Banksy vs. Bristol Museum
July 9th, 2009 by RickSome call it art. Some call it graffiti. Banksy has a different view of his work:
People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish… but that’s only if it’s done properly.
The work of the English graffiti artist simply known as Banksy has invaded the Bristol Museum located on Queens Road in Bristol, England. Not much is known about the artist. What is known, is what can be seen through his unique ideas and wild artwork, which steer clear of commercial galleries and has been seen in various cities across the planet.
Banksy once said:
Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a sharp knife to it.
The fact that Banksy has a wide range of different art styles and techniques, whose artwork pops up all of over the world, leaves one to question if perhaps Banksy is actually a group or collective that run under one identity. Over the years various information has come out regarding Banksy’s true identity, but nothing solid.
Banksy wrote at his website:
I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being ‘good at drawing’ doesn’t sound like Banksy to me.
The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.
Banksy’s art has been within the Bristol Museum since June 13 and will be on exhibition until August 31. The Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with admission being free.
Samples of his art can be found below.
- Stencil on the Thekla Social entertainment boat, central Bristol.
- Naked Man image by Banksy, on the wall of a sexual health clinic on Park Street, in Bristol.
- Stencil of Charles Manson in a prison suit, hitchhiking to anywhere, at an Archway, London.
- Work on a building in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Graffiti paintings on the Israeli West Bank barrier near Qalandia.
- A painting on a wall near Bethléem.
Really, if you’re nearby, you must check in.
From Zest to Meth: Former Figure Skater Charged
July 9th, 2009 by Rick
Looks like this 1995 U.S. figure skating champion chose the wrong ice to make a career out of…
On Tuesday, Nicole Bobek, a former Olympic athlete, plead not guilty, via video from the Hudson county jail, to the charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson County, New Jersey.
The 31-year old was arrested last week, at her house in Jupiter, FL, after a year long investigation into a drug ring. Bobek waived extradition rights and was sent to the Garden City. Nineteen people have also been arrested in connection with the drug ring.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said:
She played a significant role in this operation. [...] She was actively involved in the upper echelon of this ring.
Bobek is free on bond, more than likely heading back to her other home in Manhattan, which coincidentally is in the same state where the investigation into the drug ring first began. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years and a $150,000 fine.
Court Date & Movie Premiere for Waylett
July 9th, 2009 by RickA court date has finally been set for actor of Harry Potter fame, 19-year old Jamie Waylett, who was busted back in April for having ten marijuana plants at his home in Kilburn, north London. On July 16th, Waylett and 20-year old John Innis are scheduled to appear in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Waylett plays the character, Vincent Crabbe, the right hand man of Draco Malfoy, Potter’s schoolyard nemesis. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is set for it’s world premiere on Tuesday, July 14th at Leicester Square in London.
Subway Unveils New TV Spot Featuring Phelps
July 9th, 2009 by RickFive. Five dollar. Five dollar foot lonnng.
Michael Phelps is finally back on the endorsement trail, after being shunned by some of his sponsors and dropped by Kellogs, because of a picture that circulated the internet five months back that showed him toking on a bong. The company that picked up the slack? Subway.
With their sandwich shops soon to be visited by hungry stoners worldwide, the ad execs that came up with this commercial brilliantly targeted the demographic, while at the same time, having it appear as a regular commercial for those that lack the radar for pot innuendo.
Some of the subtle clues:
- So… any coincidence that the video feed freezes on a frame where MP looks like a stereotypical stoner?
- Maybe… the looping soundtrack playing in the background — Thank you for letting me be myself again.
- Or… what about the the vibrant, eye catching colors with encrusted shiny jewels?
- Kicking it… Jared watches goofy shit on TV… you know you do it too.
- Easily the most obvious clue was the URL of the Subway website advertised… nice.
- Perhaps the words phresh, phave, and phlavor are meant for the sub-culture circle?
- Or… the use of the phrase ‘The man behind the marinara.’ What did you see the first time reading it?
- The new logo says it all… way fresh indeed.
As Kellog’s stock went down after they canned Phelps’ contract, Subway only stands to profit from their new push into an old demographic that more than likely has been eating at their franchise since its grand opening. Now, the pot smokers will simply go out of their way to eat $5 foot long subs, letting Subway and Phelps rake in the green.
The Prince of Pot Says Goodbye to Canada
July 7th, 2009 by Rick
The Prince of Pot, Marc Emery, is saying goodbye to Canada by way of a “fairwell tour”, scheduled to make its mark in 32 cities, before he is extradited to the U.S. for selling cannabis seeds to U.S. customers.
On Sunday, Emery began the tour in Calgary saying:
I’m being taken to a U.S. prison for something I did in Canada as innocuous as selling seeds, which don’t even have any drug quality, and yet I have to face a five year term for that. [...] It’s difficult to say what will happen in a U.S. federal penitentiary. It’s never very pleasant. American jails aren’t run nearly as well as Canadian jails. [...] I’m going away for a long time so I expect everybody to do their best and pick up the slack for me.
Emery is referring to the fight coming up in form of bill C-15, a federal bill that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana in Canada. The bill has already passed the House of Commons and it is now in the hands of the Senate. Emery advises activists to back the NDP, the Bloc, and the Green Party — all pro-cannabis political parties.
Emery’s fairwell tour continues in Saskatoon on Wednesday and Edmonton on Thursday.
Robert Buelteman Electrifies Nature
July 1st, 2009 by Erin
Robert Buelteman is not your average photographer. He’s not out there taking pictures of lawn chairs and chain link fences, or endearingly fat babies in buckets. He is turning nature into a vision of electricity so difficult and dangerous that nobody else will even attempt it.
Here is a thorough breakdown of Buelteman’s process:
- Buelteman begins by painstakingly whittling down flowers, leaves, sprigs, and twigs with a scalpel until they’re translucent.
- He then lays each specimen on color transparency film and, for a more detailed effect, covers it with a diffusion screen.
- This assemblage is placed on his “easel” — a piece of sheet metal sandwiched between Plexiglas, floating in liquid silicone.
- Buelteman hits everything with an electric pulse and the electrons do a dance as they leap from the sheet metal, through the silicone and the plant (and hopefully not through him), while heading back out the jumper cables.
- In that moment, the gas surrounding the subject is ionized, leaving behind ethereal coronas.
- He then hand-paints the result with white light shining through an optical fiber the width of a human hair, a process so tricky each image can take up to 150 attempts.
The images may not look like much at first, until you consider the ridiculously tedious process behind it (an extension of Kirlian photography).
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind seeing some of his herb photography.
Chong Waxes Poetically About Michael Jackson
June 29th, 2009 by Russ
In a short piece written for CelebStoner, stoner patriarch, Tommy Chong relives and rewrites a little Jackson 5 history, as well as offering up some mighty strange nuggets of advice for the now deceased pop-star.
The Chonger jovially reflects on a time when the Jackson 5 opened for Chong’s group, Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers. As the tale goes, Bobby Taylor initiated the meeting between the Jackson family and Motown record label founder, Berry Gordy. Once offered a contract by Gordy, Joe Jackson brought it back to Chong for an unusually sober perusal. Chong recalls:
When Joe Jackson brought me the contract, there was a window of opportunity where I could have become their manager, but the thought didn’t cross my mind until decades later.
And so a pairing for the ages was missed by just that much. One can only imagine how far little Michael Jackson would have gone in a parallel universe where his raw music talents were guided by the subtle genius of the Up in Smoke star. We may have been blessed with such pop-mega hits as: You Wanna Be Starting Something (Because My Joint is Kicked), The Doob is Mine, and Black or White (Cookies are Groovy When You’ve Got the Munchies).
Leave the weird shit alone. Sing and dance, Michael – that’s all we wanted you to do… Have a safe and interesting journey, Michael. We will see you when you reappear in another body. We will know it’s you when you open your mouth and the “magic” comes out. We will know.
Don’t try to translate that last bit into English. Just blaze one up and absorb.
New Hampshire Ready for Medical Marijuana?
June 25th, 2009 by Rick
New Hampshire is trying to become the 14th medical marijuana state as their state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow chronically ill patients to seek treatment using medical marijuana. The bill is now on it’s way to the Governor.
Governor John Lynch isn’t like those other drones that blindly follow the drumbeat of the neo-cons and drug warriors. He actually wants to study the bill before he signs it into a law.
One of the smart things that the legislature had done was ensure that patients nor caregivers could grow the marijuana, instead “compassion centers” or non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries will be organized.
Will New Hampshire learn from California’s mistakes? They already seemingly have, by limiting those that can “game the system.”
