- Culture
- 19 Apr 01
Webs of intrigue and other adventures in cyberspace. Stuart Clark & Jonathan O’Brien
Every Picture Tells A Story
Renowned rock photographer Richard E Aaron recently set up his own homepage, which is effectively a gallery of all the assorted musicians, megastars, hangers-on and lowlifes he’s snapped over the years. The image shown here is a fantastic shot of Phil Lynott, which was one of his first assignments for a publicity shoot of a rock band (in this case, Thin Lizzy).
Lizzy’s publicist had requested a shot that would “Americanize” the UK-based band, so Aaron chose as a location the subway entrance just down the street from his New York studio. Through ingenious use of flash and Lynott’s mirrored glasses, he also managed to get himself into the photo . . .
http://www.rockpix.com/
CYBER-POTENCY
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Viagra, the supposed wonder-pill that conquers male impotence and staves off the spectre of penile droop, has now become available on the web. Since its initial appearance on the market less than a year ago, demand has far outstripped supply, with the makers of the drug, Pfizer Inc, struggling to keep up with the orders they’re receiving.
Indeed, stories are now emanating from far-flung global outposts, such as South Korea, that tourists there are giving the locals small quantities of Viagra, in return for cash/food/ accommodation etc., which in itself is reminiscent of the “Levi’s to Russia” scam of a few years ago. Small wonder, given that it supposedly “complements natural desire with astonishingly improved erectile performance” – and should you be one of the unfortunate males in need of said prescription, you can now order it at
http://www.viagra-sales.com/ feeder.html
IT’S A MUGSHOTS’ GAME
Whenever Hollywood’s stars stray out of their cloistered mansions and go on the razz, a few of them invariably end up falling foul of the law in one way or another – and, in America, this means sidling up against a wall and holding one of those black plastic numbered gadgets as you wait for a cop to take your photograph with a decidedly un-paparazzi-like camera. Perhaps the most famous example is the snapshot of Hugh Grant’s doleful expression of remorse, as he awaited charges to be filed following his 1995 run-in with the police after being “found on” in the company of a prostitute.
This site is chock-full of such pics, of which perhaps the strangest is the image of Pee Wee Herman unshaven and long-haired, looking like a member of Foghat as he prepares to face charges for his arrest relating to public masturbation in a Florida porn cinema in 1991.
There are even shots of the stars behind bars before they became famous, such as Al Pacino’s 1961 mugshot, which the creators of this site have somehow unearthed despite a presumable avalanche of red tape. The picture, which relates to an arrest for carrying a concealed weapon, was taken when Pacino was aged just 21 and living in New York City.
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http://192.41.4.55/fugue/ mugshot/
GANG STARS
If you got off on The Godfather, and your idea of great cinema is rather more GoodFellas than Gone With The Wind, then you’ll enjoy thumbing through the Gang Land website. The brainchild of one Jerry Capeci, it catalogues in loving detail the crimes, the caprices and the character traits of the men who run the world of organised felony in America.
Here, you can read about the, eh, colourful lives and times of celebrates “button-men” and wiseguys as Salvatore “Sammy The Bull” Gravano (better known as the man whose evidence brought down John Gotti), Leroy Barnes, Carmine “Junior” Persico, and the unforgettably-named Vincent “The Chin” Gigante.
One article within the site, headlined “GASPIPE GETS GASSED”, tells the tale of one Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso, an underboss for the Lucchese mob family who killed 36 people during his meteoric rise to the top. Having worked out a deal with the authorities that he would turn state’s evidence in return for a lighter jail sentence than anticipated, he saw it backfire on him in spectacular style.
The homepage comments: “Brooklyn federal judge Frederick Block ruled last week that prosecutors could renege on their deal to seek leniency for Gaspipe, who had pleaded guilty to 15 murders, racketeering and a slew of other crimes. Casso, 58, brought all this on himself. He wrote the book on the wrong things to do when you agree to agree to cooperate with the feds, especially when you’ve committed as many crimes as he has.
“Casso was less than candid about his role in the Lucchese family’s attempted murder of a turncoat capo’s sister, who was shot and wounded after dropping her kids off at school. He assaulted several inmates in two special witness units where he was being held. He sweet-talked a secretary at one of the units into granting him special privileges such as the use of a non-monitored phone. He bribed guards at the Otisville Correctional Facility to supply him with cash, steaks, sushi, turkeys, vodka and other contraband.
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“The last straw occurred late last summer when, after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had convicted Gigante (who Casso was involved in murder plots with) of racketeering without using Casso as a witness, Casso wrote a letter to them accusing several key Mafia witnesses of lying at Gigante’s trial.
“That’s when prosecutors said Casso breached his agreement with them, and informed him they would not write a letter recommending leniency and instead would seek a life sentence. Casso was kicked out of the witness unit and is currently in solitary confinement to protect him from retribution by other mobsters.”
http://www.ganglandnews. com/
Number One With A Mullet
Those of you who watched any of South Korea’s World Cup games on TV recently may have noted that their goalkeeper, Kim Byung-ji, is the proud possessor of the most spectacular mullet haircut to ever participate at the planet’s greatest sporting event.
In case you don’t know what a mullet looks like, it’s one of those barnets which are short and crew-cut on top and at the sides, but long and flowing at the back. It is quite simply the most ridiculous haircut ever created, and the No Mullet!!! site is essentially a rather lengthy rant against it.
As well as containing the rules to a game you can play with “fellow mullet-haters” (it’s too complicated to explain, but it involves awarding points for each mullet you see, with extra points if the mullet-wearer is garbed in white jeans or cowboy boots), they’ve also discovered a picture of one strange-looking creature named Noah Mullette-Gillman (above), who – you’ve guessed it – has a mullet so flagrantly grotesque that it flows down past his collar and onto his back.
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http://www.geocities.com/ SoHo/7644/Mullet.HTM