The Sony PlayStation has been on our minds a lot recently here at the Massive HQ. Especially since strange noises began emanating from our PlayStation 2. This was the beginning of a series of increasingly loud, ominous and frequent sounds coming from the console. The phenomenon suggested that after hundreds--if not thousands--of hours of use, the video gaming platform of choice was on its last legs. A few days later, our PS2 was no longer able to read discs ... System failure. Repair was out of the question; the warranty had long since expired. The only thing left was to make funeral preparations for the hardware and dispose of it with Zelda-like dignity.

In the meantime the Massive will have to rely on other platforms and our desktop PCs to get our daily gaming fix, at least until we can replace our beloved PS2.

But with this unfortunate turn of events we've realized something important--It's time to move on. Rather than grieve and wax for our PS2 glory days, we ought to be looking forward to the third coming of Sony's almighty category-killer gaming platform: Yep, the PlayStation 3.

The PS3 is indeed coming down the pike, but Sony, as would be expected, are secretive about what the next generation of PS will look like. Gradually, details have been released, a spec here, announcement of a component there, and lots of hype, some based on truth, some just seeds for further rumor-mongering among global otaku youth.

Speculation as to what the next generation of Sony PlayStation, the world's most popular video game console, will actually look like (see above image) has fed the imaginations of product designers and game fanatics the world over. Many of these ideas for the hardware design of the PlayStation 3 have been widely circulating around the Net. Some encouraged by third-party design competitions with no affiliation with Sony.

It may be only as early as next year when we get a glimpse of an official PS3 design from Sony. Until then we can dream and speculate and enjoy what the global PS massive can come up with.

Already, there are web sites devoted to PS3. The best of the bunch is a British Web site, the PS3 Resource Center, the first site devoted to covering the next Sony PlaySation.

As the site itself puts it, the Resource Center has a "relentless interest in all things 'PS3.'" The site was founded three years ago with the mission to diligently report the latest PS3 news and developments at Sony. The PS3RC also had loads of speculative PS3 designs, some bold and beautiful, others obvious Photoshop hacks by amateurs. Check them out here.

Among the key nuggets of info the Web site reports is that Sony may offer two versions of the PS3 and that the console has been in development under the codenames "JELLY FISH" and "API." Three major companies, Sony, IBM and Toshiba, will be collaborating to develop a new microchip that will make the device the fastest, most-powerful videogame system ever. The chip set itself is allegedly code named "The Cell."

Oh, and BTW, if any of our readers would like to donate a new or used PS 2 to Air Massive, we would be the happiest team of impoverished Web/media freelancers in the whole wide world.

--Supercore + L.I.T.

RELATED LINKS

PlayStation 3 Resource Center
PlayStation Official Web Site
Sony Web Site

Talk about a retro fad that won't go away (or, rather, goes away, but then keeps coming back, then goes away again, etc.), break dancing returns to Union Square Park in New York City and--hold onto your seats--The New York Times recently looked into the matter! It's enough to make us put in an order for the "Breakin'" DVD next time we rent from NetFlix.

Break dancing, kiddies, as of course you already know, was one of the three pillars of old-school hip-hop culture, the other two being rappin' and writin' (as in graffiti writing), naturally.

Breakin', or B-boying (from the street term "B-Boy" for "break dancer"), was covered by the media shortly after the trend emerged back in the late 70's and during the early 80's just as rap music started getting mainstream attention.

B-boying was often described as a new way for rival gangs in the South Bronx, where hip-hop was born, to face off against each other without resorting to violence.

But the media usually missed the larger story, which was that the break dancing battle was often the precursor to full-on street warfare outside the club.

But hey, out of such chaos of the streets emerged a forceful cultural phenomenon. What matters now is how break dancing lives on nearly 25 years later in TV commercials, such as the recent one for Starburst candy, in which a racial mix of clean-cut Black, Asian and White pseudo-hipster kidz are breakin' with giant boombox in tow. The Starburst commercial gives us a nice socially inclusive and politically correct Gen Y portrait of break dancing as run-of-the-mill after-school hobby in suburban middle America.

But such commercialization/exploitation in the name of target-marketing to the Generation Y demographic is a far cry from the days of early B-Boy culture in the South Bronx and the likes of hip-hop godfathers like Afrika Bambaataa and early break dance troupes like the Zulu Nation and , later, Rock Steady Crew.

Not that Bambaataa, the Nation and hundreds of other inner city youth weren't interested in exploiting the commerical possibilities of the nascent dance genre to get ahead, get out of the ghetto and make a buck or two or a few hundred.

But Zulu Nation was also part of a genuine grass roots community effort to deal with gang violence and a roiling population of poor, disenfranchised minority (mostly) male youths trapped in the urban nightmare of what was then (and in some ways still is) America's worst slum.

What's cool about the Times' article is that it dwells less on the faddish retro-hipster appropriatation of break dancing and more on the true story of inspired ghetto kids struggling to actually earn a semi-living from the B-Boy life, right here, right now in 2004, for real money on real streets, complete with real hassles by real police. That's what's really returned: break dancing to break out of the ghetto and open up the road to a better life.

Here's the permanent archive link (that means NO registration required) to the New York Times story.

--A. to the T.

RELATED LINKS

What Spins Around Comes Around [NY Times]
Zulu Nation Official Web Site
History of Break Dancing [Jahsonic]

Seriously ... you've got to love Vincent Gallo. In fact we think "loving" Gallo--even just "liking him a little"--may yet become the new ironic "it's so not cool that it is cool" sentiment to spit out when sliding into drunkeness and chatting with a stranger in the kitchen at downtown apartment parties. Why? Because it seems like everywhere you turn--the media, critics, neighbors, liberal downtown art-film scenesters--peeps are dumping massive hate on the auteur artist/actor/musician/Republican (what doesn't he do?) / filmmaker. So the poor fella needs a little love.

Well, get ready Gallo-haters/lovers. Vincent's film "The Brown Bunny" will finally arrived at your local art-house soon. A billboard for the controversial movie (see above image) depicting a sexually graphic scene was erected (no jokes please) in Los Angeles on that famed, winding stretch of road and its outrageous billboards, Sunset Boulevard.

The film will open in selected theaters nationwide August 27, including at the Sunshine Theater in New York and the Nuart in Los Angles. (Both venue are part of the Landmark chain.)

It's been more than a year since Gallo's Japanese-financed "The Brown Bunny" was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and universally panned, if not openly derided. Critics and viewers heaped scorn on the filmmaker, who often seemed to be digging an even deeper hole of hate for himself by his attitude and comments and by engaging in a very public spat with esteemed Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert.

As co-host of the weekly TV show Ebert & Roper At the Movies, Ebert is among the most influential movie reviewers in the country. At one point in the tiff, readers may recall, Gallo wished colon cancer upon the portly Ebert. But at every verbal stab Vincent made to the press about Ebert, the well-regarded reviewer replied wittily and professionally in print, which only made Gallo look more like a heartless ass.

But what filmmaker wouldn't be pissed? After all, in his intial review, Ebert had shredded "The Brown Bunny" with what amounts to the harshest review a film could possibly get, essentially deeming "The Brown Bunny" the worst film ever made.

Gallo apologized publicly for making the film, or rather, for wasting the public's time. The incident and brouhaha led many people to wonder if they'd ever get a chance to judge the movie for themselves, if not in a movie house, then at least on a DVD or the Internet.

The film also ignited controversy over a sexually explicit sex scene between Gallo and fellow New York downtowner actress Chloe Sevigny. The scene depicts Sevigny giving "oral pleasure" to Gallo in a way so graphic that it led many viewers wondering if the scene they were watching was of simulated oral sex or real. The billboard on Sunset tellingly notes that the film is "X Adults Only." Well, what can we say ... We'll see you at the movies!

--Rob Samra

RELATED LINKS

Vincent Gallo's Personal Web Site
"The Brown Bunny" Movie Official Web Site
Vincent Gallo Filmography [IMDb]
Chloe Sevigny's Personal Web Site
Chloe Sevigny Filmography [IMDb]

Built By Wendy has always been, first and foremost, an independent clothing label, though the eponymous designer Wendy Mullin received a lot of attention in the mid-90's for her line of cool guitar straps. Her recent clothing collection includes a line of graphic t-shirt designs that are based on the most original concept we've come across in the universe of designer tees.

Mullins' well-made and limited t-shirts and clothes (she creates collections for both men and woman) are sought after and sported by the hipster-celeb-indie-music-style jet set, including downtown indie rock luminaries Sonic Youth and hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys, who sported a Wendy tee design in a recent photo shoot for the cover of Japanese magazine Warp (see above image).

Built By Wendy has always been, first and foremost, an independent clothing label, though the eponymous designer Wendy Mullin received a lot of attention in the mid-90's for her line of cool guitar straps. Her recent clothing collection includes a line of graphic t-shirt designs that are based on the most original concept we've come across in the universe of designer tees.

Mullins' well-made and limited t-shirts and clothes (she creates collections for both men and woman) are sought after and sported by the hipster-celeb-indie-music-style jet set, including downtown indie rock luminaries Sonic Youth and hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys, who sported a Wendy tee design in a recent photo shoot for the cover of Japanese magazine Warp (see above image).

The shirts are silk-screened with illustrated images from popular teen exploitation films, mostly from the 70's and 80's. Or favorite is the design based on the film "Risky Business," which show Rebecca Demornay's sexy, pouty face staring out as a Chicago L train rushes by in the background. Trés cool.

Several designs riff off the 70's movie franchise "The Bad News Bears." Another design is a collection of faces of four bloodied movie characters from four different films, including Adam Baldwin from "My Bodyguard" and Bud Cort from "Harold and Maude."

Mullin's runs a small stylish boutique on one of the quietest, most overlooked and uneventful streets in lower Manhattan, Centre Market Place, behind the old police building and horse stables in the borderland between SoHo, Nolita and Chinatown. Another store is planned for Los Angeles. Meanwhile Wendy is busy designing a special boutique line of clothes for Wrangler jeans, Called Wrangler 47.

--The Kid From Kyoto

RELATED LINKS

Built by Wendy Web Site
Best of NYC [Village Voice]
Beastie Boys Web Site