Shane MacGowan is the face and name most often associated with The Pogues. Unraveling Shane's psyche would require a book-length study but the crux of his identity lies somewhere in that conflict between English experience and Irish heritage. The abbreviated story of his life starts with his birth in England, but he was raised in Ireland, and moved back to England some years later. He won a scholarship to the renowned Westminster School, where he was possibly enrolled alongside Thomas Dolby and other notable people. MacGowan was involved with drugs and publicized hooliganery before being in a band, the first of which was The Nipple Erectors in 1977. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 13, 2009 - 87 comments

Why yes, I would like to rip my Lancaster County Prison CD. Viking Components invents a whole new form of spam, courtesy of Amazon's Guides feature. [more]
posted by staggernation on Jan 30, 2004 - 9 comments

Generative Art The musician Jem Finer (formerly of The Pogues) has created a musical composition, The LongPlayer, that will play, without repetition, for a thousand years (made with SuperCollider). It is currently playing live at a London lighthouse. The Dream House is another example of a generative art piece, in this case one that was set to run for eight years. These are both examples of Generative Art, Art generated by rules. The GA community is an active one. Also, see Virangelic - a random composition generator. Art generated by Artifical Life swarms. NewZoid - A false News Headline generator. And, N-Gen - computer generated Graphic Design.
posted by vacapinta on Jul 27, 2002 - 11 comments