The album art for Cul de Sac’s Death of the Sun has always intrigued me. Not having a physical copy of the album meant I had no access to the liner notes. I decided that I needed to know who the painter was, and put it up on Ask Metafilter. No luck, although they turned me on to Corot. One person had the contact info for the album art designer, whom I emailed – and shortly after got a reply from the main guy in the band. The artist is Antonio Fontanesi, a Barbizon school painter who actually lived in Japan during their 19th century policy of isolation.

There are a few of his paintings available in high quality here, including “Aprile,” (above) which was cropped down for Death of the Sun. Very desolate, very beautiful.

Great frame from Criminal, a relatively new comic from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

Zeitguised’s videos are interesting; they have a touch of Fleischfilm in their arbitrary noise, and a bit of RGBXYZ as well in the unrestricted use of CG.

This one is interesting as well.

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

There are in me the makings of a very fine loafer, and also a pretty spry sort of fellow.

Sherlock Holmes

If – which I heartily trust does not happen – a new Dr. Moreau could corrupt recent advances in cloning and create a hybrid, a “pig-man” is widely feared as the most probably outcome.

Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great (in a chapter on religious dislike of pigs)

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The Lovely Feathers – “Lowiza”
Fantasy of the Lot

Compared with Hind Hind Legs, this album is very tame. Of course, an exploding fireworks factory is tame next to Hind Hind Legs. But the pieces that made it great are still there. Great melody, fun lyrics delivered well, and a feeling that they’re not taking it that seriously. I’ve only listened through it two or three times and it’s already growing on me.

Lily Allen owns self

Lily Allen owns self

I don’t really know who Lily Allen is, but she makes records and was, until recently, very outspoken about copyright laws and piracy. Of course, not understanding even the rudiments of copyright herself, she compromised her position by hosting essentially pirated music on her own website (among other things). When people pointed this out, she ended the whole affair and reportedly said she’s done making music as well. Okay, quitter!

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Lovage – “To Catch A Thief”
Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By

I love this album, though you have to be in the mood for it. This track and “Strangers on a Train” are the best. Jennifer Charles’ vocals are ridiculous (only topped by Mike Patton on other tracks).

Power up!

I’ve gone back and tagged any posts that fall under art, music, quotes, or vocabulary and you can now browse those to the left there.

Also added some handy lines so you know when to stop reading. Up next, revamping the buttons. (Eh, those didn’t turn out as well as I’d like. I’ll redo ‘em later.)

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusions about its condition is the demand to give up a condition that needs illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of the vale of woe, the halo of which is religion. Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers from the chain, not so man will wear the chain without any fantasy or consolation, but so that he will shake off the chain and cull the living flower.

Marx

This is great. Final Fantasy Compendium has (as one would expect from a compendium) a listing of all the airships and other forms of transportation you can take in the Final Fantasy games. Love them pixels.

Dirty-looking rascals, but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about him. You would not think it, to look at them. There is no a priori probability about it. A strange enigma is man!

Sherlock Holmes

Step in, sir. Keep clear of the badger, for he bites. Ah, naughty, naughty; would you take a nip at the gentleman?” This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage. “Don’t mind that, sir; it’s only a slowworm. It hain’t got no fangs, so I gives it the run o’ the room, for it keeps the beetles down.

Old Sherman in The Sign of the Four (Arthur Conan Doyle)

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Johann Sebastian Bach, “Sonata in G, Andante”

Love this track. I saw it performed live in London by a very good pair of musicians and they really killed it. This version is good but the performers combined the mathematical precision with a bit of life to make something more of it.

Transfer of Napoleon’s ashes aboard the Belle Poule, October 15, 1840 (Louis Eugène Gabriel Isabey)

Yes, it was fun this week to watch the teabaggers complain how the media underestimated the size of their march, “How can you say there were only 60,000 of us? We filled the entire mall!” Yes, because you’re fat. One whale fills the tank at Sea World, that doesn’t make it a crowd.

Bill Maher in the Huffington Post