After relentless pestering by friends and readers of this very log, and seemingly endless procrastination for no particular reason other than I always forgot to look for it at the video store, I finally rented and watched Slava Tsukerman's 1982 cult classic Liquid Sky. While not by any stretch of the imagination can it be considered a "good" movie, it was certainly chock full of great 80's New Wave visuals, and features Adrian's fabulous rendition of "Me and My Rhythm Box" which would, almost twenty years later, be resurected and revived by Adult. on their album Resuscitation. Although Tsukerman's inane dialog and the actors' equally dry delivery make Liquid Sky tortuous to watch at times, overall it's worthwhile campy fun that paints a vivid and unforgettable (albeit completely distorted) image of New York's New Wave scene in the early eighties.

Sony has introduced their first all-in-one bookshelf stereo system with a built in 20GB hard drive for storing music. While not quite as cool as the Slim Devices concept, it's "no computer needed" aspect is appealing. You can check it out in the NY Times review here.

There's a great deal going on over at Travelzoo - a special on rooms at The Paramount, an Ian Schrager hotel for less than $75 per night! Click here for details, or simply contact The Paramount and and mention the Travelzoo Top 20.

Happy Independence Day! And I can think of no better way to celebrate it than with some oh-so exciting news from Kraftwerk. According to reliable sources, the famous German electronica pioneers will stage a rare performance in Paris this September as part of the festival the Villette Numérique (September the 25 and 26). Also performing, Jacques Lu Cont (Les Rhythms Digital), LFO and François K (DH).

You may already know Blythe. However, chances are you don't know Sydney Chase and friends. Start with any of the albums and let yourself get sucked in to the drama.

Latest obsession: Crafts(?!)

Yes, you read it correctly. As horrifying as it may seem, I've been bitten by the craft bug. I've always been a fan of get crafty, but with the recent release of Ready Made magazine my friends and relatives are one step closer to getting coffee tables made from recycled computer cases, or crocheted skulls this holiday season.

For the sake of humanity, I'd better find a new hobby, soon.

Pong, done in Swedish 3-D style here.

NYC Bloggers has a very cool site. It's a collective map and listing of all (1049 so far) the bloggers in NYC, orgainzed by subway stop. I love it! So who's going to put together sfbloggers.com? The only problem would be there's no way we could organize by BART/MUNI's poorly fragmented and limited coverage area.

Even though he hasn't yet launched his new site, Michael over at burnlab has been thoughtful enough to update us with some great photos, including what looks to have been yet another astonishing Fischerspooner spectacle.

With regard to updates, let's just write all of June off, shall we? I've been so busy moving (something I passionately hate) that updates have become nothing more than a fond memory. Hopefully, once my new DSL line is in I'll be inspired to make up for it in July.

A little Star Wars oragami to start your Friday off right.

Interesting article in the New York Times about a robot talent show in Brooklyn where artists and engineers highlighted the creative potential of machines. Most impressive was the autonomous Roving Walter Walter built by two Belgian artists from MXHz.org:

It darted around the floor as if it were R2-D2, sampling sounds from the room that were meant to inspire its own audio stream. On Saturday it would emit only a low repetitive growl. But Guy van Belle, one of its creators, refused to tinker with its algorithms, saying the robot knew best.

"We have to allow our autonomous robots to make their own decisions, whether the humans like it or not," he said.

The Parisian Asphalt Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the money to completely pave the nation of France with blacktop, increasing Europe's parking a thousandfold. Interested? Learn more, here.

A bad week for security devices. Seems that black felt-tip markers and Jell-o can be a hacker's best friend.

Two words: Ha, ha.

Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker.

Full story here.

Fun pictures of Miss Kittin, Golden Boy and other assorted characters from Electropop at Tonimolkerei, Zürich, March '02 here.

Tonight.

Ishkur has attempted what mere mortals such as myself have only contemplated in dreams – to create a complete categorization and what looks to be the beginnings of an etymology for all the various genres and sub-genres of electronic music. Although by no means is it perfect or complete, it’s quite a good start for an overwhelmingly ambitious project. Check out his well done Guide to Electronic Music (requires Flash 5).

So yesterday, I finally went to go see Spider-Man. I didn't have very high expectations, which I suppose was good, because I ended up being pleasantly surprised and really enjoying it. I mean, it certainly wasn't a life changing event, but it was fun, and Tobey Maguire did a great job as Peter Parker. All in all, it was $9 well spent.

January 2001 interview with Caroline Herve, a.k.a. Miss Kittin here.

What would my name be if I were a cyborg?

B.I.T.B.O.Y.: Biomechanical Individual Trained for Battle and Online Yardwork

Get your own cyborg name, and many other neat time wasting doodads here.

Eugene rocks!

Ladytron is coming to SF! And maybe a city near you:

Ladytron
Ladytron DJ Team
10 (fri) | San Francisco, CA | Club Fake @ The Cat Club

Apparently I am out of the loop, as there is new Blognsob code available. Who knew?

Anyone else as excited about the release of CQ as I am? Looks like a winner.

If you listen to and enjoy Internet radio as I do, this is important. There is a proposed law going to be voted on to kill free internet radio. If the law passes on May 21st 2002 a majority of the smaller webcast stations will go out of business. All internet radio stations such as Yahoo's Launch, Spinner, Live365, Shoutcast will be affected.

As a broadcaster, and an enthusiast, I encourage those of you who enjoy Internet radio to find out more about this law and what you can do to help at saveinternetradio.org.

Over the past 2 years, my mode of 4-wheeled transport has been my trusty Saab. Its high-speed maneuverability and ample cargo space has served me well, but not unlike the Swedish fighter jet it was named after, my little Viggen requires ample and frequent maintenance from highly-trained technicians. I’m afraid I simply don’t have the time, or the DI to keep up with its seemingly insatiable appetite for fuel and tires, and the San Francisco streets’ insatiable appetite for my front spoiler and soft, easily bent alloy rims. I’m thinking it may be time to move on and simplify life with something a little less flamboyant, and a bit more economical – my eye has been fixated on this lately. Any opinions?

Pheonix from Memory Systems has started a new little new party called Le Freak Plastique at the Hush Hush where she'll be spinning all electro every Sunday.

If you're reading this right now, the new "blog via email" Blogger Pro feature does in fact work. Cool.

I was lucky enough to catch Le Syndicat Electronique at SYNTH: MODULE 4 last Wednesday night. They were quite good. Better than I expected. Mass Transit was an especially good number combining just the right amount of minimal machine pop and electro-groove to get the dancefloor moving. A big thanks to Brian Jackson and Pheonix Perry of Memory Systems and form8 for putting on such a great festival, and for the big bag of free CDs and schwag!