Christo Announces New Project

(Reuters) World famous artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have today announced a new project that is slated to be begin immediately. Responding to U.S. Homeland Defense Secretary Ridge’s call for artists to rally the cause through anti-terrorist art, Christo has received permission to wrap the White House in Washington D.C., using duct tape and plastic sheeting. Much like the artist’s 1995 project “Wrapped Reichstag” in Berlin, “Wrapped White House” will, according to the artists plan, seal the building and those inside. Of the project the artists said, “We are very excited to use our art making methods in the international fight against terrorists. By wrapping the White House we hope to help keep terrorism under wraps, so to speak.” Unlike “Wrapped Reichstag” which was a temporary project, “Wrapped White House” will be the artists’ first permanent work of public art.

100,000 square meters (1,076,000 square feet) of clear high-strength polypropylene plastic, and 15,600 meters (51,181 feet) of silver duct tape, 13.2 cm (4 inch) wide, will be used for the wrapping of the White House. The work will be completed in as little as one week. The artists have contacted other artists across the U.S. who are now in-route to Washington D.C. in order to finish this work in record time. Materials have been provided without charge by the German Government. Recalling the “Wrapped Reichstag,” German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stated, “Wrapping the symbol of German Democracy was a defining moment for the new Germany. Wrapping the White House will likewise be a defining moment as democracy is restored in America.”

Thanks Roger.

Music: Iron Butterfly :: In A Gadda Da Vida

Chickenfat

When I was in elementary school the teacher would often put a record on the Close-n-Play called “Go You Chicken Fat, Go” and we would get up and dancercise to the lyrics, which instructed us to “Push up / every morning / 10 times / not just / now and then / give that chickenfat back to the chickens / and don’t be chicken again.” After a while this song was completely burned into the faraway nether regions of the brain. Like knowing how to ride a bike, I know this song.

At the time I thought that only our class exercised to this song. But it turns out that the record was actually released by the President’s Council on Fitness and distributed to every classroom in the country! As a result, I’m finding that lots of people roughly my age also have the Chickenfat song indelibly burned in. I played it for Amy the other morning and she knew most of the words too though she grew up in the Midwest.

Wonder why youth obesity is an epidemic today? No Chickenfat song. Thanks Defective Yeti.

Speaking of music permanently etched into the crannies of the brain, I love this animation of The Hustle. The hideous font too. Our time was a good time.

Update 2007: Video version from the archives:

Music: Suba :: Abraso

Un-Zen Box

For Valentine’s Day I gave Amy a tiny Zen garden with tiny bag of sand, tiny wooden rake, and tiny rocks.

zenbox_tb.jpg (Click)

The trouble with the mini Zen Garden is that it’s so small that you get frustrated trying to create patterns like the ones David Carradine made in Kung Fu. So you end up either barking at it or losing interest, whichever comes first.

Music: The Smiths :: Sheila Take a Bow

Daily Photo

Want to really get some mileage out of that digital camera of yours? This guy takes a photo of himself every day of his life. The same expressionless gaze. In sickness or in health. Bad hair day or no. Has done so for five years running. Vows to do it for the rest of his life. The irony, he says, is that he won’t live to see the project completed.

Music: Electrelane :: Film Music [Jagz Kooner Mix]

DDT

Was thumbing though National Geographic’s new swimsuit issue at the grocery store tonight — which is very well done, would like to read it more carefully sometime — and came across a picture that blew my mind. A beach in the 1930s with a sandfly problem. To keep the sunbathers from going elsewhere, they decide to spray. The picture is of an old jalopy of a truck driving along the beach spewing immense clouds of white vapor behind it. A painted sign on the side of the truck says in giant letters:


DDT
Powerful insecticide!
Harmless to humans!

Reminds me that when my dad had acne as a teenager in the late 40s, the doctors were blasting his face with radiation weekly, thinking it would vanish his zits. Now he has to be checked yearly for melanoma.

Music: Stereolab :: L’Enfer Des Formes

Advance Knowledge

Dude walks into my office* today looking for Christopher Hitchins, one of the participants in tonight’s debate. Leather motorcycle vest over tie-die shirt, walrus mustache.

“Can you help me find Christopher Hitchins?”

“Did you have an appointment?”

“No, but I’m sure he’ll want to meet me — I’m one of the people who had advance knowledge of 9/11.”

“You should drop him an email and set something up.”

“I don’t touch email. I would never do that.”

“Oh [now realizing what I’m dealing with here]. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

“I’ve known about 9/11 ever since Vietnam. Are you sure you can’t put me in touch with him?”

“I’m sorry.”

Dude walks out.

* It’s not like I’m at the front desk – I work in a half-submerged concrete bunker… people who wander into my office are lost by definition.

Music: Luciano Pavarotti :: Che Gelida Manini

Monowheel

The least-explored, least commercially successful, most fantastical motorized vehicle of all time must be the monowheel. Shown are turn-of-the-century inverted unicycles juxtaposed with modern in-wheel V-8 screamers. Some of these vehicles seem cartoonish and inefficient, others terrifying. The fatal flaw of the genre is the phenomenon of “gerbiling,” wherein the rider gets looped around inside the wheel during breaking or acceleration like a hapless rodent. There’s a great MPEG of a diwheel in action too. Thanks boing-boing.

Weights and Measures

Was reading the FAQ on the California Super Lotto Plus web site, which contains a section “How does the Lottery make sure SuperLotto Plus is completely random?” One part of the answer given is:

At least once a month, each solid rubber ball in all six sets is weighed and measured down to 1/1000 of a gram to ensure consistency in weight and measures.

No wonder random people always win.

Music: Miles Davis :: There’s A Boat That’s Leaving