Gary Kasparov and the flying penis

Not exactly sure what the message the "Young Russian Pro-Kremlin Activists" were trying to communicate. The thing flies well. Should have had some defense mechanisms on it, though.

h/t erroneous

A New York Holiday-

Pictures taken from ABOVE Howe's Caverns. A dark and hollowed out cavern hundreds of feet beneath the land you see here.....(photograph is of my IBO....)





































The Earth in a cave. A strange anomaly...

From the caves.....Looking for signs of Laogazed.....a scary but beautiful place.





A house in the wild...















Let's pretend I went here...



















Hudson--

The Angry and Sloppymobile

I went to New York- the Catskills over the weekend and though there were no Henny Youngman sightings I did uncover that could become the official car of Angry and Sloppy...more pics to come.....

The 1968 Plymouth FuryIII.

I know nothing about engines, but this one looks like even I could figure it out...

Film geek drrrrroool: Lynch and Herzog Collab

David Lynch and Herzog together.

Just think what kind of shape I'd be in without this blog.

If THIS is true.

h/t sjal

Clinton's assassination remark

This wasn't a knee-jerk reaction of mine, but after thinking about it, I have come to believe that Hillary Clinton should step-down and concede. Jonathan Schwarz says we should be fair and put the remarks in context. There are different opinions at the Unapologetic Mexican, this one (that really got me thinking) and now also this one.

Here's a pull quote from the NYT blog:

Mrs. Clinton had been saying that some in the Obama campaign and in the media were trying to push her out of the race and she didn’t know why.

“Historically, that makes no sense,” she said, “so I find it a bit of a mystery.”

Question: “You don’t buy the party unity argument?”

Mrs. Clinton: “I don’t because, again, I’ve been around long enough. You know my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just don’t understand it and there’s lot of speculation about why it is.”

By all rights, it shouldn't just be a very bad day, but the worst day of Clinton's political career. The day that killed it. I don't care how long she's been fighting; I don't care how much slogging against the misogynist culture, the misogynist media, against the Cult of Obama, against her advisors, against her legacy, her own ambition--whatever it is that is keeping her going--she was in no position to make such an unconscionable, base, insensitive remark. Insensitive is not strong enough a word. Etherized, cynically nihilistic, I don't know. She is a product of our age; she is pure ambition, and I would forgive her if she stepped down now. But if I am to believe in the system, if I am to believe in democracy, if I am to uphold liberal ideals, then I cannot say anything but that she has gone beyond the pale. She has lost all credibility with me; she is not fit to represent us.

False Dichotomies

False Dichotomies...who are they? Where are they going? What do they have to do with me? Since my mother introduced the concept to me, they haunt, they haunt, they haunt.

Essentialism and Materialism? False Dichotomy?

Individualism and Collectivism?

Abstract and Concrete?

Morality and Aesthetics?

Mind/Heart?

Country/Western?

Do you have some answers, oh internet? And don't give me that Derrida shit.

anarcho-capitalism

cflying (1 month ago) Show Hide
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The spoon you dropped on the floor at the resturant was not your spoon in the sense that you own it, but rather your spoon in the sense that you are permitted to use the resturants spoon for the duration of your meal. If you walk out of the resturant with that spoon, then you are guilty of theft. Try telling the resturant that the spoon they bought and took care of is somehow your property because you used it for 30 minutes. Mixing your labor with the spoon is not enough to lay claim to it.
A86 (1 month ago) Show Hide
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That is because the spoon is owned by the restaurant because of property laws which are protected by the government. That doesn't mean the restaurant justly owns it, only legally. Just because something is legal doesn't mean it is moral. Technically it was illegal to vote in opposition to the Nazi party under Hitler.
gavnook (1 week ago) Show Hide
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OK, imagine the scenario without government.

It's still not your damn spoon.
A86 (23 hours ago) Show Hide
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"OK, imagine the scenario without government.

It's still not your damn spoon."

Says who? Who determines that? Who enforces that?

RIP U. Utah Phillips

Moose turd pie:

An American Hero that will be missed. It's all downhill from here.

Pitchfork TV: Steve Reich

Bruce Springsteen, "the band Suicide," the heinous Eighties

I was born in 1974. When I was coming of age there was this guy called Michael Jackson that everybody was listening to. Some of the cooler kids listened to Rick Springfield, or a satanic band called Queen. And who the hell knew what those criminal stoners were listening to. I listened to what my parents had. I really liked the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in D. And also the Beethoven Symphonies. I also really got into the early Beatles albums. Eventually I got addicted to top 40 radio. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado, that was best experienced in movie, Over the Edge, not actual form. (It has improved, I think. Though not a good place to live when you don't have a car.) Anyhow, when I was growing up, everything evil came from the 70s. Disco, Nixon, The Vietnam War, Jimmy Carter. (I didn't think Jimmy Carter was evil, but it seemed as everybody in Republican Aurora did.) And Nixon was still in disgrace, it took George Bush Jr to make Nixon look cool again. So that was far off.

Anyway, my point is, the 70s were ANATHEMA. And then somewhere around the time of Nirvana, the 80s became the new 70s. There's nothing cut and dried here. But the general trend seems to be that people were looking at the 70s for fashion and music and not outright gagging themselves on their spoons. But the 80s were bad news, dude. Everything from the 80s was bad. That awful synth music, horrible hair, acid-washed jeans etc. etc. Look at this 2002 Pitchfork list of top albums of the 80s:

It's said that the 1980s are responsible for the worst fashion, fads, and music of any decade of the 20th century. But as we see the decade recycled and updated with post-millennial minimalism, it's becoming clear that the 1980s had more to offer than we've given them credit for. As the calendar left the classless earthtones and polyester of the 1970s behind, musicians looked to the future for inspiration in new genres. With this feature, Pitchfork seeks to prove that, amidst the smooth-jazz of Kenny G, the vanilla soul of Hall & Oates, and the white-trash hair-rock of Warrant, lay a revolution in sound. It is to the vision and perseverance of many of these artists that we owe the roots of hip-hop, synth-pop, and most notably for this publication, alternative and indie rock. Respect is due.

As could only be expected of any collective of critics, Pitchfork is really behind the curve here. We've already got new new wave via Ladytron and Fischerspooner; and Nirvana unearthed for many of us (including myself) a whole secret history of music that is best described in Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life, and investigated in the long out of print Spin Guide to Alternative Music.
So the 80s were cool in the 90s, but only the alternate 80s. I'm not trying to make dogma, or even a thesis out of this. I'm just trying to examine it. It's interesting because retro 80ism had become a dominant cultural force circa 2002. I know because I was living in New York at the time. New Wave Mullets, Mascara, guitar solos etc. I'd hear college girls scream with glee "that's SO 80s."

What throws my world upside down is that Bruce Springsteen was influenced by electric proto-punks Suicide. That really screws up my carefully coveted and nurtured geekhipster worldview. Oh, and it's okay if I like a little bit of prog-rock. (No it's not. Oh, how times change.)

Science Fiction and Fascism

This is a good post about Sci-Fi Fascism, which is something I'm interested in and wish to explore. I made a New Year's Resolution a few years ago to stop calling people fascists. But sometimes I have to. Heinlein could tell a story; but he was a damned fascist.

What Liberals are good for

We're fantastic devotees of the Prussian Monarchy, for one.

Mr. Obama: Get yourself some GOOD lawyers

Eric Alterman on the 2000 elections:

Shortly before the September 11 attacks, a Gallup Organization poll found that nearly half of Americans surveyed remain convinced that President Bush either "won on a technicality" or "stole the election." They were right, though this would have been difficult to discern based on the coverage the eventual release of the recount report received. The headlines read: "Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote" (New York Times) and "Florida Recounts Would Have Favored Bush" (Washington Post). These were misleading at best. What the NORC researchers really discovered was the Gore legal team's incredible incompetence. The lawyers happened, it turned out, to choose just about the only counting argument that would have lost Gore the election even had the court ruled in his favor. Lead member David Boies had explicitly ruled out a more inclusive recount of Florida's votes -- one that not only would have elected his man, but would have been immeasurably more fair to the people of Florida. Instead Boies asked the court to count "undervotes" but not "overvotes." Using that method, Bush did indeed outpoll Gore and the court's intervention did not ultimately make a difference. It was, perhaps, a perfect coda to a perfectly awful campaign.

How walkable is your neighborhood?

This is a nifty site called walkscore that scores your location on walkability, found it on Atrios via Yglesias. My mom's house is 55 out of 100; not sure how it scores that, but it sounds about right. It could be a lot worse (it's about a 20 minute walk from the light rail), but it could be a lot better (it's about a 20 minute walk to anything other else except other suburban houses.) You can also see how walkable other things are, such as The Space Needle. (It scores a 94.)

Too Much Kinski and Not Enough Kink

Need a date..... This article gets very interesting.... might cause a revolution.... A swinger in the White House would change America's image in a positive way.  

The referred to comic

It's here. But it's NSFW. For those who W.

I found it and lots of other time-wasting stuff at popurls.com

A good place for a 7-11?

I found this article interesting. It's from 6 years ago - a private company was going to send someone on the moon. Did they do it? Seems like I have to contact the ABM and find out what really went down. In the meantime ,we may very well be having some folks sent to the moon sooner than we think...Could you pass the test? Imagine the music you could create holed up in there...

Morning Neti was tough. I had been slacking the past few days since I hadn't been home and felt as if a dam had been built at the top of my right nostril. So much pressure...it hurt my eyes, but after about 15 minutes after I Netied everything was empty. No allergic symptoms since I have begun my adventures with the Net. I don't know if that's the cause but everyone else seems to be suffering.

The cartoon from this morning was awesome...wow! Thanks for passing it along....

Kinski on Aguirre.....It's cute.....where is this from...from his autobiography?

Summertime, summertime, sumsumsummertime...

For those about to Neti - we salute you..

With everything going on in the world - we need to remember to take of our selves. I believe that it all starts with the neti. I like this YOU TUBE video of the nice suburban mother showing the world how to get down and funky with the Neti. Although her technique is a bit sloppy at the end (you must remember to breathe dry your nose) she gets the job done and looks darn good doing it. Smooth technique. She's a pro.

Now for those really interested here is the company I bought mine from. I like this Neti better tha the one used in the video. It's the kind they use in India- although they are usually copper or brass. It holds a lot more water and the spout snugs wonderfully into the nostril. Plus, since it's stainless steel you know if it's too hot to hold the water should not be poured into your nose! You can get a book with your order, too!!

I'm thinking of naming my new band The Neti Jerks...! I'm going to check out your radio show......now back to the serious stuff.

Acid Beer is a Vegetable

Headline for email they I get for Democratic National Convention Volunteers:


MOLSON COORS DONATES BEER WASTE ETHANOL FOR
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION FLEX-FUEL VEHICLES



I mean...isn't all Molson/Coors beer beer waste? Thanks guys...thanks.

meltmaster on KGNU

I was informed last weekend by Little Fyodor that my music has been getting airplay the past month on Boulder's KGNU every other Saturday night. Pretty cool. Here's a link to last week's show. Little Fyodor told me that I'll probably be appearing this week too, so stay tuned. He plays some pretty wild stuff; I'm in good company.

Questioning the Israeli Law of Return is not like questioning the Law of Gravity

Here's a great post that explains the nuances of the Israel/Palestine debate.

Photo from here.

So.

The Jews died in the Holocaust because they didn't follow Theodore Herzl to Israel.

Makes sense.

via crooks and liars

Obama comment on the infallibility of Israel

that therefore betrays his festering, barely latent antisemitism:

OBAMA: That does not mean that I would agree with every action of the state of Israel, because it's a government and it has politicians, and as a politician myself I am deeply mindful that we are imperfect creatures and don’t always act with justice uppermost on our minds.

That's code language, you see. That means that Obama will put a leash on the pit bull with AIDs. And that can't be done, because that will anger Jews like me.

Garfield is funny again!

You just have to take out Garfield!

Adventures in Neti part2

WOW! I feel good. Just did my midnight neti nose clean. I feel as though my nose is empty. I can smell the future. And the future smells good...

Are You Neti..?

I am very excited. The other day received my brand spanking new Neit pot in the mail. It says it i to be used for "Nasal Irrigation." I used to use one years ago but fell off the neti wagon after bouts of laziness and now I have begun again. My first use was a bit pain full as the water poured from my left nostril out my right I felt an extreme amount of pain around my eyes. Within seconds a big glob of something was pushed and I was breathing free and clean. I hope it gets easier as time goes on. I'll keep you readers updated during my adventures in neti.

-my neti does not have the OM symbol on it.....

In other news....Zakir Hussain and his master's of Indian Percussion came into town over the weekend and performed for a god three hours. The concert was amazing. Two years ago when Zakir was playing with Charles Lloyd (sax master) Zakir asked Charles "What key do you want the Tablas in?" And Charles said, "Oh, just tune to the key of the universe." Zakir then muses, "hmm, let's see the Universe hums in B-flat, so..." And that's why Zakir is so great!!

Now as for this b-flat thing I think an album should be made with all the songs dedicated and played to and with this great note..... May I request a b-flat Requiem from the great Meltmaster and those Radist of Unicorns...and everyone else..Does Lagoze talk in b-flat. What key do our reptilian friends sing in..... what notes does the Earth make when earthquakes occur?

Zakir...

Hollywood Herzog

Is shooting a remake of Bad Lieutenant this summer, then another film with Focus called "The Piano Tuner."

No word yet on Herzog's Ghostbusters remake.

h/t zentrout

The Monkey Bar

Monkey works at bar

Viva Life!

A Mad man taking over the DR.


A beautiful house.

Domican geese.

I have no idea what this is. I think it's a space ship covered up. The coolest looking farm house or its a rabid Snufalopogus on the loose...

The Vatican Makes a Run for the Nobel..

Wow....It's official. All that hard work has finally paid off.

The Vatican may now redeem Jimmy Carter's good name.

Friends and Family, do me a grand favor!

If you like music, download the software for last.fm and set up an account. It's a cool website; and yes, it's all free. I can't decide, as a user, if I like it better than Pandora. But as a musician it is pretty awesome, and maybe I can build my (or a) fan base a little with your help!!!

When you have made your account, do an artist search for "meltmaster," and then listen to my songs, download them, scrobble them, or whatever; just be sure you tag them. And tag them anything you like, using any descriptors you like, although I would like you to tag them "unsigned." I made all but a few of the tracks free and CC, because why not? (And for my musician friends, if you scrobble my back, I'll scrobble yours.)

Again, it's a pretty cool internet radio system; I have become obsessed with it as a listener, and now I'm trying it out with my own music. I get traffic on one of my music personas, and so maybe I can expand that. We'll see. Thx.

dear Children of Israel, listen to me

Your true leader is Haile Sellasie, not Joe Lieberman.

TV: The Cognitive Surplus: Drinking and Watching TV to death

If you haven't already, you've got to watch this. There's some new ideas that NYU prof Clay Shirky presents that are really exciting. Wikipedia, video games that help cure diseases, and who knows what else may be portending an amazing shift in society; one that techno-utopians have been slaveringly anticipating for decades. Maybe this was what Marshall McLuhan was probing at way back. Not sure, but it's fascinating.

Breathing Science Fiction

Yeah Petrov

Boo humanity.

Free Music: Meltmaster sings Live

Actually it's Johnny Cash's version of Live's Hurt (Not the Presley version!)

Enjoy


update: the widget doesn't appear to be working. Too bad for your ears.

The Stupidest TV Show on TV right now

I've watched a lot more TV the past 9 months more than I have any right to claim I have any brain left to critically examine anything in this world anymore, but the Travel Channel's Most Unique McDonald's in the World is the crappiest of nighttime crap. Pure corporate propaganda. Seems to be made by the people who brought us the hot dog show, same narrator, same lack of curiosity about the strangeness on the topic.

I feel crappy about making this post, but it should be said that even after nine months of saturating my brain with TV's blast of raw stupidity, McD's show just seems to be the worst of the worst. But the medium is the message. Or, in the words of Umberto Eco, the medium is NOT the message. Which is worse? In times of crisis I defer to a higher power:

May I propose a Herzog dictum? Those who read own the world, and those who watch television lose it. from Herzog on Herzog.

While on the subject, I found this interview with Errol Morris and Herzog here at the believer.

My bet on the sleeper-hit of the summer? DC Comics answer to the hep Ironman makeover: Harmony Korine's remake of DC comics' Wonder Woman, here's a sneak peek:

비 on Stephen Colbert

For those who missed it:

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282; Jonathan Franzen; James Wolcott

I forgot that there's a reference to the Thinking Fellers in Franzen's The Corrections.

In 2001 author Jonathan Franzen referenced the band in his widely-acclaimed bestselling novel The Corrections. The character Brian, a snobby fan of "west coast underground bands," listens to the albums of Thinking Fellers Union while writing the music software that will make him a young millionaire.

I wonder if Franzen is a fan. Also, I hadn't realized they opened for the still-heinous-after-all-these-years Live. I guess that's the beauty and ugly of wikipedia. It's a great resource, but then, if when I look at another band that was a staple of my lonely awkward college years, Royal Trux, I can get all sorts of information, such as how objectively awesome they are. Really, as the tags at the beginning of the Royal Trux article indicate, the neutrality should be disputed. And the writer of this particular wiki page would never mention that the Trux had opened for Live--if they ever did.

Any way, here's Elvis doing Johnny Cash's classic: Hurt


And here's a message of love from James Wolcott to us Democrats: Stop being self-eating parasites. Stop destroying each other before we destroy ourselves. And in another article, he talks about the p-word, pacifism. Although Wolcott's seems on the defensive about Hillary in the autophagic orgy of destruction that is the primary process; so I'm not quite sure what his take is on the whole thing. Nevertheless, the man can use a thesaurus like nobody else. Look at how he lovingly paints a picture of Markos of Dailykos:

The epicenter of the blog rift between the Obama and Hillary loyalists, the gymkhana of high dudgeon and low blows, could be found at Daily Kos, affectionately christened “the Great Orange Satan” for its orange logo and the Che Guevara demonization of its founder, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, by conservative adversaries and other hecklers. Markos, as he is universally known, does not traffic in tweedy ironies.

This isn't from his blog, but for the magazine proper, so he has to mince it up a bit for their readership as he warns:

Apart from the late Steve Gilliard, a blogger whose untimely death left an unfillable void in the warrior class, few have set a healthier example of consuming concern trolls for breakfast than Markos. So the site that bears his name is not for the demure.

Anyhow, it's nice to have an astute cultural critic lurking the lib nets, so I know what to think about the sites that tell me what to think.

From LA to the DR - Space is the Place

The past month has been spent on trains, planes, and automobiles. First off, I flew to Los Angeles- and rumor has it that the city will soon be renamed after the patron saint of smog; Bonileaux- an 18th century monk who quit the order so he could participate in the early stages of the industrial revolution by blessing all the smoke stacks from England to Hapsburg.

(I am art- art is me....some multi million dollar Pollack painting)

Anyways, LA was great. I found out you can take photographs at the museum of Modern Art so long as no flash is used. I was upset though because I missed the Takashi Murakami exhibit. I keep on reading about how he's the new Andy Warhol- I find that hard to believe. Plus he doesn't dip his hand in rock n' roll. Instead he designs bags for Louis Vuitton. That's like Herzog making a documentary for the discovery channel.........oh, he did (his new movie.) So I wondered if I took my photo with a Pollock or a Basquiat, or any other piece of art would I become art? So I stood in front of some very sloppy pictures for minutes at a time wondering if the visitors would see me as part of the art or someone standing in front of the painting....a high schoolish thought at best!

After Bonileaux de LA, I was back to Boston but not for to long as I boarded a plane and headed south to the Dominican Republic. A beautiful country, in transition- I was told. I stayed in various homes belonging to my girlfriends family who represent to entire specturm of Domincan society. Of course I was on my mission to seek out Alien life in the tropics.

I ate too many platinos to count. For this I was rewarded with a bout of constipation that lasted three days. Fried cheese might have also played a role. But I survived and ate my share enpanadas, as well as fresh goat and chicken- killed in the back yard for consumption. I love the country life.

The houses in the country side were beautiful if not run down from poverty. While fishing I had to help the local fisher men real in their net so I could get bait. For 50 minutes I believed I was bringing in an alien ship trapped in the sea for generations.

(Bringing in the mother ship)

The houses in the country side; Houses South of Bani (La Caldera)

My latrine in La Vega... The waters of Samana..

.....more photos to come (I hope)..

Sorry but I've been so busy of late

I've been directing operas and fighting an insurrection. But I wanted to share this picture I found. This is a picture of my late father, Slydz the Armless. Although, he was known as Henri in France.

Stay delicious, friends.

Morris' Documentary on Abu Ghraib a whitewash

According to this gentleman:

Morris takes pride in calling “SOP” a horror movie and – with the mood music and the needless slow-motion reenactments – he makes sure of that.

However, “SOP” does little more than humanize some of the “bad apples” (a good thing, I suppose), while gratuitously absolving the civilian interrogators actually responsible for fouling those apples.

I really love Morris' movies and his First Person TV series. But I think his latest films are getting a bit too ambitious for his style. I have not seen Fog of War--I'm too worried about its inadequacy in addressing the horrors of the Vietnam War. (Interesting that Morris calls Standard Operating Procedure a "horror" movie.) Anyhow, I'll eventually watch them; but documentaries have never been substitute for investigative journalism. On the other hand, despite the topic, such as Idi Amin, or Jean-Bédel Bokassa, a good documentary tells truths that can't be told in any other format. The last one of course is by the master, but I'm wary of both Herzog and his protege Morris because they never let the truth get in the way of telling the story. That's a vulgar way of putting it--Herzog speaks of the ecstatic (or aesthetic?) truth being different from "The Accountant's Truth." But he also was responsible for Herzog's shoe eating.