Submitted by Steve Lambert: Alex Melamid was once part of Komar and Melamid – an amazing pair of artists. He has now created:

The Art Healing Ministry:

Watch the NY1 video interview of Melamid here.

Harnessing the Power of Art!

…Alexander Melamid, working with Gary Krimershmoys, has started his Art Healing practice. Art is capable of alleviating and even curing psychological and physiological problems of afflicted individuals. It has become evident that there are many benefits of exposing oneself to Art masterpieces especially for those who strive to keep themselves physically fit with flawless skin and flat stomachs.

In our practice, we use treatments such as van Gogh/Seurat Face Peels, Brancusi Slim-Down Projections, as well as home remedies supplements like Art Charged Water, Art Enhanced Votive Candles, Art Anointed Prayer Cards and last but not least our Targeted Maladies Museum Tours like the Frick Collection Vermeer Radiant Skin Therapy or in extreme cases Faecal Encephalopathy Met Visits.

These procedures and supplements, used in concert, along with healthy eating habits and exercise, are sure to bring amazing results. Your skin will radiate with an ethereal glow and your waist will shrink to the size of a proverbial twig. Guaranteed!

Until June 15th, if you write to us and tell us your problem, we will send you a FREE introductory abridged personalized Art Program of appropriated Art Images and Color Combinations (AIACC) remedy targeting your disorder with razor-sharp accuracy!

Submitted by Steve Lambert from the site of Enmedio (Intercambio colaboracià³n y trabajo colectivo de Enmedio):

Fiesta en el Inem / Party at an unemployment office
Enmedio
30 Abril 2009

Fed up with the crisis. Tired of the fear that mass media communicate everyday. Sick of suffering in silence at home, we decided… go dancing at an unemployment office. Here is the result.

[Espaà±ol]
Hoy Jueves 30 de abril se ha llevado a cabo la fiesta en el Inem. La venà­amos preparando desde hace unas semanas y por fin la hemos liado.

¡Ha sido una auténtica gozada!, unas 40 personas hemos irrumpido a las 12:00h en la sucursal del Inem situada en la calle Sepàºlveda de Barcelona. Allà­ nos aguardaba el ambiente habitual de estos sitios a esta hora: una mezcla de parados (locales y extranjeros) hartos de esperar y perder el tiempo, aburridos, irritados y con cara de asco, llenos de miedo por la crisis. Menos de cinco minutos de baile y cachondeo han sido necesarios para cambiar esos rostros en crisis por caras alegres y sonrientes. Algunos nos han acompaà±ado en el baile, otros aplaudà­an y todos ellos, sin excepcià³n, han agradecido esta ola de luz y de color, este arrebato de alegrà­a y disfrute allà­ donde menos se lo esperaban: en una oficina de trabajo en plena crisis.

Aquà­ os dejamos algàºn documento de esta hazaà±a, ¡qué los disfrutéis!

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Fictional Moldovan Soccer Phenom Tells All
by Brian Phillips
Slate.com
January 23, 2009

Inside the ingenious hoax that fooled the British sports press.

On a typical weekday, the English soccer press devotes itself to unsubstantiated rumors, manufactured scandals, and bikini pictures of players’ girlfriends (who seem to roam the earth together in a giant conjugal yacht, like the Beatles in Yellow Submarine). This week, however, thanks to an ingenious hoax that took in the Times of London, the soccer press has been engrossed by Moldova. Specifically by one Moldovan teenager, who is not, as it happens, a real person.

Earlier this month, the Times ran a feature called “Football’s Top 50 Rising Stars,” which featured at No. 30 a 16-year-old attacker named Masal Bugduv, whom the paper, never one to fear irony, described as “Moldova’s finest.” A bright future seemed to fill Bugduv’s windscreen. The young player had been “strongly linked,” the Times said, with a transfer to the London club Arsenal, had already earned a mention on the popular soccer news site Goal.com, spawned excitement in online forums, and been portrayed as something of a savior by the magazine When Saturday Comes, which introduced him as “one bright spot” amid Moldova’s nationalist strife.

But as the old scout’s adage says, even the most talented young striker will struggle if he has no corporeal being. (more…)

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Carpark: a site specific public art project
inSite ’94, San Diego, CA

In 1994, artists Nina Katchadourian, Steven Matheson and Mark Tribe were invited to work collaboratively on a site-specific project at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California for inSite ’94, a binational art exhibition that takes place at various locations throughout San Diego and Tijuana.

Check out the video:

For more information and photos of this project, visit MarkTribe.net

From Steve Lambert and friends:

An elaborate prank Special Edition of The New York Times from The Yes Men, the Anti-Advertising Agency, CODEPINK, United for Peace and Justice, Not An Alternative, May First/People Link, Improv Everywhere, Evil Twin, Cultures of Resistance and thousands of volunteers was launched and revealed today:

Early this morning, commuters nationwide were delighted to find out that while they were sleeping, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had come to an end…

Here’s The New York Times’ take on the story; Gawker’s “Exclusive” outting of the pranksters, including details of the instructions to the volunteers; and, an article from the Herald Tribune.

Here are identical videos from hschweppes and zencube (traffic is heavy, so hopefully one of the links will work):

From Steve Lambert:

A flying penis helicopter interrupts a recent speech by International chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov in Russia. It’s immature, yet I am more impressed by this genius than the chess genius.

via BoingBoing Gadgets

Related articles:

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Zachary Feinstein has declared for the NBA draft
He has no actual basketball experience!

From Zach’s Web site:

The short story is that I, Zachary Feinstein, have declared for the 2008 NBA Draft. As a 5’8″ 130 pound Caucasian, I am the perfect candidate for professional basketball. Also, I do not play basketball.

You see, I am not currently on my college’s basketball team (Division 3 just for reference) nor did I try out to be. I was at no point on my high school’s basketball team nor did I try out to be. I was at no point on my middle school’s basketball team nor did I try out to be. The last time I was on a basketball team was before Bill Clinton got caught with his pants down.

So there you have it, I, Zach Feinstein, am in the 2008 NBA Draft.

If you do not believe me, go to: draftexpress.com or nbadraft.net for proof (under “unknown players”).

Support Zach Feinstein in Getting Drafted into the NBA
Read through my site, and let’s create a campaign to get the worst player ever to declare for the NBA Draft into the NBA.

I would like to thank everyone for their support, and I will be updating this site periodically.

thanks Michael

Submitted by Steve Lambert: An Evangelical Christian version of Punk’d by comedian Rich Praytor:

Faking the Rapture

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

The Billboard Liberation Front today announced a major new advertising improvement campaign executed on behalf of clients AT&T and the National Security Agency. Focusing on billboards in the San Francisco area, this improvement action is designed to promote and celebrate the innovative collaboration of these two global communications giants.

“This campaign is an extraordinary rendition of a public-private partnership,” observed BLF spokesperson Blank DeCoverly. “These two titans of telecom have a long and intimate relationship, dating back to the age of the telegraph. In these dark days of Terrorism, that should be a comfort to every law-abiding citizen with nothing to hide.”

video via iovdebeholther

From Steve Lambert:

A brilliant prank. At CheatNeutral, they offer to “offset your infidelity” for a small fee. You cheat, pay them $5, and they make sure there is someone else who doesn’t cheat – therefore there is less cheating in the world. They then go on to get coverage on the BBC and US media talking about what a scam carbon offsetting is.

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Evan Roth is best known as one of the artists behind the Graffiti Research Lab. While at the Eyebeam OpenLab forum 2005-2007 he became committed to making everything he did “opensource.” The Graffiti Research Lab is just one example. All software he writes includes the sourcecode. All projects include instructions. And now he has found the definitive way to dedicate his entire life to the public domain.

From ni9e.com:

Why let all of your ideas die with you? Current Copyright law prevents anyone from building upon your creativity for 70 years after your death. Live on in collaboration with others. Make an intellectual property donation. By donating your IP into the public domain you will “promote the progress of science and useful arts” (U.S. Constitution). Ensure that your creativity will live on after you are gone, make a donation today.

photo from fffff.at

From Steve Lambert:

BBC newscaster Karen Bowerman, thinking she is interviewing a respected technology expert about the Apple Computer vs. Apple Music case, is actually interviewing a cab driver/job interviewee (we’ve seen both accounts) by mistake. Check Biased BBC for more information. Watch this guy’s face as he figures out he’s the wrong guy. He’s game to give his opinion anyway. The show must go on!

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Longmont Potion Castle is the pseudonym of a prank caller based out of Texas that puts out some of the most bizarre and hilarious material I’ve ever heard. He uses audio effects that speed up and slow down his voice, disorienting the caller on the other end, sometimes even repeating back what they’ve just said. One of the tricks he uses is calling retail stores asking detailed and mundane questions about a specific item he never actually names and always staying friendly (referring to people as “partner”) and sounding reasonable.

Click here to listen. Track 2 is my favorite.

Here’s a video of the subjects of his calls as he’s making them.

Also, speaking of bizarre, hilarious, and prank calls, here’s one from Tim and Eric where they call iPod Tech Support because they’re having problems with microphones:

(more…)

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Stuff White People Like describes itself as “a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. They are pretty predictable.”

Notable entries include:

An excerpt from #69, Mos Def

“He is everything that white people dream about: authentic (“he’s from Brooklyn!”), funny (“he was on Chapelle show!”), artistic (have you heard “Black on Both Sides?”), an actor (“he’s in the new Gondry film!”) and not white (“I don’t see race”).”

And of course white people like the website, Stuff White People Like.

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

The Davis Welcoming Committee was a one day event for commuters coming to and from the Davis Amtrak station from cities like Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose.

Travelers were unexpectedly welcomed with free flowers, keys to the city, free popcorn, a marching band, and a gathering of people celebrating their arrival (or departure). Also greeting them was Scott Vermeire playing an unusual “Mayor” or as he called himself, the “King of the Town.”

The Davis Welcoming Committee was organized by Steve Lambert and Cynthia Yardley.