Scientology...who knew?

[Sooner in Tampa]

http://www.tmz.com/media/2006/06/scientology_gay_4_0613_375.jpg

[NormanPride]

Everyone?

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Who is the guy and why is he wearing the shirt...

[Sooner Schemer]

Who knew?Stan Marsh

[frankensooner]

I wonder if this is the same guy? http://www.trashcity.org/WEIRD/ODD022.HTM

Store devoted to bad taste dies in L.A.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Many people -- those with excessive civic pride in other cities -- believe Los Angeles is the home of bad taste, just as Chicago has its arctic winds and New York its legions of sharks selling bridges to visiting rubes. Now these people may have to rethink their opinion of L.A. A shop specializing in bad taste and selling everything from sponges shaped like breasts to paintings by serial killer John Wayne Gacy has quietly shut its doors for lack of customers. "You've got Bad Taste" in the bohemian Silverlake area has closed, ending a three-year experiment into what arouses or disgusts Angelenos. "We overestimated people's concept of what bad taste is," said John Roecker, an independent filmmaker and co-owner of the oddity store with Exene Cervenka, singer for L.A. punk band X. "Some people didn't entirely understand what we were doing. This was a three-year project that was about challenging people's individual tastes, and we have a short attention span," he said.
The store once stocked everything from breast-shaped sponges ($6) to newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst's "Wanted By the FBI" rap sheet ($35 framed). Below the Patty Hearst posters were pacifiers from the 1920s in their original packaging ($10), a Dukes of Hazzard plastic digital watch ($5) and a book entitled "The Art of Kissing" ($2.25). Nearby were items such as a 1970s John Travolta doll ($30), a fake pecan/peanut garland ($9.50), a non-anatomically correct inflatable "John" doll ($17.98) and two John Wayne Gacy paintings from the serial killer's hummingbird and monster periods ($400 and $600, respectively). "A Gacy painting is much less offensive than, say, a Nike T-shirt," Roecker insisted. "Why wear advertising for a company that doesn't care about you? We encouraged people to think for themselves."

Part of the store's "adult education program" included guided tours of its Punk Rock Museum, complete with outfits worn by rock superstars Blondie and Devo, and its homage to Greek sculpture -- a cherubic boy fountain with blood-colored water flowing gracefully from the groin region. A final lesson in "the tyranny of religious oppression," as Roecker says, was just to the right of the fountain: a skeleton of a witch who toured in the early 1900s rested upright in an open casket, encased in chicken wire. "This was not a collector's store. Everything was fairly cheap -- but authentic. The store paid for itself and we only had a 50 percent markup on items. I couldn't imagine spending more than $3 for Mr. T. Air Freshener," Roecker said. Items such as "Beatnik Bandit II" car models from the 1960s, hair dye from the 1940s and an anti-sexual abuse book and cassette entitled "Sometimes It's OK to Tell Secrets" usually came from closeout sales at stores taken over by larger corporations, estate sales or old warehouse stock.

While stepping over the line was daily practice for the store, there were some items it did not carry. "Nazism is so white trash, so no Hitler Pez dispensers," Roecker said. "You can offend people by being more clever than that. Also, no NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) newsletters. And we wouldn't touch any Buckwheat or Mammy products." When Roecker and Cervenka opened the doors to "You've Got Bad Taste" in 1995, they wanted it to reflect Silverlake's bohemian culture. They founded it on the rebellious "Do-It-Yourself" philosophy that has always fueled punk rock. Once the store opened it became a community center in Silverlake. Record stores, avant-garde clothiers, bars and clubs soon surrounded it, enjoying the cheap rent of the district sandwiched between Hollywood and downtown L.A. Even before Details magazine declared Silverlake an "official scene" in 1996, young actors and movie industry hipsters traveled from their Hollywood hills homes to mix with the tattooed, post-collegiate musicians, artists and writers who live around eastern Sunset Boulevard. Entertainment industry props people soon saw a trend and became enthusiastic shoppers: Bruce Lee posters from the store appeared in "Boogie Nights" and bumper stickers and key chains debuted in Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" remake.

To foster Silverlake's close-knit but alternative community feel, "You've Got Bad Taste" regularly hosted daylong concerts and barbecues with local bands, poetry readings and lectures relating to cultural events. But being "different" did carry consequences. When they assembled a "Scientology Deprogramming" lecture led by ex-members, the Church of Scientology threatened legal action. When they put up a "Silverlake Hall of Fame" display with blowup dolls dressed as local celebrities, an irate resident put a brick through the front window. And when white, liberal college types staged a protest over the store selling "Chop Suey Specs," a product Roecker says many Asian customers were buying as a joke, he called the local news media. "We always loved free publicity," he said. "The way I see it, if you don't like something look at the sidewalk." But three years after becoming the cultural catalyst for Silverlake's alternative rock 'n' roll circus, "the scene that almost never was" crumbled. While Roecker may have cried foul, citing the community for not rewarding independent businesses, he and Cervenka decided to make a quiet exit into relative obscurity, taking with them the powerful influence of their unique store. "We discovered 'good taste' is the boring stuff you find at corporate malls," he said. "In this day and age, people are still afraid of expressing themselves, right, wrong, good or bad. We definitely were not. ... I guess people in L.A. do have bad taste because we ended up closing the store."

[Sooner in Tampa]

Who is the guy and why is he wearing the shirt... Link (http://www.tmz.com/2006/06/13/when-elfmans-explode/)


Indie film director John Roecker tells TMZ he was walking to his car with a female friend in LA's trendy Los Feliz neighborhood last Sunday when he was approached by a shirtless man and a tall blonde. "Hey, man, you're making fun of my religion," said the stranger angrily.
The chick is non other than

http://www.tmz.com/media/2006/06/elfman_g_200x240.jpg

Of Dharma and Greg fame.