Recently, we discovered a wonderful collaboration between perennial tough-guy Vinnie Jones and The British Heart Foundation, which is airing TV advertisements starring the actor to raise awareness about proper CPR form. The move came after a study showed that nearly 50% of Brits are unsure about what to do if someone has a cardiac arrest, but we think everyone could use a little reminder (no kissing). Inspired by Jones’s video, we’ve collected a series of informative celebrity how-tos and informational videos, whether funny or serious, produced or off the cuff, on everything from dance moves to changing a tire to proper etiquette. Click through to take a look, and by all means, get ready to learn something.
A post Jenny Craig (sorry, Jenny) Mariah Carey paid The Rosie Show a visit yesterday. The pop diva opened her talk show appearance by arriving on a giant, suspended disco-glittery moon. This is the same woman who played her own 1995 live performance of “Fantasy” during the birth of her new twins Moroccan and Monroe so they would be born to the sound of applause. (Yes, really.) The singer’s awkward lunar landing calls to mind many celebrity talk show appearances where the stars veered off topic — sometimes avoiding it completely — and humiliated themselves in front of the world with oddball behavior and confusing conversation. Click through to revisit some seriously weird celebrity talk show moments, and let us know who you’d add to the list below. Read More »
Christen Carter has been making buttons for bands, artists, and whoever else needs a good button since 1995. Her first customer, picked up while she was learning the trade abroad in England, was indie band Guided by Voices, and she’s just gotten bigger from there. Her company, Busy Beaver Button Company, now makes millions of buttons for clients like Missy Elliot, Bumble and Bumble, Threadless, Adidas, and Burger King. Not content with simply producing quality buttons, Carter has also become a serious collector of vintage buttons, and recently launched an online button museum to show off some of her amazing finds. Click through to see a few of our favorites — from the lovely to the saucy to the serious — and then check out Carter’s online museum for even more.
We were excited to see the conversation our female punk icons post generated, finding relief in the fact that while Rolling Stone may have overlooked these women, our readers certainly haven’t. Unfortunately, punk rock isn’t the only genre in which women have been notoriously sidelined — often, a funk album’s only female presence is its scantily clad cover model. When pressed, true funk aficionados can name a few women who brought the funk but, more often than not, Chaka Khan is the only artist who gets credit for her contribution. While we love our Chaka, there are plenty of other ladies who tore the roof off the sucker, so we’ve compiled a list of 10 women who should be in every funk fan’s collection. As always, this is in no way a definitive list, merely a launching pad for further investigation.
Here’s the deal: It’s the Wednesday before Father’s Day. You need to get your present to dad in the mail stat, but you haven’t even found out yet. Since it’s probably too late to order one of the items from our gift guide, why not go down to the music store and thoughtfully pick out an album you think your old man might like? Instead of resorting to yet another Beatles box set, we think it’s high time to get Dad interested in something new. So, after the jump, we’ve put together a quick guide to finding a current indie-rock band your father will enjoy, based on the ’60s and ’70s acts he loves best.
Our post earlier this month about songs that should never be covered again got us thinking about the other great source of musical clichédom — overused samples. Unlike some old-school curmudgeonly types, we have nothing against sampling per se; indeed, the rise of sample-based music has arguably been the most important musical development of the past three decades or so. But here’s the thing — the inherently creative thing about using a sample is how you use it. If you’d been the first person to spot the potential of the Amen break or the synth melody from “Trans-Europe Express,” and the first to use it in an interesting and creative manner, then you’d have deserved all the acclaim that came your way. If, however, you’re the 57835532th producer to use the same “idea,” then there’s a problem. With that in mind, ten samples we’re sick of hearing are after the jump.
Just this week, Ja Rule turned himself in to start a 2 -year jail sentence connected with a 2007 crime, which has gotten us thinking. Maybe it’s just us, but musicians seem to land themselves in a little bit more trouble than people of other professions. Maybe it’s because they’re living the high life, thinking they can get away with it all, or maybe they’re just negatively influenced by their surroundings, but we think it probably has something to do with the same personality trait that makes them want to be performers in the first place. Just a theory, though. In any event, we were inspired to dig up a few vintage mugshots of famous musicians, many of which are actually quite beautiful in and of themselves, although that could just be Sinatra’s good looks shining through. Click through for our round-up of vintage musician mugshots, and let us know what you think in the comments!
There’s no one less rock ‘n roll than Santa Claus — or so it would seem. And yet, everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Type O Negative has put out Christmas music. Holiday concerts are also pretty popular. All of which means it isn’t terribly surprising to learn how many musicians have found themselves dressed as jolly, old St. Nick. After the jump, we’ve dug up a slew of photos featuring Nirvana, Cyndi Lauper, Marilyn Manson, and many more — including music’s most conspicuous Jew — as Santa.
The work of Philadelphia-based artist Alex Queral repurposes old phone books for carving; using a very sharp X-ACTO knife and a little pot of acrylic medium for the detail areas, he creates incredibly detailed celebrity portraits out of pages of faceless names. “It can be quite tense work sometimes because it takes a long time to finish and when you cut something away you can’t get it back again,” he has said. “Nearing the end of the carving and then suddenly having it ruined by a careless cut can be pretty crushing. You have to start all over again.” Click through to view some of our favorite pieces.
