One of the beauties of the internet is that it contains so many hidden mysteries.  Not unlike a thrift store or junkyard, there are endless treasures buried underneath all of the worthless and fly-by-night bullshit.  Through monitoring the traffic that each of our articles generate, I’ve discovered the randomness in both the timing and focus of the people that find and read the shit posted on here.  An article that I post today may not get any more than 2 readers this week but, 3 months from now, there may be a sudden interest and that traffic will spike through the fucking roof.  Today I have found one such hidden gem that, although it may have been buried for many, I hope to exhume this like Ed Gein constructing a living room set.

The image to the left is a piece of art created by a New York artist by the name of Steve DeFrank.  It’s an older work of his, but I only just discovered it through the official website for the Smithsonian Institute‘s National Portrait Gallery.  This piece was a finalist in the 2006 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and was part of the subsequent, related exhibit held at the gallery.  DeFrank‘s work did not “win” the competition, it is only one piece in a group with the work of other finalists’.  It is, however, a piece that stands out amongst all of the various life-like and detailed works, for both it’s medium and it’s subject matter.  The 5 foot tall portrait is titled, “Mom and Dad” and is a pointillism piece constructed entirely out of Hasbro Lite-Brite pegs. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

You may have seen last month’s post where we featured the video of Alex Pardee illustrating “S.Urkel Jerk“, his demonic portrait of Steve Urkel.  If so, you probably also read that the work was created for a TV themed exhibit entitled Idiot Box which was scheduled to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of Gallery 1988 in LA.  The group exhibit will continue to run until April 23rd so, if you are in the Los Angeles area, we recommend that you take full advantage and go check out the show in person.  If you are like the rest of us who are unable to make it in person, don’t worry; you are not completely out of luck.  In fact, you can purchase one of the pieces from the show to display in your very own study, rumpus room, nursery, bathtub crank meth lab or Winnebago.  Images of the featured works were recently made available to the internet world and we have chosen to display a few of them here that really popped out at us and made an impression.

The image above, featuring child star tragedy Dana Plato (R.I.P.) giving herself a “different stroke” in her Playboy spread, was created by Netherland.  It is an acrylic, collage, and resin work on wood called “Proud Brother“.  Due to being one of the less elaborate pieces construction-wise, the piece was modestly priced at $250 and has already sold.  According to Netherland‘s website, the buyers of the piece were Chelsea Handler and her boyfriend, Ted Harbert (CEO of E!).

Here are a handful of the other current pieces being featured in the exhibit in a variety of mediums: (more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

Release Date: Feb. 19th, 2009

When I found out that kidrobot was slated to release a vinyl Quasimoto figure later this month, I had 2 thoughts run through my head.  The first was that it was a great idea and the second was, “Wait!  Why didn’t this exist already?“  A collaboration involving “planet Earth’s premier creator & retailer of limited edition toys” manufacturing a vinyl collectors figurine of DJ/Producer Madlib‘s nasally, rapping alter-ego seemed inevitable. (more…)

Popularity: 6% [?]

The major news from this week was obvious to anyone that’s been paying attention.  Tearful speeches of hope and redemption poured through the airwaves and moved all of us that were watching the national broadcast.  The struggles ahead are clear but the idea of “CHANGE” remains the focus.  At a time where there are feelings of being backed into a corner with no way out, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course I am referring to when, underwear designer, Shawn from Tool Academy was caught point blank and confronted in a room by his other “real” girlfriend Aida right in the middle of apologizing and pledging his loyalty to Jaimee.  OMG! WTF! FTW! PWND! ROTFLMAO!  What are the rest of those acronyms the kids are using, these days?

Oh yeah, in less prominent news, Barack Obama was also innaurgurated as the first African-American president of the United States ever.  Some of you might have missed that but, apparently it went down yesterday.  I think that it may have gained coverage on some of the other stations that aren’t VH1.

Other nations around the world seem very supportive and enthusiastic about the new presidency, except, of course, for the Iranians’ burning of Obama’s image in effigy.  I sent an email out to our writer DW. Patton in Japan to see how the country is responding to the news, if at all.  However, based on a recent discovery posted today, I think we may already have our answer sooner than expected.  Gamu Toys, a provider of anime and robot action figures, just released their version of a fully-poseable Barack Obama action figure today.  They seem to clearly view the role of his presidency and as a public figure more in the light of a John Woo film.

Below is a copy of the product page for the doll.  It is a choppy read due to the fact that I used an automatic translator for the original text, which I’m assuming was written in Japanese.

Enjoy,

-Dead C

■ DiD US Presidential Election 2008 Barack Obama ■

(more…)

Popularity: 8% [?]

Much of Brian “Buckethead” Carroll’s popularity has risen through his temporary stint as the guitarist for AXL Rose’s makeshift post millennium disaster that he is still stubbornly referring to as Guns N Roses.   However, if you were a fan of Buckethead’s work prior to this, his inclusion in the group may have actually come as a surprise.  Being introduced to his music through previous releases such as  Bucketheadland (feat. Bootsie Collins and released on Avant-Jazz Sax legend, John Zorn’s label),  Monsters and Robots (featuring Les Claypool), and DJ Q-Bert’s animated turntable masterpiece, Wave Twisters, I myself was shocked by his involvement in GNR.  That is until I realized that, if Bon Jovi called me up and asked me to join him in a country-rap project, I would do it just based on the sheer novelty of the whole experience.  My friend Lars gave me a report on the GNR show that he saw featuring Buckethead on guitar by saying, “I still can’t tell if this is the best show I’ve ever seen or the worst“.  Based on what Lars had seen, he theorized that the tour wouldn’t last much longer due to Axl’s inability to restrain Buckethead or Carroll’s long-time collaborator, drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia, to his satisfaction.  Of course, his prediction was right yet, Buckethead seems to still be primarily associated with the corn-rowed has-been. I may be wrong in my assumptions but, I doubt that there are really too many consistent fans of Buckethead’s music.  His discography spans over 100 different albums in varying genres, including classic metal, electronic, funk, ambient, dub, jazz, and more.  This means that, even if you have heard multiple projects that the musician has been featured on, you still may not have a complete grasp of what he is capable of or that you have had much more than a glimpse of the overall scope of Carroll as an artist. (more…)

Popularity: 10% [?]