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Pizazz, we’re gonna give it to ya. Also, the people asking us to respect their beliefs aren’t respecting our beliefs. Today’s newsletter title is from Miss Kittin and Goldenboy.

I’ve a new addiction, and it’s enjoying deliberately crappy music.

 

  • I’ve been thinking on life, existence, and leisure a lot, and being able to release yourself to the present, vs pulled into the past or future while just trying to be and exist. Couple that with the human notion of leisure, and we’ve a lot of philosophy in this post, down below. But one thing that will start you thinking is Susan Sontag’s thoughts in 1977 of vacation photo culture. She was speaking to Marge Simpson’s sisters setting up a slide projector carousel slideshow of their mundane and forgettable hairy legged adventures. *BUT* think of the below quote in context with modern philosophy in work expectations vs reality, productivity culture, social media addiction, and vacation expectations vs reality.

There’s some bizarre and troubling red flags with people’s desperate need for relevance, as if “being noticed or being seen” is the only thing that confirms their existence…. vs just appreciating their actual existence in the present moment, and releasing yourself to it. https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/09/16/susan-sontag-on-photography-social-media/

“Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted.” -Susan Sontag, 1977.

 

I am thinking of putting the philosophical aspect of this in a different blog post, linked in this newsletter, but then again you can always ignore it fully. We’re going to be talking about the philosophy that underpins our culture of over-productivity vs self care, the importance of leisure, and the profoundly important idea of being present, whether on vacation or in every day life. We’ll also talk about presence in the form of stillness, and boy is it great advice for life.

SPACE

Anyone catch the Perseids? Still happening to some extent, there’s been some “stellar” pics: https://www.space.com/perseid-meteor-shower-2021-photos

Also, smoke: https://www.space.com/2021-record-wildfire-season-from-space

 

SPACE in photos, no commentary:

 

 

 

  • I donate to a group called B612, who fund research and practically apply theory to stop asteroids from obliterating us. So it’s of particular interest to me that we’re not obliterated. One aspect that always stuck with me was just how hard it is to stop these things before it’s too late. I remember a quote,

“Stopping an asteroid from impacting earth is like trying to catch a piece of coal throw directly at your face on a moonless night… by the time you see it, if you see it, it’s already too late”.

That’s sci-fi disaster terror as non-fiction truth, right there. So it’s nice when we learn more about the past ones that did stuff like kill off an entire planet of animals called “Dinosaurs”.

“This is just an excellent paper,” said Jessica Noviello, NASA fellow in the postdoctoral management program at the Universities Space Research Association at Goddard Space Flight Center, who was not involved with the new research. “I think they make a good argument for why [the Chicxulub impactor] could have come from that part of the solar system.”:

According to new research, the impact was caused by a giant dark primitive asteroid from the outer reaches of the solar system’s main asteroid belt, situated between Mars and Jupiter. This region is home to many dark asteroids — space rocks with a chemical makeup that makes them appear darker (reflecting very little light) compared with other types of asteroids. https://www.livescience.com/dinosaur-killing-asteroid-origin-dark.html

 

“Ganymede is larger than the planet Mercury, but just about everything we explore on this mission to Jupiter is on a monumental scale,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “The infrared and other data collected by Juno during the flyby contain fundamental clues for understanding the evolution of Jupiter’s 79 moons from the time of their formation to today.” https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-juno-celebrates-10-years-with-new-infrared-view-of-moon-ganymede

And if you’ve not seen other Juno work, Jupiter ahoy:

 

 

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND A MEAT BALL OF HUMAN GOO

 

  • WHEN PEOPLE DO WEIRD MATH, I AM THERE FOR IT:

  • Speaking of, THIS IS AWESOME. Sorry if this offends your more delicate sensibilities or belief system about death and burials. But I’ll say it… having the ego that you need to take space up in this world *after you die* is selfish and dumb. What else is dumb is scattering ashes. Just the stupidest and most awkward hollow symbolic action I can think of, and I’m sorry I’ve wanted to get that out forever.

California Is Considering Legalizing Composting the Dead: A bill introduced by a local legislator could give folks in the Golden State a greener alternative to burial or cremation https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/human-composting-california/

 

  • “Sometimes the history of medicine is very, very surreal. For example, consider that in 1927, a physician named Julius Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel Prize in medicine, for…deliberately infecting his patients with malaria. As a treatment for psychosis. This often worked. Well, it did kill around 15% of the patients, but it was nonetheless seen as a miracle cure”. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/AH3iGfz4ArJnXEEYs/curing-insanity-with-malaria

 

  • I’m not quite reconciling how the GOP is talking about Mr. Potato Head and Pepe Le Puy during the end of human existence. Like I’ve spent hours on this. Why have we allowed almost human culture to be driven by anecdotal opinion and archaic, totally arcane belief systems. How about objective reality, facts, data, and science driving the conversation, because up til now…. well, I quote Holy Grail:

“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government… I mean, if I went ’round, saying I was an emperor, just because some moistened bink had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!”

Oh, I only say that because we gotta elect science drive people, and fast.

SCIENTISTS: MASS EXTINCTION IS COMING AS ORGANISMS FLEE THE EQUATOR: “WHEN THE SAME THING HAPPENED 252 MILLION YEARS AGO, 90 PERCENT OF ALL MARINE SPECIES DIED.” https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-mass-extinction-organisms-flee-equator

 

  • I love how people spend time. People can’t judge your weird ways… but making functional web slingers a la Spiderman? Pretty fun. “Functional” in quotes. Baby Steps.

 

MOVIES, CONTENT, ENTERTAINMENT THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE VISUAL

  • Have you seen Michael Haneke’s Funny Games? More interesting than the fact the now 79-year old director (I only say because I hate waiting for people to pass to celebrate them) shot the film in his native country, and then recreated it shot by shot for English Speaking audiences is the fact that it holds a special place in film history for it’s cynicism about the human nature of audiences. It’s brutal when you realize it, and it’s the director playing with us to teach us about ourselves, and the lesson is grim.

Haneke psychologically toys with the audience throughout the film to reveal our true nature. Almost every moment of violence is off screen, and he forces the audience to envision and imagine it, because he knows that audiences love gore and violence so much he can force us to be the violence, and never even show the carnage in any real way. He knows as humans we’re more than capable of creating the horror in our minds. It’s easily one of the most brilliant films in any genre, as for toying with an audience. I doubt there’s a better example. For cinephiles, horror fans, or Dogme 95 types… it’s for you. Feel free to find the English version too:

 

  • “Violence & sex go together like Bacon & Eggs”, so says Cronenberg. Excitingly enough, Viggo and him are teaming up for what is meant to be a typically Cronenberg-ian “Body Horror” film, which is a departure for Viggo after “History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises”. The latter famous for a full frontal nude Viggo bathhouse fight scene, the former a brilliant meditation on human nature and the underpinnings of the United States, with an appropriate Cormac McCarthy sensibility on violence, bloodlust, and how it shapes society. This is fantastic

‘A History of Violence’: David Cronenberg’s Superb Study of the Basic Impulses that Drive Humanity https://cinephiliabeyond.org/a-history-of-violence/

 

  • I remember Gutter from P.C.U. directing Lion King (you’ll have to be over 45 to get that joke?) and said they pre-modeled the sets / scenes/ world within Virtual Reality, but this article about the expansion of consumer grade virtual reality, such as my *ahem* Vive Pro, into movie making by modeling sets and… accidentally inventing a new motion capture tech? Pretty affordable for lower budget films.

Here’s the full body motion capture in real time:

GoPay | Making of from Blackfish Studio on Vimeo.

“In other words, don’t expect James Cameron to shut down his New Zealand mo-cap compound where he’s shooting his “Avatar” sequels in favor of a couple of consumer-grade Vive trackers. But the technology undeniably holds potential for innovative storytellers who can’t afford Hollywood-grade special effects. “I do believe that Vive tracking is a viable low-cost alternative that can empower low-budget filmmakers to do great things,” Grossmann said. “They complement professional solutions and even have a place on professional sets in some contexts.” https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/htc-vive-trackers-motion-capture-filmmaking-1234657119/

 

  • I’m not here just for Jessica Walter… as most of you know, Dr. Strange hits my wheelhouse dome perfectly. The first one, which I almost watch monthly (in 3D) along with Annihilation (Garland doesn’t like 3d gimmicks so pancake viewing, but I often just finish the gin and tonic and at 2am listen to the Portishead / Geoff Barrow score in the dark, looking at the sky, with some nice headphones),

‘Dr. Strange’: The Untold Story of the 1978 TV Movie Everyone “Had Great Hopes For” Jessica Walter and others involved in the failed 1978 TV pilot look back: “I don’t think the public was ready for that kind of otherworldliness.” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/doctor-strange-untold-story-failed-1978-tv-movie-942728/

 

  • In the show’s most positive vision of a possible outcome, white men run away from their lives entirely. ie TV’s WHITE MEN ARE IN CRISIS https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/tv-white-men-the-white-lotus-ted-lasso.html I adore this, because I’ve realized as a straight white man, the path to salvation is being good and shutting up and not having opinions and fighting for everyone else.

 

  • In light of the pop culture moment Freddy Krueger had in my last newsletter, here he is sitting around while on break from filming Nightmare on Elm Street 2: “The gayest but we’re not judging movie ever made, about a man who is *not* shamed for trying to figure out his sexuality while figuring out why Freddy was so into his body and all the sexy scenes were sweaty men and their abs and faces almost touching”.

 

MUSIC

“It all comes down to how we orchestrate learning and how we’ve evolved to develop culture,” he said. “Our statistical expectations of harmonic regularities are not hard-coded. These statistical learning centers are very close to the emotional bonding centers of our brains. It’s not only dopamine, it’s also serotonin and oxytocin [involved]. So as technology has advanced, nurture and nature has become a lot more blurred.”

#1 track they reviewed? One of the most important songs and videos in decades:

 

  • More Japanese Jazz, and I may have posted this in a past newsletter vs normal blog post, but the entire song as written is one of my favorite things ever, with the interplay of the musicians’ pacing, and crescendo being so perfectly timed… everything about this is magic.

 

  • Greatest freestyler in history with the best words… maybe ever:

Portmanteau – that thing where you smoosh two words together, like breakfast and lunch as “brunch”

Neurodiverse – a really cool concept of the neurotypical (people not on the spectrum) are basically boring and normal, and the neurodiversity of people changed the world, ie Einstein who was possibly one. It’s been suggested spectrum people built the internet, and more. See below for more:

Stellar nucleosynthesis – the nuclear reactions in stars that create heavier elements, that essentially create us.

 

  • Possibly the music of the spheres, but not music per se… but an interesting interview with the nature of Neurodiverse people’s impacts on the earth, from Fresh Air. I almost linked a Dan Harmon interview, and boy… that would have been stupid vs Terry. LOL

 

 

PHILOSOPHY, LEISURE, CULTURE, & PEOPLE IN RUBBER SUITS

 

  • Turns out the philosophy post was a bit too long, and too important, to bury here. BUT, in coming out of the pandemic (when?), and trying to build a new scaffolding and framework for existence… these thoughtful “sound bites” of greater philosophical thought will be incredibly stabilizng, and might help you take back some of the forced imbalance sneaking into your existence… so…

Philosophy Time! Today’s show brought to you by Oscar Wilde, Annie Dillard, David Whyte, Pico Iyer, Josef Pieper, Alan Watts, Anaïs Nin, and Susan Sontag.

The Prime Aim of Life, Work / Life Balance, Stillness & Calm, Leisure as human culture, and being present, and the art of doing nothing. https://unclefishbits.com/philosophy-time-the-prime-aim-of-life-work-life-balance-stillness-calm-leisure-as-human-culture-and-being-present-and-the-art-of-doing-nothing/

 

  • History is weird but often uncomfortable, what we find, how we process it, what we originally learned vs hidden truths. Well, this wasn’t taught in my basic history class… but what was?

The Nazi plan to relocate Jews to Madagascar, one of World War II’s forgotten ‘what ifs’ (they didn’t defeat the UK Navy, so they couldn’t do it, amongst other reasons. I imagine a Star Trek holodeck episode in the future that will deal with this. Maybe Quantum Leap’s reboot?

But what we are told vs what we need to learn on our own is fascinating. An NPR partner published this: https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-01-29/nazi-plan-relocate-jews-madagascar-one-world-war-iis-forgotten-what-ifs

 

  • A lot of people don’t know about the history of SF’s waterfront Coney Island, which doesn’t really remain today vs the Windmills at the West side of Golden Gate Park. Everyone knows Laughing Sal, and you can see a bunch of the old games and stuff at Pier 41’s Musee Mecanique, which is a joy. But it really was something else, of a different time. Massive amount of photos from 1910’s through the end of Playland here: https://opensfhistory.org/Photoset/Playland/Chutes_at_the_Beach

‘We kind of took it for granted’: The story behind SF’s iconic amusement park, Playland at the Beach https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/From-Playland-to-wasteland-The-demise-of-San-16373098.php

Huge album:

Giant album of obscure “Playland at the Beach” in San Francisco, from 1910s – 1972, it was a “Coney Island of the West”, situated between the Great Highway, Ocean Beach, Outer Richmond, The Cliff House, Camera Obscura, & the Sutro Baths. Old School Cool!

An aerial view of Playland.People hang out at Playland-at-the-Beach in the years leading up to its closure and demolition. 

The crowds at Playland. 

 

 

  • If you don’t know what “Outrun” is, it is basically the 1980s version of retrofuturism. If you don’t know what retrofuturism is, well I can’t help you. Just kidding… it was sort of when art of space girls turned into pin up models. Here’s a sub dedicated to it: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/

And here’s Outrun… basically the fever dream of Generra Hypercolor and 1980s 8-bit Miami Vice fan art.

So anyway here’s Godzilla with a microphone

 

 

 

 

VEHICLES

 

  • WHAT IS GOING ON? A body kit on an existing platform? COME ON. “Super exclusive limited run hypercar” is a bit played out. It’s going to be a Fiero with carbon nano-tubes that has 10 more horsepower than the last one. AND THE CROWD GOES MILD. This isn’t going to make anyone happy. All I can assume is this will be a hybrid that will pave their way into their post tractor and post angular ICE existence, and if you understood ANY of that you are 100% a car person.

 

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A post shared by Lamborghini (@lamborghini)

 

  • The future of autos is personalization… maybe embroidered seats with your name, picking your EV sound like a ringtone, or maybe signature headlights that are like Matrix or Star Wars symbol logos that signify, “this is me”.

 

By Uncle FishbitsCategories: Newsletter