Sdtrk: ‘A girlfriend is…’ by Vena cava

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we’ve got a month until Festivus, it’s pretty much been cancelled this year, on account of Michael Richards acting like a complete fucking twat. Now, I’ve seen the video of him ranting onstage, and followed that up with his apology on Letterman, and I’m still trying to assess it all.
Stand-up comedians get heckled all of the time; it’s part and parcel of the trade. Richards has been in that business for a long time, and I’m certain that he knows there’s a professional way to handle hecklers, and then there’s the other way, which is to let them get to you. You could say ‘yeah, he lost his rag, but people who get angry say a lot of things they don’t necessarily mean in the heat of the moment,’ and I would agree. But he didn’t stop with a sentence — he just went on and on with it, to a disturbing degree. To me, that indicates that he wasn’t just going for the shock value, this was a nerve that obviously got touched, and he was off shouting things that might well have been inside him for quite a while.
Me? I hate plenty of people. Tons. Do I hate them because of their skin colour or race? No, I despise them because of how they behave. And ultimately, that’s how Richards should’ve conducted it. If they were making a ruckus, well hey — that, as they say, is showbiz. But the shit that he’d said isn’t stuff that you just say off the cuff. He shouldn’t have said it. He honestly shouldn’t have been thinking it, but you can’t control how people think. Unfortunately.

A lot of people remarked that after this, his career has been effectively shot in the face, but unfortunately, Mel Gibson is still working; more than likely, with his best pals, the Jews.* However, Gibson probably has more money than Richards — as he told his arresting officer, he owns Malibu — so there’s that to consider.

Then there was his apology on Letterman. Before I’d seen it, I was quite sceptical, as I just saw it as him really trying to cover his ass after the fact. In day-to-day affairs, I’m much more of a cynical individual, and personally, I think most people are lying much more often than they tell the truth. But watching the apology segment from start to finish, he does appear somewhat sincere — he’s realised he’s made a grand mistake, and seems penitent about it. He was visibly getting frustrated at points, mainly cos Letterman’s audience was at points laughing… I don’t know if they thought he was making some misplaced attempt at humour, or if they were laughing cos they simply didn’t know how to react.
I guess if Richards is genuinely honest about wanting to make amends, we’ll see how he goes about it in the next couple of weeks. I did notice one thing, though; his apology was a general one to everyone present that eve, and to ‘Afro-Americans’ *coughshockinglyoutdatedcough* everywhere, but he didn’t really specifically say he was sorry to the two hecklers.

It’s occurred to me that I’ve talked more about mainstream media with this single post, than I ever have in the entirety of ‘Shouting etc etc’, which means that this was almost a waste of a post. But I’ve loved ‘Seinfeld’ for years, and it could be argued that the only reason that I’m writing this is that it’s due to a performer that I enjoyed, making horrible remarks that affect me on an obvious level.

So! Onto other news: I dreamt last night that I had taken a nap for an hour, cos I had to go to class later that eve, in order to turn in my final paper. But when I awakened (in the dream; yes, it’s rather meta), it was still sunny out, but I knew that I had overslept by several hours. I’d attempted to check what time it was, but my alarm clock and my watch both read 7.77. Well, my watch read 7.77, and the clock was 7.73. Understandably, I was panicking cos I had no idea what the hell time it really was…
As an aside, you notice there’s no speaking clock anymore? I don’t know when they finally got rid of it, but you can no longer dial (area code) 555.1212, and hear the Robot Lady announce, with unerring precision, what time it was. Or is. If they fired her, at the very least, I hope she has a decent job now.

‘Even a stopped clock is right twice every day. After some years, it can boast of a long series of successes’
— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

And speaking of automata and mainsprings, new YouTube videos are up, cos it’s that time again (pun not intended). Happy 23rd, and Happy Cholera Blankets Day! Go listen to the new Ricky Gervais podcast!

*Don’t get me wrong; in Mad Max, he was a badass, but then he started crapping on about that stupid religious cult he’s in, and therefore lost all respect from me, as well as anyone else with a functioning brain in their head

Sdtrk: ‘The maze’ by Zeigenbock Kopf

Yes, despite all evidence to the contrary, I actually do have interests in subjects that aren’t Gynoids or RealDolls. ‘The devil you say!’ you say. ‘I say!’ say I.

+ Two of my favourite architectural ‘modes’ are Space-age (duh), and Urban decay. Combine the two, and you get the abandoned and possibly haunted San Zhi resort area in Taiwan!

Behold: the ruined corpses of good architecture

+ file under ‘Games That Are Too Spectacular To Be Released Domestically’: Derek sent me a link a couple of weeks ago to Kamiwaza, a game for the PS2. Made by Acquire, the wonderful humans who developed the ‘Way of the Samurai’ series (which I still play now and again), Kamiwaza has you controlling a thief in Edo-period Japan, sneaking round, not being seen, and emptying houses of their precious bootay. He’s got the traditional green-with-white-vines bag that thieves used to use back then — must’ve been union rules — but apparently it’s near-bottomless. If you scope the videos on the site, you’ll see he’s nicking things that are like three times the bag’s size. It looks fun and entirely engaging, and that’s why it’ll never reach the States. But then, I’d said that about Zettai zetsumei toshi, Katamari damacy, and Okami, so…

+ If Shi-chan bowled more often, this would be a fab gift for her, methinks: a Brunswick-made Hello Kitty bowling ball. It’d go well (?) with her Hello Kitty vibrator. That vibe makes a great shoulder massager, by the way, much how I suspect the bowling ball wouldn’t

+ Laibach have a new release out, entitled ‘Volk‘? The devil you say! As long as it sounds nothing like ‘Jesus Christ Superstars’, I’ll be pleased, cos that album sucked so very, very much.
Apparently Laibach, much like 98% of the world’s population, have a MySpace. Guh. Have I told you how much I despise MySpace? Dodgy layouts / unnecessary .mp3 ambushes / scene & emo kids / shitting all over proper English — this would be the death-rattle of civilised society as we know it. Unless the MySpace blog I’m viewing is by or sponsored by the actual band — for regrettably, quite a few of my favourite artists and people have ’em — I immediately disregard whatever’s written on it. It’s much like if the original creators of the Magna Carta were to have written it up in crayon on some sheets of wrinkled control paper; there’s no way you could take it something like that seriously. Heh. MYSPACE: Making Livejournal Look Stylish and Credible.
Sorry, was I ranting? Mea culpa! Anyway, new Laibach Cd out now

+ I’m catching up with a few television shows, thanks to INTERNET PIRATES, such as Life on Mars, recommended by my friend Marika — a police officer from our time gets struck by a car, and wakes up in 1973. Has he travelled back in time? Is he in a coma? Who knows??!?; Dexter, a serial killer working for the Miami Police is attempting to catch another sociopath who murders and dissects his victims with (literally) surgical precision; and Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff — Buffy + X-files + a dash of contemporary Doctor Who + swearin’ and snoggin’ + Capt. Jack Harkness = Torchwood. It’s… okay. It’s certainly no Doctor Who, I can tell ya that. Proudly filmed in Cardiff, a fact that they’re not willing to let anyone forget…
Honestly, I need to forgo watching any further episodes of all of those shows until I’m done watching all 50 episodes of Turn A Gundam and Kamen rider 555, as those have been sitting idly by

+ Last Saturday eve, my mate Jeff showed me two of his latest DVD acquisitions: Classic Media’s ace reissues of (most of) the Showa-era Godzilla films. He’s grabbed ‘Mothra vs Godzilla’, and ‘Godzilla raids again’, and if you purchase them from the site, they’re a snip at $15 apiece. Each DVD contains the original subtitled film, as well as the domestic release, and a passel of extras. Plus, the packaging alone is pretty impressive.
Apparently, they’ll also be releasing ‘Ghidorah the Three-headed Monster’, ‘Monster Zero’, and ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’. *throws devil horns*

+ Despite the unavoidable fact that Lady Sovereign is filthy Townie scum, I found myself laughing like a drain at her ‘Love me or hate me‘ video, as any video featuring a ghost hamster is A-OK in my book. Hell, anything featuring a ghost hamster is something to be treasured

+ Finally, finally, finally. One of the finest anime serials ever made is getting a worthwhile release on DVD!

INAZUMA KIIIIIIICK

GAINAX’s ‘Aim for the Top! Gunbuster‘, released through Bandai’s Honneamise label, will be out domestically in February. That package alone is raw sex appeal.
Now all Honneamise (the distributor) has to do to win my total approval is re-release one of the finest anime feature films ever made, ‘Wings of Honneamise‘, and give it the same treatment. We await with bated breath

+ And it appears Blogger has been rolling out a new iteration of their bloggin’ software; this version (Blogger Beta) apparently — finally — has categories.

Huh.

*now shaking with rage*

ta very much to Derek & Jeff for some of the links

Sdtrk: ‘Perdoa’ by Vanusa

So I’m sure by now everyone and their gran knows about Actroid-chan’s appearance at the Wired Nextfest, right? Yes, yes. But then, Pink Tentacle mentions today that a new, improved version has been assembled. Sweet slow-roasted christ, she’s even cuter the previous model, if that’s even physically possible.

‘No, I was never in Morning musume, although they did ask me once’

Actroid DER2 fembot loves Hello Kitty
Kokoro, a Sanrio Group company specializing in the design and manufacture of robots, unveiled its new Actroid DER2 feminine guide robot at Sanrio headquarters in Tokyo on October 4.

Actroid DER2 is an upgraded version of Kokoro’s previous fembot, Actroid DER, who has made quite a name for herself by providing services at a number of events, including the 2005 World Expo. Compared to the previous model, DER2 has thinner arms and a wider repertoire of expressions. The smoothness of her movement has also been improved, making it now even more likely for the uninitiated to confuse her with an actual human being. (emphasis mine)

Actroid’s limbs, torso and facial expressions are controlled by a system of actuators powered by pneumatic pressure. Once programmed, she is able to choreograph her motions and gestures with her voice.

Kokoro intends to rent Actroid DER2 to companies and events. The basic rental fee is expected to be 400,000 yen (US $3,500) for 5 days, plus extra fees for technical support, delivery and choreography changes. For those who can’t cope with a sayonara after 5 days, there is a late fee of 80,000 yen per day.

[Source: Fuji Sankei]

That statement I’d emphasised is extraordinarily encouraging — her movements are even closer to Organiks. That’s the benefits of an upgrade for you. Will we actually see Androids and Gynoids in society within the next decade or two? I’d say ‘I certainly hope so,’ but you’d expect me to say that. In the interim, MUST. FIND. VIDEOS. NOW.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go register myself as a company, and scrape up $3500. I’ve, err, gotta buy some gum, you see — I like to stock up

ADDENDUM (9.14pm): Pics and video clips found, courtesy of Robot Watch. My goodness, she’s definitely got Cuteness Appeal, no question

Technorati tags: Actroid, Repliee, Gynoid, Android, Wired Nextfest, Sanrio

Posted in Actroid-chan, HRP-4C, and other Gynoids, Synthetiks | 3 comments »