The California Supreme Court handed down its decision to uphold Proposition 8. Iowa, Maine, and Vermont have made same-sex marriage legal, while the rush to ban the practice by popular vote slowed in 2008. The latest Transparency: KNOT TIED, is a collaboration between GOOD and Timko and Klick it’s a time-line of the changes to same-sex marriage laws in the U.S. showing where laws were changed via legislatures, courts, or voters.

Please don’t make me explain this, my head will explode.

If you stayed past the closing credits of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” you know that the film features multiple secret endings, an easter egg or stinger of sorts. The catch being that the ’secret endings’ vary from print to print, meaning you’d have to see the film multiple times in different theaters to view every distinct ending. The exact number of endings remains unclear (I heard there were 5). I know one featured Deadpool in the closing, which I’m sure is paving the way for the rumored “Deadpool” spin-off starring Ryan Reynolds and the other finds Wolverine embracing his samurai roots, i.e. Logan in a bar speaking Japanese to the barmaid. Anyone see any others?

Maureen Miller ponders the End of Man, The Genius of Love and His Perfections while Steeping in a Rhythm to a Kurtis Blow in The Tom Tom Club Catechism.

Gay and Lesbian Literary Landmark
Imre: A Memorandum topped the AbeBooks’ list of the most expensive sales during April, selling for $12,000. Published in 1906, Imre’s sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality made it a landmark of American gay and lesbian literature. One of the earliest novels with positive homosexual characters, and is especially notable for its happy ending. Published privately in 1906, by “Prime-Stevenson (1868-1942) who was an American author who turned away from a promising legal career to become a mainstream writer for magazines such as Harper’s and The New York Independent. He also wrote under the pen-name of Xavier Mayne and as Mayne he published his most important work where he showed a deep understanding of homosexual culture. Imre: A Memorandum was first printed with a limited run of 500 copies, first editions are very hard to find – it’s believed a significant number of copies were destroyed in Italy’s Messina earthquake of 1908.

From The Boston Phoenix, A Look at the 100 Unsexiest Men
Sexiness is indeed in the eye of the beholder, but there seems to be a connection between the over hyped and the unsexiest. The 100 list of the unsexiest men, is spot on regarding Shia Labeouf (don’t get it, not in the least), and I would certainly add in heterosexualist date night favorite, Matthew McConaughey.

Must Visits: South London
There’s a transitional neighborhood, and there’s transitional i.e. avoid at all costs, I suppose it all depends on your idea of dubious or exciting; after reading the New York Times travel section write up on New Cross and Deptford, I thought it all sounded quite amazing; bars packed with ‘rude boys and art students with asymmetric haircuts partying side by side’. Although the French newspaper France-Soir issued a warning to tourists last year that warned never to go south of the river, and that the British police themselves told them the area was riddle with thugs, killers and drug addicts. Hmmm… sounds rather exciting, a nod to Jonty Scruff on this article.

Writing Online Excerpts From The New Yorker Book Bench
Hungarian-Canadian critic and historian who penned “Vengeance” on the National Post Web site, comparing the literary cafés of pre-Second World War Europe to the Internet. The two, he argues, are not unalike: “A literary café was a cesspool, an insane asylum, but also an oasis of sanity and an outpost of liberty. It depended on the table you picked. Ideas spawned at table six could rescue—or destroy—everyone at table seven. Cyberspace is a literary café with countless tables, that’s all…Jonas concludes, they are important assets in maintaining intellectual diversity: Cyberlings are natural allies in preventing Big Keeper from turning fertile jungles into arid zoos. Prehensile tails beat straitjackets. Monkeys descend from trees, and once the ground apes are here, can human beings be far behind.”

Reading: People Are Unappealing: Even Me by Sara Barron
Love this book (a quick detour from my graphic novel meltdown) because the author and I share similar John Stamos stories. Mine just happened to take place in the elevator at the “Double Tree Hotel” in downtown Pittsburgh, I kept referring to Stamos as “Blackie” enough said. Anyway, seriously funny read, as good as Sedaris, Sloane Crosley and or Augusten Burroughs. I think the L.A.Times said it best though; “These days, the market is pretty well saturated when it comes to memoir. Which means it has to be good; it has to be different. Sara Barron’s essays about her childhood, her parents, her life in acting school in Manhattan and her fellow actors are, dare we say it, as funny as David Sedaris’. . . . Barron swats these quirks around like a cat with a big, juicy catnip toy. When you aren’t squirming, you’re laughing out loud.” Read through an interview on Gothamist.

10 Things No Home Chef Should Be Without
There must be a hush and a lull in kitchen/food land, as several ‘you gotta have’ articles regarding the well appointed kitchen appeared over the weekend. What I would personally love to see is a list of the 100 or so items you need in your kitchen (or as a cook) that come in under 50 bucks. Laurent Gras of Chicago’s L20 Names The 10 Things No Home Chef Should be Without. I ditched my microwave a few weeks ago and I hate to admit this but I can totally vouch for the Cuisinart Brick Toaster Oven with (drum roll please) convection, it’s small, compact, looks cool and there’s not much it won’t do. The Zojirushi rice cooker, is a pass, and really, who can do a 300 dollar cutting board…wait this article is ridiculous, 1,975 dollars for an espresso machine, now we’re clearly in ‘ultimate fantasy’ territory here. Dream on…Laurent! Next up, Ina Gartner, good eats, postively somnambulatory.

Great Canadian Heinz Ketchup Cake
“It’s no secret that as Canadians, one of our favourite condiments is ketchup. Not surprising, since it pairs so nicely with so many things. Hot dogs? Check. Fries? Check. Grilled cheese? Double check. Cake? Ch… Wait a minute… cake?!” The Heinz Ketchup Cake looks like a cross between a red velvet cake and a carrot/spice cake, from what I’m told it’s not dissimilar in taste.

A Possible Apple NetBook?
Mac Format takes a look at what an Apple Net Book might look like, and runs down some of the possible architecture.

Things were a bit wonky on here yesterday, web hosting was having some problems causing my site to bounce up and down all day. Thankfully the outage included the FTP as well, this isn’t a bad thing considering that I like to get in there to poke around. It’s quite possible that there might be more as the day unfolds…

Scruffy Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann opens his eyes wide in the dugout during a baseball game with the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, DC April 21. McCann visited an eye doctor and got a new contact lens to correct blurred vision in his left eye. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

First Person Congenital Amputee Fights MMA
Wow, no excuses next time you don’t want to get your ass to the gym, check out Kyle Maynard who participated in an amateur mixed martial arts match despite being born with no elbows, knees, hands or feet. The former college wrestler, and motivational speaker/author of ” No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life” truly set a new precedent for people with disabilities everywhere. Let’s just say that he’s a very courageous and dedicated fighter. View the video interview talking about his preparation for the fight, watch the match which is a little shocking at first but then I thought WTF, Maynard has some guts. See a photo set on Sherdog of his training.

Ultimate Fighter The U.K. vs. The U.S.A.
Are you watching the new season of The Ultimate Fighter which is a contest between 8 U.S. fighters coached by fight god Dan Henderson, and 8 tough fighters from the U.K. that are training under the watchful eye of champion Michael Bisping? It’s a great season so far, and I gotta say, that with the exception of my former coach, Jason Dent on Team U.S.A., I’m rooting for team U.K. who are showing a ton of heart and represent like a pack of crazed pitbulls; they’re hungry, tough in shape and that’s cool. Team U.S.A. fuck, what can I say, arrogant, over confident, lazy. Bisping does seem to be the better coach which I believe gives the Brits a huge advantage; of course coach Mike ain’t too shy tooting his horn (heh heh) on his UFC coaches blog. The Americans got rocked last week underestimating U.K.s Nick Osipczak who kicked the shit out of Team U.S.A.’s Mark Miller.

A-Rod Goes Deep Wang Hurt
12 unintentionally funny sports headlines, so many double entendres, so little time.

Kill Blog Comments
Here’s a novel idea from iA, a discussion about blog comments and communications and how they have an innate problem; you can’t discuss and moderate the discussion at the same time. The author suggests that a solution might be to direct the discussion of a particular entry to Twitter, select the substantial response and publish them below the article instead of comments. Now, if we could only get this automated and wrapped into WP.

Collection of Betty Freeman Auction at Christies
Click above to see a preview of the Freeman collection and the collection as it was in Betty’s Beverly Hills Home. From the Christies’ press release; “Christie’s is pleased to offer the Collection of Betty Freeman in the 13-14 May Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening and Day sales. Leading the Evening sale is one of the most important works to come to the auction market by David Hockney, Beverly Hills Housewife, (Estimate: $6-10 million), 1966-1967, which could break the auction record for any work by the artist. The Evening Sale selection of works from the collection comprises 20 lots and is estimated at $24-37 million. The Day Sale will include 34 lots from the Collection of Betty Freeman.

Laura Paulson, Deputy Chairman and International Director of Post-War and Contemporary Art stated: ‘Betty Freeman’s deep commitment to the arts was demonstrated by a lifetime of indefatigable dedication and passionate support. David Hockney’s epic Beverly Hills Housewife is one of the artist’s most fascinating and iconic works and remains a perfect, timeless tribute to Freeman, a modern-day Medici, who will be remembered as an influential patron of our contemporary culture.’” Freeman Preview Here and Freeman residence here.

Honda Insight Commercial Massive LED Screen
The desert hosts an unexpected light show (and complete immersion experience) in the latest Insight Hybrid television commercial created by Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam for Honda Motor Europe. Hundreds of headlights are used to build one of the world’s largest LED screens ever created, truly massive. I’m not sure what’s more interesting, the commercial itself or the making of, clever stuff indeed.

Go West! Gay Storylines and Productions (Surprise!) Sell Tkts!
“Gradually, gay productions have taken a stronghold over ticket sales to an unprecedented level. Nicholas de Jongh, theatre critic and writer of Plague over England, believes theatre producers may have at last realised gay plays do bring in audiences. “There are a lot of gay plays and musicals around; in fact, I don’t ever remember seeing more. For years producers thought anything specifically gay was a no-go in terms of bringing in large audiences. But the success of La Cage and Priscilla seems to be proving them wrong. I’ve been watching the audiences who come to see my play, which deals with a gay witch-hunt in the 1950s, and these audiences are just as varied. I’m not sure of the significance, but it is a fact.”

Typographica’s Favorite Typefaces of 2008
“Stylistically, this year’s selections run the typographic gamut: slab serif, typewriter, blackletter, stencil, brush script, geometric sans … and some that are difficult to neatly classify. Some represent contemporary innovations in editorial style, while others look back to pre-typographic history for inspiration.” Happy to see Peter Bilak’s “History” make the cut, that’s one of my personal favorites.

Core 77
Core 77 is always sitting just to the right of my internal view finder, but always there when I’m surfing around the web looking for inspiration. Always solid always fresh content like New Skateboard Graphics and shots from Pictopia, Berlin, good articles like Selling the Future: Design and the Financial Crisis, and interviews with the likes of Nathan Shedroff, chair of the MBA in Design Strategy program at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. Of course, there’s a certain amount of frustration involved when reading, fact is, I have an art job and probably lust after some sort of design job.

Turner Prize 2009 Shortlist Announced
The shortlist for the 2009 Turner Prize was announced today. The nominees are; Lucy Skaer for her solo exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and ‘A Boat Used as a Vessel’ at the Kunsthalle Basel. Enrico David for ‘How Do You Love Dzzzzt By Mammy?’ (Video) at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, and ‘Bulbous Marauder’ at the Seattle Art Museum. Roger Hiorns for his Artangel sulphate crystal infused commission Seizure (Video), and his solo exhibition at Corvi-Mora, London; and Richard Wright for the work he exhibited in the 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh and his exhibition at the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh. Work by the shortlisted artists will be shown in an exhibition at Tate Britain opening on 7 October 2009. The winner will be announced on 7 December.

Giorgio Moroder Extraordinary Records
Extraordinary Records is the title of a forthcoming book on record collecting by electronic music pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The original collection features the most remarkable vinyl artifacts ever produced: a connoisseur’s selection of records in a plethora of colors, shapes, and forms, imprinted with extraordinary effects and images. Produced in collaboration with Colors Magazine, the book showcases over 400 of the most exceptional records owned by leading collectors Alessandro Benedetti and Peter Bastine. Rare and valuable records in countless designs and colors are featured - gold, transparent, photo-printed - all in a dazzling variety of shapes: butterfly, heart, star, and even a tree-shaped disc. Available May 2009, Softcover, flaps, 24 x 24 cm (9.4 x 9.4 in.), 432 pages, $ 39.99. Do a Virtual leaf through of the entire 432 pages on Taschen.

Jordan Seiler’s “New York Street Advertising Takeover” project happened this past weekend, with 120 illegal billboards in and around NYC being white-washed and then painted over by about 80 different artists. Wooster Collective has some of the initial photographs, and a few more here.

Spandau Ballet On Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
Spandau Ballet has reformed and they made their first TV appearance in something like 20 years on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. The interview is quite good, Parts One and Two. (Great footage of The A2A trailer, seriously fun flashback) the guys don’t look too bad really and the lead singer’s voice sounds amazing. Oh, I have to admit they give a pretty fantastic rendition of two of my personal retro favorites Chant No.1 and Gold; and I think they appear with their original brass backing band, Beggar and Co, very tight, slightly funky, mighty soulful.

Tom of Finland Video (Taschen Books)
A short but altogether enjoyable video of writer Dian Hanson talking about the Ultimate Tom of Finland and it’s influence on late twentieth century gay pop culture. April 2009. Loads of vintage beefcake images and rare video, accompanied by a quick narrative of the homoerotic artist and originator, Touko Laaksonen. Hmmm…I didn’t know that the Museum of Modern Art owns several examples of Laaksonen’s artwork in its permanent collection?

Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son
Hot on the heels of the new X-Men Origins Wolverine movie, Anthony Johnston and Wilson Tortosa have written/illustrated the mutant superhero reimagined and remixed as an angst filled teenager at a Canadian martial-arts school. As you can well imagine, Logan’s animal like reflexes and retractable claws make him one of the best fighters at the Academy. Yet, no amount of discipline or natural ability can save him from the deep hurt and longing that haunts him endlessly, chained to a past he can’t recall and a future he can’t escape. Make no mistake, this isn’t a product tie in for the film, this is meaty stuff with a traditional manga-type trajectory that actually works, is funny, compelling, exciting and addicting. Highly recommended if you have an interest at all in this genre. Some of the other things I’ve read in the past two weeks, BATMAN: R.I.P., by Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel. (DC Comics), and Marvel Zombies 3 by Fred Van Lente and Kev Walker. (Marvel Entertainment), Zombie-versions of the Marvel heroes encounter their non-flesh-eating counterparts. Yea, I’m a sucker for anything with zombies, who isn’t?!

Scrabble’s Cool New Commercials
We know Scrabble is cool, right (okay I’ve been addicted to playing online and off for a few years now), check out these amazing animated commercials for the board game by Ogilvy & Mather, Paris. My favorite featured above is animated by Wizz and the song is by C4 (who is not English but sings with the accent to great affect), the video perfectly illustrates a world of words. Other animations in the series include Scrabble Yoga, and Scrabble Sumo.

World Wide Gay/Not So Gay Advert Trends Both Good and Bad
Viagra Holes Campaign, in Kora direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs on TV is not allowed. So Pfizer Korea wanted to find a fresh way to reach prospective customers and raise brand awareness. Urology doctors were mailed gift fans printed with images of an old man and an overweight man who are very happy to reclaim their manhood.

World Wide Gay/Not So Gay Advert Trends Both Good and Bad 2
Gay Hotel Black Tulip Amsterdam: Floormap, low brow humor or just plain offensive? Up the ass, oh ho hummmm….

Back In Palookaville
Cartoonist and designer Seth emerges as comics’ premier historian. Great look into the artist/designer/cartoonist mind on Walrus. From ersatz Canadiana embellishing national and artistic narratives to serving as a curator on projects that involve artistic heroes, Walrus explores the omnivorous and surprising approach to cartooning and illustration.

Bad News for Authors: Readers Aren’t Going To Read Your Book
Steven Johnson writing in the wall street journal predicts that readers will probably check out your book, but they sure as hell aren’t going to finish them, perhaps they will remix them? From the Wall Street Journal; “Because they have been largely walled off from the world of hypertext, print books have remained a kind of game preserve for the endangered species of linear, deep-focus reading,” Johnson writes. But thanks to digitization, books will soon become just another part of the enormous universe of online information, available when and where and how you want it.”

Bea Arthur R.I.P.
First Jack Wrangler, now Bea Arthur, who’s the next gay icon to go? Let’s just say that Bea Arthur rocked everyone’s world as Maude, then as the sassy Dorothy on Golden Girls (okay okay I couldn’t stand the Golden Girls, and it conflicted with my disco nap, but Maude, come on!) I bet I can better your gay tribute anyday, did you know Bea Arthur was a Marine, got her start as a lounge singer and never got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it’s true, check out 5 things you didn’t know about Bea Arthur over at Neetorama.

Extremely Cool LED Lighting in Milk Bottle Caps
Best your neighbors with this amazing milk bottle patio/deck lights made with LEDs. The PPE makes for good diffusion. They’re controlled by an Arduino Mini hooked up to a potentiometer. The arduino looks at the analogue reading from the pot and then depending on the value carries out instructions on which lights to turn on or off. Click above to watch video, directions on how to make the cool Arduino Controlled Milk Bottle LED Light’s Here.

Meat Cards
Morrissey is weeping! 100% beef jerky, that has your contact information seared into it with a 150 WATT CO2 LASER. Unlike other business cards, Meat Cards will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards, these babies do not fit in a Rolodex, because their deliciousness cannot be contained. (Seriously this has got to be a joke.)

Hot Pockets and Bacon on a Stick
Grub Street takes a look Inside 675 Bar (formerly Level V Space) on Hudson nr. 14th St., prosciutto-wrapped “hot pockets.” And chocolate bacon on a stick, and the possibility of drinking a fine mezcal laced concoction lovingly names the ‘Algerian Typists”. Frankly I’d seriously be down with the grilled kielbasa, pommery mustard, horseradish, spicy ketchup and a beer.

Baconnaise Featured on Oprah
I heard Justin and Dave’s bacon flavored spread was featured on Oprah last Friday, does that mean it will start blowing off the shelves in grocery stores? I’m amazed that the product contains no bacon, is completely vegan, kosher and contains less fat than regular mayo. Not too sure about the Bacon Flavored Lip Balm though (rumored to be their best seller), do I really want to smell and taste like bacon? One last mention of bacon, I thought this were sort of odd and funny, all the cuteness of a cake pop, all the fun of an easy appetizer, and it’s all wrapped up in bacon; Bacon Pops!

7 Foods Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.
I’m not a food nazi in any way shape or form, but the term genetically modified food turns me right off. Here’s a non-alarmist look at some of the food and food practices that are permitted in the U.S. that are banned in Europe and Canada for that matter. I’m unsure about the Stevie argument though given the millions of dollars the makers of Aspartame and Splenda spend on marketing, and just for the record Splenda does makes me ill. The Times runs down and compares some of the most popular artificial sweeteners, including Stevia.

Brew Your Own Coffee Liqueur
More hot tutorial action from Instructables and Lifehacker; You’ve already made skittles-flavored vodka, infused your own flavored vodka, and even made edible shot glasses. What kind of exotic libation could be left for your DIY distillery? Why, coffee liqueur, of course!

The Selby Photographs of Artist Spaces
I’m sure you’ve seen this by now, but just in case, and more as a note to self, The Selby features photographs, paintings and videos by Todd Selby of interesting people and their creative spaces. Start with Tim Soar, designer in London, Francois Curiel, President of Christie’s Europe and Josh Conner and Lyz Olko, designers of Obesity and Speed, at their East Village Apartment.

Bacon Sandwiches Can Speed Up Hangover Recovery
“British researchers found that eating concentrated doses of carbohydrates and protein after some “over indulgence” can speed up your metabolism and provide the amino acids needed to start feeling better. BLT for breakfast, anyone?”

Haymaker T-shirt
I guess this would look fine on a particular type of dude, as they say; “Take that, you rude Grizzly bear. You don’t mess with a burly mountain man with a beard this thick. You just don’t”. via Uncrate.

Everyone at school is a fucking idiot and if one more person talks to me about that Susan Boyle performance of Les Miserables I’m going to puke my balls out through my mouth.” - Ike, South Park (via Pop Bitch)

On The Set Photo Stream
Meticulous miniature renderings of television sets, including The Facts of Life, The Golden Girls, The Brady Bunch, and other Warner Brothers, Paramount, CBS Television series.

Pirates Biggest Music Buyers?
From ArsTechnica, “Those who download “free” music from P2P networks are more likely to spend money on legit downloads than those who are squeaky clean, according to a new report out of Norway. The music labels, however, aren’t quite buying that data.”

Hip House Nomad
A look back at the band Nomad, and what hip house sounded and or looked like in the 1990s.

Is Twitter Really Taking Over the Universe (Oh The Humanity!)

New and Dirty Tweet Blogging
One might speculate if the true reason for boring text are the boring writers… but I prefer to blame it on the word processors. Word processors are all about orthography, grammar, editing, and they all lead to boredom. They destroy the voice, they break the thrill of writing. In the olden days of the type writer writing was dirtier and, if not better in the eye of every beholder, so definitely more exciting for the author… author Oliver Reichenstein presents Tweet Blogging; “Post your text, thought after thought, live on twitter. And put it back together on the blog (or in MSWord or whatever).’”

TweetDeck Lets Twitter Take Over Your Life
What if instead of pushing Twitter out of your way, you wanted to immerse yourself in it, TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more just in case you think you’re missing something.

In Defense of Twitter
Jason Kottke writes; “Of course you’d like to think that most of your daily conversation is weighty and witty but instead everyone chats about pedestrian nonsense with their pals. In fact, that ephemeral chit-chat is the stuff that holds human social groups together.”

The Thinking Man’s Take On: Twitter
“You’re probably thinking “I can find Shaq? What a magical tool!” but I assure you that not all is magical in Twitter land. In fact, the service has come under fire from a lot of different angles – it promotes overexposure, it doesn’t make any money, and it has limited policing making it difficult to distinguish between DarthVader and iamdarthvader. Jon Stewart called it a gimmick, Doonesbury author Gary Trudeau mocked the need to maintain constant Twitter relevance, and NPR lamented the loss of editing. For a service so tiny, it has certainly caused a big commotion.”

Auto-Tune The News

For the second time pundits and news anchors break into song to bring you the news, and yes the Katie Couric bit at 1:23 slays the hell out of me.

*Above photo is taken from the amazing portfolio of Rasmus Kaessmann, his work, bio and contact info can be found on his website.

Sandip Roy (Editor, New America Media) writes about the gay agenda infiltrating the economy;

“When the newspapers report about the economy these days it’s starting to feel a little gay said a friend. He’s right. The Men Seeking Men section of Craigslist has snuck into the headlines and we haven’t even realized it…In this economy everyone is anxiously looking for the bottom. The bottom is top dog, the one everyone is chasing. The bottom is Mr. Right. Could this really be the bottom? asks The Naperville Sun…Even the Wall Street Journal is trying out its gaydar to make sure it doesn’t miss the Bottom. They have helpful hints about Signs of a Bottom though they caution ‘the market remains hard.’”

keep reading “Bottoms Up for the Economy” and don’t forget the last line, it’s simply priceless.

We can’t all survive on animé haircuts, La Roux remixes and American Apparel petroleum based ensembles alone, there has to be more; and there is, just don’t tell that to anyone who is being all bright and shiny with news of their sojourn to Coachella. You are allowed to punch them in the throat if you like, it’s Monday and idle chit-chat around the water cooler is frowned upon.

Anyway, when I’m not having nightmares over Halo Wars, I’m thinking about investing in the Tom Sachs, Untitled (Domino Sugar Hello Kitty Striped Shirt), 2003; Untitled (Red Cross Salt Pandaba), 2003, Acrylic on sugar bag; acrylic on salt box, 6-8,000 please. Super sweet, minimal effort, maximum output, pop art indeed, yet it’s succinct, and refrains from being overly indulgent, I’m not ashamed to say, that I WANT. In other news;

Jesus Christ in Electric Chair Stirs Controversy
A cathedral in the French town of Gap displayed a sculpture that depicts Jesus Christ sitting in an electric chair. The sculpture, by London artist Paul Fryer, is titled “Pieta,” although as you can well imagine it has nothing in common with the masterpiece by Michelangelo. Made of wax, wood and human hair, the sculpture portrays Jesus in a quasi-crucifix pose except that instead of being on the cross, he is slumped unconscious in a modern-day electric chair. You can imagine the PR, cue Fellini’s Roma, oh and it isn’t as controversial as it sounds, the piece has the blessing of the local bishop. (more from Le Monde Fr. Only)

Ode to Accelerometer Based Paint Drips
Free Art and Technology released Fat Tag, an iPhone app that makes accelerometer based drippy graffiti tags. Free and available to all iPhone users, you can indulge your inner street artist, supports mulitple strokes AND the code is open source if you’d like to compile and run the code on your device.

Cover Versions.
Classic records lost in time and format, remerged as Pelican books. Just for fun.

Experts Say Picasso Could Have Been Inspired by Mozarabic Bible
Experts from the world of art are claiming that there’s an extraordinary likeness between the figures that appear in Picasso’s Guernica, and those in a Mozarabic Bible from the 10th Century, housed in the Cathedral in Leon. The Bible was exhibited in Barcelona in 1929 and in Paris in 1937, a time when the Cubist genius could have discovered the expressionist drawings that appear in the medieval text, according to the head of the Cathedral of Leon Museum, Máximo Gómez Rascón.

I’ve noticed auction houses doing these e-catalog devices on their sites, flash driven e-displays of the lots for various acutions. I’m sure it’s much more economical and entirely more responsible environmentally than paper catalogs and I know you can still get the beautifully illustrated catalogs at Christies. Over at Sotheby’s you can print your own with the press of a button.

The Collection of Betty Freeman auction preview
closes on Friday April 24th at Christies, New York. Freeman was everything BUT a Beverly Hills Housewife, but the David Hockney painting of the same name (1966-67) is up for grabs to the highest bidder, estimate of 6-10 million, there should be a good bidding war, paddle fight, hammer huff, when the sale is final on May 13-14th. I hope a museum has the ability to purchase the iconic Hockney painting.

The Bad Old Days. Again. And Again …
Frieze Magazine excerpts and discusses a piece from Owen Hatherley’s blog, Sit Down Man, You’re a Bloody Tragedy, on ‘austerity nostalgia’, extracted from a recent lecture he gave at Chelsea College of Art.

“Hatherley tracks the recent trend in British graphic and product design for images and objects that consciously hark back to the paternalist, institutional aesthetics of the 1940s and ’50s: posters and pamphlets simply typeset in GillSans, catchy slogans that exude an authoritative ‘everything’s going to be OK’ calm. This ‘austerity nostalgia’ could be read as a British take on the ‘New Deal’ era graphics that inspired some of the designers working in support of Barack Obama’s US presidential election campaign, yet here in Britain there’s little of the sense of political optimism that reinvigorated the US electorate late last year.”

SFMOMA Open Space
Chuck Mobley, curator at San Francisco Camerawork, is the guest curator organizing a mini-exhibition from the SFMOMA collections pages online, and simultaneously furnishes his studio apartment in the Tenderloin with essentials and some unessentials as well. Music for virtual shopping is included, Mobley says; “In these inflationary times it’s better to just imagine shopping than to actually shop. I only chose very practical things because I’m a very pragmatic person. Also, since my neighborhood has not been gentrified, I tried not to be too conspicuous in my imagined consumption. I chose stuff that doesn’t look like it’s worth much or that I can hide in my pocket easily.”

NYC Grid
NYC Grid is a photo blog dedicated to exploring and discovering The City of New York block by block and corner by corner. I’m especiall find of New York City 1961 Versus 2009. I think the point being that we hear how much New York has changed, and it has, one only has to take a closer look to realize that so much has stayed the same.

I love to hate the Yankees, with a payroll of over 201 million dollars, most teams are easily considered the underdog when they match up. That’s why (seriously) the Yankees can SUCK IT.

My hometown team, sporting an ODP that’s 81 million (average among baseball teams) ruined the Yankees home opener and christening of their new baseball palace (which looks a lot like the old Yankee stadium on TV, very cool though) spanking the Yankees 10-2. Handsome Grady Sizemore added insult to injury by hitting the first ever grand slam off Damaso Marte in the seventh inning. Going going gone, I had to contain myself at my desk letting out a very noticeable evil mad scientist laugh.

The Indians’ Rout of Yankees On Saturday Is One For the Record Books

Indians 22, Yankees 4. I didn’t get to see the game so I’ll let you savor the New York Times reporting;

“Through it all, the Yankees — and their Highlanders forebears — had never allowed 14 runs in an inning…It never happened at Hilltop Park or the Polo Grounds. It never happened at Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium or anyplace on the road. But in the third game at the new Yankee Stadium — where the ball seems rocket-fueled when hit to right-center field — the Cleveland Indians erupted for 14 runs in the second inning of a 22-4 smackdown on Saturday.”

Cue more evil laughter…and you ain’t getting LeBron either! Bwaaa ha ha haaaaaaaa!!!

*Photo from last Thursday, Grady Sizemore #24 of the Cleveland Indians is greeted by Kelly Shoppach #10, Trevor Crowe #26 and Ben Francisco #12 after hitting a grand slam during the seventh inning on opening day against the New York Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009 in the Bronx borough of New York City. This is the first regular season MLB game being played at the new venue which replaced the old Yankee Stadium as the Yankees home field.

Does anyone have a copy of this film, does anyone know how I can get a copy? I know it’s Philipe Puicouyoul from 1979 or so, with Anoushka and actor Pierre Clementi. I can’t figure out what song/band is playing for the teaser; Ici Paris, Les Prives, Artefact or Go-Go Pigalles perhaps?

Filmmaker Spike Lee introduced the term “Super-Duper Magical Negro.” pointing out the tendency of white writers and directors to enlist mysterious black characters to aid their white protagonists. Writer Justin Strout presents The Magical Homo, “the vaguely mystical, anxiously accommodating gay friend to the straight lead.”