Everything is Interesting
Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584– 1645) was a Japanese swordsman and samurai famed for his duels and distinctive style. He became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age.
He was the founder of the Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of ‘The Book of Five Rings,’ a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.
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Leslie Conway ‘Lester’ Bangs (1948 – 1982) was an American music journalist and musician. He wrote for ‘Creem’ and ‘Rolling Stone’ magazines and has been called one of the ‘most influential’ voices in rock criticism. In 1969, Bangs began writing freelance after reading an ad in ‘Rolling Stone’ soliciting readers’ reviews.
His first piece was a negative review of the MC5 album ‘Kick Out The Jams,’ which he sent to ‘Rolling Stone’ with a note detailing that should the magazine decide not to publish the review, then they would have to contact Lester and tell him why. They published it.
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Florian Bertmer is a German illustrator from the hardcore punk, grindcore and metal scene.
His early works are reminiscent of fellow punk artist, Pushead, while later works have become more Art Nouveau influenced. He fronted the band Cheerleaders Of The Apocalypse.
Pushead (Brian Schroeder) is an artist and record label owner within the hardcore punk and heavy metal field. He has created artwork for Metallica, Travis Barker, and The Misfits. His artwork is characterized by detailed skulls.
He designed skateboard graphics and advertisements for Zorlac Skateboards during the 80s and beginning of the 90s. He fronted the band Septic Death during the 1980s.
Kevin Carter (1960 – 1994) was an award-winning South African photojournalist and member of the ‘Bang-Bang Club,’ a collective of war photojournalists that also included Greg Marinovich, Ken Oosterbroek, and Joao Silva.
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Nardwuar the Human Serviette (b. 1968), is a Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver. He is the lead singer and keyboardist for ‘The Evaporators’ and plays in ‘Thee Goblins.’ He legally changed his name from John Ruski in 1986.
Nardwuar got his start in media at the University of British Columbia radio station CITR 101.9 FM in Vancouver. His show has been running every Friday afternoon (3:30-5:00 p.m. Pacific) since October 1987. The program features a mix of eclectic music, along with interviews and commentary.
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Isaac Asimov (b. 1920 – 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books. His works have been published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (The sole exception being the 100s: philosophy and psychology). Isaac Asimov is widely considered a master of hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the ‘Big Three’ science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov’s most famous works are the ‘Foundation’ and ‘Robot’ series.
The prolific Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much non-fiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include his ‘Guide to Science,’ the three volume set ‘Understanding Physics,’ ‘Asimov’s Chronology of Science and Discovery,’ as well as numerous works on astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, the Bible, and William Shakespeare’s works.
Laurence Tureau, known as Mr. T (b. 1951), is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III.
Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image. In 2006 he starred in the reality show ‘I Pity the Fool,’ shown on TV Land, the title of which comes from his catchphrase from the film Rocky III.
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Nicéphore Niépce (1765 – 1833) was a French inventor, most noted as one of the inventors of photography and a pioneer in the field. He is credited with taking the world’s first known photograph in 1825.
Among Niépce’s other inventions was the Pyréolophore, the world’s first ‘internal combustion engine’, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude, finally receiving a patent in 1807 from the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, after successfully powering a boat upstream on the river Saône.
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Daniel Johnston (b. 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder which has been a recurring problem throughout his life. In 1990, on a two-seater plane piloted by his father Bill, Johnston had a hypomanic episode believing he was Casper The Friendly Ghost and removed the key from the planes ignition and threw it out the window. His father, a former Air Force pilot, managed to successfully crash-land the plane. Although the plane was destroyed, Johnston and his father emerged with only minor injuries. As a result of this episode, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.
Interest in Johnston increased when Kurt Cobain was frequently photographed wearing a t-shirt featuring the cover image of Johnston’s album ‘Hi, How Are You.’ In spite of Johnston being resident in a mental hospital at the time, a bidding war to sign him ensued. He refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra Records because Metallica was on the labels roster and Daniel was convinced that they were possessed by Satan and would hurt him. He also dropped his manager who brokered the deal, because Daniel believed he too was possessed by Satan. Ultimately he signed with Atlantic Records and released Fun, produced by Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers in 1994.
Ron English (b. 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores popular brand imagery and advertising. His signature style employs a mash-up of high and low cultural touchstones, including comic superhero mythology and totems of art history. He is also widely considered a seminal figure in the advancement of street art away from traditional wild-style lettering and into clever statement and masterful trompe l’oeil (the illusion of three dimensions). He has created illegal murals and billboards that blend biting political, consumerist and surrealist statements, hijacking public space worldwide for the sake of art since the 1980s.
Culture jamming is one aspect of his work, involving ‘liberating’ commercial billboards with his own messages. Frequent targets of his work include Joe Camel, McDonald’s, and Mickey Mouse. English is as well-known for his photorealist technique and inventive use of color and comic book collage as he is for his unique cast of characters, including sexualized animals, skeletal figures, Marilyn Monroe with Mickey Mouse breasts, the corpulent fast food spokesman ‘MC Supersized,’ and one of his most significant creations, ‘Abraham Obama,’ a fusion of America’s 16th and 44th Presidents. English also takes inspiration from Andy Warhol, the band KISS, and various cartoons.
James Murphy (b. 1970) is an American musician, producer, DJ, and co-founder of record label DFA Records. His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem. Murphy was a member of Falling Man from 1988 to 1989, Pony from 1992 to 1994, and Speedking from 1995 to 1997. He was also the sound engineer for Sub Pop band Six Finger Satellite. Former Six Finger Satellite member John Maclean is now on DFA records as The Juan Maclean. In 1999 he formed DFA with Tim Goldsworthy (formerly of UNKLE).
Starting in 1993, Murphy used the name ‘Death from Above’ when DJing, a nickname that was given to his signature PA setup while he was the sound setup for Six Finger Satellite. A two-man Canadian band originally called themselves ‘Death from Above’ before there was a dispute over the name. In response to the threat, the Canadian group changed the minimum number of characters legally required of them and became ‘Death from Above 1979.’
The Daily Omnivore 