the beauty of amateur soccer

hans van der meer is a dutch photographer who visited a lot of amateur soccer games all over europe for his latest project european fields, the landscape of lower league football. the result is a stunning series. take a look on his website, or go visit his exhibition at fotografie forum international in frankfurt (germany) june 6th - july 16th 2006. there's also a book, here.

it's not a painter, it's a machine!

you want a fancy wall painting, but don't know how to do it? check out these:

sabrina raaf's grower:



from her website: "Grower is a small 'rover' vehicle which navigates around the periphery of a room. It hugs the room’s walls and responds to the carbon dioxide levels in the air by actually drawing varying heights of 'grass' on the walls in green ink. The Grower robot senses the carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the air via a small digital CO2 sensor. This sensor is mounted high on a wall of the exhibition space and sends data wirelessly to the robot. The number of people in an exhibit space breathing in oxygen and exhaling CO2 has an immediate effect on the sensor."
read more here.

another art machine is leonel moura's action painting robot. see the robot at work here. see his works here.



(thanks appelogen)

nike + ipod make you sweat / also cool while watching tv

from ilounge:
"Nike recently introduced its first iPod-specific accessory. The Nike Sport Armband, designed to hold an iPod nano during exercising or other activity, is made with lightweight Nike Pro Compression fabric and Dri-FIT material and is machine washable. The $40 armband is available in two color combinations (gray/orange and black/gray) and two sizes (small/medium and medium/large). Nike is also marketing the case to iPod shuffle owners."

become the godfather of the diadem

belgium is looking for a new godfather of the diadem. do you think you handle this responsibility?
until today peter van asbroeck, a famous belgian actor, has been the godfather of the diadem. the fashion item was introduced by beckham and ronaldinho, and was picked up quickly by fashionable men all over the world.
in belgium, peter van asbroeck became the godfather of the diadem, promoting the item in soap series and tv shows he appeared in, and using it in everyday life.
yesterday mister van asbroeck decided it was time for a change and ask his hairdresser to cut his hair. short.
belgian radio station studio brussel is now looking for a new godfather of the diadem, which will be presented on may 30th, the first official "day of the diadem".
if you think you have everything to become the new godfather of the diadem, apply here (attention: speaking dutch might come in handy).
here's a picture of mister van asbroeck before he visited the hairdresser:

magic numbers do smiths / deerhoof do my bloody valentine

stereogum has two fine mp3s:
the magic numbers covering there's a light that never goes out by the smiths (here).
and deerhoof covering lose my breath by my bloody valentine (here).
sweet!

a rapping jew with a jamaican accent

we couldn't believe our eyes/ears when we saw/heard this: matisyahu. a rapping jew with a jamaican accent. simply brilliant. make sure to check out the live video of king without a crown here, and see him stagedive twice.
(thanks roel)

the inside of a pregnant woman, by damien hirst

A 35ft-tall, 13-and-a-half-ton Damien Hirst statue revealing the insides of a pregnant woman has been unveiled at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Title: The Virgin Mother.
read more.

uri geller's hobby

uri geller has a hobby which might just become a new hype:



from his website:
"THE GELLER EFFECT - SYMBOL OF PEACE

Uri Geller has created the Geller Effect. The car is his cherished custom-built 1976 Cadillac encrusted with approximately 5,000 pieces of contorted cutlery painstakingly riveted to the car's body. Some of his treasured pieces were owned, used or touched by famous personalities. (See Below).

Many have semi-precious stones and crystals imbedded in them in a most exciting artistic fashion. The bonnet's mascot is a rare rock crystal globe once belonging to the surrealist master Salvador Dali. In addition looking closely it can be seen that some cutlery is carefully arranged to form the signs of the many religions and the symbol of peace adorns the car.



Uri, who lives in Britain, bent some of the cutlery with brainpower and the rest were artfully shaped with his Israeli friend, sculptor Avi Pines, who used physical technical means. They spent over 6 months creating this masterpiece. The ornaments adorning the car include several originals which Uri has salvaged from his 35 year metal bending career. A number come from his personal celebrity collection. The word peace is incorporated into the design in several languages including Arabic and Hebrew."

read more here.

via tydsed.

lordi win eurovision song contest

lordi, the finnish monsters (and our personal favorites) win the 2006 eurovision song contest! read an interview with lordi here.

the 2006 top 6 looks like this:
1. finland, 292 points
2. russia, 248 points
3. bosnia and herzegovina, 229 points
4. romania, 172 points
5. sweden, 170 points
6. lithuania, 162 points

which means our other favorites, lt united from lithuania also made it to the top 10. and we also liked mihai's tornero (the romanian contestant).

read our previous eurovision posts here and here.

pearl jam's new video life wasted

stereogum has pearl jam's new video clip life wasted. go here.

lordi make it to eurosong finals

our personal eurosong favorites lordi (the finnish contestants) survived the eursong semi-finals. check out their fine song hard rock hallelujah here.
we also discovered the funny lithuanian contestants lt united and their cynical we are the winners. check out their song here.

for sale: chris martin

coldplay singer chris martin auctions himself to help out his local school. so why don't you buy him and drop him off on a deserted island?
more info here.
(via nme)

daniel clowes video interview

daniel clowes is hotter than britney spears these days! check out this nice bbc video interview via audium.
(thanks boing boing)

turner prize shortlist

The shortlist for the always-controversial Turner Prize has been announced in the UK. Sculptor Rebecca Warren (known for using twigs and bits of fluff in her work,) photographer Phil Collins, mixed-media artist Mark Titchner, and painter Tomma Abts will vie for the £40,000 prize, which will be announced in December, following public viewings of the work of all four finalists.
(thanks artsjournal)

bread statue, pigeons go wild

constanza puente's latest work of art is a life size self portrait of the 6ft artist in bread.



read more on ananova.
(thanks boing boing)

uri geller buys elvis' home

celebrity weirdo uri geller has bought elvis presley's first home for $ 905,100. he's planning a new elvis museum.
read more on gigwise.

zero 7 feat. josé gonzalez (mp3)

you ain't no picasso has an mp3 of left behind by zero 7 featuring josé gonzalez, from their new album the garden (out on may 22nd).

link!

thom yorke doesn't release a solo album

radiohead's thom yorke will release his first solo album, entitled the eraser, on july 11th (xl recordings). but he doesn't want to call it a solo album, trying to avoid being called a traitor to his band.
the eraser will be beats and electronics, but still songs, york says.

track listing:
1. the eraser
2. analyse
3. the clock
4. black swan
5. skip divided
6. atoms for peace
7. and it rained all night
8. harrowdown hill
9. cymbal rush

his e-mail to fan sites:
"this is just a note to say that something has been kicking around in the background that i have not told you about. its called The Eraser. nigel produced & arranged it. i wrote and played it. the elements have been kicking round now for a few years and needed to be finished & i have been itching to do something like this for ages. it was fun and quick to do. inevitably it is more beats & electronics. but its songs. stanley did the cover. yes its a record! no its not a radiohead record.

as you know the band are now touring and writing new stuff and getting to a good space so i want no crap about me being a traitor or whatever splitting up blah blah... this was all done with their blessing. and i don't wanna hear that word solo. doesnt sound right. ok then thats that.

i think its out in july and im pretty certain XL are going to put it out.

love thom"
(thanks productshopnyc)

tango's sony bravia spoof

tango has made a fine spoof of the sony bravia commercial. see it here.
(thanks ad hunt)

read jim woodring's blog

comic book author jim woodring (of course you know his frank series) started his own blog. have a look at drawings from his scrapbook, toys from his characters, and more!

(stolen from boing boing)

two polyphonic spree mp3s

you ain't no picasso has two polyphonic spree mp3s: light and day, and five years.
go here.

interview with daniel clowes and terry zwigoff

RU Sirius co-host Diana Brown talks with Director Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World, Bad Santa) and graphic novelist Daniel Clowes (Eightball) about their fab new film, Art School Confidential.
take a listen here.
read our previous art school confidential post here.
(thanks boing boing).

franz ferdinand singer releases book

franz ferdinand singer alex kapranos will release a book later this year, compiling the food columns he had been writing for the guardian. title: sound bites.
a little preview?
"I wake to the smell of my band mates' farts. We live on a bus. We're travelling from LA to Tucson and have stopped at the Grand Canyon. The Bright Angel Lodge is made of logs stacked on the edge. "Are the portions big?" I ask. We're in America. It's a stupid question. "Everything's as big as the canyon."
read more here.

star wars synchronization project

james greene jr. has a special blog: the star wars synchronization project. he says: "Every day of the week, I watch the original "Star Wars" or one of its two sequels with a different album to see if anything synchs up a la "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wizard of Oz." I post what I find here."
truly a popcult experiment if you ask us, with amazing results. some examples:

- star wars + green day's american idiot synchs:
"Tales of Another Broken Home starts the moment it becomes apparent that Artoo and Threepio are going separate ways on the surface of Tatooine."
"She's A Rebel starts as Obi-Wan Kenobi makes his first appearance."
"As the stormtroopers investigating the cantina fracas walk over to Han and Chewie's table, the phrase "where'd you go?" in Nobody Likes You is heard. The stormtroopers want to know where Obi-Wan and Luke went."

- star wars + dr. dre's the chronic synchs:
"The line "it's time for the doctor to check yo' ass" in Fuck Wit Dre Day is heard right before the major explosion that rocks the Tantive IV."
"In the middle of Fuck With Dre Day someone is heard laughing. When this person starts laughing, C-3PO looks up, as if he can hear it."
"The lyric "Dear God, can you save me?" is heard in Lil' Ghetto Boy as Luke stares at the sunset."

- star wars + nirvana's nevermind synchs:
"During one of the choruses in In Bloom as the phrase "don't know what it means" is sung, Vader looks at one Imperial officer as another is talking as if he don't know what the guy talking means."
"Luke, Uncle Owen, and Aunt Beru get together for a meal as Krist Noveselic sings the line, "everybody get together, try to love one another right now" before Territorial Pissings.

sufjan stevens - saul bellow (mp3)

another sufjan stevens mp3, thanks to stereogum.
here!

brutally honest greeting cards

is your girlfriend a cunt? did you cheat on her and you want to tell her? did your sister give birth to a really ugly baby?
grating cards helps you bringing your message. check out their brutally honest greeting cards on their website.

(thanks cool hunter)

beatles lose, apple wins

from gigwise.com:

"The court case had been brought by Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney and the families of George Harrison and John Lennon alleging that Apple had gone back on a previous agreement with the bands label Apple Corps never to go into the music industry.

However, Justice Edward Mann this morning ruled that the company had not breach the agreement saying that they used the Apple logo in association with the store and not the music."

read more here.

buzzcocks on tour

punk rock godfathers buzzcocks are touring:

may
08 France Paris La Maroquinerie
09 France StrasbourgLa Laiterie
11 France TourcoingGrand Mix
12 France St Lo Le Normandy
13 France Beauvais Ouvre Boite
14 France Clermont Ferand Cooperative de Mai
19 Greece Thessaloniki Ydrogeios Club
20 Greece Athens Gargarin
23 England London HMV Oxford Street (free in-store appearance, about 6-8pm)
24 Belgium Antwerp Hof Ter Lo
25 Belgium Liege Soundstation
27 Scotland Perth Festival of the Arts
june
02 Croatia Zagreb Mochvara
03 Serbia Belgrade Dom Omladine
10 Canada Toronto, ON Phoenix Theatre, NXNE Fest
11 USA Boston, MA Axis
12 USA New York, NY Irving Plaza
14 USA Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar
15 USA Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavillion
16 USA Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheater
17 USA Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
18 USA Minneapolis, MN Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
19 USA Bonner Springs, KS Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
21 USA Antioch, TN Starwood Amphitheatre
22 USA Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Fairgrounds
23 USA St Petersburg, FL Vinoy Park
24 USA Miami, FL Bicentennial Park
25 USA Orlando, FL Tinker Field
26 USA Ladson, SC Exchange Park Fairgrounds
27 USA Raleigh, NC Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
28 USA Atlanta, GA HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
June 15 - 28: Vans Warped Tour
july
11 USA Brooklyn, NY Warsaw
12 USA Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom (formerly The Sphere)
13 USA Cleveland, OH House Of Blues - Cambridge Room
14 USA Detroit, MI Shelter
15 USA Chicago, IL Double Door
16 USA Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
18 USA Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
19 USA Albuquerque, NMLaunch Pad
21 USA Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
22 USA Las Vegas, NV Celebrity Showroom
23 USA San Diego, CA Canes
25 USA Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
27 USA San Francisco, CA Mezzanine
28 USA Portland, OR Dante's
29 USA Seattle, WA El Corazon
30 Canada Vancouver, BC Red Room
august
05 England Newcastle Gosforth Gathering

(thanks brooklynvegan)

craig thompson's 1st book: re-release

from grovel:

"With his next book due out from Pantheon in 2007, Craig Thompson's first graphic novel Good-bye, Chunky Rice has been repackaged by the publisher and is set to be re-released on Tuesday, April 9th. If you haven't already come across it we can heartily recommend it - read our review by clicking on the book cover below."

read grovel's review of the book here.

sonic youth - what a waste (mp3)

stereogum has a song from sonic youth's new album rather ripped. go here.

free comic book day = tomorrow

may 6th is free comic book day. just run over to your comic store and pick one (or all) up. the titles:

Archie Comics 65th Anniversary Bash
Free Comic Book Day Bongo Comics Free- For -All!
Star Wars/Conan Flip-Book
Justice League Unlimited # 1
GI Joe Sigma 6 #1 De
Disney Comics Presents: Donald Duck
The Transformers/Beast Wars Special
Future Shock
X-Men/Runaways
Tokyopop Sneak
The Preposterous Voyages of Ironhide Tom!
Arcana Studio Presents # 3
Worlds of Aspen # 1 A
Jack the Latern 1942
Soulsearchers & Company / Deadbeats Flip Book
Comic Genesis: Generations 2006
Mr. Jean
Funny Book # 2
Impact University Volume 2
Liberty Girl # 0
Keenspot Spotlight 2006
Bluff & Tales from a Forgotten Planet
Free Scott Pilgrim
Owly: Breakin’ the Ice
Amelia Rules!
Buzzboy: Sidekicks Rule # 1
Viper Comics Presents: Dead @ 17 & More
Wizard Presents: The Top 100 Trade Paperbacks of All Time

more info on the books here and here.

popcultblog tip: pick up the mr. jean book, from the french cartoonists dupuy & berberian.

r.i.p. karel appel

dutch artist karel appel died yesterday in zurich (switzerland) at the age of 85. in the late 1940s, appel was one of the founding artists of the cobra movement (cobra = copenhagen, brussels, amsterdam), a avant-garde group which became a milestone of european abstract expressionism. the group had an almost childish, naive, primitive approach of the subject which resulted in semi-abstract work with bright colours, expressive brushstrokes and distorted, vivid figures.
other cobra members are pierre alechinsky, lucebert, asger jorn, corneille, constant, christian dotrement and hugo claus. in amstelveen (the netherlands) you'll find the cobra museum.

coldplay gone mad: the new video

check out coldplay's new video the hardest part via stereogum. the boys have gone mad. and chris martin needs a haircut.

british comic writer alan moore turns to pornography

publishersweekly has an article on alan moore's upcoming new book lost girls.

"Already a star in the world of graphic novels for wildly successful and critically acclaimed books like Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, British writer Alan Moore reached a new level of mainstream fame this spring with the success of the movie V for Vendetta. So what's he doing for his next act? Pornography."
read more here.

(via comicsworthreading)

chapman stick

if you can't decide which instrument to play, check out the chapman stick, developed by emmett chapman in the 70s. the chapman stick sort of looks like a guitar with a wider and longer fretboard. it has 8 to 12 strings (so you have the range of a guitar and a bass). you play it by tapping it with both hands, so you can play multiple lines at once, performing bass, melody and chord lines simultaneously.
check out these two amazing instruction videos by greg howard: one and two.

art action figures

check out the art action figures of michael leavitt. there's andy warhol, jean-michel basquiat, jackson pollock, salvador dali, mark ryden, leonardo da vinci, vincent van gogh, hieronymus bosch, pablo picasso and many more.

mr.t gets his own tv show

yesterday, tv land network announced it will start i pity the fool, a tv series hosted by famous a-team member mr. t (aka b.a. baracus). mr. t will be travelling all over the united states (in a black van) to help people with problems (personal or professional). sounds like the a-team all over again!

other mr. t fun: check your mr. t name at the mr. t name generator.

blacklight tattoo

if you always wanted a tattoo but were afraid of what your boss will say, check this fascinating new technique: you can cover yourself in body art and no one will be the wiser, unless they see you in the dark, which is the only time these tattoos are visible. the new technique uses blacklight reactive ink, which has a "glow in the dark" effect.
read more here.

(thanks cool hunter)

sigur ros: tour dates

sigur ros are playing some gigs:

may 3 benaroya hall, seattle, washington
may 4 arlene schnitzer, portland, oregon
may 5 big easy concert house, boise, idaho
may 6 the depot, salt lake city, utah
may 8 orpheum rheatre, minneapolis, minnesota
may 9 civic opera house, chicago, illinois
may 10 the riverside, milwaukee, wisconsin
may 11 state theatre, detroit, michigan
may 13 massey hall, toronto, ontario
may 14 bank of america pavillion, boston, massachusetts
june 23 southside festival, beuhausen ob eck
june 24 hurricane festival, eichenring
june 25 lichtburg, essen
june 27 oslo spektrum, oslo
june 28 dalhalla, rättvik
june 29 roskilde festival
july 01 rock werchter festival
july 02 les eurockéennes de belfort festival
july 03 montreux jazz festival
july 04 piazza castello, ferrara
july 06 olympia, paris
july 07 heineken open'er festival poland
july 08 t in the park festival, scotland
july 09 oxegen festival, ireland
july 11 guildhall, southampton
july 12 neumünster abbey luxembourg
july 14 summercase festival, barcelona
july 15 summercase festival, madrid
july 16 pavilhão atlântico, lisbon

the clash: live footage

bedazzled has some video files of english punk/rock icons the clash on fridays (80's television show). they perform london calling, train in vain, guns of brixton and working for the clampdown. go here.

(via boing boing)

more sufjan stevens mp3s

i guess i'm floating keeps posting sufjan stevens mp3s. which we like. this time you'll find some lesser known sufjan songs:

The First Full Moon
All Delighted People
I Can't Even Lift My Head
Damascus
Bushwick Junkie
Borderline
God'll Ne'er Let You Down
Woman At The Well

go here.

crosby, stills, nash and young: tour

rock veterans crosby, stills, nash and young hit the road. the boys will also be playing some songs of neil young's recent protest-album living with war.

July 06 Philadelphia, PA Tweeter Center
July 08 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
July 10 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
July 14 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
July 15 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN Venue to be announced
July 17 Denver, CO Red Rocks
July 20 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion
July 23 Fresno, CA Save Mart Centre
July 25 Concord, CA Chronicle Pavilion
July 27 Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre
July 28 Portland, OR Clark County Amphitheatre
July 30 Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 31 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
Aug 08 West Palm Beach, FL Sound Advice Amphitheatre
Aug 10 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Aug 12 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
Aug 15 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
Aug 16 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
Aug 19 Saratoga, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Aug 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug 22 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Amp.
Aug 25 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
Aug 29 Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheater
Aug 31 Detroit, MI The Palace at Auburn Hills
Sep 02 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Sep 03 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank
Sep 06 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
Sep 07 St. Louis, MO UMB Pavilion
Sep 10 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion

(thanks, bumpershine)

rose d'or: and the winner is...

the rose d'or (or golden rose) festival is one of the most prestigious television awards festival. it's held every year in switzerland and honours entertainment programmes (so no drama's, documentaries, etc.)
the 2006 winners:

best performers:
female comedy performance: jo joyner - swinging (gbr)
male comedy performance: chris lilley - the nominees (aus)
game show host: stephen fry - qi (gbr)
sitcom actor: bastian pastewka - pastewka (ger)
sitcom actress: ashley jensen - extras (gbr)
soap actor: jack wagner - the bold and the beautiful (usa)
soap actress: alexendra neldel - verliebt in berlin (ger)

honoury rose d'or award:
ricky gervais

rose d'or charity award for corporate philanthropy:
fuji television

best programmes:
arts ands specials: girl in a mirror (aus)
comedy: look around you (gbr)
game show: deal or no deal (gbr)
music: gospel in paradiso (nld)
reality show: the apprentice (gbr)
sitcom: extras (gbr)
soap: verliebt in berlin (ger)
variety: friday night project: billie piper (gbr)

social awareness award:
paradise lost (nor)

press prize:
pastewka (ger)

pilot award:
alex fm (ger)

frapa awards:
frapa scripted format award: the nanny
frapa game show format award: deal or no deal
frapa realit format award: the biggest loser

seems ricky gervais does it again.

prangstgrüp makes you smile

prangstgrüp is, well, a group of pranksters. and boy, they are funny. check out their lecture musical, or their libary musical.

daniel clowes: interview

wired interviewed alternative comic book artist/author/screenwriter daniel clowes (read his comic book series eightball, go see his new movie art school confidential soon). read the interview here.