My Little Airport

MLA's new album, "becoz I was too nervous at that time" is out...and it's good if you like cute chinese and english pop songs. Check out their site and some of their songs here

Woobot of the Week

Almost forgot...sweet costume, dude!

Shatner

oh, I forgot, ate dinner in Larchmont last night and spotted William Shatner dining al-fresco, facing the street. He had a young blond friend with him, and when I looked at him, he stared back at me as if to say, "yeah i'm bill shatner, punk, what of it!" End of story. Bye...

Ecstasy: in and about altered states

Yes, I'll say it, I've been to to the moca's new show, Ecstasy and did indeed feel a bit of "ecstasy" or something phenomological, maybe it was the moving benches, but I know I felt something. The show curated by Paul Schimmel, seeks to presents recent and specially commissioned works that challenge notions of interactivity while generating a heightened aural and visual experience for the individual. Essentially, this is a crowd pleasing show, I mean who doesn't like 20 ft. giant strippers with blinking eyes, spinning mushrooms, and far out light shows. Kudos to Schimmel and company because Ecstasy shows that contemporary art can be playful yet transcendent, difficult and amusing. And the key to the show's success is how it makes use of our senses to full capacity creating a varied show of exploration and wonder.

My highlights were two painters, British artist, Glenn brown who has super smooth surfaces with swirling concoctions of colors, and fred tomaselli who makes resin layered paintings with actual drugs imbedded in the work. I also enjoyed the conceptual stylings of tom friedman who uses ordinary objects and transforms them into art, and last but not least the creator of the "matrix" room, Edwin Redl. Check out his images of his led installation. They don't do the work justice, but you get a sense of how exciting and visceral the show is at times. Well, that's it and now I'm off to show my guests some more of LA...

American Wookie

So the news is...British actor Peter Mayhew, who donned the furry suit in all of the Star Wars films, is becoming an American citizen. Go here for details. And I know the song should be god bless America, but it's still damn funny. Singing Chewie

Soft and Stupid

This is a really bad idea. If you have ever tried to learn Chinese characters then you'll know that they can have a whole range of meaning and be combined with one another to make other meanings. But for some reason we are fascinated with them and get them tattooed on our bodies, and wear them on t-shirts. Well, now thanks to some German design/furniture company, you can sleep or hug the character of your choice. The only problem is you probably won't know what you're hugging. Let's hope it's not, "Horse's head". link

I-pod box bot

This is a cool idea, our little robot friend there was made entirely from a recycled I-pod box. Check out this link to see how it's done.

Mr. 198964

A 37-year-old married reporter behind the numeric pseudonym "198964" learned, he shouldn't have assumed that Yahoo defends press freedom. When Chinese security agents asked executives at Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) to identify the man, they did so. Police grabbed him on a street, searched his house and seized his computer and other belongings, according to documents filed in his defense. Mr. "198964," whose real name is Shi Tao, is serving a 10-year jail sentence for "divulging state secrets abroad." Bloggers, human rights groups and journalism organizations, including PEN and Reporters Without Borders, condemned the action. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang brushed off responsibility. At an Internet conference Sept. 10 in Hangzhou, China, Yang said Yahoo and other U.S.-based multinationals "have to comply with local law."

This story drives me nuts! The Chinese government acts so capriciously with lives it does not value. This man did nothing more than report on China, he is a journalist! And they want to incarcerate him for 10 years, unacceptable. Yahoo needs not to be such a suck up and start protecting people's anonymity. Here is a link for the full story from the LA Times Link

Cool Cartoons

These online cartoons are fun...prepare to root for the ugly one! Here

Peripheral Drift Illusions

If you have a hangover from lastnight, don't click the link. Otherwise, check out these cool illusions. Trippy...Peripheral Drift Illusions

the asian experience?

This is hilarious...whoever did the marketing research must have polled a lot of guys hanging out in gym parking lots in Iowa or Arkansas, hell maybe even Alaska (Segal is a big supporter ya know) Anyway Segal's lighting bolt energy power juice sounds as appealing as watching the Next Segal movie repeatedly for 24 hours. Oh yea, and why is one of the drinks flavored "asian experience", can you really drink that? Nice one Segal. Okay you Karate chopping 13 year olds, go drink it up, so you can start kicking each other in the balls.Segal's Lighting Bolt! I just love the leather jacket with the "kung-fu" shirt, pure Segal!

Tongue Painting

I would love to know the backstory on this one. Apparently, the ancient art of Chinese "tongue painting" is only considered a "minor skill" in the lexicon of Chinese painting. Well, it doesn't sound like a minor skill to me. I imagine a tongue painting master practicing his art hundreds of years ago, doing tongue exercises and what not. Anyways, you get the point, read the article for more. Tongue Painting The image obviously isn't of the master tongue painter, but it is a tea house that I use to frequent. Nice huh?

BattleMechs are Here

I have found two articles both relating to the developing field of mechanical exoskelteon technology. What's that you ask? It means real live bad ass robots, check'em out
Bad Ass Exoskeleton

Badder Ass Exoskeleton

Nobody Knows

Nobody Knows, is a Japanese film about four children abandoned by their mother, forced to learn to survive the best way the can. No surprise this is a real tearjerker, but more than that, it's a beautiful film, and I really enjoyed the acting, pacing, and camera work. I strongly recommend this one. Check out the trailer Here!

Chinese Smoking Chimp Quits!

So I heard this as a joke on SNL, but I knew it must be true. Click here to read the details. You just know some lonely zookeeper wanted a smoke break friend, 16 years later, it all comes to an end.