RU Sirius, St. Jude, and Pesco on 1996 TV show
I just returned from a YouTube-induced time machine trip back to the cyberdelic 1990s. Somebody posted a 1996 episode of the long-gone TV program "Internet Cafe." That evening, the guests included RU Sirius, the late, great St. Jude, and, er, me talking about cyberpunk culture, online writing, and Web zines. Wearing my bOING bOING propeller beanie (not literally), I gave a quick tour of some of my favorite weird and wonderful Web destinations of the day, including bOING bOING founder Carla Sinclair's pioneering Net Chick Clubhouse. St. Jude is featured in part 1. The inimitable RU Sirius is the star of part 2. My segment starts at the end of part 2 and continues into part 3.
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RU Sirius still amazes me. Here's his interviews Steve Wozniak and Neil Gaiman (and lots of other interesting folk...!)
OHHH MYYYY GOODDDDDD!!!!1
Shaved head +1
What are you OMGing Xeni? One of the interviews? Or just general elation at the impending birth of christ?
Is there an original downloadable higher-resolution concatenated version of this episode of Net Cafe somewhere that can be linked to?
Perhaps she's OMGing the fact that this video was clearly shot before my hair started to grow in reverse. As my wife kindly just reminded me, "You look so young!"
Anyway, RU Sirius was, and is, a brilliant voice of the cyberculture. He was a big inspiration and mentor to me and was a big part of the reason I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a quintessential happy mutant.
Correction: The Internet Cafe
Seems like something that could be shared on the Internet Archive, the way Computer Chronicles was.
It's just a really cool video. We were all the same 12 years ago, and we were all very different 12 years ago.
Thanks for the correction, Zuzu!
Does anybody know what RU Sirius is up to, these days? I really miss his podcasts...
Granted how important SF / Silicon Valley was/is for the whole culture/scene... but "cyberpunk" being defined with a style of dress/music defined by goth/BDSM/industrial motifs (e.g. what Jamie did with the DNA Lounge, or that club scene in The Matrix) was way more of a "west coast" thing than I remember it living on the "BAMA" / "east coast" at the time... which was much more of a cross between 2600 (e.g. Kevin Mitnick and Ed Cummings), selected importing of the British designer drug / rave culture (e.g. MDMA, Orbital, and Daft Punk) or the Bristol culture (e.g. weed, Massive Attack, and DJ Shadow), and basically angling for something more like Fallen Angels or (of course) Blade Runner.
Great Find. Speaking of, has anyone seen the new Monty Python channel on youtube?
How awesome is that???!?!?!!?!??!
@Zuzu: The show was originally called The Internet Cafe, but later shortened to just Net Cafe. The episode with Pesco/RU Sirius is on Archive.org, along with the rest of the episodes, uncut and downloadable as high-quality MPEGs.
@Guesstimate Jones: R.U. Sirius is the editor of H+ Magazine, a newly-launched magazine about transhumanism. He also recently hosted a series of podcast interviews called the R.U. Sirius Show.
Dave, tell us more about these "sassy modem girls". ;)
p.s. I also totally support the decision for a shaved head when "reverse hair growth" sets in. I'm also glad to see it almost fully reclaimed from skinheads.
p.p.s. @ Andy / Waxy.org, Thanks! (You're also my cyber-historian hero!)
I wonder how many TV modems were ever actually bought. So far I can find no information about these things at all. I highly doubt they actually worked.
*sigh* I wish I could live the 90s over again... (only this time with broadband internet and no Yugoslav wars).
Wow, David P, I would not have even pegged that as you without being told. You look different. (That is to say, better.)
What a flashback from the How to Mutate era. Jude was very good to me in my younger days. Miss her dearly.
Aw, thanks DCulberson! I've shed a few pounds of fat and some strands of hair in the last decade. (Unfortunately, not enough of the former.) Remember, in The Future everyone will be bald.
And yes, I miss Jude too. She fought the good fight and did it with a wicked sense of humor.
I've hung on to my hair, although it's probably not as full as it used to be. I sometimes feel stuck in a rut because I've had long hair for .. oh, about 15 years now. Yipes. But I just can't bring myself to shave it.
Stewart Chiefet meets MONDO 2000.
Who'da thunk it ....
:)
Incidentally, should anyone like to download the uncut InterNet Archive version ZuZu & Andy Baio mentioned, here it is > http://ia300125.us.archive.org/3/items/nc112_writers/nc112_writers_512kb.mp4
8^ ]
Thanks, CARYMG!
The discussion board on QuickTopic that was started when Jude Milhon died has become something else entirely.