pearly gray love is leaf-like

* Momus writes about old and strange commercials for Design Observer. Click the link to watch the commercials. excerpt:

"Eventually all advertising will seem strange. Brad Stockshot and Cindy Clipart, modelling chunky knitwear on the beach, will look like absurd freaks. The 2005 Audi A6, as sleek as an arrowhead up on that billboard, will seem as archaic as a crossbow. When the endless repetition of these images stops, when the things they're referencing are forgotten and arcane, their power to define what's normal will stop too, replaced by an intriguing quirkiness. As they slip further away from their original purpose, the distinction between these commercial images and art will start to decompose. They'll hang in museums alongside art. Their power to evoke a lost Pompeii will be just as great, sometimes greater. And they'll seem as strange as art, sometimes stranger."
...
"Early campaigns [for Afri-Cola] emphasized the product's high caffeine content, but in Charles Wilp's 1968 Nonnen ("Nuns") spot drugs of quite a different kind seem to be involved. Accompanied by a bold soundtrack of disorienting contemporary classical music (scary sliding violins and atonal Henze-like piano chords) the visuals, shot through a melting sheet of icy glass, evoke the decadent filmed parties of Andy Warhol, Jack Smith and Shuji Terayama, with lascivious nuns instead of drag superstars. The voiceover to this 'Charles Wilp film' (the prominent caption makes clear its auteurist pretensions) evokes some kinky, prurient documentary about a wicked yet attractive underground scene. Here are 'stimulants, sexy cola sounds' and everything you need for an orgiastic 'alcohol-free party.' The Pepsi-trumping voice-over slogan, apparently phoned in by Nico, is 'sexy mini super flower pop op cola.'"

* Tank talks with David Pajo. excerpt:

"'I just read a cheesy surf novel called Tapping The Source,' Pajo reveals. 'It's a dumb, easy read about a surfer who gets beaten up by biker gangs. Lately I've been going for the dumber things. I enjoy dumb comedy. I like Alan Partridge. And I like Rudy Ray Moore, of 1970s blaxploitation film fame. He's in his 60s and he does stand-up now. Rudy considers himself the first rapper. He's still got the edge. He told some joke about raping a deaf and dumb girl and then breaking her fingers so she wouldn't tell anybody - that's so harsh!'

"Polite, if warped, but assuredly warm of heart, Pajo does acknowledge the primal side of humanity. 'The fact is that violence and sex gets people's attention, so I try to mix the two. I do like violent and shocking lyrics, but I'd rather hear Merle Haggard sing about murder than the Wu Tang Clan. I never liked country music when I was a teenager because to me it was adult music, but if it gets into your system, then...'
...
"Pajo recently completed a 10-day fast - 'I had tons of energy and was really lean, and your skin gets really good' - but how does a creative dynamo like him reward himself after a working day? 'I download pornography!' he laughs. 'Just kidding. I try to spend as much time with friends and family as I can.' Any plans to have his own family? 'I'd like to have a kid, but it's finding the right partner. I just got out of a brainfuck relationship so I'm just sowing my wild oats, I guess. I'm gonna put myself on a relationship diet...'

Pajo's 'old' band Slint will play the 9:30 club on March 22, 2005.

* Don't miss TMFTML's list of "The Ten Greatest Songs To Listen To While Making Sweet Love If You're A Premature Ejaculator."

* Thanks to the good folks at the Backwards City Review for sending along a copy of their first issue, which includes pieces by Kurt Vonnegut, K. Silem Mohammad, Arielle Greenberg, Sarah Manguso, and Cory Doctorow. Its been a great read so far, head over to their site and pick one up for yourself. Issue 2 should be available soon. (And don't miss the Bowie link they have on their blog.)