Michael Jackson: Back In The Day

1979, the year of Off the Wall and his first nose job, marks an obscure crisis. Around the start of that year, they offer him the gay lead in the film version of A Chorus Line, but he declines the role, explaining, “I’m excited about it, but if I do it, people will link me with the part. Because of my voice, some people already think I’m that way—homo—though I’m actually not at all.”

GQ article, September 2009.

Miles Davis Kind of Blue in 8-bit & 80’s Album Covers Recreated With Comic Book Heroes

Kind of Screwed is an awesome read about fair use in which Andy Baio, writer of waxy.org, got kicked in the teeth to the tune of $32k for pixelating Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue album cover photograph for his Kind of Bloop project.

…Kind of Bloop [is an] 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, one of my favorite albums of all-time. I’ve always wondered what chiptune jazz covers would sound like. What would the jazz masters sound like on a Nintendo Entertainment System? Coltrane on a C-64? Mingus on Amiga?

To be honest, it’s sounds crazy but it’s an interesting listen for sure. Kind of Blue is one of my favorite albums. Hearing it in 8-bit form is strange, to say the very very least.

Linked below that story was 80’s Album Covers Recreated With Comic Book Heroes and I feel obliged to share. These were all done by Cliff Chiang.

The Breakfast Club

Purple Rain

Control

Abandoned Amusement Parks

Six Flags New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It has been abandoned ever since. This film was made in October 2010. The park is scheduled to be demolished in January 2011.

Here is a photo tour of the park in New Orleans that is on par with the creepiness of the video.

The park flooded:

There are a lot of abandoned amusement parks around the country, some of which can be legally toured. My favorite photographed abandoned theme park is Chippewa Lake Amusement Park in Ohio. I especially love the pictures of trees growing through the Big Dipper’s tracks. The park opened in 1878, closed in 1978, and nature has taken its course on the attractions left behind. The Ferris wheel, frozen in time by trees and vines, is especially eerie.



Check out more photos of Chippewa Lake by penelopejonze on Flickr.

More photos of Chippewa Lake and its other attractions can be seen here.

The Time Traveler

Is there a time traveler watching a bridge reopen in this photo? Is this a very well crafted Photoshop? Or is it just a guy, ahead of his time in terms of fashion, photographed and now being overanalyzed? The picture can be found on the virtual Bralorne-Pioneer Museum. Click here to see the full size image.

“Reopening of the South Fork Bridge after flood in Nov. 1940. 1941 (?)”

Forgetomori checks it out.

Given the source, we would assume the photo is authentic, and correctly dated to c.1940. Indeed, an Error Level Analysis suggests the image was not digitally tampered with, or at least that if it was, the author was smart enough to normalize the error across the whole thing. It’s a good job, if it was a job. And again, given the source, we would assume it was not a job.

So, how do we explain the man out of time?

Below that article, I found a comment that breaks down every aspect of the photo. It’s an amazing analysis.

…Whether or not the time traveler is wearing a contemporary sweater or not, he is totally out of uniform for the social class and culture of the event. His dress may indicate a collegiate look to some, but even that would cause some commotion in a crowd like this. He seems too brash for the times, as does his style of garments. Even his unsubdued expression would have been slightly suspect in a crowd like this. He is simply too out of place for the photo. His whole attitude should have caused suspicion.

…My verdict, finally, is that something is defintely wrong here, but I cannot say exactly what it is. The man, for whatever reasons, does not belong in the photo.

To read the rest of the comment hit the jump

Michael Jackson vs Rick Astley

When I was 17, maybe 18, I went to Spain with other members of my high school on a cultural trip for Spanish class. My roommate and I would sneak out of the hotel at night and go shopping in the markets, drink in the local bars, and eat at the restaurants. One night, we stumbled into a music store and I picked up Madonna’s Ray of Light album and a Michael Jackson remix album that had a lot of cool tracks on it, including mashups with Rick Astley and Billy Ocean. I have been scouring the internet for this album for years and never really found anything. Recently, I did find the Astley mix on a youtube video, and then the actual track on another website.

It’s a great remix and easily one of my favorites. I will probably forever hunt for that CD. For all I know it’s tucked away in a box in my folks’ house in its original sleeve.

It looks like the album I am looking for is a rare remix unreleased album called “He Still Drives Me Wild”

Tracklist:

1 Disco Mix Club Remix (10:20)
2 Disco Mix Club Remix (11:57)
3 Criminal Heart (Annie & Brother Mix) (7:32)
4 Smooth Criminal (Smokin’ Gun Mix) (6:47)
5 Human Nature (12” Remix – Japan) (4:09)
6 Speed Demon (Disco Mix Club Remix) (6:37)
7 Disco Mix Club – Compilation Remix (11:34)
8 Remember The Time (The Ultimate Mix) (11:15)

Criminal Heart – Michael Jackson vs Rick Astley

John Mayer 3/20/2010 St. Louis setlist

Amazing show. Here’s the setlist, with studio albums noted by number:

:: Heartbreak Warfare (4)
:: Why Georgia (1) with a semi cover, in the middle, of Message in a Bottle by The Police, which he also covered for Any Given Thursday.
:: Vultures (3)
:: Something’s Missing (2)
:: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room (3)
:: Perfectly Lonely (4)
:: Assassin (4)
:: Wheel (2)
:: Daughters (2)
:: Crossroads (4)
:: Steve Jordan drum solo that lasted 6 minutes!!
:: Waiting on the World to Change (3)
:: Semi cover of Just Like a Woman (Bob Dylan)
:: Half Of My Heart (4) (with a semi cover, in the middle, of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac) [John Mayer said it was the opposite of Half of My Heart, as told from a woman’s perspective].
:: No Such Thing (1)

Encore:
:: Who Says (4)
:: Gravity (3)

Between the main set and the encore the entire Scottrade Center lit up with cell phone screens, like thousands of fireflies. John walked back onto the stage, and stated he had goosebumps at the sight. John requested, during Gravity, that the lights be off and that everyone use their cell phone screens for the first half. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

1: Room For Squares (2 tracks played)
2: Heavier Things (3 tracks played)
3: Continuum (4 tracks played)
4: Battle Studies ( 6 tracks played)

?>
Next page