Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want | The Verge: I don’t think this is the right framing. The Valley techbros have never known what normal people want, do not care what normal people want, and do not believe that they need to know or care. They’re planning to do what they want to do in complete indifference to the preferences of anyone else.
Over at Cosmos Malick, a long post on Knight of Cups.
Currently listening: Mingus Ah Um 🎵
If I were the Emperor of American Christianity, I would forbid any complaints about how persecuted American Christians are unless they include the following three points:
- The early church had it, and Christians in many parts of the world right now have it, infinitely worse than we do;
- Jesus promised us that if we are faithful to him we will be persecuted;
- And Jesus also commanded us to rejoice when we are thus persecuted.
The usual morning crew (and one newbie)
In 1947, a man named Kenneth Arnold was flying his two-seater near Mount Rainier when he saw nine flying objects cruising at high speeds, a sighting that launched the modern UFO era. [Gray] Barker was then working as a film distributor, and by the early 1950s was finding success with science fiction fare like The Day the Earth Stood Still. His own entrance into UFO research came in September 1952, when the Associated Press reported that seven people in nearby Flatwoods, West Virginia, had seen a glowing fireball descend into a nearby hilltop. Barker drove out to interview the eyewitnesses, writing up a report — embellished with numerous fabrications — and sending it to Fate magazine. Encouraged by the reception, he launched his own publication, The Saucerian, whose motto was: “Keep your head in the stars — and your feet on the ground.”
Gray Barker, writer, editor, poet, ufologist. An American original. Poetic excerpt:
This may have nothing to do with flying saucers.
It is a tale of abominable stenches and eldritch bangings in the night.
It is a true story.
I tried listening to A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler on Audible, but the A.I. narrator drove me crazy and I had to stop and switch to text. (It’s an outstanding book!) I persisted as long as I did because I’ve been dealing with eyestrain, but the strange stresses and mispronounced words — foreign names are especially bad: Proust is pronounced Prowst, Rilke Rilk, etc. — eventually broke me. I’ve canceled my Audible account: the practice of giving A.I. narrators human names, with the express purpose of deceiving customers, is unacceptable. 📚
Jane Freilicher, Study in Blue and Gray