In a further sign that our world’s galloping toward a Cronenbergian future, University of Reading professor, Mark Gasson, “contaminated” a computer chip which was then inserted into his hand.  Gasson’s pre-viral hand allowed him exclusive access to his lab and cellphone. 

Once infected, though, his hand could pass along the virus to whatever device that next scanned the chip.  If other chips had been wired into, or tapping, Gasson’s system, they too would have been corrupted.  A conversation with Gasson follows below:

 
(via MisterHonk)

 
Some lovely time-lapse footage of a Los Angeles that’s been erased of both man and automobile.  The moments where you can enjoy our city like this are certainly few and far between!  To read about how Ross Ching made this Radiohead-accompanied video, click here.

 
thanks JRG!

 
Damn you, Zachary Oberzan—I was just days away from filming my own one man Schindler’s List!  Well, I’ve never seen the Rambo films starring Sylvester Stallone, but something tells me they’re not gonna pack half the charm of Oberzan’s adaptation of David Morell’s ‘72 First Blood novel. 

Beyond adapting, though—and to further simplify the callsheets—Oberzan plays every character to boot, including John Rambo.  He also served as his own director, editor, stylist, caterer, etc.  Working with the exceptionally low budget of 96 bucks, Oberzan shot the whole thing in his 220-square-foot NYC apartment.  Here’s what the fine folks at Cinefamily say of the film (where it screens in L.A. this Saturday):

Eschewing Stallone-style spectacle for a YouTube-esque zen, this feature-length no-fi epic ambitiously re-imagines the novel as a ludicrous, exhibitionist fever dream.  Imagine if a Max Fischer play from Rushmore was imbued with Jean-Luc Godard’s penchant for sardonic realism, only to be filtered through a grade-schooler’s “Let’s build a fort!” sincerity.  Sound crazy? It is—wonderfully so.  Yet, the impressive, good-humored gusto with which Oberzan presents himself surprisingly makes the film gel into an affecting, emotional whole.

The Flooding With Love For The Kid trailer follows below, but you can purchase a copy of the entire film here.

 
The SlashFilm interview with Zachary Oberzan

 
Oy vey ! From the looks of things this kid is also consuming more than his share of processed junk food or sody pop. I’d like to personally smack the shit out of his awful parents.
 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Smoking baby
World’s Youngest Smoker: Awesome
 
thx Tara (who should have posted this but had to run to work) !

 
It’s hard to overstate the effect upon our psyches of things we’re exposed to when we are young and impressionable. For better or worse, these things stay with us forever and if we’re lucky these things are also of enduring quality and mystery. Such is the case with myself and the little known band Monitor, whose sole 7” single I chanced upon at Slipped Disc record store in Sepulveda, CA around 1980. I was already at this time quite the ardent Devo fan and I could tell they too had vaguely similar aesthetics, especially in Steve Thompsen’s virtuoso synth manglings. So enchanted was I with this lil’ slab o’ vinyl that I tracked them down and started hanging around with them and sneaking into all of their shows. That I soon found out they attended the same high school as I, 10 years earlier, only deepened my affection for them. As it happened they were just preparing to release their one and only self-titled LP which while retaining its electronic foundations revealed a darker, more psychedelic sound. And then, rather suddenly it was over. Drummer Keith Mitchell went on to fame with Mazzy Star, guitarist Michael Uhlenkott formed The Romans, Steve Thompsen eventually joined LAFMS improv trio Solid Eye and bassist (and major early crush object for yours truly) Laurie O’Connell disappeared into Northern Californian suburban family life. There are periodic rumors of re-issues and even a book documenting their fleeting existence, but for now all that remains are the handful of recordings and this one live clip from New Wave Theatre, which as far as I can tell was their very last performance together.
 

 
WHAT were they thinking?! Methinks the store, New Form, took it a bit too far.

The advertising slogan tells the store’s teenage and twenty-something target market to “Change Style – Don’t Follow Your Leader”.

Poster of Adolf Hitler wearing pink SS uniform sparks outrage in Italy
 
(via Nerdcore)

 
This is every flavor of awesome. More in this Judy series are promised by the creators, Punchy Players. I’d like to see more of these.

Thank you, Marc Campbell!

 
Bonus ! Everyone’s favorite difficult electronic music duo Autechre is dropping their second LP of the year. Their dirty, unkempt and unfussy sound is always a welcome presence on my various music reproduction devices. Not to mention the sport of observing the hair-pulling and gnashing of teeth by their legions of fanboys who can never be pleased but can nonetheless be counted on to purchase every last object issued by their heroes. Long may they bit-crush.

 
Autechre- Move of Ten

 
What fun watching Republicans in Raleigh, N.C. trying to throw Tea party-supported candidate Tim D’Annunzio under a bus. He’s ahead in the polls, his campaign has deep pockets and yet Tim’s a pariah in establishment GOP circles in the state. If I lived in North Carolina, I’d vote for this guy and I have not cast a single Republican vote in my life. To elect a pothead, ex-junkie deadbeat dad Republican who believes he’s the Messiah? You are kidding me? This is going to be the best contest in the entire country! I may donate to this guy’s campaign.

From AP:

Tim D’Annunzio, a congressional candidate in North Carolina’s most competitive district, has run an anti-establishment campaign with vows to dismantle entire branches of the federal government. His ideas have drawn support from tea party activists, and he has raised more money from individuals than his GOP rival while also contributing more than $1 million to his own campaign.

Republican leaders in both Raleigh and Washington, however, are worried about his electability in November if he wins a primary runoff next month. They’re publicizing court documents about D’Annunzio’s past legal, martial and business troubles and denouncing him as unfit for office.“Mr. D’Annunzio has disqualified himself by his background, his record and his behavior,” said Tom Fetzer, North Carolina’s Republican Party chairman. He said the GOP embraces the tea party but doesn’t believe a person with such a checkered past should be the party’s nominee.

In Hoke County divorce records, his wife said in 1995 that D’Annunzio had claimed to be the Messiah, had traveled to New Jersey to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona. A doctor’s evaluation the following month said D’Annunzio used marijuana almost daily, had been living with another woman for several months, had once been in drug treatment for heroin dependence and was jailed a couple times as a teenager.

The doctor concluded that his religious beliefs were not delusional. A judge wrote in a child support ruling a few years later that D’Annunzio was a self-described “religious zealot” who believed the government was the “Antichrist.” The judge said he was willfully failing to make child support payments.

D’Annunzio declined Monday to discuss the specifics of his past and refused to confirm or deny the details of the court documents. He acknowledged having “a troubled upbringing” but that he got himself out of it and changed his life 16 years ago, when he had a religious conversion.

“The bigger story is that the power brokers in Raleigh and in Washington are willing to go to any length and use any unscrupulous tactic to try to destroy somebody,” he said. “They think that they’re losing their control over the Republican party.

“

They obviously are! This character makes even Rand Paul seem sane. Can the Sarah Palin endorsement be far behind?

 
If you heard about Patti Smith getting an honorary degree at Pratt last week, her sweet/funny speech at Radio City Music Hall to the graduating students is now on YouTube.
 
Bonus clip of The Patti Smith Group performing Horses and Hey Joe and on the Old Grey Whistle Test program.
 

Via The Awl