May 22, 2007
Star Wars Holiday
This Friday marks the 30th anniversary of the ground-breaking (if overrated) science-fiction blockbuster "Star Wars." May 25th is 30 years exactly since the first theatrical release of George Lucas's series of movies playing out the epic saga of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vadar, Yoda, and several generations Jedi knights in their war pitting "the force" and "the dark side." From Thursday through the weekend, a massive convention for "Star Wars" fans will be held in Los Angeles to celebrate the landmark film. May the force be with them.
Posted by Supercore at 07:45 AM
May 14, 2007
Shilpa Shetty Film Premieres in London
From low-brow to high-brow, from Celebrity Big Brother to independent cinema, from launching a curry house chain to launching a perfume, 31-year-old Bollywood movie star Shilpa Shetty has transformed her new global fame swiftly and shrewdly. This weeked witnessed the premiere of new Indian film, "Life in a Metro," in which Shetty plays a neglected homemaker in contemporary India. The movie is a chance for Shetty to showcase her legitimate acting talents to a wider audience. Depending on the film's success and Shetty's performance, Shilpa will either have a long, acclaimed cinematic acting career ahead of her in the West, or she will be best know for running a chain of curry houses.
Photo by Bahl Sonu / SantaBanta.com. Used under Creative Commons license.
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:37 PM
Putting the "Lo" in Lohan ... More Juicy Celebrity Gossip Linkage ...
Lindsay Lohan in Tongue Fest with Calum Best in Bahamas ...
Critics Dump Hate on New Lindsay Lohan Film "Georgia Rule" ...
Lindsay Lohan to Play Stripper in Next Film Role ...
Paris Hilton Gets No Time From Gov. Arnold Scharzenegger ...
Indian Actress Shilpa Shetty Appeals to India's Supreme Court ...
Jessica Simpson Dishes About Her Sex Life ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:20 PM
April 30, 2007
Juicy Celebrity Gossip Links ...
Courtney Love to Sell Late Nirvana Singer Kurt Cobain's Pajamas ...
Lindsay Lohan Addicted to "Shopping and Sex" ...
Prince Allegedly Humiliates Paris Hilton at Las Vegas Concert ...
Britney Spears Wears See-Through Outfit ...
K-Fed Allegedly Drove Britney Spears to Brink of Suicide ...
Former "Posh Spice" Victoria Beckham and Her Nipples Hit LA with See-Through Top ...
Alec Baldwin Rumored to Write Book Bashing Ex-Wife Kim Basinger ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:21 PM
Snoop Dogg Denied Entry Visa to Australia for MTV Awards ...
First the United Kingdowm rejected him when he toured Europe with Diddy. Now Australia too has denied an entry visa to Snoop Dogg. The D-O-Double-Gizzle was trying to make his way Down Under for the MTV Awards, but the grandaddy of gangsta' rap won't be attending since the "Lucky Country" won't let him in due to his attempt to "cover up" his history of criminal convictions in the United States. Snoop Dogg may have "paid tha' cost to be the boss," as it were, but it appears no amount of cash nor hip-hop cred can get him to Oz.
Posted by Supercore at 11:01 PM
April 25, 2007
Spiderman 3 May Be the Most Expensive Movie Ever Made
The latest installment of diretcor Sam Raimi's Spidey movie franchise, Spiderman 3, is set to open the summer season and it's already being called the most expensive movie production ever. This is in part thanks to Amy Pascal, the fiscally-loose studio head at Sony Pictures who also is a genuine, passionate film buff. According to Kim Masters' article in Radar Magazine, it may also be due to Pascal's incredible track record of greenlighting one box office mega-success after another in her time at Sony. But when one considers that the success of a movie like Spiderman 3 is as close to a sure thing as film can be in the extremely risky business that is Hollywood, $300 million (or even half a billion, as Spidey 3 is rumored to have cost) seems like a shrewd investment given the recent global box-office take of similar films and Spidey's predecessors, Spiderman 1 and 2.
Posted by Supercore at 12:30 AM
April 23, 2007
Video: A Bjork Performance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) ...
Posted by Supercore at 01:45 AM
April 20, 2007
Sport: An Rare, Incredible Goal by Lionel Messi of Spanish Soccer Team Barcelona FC ...
Posted by Supercore at 01:39 AM
April 19, 2007
Video: The "Unboxing" of a Sony PlayStation 3 Ordered Directly From Amazon Japan ...
Posted by Supercore at 11:37 PM
April 18, 2007
Celebrity Gossip Linkage to Get Ya' Through the Week, Kidzzz ...
Lindsay Lohan Talks About Rehab ... Says She's Not "An Addict" ...
Paris Hilton Violates Her Probation ...
Britney Spears Fires Her Manager, Faces Possible Lawsuit ...
Britney Spears Blames Paris Hilton for Recent Downward Spiral ...
Sanjaya Malakar Gets Voted Off American Idol ... There is a God After All ...
Baby Phat Queen Kimora Lee Simmons to Get Her Own Reality TV Show ...
Posted by Supercore at 11:45 PM
April 16, 2007
The End of Tonic - The Best Experimental Music Venue of All Time
Tonic, our favorite live-music performance space ever, has closed its doors in the Lower East Side of New York City. The venue was special in part because of the variety of music artists who performed there and because it was one of the few places in NYC to see experimental music. It was a home for many avant-garde and contemporary experimental jazz musicians. An official farewell is on the Tonic website. The club is closing due to the rent increases that have forced may a small business to close in the now ultra-hip Lower East Side, where the pace of gentrification has been mind-blowingly swift and driven real estate prices and rents sky high. A New York Times article published Monday provides the full back story. Over the past few years, we've seen acts as diverse as Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon, John Zorn, Menlo Park, Morricone Youth, Japanther, Arto Lindsay, Yoko Ono, Vincent Gallo, Damon and Naomi, many a Japanese noise band, various incarnations of bands involving various members of Sonic Youth, and more.
Photo courtesy GlobalGraphica.com
Posted by Supercore at 11:47 PM
April 06, 2007
Video: Real-Life Spoof of Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer
This is a bit rough around the edges, but it's a pretty damn good spoof of the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer. The creator used live-action footage culled and edited from various existing video clips posted to YouTube in order to make the spoof. Full marks, dude!
Posted by Supercore at 11:10 PM
April 05, 2007
Video: Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer
The trailer for the new "Grand Theft Auto IV" to be released by Rockstar Games in October 2007. "GTA IV" will be set in New York City (though it won't be called New York City in the game itself).
Posted by Supercore at 11:54 PM
April 04, 2007
Grand Theft Auto IV Announced, Trailer Released ...
Few things get us as excited as the announcement by games producer Rockstar Games regarding the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series. "Grand Theft Auto IV" is on its way, kidzzz -- and that promises mo' better GTA to get you through the day. The new title will be rolled out October 16, 2007. When Rockstar make this announcement a couple of days ago, it also released a trailer for "GTA IV."
The game series has evolved dramatically through the "GTA III" phase, which saw the release of the original GTA III (aka, Liberty City), Vice City and finally the epic San Andreas editions. Between Liberty City and San Andreas, the game has grown and improved tremendously.
Meanwhile the evolution of the new crop of higher-performance gaming platforms, from the Microsoft XBox 360 to the new Sony PlayStation 3, have upped the potential for bigger, richer, faster games with even better graphics. It's only fitting that the Rockstar team would revisit Liberty City and develop the game environment to a larger scale and on a more fully visually realized level.
The word is that the Liberty City of "GTA IV" will be a more detailed and realistic carbon copy of New York City (albeit four of its five boroughs plus Jersey) in every way except the actual names. And this time around the main character will be an Eastern European immigrant. Can't fucking wait for this release, dude.
Posted by Supercore at 11:25 PM
April 03, 2007
Sanjaya Malakar and Howard Stern and the Sabotaging of American Idol
The curious success and popularity of American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar is the subject of much discussion among fans and non-fans of the Fox talent show. As has been observed, Malakar is far from the top class of singing talent to appear on American Idol. His voice is not stellar, and he botches lyrics to his songs. But the American Idol-viewing and -voting public have rallied behind Malakar and made him their own, pushing him upward and onward week after week to the finalists stage of the competition in spite of his shortcoming as a peformer. Simon Cowell, the notoriously blunt Brit, who is the show's producer and sits on the judges panel, has spoken his mind and acknowledged that he is powerless to stop the Malakar phenomenon. So why has a semi-talent like Malakar as far as he has?
Posted by Supercore at 09:28 PM
March 31, 2007
U.K. Doesn't Like Snoop Dogg
Poor Snoop Dogg can't enter the United Kingdom to save his life. The hip-hop icon was again denied a visa to enter and perform in the U.K. and has had to cancel scheduled concert performances in the country with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. The rap stars are currently on a joint European tour that's already proven costly due to the enormous entourage expenses alone. Snoop Dogg's trouble with immigration authorities in the U.K. date back to a few years ago when members of his group were involved in a brawl at a British airport.
Posted by Supercore at 12:01 PM
March 27, 2007
Bicycle Polo in New York City
Bike messengers, bicycle enthusiasts and hipsters converge at a park in the Lower East Side of New York City for some urban, two-wheel polo. The game originated in Ireland. If you love traditional polo but can't afford a stable of horse, bike polo may be the next best thing. This realtively obscure sport has its own association, the BPAA, in the U.S. and its own cup competition.
Posted by Supercore at 11:42 PM
March 18, 2007
Minimalist "Muji" Brings Japanese Design to New York
Hot damn! Japanese lifestyle-goods chain Mujirushi Ryohin, or "Muji," will open it's first U.S. store this fall in New York City. We're pretty excited about this, being big fans of Muji for a many years.
Over the past decade, we've been buying Muji's minimalist furiniture, clothes, stationary and household goods on visits to Japan, Paris, and London (where Muji opened it's first shop outside of Japan back in the arly 1990s).
For the past couple of years, Muji has been selling a limited line of products in the U.S. through the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) Stores in New Yok City, where they've become something of a cult hit. Prior to MoMA, if you wanted your Muji you had to either go overseas or hunt the stuff down in small boutiques where "unoffically" imported merch (bought by small shop owners at retail prices in Japan and smuggled into the U.S.) could be found for sale at massive mark-up).
The first store in America will be located in the new New York Times Building, which was designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. Mujirushi Ryohin at Time Square will be the company's U.S. flagship shop.
Posted by Supercore at 12:39 PM
Celebrity Gossip Round-Up ...
Black Eyed Peas Singer Fergie Kicked Off U.K. Plane for Being Too Drunk ...
Anna Nicole Smith's List of Prescribed Drigs Revealed ...
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are Freinds Again ... Ahh ...
Britney Spears on Coca-Cola-Guzzling Binge in Rehab ...
Lindsay Lohan Out of Rehab and Back on NYC Party Circuit ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 05:50 AM
March 15, 2007
"Among The Thugs"
We've just finished reading "Among The Thugs," Bill Buford's remarkable and page-turning book about crowd violence during the dark days of English and European football/soccer hooliganism in the 1980's. The book is a work of non-fiction, but reads like a highly personal piece of well-researched first-person journalism.
Buford befriended some of the most notorious of the hardcore members of the various team "firms," including that of the Manchester United football club. The author witnessed countless acts of crowd violence at soccer matches across the U.K. and Europe while living in London in the late 1970s and through the '80s . Buford was himself beaten severely by Italian police when thousands of English supporters went on a rampage outside a World Cup match in 1990. The book is a meditation on the nature of crowds, psychology and culture. It's absolutely fascinating, yet disturbing.
"Among The Thugs" was written and published in the early '90s at a time when English football hooliganism inside the top-league stadiums was gradually being eradicated following the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 people were killed in the standing-area terrace of a stadium.
Since then, police crackdowns on violent football fans, better surveillance and policing, the introduction all-seating areas and the removal of all-standing terraces in British stadiums, among other things, has all but extinguished crowd violence at matches and made attending games in the U.K. now a far safer experience than it was when Buford wrote "Among The Thugs."
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:37 PM
March 13, 2007
How to Visit 50 U.S. States in a Week ...
Silicon Valley technology entrepeneur Barry J Stiefel visited all 50 U.S. states during his one-week vacation from work. He drove through the 48 contiguous states and flew to Alaska and Hawaii. His website details the journey and his reasons for taking such a trip. It's a fascinating look at planning, travel, logistics and how to maximize the precious vacation few days you have a year.
Posted by Supercore at 06:32 AM
March 12, 2007
Sweet 'n Savory Celebrity Gossip Linkage ...
The "300" Rakes in $70 Million at Opening Weekend Box office -- That's a helluva lot of souvlaki ...
Did Paris Hilton Get a Boob job?
Hilary Duff Dumps More Hate on Paris Hilton ...
Joes Simpson Says Daughters Jessica and Ashlee Will Never "End up in Rehab" ... Oh, Really?
Madonna to Appear on Nip/Tuck
The Rehab Diary of Britney Spears
Posted by Thurston Ali at 07:44 AM
February 28, 2007
Video: Graffiti Writers on Venice Beach
Cool clip of a group of graf writers working on massive pieces in Venice Beach, in Los Angeles.
Posted by Supercore at 11:06 PM
February 12, 2007
Ooh, It's Really Bad: Vanilla Ice Does Rap Promotion for Turbo Tax Online
Oh, boy, this really stinks. Though to be fair to D-lister Vanilla Ice, his flow actually isn't half bad. No, seriously, he can rap. But dropping rhymes on video for an online TurboTax promo based on the concept of user-generated content really begs the question -- How low can a washed-up, late-80's one-hit-wonder fake white rapper go? Appearing on the Surreal Life is bad enough. But this? C'mon.
Posted by Supercore at 11:59 PM
February 10, 2007
Crazy Delicious Celebrity Gossip for Your Crazy Delicious Weekend ...
Anna Nicole Smith Paternity Suite Gets Even More Complicated - 3 Men Claim to Be Father of Her Daughter
Sacha Baron Cohen Will Make Borat Movie Sequel?
Gus Van Sant Sentenced for DUI
American Idol Contestant Akron Watson Kicked Off Show
Paris Hilton Buys Edible Bikini for Valentine's Day
Kim Kardashian Sex Tape Revealed
Nicole Richie "Afraid of Prison"
Lindsay Lohan Buys Marilyn Monroe's Apartment
Posted by Thurston Ali at 10:31 AM
February 02, 2007
Geniuses Behind "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" LED Ads Give Surreal Press Conference ...
The avant-garde artists and guerilla marketers who were arrested after installing myseterious LED ads for Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," give a surreal, ridiculous press conference upon emerging from jail. It's pure theater when a couple of guys tell -- with the straightest of faces -- a throng of reporters that they will answers only questions pertaining to "haircuts in the 70's."
Posted by Supercore at 12:49 PM
January 10, 2007
The Apple iPhone -- We Want One!
It's here .... it's finally here. Well, almost. The much talked- and speculated-about Apple iPhone was announced at MacWorld by Steve Jobs during his keynote speech. Wow! Wow! Wow! It's a stunner of design. The new phone will be like a video iPod, cell phone and small computer/PDA all rolled up into one. The first phone will be available from Cingular in June. Now, the question is how much of what we're being shown is a reality in terms of what will actually be a functional phone. And will it be buggy? Will it be durable? Nobody is getting a chance to give the device a full test battering yet. We'll have to wait and see. But for now ... yes, we're in love.
Posted by Supercore at 12:16 AM
January 04, 2007
An Air Massive Happy New Year From Osaka, Japan
Hope everybody had a great winter break and a happy New Year! All the best to ya' in 2007! The new year sees Air Massive in Osaka, Japan for a couple of weeks. Here 2007 is celebrated as the "Year of the Boar" in accordance with the adopted Chinese zodiac calendar. Look for postings on Japanese pop culture in the coming weeks. The picture above is of an annual New Year's fire ritual at Hozenji Temple in Osaka. (Photo courtesy of Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo. All rights reserved.)
Posted by Supercore at 11:59 PM
December 14, 2006
The Last Stand of Street-Art Landmark 11 Spring Street
The building at 11 Spring Street in downtown New York City has been a landmark and mecca for ephemeral street art, attracting artists from around the world. The mysterious building, also known as the "Candle Building," appeared uninhabited for many years, during which time wheat-paste posters, installation art and graffiti went up, went down, got covered over or faded away in an ever-unfolding ebb and flow of street-level expression. The building was recently purchased by a group of developers who will turn the building into luxury condos. Sensitive to the artistic significance of the building, the new owners have worked with the global street-art massive to to organize one last exhibition of art on the exterior and interior of the building before the rennovation crew come and start re-developing the structure.
Posted by Supercore at 02:31 AM
December 08, 2006
Animation Created by Using Post-It Notes
Posted by Supercore at 12:59 AM
December 01, 2006
2006 Blip Festival Powers Up in New York City
A while back we posted an item about an electronic music group from Poland called Gameboyzzzz. The band records and performs music composed of the blips and bleeps that emanate from a half-dozen or so Nintendo Gameboy handhelds. The band is one of many to emerge as part of the global "8-bit" music scene. This week sees the kick off of 2006 Blip Festival, or "BlipFest, a four-day event in New York City celebrating and showcasing the work of musicians and artists who, like Japanese duo Portalenz pictured above, use low-bit videogame and computer hardware to make music and video. While Gameboyzzzz themselves will not be performing at BlipFest, dozens of other artists from all over the globe will be. It's going to be electric. It's going to be sublime. (Domo arigato to Chris G. for the tip!)
Posted by Supercore at 01:30 AM
November 30, 2006
We're Back from the Thanksgiving Break
Yup, the Air Massive is back along with our official feline mascot Cornelius (pictured above). We took some time out from the Massive to celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday and to max and relax in New York City with guests from Tokyo.
Posted by Supercore at 10:25 PM
November 22, 2006
Video: Michael Richards' Awkward, Incoherent Apology on Letterman
Ok, he said he was sorry. He explained his actions. But what's with the long-winded incoherent , cringe-worthy and weird six-minute rhetorical exposition. Somebody needs therapy, ASAP.
Posted by Thurston Ali at 12:22 AM
November 21, 2006
OJ Book Launch and Fox News Interview "Killed"
The HarperCollins-published book "If I Did It" by O.J. Simpson and the planned Judith Regan intereview of him on Fox News have been scrapped due to the public and media backlash surrounding the launch and television event. It is generally believed by the American public (and the news media promulgates the view) that Simpson is guilty of the crime of murder, even though a trial jury acquitted him of the charges in the early 1990s. Over a decade after his infamous trial, Simpson's life has been ruined. The former actor and NFL star is an outcast who lives in the constant shadow of his notoriety. Still the public is fascinated, while disgusted and outraged, with Simpson and the case.
Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:13 AM
Ouch! New York Times Reviewer Dumps on the New Sony PlayStation 3 Big Time!
As the Sony PlayStation 3 went on sale in the United States last Friday and patient gamers finally got their hands on the much-anticipated and much-coveted gaming console, a New York Times journalist was busy wrapping up a week spent test-driving the PS3 for his technology review. After thirty hours of putting the new Sony platform through its paces, Times scribe Seth Shiesel penned his review, which appeared in today's edition of the Old Gray Lady. His verdict on the PS3 is pretty hurtful. To quote his article, "... it often feels as if the PlayStation 3 can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time." Ouch!
(Domo arigatoo to Jess for the tip.)
Posted by Supercore at 01:53 AM
November 20, 2006
Yummilicious Celebrity Gossip Linkage ...
TomKat Ceremoniously Get Married in Italian Castle ...
The Fashion Breakdown on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Wedding ...
Rapper The Game Arrested for Impersonation of Cop ...
Former SNL Cast Member Tina Fey Dishes on Paris Hilton ...
Paris Hilton Allegedly Called Jessica Simpson "Fat"
Lindsay Lohan "Snubs" Actress Keira Knightly at London Bash ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 01:41 AM
November 15, 2006
Tasty Celeb Gossip Linkage for the Mid-Week ...
Supermodel Naomi Campbell Tries to Plea-Bargain Her Way Out of Jail Sentence ...
Porn Producer Offered Alleged Sex Tape of Britney Spears and K-Fed ...
Tom Cruise Reportedly Too Fat to Fit INto His Wedding Suite ...
Nicole Richie Denies Talk of gastric-Bypass Surgery ...
Paris Hilton Goes Out on Date in London ...
The What Made Lindsay Lohan Call Paris Hilton the C-Word ...
The OC's Mischa Barton "Tired" of Being Skinny ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:59 PM
November 12, 2006
Delectable Celebrity Gossip Linkage to Kick-Off the Week ...
BRITNEY SPEARS FOUND K-FED WITH OTHER WOMAN WEEKEND BEFORE DIVORCE
Charlie Sheen-ex Denise Richards Throws Laptop at 91-Year Old Lady ...
Oh, It's On Again: Lindsay Lohan Spits C-word About Paris Hilton ...
Madonna Disses Her Fellow Celebs ...
Snoop Dogg in Trouble with the Law Again ...
Nicole vs Nicole: Nicole Appleton Disses Nicole Richie for Being Too Skinny ...
Posted by Thurston Ali at 03:34 PM
November 11, 2006
Yet Another Cool Sony PlayStation 3 TV Commercial
This one is the "eggs" television spot for the soon-to-be-realeased (Nov. 17) Sony PlayStation 3, or PS3. Loving this ad campaign.
Posted by Supercore at 02:44 PM
November 07, 2006
Borat is Number One at the Box Office
Given the hype, the many funny, much talked-about television appearances and all the YouTube publicity is it really a surprise that the Borat movie came in with the biggest box office receipts of the past weekend? Well, actually, yes, it is a surprise. It's a surpise that this kind of film did this well of an opening weekend. That is to say, we expected the movie to have some degree of financial and critical success, but just not on this scale. On Sunday, we popped by our local movie theater in downtown New York City and saw that Borat had sold out at least a half-dozen screenings, while outside the cinema the lines trailed down the block. The film was produced for only $11 million, so the execs at Fox must be laughing all the way to the bank on this one because, like the Jackass movies, profit margins on low-production (non-"high-concept") movies productions like these are huge. Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) most certainly will not "be execute" (sic) back in his country when Borat's theatrical run ends.
Posted by Robsam at 09:52 AM
November 03, 2006
Video: Kenny Powers' Quest to Jump Car Over the St. Lawrence River
In the early 1970's Kenny Powers, a Canadian daredevil, attempted one of the most idiotic stunts known to humankind. Powers tried to drive a rocket-powered and winged Lincoln Continental off a massive ramp and over the mile-wide St. Lawrence River and the border between Canada and New York state. The stunt cost an estimated $1 million and resulted in ... well, you've just got to watch the video. Note: watching this we were reminded of the incidental music used in an South Park episode about the founding and beliefs of the Mormon religion ... dumb dumb dumb dumb duuuummb dumb!
Posted by Robsam at 02:34 AM
October 24, 2006
Borat Invited to Visit Kazahkastan
In an ongoing campaign to diffuse what it sees the as the tainting of their nation's image at the hands of British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the government of Kazakhstanhas now officially invited Cohen/Borat to visit the country. Borat, the fictional TV journalist from Kazakhstan as portrayed by Cohen, is an anti-semitic, sexist rube who the Kazakhstan government fears is making their country seem like a backward place full of similarly anti-semitic and sexist people. Whether Cohen/Borat will take up the invitation is yet to be seen.
Posted by Robsam at 09:59 PM
October 23, 2006
The Borat Movie Website Rocks
By now many of us know of Borat, the fictional TV journalist from Kazakhstan portayed by British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and we are eagerly awaiting the soon to be theatrically released movie "Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The website for movie is a clever little dig at the government of Kazakhstan, which has publicly criticized Cohen for his character and the way it supposedly casts the Central Asian nation in a negative light. The movie's site is designed as the official Kazakhstan government's Ministry of Information website. This should really piss off Kazakhstan even more. Like the character Borat himself, the website is a phony. Upon casual inspection it's an obvious joke. As Borat would say, "Very nice! I like!"
Posted by Robsam at 07:43 PM
Starbucks "Salon" Brings Culture to the Latte-Set
Satrbucks recently opened a new type of coffee shop called Starbucks Salon. We visited the one in SoHo, New York City, recently and it's a big, impressive, and arty two-floor Starbucks space complete with coffee bar and an added professional performance space and stage. The Seattle-based coffee retailer and chain has been putting and out selling CDs for years and recently entered the movie business. This is the subject ofan interesting New Times article about the "Starbuck's aesthetic." Which makes us wonder about the extent that a business like Starbucks can play a role as arbiter of popular cultural tastes and patron to the arts. For many Starbucks plays a unique role in their lives. It's not only a place to buy and consume coffee but it has become for many people an extension of their living room, den, study or library. The very spaces that we often relax and consume culture in their homes.
Posted by Supercore at 07:38 PM
October 20, 2006
The Comedy of Demetri Martin Goes on the Road and the Web
Demetri Martin is one of the funniest young stand-up comedians in America today. He is truly an original comic. His style brings to mind the deadpan, clever one-liner observations of Steven Wright. You may have seen Martin's concert special on Comedy Central in the past year or caught him doing a segment on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he is an occasional guest reporter and "expert." Though Martin has been playing clubs around the country, he's now on a proper comedy concert tour and has a promotional Web site called Clearification.com that has some of his short sketch comedy videos and audio clips of his routine. Great stuff.
(A big domo arigato to Sam. C for the tip.)
Posted by Supercore at 01:51 AM
October 18, 2006
... And the Project Runway 3 Finale Winner is ...
Jeffrey WINS!!! Woo-hoooooooo!!!
Posted by Supercore at 10:57 PM
The Project Runway Finale
It all comes down to four designers showing at Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park, New York City. Within the next 15 minutes we'll know who the Project Runway Season 3 winner is. The question is Who will it be: Jeffrey, Michael, Laura, or Ulli. The designers have just shown and are now being critiqued by Heidi Klum and the judges. Some of our thoughts ... So far, we're disappointed with Michael Knight's collection, though there is no doubt he has enormous talent and potential. Ulli's collection was excellent and far more ambitious in terms of her usual range, but it was mostly predictable. Laura's collection is top class and elegant. Jeffrey's clothes are amazing. In terms of originality and craft, we like Laura and Jeffrey for their quality and innovation. We think Laura, Ulli or Jeffrey can win. Michael won't win it, but he's really popular, so who knows. Ulli would sell big -- her style is accessible. Laura is almost too classic and uptown for her own good. Jeffrey is a total original. Our favortie is Jeffrey and we want him to win. Our money is on him. But we're not convinced that he will win. Fingers crossed, kids. Anyway, in the next ten minutes we will know the winner ...
Posted by Supercore at 10:41 PM
October 13, 2006
The End of CBGB's
Though by now it's no surprise, the official last day and final performances at legendary downtown New York City music venue CBGB's have been confirmed. The club is closing after 33 years in business due to the end of its lease. The full cryptic name of the club is CBGB OMFUG, which few seemed to know were initials that stand for "country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gormandizers." The club has still been a very active venue in the decades since it was the epicenter of the downtown new music scene, the place most associated with the rise to fame in America of bands such as The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith. Sting and The Police, as well as the Sex Pistol's Sid Vicious, had once played the club on early US tours. And many famous acts have played there early in their careers, including the Beastie Boys and The Strokes. But the most important and relevant venues for New York's underground and emerging music scenes have long since moved to other clubs thoughout downtown Manhattan and, more notably, throughout Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which seems to have more musicians either living, recording, rehearsing or performing in a half mile radius than anywhere else in America. Everyone is mourning the closure of CBGB's, but in a sense it died a long time ago. CBGB's is now a brand that can be found on t-shirts worn in suburban middle America to suburban Tokyo. That owner Hilly Kristal is considering re-opening CBGB's in Las Vegas says everything about the value of the name and its future. Neverthless, the club is a New York institution and an icon of underground music. CBGB's Gallery, an adjacent space, has already shuttered it's doors for the last time. This weekend CBGB's will too, R.I.P.
Posted by Robsam at 12:21 AM
June 08, 2006
The World Cup
The World Cup is the largest single global sports event. It starts tomorrow, June 9th, and lasts a full month. The Olympic Games, though a much bigger event, involves dozens of sports, including soccer, though many of them are usually of little relevance or too obscure or too marginal to most viewers except every four years when for a few hours they tune in to watch, say, ice curling or synchronized swimming or discus-throwing and root for their countries. But the World Cup is different. It is about soccer and only soccer, or "football," as it is known on most of the planet (though naturally politics, culture, controversy, fashion, tourism and marketing are intertwined with the event in a major way).
In many ways, the tournament is more important than the Olympics and certainly more relevant to most viewers. Many of the billions of viewers tuning in to watch the World Cup are avid fans who week in and week out closely follow the professional clubs in their own country, as well as those of the most famous leagues, where the level of play is highest -- the English Premier League, the Italian Serie "A," the German Bundesliga, the Spanish La Liga and the French Ligue 1, as well as teams in Brazil and Argentina, arguably two of the greatest sources of soccer talent on Earth.
Soccer is global and massively popular. Sport is a part of culture -- pop culture -- and no sport bettter serves as an international pop cultural symbol than soccer. Needless to say, we here at the Massive are big football fans, albeit of varying degrees. We follow several European Leagues each season, especially the English Premier League and European Champions League, and we have a few favorite clubs that we support.
The World Cup, like the Olympics, happens every four years and is held in a different country each time. The 2006 tournament is being held in Germany. For us, the competition is not so much about supporting a particular country as it is about following the progress and performance of a few of them and watching the competition between nations -- some of which are soccer Goliaths among many Davids -- unfold in dramatic and spectacular fashion, with equal parts desperation, glory and passion.
The national teams we will be watching most closely are England, France, Japan, Brazil, Czech Republic and, of course, the U.S.A., that strangely most-soccer and yet un-soccer of countries. With the start of competition in Germany tomorrow, we will be blogging the World Cup with a new Web site devoted to soccer. The site is aptly called Soccer Football Massive, and while there are some small technical kinks we'll need to work out, we're fit for kick-off and fit to start posting.
Posted by Supercore at 11:02 PM