The Crowd at 50 [272]

If you follow me on any number of various world wide web portals you know I turned 50 yesterday. The truth is 49 always felt like a desperate, forced age. Like "look, I'm not 50 yet!!!" so for most of the last year if someone asked how old I was I just said 50, so I sort of let the air out of that tire a while ago so to speak. But in case you had any question there's no questioning it now, I'm officially old. And don't anyone older than me reply back with some youngster comment, you are old t...

The Crowd is Chaotic [271]

Hi Crowd! Things have been a bit scattered recently, by design or just unfortunate timing it seems like one can barely digest the chaos of the day before being presented with the next wave of complications. This manifests in many ways, doom scrolling and retreating into known comfort zones among them. I don't know that I have either a solution or a useful processing method, though certainly find myself hunting for one almost daily. My list of things I want to write to you about continues to g...

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Los Angeles

I visited Los Angeles for the first time in February of 2001. I’d passed on previous opportunities to visit because I assumed it would be a place I’d hate. The only things I knew about it was there were lots of earthquakes and fake people. I didn’t work in the movies, had no interest in plastic surgery or fancy cars and generally didn’t think there was anything I’d find interesting there, so why bother? I eventually decided to check it out not for any grand reason other than that it was reall...

The Crowd: It's All Water Under The Bridge [270]

Hi Crowd! [Insert obligatory "I haven't written to you since last year" joke followed by copious laughter] The most persistent new years eve memory I have pegs back to perhaps '94 in Gainesville, we'd all just gotten home from some new years eve show happening at the Hardback with which bands I've forgotten but certainly loved with all my heart at the time, and when I say home I mean the shitty 8 unit breezeway apartment complex I lived in at the time of which 6 of the 8 apartments were occup...

The Crowd Lights A Fire [269]

Hi Crowd!So before we get into it, some good news this week: The ICC finally issued arrest warrants for some war criminals. That took too long, but it's in motion now and that's great. Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination for AG because of too much attention into alleged "sexual misconduct" and payments to underaged girls. Quietly laughing about the people who told me over the last week that this was all unfounded smear campaign lies. Gary Gensler announced that he will resign in January. Baby ...

The Crowd: The Socials [268]

Hi Crowd!A little more than a year ago I wrote about the end of social media. I think a lot of what I wrote there holds true and is more obvious from this perspective, especially if you consider the trajectory X/witter is on. Regardless of how you personally feel about Musk or any of his choices (like removing block functions and unbanning abusers) the fact that he's moved from apolitical to heavily pushing one side, and will have a role with the incoming government, it's fair to consider thi...

The Crowd On The Eve [267]

Hi Crowd!Before we jump into it just a reminder that there are preorders available for my UNFINISHED PROJECTS photos book, as well as PUNKS NOT DED, my unofficial companion to Phaidon's soon to be published CRYPTOPUNKS: FREE TO CLAIM. I'm using a new printer for these, and just ordered 10 test copies of UNFINISHED PROJECTS which, if they look good, will serve as a limited pre-release edition before I do the full initial print run and those will be prioritized to the first orders I get on the ...

The Crowd Questions Intelligence [266]

Hi Crowd!Before we get into it, I have some new books available for preorder. I won't spend time shilling, info in the links. Also before we get into here's something unrelated: Millimetric is guitar maker out of Montreal who has a set of custom shapes that are just beautiful. I've never touched one in person but people I know who have speak highly of them, I just think they are gorgeous so I follow along. Turns out the guy (I don't know his name as I've never spoken to him, Florian maybe?) h...

The Crowd is self aware [265]

Hi Crowd!My friends and family in Florida are about to get rekt by Milton, well I should say the ones who didn't get rekt last month by Helene are going to get rekt by Milton and the ones who got rekt before are going to get further rekt. It sucks. I'm sending all the posi vibes I can from a distance, at little help as that is. The next 48 hours are going to be bonkers, as Milton is already breaking records in a very, very dangerous way. Anyway... Does anyone here use Telegram? I'm in a few b...

The Crowd: History Lessons [264]

Hi Crowd!Some of you know that I spent a few elementary school years living in Texas. It's true, 4th through 7th grade my young mind was shaped and molded by the educational department of the Lone Star State. Even more exciting, during those years I attended private religious schools, so you can imagine the curriculum. I sometimes wonder what my life would have looked like if we'd never moved out of the state, if I hadn't been kicked out of those schools, etc.. funny where paths end up leadin...