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The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave (audiobook)
02.16.2010
01:26 am
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I’m not someone who tends to read much fiction. Ever. As in never. I read a novel once every… fifteen years. I prefer documentaries to narrative films as well. I need to devour information—lots of it—and fiction just doesn’t offer me the sustenance I require. I’m not saying novels are bad things, they just aren’t for sir.

Recently I started listening to audiobooks in the car during my daily commute in Los Angeles. I especially enjoyed the audio version of SuperFreakonomics read by Stephen J. Dubner because 1) it’s a wonderful, thought provoking book, a genre unto itself even and 2) Dubner’s delivery is incredibly engaging as he reads his and Steven Levitt’s well-constructed prose. He really knows how to hit his script perfectly and charmingly animates the book’s clever ideas. Listening to an author read their own words, especially when the writing style is somewhat idiosyncratic, is for me a real pleasure.

Post-SuperFreakonomics, I had no immediate plans for my drive-time entertainment, but this problem was solved by the audiobook of Nick Cave’s novel, The Death of Bunny Munro arriving in the post, thoughtfully sent to me by Iain Forsythe, co-producer (along with Jane Pollard) of the set. The novel is read by the author over 7 CDs, accompanied by a moody (and effective) score by Cave and Warren Ellis. There is also a DVD.

For a guy who claims to hate fiction, it took me all of about ten minutes to become completely engrossed in The Death of Bunny Munro. Admittedly, I’m quite well-disposed towards Nick Cave to begin with, and come to think of it, one of the last novels I did read was his And The Ass Saw the Angel. But I had no expectations, and not much foreknowledge of what the new book was about. I think this was a good thing, but I doubt that anything I write here will spoil anything for anyone.
 
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The Death of Bunny Munro is one of the most profane novels ever written. It makes Celine or Henry Miller seem timid in comparison. The title character, an immoral, middle-aged, door to door beauty products salesman and unrelenting lothario, drives his wife to suicide as the book opens. Upon finding her corpse, the first thought that pops into Bunny’s head is that her tits looked nice. Bunny, a character devoid of any redeeming qualities, scoops up his sweet nine-year old son and goes on a road trip to Hell. It’s all downhill from there as we witness his flailing flameout.

Read in Cave’s distinctive mellow bellow, his prose comes richly to life. Cave is a performer as much as he is a writer, of course, and his performance of his own novel is remarkable. The musical soundtrack, which at first I thought “slight,” is a grower and I came to love it. My interest never flagged for a second of its nearly eight hour running time. It’s really well-produced, with some sort of spatial 3-D recording technique that makes Cave’s voice feel like it’s in the center of your skull, and inventive sound effects.

What occurred to me as I enjoyed the audiobook of The Death of Bunny Munro so very much was the notion that the plain old book version is a lesser experience when compared to the audiobook. When an audiobook is done this well, inevitably the text-only version will come to be seen as the script of the audiobook. Of course not every author is a performer the caliber of the great Nick Cave, but as the audiobook form matures, why would the consumer choose to forgo the music and intimate storyteller aspect of authors reading their own work?

A word about the packaging: The UK version is a beautiful object, with the top photograph, taken by Polly Borland printed on a waxy, sturdy box that feels like a luxury item. The American version sucks. The idiot who chose to go with the packaging they used for the US version should get an award for shitty design (or else fired). The British version you would keep and display on your shelf even if you had no intention of devoting another 8 hours of your life to it for a repeat listen, the US version you’d just pass on to someone when you’re done like it’s disposable.

Nick Cave on his monstrous, funny Bunny Munro (Los Angeles Times)
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.16.2010
01:26 am
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Dignified, Dapper William Shatner Shills Frozen Food
02.15.2010
09:43 pm
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Posted by Tara McGinley
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02.15.2010
09:43 pm
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Keep doing that and you’ll go blind: 3-D television, another perspective
02.15.2010
09:23 pm
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It all depends on how you look at it: Dangerous Minds pal Mark Pesce makes some astute observations about the hot new 3-D television technology: None of the television manufacturers have done any health & safety testing around this. It messes up your depth perception.

Back in the 1990s I did a lot of development work in virtual reality - another technology destined to be the Next Big Thing. I helped Sega develop a head-mounted display (fancy VR headgear) that could be plugged into the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Australia). Everything was going swimmingly, until we sent our prototype units out for testing.

Virtual reality headsets use the same technique for displaying 3D as we find in movies or 3D television sets - parallax. They project a slightly different image to each one of your eyes, and from that difference, your brain creates the illusion of depth. That sounds fine, until you realize just how complicated human depth perception really is. The Wikipedia entry on depth perception (an excellent read) lists ten different cues that your brain uses to figure out exactly how far away something is. Parallax is just one of them. Since the various movie and television display technologies only offer parallax-based depth cues, your brain basically has to ignore several other cues while you’re immersed in the world of Avatar. This is why the 3D of films doesn’t feel quite right. Basically, you’re fighting with your own brain, which is getting a bit confused. It’s got some cues to give it a sense of depth, but it’s missing others. Eventually your brain just starts ignoring the other cues.

That’s the problem. When the movie’s over, and you take your glasses off, your brain is still ignoring all those depth perception cues. It’ll come back to normal, eventually. Some people will snap right back. In others, it might take a few hours. This condition, known as ‘binocular dysphoria’, is the price you pay for cheating your brain into believing the illusion of 3D. Until someone invents some other form of 3D projection (many have tried, no one has really succeeded), binocular dysphoria will be part of the experience.

This doesn’t matter too much if you’re going to see a movie in the theatre - though it could lead to a few prangs in the parking lot afterward - but it does matter hugely if it’s something you’ll be exposed to for hours a day, every day, via your television set. Your brain is likely to become so confused about depth cues that you’ll be suffering from a persistent form of binocular dysphoria. That’s what the testers told Sega, and that’s why the Sega VR system - which had been announced with great fanfare - never made it to market.

Keep doing that and you’ll go blind (ABC/The Drum Unleashed)

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.15.2010
09:23 pm
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Flickr Photostream: 60s London
02.15.2010
09:07 pm
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Here are some random images and videos of London in the 60s from Flickr user SwingingLondon.

(via Das Kraftfuttermischwerk)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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02.15.2010
09:07 pm
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Something is rotten in the state of Utah
02.15.2010
08:50 pm
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Two headlines this morning that seemed of a piece: First, in the Guardian, there was this alarming item: Utah delivers vote of no confidence for ‘climate alarmists.’ The US’s most Republican state passes bill disputing science of climate change, claiming emissions are ‘essentially harmless.’”

The original version of the bill dismissed climate science as a “well organised and ongoing effort to manipulate and incorporate “tricks” related to global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome”. It accused those seeking action on climate change of riding a “gravy train” and their efforts would “ultimately lock billions of human beings into long-term poverty”.

In the heat of the debate, the representative Mike Noel said environmentalists were part of a vast conspiracy to destroy the American way of life and control world population through forced sterilisation and abortion.

By the time the final version of the bill came to a vote, cooler heads apparently prevailed. The bill dropped the word “conspiracy”, and described climate science as “questionable” rather than “flawed.”

Okie dokey… and then in the Los Angeles Times, this story ran this morning: In Utah, a plan to cut 12th grade.

Coincidence or is the state of Utah intent of raising an entire generation of know-nothing Sean Hannity types? It boggles the mind…

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.15.2010
08:50 pm
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Dread in Babylon! Ragga Muffins Festival returns to Long Beach this weekend
02.15.2010
07:32 pm
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This weekend is the weekend that every reggae fanatic (or reggae snob, as the case may be) in Southern California waits for—the annual Ragga Muffins Festival in Long Beach. Now in its 29th year, the Ragga Muffins Festival (formerly Bob Marley Day) has a stellar lineup that includes classic roots performers from the 1970s—Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth and the Mighty Diamonds—and dancehall superstars like Capleton, Frankie Paul, Yellowman and Shaggy. The fest features North America’s largest international crafts and food fair and free admission for children 12 and younger when accompanied by a paid adult.

Admittedly, I am one of those reggae snobs. I’ve waited years to see the one and only Big Youth—who was Bob Marley’s favorite Jamaican musician—in concert. I’ll be there.

Ragga Muffins Festival, Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Feb. 20-21, doors open at noon, $38-$60

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.15.2010
07:32 pm
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Polar Bear Destroys Earth to Laura Branigan and Kenny Loggins
02.15.2010
05:47 pm
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“This is the official UAF Hockey Open from the 2009-2010 season for the Alaska Nanooks.”
 
I have no words for this.
 
(via Nerdcore)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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02.15.2010
05:47 pm
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Rachel Rosenthal: Chance Knows What it’s Doing!
02.15.2010
12:11 am
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Multi-disciplinary artist Rachel Rosenthal is one of America greatest living creators, truly a national treasure—although she chided me for saying this! For much of the past decade, we haven’t heard much from her, but now she has a new book, The DbD Experience (about her unorthodox teaching methods) and starting this weekend, Rachel Rosenthal is unveiling her new company, TOHUBOHU! Extreme Theater Ensemble in Los Angeles for three totally improvised performances on the 19th, 20th and 21st. Monthly performances after that.
Tickets at www.rachelrosenthal.org.

READ ON
Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.15.2010
12:11 am
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Orson Welles Double Feature
02.14.2010
11:30 pm
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Orson Welles has been back in the news lately. First British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (Brideshead Revisited, Let it Be, The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus) will be taking a paternity test to either prove or disprove that he is the only son of the famed director. Lindsay-Hogg is writing an autobiography and wants to put the matter—which has dogged him his entire life to rest one way or the other. Welles’ daughter, Chris Welles Feder has recently published her autobiography, In My Father’s Shadow (which I have, but have not yet read), about growing up with such a monumental, larger-than-life figure as Welles. She told the Guardian newspaper that she has long suspected LIndsay-Hogg might be her brother, “If it does turn out that Michael is my half-brother, it would be delightful. We used to play on the beaches of Santa Monica together all the time and he was my favorite playmate, and I have the fondest memories of him,”

Lindsay-Hogg’s mother was the Irish actress Geraldine Fitzgerald, a star of the Broadway stage who appeared in Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier and died in 2005. Married to Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg, she had begun a relationship with Welles in America during his marriage to Chris Welles Feder’s mother, the Chicago-born actress Virginia Nicholson. The families continued to live side-by-side for some time and the two children became close.

“My memory is that nobody knows for sure whether Orson was Michael’s father. My mother told me that even Geraldine Fitzgerald didn’t know,” said Welles Feder.

And then there is this new documentary, which is a must-see in this Welles-obsessed household. From the Wellesnet website:

In Prodigal Sons, we discover that Welles second daughter, Rebecca, the child of Rita Hayworth (beauty) and Welles (brains), actually had the grandson Welles would have been happy over, but apparently never knew about! Marc was quickly put up for adoption in 1966, shortly after he was born.

The family who adopted Marc were the McKerrow’s of Montana. The father was a doctor (like Welles’ own guardian, Dr. Bernstein) and the mother, a schoolteacher (like Roger Hill). Later Mr. and Mrs. McKerrow had two sons of their own, Paul and Todd.

Paul becomes an accomplished athlete, who later shows an interest in movies, (including a love for the work of Orson Welles). Then, in a bizarre twist that no screenwriter could ever imagine, Paul decides to become a trans-sexual. As Kimberly Reed, she goes on to make movies, her most recent being this documentary!

Meanwhile, Paul/Kim’s natural brother Todd turns out to be gay. Of course while the three brothers, Marc, Paul and Todd are growing up, none of them know that Marc is actually the grandson of Orson Welles. Marc himself only finds out that his real mother is Rebecca Welles, shortly after Rebecca dies, and he then finds out the truth about his famous grandparents.

 

 
The ‘only son’ of Orson Welles to take DNA test (Guardian)

Prodigal Sons official website

Thank you, Steven Otero!

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.14.2010
11:30 pm
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ChatRoulette created by 17-year-old high school student in Moscow
02.14.2010
11:06 am
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We can all get some sleep now! From the New York Times:

The lingering mystery, though, was who was behind the site. The question was answered on Saturday when Andrey Ternovskiy responded to the questions we sent to an e-mail address on Chatroulette. Mr. Ternovskiy said he was a 17-year-old high school student in Moscow.

“I was not sure whether I should tell the world who I am mainly because of the fact that I am under age. Now I think that it would be better to reveal myself,” Mr. Ternovskiy wrote.
I asked Mr. Ternovskiy about the origin of the idea for ChatRoulette, how he manages the technical challenges of running the site, whether he viewed it as a business, and about the way some people were using Chatroulette in, as he put it, “some not very nice ways.” Here are his e-mailed responses, slightly edited and condensed:

Read more of Chatroulette’s Creator, 17, Introduces Himself

 

Posted by Tara McGinley
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02.14.2010
11:06 am
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