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June 15 - 21, 2001

20,000 Leagues Under Plastic

By Eunice Park

The disc jockey stands slightly hunched, Quasimodo-style, hands massaging the grooves of his Siamese twin records. The spinning disks have a distinct oily, espresso-black sheen as they revolve on the turntable. He is poised between them, a sonic sun directing his vinyl planets in orbit.

Some have likened DJs to scavengers, piecing together the cast-aside musical scraps of others. Some call them the new composers of the 21st century, recycling and re-innovating their musical predecessors. While recording artists lambast Napster and its counterparts, DJs embrace them, regarding them as infinite treasure troves to sample from at will. In this game of musical evolution, the adaptable DJ seems more likely to survive.

Some DJs now attain the instant recognition of true celebrity, choice examples being Moby and Paul Van Dyk. Asia swarms with its share of aspiring DJs, but only a few have managed to emerge onto the international stage, namely the Fantastic Plastic Machine, a musical construction of Japanese DJ Tomoyuki Tanaka.

COMPLETE STORY...

Mom and Pops Unite: Taking on a Dry-clean Giant in Fairfax
(in National News)

State Safety Net for Immigrants in Jeopardy
(in Bay Area News)

Were Those Bugle Boys You Were Wearing?
(in Business)

Paying Attention: Remembering the Stonewall Uprising of '69
(in Opinion)

Also In Arts & Entertainment

Hot'n'Sour Dish: Once Upon a Time, Tsui Hark Made a Movie

Once upon a time, Jet Li was a relatively unknown wu shu master, with a couple of films under his belt. Then along came Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s 1991 martial arts epic Once Upon A Time In China — and all that changed.

Tsui’s masterpiece gets a second time around on movie screens this week when its uncut, 134-minute version is screened in the United States for the first time. The gorgeous, newly struck 35mm prints also have re-translated subtitles and English-language credits that will have nit-pickers, grammarians and copy editors squirming a little less in their seats. Once Upon A Time In China combines a surprisingly complex critique of Western colonialism and stunning action heroics — a “hidden dragon” no more for mainstream American audiences.

COMPLETE STORY...

Caged but Unfazed:
Poets, feminists and activists stand up and speak out for political prisoner Marilyn Buck.

The Lesbian and Gay Film Festival:
Films to look for at San Francisco’s 25th annual event.

Drifting:
Justin Lowe’s review of a film by Canadian director Quentin Lee.

A&E Calendar
Arts, entertainment, and community events around the country, listed alphabetically by region and category.


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