MORE SENSELESS ACTS OF BLOGGERY

[Via Matt Fraction]

There’s something marvelous about this. I gather in Old Days Of Televisions the networks would publish an industry programming report and hire an artist to do some cover art for one of the hot new shows that looked hip in a New Yorker/Village Voice kinda way rather than actually representing the show’s look.

Because there’s absolutely nothing here that gives you an idea of what The Monkees show would be like – apart maybe from “it’s about four guys in a rock group”, but that’s like promoting a show like Knight Rider with a cartoon of a guy driving a car. I mean, the guys in this picture could be the Beatles. Or the dozens of Beatles clones that emerged around that time.

Maybe that’s the whole point. It’s like if you took electromagnetic samples of Mickey, Davy, Mike and Peter’s souls and fed the data into a radioactive heat projector and seared the resulting image onto a wall, the very essence of the show is revealed: “Shameless Beatles Cash-In”.

Or something.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I love The Monkees – the show and the band. I don’t care what that does to my alt.cred.

Here we come,

This is dF

And now for something completely different:

A puppet playing Rush on soupcan drums.



He gets high on you,

This is dF

Here’s a video in which someone cut up a bunch of vinyl records, pieced different parts together, put them on heavily modified turntables, and played them live.

The results are remarkably spooky.



[Via BoingBoing]

Put the needle on the record,

This is dF

They’re all dead.

Specifically, Russell Johnson, Dave Madden and Gary Grimshaw.

You’ve probably already seen a lot about Johnson, who of course is best known as the Professor from Gilligan’s Island. You may have also seen something about Madden, whose signature role was as Reuben Kincaid, the manager of the Partridge Family.

As for Grimshaw, you may not know him by name. But you probably recognize his iconic and influential poster work.



Arguably all three played an essential role in my pop-culture education – particularly Johnson, since I watched a lot more Gilligan’s Island than Partridge Family. (Also, I learned that if you were smart enough, you could make ANYTHING out of coconuts, palm fronds and seawater.)

That said, I liked Kincaid as a character. Also, you can’t ask for a greater name for a band manager.

I didn’t become aware of Grimshaw until later, but I love old poster art, and I like Grimshaw’s style, even if it is sometimes illegible.

Off the wall,

This is dF

ITEM: Canadian artist Howie Tsui creates an exhibition for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, with a theme on healthcare in battle. 

It includes a pinball game called Musketball!, which is meant to illustrate what it’s like to be gut-shot with a musket:






Other parts of the exhibition features illustrations on deer-hide of soldiers injuring themselves to get out of combat, and a sculpture of two conjoined skeletons wearing powedered wigs and dancing on a field of human skulls.

“I want to make it comical, satirical,” he says, of the three parts of his exhibition. “There’s a pinball machine as amusement, (the deer hides) I see as comics, kind of cartoony, and this (skeleton sculpture) being more Barnum and Bailey anatomical spectacle, a freak show.”

Happy Memorial Day, by the way.

PRODUCTION NOTE: For those of noting that the bicentennial of the War of 1812 was last year, I should mention the story I'm getting this from is a year old. But someone just recently passed it on to me. 

Mangled viscera,

This is dF

No, really.

ITEM [via Warren Ellis]: As of 2012, Kickstarter has generated and distributed more funding for art projects than the US Govt. 

So says this fascinating infographic from Fast Company:








(There's more of that here.)

Admittedly, as Ellis notes, the fact that an internet-based commerce facilitator can move more money than a govt arts grant system shouldn't surprise anyone. But more to the point, it does get me wondering if something like Kickstarter could eventually make something like the NEA unnecessary. 

A number of people (by which I mean, “Republicans”) have bitched for years about tax dollars funding art and non-commercial content (especially when it’s “liberally biased”, which is EVEN WORSE), which is why they’re forever proposing to cut off the NEA and the Corporation For Public Broadcasting because hey, you can't have govt-funded Big Bird AND a balanced budget, especially if Big Bird goes around indoctrinating kids with left-wing ideology. The arguments have mostly been nonsense, if only because dropping the NEA and CPB would slash federal spending by something like 0.005%. As far as I’m concerned, if those are yr targets to cut the deficit, you are not serious about cutting the deficit.

On the other hand, suppose the CPB turned to Kickstarter instead? How much could they raise to keep going? More than their current budget? Could they do that on an annual basis? Could PBS affiliate stations do it? Think about how many people blasted Mitt Romney for his Big Bird comment (at least 47% of the nation, by some estimates). How many of them would be willing to pony up online to keep Sesame Street on the air?

I’m not arguing that the NEA and CPB should go. I’m a big believer in tax dollars supporting non-commercial arts and programs, because I don't believe either should be defined (or created) purely in terms of commercial success, and that is in the public interest to have art for art’s sake.

But if we reach a point where the next Republican administration finally gives Newt Gingrich his wish, it’s possible that Kickstarter and similar crowdsourced-funding initiatives could take over – and possibly do it even better.

I don't know how plausible that is. But it’s always good to have a Plan B.

Send in yr dollars,

This is dF

Come and get ‘em.



[Via Tackorama]

Step right up,

This is dF

That was my first thought when I saw this picture. 



[Via Sad Burro]

I’m kidding, of course.

At least I think I am.

But maybe not.

Take the wheel,

This is dF

With gratuitous pulp art from Robert McGinnis




FUN FACT: The song in question was banned by the BBC when it was released. By a complete coincidence, the song was also allegedly inspired by the Profumo Affair.

Yr secret is safe with me,

This is dF