Monthly Archive for March, 2008
Nine Inch Nails Album Generates $1.6 Million in First Week.
Ghosts I-IV is currently the top-selling album on the Amazon MP3 store; again, Reznor paid approximately $38 to have it distributed there.
Rotten Tomatoes has a veritable feast of Hulk goodies - including the new trailer and a slab of photos. Basically this version re-starts the story of the Hulk five years after Ang Lee tried his hand at the mean, green superhero with Eric Bana in the lead. In director Louis Leterrier’s (The Transporter) new version, Ed Norton is Bruce Banner, the physicist whose exposure to gamma rays has burdened him with fantastic and terrible new powers.
Yeah. Ho hum. The first movie with Eric Bana suffered ‘cos the Hulk looked wayyyy too much like a CGI character… as far as the trailer goes, this one looks even worse. Just make the whole darn thing as an animation and be done with it…
Check it all out for yourself here…
On April 5th, the New York art scene is going to get a lot darker. Legendary painter and tattoo artist Paul Booth, of Last Rites Tattoo Theatre, is opening up NYC’s only gallery devoted to the macabre, erotic and surreal.
Last Rites Gallery’s inaugural show, Transgression, curated by gallery director Genevive Zacconi, showcases artists ranging from internationally renowned sculptor and Alien designer H.R Giger to classical oil painter Shawn Barber, to tattoo-artist Vincent Castiglia, whose beautifully rendered watercolors are painted in his own blood. Designed to provoke thoughts and shatter taboos, Transgression will introduce viewers to 31 artists who change what we think art is.
Transgression opens on Saturday, April 5th, 7-10pm at Last Rites Gallery, 511 W. 33rd Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues (3 blocks from Penn Station), 3rd floor, New York, NY 10001. Show runs April 5th thru April 28th, 2008. More info at www.lastritesgallery.com.
..:: Now showing at Last Rites Gallery ::..
Participating artists include: Michael Hussar, John Abrahamson, Shawn Barber, Jon Beinart, Rachel Bess, Matthew Bone, Paul Booth, Patrick Byers, Vincent Castiglia, Colin Christian, Christopher Conte, Daniel Martin Diaz, HR Giger, Naoto Hattori, William B Hand. Fred Harper, Nikko Hurtado, John John Jesse, Stephen Kasner, Kevin Llewellen, Fabrice Lavollay, Laurie Lipton, Travis Louie, Jesse Pepper, Karl Persson, Dan Quintana, Celeste Rapone, JL Robbins, David Stoupakis, Heidi Taillerfer, Brian Viveros, Chet Zar.
About Last Rites Owner Paul Booth:
A tattoo artist for nearly two decades and a painter for years before that, Paul Booth has devoted his life to the evolution of his craft. In the tattoo industry, after years of public appearances and numerous international awards, Paul Booth is now a household name. He has been featured on networks such as CNN, MSNBC, DISCOVERY, A&E, TLC, and MTV.
Due to the macabre nature of his style, Paul has tattooed many major metal bands. As a result, in 2002, Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed Paul “The new king of rock tattoos.” There is currently a two-year waiting list for his work.
Jenna Jameson gets pounded while wearing pleather and PETA is against killing animals for their skin, so they have teamed up for PETA’s new ad campaign, Pleather Yourself. PETA believes people should wear fake leather because real leather comes from animals who endure miserable lives in farms. PETA says:
“…Having starred in hundreds of adult films, Jenna is known for being a strong, sexually aware woman. If you’re looking for advice on how to add some flare in the bedroom, she is the perfect expert to get help from. She is also a woman of her word and practices what she preaches. “I’ve worn a lot of pleather in my life,” she says. “Anybody that knows Jenna Jameson knows I’ve lived half my life in it…”
The irony must be lost on PETA, because Jenna Jameson had been looking like a chewed up piece of steak for a while. Good thing for PETA she’s getting hot again. At first I was skeptical how masturbating to a picture of Jenna Jameson dressed up like pleather-wrapped Betty Page would help cows around the world sleep on satin pillows, and I kinda still don’t, but it looks like PETA has been gracious enough to make sure I’ll want to try. Thanks PETA!
Watch a behind-the-scenes look after the jump…
Whilst Simmons, Stanley and the two impostors are in town to perform at Melbourne’s Grand Prix - there’s no better time than now to post this pic of douchebag Simmons without the dead cat on his scone! Proof, at last. You know, he looks better this way rather than with that fuzzy German helmet he’s been wearing on his head for the past 20 years.
I noticed some flyers over the weekend promoting the forthcoming ‘Anonymous’ protest against Scientology. From what I have seen of these worldwide protests - they can be a lot of fun. Couple that with the fact that there could be some damn fine photo opportunities, yours truly is going to attend. I’m a sucker for seeing masked people running through the streets of Melbourne.
Now, I’m all for people believing in whatever they damn well please - and it would be refreshing if one day we could protest ALL religions/cults/pie-in-the-sky-smoke-dreams and the like… (heh!) - but at least this is a start.
According to the Phobic Media website, “…This is a peaceful demonstration to educate the general public in regards to the vindictive and often illegal policies secretly employed against enemies of the Church of Scientology. We also wish to address the misinformed and harmful teachings that have in the past led to the destitution and even death of members of the Church…”
Kinda sounds like all religions to me, but what the hey? See you on the streets of Melbourne on Saturday. Hopefully I’ll come back with some cool shots to share.
Where?
Flinders St station (under the clocks) at 1:30-1:45 for an organisational meeting. From there, a core group will move to the Church of Scientology Melbourne Branch (Cnr Russell St & Flinders Lane).
It is incredibly difficult to put into words a review of the latest Nine Inch Nails release… ‘Ghosts I-IV’. In its vastness and scope and the mere fact that this is a veritable slab of over two hours of music… where does one even begin to analyze individual tracks or key moments in this Reznor opus? Add to the fact that there are no track identifiable track names - it all adds up to a unique and fresh listening experience. I absolutely adore what Reznor has accomplished here as I have always preferred his more experimental work. There is so much on offer here. So much style, technique, haunting ambience and emotion. It is all so grand yet at the same time, there is an element of rawness permeating throughout each track. It is going to take a long, long time to fully digest just what has been unleashed here.
The entire ‘Ghosts’ experience was all incredibly rewarding. I can’t recall such a buzz over a new release and the digital methodology that was used to deliver this music to the masses. These are exciting times for genuine music fans and genuine artists such as Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails who are actively seeking out new ways of doing things. Everything from the initial overworked servers and the moment of finally downloading the music (legally and intact as the artist wished) - to even managing to score the $300 Deluxe Edition as yours truly did - just added to the entire experience that was/is ‘Ghosts’.
What with all the Nine Inch Nails craziness right now… here’s March’s Desktop! Higher res over at Flickr…
The countdown is on… officially one year and counting until the release of Watchmen on March 6 2009.
Watchmen was a twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987, it was later republished as a trade paperback, which popularized the ‘graphic novel’ format.
To date, Watchmen remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine’s 2005 list of ‘the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.’
Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen’s deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
So without further adieu…
Vox Populi
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