Richard II Message to Peasants

 

When Richard II was asked by the peasants to fulfill his oath as made to Wat Tyler at the famous meeting in London, he replied: 

 

 “You will remain in bondage, not as before but incomparably harsher. For as long as we live… we will strive with mind, strength and goods to suppress you so that the rigour of your servitude will be an example to posterity."

 

Our politicians have the same intent, but they are not as forthright and as eloquent as Richard II.

 

The death of Wat Tyler 1381

How Ironic if the Cold Warriors were Right about Russia

All the time I was at RAND and in all the years afterwards, when I read the views of the "cold warriors", I dismissed their arguments that Russia was in some sense evil. Yes, they were an adversary and Stalinism and Marxist/Leninist doctrine caused a lot of (to my mind) needless suffering of their own people and many people who were in some real sense "innocent". But I never really bought the "evil empire" schtick. How ironic, if the Cold Warriors were "right" and Russians turn out to be barbarians who are a threat to civilization. How ironic and disappointing.

 

Yellow Submarine (1968) and The Assyrian Winged God

Reviewing the movie Yellow Submarine and I came across this famous image.  But wait, I thought, is this not a homage to the ancient Assyrian Winged God?  The original did not have an ice cream cone, of course.

 

"The Menu" (2022)

 

This post has spoilers for the movie "The Menu" (2022).

"The Menu" (2022) is not a perfect movie but it had more than a few elements that appealed to me. My expectations were low; the movie surprised me.

I liked the idea that cooking should be about love, and what "the chef" loved most of all was to make good cheeseburgers. And in a sense, the movie had a riddle and the riddle was what could penetrate this cold heart. I liked the premise that the world is made of two classes, a privileged elite and the slaves/workers who serve them. I liked the idea that even one of the best rewarded slaves resented being made a whore instead of doing what he did for love. A fallen romantic, you see. I liked that while (most) everyone dies, you die by class: the workers meet one fate, the rich another. And so it was important to know who the young woman was in order to determine which group she belongs in. Ah, a hooker with a heart of gold, then you deserve to die with the workers. I liked the idea that the assistant sous chef attacked our heroine saying (approximately) "I am not going to be replaced! I did not forget the barrel!" I liked the s'mores. I liked the conceit of the cheeseburger as an unpretentious gift of love. I liked the practical fluid dynamics on the fatal neck wound of the betrayed assistant. I like any movie with catfights, and this movie definitely has a catfight. So all in all, not a brilliant movie, but certainly a movie worth seeing.

Notes on Civil Justice and CNN

Obviously there is nothing in civil justice that has the slightest impact on Trump's criminal and psychopathic behavior. He turned around from being convicted for "sexual abuse", but we know that really means rape without overt penetration by his slimy little penis, and on public television attacked and demeaned this rape victim again. He will deflect, delay, and deny as always. The worse that happens is that he pays $5M. Which he can easily steal from his supporters by lying to them, as he has so often over the last 5-7 years.  Not quite a complete waste of time, but not sufficient to affect the maniac's attempt to seize power and destroy the country.  The lesson is that it has to be a criminal indictment and he has to go to jail. 

CNN knew exactly what they were doing when they put Trump on air for their so-called "town hall" with nothing but his supporters in the audience. They knew what he would say and he said them. He verbally abused the woman he had sexually attacked, he all but confessed other crimes, he repeated his lies, he was given an hour of air time in a major national market. CNN is culpable in his obstruction of justice and his attempt to destroy this country and install a fascist government. There are no principles of free speech at stake here. Nothing keeps him from buying an hour of airtime. (Good luck calculating what that would cost).

The supreme court and various appeals courts are a joke having been destroyed by the Republicans. Term limits or some other remedy are required.  God knows Thomas won't resign without being forced. The Dems should have raised the debt limit when they had the ability to do so. This situation is essentially their fault as they allowed the Republicans to hold the country hostage. I guess they were trying to be bipartisan. Sorry, sarcasm.

Its too late to put him in jail, I doubt the feds will even try.

I certainly am not a fan of CNN.

I realize that nothing I say here is the least bit original, nor will it have the slightest impact.  I write these posts to blow off steam and because it helps me remember what I thought at the time the post was written.

On the Road to Fascism 05/09/2023

I write about the things in this post not because I think I can solve any of the problems, or say anything the least bit interesting that hasnt been said before on these topics.  I write these posts to help me remember some of the outrages we are exposed to because it is so easy to forget, being bombarded as we are by injustice and stupidity on a near-daily basis.

 

Here is just a sample of what has been happening recently.

 

1. Jordan Neely is murdered for the crime of talking to himself on a subway.  I talk to myself, and if I was in NY where there is a subway, I might talk to myself there too.  Would I be murdered?  Daniel Penny, the white man who murdered Jordan, is free and walking around. 

 

2. The Supreme Court is so deeply fucked up and illegitimate that it almost seems cruel to even mention it.  But yes, the corruption of Clarence Thomas has gone on long enough.  Roberts or someone needs to act.

 

3. The Republicans, who dont want to actually support the constitution which created a method for controlling appropriations, are dead set on destroying this country through the debt limit nonsense.  On the one hand, Biden is right to  stand firm, but wait.  Why didnt the Democrats change the debt limit when they controlled both houses of congress and the White House?  Maybe the Democrats are incompetent. At least they are not consciously evil, but that is about all I can say in their favor.

Would any other country be better?  Well, maybe, I dont know.  But I do know that if I were living in another country and bad things like this happened I would not feel betrayed because I would not have had to listen to the self-servicing, self-congratulatory, BS that I was exposed to here, in America, where people think they are the only country with a legitimate government.

I wonder if this is one of the posts that the Internet censors will use to block this blog?

The supreme court back in the day when it had legitimacy.

 

More Rendering Tests II

Some random tests.   Tests to create complexity from simple procedural forms and working in the area of classical expressiveness (gestural rendering).  The process of doing computer graphics without clients (or where you are your own client) is so different and so much more rewarding.

ADD/ADHD Article in The Atlantic and Medical Malfeasance

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The Atlantic has an interesting article about Adderall and ADD/ADHD in which it reveals that the medical community failed to even recognize adult ADD or take it seriously as a disease until 20 years ago, if that. And of course Adderall may be over prescribed today as a result, or is it?  After all, amphetamine is a recognized human performance drug with some well known side effects, why shouldn't people be using it whether or not they have ADD?  

As the article makes clear, the medical community is guilty of gross malfeasance in this area, and I think it is very reasonable to resent being required to go to these wankers as one gateway of many to get the most important known medication available for this disease/syndrome/whatever.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/04/adult-adhd-diagnosis-treatment-adderall-shortage/673719/

 

 

Genocide in Ukraine

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There doesnt seem to be any doubt that some sort of ethnic cleansing is going on in Ukraine.  Maybe it will be necessary for the United Nations and/or NATO to take action.  Europe did not stop the genocide against the Jews and others, nor is it totally clear that they could have done much in the 1938-1945 period.  But that was then and this is now and we have options today we did not have then.  No one wants war with Russia but ultimately you have to make a stand and there has been ample provocation.  Is this the start of WW 3 or 4? I think it might be.  Again, what are your principles, what do you really stand for?   

 

By the way, the ISW, quoted below, has demonstrated that they are a reliable source of information.  All of their analysis is based on open source intelligence.  They are not using any secret intelligence.  

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 26, 2023

Apr 26, 2023 - Press ISW

Russia appears to be continuing a deliberate depopulation campaign in occupied areas of Ukraine in order to facilitate the repopulation of Ukrainian territories with Russians. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar stated on April 26 that Russia is trying to change the ethnic composition of Ukraine by actively conducting a large-scale resettlement of people mainly from poorer and remote regions of Russia into Ukraine. Malyar noted that the most intensive efforts are ongoing in occupied Luhansk Oblast and remarked that Russia is also deporting Ukrainians and forcibly resettling them in Russia. ISW previously reported on specific instances of Russian authorities overseeing the depopulation and repopulation of areas of occupied Ukraine, particularly in occupied Kherson Oblast over the course of 2022. Ukrainian sources remarked in October 2022 that Russian authorities in then-occupied parts of Kherson Oblast deported large groups of Ukrainian residents to Russia under the guise of humanitarian evacuations and then repopulated their homes with Russian soldiers. Russia may hope to import Russians to fill depopulated areas of Ukraine in order to further integrate occupied areas into Russian socially, administratively, politically, and economically, thereby complicating conditions for the reintegration of these territories into Ukraine. ISW has previously assessed that such depopulation and repopulation campaigns may amount to a deliberate ethnic cleansing effort and apparent violation of the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

A Preface to the Online Draft

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Lets say I was writing some sort of "book", as distinguished from a blog, and this so-called book might be "published" one day, perhaps in a more classical form.  For a variety of reasons there are times when writing in blog format has turned out to be very useful in a mechanical way.  It lets me get ideas out there, forces me to edit them, and then abandon them.  In other forms of writing, I dont get to do that. Instead I mess with them, editing endlessly and then give up.   So, for part of this project, I will write little sections and post them on this blog.  There is no guarantee that any particular post will make sense out of context, or be incorporated into the final, and so forth and so on, and you are therefore warned. 

A Crypt of My Own

How I dream of that basement, that attic, that crypt where I can live serene, diligent, with my computers, untriggered.   How happy I would be.

On the Street Where You Live but in Vegas with Showgirls

There are many nice touches in the Paramount series The Offer.  How much of it is true is another matter that is above my pay grade. In one episode, Al Ruddy flies to Las Vegas to recruit Vic Damone to play the role of the fictional Frank Sinatra-like character for the Godfather.  Ultimately although Damone was offered the role he chose not to play it for fear of pissing off Sinatra.

As part of this sequence we are all comped into a show with Damone as the headlining act and we are treated to an unforgettable rendition of "On the Street Where You Live" which is from the musical My Fair Lady.   In the original stage production and movie of Lady, the young swain belts out his love song in Victorian dress in England and he is so sincere.  

 

But in The Offer, we are on stage in Vegas with Showgirls.  It is also sincere!  And authentic.  It captures the essence of Las Vegas and our culture.

Tempus Fugit

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This blog was started as an act of faith and in the hope that certain long-standing goals could be achieved. To my surprise, quite a few of them were.  Not all, but many. 

On the positive side, I can not emphasize enough how much it helps with the chronology of events in my life and the world.  Time flies whether or not you are having fun.

 

Home Fries

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Whats the point of home fries if you cant make them at home.  The following recipe almost works.  All times and amounts are approximate.

 

Take a small number of red or white potatoes.  Cut into quarters and boil for about 10 minutes, let them sit in hot water for another 5 or so.  Rinse in cold water and wait for them to cool.  The idea is that they are not completely cooked and excess moisture is allowed to evaporate.  Slice with a food processor or by hand.  The potatoes should be still firm, not too soft.  The slices should be of a constant thickness so that the cooking can be even.

 

Fry paprika, cumin, and chile powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of Chipotle powder in olive oil with two types of peppers (1/2 anaheim pepper and 1/2 jalapeno will do, deseeded) and 1 stalk of green onion chopped fine.  Add salt, pepper and potatoes.  I also add about one cobs' worth of corn, usually frozen, brought to room temperature.  Fry for about 10 minutes or until suitably crispy and cooked.  Scrape the potatoes off the bottom of the pan as they cook.  Dont be too shy with the olive oil, the salt, or the pepper, etc.  Faint heart never won fair lady.  The oil should be hot when you add the potatoes.

 

The trick seems to be that you dont want the potatoes too soft when you start frying.  Yet they can not be completely uncooked either.

Makes enough for two people.

The Mandalorian, Children's Literature and Boring Adults

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So now here we are in the third season of the Mandalorian, episode 6, and what do we find?  Boring so-called adults judging what is essentially fun-loving children's literature.  That's what.  

 

Instead of enjoying this episode for what it is, a goofy serial episode leading inexorably towards its climax, we have nattering nabobs of negativity complaining about sub-plots that no 12 year old would condemn.  Perhaps these old grouches should go away and watch their 70's sitcoms that they all adore and leave the current children's literature to those of us who can appreciate it.

 

 

 

More Rendering Tests

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The following are more tests of various abstract creatures and rendering techniques.  

 

 

Why this Indictment of Donald Trump is the Right Indictment

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Against all expectations, one of the many grand juries that have been convened to review the evidence of the crimes of Donald Trump have voted to indict and to our amazement an actual district attorney did so.  The Republicans are going nuts and many Democrats are too. "Oh how awful, if only they had indicted him for homicide or attempting to overthrow the government of the united states.  Now we are doomed!" 

Actually I think this is exactly the right crime to indict Donald for because it is somewhat banal.  Yes instead of our failed justice system getting him for something huge, like killing American citizens, they are getting him for misrepresenting the accounting records of his hush payments to a former mistress.  Trump is banal and so is this.  Symmetry is preserved.

There is no dignity in the US government justice system and you shouldn't expect any.  We should be grateful for what we get.

 

 

Cartoon Realism and the Issue of Internet Censorship

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I think that pretty much everyone, except maybe Republicans, understand that the  internet can not be allowed to self-regulate. The world contains malign actors that will attempt to steal money, steal elections, and destabilize the country in many different ways.  How that will all work out, whether with legislation or merely secret cabals of justice loving cyberwarriors or something else is unknown at this point. I have no reason to have any hope that a reasonable system will come into place.  In the meantime, there are some ad hoc systems that claim to enforce community guidelines but maybe have the real purpose of protecting otherwise swine-like gangster capitalist companies from litigation.

As you know, this blog has been whacked several times by these guardians of all that is "good about our great country".  Although they cant tell me what they object to either specifically or generally, I am supposed to accept their judgment and go away and die or something.

One problem that we may be having is that the software used to make this judgment doesnt seem to have a sense of humor or a sense of irony or sarcasm.  I am pretty sure that is because the companies that implement this software dont have a sense of humor either.  

If I say that a certain former president with dyed orange hair should have a piano dropped on his head, will I be referred to the FBI because I am making a threat against someone's life? How about a safe?  An anvil? Ripe tomatoes? Nothing?

For more on the importance of the anvil in fiction, see:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnvilOnHead

Democratic Party of SB

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I am trying to contact my local SB party to tell them that it is unacceptable for my congressman to vote in support of the republican nonsense about the "horrors of socialism".  First of all, in this country, socialism has been what we called such things as minimum wage, the 40 hour work week, sick leave, etc.  Second, what the heck is he doing supporting a nutty boy republican bill.  He should as a matter of course oppose the republican efforts to destroy the rest of america as they have destroyed, for example, our judicial system.

WTF?

Carbajal should resign at once.  I certainly wont vote for him in another election, and I dont care what republican  jerk they run against him.  Its time for the Democratic party to wake up and listen to  their constituents.

Why ChatGPT Will Cause Major Hardship

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Here is why I think ChatGPT will cause major hardship.

When globalization happened our government said: "Lowered cost of transport and new communications technology enables a new approach to how things are built and who builds them. Each country contributes what it does best and most efficiently, and overall the world improves because we reach a "new equilibrium" (*) and everybody is richer.  People who formerly did manufacturing, for example, could now work in offices in "information technology" or "the service industry" whatever that may mean.

But either hindsight, or some would say, a few minutes forethought, would show this was nonsense.  Workers were cheaper in some countries because they were wildly exploited.  Companies used this to bust unions in their own countries.  In some cases it wasn't about efficiency, it was about government subsidies to move an industry from one country to another.  When manufacturing or another industry left, the economic structure of cities would collapse as families became unemployed and left town.  Furthermore there was no money for retraining workers for these different industries which may already be oversubscribed.  Would a 50 yr old worker want to work as a secretary for 1/10th their former salary?  Who would train them?  Who would hire them? So formerly middle class families would slip into poverty. They would lean on their savings assuming they had any. Families would need new sources of income, perhaps a spouse would have to work.  Mothers would have to work so children would have to go to day care with a variety of long term implications for development. Remember the Republican emphasis on the traditional American family? Well, not so much it would appear.   Retirement would be affected as less money could be saved or put into social security.  A family might not be able to support sending a child to college, certainly not an elite one. The restaurants and stores that relied on these workers for customers would go out of business because their customers could not afford to eat out or would have to move away to find work.  There would be less tax revenues for the local community and the local schools.  No doubt large corporations made money, but as always in most countries they dont pay taxes.  The so called shareholders made money, yes, perhaps the top 10% of society, but again the rich dont pay taxes.  And politically we got more extremism, either right or left but mostly right (for reasons that are not so clear to me).

I have anecdotal stories about how this played out in the traditional animation industry, in glamourous digital visual effects and in the community of Culver City. 

Now with ChatGPT a big chunk of the middle class who make their living in part by being able to write competent essays will be disenfranchised and impoverished. What percentage of the population in developed countries am I talking about?  A few percent?  More?  Public relations, marketing and advertising come to mind.  Maybe Hollywood screenwriting (ha ha, thats a joke). If government was actually good at helping people find new careers and training them this might be different.  But our government doesn't even pay for education or pay the expenses of a real family while someone learns a new trade, or prevent ageism in the work place, for example.

So what do I recommend? No, ChatGPT is not about real intelligence or eliminating the great writer, but it is about a lot of real hardship in America and the rest of the developed world.  As usual, our government is useless, except for the rich.  But at the very least we should expect the three minimum requirements mentioned above.  1. Pay for education and retraining.  Seriously pay for it, and remember I am not just talking about junior college or a trade school here.  Think Harvard and Princeton.  2. Pay real expenses of a family, perhaps $50-100K / year.  And 3. Make serious efforts to reduce ageism in the work place which is rampant and about which the government does nothing.

The Republicans will say this is socialism.  But then they said that about the minimum wage, the 40 hours work week, and social security.

 

 

 * Economists get all hot when they talk about "equilibrium".

The Tragic Kingdom in 2023

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This is a report on the current status of the Disneyland Park (and to a lesser degree the Disneyland Resort) from a visit on January 25, 2023.  My partner in this adventure was Jill Fraser.  There is a lot to go over here from the lowest levels to the highest.  Jimini Crickett said to emphasize the positive but this review will have some negative as well.  Its up to you what order to read it in.  Topics will include the trivial (food at the Magic Kingdom), to the highest levels of aesthetics in theme parks, including the new Star Wars land and the dismaying decay and abandonment of Tomorrowland.

1. Timing and pricing.  We chose to go on a Wednesday when school is in session and the weather is cold(er).  For these days, Disney lowers prices for each park to $104/person but the park also closes earlier and does not have its big shows.  Everything else seems to be there.

2. The food was dreadful and expensive.  As bad as I have ever had there.  I recommend you pack some trail mix, eat like you were backpacking, rehydrate regularly and then eat something better when you get home or leave the park.

3. Perhaps the highlight of the park was, for me, three so-called cast members.  We had Xavier at the Magic Store on Main Street, some unknown people at the Penny Arcade and best of all "Mike" at one of the Adventureland emporia across from the Jungle Cruise.  Xavier demonstrated what could be done with the trimmed cards.  I asked Mike if they still had the shrunken heads you used to be able to find there.  He not only knew what I was talking about, he was able to remind me of the old Jungle Cruise exhibit/joke in which a Witch Doctor wants to trade two of his heads for one of yours.  I loved this guy and plan to look for him again the next time I am at the park.  Its the people who matter.

4. I am also happy to say that the Magic Shop and Mickey's theatre on Main Street are both there.

5. But what happened to the horse drawn carriages on Main Street?  And even if you get rid of them, you should replace them with "in period" motor driven vehicles.  Dont just drop transportation.  Not everyone wants to walk the 200 - 300 yards distance from the entrance to the castle.

6. That castle is looking a little small in context with everything else, maybe it is time to refurbish and enlarge it.

7. The new Star Wars land is spectacular.  It is very large, where did all that land come from?  The two main attractions are both amazing and I am curious to know how they pulled off some of those things.  No I could not figure out what our guides were saying most of the time, but that was OK.  

 

 

8. Genie Plus was worthwhile occassionally. But we had to pay an extra $25/person to get the "Lightning Line" feature at Rise of the Rebellion.  We felt that they were being overly greedy.

9. The food was a disaster.  Bring your own food.  Oh did I mention that before.

10.  Getting hooked up with the app was painful.  

11. Tomorrowland was a sad wreck of a land, once so filled with promise and optimism, now fallen into decay, a parody of itself.  The Carousel of Progress is a gigantic wreck in the middle of everything.  The decayed PeopleMover just has its track laid like pointless linguini on the land with the obnoxious wreck of what used to be a peoplemover terminal rusting in the middle.  One of the main attractions, the CircleVision 360 film about America is now a trivial shoot em up with several Pixar characters.  This is fun but very, very minor.  Where is the vision?  None to be seen.

Carousel of Failure

The Former People Mover

12.  The Tiki Room was as enchanted as ever and they should just keep it.  But the Jungle Cruise!? Forget about it, tear it down and do something else with it.

13. I always wanted to check if the entrances to back stage were really hidden in plain sight, and yes they were.  How amusing.

 

14. Perhaps the biggest failure is the disastrous parking system.  Really, Disneyland?  You want to make customers walk a mile or two after parking and wait for trams while trying to go to your park?  This is the best you can do?

 

15. I think it would be worthwhile to use one of these discount days to go to California Adventure.  Bring  your own food, etc.