Are we living in the future that Kraftwerk once imagined?
It's become something of a cliché to say so, now that the German pioneers of electronic music have been inducted into the art-world canon thanks to an eight-date engagement at the Museum of Modern Art that wraps up Tuesday.
But what do we really mean when we say that Kraftwerk predicted our present?
Certainly, today's music owes a debt to the music Kraftwerk -- and Kraftwerk alone -- was making back in the 1970s and early '80s. It's compulsory to mention that hip-hop founding father Afrika Bambaataa sampled Kraftwerk in his early track "Planet Rock," but Kraftwerk's influence can be heard everywhere from Coachella's Sahara tent, where the festival's biggest house and dubstep DJ's perform, to Top 40 radio, where Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry can be heard crooning over synthetic bloops and blips.
(I can remember hearing Fatboy Slim's subtly sampled "Praise You" not long after it came out -- sometime in 1998 -- and thinking, "My God, everything has changed. No one will ever settle for music made without digital trickery again." Of course, I was wrong -- but not entirely. And even though that was 14 years ago, it was also almost a quarter century after Kraftwerk released its groundbreaking album, Autobahn.)
Kraftwerk's Rolf Hütter is too smart to claim credit for inventing electronic music. "We're the antenna catching information, the transmitter giving information, back and forth," he told The New York Times in a recent interview. But Kraftwerk gets credit for being first. At a time when music's biggest names were rocking arenas, igniting disco infernos, hopping the soul train or leaving the lite on, Hütter and his bandmates (he's the only original member left) were trying to sound like computers.
What made them do that?
For one thing, they needed a differentiator -- what used to be called gimmick. No one else was making pop music that sounded like it originated on a mainframe. But it's also true that, for Germans in the 1970s, looking forward was probably a lot more fun than looking back. If the past was defined by political catastrophe, and the present by tension and division, perhaps the future would be better. And if it wasn't going to be better -- was, in fact, going to be even worse -- who better to warn of the dangers than four Germans whose society had been through the fires of hell?
The Twittersphere was a-buzz about the polarizing, digital resurrection of rapper Tupac Shakur during Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre's headlining set at the Coachella Music Festival Sunday night. According to MTV News, the stunningly detailed hologram of the rapper (who died in 1996) could have cost from $100,000 to over $400,000 to create!
[Related: Coachella 2012 Sunday: Hologram Tupac, Flesh & Blood Rihanna]
While the actual specifics of how the hologram works are under wraps until after the festival closes, in an interview with Dr. Dre last week on Los Angeles radio station Power 106 revealed that Coachella organizers had given the rapper a "blank check" to do whatever he wanted for his weekend sets. Before the festival, there were initial rumors of a hologram homage to rapper, and frequent Dre and Snoop collaborator, Nate Dogg, who passed away last May due to complications from multiple strokes. With a second set coming up the second weekend of Coachella, chances are a hologram Nate Dogg may be the surprise guest joining the set, perhaps even along with hologram Tupac!
San Diego company AV Concepts, whose work includes Brad Pitt's reverse aging in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the youthful Jeff Bridges in "TRON: Legacy," and the holographic Gorillaz performance for the 2005 Grammys, was hired on to create the Tupac hologram. AV Concepts president Nick Smith said of the technology, "You can take their likenesses and voice and ... take people that haven't done concerts before or perform music they haven't sung and digitally recreate it."
With this technology in existence, there is a massive catalog of deceased or audience-fearing artists that have the possibility of performing live. Thus with the under-million price tag, Smith described the process as being "affordable" since it does away with the cost of transporting artists and the ability to "put [artists] in every venue in the country." While this may seem strange and almost disrespectful to some to bring back the dead in such a way, Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur was "positively thrilled" with hologram Tupac's performance, according to TMZ
Not many actresses willingly flaunt their bodies in their 40s, let alone after they've had a baby, but Nicole Kidman, 44, not only doesn't mind showing off her physique, she admits to even enjoying it. In an interview with W, the star of the upcoming HBO biopic "Hemingway & Gellhorn" opens up about going nude for movies, her most memorable sex scenes, and what brought her closer with her husband, country singer Keith Urban. When asked about her propensity for filming scenes in the buff, Kidman — who has taken it all off for "Fur" and "Eyes Wide Shut" — admitted, "I don't mind being naked. Maybe as I get older, and now having had a baby, it might be different, but I enjoy not letting my issues get in the way of a performance. Once I start putting all my little insecurities in my mind, I'm not actually acting. Then it's about me — and it should never be about me. It should be about the character."
Due to some of the sexually-charged scenes in her films, Kidman's family doesn't get to see everything she does. Her mother Janelle, who she describes as "tough on me," is a fan of "The Hours," for which Kidman won an Academy Award, and the musical "Moulin Rouge," but she was not a fan of "Fur," the 2006 biopic about "photographer of freaks" Diane Arbus. In it, Kidman actually shaves Robert Downey Jr.'s character, a man who suffers from hypertrichosis and is covered head to toe in hair — and then has sex with him. "I am the only person who has ever gotten to shave Robert Downey Jr. naked. Nobody else can say that — not even his wife!"
More photos of Nicole and Clive in W
Sex happens to be the theme in Kidman's latest project, which co-stars Clive Owen as Ernest Hemingway to her journalist Martha Gellhorn, the writer's mistress-turned-wife. In the HBO film, the two spend years reporting from war-torn countries, while also maintaining their intense passion for each other. "The sex was very important in that relationship because that's the way she cuts Hemingway off," Kidman explains to W.
If you had almost five billion dollars, what would you do? For Karl Wlaschek, the answer is marry a lot.
Forbes is reporting via Vienna News that Austrian retail tycoon Wlaschek will wed for the fifth time at the ripe old age of 94. His bride-to-be, girlfriend Friederike 'Ricki' Schenk, won't reveal her age, but is likely a good three decades behind her groom. That means Wlaschek, a self-made mogul, has defied stereotypes by proposing to a woman who's closer to his age than the average Hef-to-twin-sisters ratio.
Read: the female self-made billionaire everyone's talking about
Still, the billionaire with the prolific marriage history is a plot-line we've seen over and over again. Revlon honcho Ron Perelman wed number five two years ago, shortly after the ink dried on his brutal divorce from actress Ellen Barkin. Larry Ellison and T. Boone Pickens are up to number four and the night is still young.
Five-timer Wlaschek earned his $4.7 billion dollar bank account by founding Billa, a European supermarket chain. He's since become one of the biggest real estate magnates in Austria. He announced his engagement at one of his own properties, a sprawling five star hotel in his native country, where he once played as a struggling young jazz pianist, back when the musical genre was in its infancy.
Video: Salma Hayek on being married to a billionaire
The groom met his future bride at a Vienna event a few years back, and soon realized somewhat touchingly or morbidly depending on your vantage point, that they'd both lost their last spouses on the very same day.
The couple's wedding is set to take place in a few days, according to Forbes (although some German gossip pages are saying the big day already happened this past Saturday).
The self-made Wlaschek already has four kids but still wants "another five or six children, at the very least." His bride laughed that comment off, saying "I am not so young any more."
It's the magic phrase uttered by almost anyone who's ever considered the cost of home remodeling: "We'll get it back when we sell."
Unless you keep those projects practical, though, you might just be kidding yourself.
For example:
Steel front door: Good.
Master suite addition costing more than the average American home: Bad.
Every year, Remodeling magazine looks at the hottest home upgrades and renovations and calculates just how much owners get back with they sell.
[Related: 10 home maintenance tips for spring]
Upkeep is more popular than upgrades these days, says Sal Alfano, editorial director for Remodeling. These are the projects that often recoup the biggest slice of expenses at resale. But prices and returns do vary regionally, he says.
Ever wonder what brings the lowest return when you plant that "for sale" sign? Think high-dollar, high-end and highly personalized add-ons that make you drool. Like a totally tricked-out garage built from the ground up. Or a super luxe master suite addition. Or the home office redo designed just for you.
Here are the six improvements that, in their 2010 report, ranked dead last nationally when it comes to getting those renovation dollars back at resale.
Home office remodel
Want to get an idea what today's office-away-from-the-office looks like? Walk into Starbucks.
These days, a home office consists of a multiple-choice combination of wireless laptops, smartphones, PDAs and touch-screen tablets. And that worker bee might be toiling anywhere from a home patio or a favorite restaurant to a park bench.
The standard home office renovation, meanwhile -- complete with plenty of built-in storage and high-tech wiring -- is this year's biggest loser in the resale value sweepstakes. Nationally, homeowners spent an average of $28,888 and can expect to recoup about 45.8 percent at resale, according to the report.
Return on investment doesn't reflect your enjoyment of the space, Alfano says.
He offers two tips for home-office remodelers when they sell. First, opt for something that can be easily converted back into a bedroom or den for (or by) the next buyer.
Second, when you're selling, call it a study, den or hobby room. "There's lots of call for multipurpose space. Don't lock yourself into that one use," Alfano says. Don't use words that invoke images of actual work. Or the office.
Anti-Islam militant Anders Behring Breivik admitted he had killed 77 people in a massacre last July, but said he was pleading not guilty to the criminal charges against him on the first day of his trial in Norway Monday, The Associated Press reported.
As he arrived in court - the early part of the session was broadcast on television - Breivik gave a salute, raising his arm with his first clenched.
He said that he did not "acknowledge the authority of the court."
"I do not recognize the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism. I do not acknowledge the authority of the court," Breivik said.
He was asked to confirm details such as his date of birth and the judge then asked if he was unemployed.
"That is not correct. I am a writer and I work from prison," Breivik said.
A prosecutor then began reading the list of all 77 victims, describing how each was killed.
Wipes away tears
Breivik appeared impassive as the list was read and appeared to smile when the court was shown a picture of his avatar from the internet game, World of Warcraft, Sky News reported.
Google Inc faces a $25,000 fine for impeding a U.S. investigation into the Web search leader's data collection for its Street View project, which allows users to see street level images when they map a location.
The Federal Communications Commission said the company had collected personal information without permission, and cited evidence that Google had "deliberately" refused to cooperate with the agency.
"Google refused to identify any employees or produce any e-mails. The company could not supply compliant declarations without identifying employees it preferred not to identify," according to an FCC order dated April 13.
"Misconduct of this nature threatens to compromise the commission's ability to effectively investigate possible violations of the Communications Act and the commission's rules."
Google could not be reached for comment.
Between May 2007 and May 2010, Google collected data from wifi networks throughout the United States and throughout the world as part of the Street View project, which gives users of Google Map and Google Earth the ability to view street level images of structures and land adjacent to roads and highways.
However, Google collected passwords, Internet usage history and other highly sensitive personal data that was not needed for its location database project, the FCC said.
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine in a television interview on Sunday questioned the commitment of third baseman Kevin Youkilis, a comment that could potentially strain his relationship with the three-time All-Star.
"I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason,'' said Valentine, speaking in the dugout before Sunday's game and shown on WHDH-TV's SportsXTra. "But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there."
Youkilis is coming off a season cut short when he underwent surgery for a sports hernia and also dealt with a lower back strain and hip bursitis, the injuries limiting him to 112 games. He did not hit well in spring training, batting just .195 with only one extra-base hit, but that was also the case last spring, when he was coming off surgery for a torn thumb muscle and had an even lower batting average, .175.
He went hitless in eight at-bats in his first two games of 2012 and was sat in favor of Nick Punto, who had three hits, in the team's third game. He was restored to the lineup the next day in Toronto and took another 0 for 4, but the next night had two hits, and in the team's last five games is batting 6 for 18 (.333).
In Sunday's 6-4 win over Tampa Bay, Youkilis singled and walked in three official trips, raising his average to .200. Through the team's first nine games last season, Youkilis was batting just .148 (4 for 27), and finished the month of April batting just .218. But over a 60-game span that took him to mid-July, Youkilis put a line of .313/.408/.518/.925, raising his overall average to a season-high .288.
But injuries then took their toll, and Youkilis lost 30 points on his average by the end of the season, finishing at a career-low .258.
No one, however, had ever raised publicly any questions about Youkilis' commitment to the game. If anything, Youkilis has heard in the past that he was too intense, or played when he probably shouldn't have because he was hurt. Valentine, two weeks into his first regular season as Sox manager, is the first to say he didn't think Youkilis was as "physically or emotionally into the game" as in the past. It is not yet known whether he told the player that directly before making the comment publicly.
Last week, we reported that Nokia has started rolling out the Nokia Belle FP1 update for three of its handsets, the Nokia 603, 700 and 701. The FP1 update will not be rolled out to the first generation of Symbian^3 handsets, including the N8 because of their slower processor and low RAM.
However, one of the developers over at DailyMobile forums has managed to port all the new goodies in Belle FP1 to the Nokia N8. This includes a new music player, the new web browser, the new widgets and the new task manager. The custom firmware also includes other goodies like improved image and video quality, more free RAM and overall faster performance.
N8 owners can get all these new Belle FP1 and other features on their phone by flashing the Nokia N8 Pro Edition v8 CFW from Taylor. Keep in mind that flashing this CFW file will void the warranty of your N8, so please proceed with caution. Head over to this thread on DailyMobile forums for the download link and further discussions.
