Strange seeing it alongside the White Out I got from someone online, but it’s better than I remember. No rhymes yet.
AI for the Lazy Guy
February 10th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
[I had the kind of dream the other night that made me realize everyone else in them is an NPC and wonder if that’s what it’s like to be sociopath. That did, however, get me thinking about these things, the recurring motifs, characters and settings that don’t give, whether or not they might as well be automated and if so, why I couldn’t just have the popular “AI” come up with them for me. The following is the bland scenario returned from a sampling of my last few entries; an initial attempt was simply a regurgitation of the Rush one. If someday this shit is supposed to take my place, it’d better learn to be anal enough to add author avatars or at the very least justify the paragraphs.]
You find yourself in a strange place where time and space seem to be distorted. You’re surrounded by high-tech gadgets and futuristic vehicles, and you can’t shake the feeling that you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Suddenly, you’re approached by a group of people who claim to be from the future. They warn you that the world you know is in danger, and that only you can save it. They take you on a journey through time and space, where you encounter strange creatures and otherworldly landscapes.
Along the way, you must use your wits and your gaming skills to outsmart your enemies and solve complex puzzles. You find yourself battling against time-traveling villains and strange machines, all while trying to save the world from certain doom. With every twist and turn, you’re constantly challenged and pushed to the limits of your imagination.
But as the journey reaches its climax, you realize that the fate of the world rests in your hands. Will you be able to save the day and return to your own time and place, or will you be forever lost in this strange and wondrous world? The only way to find out is to keep dreaming and let your imagination soar.
[Dall-E wasn’t much better, serving up this depiction of another imaginary bout of frustration with the woman’s Facebook-driven sense of adventure.]
Nothing, Forever
February 4th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
AI Seinfeld is a wondrous accomplishment, that I predict will have the monkeys beat in no time. (At least they’re striving for Shakespeare; most other writers had better consider a career change.) In fact, I hope it’s on my TV in San Junipero.
Update: And just like that, stream’s been taken down temp-banned (for the ad revenue must flow) after alleged filter omissions, in a machine learning lesson?
Rapid Eye for the Slow Guy
January 30th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
There was a brunette stewardess with an eyepatch; a vest hanging on the wall moved, indicating the presence of a ghost, whose solid but invisible body the boy and I proceeded to hit with poles, but weren’t sure what effect it was having. Oh, and I had a bunch of floppy diskettes I packed into the only available box, folding some of them in a way that at least the 3½-inchers couldn’t and definitely shouldn’t be. It was his birthday, and Rush were guests, Geddy Lee offering a wall display of their cables and adapters for his friends to pair with their electronic equipment, then finishing with a set where Neil Peart (RIP) set up his kit outside the screen door, he and Alex Lifeson (whose name I got right, but they insisted was “Eric”) used exotic pedals and keyboards instead of directly handling their guitars. To my bewilderment, our young player added “Thunderstruck” to the jam, which the group surprisingly incorporated deftly, equipment levels flickered, and I scrambled for my phone to capture the moment.
But maybe it took being wowed by a Constant-caliber bottle episode of The Last of Us to trigger truly once-in-decades appearances by Elaine Benes and Clara Oswald in our best ages, the former way out of my league though she deigned to lead me as she stomped through the huddled masses of the university halls; I stopped for a quick greeting as we cross paths with the latter, then later received a call from her jealously (!) asking me if that was “Lucille from the restaurant.”
…Of course that’s followed up by one where I’m still in a school somewhere, accompanied instead by two cases of Mountain Dew Pitch Black, a few 20-oz. bottles of a brighter flavor, maybe Maui Burst, some loose cans and unable to move the lot at once, I opted to leave the boxes on the floor and come back for them, my arms full, as I slowly made my way down a wide stairwell. This is why I don’t deserve control of my subconscious, it’s full of insecurity and greed. Seems only a complete clearing of all my fucking hangups makes my dreams come true
.
.White Out
January 27th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
I had a science teacher in middle school whose name escapes me (Jim Something) but he was a cool younger guy and we bought him the then-new Bo Derek book
for his birthday, and he once demonstrated the color wheel—sorry, Jim, I didn’t really see the prism and only answered because I knew the answer in advance.
, LiveWire
, Maui Burst
, Thrashed Apple
, Frost Bite
, Voltage
, Purple Thunder
), all of which combined must give way to the one I’ve not seen for the longest time.
for his birthday, and he once demonstrated the color wheel—sorry, Jim, I didn’t really see the prism and only answered because I knew the answer in advance., LiveWire, Maui Burst, Thrashed Apple, Frost Bite, Voltage, Purple Thunder), all of which combined must give way to the one I’ve not seen for the longest time.
Too many sugars
And soon it’s lights out
Spin rainbow colors
Everything Whites Out
So when my time comes
All I cared about
Turns into atoms
The world will White Out
Velma
January 14th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
I had to see for myself, and it’s not as bad as the “haters” made it out, but fuck it’s disappointing there weren’t better ideas to develop. Like the Scooby gang all grown up and working in the same boring office. Or fighting off a zombie apocalypse (which I think has been done in comics). Certainly a next generation of them, so the diversity wouldn’t seem so forced again. The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse had “ethnically-mixed friends” 35 years ago!
Holy coincidences, Bat-Bat, lucky as I was with a seed because I of course forgot about my DVD, only to be floored by the reunion episode with the Mighty Heroes!
From
January 8th, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
In the furor over the 1899 cancellation a Reddit poster suggested a much cheaper and renewed Epix series From, which I binged in but a day or two and might have something more to say about (I honestly don’t, other than to hope this incarnation of Lost delivers at least one “[The] Constant”—what’s with these four-letter titles; Evil, too), for an opportune upload on Nyaa led me back to Netflix and overlooked drama 방법 from a few years ago. Brilliant villianess and some nice ideas like the gathering of shamans from around the world like Street Fighter, one of them being a manga artist like Lovecraft’s Pickman, though the best part was undoubtedly the craziest zombie chase scene, ever, in the follow-up film. If only Inspector Koo‘s 12 episodes could’ve received such treatment! …The thought got me started on a rewatch, and with that in mind, there certainly is enough material seeded for a similar short sequel, one that pits the team against a challenging enough one-off opponent but in the process, of course, must solve the mystery behind her husband’s suicide, which K was right, involved 산타씨, but maybe not as she described. “Santa’s Secret” could be the subtitle.
1899
January 2nd, 2023 § 0 comments § permalink
2023 brought with it news that the new series from the husband-and-wife team who brought us Dark wouldn’t be renewed (which corporate cost-cutting has ironically made a considerable concern despite all the competition for content), and while the first season hadn’t convinced everyone that it would be something just as special, I did enjoy my late-night viewings on the old couch, overcoming my hesitation about the period setting, appreciating the confluence of languages where before there was only Deutsch, and certainly relishing the dream-like transitions between realities through the crawlspaces.
As exquisitely as they crafted the imagery, this was a quality production, the way I like my WTF, because the creators got a chance with their vision and ambition. Shame, I was relieved more than anything those two threw us for a loop on their maiden voyage and I was expecting no less than another from them, especially after pulling the ending straight out of the shitty US remake of Life on Mars… Wait a minute, Ashes to Ashes ended with “Heroes”, and so did Regular Show?
His Dark Materials
December 31st, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
I’m sometimes glad to be proven wrong—what am I saying, as a pessimist, I count on it—the mulefa and war with the angels weren’t unfilmable; I was only unable to predict that budgets for such spectacle would eventually be approved for the small screen. Not like me, too, to quote the books (“There’s plenty of folk as’d like to have a lion as a dæmon and they end up with a poodle”) and fail to make the connection to “Seen and Not Seen” from Remain in Light.
I’m also reminded how I found the series in the first place, from a co-worker whose church-arranged husband strung her along for just long enough to finance his business and obtain a green card. The spinster’s faith is surely unshaken: “L’absurde naît de cette confrontation entre l’appel humain et le silence déraisonnable du monde.” Albert Camus, Le mythe de Sisyphe
Shaolin Rescuers
December 30th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
Chang Cheh (and I Kuang) had a whole Hung Sikuan-verse long before Marvel, I remember at least another one where Fu Sheng had to tunnel to rescue him from a dungeon, and in this Executioners prequel, the character, filled in by a Chen Kuantai-lookalike, gets in on some Lu Feng skewering with Kuo Chui, Lo Meng and Chiang Sheng. Sun Chien wasted his time being an expert of walking on posts, while Brass Head/Mr. Chu from Crippled Avengers wielded a lollipop-shaped hammer, all of which is visible in the final freeze frame above.