In Tokyo, dressing up in costume went adult more than a decade ago. “Cosplay”, a combination of the English words “costume” and “play”, stands for a subculture centered on people who pose as characters from animé cartoons and TV shows, and Hollywood blockbusters like The Matrix, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, have only increased the popularity of the trend.
No longer reserved for parties, contests and blog pics, the Cosplay arena is growing by leaps and bounds. In Tokyo’s technologically-cutting-edge Akhibara district it’s gone edible. In September 2001, the first “maid café” opened its doors on one of the chummy neighborhood’s tree-lined streets. Thirty more have since opened since. At Little BSD, waitresses don new get-ups every single day. Both Royal Milk and Café and Kitchen capitalize on a cupcake-style domesticity. Hair salons feature stylists in maid getups giving shampoos and cuts. Cutie Relax provides massages by “maids” and at Holy-Land feet are rubbed, and manicures are delivered by “angels”.
The Cosplay doesn’t stop there. South Korea, China and Taiwan will soon open Maid and Butler cafés. And new target audiences have been identified: for female otakus there is Swallowtail—where waitresses dressed as butlers greet each guest, “Welcome Home Madame!”—and at Princess Heart maid waitresses seat (female-only) diners in thrones and “treat them like royalty”. Evidentially, there’s a king or queen inside us all!
–Melissa Seley
Australia’s new $200m synchrotron in Melbourne could contribute to the
fight to save the Tasmanian devil from the outbreak of facial tumour
disease currently decimating devil populations, according to Dr Jeff
Church from CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology in Geelong.
Dr Church says he will use the synchotron to see if the disease causes
any biochemical changes in the devils which could be detected in their
hair before the disease becomes apparent.
“If we find a consistent change, it could lead to the development of a
test which will allow detection of the cancer before the tumours become
evident,” he says. “This would make any quarantine strategy easier to
establish, as well as much more efficient.”
The idea is based on Australian research showing disease-related changes
in the composition of human hair. The suggestion is that similar changes
could occur in Tasmanian devils’ hair when the facial tumour disease is
triggered. “But, the theory needs to be fully tested,” Dr Church says.
“It might work or it might not.”
The synchrotron’s infra-red beamline combined with a microscope and
spectrometer – which detects how different materials absorb and reflect
the radiation – can be used to determine if the composition of hair
differs between diseased animals and healthy ones.
“The infra-red spectrum tells us about protein and fat structure and
whether it’s changing,” Dr Church says. “But the technology to do such
work using a synchrotron is comparatively new, and the Australian
facility is one of relatively few around the world where it is
available.
“If a diagnostic test for the facial tumour disease using the
synchrotron does look possible, only having a machine nearby would make
it viable. Having to queue-up for time on a synchrotron at least nine
hours flying time from Tasmania – more likely further – would make the
whole thing very difficult, particularly in terms of biosecurity
concerns because we would need to transport biological samples between
different countries.”
Dr Church is one of hundreds of scientists scheduled to use the
Australian Synchrotron.
Further Information:
Dr Jeff Church. CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology
03 5246 4860
Media Assistance:
Heather Forward, CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology
Stefanie Pearce, Australian Synchrotron
03 5246 4085, 0408 465 292
03 9655 6676; 0414 891 416
www.csiro.au
Aftermath: Performance Installation
ANDRE STITT
‘Dingo: A treatment towards a new communionism’
Curator: Blair French
Performance 4-7pm Thursday 9 – Saturday 11 August 2007
André Stitt’s new performance ‘akshun’ involves the artist being locked in a cage with a dingo at certain times over a three-day period referencing Joseph Beuys’ performance I Like America and America Likes Me (also commonly referred to as ‘Coyote’) created in New York in 1974.
Within indigenous cultures the coyote was deified and attributed the archetype of trickster’ – a subversive and symbolic character capable of transformative power and healing. The ‘dingo’ like the ‘Coyote’ has also become synonymous with fear; represented in dominant cultural iconography as an antisocial menace. And, like the coyote, the dingo has also become the victim of legalised revenge and persecution.
To para-quote Beuys: “you could say that a reckoning has to be made with the dingo, and only then can this trauma be resolved.”
André Stitt
Dingo
2007
The work brings together elements of Stitt’s practice: artistic activism and direct engagement in socio-cultural and politically contentious issues. These general concerns are linked to the wider implications of post-colonial trauma, cultural imperialism, psychological and real genocide.
The name ‘dingo’ comes from the Eora language
André Stitt’s performance is supported by Wales Arts International
ARTSPACE
43 – 51 Cowper Wharf Road
Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Sydney Australia
T: +61 2 9356 0555
F: +61 2 9368 1705
artspace@artspace.org.au
www.artspace.org.au
A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and one night
whilst on stage, dummy on knee, he’s going through his usual dumb
blonde jokes when a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her
chair and starts shouting:
“I’ve heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes
you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the colour
of a person’s hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It’s
guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work
and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a
person… Because you and your kind continue to perpetuate
discrimination against, not only blondes, but women in general…
And all in the name of humour!”
The ventriloquist is embarrassed and begins to apologise,
when the blonde yells, “You stay out of this, mister! I’m talking
to that little bastard on your knee!”
Q. What is the difference between a drug dealer and a hooker?
A. A hooker can wash her crack and sell it again.
Q. What’s a mixed feeling?
A. When you see your mother-in-law backing off a cliff in your new car.
Q. What’s the height of conceit?
A. Having an orgasm and calling out your own name.
Q. What’s the definition of macho?
A. Jogging home from your vasectomy.
Q. What’s the difference between a G-spot and a golf ball?
A. A guy will actually search for a golf ball
Q.Why is divorce so expensive?
A. Because it’s worth it!
Q. What is a Yankee?
A. The same as a quickie, but a guy can do it alone.
Q. What do Tupperware and a walrus have in common?
A. They both like a tight seal.
Q. What do a Christmas tree and priest have in common?
A. Their balls are just for decoration.
Q. Why do gay men wear ribbed condoms?
A. For traction in the mud.
Q. How do you find a blind man in a nudist colony?
A. It’s not hard.
Q: How do you circumcise a hillbilly?
A: Kick his sister in the jaw.
Q: What’s the difference between a girlfriend and a wife?
A: 45 pounds.
Q: What’s the difference between a boyfriend and a husband?
A: 45 minutes.
Alright already enough!!! gg 🙂
