Time to spend some of that Christmas cash and support a local entrepreneur…
Nightshift Clothing is based in Whitewater, WI and sells dope t-shirts that you can rock in the club or on the town…my personal favorites are the Zip Zag and Window designs. Get em now because they are on sale for $10 each thru January 5th.
Shout out to my friend Travis at Nightshift! He sent me a couple of these shirts to wear on my last tour and I liked them so much I had to share…
http://nightshiftclothing.com
FIIIIRE! Here are a couple of R.E.M.’s first music videos…word has it that Michael Stipe didn’t think it was cool to show the band playing in videos, so they are remarkably Stipe-free. Dear Michael, Out Of Time is still in my top 5 albums of all time. Perfection!
R.E.M.- It’s The End Of The World
Over the past few days I’ve found it interesting that so many people are hating on the attention given to Amy Winehouse’s death because it was due to drugs and poor decisions. If her music and especially her voice hadn’t made such an impact on millions of people all over the world, as well as on the direction of music as a whole, there wouldn’t have been so much press devoted to her dangerous lifestyle — and quite honestly, we wouldn’t be talking about her at all.
Despite her faults, Amy managed to create a timeless and mature body of work and will forever be known as having one of the most distinctive female voices of her (or any other) generation. So even if you’re not familiar with her as an artist, or you simply don’t like her music, I think it begs the question…
Does someone’s manner of death determine how we should honor their legacy?
and…
When it comes to artists’ addictions, are we more likely to sympathize with men and be judgmental of women?
Take as counterexamples the somewhat recent deaths of Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson. Both were victims of their own dangerous addictions — granted they each died under very different circumstances — but it’s striking to recall how much more compassionate the overall response was to their deaths than to Amy Winehouse’s.
And on the touchy subject of sexism and addiction…Just taking a quick look at the current list of bestselling musician biographies HERE, it’s hard not to notice that the guy’s biographies (Slash, Stephen Tyler, Keith Richards, Nikki Sixx, Ozzy Osbourne, Steven Adler, etc) are almost all marketed using the allure of dangerous lifestyles and drug addiction, whereas the women’s biography subjects and book covers are much tamer in comparison (and far fewer in number — there is only one female biography on the list).
I get that sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll sell and will always sell, but it says something about the general public’s response to Winehouse’s death when we are buying books in record numbers that glorify men’s rockstar lifestyles and near-death drug binges and yet we have trouble saying a kind word about one of the greatest female singers of our time simply because she fell victim to those very same vices.
Are we as consumers just fair-weather friends enjoying the spectacle of tightrope walkers? Eager to reward with compassion and second chances when the main attraction slips on the line and lives to tell about it, but equally eager to say “I told you so” when she falls off the rope?
Maybe Amy’s death will shed some light on the darker side of our collective consciousness.
Thoughts?
If you are into alligators and toads — you know, the kind that are hand-sculpted in 18k gold and encrusted with precious stones, retailing upwards of $30,000 on Madison Avenue — then you have to peep one of my favorite jewelry designers, Barry Kieselstein-Cord. Truth be told, I help to run a men’s jewelry line and have admired Kieselstein-Cord’s work for years, but unfortunately Barry has had a hard go of it the past few years and is now in the midst of his second divorce. Granted, it’s a little difficult to feel sorry for someone who goes broke after selling his townhouse for $23 million, but Kieselstein-Cord’s work is so amazing you just might. Read about the drama while checking out his stunning gold and diamond Alligator Time Pieces…
WTF this is some messed up photography! Meet Roberto K I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy’s work inspired a few torture-porn movies and/or NIN videos.
www.robertokusterle.it/gallery2/main.php
I’ve always been a huge fan of Coppola’s Apocalypse Now…the film seems to be surrounded by a magical aura in my memory, mingling with hot and humid summer nights in Wisconsin spent listening to The Doors’ “The End” just loud enough so I wouldn’t wake my parents.
Well, I’ve finally managed to finish reading the classic Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad after watching the documentary Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (filmed in part by Coppola’s wife Eleanor), and I strongly suggest you do the same! Furthermore — especially if you’ve never seen Apocalypse Now, which is a crime in some blue states — I’d recommend experiencing the three works in that order: Film – Documentary – Book. I found that:
A) the documentary does an amazing job of framing both the original film and the cast & crew’s experience of making the film around the plot and subplot of Conrad’s novella (ie. everyone goes a little crazy in the jungle)
B) the surreal, psychedelic imagery and acting in Apocalypse combined with the documentary’s frequent readings from the book creates a vivid entry point into Heart of Darkness, which can be a tough read at times, and
C) that Marlon Brando was a huge f’ing diva! (Seriously, dude got a million dollar advance before filming and never even read the 100-page book!)
I found it interesting to learn that Conrad’s stated goal for writing the book was to give the reader a lingering sense of something beneath the surface of his writing, a dark glimpse into the soul…I think the film and its “making-of” documentary have managed to capture that feeling almost perfectly.
Here are links to all three pieces:
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
Shameless plug for the amazing visual artist Chrissa Arazy, who also happens to my big sis. If you like Gustav Klimt, charcoal and glitter this will be right up your alley. Highly empowering portrayals of women, so if you are looking to get some art for your girl, look no further.
Another scathing Rolling Stone political article about the “Chairman” Roger Ailes, complete with a cool companion diagram about the daily grind at Fox News…
