Justin Bieber faces spray-can backlash

Just when Justin Bieber was in the throes of reinvention as a sort-of-sensitive artist, his past catches up with him.

Admittedly, it's only his past from the end of October, so it didn't have very far to travel to catch up with him.

Back then, his people sprayed teasers for his new album all over San Francisco. This sort of thing happens all the time, but unluckily for Biebs, this was the point where the people said that's enough:

The censure doesn't refer to the Nas song mural installed in NorCal, but rather to a slew of permanently stenciled sidewalk-graffiti ads that read "Justin Bieber Purpose #Nov 13." (The tags have survived rainstorms and persisted for nearly two months now, because they were applied with spray paint instead of sidewalk chalk.) "This prohibited marketing practice illegally exploits our City's walkable neighborhoods and robust tourism; intentionally creates visual distractions that pose risks to pedestrians on busy rights of way; and irresponsibly tells our youth that like-minded lawlessness and contempt for public property are condoned and encouraged by its beneficiaries," Dennis Herrera wrote, "including Mr. Bieber and the record labels that produce and promote him."

Bieber could be fined USD2500 for each stencilling, plus the cost of putting things right.

Beibs don't reign in Indianapolis

Indianapolis International Airport set out to get some lovely artwork for one of the concourses. "I know" they thought, "let's get one of those hippity-hoppity grafitti artists to do some - uh - 'dope' artwork. That'd be modern."

Tre Reising didn't quite give them what they were expecting:

An airport spokesman tells WISH-TV that managers expected a display about hip hop and art. Instead, Reising made multicolor letters of the word "belieber" that the singer uses as a social media tagline.

The airport have paid Tre off and decided not to do this. For Reising's part, he made the fatal mistake of doing something that he thought would be "fun" for people.

Liking Slayer a bit like hate

There was panic and horror in Commack when hate-filled graffiti appeared near a Little League pitch.

Everyone relaxed a bit when they realised that the graffiti just said Slayer.

I think the pentangle probably threw them a bit.

Jack Penate: Teenage scribbler

Strange tales from Glasgow, where the Sub Club claims Jack Penate turned up and graffitied all over the venue.

Penate denied doing it, although he did have a packet of marker pens, and it was his "tag" that had been scribbled all over the place. And he did turn up the next day with two hundred quid to help clean up the damage. But nothing to do with him, of course.

It is most distressing to have the harmonica played badly at one in a public place

Marcel Berlins, musing on the Guardian's Comment Is Free site (one year old today) muses that quality should be a defence when buskers and graffiti artists are caught in public:

I want to see a scheme which - in the public interest, of course - would separate the musically and artistically gifted from the no-hopers of no ability. And any busker or graffiti artist prosecuted under whatever law would have a cast-iron defence: "Yes, I did it - but I'm really talented.

It's a lovely idea, but surely Berlins is having a little joke with us - he knows the impossibility of a legislated definition of 'talent', surely?