Flaming Pablum

Call Off The Pallbearers ...

... `cos Chuck Biscuits is alive & well. It was all a tasteless hoax. Check out Glen's testimonial (along with more of his amazing photographs of the man in action like the one below). Phew.

"This Is No Dream, This is Really Happening!!!"

Two entirely incongruous items I wanted to pass on to you this morning:

Firstly, Glen E. Friedman ruminates on the current whereabouts of Flaming Pablum favorite John K. of "Ren & Stimpy" infamy, and exhumes one of the fabled (and decidedly NSFW) episodes of the iconic 90's cartoon. It's really a must see for fans of Kricfalusi's signature brand of hyper-detailed/hyperactive animation. Go check it out. John K's own weblog is also worth a visit.

Secondly, Scouting New York continues its excellent "New York, You've Changed" series by re-visiting locations from Roman Polanski's horror masterpiece, "Rosemary's Baby." If you're a fan of arcane movie minutia and esoteric NYC trivia, this is absolutely worth the click. Go check it out.

Tell'em Flaming Pablum sent'cha.

Stuff You Might Have Missed

 

It's Friday and that generally means that I take the easy route and highlight a bunch of links to items around the web that caught my eye (y'know, in lieu of composing something original of my own). But what can I say? It's been a busy week. Anyway, please enjoy…

First up, Greenwich Village Daily Photo looks at the storied legacy of Pier 54 (that's my picture of same above). It may look like a fairly innocuous stretch of rotting concrete, but it's got quite a back story.

Next up, you may remember my heartstring-plucking reminiscence about Bleeker Street's Pizza Box of a while back. Well, breathe easy – Pizza Box is still there, but that `hood is up in arms about a newly proposed high-rise that's supposedly going to be erected in the neighboring vacant lot (which used to play host to a great, sneaker shop). Learn the whole saga here.

EV Grieve revives the age old debate about whether the East Village should be considered part of the Lower East Side.

A little further up and cross town, it seems the Empire Diner is the latest Manhattan institution in trouble.

On the music front, Bowery Boogie handily exhumes Metallica's fabled Lower East Side photo shoot.

Glen E. Friedman remembers Cheech & Chong.

Nick Rombes shares his favorite Theoretical Girls song with everyone.

And "The Death & Resurrection Show," the long-in-the-making documentary about Killing Joke now has its own Facebook page and just uploaded a lovely collection of stills and captured images from the film.

Stuff You Might Have Missed

It's a rainy Sunday morning and we're all stuck indoors. Little Oliver is still battling Scarlet Fever. Could be a very long day. In any case, here are a few items I deemed worth sharin'. Please enjoy.

First up, my pal/colleague Drew found this blog entry on the (late?) great Shawn Kerri. You may remember my own post dedicated to her greatness not too long back.

Tim B. (a.k.a. Karate Boogaloo -- you figure that one out) over at Stupefaction hipped me to this amazing-looking exhibition of rock photography at the Brooklyn Museum. It does indeed look "epic."

Also from Tim, it seems that Etherea Records rides again! Well, not quite. You may remember this old post about Etherea (arguably the last decent music shop in the East Village that wasn't on or at least near St. Marks Place). Well, evidently you have one last opportunity to rifle through their stock, looking for that elusive Fad Gadget e.p. (or whatever).

Courtesy of Copyranter, this item proves how fast one can mobilize their ideas to the market. The shirt was up before the balloon was done.

Jill has some cool shots of Irish Street Art.

Check out my own recent updates to The New York Nobody Sings, notably my entries on the Psychedelic Furs,  Henry Rollins' homage to "Taxi Driver" and the inherent awfulness of Adam Duritz.

Here, Ben Wagner shares his personal recollections of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are."

Lastly, here's a clip from a band I'd churlishly written off because I found their name stupid. Again, Drew (him of the Shawn Kerri recommendation above) forwarded me this video, and I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy it. See if you agree.

Stuff You Might Have Missed

Here are a few choice items that crossed my transom today:

The Daily Beast weighs in on why Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is only going to be a headache for him.

Tired of having to hop-scotch around dog poop? I know I sure am, and someone on Mott Street is also. Watch your backs, inconsiderate dog people!

Speaking of inconsiderate, evidently one of those physicists at the CERN lab in Switzerland (y'know, the place where they built that supercollider that's bound to create a black hole and destroy the earth – see picture at top of post) has ties to al-Qaeda. Grrrrreat!

At this link, meanwhile, you can find helpful advice on how to talk to an unemployed person.

And if you're unemployed, why not buy a Slayer album?

Here, Ephemeral New York exhumes New Wave Hookers!

Did you know that Angelina Jolie used to be a crusty Sick Of It All fan in Tompkins Square Park? I didn't.

Speaking of Tompkins Square Park, I actually walked by the East Village's own Slum Goddess this week in Union Square (she's pretty hard to miss). I didn't accost her, though.

Good news: Glen E. Friedman reports than an authoritative Black Flag bio is on its way! Awesome!

Sad news: Punk Turns 30 remembers the late, great Jim Carroll.

Unkle Sleazy of Throbbing Gristle/Coil talks about some of his favorite music.

Power in the Darkness

You may not recognize his face, but if you’ve spent any time in the East Village over the last couple of decades, you’ve invariably seen his handiwork. Jim “Mosaic Man” Power has livened up the neighborhood with his signature artwork, adorning light poles and other drab, industrial ephemera with colorful, intricate mosaics. I’ve accosted Jim on the street once or twice, and he’s always interesting to chat with, although he moves from tangent to tangent pretty swiftly. In more recent times, Power has unfortunately found himself without a roof over his head. While the East Village is inarguably gentrifying, this is not to say that it still doesn’t have a bit of badlands left in it. As such, Power has been having hard time of it. Intrepid photographer Bob Arihood recently caught up with the Mosaic Man to hear of his current troubles. Click here to read his account.

Stuff You Might Have Missed

 

It's Friday afternoon, and I'm still out here on Long Island, swatting mosquitoes, getting sunburned, chasing my kids and reading about murderous Mormons in John Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven." I'll be back in the city next week (when I start work again), but until then I thought I'd highlight some items that caught my eye recently, notably...

My piece for The New York Nobody Sings on King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet."

Ben Wagner's preview of the guitarriffic "It Might Get Loud."

Jill sagely warns you to stay the hell off the Manhattan Bridge.

More great photographs courtesy of A Test of Will.

Goodbye,you bald bastard!

Glen E. Friedman hates bacon, but loves Shephard Fairey.

Ephemeral New York remembers the horrific Tompkins Square Butcher.

Stuff You Might Have Missed

I'm going away again for another few days in an attempt to syphon the last bit of vacation out of Summer `09 before I start work again the first week of August. This isn't to say that I won't be posting, but possibly not quite as much as I normally attempt to do. In the interim, here are a few items that caught my arguably-discerning eye that you, conversely, might have overlooked.

New York Press catches up with the inimitable No Wave enfant terrible Lydia Lunch.

Jermeiah Moss looks at life over and under the new High Line.

Copyranter uncovers Andy Warhol's bizarre TDK advertisement.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm a huge fan of Mick Rock's iconic rock photography, but why would anyone really get excited about being able to view it on their iPhone?

Hunter-Gatherer looks at Elvis Costello's My Aim is True 32 (!!!) years later.

Bowery Boogie finds a new bank on Ludlow Street and a new Subway franchise on Grand. What's the Lower East Side coming to?

Bloomberg.com finds the lamentably-monikered DBGB injecting "some Upper East Side torpor" into the Bowery.

Glen E. Friedman is here to ruin hot dogs for you!

The Cultural Dictionary of Punk gives me a nice shout-out.

And for you fans of East Village Street art, you'll be happy to hear that not only has the fabled "Bad Pussies" mural on East 3rd Street been touched up, but there's a colorful new Tat's Crew piece up on East 2nd Street between Avenues A & B (see below):

Run Away!

Courtesy of I Have Not The Words.

Happy Fathers Day

Taken from Slate's collection of great Magnum photos of fathers.