Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Andrew W.K. on Infamous "I Get Wet" Album Cover...
Andrew W.K. recently announced a special tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of 'I Get Wet,' the singer's groundbreaking debut album.
"Around a year ago I realized that it almost had been 10 years since 'I Get Wet' had come out, and I thought "Wow, maybe we should do something for its anniversary!" You have to understand, these songs are even older than a decade, because I started working on this Andrew W.K. adventure 12 to 13 years ago. I think doing the first album in its entirety is the best way to celebrate that chapter of my career," W.K. tells Noisecreep about the tour.
Featuring hit singles 'Party Hard' and She Is Beautiful,' the album sounded like nothing else on modern rock radio back when it was released in the early '00s. Throughout its 12 tracks, W.K. wove the Wagnerian-inspired rock of Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler) with the pop-punk energy of the Ramones, coming up with a sonic brew that would go on to influence an army of future Warped Tour headliners.
But as trailblazing as 'I Get Wet' was, its graphic cover art – a photo of a disheveled-looking W.K. with a stream of blood coming out of both his nostrils – also got its lion share of the attention. At the time of its 2001 release, the album's cover caused controversy in Europe for its supposed endorsement of cocaine. "It was definitely not done to promote drug use, or anything like that, but it got a lot of people talking," says W.K. a decade later.
The story that got around was that W.K. had hit himself in the face with a brick to achieve the album cover art's bloody display. "You know, I had stopped talking about that photo for a while there, especially when I was working more prominently with younger people. I didn't want it to seem like I was encouraging self-mutilation or violence in any way. But it's silly for me to not be straightforward about that album cover and the photo shoots I did around that time period. Yes, I did hit myself with a brick. What you see on the cover of 'I Get Wet' is real. It's my blood. I also remember doing a photo shoot with an English magazine where I had all of these cuts on my head that I had given myself."
Noisecreep asked W.K. if he has any regrets about his former blood-spilling ways: "People have asked me why I would do something like that. I feel like I hit myself with a brick to develop a higher pain threshold, a higher tolerance for discomfort. That's definitely come in handy for me throughout the years. I've actually broken my nose several times on stage in the last decade. Look, athletes go through it all the time too. They actually injure themselves far worse than I ever have. So yeah, the blood has flowed when it comes to my career [laughs]. But these days I'm trying to keep the blood inside my body. Well, at least as much as possible."
Originally from here.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Realize How Small You Are
Use this [SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE] to help illustrate the point. It takes awhile to load but is well worth it.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Skydive from the edge of space...
It will be one giant leap for man – and leave the rest of mankind dizzy at the thought.
The world’s most daring skydiver is preparing to jump out of a balloon on the edge of space.
Felix Baumgartner, 42, hopes to break an altitude record which has lasted more than 50 years.
It should take 35 seconds to break the sound barrier and ten minutes in all, reaching more than 690mph.
Baumgartner will not deploy his parachute until he is less than 5,000ft from the ground and he must rely on an astronaut suit and oxygen tanks to keep him alive.
His team is expected to announce formally this week that he will make the record-breaking jump above New Mexico in August.
Baumgartner will make two test jumps at 60,000ft and 90,000ft in the coming months before the world record attempt, sponsored by the energy drink manufacturer Red Bull.
The claim has now been settled, clearing the way for the ultimate skydive.
Baumgartner, an Austrian helicopter pilot, hopes to break four world records: Highest-altitude freefall, highest manned balloon flight, longest distance travelled in freefall and fastest freefall.
His previous records include lowest parachute jump, 95ft off the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, and highest jump from a building – 1,479ft from the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In 2003 he also became the first person to skydive across the English Channel.
Engineers have spent more than two years refining the suit which will keep him alive in temperatures of -70c.
The current altitude record was set by U.S. Air Force colonel Joe Kittinger, who jumped from a balloon at 102,800ft in 1960. Commercial airliners typically cruise at 35,000ft.
