They Live

Shephard Fairey’s take on John Carpenter’sThey Live staring Roddy Piper. For Fairey, the circle is complete since the subliminal mind control messages in They Live were an inspiration for his signature OBEY campaign, with Andre the Giant.

$7.8 trillion in printer ink spilled on Rt 128

$7.8 trillion in printer ink spilled on Rt 128

A tractor trailer that was hauling 16,000 pounds of printer ink bound for a newspaper company rolled over and spilled its technicolor load all over Route 128 near Peabody, MA, creating this surreal scene captured by Boston-based freelance photographer Winslow Townson.

No one was injured in the incident.

[globe / twbo.]

However, the street art value of this art work is beyond priceless.

Bolt Action

Great Art

I "discovered" the Polish artist Rysunek satyryczny Pawła Kuczyńskiego the other day.
His work reminds me of Garry Larson or even Gahan Wilson - two of the greats.

Visit his other work

Back Up Banksy

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Banksy"... Earth to Banksy, you're a graffiti artist. Your career was built on defacing other peoples property, now you're worried about your own?

Okay, now we have a back up to the Blaspheme's Hypocrite of the Week Award. But that's only if Hillary Clinton is unable to perform her duties.

Compare and Contrast

Let's compare and contrast the 'Draw Muhammad Day' that the internet staged back in May, and the new 'Burn the Qur'an Day' coming up on September 11th.

First off, let's review Draw Muhammad Day. This 'event' was an attempt by a some folks on the internet who felt they needed to stand up for the freedom of speech - because of the death threats against the South Park creators Matt and Trey, death threats to cartoonists in Holland, and the arrest of a cartoonist in Denmark.[1] were getting out of hand. The community was standing up for the freedom of speech, in defiance of Islamic sensitivity that threatened death. It was 'our' decision that no one should ever be restricted in what they can say... no matter how insensitive, crass or rude it is. Even blasphemous . (shameless self promotion)

Predictably, the 'Draw' day, did not create a peaceful environment for both parties to pause and reflect upon their ways... nay, instead there was a blowback that tried to get participating websites censored for their blasphemous transgressions. Most notably Facebook. The public responded by using their right and showed a restriction of rights for sensitivity to offense of others was not going to stand. People do not have the right to not be offended - at least, not in the West. And not on this issue.

'Burn a Qur'an Day', on the surface, appears to be nothing more than some racists in Florida getting out the message that they hate Islam. Deeper down, it's a huge publicity stunt. A stunt-fund raiser. Sure beats Sally's Car Wash suggestion. One can imagine that impressionable Christian extremists might feel that burning a Qur'an is the same as standing up to extremist islam-o-terrorism? Nothing like a good book burning to show that an idea, right gang? What these folks in Florida are broadcasting is that Islam, and apparently Holy Books that are not their own, are not welcome in their neighborhood. I'll even say that they might be trying to say that Islam isn't welcome in their country or even on the entire planet. Apparently Jesus didn't teach anything about loving your neighbor? Well, not in their church anyway. And they didn't pass their eight grade Constitution tests, either. The right they are using to express this opinion during this event, the first amendment to the Constitution, is the exact same right that guarantees the right of the Islamic population in the U.S.A. to practice their religious expression in their country as well. Which is similar, but not equal to the 'Draw Muhammad Day.'

Both are hypocritical, maybe even ironic. But, the two events are entirely different and in some ways opposite of each other in terms of expressing freedoms. For instance, it is ridiculous for people of Muslim faith to expect people not of Muslim faith to abide by rules of their religion. They can avoid pork, wine, and be misogynistic to their women all they want - I guess - and that's their deal. But if they even suggest, by force of death, that I can't have bacon? Well, in the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "Of course you know, 'dis means war!" Let's make a deal - I'll leave you alone in your pursuit of happiness, as long as you provide me the same courtesy.

However, I'm not so crass as to burn their Holy Book in a church parking lot on September 11th.

“That was mere foreplay. Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.” (German: “Das war Vorspiel nur. Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.”)
~ Heinrich Heine, Almansor (1821)

RIP Harvey Pekar

RIP of the Day: Legendary comic book writer Harvey Pekar passed away today of as-yet unknown causes. He was 70 years old.

[plaindealer.]

Holy Smoke

The U.S. Border Patrol says agents found a stash of marijuana coming across the border in El Paso in an unusual spot: tucked behind a framed portrait of Jesus.

A Border Patrol statement says the bust was made just before 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso. A 22-year-old Mexican woman arrived at the port of entry from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in a sport-utility vehicle. According to the statement, she told agents that she had nothing to declare but some framed art.

Cesar the drug-sniffing dog found otherwise. He was drawn to three framed pictures of Jesus Christ in the SUV. Agents found 30 bundles totaling about 31 pounds behind the backing of the three pictures.

The Border Patrol says it turned the woman to El Paso police for prosecution. No word on the artwork though.

Found

Bernie Madoff Crushed by Farting Bull

That’s supposed to be Bernie Madoff against the wall…at least according to the BBC. Other views of the sculpture here.

Thomas Kinkade on the hook for $2.1 million

Maybe you've never heard of Thomas Kinkade, "painter of light" and schlocky wall paintings that make middle aged Baptists believe they have taste, who is a self proclaimed born-again Christian who uses religious themes in his art and his marketing, and once said that "God became my art agent" after his conversion....

Well guess who stole and ruined and lied to his business partners, and then swooped in and bought them all out at a massive loss to the investors? Yeah, it's the kind of thing Christ would have done.

Kinkade and other company officials used terms like "partner," "trust," "Christian" and "God" to create "a certain religious environment designed to instill a special relationship of trust" to the tune os $860,000 in damages to the former gallery owners, Karen Hazlewood and Jeff Spinello, and more than $1.2 million in attorneys' fees and arbitration expenses.

Here's how it went down. What Kinkade's company didn't tell them, (said their attorney) was that they would have to sell Kinkade's works at minimum retail prices while the artist undercut them with discount sales, some of which he made himself on cable television.

The value of their galleries were undercut, and closed in 2003. Here's the best part...

It was all part of a plan, (the gallery owners claimed) to lower the value of the publicly traded company before Kinkade bought it in 2004, at steep losses to many investors.

This is all according the San Francisco Chronicle, (Link)

The award by the arbitration judge won't put Kinkade out of business, but hopefully his fraudulent and shady business practices will. I would think that as word of his hypocrisy of specifically hiding behind religion to dupe his customers and business partners as a good Christian, that he'll soon be out of work. I would think that as more people who hear about this, the less likely his work will be seen... except for lining the walls of the Goodwill and Salvation Army. Spread the word.

And is that a stream of urine coming from that house, or is it gold? Just wondering.

Father's Day Present that Dad Wants

This Big Lebowski “Last Supper” rendition is nothing short of a masterpiece. Just think about the number of times you could tell guests it really ties the room together. Click to embiggen.