On a beach somewhere in the Florida Panhandle. Barb’s record for avoiding the worst of Missouri’s winter weather remains intact. I’m taking some comfort from the record-breaking cold temperatures in the Sunshine State.
Staaaayyyy
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Seen one winter wonderland, you’ve seen ’em all
Low tech Simstim
I’ve been haunted by thoughts of The Peripheral. (The impending arrival of WG’s new book I suppose) A low-tech hack occurs to me, reminiscent the Simstim from Gibson’s earlier work.
At designated times a host avatar (someone famous or just someone really interesting) puts on their Simstim goggles and goes about their normal day. Or an abnormal day, if they prefer. This is where the ‘talent’ would come in.
Simultaneously, I put on my goggles (and get comfortable), seeing and hearing everything you see and hear. You might provide a little narration where appropriate. Some “avatars” would be better at this (the narration) than others. I might like to hear everything Eddie Murphy (for example) might care to say.
An optional feature: I could text you things to say. For example, if you’re stalling down Broadway in Manhattan, I might have you go up to a native and say, “Can you tell me how to get to the Statue of Liberty or should I just go fuck myself?”
I’m a little surprised this isn’t already a thing. Out of work comedians could charge by the hour. (Something like this is already happening on YouTube, isn’t it?) Struggling art historians could give tours of the Louvre or The Museum of Modern Art.
The “best” of these could be recorded and experienced at reduced prices. Maybe even “George Carlin’s Greatest Hits” compilations. If George were still alive.
These wouldn’t have to be funny/famous people. I’m thinking of a trail guide in Montana or a white water rafter in the Grand Canyon. No narration, thank you.
Who paints tiny figurines?
I bought a box of little figurines (manufactured in China). A little squirt of plastic into a mold (I assume). But did someone the have to hand paint these? How long could one do that before going insane?
Ten years before the iPad
Apple introduced the iPad in 2010. Does the following excerpt from Neal Stephenson’s novel, Cryptonomicon (punished in 1999) sound familiar?
“Here’s how it works. You are an Overseas Contract Worker. Before you leave home for Saudi or Singapore or Seattle or wherever, you buy or rent a little gizmo from us. It’s about the size of a paperback book and encases a thimble-sized video camera, a tiny screen, and a lot of memory chips. The components come from all over the place—they are shipped to the free port at Subic and assembled in a Nipponese plant there. So they cost next to nothing. Anyway, you take this gizmo overseas with you. Whenever you feel like communicating with the folks at home, you turn it on, aim the camera at yourself, and record a little video greeting card. It all goes onto the memory chips. It’s highly compressed. Then you plug the gizmo into a phone line and let it work its magic.”
You ‘look’ like a dog but you don’t ‘smell’ like a dog
A walk in the woods
Barb and I built our home in the late 80’s, shortly after moving to Jefferson City from Kennett, Missouri. We rented a little duplex for a year or so and Barb started looking at houses. She looked at lot and then persuaded me we should build on a 3 acre lot she found West of town. Have to dig a well… put in a septic tank… I was nervous. But it has been a great 30 years with almost no problems.
Today we purchased the three acre lot that adjoins our property. The woman who owned the land died suddenly last year and her family decided to sell it. We had made overtures to buy the property over the years but the lady just didn’t want to sell.
You can’t call this an investment because we have no desire to ever sell the land. We bought it so we would never have neighbors living there. Sounds tacky but close your eyes and imagine the worst neighbors you ever had. Okay, you can open your eyes now and I’ll take you on a short (8 min) walk through the new property.
In the video I say the original deed is dated 1845 but in the abstract I found a transfer dated 1835.
PS: I took a similar walk ten years ago.
Two good things about winter
A good fire and a good dog. I’m not a winter/cold weather person. I like it HOT. But I do enjoy a good fire. Add a sleeping pup and it’s as good as it gets.
