Street scene double-take

Julian Banksy will you sign my chest?

Banksy is always jacking my steez

We’re big fans of street art around these parts, and in fact we’d love to show these parts to Banksy or Jules any time they’re ready (it may take a few whiskies), and we are not so big fans of the late Margaret Thatcher, may she burn in Hell forever, so it is only right and natural that when we saw this glorious and righteous work of street art, we wanted to blog it immediately, but we are also hella lazy, so we got only as far as sticking it on Tumblr to use later. Well, it’s like Joni said, maaaaan, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, for lo, it is gone entirely. Behold the creation, and the desecration, and realize this all happened over the span of three days.

Burn in Hell, Maggie

Burn in Hell, Maggie

That was then, almost 20 hours ago. This is now.

Burn in Hell Maggie, Leake Street, London, UK. 12th April 2013. The 'Burn in Hell Maggie' graffiti has been painted over by British Rail as it was deemed to cause offence, which is against their guidelines for the graffiti on Leake Street.

Burn in Hell Maggie, Leake Street, London, UK. 12th April 2013. The ‘Burn in Hell Maggie’ graffiti has been painted over by British Rail as it was deemed to cause offence, which is against their guidelines for the graffiti on Leake Street.

Even in death, Margaret Thatcher is an enemy of art, an opponent of free speech, and a brittle opportunist who, despite her Iron Lady facade, could not endure the free voices of the people she purportedly served.  It’s bizarre that Toby Young, a supporter of hers, says, apropos of the “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” furor, “One of the costs of living in a free society is that you’re going to be offended from time to time by your fellow citizens and it would be an insult to the memory of Margaret Thatcher, a warrior in the cause of liberty, if the BBC banned the song on grounds of “taste” or “decency”.”

Um. Actually, no.

It would be exactly what she would have demanded. Am I truly the only one that remembers that she banned this song from the nation, a perfectly-crafted song from a chart-topping star which would surely have done well had it not been banned for being nothing more nor less than a scathing, and perfectly accurate, critique of Margaret Thatcher. She forced broadcasters to dub in the voice of the Sinn Fein leader, lest they hear his true voice and be somehow enchanted into sympathizing with The Enemy (one thinks she read too many Irish fairy stories as a child)? This is no champion of artistic freedom. This is no Iron Lady. This is a person who can’t bear to hear from others the things that she knows to be true about herself.

Ding.

Dong.

Here’s a better song.

The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies
original lyrics via Pete Wylie’s Myspace

THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES[a party song]

WHEN MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THERE WILL BE NO TEARS
SAVE YOUR SORROW FOR THE PEOPLE THAT SHE STOMPED FOR YEARS
SHE TORTURED NORTH OF WATFORD WITH A VICIOUS HATE
SO WHEN MARGARET THATCHER DIES
LET’S CELEBRATE
and i say

HEY HO
HERE WE GO
TELL EVERYBODY THAT WE KNOW
SHE’S GONE!
COLOUR ME WITH LOVE
BUILD A BONFIRE
PAINT THE SKY
COME ON DOWN
I’LL TELL YOU WHY.
SHE’S GONE!
AND NOBODY CRIES…

THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES

YOU WANNA GIVE HER A STATE FUNERAL?
WELL THAT’S JUST GREAT.
IRONIC,COS SHE LEFT US IN A SORRY STATE
I PROTEST!
IT’S MONEY WASTED
BUILD A SCHOOL INSTEAD
THE ONLY REASON THAT I’LL GO IS TO MAKE SURE SHE’S DEAD…

HEY HO
HERE WE GO
TELL EVERYBODY THAT WE KNOW
SHE’S GONE!
COLOUR ME WITH LOVE
BUILD A BONFIRE
PAINT THE SKY
COME ON DOWN
I’LL TELL YOU WHY.
SHE’S GONE!
AND NOBODY CRIES…

THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES

IF YOU SAY MONEY’S ALL THAT MATTERS
THEN YOU’LL PAY A PRICE
DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU DO
YOU’LL KILL TO GET A SLICE
COS THE WICKED WITCH OF WESTMINSTER
LEFT AN EVIL CURSE.
NOW IT’S DOWN TO THATCHER’S CHILDREN
AND IT’S GETTING WORSE!

HEY HO
HERE WE GO
TELL EVERYBODY THAT WE KNOW
SHE’S GONE!
COLOUR ME WITH LOVE

BUILD A BONFIRE
PAINT THE SKY
COME ON DOWN
I’LL TELL YOU WHY.
SHE’S GONE!
AND NOBODY CRIES…

THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES
THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES

SO DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE DIE,
DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE DIE

YEAH DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE DIE
DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE,DIE DIE

THE DAY THAT MARGARET THATCHER DIES…

hat tip to Mobilizing Mouse

Hump Day Unicorn Chaser: The Wisdom of Bob Ross

Bob Ross is your Unicorn Chaser for today

Bob Ross is your Unicorn Chaser for today

Didn’t we used to have a tradition on the blog where, on Wednesdays, we posted a delightful little brain cleanser, the Unicorn Chaser? Yes, yes we did. What happened to it? Shit happened, boys and girls, as it is wont to do however little fiber you eat. But today we are bringing it back with these words of wisdom from that great hippie master Bob Ross.

Bee Artistic

Aganetha Dyck

Aganetha Dyck

Tired of those hideous Capidomonte figurines your wicked fairy godmother gave you as a vindictive wedding present? Well, we’ve got a solution for you: turn them into avant-garde art the Aganetha Dyck way!

Dyck is a Canadian artist who takes ordinary items like, say, loathesomely twee statuary, puts them in beehives, and lets the bees do their magic, turning the sows ears into veritable silk purses of post-postmodernism. Oh, like you were using them anyway: with this project, you can probably get some kind of farming grant for the bees, plus think of the millions you can make with one sweep through a flea market and a couple of months of waiting!

Don’t say I never did nuthin’ for ya!

Ja,n; Just Act, Naturally

JAN: Just Act, Naturally

JAN: Just Act, Naturally

Just feast your starvéd eyes on this vision of natural, spontaneous loveliness. She is Ja,n: Just Act, Naturally; she used to be called Jan: Just Act Naturally, but she changed it because…reasons. And she has a Tumblr.

Would it come as a total shock to you that she teaches acting? Look at her: it was either that or interpretive healing dance.

Emmy Speech Master Class Announcement!

My acting master class is dedicated to the most important performance of an actor’s career: the Emmy Awards acceptance speech.

My much sought-after class is back by popular demand!

Meets twice weekly for four weeks. Cost: $899.00. Begins October 5th. Cash only, no personal checks.

To register, email JAN.JustActNaturally@gmail.com and tell me why you want to be in the class. Admission is based on strength of essay and knowledge of my work.

You can’t have EMMY without EM-ME!

Well, who wouldn’t want to take that workshop? Careful, no stampeding: the line forms on the left. “By popular demand,” yeah, I’ve used that one myself!

But who would spend that kind of money without taking a careful look and doing due diligence and other alliterative investigative thingies. So let us go deep inside the Emmy Speech Master Class and see the hidden truth about delivering a speech in full “I WANT TO LIVE” mode while at the same time remembering to thank your lawyer.

Invest in your future! You never know when you’ll need the assistance of a grateful lawyer.

As someone on Twitter said, “Every day I’m not Parker Posey is a failure.”

Why Not?

Keep Calm and Pretend it's Not Monday

Keep Calm and Pretend it’s Not Monday

So it’s not Wednesday. It feels like it: I’ve already blown through half my work hours allowed for the week at the Daily Dot and a fat lot of good it did me so it’s time for a little break.

Welcome to Honorary Hump Day.

Here’s a great video from our old friend Mark Day, who made a lightning visit to Burning Man (not that we’re jellus) and is now looking more Californian than we’ve ever seen him. Congratulations, you’ve made a nearly full recovery from your Hebridean upbringing. Stay till the end for bonus AWWWWWW.

Why the nose? Well, we’re glad you asked.