Vanessa Almeida

cwphoto:loveismy-religion:thetalkinghead:cettefemme

Babs Campion, King, February 1970.

-  画

Anyone who’s ever had a band knows that a competent/punctual/well-adjusted bass player can be the hardest thing to find — guitarists are dime-a-dozen, but bass players always seem to be in particularly high demand. Well, here’s a potential answer straight out of Futurama – a MIDI-driven bass robot to hold down the bottom end for you! It’s called the MechBass, and it was built by one James McVay, an honors student at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand — we first spotted it at Hack A Day, where there are plenty of details about how the robot was designed and assembled. There’s also a video of MechBass ripping out the bassline to Muse’s “Hysteria”, which you can watch after the jump.

today in NYC
* Narnia @ Zebulon
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Manowar @ The Paramount
* Banda Urbana @ Joe's Pub
* Stephanie Wrembel @ Barbes
* Matt Lavelle Quintet @ The Stone
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Napoleon, Jangula, Visuals @ Cameo Gallery
* Alouette, The Lark, Alexa Dexa @ Cake Shop
* Skeletons, Zs, Future Shuttle @ The Bowery Electric
* Dave Hill, W. Kamau Bell, Arden Myrin @ UCB Theatre
* Justin Vivian Bond & many more @ Joe's Pub (a Sandy benefit)
* Streetlight Manifesto, Hostage Calm, Lionize @ Best Buy Theatre
* Andrew Keoghan, Lips, DTROTBOT, Graph Rabbit @ The Mercury Lounge
* Weekend Money, Kool A.D. of Das Racist, Lakutis, Kowabunga Tyga @ Glasslands
* Suffocation, Car Bomb, Mutant Supremacy, Trenchgrinder @ Saint Vitus
* Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir @ Highline Ballroom (1pm)
* Eugene Mirman, Jon Glaser, Wyatt Cenac, Mike Birbiglia, Michael Che @ The Bell House

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Be our friend on Facebook too, and BV Austin's friend on Facebook and BV Chicago's friend on Facebook.

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What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?" at brooklynvegan

Chris Stamp, Pete Townsend and Kit Lambert (L to R)

On stage at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night, The Who's Roger Daltrey saluted Chris Stamp -- one of the two early managers that launched the group's success -- as a man "without whom we wouldn't be the band we were."

Stamp -- who not only co-managed The Who with the late Kit Lambert but also co-founded the group's Track Records label and executive produced most of its albums and film projects starting in 1968, died from cancer on Saturday at the age of 70 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. -[Billboard]

Besides The Who's crucial earlier days, Stamp's Track Records is responsible for the release of of the landmark The Jimi Hendrix Experience LP Are You Experienced?, Thunderclap Newman's Hollywood Dream, the self-titled debut from The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and more. He leaves behind a wife of 22 years, two married daughters and grandchildren. (His brother is actor Terrence Stamp.) Goodbye Chris Stamp, you left an indelible mark of rock as we know it.

Continue reading "Chris Stamp, R.I.P." at brooklynvegan

As we noted with our recent travel guide to San Francisco’s Italian cultural heritage, we’re suckers for Italian culture here at Flavorpill — if nothing else, we probably drink enough espresso to qualify for some sort of surrogate citizenship arrangement. So it was that we were rather amused and gratified to come across this series of hand-drawn posters of great inventions that Italy has given the world — even if, um, there’s only four of them. It’s quality not quantity, eh? Anyway, the posters are the work of Edinburgh-based Italophile and graphic designer Emily Isles — check them out after the jump, and also be sure to head on over to her website to check out some of her other work.

OK, so this one's going to be a bit odd, but something came up in physics news this week that amuses the hell out of me, so you're just going to have to put up with this.

Time's arrow. A perfectly horizontal line moving from past through present to future. This is how we understand time to work.

If you smash some particles together in an accelerator, they turn into a spray of other particles. If you were to run the movie of that collision backwards—one that showed those other particles forming the original particles—that would, in fact, appear just as valid. This is called time reversal symmetry. Time is basically symmetrical at the quantum level. It's all just particles and energy moving around. And this quantum bullshit dimension contains all the tiny machinery that decides how everything works.

But these people here discovered a subatomic process that doesn't behave in that way. Working in antimatter physics, deep down in the hadronic depths with mesons (tiny things, found on a scale several powers tinier than the fields that nanomachines operate in), they found something that wasn't supposed to happen. Down in the murk, these weird flavors of meson turn into different kinds of stuff all the time. In a world with symmetrical time, the conditions down there say that Thing A will become Thing B more easily than Thing B will turn into Thing A. It's how the reversed movie makes sense.

But it turns out that Thing B turns into Thing A six times more often. This is a bit like reversing a video of a glass of water being dropped, winding it back to the start—and finding it simply won't go back to the point before the glass tipped over. Time has a preferred direction. Time is asymmetrical.

In fact, you could possibly conceive of time as being a downward slope. Our slide into the future is inexorable. Everything is slipping down time's mountainside.

Makes you wonder what's at the bottom, doesn't it?

This also suggests that time is uphill. The history behind us is on an ever-rising altitude. Maybe ghosts are just clouds of weird electromagnetic spray, caught in the tidal breath of time and drifting downhill into the present day.

People involved in time-travel physics now have to consider that traveling into the past may be, at best, rolling a Sisyphean boulder of conceits up an impossible incline. You know the universe is pissing on you when even the angle of time itself is against you.

There's a beautiful theoretical time machine, envisioned by one Ronald Mallett, that uses a phenomenon called frame-dragging to create, from light, a looping pathway from the present into the future and back again. His idea was that you could step into the beam of light, walk halfway around it, and step out into the future. Rejoin the loop at the same point, and you could walk back to your starting point in the present.

I imagine it now as an endless walk into the future, with all your pasts rising up as a cliff behind you.

Now think about this. Ronald Mallett was set on his own path very early in life. His father died young, of a heart defect. His impetus to think about time travel came from a burning wish to go back in time and warn his father of the undetected condition that would kill him.

Think about that, in a world where time only flows downstream and the past is an unscalable glacier wall. We will hit the bottom of the spiral long before we ever solve the problem of rescuing love or speaking unsaid goodbyes.

Good morning, from a little further down the hill.

Follow Warren on Twitter: @warrenellis

Image by Marta Parszeniew

Previously: Good Morning, Sinners... with Warren Ellis - Delete Everything Now

Stylist: Annette Lamothe-Ramos
Assistente de foto: Greg Morris
Assistente de stylist: Miyako Bellizzi
Cabelo: James Mooney em Art Department; Assistente: Chiala Marvici
Maquiagem: Ruthie Weems em Beauty Exchange NYC
Cenografia: Jessie Voris
Assistentes de produção: Davide Bernardis, Brian Menegus
Modelos: Annette, Jonathan Walsh e Wilton Stewert em JV8, Kasimira em Muse, Miyako, Victor Pagan
Agradecimentos especiais a Adolfo’s Auto Body Center

Jaqueta INC

Vestido Alexandre Herchcovitch, meias American Apparel, sapatos Melissa, jaqueta vintage

Vestido Levi's, meias American Apparel, sapatos Betsey Johnson

Jaqueta Christian Lacroix, camisa vintage, regata Hanes, calça Penny Stock 

Jaqueta Mango

Welcome to the newest installment of a yet-to-be-titled series of open letters by New Zealand's foremost mail enthusiast, Reuben P. Bonner. 

Dear Vincent,

Greetings on this beautiful morning and, also, best wishes from across the oceans.

I am writing to you with regard to some of the great services you run from your merchandise website, www.vgmerchandise.com.

Mainly:

a) Your male escort service offering “one night with Vincent Gallo for $50,000.”

And

b) The item titled “Vincent Gallo’s Sperm” priced at one million dollars.

Even though it looks like you have had this service available for a number of years, my associate Kathryn only recently alerted me to it. As I have a keen interest in current affairs she suggested I get in touch with you to find out the finer details for interest’s sake. So as to not string you along, I should mention straight up that neither Kathryn nor I will be making a semen purchase today, purely because we cannot afford the very reasonable rate of one million dollars.

Nor will we be using your escort service of one night with Vincent Gallo for $50,000 even though I am sure it is worth every damn penny. This is purely a letter of interest for information as I really am just a curious person. I hope you will oblige with a detailed reply if you have the time.

How has the store been going? Many nibbles in regard to the semen? Also, is the price in US currency? I assume it is, but it’s always better to just ask.

I bet a good looking man such as yourself - with the reputation of having an excellent penis - would have no issues with attracting enough business to keep the wolves from the door. You are well known for showing your penis in the cult film The Brown Bunny and I’ve heard it’s well-sized.

Coincidentally, have you seen the 2011 hit film Shame starring Michael Fassbender? He also has a thoroughly impressive penis available for perusal in that film. I can imagine that if you two ever met up in a nightclub it would be a really good discussion point. Especially if you came across each other in the bathroom. I bet there would be a lot of mutual respect going on there.

Have you ever thought about trying to set up a celebrity semen exchange? You could get a really good bank going on if you found the right candidates with a willingness to contribute, and it would be a great way to expand the business. Imagine if you got Fassbender’s semen! Richard Gere’s, Antonio Banderas’, Ryan Grosling’s? The opportunities are basically endless.

Is your semen available to customers worldwide, or just the Americas? And if so, how do you transport it? I would hope you have some kind of classy setup like a carved wooden jewellery box with a chilled interior. Or a hip flask with your initials engraved on it would be a great way to deliver the product. Do you include the delivery costs in the fee?

While I think the price you are charging is very reasonable, I personally would hope to walk away something a little bit more substantial than a cup (or container) of semen if I was going to spend a million dollars. Maybe a coastal rental property or shares in a restaurant or bar in an up and coming part of town. But each to his own, eh Vincent? There’s no accounting for what people will spend their money on these days (pun intended).

For curiosity’s sake, I did some research on the Internet and found out that when priced per litre, your semen is one of the most expensive substances on earth.

As a guide:

Pyrophosphatase (a enzyme used in medical science) is supposedly the most expensive liquid in the world at 60,000,000 Euro for 1 litre.

Scorpion venom is worth about 30,000,000 Euro for 1 litre.

So I think, depending on the quantities you are offering, your price per litre is definitely up there with the worlds most expensive, and therefore most coveted.

Supply and demand though eh Vincent!

As a sidenote, things like LSD, black printer ink and Chanel No. 5 are also pretty pricey for your average consumer.

Vincent, I have run out of time to go into the topic too much further or ask about the finer details of your $50,000 a night escort service. The café I am currently in is playing such depressing music I feel like I will blow my head off if I stay here too much longer, but if you have the time to reply we can keep the dialogue going.

Hope this finds you well and successful in all your endeavours.

Regards,

 

Reuben P. Bonner

 

Previously - Dear Damien Hirst

 

It's that time of year again, judging by the posts on this site today, with lots of Holiday-themed shows coming up. Unsurprisingly, The Bell House lives for this kind of yuletide cheer and has about a dozen or so holiday shows lined up in the next month. Here's a rundown.

First is the Everything's Terrible! Holiday Special 2012 which happens December 12 (tickets). If you think the Star Wars Holiday Special is the worst Christmas-related thing television has ever birthed, the Everything's Terrible folks will likely prove you wrong. For an early taste, there's a trailer for the crap extravanga below, along with a list of all dates for this ironic roadshow which is touring both coasts at the same time.

On the next night (12/13) it's The Party Machine's 2nd Annual Holiday Benefit Blowout with hosts Arden Myrin and Lisa Delarios with guests Jon Glaser, Chris Gethard, Sheng Wang, Janeane Garofalo and Adira Amram & the Experience with proceeds going to Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue and Red Cross Disaster Relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Tickets are $12 and still available but probably not for long -- don't delay.

More funny stuff (with music): On December 16, Fred Armisen hosts The Snow Ball Ball: A Winter Formal To Benefit 826NYC, with guest DJs Tunde Adebimpe and Peter Hale of Here We Go Magic. Tickets are still available.

And for ska fans there's The Slackers Christmas Celebration on 12/22 which also celebrates the band's 20th anniversary. The show also features The Frightnrs, Sammy K, and Caz & the Day Laborers. Tickets are still available.

Wait there's still more holiday fun at The Bell House: for burlesque fans there's Doc Wasabassco's Birthday Celebration And All-Holiday Party on 12/14 (tickets); for the wizards and muggles out there, you can celebrate at The Harry Potter Yule Ball 2012 on 12/15 with Harry And The Potters, Potter Puppet Pals, The Whomping Willows, and The Home Alones (tickets); later that night (12/15) it's The Rub's Holiday party with Eleven & Ayres and special guests Kon & 7L' and for those who need some twang in their stocking, on December 16 it's The Suzi Shelton Band's Fourth Annual Rockin' Holiday Party with Amelia Robinson From Mil's Trills (tickets).

Everything Is Terrible trailer and flyer for the Snowball Ball are below.

Continue reading "Everything is Terrible, Fred Armisen, The Slackers, Harry & the Potters and more holiday shows at The Bell House" at brooklynvegan

(via @tgault86)

(via @charlieshaine_0fs)

today in NYC
* the Parade
* Jonathan Toubin @ Enid's
* Strawberry Fields (Beatles Tribute) @ BB King's
* Alex English, IGS, DREWWW, Rockman @ 285 Kent

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spongebob and Papa Smurf will be flying through Manhattan today.

A$AP Twelvyy was supposed to play Highline Ballroom tonight, but that show has been postponed to December 27. All tickets will be honored.

Find out how you can help Occupy Sandy on Thanksgiving day.

Are you having Veggieducken tonight? I wonder if Paul McCartney is.

Follow @BrooklynVegan on Twitter.
Follow @bvChicago for just Chicago stuff.
Also follow @bvAustin for just Austin stuff.

Be our friend on Facebook too, and BV Austin's friend on Facebook and BV Chicago's friend on Facebook.

Follow BrooklynVegan on instagram.

Tomorrow, Black Friday is also Record Store Day.

Thanksgiving isn't as exciting a time of year for songs as Christmas, but we've gotten a few gems this year, like The National's cover of "Thanksgiving Song" and the amazing Nicole Westbrook's "It's Thanksgiving," which you can watch the video for below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday? (Thanksgiving)" at brooklynvegan

"Daqui do morro dá pra ver tão legal O que acontece aí no seu litoral Nós gostamos de tudo, nós queremos é mais Do alto da cidade até a beira do cais Mais do que um bom bronzeado Nós queremos estar do seu lado" Ultraje a Rigor
Enquanto os jovens escritores brasileiros estão invadindo as praias europeias, norte-americanas e quiça asiáticas em razão do lançamento internacional da revista Granta, os jovens escritores portugueses estão invadindo o nosso litoral. De forma muito bem-vinda, diga-se de passagem.

Como parte das comemorações do “Ano de Portugal no Brasil” a editora Leya (aqui do Brasil) acaba de lançar uma série de livros com os novos nomes da literatura portuguesa. A coleção chama-se Novíssimos e terá dez livros de dez autores diferentes. A seleção ficou a cargo dos editores do grupo Leya que vasculharam nomes do seu próprio catálogo e do catálogo dos selos Dom Quixote, Editorial Caminho, Editorial Asa e Editorial Teoremas (que pertencem ao grupo). Os critérios de escolha não foram ineditismo, quantidade de livros publicados ou idade do escritor, mas a originalidade e qualidade literária - apenas três selecionados estão lançando seu primeiro romance, um selecionado já publicou quatro livros e os dois mais velhos nasceram em 1964 e 1967. Com isso, é importante destacar que a coleção não pretende fazer o retrato de uma literatura geracional ou de uma literatura cujos autores compartilham dos mesmos traços estéticos ou ideológicos. É somente boa literatura portuguesa.

Os primeiros cinco livros da série são O teu rosto será o último, de João Ricardo Pedro; No meu peito não cabem pássaros, de Nuno Camarneiro; Para cima e não para norte, de Patrícia Portela; Por este mundo acima, de Patrícia Reis; e Um piano para cavalos altos, de Sandro William Junqueira. Os cinco escritores estão no Brasil participando de eventos para o lançamento da coleção.

Para 2013, a Leya promete completar a coleção com os livros Anatomia dos mártires, de João Tordo; Deixem passar o homem invisível, de Rui Cardoso Martins; Deixem falar as pedras, de David Machado; Rio de homem, de André Gago; e Sandokan & Bakunine, de Bruno Margo. Com certeza alguns desses escritores estarão na próxima FLIP.

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O design colorido das capas foi assinado pelo ateliê de design português "Ideias com peso".

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E que venham mais portugueses!

*Imagem: divulgação