Finally, a new one!
Sdtrk: ‘Don’t drag no more’ by Susan Lynn

Well, well, well, if it isn’t a structure by Mr ‘Machine for living’, Le Corbusier. This would be Villa Savoye, located in Poissy, France, and completed in 1929. In fact, this would be the primary example of his whole ‘machine for living’ aesthetic.

The Villa Savoye was designed as a weekend country house and is situated just outside of the small village of Poissy in a meadow which was originally surrounded by trees. The polychromatic interior contrasts with the primarily white exterior. Vertical circulation is facilitated by ramps as well as stairs. The house fell into ruin during World War Two but has since been restored and is open for viewing.
quote taken from this site

One of the coolest and most forward-thinking aspects of Villa Savoye is that the garage is integrated into the structure itself. What would occur is that you would drive along the paved section up to the house, and your vehicle would follow the curve established by the ground floor. Le Corbusier knew what he was doing, as that ground floor curve was the exact turning radius of an automobile — some sources say the 1927 Citroën, others say it was the 1929 Voisin.

Other ace features would be the open-plan layout, the central spiral staircase, windows practically everywhere, and a ramp leading to an open-air roof garden. Quite innovative, especially for the late Twenties. Not counting the Maison de Verre, of course

Sdtrk: ‘Music (In my mind) (Prins Thomas remix)’ by Lindstrom and Christabelle

My Saturday and Sunday comprised a good way to end the year, I’d say… Saturday morn Derek, Steph, Jeff, Mike and I piled into Steph’s van and headed out to Ann arbor, for our usual bi-bi-monthly shopping extravaganza. Jeff, Steph and I sold a passel of Cds and DVDs at Encore records; I was awarded $80 in cash, so I picked up Art brut’s ‘Bang bang rock and roll’ release. After that, we convened at Borders, where I purchased the first volume of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, which is a hell of a manga series, and highly recommended. Up until now, I’d been borrowing Jeff’s copies of volumes 1 – 6, and it was just a matter of time before I broke down and started buying my own copies. ‘A taut psychological thriller’, as a book club would undoubtedly describe it.
Following that, we stopped by our favourite overpriced anime boutique, Wizzywig, where I bought one of the newer Evangelion gachapons (Unit 01, if you’re curious), as well as two different KOS-MOS figures. We then had a delicious luncheon over at the Japanese restaurant Totoro, and finished our day with a stop round to Vault of Midnight, where I… actually didn’t buy anything. It was one of those in-between periods, where there was nothing new out yet that I’d wanted, and I couldn’t find anything older in the store. They did have the Medicom Johnny Rotten figure for $20, but I’m holding out for all four Sex pistols Kubricks, all told. Ah well — money saved, I suppose… Nevertheless, a grand day out! We got back round 5ish and went our separate ways for the eve.

As for Sunday, I’ve just now gotten back (well, about two hours ago) from hanging out with my mates again, minus Mike, for the evening, playing a devastating combo of Apples to apples, Milles bournes, and some variants of poker. We were accompanied by Kari, Jeff’s wife, and Kari’s friend Ellen. I can’t remember how this came up, but interestingly enough, Ellen says that her best friend back at grad school played Missy, Bill S. Preston’s new mum from ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent adventure’. How fab is that?? *does riff on air guitar*
Later on in the eve, I got a call from T-money that I put on speakerphone, so we could all yell at him, and apparently some ball fell somewhere in New York city. Really, it was much like last year’s festivities, which is quite alright, as we tend to swear by consistency. A heady evening!

Any resolutions for 2007? I haven’t made resolutions for about the past ten years, as I’ve been of the opinion that as soon as I say, ‘well, this year, I’m going to _____,’ then it’s pretty much a guarantee that it won’t be done. This year, however, I’m making an exception: I am going to get ‘Kitten with a Whip!‘ back up and running in some capacity before 2008. A single photograph and six lines of text do not a website make. Plus, Shi-chan’s getting cranky. Right right; you may laugh, but you don’t have to live with her.
Also, I’d really like to get everything sussed as far as ‘Shouting etc etc’, i.e., the things I’d mentioned a couple of posts ago. That one’s not really a resolution, by the way; I just thought I’d mention that.

So there you have it. Happy 2007, and best wishes for the new year!

Sdtrk: ‘Rising sun’ by Merzbow

O, praise “Bob”, KITECH‘s remodeled EveR-2 Muse. Wow. Don’t call it a comeback, she’s been here for years…

‘What do you mean, I’m not allowed to sing anything other than K-pop??’

SEOUL, Korea (AVING) — ‘EveR-2 Muse’, designed by KITEC (Korea Institute of Industrial Technology), is the world’s first entertainer-robot. She had been first introduced last October and since then she even had ranked fourth with her first song on a certain website popularity poll.

Her skin is made of silicon material; 60 joints in her face, neck, and lower body enable her to demonstrate various facial expressions and some dance moves. She is 161cm tall and weighs 60kg, average figures of Korean women in their twenties.
(quote taken from here)

As an indie album title once put it: We have the facts and we’re voting Yes. Her upgrades from the previous EveR-1 version include an increase in height from 160 cm to 170 cm, improved CCD cameras for eyes, and silicone flesh that apparently covers her whole body. Is that a fact. *tugs at collar*
And speaking of her eyes; call me crazy, but I love EveR-2 Muse’s eyes — they look grey. You don’t see that too often in an eye colour, and that’s pretty unique. Unfortunately, her dress sense is still crap. Ah well; perhaps that’ll be her next upgrade.

KITECH, you have my approval, so keep up the good work! Just… mind her neck next time, eh?

Technorati tags: Android, Gynoid, EveR-1, EveR-2 Muse, KITECH

Sdtrk: ‘Senza fare rumore (Demo)’ by Calle della Morte

Two brief things: ran across this series by photographer Juergen Specht last night, and I thought I’d share the love with you. The setup and execution are brill as it is, but the subject matter is definitely relevant to my interests…

Juergen Specht’s ‘The Doll’

Simply gorgeous. It’s a bit NSFW, but then, the best things in life always are…

And the Other Thing would be a couple of new videos uploaded to Sidore’s Dailymotion.com account, which is easily accessible via the clicky button labelled ‘Synthetiks videos’ beneath the header. If you’d seen my YouTube account, they’re nothing new, but they may well be new to some of you. Or perhaps something distracted you, and you weren’t paying attention!

O, and the Good People at MyPartyDoll.com have a handful of new pics of their luscious Leeloo model up for viewing. Now, if only they can get her weight below 112 lbs. Egad, that’s a handful.

Well, I suppose that would be three brief things!
‘Shouting to hear the echoes’: Sometimes, mistakes are made

Sdtrk: ‘Attack of the ghost riders’ by the Raveonettes

Not altogether too wide off the mark, I’d say…

What Withnail and I Character Are You?

Perhaps I should start drinking! Or at the very least, cover myself in Deep Heat until the pubs open

Sdtrk: ‘Zelzah’ by Medicine

Jeff/Zip Gun sent me this intriguing article yesterday. Normally, I’m against vandalism, but I’m behind this 100%. That’s one hundred one per cents!

Town’s Garfield statue decapitated 2 months after installation
Chicago Sun-Times | December 18, 2006

MARION, Ind. — Police say someone stole the fiberglass head of a Garfield statue located near downtown’s Riverwalk.

‘’I’ve got to believe that whoever did this is probably going to be bragging about this at some point,’’ said Marion Deputy Chief Cliff Sessoms.

The statue is now a headless figure dressed in workout gear and giving the OK sign. Police are investigating, but said Friday they don’t have any leads yet.

Belinda Hussong, the city’s parks and recreation director, said she was disgusted to hear about the vandalism to the statue, which was unveiled in October.

‘’You put so much energy and effort into a community project, then this happened,’’ she said.

Marion is in the home county of Jim Davis, the fat cat cartoon’s creator.

The statue was put along the Riverwalk to promote exercise, wellness and riverfront activities.

‘’We had a lot of generous sponsors to the statue and I feel like we should replace it,’’ Hussong said.

Good to see I’m not the only person out there who reaches for their gun when they hear the name Garfield™®

Clearly, the best Garfield™® strip Jim Davis never made

Sdtrk: ‘Do you love?’ by Final fantasy

Ahh, if only…

Beyonce Knowles Is An Actroid
Skirmisher.org | Saturday, December 9th, 2006

I’ve had the hots for Beyonce Knowles for as far as I could remember, and this recent “unmasking” of her real identity, proving that she isn’t human at all but in fact Kokoro’s much-touted advanced version of the Actroid DER2, doesn’t even damp my filthy enthusiasm.

Undoubtedly, she bolted backstage shortly afterwards to reattach her face, before it peeled right off. That’s quite alright! Sometimes that sort of thing occurs with older Gynoids; she can hardly be blamed. Underneath her silicone skin, she’s more than likely built like Kobalab‘s Android SAYA, as seen here.

See how there’s hardly any velcro up by the temples? That might explain why her face got all rumpled. Easily seen to, but understandably embarrassing when you’re out in public.

Don’t be ashamed, Beyonce! We all know that Gynoids are cool