Intelligent Design

Posted on Thursday, 06/23/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

— An Open Letter To The Kansas School Board

Posted in Amusing, Science | 2 Comments

Some surf-music

Posted on Wednesday, 06/22/05 by Balint

Now try to think of a guy, who is american, plays the guitar, has a touring band, makes not only music but also some movies, and also has tons of admirers (mostly but not only) on the web, and these fans trade his live recordings intensively between each other (mostly in lossless format). Who might that guy be? Yes: he’s Jack Johnson. Explore his page: you’ll find his music, his movies, the lyrics, the trading community on the forum, and so on. I have the album On And On. It’s just great. Here’s an interview with him from The Rolling Stone.

Posted in Music | 6 Comments

Past The Lyrics

Posted on Monday, 06/20/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Pat has compiled a double cd set of his favorite inoffensive instrumental Zappa tunes that he hopes, will sweep the minds of those sceptics who find it hard to “get past the lyrics”. I’d add this lovely ditty but I guess it would sort of — er — defeat the purpose.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Misc | 1 Comment

Hurray For Beethoven

Posted on Monday, 06/20/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Awful atonal music?
Apparently, we have Beethoven to blame for it:

Beethoven managed to put an end to a noble tradition by inaugurating a barbaric U-turn away from an other-directed music to an inward-directed, narcissistic focus on the composer himself and his own tortured soul.
This was a ghastly inversion that led slowly but inevitably to the awful atonal music of Schönberg and Webern.

Via The Funk Files.

Posted in Bizarre, Music | 6 Comments

Kung Fu Hustle – the movie

Posted on Monday, 06/20/05 by Balint

„It was strange, really” – says Stephen Chow, director – „I was sitting in my Hong Kong office, then suddenly the door flung open, Quentin Tarantino rushed in, hugged me, kissed me, and rushed away. We’ve never met before, I only knew him from pictures. I didn’t even know about him being in Asia. It turned out that he had spent three days here and he definitely wanted to meet me. Finally he had only this short time. But it might be as important as the prize of the Best Movie.”

Kung Fu Hustle: yes, the best movie you’ve ever seen in your life. Just unbelieveable.

Posted in Amusing, Comics, Film, Visual Arts | Comments Off on Kung Fu Hustle – the movie

Mo Sketchin

Posted on Saturday, 06/18/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

As an art academy graduate, I remember how my sketchbook used to be of great importance to me. I would use it to store thoughts. It was my repository of epiphanies. I would spend time doodling in it when the obligatory psychology class became too boring. It was my little graphical diary of sorts.

Posted in Comics, Personal | Comments Off on Mo Sketchin

European Ears

Posted on Saturday, 06/18/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

It turns out that he sold roughly four times as many records in the Old Continent than in the country that provided so much of the raw material for his scabrous satirising. Gail Zappa thinks it is to do with the centuries-old tradition of church music that has made European ears receptive and sophisticated (”all we have is the marching band in the town square on July 4”); but I also felt momentarily proud of that much-maligned phenomenon, the European sensibility. We got Zappa: his twists and turns, his reckless veering between high and low culture, his sarcasm, his innovations. These were all too much for his own country, which remains, relative to its size and power, culturally simplistic.

— Peter Asden meets Gail Zappa

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Articles | 2 Comments

More Hammersmith

Posted on Friday, 06/17/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Hammersmith ’82, part two.

Oh, and if you’ve ever played Battlefield 2, you’ll find this little easter egg quite amusing. (Thanks Tony!)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots, Pop Cult | 3 Comments

For Doreen

Posted on Wednesday, 06/15/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Hope you’re reading Doreen: this note’s for you.

Posted in Comics | 1 Comment

L’Alambic Electrique

Posted on Wednesday, 06/15/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Meanwhile, in France…

Alambic Electrique

We organise a festival on 30 & 31 of july this summer in a small village in Burgundy (220 km south from Paris, France) dedicated to the “70’s – prog – psych – Canterbury – zappaesque” scene. The sunday is dedicated to FZ with Gowy, Wrong Object and Nasal Retentive Orchestra. One Shot are guitar & bass from Magma and Here & Now belong to the Gong family. Free camping on site.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Zappa Misc | Comments Off on L’Alambic Electrique

“The District” – prizewinning animation

Posted on Sunday, 06/12/05 by Balint

“It’s not Verona but the deepest ghetto of Budapest. It’s not the Capulets and Montagues but rivalling Hungarian and Gypsy clans. It’s not about romance but money and oil.”

arf!

After the amazing Belgian masterpiece here’s a Hungarian animation called The District, that has just won first prize on the Annecy International Animated Festival.

It’s homepage is only in hungarian, sorry… But here are some pictures and some trailers (3 of them, on the bottom left) for you.

– criticism – the synopsys – “Will anyone be offended?” – interview with the authors (all in english).

Posted in Amusing, Comics, Film | 3 Comments

Edit Wars

Posted on Saturday, 06/11/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

WikiPedia: lamest edit wars ever.

Sample:
“Should potato chips be flavored or flavoured? What is the provenance of the potato chip, America or UK? Four-user revert war on these important issues results in the page getting protected and listed on RfC. And the chips become seasoned.”

Posted in Pop Cult | 1 Comment

Les Paul

Posted on Saturday, 06/11/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Modern Guitars interviews Les Paul:

How did you and your jazz friends react to rock ‘n’ roll when it arrived on the scene?

LP: We were kind of upset about it – Sinatra, Nat King Cole – all of us. I thought I was out of a job when rock came in. We were told to change and to be less traditional. They used three chords, and not the right chords, and buried the singer! It was another world that you entered into with a riff and rode it, and you needed to turn it up 500 watts to get the sound right. It was rebellion, having something to say with a new beat. They wanted “How High the Moon” with a new strength!

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Les Paul

Hammersmith

Posted on Friday, 06/10/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Another Friday, another boot audience recording: Hammersmith Odeon, London, 19/06/82 (late show, part one).

Just an FYI: this month, KUR’s FB has been churning out a massive 6Gb per day. See that button that says “Donate” to the right of the page? I’m just sayin’!

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | 5 Comments

Burning That DVD

Posted on Thursday, 06/09/05 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Burning That DVD:

The crux is, how does one go about burning a DVD. Are there burners that are better than others? Is a specific format required to produce a functional DVD? And what about software: is one package preferred above all others? Do DVDs from one side of the pond work well on the other side, or is this a function of your DVD player?

Feel free to chime in.

Posted in Geek, Zappa Misc | 1 Comment