I believe he also now has a library card.
He does!
it says don’t talk to me until I’ve had my barley mash with pomegranate syrup and dried dates
Cannot consumption of AI be considered an art expression?
Of course it can, and performance art is art, but I feel like it's important to know that the art being eaten was a series of AI generated images reflecting the artist's experience of AI psychosis and commenting on the way that AI use changes the users' interactions with the world. The images were generated by someone who has been using image generation tools in their art since 2017 and who was educated as an artist using traditional techniques.
The piece that the protester ate was made by an MFA student and wasn't an attempt to "pass off" generated images themselves as art, the art was the presentation of the images and their sequence and variety (there's an element of obsessive iteration visible even in the remaining images - an empty room, the same room with different light, the same room with a smiling woman on the bed, the same woman standing in different poses, which speaks to me of someone furiously attempting to construct a comforting reality and finding the tools in your hands inadequate, but that's just my interpretation of what remains).
For the record, Nick Dwyer was the MFA student whose art was eaten. "The intersection of art and AI" is a huge theme in his work.
Like. He made a ceramic sculpture of an AI girlfriend, then generated an AI image of the sculpture and called them one and two in a series.
He made ceramic "phones" and inscribed them with cuniform and ai image hieroglyphics that he carved into the clay.
I've talked a lot about how I think that AI has a place in the creation of art and I think Dwyer's work is genuinely a perfect example of someone using AI to create art.
Again, I also think that performance art is art and eating a portion of the gallery piece is certainly an interesting statement, but I wonder if the protestor would be as outraged by the ceramic phones with AI images engraved on them. How much human touch or human intention does "slop" need before it's art, or is it fruit of the poisoned tree and must always be considered slop because AI was part of the process?
story time: i taught my little cousin her first longer word when she was very young. i taught her to say “tax benefits”. and to this day my aunt still doesn’t know where she got it from, but it was a hilarious sight to see a little toddler waddling around the house, wearing a big diaper, all the while yelling “TAX BENEFITS!!!!”
My parents did this with me and “nuclear disarmament”.
I taught my little brother to say “micro-surgical vasectomy reversal” (saw it on a billboard) on a road trip, and he didn’t stop saying it for literal years.
My parents taught me to chant “Get your laws off our bodies!” for a pro-choice rally when I was like four and I went to preschool and taught all the other kids the chant and led them on a mini-parade around the playground and the teachers were like ?????????? ?????????? ????????????
whenever my brother threw a tantrum as a baby my parents would chant “live free or die” until he calmed down it was fuckin weird
when i was a kid whenever we got stuck in traffic my dad would say “what the fuck?!?” in a very comic voice and i would repeat it and then he would say it with a slightly different inflection and i would repeat that too and so forth and so basically my poor mother would be stuck in standstill traffic listening to her husband and 4 yr old daughter swearing at each other without end
i’m a preschool teacher and we like to joke around using radical vocabulary with the children, the other day i overheard one kid say ‘this is my truck’ and the other one said ‘no, this truck belongs to the collective’; they all say it now
whenever anyone picks up my daughter or she goes upstairs, she announces “I ASCEND” it’s the best thing
@kaity–did I nominate teaching Penny “I ASCEND”
Penny’s go to is “MAKE ME TALL”
plagued-by-visions asked:
hello, your post about things in the UK that would confuse/shock other countries just came across my dash and I was wondering if you had anything else you’d add to that list? I’m moving to the UK from the US next year for my graduate degree and I’ve barely gotten the social customs in the US down I need to start learning
abbiistabbii answered:
I will not give you “shocking or confusing things”, but I will give you protips. First…
The Important shit.
The UK is made up of three (and a bit) nations with their own cultures, customs, identities, languages and histories. Do not call the whole of the UK England, especially in Northern Ireland.
Also, When you see the UK in popular media, they never leave London. If you’re not going to London (idk where you’re going), bare that in mind. The Buses will be a different colour, and you’ll see things that most Americans wouldn’t think about. Also the transport will be different in general. If you’re going to Manchester, you’ll have the Metrolink, Edinburgh will have the Trams, Newcastle will have the Metro, Glasgow will have the Subway, you get the idea. You will also have your friends and family insisting you join them in London, even when it’s three hours away, and they will refuse to join you in Manchester despite it being very very cool and you wanna show them the cool places there.
If you are going to London, try leaving London. Brighton is a nice day trip, it’s an hour away by train and it’s basically the UK’s Gay Capital.
If you’re not going to London, ask the Locals what’s around, because there’s so many cool places that are outside of London. Here’s a list of things Americans don’t know about but should (That aren’t Edinburgh, you Americans know about that place already):
- York: VERY pretty city in Yorkshire. Yes, this is the OLD York people were talking about.
- The Lake District: Beautiful, epic landscapes that inspired Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
- Snowdonia: Wales’s answer to the Scottish Highlands and as a Scot I agree.
- Galloway: Scotland’s South Coast.
Also, our emergency services number is 999. If you need the Police, Fire, Ambulance or RNLI, dial 999. If you’re in a location without an official address, they accept what3words addresses so keep what3words on your phone.
Now the useful shit
POSTCODES
Our version of Zipcodes are called “Postcodes” and they are very handy and if you live in an area long enough they become a piece of your mental geography.
They’re formatted like “EH10 6SQ”. The first two letters are the postcode district, basically the whole of the UK has been split up into them, the second indicate the postcode area, which is the subdivision of the district, and the last three letters indicate the street or part of the street. In London, the postcodes are based on cardinal directions like “W2 5AL” so bare that in mind.
I’m telling you this because it’s useful. Your full postcode isn’t your full address, but giving it to a Taxi driver or typing it into Google maps will get your to near enough your house. And the first half of the post code will tell your roughly what part of a city someone is talking about. Want to know what takeouts deliver in your area? Type in your postcode into Just Eat (our version of Doordash). Want to know the weather in your area? Type the first half of your postcode into the Metoffice search bar and it’ll give you it. Getting a taxi home or need to tell someone what to type into their GPS, full postcode.
Eventually you will see a Job listing or an address and look at the postcode and go “EH6? Ah yes, that’s in Leith”.
Phone Numbers
We format our phone numbers differently here. All phone numbers begin with a 0, then the area code, and then the rest of the number. 020 is the dialing code for London, the other large cities have four number codes (0131 for Edinburgh, 0141 for Manchester), places outside the big cities will have longer area codes.
Mobile numbers start with 07, 0800 is the freephone number, and if you want to give your number to your mother for international calls, replace the “0” with +44.
Supermarkets
There are four “big” supermarkets, equivalent to Target or Walmart.
- Tesco: Our “Walmart” but a lot less problematic. Known for being middle of the road if a little low quality.
- Sainsbury’s: Known for being more expensive, equivalent to Target. Sells a lot more non-food stuff at their big stores.
- Morrisons: Better quality food, but kinda the “third option.”
- ASDA: Known for being the “cheapest” but also not as big as the first two.
If you are near a Tesco, get a clubcard. You will not only get Clubcard Prices (saving you money) but you will also get vouchers to get money off your shop after your earn 150 Clubcard points. Morrisons have the same deal with “More card” where if you have their loyalty card you get money off things, but idk about the other two.
The Discounters are Lidl and Aldi. Aldi are the better for the two in price and quality.
There’s also Coop, which runs local stores and Scotmid, that does the same thing, but in Scotland. You’ll see these out in the stix usually.
There’s the “luxury” supermarkets, M&S food and Waitrose, both are expensive but Waitrose is kinda based because they’re Workers are also shareholders, despite being a luxury brand. It’s weird when I think about it.
And there’s Iceland and Farmfoods, which are the Frozen food people. The former sell baked bean pizza if you are curious.
Dialects
The UK has a fucktonne of dialects. You’re already aware of Scots and maybe Yorkshire, but stay here long enough and you’ll learn them if you’re a native English Speaker. If you’re not, you might find you speak those dialects with an accent, confusing everyone.
Animals
We have few venomous animals, and none of them are dangerous. You might find adders in the hills but they will be more likely to flee than bite and they very rarely bite. If they bite a child or a dog, get help because they’re dangerous to them but generally they won’t. Water Shrews are venomous but won’t bite. Yes, they’re a mammal.
It you’re out in the country, don’t fuck around with cows, especially bulls. They’re the animals that will fuck you up if you don’t respect them. Don’t fuck with calves or their mothers will fuck you up. Also deer. Don’t fuck around with deer, especially in rutting season. All common sense really.
We don’t have opossums (much to my great disappointment) or raccoons, bluejays, cardinals or the like, but we do have the following animals you might see, even in an Urban/suburban environment:
- Foxes
- Rabbits
- Hedgehogs
- Badgers
Keep an eye out for them, but look, don’t touch. If you see any of them in trouble, or have concerns about any animal, call the RSPCA (In England and Wales) or the SSPCA (in Scotland).
OK, more quick things.
- Scotland has right to roam laws, meaning you can go through farmers fields as long as you don’t fuck with their crops or animals, keep gates closed, and keep your dogs on a leash. This is one of the greatest things about Scotland. Look up the countryside code for more information
- Scottish law is different from English law, also bare this in mind. We have stricter Drink-Drive laws up here, you can’t drink alcohol on trains between 2100 and 1000 the next day, Supermarkets can’t sell alcohol between 2200 and 1000 (if you wanna get a drink between those times, go to a bar), and we have a different legal system.
- British service stations are going to feel more like shopping malls or Airport terminals than “Rest Stops”. They’ll have fast food outlets, a WHSmiths or similar, and a place you can get coffee. As well as toilets.
- Every National Rail Railway station has a three letter code. You might want to remember the ones for your local station and the station you get off at so you can look up train times quicker.
- Due to the Online Safety Act, you might be asked to give your ID to a shady third party. The OSA isn’t like the great firewall of China where they censor things critical of the British Government (and our newspapers are basically 4chan with political power), but it’s still not a good idea to give your ID or face away like that. Use a VPN to avoid it. Proton is trusted and does a free version (albeit with slower speeds) but you can get a subscription for £10/month and with that you get Email, cloud storage, Passwords, Calendar and a Crypto Wallet. The VPN app is available for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Linux (it has a Flatpak and is on pacman if you’re on Arch). Worth the investment and when you return to the US, it will be an investment from all the US’s bullshit too. If you want to blame someone for it, blame the Carnegie foundation.
- We have wild Weather here. Not quite “hurricane” weather but close enough and enough to put your life at risk if you’re not careful. Keep an eye on the Weather, there’s a reason we’re so obsessed with it here. Yellow Weather Warning means “it’s gonna be a bit wild out there so be careful”. Amber means “Shit’s wild, you might want to reconsider your plans and there will be disruption to travel and shit.” Red means “STAY THE FUCK HOME UNLESS IT’S 100% NECESSARY”. You will know of a red weather warning because you will get an EAS alert on your phone.
- Buy wet weather gear, like a proper rainjacket with a hood from a hiking shop, You will need it. It raimy, it wimdy.
- Quick word about the EAS system: EAS works on our phones. if there is a test, it will be announced on TV beforehand so people with hidden phones can prepare. It’ll go off in the event of things like Red Weather Events, Major incidents, Unexploded World War 2 bombs, nuclear attacks, or disasters. It sounds like this, your phone will vibrate and a message will appear saying what’s going on and what you need to do. If you know someone without a smartphone like an elderly neighbour, chap on their door and tell them what’s going on.
- We don’t have jaywalking laws here. If it’s safe to cross the street you can. Just look both ways and be careful. Don’t walk on Motorways or Dual Carriageways but streets like high streets and city streets are fine to cross without a crossing. Just remember “Stop, Look and Listen”. This is also something you need to remember when crossing level crossings at railways.
- Public transport here is better and less stigmatized. Everyone uses it. Don’t feel you need to drive everywhere. Yes, even the bus.
This is so useful thank you so much!! I’m going to be in London and I am very excited for the better public transit system.
I remembered like last week there were no opossums in the UK and was heartbroken as they are also one of my favorite animals and momentarily rethought my life plans. Venomous water shrew was unexpected I’ll give you that.
The weather (you mentioned in the other post as well how it gets dark at 4) seems like it won’t be all that different from the northern midwest in how it gets dark/cold and how it’s wild, but I also imagine the rain storms are a bit worse due to the proximity to the ocean.
This is all very useful, again thank you so much!!! I feel like a lot of people I’ve talked to focus on the bigger things/more abstract things at times so this is so useful.
No problem, please remember to leave London now and again because London isn't the whole UK.
An actual dnd character concept I run as a recurring NPC in all games Mara plays: a barbarian halfling who thinks he's a paladin, and who's been so blessed by the gods everyone seems to believe him.
Mechanically, in addition to normal combat mechanics, players have to succeed against numerous dexterity saves as the world around them contrives to make this little bastard successful regardless of his own ineptitude.
never forget when saruman literally told gandalf "you've been smoking too much weed bro"
"You're smoking too much weed," says the guy who got addicted to manosphere podcasts on his orb and started a fascist militia with a side hobby of deliberate environmental destruction. Started cutting down trees to own the woke elves.
I hope Rian Johnson gets to make as many Benoit Blanc movies as there are Agatha Christie adaptations and more. I hope Daniel Craig gets to play the dapper, enigmatic, theater gay detective Benoit Blanc until he physically can't act anymore. And I hope that role far overshadows playing James Bond for years as his artistic legacy.
Johnson is the first writer in a long time to understand that the the serial detective archetype is a trickster spirit who takes power from the violently corrupt, and gives it to a common person who has passed his tests to prove they're good of heart and would use those resources to improve the world.
lets start wearing cloaks and swords again. its time
Okay - but the backpack under the cloak makes me look misshapen.
This is true. I’ve been trying to embrace the band t-shirt, jeans, hoodie, and cloak look, but I stop short when it comes to the backpack silhouette. Then I spent a few days walking around with a shoulder bag and the uneven weight made my old back and hips hurt. Maybe I should have worn a sword on the other hip?
Veteran LARPer and wife of a reenactor chiming in to help -
The length and style of the cloak matter. If long ones are too cumbersome, try a shortcloak. If the classic center part design doesn’t work for you, try a poncho or offset style or something with arm slits or a ruana. If the closure digs into your neck, try something with a lower closure (below the collarbone) or longer ties that you can loop under your arms for comfort or ease of movement.
The material makes a huge difference too. You want something sturdy and serviceable, suited to the weather and your personal comfort. Velvet LOOKS pretty, but real velvet is heavy as fuck, requires a liner, and doesn’t do well in the rain. Wool is excellent for cloaks, but you need to make sure you’re getting good quality that’s properly done up for water resistance, with a liner if you don’t want it next to your skin. Canvas is another option, especially if you’re expecting rain. (I’ve had good experiences in cloaks with a nice thick cotton shirting and moleskin fabric with a soft liner.)
As for the bag/backpack part, Alex is correct - balancing the load makes a huge difference. Carry your bag crossbody (or on your back) whenever possible and pad the strap if you need to. There are some bags that are convertible between a messenger bag and backpack style. Try adding a belt pouch or leg holster on the opposite side from where you carry your shoulder bag. Tightening the bag straps can help, so it’s not hanging so low or swinging around so much. Keeping the size and the load reasonable for your needs, or spreading it between more than one carrier, is important too.
And here’s the bit that gives people hell - large shoulder or crossbody bags and backpacks should be worn OVER your cloak. Medium and small bags can be worn underneath. The main deciding factor is comfort, but also take into account the style of the cloak and how easily you need to be able to take the bag off to access the contents.
Also? LAYERS. Just like with coats. Layer appropriately for comfort, weather, and itinerary. And when in doubt, a walking stick is always a good idea.
Have fun!
I second all this.
Also ruana cloaks are really comfy and easy to make. I count them among the most comfortable and accessible cloaks. It’s literally a couple yards of fabric with a slit 3/5s of the way up the middle (you can round the very end in a kinda tear drop shape for extra comfort nicer drape).
image from this reddit post, and it really shows why I like the Ruana cloak so much
Not pertinent to anything in particular but I do think it's kinda weird that we keep depicting cavemen in media crawling around on all fours covered in dirt with tangled, matted hair, speaking in broken, cobbled-together toddler language when like.
They were us.
Like literally genetically they were US, just like. A while ago.
Like
Would you trust a TV caveman with a baby? Probably not
A real life caveman though??? I think they'd be at least okay at it
This is actually really important and comes up in Anthropology classes all. The. Time.
As long as homo sapiens have existed, we have had the same emotional and mental capacity as you and I do today. You nailed it. They were US. Even Neaderthals existed alongside and had offspring with Homo Sapiens for many thousands of years.
There's much evidence that cavemen would have had complex spoken language, culture (learned information passed down), symbolic interpretation, and I think they most certainly would have been able to handle holding a baby. In fact I have my suspicisions that an ancient homo sapiens mother may be a more present, attentive, and knowledgable mom than I could be today.
Do not let media trick you into believing we are the pinnacle of humanity. Unilinial evolution theory (google it quick I beg) is BUNK, GARBAGE, and the root of so much evil.
We've been human for a long, long time, and we are not inherently better than all those who came before.
One the most profound experiences of my life was visiting Font de Gaume, which has 12 thousand year old paintings. They use a technique where the horses appeared to run across the wall when seen in flickering firelight. There was a bison the wall staring at us with such attitude, I could practically hear him. I had the most profound feeling of those ancient artists reaching forward to lay their hands on my shoulders. To say, "This was my world." It was a profoundly moving experience.
Some years later, I went to the Orkney islands where we visited a tiny family run museum of artifacts from the chambered tomb at the other end of the farm. They handed me a pestle once held by some neolithci human.They'd worn groves where the thumb and forefinger would be for better grip.
One time, in a French history class, my teacher randomly at the end of the class had all of us draw a sketch of a horse. And we were all like ??? Okay???
At the beginning of the next class, my teacher showed us a cave painting of a horse. And then he showed all of our horses, which he had scanned and put into the presentation.
He then pointed out all the ways that our horses looked similar to the prehistoric horse. Same features, drawn from the same angle, etc.
And then he asked us, "Isn't it cool that you draw horses the same way as someone who lived 20,000 years ago?"
Yeah. That stuck with me for a while.
batbetbitbotbut asked:
"while some of my deepest held beliefs are about playing with string" <- I am curious, what is a playing-with-string belief you hold deeply?
dangerphd answered:
every human culture on earth figured string out, inventing and creating tools to work with whatever material was convenient.
then, every human culture figured out fabric. woven, netted, naalbind, crocheted, knitted, sprang, whatever.
fabric is
warmth (clothes, rugs)
cool (shade and sunscreen)
the ability to travel (bags/slings to pack and carry infants and food and tools…SAILS)
shelter (tents)
safety (wound binding, injury splinting, sling support)
so, the belief is this: string and fabric connect every single human to every single other human in an unbroken web millennia in the making and heading unbroken for the horizon like fresh warp.
playing with string is connected to alladat, and I find spinning on a double treadle wheel to be one of the best activities for achieving a contemplative and meditative state, because all four of my limbs are engaged and that’s enough to occupy my monkey mind and free up the thinking me.
i love the way this is worded because some of my deepest held beliefs are about playing with mud and fire!
every culture also figured out pottery and ceramics! our oldest ceramic cooking pots are at least 20,000 years old and our oldest evidence of controlled fire is 800,000!
cooking our food is the difference diffrence between us and every other living species on our planet, being able to control fire made the difference. All of it all comes back to that. We should thank Prometheus for his gift.
now we weave and compress CERAMIC FIBERS into sheets to make the shell of rockets and use combustion engines to send us to fucking space
my deepest held belief is that we are inherently curious and experimental and without our ancestors fucking around and playing with string and mud and fire we would have nothing. we must play.