Greetings, friends. It’s been a while since my last post so this will be a long one. To be perfectly honest, there’s been a lot of (good, healthy) changes. The main thing being that I’ve started taking anti-depressants, so that spiraling racing-thoughts ADHD brain of mine no longer dominates and I no longer feel compelled to attempt articulating these swirling thoughts and feelings, in which I previously had too much of. See below:
But I will always have an endless supply of fun lil internet finds. So here we go. But first an update on things I’ve been up to lately.
What I’ve Been Watching
Queer Ultimatum - Finally getting around to it. Man this show is… dramatic…
Fullmetal Alchemist - Also, but even more so, finally getting around to it. I can visualize so perfectly how every scene is formatted out in the manga lol.
Bee & Puppycat - HOW had I not watched this sooner??!? I love it so so so much so far. Very wholesome, very fun, very cute, very good.
Blue Lock - It’s so over the top but it’s great. Really scratches the board game/video game strategy itch for me.
Mushishi - Love the concept for each episode and how abstract the ‘horror’ of each episode is. Reminds me of how I really regret not taking this college course that was available to me that was called “Making Monsters”.
Game Changer - We’ve just been skipping around watching random episodes but they’re so much fun. Love that every episode is so different and weird and fun. New career goal is to work for these people.
This Fool S2 - It’s pretty funny
How To With John Wilson S3 - Just one episode out so far but it’s a good one. It’s about public toilets and I made the mistake of eating dinner while watching. Very very good episode.
Rapidfire Round: Movies - Howl’s Moving Castle, Across the Spider-verse, Joy Ride, Castle In The Sky, Nope, Nimona, Cool Runnings
What I’ve Been Reading
Thanks to the strikes and it being S u m m e r in general, I’ve had a lot of free time. Usually I waste my days watching TV and playing video games but this summer I’ve been reading a lot more.
Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany - This was a fun read but I kind of wanted more out of it. The author is most familiar with the One Direction fandom and is where she pulls most of her examples from. It was a fun retelling of some of the crazier/unique/innovative things that those fans have done but I wish there was more analysis and deeper dive into how the behaviors actually affected internet culture as a whole. I feel like I didn’t really actually learn much from this.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - LOVE LOVE LOVED this book. Apologies if this approaches spoilers territory, but one of my biggest pet peeves in any fictional story is when the two main characters fall in love for no reason. In Zevin’s book though, we see a platonic love that feels so natural and not forced to fit a narrative. I loved it so much. Also, non-binary video game main character! Which is a topic that’s talked about in the other book “Technically Wrong” that I mention below.
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson - Fascinating read. The idea is that public shaming was phased out in the 1800’s bc it was deemed too brutal to the people subjected to the public shaming. However, it seems we’ve brought it back in modern times with the help of social media but this time it has re-emerged more powerfully and dangerously. It touches on a lot of interesting subjects like crowd psychology and “doing things for good” and shame as a form of criminal justice. By the end, Ronson made a point that even though our use of public shaming is to call out those with bad behaviors/opinions who may (or may not) deserve it, all this is actually just creating a more conformist, conservative society because of the way we oust those who seemingly step just a bit outside of our boundaries that we consider ‘normal’. If anyone else has read this let me know bc I feel like there’s a lot I want to discuss!
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human Centered Planet by John Green - Having been such a long time fan of the Green brothers, I don’t know how it’s taken me this long to finally read this book. In a way I’m glad I’m reading it a few years later because it feels like a time capsule to the pandemic even though that was only 2-3 years ago. It’s interesting how much our lives were upended and changed so drastically so quickly, and it’s been fun to read his stories to remember how our reactions and feelings about it all were at the time. I haven’t finished this yet but I already know this is gonna be my new favorite John Green book. Possibly because for once his writing is not geared towards Young Adults, but man these essays are so good. I’ve been taking my time with this book because each essay feels like a very tasty morsel that I just want to take my time to chew and enjoy and appreciate.
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech by Sara Wachter-Boettcher - Just started reading this week. It’s about all the biases and blind spots in technology that excludes users who aren’t a young white male. It’s all these small design choices that are pervasive in our every day tech that reinforce the idea that young white male is the norm. Fascinating stuff.
Adult Swim is Bad at Marketing
I went to San Diego Comic Con last week. Every year, Adult Swim has something called “Adult Swim on the Green” where they set up a carnival full of games and free swag behind the convention center, with a stage for shows. I remember a previous year, I sat in on a live, improvised episode of Rick and Morty. I’m pretty sure they’re hosted an Anamanaguchi concert a few years ago too.
So I was walking by the Green on Saturday morning before the con and noticed “Ginger Root” up on the screen on their stage. Hey, I know that artist! I look up Adult Swim’s Instagram and sure enough, he’s playing there tonight. Sweet, a free concert! And it look’s like Saba is going on right after him. Great, a free concert for two artists I like!
I get there early to get a good spot for Ginger Root. He has a decent crowd. Adult Swim employees gave me a stuffed animal shark to promote Shark Week. Also a weird little Jerry toy/figurine. And some posters. Ginger Root performed, it was fun, it got dark, and Saba was supposed to be on next.
The weird thing was, Ginger Root’s fans left and there was… practically no one staying to watch Saba. Which is so weird because he has like… triple the Spotify listeners than Ginger Root. Saba starts his concert and it is… embarrassingly awkward because of the lack of crowd. He called us introverts. He was like “Okay I get it this is a nerd convention, you’re all shy, I’m just like you I get it”. (He said this all with a smile and in an endearing way, btw). The videographers up on stage with him eventually came down and got their footage from the crowd POV so as to not catch on camera how… sparse the crowd was. Adult Swim employees seemed visibly distressed and I noticed them spacing themselves out amongst the crowd to make it seem busier. I felt like I was the only person in the crowd who even knew who Saba was before this show, and that everyone else was a paid actor, and I’d just been pranked with my own personal Saba concert. It felt like such a fever dream of a concert, I had a hard time believing I wasn’t completely tripping.
“What I said earlier about you all being introverts? You’re the type at a concert who might not put your hands up after I ask you to, or clap your hands with me or repeat a chorus with me. That’s totally fine, that’s okay, this last song I’m going to perform for you is just for people like you. It’s called Smile. All I ask of you is to please just smile for me, enjoy this last song and just look like you’re having a good time. This is my last song and this is how I will remember this show. Please just smile for me.” I love him so much more now for how much of a champ he was throughout the show, going into it with such positive energy and having fun with it despite Adult Swim not doing ANY sort of marketing for this FREE SABA CONCERT.
Also, the Adult Swim employees handed me a toy Rick-mobile during the concert. Very cool. Very normal concert experience.
I Went To Open Sauce and Met The Algorithm in Two Different Ways
A few weeks ago, I went to San Francisco for Open Sauce which is basically a giant YouTube science fair. Like VidCon but just the mad scientists and engineers of YouTube. William Osman did a great job organizing this big event for the first time (while he had 6 week old baby mind you). Here were some of the very fun very official signage he had at the venue.
I had a hell of a lot of fun but most of the stories are reserved for retelling in person (sorry!) So without explaining how this came to be, my friend and I got into the YouTube Sponsored Creator Afterparty on Saturday. I drank a drink called “THE ALGORITHM”.
And then we found out that some YouTube executives were there at the party. And then we found out that included the guy who is literally in charge of the front page recommendations algorithm. So, obviously, Kat bombarded him with all these industry questions. ‘Twas a fun and interesting night. Sorry I can’t really tell you much more than that!
OK now the weird Internet Things
Blue Lick Road Tub Speedrun
Alright so back in 2020, the Redfin listing for 8800 Blue Lick Road went viral. Why? The listing included a 3D walkthrough of inside the home and these screenshots below will explain why people found this… very amusing.
I’ve always loved seeing other people’s living spaces. It tells you so much about a person or a character. You get some unspoken insight on their habits, their interests, their personality. It’s their private intimate space that they’ve curated for themselves.
But the pure chaos and clutter at 8800 Blue Lick Road???? People did eventually discover that the owner used the house as a warehouse for his bulk resale business. My favorite part to come from the virality of this though?
People started uploading speedruns from when you click into the 3D walkthrough tour to when you get to the strange blue bathtub room in the middle of the house. Which like… I just love how gamers will gamify literally anything. Please allow yourself to enjoy this guy’s speedrun not only so you can experience the clutter and enigmatic maze of a home but also because this guy narrates some good tips and tricks if you want to try doing a speedrun of your own :)))
Here’s a fun web browser game you can play: How many U.S. Cities can you name?
Also I’m on Bluesky now. HMU if you wanna add me :)
Thanks for catching up with me! See ya next time! Smooches from Joc!
