Hey Mr. Pharmacist!
August 29, 2009, 12:02 am
Filed under: Uncategorized
 
bad
 
The coroner says Michael Jackson’s death was a homicide; the killing of one person by another. What if that person was Michael himself? How about a combination of him and his “doctor?” Regardless, here is a list of the drugs that were found in Jackson’s system:
 
Propofol
 
Lorazepam
 
Midazolam
 
Diazepam
 
Lidocaine
 
Ephedrine
 
 
WTF? That many drugs in a person can’t be good. And, as it turns out, it wasn’t.  The IP right now is on Lorazepam, Midazolam, Diazepam, Lidocaine, and Ephedrine; but Propofol! You should NEVER mix Propofol with those other five drugs!  Everybody knows that. 

Well, in honor (honor?) of the long awaited (p-ew!) burial of The KING of Pop, The IP presents the below InterTube that plays the original “Mr. Pharmacist” song by The Other Half. Most folks know The Fall’s version, which is also damn good; but there’s nothing like the first time a great song is recorded. 

pharm

You pithecanthropes should get a kick from all the garage/psyche-rock bands and LP covers that are displayed during this Tube.  Turn up yer speakers!  LISTEN & WATCH  

8 Comments


An Interesting Storey
August 25, 2009, 11:43 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized
 
In a classic “WTF?” moment revealed on the Intar-Webs, The IP recently discovered that he owned an LP associated with one of the more important American graphic artists/teachers in the U.S. In fact, it’s probably one of his earliest commercial works, one that immediately attracted The IP because of its superb design.
 
 storey1a
 
If it weren’t for the fact that he chose to sign the above illustration, The IP never would have found out about Barron Storey, a prolific artist of both commercial and non-commercial art. Like The IP, most of you pithecanthropes have seen his art in the past, probably without knowing who he was. He even had major commissions from NASA and National Geographic.
 
shuttle1
 
flies
 
time
 

But what is most interesting to The IP is the artistic breadth and depth of Storey’s work over time. It’s amazing you can find a cool LP cover from 1959 and then find out that the artist that designed it is not only still alive and doing art, he became since that LP cover highly respected among so many different clients and current artists, all the while employing so many different styles of illustration (and even sculpture).

 
photo

 

But back to that Futursonic Productions LP. The IP was immediately struck by the way Storey composed the illustration by assembling various abstract shapes to create a visually compelling whole.

  

art2
 

  

art
 
Taken out of context, these elements of the whole could be taken as completed individual abstract compositions; they stand on their own as works of art.  
 
 
Maybe it’s not that far of a stretch to see his later NASA Shuttle cut-away diagram in a similar vein; Storey just connected all the parts of a real and complex thing. One could say, regarding the Futursonic LP cover that Storey used his precise assembly skills to create an abstract-but-unmistakable depiction of a flute player hanging from a noose.  Even the creases in the hanging flautist’s suit are a skillfully assembled connection of lines that define him as “a man” hanging from a noose. OK. It “could” be Laurie Anderson or that woman from the Eurhythmics, but in 1959 there would be no question that it was a dude.
 

Please check out this Web site created by a dedicated Storey student and current graphic artist created to honor the work of his teacher.  Make sure to check out the page links at the bottom.  

 And if you’re curious as to the “music” found on Futursonic Productions “The Swingin’ Sound” LP, listen to what a real radio station did with it here.

Considering the “graphic” nature of the cover, The IP thinks he won’t display it at work…it probably wouldn’t go over to well down here in The South; even though it’s just a visual pun.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

2 Comments


Something Fishy Going On
August 15, 2009, 5:52 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized
Piedmont
 
 
Atlanta exposed a poignant irony this past week when, in the midst of preparation for this Saturday’s allegedly “green” Sir McCartney outdoor concert at our conspicuous Piedmont Park, people suddenly noticed that all the fish in it’s artificial-but-well-designed pond were, well, dead. That’s right. The entire pond became a little too green with an oxygen-dissolving algae bloom:
 
 
deadfish
 
 
PR folks from the park said the problem occurred “naturally.” The IP wondered how a mass fish kill occurs “naturally” in an artificial pond stocked with fish surrounded by a fertilizer-enriched landscape; but that’s not the point here. The point is that any notion that Sir McCartney’s concert is “green” is a stretch. 35,000 (The IP’s even heard 50,000) MrCartneyites streaming into Atlanta (many by auto) to see an aged, plastically modified, hair-colored, former husband to a uniped half his age play his “hits” (in the rain?) hardly makes our city more “green.”
 
 
And the above is no comment upon the obvious talent of the “Sir.” The IP cut his rock and roll teeth listening to Abbey Road on headphones in a small study cube in his public grade school; and this was with the teacher’s encouragement!  WTF?  If The IP’s mom had known that, she woulda given that teacher a tongue lashin’.  Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon The IP’s head over and over, and its impact reverberated with him down the Fuller Brook path. That’s not a euphemism for some kind of drug trip. The IP actually walked down The Fuller Brook path every day before and after school. That’s suburban Boston in the early 70s for ya.
 

 4THGRADE

Blog at ya later!!!

5 Comments


The IP is Not in Kansas Anymore
August 9, 2009, 1:59 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized
If you live in Atlanta long enough and you frequent yard sales and thrift stores throughout the MSA, you often hear a common refrain from some of the older property holders. They love to point out how “There was nothin’ but farms out here back in 19-60 blah blah blah.” Or they lament the current clusterfuck sprawl (that they helped create by leaving the city) and go on about how “This house was the first one built in this subdivision back in 19-60 blah blah blah.” But aside from the irony about how they changed the rural landscape by investing in a home that was originally out in the “boonies,” there actually is more than a nugget of truth to the essential fact that much of what is today the Atlanta MSA was, not even that long ago, rural Georgia. Those folks The IP talked to were true pioneers (in a sense).
 
 
 msa 
 

This fact came to light though the cover of a “Praise” LP The IP found at the Northlake Goodwill. When The IP looked at the cover, he had an honest-to-goodness “WTF” moment and almost keeled over (sorry):

 
 
 stoned
 
“That can’t be Stone Mountain!” The IP said to himself, and the Goodwill employee stocking more records nearby. But it WAS Stone Mountain, even though it looked like a weird kind of Kansas. It’s likely that that woman with the awesome hairdo is standing in what today is either a McMansion or a Quick Trip.
 
The IP has a sub-collection of LPs that feature Atlanta-MSA-related themes on their covers. You may recall The IP’s post about Atlanta’s own Starbuck and Alicia Bridges:
 
 ab

Still a great cover. And for a continually chagrined and somewhat ambivalent Atlanta booster like The IP, it represents hope; hope for what, exactly, The IP has no fornicatin’ idea .

 
OK. The IP is going to “GoogleEarth” the area around Stone Mountain and see if he can find that LP cover’s location.
Piece Owt.
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
4 Comments


Gathering of The Juggalos? WTF?
August 2, 2009, 5:54 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized
The IP still can’t remember how he found out about these people; it was probably a random blog that had a link to the below promotional video. At first The IP thought it was a parody, like a foul-mouthed SNL short, but it’s real.
 
Before you watch it -and you most definitely should watch it, at least to know that these people exist in larger numbers than you might at first think- here are a few things you should know about these “juggalos:”
 

 jugg1

They are almost entirely White; it’s not that they are like the KKK, but it seems that juggalos are very aware of their Caucasian heritage. This does not preclude several Black “artists” performing at their “Gathering.” 
 
They wear a self-conscious mantle of being “misunderstood,” and they relish it.
 
They identify with the cheap soft drink Faygo.
 
They heavily borrow their music and language from urban black and hip hop culture, even though it seems many of them are from exurban and rural areas of the country.
 
They have a posture of being really tough and mean, but it seems clear that this is indeed just a posture as their annual “gathering” does not result in violent riots; and face paint is a pretty tame (and lame?) form of expression.
 
They have affiliations with pro wrestling “stars” and employ midgets of that breed as well.
 
They have a very colorful language that makes extra use of classic swear words, with “shit” “fuck” and “bitch” and all their variants sprinkled throughout. Even the below, must-watch cultural education video has a very professional-sounding male announcer who earnestly intones

“If you’ve never been to The Gathering, this is the mother-fucking year to go, bitch boy.”

And in the middle of the video, a juggalo and juggalette walk the viewer through what to expect at “The Gathering.” As juggalette “Sugar Slam” says“Everywhere you look there’s different shit poppin’ off.”
 
They even have a late-night comedy show at The Gathering. The IP hears that Upchuck The Clown has really stepped-up his themes this year.

 

OK you pithecanthopin’ bitches! Here’s the juggalo promotional video for their “Gathering.” Please watch as much of it as you can and send your comments. Do you like or hate the juggalos? Are they a symbol of cultural decline, or just a healthy expression of contemporary tribalism? Is the music at least “interesting,” or is is total crap? If The IP gave you a bunch of free tickets, would you actually go to “The Gathering?”

  

14 Comments