Imagination
Flowful
Flowful is a wonderful site that plays procedurally generated (everlasting) ambient music in your browser while you work, surf the web, or simply listen. There’s no need to skip tracks because the sounds are infinitely unique. You can choose from a selection of free tracks to play every week, or you can subscribe for a wider range of sounds. The sounds are customizable so that you can find the right sounds for your taste. Choose from binaural beats, classical, atmospheric, and more.
This site has helped me focus all morning. I could always use more tools to help me focus.
Everything is a Remix
Kirby Ferguson has released the final and “definitive” full-length version of his fantastic Everything is a Remix video series.
Memes are remixing. You take a photo, you repurpose it, then someone else tries it, then there’s a flood of everyone trying out combinations, including remixing other memes.Amazing work.When you take something old and use it in something new, that’s remixing. It might just seem like just copying, but it’s actually something much more. Remixing can empower you be more creative.
Remixing allows us to make music without playing instruments, to create software without coding, to create bigger and more complex ideas out of smaller and simpler ideas.
You don’t need expensive tools to remix, you don’t need a distributor, you don’t even need skills or… good judgment. Everybody can remix and everybody does.
From our songs and games and movies and memes, to how we train computers to create, to the way we sense of reality, to the evolution of life itself, everything is definitely a remix.
Santa visits Horizon Hobby Headquarters
I wrote this for Horizon Hobby, and I can be seen in a couple of shots.
John Lewis & Partners | Christmas Ad 2022
British department store John Lewis, known for its wonderfully creative annual Christmas advertisements, shared their heartwarming video for Christmas 2022. It shows a man clumsily but unashamedly learning how to skateboard with the encouragement of his wife, and for a very good reason.
Puddles Pity Party and Postmodern Jukebox provided the soundtrack with a melancholy rendition of the Blink-182 song “All the Small Things."
A tiny bit of wonderfulness is a good thing.
Line Rider Race #2
DoodleChaos brings us a video in which eight Line Riders compete in a race set to the tune of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” It’s survival of the fittest in a steeplechase, as they crash into each other, fall, lose their sleds, and sometimes regain them. A free fall doesn’t always mean elimination. But only one rider can win at the end.
You might get caught up in the drama of the riders and their, uh, “luck” in the race, but if you do, you’ll need to go back and focus on the tracks and how well they synch with the music. These lines were all hand-drawn and took several months to create.
Sacred Space
The Morning News pointed me over to this post by Nick Cave.
I liked this bit right here:
I came to understand that the sacred space is the imagination itself, or rather the time spent inside the actual idea — the song you are composing, the story you are writing, or the picture you are painting. The sacred space, for the artist, is within the creative flow, at the crucial and fiery point of artistic intention, where time suddenly contracts and the work finds its power and its groove. My sacred space became the rolling fire of the imagination.
… the “rolling fire of the imagination” is such a good line.
I Need A New Butt
I have never heard of I Need a New Butt, but it sounds hilarious and perfectly appropriate for second graders.
A young boy suddenly notices a big problem — his butt has a huge crack! So he sets off to find a new one. Will he choose an armor-plated butt? A rocket butt? A robot butt? Find out in this quirky tale of a tail, which features hilarious rhymes and delightful illustrations. Children and parents will love this book — no ifs, ands, or butts about it!
Fun! Of course, the superintendent in Mississippi’s Hinds County School District took offense.
Maria Cramer and Isabella Grullón Paz, writing for the New York Times, explains how an assistant principal lost his job because he read it to children. Toby Price read the book to a group of second graders over Zoom … and lost his job.
Later that day, on March 2, the district superintendent, Delesicia Martin, called him into her office and told him he was on administrative leave, Mr. Price said. He was fired two days later, accused of violating the standards of conduct section of the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics.
In a letter to Mr. Price, the superintendent called the book “inappropriate.” She particularly took issue with the references to farting in the story and how “the book described butts in various colors, shapes and sizes (example: fireproof, bullet proof, bomb proof).” Ms. Martin called Mr. Price “unprofessional” for having selected the book.
Delesicia Martin, the superintendent, should be fired. Immediately. There’s even a change.org petition.
No child or parent complained. The superintendent was worried someone might complain. Unbelievable.
This is one of the hundreds of reasons why the Mississippi education system rates 47 out of 50. I hope Mr. Price gets plenty of job offers to educate young minds where he is appreciated.
Ted Chiang
Last year during the pandemic, I read the two collections by Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation: Stories. He’s easily one of the best authors in contemporary science fiction. What’s surprising is Chiang has published only eighteen short stories in the last thirty years, one and a half dozen masterpieces of the genre whose insightful, precise, often poetic language confronts fundamental ideas — intelligence, consciousness, the nature of God — and thrusts them into a new light.
Here are my favorites (found via web.archive.org):
“Tower of Babylon” — A Bronze Age laborer joins the construction of an impossibly high structure on a mission to breach the vaults of Heaven. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
“Story of Your Life” — A talented linguist reflects on the life of her daughter as she struggles to grasp the meaning of an alien language. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novella and was adapted into the film
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” — An ancient alchemist introduces a traveling merchant to a mysterious time-traveling gateway. It won the Hugo and Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
“Exhalation”— A non-human scholar relates the dissection of his own brain and the implications his discoveries hold for his curious clockwork universe. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects” — The relationship between people and their creations are explored in the near-future world of sentient AI. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella.
“Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom” [scroll down]- A new technology that lets people see and communicate with alternate timelines throws society into an existential crisis.
“We have jetpacks and we do not care.”
Dave Eggers, writing for The Guardian, explains that we have jetpacks and do not care. Not one bit. Jet packs meant the future. It’s here, and most of us are whatever…
We have jetpacks and we do not care. An Australian named David Mayman has invented a functioning jetpack and has flown it all over the world — once in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty — yet few people know his name. His jetpacks can be bought but no one is clamouring for one. For decades, humans have said they want jetpacks, and for thousands of years we have said we want to fly, but do we really? Look up. The sky is empty.
Eggers took a jetpack flying lesson just to see what none of the fuss is about.
It must be said that Mayman’s engineers have done a remarkable job with the balance and the intuitiveness of the controls. Instantly, it feels correct, all of it. That is, until the buckles and straps. There are many buckles and straps, and they fit precisely like a skydiving kit, with an emphasis on groin-cinching. Before I can say anything about the groin-cinching, Jarry is explaining the throttle, which is in my right hand and gives the jet turbines more or less fuel … Mayman fills the pack with kerosene, and steps back to the side of the tarmac, remote control in hand. Jarry asks if I’m ready. I tell him I’m ready. The jets ignite. The sound is like a category 5 hurricane passing through a drainpipe.
Reading the article, I was reminded of this T-shirt.
Neil Gaiman’s New Year’s Wishes
I don’t follow Neil Gaiman online, but I am a huge fan of his New Year’s wishes for everyone. This year’s is especially wonderful.
Be kind to yourself in the year ahead.Remember to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. It’s too easy to be outraged these days, so much harder to change things, to reach out, to understand.
Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.
Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them.
Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love.
13 Months a Year
Someday, in the far future, the world will realize it makes far more sense to have thirteen months constitute a full year. 365 days divided by 13 equals 28 days a month. Every month would have four weeks. With the International Fixed Calendar, everything would be so much easier and smoother.
I don’t have a strong opinion on what the actual thirteenth month should be named, but I like Sol.
A Long Talk with Lin-Manuel Miranda
I really enjoyed Chris Smith’s interview in Vulture with Lin-Manuel Miranda. His comments on Trump, Hamilton, and his future creative endeavors were refreshing.
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Here’s something you don’t see every day. Madeline Holcombe, writing for CNN, has a story about the Illinois State Capitol and the Satanic Temple of Chicago:
The Illinois State Capitol is decking the halls with holly, a menorah, and a Satanic statue.
This holiday season, the Satanic Temple of Chicago has been granted permission to place their statue in the lobby of the state Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office told CNN.
The statue is approximately four and a half feet tall and about 18 inches long, spokesman Dave Druker said, and it depicts a snake wrapped around an arm holding an apple with the inscription “knowledge is the greatest gift.”
The statue has been on display since Monday and will remain through the end of the month, according to officials.>
How utterly brazen of them.
What Me Worry?
Dave Pell, master of the NextDraft email newsletter, linked to an article on Motherboard about “what worried you most about the future?” He decided to throw his hat into the ring and write about his worries.
As managing editor of the internet, I’m constantly worried about what the next five minutes of the news cycle will bring. But what worries me the most? Three things that are closely related: The widening economic divide, the growing contempt between people with different political views, and the increasingly obvious signs that fascism in on the rise in many parts of the world. I’m also quite worried about how today’s political climate will impact my kids. Those of us who have been around for a while like to preach the refrain: This isn’t normal. But my kids are ten and twelve. This is the only political environment they’ve ever known. To them, it’s normal. What gives me hope? That topic is not really in my wheelhouse, but I’ll give it a shot: First, I think lot of people in my generation thought that the trajectory towards progress on issues like racial and gender equality was a given. The last few years have been a reminder that nothing is a given. Everything is political. Everything takes work. It feels like people have been awakened to that reality and are re-engaging in the fight. And second, these seem like crazy times. But we’ve faced worse. A lot worse. We got this.I tend to agree. We got this. It will get better and the fight toward a better tomorrow will continue.
Love is a Gift
Just about a week before Halloween, I saw the first holiday television ad. I’m sure it was selling me something. The deluge hasn’t really stopped. So, when I found this short Christmas film it was a nice respite from the rampant consumerism of the season.
Phil Beastall made an incredible film. It’s going to make you cry. And probably hug your mom.
Star Wars MegaMix
Darren Tibbles‘ entry in the Star Wars Fan Awards is a tour de force of animation. His “showreel” is fast-paced and fun with all sorts of Star Wars bits thrown in.
With apologies to Marie Kondo, it is a rare piece of fan art that truly sparked joy in this jaded Star Wars fan.
Deceptive Practices
Ricky Jay passed away.
I’m not sure when I first started to recognize him. It might have been Deadwood or Mystery Men. I had forgotten he was in Boogie Nights and that’s probably where a lot of people would know him from.
As a magician, he was one of the best up-close card trick guys I’d ever seen. Just watch him do his thing with the four queens.
Everyone is linking to The New Yorker profile, especially for the opening. It begins like this…
The playwright David Mamet and the theatre director Gregory Mosher affirm that some years ago, late one night in the bar of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago, this happened:The 2012 documentary film about Jay, Deceptive Practices, is streaming for free on Amazon Prime Video. I’ve never seen it. Perhaps I should.Ricky Jay, who is perhaps the most gifted sleight-of-hand artist alive, was performing magic with a deck of cards. Also present was a friend of Mamet and Mosher’s named Christ Nogulich, the director of food and beverage at the hotel. After twenty minutes of disbelief-suspending manipulations, Jay spread the deck face up on the bar counter and asked Nogulich to concentrate on a specific card but not to reveal it. Jay then assembled the deck face down, shuffled, cut it into two piles, and asked Nogulich to point to one of the piles and name his card.
“Three of clubs,” Nogulich said, and he was then instructed to turn over the top card.
He turned over the three of clubs.
Mosher, in what could be interpreted as a passive-aggressive act, quietly announced, “Ricky, you know, I also concentrated on a card.”
After an interval of silence, Jay said, “That’s interesting, Gregory, but I only do this for one person at a time.”
Mosher persisted: “Well, Ricky, I really was thinking of a card.”
Jay paused, frowned, stared at Mosher, and said, “This is a distinct change of procedure.” A longer pause. “All right-what was the card?”
“Two of spades.”
Jay nodded, and gestured toward the other pile, and Mosher turned over its top card.
The deuce of spades.
A small riot ensued.
Grinch Burns
Drew Magary, writing for The Concourse, has come up with the official ranking of Grinch burns. His top two are spot on.
1. Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled-up knots.Read the rest.2. You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile. (2a. Given the choice between the two of you, I’d take the seasick crocodile.)
Love is the Path to Excellence
Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid dropped something profound in today’s email. Reposting it here for remembrance.
When you love what you do, the world can tell.The world wants to hear more.
The world wants to open doors for you.
The world wants to give you their business.
Because when you love what you do, when you love your customers, clients, patients, you’ve got what everybody wants.
And everybody wants what you got.
They can’t help it.
So we repeat, if you want to be successful, stop trying to win the lottery, stop trying to be the next Steve Jobs, Mick Jagger or Michael Jordan.
Just find something you love to do, and excel at it.
Because that’s how most really successful people got there.
The Power-Idea Gap
Michael Wade often drops smart thoughts. This one is freaking brilliant.
Significant power brings greater responsibilities and greater responsibilities consume vast amounts of time and limited time pushes out opportunities for new ideas. Less power has fewer responsibilities and more time for ideas but getting the ideas into action can be difficult because there is a shortage of power.Wherever we may be on that scale, it is wise to keep the power-idea gap in mind.