Thirteen-year-old father Alfie Patten and Sinéad O'Connor on the US cover of The Lion and the Cobra. (t/y Anthony) 

His name is Kyle, and he *is* Time-Warner Cable... which makes Time-Warner Cable totally gay! Ok, that's not really fair. I mean, despite my initial impression, I suppose that Kyle Reilly, the new face of Time Warner Cable (at least in the LA area), could be totally straight. In fact, I know quite a few totally straight guys in Hollywood who remind me a lot of Kyle and they're also actors! What do you think?

Two new variations on Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, have just been published. The first, co-authored by Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is now available at Amazon. The second is a hilarious (zombie-free) retelling of the original story using only facebook-style status updates. (t/y Tom) 

*UPDATE* - Seth Grahame-Smith is currently shopping the movie rights to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies around Hollywood, so it may be coming to a theater near you!

One of Hollywood's coolest amenities is the restored Egyptian Theatre, home of the American Cinematheque. I went for a screening a few weeks ago with a friend who is getting her PhD in film rhetoric to see a selection of (mostly silent) films made by the late Stan Brakhage. The works were chosen by his wife, Marilyn, who was also present for a Q&A afterwards. Although the films were beautiful and certainly groundbreaking for their time, I felt weird and uncomfortable sitting for so long in a room full of film students and professors in absolute silence. Also, the students and professors who asked questions (or made comments) afterward were absurdly pretentious.

Anyway, I'm glad we went because that's how I discovered Rick Castro's "Fetish Film Night" screenings. We saw that Inserts (1974) would be shown on the following Friday, so we made plans to go again. (Rick owns the Antebellum Gallery around the corner from WOW and the Egyptian, so it's all in the neighborhood!) I'd never seen Inserts (I don't think too many people have), but it's actually a brilliant film. Richard Dreyfus plays a once-great silent film director, now alcoholic and impotent, unable to adapt to the talkies, languishing in a Hollywood mansion making cheap porno flicks. It's like a filmed play as it all takes place on a single set and there are only five cast-members. The director of Inserts, John Byrum, as well as two members of the cast (Victoria Cartwright and Stephen Davies) were in attendance and did a satisfyingly non-pretentious Q&A afterwards.

Rick Castro's next "Fetish Film Night" screening is tonight! He will be showing The Baby, one of the few to present the subject of ABs (adult babies). You can read the summary and details about the screening here on filmradar.com.

You may have seen my post about the hotel portion of Rem Koolhaas' CCTV complex in Beijing set ablaze by a stray firework. Here are some photos showing the aftermath of the fire. The building looks completely trashed. A friend from architecture school suggested that Rem would probably prefer the building be left this way, scorched and unrepaired. Rem's preference aside, considering the current state of the global economy, this hulking post-apocalyptic mega-sculpture may stand untouched, charred and decaying for several months, if not years.

The gorgeous and talented French artist and novelist, Alizé Meurisse, has just revealed the cover art for Pete Doherty's upcoming solo album, Grace/Wastelands in an interview with NME. Alizé has collaborated with Pete in the past, creating the cover for Babyshambles' 2006 release, The Blinding E.P., and their 2007 album, Shotter's Nation.  She also took many of the "behind the scenes" photos featured in Beg, Steal, or Borrow. In her interview with NME, Meurisse says, "For me, the inspiration was Oscar Wilde's 'Salomé' – it's the first play he wrote directly in French. I gave that painting to Peter (since he's got a song called 'Salome' [that features on the album]) and he added some of his blood to it."

Pete is actually quite prolific with his own blood art, and NME is now reporting that a taxicab driver has sold one of Pete's blood paintings to cover the £1,800 debt that Pete owed him. The print is viewable online at arrowgalleries.com.

 You'll have to wait until the album "drops" on March 16 to see the rest of Alizé's art work and hear all the tracks, but until then NME blog has three pre-released songs for you to download.

Aside from working with Pete Doherty on his album artwork, Alizé is working on her second novel. Her first, Pâle Sang bleu, was critically acclaimed in France, but sadly (for me and other pathetic monolinguals) there is no English translation available.

The yet-to-open Mandarin Hotel, an integral structure in Beijing's new CCTV Headquarters complex, was set ablaze last night by a stray firework from the nearby Chinese Lantern festival. See footage of the blaze here. Designed by Euro-starchitect Rem Koolhaas' firm, OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the completion of the CCTV Complex has been highly anticipated by architecture fans worldwide. No word yet on how the fire will affect the opening schedule. As of this morning, the hotel portion appears to have burned to the ground.

Shepard Fairey, guerrilla artist and creator of the iconic Obama "Hope" image, as well as the art for recently deceased indie 103.1, has been arrested on tagging charges in Boston on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art to DJ at the opening party for his solo exhibition, “Supply and Demand.” This is the third major arrest of high profile guerrilla artists in a week. Smear and seven other members of the guerrilla art collective known as MTA (Metropolitan Transit Assassins) were picked up after creating the largest tag ever in Los Angeles, and PosterBoy got picked up in NYC on his way to an art opening in SoHo. Who's next?

Shepard was released hours after being arrested. According to the LA Times article, the warrants that were the basis for the arrest were only issued January 24, and they are based on the police's determination that he had tagged property in two locations with his street art campaign featuring Andre the Giant and the word "obey." Fairey's attourney, Jeffrey Weisner stated, "Shepard Fairey was completely unaware that there were any warrants for his arrest. Had he known, he would have resolved all such issues before the opening of his art exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston." I wonder if, like in PosterBoy's case, there exists a distinct possibility that someone else tagged the property using Shepard's iconic imagery.

Shepard Fairey remains in a legal dispute with the AP for his use of a copyrighted AP photograph as the basis for his famous Obama Hope image.

Every insomniac knows Vince, the fast-talking infomercial superstar who became famous selling ShamWOW. He appears to be capitalizing on his new-found fame, selling us the SlapChop and amping up his high energy signature style with salacious comments like, "You're gonna love my nuts."

If you've flown on Delta airlines within the last year, then you're already familiar with the stunning Katherine Lee, an Atlanta-based flight attendant who stars in Delta's flight safety video. Some call her 'Deltalina' (Delta + Angelina Jolie). I'll concur with the Angelina Jolie comparison, but my first take on her was 'Marcia LePore' (Marcia Cross + Amanda LePore). In any case, this woman really grabs your attention. She's got the cutest accent ever. Check out her infamous finger wag at 1:50!

UPDATE: I just realized that she looks A LOT like Nick San Pedro's portrait of Jeffree Star (on the left) from the diptych of Jeffree and Chris Crocker on display in the WOW Storefront Art Gallery. Today's the last day of the show, so come by for our closing party, especially if you couldn't get into the crazy opening party that we had. 

Henry Matyjewicz, an artist also known as 'Poster Boy,' was arrested at a SoHo gallery space shortly before he was to attend an art opening there. However, as the New York Times reports, there is some doubt about the identity of the actual perpetrator of the crimes alledgedly committed. A man identifying himself as 'Henry' called the NY Times and stated:

What is it with all the arrests of artists? Is this really a good use of our taxpayer dollars? Aren't there at least a few people getting away with serious crimes in NYC while the police, lawyers, and judges spend our resources tracking down artists at gallery openings and arresting them for messing with some company's outdoor advertising campaign?

Just last week, LA street artist 'Smear' and seven others were arrested for tagging (with a graffito of record-breaking proportion) the vast, otherwise bare (except for the other tags) concrete walls of the LA River. This massive work is located in a vast, desolate industrial zone near downtown. Again, is this really the kind of thing we should be spending $3.4 million to "clean up?" Is it really that inconceivable to just let street artists do their work?

Earlier today a friend informed me that the globally renowned TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference has moved to Long Beach for 2009 and is happening this week. He suggested we look into tickets, so I did, and they're $6000 each, and they're sold out, so we'll be watching the videos for free online like everyone else. My disappointment about not being able to attend in person rapidly changed to relief when I came across this article from switched.com about how Bill Gates released a swarm of live mosquitoes into the crowd of "tech elite" gathered at TED this year. Now, I get that he and his wife are big into solving malaria, but now I'm wondering whether that was just some elaborate cover story for Bill's secret life as a villainous super-scientist. Now that Bill has some free time on his hands and is stepping back from Microsoft, I guess he's got some time to pursue his diabolical fantasies, wherein he dominates the globe taking down his enemies with swarms of wifi-enabled genetically-engineered mosquito spybots. I mean really - WHAT WAS IN THAT JAR? Did anyone actually capture one of these mosquitos for testing?

Antony and the Johnsons just came out with a beautiful new video for their song, 'Epilepsy is Dancing.' You can watch it here if the embed doesn't work for you. From their site:

(t/y Brad via Facebook via Youtube)

UPDATE: Stephen Saban already told us all about this ages ago! However, six days after Stephen's post, youtube removed the video because they considered it "indecent." Antony and the Johnsons' site says, "Youtube has removed the Epilepsy is Dancing video because it is supposedly indecent! You can still see it here. Hope noone at Youtube goes to a dance performance in the near future. God forbid they might see someone in a leotard!" Anyway youtube put it back - so enjoy this video wherever you watch it.

Click the pink glittery unicorn on the left to understand why God made the Internets.

You can actually cornify any website by dragging the following link to your bookmarks tab: Cornify

Seven alleged members of one of LA's most prolific and notorious tagging crews, MTA (Metropolitan Travel Assassins), have been arrested, including "Smear" (aka Cristian Gheorghiu), whose work has been sold in LA art galleries. MTA tagged the LA River near downtown (pictured above). The piece measures about 15m x 500m, and is probably LA's largest graffito. See MTA's online gallery of work at 50mm Los Angeles, and some of Smear's work as shown at Han Cholo in Echo Park.

The thing that gets me about this story is that the Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the cost to the taxpayers to "clean up" the MTA tag on the LA River is $3.7 million (taxpayer) dollars. For what? To restore the concrete-entombed LA River bed to its former glory? This article also describes the "graffiti artists" (they use quotes) as "brazen" and "destuctive." Maybe so, but I actually *do* use the LA River to go biking, and I really enjoy the graffiti art.

UPDATE: This post also makes me think about Nikki Shamdassani (aka DJ LadyTribe) from the Rock of Love Bus. Remember - she was recently D-Listed's Hot Slut of the Week? She was apparently a big time graffiti artist in LA which landed her in jail. Afterwards, she got huge breast implants in order to keep herself out of trouble, because she said she'd have a harder time climbing over fences and under bridges with her massive breasts. Check out this amazing animated gift of the lovely DJ LadyTribe:

When I heard about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive supercollider built by CERN to study quantum physics, I was excited about the technology (especially the new super-hi-speed Internet "grid" created to handle the massive amount of data to be produced by the system), but I was also slightly worried. The scientists at CERN actually referred to the day they planned to turn the system on as "Red Button Day," and many people were quite terrified by the possibility that the LHC could inadvertently produce a stable black hole that could grow and rapidly consume the planet (see illustration above). Some scientists even filed a lawsuit to delay the activation of the system.

But then I watched this adorable geeky rap video about the LHC. It made me feel better much better about the whole thing. They said the LHC would only make tiny black holes that would persist for milliseconds and evaporate harmlessly. Red Button Day came and went as CERN activated the LHC at the end of last summer, but there were problems and they quickly shut it off again. Now, a new study by Roberto Casadio of the University of Bologna, and Sergio Fabi and Benjamin Harms of the University of Alabama, says that the black holes created by the LHC could last for more than a second (contrary to previous CERN claims). You can read the eight-page report as a PDF here: On the Possibility of Catastrophic Black Hole Growth in the Warped Brane-World Scenario at the LHC

Quoting from their conclusion:

Helpful hackers rigged LED road signs in Austin, TX to warn motorists of the coming zombocalypse. Nazi zombies were apparently terrorizing citizens in the area, so some clever kids figured out an efficient way to spread the news by rigging the computerized road signs to display cautionary messages like, "Zombies in Area, Run!" and "Nazi Zombies!!! Run!"

(Austin News, KXAN.com)

Although I don't keep jellyfish in any of my aquariums (jellyfish can't typically live in a home hobbyist's aquarium), I've been reading a lot about them in the news. I haven't made an aquablog post in a while - and this article in The Telegraph about "immortal" jellyfish swarming the world's oceans really caught my attention.

Jellyfish are Cnidarians, members of the phylum that also includes corals and anemones. These "immortal" jellyfish are hydrozoans, and as such, they start life as little polyp colonies attached to the seafloor. Once a polyp grows to reach a certain stage, it "hatches" a jellyfish (this is also known as "the medusa stage"), which then floats freely in the ocean. Soon, the jellyfish becomes sexually mature and gets together with others to produce larva that will develop into new polyp colonies. After reproducing, most jellyfish die, completing the circle of life...

But that's where T. nutricula is different! This jellyfish is biologically immortal. Once it becomes sexually mature and reproduces, unlike all the other jellyfish (and every other animal we know about), T. nutricula actually reverts to its polyp stage. It literally grows young again — from an adult jellyfish back to a baby polyp form, and starts its life anew.

While there are obvious practical implications in figuring out just how these jellyfish manage to reverse their aging processes, there are also obvious problems with animals that reproduce but don't die.  Get to work scientists!

Yeah sure, the Downtown Independent movie theater is reopening is showing a double feature by Japanese director Akihiro Kitamura: Porno and I'll Be There With You (LA Weekly's Pick of the Week). That's all great, but the lead here is that there will be an "Air Sex Contest." As explained on the flyer,

Bret is concerned that the band might not get sex and get paid, but Jermaine makes a convincing argument that both are indeed possible, considering the strong popular appeal of his sugar lumps.

This gem came from the first episode of the second season of HBO's hilarious comedy series, Flight of the Conchords, which premiered in the US and Canada one week ago today.