Culture
12 Mar 01

master of the universe

THE INTERNET has already been utilised to flog every kind of consumer good imaginable, from cut-glass cutlery to left-handed monkey wrenches. Now, even portable commodes have got their own homepage, in the shape of the Bumper Dumper website. The Bumper Dumper is a stand-alone toilet which can be taken on field trips such as hunting and fishing expeditions, or even on off-roading excursions. "No more searching for the perfect bush to squat behind," says the on-site blurb. "No more squatting and finding out later it was poison ivy! No more falling off the unstable porta potty! No more concern for germs from public facilities! "When you have to go . . . you CAN! And with the privacy curtain, you might forget that you are miles from home." http://www.myfreeoffice.com/rsenterprises/ n

THE LATEST success story from the world of "graphic novels", Harsh Realm is a comic book of sorts that's recently been optioned for cross-media purposes by Chris Carter, the creator of The X-Files.

The plot is, loosely, as follows. Dexter Green is a private eye in a futuristic, crime-bedevilled big city. One day he gets a job to track down a man named Dan Crawford, who went on a trip to a "pocket universe" named Harsh Realm and subsequently never returned.

"Pocket universes", incidentally, are constructed by a company named Reality Worlds, who create alternate dimensions by artificial means. These parallel universes, if you like, come with actual worlds fully realised by the supercomputer which handled their genesis. They are created as vacation paradises with a theme - and Harsh Realm's theme is that of fantasy role-playing games. In it, you can practice magic, kill dragons or conquer a kingdom. But everything in Harsh Realm is real, and you can die there. Not that this deters the endless stream of customers flocking to it and to the other pocket universes.

Chris Carter himself has recently inked a massive $25m-$30m deal with Rupert Murdoch's Fox network, and needs a big success to begin proceedings with. He recently took time to answer questions during a question-and-answer session on America Online.

On the possibility of a Millennium/X-Files crossover episode, he replied: "I hope so, and this would be the year to do it. I have a story in mind that involves Scully, Emma and Frank Black."

When pressed for more information about Harsh Realm, he commented: "Harsh Realm is in the prep stages and the pilot will show in early March. It's science fiction, but completely different from the other two shows. "Millennium's future is in question but we're hopeful for a fourth-year pickup, and the next year of The X-Files will most likely be the last."

Certainly, Harsh Realm will need to pull in better ratings figures than the disappointing Millennium in order to convince Carter's powerful backers. Watch this space for details.

http://www.harshrealm.com/story.htm

THE WHOLE Easy Listening movement may have ground to something of a halt since The Mike Flowers Pops took their cheesy version of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' to number one in the UK charts in January 1997, but there are still pockets of resistance - as shown by the existence of this homepage.

The site was set up to celebrate the work of characters like Juan Garcma Esquivel, Hugo Montenegro and Martin Denny, whose material resonates not with the discordant drone of guitars and drums but with the light, unhurried ambience of maracas, cocktail bells and Moog organs.

Incidentally, the people behind this site never mention anything so coarse as Easy Listening - instead, they refer to Exotica, or Space Age Bachelor Pad Music.

http://home.earthlink.net/~spaceagepop/

IT ALL started in 1970 when, during a carefree stroll past his hero's house in New York, hardcore Bob Dylan fan AJ Weberman had his eye caught by the sight of Dylan's massive new garbage can. Inspired, he immediately began rooting amongst the trash for items that he could take home with him and preserve as souvenirs.

Exactly what Weberman found in Dylan's bin has been recorded for posterity on Weberman's own website (see below), and the practice itself has remained popular among obsessive rock fans to this day. Weberman christened it "garbology" - the collection and study of the trash of the rich and famous.

On his website, Garbology, Weberman records the different foibles of each luminary whose bins he's rooted through. Mick Jagger, for instance, has experienced plentiful problems with pest control at his New York apartment (Weberman found a bill from a local termination company in the trash can), while the late Jacqueline Onassis was a compulsive tooth-brusher (huge quantities of discarded dental floss were present in her bin).

"After my initial discovery in Dylan's garbage," writes Weberman, "I realised that this method of research had great potential as a clandestine method. The lives of the rich, famous and powerful could be penetrated, great secrets revealed, plain truths brought to light from beneath the glittery facade. Garbology was a new weapon in the war against lies, injustice and faceless bureaucracy. The study and analysis of garbage could possibly alter the course of history! I resolved at once that, aided by this valuable science, I would leave no garbage lid unturned in my quest for truth."

http://www.garbology.com/

EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE androgynous glamsters, Suede, are shortly to return to the limelight with the release of their fourth album, Head Music.

The band's official website, suede.net, is accessible at the address below. There's a "latest news" section, an e-mailing list and a link to the band's old website, while last Friday saw the posting of exclusive stills from the new album's sleeve artwork on the site.

Additionally, four snippets of new tracks from Head Music can be accessed in sound-file format at the website: simply click on the supplied links to hear excerpts of 'Electricity', 'Savoir Faire', 'Can't Get Enough' and 'He's Gone'.

http://www.suede.net/