To the eight volunteers stuck inside the glassy Biosphere 2 ark in the desert of Arizona, the Electronic Cafe, in Santa Monica, Calif., is a sanity saver. Nothing is supposed to enter or leave the Biosphere 2 for two years, except information and energy. To "get out of hut," the biospherians travel by wire to Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz's Electronic Cafe. As customers sip espresso, the biospherians stroll in via picture phone.
On an electronic visit last October, two biospherians playing percussion instruments jammed with Cafe regulars. "I miss the cafe scene," said Linda Leigh, one of the biospherians. "When we hear there's an Electronic Cafe event coming up, it's like a chance to go out for a night." Besides meeting new faces, the biospherians can participate in regular Electronic Cafe events such as telepoetics, a monthly interactive poetry reading. Every New Year's Eve for the past four years, the Electronic Cafe "e-links" to parties around the world as the year's end advances around the globe. Roy Walford, another biospherian, has been e-linking (via the cafe) into the travels of his friend, performance artist Barbara T. Smith, as she wanders the world and beams back live video letters from places like Katmandu, Nepal.
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Visit to the Electronic Cafe
Yeah, but will it improve the food? Get yer seat-back service here!
