Van Morrison’s Contractual Obligation Album:
In order to fulfill his obligation to his early solo label Bang Records,Van Morrison sat down in 1967 or so and cranked out 31 songs on the spot, on topics ranging from ringworm to wanting a danish, to hating his record label and a guy named George. Make sure you get past the first few tunes – it takes him a few to get cooking.
Were you starting to worry? No reason! A little later than usual, here’s this week’s Friday Boot: Phoenix Arizona, July 17th ’74. You can stop breathing into that plastic bag now…
A musical featuring the songs of the late singer Johnny Cash is heading to the Broadway stage next year. Musical. Johnny Cash. That’s a bit like doing a rock-opera about Liberace, isn’t it?
Dearly Departed Tours, for that Hollywood tour with a twist: “There is one restroom stop where you can drop your trousers and reenact George Michael’s most scandalous moment.”
Fresh from the inbox, a confirmed new date for the previously postponed Zappa Plays Zappa concert in Vorst Nationaal, Brussels: Tuesday May 30th 2006. Shall we say: fingers crossed?
Gentlemen be warned: excessive alcohol consumption can trigger glandular breast growth in men. Yikes!
And thus the shit hits the fan. I’m one happy space cadet for having bought a regular iPod instead of the nano — although to be fair, there already is one tiny scratch on my screen… :(
And now: peanuts!
New research indicates that belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems:
In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.
The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.
Somewhere, FZ’s nodding “told you so”.
A letter from science-fiction author Philip K. Dick to the FBI:
[...] several months ago I was approached by an individual who I have reason to believe belonged to a covert organization involving politics, illegal weapons, etc., who put great pressure on me to place coded information in future novels “to be read by the right people here and there,” as he phrased it.
I, BLGR reports on an emerging revival of classical music with the kids. I’ve noticed it here in Belgium too — a more or less “hip” newspaper like De Morgen recently had an offer whereby you could buy high-quality double-cd’s of a selection of classical composers at very low prices, which turned out to be a huge success. (Hell, even I got sucked in and bought them!)
“Does penis enlargement really work? I am going to find out!“
An extraordinary appeal to Americans from the Bush administration for money to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq has raised only $600 (£337), The Observer has learnt. Yet since the appeal was launched earlier this month, donations to rebuild New Orleans have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars.
Been awhile since we had a test around here. OK Cupid’s Politics Test:
You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an Economic Liberal (21% permissive). You are best described as a Strong Democrat. You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.
I bet that came as a shock, eh?
“It is a work about courage, beauty and defiance, which both captures and represents all that is best about our great city. Alison Lapper pregnant is a modern heroine – strong, formidable and full of hope. It is a great work of art for London and for the world.”
Alison Lapper, a friend of Marc Quinn (the sculptor), was born with no arms and shortened legs due to a chromosomal condition called Phocomelia. Her mother rejected her and she was brought up in a care home. Now a recognized artist, she was awarded an MBE in 2003 and featured with her son in the BBC series Child of Our Time.
