Truly Crappy and Cheesy Apartments
Actual apartment buildings here in Los Angeles. I like the mid-century dingbat stylings of the Crapi myself.
via this flickr stream
Actual apartment buildings here in Los Angeles. I like the mid-century dingbat stylings of the Crapi myself.
via this flickr stream
As these things go, the recent “viral” campaign for Blu Dot, a New York-based furniture store, is among the most clever advertising stunts we’ve ever heard of. Dreamed up by advertising agency Mono, the idea was to place 25 “Real Good Chairs” in places all over Manhattan. If someone just leaves something somewhere, hey, “curb-mining” is fair game, right? Sort of, but this time there were strings attached ... well not exactly strings, more like a GPS!
From Media Creativity:
Each chair was GPS-equipped, allowing Mono to track the chair’s location and pay a visit to the chairs’ new owners. Can you imagine taking a chair off the sidewalk and having someone ring your doorbell to inquire about the chair? An eight-minute-long documentary was created that chronicled the chairs’ initial drop off, patient cameramen waiting on nearby buildings for someone to take the chairs and visits to the homes of those who took a chairs.
According to Michael Hart, creative director and co-founder of Mono, each chair was valued at $129 and equipped with a cell phone with GPS software. This software is valued at $200, so do the math; the GPS software is worth more than the chair itself.
Mono’s biggest challenge was obtaining long-lasting battery life for the cell phone, something longer than 8 hours. Mono worked with technology consultant Tellart, who created an electrical switch to trigger the battery when the chair was picked up. Translated: the GPS was activated once the chair was on the move,
The folks who took the chairs home were tracked by the camera crews and later asked about their semi-illicit hauls. Some were surprised and startled that they’d been followed; others wondered if they’d snagged (read: stolen) someone else’s chair. Most, however, got the joke, allowed the crews into their homes and sat for an interview.
Cross posting this from Brand X
What is it exactly about Final Placement that is causing such widespread consternation, furious beard stroking, fuming anger and panty tossing excitement ? It’s almost as if these four innocent Texans have altered the very fabric of reality, calling into question our previously held sacrosanct metrics of aesthetic goodness and perhaps even causing us to reconsider the role of The Lord in our lives. Nah, it’s just that FP made a horrifically bad recording and truly thought it was good enough to make a groovy video of to share with the world. Ooops ! Oh innocence, can you never return ?
As Final Placement’s “people” continue to play wack-a-mole with these clips we’ll try to refresh ‘em as they get re-posted. Lame, FP !
I’m really looking forward to seeing this! According to their Facebook and Myspace page it appears as if the documentary is still in post-production and they’re currently searching for a distributor. From directors Mandy Stein and Ben Logan, “The film follows the music and the life of the Bad Brains from 1979 to present day.”
“BAD BRAINS has announced that it is in the final stages of production for its acclaimed documentary. No release date has been set yet.
The yet-untitled film was directed by Mandy Stein and Ben Logan and traces the history of the band from their formation in Washington, D.C. in 1979 to the present day. In addition to tons of footage from the band’s vault, the movie includes interviews with all four members (vocalist HR, guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer and drummer Earl Hudson) and their manager Anthony Countey, as well as testimonials from Henry Rollins, ex-Minor Threat and Fugazi vocalist Ian MacKaye, ex-Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar, ex-Cro Mags vocalist Jon Joseph and guitarist Harley Flanagan, Murphys Law guitarist Jimmy Gestapo and Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, who produced Bad Brains 2007 album Build a Nation.
In addition to giving birth to the hardcore movement with their song “Pay to Cum” and inspiring all of the aforementioned musicians in the process, the Bad Brains had a huge influence on a new breed of late ‘80 and early ’90s metal bands, including Living Colour, Faith No More, 24-7 Spyz and Fishbone. While the Bad Brains flick is currently in post-production, it will be ready for release in a Jamaican minute.”
Read more over at Metal Underground
Great, eerie photo portfolio of Japanese ghost towns. Watch out for two-tailed cats….
Common wisdom says Japan is a tiny island nation crammed from shore to shore with people living one on top of the other. Every bit of spare space is used to build Prius factories and grow rice.
In actuality, though, there are far more dark spots on the map than you’d imagine. The general view that every square inch of land is worth a bazillion dollars is just not true. There are gaps in the façade that whole towns have fallen into, along with bizarre abandoned theme parks, ruined U.S. Air Force bases, and the tawdry remnants of pay-by-the-hour love hotels.
These places are known as haikyo, the Japanese word for ruins—and Japan has plenty of them.
Here’s a short animation using the real audio of David Lynch recalling his first meeting with George Lucas. It didn’t go so well.
(via Mister Honk)
So I’ve listened to the entire collection of the newly refurbished and reissued Kraftwerk catalog. Verdict? Well, when you compare it to previous versions, it certainly sounds better. In prior iterations, the CDs from Capital and Cleopatra always sounded kind of hissy and lacked a little clarity for my tastes. But do they sound tons better? Blow your socks off better? Well, not really, no.
Don’t get me wrong, they are certainly the best versions we’ve ever had, but why oh why were these albums not remixed for surround sound? They’re practically crying out for it! Autobahn was issued as a Quad 8-track in 1975. Could that not have been exploited here? It would have been so easy! And there would have been a real reason for fans—hint: it’s called a good value—to repurchase them in the multi-channel format. Man, I’d love to hear Computer World in 5:1 surround. Can you imagine how trippy that would sound? It just seems like a waste to me that they didn’t go the extra mile for one of the most seminal catalogs of 20th century pop music.
At least someone should consider putting out the quad version of Autobahn as a limited edition or something! The Kraftwerk remasters sound great, they really do, but I can’t help thinking that this was a real missed opportunity here.
Many rock fans are aware that Don van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart gave up making music many years ago to paint full-time, but have they seen the paintings? Van Vliet is one of the world’s finest abstract expressionists. This modern master of the off-kilter’s uniquely feral output is as powerful as Jean Michel Basquiat’s work and has been shown in many countries to great acclaim. There are several monographs about his artwork, most notably the highly coveted Stand Up to be Discontinued, which can sell for over $500 these days on ABE Books (I got mine for $75 back in the day). The above image, known as Fur On The Trellis and Just Up Into The Air (1985) is on the cover. In real life this painting is over nine feet tall.
The Captain Beefheart Radar Station website, the best place for all things Beefheartian on the Internet has a very large gallery of Van Vliet’s visual work, from the 60s to today. It’s absolutely worth your time to click through it. The images are startling and memorable. One thing to keep in mind as you look at them is to consider that most of the paintings (the ones I’ve seen at least) are absolutely huge. They’re really impressive in person.
Here are a few great Captain Beefheart clips from YouTube. There’s a lot of amazing Beefheart material there, including the complete BBC documentary The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart narrated by the late BBC radio master, John Peel, in good quality, a nervous appearance on Letterman and a TV commercial made for Lick My Decals Off Baby.
Insane video clip of non other than Zsa-Zsa Gabor singing Hi-Heel Sneakers, a song associated with Elvis, Carl Perkins, Stevie Wonder and others. I wonder if the “music” of her great granddaughter (by marriage), Paris Hilton, will be seen as “good camp” fifty years from now? Probably not, but this is totally worth watching for a laugh. Via Lady Bunny Blog.
