Manstruation Machine

Source: Gizmodo

No, that title is unfortunately not a typo. And be forewarned those of you with weaker stomachs should just stop reading this article and click here.

(That link is also good for those of you who need comforting after reading the following article. Good luck, you brave souls.)

"What the f*ck am I looking at?" I assumed you asked. Well let me tell you, it is a machine for men to experience menstruation.

Now I assume most of you just shortened the question to a simple "What the f*ck?!" Well allow me to attempt an explanation.

This crime against nature was part of a film project by Hiromi Ozaki, a student at the Royal College of Art in London. The project is a music video called Menstruation Machine (or alternatively Takeshi's Take) and I will allow his synopsis to fill in the details while I hide in the corner and try to collect myself.

"It’s 2010, so why are humans still menstruating? ... What does Menstruation mean to humans? Who might choose to have it, and how might they have it? Fitted with a blood dispensing mechanism and lower-abdomen-stimulating electrodes, the Menstruation Machine simulates the pain and bleeding of an average 5 day menstruation process of a human. Menstruation Machine (Takashi's Take) is a music video about a boy ‘Takashi’, who builds the machine in an attempt to dress up as a female, biologically as well as aesthetically, to fulfill his desire to understand what it might feel like to be a truely kawaii (cute) girl."

If you have made it this far you might as well subject yourself to the music video:

I know, I know ... and I am sorry.

Vinyl or CD? Why choose!

Source: Gizmodo

Let me start this off by acknowledging the fact that both records and compact discs are arguably dead in this online age where you can find anything for the price of free. I get it. But as someone who still buys CDs and collect vinyl this is technological harmony at it's purest.

And I feel it is something you have to see:

What you are looking at is a CD, no big whoop right? Wrong, let's flip this bad boy:

That is right! It is a flip disc just like those old widescreen/fullscreen DVDs and those new fangled Blu-ray/DVD hybrids but for music. This changes everything about obsolete media! What will we see next, 8-Tracks merged with cassettes? VHS infused with floppy discs? iPads fused with paperweights?!

This 50% record, 50% CD adding up to 110% awesome is the work of musician and technology enthusiast Jeff Mills. The album is fittingly titled The Occurrence and is a limited release from Axis Records.

The possibilities are about as endless as my joy about the existence of a vinyl/CD hybrid! And if this catches on I guess it means I am buying The White Album again ...

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection in August

Source: HBO

It's a Kiwi invasion!

For the first time HBO is releasing both seasons of Flight of the Conchords in one glorious DVD collection on August 24th. Follow the misadventures of Jemaine and Bret as they try to change the American music industry as "New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo".

This musical, comedic and sometimes classically tragic tale of two friends trying to make it big in the city was wildly entertaining even if the show itself was short lived.

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection DVD set comes with hours of extras that are sure to be entertaining, some of which are exclusive to this new release.

Extras Include:

• Flight of the Conchords: One Night Stand; a live 30-Minute special that takes you back to the beginning.
• Flight of the Conchords: On Air; a short documentary featuring Bret and Jemaine at their funniest.
• Dave's Pawn Shop Commercials; a series of fake TV ads with a lot of energy and even more ridiculousness.
• New Zealand Consulate Meetings; Bret, Jemaine and their manager Murray's series of important band meetings.
• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes

No word yet on a Flight of the Conchords Blu-ray release, so if you have been waiting on that it may still be awhile.

I was trying to decide on what my favorite moments from the series were, and it really comes down to the musical numbers and this is easily my favorite song to sing along too:

WTFriday?! - MicroMusic

So I feel that this blog has been fairly successful, if for no other reason for keeping me off the streets, so I am going to try something new. I am going to create a recurring feature on the blog I have cleverly christened "WTFriday?!"

Upon my ingenious inception of this idea I of course Googled "WTFriday" and, to my utter astonishment, found that other people had thought of this completely original and clever name ...

Screw it! I am doing it anyway and if they feel the urge to do something about it I usually have lunch at the local Taco Bell every Wednesday ... see you there, punks!

So my idea is to report to you something wackier, crazier, weirder or just plain scary that would otherwise go unmentioned on a usual day on the blog.

Let the madness begin!

Source: CrunchGear

Musical artist and gadget geek Tristan Perich has done something from out of left field, I never even thought about this let alone knew it could be done, he has released an album entitled 1-Bit Symphony entirely on one microchip.

Yes it sounds like something out of an old NES game and it is more likely to make your eardrums bleed than head bang but it is still an awesome concept. Enough of me talking, listen to Tristan Perich describe his Magnus opus and listen to it yourself!

(You may want to turn your speakers down a bit first for your own safety.)

So the deaf may hear ...

Source: Gizmodo

There are a lot of misconceptions about what it exactly means to be deaf. Just because a person is deaf does not mean they can't register sound, they just do so in different ways such as by feel.

German designer Frederik Podzuweit is looking for a way to harness that method of feeling sound and he has done so in a most literally. His new device, which in a true German fashion, he simply calls "Music for deaf people" is a collar that is worn around the shoulders. This collar transmits the music to the listener via vibrations which allows the wearer to feel the music.

Just because you are deaf or severely hard of hearing should not prevent you from enjoying the experience of music. The concept collar has volume controls, tabs to switch between tracks and your standard inputs for MP3 players. It is made to be worn snugly around the neck and over the shoulders which would mean versatility and security.

Now everyone can all rock out to some Beethoven or, if classical music isn't exactly your jam, maybe some Evelyn Glennie who are only two of many accomplished deaf musicians.

Rock on!