Hidden Findings discovered in Backspacer Cover (Updated)
pleatherman
Posts: 472


From Life Magazine:

From Andy Warhol:

Now, I am intrigued as to the back stories on the other eight illustrations. Looks like the treasure hunt has just begun.
http://kottke.org/08/07/the-most-beautiful-suicide
The most beautiful suicide
On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death.
The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption:
On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. 'He is much better off without me ... I wouldn't make a good wife for anybody,' ... Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale's death Wiles got this picture of death's violence and its composure.
From McHale's NY Times obituary, Empire State Ends Life of Girl, 20:
At 10:40 A. M., Patrolman John Morrissey of Traffic C, directing traffic at Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, noticed a swirling white scarf floating down from the upper floors of the Empire State. A moment later he heard a crash that sounded like an explosion. He saw a crowd converge in Thirty-third Street.
Two hundred feet west of Fifth Avenue, Miss McHale's body landed atop the car. The impact stove in the metal roof and shattered the car's windows. The driver was in a near-by drug store, thereby escaping death or serious injury.
On the observation deck, Detective Frank Murray of the West Thirtieth Street station, found Miss McHale's gray cloth coat, her pocketbook with several dollars and the note, and a make-up kit filled with family pictures.
The serenity of McHale's body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Years later, Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles' photography for a print called Suicide (Fallen Body).
EDIT 4-06-14: I decided to clean up the last edit of this post because it was rather convoluted and most of the links died anyway. Feel free to roam this thread for further concepts concerning the Sirens, Cosmic Drummer, Brain in a Jar theory, along with most of the other photo references Tom Tomorrow utilized. Here are some of them.






Post edited by pleatherman on
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Comments
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nice find!!
"We're running out of beer, too?" EV 6/19/080 -
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Nice find it willbe interesting to see what all the images are about and everyone's interpretations of them...got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul...0
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Can't wait to hear the story of the pimp on the tricycle with the giant women9-28-96 Randall’s Island NY; 9-01-00 Camden NJ; 7-05-03 Camden NJ; 10-01-04 Reading PA; 10-03-05 Philly PA; 5-27-06 Camden NJ; 5-28-06 Camden NJ; 6-19-08 Camden NJ; 6-20-08 Camden NJ; 6-24-08 NYC NY; 8-7-08 EV Newark, NJ; 6-11-09 EV Philly PA; 6-12-09 EV Philly PA; 10-27-09 Philly PA; 10-28-09 Philly PA; 10-30-09 Philly PA; 10-31-09 Philly PA; 5-15-10 Hartford CT; 5-18-10 Newark NJ; 5-21-10 NYC NY; 6-21-11 EV NYC NY; 6-22-11 EV NYC NY; 6-25-11 EV Philly PA; 7-1-11 EV StL MS; 9-3-11 E Troy WI; 9-4-11 E Troy WI0
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I sure hope the next issue of DEEP scores an interview with Tom Tomorrow. And who knows what other vignettes await us in the booklet that comes with Backspacer.0
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This might be another one? If so, I am sensing a theme.

http://www.aversion.com/news/news_artic ... ws_id=4057
Bad Astronaut Drummer Commits Suicide
Mar 31, 2005
Bad Astronaut drummer Derrick Plourde was found dead yesterday (March 30), the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Post edited by pleatherman on0 -
skyeriverwinter wrote:
pleatherman wrote:I sure hope the next issue of DEEP scores an interview with Tom Tomorrow. And who knows what other vignettes await us in the booklet that comes with Backspacer.
That's a good idea! I'd love an interview with Tom Tomorrow in the next DEEP issue.
Wow... good job on finding the real story behind one of the illustrations.JA: Why do I get the Ticketmaster question?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII0 -
theme = yikes0
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That's awesome. The original photo is crazy, really amazing.0
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How do Gilligan, the robot from Lost in Space and The Penguin fit in with a suicide theme?This weekend we rock Portland0
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I think one of the girls standing directly behind him is Raquel Welch, in her famous pose from the movie One Million B.B.
And the other two girls outfits look strangely familiar as well.2006/05/25 - Boston
2008/06/30 - Mansfield
2009/10/31 - Philadelphia
2010/05/17 - Boston
2011/06/15 - Providence (Eddie Vedder)
2012/09/02 - Made in America
2013/10/17 - Worcester
2013/10/25 - Hartford
2015/09/26 - Global Citizen Festival
2016/08/05 - Fenway
2016/08/07 - Fenway0 -
Rearviewrelease wrote:

I think one of the girls standing directly behind him is Raquel Welch, in her famous pose from the movie One Million B.B.
And the other two girls outfits look strangely familiar as well.
Now that you mention it, the one on the right is probaly ursula andress from "Dr. No"...got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul...0 -
The right would be Ursula Andress in Dr. NoRearviewrelease wrote:
I think one of the girls standing directly behind him is Raquel Welch, in her famous pose from the movie One Million B.B.
And the other two girls outfits look strangely familiar as well.
This weekend we rock Portland0 -
Im loving this thread!!!0
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Wow, this thread revealed to me that Raquel Welch isn't dead...I desire peace where I live
https://www.facebook.com/Bring.Pearl.Jam.To.Israel0 -
einatshaul wrote:Wow, this thread revealed to me that Raquel Welch isn't dead...
That made your day didn't it
2006/05/25 - Boston
2008/06/30 - Mansfield
2009/10/31 - Philadelphia
2010/05/17 - Boston
2011/06/15 - Providence (Eddie Vedder)
2012/09/02 - Made in America
2013/10/17 - Worcester
2013/10/25 - Hartford
2015/09/26 - Global Citizen Festival
2016/08/05 - Fenway
2016/08/07 - Fenway0 -
oh that raquel welch, she's such a phony!einatshaul wrote:Wow, this thread revealed to me that Raquel Welch isn't dead...0 -
...And you guys know your thighs...I desire peace where I live
https://www.facebook.com/Bring.Pearl.Jam.To.Israel0 -
And this is the robot from the bottom-left image:
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