Devo Sues McDonalds.
Post-punk pioneers Devo say they are suing McDonald’s in the US over a Happy Meal doll that sports the band’s signature red flower pot hat.
Monthly Archive for June, 2008
One of my most played albums of the past few years has been Alkaline Trio’s ‘Crimson’. I can’t even begin to put into words just how much I love that disc and it would easily ranked as one of my most listened to opus’. Having said that, I was on tender hooks waiting for the band’s new release. ‘Crimson’ hit the stores way back in 2005 and the band were well overdue for some new tunes. Sure the Trio graced us with the obligatory ‘Best Of-cum-B-sides/rarities’ colleciton in 2007’s ‘Remains’ disc, but seriously that just wasn’t enough to tide this fanboy over.
And so after what seemed like an eternity waiting for new tuneage, Alkaline Trio have been very much hard at work. The result is ‘Agony & Irony’. Enlisting the help of producer Josh Abraham who has erstwhile twiddled the knobs for Linkin Park and Velvet Revolver, to name but a few. It all sounds lush and grand as one would expect, and its tinged in the obligatory Alkaline Trio darkness (afterall, two of the guys are proud members of the Church of Satan). However, I found that this release hasn’t floored me as much as the aforementioned ‘Crimson’. Which isn’t to say that this isn’t a good album. In fact, it is a wonderful slab of catchy and smart pop-punk tunes that will hopefully garner the band a larger following. The usual morbid fascination with death, love, evil, is still permeant throughout the band’s imagery and lyrics and none more-so prevalent than in the first single ‘Help Me’ - a tribute to lead Joy Division crooner, Ian Curtis.
Unfortunately the band gets lumped with all the Emo and pseudo Punk bands that are proliferating the mainstream but there is so much more to Alkaline Trio. Much more.
This is a great album but I feel it just doesn’t quite go near to the magic of the band’s previous releases in ‘Crimson’ & ‘Good Mourning’. They’re gonna have a monster smash one day soon, but it isn’t going to be with this one.
Here’s a bunch of my fave photos I have taken over the past week or so…
I’ve Been Contemplating…
More info here.
Abbotsford Convent
More info here.
Snake In A Jar
More info here.
Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
More info here.
A Quiet Walk Along St.Kilda Pier On A Mild and Calm Eve
More info here.
Nearly ten years after the infamous Cradle of Filth t-shirt ‘Jesus Is A Cunt’ caused all sorts of mayhem in Europe, the rednecks of Queensland, Australia have finally caught up.
The Herald-Sun reports Boy charged over obscene t-shirt - A Gold Coast teenager has been charged by police for wearing a blasphemous t-shirt degrading Jesus. The boy, 16, was stopped by police in Biggera Waters after he was spotted wearing a t-shirt which claims “Jesus is a (expletive deleted)” (CUNT) and depicts a nun masturbating. (tee hee - JR)
The teen was charged with offensive behaviour under the Summary Offences Act 2005 for public nuisance on Monday.
The incident has sparked debate about Australia’s lack of a Bill of Rights.
Sen-Sgt Arron Ottaway defended charging the teen.
“I’m not religious but that’s just offensive,” Sen-Sgt Ottaway said.
Police conducted inquiries at Australia Fair shopping centre, where the teen said he bought the shirt, to find any shops selling it.
Gold Coast lawyer Bill Potts told website goldcoast.com.au that the arrest highlighted Australia’s need for a Bill of Rights.
“One of the great problems with our country is that we talk about rights such as privacy and freedom of speech and the like but they are not enshrined or protected in any way as they are in America,” Mr Potts said.
“While there are always limits on freedom of speech, you can’t incite violence or anything like that, it seems to be now more than ever that our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression should be protected.
“A Bill of Rights which enshrines that protection is long overdue in this country.”
Lead crooner Dani Filth had this to say when the very same t-shirt caused a stink in the UK… “…Defaming organized religion openly in public is now a crime? What is wrong with England? Still, the litter problem on our city streets should improve dramatically if they keep handing out 80-odd hour community punishment orders willy-nilly. The country will be spotless in no time, a sure sign that God works in mysterious ways, even through us..” (hehe - JR)
Now all I want to know is, where can I get one? 
Start saving those pennies kiddies! Due Nov. 11, just in time for the holiday gift season, it weighs in at 10 pounds, with 86 episodes on 28 DVDs(!!!) Three CDs of soundtrack music. And two discs of bonus material, including 16 “lost” scenes, an interview of creator David Chase by Alec Baldwin, roundtable discussions with writers and stars and Sopranos spoofs from ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘Mad TV’. There’s also a panel discussion from the Paley Center for Media among “Whacked Sopranos” actors reflecting on their regrettable but necessary exits.
But it won’t come cheap: The suggested list price is $399.99US, $100 more than the complete ‘Sex and the City’.
“It’s really the biggest DVD gift set we have released to date, and that means both physically and metaphorically,” says Sofia Chang, the channel’s senior VP of DVD marketing. HBO is promising a huge marketing push for the release.
“We put a lot of work into it,” creator David Chase tells USA TODAY. He conducted interviews for the extras early this year, about seven months after the surprising (and anticlimactic) finale aired on HBO.
Chase discusses with Baldwin his childhood, his early career and the show’s history. And there’s much discussion about the controversial final episode, which ended abruptly, midscene, as the Soprano family enjoyed a quiet meal in a diner.
Scenes rescued from the editing-room floor include Tony kissing Dr. Melfi in her office; Big Pussy being interrogated after a drug arrest; and Meadow visiting her ailing grandmother, Livia, in the hospital, where Janice falsely claims Tony tried to kill Livia, instead of the other way around.
Chase says he was surprised when he looked back how few filmed scenes he had left. He says most were cut because they “in some way emotionally hold up the show or derail it” or were “overexplaining” things when viewers “have an instinctive sense of what’s going on.”
Now Sopranos fans can only dream of a movie, given the box-office success of Sex and Chase’s recently signed deal with Paramount Pictures, run by Sopranos producer Brad Grey.
“I’m not anxious to do one; I’m not looking to do one,” Chase says. Never mind that star James Gandolfini has said he has moved on from Tony. “What I really don’t want to give is the impression I’m being coy.” The finale “makes it problematic to continue the story; I’m not interested in going forward.” So any movie would go backward, set midway through the series’ run.
“If something great came along, we might consider doing it,” Chase says. “But we don’t have people in rooms trying to come up with ideas.”
Signs of Satan!
tee-hee!
pic: l-r Martin Ain and Tom Gabriel Fischer
In light of the tragic disbanding of the amazing Celtic Frost, no one had heard the other side of the coin until bassist Martin Ain’s following update:
“We are deeply sorry about the cancellation of the summer festivals and the Giger Museum anniversary show this year. We regret the adversity that this caused fans and promoters alike. Tom Gabriel Fischer [guitar, vocals] has left the band, but Celtic Frost is still alive, albeit in a coma of sorts. Franco [Sesa, drums] and I are not going to continue recording or touring as Celtic Frost. This would be preposterous without one of its founding members, the original voice and its defining guitarist. But we are not going to officially disband CF. We hope that there might be a possibility of talking things over and overcoming the differences that caused this schism. Most certainly this will not happen now, but maybe sometime in the future. After all, this is not the first time in the history of this band that things have gone wrong. In the meantime, Franco and I will continue to create music of our own. Under what name or with whom else shall remain open for now. For the time being, we accept Tom’s decision as being better for all of us and we would like to whish all the best for him and his future projects. A thank you is due to all fans and friends for their support in these difficult times. We hope that at least the work of these past years was as pleasurable to you as it was to us.”
Vox Populi
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