce
   2 tbsp Hot Sauce
   1 tsp. liquid smoke
   Seasoning - red pepper flakes, celery salt, onion powder, salt, pepper

Tools:

   Dehydrator
   Rolling Pin
   Parchment Paper
   X-acto knife

When you’ve acquired the necessary tools and ingredients, follow these instructions.

 
I’ve raved here before about the great new Bill Moyers show on PBS and encourage DM readers not to miss it. Last week’s episode with Reagan administration economic adviser and former Treasury department official,  Bruce Bartlett, and attorney/activist/pundit Heather McGhee, the Washington, DC director of liberal think-tank Demos, knocked the ball out of the park again. I’m a week late on this, but better late than never…

The way the show aired had the Heather McGhee interview first, and the Bruce Bartlett interview second, but I’d suggest watching them in the reverse order because so much of what Bartlett talks about is “diagnostic” and much of what McGhee discusses is “prescriptive.” That there is approximately a 30-year spread in their respective ages provides an additional, unspoken context. The widescreen generational perspective here is simply priceless. You WILL be smarter after you watch these interviews, I guarantees it.

First Bruce Bartlett: In recent years, Bruce Bartlett has been a harsh, harsh critic of the economic policies of George W. Bush and the Tea party’s know-nothingness (he’s not much a fan of the Democrats, either, I should add). In recent months he’s been in the news for calling Texas Governor Rick Perry an “an idiot” on CNN, adding “and I don’t think anybody would disagree with that.”

In this interview, Bartlett, who began his Washington career first working for Congressman Ron Paul and then Jack Kemp, and who was an extremely influential figure in the “supply-side” economics debate, lets it fuckin’ rip, but in a very measured, dignified, highly informed manner. He’s not just an economist, he’s an historian as well. And he’s worked at the top levels of two Republican administrations. Here, Bartlett flat out calls “bullshit” on what’s going on now. It’s nothing short of amazing to hear someone say the things Bartlett says in this interview on American television.

The times they are a (still) changin’. What would a Tea party Republican make of the things Bartlett talks about here?!?!? I would imagine that it would cause their brains to spark, sputter & smoke!

Bill Moyers talks with conservative economist Bruce Bartlett, who wrote “the bible” for the Reagan Revolution, worked on domestic policy for the Reagan White House, and served as a top treasury official under the first President Bush. Now he’s a heretic in the conservative circles where he once was a star.  Bartlett argues that right-wing tax policies—pushed in part by Grover Norquist and Tea Party activists—are destroying the country’s economic foundation.

Heather McGhee interview still to come in separate post.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds
Why Conservative and Liberals See the World Differently

 
Even though the above photo of Kabang the hero dog from the Phillipines is grotesque, this is actually a moving and heartwarming story of what our canine friends are willing to sacrifice for us when faced with danger. From Inquirer News:

Cousins Dina Bunggal, 11, and Princess Diansing, 3, were walking across Nuñez Extension on Dec. 14 not knowing that a speeding motorcycle was bearing down on them. At the crucial moment, Kabang, the Bunggal family’s dog, emerged from nowhere and jumped into the motorcycle’s path.

The cousins stumbled but were otherwise unharmed. The motorcycle driver, likewise unharmed, took them to hospital for treatment of their bruises.

Eyewitness Jovito Urpiano said Kabang (a Visayan term that means “spotty”) shielded the two girls from certain harm.

Urpiano was in an eatery on his noontime break from driving a tricycle and saw how Kabang stopped the motorcycle from hitting the girls. The dog’s head landed directly on the motorcycle’s front wheel, and as it rolled, her snout got stuck in it.

“I thought somebody threw the dog on the motorcycle, but I could not see anyone who might have done that,” Urpiano told the Inquirer. He said it later came to him that Kabang had intentionally blocked the motorcycle’s path to save the girls.

According to the article Kabang showed up at the family’s home two-weeks after the incident with a mutilated face. The Bunggal family say:

It does not matter if she’s ugly now. What is important to us is she saved our children and we cannot thank her enough for that.

Kabang is being treated with antibiotics, eats with her paws and is apparently back to her fun-loving old self. She is also expecting puppies. 

Via Arbroath

 
Norwegian DJ Todd Terje remixed Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug,” without overdoing it. This is one of those things you’re either going to completely dig or absolutely hate.

I especially enjoyed the Giorgio Moroder-ness towards the end.
 

 
Via Testspeil.de

 
First there was Werner Herzog hating on chickens making the rounds on the Internet, now we have Slavoj Žižek hating on tulips. Hey Mr. Žižek, what did tulips ever do to you?

My relationship towards tulips is inherently Lynchian. I think they are disgusting. Just imagine. Aren’t these some kind of, how do you call it, vagina dentata, dental vaginas threatening to swallow you? I think that flowers are something inherently disgusting. I mean, are people aware what a horrible thing these flowers are? I mean, basically it’s an open invitation to all insects and bees, “Come and screw me,” you know? I think that flowers should be forbidden to children.

 
Via Nerdcore

Photo by Rocky Schenck

Dangerous Minds pal Ann Magnuson will be performing in Los Angeles this weekend, with a brand new show at The Steve Allen Theater featuring an appropriate theme for 2012: The end of the world!

Because the Mayan calendar promises that the world shall end in late 2012, Ann Magnuson has decided to celebrate early. And, like Cher and Streisand before her, she shall begin the first of many ‘farewell’ tours to prepare for the aforementioned Apocalypse.

But because she wants to go out with neither a bang nor a whimper, she has chosen the route of Gentility: partly because of age but mostly because, in an increasingly vulgar world, it’s the most radical thing to do.

A mashing up of ‘end of the world’ songs, appropriately themed spoken word stories and bona-fide poetry will be presented as a contemporary twist on the “Victorian Drawing Room Entertainment”.

With original songs by Ann Magnuson and Kristian Hoffman including material from the albums Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories, The Luv Show as well as golden nuggets from Ms. Magnuson’s former psycho-sexual-psychedelic alt-cult band, Bongwater.

Ms. Magnuson’s drawing room guests may also hear new variations on songs written by Jacques Brel, Kurt Weill, Bessie Smith, David Bowie, Skeeter Davis, The Rolling Stones and the Doors (in a special Tribute to the Occupy Wall Street Movement).

In keeping with Victorian Drawing Room tradition, Ms. Magnuson shall recite poetry both classical (by Percy Bysshe Shelley-woven into The Rolling Stones classic GIMME SHELTER) and contemporary (by California’s own bard, The Lizard King himself, Jim Morrison).

With musical director Mr. Kristian Hoffman on grande pianoforte and Mr. Joseph Berardi demonstrating a variety of exotic primitive percussive instruments from cultures occidental, oriental, and accidental.

Celebrate the beginning of the end in true style!

I am told there will also be a tribute to Ann’s friend, the late artist Mike Kelley, who at one time was part of Ann’s art world “super group” backing band, Super Session, circa 1996,

Tickets on sale here.

Below, a seldom-seen video for Bongwater’s (amazing!) cover of The Monkees’ “Porpoise Song.” So seldom-seen that this morning was the first time I’ve seen it myself and I am truly a Bongwater super-fan.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bongwater: The Power of Pussy

 
A little something for a Sunday, 3 excellent showcases from The Doors recorded in Toronto, Denmark and New York between 1967 and 1969. With introductions and interviews with Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger.

Track listing:

Toronto 1967
01. “The End”
Performance Europe 1968 - Denmark TV
02. “Whiskey Bar”
03. “Back Door Man”
04. “Love Me Two Times”
05. “When The Music´s Over
06. “Unknown Soldier”
New York 1968 PBS ‘Critique’ 1969
07. “Follow Me Down”
08. “Whiskey Bar”
09. “Back Door Man”
10. “Wishful Sinful”
11. “Build Me A Woman”
Critique  interview with The Doors
12. “The Soft Parade”

Now let’s all have a good week!
 

 
In a 45 minute press conference conducted yesterday and uploaded to his Vimeo channel, America’s 2011 “Sheriff of the Year,” congressional candidate and Mitt Romney’s Arizona campaign co-chair Paul Babeu confirms what was already pretty evident, he’s gay, but denies all allegations that he threatened a Mexican man, who claims to be his ex-boyfriend, with deportation.

“Yesterday, a tabloid article made a number of false allegations about me. Only one was true: I’m gay. Today, I held a press conference to discuss this.”

Regarding his sexuality, Babeu said “my personal life is exactly that.”

Hey Paul, pass that thought on to your buddies in the Republican party.
 

 
Sad news. Michael Davis who played bass in The MC5 and Destroy All Monsters has died of liver failure at the age of 68.

In an interview conducted in 2010, Davis looked back on the Sixties and the pop culture crucible in which the MC5 were formed.

The energy of times of the late ‘60s was something that probably won’t ever be duplicated because at that point in time everything was changing from the post-war era into what we might call modern society and technology. When I first started playing in the MC5, a lot of things were still in black and white, not everything was in color, especially the things from Europe, what we called foreign film back then. It had a certain character back then, a lot of the photos of British bands were in black and white. It carried that rainy day mood, it wasn’t all bright and lollipops. It was somber and bluesy. It was such enormous fun to break away from being a straight kid, and dress in Carnaby fashions, skinny pants, pointy boots, little skinny ties and white shirts.

It was an era that was unique, and really a lot of fun. It had this particular soul to it, Motown was happening, everybody was very dapper, before the psychedelic thing took over. The spirit of the times is what stands out.

I believed in us (the MC5), and believed what we were doing was so unique. For me the important thing was to be original, because I came from an art background. Copying someone else’s stuff wouldn’t get the attention that I wanted. Originality was the key to any kind of long-term recognition. I wanted us to be totally original. I thought what we were doing was totally unprecedented, at least not in rock and roll. There was plenty of jazz music, Sun Ra, where people improvised and played free. When we started doing it with electric instruments I just felt the energy levels that we achieved were so profound. I could see it in the audience reactions to it. Audiences absolutely hated it or went crazy. I thought that it would have a long-term effect. But you know it wasn’t successful in the business part of it. It wasn’t that marketable. It wasn’t like the Beatles. But I actually did have a kind of a suspicion that it would be long-term. Having said that, I am really surprised it did turn out that way.”

This footage of The MC5 from 1967 features Michael Davis in supreme form.
 

 
Age may weary and death may claim, but the ears will not condemn this fine selection of essential listening from Blondie, Joe Strummer, Ian Dury, Sonic Youth, David Bowie, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen taken from Later with Jools Holland.

01. Blondie - “Heart of Glass” from 1998
02. Joe Strummer - “London Calling” from 2000
03. Ian Dury - “Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” from 1998
04. Sonic Youth- “Sacred Trickster” from 2009
05. David Bowie - “Ashes to Ashes” from 1999
06. Johnny Cash - “Folsom Prison Blues” from 1994
07. Leonard Cohen - “Dance me to the End of Love” from 1993
 

Tim League, the new face of the film industry.
 
One of the highlights of last year’s Fantastic Fest was Michaël R. Roskam’s Bullhead, a riveting thriller that combines some of the real life nitty grittiness of the Dardennes brothers, the violent poetry of Martin Scorsese and Roskam’s own unique vision where evil intent lurks in chiaroscuro landscapes and behind locked metaphorical doors. Bullhead’s plot is a multi-layered psychological thriller, rich in detail and riveting in execution.

Young cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef trader. But the assassination of a federal policeman and an unexpected confrontation with a mysterious secret from Jacky’s past set in motion a chain of events with far-reaching consequences.

Bullhead is an emotionally driven tale of revenge, redemption and fate set against the backdrop of the Belgian bovine hormone mafia. It is an exciting tragedy about fate, lost innocence and friendship, about crime and punishment, but also about conflicting desires and the irreversibility of a man’s destiny.

Opening in selected cities on February 17, Bullhead, which has been nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for best foreign film, is the second release from Drafthouse Films, the distribution wing of Tim League’s expanding Alamo Drafthouse film community. Their first release was the critically acclaimed Four Lions and upcoming Drafthouse Films include…

[...] documentarian Mark Harley’s comprehensive feature on perhaps the most infamous ‘80s production outfit Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, Mikkel Nørgaard’s internationally acclaimed comedy Clown, and SXSW ‘11 favorite The FP and The ABC’s Of Death - an anthology film featuring segments by 26 different directors that Fangoria calls, “a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world.”

In addition to heading Drafthouse Films and America’s hippest film chain, League owns The Highball restaurant and bowling alley and is the founder of the preeminent genre film festival in the world, Fantastic Fest. The guy’s passion for film knows no bounds and, as his mini-empire grows like the unstoppable vegetation in The Triffids, this CEO is having a shitload of fun while keeping it real.

In the following interview conducted on February 17 at The Alamo Drafthouse’s South Lamar location in Austin, League discusses Bullhead, his plans for the future and the infamous Youtube video that made Alamo Drafthouse’s cell phone policy (turn em off during screenings) a viral sensation.

And please refrain from talking or text messaging during the video or we’ll kick your ass out!
 

 
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!”

Sir Walter Scott wasn’t talking specifically about self-proclaimed “corruption fighter” Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, AZ, but he could have been all the same. Babeu’s the strident, rightwing, bald-headed blowhard who’s neck and neck with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the contest to see which of them can get the most “Hey, look at me!” media attention for being the most hateful racist hard-ass in Arizona law enforcement. He was in John McCain’s “border patrol” campaign ad in 2008. The guy’s got an insatiable need for media attention and is frequently seen on Fox News whenever they require someone to play a border hawk. Babeu recently spoke to the CPAC gathering of religious conservatives in Washington, DC. He’s got big plans to springboard from his anti-immigrant notoriety to a seat in Congress.

Uh… not so fast… We all know what this sort of idiotic attention-seeking did for Arpaio, who is the subject of a major Justice Department investigation that already looks so incredibly gnarly that Arpaio’s dumbass is obviously toast.. Now investigative journalist Monica Alonzo, reporting in the Phhoenix New Times has broken the story of a scandal that involves Sheriff Paul Babeu and it’s a doozy:

Babeu’s Mexican former lover is claiming that the sheriff’s attorney has threatened him with deportation unless he signed an agreement never to discuss their years-long relationship!!!

*Sputter* *cough*... I mean, you can’t make this shit up. And no one did. The evidence seems pretty damning to say the least!

The latest of the alleged threats were made through Babeu’s personal attorney, who’s also running the sheriff’s campaign for Congress in District 4, the ex-lover says.

He says lawyer Chris DeRose demanded he sign an agreement that he would never breathe a word about the affair. But Jose (New Times is withholding his last name because Babeu and his attorney have challenged his legal status) refused.

The 34-year-old from central Mexico charges that the sheriff’s lawyer warned against mentioning the affair with Babeu. DeRose said gossip about Babeu would focus attention on Jose, attention that could result in his deportation, Jose says.

Melissa Weiss-Riner, Jose’s attorney, confirms her client’s account.

She says she spoke directly to the sheriff’s lawyer, DeRose, about the Babeu camp’s threats that Jose could be deported if he “revealed the relationship.” She says DeRose falsely claimed that Jose’s visa had expired.

“Jose came to our firm because he felt he was being intimidated, and he was in fear for his life,” Weiss-Riner says. “He wanted his legal rights protected.”

Babeu didn’t respond to requests for comment by publication time for this article, but his attorney, DeRose, says the dispute between Jose and the sheriff concerned Jose’s work on Babeu’s websites. He says Jose was a former volunteer who hacked into a campaign website.

DeRose didn’t immediately address the other claims against him and the sheriff, except to say, “I never threatened to deport anybody” and that “[Babeu’s] not threatening anybody.”

Believe that if you are really gullible... There’s even a part of the story that involves a jealous Jose doing a “Babooshka” on Babeu, writing to him under a nom de plume on a website called adam4adam.com and posing as another man in order to catch him in the act! More from the New Times article:

Informed of the situation, Nancy-Jo Merritt, a longtime Phoenix immigration attorney, says such a threat would be indicative of an “atmosphere that’s been created politically in this state, so that if you get angry at someone who is Hispanic, you immediately jump down to the level of threatening to deport him.

“If what [Babeu’s attorney] says is correct [about Jose’s being illegal], either the sheriff had a long relationship with someone he knew was undocumented, while all the time being Mr. Bluster about the border and using it for political gain,” or he threatened to deport someone he just broke up with, Merritt says. [Emphasis added].

“That’s just the worst kind of hypocrisy.”

She adds that federal immigration-enforcement agents have better things to do than “take care of Babeu’s boyfriends.”

Antonio Bustamante, a criminal defense attorney and immigration activist, tells New Times that if the allegations against Babeu are true, “To use a position of authority . . . and make legal threats opens a Pandora’s box of ethics issues for any law enforcement person or any elected person. In this case, he’s both.”

Paul Babeu’s a lot of things!

When asked for a statement about the allegations and the online profile, Babeu’s attorney said:

“He believes he’ll be judged by his record as a 20-year veteran of the United States Armed Forces, police officer who has saved two lives in the line of duty and responded to thousands of emergencies, and Iraq war veteran.”

Tell that to Sean Hannity and your former friends in the CPAC crowd, Babeu…
 

Scandal Rocks Pinal County Sheriff’s Election Campaign: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

 
John Cleese answers YouTube comment questions the way only John Cleese could.

YouTuber IrishBagel107 writes: “Sarah Palin = Twit of the Year Nominee.”

John Cleese responds, “I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are. You see, if you are very, very stupid how can you possibly realize that you’re very, very stupid?”
 

 
Via Nerdcore

 
A series of decaying wood and steel structures extending into the Hudson River along the West Side Highway from Christopher Street up to Chelsea, the piers were popular gay cruising spots back in the 1970s. The vibe was open, loose and sexy.

The years between Stonewall and the advent of Aids were a period of sexual freedom and celebration in the West Village and the piers were at the center of a scene that in retrospect seems bittersweet.

Nelson Sullivan’s “The Piers in New York City in 1976” is a short 8mm clip which captures a transitional time between hope and harsher realities.

Until his fatal heart attack in 1987, Nelson Sullivan spent much of his life documenting the Manhattan downtown scene of the the 1970s and 80s. You can see his work at the 5 Ninth Avenue Project on Youtube. It’s a treasure trove of videos, including Lady Bunny, RuPaul, Larry Tee, Michael Alig and the Club Kids, Sylvia Miles, Michael Musto, Albert Crudo, John Sex, the Pyramid Club, the Limelight and Palladium.
 

 
Holy vocal chords! Batman sings! Adam West gets all matey on the poop deck while charming (shurely hams? - ed.) his way through “This Is The LIfe”, from The Milton Berle Show. But first pop fiends Mr. West gives his rendition (shurely torture? - ed.) of a darling little heartfelt ditty “You Only See Her” found on the wonderful site Lord of the Boot Sale.
 

Adam West - “You Only See Her”
 

Bonus - Adam West sings “Miranda”
 
With thanks to Neil McDonald