ODDJOB x VICE Presents AFRA "Heart Beat" Release & VICE 5th Anniversary Party

来たる12/18（金）に、AFRAのニューアルバム『Heart Beat』リリース記念／Vice５周年記念パーティーを行なう。渋谷〈axxcis〉の３フロアを盛大に使っての開催だ。もちろんみんなは『Heart Beat』をすでにチェック済みだと思うけど、たとえばコレを聞いたらどう思う？　“AFRAと愉快な豪華ゲストアーティストによる生ライブが繰り広げられる”とな。そうそう、まさにそれをこの夜に〈axxcis〉で目撃できるってワケ。すなわち、BOSE (スチャダラパー) & ハナレグミ、Mummy-D (RHYMESTER)、サイプレス上野、ZEN-LA-ROCK、GEBOといったメンツがAFRAと一緒に『Heart Beat』収録曲を聴かせてくれるんだ。
　こんなにスゴいメンツだから本来ディスカウントなんて送る必要なんてないんだけどさ、送らないのもオレたちらしくないってなワケで、ニュースレターでディスカウントを後日発送する。焦る気持ちを抑えながら待っていてくれ（えっ？　まだ登録してない？　ハア……そーいうの、ホント許せない。だけど優しいオレたちはガマンするよ。早いトコ、右上の登録フォームにキミのメアドをブチ込んでくれ）。

Fuel: How One Guy Turned Fry Grease Into an Energy Revolution | Motherboard.TV

Back in 2004, America was blasting its way through Iraq to secure the Middle East, the danger of climate change (and the power of hurricanes) hadn’t yet hit Americans in the face, and pouring vegetable oil tossed out by fast food restaurants into gas tanks was something crazy hippies did. Well, one in particular: when Josh Tickell rolled across the country in a diesel van powered by a blend of ethanol and fry grease he sucked out of dumpsters, his five-year campaign had all the markings of a one-dude Carter-era here-comes-the-future pipe dream.

The thing was, his pipe didn’t belch a toxic brew of CO2, NO and other pollutants. It was as safe as it smelled — like french fries. Even better: vegetable oil was a heckuva lot cheaper than the alternative, which in 2004 was on its way to an all-time high. Turns out Tickell’s Veggie Van wasn’t a flash in the frying pan: it was on the bleeding edge of an energy movement so significant, it promised to replace petroleum-based fuel completely. It would also lead to a backlash over unintended consequences, like the rising food prices and water shortages biodiesel could cause in the developing world.

But Tickell’s not slowing down. In this installment of Motherboard, our own Eddy Moretti learned how he’s digging a new type of fuel — a biofuel based on algae, making it easier to produce, without the need of land or water — and taking his climate-changing, clean-burning, world-saving energy revolution to the masses with his organization and a new film. Yes, you can have fries with that.

Fuel: How One Guy Turned Fry Grease Into an Energy Revolution | Motherboard

Motherboard.TV : Carlos and His Heavy Metal Toys: The Man Who Built a 20-Foot Flamethrowing Exoskeleton

Mention Wasilla, Alaska, and presidential also-ran Sarah Palin leaps to mind like a caribou. But the southern Alaskan town’s more animated, engaging, and intelligent invention is easily a 20-foot-tall robotic mecha robot with flamethrowers for hands.

Look into the heart of this wire-wound, rust-streaked, red-metal exoskeleton and you’ll find its brain: the mild-mannered amateur inventor Carlos Owens, founder of Neogentronyx. When this former Air Force engineer and steelworker isn’t manning his one-ton, $25,000 hydraulic robot—equal parts Gigantor, Aliens, Starship Troopers—Carlos is tinkering with his other sci-fi-anime-inspired dream machines: a Hover Bike and a Sky Bike. They don’t really work right now, but we’re optimistic for a future launch if Carlos is.

Motherboard sent Thomas Morton out to talk to Carlos about his “Star-” inspirations, learn all about his blueprint development process, and to find out why it was he built his infamous “Big Red” in the first place. (Short and long answer: “Because I could.”)