Thanks to everyone who came out to the show tonight, it was a great time. For those of you who missed it, Yuri’s Night 2008 SF was today. It’s an annual festival celebrating the anniversary of the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin). The event is held at NASA Ames Research Center which is this huge complex of hangars and test facilities. Along with the music there are exhibits for all things science related: Robotics, Aeronautics, sustainable energy etc. Really an interesting event with a lot of interesting people.
Incidentally, I didn’t take the above photo, nor is it even of this year. It’s a shot from last year and the event has apparently grown quite a bit. I unfortunately neglected to bring my camera so all I have are some lousy iphone shots.
A sad day indeed when something this amazing is left to decay. This is of course in the vein of the previous post. Via Daniel Carvalho via yusheng.
"From what I can gather online, this place was built in the 70s as a resort but was later abandoned. I couldn’t find any definitive explanation about why exactly it was abandoned, however. There’s some talks about failed partnerships and/or real estate bubbles. Apparently the location is too hot in the summers and too cold in the winters. The fiberglass shells of these houses certainly don’t help with insulation. I also couldn’t find out whether they were ever occupied in any capacity. If you are in Taiwan, it’s definitely worth a visit. From Taipei, head towards Danshui, get on Route 2 and follow the direction for Sanzhi. It will be on the left side of the road, along the coast. You can’t miss it. See the aerial view from Google Maps."
I love the idea of abandoned buildings. It’s always so intriguing to think about how something that took so much time and effort to create ended up left behind and in disrepair. I once found a house on a Sea Cliff in Northern California that was just empty, no one there doors open, furniture gone. It had this beautiful view and was probably sitting on a very valuable piece of land but from the looks of things no one had been there in about 20 years. Sort of creepy but amazing at the same time. When I lived in Sacramento I was able to find my way into the old locomotive works where they designed trains. I brought my Lomo, when I get around to scanning those slides in I will post them.
For the time being here are some interesting shots from an abandoned Paper Mill in the UK via maraid complete with awesome 80’s-era industrial computers and corporate art. Click any of the pics above to see more. There’s also a Flickr Pool dedicated to abandoned places.
We also have a lot of similar stuff going on here in San Francisco. The Hunters Point Naval Yard yields some of the most interesting results: here and here.
UPDATE: I didn’t know but there’s a video for the song too. And so continues the French obsession with late 80’s American youth culture. Via Jon.
I’ve always enjoyed the French House scene and Alan Braxe is a master of his style. something about his production always sounds so authentic; this could either be an alternate version theme for a Miami-based 80’s detective drama or the greatest song ever. Gotta love the Testarossa-esque guitar-car too.
This single was also included on Upper Cuts, a great compilation of essential Braxe tracks.
Alan Braxe & Fred Falke – Rubicon (Original Version)
