Religious groups in New Zealand are up in arms over Hell Pizza’s new ad campaign featuring inverted pentagrams on pizzas and buns. From The Christian Post:

The controversial pizza chain has put up billboards in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, with a photo of its hot cross bun decorated with an inverted pentagram, which Satanists have adopted as their symbol. Next to the photo of the bun is the tagline, “For a limited time. A bit like Jesus.”

“They [Hell Pizza] join a long line of advertising that’s in questionable taste that slings off things that lots of people hold precious,” said Lloyd Ashton, the media officer of the Anglican Church in New Zealand, according to The New Zealand Herald.

Hell Pizza director Warren Powell says:

“First of all, we’re acknowledging that Jesus Christ may have been on Earth for a limited time,” said Powell, according to the local publication. “Again, it’s a debate. I think if people take it that way then they’re being a little bit single-minded.”

If I saw this ad I would totally order from Hell Pizza.

Update: A couple of savvy DM readers point out that Hell Pizza reminds them of Mr. Show’s “Marilyn Mozzorella’s Pizza Rella Pie Parlours” sketch. Indeed, it does.

 
(via J-Walk Blog)

 
Can we stop using the term “Hipster” and just call ‘em “characters who like hot jazz” instead? Works for me. Niall?

Below, a video of the creators of Airplane! discussing the jive dialogue from the film.

 
(via BuzzFeed)

 

 
Holy moly! These Luchador skateboard decks by illustrator and graphic designer Chris Parks are fantastic! Brilliant detail and color.

‘The Last Fiesta’ is my 12-skateboard deck shout-out to Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ with Jesus Christos and his 12 Luchador apostles getting down one last time. This piece was created for my solo exhibit Saints & Sinners, here at the Pale Horse Studio. Hand-made shadow box by Casey Paquet.

 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Miles Davis Quintet Skateboards

(via Super Punch)

 
Crazy audio and visual fan-made project for Twin Peaks nuts titled “A Witch House & Okkvlt Guide to Twin Peaks“ by various artists. You can get the CD here.

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
“Diane…” the Twin Peaks tapes of Agent Cooper

(via Nerdcore)

 
This excellent documentary on Malcolm McLaren was originally shown as part of Melvyn Bragg’s South Bank Show in 1984, when McLaren was recording Fans—his seminal fusion of R&B and opera.  Apart from great access and behind-the-scenes footage, the film and boasts revealing interviews with Boy George, Adam Ant, Bow-Wow-Wow’s Annabella Lwin, Sex Pistol, Steve Jones, as well as the great man himself.

Everyone whoever came into contact with McLaren had an opinion of the kind of man he was and what he was about. Steve Jones thought him a con man; Adam Ant didn’t understand his anarchy; Boy George couldn’t fathom his lack of interest in having success, especially when he could have had it all; while Annabella Lwin pointed out how he used people to do the very things he wanted to do himself.

All of the above are true. But for McLaren, the answer was simple: “Boys will be boys,” and he saw his role was as:

“To question authority and challenge conventions, is what makes my life exciting.”

It did, Malcolm, and still does. Enjoy.
 

 
Previously on DM

Who Killed Bambi?: the Roger Ebert Sex Pistols screenplay

Scenes from the Malcolm McLaren funeral

 
More from Malcolm McLaren after the jump…
 

 
You’d think that people who actually go to the effort of visiting libraries, taking books from them, and then reading said books, would be a little more enlightened as to the harm posed to society by banning books. Alas no, as yesterday the American Library Association published its list of the ten books library patrons tried to have banned last year, known as the “Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010”. I’m not familiar with a lot of work on this list, as I don’t tend to read “young adult”-type fiction, but there are some surprising choices on here: 

1. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit

4. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

6. Lush by Natasha Friend
Reasons: Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

7. What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

8. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: Drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint

9. Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: Homosexuality, sexually explicit

10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, violence

Brave New World? Are they serious?! A dystopian critique set in a future world where books are banned, and they want to ban the book? Then again maybe the pro-ban lobby are actually really progressive, as surely I am not the only who has though that Huxley’s future of mood controlling drugs and casual sex is actually kind of appealing. But I can think of much heavier dystopian work that would seem more suitable for banning. I guess it’s just the sex that’s offensive.

Barbara Jones of the ALA has made a statement about the banning of books, included here in a section from the Guardian’s article on the list:

There were 348 reports of efforts to remove books from America’s shelves in 2010, down from 460 the previous year. But the ALA believes the majority of challenges go unreported, and called on Americans to “protect one of the most precious of our fundamental rights – the freedom to read”.

“While we firmly support the right of every reader to choose or reject a book for themselves or their families, those objecting to a particular book should not be given the power to restrict other readers’ right to access and read that book,” said Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom. “As members of a pluralistic and complex society, we must have free access to a diverse range of viewpoints on the human condition in order to foster critical thinking and understanding.”

 
The end of the New York Times appeared to me tonight in the form of a pop-up box.

For well over 15 years I’ve been a regular reader of the New York Times online. Tonight I went to their site and was greeted with a pop-up box offering me content I’ve been getting for free for a decade and a half at a price: $190 a year.

This is certainly the kiss of death for the old gray lady. Advertisers will flee the Times like rats from a sinking ship. And the content that they’re charging for will be available for free elsewhere within moments after its uploaded to the net.

Dumb fucking move.

Last year, The Times of London and its sister paper, the Sunday Times of London, put an ironclad pay wall around their digital content. People could not read articles unless they had paid for the access or were print subscribers too. The online audience for the two papers plummeted from 20 million monthly unique online readers to a little more than 100,000.”

20 million readers to 100,000!  Advertisers must have loved that.

 
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.
 

 

 
Incredibly detailed hand-stitched Vogue covers by Inge Jacobsen. These are pretty terrific.

(via TDW)

 
Mitt Romney just can’t get a break. Right after officially announcing his presidential exploratory committee on Monday, Romney got smacked in the face (hard) with one of his greatest accomplishments as Governor of Massachusetts: near universal health insurance coverage for the state’s residents (and the model for “Omabacare”). The smack-down came via the unveiling of an especially damaging viral video prepared by Massachusetts Democrats. In the video (see below), Romney, speaking with Chris Matthews, clearly proud of this absolutely wonderful and noble legislative achievement, comes off like the kind of Democrat many of us (being serious here) wish Obama was…

Obviously this will not do Gov. Romney any favors in the GOP primaries! Get used to seeing this same footage often.

And then, to compound this embarrassing hoisting by his own petard episode, the results of a new national CNN poll show Romney, once the presumed front runner, is now coming in fourth in polling, behind Mike Huckabee (who’s probably not running anyway), Donald Trump (tell me that doesn’t sting) and Sarah Palin, who everybody knows has no chance of getting the nomination in this space-time continuum (and who is probably not running anyway). If this poll is to be believed, now Romney has even less of a chance of winning than someone widely regarded as having none??? Meanwhile Trump’s popularity amongst likely GOP voters doubles in a month!

After coming out of the gate so strong, already Mitt’s already down there wallowing with Newt in “no-hoper” territory??? Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch and double ouch! Romney must feel like he’s been cursed. The first fuckin’ Republican to come along in decades to do something nice for the common man and now he’s unelectable!

Serves him right for being such a hypocrite.
 

 
And as if you need any more evidence of what a massive hypocrite Romney is, this blast from the past will surely erase all doubt about the man and his deeply *cough* held *cough* convictions.
 

 
Charles Laufer creator of Tiger Beat magazine has died.

For teenyboppers of the 1960s Tiger Beat magazine spoke to them loud and clearly about the things they loved the most: pop stars, cute boys, fashion and rock and roll. With its colorful covers and bold poster-like graphics, Tiger Beat was a gateway magazine to Creem and Rolling Stone.

Charles Laufer, who as a high school teacher in 1955 despaired that his students had nothing entertaining to read and responded with magazines aimed at teenage girls desperate to know much, much more about the lives of their favorite cute stars, died April 5 in Northridge, Calif. He was 87.

Mr. Laufer’s best-known magazine was Tiger Beat, published monthly. With its spinoff publications and its competitors, of which the most popular was 16 Magazine, Tiger Beat had it all covered — or at least what mattered most to girls from about 8 to 14. The Beach Boys’ loves! Jan and Dean’s comeback! The private lives of the Beatles!”

While The Beatles and Beach Boys sold magazines, it was The Monkees that put Tiger Beat on the map and turned it into a profitable enterprise.

Recognizing the Monkees’ potential, he put them on the cover of Tiger Beat. That put the still-struggling publication in the black, and he signed an exclusive deal for special Monkee magazines, Monkee picture books and Monkee love beads, which added to the bonanza.”

 

 
Tiger Beat looked like pop music sounded, fun!
 

 
Obituary at the New York Times.

 
TV On The Radio’s new album Nine Types Of Light was released today and it’s the most accessible collection they’ve made to date and will undoubtedly attract a shitload of new fans. And it deserves it. The band has created an album of lush surfaces underpinned by deep grooves and beautiful hooks. I started listening last night and it’s that rare album that hangs together as a whole satisfying work, capturing you immediately and revealing new pleasures with each listening. This sucker has legs.

The band put together a film for Nine Types Of Light.

The movie is meant to be a visual re-imagining of the record, and includes a music video for every song on the album. The band personally asked their friends and the filmmakers they admired to help direct the music videos. Tunde Adebimpe, the director for the full Nine Types of Light movie, storybooked the music videos together with interviews from local New Yorkers on various topics, including dreams, love, fame and the future. Tunde also directed the music video for Forgotten.”

This when the Internet and music coalesce in a way that rocks my world. What a blessing.

Adebimpe’s take on the film: “We as a band always have so many ideas for things that aren’t just musical… And for less than the price of a Maroon 5 video, you can make a full-length feature.”

Watch it and listen.
 

 
For the past ten years, Los Angeles Times staff reporter Deborah Vankin has covered arts, culture and nightlife for the LA Weekly, Variety, Brand X and the New York Times. She has a special talent for observing and commenting on youth culture in particular.

Poseurs, her new grapic novel, is set amongst restless fashion tribes of Los Angeles and there will be a signing tomorrow night celebrating the publication of the book at LA’s premiere geek emporium, Meltdown Comics.

Vankin told the LA Weekly:

The crux of the story is that a shy, artsy teenage girl gets a part-time job as a “houseguest for hire.” She’s hired by this agency called “We The Party People” who rent out fake guests for peoples’ private parties. Why? Image is everything in L.A., you are who you know. They help “flesh out” the guest list. Thing is: you never know who’s real and who’s rented. Drama ensues.

Buy Poseurs on Amazon

Meltdown Comics, April 13th, 2011 7pm, 7522 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 9004

 
(via the delightful Tumblr Keep Your Boehner Out Of My Uterus)