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.
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.
For whatever reason, it just seems to me that so many people are out on the warpath to nepotism lately. Whether it be politics, sports, acting, lion tamer, business, arctic explorer, and the local butcher.
Why are all these people where they are because of their bloodline? Isn’t that unfair? It’s a valid question. It’s been one that’s been asked for over 5K years.
It’s just human. We can’t get over it. We’ll never get over it. If anybody thinks we can get over it: I refer you to Cnut and the tide.
The very idea of a hereditary monarchy is a form of nepotism. So are wills. So are people’s last names.
Is this a good thing? Probably not. But as we progress as humanity, we must always acknowledge at the beginning that we are who we are. If we deny who we are? We can never become something better.
My Guests are pissed. But now that I’m posting again at a high rate? I am reminded that a lot of posts can be stream of thought. As in, nonsense. So, I’ll try and keep this brief (and likely somewhat fail).
We posted on the Oscar’s a few days ago. But two things. One, I should have provided some examples. Second, we did not properly give credit where credit is due.
First, the second. The quote, “Now everything sucks” I used is from Red Letter Media, specifically, Mike. If you’re into movies? This is a channel you cannot do without. Most, if not all, of current movie channels use their previous quotes. That’s how long they’ve been doing their excellent thing. I don’t even think a lot of channels realize they’re using the same words from the RLM guys from like a decade ago. It’s endemic. I realized I was using their quote a few days ago in my post, and should have credited them, but didn’t. Bad form. So here that is.
Second, the only reason people know the B movie Samurai Cop exists is because the RLM guys got into it years ago. Comparing this movie to Kurosawa’s’ Sanjuro is like asking anybody to step in front of a semi truck in motion and it’ll somehow all work out.
Samurai Cop is 1980’s/1990’s Southern California straight B garbage, but fun to laugh at. Sanjuro is pure art. If you want to know what I was talking about a few days ago? This is it. Here is an example I should have shown.
One is fun to laugh at. The other is pure art. You may disagree with me, but that’s for you to determine on your own. It’s great if you like superhero movies, or vampire movies, or Michael Bay laughing all the way to his mansion. I don’t mind either way. If you like something? Roll with it, joy is essential, especially in our stupid modern world. I guess I’m just telling you where my brain was at.
One is what Hollywood/(wider movie world; like Japan) used to be. The other is what Hollywood is today. Maybe I was a fool decades ago for not seeing it? The end start of the path that took decades to really happen? And it all fell off a cliff. Not sure?
I got my love of movies from many sources. But a ton of it was from my Grandma. She had her VHS collection. I’ve got my Blu Ray collection.
I think on this degenerate loser blog we’ve posted about the Oscar’s probably about half a dozens times over the years.
I can’t remember the last time I went to a movie theater. Nor the last modern movie I’ve seen at all. As one of the most accurate video creators said a few years ago: “Now everything sucks.”
I think Sinners is supposed to win big? I’ve not seen it, or ever will. But I guess it’s a movie with vampires. Gee, nobody has ever done that before.
Hollywood is finished. The Oscars are nothing currently more than (forgive my language) a complete circle jerk. Where they all think they are important and matter. When they don’t.
I wish it was the other way around. If a good movie I wanted to see in the theater came out? I’d watch it opening weekend. It’s not gonna happen. Culture has moved on. It’s just that the Oscar’s and Hollywood either don’t realize it or accept it.
I’m walking back from errands tonight after a good burger. I’m walking back to me apartment. I’ve walked this route hundreds of times. But there was an anti-ICE protest in my way. For whatever reason.
Think what you will of Trump or ICE or whatever. But don’t get the fuck in my way when I’m just trying to walk home in peace.
I thought about going around them. But then, like, I’m an American. This is how I get home. I’m just going to walk on. So, I walked thru their formation keeping my eyes straight forward. Any time I was blocked I just stood there staring forward and said nothing. Not matter what they said to me. When a body window opened, I just walked on like I’ve done hundreds of times.
But then this kept happening. Eventually (to their credit) the protest organizers told the others to let me pass. Like they owned the sidewalk, as in a medieval castle gate. Even though I hadn’t said a word. Then I walked home.
On one of the crosswalk signals I saw later on the way home, somebody had written in sharpie, “FUCK ICE”. I chuckled a bit. The person who wrote that probably felt a bit of happy in their spine when they wrote that. I made them feel good. Even though what they wrote means essentially nothing.
Our modern Western culture is about words and outrage and cultural conquest. Actions are irrelevant. As long as you say and write what you think (on either “side”) that’s enough. Then they go home and feel happy about themselves. Even though they have accomplished absolutely nothing.
At least at some level, I hope most humans anywhere, everywhere have heard of our great civilizations that at this point are thousands of years old: Sumera, Babylon, Egypt, China (in so many forms), Assyria, Hittites, Songhai, Inca, and on and on and on.
In what we now (incorrectly in my opinion) still call the Middle East and its surrounding areas you hear tell of a mysterious island at the center of Earth’s trading empire. Bahrain. Some references refer to it as Elam. There is an argument to be made that this is true as a civilization across the Persian Gulf from Bahrain was called Elam.
History at these eras goes far too back for comprehension. Maybe Bahrain was once a client state if not conquered by Elam. But the general consensus is to refer to that ancient island as Dilmun. It was never an empire or had any real power. It was essentially a permanent city state. It’s wealth and importance came as a trading post between parts of the world. In what we now (incorrectly in my opinion) call globalization, Dilmun was essential. In the world of the citizens of Dilmun, ‘globalism’ to them meant ‘life’, every single day.
If you ever have a chance to visit Bahrain, even for a brief flight layover, your one and only destination needs to be the National Museum. It’s a quaint swell place, and does a really, really good job of portraying the entire course of the island’s history.
When your island is inhabited by humans for almost five thousand years, things change. It is possible that Dilmun was once semi tropical, and in time turned to the blank desert it is today. But regardless of the weather, Bahrain being only a city state, and at the border of so many empires became what happens to people in their positions: A Doormat.
The number of different civilizations and cultures that conquered Bahrain are innumerable. Even today, the royal family ties their origins not to Bahrain. They came from Kuwait. They are Sunni. Yet the majority of Bahrain’s citizens are Shia (since the island is so close to Iran), this is the central reason why things don’t work quite so well there today.
Then maybe as much as a little less than half the people living there are South Asians who also make up so much of the people across the Arab world. They come for the money. They have essentially no rights. They put up with it because they earn many times more than they could at home.
There is so much more I could write about the above two paragraphs. But I just don’t feel the energy to do it. It can quickly devolve into a sad tale. Where you want to bathe in the misery. But when you talk to all these people, they aren’t broken. They’re trying, each and every day, regardless whether they are a citizen or not.
Also, sandstorms suck. So does the heat. Bahrain is surrounded by relatively shallow parts of the ocean. Which allows the humidity to skyrocket. In Kuwait even if it’s 120 degrees the dry heat is at least somewhat tolerable. In a 90 degree Bahrain morning with 100% humidity it will end you. It would be so hot that first thing in the morning I’d leave my flat for work and the entire pavement would look like it was drenched. Even though there was no rain. It kind of broke me I think. Even all these years later, I kinda really fear a lot of heat.
I went to Bahrain for work, and had to stay here a long time. I did not enjoy. Mostly because I missed my family. I also just had a hard time connecting with the entire idea of the island. More than once I walked thru the Shia zones where I was told never to go. They did not kidnap me or kill me. They barely even acknowledged my existence. They had their lives to live. Sunni verse Shia politics are there, but it doesn’t change their lives.
Then there are the South Asians. The best meal I ever had in Bahrain was at a Thali place with some coworkers that was in a dirty back alley and was completely packed. It was incredible. And this is coming from a guy who would want to play curling in traffic before being a vegetarian.
I never met a single person in Bahrain that I hated. Some people I didn’t like, but never hate. These people, regardless of their skin color, race, culture, history are all just trying to muddle through and improve their lives and the lives of their families.
But even with this wonder of human light, I still can’t put my finger on why I feel so uncomfortable with my time there. I don’t understand why. I guess all I can do is acknowledge that I definitely would never want to go there again. I would never recommend anybody travel there. But I don’t have a clear answer even to myself as to why.
But, they have a future. Let’s see where it goes.
my own shot, from my flat balcony; good luck to them all, I truly hope for the best
I wrote this original post seven years ago. SEVEN. Why did it take so long for the global elite to catch up to what was the exceedingly obvious even back then? Because they were all in on it. I wrote this in August 2019. After seven years it’s still a thing. Everyone is still covering their ass.
For the seven people and the squirrel who have been regular readers of this blog over the years, I’m going to try and start posting a bit again. Who knows if I’ll actually do it. But I have a travel post on my mind, we’ll see. I kinda of have to do it though. My Guests are telling me if I don’t reguarly post again they’ll pull the phone books out of the coat closet again. We can’t have that.
In the meantime, bathe in the misery. Those who are driving are horrible people. We’re all doomed.
Hope everyone enjoys the game tonight. This is why sports exist.
So, imagine you were a loser like me and were watching a D grade science fiction movie in your late teens. It’s winter, like it soon will be, so you’re curled up under a warm blanket with a female teenager at a friend’s house in the basement with like a dozen others. This is the best part of the forthcoming celebration of Halloween. The most overmarketed and destructive ‘holiday’ in human history (until you see how happy your niece is on site). Then you’re totally down with it.
Horror is the film type on vacation tis the season. But let’s say you instead watch a science fiction movie because the teen dude hosting the get together puts a science fiction movie on instead of horror. Because he’s even more a not sure how life works loser than you. And he just doesn’t get it. (PS I can’t stand horror movies; I hate watching humans suffer in any way)
In the opening scene of the movie the aliens bombard a human colony and kill millions. And everyone in the room is unhappy, but it’s the beginning of the movie and so everyone accepts the plot. Everyone intellectually accepts it. Then after about two hours you get to know the protagonists. You like them, they have a story. Then the aliens kill them all and everyone in the room is screaming.
Why do I write this nonsense? Have a look, because the fun of this post is over, I’m so, so sorry:
Everyone (the media and politico losers) is horrified that Trump (that guy they all hate) has let the military kill south of one hundred supposed drug dealers. If you know anything about the maritime world, you know these are not fisherman. Watch the video. These boats serve one purpose, but the press is stupid, so they can claim ‘fisherman’ on the craft that has two to four turbo outboards.
Drugs have killed millions of Americans for decades. Is it our fault? Nobody makes you get high. Supply and demand. If Americans want drugs, the bad guys will always find a way. These strikes aren’t even a rounding error. They simply mean nothing.
I used to think that legalizing everything was the answer. If you’ve been a reader of this awful blog, you’ve heard me write about it long ago. But now I’m no sure, modern opioids are off the scale in terms of immediate lethality. What’s the answer? I have no idea. But I’m pretty sure whether you are okay with it or not that a few dozen exploded drug boats ain’t gonna solve anything. Nor is complaining about it neither.
Millions of Americans have died from drugs. Everybody shrugs like it’s a science fiction movie. South of one hundred drug dealers get spiked and everyone is horrified. Umm? There’s got to be another answer, on both opinions. Either we find it, or Americans keep dying.
Let’s face it, if you don’t try very hard, you can choose a career path that adds little to no value to your own self worth or to humanity in general. You could be a mandatory Jersey gas pumper, mime, day trader, second hand snake oil peddler, investment banker, or komodo dragon wrangler.
But studies in the past have shown that most human beings think that if they were appointed emperor of Earth, that the world would be a better place. Which says a lot about us as a species, because it’s patently untrue. But hey, just take a look at who just got elected to Congress, and it’s easy to conclude your next door neighbor’s four year old is both better qualified and a better person.
But now here’s a chance to become not just your own boss, but your own royalty. Per the BBC, an entire abandoned village in Salto de Castro, Spain can be yours for like $250K, or about 11% of the price for a one bedroom flat in Frisco. Here’s an aerial shot of your future kingdom:
Now my first thought is the village is on top of a mountain because like a lot of the planet’s villages they were built on hills for defensive purposes against [insert any human or natural calamity here]. And I was wrong. The village was built in the 1950’s by a power company to house workers building a reservoir. You can just see the water on the right of the above shot.
So it’s not like it’s an ancient village, but I’m sure there’s history there. The Iberian Peninsula has a ton of history. And you can make your own history, for after your purchase of Salto de Castro, you can just straight go ahead and claim independence and appoint yourself to enteral, divine rule. Any person on the planet can apply to become your subject, for a fee, of course. I mean, you’d be royalty, and need coin.
Why should Monaco or Andorra have all the weirdo small state fun? Get in on the action, while you can. What’s the Spanish Army [cue laughter] going to do? Attack? [cue even more extensive laugh track] You could even get some mercs on the cheap to act as your royal bodyguard.
I hear there are a bunch of mercs in a place called [shuffles through notes] Ukraine who are having a hard time with their current boss and looking for a new gig in which they are not cannon fodder for a failed invasion. You could get them on the cheap. Though it would increase your chances of regicide by 723%.
In all seriousness though whoever buys this place is a fool. For $250K you get the honor to have to plow like $56M just to make it livable again. And it’s all industrial strength faceless buildings from the 1950’s that I doubt are seeping with culture. Plus if you look at the above pic, you can see the high tension power lines running up from the reservoir past the town. How peaceful.
Someone will do it though. There are all kinds of idiots with big money out there who are looking to blow it on crazy projects or vanity ideas. And Salto de Castro won’t be the last. In 2075 due to crippling rural depopulation you’ll likely be able to buy an entire Korean or Japanese province for a pack of salted shrimp snacks. After all, it’s good to be the king.
The Arcturus Project 