mbf tod@y

Dead Channels Upon Us

"Dead Channels: the San Francisco Festival of Fantastic Film, Northern California'ss premier celebration of independent and international fantastic filmmaking, brings 45 films from 11 countries to San Francisco for its inaugural 8-day event. On Thursday August 9th, the Festival kicks off at the historic Castro Theatre with the ultra-rare adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Happy Birthday, Wanda June starring Rod Steiger and William Hickey. Never released on video or DVD, this marks the debut of a 35 mm print recently discovered in the studio vault. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A, Takashi Miike‚s acclaimed, homoerotic nod to Jean Genet follows at 7:30 pm. The first night wraps with the US premiere of Uwe Boll‚s hilarious (and controversial) satire Postal - with the director, cast and crew attending".

How could I possibly miss Postal?

Also, not to be missed: this one. This one. And this one (a true classic). Last but not least, from Minoru Kawasaki, the director of the cult hits The Calamari Wrestler and Executive Koala comes The World Sinks (Except Japan)!!!

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"The competition is breathing down the neck of the Xbox 360"

"The competition is breathing down the neck of the Xbox 360.  The Nintendo Wii has almost caught up with the Xbox 360 in sales and the PlayStation 3 is looking to have a much stronger lineup in 2008.  If Sony can keep its PlayStation 2 core base happy for another year or so, they will be in a good position to migrate them to a PS3.  This means for Microsoft it is imperative they get consumers into the store NOW. One concern is that Microsoft seems to be in danger of losing its position as the online game leader.  Microsoft has pushed the Xbox Live online game service as the key distinguishing factor for its systems.  However, the PlayStation Network does a good job and offers many of the same features as Xbox Live.  Upcoming offerings like PlayStation Home and some fairly high-end downloadable games, start to push the PS3 toward the cutting edge when it comes to online offerings." (David Cole, Next Generation)

Cole has a point (a few, actually), but the PlayStation Network is considerably inferior to Xbox Live. That might change in the future, but, as it stands, it delivers a mediocre online experience, both in terms on content and service. The PSN Store cannot even be compared to Xbox Live Marketplace.

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How Games Explain Evolution

"In recent papers, Dr. Nowak has argued that cooperation is one of the three basic principles of evolution. The other two are mutation and selection. On their own, mutation and selection can transform a species, giving rise to new traits like limbs and eyes. But cooperation is essential for life to evolve to a new level of organization. Single-celled protozoa had to cooperate to give rise to the first multicellular animals. Humans had to cooperate for complex societies to emerge.While cooperation may be central to evolution, however, it poses questions that are not easy to answer. How can competing individuals start to cooperate for the greater good? And how do they continue to cooperate in the face of exploitation? To answer these questions, Dr. Nowak plays games." (Carl Zimmer, The New York Times)

Spore, anyone?

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The Surreal World of Enrico Donati in SF

"Enrico Donati (b. 1909) is perhaps the last living Surrealist artist closely associated with the movement’s acknowledged leader, André Breton. He was a key figure in the community of European expatriate artists in World War II–era New York. This exhibition recreates the extraordinary assemblage of objects in the artist’s New York studio. Like a 17th-century Wunderkammer (wonder room), or Kunstkammer (art room), which juxtaposed objects from the realms of nature and culture, this installation will include the artist’s Surrealist paintings and sculptures, juxtaposed with Oceanic, Native American, and African objects, as well as fossils and other natural curiosities. A recent FAMSF acquisition, Fist (1946), is prominently featured. Donati’s studio has served as a fertile source of inspiration for his artworks and provides a striking visual metaphor for the Surrealist conception of the realms of conscious and unconscious thought." (de Young Museum, San Francisco)

June 9, 2007 — September 2, 2007, de Young Museum, SF.

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Why I Gave Up on Second Life

"SL presence has a "long tail of impact" that's measured in more than the number of avatars in any one place at any one point in time. Maybe, but I can only manage what I can measure. And in terms of things that I value, such as links, smart comments, traffic to my blog, etc, the SL appearance might as well have never happened. It didn't leave a ripple in the world I live in (AKA Real Life)." (Chris Anderson)

Read more (plus, don't miss the engaging debate with James Wagner Au).

Background info: Frank Rose's "Lonly Planet" 'sobering' story on Wired magazine.

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione available in the US

"We're out here on the rolling Rochester Hills at the site of this weekend's Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance for the US press reveal of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. But just as important as showing the 159,300 euro (Alfa folks claim the US price will be over $200K when it hits here late in 2008), 450 HP V8-powered supercar, for the Alfa Romeo folks this is the first event for a US-bound Alfa Romeo since the halcyon days of yesterday -- and by yesterday we mean 1995" (Ray Wert, Jalopnik)

...And what about Forza Motorsport 2?

Read more (via Digg)

Milan's smog reaches new highs (lows?)

"To motivate image-conscious Milanese to abandon their cars, Italian authorities are offering free smog tests -- for their hair. Milan is one of Europe's most polluted cities -- and one of the most fashionable. In a city where levels of particulate matter regularly exceed EU limits, officials have unsuccessfully tried car-free Sundays, smog-eating cement and may adopt London's car tax. But on a hunch that impending trichological doom may more effectively persuade people to abandon their cars, Milanese officials are testing the levels of smog trapped in their hair." (Nicole Martinelli, Wired)

The atrocious pollution of Milan is the subeject of a story recently published on Wired. Impressive

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Children of Darkness

"That is how Mr. Anastasio likes it. A 33-year-old native of Astoria, Queens, he is an urban explorer, to use a term he and his fellow adventurers accept somewhat wearily, along with urban spelunker, infiltrator, hacker and guerilla urbanist. Urban explorers, a highly disparate, loosely knit group, share an obsession with uncovering the hidden city that lies above and below the familiar one all around them. And especially during the summer, they are out in full force." (BEN GIBBERD, The New York Times)

It's like The Descent, in an urban setting. Think Marebito, in NY. A wonderful story.

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It's the end of the world as we know it

Neil Jordan's Doomsday

Iraqi Soccer Team Wins Asian Cup

"The Iraqi team, known as the "Lions of the Two Rivers" beat three-time champions Saudi Arabia 1-0 in its first appearance in the Asian Cup final. The jubilation over the victorious run of the team has given Iraqis a rare respite from the daily sectarian attacks, with men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets after each win. But extremists seemed just as determined to destroy national pride and unity. Two car bombs tore through crowds of revelers in two Baghdad neighborhoods, killing 50 people after Wednesday's semifinal victory over South Korea." (BUSHRA JUHI Associated Press)

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