Babasko over on BB Submitterator writes: “Austrian atheism activist Niko Alm managed to convince the Viennese DVA to accept a photo of him wearing a cullander[sic]. The only exception to be allowed to wear headgear in those fotos are headdresses that are worn because of religious reasons. He claimed to be a Pastafarian. And that he had to wear the IKEA cullander[sic] for religoius reasons.”

Pastafarian! Highly amusing. The website is in German, so use your Google Translate to read the whole article: Holy License

 
For the Bible tells me so…

(via reddit)

 
Glamorous Romy Haag is one of the most famous transsexuals in Europe and a cabaret performer of some renown. She is also well-known as a former lover and muse of David Bowie during his Berlin years (and indeed was the apparent reason for his move to the city in 1976). Her influence on his work is clearly evident in his “Boys Keep Swinging” video, where Bowie appears in triplicate as a chorus of drag queens.

Haag was born in 1951 and early in her life, the issue of gender reassignment was discussed. She developed breasts naturally. Haag left her home at the age of 13, working as a clown, then a trapeze artist with the Circus Strassburger before becoming a female impersonator in Paris. At this time, Haag began living as a woman.

In 1974, she opened what would become Germany’s most popular nightclub during the disco-era at the age of 23, “Chez Romy Haag.” Celebrity guests included Bowie and Iggy Pop, who were regulars, Bryan Ferry, Freddie Mercury and Lou Reed. Mick Jagger was another patron and had a brief affair with Haag.

Haag began her musical career in 1977. In 1983, when she was in her 30s she had a sex change and in 1999, published an autobiography with the great title, A Woman And Then Some. She’s still an honored performer and going strong at the age of 60. Follow Romy Haag on Twitter.

Below, Romy Haag discusses her relationship with David Bowie.
 

 
Romy Haag in 1978 performing her disco single “Superparadise” on the Musikladen TV show. Compare this to “Boys Keep Swinging.” He was basically just copping her act!
 

 
You can own this lovely Steve Buscemi dress for $100 over at Black Milk. Yeah, I’m not entirely sure why this exists, either.

(via BuzzFeed)

 
The News of the World/News International scandal (or Murdochgate as it has been dubbed by the UK media) continues to grow amid allegations that NI’s The Sun newspaper illegally obtained information on the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s newborn child while he was still in office.

This broadens out the problems in three ways. Firstly, while the information on Brown’s child may not have been hacked necessarily (as is being reported) it was still possibly obtained illegally, through the process of blagging, or obtaining classified information under false pretences. Ironically Brown’s Labour government introduced heavier punishment for blagging while still in power. Secondly, it brings into doubt the old red-tops’ excuse that they only investigate or dig dirt on people who “deserve it” (the argument wheeled out by Paul McMullan on Newsnight last week). As Prime Minister, Brown did deserve to be investigated of possible wrong doing, but exposing private medical details about his new born child just seems like a nasty step too far with no real journalistic purpose other than to put the PM on a Murdoch-controlled leash. 

Thirdly it proves, as many people had previously speculated, that the rot within NI has spread much further than simply one or two rogue investigators or even one particular publication. It’s getting harder and harder for the Murdoch organisation to claim that these incidents are isolated, as opposed to part of a broader culture at NI. As more and more salacious details leak out and more journalists, politicians and police are implicated, Murdochgate is shaping up to be he biggest scandal in British public life since the Profumo affair. News Corporation lost $3.4 billion in market capitalization yesterday, and now even the American media is interested, which is really saying something.

So, are these crimes going to be the undoing of the oldstream, printed press? Perhaps, but not fully. Yes News International are up to their necks in a sea of shit, but what is really sounding the death knell for newspapers to my ears is the fact that this is a scandal that is breaking and being consumed on the internet. I can’t remember this being the case before, but the web seems to be the only place to keep track on the ever evolving story, as more and more facts and bizarre twists emerge that prove too much to be neatly encapsulated by traditional news narratives.

Television and newspaper reportage just doesn’t seem adequate in this particular case - it took three to four days of issues being covered by a select few sources before the mainstream media deemed them newsworthy, by which time the public was already well aware of what was going on. The delay in reportage was indeed a bit of a gaffe, but more seriously it also brings up the question of media trustworthiness. Why now trust what the media says when the media themselves are directly implicated in a scandal? Press impartiality is out the window, as evidenced by the lack of coverage of Murdochgate in Murdoch’s biggest UK title The Sun.

While it’s ironic that a newspaper broke this story of press misdoings, what’s more telling is the traffic being directed not to the printed Guardian newspaper itself, but to the paper’s website. This paper’s news blog and its live feed is the premier source for keeping up with the scandal as new elements emerge. It’s also highly ironic that the story that sees internet news coverage really come into its own is the story of the major failings of the mainstream media. The author Will Self, in a slightly verbose but incisive article for the Guardian, calls this a tectonic shift in the media. I think he’s right, and I don’t see how the oldstream press can recover from these multiple knocks in confidence and consumption.

Thanks to Richard Metzger for the financial information.

 
Bruce Springstone is Tom Chalkley and Craig Hankin, two Baltimore singer/songwriters who recorded this piss-take of Bruce Springstein in 1982.

“Bruce Springstone: Live at Bedrock” was released in September ‘82 by Clean Cuts Records. The A-side features “Bedrock Rap/Meet the Flintstones,” a parody of Springsteen singing the Flintstones theme; the B-side is a Springsteenesque arrangement of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Chalkley does the lead vocals, Hankin plays rhythm guitar.

Other musicians featured are John Ebersberger (drums), Ron Holloway (saxophone), Tommy Keene (lead guitar), Suzy Shaw (keyboards) and Gabor Lutor (bass). Hankin and Chalkley wrote the arrangements. Jack Heyrman produced the record which was engineered by Steve Carr at Hit & Run Studios in Rockville, MD. Chalkley and Ebersberger did the cover art.

 
With thanks to Tommy Udo
 

 
MC5’s Rob Tyner sings an homage to Detroit’s infamous rock venue the Grande Ballroom, which in spirit was the Fillmore of Michigan. Tyner is introduced by pioneering Detroit deejay Dave Dixon.

Both these guys were on the cutting edge of the Detroit music scene in the late 1960s and beyond. Dixon was known for having a less than pleasant disposition but was a hugely influential presence on Detroit radio, a surly John Peel of sorts. Tyner of course was the front man for the Motor City 5. Odd to see him playing an electric autoharp but this ode to his rock and roll past is sweet and a little bit sad.

“Grande Days” appeared on Tyner’s only solo album Blood Brothers released in 1990. Tyner died a year later of a heart attack at the young age of 46. This TV appearance was filmed shortly before he died.

Tyner may the only person to wear biker gloves while playing an autoharp. Beautiful.
 

 
Thanks to catshitty for the video.

 
This commercial for Vivident will stick to the underside of your brain like a piece of gum to your shoe.
 

 
Via copyranter

 
RCA Victor introduces “a miracle,” their Orthophonic, high-fidelity, home stereo sound system.

Bob Banks, one-time RCA Victor marketing manager of radio sales and their Victrola division, narrates this short film introducing the RCA’s new “living stereo” records and stereophonic hi-fi gear. The year was 1958, ground zero for the birth of the “space age bachelor pad” as my pal Byron Werner so famously dubbed it.

The demonstration utilizes left and right-hand sections of orchestra married together to create the fullness of “living stereo” and gives you a stereo stylus’s POV as it travels across a record groove (“a canyon of sound!”). If you are a vinyl fan, it’s pretty fun and informative.
 

 
Via Douglas Hovey

 
Al Pacino as Phil Spector. This photo was taken in mid-town Manhattan during the filming of an HBO bio-pic on Spector being directed by David Mamet.

I’m not buying the look. Pacino just doesn’t resemble Spector to my eyes (he looks like an aging Rock Hudson). But taking into account Pacino’s tendency to create some over-the-top characterizations we might not notice the gap between reality and artifice. I’m looking forward to it.

Via indiewire