Monday, October 15, 2007
In this shitty world, you might as well live in a toilet...
One of my favorite articles in recent times:
Clean loo campaigner to open toilet-shaped home by Lim Chang-Won
Sim Jae-Duck was born in a restroom and now he plans to live and die in one -- a 1.6 million dollar toilet-shaped house designed to promote his tireless campaign for cleaner loos worldwide.
Sim will open what is billed as the world's one and only toilet house on November 11 to mark the launch of his World Toilet Association.
The 419-square-metre (4,508-sq-foot) concrete and glass structure is rising on the site of Sim's former home in his native city of Suweon, 40 kilometres (24 miles) south of Seoul.
Before he moves in, anyone who is flush with funds can rent it for 50,000 dollars a day -- with proceeds going to his campaign to provide poor countries with proper sanitary facilities.
Apart from two bedrooms, two guestrooms and other rooms, the two-storey house -- of course -- features three deluxe toilets. Unlike the giant "toilet" in which they are located, they will not be see-through affairs.
"A showcase bathroom screened by a glass wall is located in its centre, while other toilets have elegant fittings or water conservation devices," Sim told AFP.
The showcase loo will feature a device producing a mist to make users feel secure. An electronic sensor will raise the lid automatically when people enter, and there will also be music for patrons.
The house, complete with a stream and small garden in front, is named Haewoojae, meaning "a place of sanctuary where one can solve one's worries".
Sim's birth in a restroom was in line with traditional beliefs.
"It was intentional. My mother followed advice from my grandmother that people born in restrooms will enjoy long lives," said the 74-year-old.
Sim's campaign began during his term as Suweon mayor from 1995 to 2002. His drive to transform toilets into "clean and beautiful resting places imbued with culture" earned him the nickname "Mayor Toilet".
Public restrooms in the city were jazzed up with paintings, fresh flowers or even small gardens. His achievements prompted Sim to launch the Korea Toilet Association in 1999, in time for South Korea's co-hosting with Japan of the football World Cup three years later.
Then he decided to take his clean toilets drive worldwide. The proposed World Toilet Association might be seen to rival squeaky-clean Singapore, where the World Toilet Organisation is based, but Sim has said the work of the two bodies will not overlap.
Indeed, he hopes his toilet house will highlight the global need for better sanitation.
"My family has already agreed to preserve this house as a symbol of South Korea's new toilet culture after my death," he said. "The house will be remembered as an example of saving mankind from diseases and protecting the environment."
Sim, a member of parliament, will host the World Toilet Association's inaugural meeting which he hopes will attract 300 representatives from 70 countries.
On the final day he plans to invite all participants to his house, which he said "envisions a new concept to place toilets in the centre of our life".
Sim said his campaign will focus on setting international standards for clean public toilets, adding that countries such as Mongolia, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil are actively supporting it.
Epidemics caused by poor sanitation worldwide cost two million lives a year, he said. Worldwide, 2.6 billion people live without toilets. Elsewhere, poorly designed flush toilets waste vast amounts of potential drinking water, he added.
A future project in his active mind is IT-based toilets, where people can check their health or surf the Internet.
"Toilets were once regarded as stinking and dirty places. Not any more. They must be treated as the sanctuary that protects human health," Sim said.
Awesome! He should consider getting this haircut too:
Clean loo campaigner to open toilet-shaped home by Lim Chang-Won
Sim Jae-Duck was born in a restroom and now he plans to live and die in one -- a 1.6 million dollar toilet-shaped house designed to promote his tireless campaign for cleaner loos worldwide.
Sim will open what is billed as the world's one and only toilet house on November 11 to mark the launch of his World Toilet Association.
The 419-square-metre (4,508-sq-foot) concrete and glass structure is rising on the site of Sim's former home in his native city of Suweon, 40 kilometres (24 miles) south of Seoul.
Before he moves in, anyone who is flush with funds can rent it for 50,000 dollars a day -- with proceeds going to his campaign to provide poor countries with proper sanitary facilities.
Apart from two bedrooms, two guestrooms and other rooms, the two-storey house -- of course -- features three deluxe toilets. Unlike the giant "toilet" in which they are located, they will not be see-through affairs.
"A showcase bathroom screened by a glass wall is located in its centre, while other toilets have elegant fittings or water conservation devices," Sim told AFP.
The showcase loo will feature a device producing a mist to make users feel secure. An electronic sensor will raise the lid automatically when people enter, and there will also be music for patrons.
The house, complete with a stream and small garden in front, is named Haewoojae, meaning "a place of sanctuary where one can solve one's worries".
Sim's birth in a restroom was in line with traditional beliefs.
"It was intentional. My mother followed advice from my grandmother that people born in restrooms will enjoy long lives," said the 74-year-old.
Sim's campaign began during his term as Suweon mayor from 1995 to 2002. His drive to transform toilets into "clean and beautiful resting places imbued with culture" earned him the nickname "Mayor Toilet".
Public restrooms in the city were jazzed up with paintings, fresh flowers or even small gardens. His achievements prompted Sim to launch the Korea Toilet Association in 1999, in time for South Korea's co-hosting with Japan of the football World Cup three years later.
Then he decided to take his clean toilets drive worldwide. The proposed World Toilet Association might be seen to rival squeaky-clean Singapore, where the World Toilet Organisation is based, but Sim has said the work of the two bodies will not overlap.
Indeed, he hopes his toilet house will highlight the global need for better sanitation.
"My family has already agreed to preserve this house as a symbol of South Korea's new toilet culture after my death," he said. "The house will be remembered as an example of saving mankind from diseases and protecting the environment."
Sim, a member of parliament, will host the World Toilet Association's inaugural meeting which he hopes will attract 300 representatives from 70 countries.
On the final day he plans to invite all participants to his house, which he said "envisions a new concept to place toilets in the centre of our life".
Sim said his campaign will focus on setting international standards for clean public toilets, adding that countries such as Mongolia, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil are actively supporting it.
Epidemics caused by poor sanitation worldwide cost two million lives a year, he said. Worldwide, 2.6 billion people live without toilets. Elsewhere, poorly designed flush toilets waste vast amounts of potential drinking water, he added.
A future project in his active mind is IT-based toilets, where people can check their health or surf the Internet.
"Toilets were once regarded as stinking and dirty places. Not any more. They must be treated as the sanctuary that protects human health," Sim said.
Awesome! He should consider getting this haircut too:
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Oh yeah, though it sucks and I steered clear of it for a long time... I'm now on myspace. Maybe I'll delete it tomorrow???
Uhhh, yeah...
www.myspace.com/amsalad
I posted a blog entry on myspace about the recent tour, and I guess I'll post it here too:
The end of summer / pre-fall tour was extra boss. Had tons of fun. Some pleasant surprises ensued such as the show at Green Eggs and Jam Records Shop in Boone, NC... really nice, enthusiastic folks... and a local guy (Human Pippi Armstrong) played a pretty raw solo set with homemade circuits and blowables, all while fucking the ketchup outta a McDonalds Value Meal. I got pretty destroyed on cold beer and warm Tequila at Freedamn Fest... released the beast within... it ruled... Among the sets at Freedamn Fest, I would have to say that This Is My Condition floored me the most with his one-man-band drum / guitar attack. I was pretty ripped by this time, and had fun bouncing around, throwing myself into people, and being on the wrong end of a dogpile, like I had summoned the high school kid from the past for one last mosh pit bruise session. The music was great, I was an idiot, and it was all perfect. Camped out at Lake Martin in Alabama which was pretty cleansing after some self induced poisoning while festing in Stone Moutain, GA. Michelle and I befriended some mutant ducks that looked like the results of some cross hybrid experiments involving turkeys. Birmingham was cool as expected... got to hang with Algebrassiere cohort Byron Pussyturd. P-turd played a great decomposing, rusty trash compactor sounding pedal-punch set while clutching a guitar he never played. Badical. Lance of Burzee, Ghuts, Dick Neff, etc. played a digital delay effect vocal warpler with homemade gadgets, all billowing outta his homemade speaker set up. Them Natives concluded the evening with some mellow smokey chanting w/ strings, chimes, blowables, etc. Kinda like a ghost story that you feel rather than hear. Or maybe one you feel and hear but without words. And maybe you don't get real scared, but instead start to question what it is to be scared. Did some really nice canoeing in Aiken, South Carolina... decent current in a narrow winding river with lots of sunken tree obstacles and anole lizards hitching rides on the watercraft. Played two shows in S. Carolina in the same evening including a set at the local art college which featured some older people in attendance, which I fucking loved... cool to chat w/ interesting old folks after sweating and making a racket. Concluded the evening with a spontaneous collaborative cranial squeegee w/ Jefferson Mayday Mayday inside his lair... Jefferson carved a maze of tunnels into the carpeted abyss with his piano playing while I slowly brought in some cassette head mechanical clutter. Then the electronics came into the fold as he transitioned to farfisa meltdown. Jefferson's Immaginarium space should be the new space camp for adults and children alike, a visit I would strongly recommend to anyone interested in exploring, though you may never land again. Then it was off to Chapel Hill to meet up with Hal McGee and Ironing who I played with during the final three shows of the tour. Clang Quartet joined us in Chapel Hill for a performance of noise energy with wearable sound makers that also acted as statements on the religious beliefs of the performer. He is also a very talented percussionist and utilizes a bombardment of cymbals and other beatables. He didn't make a believer outta me in the greater sense, but I respect his passion and I have to say the Clang Quartet performance is quite an experience that I would recommend checking out. And he is a really nice guy too. Richmond had a surprising turnout even with it raining buckets of buckets outside. Narwhalz (Of Sound) got to the final level of Zeltar as a gameboy was turned into a key unlocking the pixel world long enough for it to shatter into a million sounds while Bald Bull punches you the fuck out and wedges your limp body between two Tetris blocks. The Sonic Circuits Festival in D.C. was very well done, with some pretty varied and interesting sets... among them were Zan Hoffman and Constant Mauk, both of which are also really nice people to talk with... Zan gave lots of suggestions on cool places to play overseas. Constant Mauk played a nice short set of huzz crackle and swishes with some electronic treatments and contact mic speaker massages, weaving a cloud over our heads only to have it burst into feathers that weighed as much as anvils. Zan hammed it up as he peeked over his executive-style briefcase while electronically fucking with recordings he made of the previous Sonic Circuits performers earlier in the evening as well as other tweaked audio, all while dashing around in a slick suit handing out documents to the crowd. I wish I could tap into Zan's energy level. I had a blast hanging w/ Andrew Chadwick (Ironing) and Hal McGee throughout the final three days of the tour. All three of their sets that I witnessed were really damn good. Andrew has a knack for the cassette / turntable audio overload assault. The murky loops and slowed downers infuse with in-between beats and clutter, and then it seems to come together just long enough to confuse, and then Janet Jackson slips in a comment on how nasty the boys are and its soooo true. Ladies? Awesome. Hal really threw me for a loop, literally, with an amazing lecture of readings from random pages in books and loose papers while recording his readings and then plopping some circuit bent splushes on top, rewinding and adding some pot and pan percussion... press play and add something random off the tape which might have been from 2 minutes earlier or maybe it was from some comment or found sound he squeezed on there while walking through a gas station parking lot the night before. Loops, electronic slosh, comments on stereophonic sound, record, play, readings from the article written in the local independent press about the very show he is performing that moment, etc., etc. Oh, and all the sounds where unamplified... all coming from either his mouth, or the tiny speakers on his handheld tape recorders or battery operated casios and circuit toys. Andrew assisted with the "press record, press play, rewind, play, record" musical button game, which added to the amazement. I joined in on two of Hal's sets adding microcassette accompaniment of raw audio I recorded from his Chapel Hill performance... my favorite moments were when Hal was reading a passage in real time while one of his taped readings haunted the background space at the same time...
A.M. SALAD:::TASTER'S CHURCST TOUR
9/7
Boone, NC
@ Green Eggs and Jam Record Shop
during Art Crawl w/ Human Pippi Armstrong
www.myspace.com/greeneggsandjamboone
9/8
Stone Mountain, GA
@ Chateau Noir
Freedamn Fest 3, bunches of bands doing it to it
www.soundsfromthepocket.com
9/10
Birmingham, AL
@ A.C. Temple
w/ Them Natives, Dick Neff, DJ Pussyturd
www.myspace.com/actemple1
9/12
Columbia, SC
@ University of South Carolina McMaster College
http://www.cas.sc.edu/ART/mart.html
9/12
Cayce, SC
@ The Immaginarium, 418 Old State Rd
w/ Jefferson Mayday Mayday
http://kursegoback.com
9/13
Chapel Hill, NC
@ The Nightlight
w/ Hal McGee, Ironing, and Clang Quartet
http://www.nightlightclub.com/
9/14
Richmond, VA
@ Pom Hole
w/ Hal McGee, Ironing, Narwhalz (of sound), others
http://www.myspace.com/narwhalsofsound
9/15
Washington D.C.
@ Warehouse Next Door
Sonic Circuits Festival
w/ Baseline, Esther Venrooy, Oier Etxeberria,
Hal McGee, Gunung Sari, Zan Hoffman, Ironing,
Constant Mauk, Musica Ex Machina festival presentation
http://www.dc-soniccircuits.org/2007/
http://warehousenextdoor.com/
www.myspace.com/amsalad
I posted a blog entry on myspace about the recent tour, and I guess I'll post it here too:
The end of summer / pre-fall tour was extra boss. Had tons of fun. Some pleasant surprises ensued such as the show at Green Eggs and Jam Records Shop in Boone, NC... really nice, enthusiastic folks... and a local guy (Human Pippi Armstrong) played a pretty raw solo set with homemade circuits and blowables, all while fucking the ketchup outta a McDonalds Value Meal. I got pretty destroyed on cold beer and warm Tequila at Freedamn Fest... released the beast within... it ruled... Among the sets at Freedamn Fest, I would have to say that This Is My Condition floored me the most with his one-man-band drum / guitar attack. I was pretty ripped by this time, and had fun bouncing around, throwing myself into people, and being on the wrong end of a dogpile, like I had summoned the high school kid from the past for one last mosh pit bruise session. The music was great, I was an idiot, and it was all perfect. Camped out at Lake Martin in Alabama which was pretty cleansing after some self induced poisoning while festing in Stone Moutain, GA. Michelle and I befriended some mutant ducks that looked like the results of some cross hybrid experiments involving turkeys. Birmingham was cool as expected... got to hang with Algebrassiere cohort Byron Pussyturd. P-turd played a great decomposing, rusty trash compactor sounding pedal-punch set while clutching a guitar he never played. Badical. Lance of Burzee, Ghuts, Dick Neff, etc. played a digital delay effect vocal warpler with homemade gadgets, all billowing outta his homemade speaker set up. Them Natives concluded the evening with some mellow smokey chanting w/ strings, chimes, blowables, etc. Kinda like a ghost story that you feel rather than hear. Or maybe one you feel and hear but without words. And maybe you don't get real scared, but instead start to question what it is to be scared. Did some really nice canoeing in Aiken, South Carolina... decent current in a narrow winding river with lots of sunken tree obstacles and anole lizards hitching rides on the watercraft. Played two shows in S. Carolina in the same evening including a set at the local art college which featured some older people in attendance, which I fucking loved... cool to chat w/ interesting old folks after sweating and making a racket. Concluded the evening with a spontaneous collaborative cranial squeegee w/ Jefferson Mayday Mayday inside his lair... Jefferson carved a maze of tunnels into the carpeted abyss with his piano playing while I slowly brought in some cassette head mechanical clutter. Then the electronics came into the fold as he transitioned to farfisa meltdown. Jefferson's Immaginarium space should be the new space camp for adults and children alike, a visit I would strongly recommend to anyone interested in exploring, though you may never land again. Then it was off to Chapel Hill to meet up with Hal McGee and Ironing who I played with during the final three shows of the tour. Clang Quartet joined us in Chapel Hill for a performance of noise energy with wearable sound makers that also acted as statements on the religious beliefs of the performer. He is also a very talented percussionist and utilizes a bombardment of cymbals and other beatables. He didn't make a believer outta me in the greater sense, but I respect his passion and I have to say the Clang Quartet performance is quite an experience that I would recommend checking out. And he is a really nice guy too. Richmond had a surprising turnout even with it raining buckets of buckets outside. Narwhalz (Of Sound) got to the final level of Zeltar as a gameboy was turned into a key unlocking the pixel world long enough for it to shatter into a million sounds while Bald Bull punches you the fuck out and wedges your limp body between two Tetris blocks. The Sonic Circuits Festival in D.C. was very well done, with some pretty varied and interesting sets... among them were Zan Hoffman and Constant Mauk, both of which are also really nice people to talk with... Zan gave lots of suggestions on cool places to play overseas. Constant Mauk played a nice short set of huzz crackle and swishes with some electronic treatments and contact mic speaker massages, weaving a cloud over our heads only to have it burst into feathers that weighed as much as anvils. Zan hammed it up as he peeked over his executive-style briefcase while electronically fucking with recordings he made of the previous Sonic Circuits performers earlier in the evening as well as other tweaked audio, all while dashing around in a slick suit handing out documents to the crowd. I wish I could tap into Zan's energy level. I had a blast hanging w/ Andrew Chadwick (Ironing) and Hal McGee throughout the final three days of the tour. All three of their sets that I witnessed were really damn good. Andrew has a knack for the cassette / turntable audio overload assault. The murky loops and slowed downers infuse with in-between beats and clutter, and then it seems to come together just long enough to confuse, and then Janet Jackson slips in a comment on how nasty the boys are and its soooo true. Ladies? Awesome. Hal really threw me for a loop, literally, with an amazing lecture of readings from random pages in books and loose papers while recording his readings and then plopping some circuit bent splushes on top, rewinding and adding some pot and pan percussion... press play and add something random off the tape which might have been from 2 minutes earlier or maybe it was from some comment or found sound he squeezed on there while walking through a gas station parking lot the night before. Loops, electronic slosh, comments on stereophonic sound, record, play, readings from the article written in the local independent press about the very show he is performing that moment, etc., etc. Oh, and all the sounds where unamplified... all coming from either his mouth, or the tiny speakers on his handheld tape recorders or battery operated casios and circuit toys. Andrew assisted with the "press record, press play, rewind, play, record" musical button game, which added to the amazement. I joined in on two of Hal's sets adding microcassette accompaniment of raw audio I recorded from his Chapel Hill performance... my favorite moments were when Hal was reading a passage in real time while one of his taped readings haunted the background space at the same time...
A.M. SALAD:::TASTER'S CHURCST TOUR
9/7
Boone, NC
@ Green Eggs and Jam Record Shop
during Art Crawl w/ Human Pippi Armstrong
www.myspace.com/greeneggsandjamboone
9/8
Stone Mountain, GA
@ Chateau Noir
Freedamn Fest 3, bunches of bands doing it to it
www.soundsfromthepocket.com
9/10
Birmingham, AL
@ A.C. Temple
w/ Them Natives, Dick Neff, DJ Pussyturd
www.myspace.com/actemple1
9/12
Columbia, SC
@ University of South Carolina McMaster College
http://www.cas.sc.edu/ART/mart.html
9/12
Cayce, SC
@ The Immaginarium, 418 Old State Rd
w/ Jefferson Mayday Mayday
http://kursegoback.com
9/13
Chapel Hill, NC
@ The Nightlight
w/ Hal McGee, Ironing, and Clang Quartet
http://www.nightlightclub.com/
9/14
Richmond, VA
@ Pom Hole
w/ Hal McGee, Ironing, Narwhalz (of sound), others
http://www.myspace.com/narwhalsofsound
9/15
Washington D.C.
@ Warehouse Next Door
Sonic Circuits Festival
w/ Baseline, Esther Venrooy, Oier Etxeberria,
Hal McGee, Gunung Sari, Zan Hoffman, Ironing,
Constant Mauk, Musica Ex Machina festival presentation
http://www.dc-soniccircuits.org/2007/
http://warehousenextdoor.com/
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Random Key Slap Google Image Search #1
Search engines are sooooo much fun, especially when you don't know what you are searching for... like searching for easter eggs but finding hand grenades or starfish.
Doing a Google Image search, I randomly slapped the keyboard keys and got: S'DFKG'
I only received two images, here they are:
Google asked me, "Did you mean SDFG'?"
No, I didn't mean anything. Damn computers, when will they learn to unlearn?
Okay, fuck it... lets give SDFG' a go...
Google's suggestion came back with a lot more photos than my original accidental entry.
So I waded through the images among the first two Google pages, and here is the SDFG' image story:
Doing a Google Image search, I randomly slapped the keyboard keys and got: S'DFKG'
I only received two images, here they are:
Google asked me, "Did you mean SDFG'?"
No, I didn't mean anything. Damn computers, when will they learn to unlearn?
Okay, fuck it... lets give SDFG' a go...
Google's suggestion came back with a lot more photos than my original accidental entry.
So I waded through the images among the first two Google pages, and here is the SDFG' image story:
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