mbf tod@y

Chuck Palahniuk @ Booksmith (May 28, SF)

on-stage interview/booksigning for Snuff
Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00 pm
 
Chuck Palahniuk's new novel, Snuff, is the story of a gargantuan gangbang. It tells the tale of an aging porn queen who intends to put an exclamation point on her career by having sex on film with 600 men in one day. The story begins with Mr. 600. The perspective then shifts to Mr. 72, before we encounter Mr. 137. Wild, funny, and thoroughly researched - Snuff goes where no literary novel has gone before. Who else but Chuck Palahniuk would dare do such a thing? Tickets for the event are priced at $35.00. Ticket price includes a pre-signed, 1st edition copy of Snuff. Books will be available for pick-up in-store after May 20, or at the event. Tickets are on sale at The Booksmith sale now!

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Comunque umani

Guido Ferraro, Isabella Brugo
Comunque umani
Dietro le figure di mostri, alieni, orchi e vampiri
Quali sono i modi di rappresentazione del "male" e del "mostruoso" nell'immaginario collettivo? Avvalendosi di esempi cinematografici e letterari, i due autori raccontano in queste pagine come la cultura ha raffigurato queste categorie in personaggi estremi che assumono le forme del mostro, del vampiro, dell'alieno, del defunto che viola i confini tra lo spazio dei morti e quello dei vivi. Le storie di "mostri" presentano un nucleo di concetti chiave ricorrenti, sia pure in forme e con soluzioni diverse. Nello svelarlo, questo libro condurrà il lettore lungo un percorso che, muovendo da radici folcloriche, esplora la più forte concettualizzazione del male: quella che tende a una negatività assoluta, quasi metafisica. Nulla a che vedere con la dimensione quotidiana e umanizzata della colpa, dell'ingiustizia, del delitto. Il mostro è per statuto non umano; il vampiro è per sua natura perduto e viola con devastante evidenza la separazione tra la vita e la morte. L'alieno rappresenta per principio l'inconoscibile "altro" con cui è impossibile negoziare un terreno comune, concordare un linguaggio.

Da leggere al volo

Brave New Pong

"Evolution and capitalism have brought us to the point where it’s possible to propel ourselves out our current state of affairs. We're intelligent enough now that we don’t need the randomness of a competitive system. We can program randomness. Things that used to be competitive games should now be cooperative games, or even non-games.

The world is no longer made up of unpredictable systems separated by incommunicable distances. By using computer models to produce what we want and distribute it fairly, the age old game of producing for production's sake can come to an end. Humans have tried organizing themselves in more equitable arrangements in the past, but these systems were ultimately run by other humans. In the new world we will be able to relax and let technology do the job. The pong ball will never fall off the table again!" (Monochrom)

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Premio Duellanti 2008 (Triennale Milano, 28 maggio 2008)

Notizia collegata

Body Movin'

"The massive success of the Nintendo Wii proved the appeal of motion-controlled gaming. Now Softkinetic, a company based in Belgium, is working to let video-game players use a wider range of more-natural movements to control the on-screen action. Softkinetic's software is meant to work with depth-sensing cameras, which can be used to determine a player's body position and motions. "You don't need a controller in your hand," says CEO Michel Tombroff. "You don't need to wear a special outfit. You just come in front of the camera in your living room, and you start playing by moving your entire body."" (Erica Naone, Technology Review)

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Silvio Berlusconi on George Bush

"One time, Bush told me that it is reasonable to have doubts, but not to have so many doubts that you cannot make a decision. It's up to historians to judge his presidency, but whatever fate history holds for him, I am sure that George W. Bush will be remembered as a leader of ideals, courage and sincerity. Personally, I will always remember him as a friend, a true man who loves his family, understands the meaning of friendship and is grateful toward America's allies around the world." (Silvio Berlusconi, Time)

Thanks to B. for the tip = this is the kind of things I would normally try to escape, but nightmares can become reality and what that happens, you just need to face them, right?

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The Cinematic Map of San Francisco

"Hundreds of movies have been filmed in San Francisco over the decades. The map below shows just a few of the major ones; in the coming weeks we'll be adding more." (Map mashup by Justin Beck, Matt Petty and the Datebook staff, The  San Francisco Chronicle)

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Neil Ledoux' Tug of War

I had the pleasure to have Neil Ledoux as a student last Fall (California College of the Arts).He's doing really interesting stuff: check out his online exhibition here (I love the interface)!

La grande rete della scrittura. La letteratura dopo la rivoluzione digitale

Segnalo un volume di recente uscita di Arturo Mazzarella, La grande rete della scrittura. La letteratura dopo la rivoluzione digitale (Bollati Boringhieri, 2008). Questa la sinossi:

"La contrapposizione sempre più marcata tra vecchi e nuovi media è un luogo comune che, dopo la definitiva affermazione della rivoluzione digitale, appartiene ormai al patrimonio delle certezze collettive. L'espansione della virtualità prodotta dai nuovi media sembra relegare tra le reliquie del passato quelle pratiche comunicative, come la letteratura, attraverso le quali la civiltà occidentale ha scandito il suo progresso. Ma è un'impressione di superficie. Considerata fuori dalla retorica che ancora l'avvolge in numerose sedi istituzionali, sgombrata da ipoteche etico-pedagogiche o estetiche, proprio la scrittura letteraria rivela oggi una insospettabile contiguità con l'universo dei media elettronici, mostrando il suo originario, costitutivo, carattere virtuale. È quanto esibiscono senza falsi pudori alcune tra le esperienze letterarie più vitali e innovative dell'ultimo ventennio: da Calvino, Celati e Tondelli a Kundera, Ballard, DeLillo, Ellis, Marias, Amis e Houellebecq. Grazie a loro gli incroci che si vengono a stabilire tra la letteratura e la videoarte, o il cinema digitale, i videogame e i videoclip diventano tutt'altro che uno scenario avveniristico."

Ne parliamo. Presto.

Leggi

The Renaissance of FIAT

"In common with most of the world's leading manufacturers, Fiat is expecting a good deal of its growth to come from emerging markets. In 2006, 37% of Fiat's vehicle sales, including vans and joint ventures, came from outside western Europe. By 2010, that is due to increase to 46%. Fiat is the market leader in the rapidly expanding Brazilian market, but apart from a truckmaking joint venture between Iveco and SAIC in China, it is weak in China, India and Russia. Fiat's performance in Russia, which will soon overtake Germany as Europe's biggest car market, has been particularly poor. Although (or perhaps because) Fiat designs were the basis of much of the Soviet car industry, the company sold only 2,000 cars there in 2006. However, the new, booted Fiat Linea, which is manufactured in Turkey and will also be made in China, India and Russia, provides ammunition it has previously lacked." (The Economist)

FIAT is a bit like Nintendo. A few years ago it was on death row, now it's back in the game and kickin' some butts.

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