Have you heard about the band in a bubble that MTV is going to be sharing with the world in late May and throughout June?

The band is Cartel (aren't familiar with Cartel, we'll here's the two liner on 'em: Atlanta-based Cartel, recently highlighted as a “Breaking Band” in Rolling Stone , is generating major heat thanks to the success of Epic Records debut CHROMA and hit lead single “Honestly.”)... and as for this "bubble" they are going to be in, here's what I've found out about the Building of the Bubble

Currently being constructed on Hudson River Park 's Pier 54 in New York City , the bubble is a 40-by-40 foot state-of-the-art recording studio equipped with everything Cartel needs to record their next album. Designed by international firm TPG Architecture, the 2,000-square-foot structure will consist of 55,000 pounds of steel truss and quarter-inch-thick fireproof rigid fiber glass. Three semi-circular steel arches will loop the bubble and act as light trusses to provide a glowing effect. While in the bubble, Cartel will have access to a custom kitchen and dining room, a casual lounge area and a spa-like bathroom as well as a “Sleeping Bubble,” or mezzanine level, which will be a giant pod elevated nine feet off the ground and hung in place with airplane hanger cables, that will house the band's sleeping quarters.

The bubble will feature interactive Web cams that will stream every moment live so fans can watch on http://bandinabubble.fanaction.net/?L3378. These cameras will capture everything from the band members' waking moments and creative differences to their jam sessions and appearances by special guests. Special two-way microphones built into the window of the bubble will provide opportunities for the public to speak to band members on a daily basis.

Ya know... I'm thinking I wouldn't mind spending my next vacation in this bubble! (Check out our myspace fanspace profile for the band in the bubble... and leave comments about the show!

posted by Kay Tuesday, May 08, 2007

 
I have a fascination with movies that come from books, and books that come from movies, and often will watch a movie and read the book with hopes that one will contain "more" than the other, and knowing that I am likely to find a lot of differences.

I had no idea when I sat down to read The Children of Men what I was in for... a book written by a woman who has seen nearly twice as many years as I have, speaking of a time in which there is no hope, because there is no future.

My hope, that the book would contain more than the movie was exceeded, and my reading was enhanced both by understanding that the author was in her 70s when the book was published (in 1992) and that the movie was made in our moder (ie post 9-11) era. There were significantly different aspects of the culture portrayed in the movie and book... in many ways they were aspects that simply weren't touched upon in the other, and as a result may well have been there. That was something I really liked, that the changes could have just been enhancements, but the more I got was a better understanding of relationships... and rather different histories, and thus a different present, and most definitely a different future for the main character, Theo, who was so beautifully portrayed by Clive Owen.

This is a movie that could very well leave you with a great deal to think about... if for no other reason than it is intriguing to wonder how you would react, how you would live, if you knew you were one of the final generations of mankind.

Whether it is the movie, or the novel, that catches your eye, I strongly encourage one and all to experience this tale of the end of mankind... or is it... are we just so egotistical as a species that we think we can even see the end coming and have the final word... be right when we say it is all over?

posted by Kay Monday, May 07, 2007