The Harland Highway - 401 BANKSY graffiti artist, Geting old, advertising

Episode Date: May 31, 2012

Contreversial BANKSY graffiti artist, Geting old, advertising, fixing the back, signals from outer space. Blunk snunk!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bad girls, talking about your bad girls. Well, I'm not a girl, and I'm not bad. So, meaningless beginning to the podcast, sorry. Let's get this sucker rolling, folks. Welcome to the Harlan Highway. It's me, Harlem Williams, and in the flesh, in the blood, in the oil, and in the vinegar. We are going to be talking about something a little sad. The oldest woman in the world has died.

We've got to talk about that. We are going to be doing an experiment today. We've got a new piece of equipment that allows us to listen into orbit, into outer space. We're going to try and pick up some signals from outer space. We're going to be talking about a guy named Banksy, who is a world. famous graffiti artist, and he has some words of wisdom that I think you might find compelling. And have you, we're going to talk about advertising and stuff like that. And how about your back? Have you ever thrown your back out?

There's many interesting ways to realign your back, and I got caught in a real weird and creepy way to do it. So hold on, put your seatbelts on. This is the Harland Highway Welcome to the Harland Highway All right, let's get this sucker going, huh? You're causing a major disturbance on my time. It's the Harland Highway. What's up, Brad?

If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time? I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. Am I hallucinating here? Just what in the hell do you think you're doing? You just made a wrong turn. On to the Harland Highway. This is your fucking wake-up call, man.

You're riding down the Harland Highway with Harland Williams. In 30 seconds, you'll be dead. I'll blow this place up and be home in time for cornflakes. Well, let's play some funeral music here. Yeah, it's a sad day. Hit the funeral music, Raj. It looks like the oldest person in the world died. Yesterday, a lady in Memphis, Tennessee, 116 years old.

Are you kidding me, man? Didn't Jim Morrison die when he was 26? Actually, Harland, Jim Morrison died when he was 28, and so did Janice Joplin, 28, and Jimmy Hendricks, also 28. And this broad lived to be 116? Do you know how many albums the doors would have right now? that they had lived that long? Do you know how many drugs?

Janice Joplin would have done? You know, how many cool guitar solos? Jimmy Hendricks would have done? This poor lady, man. Do you want to live that long? 116? Do you want to outlive the tree in your yard? I mean, you've got to figure it about 109.

That tree's going to, like, fall over, and you've got to go, man, I used to feel old when I went to a nightclub, but watching that tree, live and die before I did that kind of gives you one right in the old ribs there huh what do you do at that age man how many boyfriends have been through at 116 you could probably lie you know hey baby how old are you i'm 16 wow you look kind of mature for your age yeah well i'm 16 I know I'm lying about the extra hundred part.

Man, can you imagine being that old? Oh, you fart, dust comes out. That's just, that's old, man. You got so many varicose veins on your legs, you use them as a roadmap. I think we're lost. I better roll up my shorts. Oh, let's see, go there. Okay, we're back on track.

It's Highland Williams. Spock said it best, people. Live long and prosper. Who the hell's Spock? Wait, who the hell's Harlan Williams? All right. All right, Granny. Take it easy.

God. We're all getting old. We're all moving along. You're older now. Then when I just said, we're getting old. It's funny, you just can't shut it off. It just keeps rolling. When you think of one day going by, one hour, what did you do yesterday?

What'd you do this morning? Did you spend an hour watching the news? That was an hour of your life, an hour of your time, an hour of your limited window of being here on good old planet earth listening to this podcast is using your time and i got to say thank you if uh if you're making me part of your valuable time if you're making the harland highway part of your valuable time thank you i hope it's enhancing your life i hope it's giving you something that's the plan here to give you something um because the world's full of clutter and it's full of people with their own agendas case

and point advertisers okay i think we all hate commercials we all hate billboards um but how deeply do we think about them um there's a gentleman if you want to call him a gentleman he's from the United Kingdom and he just goes by the name of Banksy and if you don't know who he is he's a world famous graffiti artist with quotes air quotes around the word artist okay

he's a guy that's made quite a name for himself for doing a very original and thought-provoking graffiti and public places on walls and he's a guy that's never revealed his face he keeps hidden in the shadows But I have to say, as far as his graffiti goes, it's, like I said, it's thought-provoking, it challenges us, it provokes us, it stimulates us. It's pretty clever, I have to say.

Now, the reason I'm saying I have to say is because I'm not a big fan of graffiti in general. You know, I don't care if it's Einstein doing the graffiti. I just don't really approve of other people deciding, you know what? I'm going to deface your building. I'm going to deface your architecture. I'm going to put what I want on your private property. What's that?

You paid a million dollars for that office building? Well, I don't care. Why should I care? I'm going to spray paint all over it. Yeah, I need to get my message out. And I'm going to use your building to facilitate that. I don't like that because, you know, people work hard for their money. People, you know, pay to erect buildings and own property and blah, blah, and yeah,

maybe seem like it's part of the system and the man's keeping us down and, oh, corporate America. But still, at the end of the day, we all have to live somewhere. We all have to work somewhere. and you know if your path in life is to be an entrepreneur or make money and run a business and open a building well then you know that's the path you took and if you did well at it why should you be punished by some guy coming along and defacing it

I don't think it's respectful and let me put it this way any graffiti artist out there I'm sure they live somewhere how would they like it if someone kicked in their front door and spray painted shit all over their bedroom wall or all over their TV or all over their face it's a violation and uh you know i'm i'm all about art and expression and you know if you can find uh you know an abandoned building or an old wall that doesn't lead to anything anymore you know that's one thing but to just do to face people's property.

Not into it. But that being said, I got to give kudos to this guy, Pancy. He's, uh, they're not Pantsy. What am I saying? Banksy. This name's Banksy. Who the hell's Pancy? Pants.

Who the hell's Pancy? I am. I'm Pancy. And I've just taken them off. How do you like what you see? Put them on, dude. Oh, man. man that's a violation right there getting the guy's name wrong his name's banksie not

pansy panty's his girlfriend um and he's featured in a movie called exit through the gift shop uh it's a very interesting documentary that was done on this reclusive guy and uh recommend it it's i i kind of watched it going out what the hell is this i'm not that interested in graffiti in the world of graffiti but after watching exit through the gift shop, I certainly had a sense of enlightenment and a sense of respect for the vision of a graffiti artist, but again, I still don't agree with, you know, thinking you're above the law and thinking you have the right to splatter your ramblings on someone else's private property but enough about that uh this banksy guy is kind of one of these guys that rallies

against uh society rallies against advertising and things like that and i think we need people like that i think we all need to be a bit like that uh because i think uh you know in life a lot of us we get we get beaten into being drones and sheep and all those words that that people use and to a degree I think we let it happen because we're like well how harmful is it and we're also like well there does have to be some kind of world order and societal order I mean you know if everyone just ran around screaming and swinging an axe and burning things down I mean none of us would be around that long would that be a more exciting way of life probably but we're at the place where we're at the place we're at and we have to deal with the trappings that the world throws at us and uh sometimes i think we get numb to all of it and what i respect about a guy like banksy is he pushes buttons to kind of say

hey wake up look around you don't uh don't just settle for what they say you know the old they So here's a statement, a quote, a passage from Banksy on the world of advertising that I thought was quite thought-provoking and quite articulate. And, you know, I'm going to read it to you and see what you think. Here's Banksy, the world famous graffiti artist on the world of advertising. People are taking the piss out of you every day. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you, and then they disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough

and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated. technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are the advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like, whenever they like, with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not, is yours. It's yours to take, rearrange, and reuse. You can do whatever you like with it.

Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the company's nothing, less than nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have rearranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission. Don't even start asking for theirs. Banksy. So interesting. An interesting take on, you know, the slew of advertising we're confronted with every day.

The overwhelming amount of advertising we run into every day, whether it be on television, radio, billboards, signs, bus stops. and and banks he has a good point nobody nobody asked us if we wanted that stuff in front of our eyes you know obviously it's a message it's it's a it's a branding it's uh imagery and words that that we absorb we take in and and affect us and uh it's true there he nobody asked if if we would want that in our line of vision. They just put it there and assumed we want to see it. I'll tell you a funny story.

I might have mentioned this before, but I was in East Berlin in Germany before the wall came down. And it was incredible. I mean, this was a city that was completely void of any of that stuff. There was no advertising, there was no billboards, There was nothing but the buildings and the streetlights. And there was only about five streetlights. Imagine that in a major city.

And it was amazing because what really popped out was the architecture and the dwellings of people and the molding over a door and the shape of a building and the materials used in the building. Hey, everybody, who wants to have better sex? No? Yes? Yes. The answer is yes. You always want to have better sex. That's what you want it to be better, not worse. Trust me. And Adam and Eve is offering 50% off just about any item plus free shipping. And more than that, Adam and Eve wants to make your life easy. They offer discrete shipping as your privacy is a priority. Plus 100% free shipping on your entire order. Doesn't matter how much you spend or what you buy. I will be packaged and sent discreet. for free and fast. Don't wait. Better Sex is just a click away. That's 50% off, one item, and free shipping. Bring more pleasure and satisfaction into your bedroom. Just go to Adam and Eve.com and select any one item. It could be an adventurous new toy or anything you desire. Just enter the

offer code Harlan to check out. That's Harland, H-A-R-L-A-N-D at Adam and Eve.com. This is an exclusive offer specific to this podcast. So be sure to use this code Harland so you get your discount and a 100% free shipping code Harland. Have fun. Don't throw your back out. The length of a street, you can look down a street without your eyes being interrupted by anything. And it was fascinating. That really hit me when I was in East Berlin at how much I was noticing the architecture and everything around me versus, you know, being in a free part of the world where there's advertising splashed everywhere. So as fate would have it, I ended up going back to the Berlin wall once it was ripped down.

And I went into East Berlin again, and this was right after the wall came down, probably like a few months. and sure enough I walked through some of the same area I had been in and up on a giant billboard was a huge pink Baskin-Robbins billboard and this thing just stuck out like a sore thumb and it kind of destroyed the memory of what I had seen there before and it made me feel sad. I was like, oh man, I know on one hand they got freedom but on the other hand this is freedom big freaking pink billboard glowing in the night for for ice cream and i realized it went wow here we go welcome to uh the system and and part of me and

i you know i don't really mean this but part of me wondered geez did they have it better off behind the wall or they didn't have all this crap Is that a better system to not be inundated with all this crap? And, you know, the answer is I'd rather deal with a bit of crap in order to have my freedom, of course. But it was very striking. So there you go. That's my discussion on advertising. It's not sparked by me, really, but sparked by this quote that I saw by Banksy.

and I think it's important that in the world we have people that ask these questions, make these statements, push these buttons, and, you know, at the end of the day, I can't believe that we're all that stupid that we're like, oh, yeah, gee, we're being inundated. I have to feel like to a degree we all get it, we all know what's happening, and we just kind of accept it and go, okay, I know how to filter it out, I know how to accept it or deny it. You know, Banksy's statement here maybe makes us feel a little more like sheep and a little dumber than we are. But I got to give human beings a little more credit than that. But I do appreciate what Banksy said, thought-provoking to say the least. What do you think? You can always leave your comments at Harlow Williams.com. Or you can call me 323-739.

4330, and let me know what you think. Now it's time for a commercial. Oh, man. Today, the United States is engaged in a gigantic effort to send men to the moon. For this effort, Pillsbury has developed many special foods. Here is the first one to be made available to the public, space food sticks. To meet the demands of a long spaceflight, space food sticks had to be a compact, nutritious, high, energy food. That's why they make the perfect between-meal energy snack. Energy for hard play.

Energy for hard work. Lasting energy to feel alive. If that sounds better than some of the things your family fills up on between meals, you should try space food sticks for good nutrition and lasting energy in a chewy, tasty snack food. Chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter, about 44 calories at your groceries next to the instant breakfast section. Space food sticks, the energy snack from U.S. Aerospace Research and Pillsbury. Oh, yeah, oh yeah, Harlan Williams here, and you're on the Harland Highway. What a treat it is to have you along for the ride today. Hope you're having a good one.

You know what? We get new technology here all the time at the Harland Highway. We're always getting new gadgets to enhance your listening experience and filters and sound-accompliance. equipment and, you know, microphones and just high-tech stuff that you probably can't even get your head around. I mean, don't even try. Uh-uh. But we got this thing, we got this little device here where we can actually go out into the

stratosphere and pick up sounds from orbit, from outer space. I guess the theory is it's like these guys with the giant satellite dishes sitting on the top of Mountain in Hawaii. We listen for extraterrestrial activity, voices, sounds, any type of clue that there's something out there. So I got my producer here, Roger. Roger, let's turn this thing on and see if we can pick up any intelligent life out there. Okay? Flick on the switch, Roger. Here we go. Let's see what we find

out there in space. Get the tools What tools? The tools we've been using for the last 10 years. Oh, those tools. Oh, oh, whoa, oh, whoa! Oh, whoa! It's hot! Oh!

Oh, whoa! Oh! We had a signal there, and looks like we lost it. Wow. Wow, how about that, huh? Well, I guess that proves there is stuff. out there we're not alone people okay there's more out there in the universe than just

the Harland Highway and you no no stop stop who am I kidding who are we kidding there's no one really out there but you and the Harland Highway I take that back that was that was

wrong for me to say um and speaking of things being out there you ever throw your back out has that ever happened you're one of these people whose back

goes out I don't so far so good my back has stayed in and not out my back um hi I'm your back yes and I'm coming out

what do you mean I'm coming out figure it out don't you get it wait you're your my back is coming out that's right and sad for you i'm on your back oh uh-huh so no my back has not come out but uh i had a buddy of mine this was weird me and a buddy were hanging out and a guy have known for like uh you know 25 years my buddy's sean and uh we're just kind of goofing around We were doing a little construction work. Then we sat and had some lunch and blah, blah, blah.

We were just, you know, kind of talking. And I didn't know where he goes, hey, man, will you step on my back? And I was like, dude, do you have something you need to tell me? No, seriously, dude. I'm going to lay down and can you step on my back? And I'm like, what? Step on your, stand on your back? He's like, yeah, my back's gone out.

I go, no, I'm not standing on your back, on your spine. yeah man you got to stand on it it it pops it back in i'm like what god no he goes come on man my family does it all the time and i'm like whoa uh okay if if you really want me like you know i weigh like two hundred pounds right yeah man step on my back stand right on it and i'm like you know with all the advances in medicine, in, what's that stuff, in the world of chiropractors, our knowledge of the human body,

hospitals, you know, all that stuff. I don't know that standing on someone's spine to realign it is really in any medical journal. anywhere. I mean, how often in life does someone say, hey, man, would you mind standing on my spine? So needless to say, I was taken aback. No pun intended. Did you catch that taken a back? I just realized, yes, I got it. Okay, get back. I mean, what was that? Get back. Go, stop coming out back. love that restaurant outback restaurant are you asking me out for dinner what i'm saying is i came out i'm a back and i came out yes now i need you to go back in and stop interrupting me all right but what time are we

going to outback shut up oh i like him spicy oh okay so anyways so i do it my buddy lays down on the ground and I stand on his back. And it's weird because I don't know if you've ever stood on a human body. How many of you have stood on a human body? It's weird. I mean, you know, human bodies are full of muscle and tissue and organs and, you know, our bones are flexible to a degree. Our rib cage expands and contracts.

So here I was. I kind of stood on this guy, and it's weird. weird because you know everything moves your skin slides around so it was it was a little bit awkward and i could feel the weight of my body kind of compressing his body and pushing it down and things were kind of shifting and it's hard to keep your balance because you know the the backbone has got the kind of like the spikes on the vertebrae and the skin sliding around and there's a little bit of fat and it was just odd so in a way it was kind of like surfing a little bit on this guy's back and I'm standing there like trying to keep my balance I'm like and then all of a sudden

I hear it it's like these horrible cracking noises pop and I'm like oh my god and is the guy's right his back is cracking and it wasn't just like one crack it was a bunch of crack Did you say crack? Stop it! And I'm just like, ooh, freaky. And not only was it cracking, but, you know, I have my socks on at this point, and you could feel the vibration of his back going right up through my body. Right?

You know how our fingers and feet and our whole epidermal layer has sensors where we feel vibration and movement and, you know, were sensitive to anything like that and i could feel this back cracking running through my feet and right up through my body and i was like ah god creepy real creepy i'm not creepy i'm just trying to come out so really you know before you stand on your friends back be ready for it and and maybe try not to do it i don't know but anyways my buddy sean he pops right back goes thanks man feel great you want to go uh throw a canoe around or something no thank you thank you i'm looking forward to my nightmares my nightmares where i'm lost in a bone yard walking

across dead corpses to get to the other side. Thank you. Ew, oh, oh, oh, oh. Maybe I could hold your hand, walk you through it. Shut up! Ugh. Anyways, let's get out of this one. Oh, I'm out. I'm already out. Stop it! Ooh! All right, let's, let's, I got ended here. I can't take any more of this.

So let's see. What is going on? Let's have some announcement, shall we? Don't forget this weekend, starting tonight, May 31st. Yours truly will be at the improv in Chicago, just outside of Chicago in Schaumburg. Great club, beautiful club, the improv. Come and check that out. And then the following week, I will be in Tampa.

Florida, Tampa, Palm Trees, Flamingos. That'll be June 7th through June 10th at the Tampa Improv. Check that out. And don't forget to check out Harlow Williams.com. Check out the store. We have brand new t-shirts up, hand-drawn t-shirts that I draw myself. I mean, I don't even know if they're still available. These things go really fast when I put them up.

They're kind of these one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn shirts that I do. People love them, and, you know, I'm making this announcement, but who knows, they could be sold out as of now. I only have, like, six of them up there because it takes me a while to do them. But check them out, and if you're lucky, grab one. If you see something you like. And what else could I tell you? I think that's it.

Don't forget to check out my Twitter page at Harlan Williams or you can always join up on Facebook on Harlan Williams. So there it is. We are done for today. Thank you for coming along for the ride. And we will catch you next time. And until then, keep your back in shape. Oh, I will.

And chicken, Chalman, baby. How about the Outback?