Tom Sawyering the Corps.

-  Last night I made the mistake of beginning to watch the Lance Bangs Pavement documentary “Slow Century”.  A mistake because I should have known it would’ve been too fascinating to turn off, no matter how late the hours got.  If you’ve got the time, here it is:

-  Sage Francis has resurrected the Tumblr Hello There, Racists after an apparent shut down.  I think it’s outrageous to say it isn’t fair to publicly chastise these people, knowing full well that Twitter and Facebook are publicly viewed domains (they’re basically the 21st Century “public square”).  It also serves to remind us of some very important things, two of which: you’re not invisible on the Internet, and if you want to say outrageous shit you’d better damn well be posting anonymously (then again anyone with half a brain can trace an IP address), and yes… racism definitely still exists.  Some of this shit is just disgusting.

-  Very interesting article, that very well might go over your head a little (went over mine at least), on the nature of dark energy.  Is it static or dynamic in its existence.  If it’s dynamic… yeesh, the philosophical implications of such a thing are astronomical; a form of matter whose density and composition and structure changes as it shifts though space time??

While hypothesized dark energy can explain observations of the universe expanding at an accelerating rate, the specific properties of dark energy are still an enigma. Scientists think that dark energy could take one of two forms: a static cosmological constant that is homogenous over time and space, or a dynamical entity whose energy density changes in time and space. By examining data from a variety of experiments, scientists in a new study have developed a model that provides tantalizing hints that dark energy may be dynamic.

The results are still far from conclusive, but the scientists hope that future data might narrow down the models with greater accuracy. They hope that observations by the Planck spacecraft (launched in 2009; first data available in April 2013) and the Euclid spacecraft (launch date is 2019) could help pinpoint the dark energy models that most closely describe our expanding universe.

-  Great piece of street art (graffiti, if you prefer that term; I really could care less what it’s called) from GOIN, who I believe works out of the UK:

-Sonny

Hexed Resolution: Spacey, Moody, Heavy.

- Mastodon is a heavy metal band from Atlanta who’s latest album taps into the Ruskie legendary mystic Ratsputin and his rebirth/reincarnation as an omnibus force of the Universe.  Jonah Hex is a DC on-going comic book which tackles the American West/the American Civil War with eyes of cynical disdain stained blood-red.  Unlikely mash-up?  Perhaps.  But I’ve just read that Mastodon will be creating an original soundtrack (OST) for the film adaptation of the comic starring Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex.  Bassist Troy Sanders describes the new material for the film:

“Some of it was heavy, some of it was very moody, a lot of it was spacey.  Melvins B-sides, Pink Floyd-like, surreal outer space, like Neil Young’s Dead Man. Swirling, nausea music.”

Yikes.  Sounds like I’ll be buying another film adaptation’s soundtrack in addition to Nick Cave & Warren Ellis‘ The Road soundtrack.  Too bad Megan Fox is in the movie (Hex, that is).

-  One of the most badass responses to an honest business letter I’ve ever read.  Wizard Entertainment is a toy/comic/gaming magazine publisher, one which regularly holds conventions of said industries.  Scott Kurtz writes a web-comic called PvP (Player vs. Player); this is a part of how he responded to the company asking him to appear at one of their events in 2010.  Jeeezzus:

“Your conventions are total horseshit, so it’s wise to stop branding them with the name Wizard. But no amount of polishing is going to make me want to attended any of the 5 turds your company is going to crap out in 2010, especially when you schedule them against other shows in some bullshit dick measuring contests that serves no other purpose but to fracture an already dying industry that I have nostalgic ties to.”

-  The OTHER Warren Ellis‘s (the writer, the wacko, the futurist, the bearded one) cool-as-hell animated version of GI Joe — it’s called GI JOE: Resolute — is finally available on DVD.  The whole thing debuted on the Internet at first, then [Adult Swim] showcased all the episodes back to back, as they were meant to be seen.  This is the opening episode:

-Sonny

The Good and the Bad – 6/23.

Yeah… Not That Into It.

- Kiss’ very first original studio LP since 1998 (see the miserable “Psycho Circus“) is just about finished, according to Paul Stanley.  No official release date has been set yet, but rumors have been swirling that the album will be an in-store exclusive through Walmart (much like AC/DC’s 2008 album “Black Ice“).  Could this be a new trend with aging rock bands??  And what the fuck exactly are they getting out of it?  I for one, think that they KNOW they won’t be selling a whole ton of copies, but enough for a corporation like Walmart or Best Buy to make the deal, so they make a little extra cash (say, the equivalent of 25,000 units) on the side to make up for the drop.  Lame.

- More proof that music award shows are absolutely uneccessary.  I didn’t know these even existed, but I guess Sunday night some awards show called the MuchMusic Video Awards aired.  All of the following actually happened: the newest 15 minutes chick (the one all the teenage girls like cause she’s “weird”) Lady Gaga wore a bra that shot flaming sparks out of the nipples (see: holyoverthetopish), Nickelback won almost every award ever (those buttholes are still around?), and that one of the douche-bags from the Black Eyed Peas named Will.i.am got in a fight with some douche-bag who makes millions by talking about celebrities named Perez Hilton.  Kill me now.

- Van Halen is about to pull the trigger on suing Nike.  They’re claiming that a new Nike Sneaker, the Nike Dunk Lows, infringe on Eddie Van Halen’s signature “Frankenstrat” guitar.  In 2001 the band copyrighted the guitar’s style, a mish-mash/criss-cross of black and white stripes on a red background.  The sneakers only feature the design on the very bottom, where the sole overlaps the side, see for yourself.  A cartoon chimp, seems pretty flimsy.  I say Eddie Van Halen’s a tool, not to mention overrated, for using a Floyd Rose Tremolo, a D-Tuna (which he also has copyrighted), and a swiming-pool’ed Ibanez I wouldn’t want to touch with a thirty seven foot pole.  What’s wrong Eddie, not getting as many royalties off of tapping and Van Halen II as you used to?  Need to expand the income by taking huge, rich corporations to court because they’ll likely settle out of court to maintain you’re bullshit lifestyle??  Okay.  LINK.

Sounds Good!

- UK newspaper/site The Guardian is trudging on, though probably with very little views, with their “50 Greatest Moments In Jazz” series.  The latest details a Jazz guitarist from Oklahoma City named Charlie Christian.  Christian was the world’s very first big-time, house-hold, G electric guitar player.  He started in the 30′s when the instrument was first being designed by the likes of Rickenbacker and Gibson.  He was only 25 when he died, in 1942, but damn if he doesn’t almost define the word “prodigy”.  There’s a whole ass-load of guitarists, nearly EVERY single one, who owe some amount of gratitude to Charlie Christian.  Here’s a link to him playing, and here’s a link to the article.

- The Flaming Lips (Hey hey, what do you know?  Another Oklahoma City artist!  This time 80 years later…) have titled their upcoming album as “Embryonic“.  They’re planning on releasing the disc in the Fall, September to be specific, but I find this hard to swallow considering they haven’t: settled on the track listing yet, decided if it will be a double-album or not, and chosen the two or three themes of the concept disc.  Good luck with that Fall release guys, I’m not being sarcastic.  Good luck.  LINK.

- A White Stripes documentary is about to be released chronicling the band’s tour after releasing 2007′s “Icky Thump“.  The DVD will feature the band playing in unusual, as well as normal, venues and places such as a public bus and a children’s show.

- I’m so so so glad Spinal Tap has finally returned with an album called “Back From The Dead“.  Yes.

-Sonny

Wall of Spy-Planes.

- Phil Spector, one of the most influential record producers in history (probably THE most in my mind), has been found guilty of second degree murder in the slaying of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.  The whole “wall of sound” recording/producing technique was invented by Spector, who’s worked with Bob Dylan, The Ramones, The Beatles, among many others.  There would be no “Pet Sounds”, El-P, Flaming Lips, “Dark Side of the Moon”, Brian Eno, etc. without Phil Spector.  Crazyness.

- Holy crap we’re getting somewhere!  The Minnesota Supreme Court has finally come out with a verdict on the Coleman vs. Franken Senatorial Battle for the ages… uh, for the youngin’s.  My home state of Minnesota has been with only one Senator, Amy Klobuchar, since November.  This will inevitably be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States though; and thank God for that because our tax money couldn’t be going to a better cause!

- A whole plethora of information on the infamous Area 51 Military Facility has been finally declassified after some 50 years of secrecy.  Among this information is the “OXCART Program” from the golden age of secret military programs which researched stealth aircraft, fuel efficient spy-planes, and more.  In one story, an Area 51 test pilot is given “truth serum” to get the whole truth about a crash in the Nevada desert.  Apparently a group of people in a pick-up truck found the found the pilot with his ejected canopy in their bed; the CIA disguised the accident as an F-105 crash (a standard Air Force aircraft from the time), and likely forced the Nevadaians to sign waivers.  When the CIA brought the pilot home, he was so loaded with the drugs his wife thought he was drunk and/or taking recreational drugs.  Yikes.  Link:  The Road To Area 51.

- One of my favorite rock bands, Local H, is putting out a DVD of their last of seven back to back to back to back to back to back to back shows in hometown Chicago which showcased their ENTIRE catalog live to fans in chronological order.  Pretty cool.  The last night was the debuting/release party of their newest studio record “12 Angry Months” (a play on the classic film “12 Angry Men”) straight through in its entirety.  The DVD is a multi-cam, professionally shot and recorded, movie of that show.  Also with comments and behind the scenes stuff.  Cool.  Here’s the trailer (you can also see it at LocalH.com):

-Sonny