Gauguin's Echoes Haunt Pacific Island

Who wouldn't want to spend $100 on an imaginary sculpture?

(NEWSER) - James Franco’s latest project is arguably his weirdest yet— and that’s saying something . The multi-hyphenate recently teamed up with conceptual art duo Praxis to create the Museum of Non-Visible Art (MONA), the Huffington Post reports. On the project’s Kickstarter site , MONA is described as being "composed entirely of ideas. … Although the artworks themselves are not visible, the descriptions open our eyes to a parallel world built of images and words. This world is not visible, but it is real, perhaps more real than the world of matter, and it is also for sale." Seriously. More»

From NYC to London, Berlin to Mississippi

(NEWSER) - Want to see hear some great music in a tiny place? The Guardian asks industry insiders for tips:

• Pegu Club, New York: Hitting this unassuming West Houston Street spot is “like going back to the great clubs of the 20s, when the staff were pretty and jazz and cocktails ruled,” says the director of one London jazz standby.
• Po’ Monkey’s, Merigold, Miss.: “Ramshackle hut powered by a single cable,” Po'Monkey's offers “raw blues at its authentic and spine-shivering best,” says one music-travel exec.

'How many calves in formaldehyde does world need?'

(NEWSER) - Damien Hirst’s artwork can be inscrutable to some, but count moody Morrissey as an outright hater. “Hirst’s head should be kept in a bag” for his use of dead animals, the singer opines in Interview —where he’s actually the one supposedly asking the questions of artist Linder Sterling. More»

Everything's got meat in it, for one—bad news for vegetarian

(NEWSER) - Many years of life in Japan have thoroughly soured American expatriate Tim Rogers on the country, despite his long personal history of “tolerating the hell out of some world cultures.” Herewith, some reasons:

• Animé sucks. Used to be fine, but now “it’s inbred trailer-trash in entertainment form … a bunch of shit pandering to perverts and pedophiles.”
• There’s meat in everything. Bad news for a vegetarian, sure, but what’s more irksome is how Japanese go out of their way to add meat to, say, white bread.

Hip-hop's first couple get tour, meet Obama

(NEWSER) - Hip-hop’s first couple got a look at the DC digs of the nation’s first family this week, with Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé getting cozy in the White House Situation Room as they waited to meet President Obama. The rapper, who’s bragged in lyrics about close relations with Obama, was in Washington for a concert Wednesday. Wonders MTV’s Rahman Dukes of the photos, “Is that Obama’s seat? Doesn’t Jigga sort of look right in that spot?” More»