chinese zha cai and mu err straight from the second world war
Az elmúlt hetek sokszor az én mércém szerint is meredek gasztronómiai jelenetei után elérkeztem arra a pontra, ahol megbontom a hűtőmet és elkezdem belőle publikusan fogyasztani az ott felhalmozott látleleteket. Az első egy sóval tartósított mustárgyökér (zha cai) -fafülgomba (mu err) kombináció még feltételezhetően a második világháború környékéről, elnézve a csomagolás elejére becsempészett logót. A ropogósabb fafülgombát a kínaibüfék mélyéről ismerhetjük alsó hangon, a mustárgyökér nem annyira gyakori, de az Új Lanzhouban megcsinálják olyan jól, hogy leemeljem az uniform polcról két csomag MSG meg egy azonosíthatatlan herbal tea-pakk közül.
8:54 Az első, határozott falatok. A falfülgombának első körben fafül, másodikban mogyoróíze van, a mustárgyökeret elnyomja valami elemi gonoszsággal vetekedő sósság. Az elkövekező pillanatokban mintha egy ló rúgta volna ki a fogaim többségét, olyan gyilkos véríz önti el a számat, másodlagos középtónusokban közép-kínai avart érzek, őszies textúrával.
8:56 Ezekhez egy pillanatig bambusz, szezámmag, majd zokogó falusiasszony-íz társul.
8:57 Érett ételről beszélünk, fokozatosan építkeznek az ízhatások. Zsé-kategóriás "kínaijelleg" a nyelv elülső régióiban, ami az ízfokozótól van, mert mégsem találtam benne bambuszt.
8:59 Három dolgot sikerül megkülönböztetnem a tányéron: sót (már kristályosodik), csiliolajat és enyhén nedves, remegő, csillogó tartalmat, amit kiéhezettebb férfiak már javában. Ezt eszem, amúgy.
9:02 Igazából tényleg csak azért eszem meg, hogy beszámolhassak róla, mert ez a valami nem jó, viszont elveszi az étvágyat. A ventilátor szétfújta Kína lehelletét a szobában, a szúnyoghálóra tapadt bogarak szó nélkül hullottak alá. Leöblíteném a tegnapi citromosviledával, ha maradt volna még.
russian lesbian lolita keyboards (and supple++)
Artemy "Optimus" Lebedev is back with another concept for a new-gen keyboard, the Optimus Tactus. Not yet haptic, the keyboard is actually bestowed with an iPhonesque touchscreen capability, meaning most of the user-ended design issues are basically on the interface side: buttons can be any shape and size, making this a wonderful addition to Supple++. If you hadn't known Supple++ before, that's basically a software support system for users living with motoric disabilities - they are given tests (they have to click, drag and do various other tasks with the mouse) and then the whole Windows interface changes according to their limitations, e.g. if they have problems dragging the cursor through the screen, the distance between buttons diminishes. Imagine the same thing with the Tactus. Amazing. (via gearfuse)
P.S.: And as for the lesbian lolitas, they are obviously T.A.T.U., so grab this, Nas ne dagonyat, from the first LP.
sony ericsson sex change video ad
So much about the fuzzy logic in the title, I'm sorry. 30-sec ad featuring Oguri Shun, previously featured in the Azumi and Crows ZERO movies, also Sukiywaki Western: Django. (via boingboing)
more syd mead goodness at boingboing.tv
If last week's Syd Mead interview with Joel Johnson of boingboing wasn't enough, here's part two. (via)
mirror's edge story trailer
In a city where the movement of people and information is closely monitored, the safest way to transport sensitive information is the hire a Runner - a courier that operates via the rooftops and skyways, sez the new story trailer of parkour-cum-cyberpunk first-person-runner glory MIRROR'S EDGE. The almost-Nic-Endo protagonist's sister is taken hostage and Faith - whom we all came to love - is doing everything she can to handle the situation. The 2D trailer with all the action sequences is quite an enjoyable piece, brings back some Aeon Flux memories - only this time it's really white and blue (whereas the enterieur pieces are more like red, brown and yellow). And take this loveable and shamefully glorious 1980's slogan:
On the edge of the city, you find out who you really are.
the cube: full-length version on google video
Deceptive titles, the kind of infection that comes with being an online journalist, I guess. Last night (read: today at 3am) I'm still sitting in the HQ and my iris is playing in at least three different colours and one of them looks like a girl lost in Berlin, the other is the color of experimental chemicals mixed in homemade plastic trays and the wind's blowing like a cheap Asian hooker on crack, mostly because I learned how to deliver heavy weather in my room. Which is awesome, by the way.
And I'm watching The Cube series in random order, re-cut and the whole movie's perspiring and it's really creeping-crawling for a fourth version and I'm really, really digging up every Milgram-related crap that I find (and it turns out that I started writing up a psycho drama that's very milgramish and has at least ten pounds of fetish per character) and then I come with a TV play from 1969 on the verge of British absurd that's called THE CUBE, directed by none other than Jim Henson (the Muppet Show fame, the same) and it's about a man who finds himself in a cube that he cannot leave unless he finds "his own door", whereas various characters enter and leave the scene on their own will. And it's on Google Video and it's very, very free. Enjoy the treat.
terminator: salvation trailer released!
Wikipedia sez, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a Terminator whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind.
d4m4g3 live on mtv: never again, really
Nem volt cyberpunk műsor az MTV szerda esti adásában, volt helyette műsor, amiben az Animal Cannibals mindenféle számottevő műsorbeli felkészülést mellőzve próbálta élőben kideríteni, hogy mi a cyberpunk. Az érintett tengelyek: akkor ez a cyberpunk zene ez ilyen drogos zene, igaz? (a szóbanforgó synesthetics - electric kool-aid demo) és akkor az óriásmajmos filmek, például a King Kong, az is cyberpunk, igaz? és akkor ők olyanok külsőre, mint az emók, ugye? Utólag azt mondják, sokszor mondtam, hogy most eltérünk a témától. (A képeket meg köszönöm Esteenek, I owe you one :D)
A classic MTV befuttatta az Aeon Fluxot, az MTV Asia előtérbe tolta az Ars Electronica-díjas Codehunterst, a képen a hazai eresztés.
Volt piros, szintetikus petesejtünk is. Valahol ekkortájt telefonált be valaki, aki nem mutatkozott be, de erősen mentette a műsort, itt is közlöm, hogy meghívom valamire, ha találkozunk. Bal kéz felől Qka, ő még tudott (volna) okosakat kérdezni.
Két comb között cyberpunk, én meg mutatom, hogy implant nélkül mekkora. Megható mozzanata az estének.
Erre nem emlékszem, de valahol itt volt az ugye ez drogos dolog, és ha itt bemondom, hogy a nootropic intelligenciát növel, életemben nem mosom le magamról azt, hogy. (Ahhoz képest, hogy első ember, akire hivatkoztam, Timothy Leary volt...) Konklúzió: nem ülünk le többet olyan emberekkel interjúzni, akik abból akarnak előnyt forgatni maguknak, hogy alaptudás nélkül ülnek le műsort csinálni és enyhén arra utalnak, hogy este kilenc után és cink olyan műsort csinálni, amiben van konkrétan okos kérdés, okos válasz.
Pontosan.
beardyman with a kaoss pad: party futurism, in a way
Although Beardyman, UK's premiere beatboxer is definitely not someone to be taken for a cyberpunk (oh my god, no), the very concept he's showing off at the 2008 Beatboxer Convention with a Kaoss Pad surely is a progressive trait in today's party culture. I remember talking to Mr. Rage Incarnate Alec "Atari Teenage Riot" Empire last year in Berlin and what he said was today's party culture in all its glory is nothing but a piece of horseshit. You visit a party and what you hear in the first five minutes will haunt you for the rest of the night. And then he invited us over to check out the eeriely beautiful performance art of Zan Lyons (distorted violins, a PowerMac and a wallful of Blade Runner). So what you see in these two videos is something along those lines - take the basic beats, take the technology, take the human factor and combine them into something new. Party organizers. Reinvent your ideas about everything.
Huszonöt éves a cyberpunk, 1. rész
Hackerek, virtuális valóság, mesterséges intelligenciák, végtelenbe nyúló neonrácshálók, cyborgok, a társadalom mocska a megapoliszokban, nincsenek országhatárok, csak megacégek. A tévé meg a designer drogok adják a pillanatnyi megnyugvást, a nanotechnológia bebújik a bőr alá, az információ meg szabad akar lenni, mindenki elnyom, mi meg harcolunk. Ez az irodalmi műfajként indult, aztán a szórakoztatóipar és a tömegkultúra minden egyes ágában gyökeret vert cyberpunk stílust leíró közhelyparádé. Cikkünkben arra vetünk fényt, hogy mindez hol és hogyan kezdődött.
Aki nem ismerné, örüljön, a japánkulturális Mondo magazin két számát nem kell most megvennie (ne örüljön amúgy, én hiába rovatolok oda, nem szégyellem megvenni, jók ugyanis), ez a cikk ugyanis már publikált anyagokból van összeollózva (copypastelve). 1983-tól 1996-ig taglalom a cyberpunk történetét pár utalással, ha sikerült az agyamról letenni az ékszíjat, majd folytatom tovább is. A fenti videó a cyberpunk szubkultúra egyik legtöbbet körberajongott jelenete a Johnny Mnemonicból: így nézett ki az internet 1995-ben.
hazardous conditions
I'm either applying for an armored company SUV or my favourite yellow hazmat suit I haven't actually ordered some ten paydays ago or so. Order three and you get a lady free. Picture originally comes from Fauxred's feed, Hazardous Conditions.
le weekend zen
So zis is ze new edition of le weekend zen! Momotaro Ramen. Ahol a rock katonái esznek (Frenreisz Károly gigantikus adag takeaway mellett), az nem lehet rossz hely, komolyra fordítva a szót: klasszikus ramen-ya, udvarias, precíz és gyors kiszolgálással, a vendégek fele ázsiai, a száznapos tojás szójaszószban is verhetetlen, a városban számos helyen el tudnék képzelni ilyen töltödőpontokat. Fejenként 1-2kból bőven megvan az emberlánya. Térkép és fénykép itt, szerintük kínai étterem, nekem meg igazából mindegy, de Momotaro Udon van amúgy a cégéren. (És mostantól törzshely.)
Le grin! Ez itt TLVLP "Love Cushion White Sugar" Pierre, aki öt perccel később azon mormog, hogy szemgolyókat nem kapott az udonjába. Ugyanolyan harcos szararimann, mint mi (les quatres!), csak ő főz is, saját elmondása szerint még nem modellkedett. Ebből nem csiholtunk történeteket.
Körbevettük, néztük. Tigrises Virgin Pink energiaital, megdőlt a Red Bull Cola harmadik kerületi címzetes előnye. Ők meg minket néztek, ahogy a dobozt rugdaljuk, vegyielemezzük, kis híján (harminc fok árnyékban, a kávé nem elég) kóstolgatjuk alatta a buszpadlót.
Le weird. Útban a SceneCon felé pár hosszúcombú szőke légy után. Megchipeltük, mind a hárman.
Date Kyoko, anyone? The 3D models dressed into EU-clothes just alongside the river Danube, French street bal. And trust me, vive la France, but it really sucked major logistical, organizational and just big fat hairy ass. (Street bal that you cover in five minutes slowly, two minutes in normal stride? Gimme a break. Haven't tried the crépes, though, they probably had these tricolor lozenges in them that slowly turn your vision inside out so you think you're strolling along several kilometres of vendors? And that was just a glimpse through a glass of beer? Must try it next year, bah.)
repo! the genetic opera
Without getting too intense and hot on Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera, this piece of art is one of the best things that's gonna happen to the cyberpunk movement this year (apart from the first Doktor Sleepless trade paperback and the hopefully promising re-make of Ghost in the Shell and Pearry, trust me, you don't release The Gene Generation in 2008, we're so releasing doom in your pants. And me going to Twitter): it is all above fusion, blending and a generous amount of tetrising around previously unmatched blocks of art.
It's Bioshock live. Golden age aesthetics with all the cyberpunk clichés burped back into life: evil organ-selling zaibatsus, hired killers, hot women in black, a cabaret of decadance, Blade Runner meets Rocky Horror Picture Show, they say.
And the blocks fit nicely, from Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy to Sarah Brightman and the postmodern top-down DIY media icon Paris Hilton: it's all crossover cyberpunk opera and you all need to devour it. Limited theatrical release is reported to start on November 7th, 2008.
Japanese fans, scream away in anal glee. Yoshiki Hayashi of X-Japan fame is behind the soundtrack (and is also credited as a producer alongside Bousman). A Rubik cube of glory, really. (And read the interview with Bousman on creature-corner, while you're at it.)
Need a backup story? The Repo! Wikipedia entry sez An epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Panic erupts and scientists feverishly make plans for a massive organ harvest. Out of the tragedy, GeneCo, a multi-billion dollar biotech company, emerges. GeneCo provides organ transplantation for a profit. In addition to financing options, GeneCo reserves the right to implement default remedies, including repossession. For those who can't keep up with their organ payments, collection is the responsibility of "organ repo men", skilled assassins contracted by GeneCo, ordered to recover GeneCo's property by any means necessary.
the tenorions: pr-stunt turned sore and stale?
Pierre's just sent me the link (Hungarian) to Japanese threesome The Tenorions that sounds and feels pretty much like a very half-assed PR-stunt for the "new" Yamaha e-instrument called Tenori-On, which is basically a hand-held tracker.
My readers are probably aware of my fondness for Asian girls with a tech flavour, but really - the girls (named Nynn, Cici and Fiona) are not stage-ready, the music has no common axis with the fundamentals of live electronic improvisation and the whole performance is just not credible. Or I'm just seething with pure envy because I cannot own a Tenori-On (yes, girls, Fruity Loops is so much better) and the girls are just pure hot den material (I'm sorry, not. Hope they won't stab me anywhere near their gigs, tho'.) The whole meme vaguely reminds me of T.A.T.U. and it just doesn't kick. Have fun digging after them, I warned you. (via midi.blog)
max payne trailer 1: movie coming 10.17
Third and fourth quarter of 2008 is becoming more and more promising: October 17 is the release date for John Moore's MAX PAYNE screen adaptation with Mark Wahlberg sans the shwazzy haircut. Synopsis sez coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a DEA agent (Wahlberg) whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin (Kunis) out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation, which means we're in for a treat of Mona Sax, which is more like the plotline of Max Payne 2 or a possible sequel. And no, I haven't read up on how they mangled the story.
cubo.cc: like a fruitfly on rohypnol
cubo.cc's morphing Flash technology is also visible on motionportrait. you'll also fuck up your time generously watching a mildly retarded Japanese girl following your cursor with the interest of a fruitfly on rohypnol. (yes, link)
chinese anti-terrorist units on military segways
Chinese elite anti-terror police officers are wheeling into action ahead of next month's Beijing Olympics on two-wheeled scooters. Members of the country's armed police unit practised on the Segway models that have been re-named 'Anti-Terror Assault Vehicles' in the eastern province of Shandong. Officials have bought 100 Segways and painted some in military camouflage to patrol airports and sporting venues during the Games. (more on Mail Online)
syd mead, god of future car ROCK appears on bbtv
Finally. Syd Mead appears on BoingBoing TV, talking about the stuff he did for the basic cyberpunk movies we all came to love and cars and then some. (via)
the surrogates: disney does cyberpunk, again
Bloody-disgusting reports on a new cyberpunkish movie from the turf of Disney - who actually gave a sort of birth to neon wireframe aesthetics with Tron some 23 years ago. (BD hears we should feel mildly threatened.) THE SURROGATES - headlining Bruce "Relatively Antisocial" Willis - is based on Robert Venditti's same-titled comics and is set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates, sez the official synopsis.
This very much sounds like a classic cyberpunk treat to me, although I take the whole story with a grain of salt after knowing it's Ferris and Brancato behind the wheel - also the guys who worked on the Terminator 3 script. (Yes, I know producers, investors and in general, dickheads can turn your otherwise brilliant script into a washing machine of squirrel vomit. Still. T3 deserves ebola machete.)
According to the Variety report, film producer David Hoberman sez This is a grounded sci-fi premise, but there are big effects, and it's clear from '300' that people want to see different kinds of things, and this falls into that category.
(via bloody-disgusting, also variety and milford daily news)
manikin couture, dental floss porn
The better geekblogs are busy blogging about the new meme, dental and medical manikins. Check a list of twenty-four bizarre, fucked up and generally gorgeous medical/dental dolls, automata and sexy structures of teeth! (via oobject)
history lesson, 10 things you might not know about robots
Where do robots come from? What's grey goo really and what's the "Uncanny Valley"? Robots, androids and cyborgs are here and without going too deep into the 20th century cyborgization trends, the Chicago Tribune gives a list of ten to base our satanic inquiries upon.