Could I supersize that?

This is completely edible! A husband and wife team collaborated on this for a Crafster.org challenge. There's lots more pictures here.

Wow.

This one's not safe for Grandma. Unless she's totally into mulletted, oily, Zubaz ®-wearing male strippers. In which case she'll probably go bananas.

Dinosaurs Still Roam The Earth

I just got back from assisting on an interview shoot with Sonny Grosso. The shoot was for an electronic press kit for the A&E movie Kings of South Beach. It's being wrapped up right now. For those of you unfamiliar (as I was), Sonny was the basis for the Roy Scheider character in the French Connection, and Gene Hackman played his partner (Grosso had a part in the film as well). The man has some amazing stories. He had a part in The Godfather playing one of the guys who shot James Caan, and it was his personal gun which was used in the restaurant scene where Michael (Al Pacino) shoots Capt. McClusky (Sterling Hayden). He still keeps this gun on his desk and was happy to show it to Andrew and I. And I was both awed and scared. He counts Robert Duvall, William Freidkin, and Nicholas Pileggi (who wrote Goodfellas) as friends. His office was a museum of film posters, photos from sets, awards from police departments and community organizations, cheesy Italian knicknacks, antiques, and over-the-hill gag gifts. But the most valuable piece in his vast collection rested upon his desk, and was shown to Andrew and I as we were about to leave. Framed in tarnished silver, facing him as he sat, was an 8x10 black and white photo of the lovely Marilyn Monroe. She was mid-laugh, perched on what looked like a stage, and surrounded by several people obscured by the tight cropping of the photo. She filled the frame. But taped to the bottom of the photo, outside of the glass was another photo of a man, woman and Joe DiMagio from much later. Sonny explained that the framed photo represented the moment that Joe left Marilyn. We couldn't see why, considering she looked so happy in the shot, until he took off the taped photo on the bottom to reveal: Marilyn Monroe's vagina. Yes, an upskirt shot of the woman who may have been responsible for the fall of the house of Kennedy; who was named "Sexiest Woman of the Century" by Time Magazine; who became an inadvertant icon of the Pop Art movement. Andrew and I were of course speechless, a reaction which I'm sure Sonny never gets tired of. He explained that Marilyn never wore "bloomers." It was a landmark moment in my life.

The Ecology of Cities

From Treehugger.com:

Urbanization is one of the dominant demographic trends of our time. In 1900, 150 million people lived in cities. By 2000, it was 2.9 billion people, a 19-fold increase. By 2007 more than half of us will live in cities—making us, for the first time, an urban species.

In 1900 there were only a handful of cities with a million people. Today 408 cities have at least that many inhabitants. And there are 20 megacities with 10 million or more residents. Tokyo’s population of 35 million exceeds that of Canada. Mexico City’s population of 19 million is nearly equal to that of Australia. New York, São Paulo, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Calcutta, Buenos Aires, and Shanghai follow close behind.

The article goes on. Interesting stuff. Read it here.

Love is rather plebian...

This is one of my favorite songs to sing in the shower. A scene from The Girl Can't Help It (1956) by Frank Tashlin. Julie London is a quick-changing ghost come back to taunt her drunken lover. Great lighting. Check out the end where she's pulled back into Hell.

This Could Make Our Country Great Again

Baby Toupees. Yes.

The Great Unraveling

There is a stench in the air. It is the stench of Right-wing bullshit being rolled out in great tractor-fulls from the classified bunkers in which they were stored. Today in the Guardian is a piece on the release of an Intelligence Report disproving Bush's claim that the Iraq war is making America safer from terrorists. The report, put together by 16 different intelligence agencies had this to say:

The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world. If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.

President Clinton's impassioned ass-kicking during a Fox News interview, the release of a memo that contradicts Condi Rice's statement about Clinton not leaving a strategy for dealing with al Qaed, and retired army generals coming out in droves against Rumsfeld; these things are making me feel good again. Things are happening here. Dems are starting to step up and rattle the rafters a little bit. Also of note are the current Amazon bestsellers. Pretty wild that Chavez can hold up a book while calling Bush "the Devil," and Americans head out to pick it up in droves. Think about that GW. That's fucked up. For you. Keep the rancor coming America! Let's move the bullshit from the White House to the Big House!

Awwwww!

What is it about tinycute animals who've been injured? Why do they melt our hearts so? Sometimes, when something is just so cute, I want to squeeeeeze it. I know I'm not alone on this. Durga ended up in a cast in her very first couple of months with us. We didn't have anything to do with it, we swear. But watching her limp around was, like, so totally cute. In honor of her, and of those who share the admitedly sick delight in such cute tragedy, I present a gallery of animals in casts.

They Heart A Computer

On Tuesday, October 3, Rhizome.org is throwing a 10th Anniversary party at The Kitchen in NYC.

This evening of live performances and video screenings explores forms of expression, desire and anxiety prevalent in a culture increasingly influenced by the Internet. Doo Man Group (made of Ben Jones, Jessica Ciocci, and Jacob Ciocci of Paper Rad) interweaves live percussion with a dense collage of web-based visual emphemera. Jona Bechtolt (of Yacht) and Claire L. Evans combine music, dance and Powerpoint to explore the possibilities and fallacies embedded in online communities. In addition, videos by Michael Bell-Smith, JODI, Shana Moulton, Takeshi Murata, and humorist Ze Frank investigate how the Internet amplifies and exxagerates life offline.

Rhizome, now an affiliate of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, is an organization dedicated to new media art. Their site once served as the place to be for new Flash-based work and internet installations. They Heart A Computer is being sponsored by Engadget, one of my favorite tech blogs. It's probably worth going just for Ze Frank.

Little Superstar

Sent to me by my dad who knows what I likes. I actually wish this was one of my old home movies.

kylesbob Is The Narcissist, Not Me

Harry at his blog The Masticator links to the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) at The LA Times. Like Harry, I seem to be more narcissistic than musicians, actors, comedians, and even reality TV stars (apparently the standard by which all narcissists will be measured into eternity). Take the test and see how you do. Of course, just taking this test already gaurantees you're a complete narcissist. You all make me sick.

David, NO!

Does anyone here have Showtime?? Because Sunday, October 1st, there's a new series beginning starring none other than Michael C. Hall, portrayer of David Fisher on one of the greatest shows of all time: Six Feet Under. From a gay funeral home director to a serial killer miami cop. Hall is dangerously close to becoming typecast as a darkly complex character with death/law enforcement fetishes. Couldn't somebody get Hall's agent on the phone with David Crane? There have got to be some quirky, intrusive neighbor roles available on a network that isn't into "pushing boundaries."

In any event, I'd love to give this show a shot but haven't got Showtime. I'll probably take "a stab" (get it?!) at downloading it, but if there's someone out there with a better cable package than me, watch it and let me know how it is.

Hoping to get Lost In America

If any of you have been wracking your brains over what to get Katy and I for our upcoming nuptials, here's an idea: The Airstream Safari Special Edition trailer (click on Safari SE). Oh, and we're also going to need a car to pull this. And enough money that we won't need to work so we can just drive this around the country having adventures. Start saving those pennies!

In related news, we're narrowing down dates for said wedding next summer. Official announcements to follow.

Roots

Mike D pointed me to this commercial which pretty much laid the foundation for our careers as MCs. Thank you phantom rapper, for laying down such tight rhymes about such an integral figure in our lives. This was the moment re realized Rap could be used for something important.

Katy's New Glasses!

Aren't they so cute? She actually got them specifically to match that cocktail. That's how cool she is.

It's Official: Weird Al's Back.

This is seriously funny. I am still proud to proclaim that my first concert was a Weird Al concert.

It's finally here!

Yarr! Today is the official Talk Like A Pirate Day! Could you sleep last night? I know I couldn't! Visions of scurvy and trolling vowels kept dancing through my head! But it's here, it's here! Everyone take advantage as much as you can. And remember, where I come from (the sea), talk like a pirate also means dress like a pirate. So scabbards and scabbies for all!

Primal Laughing / Primal Fear

"Cradle to Cradle" Umbrella Competition

Over at Treehugger there's a very cool competition happening to determine a new/improved umbrella. Each of the entries submitted adhere to the Cradle To Cradle concept, paraphrased here:

McDonough (architect) and Braungart (chemist) propose an industrial revolution, but this time, a green one. Taking cues from biomimicry, they propose that WASTE = FOOD, and suggest that things should be made from one of two types of materials: biological nutrients, which decompose naturally, and technical nutrients, which are designed for upcycling (little to no quality lost during recycling).

The five entries presented vary from what I see as being practical replacements for the spontaneously combusting cheapies you can buy on any corner in New York, to interesting concepts that ultimately are completely unpractical unless you're a millionaire hippy. Which would be in itself unpractical.

Umbrella Competition

Banned Books Week

It's not until next week, but Google and the American Library Association are teaming up to present highlights and information on a number of classics that were once banned or challenged. From Google's site:

To Kill a Mockingbird. Of Mice and Men. The Great Gatsby. 1984. It's hard to imagine a world without these extraordinary literary classics, but every year there are hundreds of attempts to remove great books from libraries and schools. In fact, according to the American Library Association, 42 of 100 books recognized by the Radcliffe Publishing Course as the best novels of the 20th century have been challenged or banned.

Google Book Search is our effort to expand the universe of books you can discover, and this year we're joining libraries and bookstores across the country to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week – a nationwide initiative to help people learn about and explore banned books. You can start by browsing these 42 classics – books we couldn't be more pleased to highlight.

It's pretty cool and worth checking out. Many of these make up personal favorites and all are worth reading at some point.

Check it

The People Have Spoken

And they want to let the Dog out. Some brave soul (apparently a John Buffam) has created a petition online to drop all charges and warrants against Dwayne "Dog" Chapman and his cohorts. Over 13,000 people have signed as of this posting, and from what I know about the influence of internet petitions on international criminal law, his freedom is pretty much guaranteed. Please, won't you sign?

Free Dog

More Important Than Reading the Bible Six Times

"Some secrets are best left a forgotten secret."

Comedy Central Insider links to an amazing bit from the usually mediocre website Something Aweful. These fake IMDB (called AMDB here) profiles for even faker movies are often hilarious and include cast lists, taglines, memorable quotes, and everything else you find on an IMDB page. My favorites so far are CyborgWarp and Hip Hop Tomb Raiderz, the latter starring DMX as Professor Phineas R. Compton. The title of this post is the tagline for Canoe. Here's some memorable dialog from Hip Hop Tomb Raiderz:

Lara Inglewood: Phineas! Enough of this bullshit! You need to decide right now: are you a rapper or an archaeologist?
Professor Phineas R. Compton: You know that ain't fair, Lara. Rapping's my heart and archaeology's my soul. You kill one you kill the other, man.
Lara Inglewood: This isn't about heart and soul, Phin! You're great at both now, but if you focused on one you'd be a legend! Why you gotta have it both ways, man?
Professor Phineas R. Compton (cocking pistol): That's the way I roll, bitch.

There are many instances of brilliance. Also brings to mind the work of the legendary Eric Blevins.

Driving Force

Here's a promo I produced for the Driving Force Myspace page. It was supposed to be cut to a much cooler track with vocals, but the licensing didn't go through at the last minute and I had to improvise with sound bites. Still fun tho. Wait for the video to load for better playback.

link

Dog Update

In the interest of my readers, who demand up-to-the-minute info on our most beloved be-mulleted bounty hunter, here is a reprinting of an AP article from today:

Duane 'Dog' Chapman, Two Co-Stars Arrested in Hawaii on Charges of Illegal Kidnapping

By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press Writer

HONOLULU (AP) -- TV reality star Duane "Dog" Chapman and two co-stars on his show were arrested Thursday in Hawaii on charges of illegal detention and conspiracy in the bounty hunters' capture three years ago of a cosmetics company heir.

Chapman, son Leland Chapman and associate Timothy Chapman were taken into custody and did not resist arrest, said Mark Hanohano, U.S. Marshal for the district of Hawaii. "It went down without incident," Hanohano said.

Mona K. Wood, a publicist for the star of the popular cable series "Dog The Bounty Hunter," said Chapman would be vindicated. "He arrests the bad guys - and he is definitely not one of them," she said.

The charges stem from Chapman's capture of Max Factor heir Andrew Luster on June 18, 2003, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, said Marshals spokeswoman Nikki Credic in Washington.


Chapman's capture of Luster, who had fled the country while on trial on charges he raped three women, catapulted the 53-year-old bounty hunter to fame and led to the reality series on A&E.

Chapman, shackled at his ankles and wearing a blue muscle T-shirt at his first court appearance Thursday, said the government was jealous of his success in hunting down criminals.

"You see what the American government is doing to us? They throw us in jail," Chapman said in a federal courtroom. "I'm so upset about this."

The three are being held in Honolulu. Bail has not been set. They will face an extradition hearing to Mexico under terms of treaties between the U.S. and Mexico, Credic said.


Chapman's son Leland, 29, and Timothy Chapman, 41, no relation, assist Chapman in exploits chronicled for the TV show around the Hawaiian Islands. The show focuses on Chapman's family as much as the bounty hunting, which generally involves tracking down bail jumpers, often creating emotional scenes with repentant captives.

Charges have been pending against the three since local police in Mexico arrested them shortly after they roped in Luster. They posted bail but never returned to Puerto Vallarta for their court hearing on July 15, 2003, Credic said.

Mexican authorities demanded that the Chapmans transfer Luster to Mexican police. Their refusal to do so led to their initial arrest.

A U.S. warrant for their arrest was signed by a federal judge in Honolulu on Wednesday.

Chapman's wife, Beth, said he didn't do anything wrong.

"If Duane has to return to Mexico to take care of any misunderstanding, then that's what he will do," she said outside the courthouse.

BREAKING NEWS!

I have just received word that A&E's bread-n-butter, Dog the Bounty Hunter, aka Duane Chapman, and his son Leland and brother Tim, have all been arrested by US Marshalls in Hawaii! It stems from his apprehension of convicted rapist/murderer Andrew Luster in Mexico in 2003. The Mexican government is apparently having him extradited on kidnapping charges since he didn't have the authority to hunt there. Why this is happening now, and why the US is listening to Mexico is unknown. But one thing is clear: America will not stand while its greatest citizen is wrestled behind bars in a Mexican prison, forced to reenact his greatest takedowns against the prison's greatest Luchador for the amusement of Mexico's president. This shit will not stand. Mexico, you're on warning. Return The Dog or face the Dog's Bite.

Backyard BDay BBQ (I'm late on this one)

DSCF0624
Originally uploaded by kylebc.

Yes, this was a month ago. But better late than never! These are images from the most awesome BBQ we had in our backyard for my birthday. Supes fun.

Part of the Problem!

Joey sent me this open letter from a number of prominent UK scientists, children's authors, critics, sociologists, etc. in the Telegraph, regarding their concern with the way new media is damaging children. It's entitled "Modern life leads to more depression among children." They suggest that kids are not psychologically able to deal with our "fast-moving hyper-competitive culture" which is contributing to higher levels of depression and violence. Much of their open letter I agree with:

[Children] still need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed “junk”), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives.

But if they're not getting these things, is that really the fault of "modern life"? Hasn't every generation been faced with "Modernity" in some capacity, whether it was radio or rollerskates or TV or the internet? And hasn't every previous generation suggested that such tools of modern living are contributing to our children's downfall? Ultimately, despite the fourteen pages of signitures, the letter ends up seeming pretty shallow. They offer no solution aside from proposing that:

as a matter of urgency that public debate be initiated on child-rearing in the 21st century this issue should be central to public policy-making in coming decades.

Great. We'll get right on that. What about rather than appending your name to the fairly simplistic notion of helping children (who would oppose that?), why not use your name to actually suggest solutions to the problems you see?

Any thoughts?

Keith Olbermann Mega Post

I'm many of you have heard about or seen these commentaries by MSNBCs Keith Olbermann, but for those that haven't I urge a viewing. For being honest, carefully constructed, and not dumbed-down for an already lobotomized public, Keith Olbermann earns a special place in my heart for these commentaries. He avoids the staccato bursts of sensationalism that makes O'Reilly #1 in the same time-slot, but sadly keeps him tethered to a small audience and a liberal blogosphere sensation. But it's still important to note that this aired on nationwide television and is making people excited for a return to the Edward R. Murrow style of journalism that George Clooney made look so Oscar-sexy (and also happened to remove a tyrant from political office). I'm going to try and keep better track of these moments and hopefully, soon, we'll be able to look back at all of them as the markers on the trail that took Bush and Co. out of office. Who were then eaten by bears.

Levity!

And now, the uniting of two of my life's greatest influences: Jean-Claude Van Damme and breathmints. This is a brilliant mash-up of a scene from the seminal film Bloodsport with everyone's favorite European sweet and minty Mentos campaign. I love it. I love The Mussles From Brussles. To paraphrase Voltaire: If Van Damme did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

"War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace."

The above is from Thomas Mann, one of my favorite authors, quoted in this excellent write up by RJ Eskow from Huffington Post about the "Dark Milestone" we've just faced:

While President Bush and other Republican politicians spent the day exploiting the memory of those we lost five years ago, the nation overlooked a grim milestone: More Americans have now died in Iraq than died on 9/11. Iraq didn't attack us on that day, and our misguided policy there has now taken more American lives than Al Qaeda.

link

Rx For Fans of Ted Leo

Isn't that title clever? It is if you know that I'm talking about the band Ted Leo + Pharmacists. Over at Brooklyn Vegan you can download a free live show of theirs from Chicago last week a bunch of tracks. Me And Mia totally rocks.

go there now!

I...I Can't Stop Watching...

I don't believe in angels, but I do believe in this. I am touched by it. And hope that whenever I find myself having to make a very difficult decision these two, accompanied by their Kewpie army, will join me on my shoulders, and, through the music of a Japanese Danny Elfman, help me to make that difficult decision. Though I could just as easily see myself staring blankly out into space and nodding in time to their infectiously-demented oompah rhythms. Try and resist them. You can't.

Best of the Mother Tributes

Vote for your favorite. There Can Be Only One....Best of the Mother Tributes!

Joren+Kyle Aren't Nerds

Last night (this morning) Joren and I went to BLive's super-sweet party, and then, at about 3:30am decided we just weren't ready to be done. So we did what any attractive, successful, virile young men would do in that situation: we went to the 24-hour Apple store! For those of you unaware, Apple opened a 24-hour, 7-days a week store on 5th ave, and it's awesome. Especially at 4am. But especially if you've been drinking caffeine-infused vodka for most of the evening. These pictures, taken with an iSight on the new macbooks, can attest to that.

The Many Moods of Ben Affleck

Cheyanne sent this to me this morning. It's pretty unbelievable. This is an "interview" The Affleck did in Montreal promoting Jersey Girl. The only thing he really ends up promoting is what a le tet merde he is. The Affleck is able to show his entire range in this clip: Drunk, Horny, Handsy, Scary (at about 3:40 he seems ready to ask her to "rub the lotion on her skin or else she'll get the hose again"), Lonely, and Drunk. Enjoy.

Presented Without Comment

I Want This

This backpack from Burton is pretty rad. It has a chair, laptop case, weather-resistant speakers, bottle opener, and a deck of cards (?) built in. Plus, note carefully the included "Lined Cooler Compartment with 40 Ounce Champagne Chimney Extension". Yes, 40 oz. This is pretty much all you would need on a two week backcountry expedition. Who wants to go camping?

That's Good

Good Magazine is a new publication that I encourage all of you to check out and subscribe to. They have some really interesting articles and writers, and most interestingly, 100% of your subscription fee of $20 goes to one of their 12 causes, like Teach For America, Unicef, Ashoka, and Room to Read. Their goal is 50,000 subscribers and $1 million raised. Plus, if you live in New York or L.A. you can attend one of their launch parties coming up for free, with free drinks and live music. It's a Not-Lose Situation™.

Best of the Motivational Speeches

More Smarter Than Most!

According to the latest census reports, and this report on CNN, my home city of Minneapolis is the 6th smartest city in the US. This is taken from the percentage of bachelor degrees in the city and not, as I had assumed, from the census' oft overlooked cranial volume measurement statistics. My current home of New York City is 20th. Which gives creedence to my perpetual belief that I'm surrrounded by fucking idiots. This report also raises new questions on how alcohol consumption may indeed make us smarter.

"I've got something to say!"

Last night Katy, Neeve and I saw the Strangers With Candy movie. Amazing. Highly recommended to fans of the show or fans of the crippling effects of addiction. Stephen Colbert gives a bravura performance as Chuck Noblet, Jerri's science teacher. If you have time to kill, or time to spare doing nothing, I would recommend exploring the website for the movie.

Cassville, Wisconsin One Big Sausage Party

These three young men were arrested on Saturday for attempting to dig up a dead body to have sex with.

Three men charged with attempting to rob a grave Saturday in Cassville were doing so because one of the men had seen the dead woman's obituary photo and wanted to have sex with her body, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Grant County Circuit Court.

The men had stopped at a Wal-Mart and bought condoms before heading to the cemetery, police said.

The question must be asked: who's fault is this? The young men who attempted to dig up a corpse to have sex with, or society as a whole? Or perhaps Wal-Mart for selling condoms which lead young men down the road to necrophilia? Or does the blame rest with the victim?

The Rev. John Norder, Laura Tennessen's priest at St. Charles Catholic Church, said she was the type of person who was always smiling and never judged others.

Clearly she was asking for it. How could these boys resist? (Wisconsin State Journal)

Adam Mac sent me a most wonderful cassette tape he created with the Says-It post from yesterday, and it got me thinking. Everyone send me your cassette creations and I'll put up a flickr page for our collective enjoyment. Create the tape you've always wanted but never dreamed you'd see and share it with the world. And by world I mean the four or five of you that are reading this. Get crackin!

Send submissions to kylebc {at} gmail {dot} com

Also, I realized that the commenting default required that you sign up to comment. I have since turned this off, so it should be possible to leave comments on the fly now.

The Says-It Cassette Generator allows anyone to create their own realistic-looking cassette tape images. Remember that time in junior high when you had a great idea for a band name and concept album, but you couldn't convince Capitol Records to send you into the studio without having actually recorded or even written any of the songs, or realy being able to play an instrument competently? So you spent hours after school creating an entire promotional package and marketing plan on the back of your trapper keepers and had arguments in your head with your tour manager about the bullshit hotel accomodations and lack of fresh towels and Perrier backstage? Me too. This cassette generator brings all of those visualizations back up to the surface. I should never have given up the dream.
UPDATE: Visualization Step 2: concert ticket stub. Brilliant.

Yes Please!

My friend Betsy, who throws totally rockin' parties, is reprezentin' this Friday with Yes please, described thusly:

This Friday night B*Live is joining forces with Loveless Music Group to present Yes Please, our new Friday night party at East Village rock lounge, Club Midway. We have 2 bands and 4 djs playing everything from Old Skool dnb, to Electro-Rock, to New Wave Indie faves.

Mark you calendars for September 8. Our first party will feature Elika, Soundpool, The Invisible Kid, DJ Tedbot, TimmyG from East Village Radio, and Ryan from Project Skyward. You know p.i.n.k vodka will be there- all pink cocktails are 2-4-1 all night long. Free upstairs, $5 cover downstairs for the bands.

Check out B*Live's website for more info. I will be there. Will you?

Woe Betide Mike D, eh.

Poor, poor Michael. Those fuckin' Canadians have committed yet another atrocity upon an innocent American. While Michael and Cheyanne were visiting the seemingly fair city of Montreal, Michael's laptop, firewire drives, and his Mbox were stolen from their car. Years of potential genius snatched away like so many pieces of Peameal back bacon. Hopefully insurance will help in the purchase of new gear, but the damage has been done. I propose we send Tara Reid up on a "Good-Will" mission, and sit back while the country crumbles in the wake of tequila shooters and a sea of saline. In the meantime, go to Friend Factory Rock, the home of Michael's solo project and brilliant stories and revel in the artifacts we have left.

Business Reply Pamphlet

This is a hilarious business pamphlet created for reply envelopes in junk mail. It describes the appropriate action to be taken by people who actually have to open all those reply envelopes, culminating in the creation of a new office utopia. Created by Packard Jennings, an artist/activist who does a lot of anti-advertising work. His artist statement:

My art is born from a sense of blanket disenfranchisement; be it my feeling of powerlessness in the face of mega-corporations, my disgust with the stewardship of our country, or my broad ideological separation from American fundamentalism. I make work that delves into the realm of activism, not only to connect with individuals in provocative and meaningful ways, but also to recast my role in the system. I often put my work out into the world for chance interactions with people; this involves ad hoc installations and subversive infiltration of public and semi-public spaces, where the pieces are left to their own fate. I employ humor as a device for lowering a viewer's guard to the reception of difficult content.

New Look! Same Great Taste!

I'm trying out a new look for kylesbob. I think it's more "whimsical". And I don't get to think that very often about anything.

Labor Day Wishes

Jesus is rolling in his grave...

An evangelist who claimed he could walk on water with enough faith, has drowned off the coast of Africa.

He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.

I imagine that in Heaven right now, Darwin is pointing at Jesus and laughing hysterically while Jesus holds his head in his hands in shame. But then I also imagine a complete void of nothingness because Heaven doesn't exist. (link)

Killing Your Childhood Heroes

From boingboing.net:

This Korean art exhibition explores the fictional anatomy of cartoon characters, with elaborate faked-up skeletons for Looney Toons characters, anatomical drawings of Mickey and friends, and many other artifacts from the study of toon anatomy.

link

Paul F. Tompkins UPDATE

Hilarious.

Maria Bamford did an opening set that Comedy Central also taped. She's a Duluth native, very funny, does some amazing voices. Joren and I will definitely be appearing on television. This guy with a huge steadycam rig kept the lens firmly in front of our hilariously contorted faces for both shows. We'll probably be the next big breakout stars on Comedy Central.