As seen on Christian Nightmares. Is this not the most succinct sentence you’ve read all year?

“A man wearing a T-shirt that reads ‘Jesus Christ Saved Me From 27 Years of Homosexuality’ shares his story.”

 
Today is the 53rd birthday of the great Mister Julian Cope! As regular readers of this blog know, I think Cope is one of the coolest motherfuckers alive. Here’s an excerpt from an earlier Dangerous Minds post I wrote about him:

My friend Wm. Ferguson and I met the Arch Drude at the Island Records offices near Tower Records in lower Manhattan. During the interview Cope told us about the mystical experience he had that led to his vision of the earth dying that inspired Peggy Suicide’s somewhat bleak environmentalist message. I recall that we discussed a certain book about Helena Blavatsky which he and I had both read and he compared the physical sensation of his mystic moment to the first time a pubescent boy masturbates, not quite pleasurable and very confusing, a sort of mental orgasm felt in the brain. I asked him if he felt conflicted about bringing a child into a world—his wife Dorian was then pregnant with their first daughter—that he so obviously thought was terminal. He paused and said, “Well, yeah the world is fucked, but it’s not THAT fucked that it can’t be saved, certainly. We’ve got to try.” I then voiced my own skepticism about bring new life into the world—I was 25 at the time—and he said something that I will never forget and have repeated to friends expecting children several times: “If people like you and I stop having children, we’ve ceded our world to the idiots. All intelligent people should have as many babies as possible to prevent all the thick, ungroovy Christians from taking over.”

When we were leaving, I mentioned in passing that I’d seen the infamous Hammersmith Palais show of his first UK solo tour in 1984, a concert that saw Cope performing a bloody act of self-mutilation. During the encore of “Reynard the Fox,” Cope snapped his mike-stand in half and proceeded to rake the jagged edge across his chest, back and stomach drawing lots of blood and generally freaking out the entire audience! Up until the very end it had been a slick, professional rock show. A girl standing near me puked when she saw what he had done. It cemented Cope’s reputation as a Syd Barrett-like acid casualty.

Cope laughed sheepishly and pulled out his wallet. “Well, you’ll appreciate this: Whenever I’m feeling like I am fucked in the head, I pull out this picture—” it was of a bloodied Cope from the concert I’d seen “—and I remind myself that however fucked up I think I am I am still not THAT fucked!”

Read more: Julian Cope: Someone spiked his acid
 

 
A great vintage Teardrop Explodes clip after the jump…

 
Finally! Actually, this condom bagpipe doesn’t sound bad at all. It’s ‘safe’ music I suppose.

Two condoms are used (one inside the other) to create the bag for this bagpipe. The chanter and drone are aluminium tubes with a membrane reed at the top of each.

(via HYST)

 
Me and Guccione had the same dentist in Manhattan. I’d see him gliding thru the waiting room glittering with bling bling like King Tut. Bob’s testosterone fogged my Italian wraparounds. The cat had presence. 

Bob Guccione, who founded Penthouse magazine in the 1960s and built a pornographic media empire that broke taboos, outraged the guardians of taste and made billions before drowning in a slough of bad investments and Internet competition, died Wednesday in Plano, Tex., The Associated Press reported. He was 79.

NY Times obit here.

Penthouse was to Playboy what The Rolling Stones were to The Beatles. I came down on the side of The Stones.
 
Guccione produced the big-budget soft-core epic Caligula. Here he is commenting on the censoring of the film:
 

 
I’ve been feeling particularly vulnerable lately and I find it therapeutic to make fun of other people. My sense of self-esteem is so low that I’m actually reduced to dissing people who don’t deserve it. These folks are just doing their best to share a beautiful moment with us. It’s indicative of how callous I’ve become (though I claim vulnerability)  that this heartfelt performance makes me nauseous. I hate what I’ve become. I’m a product of the new digital disconnect. I need to start doing drugs again.
 

 
Via Village Voice

 
Martin Sorrondeguy (ex-member of Los Crudos) directed Mas Alla de Los Gritos (Beyond The Screams), a 1999 documentary on the Hispanic punk rock scene. Illuminating and inspiring.

What occurs with the Latino/Chicano punks is also what occurs to the
communities they come from. So if they are living in corrupt countries or
communities where poverty, drugs, gangs, etc. are part of the every
day, this adds to their struggle for change. Punks may be seen as
outsiders from a voyeur’s perspective but these same punks may go home with
their families and deal with life as it affects them all. Also a lot of
the Latino/Chicano punks living in the US still have ties to family and
friends in Latin America and those ties are strong, so when things get
desperate or intense in Latin America it is a concern for many living
here as well.”  Martin Sorrendeguy

 
I test drove the new Grinderman album over the weekend on a roundtrip roadtrip between Austin and Houston. Listening to a CD while driving down long stretches of highway is my favorite way to get to know a fresh chunk of music. Grinderman 2 is epic and intimate, a roiling, raging, rock and roll masterpiece. Nick Cave’s lyrics twined with Warren Ellis’s feral guitar is a rope of flame dangling over a pit of white hot Devil cum. This is some fucking seriously beautiful torment.

Listening to Cave’s romantic wail at dusk, the Texas sky black and blue, striated with the blood orange of a sinking sun, life seems like some sweet agony, every breath a birth, every breath a death. I ride through the hill country toward some unknown thing…and not knowing is the mystery that sparkplugs the engine that rules these infinite rolling hills. Between two places is where I’ve always been. I’m learning to be content in being nowhere.

When music makes me think musically, when it inspires me to create something approximating art, it’s done its job. Art is a contagion.

‘Palaces Of Montezuma’, a song I particularly admire from Grinderman 2, contains the following lines:

“The spinal cord of JFK
Wrapped in Marilyn Monroe’s negligee
I give to you
I want nothing in return
Just the softest little breathless word”

Many songwriters claim Rimbaud’s mantle, Cave nails it.
 

 
More Grinderman after the jump…

Sad news via John Lydon.com:

John and Nora have asked us to let everyone know that Nora’s daughter Arianna (aka Ari-Up) died today (Wednesday, October 20th) after a serious illness. She will be sadly missed.

Everyone at JohnLydon.com and PiLofficial.Com would like to pass on their heartfelt condolences to John , Nora and family.

Rest in Peace.

 
Thanks Jimi Hey

 
Mesh was a digital animation scheme that brought together a diverse range of talented, young animators, who created twenty-seven award-winning works between 2000-07. Produced by Nicola Black, in conjunction with Channel 4 and Nesta, Mesh was a neat idea, one that is typical of Black’s imaginative and uniquely original approach to program-making. 

It was also the kind of series that benefited TV, as it allowed anyone to submit an idea, script and storyboard for consideration, out of this a short list was drawn-up, from which 4 animators were chosen to develop and make their films. The scheme also involved seminars and courses, where the animators worked with established film-makers and script-writers to develop their projects.

Amongst the animators were Grant Orchard, whose Welcome to Glaringly was voiced by Little Britain’s Matt Lucas; James Merry who went onto work on Monkey Dust; Darren Price, who animated the true story of a bear who loved vodka; Yasmeen Ismail who made a simple animation about size and shape before going on to form Sweetworld and Rhumbaba: John Butler who created his clever, idiosyncratic consumerist fable; Stephen Cavalier who crafted a homage to 1950s sci-fi; and Neil Coslett, whose Killing Time at Home was used by Placebo as a back projection on their recent tour. All of have gone on to bigger and better things, but Mesh was where it all started. Here is a small selection of some of these animations.
 

 
Five bonus ‘Mesh’ animations after the jump…
 

 
The following is a slightly expanded version of a post I did on Boing Boing last year when I was guest blogging,

While the Sex Pistols were regurgitating old Who and Chuck Berry riffs in London, and the Ramones were dumbing down the Beach Boys’ sound in New York City, something truly weird was going on in San Francisco. Formed in 1977 by multi-instrumentalists, Blaine L. Reininger and Steven Brown (and later joined by Peter Principle and puppeteer/weirdo, Winston Tong) Tuxedomoon are a group that, like their singular Ralph Records label-mates, The Residents, fall into exactly one category, the category of Tuxedomoon. With a sonic aesthetic difficult to describe (electronic, erudite, evil, with lots of strings and a sleazy sax, if that helps) but once called the sound of “ectoplasmic formation” (any better?), Tuxedomoon never fit into the San Francisco punk scene, they were viewed as “too European.” Not surprisingly, the band decamped to Rotterdam, then Brussels in the early 1980s where they were more warmly received. Since then, Tuxedomoon have rarely played in America—just five concerts—and I can count myself as lucky enough to have attended one of them.
 

 
Tuxedomoon celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2007 with a box set,77o7 Tm consisting of a then new album (Vapour Trails), a CD of the new album played live, a rarities disc and a nearly three-hour long DVD of their multi-media film works and performance documentation. A friend gave me this box set and it absolutely floored me. I played it for weeks on end and the video material was a joy for a longtime fan to behold. There’s a definitive 450-page book book written on the group titled Music for Vagabonds - The Tuxedomoon Chronicles by Isabelle Corbisier.
 

 
Many more Tuxedomoon videos after the jump!

Sunsetmagazine, 1947 October, p 72.

There are some really funny comments over at Live Journal:

“That must be what bathrooms look like in the Emerald City.”

“We’re off to see the Pisser…”

(via J-Walk)

Photo by Kevork Djansezian from The Big Picture

According to several polls, the presence of marijuana reform initiatives on the ballet in states in the west, will probably bring many younger Democrats to the voter’s booth who might have decided to sit this mid-term election out, otherwise. I’m definitely looking forward to casting an affirmative vote for Prop 19 and I hope all of my fellow Californians reading this will chose to do the same.

Unofficial state estimates indicate that California’s cannabis crop is worth more—far more!—than the state’s wine industry. I’m confident that Prop 19 is going to pass. To leave tax money on the table isn’t something the state can afford to do right now. Besides that, legalization, according to a RAND Corp. study, could cause pot prices to drop considerably, something that will be seen as additional welcome economic relief to millions of the state’s unemployed tokers…

The most persuasive argument for legalizing pot might just be a dollar sign.

California’s pot crop is worth $14 billion, according to a state report. The Press Democrat points out that crushes the wine crop which comes in at $2 billion.

Legalization would be a huge shot in the arm for plenty of ancillary industries, such as banking and construction.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the federal government would crack down. That risk might make investors too skittish to get involved. Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the government would continue its dangerous raids.

Some regions, such as Mendocino County, have leaned on pot agriculture as other industries dried up. It’s estimated that at least half of that county’s economy depends on cultivation of the plant. [Half? Try three-quarters!—RM]

The only sure thing is that there’s no sure thing. Marijuana legalization is uncharted territory. Or at least, it’s uncharted in this country. Other countries have managed to figure it out, but here in The Land of the Free, we’ve clung to prohibition.

Earlier, the state estimated that it could rake in $1.4 billion in taxes if Prop 19 passes, but they’ve since backed off that estimate, claiming that there are too many unknown variables. Prop 19 would allow each individual municipality to set its own pot regulations, which some detractors have said will create an unwieldy patchwork of laws. Coincidentally, most of those who oppose legalization are those who make money from prohibition: law enforcement agencies and the alcohol industry.

Marijuana Crushes Grapes as Cash Crop (NBC Bay Area)

 
Although many music fans were dismayed to see the clip of the Velvet Underground’s drummer, Maureen “Moe” Tucker, at a Tea party gathering in 2009 that made the rounds a few weeks ago, she remains unconcerned about their opinions (as she should be). The St. Louis Riverfront Times contacted Moe Tucker and she agreed to answer a few questions via email:

How did you get involved with the local Tea Party movement?
I’m not “involved” with the local movement. I went to the first Tea Party in June or July of 2009 because it was within striking distance and I wanted to be counted.

Are you still involved in Tea Party activities?
I do my own protesting via email and postcards. Anyone who thinks I’m crazy about Sarah Palin, Bush, etc. has made quite the presumption. I have voted Democrat all my life, until I started listening to what Obama was promising and started wondering how the hell will this utopian dream land be paid for? For those who actually believe that their taxes won’t go up in order to pay for all this insanity: good luck!

What are some misconceptions that people have about Tea Parties (and their attendants) in general?
That they’re all racists, they’re all religious nuts, they’re all uninformed, they’re all stupid, they want no taxes at all and no regulations whatsoever. Those “arguments” are presented by the Dems in order to keep their base of uninformed voters on their side. In my opinion, as soon as you start name-calling, your opinion is immediately deemed invalid!

Have you always had conservative views?
To be honest, I never paid attention to what the hell was going on. My always voting Democrat was the result of that. My philosophy was and is all politicians are liars, bums and cheats. I make decisions on an issue by issue basis. I’m far more of an independent than a conservative or liberal. I don’t agree with all of either side, and I think anyone who claims to is either a fool or a damn liar.

Did your experience working at Wal-Mart influence you?
I don’t think so. I did some protesting there, too!

When you consented to an interview with that television reporter, did you envision that your words would be spread online a year and a half later?
No. I’m amazed at this.

Interview: Moe Tucker of the Velvet Underground Sets the Record Straight (Riverfront Times)

Than you Chris Campion of Berlin, Germany!

 
He says, “I’ve seen the Beatles on television and have heard of few of their songs. It’s not my kind of thing. I prefer classical music.”

Seniors!

 
In The Conversation, Gene Hackman’s character, Harry Caul used an Ampex AG-350 and German-made UHER units to bug unsuspecting couples. The UHERs were similar to those used during the Nixon administration to bug the Oval Office. Bugging is more ubiquitous than we think, for example, though cinema may try and convince pay-phones are the best place to make that discreet call, they are regularly bugged by intelligence agencies. This was particularly true for the UK and Northern Ireland during the 1970s, when covert surveillance was carried out on paramilitary organizations, those of certain political affiliation, union leaders, Communist Party members and even John Lennon and The Sex Pistols. It therefore must have come as quite a shock to the powers that be, when it was disclosed MI5 had bugged the Prime Minister’s office, at 10 Downing Street, for 15 years.

Over at the Phantom Museum there is an impressive on-line collection of 117 reel-to-reel recorders and 50 microphones, plus an extensive history of reel-to-reel and recording advertising from the late 1800s to present day.

The Museum was established by Martin Theophilus, who has been involved in audio production since 1964, and now runs the multi-media company Phantom Productions. Theophilus says the on-line Museum, “is for people who want to look back and see how recording has evolved.”

In an interview with The Bastrop Advertiser, Theophilus explained:

...recorders were in use as early as 1877 but that the Edison Player, which initially sold for $20 (cylinders were 35 cents), was the first device available to the public. The Edison machine etched microphone vibrations into grooves on spinning wax cylinders. Historically, recorders have used wire, vinyl and other materials.

Theophilus said that commercial and private use of reel-to-reel magnetic tape to record sound, a technique first developed by the Germans during World War II, began in California in 1946 where two captured German machines were reassembled.

The vintage reel-to-reels in Theophilus’ collection were primarily used by singers, musicians and song writers who could not afford to hire professional recording studios.

Beginning in 1948, when portable reel-to-reel machines became available to cash poor artists, they used them to make demos. The demos were distributed to help the artists get jobs. By 1955, portable reel-to-reel recorders, such as the Ampex, reproduced a sound as good as the products of recording studios.

The Phantom Museum can be found here, and the vintage reel-to-reel, radios and recorders catalogs and adverts here.
 

 
Bonus images from the Reel-to-Reel catalog after the jump…