Stuff you may have missed about the mad old goat

1. During sessions with John Lennon, Spector 
fired a gun in the studio and Lennon remarked: 
'Phil, you can shoot me if you want to, but 
watch my hearing. I need that'. 

2. Phil has been wearing a wig since he was 
23. 

3. When asked about his history of mental illness, 
Phil simply pointed out that his parents were 
first cousins. 

4. He used to make ex-wife Ronnie drive around with 
an inflatable fake man in the car.. 

taken from popbitch.com

"That was the mission for all of us... 'How do we get younger kids?'" -Rodney Jerkins on making the last Michael Jackson album

Reasons why you should feel sorry... << ... for Michael Jackson

* His name is an anagram of "He's jail cock man". 
So he never had a chance, really. 

* He once asked Elizabeth Taylor to marry
him and "be his queen". Despite his offer of 
a diamond necklace of twin monkeys with matching 
monkey earrings, the heartless bitch refused. 

* Instead of hair, he has a wig based on a 
plastic membrane which exactly fits his skull.

* Bubbles is dead, not "living in an animal 
sanctuary". To add insult to injury, Michael's 
sister LaToya has been making porn, using the 
stage name of... Bubbles. 

* He used to keep his weight down with loads of
self-administered enemas... which led to him
having to wear a tampon up his bum to control 
embarassing leakage. 

* When he was young his brothers called him 
"Big Nose". And now he has no nose at all. 

More fun facts about whacko Jacko:

-A 17-year-old boy in France committed suicide because his mother wouldn't let him have plastic surgery to look like Michael Jackson.

-Eminem and friends refer to Justin Timberlake as "Baby Michael" - (as in Jackson).

-Cutlery and crockery used by Michael Jackson's children is sterilised and thrown away immediately after use.

-Michael Jackson and Adam Ant were extremely close "phone friends" in the 80s - they used to ring each other regularly to talk about costumes and dancing.

-During the 90s it was alleged that the monkeys at the Neverland ranch were trained to masturbate when Jacko gave them a special signal.

-Michael's brother Jermaine named his son Jermajesty. Let's hope he doesn't grow up gay, otherwise people might call him "Jermajesty the Queen".

-In the 80s, Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury did three songs together. However Freddie was "fired" when Jacko caught him snorting gak in his bathroom.

• Michael Jackson's faceless performance

  When Michael Jackson performed at the 1996 Brit awards, the strong white TV lights went right through his silicone face. As a result, TV images only showed a skull, with no visible skin at all.

  So before the show was broadcast the following night, a technician had to sit and painstakingly draw over the skull to create the illusion of skin and face....in every single frame of his performance.

Buy a scary painting of Jacko

taken from popbitch.com

Kembrew is the guy who sold his soul on Ebay. He also bought the "Freedom of Expression" and he's got an ass-kickin' site.

"At a January 25, 2003 press conference in Chicago, IL, University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod will formally announce his plans to pursue legal action against AT&T for trademark infringement. The telecommunications giant used “Freedom of Expression” as the slogan for a recent print ad campaign, which violates Dr. McLeod’s federally registered trademark, Freedom of Expression, which is also the name of his long-running publication."

There is a website following the upcoming films of Darren Aronofsky. Some news on "Batman - Year One". They might pass the project to the guy who did "Memento". I loved "Pi", but I haven't seen "Requiem for a dream".

Jello Biafra has released his 7th spoken word-album and there are some MP3s for downlaod available.

"At last the full, no holds barred, album on how the war on terrorism went terribly wrong and what we can do about it. Expands on The Big Ka-Boom, Part Onewith more in-depth details, plus a eye-brow raising recap of the Florida election Fraud Follies – complete with a trademark searing reply to anyone who still thinks Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the election (and just in time for this election!)"

I saw Robin Gibb on TV last night. What a zombie. Here's a funny one: "The Bee Gees may have lost a brother, but at least they still have their reputation for being the hardest pill-poppers, drinkers and smokers in the business. According to awed roadies, each brother had their own choice of intoxicant - one used pills, one smoked weed, and the other drank. They were, therefore, known as "Pilly, Potty and Pissy."

(Can you guess who was who? Clue: Robin was Potty) (FYI: Pilly ordered 30 Es for his 50th birthday, a few years ago.)" ->popbitch.com

"When Europeans make such criticisms, Americans assume we're envious. "They want what we've got," the thinking goes, "and if they can't get it, they're going to stop us from having it." But does everyone want what America has? Well, we like some of it but could do without the rest: among the highest rates of violent crime, economic inequality, functional illiteracy, incarceration and drug use in the developed world. President Bush recently declared that the U.S. was "the single surviving model of human progress." Maybe some Americans think this self-evident, but the rest of us see it as a clumsy arrogance born of ignorance.

Europeans tend to regard free national health services, unemployment benefits, social housing and so on as pretty good models of human progress. We think it's important — civilized, in fact — to help people who fall through society's cracks. This isn't just altruism, but an understanding that having too many losers in society hurts everyone. It's better for everybody to have a stake in society than to have a resentful underclass bent on wrecking things. To many Americans, this sounds like socialism, big government, the nanny state. But so what? The result is: Europe has less gun crime and homicide, less poverty and arguably a higher quality of life than the U.S., which makes a lot of us wonder why America doesn't want some of what we've got."

-Brian Eno in Time.

Axl is fighting to save his fabulous mountaintop Malibu mansion from forest fires after he had single-handedly ruined his career.
Always refer tot he Popbitch for this kind of gossip. Here is what she had to say:

"It was all down to one fur coat

The Guns n Roses revival ended in riots last month, when Axl Rose refused to take the stage in Chicago. But what caused Axl to meltdown, after his triumphant performance in New York?

After selling out Madison Square Gardens, Axl and entourage went on to celebrate at NY club Spa. When he got to the door, Axl was politely asked to remove his fur coat before entry (the club has a strict no fur policy). Being a Rock Star, he refused, but the club would not make an exception for him.

And then Axl realised the truth. No matter how
successful his comeback, he was no longer The 
Man. He could no longer sweep all before him 
like the golden god that he once was. 

So that was that: he refused to come on stage in 
Chicago. The tour is off. His manager has been 
sacked, band members have quit and no-one 
believes for a second that he will ever record 
the vocals for the new album. "

-->Popbitch.com

You're not following Cory Doctorow 's boingboing.net? What's wrong with you? Still reading Spex to catch up with the latest fashion-trends?

Here is your chance to join the fun: Cory, who is also an outreach coordinator for the Electronic Freedom Foundation, has uploaded his bestseller Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom in various formats. Hell, you can even get for your palm. It's great and it for free, but you can also buy the "dead tree"-edition at amazon.

"He sparkles! He fizzes! He does backflips and breaks the furniture! Science fiction needs Cory Doctorow!"

• Bruce Sterling, Author of "The Hacker Crackdown"

"Steven Seagal claims in a bizarre new lawsuit that he has recently been the target of an extortion plot hatched by members of the "German Mafia and other nefarious underworld figures" who have threatened to assault the 51-year-old actor and destroy his "reputation in the movie industry." According to the below complaint, which was filed in late-December in Los Angeles Superior Court, Seagal alleges that the German gangsters are menacing him as a result--of all things--a lease dispute involving a Berlin villa." The Smoking Gun has the full story and authentic documents as usual

Thanks to Mr. Raff for the hint.

Jesus was a hippie and the devil is a punk! Check out this one from today's Guardian:

"Jesus 'healed using cannabis'

Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.

The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled Was Jesus a Stoner? The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims.

"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion," Carl Ruck, professor of classical mythology at Boston University said.

Referring to the existence of cannabis in anointing oils used in ceremonies, he added: "Obviously the easy availability and long-established tradition of cannabis in early Judaism... would inevitably have included it in the [Christian] mixtures."

Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were "literally drenched in this potent mixture... Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin".

Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers. This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.

"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient anointing oil... and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ," Mr Bennett concludes. " Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles, Monday January 6, 2003, found in the The Guardian

Neil Gaiman is on the list of Scientology celebrities. He has written a lot of fantasy-stories and, of course he's got a weblog

You've heard of Vlad the Impaler who was one of the role-models for Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". What you might not know yet is that there was another inspiration: the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory born in 1560.

"Legend tells us this very rich, beautiful and high born woman tortured and murdered some 650 young women and bathed in their warm blood to keep herself beautiful" This woman was a true vampire! Crime Library has a file which is worth reading. Someone's also doing an opera about this chick and has collected a good web-guide.

Interesting little story in the "Berliner Zeitung" about the artist Thomas Nast who moved from Germany to the US in 1850. Nast originally created the image of Santa Claus the way we know him for the "Harper's Weekly"-magazine in 1862. President Abraham Lincoln himself ordered to create a positive charakter for christmas to cheer up his troops in the Civil War for the winter. Nast has also created the classic image of Uncle Sam (that "I want you"-poster!), the elephant for the conservative party and the donkey for the democrats. The archive in Landau, germany is having a show until January the 30th about Thomas Nast (call 06341-13157)
Thomas Nast Online
Political Cartons of Thomas Nast

Interessante Story in der "Berliner Zeitung" von heute

Der Weihnachtsmann wurde 1862 auf Anordnung von Abe Lincoln für das "Harper's Weekly"-Magazin entwickelt um die Truppen der Nordstaaten im Bürgerkrieg bei laune zu halten. Gezeichnet hat die Figur der deutschstämmige Künstler Thomas Nast, der auch Unkle Sam und die Wappentiere Elefant und Esel für die beiden großen Parteien in den USA entwickelt hat. Das Archiv in Landau zeigt bis zum 30.Januar eine Ausstellung über Thomas Nast (Info unter 06341-13157)

"Everybody understands Mickey Mouse. Few understand Herman Hesse. Only a handful understood Albert Einstein. And nobody understood Emperor Norton."

--Joshua Norton Cabal, San Francisco

The above quote was written by Malaclypse The YOunger, K.S.C (aka Gregory Hill, co-founder of Discordianism which was a "new religion disguised as a joke" (Hoax Magazine).

On the 17th of September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, a forty years old fuckhead without any money, decided that America needed a monarch. He called the San Francisco Bulletin and declared himself Emperor. The good people in California didn't know what to do and Emperor Norton became a cult-figure during the following 21 years. The guy was probably serious and the occult order of San Francisco recognised im as an Illuminated Being. The papers printed his nonsense and everybody loved him. He even gave out bonds once to raise money and demanded taxes from wealthy citizens. Norton ate at fancy restaurants , but he rarely paid.
The Emperor was a hero of the underachievers on the streets. He wrote letters to Lincoln and Jefferson Davis when the Civil War started in 1961, ordering them to San Francisco to join him for a little bit of meditation. When his uniform fell apart some day, he demanded that the people should provide him with new clothes and all outfitters came up with new suits for Joshua the first. On January the 6th 1880, Norton died at a public meeting and he got a full Masonic funeral paid for by members of the Pacific Club. More then 30000 loyal citizen of the Emperor showed up to mourn for him. On June the 30th 1934 10000 came out to see his Imperial body being moved to his final resting place in Woodlwn Memorial Park, right next to the Coit tower in the suburb Colma, a place they also call cemetary city because the dead outnumber the living 3000 to 1.
Neil Gaiman's Sandman#31 is based on him and there is an excellent book on Norton I by William Drury. And of course there is the internet which hosts quite a lot of material about Norton.
Joshua Norton - collected articles, books and links
Joshua Norton - Archives

New York finally has a real costumed superhero, a woman called Terrifica who saves drunken women who are in danger of being taken advantage of.

Sex and the Single Superhero by Liz Langley at AlterNet
Superhero for Single Girls at abcnews.com

One weblog really worthwhile following is the one that Chuck D. writes on the site of Public Enemy. Fuck, i love that band!
...welcome to the terrodome - the current writings of Chuck D.

"I'm so tired of cats who have opinions on proven scientific studies that are based on little data, research, readings, or facts. The studies of new technologies using images were predicted when I was studying it in college 20 years ago. Maybe that's the damn problem. I'm clear enough to know its documented science, and have read NOAM CHOMSKY, MARSHALL McCLUHAN, subliminal advertising effects, etc. Now, through the super-media uses of music, film and high tech gadgets it is possible to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. I wrote DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE on this premise. Challenging information. But the problem comes from peeps who have no inkling, but still have the turd of an opinion passing along. Why should I even entertain a challenging theory from some music cat who barely knows the business that they're in?" ~~ Chuck D, "Terrordome"

 "Sharon Osbourne has been telling people a 
great story about the OJ Simpson case.

She claims that she and Ozzy stopped doing 
drugs after Nicole Simpson was murdered - 
because OJ and Nicole were their dealers. The
couple had carved out a niche for themselves 
as suppliers of gak to the Hollywood A-list.

But OJ and Nicole's dealing led to unwelcome 
attention from local organised crime, who 
eventually put out a hit on Nicole to stop 
their enterprise. 

So... OJ is innocent, and the reason he jumped 
in his Bronco and fled was because he was out 
of his head on crack when the hitman took out 
Nicole. And in that paranoid state he quite 
reasonably thought they would be after him too."
popbitch.com

David Berkowitz is a prison inmate who is doing time for the Son of Sam shootings. He's a former satanist slayer who met Jesus after killing six people. The guy is a total nut and he writes a diary on the web which looks like hand-scanned pages of good old type-writing.

He has just posted a statement on the sniper-shootings

Thanks to fashion victims paradise for the hint.

Excellentes Log aus dem Hause Style Police.

Jesus.com - the lord is just one funny guy

Also click lick here and raise a little hell!

Talking about the man and the book, there is another really interesting new technique, I would highly recommend to all fans of the jesus dude:

the ultimate hack - crack the secret codes in the bible!

Bendis is an amazing writer and artist who ended up being a "just a writer" . His first bulk of work consists of dark crime-stories which have been collected in large paperbacks with lots of extra-material. These books are like dvds!
"Torso", "Jinx", "Fire" and "Goldfish" were recognized by the comic-media for it's brilliant dialogues. It was obvious that this guy had his shit together.
Following up was "Fortune and Glory", a mini-series about a writer trying to sell a script in Hollywood. But the big thing is "Powers", an ongoing series put out by Image Comics.

Bendis describes the series as "pretty high concept" at it is.
"It's about Walker and Pilgrim, two homicide detectives who work specifically cases that deal with super-powered homicides and by doing so, they end up unpeeling and looking under ther rocks of the various superheroes and the world they live in, and it's kind of a VH1 'Behind the Music' perspective on superheroes where we have one-hit wonders, legends, icons, scandals and all the facets of modern celebrities, mixed with the super-heroics we all grew up with."

The concept is brilliant and Frank Oz will do the movie-version.

"Powers" is collected in Paperbacks as well and it'S one of the most original series in years.
It also got Bendis a job at Marvel where he writes Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil and Alias.
Daredevil has always been the only interesting Marvel-title since it always had interesting new writers and artists. Bendis is doing a great job here and Alias is the best title in the new line of adult-orientated Max-comics. It's the story of a female ex-superhero who has turned privat-detective. It's another great read. Spider-Man, I don't care, but that's where the money is made and Bendis has also signed up as the writer for the new tv-cartoon starring old webhead.

Brian Michael Bendis set new standards. It's not only the brilliant dialogues he writes and the nice twists he comes up with, it's also that large amount of work he gets done every month while still operating a funny message-board under the banner of his website jinxworld.com. This guy puts out some of the most interesting shit in the entertainment-industry right now and he's still getting better and better with his indie-title "Powers".

visit Jiinxworld

Powers handelt von einem Bullen in einer Stadt voller Superhelden und Verbrechen. Deep, down and dirty, knallharter Humor, excellente Stories in einer Mischung aus "HardBoiled Detective Story" und "Batman-Animated". Bendis beherbergt außerdem eine Site mit täglichen Updates. Lohnenswert! Bei OCP Studios ist auch der Powers-Flash-Cartoon zu sehen.

Dr.Cyborg von Powers-Zeichner Mike Avon Oeming ist auch jeden Werktag online auf deutsch zu sehen: Doctor Cyborg
Verantwortlich ist die Insightsstudiogroup, Heimat von Mark Wheatley, Frank Cho, Allan Gross und Marc Hempel.

Mr.Morrison is back on the web with another column worthwhile checking out.
If you haven't read his series "The Invisibles" or his older stuff like "Doom Patrol" and "Animal Man" you don't know what the fuck is going on.
Even though his latest stuff was kinda lame and I couldn't care less about the stuff he writes for Marvel (X-Dudes etc.), this guy from Scottland is still one of the smartest magic-users that we got on this lovely planet

Grant Morrison-Online

The creator of Jungle Girl is back on the web and she's got some funny shit on their site. Besides the comic "Jungle Girl", there is a trailer for "Poutine", a documentary about a fictional dictator in Canada and clips of those famous Scopitones (music-videos which were popular all over Europe when there was no MTV yet.)

Junglegirl Studios

This is the story of the cowboy from Kansas who dies in the GDR in 1986. I will upload it soon.