art appreciators unappreciated

Hoodie art 

The security guys at the Lowry centre are obviously not Tories; they don’t seem to want to hug these hoodies. They’re far more focused on preventing them from entering the public gallery to view the art their parents paid taxes for them to be able to see.

How fortunate for us that, in amongst the various hoodlum accoutrements, they had a hidden camera and microphone.

Armed with camera phones and a tape recorder, the Salford Star team sent a group of lads to the Lowry centre. “We won’t last two minutes,” was the teens’ prediction.

“They’ve got to let you in – it’s a public building, paid for by your parents … of course they’ll let you in,” responded the Star. “They’re talking all the time about how they want to reach out to ‘young people in the community’…”

Here’s what happened…(follwed by a rather glitchy slideshow, with decent-quality audio accompaniment)

Afterwards, the Star spoke to the six lads again about their experience
Josh:
I knew they were going to kick us out straight away, because we are a local group.

Would you ever go back?
Carl:
No, because it’s rubbish

What did you think about the Lowry’s attitude towards you?
Kane:
It was really bad, just because we had our hoods on.
Rees: They said it wasn’t open to the public and it was.

Do you get treated like that all the time?
Rees:
It happens everywhere.

Do your parents pay council tax that funds the Lowry?
Carl:
Yes – they shouldn’t have to pay towards it if we’re not allowed in.

the Communist Manifesto, by Disney

and via BoingBoing. Please try to overlook, or at least laugh at, the fact that the narrator pronounces it “Boozhwazie.”

Displaying a broad range of Golden Age Hollywood animation, Manifestoon is a homage to the latent subversiveness of cartoons. Though U.S. cartoons are usually thought of as conveyors of capitalist ideologies of consumerism and individualism, Drew observes: “Somehow as an avid childhood fan of cartoons, these ideas were secondary to a more important lesson—that of the ‘trickster’ nature of many characters as they mocked, outwitted and defeated their more powerful adversaries. In the classic cartoon, brute strength and heavy artillery are no match for wit and humor, and justice always prevails. For me, it was natural to link my own childhood concept of subversion with an established, more articulate version [Marx and EngelsCommunist Manifesto]. Mickey running over the globe has new meaning in today’s mediascape, in which Disney controls one of the largest concentrations of media ownership in the world”

thanksgiving prayer: William S. Burroughs

One of the greatest pieces of American political criticism of the late 20th Century. I urge you to listen carefully, and repeatedly, particularly as the American Thanksgiving approaches, and to ponder the truths and untruths of Burroughs’ powerful statement.

America’s funniest home photography: with voting!

Not here. Here. I’m far too lazy to run polls!

Here, via Fark, are a few samples from The Funniest‘s thread of the funniest images on the Internet. There are some old standbys like the Jedi Squirrels, which was a top post on WordPress for at least a month, but there are also some fun new ones, such as these which I have heartlessly ripped off to give you a taste of the delights which await you in the original thread here.

With or without you. Who knew you were a U2 boy!

 

Lenin Sinks One

 

the invisible bike. Is that from Wonder Woman?

Canada-US relations

Heartlessly stolen from The Infomaniac, and saying what oft was felt, but ne’er so well expressed.

I'm with Stupid