from artnet

Damien Hirst Created a Fake Documentary About His Fake Venice Show—and Now You Can See It on Netflix

The film, financed by the artist himself, seeks to re-enact the fictional backstory behind the divisive show.

Julia Halperin

One of Damien Hirst’s “found treasures.” Screenshot via Netflix & Science Ltd. “Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable” (2017).

The exhibition that launched a thousand angry tweets lives on—on Netflix.

Earlier this week, the streaming service released a mockumentary, “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable,” that chronicles the fictional story behind Damien Hirst’s two-venue exhibition in Venice last year.

The slickly produced film—full of sweeping underwater shots and a swelling soundtrack—was financed by the artist himself, a spokesperson from Hirst’s company, Science Ltd, tells artnet News. “The film is something Damien wanted people to be able to come across in years to come, which explores the backstory of the project,” she says.

According to the 90-minute mockumentary, the vast Venice spectacle was not the 52-year-old artist’s highly anticipated comeback exhibition, which took 10 years and cost a reported $65 million to produce.

Instead, the film suggests the show was the debut presentation of long-lost treasure discovered by a team of archaeologists and divers off the coast of east Africa. The trove—so the story goes—had been assembled during the 1st or 2nd centuries by a former slave turned voracious collector, Cif Amotan II (an anagram, it turns out, for “I am fiction”).

The film follows a team of researchers as they identify Amotan’s shipwreck beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean. But in order to retrieve the sunken booty, they need a benefactor. Enter: Damien Hirst.

[ click to continue reading at artnet.com ]

from The South Florida Sun Sentinel

Bay Area jogger is attacked by a dog, then bitten by the dog’s owner

by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

A woman jogging in a Bay Area park was bitten by the owner of a dog who also attacked the jogger, police said.

The jogger was in Anthony Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley when a dog attacked her about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, and she had to defend herself with pepper spray, the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department said.

The woman later came across the dog’s owner — another woman — who tackled and punched her multiple times, authorities said.

“As the victim attempted to push her assailant off of her,” police said, “she was bitten on her forearm by the female, causing significant wounds.”

[ click to continue reading at The Sun Sentinel ]

from The Lexington Herald Leader

Monstrous creature ‘turned its head and looked straight at our car,’ Kentucky woman says

BY MARK PRICE

A woman is reported to have seen a frightening “creature” on a road outside the eastern Kentucky town of Sandy Hook, prompting an investigation by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

The group released a “follow-up report” this month that concludes the woman saw something that wasn’t human. Sandy Hook is about 100 miles east of Lexington, Kentucky.

“She described it as a walking tree,“ investigator Jack Smarr said after interviewing the woman.

His report stops short of declaring it was Bigfoot, a legendary “ape-like creature” that remains more a popular myth than a scientific fact, according to Live Science.com.

from The Sun

Forget colonising Mars – From shrivelled willies to sex dolls and radioactive babies, expert reveals why sex will make living in space a nightmare

There are a number of issues surrounding sexual intercourse in micro-gravity  – including lack of arousal and floating fluids

By Mark Hodge

SEX in space is a logistical nightmare with problems ranging from floating fluids to shrinking manhoods, a NASA-funded scientist says.

Dr John Millis, a US physicist and astronomer, spoke to The Sun Online about the issues faced by consenting astronauts who wish to engage in rumpy-pumpy in micro-gravity.

Dr Millis, of Anderson University in Indiana, compared sex in space to having intercourse while “skydiving” but added that it was “not impossible.”

He told The Sun Online: “The issues surrounding the act all revolve around the free-fall, micro-gravity, environment experienced by astronauts.

“Even the lightest touch can make it difficult to stay in contact if both persons are not properly anchored.

“The astronauts would need to brace themselves against the space station, and even each other.

“A shared sleeping bag, or similar, would perhaps be the most useful.”

But more problems would arise if the romantic astronauts were able to lock together in a coital tryst.

Dr Millis, whose work has been funded by NASA, explains that in micro-gravity blood rises to your head, instead of your wedding tackle – making it harder for both men and women to get aroused.

[ click to continue reading at The Sun ]

“Imagine engaging in sexual activity while skydiving – every push or thrust will propel you in opposite directions.

from The Virginian-Pilot

A concert-goer rustled a bag of gum during a Mahler symphony. A “violent attack” ensued.

By Isaac Stanley-Becker

It is said to represent the composer’s love letter to his new bride. And, like love, the Adagietto transports those who receive it – its atmospheric notes offering release from the grim foreboding and frenetic outbursts of the earlier movements of Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony.

But worldly concerns have a way of intruding: an iPhone light, a candy wrapper, one too many trips to the restroom.

The rustling of a gum wrapper at a performance of the symphony last week in the Swedish city of Malmo brought a section of the audience back down to earth, and brought several concertgoers to blows. Mahler’s late Romantic epic became the occasion for an epic clash over candy.

As Andris Nelsons, an eminent Latvian conductor, coaxed the quiet notes from the string section of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, a woman in the balcony rustled a bag of gum, the Sydsvenskan newspaper reported. A young man sitting next to her glared a few times and then lost his patience. He snatched the bag from her and threw it onto the floor.

Witnesses told the daily newspaper published in southern Sweden that the woman sat stoically through the rest of the Adagietto, which typically lasts about 10 minutes (“very slow,” Mahler instructed in the score), and the vigorous and triumphant finale. The symphony, composed in 1901 and 1902, has been described as a “large-scale journey,” similar to climbing Mount Everest. Leonard Bernstein conducted the Adagietto at the funeral services for Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

But as the concert hall vibrated with the final, resounding notes, and as applause rang out, she exacted her revenge….

[ click to continue reading at The Virginian-Pilot ]

from WFSB

Taco Bell voted best Mexican restaurant in the country

ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — The Harris Poll, a nationwide customer survey of their favorite brands, has released its 2018 results.

The poll surveyed more than 77,000 customers in the U.S. on more than 3,000 brands to find which companies are the favorites among consumers.

Respondents weighed in on everything from printers to pizza, and the results are surprising. Here are some of consumers’ top choices.

Best Mexican Restaurant: Taco Bell

The after-hours crowd is still probably Taco Bell’s biggest customer base, but the company has grown its popularity through creative ads like the Nacho Fries conspiracy theory movie trailers starring Josh Duhamel and a strong social media presence.

The company has 7,000 locations and does nearly $2 billion in revenue.

[ click to continue reading at WFSB ]

from Real Clear Life

Woman May Have Lost NASA Internship After Insulting Famed Engineer Homer Hickam

Hickam told the young girl to watch her language on Twitter.

A woman may have lost her NASA internship following a profanity-laced back-and-forth with a user on Twitter, who is none other than the famed former NASA engineer and current space council adviser Homer Hickam.

A user identified as Naomi H. (@NaomiH_official) announced her internship with a tweet that said, “”Everyone shut the f— up. I got accepted for a NASA internship.”

Another user, who ended up being Hickam — the former NASA engineer and inspiration of the 1999 film October Sky, based on his memoir — responded, “Language.” Naomi H. tweeted back with a sexually vulgar tweet, concluding it with “I’m working at NASA.” Hickam responded, “And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA.”

[ click to continue reading at RCL ]

from The Telegraph

Sexually frustrated dolphin named Zafar terrorises tourists on French beach

by Rory Mulholland, Paris

The dolphin rubs himself up against kayaks and canoes

A seaside village in Brittany has banned swimming on its beach because a dolphin in heat has been scaring tourists and locals by approaching them and trying to rub up against them.The dolphin has even tried to prevent several swimmers from getting back to the beach at Landévennec, using its nose to push one woman out of the water and up into the air.

The beast, often clearly in a state of sexual arousal, also often tries to rub up against kayaks and other small boats.

The three-metre long dolphin, which locals have nicknamed Zafar, has been hanging around the Bay of Brest for months, amusing tourists with its antics as it visited the beaches and shorelines of Plougastel-Daoulas, Logonna-Daoulas and Landevennec.

Children in sailing schools were delighted when the dolphin would suddenly turn up and frolic around their boats, and Zafar sometimes let swimmers grip onto his dorsal fin and go for a ride with him.

But then a few weeks ago he changed.

[ click to continue reading at The Telegraph ]

from artnet

Who Won Damien Hirst’s Instagram Caption Contest? The Vulgarian Who Aimed the Crudest, Most Concise Insult at the Artist

The artist went with brevity—and irreverence—in choosing the winner of a “Veil Painting” print.

by Sarah Cascone

It’s official: Damien Hirst admits he’s a “twat.” Or, at least, that’s the irreverent caption the artist has selected to win his self-staged Instagram contest giving away a print of one of his “Veil Paintings.”

“I’ve read so many replies to my dumbass competition I’m losing my fucking marbles, what was I thinking having a fucking competition anyway!?” the artist wrote in a comment on the original post, which has some 32,967 likes and over 10,400 comments. The photograph shows the artist in his studio, clad only in a pair of bright pink underwear, matching socks, and black crocks emblazoned “Damien.” The contest was announced on June 26.

The winner, who goes by the username @beigebrick, is identified on their profile picture as a UK-based visual artist. “In the end I had to pick it as the winner because of its simplicity,” Hirst admitted. “And because if you can’t laugh at yourself you’re fucked.”

As of press time, @beigebrick had not commented on the victory, or on whether or not they are a fan of Hirst.

[ click to continue reading at artnet ]

from WTUE

Boyfriend Punches Man After He Was Caught Looking At His Girl’s Butt

by Bill Galluccio

A North Carolina man cold cocked a stranger inside of an SEA Wireless store in Lincolnton after the stranger was busted staring at the man’s girlfriend’s butt. Surveillance footage from the store captured a guy in a red shirt taking a glance at the woman while he was leaning on the counter.

The woman’s boyfriend called him out for his wandering eyes and he admitted to doing it with a laugh.

[ click to continue reading at WTUE ]

from SPIN

Billy Corgan Wants You to Know He Is Not Taylor Swift’s Father

by Chris DeVille, Stereogum

CREDIT: John Medina/Getty Images

Does Taylor Swift look like Billy Corgan? I don’t really think so, but a meme that made its way to Corgan suggests their faces are similar.

Corgan has opted to weigh in on the side-by-side image, which originates from TotallyLooksLike.com — presumably a more reliable source than Corgan’s beloved InfoWars, at least. (Hey, people did accuse Swift of pandering to the right-wing extremists in her fan base, which would certainly represent some common ground with Corgan.) What begins with a denial that he’s Swift’s father evolves into a lengthy meditation on identity and personal mythos.

Here’s what the ruling Smashing Pumpkin had to say….

[ click to continue reading at SPIN ]

from the Omaha World-Herald

Council Bluffs woman driving over 140 mph arrested moments after receiving ticket for going 92

from Page Six

Diane von Furstenberg thinks Viagra is ‘the worst thing’ for women

By Francesca Bacardi

from The San Francisco Chronicle

Poop is beginning to be a big problem at Burning Man, authorities say

By Annie Vainshtein

At Burning Man, an annual celebration of experimental art and counterculture in the dusty Nevada desert, experts are contending with the difficult — but necessary — question of human waste.

In a recent report, the Bureau of Land Management described the proliferation of attendees who have apparently forgotten — or cannot make it to — the festival’s restrooms. This is especially a problem in the deep playa, an area far away from the center of the festival and from portable toilets, the Reno Gazette Journal first reported.

The government’s proposal? Poop bags and pee bottles, either to be brought by participants or for staff members to hand out.

[ click to continue reading at The Chronicle ]

from VICE

Finally, the World Has a Giant, Shirtless Jeff Goldblum Statue

Photo via NowTV / Fever PR

Jeff Goldblum is iconic in everything he touches, but there is no role quite so canon as his turn as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park, and no scene that captures his essence quite as well as that brief, beautiful moment where he’s sweaty as all hell and shirtless for some reason.

It’s been 25 years since that cinematic touchstone graced this world, and to commemorate it, London’s NOW TV has constructed one of the greatest artistic achievements of our time: A 25-foot statue of a half-naked Jeff Goldblum.

It was an audacious move on the artist’s part to even try to recreate such an impeccable expression of the human form, but the risk paid off. No detail was spared: The stubble is perfectly rendered, so subtle you’d miss it if you didn’t take a closer look. His hand hangs loose from the wrist in that quintessentially Goldblum-ian attitude of effortlessness, of ease with the self. And those eyes: They gleam with a confluence of fear and knowledge—a mirror image of the look Goldblum flashed the camera just after Dr. Malcolm nearly lost his life to a T. Rex.

[ click to continue reading at VICE ]

from the New York Times

No Sweatpants in Public: Inside the Rule Books for N.F.L. Cheerleaders

By Ken Belson

Photographs by Associated Press and Getty Images

Cheerleaders for the Carolina Panthers, known as the TopCats, must arrive at the stadium on game days at least five hours before kickoff. Body piercings and tattoos must be removed or covered. Water breaks can be taken only when the Panthers are on offense. TopCats must leave the stadium to change into their personal attire.

Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders were subject to regular weigh-ins and are expected to “maintain ideal body weight,” according to a handbook from 2009. The Cincinnati Ben-Gals were even more precise in recent years: Cheerleaders had to be within three pounds of their “ideal weight.”

Some cheerleaders must pay hundreds of dollars for their uniforms, yet are paid little more than minimum wage. Cheerleaders must sell raffle tickets and calendars and appear at charity events and golf tournaments, yet they receive none of the proceeds. Cheerleader handbooks, seven of which have been reviewed by The New York Times, include personal hygiene tips, like shaving techniques and the proper use of tampons. In some cases, wearing sweatpants in public is forbidden.

[ click to continue reading at NYT ]

from The Independent

Cow escapes on way to slaughterhouse, smashes through metal fence, breaks arm of man trying to catch her then swims to safety on island in lake

Local politician reportedly agrees to let animal live after its ordeal captures public attention

by Tom Embury-Dennis

Wczoraj zamieściłem wpis o krowie-bohaterce, która zwiała z transportu do rzeźni i od trzech tygodni przemieszcza się w okolicach Jeziora Nyskiego. Uciekała bohatersko i wpław przedostała się na wyspę na środku jeziora, gdzie pozostaje do dziś. Nie uległa strażakom, którzy chcieli ja przetransportować łodzią i wciąż trwa na polu walki. Nadmienię, ze Pan Łukasz- właściciel krowy- od trzech tygodnie codziennie dostarcza na wyspę żywność dla zwierzęcia. Nie jestem wegetarianine…

A cow has been living alone on an island, attacking anyone who comes near, after staging a miraculous escape on its way to a slaughterhouse.

The animal made its bid for safety last month after it refused to get into a lorry taking it to be killed for meat. Instead it rammed a metal fence before making a dash for the nearby Lake Nysa, south Poland.

After the cow’s owner, known only as Mr Lukasz, attempted to get it back to the farm, the cow broke one of his worker’s arms, according to Polish news show Wiadomosci.

It then entered the water and swam to one of the islands in the middle of the lake. Mr Lukasz said he even saw it dive underwater on its way.

[ click to continue reading at The Independent ]

from Fox 5 NY

Alabama residents hold candlelight vigil for Taco Bell that burned down

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WJBK) – Residents of Montgomery, Alabama said goodbye to a beloved landmark

They gathered for a vigil to share their memories of a Taco Bell that is no more. The restaurant burned down last week.

Frequent customers took to Facebook saying they were going to have a candlelight vigil to “Stand together in the loss of our beloved Taco Bell.”

[ click to continue reading at Fox 5 ]

from CBS Pittsburgh

Ohio Man’s Obituary Blames Browns For His Demise

HURON, OH (AP) – An Ohio man’s tongue-in-cheek obituary blames the winless Cleveland Browns for contributing to his demise.

The obituary published in the Sandusky Register says Paul Stark died Wednesday at a hospice facility after a brief illness “exacerbated by the hopeless condition of the Cleveland Browns.”

The football team was 1-15 last season and 0-15 this year ahead of Sunday’s finale in Pittsburgh.

[ click to continue reading at CBS Pittsburgh ]

from The Telegraph

Employee used crisp packet as ‘Faraday cage’ to hide his whereabouts during work

by Jonathan Pearlman

A man in Australia was sacked after he relied on a 180-year-old scientific discovery to help prevent his colleagues discovering his whereabouts while he played golf during work hours.

Tom Colella, a 60-year-old  electrician in Perth, lost his job after an anonymous letter to his firm claimed that he left work to play golf at least 140 times over the last two years.

Australia’s Fair Work Commission, a workplace tribunal, heard that Mr Colella blocked his whereabouts by storing his personal digital assistant, a phone-like device that has a GPS inside, in an empty foil packet of Twisties, a puffy cheese-based snack that is popular in Australia.

[ click to continue reading at The Telegraph ]

from EATER

Toblerone in Chocolate War With UK Copycat Who Stole Original Design

‘Twin Peaks’ bars bear a striking resemblance to the classic Swiss chocolate

by Greg Morabito

Toblerone photo via Getty; Twin Peak photo via Facebook/Poundland

A UK company is capitalizing on the near-disastrous redesign of the classic Toblerone bar by making an homage to the old version, much to the chagrin of the company that popularized the ridged Swiss chocolate treat.

Over the summer, British discount grocery chain Poundland created Twin Peaks, a Toblerone copycat with a gold wrapper, red lettering, and bar that mimicked the old, chunkier design of the candy. The biggest difference here is that the ridges have a V shape cut into the top of each peak. If Toblerone’s design mimicked the contours of the Swiss Alps, Poundland argued that its bars resembled two famous peaks near the Welsh border. And, in a wise business move, this new candy weighed as much as the old Toblerone before its slimmed-down redesign — and it was cheaper than its inspiration, too.

[ click to continue reading at EATER ]