HBS

If you're not watching Jon Benjamin Has a Van, you're wasting your life. There. I said it.

Bluh!

Down for the Count by "poopbear" of Deviant Art.

Room for One, Please

Keasler, M., Slemmons, R., & Kirino, N. (2006).
Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan. New York: Chronicle Books.

Wonderfully seedy images of Japanese love hotels courtesy of photojournalist Misty Keasler. That last one has a real Spongebob Videodrome vibe happening.

Happily Ever After

From a 1950 pamphlet by the Human Betterment League of North Carolina, a group that promoted the sterilization of "mental defectives" by the state.

The following poem was written by Dr. Clarence Gamble in 1947 and submitted it to the North Carolina Mental Hygiene Society for them to use in promotional materials to rally support for state sterilization. Gamble was heir to the Procter & Gamble fortune and a keen supporter of the Human Betterment League. The Mental Hygiene Society's refusal to use his poem confused Gamble. He wrote to them, “Your unfavorable criticism of the story of the two moron families interested me. It will be helpful if you can tell me the reasons behind this.”

Once there was a MORON, that means
a person that wasn't very bright.
he couldn't add figures
or make change
or do many things
an ordinary man does.
So he couldn't find a job
and the RELIEF OFFICE
had to help him out
for YEARS AND YEARS.
And one day he met
another MORON
who wasn't any cleverer than he was.
But SHE was nicer to him
than anyone had ever been.
And so he MARRIED HER.
And soon there was a BABY,
and then ANOTHER
and ANOTHER
and ANOTHER.
And the welfare department
had to pay the family
MORE of the TAXPAYER'S
MONEY
and MORE
and MORE
and MORE

Giger x Abdul Alhazred

Giger, H.R., & Barker, C. (1993). H. R. Giger's Necronomicon. Las Vegas, NV: Morpheus International.

This thing is the size of a coffee table.

And the Feud Begins

This sublime piece is the work of Fred Harper. It was part of an exhibition called "Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" at Gallery 1988 in early 2010. Harper has also illustrated a number of Garbage Pail Kids cards, so he is pretty much living the dream. I bet he has an ice cream sundae bar in his house like Mike Tyson, too.

Via Geek Tyrant and Asylum.

X-Offender

In a December, 2010 interview Debbie Harry described getting a ride from a stranger in the early 70s while she walked home late one night in New York City.

"This little car kept coming around and offering me a ride. I kept saying no but finally I took the ride because I couldn't get a cab. I got in the car and the windows were are rolled up, except for a tiny crack. This driver had an incredibly bad smell to him. I looked down and there were no door handles. The inside of the car was stripped. The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. I wiggled my arm out of the window and pulled the door handle from the outside. I don't know how I did it, but I got out. He tried to stop me by spinning the car but it sort of helped me fling myself out. Afterwards I saw him on the news. Ted Bundy."

Cut-Up to Short-Circuit Control

The wonderful UbuWeb has just added the Cold Spring Tape to its streaming archives. The recording consists of interviews and readings by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin discussing the origin and faculties of their cut-up technique, then turned into an audio cut-up/ collage by Genesis P. Orridge in 1989. The original cassette was limited to 100 copies.

Moving With The Times

In the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, an unidentified artist has transformed the official fiction of the town by giving the Red Army heroes a paint job. According to the UK Daily Mail, "The giant monument was built to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Russian 'liberation' of Bulgaria in 1944. It is regarded as the prime example of the forceful socialist-realism of the period."

That caption below the piece reads, "Moving with the times."

Bond's Casino

In May and June of 1981 The Clash played a series of shows at Bond's Casino in New York City. In support of their album Sandinista! they planned eight shows at the Times Square venue, but soon discovered that promoters had wildly over-sold the shows' capacity. Fire marshals shutdown the third performance on Saturday night. In response, The Clash decided to honour every ticket purchased and increased their run at Bond's to 15 shows (or 16 or 17, depending on the source). Of the exhausting ordeal Joe Strummer said, "We took a stand and it nearly killed us," but the move stands as a testament to the band's integrity and love of music.

Luckily some of that series was documented, including the June 9th show which was recorded in full for radio broadcast. On the 30th anniversary of the Bond's show this month, the music still sounds every bit as vital.

For more information on the Clash's stay at Bond's check out this great resource for period articles or read what Jonathan Lethem has to say about the boys here. A couple news reports and live footage of the shows after the jump.

North Battleford

Cultural Experience, Via Styrofoam Plates

Things I stuffed in my disgusting face last weekend: haggis, sausage roll, parsnips, Guinness, stew beef roti, rum punch, Red Stripe, injera with tibs, honey wine, pastel de choclo, pisco sour, mango pisco, bratwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut, Einbecker, mamaliga, creamed chicken, plum brandy, poppy seed roll, and fried dough covered in powdered sugar.

Welcome to Beautiful Cannes

They took their time, but France has finally taken a stand against Nazism. I guess.

Devil

John Erick Dowdle | 2010 | 80 min | US

There was a time when an M. Night Shyamalan credit on a film was not a liability. No, really. I don't blame you for not remembering. It was quite a while ago. When Shyamalan's name appeared on screen during the trailers for Devil, however, audiences laughed and jeered loudly in theatres everywhere. Ouch.

It's a shame that his name is the reason so many people avoided Devil because this is exactly the kind of fun genre film that made him a golden boy in the first place. And of course, Shyamalan is only credited with the story. Poughkeepsie Tapes director John Erick Dowdle takes the reigns while veteran genre TV writer Brian Nelson handled the screenplay.

Devil is higher than high concept: five people are trapped in an elevator and one of them is the devil. Trouble afoot! Dumb, obviously, but stylish and fun, as well. The performances are solid, if none of them remarkable, and the movie benefits by clocking in at a brisk 80 minutes. Just right for this kind of one act supernatural thriller. Brian Nelson also wrote the screenplay for Hard Candy, so that gives you an idea of his skill in crafting and shifting a story with few characters in a small space and a single-sentence set-up.

It is not the calibre of The Poughkeepsie Tapes and doesn't pack anywhere near the same punch, but it is the kind of drive-in movie I expect Dowdle to keep making from now on to avoid being strung up in public. Devil may have lost some points at it's initial release because it isn't really of the scale or calibre to deserve a theatrical run. It's more like a "very special episode" of the Twilight Zone. Not necessarily what one is looking for when they shell out fifteen dollars for a ticket, though it would be a pleasant surprise to find when you're battling insomnia and watching Showcase at one AM. That sounds like the opposite of a recommendation, but I swear i enjoyed Devil.