There’s an excellent HBO (excuse me, MAX) documentary called Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street that you bastards absolutely must check out. It’s a miracle the show ever happened, and the story is fascinating.
And the outtakes are hilarious.
Traffic, Splained
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This may have been obvious to you fine bastards, but it was kind of a new perspective for me. See you on the monorail.
Shit
My parents wouldn’t let me stay up to watch Starsky & Hutch, but I still get a thrill when I see an old Gran Torino.
David Soul—beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother—died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family. He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend. His smile, laughter and…
— David Soul (@DavidRSoul) January 5, 2024
The Internet’s Inevitable Enshittification
How platforms decay, as explained by Cory Doctorow to NPR. Finally a name for what we may not consciously recognize but deep down know is going on.
… I think Facebook’s a good example. Facebook went through the whole lifecycle of platform decay. They started off by offering a really good deal to their end users. They said, “Hey, leave MySpace, come to Facebook. It’s just like MySpace, except we only show you the things that you asked to see, and we’ll never spy on you.”
And then once those users were locked in — because once you’re in a place with all of your friends, it’s really hard to leave — they started to take away some of that good stuff they gave them, and they handed it to advertisers and publishers.
To the advertisers, they said, “We were lying when we said we weren’t going to spy on these guys. We’re totally spying on them. Here’s all the data you need to target them for ads that we’re not going to charge you much money for.”
And to the publishers, they said, “We are also lying when we said we’d only show them the stuff they asked to see.”
And then once the publishers and the advertisers were locked in, well, they took away those surpluses. The ads got more expensive. Publishers had to put more and more of their content — not just to get recommended, but even to be shown to the people who subscribed them. And that’s the final stage, the stage where there’s just only the residual value left on the platform that the platform owner thinks will keep the users and the business customers they bring in stuck to the platform. And that’s when we’re at the beginning of the end.
Further reading.
I’m Gonna Kill That Kid!
Every injury sustained in Homes Alone 1 and 2, explained by a trauma surgeon. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!
Seeds Documentary!
Not sure how a doc about some of my favorite proto-punks got past me. This goes straight to the top of my list if it’s available anywhere.
Sunshine and Holidays / Postcards to Write
This is just impossibly sweet. Apparently the song was the 1970 Eurovision winner from Ireland. Rest in Peace to both.
Drinking Irish Whiskey On The Irish Sea
You Bastards still haven’t listened to this yet, have you? I only listened to three or four new records this year, but this one is up there with any of my all-time favorites by any artist.
Came across the trailer above in an interesting interview with Isbell talking about working on Killers of the Flower Moon, which he was very good in as well. Ok, I’ll stop now.
High On The Low End
Christmas Past
I’ve got nothing new, but these holiday classics are worth re-posting.