Kirstie and Regan suggested that I aught to join them at the Commodor to check out Cinematic Orchestra last night. Well, I listened to a bunch of old stuff garnered from my sources, and was sold on a smooth blend of sample culture and jazz. What I got was Jazzzzz. Okay maybe not quite that many z’s, but certainly the sounds I heard we’re, as Regan put it, “heroin jazz.” Stuff I might listen to before sleeping. You know, the last 4 tracks of the day. Very nice, but not nearly as danceable as the stylish, woo-hooing brunette unleashed that caught my eye. Regan cocked one of his sharp eyebrows and said “what’s with you? you’re always going for the crazy ones.” This was good heroin jazz thought fodder, and I proceeded to ponder it while checking out her wild freeform dance moves. It takes a crazy to accept and enjoy a crazy…

The first act, Sekoya, was far more to my tastes, running off into more unconventional riffs (yes, yes, the unconvention is a convention in itself..). Watching these performers, I sensed I recognized them from somwhere, maybe another act? At the end it was anounced that they’re from Vancouver. Surely I’ve seen them at Sonar, or some such place in the club scene. They pumped the crowd with some fresh sounds refering ever so distantly to Digable Planets and various Ninja artists. As to a performances, these guys out performed Cinematic Orchestra. Great incorporation of jazz and raver dance moves by the sax player Alvin and singer Amalia, and a more interconnected vibe between all the performers. Sekoya was far more passionate and involved seeming than the main act, who seemed if anything, like the title of one of their tracks, “burn(t) out.”

Boiling it all down to sex, Amalia has sexy, sexy hair, moves like she’s on fire, and wow, boo-tay..

Sunday afternoon collaging to the chill and dub sounds of iwayHigh.net. Some world beats too.

JULIAN AND SOPHIE offer a free three day course in pattern cutting. It’s a hand written and hand illustrated course they did for students of the Royal College of Art.

From SHOWstudio:

IN CAMERA Tracey Emin
Live Interview: 25 June, 2003 15:00 GMT
Cultural icon Tracey Emin, Britain’s most celebrated female contemporary artist, takes the chair in our next live online interview so she can tell it from the heart, just as she does in her own vibrant practice

Who’s Tracey Emin? Tracey Emin is an intense confrontational artist that explores her self publically. She’s British with a Turkish family background-what’s with me and turks-Lynn Barber met Tracey Emin and wrote about it in The Observer.

Emin’s art challenges me. I destroyed most of my art works as an attempt to halt the expression of my beliefs, my challenges and my issues. I only have the vaugest notion as to why I would want to halt the basis of my art making. Why I wanted to shut up, but that’s what I wanted to do. As a result I’ve spent the last five years cofused as to how to make images. On the one hand wanting to say something, but on the other unwilling and unenthused about communicating anything personal. And yes, I essentially stopped making art. This last year and a half I’ve been attempting to figure out how to rekindle my art making passion, while restraining my need to communicate from a personal perspective.-what the fuck am I on?-what the fuck was I on?-whatever it is/was, to use a phrase so many unempathetic people encourage troubled people with “get over it!”

Ha ha. I wasn’t going to bother posting Senetor Orrin Hatch’s statement that he supports desroying the computers of copyright abusers, but…here he is, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on copyright abuses, with an unlicenced copy of a JavaScript menu system used extensively throughout his website. Ha, ha. Fucking great, excuse me, ha, ha, that’s just fucking great!!! Totally fucking great!

There may be a future run of US court cases against corporations for the behaviour of their overseas operations. Separate trials are in the works to hold both Unocal and ChevronTexaco accountable for the practices of their overseas subsidiaries and contractors. The Alien Tort Claims Act, passed to law in 1789, was written to combat piracy on the high seas, and has now been adapted and used to “confront other infractions of the ‘laws of nations’”. In a show of support for their corporate sponcers, the Justice Department filed a brief in the Unocal case denouncing the Alien Tort Act as “an obscure provision” and argued “its application posed a direct threat to, among other things, the war on terrorism”. (ha ha ha!!!!) Thankfully The San Francisco appeals court wasn’t impressed with that line of argument and both the Justice Department, and large corporations attempting to file similar briefs, were denied participation in this week’s oral arguments.

Yahoo! News - Drug Turns Crime Victims Into Zombies

Colorless, odorless and tasteless, scopolamine is slipped into drinks and sprinkled onto food. Victims become so docile that they have been known to help thieves rob their homes and empty their bank accounts. Women have been drugged repeatedly over days and gang-raped or rented out as prostitutes.

In the case of Fernandez, the mother of three was rendered submissive enough to surrender her youngest child.

Most troubling for police is the way the drug acts on the brain. Since scopolamine completely blocks the formation of memories, unlike most date-rape drugs used in the United States and elsewhere, it is usually impossible for victims to ever identify their aggressors.

“When a patient (of U.S. date-rape drugs) is under hypnosis, he or she usually recalls what happened. But with scopolamine, this isn’t possible because the memory was never recorded,” said Dr. Camilo Uribe, the world’s leading expert on the drug.

Martha’s New Digs Photoshop Contest. The contest is over, but here are the rules anyway:

Well, a person can only be so creative stamping out license plates. And how many different ways can someone prepare bread and water? Life is gonna be rough for Martha Stewart. BUT, all is not lost. She has her cell. An empty canvas for the expert of home decorating. A little paint here, a little fabric there for drama, and before you know it, Martha and her cellmates will be living in style!

The rules of this contest are simple: Start with this image of her cell, and decorate it in a way that would be suitable for the queen of gracious living. Keep in mind you must simply redecorate this provided image of a jail cell for Martha, nothing more, nothing less (i.e. don’t add space aliens to it). Have fun. Be clean. No cliches. As always, quality is a must. We will remove poor entries no matter how much we like you. You’ll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count. Thanks to Falonvel for this teriffic contest idea!

  Magnatune Manifesto:

“We are an Internet record label which sells and licenses music by encouraging MP3 file trading and Internet Radio.

When you find an artist you like, pay what you can afford to show your support, starting at $5 for an entire online album. Companies can sublicense our music for commercial use with our no haggling, easy online forms. All money from your purchases is split 50/50 with our artists.

No major label connections.

We are not evil.”

Listen to their music stream

Root Canals are stuff of fun..