The Evolution Of Toilet Graffiti
Funny thing: there is no evolution. Check out this comparison between toilet graffiti in Pompeii, written in 79 AD, and Los Angeles, written in 1965…
Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles’
The Dude Visiting Occupy LA
The character of ‘The Dude’ Jeff Lebowski in the most epic movie of all time, The Big Lebowski, was actually based on real dude: Jeff Dowd. This LA resident shares with the movie Dude his first name, an activist past, but above all certain manners and ways of expression. New shit has come to light, man.
So here’s a video of the real-life Dude visiting Occupy LA:
While “the Dude rambles on here” (his words), he makes a fairly cogent argument about the shift in the last few decades from a “production-based” economy to a “financially based” one. “What we do want is an economy where it doesn’t pay to be speculative,” he says, ”but it pays to be productive.” He is among those who both support Occupy Wall Street and admire Steve Jobs, whom he praises as someone who stood for “making things.”
Ariel Pink – Witchhunt Suite For World War III
Everyone’s favorite divisive freak folk/lo-fi/trash pop/bedroom artist Ariel Pink dropped, a couple of days ago on September 11, an epic 16-minute track that was first written and recorded a decade ago. So consider this Ariel Pink’s tribute to 9/11.
This once again psychedelic, synth-heavy and pop-fuzzy track, full of warm melodies, rocks from the minute it starts, and so does the video accompanying it. Directed by Ariel Pink himself, it consists of footage of a lot of different things, mostly images of the past decade (Afghanistan, terrorism) and 1980s retro stuff. It starts with Ariel Pink watching television, and that somehow reminds me of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome.
Enjoy, this is cool:
Sparks – Lighten Up Morrissey
Clever song by LA 1970s band Sparks from 2009, about a guy who’s unlucky in love because his girlfriend thinks he doesn’t live up to Morrissey. Note: they’re mutual fans.
Morrissey, by the way, recently compared the slaughter in Norway to what happens daily in KFC… So yeah, he definitely needs to lighten up.
She won’t hang out with me no she won’t hang out
‘Til my biting wit bites like his
She won’t hang out with me no she won’t hang out
‘Til my quick retort’s quick as hisSo lighten up Morrissey?
Lighten up lighten up
Lighten up lighten up
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Performing Tonight @ Paradiso, Amsterdam
Yes! Tonight Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is finally performing in the Netherlands. I’m not able to find the last time this happened, nor when it will happen again, so I think it’s very special.
And rightly so, because I think this is the most friggin’ original music that’s been produced in a decade, at least in the indie scene. These guys are good. Not only does every song have a very nice layer of haziness across it; there’s a million things happening at once in them all of the time, making every track as surprising as the next one. Lots and lots of references too, to The Doors, the Beach Boys, the Velvet Underground, 1960s Britpop (The Monkees), Phil Spector, synth music, and so forth. At the start of a song, you have no idea where it’s going to end, and there’s a dozen of twists and turns in between that, every detail crafted yet sounding spontaneous.
Everyone’s heard Round & Round by now, I hope, so here’s some stuff from the Before Today album. Mind you: all of this is great, just great.
L’estat (acc. to the widow’s maid)
Los Angeles, Easter Sunday 1967
Check out this enthralling short documentary about the hippie love-in in Los Angeles on Easter Sunday, 1967, entitled ‘God respects us when we work, but He loves us when we dance’. Full of flowers, children, hippie girls, dances and psychedelic folk!
Hippies and flower children dance and create rituals at the historic Los Angeles “Love-In” of Easter Sunday, 1967. This ‘60s classic documents a once-in a lifetime phenomenon, preserving all the fashions, energy and idealism of the first “alternative lifestyles.” Psychedelic special effects!
You Are Listening To Los Angeles
Oh, this is fantastic. A livestream of police reports from LA, and an ambient music soundscape behind that. A real-life Blade Runner playing right before your eyes. Check it out here.
You are listening to Los Angeles” streams live LAPD radio chatter over a background of Creative Commons-licensed ambient music from SoundCloud. It was created by web and video game producer Eric Eberhardt, and it is hypnotic, beautiful, and utterly compelling.
(…)
To listen to it is to be plugged into the pulse of the city; lost in fragments of someone else’s story. Urgency alternates with frustration and low-level routine; some incidents are reported while others are resolved; and jaywalking tickets are issued in the same breath as lives are lost.
The creator explains here how he came up with the idea.
Twilight Landing At LAX
Ahh, good old LA. Always looks better from a distance then when you’re in the middle of it. Check this nice timelapsed video of a twilight landing at LAX, taken from the cockpit. Ignore the crappy music.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sKXf2gZRFVQ]
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti – Beverly Kills (Live)
I can’t help myself, but I find Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti beyond cool. I ranked their song Round & Round third in my Best Music of 2010 list, and here’s another clip that immediately clicks. Even though it’s not exactly the kind of music that I usually listen to.
Ariel Pink is often described as ‘avant garde’ pop or rock; take that for what it is. He spent a decade toying in his LA bedroom recording pop sample-laden songs, but is now increasingly garnering attention, his 2010 album Before Today receiving positive reviews. This song is totally funky, with very cool effects. I’d describe it as a mix between The Doors, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals and a 1960s Acid Test.
Find a better live version here.
On arielpink.com it says they’re performing June 18 at “De Nieuwe Anita” in Amsterdam, but it doesn’t say that’s 2010 or 2011… Here’s hoping for the latter!
OK Go Leads Hipster Parade Through Los Angeles
Nice video clip by OK Go, especially when the night sets in.
Inside A Real Doll Factory
Via Nerdcore, a photo series and a video about, yes, a real doll factory in Los Angeles, California. While the series of photographs, made by photographer Zackary Canepari, is haunting, the video, from the blog California is a place, contains an interview with real doll creator Matt McMullen, who views his work as a kind of art. Both are interesting to watch.
Her lips are full and pink. Her teal green eyes are intense and inviting. Her black eyeliner accentuates her high cheekbones and her strawberry hair complements her light African skin. Her metallic halter dress holds her supple thighs and pushes on her round breast. She is the result of careful attention and workmanship. When you see her up close, you can’t help but stare. At $6000, she’s certainly not a cheap date. For creator, Matt McMullen, she’s a work of art. For everyone else, she’s a Real Doll.
Honey Pie from California is a place. on Vimeo.
Pot Wars: Battlefield California
An interesting documentary from Reason.tv about the immense growth of medical marihuana shops in California.
