Trust Billy Corgan to involve himself in both the swine flu and vaccination debates in one fell swoop: taking to his blog on Tuesday, he sought to enlighten his readers as to the “propaganda” surrounding the latest swine flu scare, and called into question the efficacy of the vaccines being administered throughout the country. Emphasizing his lack of a medical degree, Corgan claims: “I am more focused on the vibration that has us all so fearful: both for how the fear affects our thinking, and how, in our fear, we attract the worst, and, in conjunction with that, how those fears are used by others without integrity to try to create a power against Us to promote discomfort and dis-ease.”

He then goes on to claim that swine flu might be a man-made disease, and then suggests that this pandemic might be “The End.” He then states: “I for one will not be taking the vaccine. I do not trust those who make the vaccines, or the apperatus behind it all to push it on us thru fear. This is not judgment; it is a personal decision based on research, intuition, conversations with my doctor and my ‘family’. If the virus comes to take me Home, that is between me and the Lord. I have put up some of these links to inspire the question in you, so that perhaps you can make a better decision for yourself. That is what holistic life is about: a willingness to look at all the facts or opinions.”

Corgan closes with a discussion of the oft-dissected “climate of fear,” and closes with the following statement: “The deeper message here might be that people will soon be ready to abandon the idea of a paternalistic system that governs this world. Before doing so, we must face down our deeper fears about our own liberty and tolerance. The time is coming when we will cast votes with our hearts and not our minds.”

Thank you, Billy Corgan, for your amazing insight.

The Smashing Pumpkins may not exactly be The Smashing Pumpkins anymore. They are sort of a new model with the same old cooky smooth-headed driver. But at least you’ll get to test drive this new model 44 times before you decide if you want to buy it! Corgan has kept the old moniker, but is embacing the Internet medium as his main means of introduction to their new sound for the upcoming Teargarden By Kaleidyscope LP, which as it turns out might end up taking the physical form of 11 different, 4-song EPs. Corgan refers to this new plan as a “44-song free for all” that will be released one at a time starting just after Halloween. After being dropped from his major label, Corgan granted this might not be his wisest economic decision. But he went pretty deep on some things that may be more important than that. “I can’t afford it!!” he says. “But I would rather be free than rich. The [major] labels are dead ghosts walking, and they know it. They never should have left this mystic free, because I am way more of a pied piper than they could ever fathom.” (Via: Rolling Stone)

Performance art, or actual psychoanalysis in progress? Billy Corgan and David Byrne are set to be psychoanalyzed at New York’s Rubin Museum of Arts as part of a series of discussions on the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. The musicians will appear on separate nights, and will be paired onstage with a psychoanalyst, who will ask them to respond to and interpret a folio from Jung’s Red Book as a jumping off point for a broader conversation.

Corgan will take the stage to be psychoanalyzed on November 14; Byrne’s appearance is scheduled one week later, on November 21st. The Byrne event is sold out, but tickets for Corgan’s sure-to-be-intense session are still available. For those unable to attend, audio and video podcasts of the sessions will be made available at some point after the events.

Pack your things and start heading out west, because Billy Corgan announced six tour dates in Southern California. You can catch Monsiuer Pumpkin as part of newly minted supergroup Spirits In the Sky between August 26th and August 31st. Exact deets such as cities and venues are coming soon so keep on the look-out.

Just in case going to concerts wasn’t enough for you, here’s another opportunity to give Billy Corgan money in exchange for the chance to witness his sparkling attitude and charming personality: fans can now pay to subscribe to video updates of the Smashing Pumpkins in the studio as they record.
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