Richard Wolstencroft, an Australian director and film festival producer, who puts on the annual Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) had his home raided by police nearly two months after an August MUFF screening of Canadian director Bruce LaBruce’s new movie, LA Zombie, which was described in the festival’s program as “gay zombie porn.”

Last week, three cops raided Wolstencroft’s house and threatened to take his DVD collection. The official reason police have given that Wolstencroft’s home was raided, was “in relation to exhibiting and possessing an unclassified film.” Wolstencroft is expected to face the matter in court. He says he has not yet been charged, but is worried he will get a criminal conviction and not be able to travel to the United States.

“As a working filmmaker I travel to America. I’m talking to Hollywood producers about doing my next film - that’s a major concern,” he said.

The Australian Classification Board banned the film before it was going to be screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in July. Wolstencroft decided that he’d show the film at his underground festival in August and see what would happen. The police never showed up, and the film, which has been playing the festival circuit worldwide in 2010, was screened without incident.

Wolstencroft called last week’s raid “absurd, ridiculous and perverse.”

There is no way this film should be banned. It’s a major work of art,” he said. “It’s playing at major film festivals - the Locarno Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. If this was playing in a gallery, there is no way the police would come anywhere near it.”

Film historian Jack Sargeant has written an open letter in support of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, which has also been posted on Wolstencroft’s blog. Below, a decidedly PG-rated trailer for LA Zombie.
 

 
Shawn Carter a.k.a. hip-hop mogul Jay-Z sat down yesterday with top African-American public intellectual Cornel West at the New York Public Library for a talk—moderated by Library director Paul Holdengräber—that was to be centered ostensibly around his memoir Decoded, but ranged through a wide variety of topics and modes.

It bears notice that despite Jay-Z’s superstar pop status and the hype surrounding the book, the appearance didn’t bear an airing on, say, MTV. I truly wonder why.

Love him or hate him, Carter’s journey from Bed-Stuy’s Marcy Houses projects to mega-millionaire mogul maps almost directly to the 30+-year story of hip-hop from marginalized urban phenomenon to global cultural movement. And West’s contextualization of the rhymer’s work and writings within the urban African-American artistic experience is pretty striking.

The status commonly accorded to Jay-Z as the greatest rapper of all time amounts to truly tedious hype. But there’s no denying that the man’s got power, perspective and a dangerous mind. 
 

 
Dangerous Minds pal Jesse Merlin writes:

Southern California followers, take note! Tonight, The Legendary Pink Dots perform at the EchoPlex in Los Angeles, as part of their 30th Anniversary Tour.

Formed in 1980 and widely credited as one of the first bands now categorized as Goth/Industrial, the LPD have long resisted any genre definition, inhabiting musical terrain of the avant garde, psychedelia, electronic soundscape, experimental noise, gothic lullaby, and even pop ballads.  Their prodigious catalogue includes roughly 60 studio releases and over 200 solo or side projects, and they command a devoted underground following in the American subculture, as well as in Europe, particularly in countries of the former Eastern Bloc.

Don’t miss this spectacular tour; The Dots simply have to be experienced live.

Below, the closest the LPD ever came to doing a (very strange) traditional music video in 1987, which is interpolated with a brief interview on Belgian television.  It takes place in an insane asylum and includes the song “Echo Police” from the album Asylum.
 

 
For years Captain Beefheart fans have salivated over the prospects of a proper release of the original Bat Chain Puller album. The original sessions were recorded for Frank Zappa’s DiscReet Records, and shelved due to legal issues, but have escaped over the years on shoddy sounding bootlegs and even a few semi-legit releases (like the not-so-great sounding Dustsucker CD).

The album that ultimately came out in 1978, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) was a rerecording of these tracks, and of course, is considered a classic. However, even accounting for the layers of sonic muck added by generation upon generation of hand to hand tape transfers, the original versions have an edge on the released album. Especially the title track, which to me, sounds harder, bouncier, and just… more better.

Apparently there has been some good news on this front. at least according to the Wikipedia entry on the album:

There will be an official release in January 2011. This was stated during a Q & A session at the Round House Chalk Farm London, by Gail Zappa at the Frank Zappa 70th Birthday event 5th - 7th November 2010.

Hooray! Below, a fan-made animation by Geritsel for “Bat Chain Puller”:
 

 
H/T Mark

 
These amazing color photographs were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii between 1909-1912, as part of a photographic survey of the Russian Empire, sponsored by Tsar Nicholas II. To achieve these color photos, Prokudin-Gorskii used a specialized camera, which captured three black and white images in quick succession, each with a different filter - red, green and blue. These images were then combined and projected with filtered lanterns to show almost true color images.

More of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii’s beautiful photographs can be viewed here.
 

 

 
Icky and yuck. A statue without glowing eyes will cost you $24.95.

ceramic statues are 10 inches tall with a fine gloss glaze. The blood drop logo is applied after the glazing process. The blood drop signifies our blood heritage and the sacrificial blood of Christ that redeemed us from our sins. These are hand poured one at a time and then kiln dried and glazed twice over a 32 hour period and are of excellent quality.

The statue comes with or without lighted eyes and makes a nice display item and is also great as a gift or collectors item. The Lighted Statues come with on/off switch and light bulb.

Klansman Statue

(via BB Submitterator )

 
Jacks were a short lived but highly influential Japanese psych band who released only 2 albums of beautiful, dark, free rock. Have a listen to a couple of stunning tracks from their reverb soaked 1968 LP Vacant World beginning with the epic song entitled Marianne
 

 
More Jacks after the jump…

 
Well here’s something you don’t see everyday. Um, Wow!

Bitchs got THEY shit busted wit chairs the p world bitchs in the corner were talkin hell shit then all they did was throw shit and not hit anybody then was so scarded to come outside they went to jail…..........when police came and slammed a bitch east oakland style.

(via TDW)

1989 Beijing
 
Here are some really weird altered photographs by artist Pavel Maria Smejkal. They’re kind of creepy, eh?
 

1972 Vietnam
 

1970 Kent State

You can view more haunting altered photographs here.

(via BB Submitterator)

 
I have nothing to add.