Sometimes things I haven’t thought about in decades will appear in my brain and it makes me laugh out loud. This is the volcano Sakurajima which is east of, but essentially within the city limits of Kagoshima in Japan.
This is still an active volcano. In my shot here, over two decades old, you can see the steam. My coworkers and I hiked up there. We got to the base via a cab.
We asked the cab driver what would ever happen if the volcano ever fully erupted again. He pondered it for a moment with his hand on his chin. And he waves his hand around with a wave and an absolute smile on his face and he gleefully says: “Oh, all this go away.”
We all lost our minds in laughter, as he did too. I laughed tonight = win
Hey remember when solar, wind, etc was supposed to be the answer to all the planet’s problems? Guess what, reality has collided with reality.
Publications that I deeply respect report on the price of oil every two days or so right now. They follow it like a crack addict who uses those new prediction market aps.
Forget the today reason oil prices are a daily topic of interest to the point of bizarre. This current conflict will eventually end.
What won’t end is the truth. And as we wrote about it on this degenerate blog years ago. There is no actual plan to fight climate change. It doesn’t matter what you actually think. You’ll just have to adapt.
Enjoy the ride. Think what you want about climate change, because there is no plan. Otherwise, why does the daily price of oil apparently own all of humanity right, this, very, moment?
As mentioned in prior posts, I’m outta my apartment. I’m temporarily at me Ma’s (she will get back here in two weeks). Her mailbox is like a five minute walk from her front door. It’s not anywhere you could check every day on a whim. You have to commit to it, as I usually do, but sometimes not.
I get down there today, and at the mailbox, in the back, is an ant colony. To include the larvae and all that creepy stuff. This house is not a recluse wood shed nightmare, but it’s quite isolated. I joke with my Ma a lot when woods things happen that she lives in the woods. What does she expect?
And thus, this didn’t not surprise me, but it was gross. There are ants crawling all over the mail. I spend like 15 minutes clearing everything off the mail and then inside the mailbox using the junk mail as a tool. If I’d had a hose I’d have used that. But it’s too far from the house.
I’m pissed, that’s why I spent 15 minutes doing this. We live in the woods. Why can’t the ants find Anyplace else to start their colony than in one mailbox when they have 1,382 other options. Then towards the end, one of the ants grabs one of the larvae, and tries to take it into the back of the mailbox again. Said ant was doing its duty, reflexively reacting.
It made me sad for a brief moment. Ant was just doing what ants do. But then after that brief split second moment of sadness, I swiped again. But I’ve been thinking about this for hours now. Why?
I don’t really have any point or conclusion here. I guess I’m just writing. Also, for fuck’s sake ants, make your ant colony not in a mailbox. But I don’t know. I guess what’s bothering me, for no valid reason at all, is I swiped the fucker carrying the larvae, even though I was sad doing it, I just did it.
First off, yes, this is an old man yelling at cloud moment.
I am no longer a young man, my joints remind of this every day. But also, I have the personality of a guy who wishes he lived in 385 AD (yes, AD, fuck BCE and CE). This is of course absurd, but it’s the way I think. So here we go folks, on the future of cars. Please hold your applause. The brilliance on this blog is unspeakable. You know nothing. We know everything.
1) For decades, Western car companies got into the Chinese market as their core market (see VW). They did it for short term quarterly profits over long term vision. They signed their own death warrant, and now they want their governments to bail them out. Sorry guys, it’s if you were a mob boss, handed a loaded firearm to a teenager who you didn’t think would ever displace you. And you got shot in the head. You own this. It’s not up to society to make up for your shitty executive decisions and the unions who played along so as the checks kept coming in. Everyone is unhappy, well, … look in the mirror. They did this to themselves.
2) China did the same thing that Africa has done with mobile networks. You get to skip a generation. China never had a true domestic car champion using gas engines. They don’t have to change barrels on the fly like VW. They can start from scratch, see BYD. It’s like all the African mobile networks who haven’t laid a single kilometer of hard wire, they just did mobile from the top and it’s worked.
3) The 187 year old man in me doesn’t understand eternal and invasive software on cars. Or anything else. I bought my last car off the fact that it didn’t have a screen. But, I am already in the minority. The younger folks look at cars as an extension of square screens. The more integrated the car is, with oh so many different screens and options, the better. This is where VW failed, and where I fully admit I’m behind the times. A simple gas car ain’t gonna work anymore. People buy the car off it’s software first.
4) The most expensive part of an EV car is the battery. No gifts for the answer of who builds the vast majority of those batteries. See (1). To quote some guy, in a good movie, a long time ago: You will pay the price for your lack of vision. China owns rare earths and batteries because they had vision. Whereas most other countries were counting their money and were certain it would all remain the same. Sorry folks, it’s over.
5) China success’s in EVs is not because their country is so big. Everyone thinks China is so massive. In terms of population, yes. But most of that population is in like 1/3 of the overall territory. It makes sense then that long distance driving is not necessary. So why not EV. These aren’t folks driving to Tibet for a holiday. That’s what the bullet train is for.
6) The biggest mistake Western governments made with EV introduction was to ask that the cars come first and then the chargers would follow. Ever have that low gas light come on in your car? It’s not like somebody is jamming a dagger into your spine, but it’s an instantaneously thought to you. There is an inherent fear that your method of transportation is failing you. They should have built like 1M chargers first, then the cars. They didn’t, because they were stupid. It’s why Europe, who is somewhat just as population concentrated by China, hasn’t crossed the EV level. They didn’t build the chargers first. China has put the gas (battery) to the wall on both charger and cars.
7) I knew like five years ago the EV thing wasn’t going to work in America. All the EV proponents live in single family homes where they can install their own independent chargers. What was my former apartment complex gonna do? We all rent. Who’s gonna pay to install hundreds of chargers at each parking spot for those who rent? Nobody. The nearest chargers to my old apartment complex were at the grocery store. There were four of them.
8) None of what I said above is a surprise to the West’s business and corporate elite. They know these things. They just don’t lead anymore, so nothing gets done. Yes, a lot of China’s EV investment was provided by State funds, sure. Who cares? It’s not just about up front money. It’s a leapfrog in technology that the West’s car firms will take decades to transition to, with all the economical, labor, social, and political aspects all rolled into one = failure.
9) Our belligerent prediction? In fifty years everyone will be (mostly) driving Chinese made or at least designed EVs.
Have a nice day. Sit down and listen to a happy bird chirping. As I need to do.
My Guests and I watched the UNTOLD trailer for Pressure in immaculate detail. We didn’t eat popcorn (they don’t like it) so they ate raw meat while I ate chips.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on this degenerate blog about how Hollywood is finished. Here is another example of this. Please hold on as we discuss this most UNTOLD meaningless of topics. As always, we truly want to keep liquidation to an absolute minimum.
We will write this to bullet points to keep this as short as possible. Please bask in our intent to tell this UNTOLD story as best we can without 384 screenshots that would get this post copyright claimed.
If you want to go ahead and watch this UNTOLD trailer you can find it anywhere. But we advise you not to do that. If you haven’t figured it out yet, this trailer (and the movie) enrages us. We will not be seeing this in the theaters. Shocker.
The bullet points below are UNTOLD. But they are listed in chronological order. So if you are insane or otherwise mentally disturbed? Have this stupid, negligent blog post in hand so you can follow along with this 2:45 masterpiece of cinema if you want to watch it. But again, we ask that you don’t. Your individual clicks do matter. Even if on youtube this disaster has 20M views. 20M!? We’re all doomed.
– I’ve got nothing against Brendan Fraser. He’s a fine actor who is good to watch. But he’s taken (for whatever reason) some absolute garbage roles. I have not seen The Whale, because the topic is just cringe for me, but I’m sure he earned it.
– The part in Mummy where Fraser dual wields makes me happy to remember. It’s when movies were actually fun.
– TIGER was a D-Day rehearsal that got ambushed by a bunch of Nazi E-boats. If you want to know what misery until death is, think about what it meant to be crew of a Nazi E-boat. Brave dudes, no doubt, but they were slaughtered. And in the end, except for rare instances like TIGER, they were less than a rounding error to the war. But the trailer doesn’t mention that. They just say TIGER went bad. Um, …, other than the dead bodies, 99% of the people watching this trailer don’t know what you’re talking about.
– My Guests broke into a secret Nazi archive and discovered Hitler was informed that (obviously) TIGER meant the invasion was imminent. Hitler apparently told all his generals that the Soviet attack occupied 94% of his time and to fuck off. So they did. Then when the invasion happened, Hitler slept late. And none of the generals would wake him, and they’re like: Well, he did tell us to fuck off, didn’t he?
– “Based on the Untold True Story”. Uh, so, ah, I’m pretty sure D-Day is one of the most written about events in human history. But the word UNTOLD gets clickbait on youtube. Clickbait works time and time again. People just blindly click without thought. See Tok too. It’s why you youtube is pushing Shorts so much. So the trailer throws UNTOLD in there to get eyeballs for two more minutes. Hence the 20M viewed. Our culture is fucked.
– You know, the weather reports have been so wrong these last few weeks I just stop checking them. I walk out to me Ma’s porch, feel the temperature, and look at the sky. I like this, it’s soothing. It’s also 87% more accurate than the weather goon who failed basic math in the fourth grade.
– They will portray this weather forecasting as a deep dramatic major subplot for movie purposes. Ignore the drama. Ike just basically made a gut call with the information he had. Port or starboard? He made a decision. He didn’t know if he’d be right. He just knew he had to make a decision. It could have gone so, darn, horribly, wrong. It’s why he had a prewritten failure letter in his pocket. I think he did this for himself. It was an act of confidence, and also a warm blanket. If he failed, he already knew what he was going to say.
– @ 1:08 in the video they have two hurricanes side by side to portray the weather danger. Are you fucking kidding me?
– They show Ike yelling for drama. Ike never yelled. It was not a leadership trait he used. To the point his fellow generals kinda thought he was asleep at the wheel. But, hey, whatever, movie, trash the guy’s reputational personality to make the film more intense.
– Paratroopers being shown out the door in broad daylight. When all of them dropped at night. Maybe the shot in the movie is them doing the daylight drop for training purposes? And they just shoehorned it into the trailer for action purposes? And in the movie they show the real drop at night?
– In the current Iran insanity, one of the news talking points was the 82nd Airborne battalions deployed would be dropped on Kharg Island. This is how little the media understands war. Go look up Kharg on a satellite map. Ain’t nobody parashooting into that concrete mess. Given the dangers of modern war, I wonder if anybody will ever do a large scale paratroop drop ever again? It’d be Looney Tunes.
– Shots of people talking about the weather while random shots of various clouds play. That’s not on the nose at all. Movie! This trailer makes me so excited. The dramatic music and quick cuts don’t tell me this movie is a complete con job at all.
– Andrew Scott is one of the greatest actors of our generation. He’s all over this trailer as the weather guy. What the fuck is he doing here? Maybe he needs a third boat? Is it to be in a big name movie and he gets a paycheck? Gee wiz. He gets top billing in this movie???!!! WHAT?!
– Lots o’ battle footage. You gotta have that. I mean, honestly, how can you have a deep-seated traditional drama film about Ike making a decision without nonsensical and completely pointless violence. I have not seen Oppenheimer and never will (different conversation), but I heard they never actually show the bomb being dropped on Japan. That is how things should be.
– Pressure is the laziest title you could ever imagine for this topic. As in, the PRESSURE of Ike’s decision, plus PRESSURE as in the weather. DO YOU GET IT!? What were they thinking? The answer is, they weren’t, undoubtably, at any point making this movie.
[cue 1950’s instructional video introduction lively music; cut to man standing on a large, rectangular blacktop; he wears a nondescript black uniform; military in nature; he nods at information he reads from his black iPad]
Uniformed Man: Yes, yes, brilliant. [looks up] Oh, hello, I’m Grand Parade Ground Major Obey, and welcome to “Technical Difficulties Must Always Be Explained Without Thought”. In this guidance you will acquire the skills necessary to achieve true independence! It is where you live, but are actually not alive. It’s win, win! I hope you’re paying attention little ones, because soon you’ll be growing up, passing that special moment of your lives, and are thus directly accountable for your behavior. [wags spiny finger] And we all want to make sure we’re following the rules, eh? So, let’s begin our voyage of discovery, shall we?
[quick cut to late middle aged man walking down sidewalk on a sunny day; suburbia, like late 1950’s; he is lightly whistling; is seen to be happy] “Mister, mister!” [lovable little crowd of scamps stops him] “Do you have the time, Sir? Mama says we have to be back at 11 for lunch.” [looks at wristwatch] “Why yes young man, but you all had better hurry, it’s already 10:43.” [man observes one boy with a small switchblade, opened; light laughter from man] “Now young man, you can’t run with a knife like that, it’s unsafe, put it away now then.” [sheepishly] “Yes, Sir.” “Now run along little guys, don’t be late.” [boys scamper away, laughing]
[extreme record screech]
GPGM Obey: Now what was unhappy with that? Don’t they all look so content, a perfect interaction for a grand sunny day, right?
[menacing eyes] Wrong.
For you see, everything about this was incorrect. First off, that man should have taken out his smartphone and filmed the young little boy with the knife in hand. Then he should publish the content on all his social media accounts to shame the boy. But he’d be sure not to verbally tell the boy to put the knife away.
After all, we can’t interfere with total strangers. It might make somebody upset. [wry laughter] Also, the man should not have told them the time like a Gentleman. He should have admonished them with screaming profanity for being late and being so silly to not have a phone of their own. This type of behavior is necessary to make our modern world bright. [cynical laughter]
And don’t you think for a second the man could have pointed to his wrist to indicate the concept of time. [laughter] For you see, in our modern world where everybody obeys the rules, people have lost the concept of the gesture to the wrist to indicate the concept of time. And after all, if such simple gestures are not understood between humans? Well, that makes my job easier. [cynical laughter]
So in order to continue the doom, and to make sure everyone obeys the rules, we have to punish this man for being a normal human being.
[quick cut to scene of man executed by a jackboot firing squad; the brutality is horrific as he is broken in half by a barrage of large caliber rifle rounds to the torso]
Well, little ones, that’s all the time we have for today. But remember, what you’ve learned today, always applies at all times. And don’t forget, if you’re not following the rules? We’ll know. Huh, huh, huh.
if you showed this picture to anyone south of the age of 30, would they know what it means if the words “technical difficulties” was not printed atop of it? every youtube video puts those words atop of it when they show this, because they think you are stupid, and know nobody knows anything anymore
James Earl Jones will always be known as Vader, perhaps first above all. Which is sad, because he did so many other things. He was never a full blown star, but an exceptional, generational actor. Even where he plays the villain in Conan, you cannot help but be captured by his presence.
But one cannot also deny the power of his voice. Vader is played by some guy in a suit. Every word Jones does is off camera. But his voice acting makes you believe he’s everywhere. I was thinking about this earlier today. If you want to know what menace sounds like, this is it:
Jones was also a noted and absolutely brilliant master of Shakespeare. Here is another example of how he owns the room. In this case, him reading poetry at the White House. I get it that many people aren’t into Shakespeare, but I’m a nut for it. This is a short clip, five minutes or so. Even if you’re not into this kind of thing, quick watch, it’s enthralling.
Fresh cut flowers can somewhat claim a room. But generally speaking, there is a reason the concept of sniffing flowers exists.
But when you cut the grass, it’s smell is so unique and it’s everywhere. The smell remains for most of the day.
I’m not saying I’m unhappy with this. [shrugs] I’m just making an observation. I’m sure there’s a scientific reason for this. I guess? [shrugs]
Enjoy your day!
at some point it might be a good idea to do a long form post on how the green grass yard concept came about; for most of human history, this idea would have laughable
For those who are unaware, Instagram is 100% owned by Facebook, which is actually Meta, just by a different set of names. They’re all essentially one company. I don’t think most Americans know this, if they read this, it never stuck in their brains.
It’s along the lines of the fact that I think most Americans don’t know that Bud and Miller are both foreign owned.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded Instagram, then with the same move as Jan Koum with WhatsApp, they both sold out. They’re all part of the same Meta (actually Facebook) ecosystem
Hey, when I mean sold out? They did the work, and they got their fortunes for it. I just don’t have a brain that can hate on this anymore (with so much else too). It’s become so common you’d be angry every day to the point of absolute insanity. For example, see the Paramount Skydance merger and tell anyone with straight face that the game isn’t rigged. Good luck Hollywood, as we posted about two weeks back, you’re finished anyways.
[just to get this outta the way; because ragebait rules The Internets; this is not a pro/con Trump post]
I most certainly watch too much of online video on YouTube or Tubi or whatever. I need to pick up a book I haven’t read yet. But sometimes, absolute passiveness is needed. It’s the same thing, only in moderation is what is always needed. As with anything in life.
Anyways, the ads online shake up based on what corporations want you to see, to influence you. It’s not just ads for products you can buy. But also, political topics, or to shape the opinion of anything to the audience (you) in certain direction forever. You’ll see the same ads again and again and again. Because (whoever) paid Facebook to do it. Or paid Google (Alphabet) for YouTube to air it, or on and on and on.
Thus, my Guests and I give you what has magically appeared on The Internets in the last week or so: Instagram Teen Accounts
Gee, I wonder why? It’s not like almost a dozen countries are working to establish laws that ban certain parts of social media for anyone like below the ages of 13-16. I mean, I’m sure these teen accounts idea is because Facebook cares about children. Honest.
In other news, Facebook will always win. So why bother with getting ahead with these “ads”? To shape the narrative. Facebook knows they’ll win, but before this gets out of hand in America, writing the script ahead of time gets them ahead of the lawyers, lobbyists, donors, and the average person. Which means less money paid out to get away with what they do.
In other news, Facebook (along with many The Internets others) are in a tight spot right now. I’m sure they care about the children. Or any potential forthcoming regulation that would require them to back away with algorithms that are specifically designed to addict people. Of any age.
If I was Facebook, I wouldn’t worry. Congress can’t regulate a dog kennel. But better safe than sorry.
Hmm, also, so, … everyone should know that you can go to YouTube (or dozens and dozens of other sites) and watch almost all of their videos without ever signing in, right? No matter how horrible the content is.
If nobody signs in, the browser/app/site/whatever is incapable of determining the age of the user or that it’s a child. The Internets companies saying their algorithms can inherently determine the age of the user is a bold faced lie.
There are parental controls available on the physical devices children use. The device has that power. The Internets doesn’t.
If a seven year old stumbles upon a Ukraine drone snuff film where Russians are horribly butchered (well, …, maybe that’s not a bad thing). If they’re not logged in? Nothing can stop them. Then what’s the point of all this multi country legislation?
Regulation cannot replace good parenting. In any form.
The Arcturus Project 