On Christmas day of 2006, James Brown died at the age of 73.   The official cause of death was determined to be congestive heart failure, brought on by complications with pneumonia.   To anyone that remembers his haggard mugshot and takes into account the age of this man and the life he lived, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.  He was an amazing innovator who had a great run and left a stamp on the world forever, but it appeared that “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” was all worked out.  Although the 3 separate New Years Eve performances/appearances that he was slated to make were canceled due to his demise, that didn’t mean that the spectacle was over. In fact, there was 3 separate memorial services held for him instead.  The first was at the Apollo Theater in NY on Dec. 28th, followed by a private memorial for family and friends in North Augusta, SC on the 29th, and then another large scale event on the 30th at James Brown Theater in Augusta, Ga.  Throughout these various services/presentations, the following was included: a open gold casket, a white glass-encased horse drawn carriage to transport it through the streets of New York, nachos, Michael Jackson, Bootsy Collins, a dance by MC Hammer, costume changes for the body, and more (yes… we’re fucking serious).

As is far too common these days with the deaths of celebrities, and even more-so legends, there was a lot of disputes regarding both Brown‘s will and where his final resting place had been.  Much like we witnessed last year with the death of Michael Jackson, family members and others actually argued about where to rest the musician’s body.  They had already transported it all over the goddamn East Coast as it was, so I guess they figured that they could shift it around a bit more.  I’m sure it’s all in keeping with whatever they feel James would have desired because, honestly, who wouldn’t want their lifeless corpse dragged around by horses, redressed constantly, put on display, and then buried and reburied after their death?  First his body was temporarily placed in a temperature controlled room at his estate, before being moved to an “undisclosed location“, as his common-law widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and his children viciously argued about where it’s permanent resting place should be.  It only took a little over 10 weeks after his death for both sides to come to an agreement “amicably”.  The decision was to build a public mausoleum and, in an effort to keep milking the cash cow, transform the former legends estate into an attraction the likes of Graceland.  Until then, it was chosen for the body to be held temporarily in a crypt at the home of Brown‘s daughter Deanna Brown-Thomas.  Another private ceremony was held at Thomas‘ home, which was officiated by Reverend Al Sharpton, just like the previous 3.  Since that date on March 10, 2007, this is where the body has been laid to rest (or rather, “SNOOZE”) for the last 3 years.  Or has it?

As reported by the New York post, a 48 year-old woman by the name of LaRhonda Pettit is actually claiming that JB‘s body has gone missing. (more…)

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The full-effect of The Flaming Lips‘ live experience is not designed to thrive in small club presentations.  If the group ever actually did manage to cram themselves onto a small stage, along with with all of the various contraptions and structures involved in their overblown stage show, the local fire marshals would probably lose their damn minds anyway.  Their productions do well on an outdoor stage, which lands them in various spots on the festival circuit, both in the US as well as overseas.  If you’ve seen any footage or images from their performances, you’ve likely been as sucked in as I have.  I’ve heard the stories and have seen day-glo, cinematic, confetti-filled photographs strewn across sites like Flickr for years, but had never been able to witness the madness first hand, until just recently.  This time, the Washington stop took place at Redmond‘s Marymoor Park, just outside of Seattle.

Marymoor is a 640 acre “active use” State park that holds occasional concerts during the summer months.  We pulled into the grass parking lot and walked towards the fenced-off area where the concert stage was located.  I went to the little toll-booth-style, wooden Will-Call hut to find out if my photo pass request went through.  It hadn’t.  My homie Sean Prince entered the show and I simply tossed my camera bag over the janky metal gate and into his hands on the inside.  At the entrance were cops standing with event staff, alongside the sort of cafeteria tables that amateur wrestlers slam each other through on the regular.  There was a half-ass bag search and then a cop, who had noticed my girlfriend’s subway sandwich in her tote, asked, “Ham and Cheese?“  He was wrong, and he chuckled as if to say, “Hey, I’m the fun cop and I’m hep to what you kids are diggin’ on.“  Meanwhile, I was thinking about how easy it would have been to sneak in a kilo or a shotgun.  They didn’t expect anything too crazy to happen at this place and it was a stark contrast from the recent PHISH lot that I had been on a couple of weeks prior.  The environment had a cheesy, family-oriented 4th of July picnic vibe to it.  People sat on blankets in the grass and purchased drinks from an espresso bar in the venue.  The opening act was already performing as we walked through the gates. (more…)

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For the better part of a month, an adobe flash map has been going apeshit on PHISH.com and the phans are going even crazier.  Nothing else has been announced beyond what the image implies: [There will be a 3-Day Festival from Oct. 30-Nov. 1]  “But where is the festival being held?” you ask?   That’s exactly the point; nobody seems to know for sure.  One or more of the states are slowly being blacked out on the map at a time, usually in some elaborate fashion.  Some ways in which they have been removed are: a pinball ricocheting around and smacking into them, a lawnmower or segway(?) passing over, devoured by fire ants, and, sometimes, the States just blow the fuck up like an Al Qaeda attack.  People are checking in daily like the map was a goddamn Christmas advent calendar filled with chocolates.  No other band but PHISH could pull something like this off.  They blow a shit ton of money on a festival, don’t even announce what portion of the country it will be located in, and they still have people going Harriet the Spy on this bitch and scouring the virtual globe, like Carmen San Diego just hopped a cessna after kidnapping their only child.  The thing about them is that, although they are being cocky as fuck with it, they always back it up and the PHISH Halloween shows have become legendary. (more…)

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Banksy has stepped up his game by setting up shop in NY and taking his artistic vision into even more 3-dimensional and interactive areas.  When I find out about something this amazing I have an urge to post something about it immediately.  When it deals with the work of an artist that I already have a large amount of respect for I feel like jumping right in the middle of the subject even more.  The issue with this is that, to achieve the accessibility for everyone that we want on Monster Fresh, no one should have to jump into a swirling article or topic like a game of double dutch.  There is always that moment that we first find out about something new and I want to be able to help introduce new forms of expression and artists instead of just featuring the latest release or project so, before providing the latest update, let’s first tackle a little of the back story behind Banksy and his work.

Banksy is one of the most influential and forward thinking graffiti artists of the last 20 years. He is well known for his stenciled bombing which he honed in the Bristol area of the United Kingdon.  In his book “Banksy: Wall and Piece” (2005) he states that he decided to start doing his tagging with a stenciling format after being caught and running from the cops at the age of 18.  He claims that, while hiding, he “spent over an hour under a dumpster truck with engine oil leaking all over (him)“.   He looked up at a stencil on the fuel tank and realized that he had found his answer to cutting his painting time down to a fraction of what they currently took.

I highly recommend “Wall and Piece” because it is, not only an impressive composition of his collected work, but also full of quotes and passages that display the artist’s distinct vision and philosophies.  What makes Banksy’s work consistently relevant isn’t his ability to draw or paint, or even his cunning vandalism, but his voice.  I’m not going to claim that all graffiti is vital and has something to say beyond simple territorial pissings or blind destruction, because much of it is done ignorantly, but I will openly argue with anyone that claims that Banksy’s work isn’t absolute art in its purist form.  His graffiti work evokes thought, inspires hope, and contains strong social commentaries about capitalism, politics, and, most of all, humanity.  Like artist Ron English, Banksy’s hopeful, yet “illegal“, art pieces are often created in response to the corporate advertisements and “legal” oppressive imaging that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. (more…)

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Last month I didn’t put up a video you may have noticed.  There won’t always be one, but talking to some friends recently, I’ve noticed that some people have never seen this classic.  Those of you who have, I’m sure, never get tired of it.  Those who haven’t will be pleasantly surprised.

News Footage of Leprechaun sightings in
Mobile, Alabama:

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So lets face it. The world is going to shit faster than a trucker at an all you can eat buffet/casino/gas station/strip club in Montana. Are you gonna be a Johnny Do or a Johnny die? Only the strong and smart will survive, the rest of you douchebags are doomed to total destruction. At least it will be a quick death, that is unless you become a Johnny Do and prepare for the future of real estate. Go get a pen and paper and get ready to copy these words down if you want to provide a safe future for you and your family. Go on, I’ll wait. You ready? OK, now put your pretty little eyes as close to your computer screen as possible and concentrate on what I am about to type: Abandoned Atlas and Triton Missile Silos!

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