Sek Loso is the Thai equivalent of Eddie Van Halen, and David Lee Roth wrapped up into one spring roll. Having achieved mega-superstardom in his home country as frontman of the band Loso, Sek moved to England to learn English, and put together a new band, which included former Oasis guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs and toured all over Europe and the US. The video above is a collaboration with fellow Thai musician and actor Bird Thongchai. At this point I don’t really know what could possibly be the downside to living in Thailand: the food is bomb, the women are small, hot, and look like their 16 for EVAR, and their rock music is bombastic, badass, and totally over the top. Fuck it, book me a flight to Phuket (OMG GET IT????!111)

It is my firm belief that every person on the planet should take Lysergic acid diethylamide, (or LSD, aka acid) one time in their life. Not so sure if most people should continue to use the stuff, because man, oh man, that’s a powerful drug. It will make you see things more clearly than you’ve ever seen them, and at the same time more opaquely than ever before. Then laugh like a hyena for hours.

The scientist who first discovered LSD in 1938, and then accidentally spilled some on himself, marking the first use of acid, has passed away. Swiss-born chemist Albert Hoffman died from a heart Attack at his home on Tuesday. He was 102 years old.

From Radio Netherlands:

Albert Hofmann discovered the drug by accident while he was researching medicinal plants. A bit of the synthetic fluid spilled on his hands during a laboratory experiment in 1943, leading to an unintended first hand experience with the new hallucinogenic drug.

The chemist later referred to LSD as his ‘problem child’, he never expected LSD to become a popular drug among the Hippy community in the 1960s. Mr Hofmann continued to defend the medicinal qualities of LSD long after the drug was banned in the 1960s.

Tune in, drop out man…..

American Idol judge Paula Abdul made headlines last night after mistakenly criticizing a contestant for singing a song he didn’t actually perform. The hours since have seen Abdul bashed across the internet for this slight of tongue. Frankly, I don’t see what all the hubbub is about, as Abdul makes a fool of herself on each and every broadcast. She’s bat shit loopy and deliriously out of touch. Why should it be shocking that Abdul would imagine a performance that didn’t take place?

And is it plausible that American Idol might hang it up anytime soon? Does anyone else find the formula to be a little, dare I say, tired? Hey Simon, what’d you think of that performance?

“Dreadful. Absolutely ghastly.” Ha ha ha. Haven’t heard that one before. Randy, what’s your take?

“You just gotta be yourself dawg!” Genius. Thanks for the tip. Hey Paula, what’d you—actually, let’s pass. I guess at 30 gazillion viewers or so a week, the cash just keeps flowing in. Enough cash at least to pay Cowell’s cut of $20 mill. per season (fact).

But for Christs sake, has anybody seen Taylor Hicks around? Last time I checked he was spinning circles singing about a fucking Ford truck!

Last week when I wrote about “Pancho and Lefty” I hadn’t realized that the man who made that song famous was having his birthday right around the corner. Today, American songwriter and Outlaw Country Music King Willie Nelson turns 75. NPR’s Fresh Air did a nice piece on Willie today, you can check it out here (audio available after 3 PM EST). They also played a portion of an interview and live set he did with Terry Gross from a few years back, and you can hear the whole thing here.

Willie Nelson will release a live album with acclaimed jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on July 8th on Blue Note Records. Entitled Two Men With The Blues, the album was compiled from a two-night stand at the Lincoln Center in January of 2007. I got my advance press copy last week, and while the blues ranks kinda far down the list of my favorite genres, the disc is legit, showcasing two masters of American music. Here’s a teaser:

Yep, that’s my belief. Not just because Brit said that his voice sounds like mine. Check out this clip we premiered from his new album Fair Ain’t Fair, available 5/8 on Anti Records. Enjoy!.

I’ve never met him, but I imagine Fred Radtke, the “Grey Ghost”, as an ornery old asshole who hates everything from puppies to sunshine. The one thing that brings him joy? Painting over graffiti and illegally posted flyers with ugly grey paint, where ever it may be.
52 year-old Radtke is a former Marine, and founder of the nonprofit Operation Clean Sweep in 1997 to fight graffiti. He has made it his full time job to hunt and kill all graffiti around the New Orleans area and depends on funds from donations and grants including including several $10,000 grants from the city of New Orleans and a $32,000 grant over a four-year period from Freeport-McMoRan. He works as a freelancer for the New Orleans Police Department as is often called upon by them when new graffiti is spotted as they claim to have a lack of manpower and time.

Enter Michael Dingler aka ReX, also a former Marine and a New Orleans native, and founder of NoLa Rising, a campaign that encourages people to paint and post colorful signs of hope throughout New Orleans. Michael Dingler is Radkte’s Worst Enemy. In January, Dingler was cited (with Radkte’s tipoff to the NOPD) for more than 1,100 counts of unlawfully posting signs such as “Smile” and “Welcome Back” on telephone poles that could cost him more than $50,000 in fines.

“When I asked Officer Joia if he was going to file the same charges against Fred [Radtke] under the graffiti statutes, he said he was unaware of what I was talking about,” said Dingler. “Here’s a guy who is destroying city property, who has become what he said he is fighting against. And yet I’m the one facing all these charges? It’s selective enforcement of the law.”
Radtke dismissed Dingler’s accusations, called him a “loser,” a “phony” and the “biggest pain in the ass I ever met.”

He said Dingler’s so-called “messages of hope” are “vertical trash” that promote other forms of vandalism.
“It’s real simple: people either want to abide by the law or not,” Radtke said.

Dingler’s court date was March 18th. He was building his own case by documenting all of Radtke’s work, belittling his charges of 1,100 counts of vandalism. He intended to present his evidence to the police, just as Radtke did and file charges tit for tat. Anyone know what the outcome was? [Update: Read the comment ReX left]

Naturally, people have begun spraying anti-Radtke stencils in the grey areas among other things all over NoLa. The Grey Ghost simply creates a canvas for more graffiti. He is a haunting nuisance that has become part of the culture. Annoying, yes, but he forces writers to up the ante. And these shirts have sprung up.

UPDATE: Read this blog post. Apparently Mr. Radtke lost his temper at a coffee shop and verbally assaulted the lady behind the counter when she told him he couldn’t paint out some graffiti on the shop.  Cops be lookin’ for him in the area. Oooooooo!