Of interest to our NYC-dwelling readers: Tomorrow, Thursday, April 8, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm there will be an artist’s reception & book signing for Pieter Hugo’s exhibition at the Yossi Milo Gallery at 525 West 25th Street. The show will be on view through April 17th.

Hugo will be signing copies of his amazing book Nollywood book. Tara and I have a copy of this on our coffee table and we both really love it.

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Nollywood: Nightmarish Photographs by Pieter Hugo

 
Though this clip has been around for some time, I think this latest version is of the best quality.  This is from a James Brown concert in 1983, in which the hardest working man in show business invites both Michael Jackson and Prince to the stage for a little improvisation.  Michael woos the ladies, while Prince - well you’ll just have to watch.  If you blink you might miss him ride in on the back of a gigantic body guard dressed in a leopard wrestler’s outfit.

 
Reverend Fred Phelps (above) is the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, the fire-and-brimstone outfit that attributes America’s “eternal damnation” to homosexuality (so, yes, that last link does indeed, sadly, take you to godhatesfags.com).

What distinguishes Phelps and his 12 or so kids (including daughter Shirley, his most passionate supporter), from most church-goers, though, is that this family really likes to get their picket on, waving signs and spewing hate at grade schools, gay pride parades, even at the funerals of soldiers.  Their enemy list includes such figures as Bill O’Reilly, Coretta Scott King and Ronald Reagan.  And now one more: estranged son, Nate Phelps.

Nate escaped a life of hate (and frequent beatings, apparently) and is starting to talk about it.  He recently sat down with Canadian TV’s Peter Klein, and described what it was like “running from hell.”  Give it a look, it’s a bizarre but fascinating 30 minutes.

    (via Mother Jones)

The first issue of Brendan McCarthy’s new Spider-Man series, “Fever,” is out today in comic stores. I want one!!!!

Richard Metzger and Grant Morrison both introduced me to the work of British artist Brendan McCarthy about five years ago—he truly is the secret chief of all comics. (His one-shot with Peter Milligan, “Rogan Gosh,” is, for instance, both my favorite comic and spiritual text of all time. Now that’s a two-for-one deal if ever one existed in this dimension—though good luck finding a copy!)

This should get me back into a comic store after, oh, a good couple years.

Comic blog the Outhousers has a review here:

Any comic that starts out with Dr. Strange getting a book that releases havoc onto New York City sounds like normal fare.  What about when that havoc is expressly some kind of spider demon who infects Spider-Man and carts him to what appears to be Fantastic Planet?

Yep, this is some seriously messed up psychedelic comics.  The art is the real star here with Brendan McCarthy melding some blend of Riley Rossmo style lines with the day glo world of Madman.  It looks like a spider comic on acid and honestly, it reads a bit like one too.

I’ll admit, I am unfamiliar with his work, but seeing that McCarthy has worked with Shade: The Changing Man scribe Peter Milligan comes as no shock.  The comic I just read seems like something that might have come out of that same deranged mind.

The plot is simple enough, Stephen Strange has ordered a book on Albion Crawley, a turn of the century occultist who wrote about some crazy spider gods.  Upon arrival, the book releases some spider demon who becomes involved in a conflict between Spider-Man and the Vulture.  Spider-Man appears to go tripping the light fantastic in Strange’s bath tub and all holy hell breaks loose.  No seriously, that’s about it for this first issue, other than an intriguing last panel cliffhanger.

How can you resist with a plot summary like that???

(The Outhousers: Fever)

(Brendan McCarthy on Fever)

(Spider-Man Fever #1)

Uh, apparently Deepak Chopra claimed over Twitter that he caused the Baja earthquake.

Damn. What a dick.

Deepak Chopra is a peddler of nonsense, woo, and alt-med garbage. I’m not a fan — duh — so I missed his tweet which is causing a minor stir on the intertoobz:

Had a powerful meditation just now – caused an earthquake in Southern California.

Reading his tweets is like trying to read a book whirling around in a blender, but it does appear that he thinks he caused the earthquake in Baja the other day.

However, in a later tweet he said:

Some people were upset at my remarks re earthquake. Sorry about that. I was actually meditating when it happenned [sic] and thougt [sic]” Whoaaa!”

So either he was joking, and haha if he was, or he was serious. So if it’s the latter, y’know what I’d love to see? A class action suit against him. That’s right, the people of Mexico and southern California should sue Chopra because he caused a major earthquake! If you win, he goes bankrupt and we’ll never hear his quantum enmangled word salad again. And if you lose, it’s because he’s a charlatan.

(Discover Magazine: Deepak Impact)

Like holy crap, you guys. The Internet just told me there’s actually such a thing as dinosaur metal for kids. Apparently the band’s called “Hevisaurus,” a lot of the members used to be in Dio (!?!?!?) and their songs are in Finnish—although I would say the concept carries in any language, wouldn’t you?

Hevisaurus was a band made up of members from legendary band Dio and Sonata Arctica. Their goal was to recrod heavy metal for children. After an intense brainstorming session, someone thought of buying a bunch of dinosaur suits and the idea stuck. The music itself is in Finnish, but the lyrics usually deal with popular children’s stories and, you know, dinosaurs. Because that’s the heart of metal.

And now I can’t get their song, linked below, out of my head. Damn you Hevisaurus!

(World Oddities: Hevisaurus)

(Hevisaurus)

(Previously on Dangerous Minds: Ganymed! What is it this week?!)

 

 
Finders Keepers are a British record label that specializes in reissuing long forgotten gems from around the world, usually within the magical late 60’s/early 70’s realm that never ceases to spew out goodies.  Calling themselves ‘an accidental world music label’, they are known for unearthing anything from Welsh Rare Beat music, to psychedelic Turkish bangers, as well as long lost Lollywood soundtracks.  The label came together under the guise of Andy Votel, who runs B-Music - a label that also specializes in yesterday’s freaky awesomeness.  Votel enlisted fellow B-Music DJ and designer Dominic Thomas and Delay 68‘s Doug Shipton to start Finders Keepers as a sister label to B-Music under their Twisted Nerve umbrella.

Lovingly complied by Arash Saedinia and Mahssa Taghinia, Finders’ latest release Pomegranates focuses on Iranian music from the magical realm we previously spoke of, shedding light on a music scene that has been largely ignored by the Western world.  The combination of traditional Iranian instruments and sounds against more Western rhythms is undeniably funky and carries a quirkiness quite unique to it’s own sound.  The clip for Mohammad Nouri’s Biya Bar-e Safar Bandim shows this fusion executed perfectly.  And the Googoosh clip?  Let it speak for itself!
 

 
Here’s a chance to listen to the entire new album by the always wonderful Caribou. Dig those muffled, awkward disco beats, mournful melodies and expert textures !

via Surfing On Steam

 
(via Nerdcore)

 
Former porno actress Stormy Daniels—star of Frosty the Snow Ho, Space Nuts and Operation Desert Stormy—sent out a press release today announcing that she was joining the Republican Party. The rumor is that she’s going to run for the Senate against morally compromised hypocrite Senator David Vitter. Vitter is an uptight religious prig with a hooker problem. He is a Creationist, wants to ban gay marriage with a Constitutional amendment and to declare a National Tea Party Day!

I say God bless Stormy Daniels!

Here is her almost Swiftian statement. It’s a mini-masterpiece:

“After months of careful deliberation and consult as to the true nature of my political affiliation I am ready today to declare that should I seek the office of US Senator from the great state of Louisiana that I will do so as a Republican.

“While this decision has not been an easy one, recent events regarding Republican National Committee fundraising at Voyeur, an LA based lesbian bondage themed nightclub finally tipped the scales.

“As I have said for well over a year, it is time that our government and our tax policy begin rewarding entrepreneurship and creativity again. It is time again to inspire positive risks and out-of-the-box thinking in the interest of growing a strong economy and a strong America.

“For me, this spirit can be summed up in the RNC’s investment of donor funds at Voyeur.

“As someone who has worked extensively in both the club and film side of the Adult Entertainment Industry, I know from experience that a mere $1900 outlay at a club with the reputation of Voyeur is a clear indication of a frugal investment with a keen eye toward maximum return.

“And I firmly believe that it is precisely this type of creative and calculated investing that we, as taxpaying Americans, should expect not only from our political parties but from our government. The American taxpayer deserves consistent conservatives who reject wasteful spending and unwarranted government intervention in the private sector.

“As is the case with so many of my fellow Louisianans, I have been a registered Democrat throughout my life. But now I cannot help but recognize that over time my libertarian values regarding both money and sex and the legal use of one for the other is now best espoused by the Republican Party.”

Is Stormy Daniels damaging the Republican Party? (New Orleans.com) [And to this I add: No, David Vitter is!]