Not even if a hundred-thousand screeming teens demand it…

(via AP)
Cheap Monday jeans are a hot commodity among young Swedes thanks to their trendy tight fit and low price, even if a few buyers are turned off by the logo: a skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead.

Logo designer Bjorn Atldax says he’s not just trying for an antiestablishment vibe.

“It is an active statement against Christianity,” Atldax told The Associated Press. “I’m not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion.”

The label’s makers say it’s more of a joke, but Atldax insists his graphic designs have a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, a “force of evil” that he blames for sparking wars throughout history.

In more religious countries [such as the Good Ol’ Bible-thumping, Muslim-killing, gay-rights smashing, U S of A], that might raise a furious response, maybe even prompt retailers to drop the brand.

Not in Sweden, a secular country that cherishes its free speech and where churchgoing has been declining for decades.

Cheap Mondays are flying off the shelves at 400 kronor (about $50) a pair. Makers say about 200,000 pairs have been sold since March 2004 - and little attention has been paid to the grinning skull and dark texts such as “Over My Dead Body.”

Even the predominant Lutheran Church of Sweden reacts with a shrug.

Red eye’s suck, but if it saves you a hundred bucks why not do it. Well… one good reason is if the airline you booked shares flight crew with Alaskan Airlines that had 2 aircraft related incidents in as many weeks.

But of course, and as usual, this is pure speculation. Because jetBLUE shares terminals and baggage handling staff with Alaskan Airlines, doesn’t mean the relationship enters the cockpit… that didn’t stop me from repeatedly biting of pieces of fear and nearly choking as I tried to swallow them.

Then, as if I had created some self-fulfilling prophecy, a quarter way into the flight the first attendant announced “Medical crew to G1 now!” and repeated it a few times. Then after a few minutes, “Is there a doctor on the aircraft? If so please come to the front galley area.”

I was sure that some scary shit was going down, but instead of investigating, I calmly fluffed my pillow under my cheek and forced sleep to take hold of my conciousness.

When I awoke to the sounds of the pilot readying the crew for landing, it was as if the whole thing had blown over. The old lady was no longer laying in the middle of the isle, the plain clothed ’sky police’ had returned to his seat, and an almost two-year-old boy was upchucking into his mom’s lap.

“You said you wanted my hassock lady, now I’ll have to kill you …”

Post title: Sewing Hassock with Storage - $10

Me (10:30PM Thursday): like the hossack. will pick-up tomorrow if still available. where in queens? anything else?

Seller (8:30AM Friday): if someone can’t pick up a phone, and can only correspond by email, they are just more of a nuisance than a buyer (49 out of 50 emailers never call)…

Seller (10:00AM Friday): to check out my other items, go to the search craigslist, type in my phone number with the dashes (718-xxx-xxxx) and scroll down to SALE/WANTED…you will see all my items. If you want anything call, since I won’t be checking my emails till midnight friday night.

Seller (11:30AM Friday): so, it’s now friday…where are you??? the hassock is waiting…..see, emailers are not serious buyers…

Me (11:45AM Friday): dude, you seriously need to chill out. it’s noon, i work, i did not say what time i would arrive or even if i would arrive. i merely showed interest in your item. at this rate i don’t think i’ll be driving out to queens to meet with you in-person, the e-mail ‘conversation’ has been enough.

thanks anyway!

I can’t say I’m angry with the MTA Union for going ahead with the planned strike. On the contrary, I have not been severely inconvenienced and so I tend to side with the transit workers who have the balls to stick it to the city officials.

This of course is not the popular opinion. I’ve overheard random angry cell phone threats, “If I see and MTA worker, I swear I’m gonna kill him”, and witnessed wanton acts of frustration, one guy stuck in traffic drove his Mercedes over a two-foot high island, leaving much of the underside on the pavement.

Most don’t see the advantages of the strike. Someone should do a report on how much cardio-vascular exercise otherwise lazy New Yorkers are getting as a result. Right in time for the second largest feasting holiday of the year. Or the number of New Yorkers that have been forced to make new friends as evidenced on one news program where a cheeky driver saw nothing wrong in admitting that he had never spoken to his neighbor prior to soliciting there presence in his car in order to cross into Manhattan.

All in all I hope that the MTA and the city will soon come to some resolution. Until then I’m quite comfortable walking the ten or so minutes it takes to get to the mouth of the Williamsburg Bridge and waiting to make up numbers in a car trying to get into the city.

Santa de-palindromized spells Satan…

(via Reuters)
Eight years after Communist Cuba restored December 25 as a national holiday in a gesture to Pope John Paul II, there is not much Christmas spirit to show for it.

Christmas decorations are mostly to be found in the more expensive shops and tourist spots, and there is no Santa Claus waving at children on the street corner.

Santa, viewed as a symbol of capitalist consumer society, is banned from storefront displays and can only be seen in private homes.

Cubans have not taken to saying “Merry Christmas,” which is not surprising since the atheist state had the holiday crossed off the calendar from 1969 to 1997.

Most use “Happy Holidays” as their greeting and tend to see New Year’s Eve as a bigger seasonal holiday. That’s when President Fidel Castro’s government celebrates the anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power in 1959 and authorities put on street fairs with salsa music and cheap beer.

I re-ee-ly wa-ah-n-ted to-uh se-ee-ee thi-i-is vi-de-o-uh bu-uh-ut it ke-eh-ept on po-oh-ping.

(via 4AD)
Minotaur Shock is getting into the festive spirit by making new goodies available online.

First up is the animated video for “Somebody Once Told Me It Existed But They Never Found It”. It’s the product of hours of patient computerized toil, and it’s been incorporated into the updated, all-singing, all-dancing Minotaur Shock desktop toy.

When no one’s looking people can do amazing things! Especially that nutty techno-juggling guy…

(via SHOWstudio)
AMAZE ME
At last the winners of the London leg of the Amaze Me project have been announced! From the many excellent submissions: fashion stylist Isabella Blow chose Joe Richards for his striking dust sheet/binliner design; Creative Director of M&C Saatchi Graham Fink chose Ben Stevenson’s amazing take on individual branding; Terry Jones chose ten winners (all of whom will be offered an internship at i-D); Tim Marlow chose Jonny Stearn for his incredible juggling act; Geoff Travis chose GiGi Von GiGolo owing to her sheer ambition and Head of Storm Models Sarah Doukas chose photographer Lou Mensah’s model Sarah from a submission originally intended for Terry Jones!

Well, nobody said the panelists weren’t allowed to deviate from their own briefs…

A smart cute funny sweet website sure to rot your teeth, ears, eyes and brain… yeah, especially your brain…

(via RES)
Best Short Film [0f 2005] Flesh, directed by Edouard Salier

For those who have not seen Flesh, it is a French short film that fuses the disparate elements of softcore pornography and the 9/11 attacks to highly disturbing effect.

Salier and his Strikeback Films team worked for months in Paris to generate a completely CG New York cityscape where all building surfaces are covered in writhing female pornographic imagery.

The attacks on the city itself are from multiple flat black planes that don’t stop with the World Trade Center, laying waste to the entire city.

The film made its North American premiere at RESFEST New York on September 15 and managed to offend at least half the audience that night; throughout the RESFEST tour this film set tongues wagging and brows furrowing.

A still image from the short film so offended one Toronto-based commercials editor that he threatened a boycott of the entire festival.

While in many ways audacious and crass, Flesh was still a bold and decidely French statement on this
cataclysmic event, and was one of the most important short films of 2005.

For those who missed it at RESFEST, it has been added to the short film slate of Sundance 2006.

That’s it for the holiday festivities. El Blogatisto will return to normally scheduled drivel tomorrow.

(via Insound)
BECK ‘Guerolito ‘ (Interscope)
Beck presents Guerolito a fully reworked version of his latest album, featuring remixes by the Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock, the Dust Brothers’ John King and Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada, amongst others. Beck had this to say about about Guerolito, “I just wanted a reason to type “Guerolito”. Although I like Guero, I prefer many of the remixed songs to the originals.”

(via Artkrush)
Though in technology and format the Flog resembles a commonplace blog (first-person, diaristic narrative; complete archives; infinite scroll; lots of pictures), in character it is much more like travel writing, chronicling an artist’s movement through the landscape of the LA art world using a combination of photographs, citations, and personal impressions personal impressions an artist’s movement through the landscape of the LA art world. As an accomplished artist herself — her own work is linked from the site and demonstrates the same penchant for eclecticism and visual puns as her curation of the Flog coverage — Fette (a talent this fresh requires no surname) is a source who can be trusted, a filter who pronounces no judgment beyond what is interesting and what is not. This distinction is what makes her work a resource, not just a journal.

(via Reuters)
Looking very MJ
Rock ‘n’ roll iconoclast Prince [formerly TAFKAP], who spent years clashing with the music establishment, has signed a recording deal with the world’s largest record company, proudly noting on Tuesday that he wrote up his own agreement without legal advice.

Not so funny
A New York man who claims to have been Dave Chappelle’s personal manager for nine months has sued the comedian for more than $850,000, a sum allegedly owed as commission on deals including the ill-fated renewal of “Chappelle’s Show” on Comedy Central.

(via TGMC)
Thirty men under the age of thrity grow region-specific facial hair for thirty days… and of course it’s all documented on digital film.

(via TNL)
Polar bears are so warm, and cuddly, and… dead? Watch the new Green Peace ad here.

It’s obviously time for the Rev. Al Green to re-re-re-release a greatest hits album. R&B’s most famous secular sermonizer was referenced in two separate emails, from two separate music record label genres.

First we hear that Cat Power’s new The Greatest album features band members from Green’s hit-making past, then are reminded that Anthony Hamilton channels the soul of the still-living Green throughout his sophomore effort.

But istead of dusting of old singles for re-mastering, Al is busy promoting his new full-length Everything’s OK CD that was produced by himself and Willie Mitchell. The disc features 12 “brand new recordings”.

(from Matador)
Recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, [The Greatest]features the incomparable line-up of Mabon ‘Teenie’ Hodges (guitar), Leroy ‘Flick’ Hodges (bass) and Steve Potts (drums), best known as Memphis Rhythm. This is the band responsible for much of the sound of Hi Records and Al Green’s most famous albums, except this time they’re backing Chan Marshall on her own original songs. The band was assembled by writer Robert Gordon and recorded by Stu Sikes.

Check out some of the music at the advance site!

Actually don’t bother, unless you want to stare at the album’s graphic while hearing a few previews.

(from Giant Step)
…The young singer previously penned hits for Sunshine Anderson, Donell Jones and has worked with a variety of artists including D’Angelo, Angie Stone, Tupac, Eve and Nappy Roots. Most recently, the soulman sang on Jadakiss’ Top 5 hit “Why?” [the rap song that questions “Why did Bush knock down the towers?” among other things]

Anthony Hamilton continues to ride on the formula that made Comin’ From Where I’m From a success story: Honest and raw songs, vintage vocals and catchy melodies. Channeling the old-school sounds of Bill Withers and Al Green, Hamilton sings songs of love-life relationships and perspectives on emotionally rich tunes like “Pass Me Over,” “Sista Big Bones” and the first single “Can’t Let Go.” …

And to those who don’t see the importance of Al’s brand of gospel the Rev says …

I’ve got people in the church saying, ‘That’s a secular song,’ and I’m saying, Yeah, but you’ve got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to be anything other than spiritual. You’ve got to live those days, too!” says Green, clearly revitalized by his latest recording. “Everybody still needs love, needs happiness in the family, needs to keep the kids on track. -Rev. Al Green