Saul Williams
I've been a fan of the poet Saul Williams ever since I saw the brilliant movie Slam. Haven't thought about him recently, though, until I came across an MP3 speech of his called "Pledge of Resistance" which you can download for free here.
Posted by matt at
04:31 PM
An imaginary recording career
There's a great article in the New York Times which explains how a record collector stumbled upon one of the most fascinating works of folk art ever. Check out his story...
New York Times: "I went to a flea market, and there was a huge record collection there, at least 20 boxes," Mr. Hadar said, recalling the morning of the discovery. "I was going through that very happily when I came across this box full of strange hand-painted album covers. I realized they were fake and was about to put them back, but then I looked at them more closely."
Pulling the records out of the sleeves, he was surprised to find that they were made not of vinyl but of cardboard. Each had been cut in the shape of a record, with grooves and a hand-lettered label painted on. Nearly all the albums were credited to an unknown black musician named Mingering Mike, and dated from 1968 to 1976.
The front covers were intricately painted to look like classic funk albums; on the spines were titles and fake catalog numbers; the backs had everything from liner notes to copyright information to original logos; the inner sleeve was often a shopping bag meticulously taped together to hold a record; and some actually opened to reveal beautiful gatefold sleeves. A few albums had even been covered in shrink-wrap and bore price stickers and labels with apocryphal promotional quotes.
What Mr. Hadar found was a cache of seemingly nonexistent music: soundtracks to imaginary films, instrumental albums, a benefit album for sickle cell anemia, a tribute to Bruce Lee, a triple-record work titled "Life in Paris," songs protesting the Vietnam War and promoting racial unity, and records of Christmas, Easter and American bicentennial music. He had discovered, perhaps, an outsider artist....
Visit the link to read on and be inspired.
Posted by matt at
03:40 PM
Man needs no food or water
I often peruse the web for interesting news, and occasionally there's a story that just rocks my socks. I would never have believed the piece below had it not been on the reputable BBC News site. It's an inspiring bit of freak news that proves that even the most indisputable "laws" of life on earth can be challenged or smashed to pieces.
"Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians"
Doctors and experts are baffled by an Indian hermit who claims not to have eaten or drunk anything for several decades - but is still in perfect health...
Posted by matt at
09:31 PM
