Sdtrk: ‘Ceremony’ by Joy division

One of the reasons I prefer architecture — and by some extension, city planning — from the very late Fifties to the very early Seventies, is that there was still a sense of general optimism. Especially during the Sixties, when new technological innovations were popping up on a regular basis, man was setting foot on the Moon, and space travel was a new and fantastic thing. (Although there’ll be something to be said when space travel is no more unusual than taking a trip from one country to another.) It was this exact sort of well-meaning thinking that inspired the subject of this instalment: Brasília, the futuristic capital of Brazil, designed by the architects Oscar Niemeyer and the urban planner Lúcio Costa.

Teatro Nacional (National theatre) ‘Cláudio Santoro’
Photo © by Augusto Areal

In 1956, Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira is elected President and creates the Company of Urbanization of the New Capital (NOVACAP). Kubitschek invites a young architect, Oscar Niemeyer, to command the project. In the same year of 1956, the work on site starts. In 1957, a public contest is won by urbanist Lúcio Costa, who presented the inovative ideas for the design of the new capital, in his work which became known as Plano Piloto (Pilot Plan).

Juscelino Kubitschek, or JK, had the motto “fifty years in five”; his plan was to make Brazil grow during his five year term as much as the previous fifty years; JK invited car makers (like Ford, GM and Volkswagen) to come to Brazil, and opened several highways (in detriment of railways) to stimulate cars selling. However, JK’s darling was Brasília; to have the city finished still during his term, he didn’t hesitate in allocating financial and human resources into the works; several Boeings were rented to fly cement, sand and other supriments into the sites.
Juscelino was so obsessed with the idea of being founder of Brasília, that he officially opened the city on April 22 1960, before it was finished.
taken from this site

Considering that only five years before the city existed, it was a barren wasteland, that makes this urban accomplishment all the more impressive. Apart, of course, from the fact that all the main structures of the city, such as the Presidential Palace, the Federal Chamber, the residential sectors, the Supreme Federal Court, and the Brasília Cathedral, among many others, are all disparate, yet uniform. Kinda like the Bauhaus School, but filtered through 20th century Modern aesthetics… entirely lovely stuff.

The dichotomy of Brasília is that it’s classified by the United Nations agecy UNESCO with the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Humanity, due to its uniqueness. As I recall reading somewhere, this effectively means that the city is trapped in an architectural timecapsule — changing or updating the overall aesthetics of the city would be the equivalent of placing an enormous flat-screen monitor behind Lincoln’s head in the Lincoln Memorial. Some say that this handicaps the city’s ability to compete with the modernity of more contemporary cities across the globe, but I’m certain I echo many peoples’ sentiments when I say, ‘so what?’ Just because something is new or modern doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good. Besides, we need cities like Brasília to show future architects and city planners how things can be more effectively managed.
But seriously, a citywide monument to Sixities architectural design? Fantastic

Sdtrk: ‘Catapillar 2002’ by Merzbow

Under normal circumstances, cats are the most beautiful creatures in nature. But as we all know, nature doesn’t always behave the way we’d expect it to. Witness: *whispers* DEEEAAATH CAAAAATT

‘Nyaa you will die at dawn nyaa’

US cat ‘predicts patient deaths’
BBC News | Thursday, 26 July 2007

A US cat that is reportedly able to sense when a nursing home’s residents are about to die is baffling doctors.

Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours.

According to the author of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the two-year-old cat has been observed to be correct in 25 cases so far.

Staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one.

“He doesn’t make many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” David Dosa, a professor at Brown University who carried out the research, told the Associated Press news agency.
the rest of the article is here

He may not exactly be the friendliest kitty around, but Oscar is simply doing his job as a Shinigami (death god). Albeit the cutest Shinigami ever. However, if he’s ever spotted working outside of the hospice — say, standing on your bed at three in the morning and staring at you — then there’s a problem.

*whispers* DEEEAAATH CAAAAATT

Sdtrk: ‘Acton art’ by Art of noise

New video uploaded to Sidore’s Dailymotion.com page! We apologise for the delay

Sdtrk: ‘Chelsea’ by Hiem

Allow me to open with an anecdote: a couple of weeks ago, I saw a general practitioner for the first time in about four years. After seeing how tall I am (5’7″ — all these years you thought I was lying, Monti, but now I have proof) and weighing me (124 lbs), he chuckled and asked, ‘Have you always been skinny?’ ‘I think this would be the most I’ve ever weighed,’ I replied. True story!

If I had my way, my diet would be almost exactly like Andy Warhol’s: basically living on pills. On the other hand, I don’t want to die like Elvis: the autopsy found that his faeces was white (‘were white’?), due to the vast amount of prescription drugs he was gobbling. Alternatively, I’d subsist almost entirely on Japanese cuisine, as it’s both healthy and Magickally Delicious, but unfortunately, it’s also a bit pricey, and I can’t cook worth a damn. Eating is such a bloody hassle sometimes, but until the day when they develop entire meals in capsule form, it has to be done like everyone else…
Over the years, there have been a few remarkable items of food and drink that stand out due to their deliciousness. Unfortunately, we live in a society where uniqueness is undervalued. Come with me, then, as I show you my tribute to some of my favourite obsolete foods…

Dr pepper Red fusion

Anyone who knows me on any level past ‘acquaintance’ knows I’m almost never seen without a Dr pepper in one hand. The other hand’s usually grasping a Liston knife, but that’s irrelevant at the moment. When Dr pepper announced their ‘Red fusion’ variant back in 2002, I found it to not only be a satisfying beverage, but actually a couple of degrees better than regular Dr pepper. The main factor, I think, was that it wasn’t as ‘heavy’ as your bog-standard colas. Plus, I loved that name — ‘Red fusion’. It always puts me in mind of Red Impulse, that bloke from ‘Gatchaman’. No idea what exactly he did, as I didn’t watch the show (‘Battle of the Planets’ just barely counts) but I love that name. Perhaps he filed an ill-advised lawsuit over the name Red fusion and somehow won, which might explain why the drink no longer exists.

Mr Green

Modern tea merchants SoBe came up with a soft drink infused with guarana, ginseng, and some other pseudo-exotic crap, called Mr Green. True to form, the label sported an extreme lizard astride a bike doing a lip trick off a giant human skull into a burning vagina. Ahh, marketing. Despite its 18 – 25 year old kerb squirrel demographic, it was a fine beverage. It was kind of a tarnished copper colour, which appeared darker in its bottle of dark green plastic, and it had kind of a spicy taste to it. Very unique, which is of course the precise reason why it didn’t last too long…

Cappio

Before Frappucinos walked the earth, there was a bottled iced cappucino drink — which was unheard of in the States way back in the heady days of the late Nineties — called Cappio. The adverts featured a lean beatnik lass on a scooter, animated in a rather Fiftiesy style; plus, the beverage was like 60% cream, 60% sugar, and 20% coffee, all poured into a slim and sexy bottle, so of course I was hooked.
Oddly enough, I don’t drink Frappucinos… I just never got round to it. To be honest, I’m more inclined to knock back a stout can of UCC Canned coffee. Lovely stuff. Granted, unlike Frappuccino, it’s not sold everywhere, but at least I know where I stand with UCC…

Pepsi free

I have fond memories of drinking this back in the early Eighties. Well, I have memories. But I do recall really enjoying Pepsi free, for some bizarre reason. The thing that’s especially ironic about this, though, is that I loathe regular Pepsi — I would rather drink fermented tramp’s piss than have a Pepsi*. Honestly, I can’t imagine buying it these days, as the ‘Free’ meant it was caffeine free. That’s like drinking non-alcoholic beer; what’s the bloody point?

Frosted Rice chex Juniors

Monti and I were addicted to these during their brief run in the mid-Nineties. Picture, if you will, squares of Rice chex, half the size of regular Chex, that were literally encrusted with sugary frosting. We’d eat them dry right out of the box, and we’d temporarily aquire the ability of seeing through Time itself. We witnessed the Lincoln assassination! It was pretty wild.
I’m inclined to believe that parents and guardians probably lobbied to get that cereal pulled off the shelves, after seeing so many of their children covering their walls one postage stamp at a time, or running up the length of a twelve-storey building, or listening to rave music, or simply vibrating and frothing at the mouth. It had a brief run, but a good run.

Mountain dew MDX

Yes, another extreme soda; I’m sure you’ve sussed that the ‘X’ stands for ‘extreme’. Despite that silliness, MDX was rather ace for two reasons:
1) it was in my favourite shade of green. To be honest, it looked radioactive, and
2) it was an energy drink that didn’t taste like dog’s milk. Apart from MDX, I’ve never been able to find an energy drink that didn’t make me wish I was dead two sips in.
My brief affair with MDX came to a rapid halt, as just after I began drinking it, I came down with a serious bout of acid reflux, and I blamed the drink’s strange and curious ingredients. By the time my illness subsided, I decided to give the soda one more go to see if it really was to blame, but by that time, it was no longer being sold. C’est la vie…

Mint 3 Musketeers

Might as well add them to the list, as I’m fairly certain they’ll be yanked unceremoniously off the market in six months’ time. Imagine, if you will, a 3 Musketeers bar scientifically crossbred with a York Peppermint Patty. Instead of one slab-of-nougat-coated-in-milk-chocolate, you get two half-sized bars in a slightly smaller wrapper, with each bar covered in dark chocolate and filled with mint… nougat? I’ve no idea what it is, but it’s truly dericious. I really should see about bulk prices, so I can stock up now before the Mint 3 Muskepocalypse inevitably occurs…

So there you have it! I think I missed a couple — I was racking my brains trying to think of this one brand of potato chip that I used to love, and came up trumps — but you get the idea.
It’s shameful, though. We live in a world where Mr Green is off the market, but you can find that atrocity known as the Mallo cup everywhere? It makes no sense

*N.B. an exaggeration. Please do not offer me a pint jar of tramp’s piss

Sdtrk: ‘You made a fool of me’ by Doris

It’s 19 July again! Astute / lucid / vaguely awake readers of ‘Shouting etc etc’ will recognise that date as being the three-year anniversary of this godforsaken site. It’s true! From its humble beginnings on Blogger, to the high-tech bleeding-edge WordPress cyber-website you see before you, I’ve frankly no idea how I’ve been able to keep this up for three years, much less three months. Truly, a Mystery to Everyone Involved. But all those posts on Dolls and Gynoids certainly don’t hurt, though.
Before the move was made to WordPress in December of last year, regular readers endured enjoyed the blog’s tagline, which was changed every week. The previous two anniversary posts listed and explained a number of them, which naturally means that this post will detail the final set. Are you sitting comfortably? Good! Then let’s begin…

+ + + + + + + + + + + +

+ Sorry, I’ve eaten my hostage
If I’m not mistaken, I stole this from Monti. Or it could simply be ripped from the pages of real life

+ Hidden Valley Ranch, built on Pepperidge Farm, in the land of Dairy Queen
And on that ranch stands a gleaming White Castle; home to the Burger King, Hardee McDonald, and his wife, Wendy. When they’re not playing Checkers with their Big Boy Arby, they’re usually holding Rally’s (sic). Or they… err… Steak & Shake… Taco bell… I’ve run out of steam. But perhaps it’s for the best

+ Spring into Performance Fleece!
Normally, the catchphrase of the (poisonous) hero of Butter Dimension³, Topato Potato, is ‘Spring into Action!’ However, for one instalment of Jeff Rowland’s WIGU, he and his partner-in-sort-of-crimefighting Sheriff Pony decided to drop by Old Navy, as Topato thought his cape was starting to be unfashionable. So he instead donned a stylish half-zip pullover, and Sheriff Pony shouted the phrase adopted above. It’s pretty catchy! It ranks up there with ‘MECHA-SHIVA! MECHA-SHIVA!’ and ‘As a youth, I used to weep in butcher shops’

+ ‘This is truly the golden age’
If I’m not mistaken, I stole this from some forum or other. Can’t remember the context, but I know it was being used sarcastically

+ ‘If there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they can’t be very important gods’
A grand quote, attributed to Arthur C. Clarke

+ Shoes and strings and ponies and things
Sing that in a jaunty Lawrence-Welk-backing-singers kinda style, and it’ll make more sense

+ Who can I turn to stereo?
one of the fantastically Surrealist titles from the brain of audio collage manipulator Steven Stapleton, aka Nurse with wound. Other fave titles include ‘Astral dustbin dirge’, ‘Brained by falling masonry’, ‘Stick that chick and feel my steel through your last meal’, ‘Dream of a butterfly inside the skull of a horse’, and ‘Monument to Perez Prado’

+ ‘Next day’s function, high-class luncheon / Food is served, and you’re stone-cold munchin”
From Young MC’s ‘Bust a move’, one of the few rap songs I like. I love the imagery that line presents: you’re standing there at the buffet table, eating as much food as you can with both hands, little fragments of soda cracker launching from your overstuffed gob as you make a half-arsed attempt to greet any nearby guests. ‘Man, have you tried these Vienna sausages? They’re great!’ you say, but it sounds nothing like English as it’s filtered through a mush of masticated canapés, which is a sight that causes the guests to leave hastily. You’re basically eating with such speed, ferocity, and vehemence that you no longer give a shit about manners, propriety, or the fact that you’ve got several blotchy stains on your shirt front. This, then, would be ‘stone cold munchin’’

+ Sorry, did I draw blood again?
I think I might’ve nicked this one from Monti as well… it sounds like something she would’ve come up with

+ ‘I was in the state I’m normally in, which is, “I just can’t write. I can’t think of anything!” Someone said, “Just write that.” And I realised it’s true. The second you start writing about anything, you can write.’
Some rather good writing advice from Jennifer Saunders, the comic genius behind ‘Absolutely fabulous’, circa 2001

+ ‘First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs.’
A quote from Peter Ellis. It’s really remarkable, as you can actually see the sentence decaying in front of you

+ DIVIDING BY ZERO: it builds character
from 4chan: one of the running memes was a picture of a blackhole, with the caption ‘I divided by zero! OH SHI -‘. Someone went one better and created the phrase you see before you

+ ‘I’m Marvin Gaye, shot by my own father’
Long story behind this’un. I’ll just leave it at this: it’s a line written by brilliantly insidious media shit-disturber Chris Morris, from an episode of Brass Eye

+ WTF IS RINGO DOING HE’S JUST SITTING THERE
On YouTube, someone had uploaded a video clip of the Beatles from the mid-Sixties, which was from a television special or similar, and it featured the world’s favourite wacky Scousers sitting on a plank supported by two sawhorses. They sat astride the plank, facing the camera, and singing one of their hits. John and George had their guitars, and Paul had his bass, and all of them were lip-syncing, apart from Ringo, who was sat behind them all, holding up a parasol for the length of the song. The tagline came verbatim from some random individual’s comment. Brilliant

+ Yeah, let’s don’t learn Chinese but say we did.
Sound advice!

+ ‘Writers are the most masturbatory of creatures. Ask any writer — they’re like monkeys.’
Anthony Burgess, hitting the nail on the head once again

+ Message in a bottle, on the deck of a ship that is also in a bottle
How very… meta. Rather like this charming picture I happen to have of Mahoro.

Infinite recursion? Don’t mind if I do!

+ ‘You’re such a wonderful person / But you got problems’
I know quite a few people that fit that description! From ‘Breaking glass’, off David Bowie’s album Low

+ Soup that makes its own gravy
ALEX TREBEK: ‘I also would’ve accepted “Soup that eats like a wheel”‘

+ If this were my last tagline here, what would I say?

+ + + + + + + + + + + +

With the way the new site is laid out, having taglines would make the banner double awkward, so I do at times miss bringing something new to that particular table. But on the other hand, that’s one less thing I have to keep track of!…

As always, I would like to convey an immense Thank you to all of the readers of ‘Shouting to hear the echoes’, whether you’re a regular round these parts (you know who you are), or just popping round for a post or two. Or rooting through the ‘RealDolls & other “love dolls”‘ category, which seems to be the trend lately. Nevertheless! Here’s to another year, then! *dinks glass*

Sdtrk: ‘The headmaster ritual’ by the Smiths

For a while, I thought July was going to be a month without news, but after checking 4woods‘ site, I found I was wrong. Never has being wrong been so encouraging!

Her cheekbones kinda make her resemble one of my old supervisors

Not only did they add a spiffy new look to their site, but they’ve revealed another Synthetik sexpot in the A.I.NEO line, Naomi. And coincidentally enough, they’ve done so on the Missus’ birthday, no less!
Now, if only I could get a Naomi-type as a present — for, ah, Shi-chan, of course… A job well done, 4woods!

Speaking of the Japanese Synthetik companion industry, I just located this story on Reuters.com: Japan’s lonely hearts turn to dolls for sex, company

TOKYO, July 18 (Reuters Life!) – Real love is hard to find for one Japanese man, who has transferred his affection and desires to dozens of plastic sex dolls.

When the 45-year-old, who uses a pseudonym of Ta-Bo, returns home, it’s not a wife or girlfriend who await him, but a row of dolls lined up neatly on his sofa.

Each has a name. Ta-Bo often watches television with his toys before bathing them, powdering them so that their skin feels more human, dressing them in lingerie and then taking them to bed.

“A human girl can cheat on you or betray you sometimes, but these dolls never do those thing. They belong to me 100 percent,” says the engineer who has spent more than 2 million yen ($16,000) over the past decade on the dolls.

“Sometimes it takes too much time before I can have sex with the person I meet. But with these dolls, it’s just a matter of a click of the mouse. With one click, they are delivered to you.”
the rest of the article is here

ta-bo-san’s not a bad bloke, all told; we’ve corresponded a couple of times, and saying he’s a pretty hardcore iDollator is a fair assesment. I don’t know if I’d go to that level of extremity — my goal is perhaps just six to eight Dolls — but you have to admire his bloodymindedness.
Plus, he certainly has a point: despite Radiohead’s obvious sarcasm, meeting people isn’t easy. Or rather, meeting people you actually want to spend your time with isn’t easy. You have to be discriminate when spending time with individuals, cos more often than not, a lot of people take up your time and energy, and don’t give much in return. Unfortunately, if you’re picky about who you hang about with, you’re seen as cold or aloof. The theory that ‘man is a social animal’ doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone — it’s one thing to have mates to hang out with, but some individuals can’t be around people all the time, as it can be such a drain. Dolls, on the other hand, don’t judge, nor do they require constant attention and validation. Plus, with them in one’s life, you can be alone yet never lonely, which is an ideal situation, really

Technorati tags: 4woods, A.I.NEO, iDollator

Sdtrk: ‘Time after time’ by Chris Montez

私は、この地球の私の34年後にあなたのものと同じくらい安定して同じくらい永久的な愛を一度も知らないと正直に言うことができます。 私の人生にはあなたがいるという事実は、あなたが私と共にいるのを許容できるのにさらに生きるのを非常に致します。

黒猫 しどれ、私はあなたを愛しています。 お誕生日おめでとう、セックスは子を産みます!