First Superman Comic Book Up For Bid.
Tomorrow, the holy grail of comic book collectors will go up for auction. An “unrestored” copy of Action Comics #1 (1938), the first appearance of Superman, is expected to sell for $400,000.
Monthly Archive for February, 2009
A couple of months ago, I was approached by one of the writers for Desktop Magazine concerning my photo of the now destroyed Banksy ‘Little Diver’. The art was located in Melbourne’s Cocker Alley, just off Flinders Lane. It gained notoriety when the building’s owners received permission from the City of Melbourne, to preserve the piece by covering it with a sheet of perspex.
The art was destroyed and I provided Desktop Magazine with a photo and a quote.
Months ago!
I had completely forgotten about it. As I am a subscriber to the magazine, it arrived in the mail about a week or so ago. I still hadn’t opened the envelope until today. As I was flicking through the magazine, I was pleasantly surprised seeing my photo and quote in the article.
Nice way to finish off what has been a pretty crazy week!
Original photo here.
Full resolution here.
Let’s not waste anyone’s time here, tonight’s Nine Inch Nails gig at Melbourne’s Festival Hall… was a bona fide classic performance! I have seen NIN live close to six times now in various line-ups and guises – none of these could hold a candle to the stripped back, lean-mean-fighting machine that is the 2009 (and probably final line-up for a while) consisting of main-man Trent Reznor, bassist Justin Meldel-Johnson, guitarist Robin Finck and drummer Ilan Rubin.
Drummer Rubin has had massive shoes to fill. Previous sticksman, Josh Freese is considered one of the best in the business (and he is) but this new kid is either a robot or he’s been born with 4 arms. His playing was phenomenal. Such an amazing back-beat that was rhythmic, concise, mechanical and faultless all round. I see via his Twitter updates, that he cut his hand early in the show and had a left-hand that was bleeding for most of the night, but (and pardon the pun) – he didn’t miss a freaking beat!
Simply put, the band were on fire tonight and for the first time since I have seen them, Reznor was in good spirits – interacting with the crowd on a more regular basis and even coming across as jovial.
And with a very welcome return to the fold, Robin Finck is just the perfect guitarist for NIN. It really never was the same without him to Reznor’s left. His stage presence and blistering guitars are the perfect foil for the dangerous Reznor.
NIN: Burn Live from on stage, Melbourne 2.25.09 [HD] from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.
(View in HD here)
Highlights of the night for me was hearing tracks like ‘The Downward Spiral’ and the all-out insanity and intensity of ‘March of the Pigs’, ‘Wish’ and ‘Gave Up’. Seriously, I challenge any of today’s supposed ‘heavy’ bands to even try and outdo the sonic power of Nine Inch Nails. No contest whatsoever as this was a setlist that was both dynamic and overtly powerful at the same time and coulda blown any other band you care to mention – to hell and back.
The stage featured an amazing apocalyptic light-show. Not quite as impressive as what they had throughout the USA last year, but still brilliantly lit and reflective of the coming-of-the-apocalypse-soundtrack that was delivered. I was bitterly disappointed I couldn’t get a photo-pass for this show after trying so many avenues to score one ‘cos I think there could have been some classic shots captured tonight.
A classic gig. I’m taking this one to the grave and if this is to be the final NIN show I see for a while, so be it. I’m left with memories of an electrified performance of a band that has been such a huge part of my adult life.
Thanks Trent!
Continue reading ‘Nine Inch Nails Live @ Festival Hall, Melbourne’
About my only interest in the Oscars today was seeing if Heath Ledger wins for ‘Best Supporting Actor’.
And indeed he did.
An incredible performance from a fantastic young actor cut in his prime…
Congrats Heath!
His father Kim Ledger and mother Sally Bell and sister Kate accepted the award.
“This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath’s quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here – his peers – within an industry he so loved. Thank you,” Kim Ledger said.
Joel-Peter Witkin has always ranked as one of my favorite photographers/artists. He is responsible for some of the most morbid, horrific and intriguing work ever captured via a camera. His work often deals with such themes as death, corpses (or pieces of them), and various outsiders such as dwarfs, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, and physically deformed people.
Some of his works, namely those with corpses in them, have had to been created in Mexico in order to get around restrictive US laws. His complex tableaux often recall religious episodes or famous classical paintings. Because of the transgressive nature of the contents of his pictures, his works have been labeled exploitative and have sometimes shocked public opinion. His art was often marginalized because of this challenging aspect.
Witkin claims that his vision and sensibility were initiated by an episode he witnessed when he was just a small child, a car accident that occurred in front of his house in which a little girl was decapitated.
“It happened on a Sunday when my mother was escorting my twin brother and me down the steps of the tenement where we lived. We were going to church. While walking down the hallway to the entrance of the building, we heard an incredible crash mixed with screaming and cries for help. The accident involved three cars, all with families in them. Somehow, in the confusion, I was no longer holding my mother’s hand. At the place where I stood at the curb, I could see something rolling from one of the overturned cars. It stopped at the curb where I stood. It was the head of a little girl. I bent down to touch the face, to speak to it — but before I could touch it someone carried me away.”
Creepy all the way! I have one of his books in my collection and every single time I offer it to friends for a perusal, they are often shocked and blown away by the imagery on offer.
21st Editions, a company that handcrafts and publishes extremely limited runs of books is releasing two editions of ‘The Journal of Joel-Peter Witkin: The Maxims of Men Disclose Their Hearts’.
The Classic Edition ($1500) and the Deluxe Edition ($8500). Obviously with such a price range, we are talking serious collectors here with incredibly deep pockets!
More info is avaible at 21st Editions’ website.
Continue reading ‘The Journal of Joel-Peter Witkin: The Maxims of Men Disclose Their Hearts’
Three new gorgeous posters have been released for Tarantino’s forthcoming ‘Inglorious Basterds’ flick. Typical of Tarantino, these are damn fine posters and restore one’s faith in the majesty of the kick-ass film poster which sadly seems to be lacking of late.
With the teaser trailer hitting the cybersphere last week, and these new posters being revealed today – the anticipation is beginning in earnest for what could be yet another Tarantino classic! I for one, can’t wait!
(via)
Check out the higher-res shot after the jump…
I had all but forgotten about Prodigy. Their last album – ‘Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned’ – was several years ago and it was an album, that by their lofty standards – was a little on the disappointing side. To be perfectly honest, the latest album ‘Invaders Must Die’ totally crept up on me and I wasn’t expecting much. In actual fact, I thought the old Prodigy had all but run their race.
‘Invaders Must Die’ is the Prodigy’s fifth album and the first to feature the classic Prodigy line-up of Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Maxim Reality since 1997’s brilliant ‘The Fat Of The Land’. And that’s not the first classic thing one notices about this fine slab of plastic! This is such a welcome return to form and brilliant old-school Prodigy stylings! This thing reeks of attitude, spunk and raw electrical, technical power and balls! This is everything that is so damn cool about the Prodigy and will surely rank as one of the finest albums for the year. Easy!
Strong throughout it’s 11 tracks, the album just gets better and better from the halfway point through to the end. Melodic, intense, exciting, raw and indeed energetic – it exudes a certain attitude and flair that most harder-edged acts can only begin to dream of.
Smack it up bitches! A fucking classic!
Ok, I did the ‘illegal’ download thing a couple of weeks back when this sucker finally hit cyberspace. This mob are easily one of my fave bands and I desperately wanted to hear what was on offer this time round. (Don’t worry I bought an advance copy through Roadrunner last week – still waiting on my bonus tee shirt tho!)
On first listen, I felt bitterly disappointed. It all just sounded so one dimensional and bland. The whole thing seemed devoid of any sort of dynamics or melody in any way, shape or form and I was beginning to worry. Hmmm, first listen blues I thought. I’ll give it a few more goes and we’ll see how we go.
Rightfully so, after a couple more listens, I was beginning to get into it a little more. In fact, I was starting to dig it. I mean, sheesh, these guys are a fucking legendary band and as stated previously, easily in my top 10. How could a Lamb of God album possibly suck? Right? Riiiight???
But here is the predicament: I’ve listened to it a few more times since starting to get into it but at the end of the day… I’m finding it all rather dull. There’s no real memorable fist-punching, mosh-inducing tracks. It all sounds so ’samey’ and sterile. I’m finding I just can’t really get into it as I have with past releases from these guys. Where are the riffs? Where are the cool leads? (Bar the nice Ace Frehley sounding lead on ‘Set To Fail’). Sigh!
I may need to devote even more time with it, but I just don’t want to have to force myself to like it. Who knows, I may feel differently in a week or two – but today, right now, this very instant… this album sucks and I guarantee that after all the dust has settled and we’re a couple more albums down the track – even the band themselves will admit, Wrath is their weakest moment.
Had some of my photo work published in the last month or so.
Check out The Vine for some photos from the Audrey Kawasaki Opening at Outré Gallery.
And FasterLouder has my Cult of Luna, Dropkick Murphys and Bleeding Through shots…
Some more gigs lined up in the next month… Gary Numan, Armored Saint, Death Angel I have confirmed photo-passes for. Trying as hard as is humanly possible to get passes for Alkaline Trio, Satyricon and Nine Inch Nails. Though, I’m not holding my breath on the last one…
A Long Tradition Of Bending Images.
Why would Shepard Fairey, or any other artist, want to copy an image that is already out there and claim it as his own? Why would he think he could get away with it?
A Sociologist’s Look at Graffiti.
Gregory J. Snyder, a Baruch College sociologist, spent years hanging out with graffiti writers, earning their trust and conducting scores of interviews.
What’s better than the original Sabbath line-up recording an album? Well, this is! The Dio led Sabbath/Heaven & Hell are about to release a highly anticipated new opus on April 28. Let’s face it, with Sharon Osbourne dictating to her bumbling husband Ozzy when to shit, drink, eat or utter an indistinguishable muttering – a full-fledged Black Sabbath album is nigh on impossible. But, the Dio era Sabbath is what I grew up on!
Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice returned to the stage after 15 years in 2007, launching a triumphant world tour as Heaven & Hell. Revitalized and inspired by its time on the road, the quartet recently returned to the studio, recording the band’s first album since 1992’s Dehumanizer. The highly anticipated album, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, will be available from Rhino on April 28.
“Everyone had so much fun playing together that we didn’t want it to end,” says the group. “We started writing together and the songs started flowing like we never stopped. We wound up writing and recording an album that stands up to anything we’ve ever done. We’re really proud of the music and excited for people to hear it.”
The dark tone heard on THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is clear from several of the album’s song titles, such as ‘Bible Black’, ‘Rock & Roll Angel’, ‘Breaking Into Heaven’, ‘Atom & Evil’ and ‘Eating The Cannibals’.
The seeds of the new album were planted in 2006, when Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice returned to the studio to record a trio of new songs for Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, a recent compilation of essential tracks taken from the quartet’s four albums together. Soon after, the band launched a run of sold-out shows around the world, electrifying audiences with its malevolent metal fury.
Iommi told Billboard last summer that “it really is Black Sabbath, whatever we do,” but said the artists had chosen to tour as Heaven And Hell “so everyone knows what they’re getting [and] so people won’t expect to hear ‘Iron Man’ and all those songs. We’ve done them for so many years, it’s nice to do just all the stuff with did with Ronnie again.”
