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.

Morrissey patted down, touched up

Disappointingly, the official TSA blog has kept quiet about Morrissey's claims that his penis was fondled by a security screener at San Francisco airport - although they do report twelve people around the US trying to take bear mace through in their carry-ons. You've got to be one hell of a nervous flier to think you need to be prepared in case there's a bear on the plane, surely?

The TSA have denied that anyone groped Mozzer, though:

A TSA spokesperson said in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine Thursday that after reviewing closed-circuit TV footage of the encounter, the officer in question appeared to have “followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual.”

"TSA takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect," TSA spokesperson Mike England said in the statement.

That respect thing must be difficult when you're faced with someone who thinks it's okay to climb aboard with a can or two of bear incapacitant - or the dozens of yahoos who want to take their loaded guns to have with them as they fly.

The appearance of Morrissey in this story shouldn't shift the focus away from the TSA, as this isn't the first time screeners have been accused of sexually assaulting travellers. It's not even the second time. Depressingly, allegations of sexual assault by screeners are incredibly common.

In fact, if you travel through Denver in 2014, you'd be lucky if it hasn't happened to you. It was quite the thing:

According to law enforcement reports obtained during the CBS4 investigation, a male TSA screener told a female colleague in 2014 that he “gropes” male passengers who come through the screening area at DIA.

“He related that when a male he finds attractive comes to be screened by the scanning machine he will alert another TSA screener to indicate to the scanning computer that the party being screened is a female. When the screener does this, the scanning machine will indicate an anomaly in the genital area and this allows (the male TSA screener) to conduct a pat-down search of that area.”

It took three months from the TSA in Denver being told about this before they did anything about it.

And that's just the top of the pile. Some allegations have been revealed following a FOI request, and they make pretty grim reading:

The female TSO then proceeded to roughly feel of [sic] her breast including her nipples. The TSO didn’t go under her arms or along her sides. She indicated that she did not receive a proper pat down. The search was limited to her breast… Two other individuals came over to where the supervisor and gentleman were and they began laughing. The caller indicated that the incident was not the business of the other two officers and not a show for them. The caller indicated that even the Supervisor, along with the others, began to roar with laughter.

So when Morrissey says he was assaulted at the screening point, the only surprising part of that story is that Morrissey wants to leave San Francisco. Everything else is too grimly believable.

1993 all over again: 8 - Elastica

8. Elastica - Stutter

One of the great songs about sexual dysfunction, of course.

These days, Justine Frischmann is living in San Francisco and painting. Where this video was filmed, funnily enough:



[Part of 1993 all over again]
[Buy: Elastica]

Buskerobit: Jesse Morris

One of San Francisco's regular BART buskers, Jesse Morris, has died, Muni Diaries is reporting.

Known as The Punk Rock Johnny Cash, Morris continued his covers act down the metro system alongside his own band, Jesse Morris and the Man Cougars. He liked his work:

“I consider it a job,” he says. “Just like some people might work in an office, I work at the station entertaining people. I get to do what I love, and I can make a living at it.”

Tributes to Jesse have been left on Reddit.

Breeders weekend: We're Gonna Rise

Live, at a free San Francisco show:



[Part of The Breeders weekend]

Embed and breakfast man: Lacuna Coil

This is Survive, played live by Lacuna Coil at Slims in San Francisco on the Monday night just gone:



The whole concert is chunked up and punted into YouTube for you to enjoy.

Dickwad tosses fireworks; drummer loses hand

Horrible news from San Francisco: Roisin Isner, who drummed for local band Tinkture, was the victim of a nasty piece of idiocy while watching the Fourth of July fireworks in Dolores Park. Someone threw a firework into her group of friends, with devastating results. Her father is trying to track down the person responsible:

Hello,
I am Roisin's father. July 4th, Roisin and friends were in Dolores Park watching fireworks. Some stupid piece of shit threw an M60 at them. It landed on Roisin's right hand and blew it apart. She will undego surgery later this morning but it doesn't look good. Most likely she will lose her index finger; second and third fingers will also be permanently impaired and disfigured. Needless to say, her musical career is over.

I want this fucker. Media attention will help flush him out. People know who did it and I'm offering $20,000 for a name. Please do whatever is necessary to get the story out. Do so and I will reward you as well.

Thank you,
Chris Isner
chrisisner@hotmail.com

The reward is impressive, but, frankly, if you know someone who had managed to blow off the hand of a sixteen year-old, you surely wouldn't need any further encouragement to do the right thing.

What the world needs: Another festival

With the festival diary starting to look as bloated as lower-league late-season fixture lists after a snowy winter, we're not sure where the top flight acts are going to come from for headlining all of them. Now, San Fransisco's Treasure Island (yes, it really is called that) is adding to the crush with a Mid September event. This year, they've got Modest Mouse and MIA signed on; they're also promising support from, erm, "information about environmental initiatives".

Outdoor Fires

Arcade Fire played an open-air gig in San Francisco last night; the magic of YouTube means it can be enjoyed without the need for an air fare or a leg blanket.

The Bamboo Review: Elbow/Doves

Miss Becky done go see Elbow and The Doves in San Francisco:

[...]anyways. the first band was elbow. I've heard their cd a couple of times and it's not bad. just not flip your lid great, either. besides a few technical difficulties they were good. pleasant. the guitarist had the same adidas as me. he even laced them the same way (straight across). hell, they even looked like the same size (he's a short guy). the singer occasionally sounded like the coldplay guy (what was sare's name for him? bubble butt?) but was much cuter. so that was nice.

then the doves. took them forever and a day to set up. usually the GAMH has quick changeovers but it took over a half hour last night. bah. anyways. I haven't heard the new cd, so most of the show was new to me. good stuff. initial impression is that the songs lack the atmosphere of lost souls, but maybe that's due to ack of familiarity and not hearing the album as a cohesive whole. I liked them a lot, though. good stuff. I noticed they re-used the video playback. I kept getting deja vu at some of the images but it wasn't till the 70s dance party / weird spinning guy that I was certain they'd used the same video (o r parts of it) the last time I saw them. s'okay. cos I like the weird spinning guy. he's cool. they played "spaceface" the sub sub song as the closer. does anyone have a copy of it that they could burn and send me? I'd like to have it...

[EDIT: Reformated to match current No Rock style; content left as was 3-6-07]

The Bamboo Review: The White Stripes

Another review from miss Bamboo, this time this week's White Stripes SF blowout:

anyways. the first opener was whirlwind heat. they looked really young and were oddly endearing in their earnestness. the singer was wearing a brown velour jacket and he would put the mic in the pocket while he played the keyboard. there were only 3 of them - drums, bass, and keyboard. the sound was very wild and stripped down and they were a good fit as an opener.

next up was brendan benson and the wellfed boys. dave really likes these guys, so I was looking forward to seeing them. they were *excellent*. the music was mostly power pop with a bit of 70's rock thrown in. and one song that sounded like early weezer. good stuff. I'll be looking to buy their cds.

we had managed to grab a spot fairly close to the front (about 6 people back), and right in front of meg's drum set, which was on the left of the stage (our left). the stage was hung with six round paper lanterns, a couple of clocks (set to 3:00), and some curly streamers. all in red and white, of course. and get this - the effin' ROADIES were in black suits with red shirts and black ties. and *hats*. fedoras and derbys with a little red fluff tucked into the band. and they had the soundtrack from the music man as the house music. too cute.

jack was wearing a tight red t-shirt and fairly tight red pants. I'm pretty certain he dresses to the left. what? I was looking at the *guitar* and it was right there. honest. his hair was all robert smith messy and in his face. and we all know how I like messy hair...
he really is a great guitar player. loved the slide guitar (although tim easton has him beat on that). he was very energetic and jumped around, singing into a couple of different mics (one had some nice reverb). you know, there's something about a guy unabashedly singing a song written for a woman to sing that really get me. they did "jolene" (done by dolly parton originally, I believe) and I swear, jack put *so* much emotion into it. it totally killed me. that was the high point of the night.

and meg. meg was in a tight white t-shirt and red pants. her hair was up in high pigtails and her bangs flopped down over her eyes. what she lacks in drumming technique, she definitely makes up for in style. I hadn't really thought about it until I saw her perform, but she really isn't a drummer. her rhythms are all very basic and easy. it works cos it fits the songs and the feel of the music. I think it's awesome though. if the lil' chicas in the audience saw her and went "hey, I could do *that*" I'm all for it.

for some odd reason the mosh pit guys decided to do their banging around right in front of me. so, while I was fighting off the girls behind me trying to push forward (honey, I know how to fight for my spot. I don't give a shit if you climb my back - you're not getting in front of me) I was also trying to keep from getting too badly battered (dude, if you're gonna be an asshole and crash into me, don't get all surprised when I elbow you in the back. except you - yes, you with the sopping wet t-shirt. you're just gross and I will try my hardest not to ever touch you ever again).

they didn't say much other than thanks and jack referred to meg as his big sister a couple of times. whatever. it was great. loud, fast, and totally fun.

[EDIT: Edited to reflect current No Rock layout; content untouched - 03/06/07]