Controlling Our Food "The World According to Monsanto"

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television - a documentary that Americans won’t ever see on TV. The gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

Here's an internet news clip:

Here's the Documentary "The World According to Monsanto":

Chuck D. and Public Enemy circa 1987

Here's a classic never published shot of PE, before they shunned the gold chains (the ultimate "status symbol" of that era) completely. It was an interesting moment back stage that night when at the arena outside of Washington DC, where I brought my friend Ian MacKaye to see PE live for the first time and we both noticed that Chuck was wearing gold after speaking out about it publicly before, we thought, and one of us asked, "Chuck is that real? Are you really going out like that?" We thought that PE, and Chuck of all people saw the gold chains for what they were, further enslavement to petty capitalism and consumerism, but Chuck's answer that night was "The kids think it's DOPE, we're here for them, and it looks dope, we can't argue with that... Besides it ain't real gold!" - Well thankfully Chuck disbanded that argument before the end of that tour, or shortly thereafter, but for a minute there it looked like he slipped in front of someone who was surely a bit disappointed at that first meeting. No one's perfect.

Now, just in case you are not aware, I was probably one of the biggest PE fans/promoters of all time back then. Besides doing almost all of their early photography, including their first two album covers, I believe i was one of the first people ever to say that "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" was the greatest rap album of all time. i'm proud to have said that as early as i did, and see many people jump on that in the many years since, deservedly so. I was very close with them and the Bomb Squad back then. And even though we did have a bit of a falling out just before the third album came out, we had long since made up, and i'm still a big PE/Chuck D. fan and friend.

DUH! Sunday sermon of the month...

"Live your values, change the world. It's that simple."

Yes this narrator and the acoustic guitar background make this clip more 'hippy-dippy' than it needs to be. Just like the O.G. book (Diet For A New America) that helped me make the smart move back in '87, i have a little problem with the presentation for the average person. But listen to the facts and wake the fuck up when you're ready.



I've been vegan for 20+ years now, and let me tell you, these days it is SO much easier than it used to be. If you're considerate you're doing it, or at least thinking about it. If not, maybe one day you will be. I'll thank you then.

btw. The updated version of John Robbins' incredible book Diet For A New America is called The Food Revolution, i highly recommend it.

"What do sages, philosophers, artists and scientists tell us about our food choices? This clip features quotes from the Bible, Buddha, Tolstoy, Voltaire, St. Francis of Assisi, Leonardo da Vinci, Seneca, Edison, Hippocrates, Einstein, Guru Nanak, Colin Campbell and William Castelli."

She Who Measures

The Croatian filmmaker Veljko Popovic’s She Who Measures (Ona Koja Mjeri) is an animated short lasting about six minutes. Watercolors and paintings in black ink complement each other in a mixture of two- and three-dimensional animation.

SPOILER ALERT - don't read below until after you've seen the clip.

She Who Measures tells the story of the creation of a set of filigree humanoids with large heads, which are bred in green water tanks. With Smiley-like metal masks over their faces, and equipped with shopping carts, they march in single file through a wasteland. The rhythm is set by a pot-bellied clown leading the small caravan. With his long staff, he conducts the little group, and from time to time, he literally shits sweets, tiny dolls and other colorful knick-knacks, which the small figures eagerly pick up and put into their carts.

This ambivalent activity is observed by a maskless maverick crossing the path of the group. He tries to divert the creatures from their routine and to tear their Smiley masks from their faces. In so doing, what was hidden behind each mask is revealed both to him and to us: A blaring television screen where the newest products are advertised non-stop — commercials we know well enough. Our hero’s efforts, however, are in vain: The clown puts everything back in place, and the small crew marches on. Whilst our insubordinate hero wearily plods through the barren wasteland, finally throwing himself off the edge of the world into an abyss, the little slaves of consumerism are at the end of their tether. They draw their last breath next to their jam-packed shopping carts … but the next generation is already growing in those green tanks.

She Who Measures is the first film by the 29-year old Popovic, who has studied art but earns his living creating computer graphics for the advertising industry. Accordingly he calls his debut film a “pleasant counterpart” to his commissioned work, which serves the consumer society he portrays here with such acrimony. Last but not least, Popovic considers his film to be a little satire about the latest social development in some Eastern European countries: The rapid opening-up to capitalism during the last decade, which has resulted in the establishment of countless private television stations that lull citizen with their programs, and a frightening increase in the number of consumer temples. However, She Who Measures captivates us not only with its social criticism expressed entirely through images, but also with its aestheticism — especially the suggestive background landscape (painted on corrugated cardboard, then scratched) through which the tiny figures proceed. The sheer expanse additionally accentuates the forlorn nature of the humanoids, mindlessly wasting their lives in chasing after the many useless objects in our world of consumerism.

Doris Senn
© FIPRESCI 2008

via Jeremy Kaplan at Subliminal Projects (from his Mom)

You probably never heard this one

In May 1975 Die Electric Eels recorded two slabs of what have to be some of the greatest proto punk ever. Agitated (listen in the player below) has all the punk elements: short song, sloppy instrumentation, raw production and a lousy solo.

In 1978, Rough Trade released the Agitated 45 (RT 8). Guitarist John Morton illustrated the cover and wrote the titles in a faux German style, which was taken at face value by many who initially bought it, exactly the sort of confusion and ambiguity to which the Eels aspired. Between the sounds, still extreme by 1978 standards, and the gradual realization that "Die Electric Eels" were actually a crazy band from Cleveland that had broken up three years earlier made it that much more impressive.

Nick Knox who later became the drummer for the Cramps was also in this band.

A bit reminicent of early Black Flag recordings with Keith Morris, and if you can imagine, even more raw.

probably my favorite pre-punk punk record ever.

All i wanted was a Pepsi . . .

So i went out tonight to some gathering in a space where i am supposed to sit for an interview for 4 or 5 minutes of air-time (I should say cable or satellite time) tomorrow for Fuel TV. I rarely if ever go out at night anymore but i thought it would be a good idea to scope out the situation for the interview the next day and meet the folks i was going to have to deal with ahead of time. Fact is i knew I'd be able to get a glass of Pepsi with ice at the party, so i went out for 10 minutes.

When i was in my 20's i was practically addicted to Pepsi, then once i became vegan and more conscious of the planet, my health, and the corporate control over our bodies i eventually cut out Pepsi, for many years i'd go without any, more recently i started having them maybe a few times a year at most. Tonight i just had the craving after some crazy BBQ seitan my wife cooked for us.

On the subject of Pepsi, when i was managing Suicidal Tendencies back in 1983 as we were working on putting together that debut album (which i produced), I asked Mike after we did the demo with Spot, to change the lyric to Pepsi instead of Coke (yup, originally it was Coke), i admit i was being selfish and silly with my brand loyalty at the time, but i also convinced Mike that this way no one will mistake it for the drug cocaine, and why not go with the underdog and the whole Pepsi generation angle anyway... Well that seemed to work out pretty well for everyone involved i guess.



Here's the ST song and the video. I have a small cameo at around the 35 second mark, i'm on the left talking to the girl as Tom Araya - from Slayer- pushes Mike. (The Girl was Tom's girlfriend actually). Other notable cameos from hot skaters of that era, "Gator", Natas and Stedam.

Funny that some 25 years later (a few weeks ago) i'd get a call from an advertising agency wanting to use some old skate images of mine of Tony Alva for a new campaign they are working on, I let them know immediately that normally i would just say no out of hand, in assisting in the promotion of any corporate products, but since it was going to make good money for Tony who i know really could use it, and due to my old former brand loyalty as a teenager and twenty something, i figured maybe i'll consider... I did some research and found out that Pepsi as a corporation certainly was not as bad as Coke, they had actually done some pretty cool things. They were boycotted last year by a bunch of ultra right wingers who were mad they "gave a total of $1,000,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays", and had recently even sold off some of their uglier assets such a Burger King and some other horrible food chains. The new campaign was pretty cool and even included Bob Dylan's blessing (using a lot of old/new comparisons).
I said tell me how the image will be used, and no you can't use one of my iconic images from Fuck You Heroes for any price, but maybe another less known image from the same period, and i'll think about it. They got back to me saying any shot i think would be good they would consider, but then i found out the usage and exploitation factor of the shot... Out of sheer curiosity I asked what kind of budget they had for the photos, they said they were paying a few thousand dollars an image, I had to laugh, a major campaign in more than a dozen major cities across the US? I told them there was no way i'd do it for anything less than six figures, i thought relatively speaking this was fair (even though i had never received that much for a legal usage before - sometimes it's just fun to fuck with these advertising people - obviously i'd be giving some of the money to causes that campaign against obesity or something like that if they actually paid it). They said they had no authorization for that much and would have to ask the client, I said if you want the best you obviously have to pay for it, if it was a charity project i'd give it away, but c'mon this is one of the largest corporations on the planet, "they hired your agency, what's that cost?" (silence)... In the end, she was polite and wrote me an e-mail back after a few days, they decided to go with another image from another photographer that Tony recommended, I'm sure it was probably Wynn Miller, who was pretty much Tony's personal photographer back in 1978 and he got some great shots of Tony back then, although often a bit over produced for my taste. I sure hope he got paid better than what they told me they were offering...

another underrated 80's classic

Schooly D. Saturday Night

WikiLeaks - needs help

"WikiLeaks is a website that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive governmental, corporate, or religious documents, while attempting to preserve the anonymity and untraceability of its contributors. Within one year of its December 2006 launch, its database had grown to more than 1.2 million documents." [1]

Wikileaks is currently overloaded by readers. This is a regular difficulty that can only be resolved by deploying additional resources. If you support our mission, then show it in the way that is most needed. On average, each donation catalyzes the publication of around 150 mainstream press articles, exposing human rights abuses and corrupt government around the world. These exposures result in substantial reforms and have changed national election outcomes.

Here's a rare interview with some of those involved (click).

WikiLeak.org discussion blog about the ethical and technical issues of the WikiLeakS.org project

original heads-up via Boing Boing.

classic Run-DMC and JMJ on eMpTyV

ThruYOU Kutiman mixes YouTube

I was turned onto this from Adam Horovitz's blog.
Apparently this guy mixes stuff from YouTube to make new jams, pretty fucking incredible.
check the clip then check the you tube page for the full credits where every clip comes from and then the guy's own page for more. totally insane.



Just found this cool piece after the fact in the Huffington Post.

Do I need to explain every fucking thing?

Discovered the show "Modern Toss" on IFC last night,. Go figure, this is where this recurring character Drive By Abuser comes from (originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK).

Drive-by Abuser
Cheerful chap considers the fabric of our society from the back of a scooter using a 100 watt megaphone. He ponders such 20th Century questions as golf, ducks, statues, the artist and roundabouts.

Keith Loutit's 'Little Sydney' short films

I just discovered this guy the other day on Boing-Boing. At first i thought this piece "Bathtub IV" was some kind of incredible claymation, reminded me of the old Gumby (maybe because of the weird use of depth of field?) I was not sure, I just couldn't figure it out. But according to his web page he's shooting real life "combining a variety of techniques including tilt-shift and time-lapse photography" - really cool. check him out below and go to his Vimeo page to see other cool clips, all worth watching.


Funny thing, as I was watching this short film, without knowing, it looked vaguely familiar, then there were tell tale signs that indeed the location was somewhere i had been... In fact it was Sydney, Australia where I hung out for a few weeks when i had my Fuck You All exhibit and one of my first ever public speaking engagements back in 1998. My show and talk were there on the beach at the Bondi Pavillion, and a cool photo from that trip of an empty, mossy, swimming pool is in my book The Idealist (the same pool, seeing better days is in Loutit's short "Helpless"). I eventually clicked through to Keith's website and indeed found out he's based in Sydney and all his work is based in or around the area. Nice stuff.

Obamas to Plant White House Vegetable Garden

You know things could be a lot worse, and I ain't mad at this news.

from todays New York Times:

"While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at time when obesity has become a national concern.

In an interview in her office, Mrs. Obama said, “My hope is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”

read the full story here.

Lux Interior and The Cramps circa 1980

Above is a previously unpublished photo I took of The Cramps (L>R Nick Knox, Lux, Poison Ivy), and below one that was used small in my book FUCK YOU TOO of Lux Interior, both at the Roxy in Los Angeles circa 1980.


Lux passed away on February 4th 2009. He was a truly incredible front man. I saw the Cramps several times beginning in probably 1979, and shot photos of them at least two or three times. The Cramps were a great band, and he would do some of the weirdest shit you ever saw. Besides wearing really skin-tight thin rubber pants, every time i saw him, that would always stay just barely above his pubes no matter what position he got in, making you always think they were gonna fall off at any second during the show, i'd say the craziest thing he'd do was when someone would throw a shoe (an old nasty sneaker no less, that had probably been kicked around the floor for a while before it got on stage) nearly hitting him in the face, and rather than throwing it back at the perpetrator he'd take his own beer and pour the whole thing into the shoe, then hold it above his head and proceed to pour the entire thing, from the nasty sneaker, down to the last drop into his mouth! Another variation on this theme that i had seen included a dirty rolled up ball of socks being thrown at him that he stuffed into his mouth for the hell of it. And that's just a few examples of the silly stuff that blew me away. I met them backstage once to show them some of the pictures i had shot before, and they couldn't have been nicer folks. The band was great and he was great, a very sad loss to rock'n'roll.

And here's a video for Garbage Man, one of my favorite songs by the Cramps:

Recent collaboration with Shepard Fairey

The collaboration I did at the end of last year with Shepard was done with four separate Bad Brains photos of mine we composed into one piece. All agree this one came out great.

It will officially be released on the Obey Giant and Bad Brains websites simultaneously March 26th (possibly a bit earlier for the hard core fans of the Bad Brains on their site) . The print was made as a limited edition of approximately 400 hand numbered copies, all are signed by Shepard, myself and all of the original Bad Brains!!! If you want one you better keep your eyes on those sites for the moment it's released because they are sure to sell out within a few hours.

Highly underrated tracks of the 80's continued...

Tracks like this are so fucking incredible i gotta share them somehow.
so here we go: JUST-ICE, Cold Gettin' Dumb
Actually this is the 1st time i'm presenting an underrated track, so they will continue from here on out...



PLAY AT FULL VOLUME, AND GET YOUR ASS KICKED IN

Woody's Manhattan

As my friend Alex Smith reminded me in a nice story on his blog a few days ago "there is simply no arguing with the film's opening montage." I based a short film i made of my sons first steps on this scene.

Death

found this interesting article in the New York Times today...

"Newly unearthed recordings by the band Death reveal a remarkable missing link between the hard rock of Detroit bands and the high-velocity assault of punk of 1976 and ’77."

Here's the NYTimes link to the original article.
and go to Drag City to hear the classic single.

Not quite as mind blowing as the author suggests,
but pretty damn cool.

"George Bush Don't Like Black People" Remixed by the Legendary K.O.

OK, one more thing about Bush before it's too late to remember another one of the bits of great art his evil ways inspired. This song and video were on the internet within days of Katrina shit-storm.



Will Farrell will be doing his "You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W Bush" this weekend, you know i'll be watching. He has me laughing out loud almost every single moment he's on a screen. So please excuse me for getting out my favorite Bush clips before the context is so forgotten they aren't even interesting any more and before Will Farrell puts the nails in the comedy coffin this weekend on HBO. (I'll still be waiting for the courts to decide if those are the final nails, or if they will indict Bush, Cheney, Rove and the rest of the crew for their crimes against the constitution and humanity. One can only hope for some justice, but hardly expect it.)

John Stewart once again showing he's the most important reporter on commercial Television

I watch the Daily Show every night, when i can, and always recommend that you should too.