Video: KISS on the Mike Douglas Show in 1974
I am not much of a Gene Simmons fan. However, he was infinitely better when he was young and thin and still strange.
I am not much of a Gene Simmons fan. However, he was infinitely better when he was young and thin and still strange.
*Notice: The listenerd has a new style for titling posts. Henceforth, each post will have a title reminiscent of a Men’s Fitness cover cutline. Today’s title, you’ll notice, is 15 Ways to Better Abs. The next round-up post will be titled 16 Ways to Better Abs. The next, 17 Ways to Better Abs. And so on, until I tire of this practice. Please note that there is some accuracy in this headline, since laughing uproariously is the ideal way to get better abs.
*Interviews: The Onion A.V. Club talks to prop comedian Gallagher. And finds him to be one of the most ill-tempered, angry, rancorous subjects in recent memory. Incredible. [mefi]
*Visuals: This is a blog to watch – A Collection a Day, 2010. [swiss miss]
*Metal: Actor Christopher Lee has apparently made a symphonic metal conquest album about the life of Charlemagne.
*Ads: Kraft sponsors the destruction of Texas Stadium. KFC sponsors fire hydrants. The surprising thing here is that the fire hydrants do not shoot out gravy.
*Art: Picasso’s “little guitar” has been found in a shoebox. I have always liked Picasso as an artist due to his extreme baldness.
*Literature: Salon urges everyone to read a book they’ll hate this year. I have been thinking a lot about this one, and now believe the best-case scenario would be if Bono could do a “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” experiment with Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.” THEN, I would read it. Let’s make this happen. Let’s make this happen.
*Music: The Tapeworm releases music exclusively on cassette tapes. I like it. [psfk]
*Today’s links: F.
I can go not a moment longer without posting this video of Bear Grylls giving himself an enema. [movieline]
Ditto, the two videos that follow. In a way, this series is like a kind of music. Horrible, horrible music.
Also: Wait for the self-potato.
Also: Intense cowbell. [Editor's note: It has been pointed out to me that that cowbell player may have been blind. Which I was not aware of. Also: I'm an asshole.]
*Personal: My computer broke last week, my Blackberry died months ago and I’ve been stranded offline for the past four days. In that time I read three books and had two original thoughts. It was incredible. I’m thinking about becoming an expert on the Civil War or curing warts. MAYBE.
*Nature: The question weighing on so many people’s (and dolphins’) minds right now is:
Why is Bono allowed to write op-eds for the New York Times?
Also: Should dolphins be granted human status?
And, consequently: Who is the dolphin Bono?
Then: Should the dolphin Bono be allowed to write New York Times op-eds?
And finally: How do you cock-punch a dolphin? In the cock.
*Information: Read the Hype Machine’s 2009 Music Zeitgeist. There’s also a Zeitgeist radio show. Of sorts.
*Blogs: If you aren’t sick of blogs yet, Fimoculous has published his yearly list of blogs to watch. Personally, I hate blogs. But I heartily recommend Snarkmarket and Eat Me Daily. Another blog I recently found, and would recommend, is the tumblr of Pocketmonsterd.
*Tags: If you have time, read about how a physical folksonomy project nearly choked off a Dutch library. It’s better than reading a newspaper or just randomly clicking on some article recommended by someone else. Or a dumb fucking blog. [snarkmarket]
*Local: Minneapolis music blog Culture Bully has left the playground. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours. (I swear I will write the story and theory around that phrase this year. This will be it. This will be the year.)
*Art: Portraits made of crayons. Of people. I am awful with crayons, and my early artwork at school often indicated to teachers that I should be put among the “slow” students.
*Americans: “The archetypal American abroad is perceived as loud and crass even though actually existing American tourists are distinguished by the way they address bus drivers and bartenders as “sir” and are effusive in their thanks when any small service is rendered. We look on with some confusion at these encounters because, on the one hand, the Americans seem a bit country-bumpkinish, and, on the other, good manners are a form of sophistication.” I’m fascinated by sociology, and often wonder if I should get into some line of work that would help me engage that interest. (Read that whole article; it’s great.) [nostrich]
*Localish: Tad Friend writes about former University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof in the New Yorker. Yudof, whom my wife wrote various communications for while he was at the U of M, now works at the University of California, and is described as “the university’s unpopular president.” I had a late lunch at his house once. He was balder than me. Both at the time, and also, thankfully, balder even than I am RIGHT NOW. [braublog]
*Today’s links: The only part that was OK was the headline.
Artfully included: English, Spanish, Hindi, Gujarati and Punjabi.
[mefi]
