tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85814014738444386052024-03-28T20:29:41.972-07:00Random WalksWelcome to my Memory HutJohn Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.comBlogger990125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-61969868803331907222024-03-26T19:18:00.000-07:002024-03-28T09:25:46.849-07:00A City On Mars I think one of the reasons Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials are so pissed off is we were promised adventures in space that we never got. We were ripped off in our most hopeful aspiration along with all the other stuff that seems to turn to shit around us.<div><br /></div><div>Short term, at least. But is that true long term?</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider: if we set off every existing nuclear warhead all at once - in the worst possible way, some 4 gigatons of ground bursts - the resulting Earth, cold and poisonous, would still be better than any other place in the solar system. If somehow humanity made a comeback, and got a mangled Earth back to some semblence of our current pretty sweet environment, it would still cost way, way less than terraforming Mars.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.acityonmars.com/">A City on Mars</a> is a book about all of what it takes to establish a permanent off-world human presence. The authors, space horny like me, talk to the experts, and get bummed out how Not Ready we are, but a hopeful consensus is Go Big or Stay Home</div><div><br /></div><div>Go big also means go long; timewise. Go deep; as in research and experments on contained ecology and repair here on Earth. Go broad; figure out how to repair Earth systems before worrying about space.</div><div><br /></div><div>But we are not ready. Forget about living up there, its the getting up there that is still a problem. Chemical rockets are not enough. You send cripples and corpses on a 2 year voyage to Mars with our best, which is Starship, if it were working, which it ain't. And the Earth to LEO dollar numbers (99% of your cost for your ticket to the solar system) are just not there. Reusable Starship and booster, Elon Musk figures down to $10 a kilo, from the Bullshit Cinematic Universe he inhabits. Without nukes, you'll never get less than $1-2 grand a kilo. Elon don't care. All SpaceX has to do is crank rockets out like sausages, plus network effects even better if SpaceX offers franchises to manufacturers to crank out those sausages.</div><div><br /></div><div>No darlings, Elon wants the orbits, and he's getting them with a third of all active satellites being Starlink. Elon is Elon, and if someone comes up with a fusion rocket, his ass is saved. Otherwise, he must realize that 99% of existential disasters are exta-solar. That "carrying the light of consciousness" bullshit is just that.</div><div><br /></div><div>On Earth, geology gets cranky and the Sun shoots deadly farts at us, but we live on with free air, water, a radiation shield (free!), a stable and realtively pleasant if not downright gorgeous environment. Surprise! we can start doing that right here right now!</div><div><br /></div><div>So what is space for? Science! Robots! Robots throughout the solar system. I did a term paper on robot farms back in college and it was not promising. von Neumann self replicating machines look good on paper, suck on the Moon. Even today, with solar powered AI on the Moon's Peaks of Permanent Sunrise, stinky humans would do better.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides, the majority of people don't give a fuck about space.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody loves plucky space robots, though. That's the angle. Like Voyager 1, an old gobber, trying to Phone Home. That is where the sentiment is, so throw monies at that. Put in a dollar for an old interstellar robot? Change jar for the good robots in your market store. </div><div><br /></div><div>Who knows? 2060, way past my dead time, might be pretty fucking sweet.</div><div><br /></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-7729767860318099762024-03-20T19:38:00.000-07:002024-03-20T19:38:34.294-07:00Non-exciting update, I promise<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXJ0Bs-Kvb3TTgPoQma2VX_8fztPNP_80k25uWoPTkshMEWIl-pvqU-PpHxte1Xw81Tm6oTNFOo8RJfkLM3IwUi0HrDE6xvoVo7eZVCWY4wZYT-HTMJQnl3ZTv4X6pKJuk94oQgnRX3TstzgSgwqlrqNJ8T9wV5XLjtYRCnMzdWlcDHUitexwfTLUs6OO/s2901/original_b2537a13-6245-42c2-b71c-67fc587e7717_PXL_20240319_055741216.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2821" data-original-width="2901" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXJ0Bs-Kvb3TTgPoQma2VX_8fztPNP_80k25uWoPTkshMEWIl-pvqU-PpHxte1Xw81Tm6oTNFOo8RJfkLM3IwUi0HrDE6xvoVo7eZVCWY4wZYT-HTMJQnl3ZTv4X6pKJuk94oQgnRX3TstzgSgwqlrqNJ8T9wV5XLjtYRCnMzdWlcDHUitexwfTLUs6OO/w640-h622/original_b2537a13-6245-42c2-b71c-67fc587e7717_PXL_20240319_055741216.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Little by little I am getting ready for mass production of the turtle. I could send the shape to a aerodynamic analytic bot and it would say A-OK. If it looks good it will fly.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAreHNPhaPf_JojpfbZF0QXV18Dmjv5UMmKh69Gcsfg8cfFVdBU_uBV18wXX6OjLixiJrAlgTCrL4kgHTWnMTlWRC4bVn9yPdUG5Yrk5PrZl_PjYdS7JTnD3BdkQ0Yzyc7ui95lgidJuJhO2jsoSwcpFzNfJ_S84EmOeeFhVxu9ALnBxneKWJx0LC6xUP/s2959/original_36d57c6b-8ca3-40a0-bfa9-9fb56e441791_PXL_20240319_031656448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2959" data-original-width="2956" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAreHNPhaPf_JojpfbZF0QXV18Dmjv5UMmKh69Gcsfg8cfFVdBU_uBV18wXX6OjLixiJrAlgTCrL4kgHTWnMTlWRC4bVn9yPdUG5Yrk5PrZl_PjYdS7JTnD3BdkQ0Yzyc7ui95lgidJuJhO2jsoSwcpFzNfJ_S84EmOeeFhVxu9ALnBxneKWJx0LC6xUP/w640-h640/original_36d57c6b-8ca3-40a0-bfa9-9fb56e441791_PXL_20240319_031656448.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The 3D print negative mold for a silicone rubber positive mold is a dream. Plaster molds almost demold themselves. What a happy material partnetship I've found.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhorEqigc99_IWgSShpymXZKLbLwXVuGnobNdQcRSgIdAR0Oa9mCAu2WB2J6g9Lk9ak7h6Yc2DNpsGirxxCa4Uh_h3uWLHupHXY51mKzh_CTI6dPBtHcaKZRXrDQA-I3BeuGIrbuy3We_DR3Hmt1-c9ihGN0rFBJLvMLE3rOXeIRu8jkZPeoFFySqYKXVn/s3000/original_0e037068-1edd-4036-ae2d-a38fc593378f_PXL_20240318_195400045.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2997" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhorEqigc99_IWgSShpymXZKLbLwXVuGnobNdQcRSgIdAR0Oa9mCAu2WB2J6g9Lk9ak7h6Yc2DNpsGirxxCa4Uh_h3uWLHupHXY51mKzh_CTI6dPBtHcaKZRXrDQA-I3BeuGIrbuy3We_DR3Hmt1-c9ihGN0rFBJLvMLE3rOXeIRu8jkZPeoFFySqYKXVn/w640-h640/original_0e037068-1edd-4036-ae2d-a38fc593378f_PXL_20240318_195400045.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Silicone rubber is fun stuff actually. I honestly can't praise it enough. Such fidelity!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-wH-j50Z61WbDwt85TPWjDPGQR8l_mgDVJyacJK7h8DP_KAEjwQdmwQEWP_kRqQkrJ3eGNkYz0_LTbsBtjtNeqEOF2Ksk6uYUpysdOXgfEnLEfqYvsad8a4dPDFAl2x9pO2raMaHXS1a0YBRFfvmq3FUojzNjEbtXlbAuyufxQI0BstlVVLnQ4O_afo6/s1440/IMG_20240316_221612_412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-wH-j50Z61WbDwt85TPWjDPGQR8l_mgDVJyacJK7h8DP_KAEjwQdmwQEWP_kRqQkrJ3eGNkYz0_LTbsBtjtNeqEOF2Ksk6uYUpysdOXgfEnLEfqYvsad8a4dPDFAl2x9pO2raMaHXS1a0YBRFfvmq3FUojzNjEbtXlbAuyufxQI0BstlVVLnQ4O_afo6/w640-h640/IMG_20240316_221612_412.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>On a reality note, hopefully my last eye operation to save this valiant brave eye. My right eye is thirty years older than me, and it shows, but I will have no secessions from my Union. Keeping the eye, godammit</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-56540554891736093452024-03-06T19:08:00.000-08:002024-03-06T19:08:41.886-08:00You Should be Afraid of Your Government<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiumItwqjoKRIaNIF4QH00dXbiK1nDaL1rgM_DCVd1alRlubwj9eLYcvNiE2Oztrw2pbgIL0-hBnHzihmVSYPF5nqcIZRXHGPxCNDZpvyXzWaSV5uw8DoQqD9BGN2TalFcMWzY5bYvPD-eELrSbmdV05sPx9K59GI9DCt45TpEh2pXwEikawcjlFrcXsS/s3074/original_62c159df-6e27-4a9a-981e-f58df424efc2_PXL_20240305_053622961.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiumItwqjoKRIaNIF4QH00dXbiK1nDaL1rgM_DCVd1alRlubwj9eLYcvNiE2Oztrw2pbgIL0-hBnHzihmVSYPF5nqcIZRXHGPxCNDZpvyXzWaSV5uw8DoQqD9BGN2TalFcMWzY5bYvPD-eELrSbmdV05sPx9K59GI9DCt45TpEh2pXwEikawcjlFrcXsS/w640-h640/original_62c159df-6e27-4a9a-981e-f58df424efc2_PXL_20240305_053622961.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The more I complain about not wanting to do anything, the more shit I end up doing. Imagine Frankenstein Happy. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYpxP8jl2vfjXa1usMaxaypXqRZDcPxW9IYdJeTKPVznZqxLzveIXQToHqveeUFCLtu16DirxEGbPIWTfffyK1SsBGQgALxOigQsUq_tuFYMMQIhm4_wDkiVZn6DnRy20dizJgaFbPe4z8DiGXUOGQkR7jSzMZ-XYeYH3nsuxARpY0Ie7Wm0knZ6mOKh8/s2480/original_fb29d68e-83ae-4517-89d5-b927c34f15d5_PXL_20240305_070543358.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="2478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYpxP8jl2vfjXa1usMaxaypXqRZDcPxW9IYdJeTKPVznZqxLzveIXQToHqveeUFCLtu16DirxEGbPIWTfffyK1SsBGQgALxOigQsUq_tuFYMMQIhm4_wDkiVZn6DnRy20dizJgaFbPe4z8DiGXUOGQkR7jSzMZ-XYeYH3nsuxARpY0Ie7Wm0knZ6mOKh8/w640-h640/original_fb29d68e-83ae-4517-89d5-b927c34f15d5_PXL_20240305_070543358.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>But that's not what I want to talk about. I'm reading A City On Mars and the topic that is screaming to me is infrastructure. Plenty of energy out there, same as here. Ah, but infrastructure, like we have on Earth? That costs a lot of money.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXH-UAtN07iuCTagpzjMJGQ9ASs-YEL0oenDe_pEBQrloZmeu8qSvRybnbaqQX2lq78xd1GgrP2aDZRb5Rg_OccpUkH2T2BwzjXKX806QemhYlM2rOe5DINIe0CkBsMI1nlWFLofHOU2RtH1WkrJKcwhSkGG_ctcUKrhzDQZN8jmiog2Y9BpKVY2AZiAH/s3074/PXL_20240302_185543465~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXH-UAtN07iuCTagpzjMJGQ9ASs-YEL0oenDe_pEBQrloZmeu8qSvRybnbaqQX2lq78xd1GgrP2aDZRb5Rg_OccpUkH2T2BwzjXKX806QemhYlM2rOe5DINIe0CkBsMI1nlWFLofHOU2RtH1WkrJKcwhSkGG_ctcUKrhzDQZN8jmiog2Y9BpKVY2AZiAH/w640-h640/PXL_20240302_185543465~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Not just money, lives, little bees what live in tomorrow's trees and make the honey money; us busy little creatures. How are you going to get a million people on Mars, like Elon Musk wants? (BTW, a viable Martian colony starts at 100 million people, assuming one person can wear two hats).</p><p>Material, wanted material, needs to be gathered and distilled same as down here. We have the same infrastructure problem as here, but you are doing it out there; in a Solar System with no free air, water, gravity, radiation shield, a microbial ecosystem of unknown benefactors?</p><p>The thing on Earth is the distilling and transport of materials - since the Modern Age - been energy cheap, but still material scarce. Or rather, the right kind of material. Before modern times, we were energy scarce but materially wealthy. Slaves extracted and distilled the material from vast sources. Not so much now. And, what good is a ten million trillion dollar platinum asteroid? Except maybe as a threat to drop it on someone?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lDD_AGhxQlVbbHMY0kL-GXD6ZtNs3YGGZHBOjdc7zw-PhuFJIdl-nys-DqXxf0vRTxDl9kAyzzrVKcZj_Q6arOSuGjKh4VWW-zI89ct4UTQyoVgAww9NHAVf1dk-ncOYFvoEEWYD_5I5UckxRsu6gKnhyYWnpWsSKG-Z1PIE6Xg9sXEG02ZIAO1YywIl/s3074/original_088a0c14-88e8-4ca4-9614-68a52aaaba33_PXL_20240305_192750835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lDD_AGhxQlVbbHMY0kL-GXD6ZtNs3YGGZHBOjdc7zw-PhuFJIdl-nys-DqXxf0vRTxDl9kAyzzrVKcZj_Q6arOSuGjKh4VWW-zI89ct4UTQyoVgAww9NHAVf1dk-ncOYFvoEEWYD_5I5UckxRsu6gKnhyYWnpWsSKG-Z1PIE6Xg9sXEG02ZIAO1YywIl/w640-h640/original_088a0c14-88e8-4ca4-9614-68a52aaaba33_PXL_20240305_192750835.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The infrastructure problem of space for space is just too big, because space is too big and spread out. You need big, huge infrastructure to do the job. The argument is but we will have so much energy. Yes, you'll need it. Even though E=mc2, you need infrastructure to do that. Big time, long term, and the only way that happens is to involve government. That should worry you. As I've argued before, governments are the AI we've been worrying about, and corporations more limited version of these monstrous.. monsters. </p><p>The objective function of your government may not coincide with your comfort zone. Most educated US citizens are well aware of the horrific beastly shenanigans of our adolescent corporate self, a 360 million cell slime mold living on a globe of slime molds, each snarling and snapping at pseudopod limbs.</p><p>What to do about this big kaiju? Become a virus, I guess.</p><p><br /></p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-8449716271583141252024-02-23T18:56:00.000-08:002024-02-23T18:58:42.973-08:00Peach Tree Dish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF0FiFqk5jLSCFnq6wdS8nYqCKqcXbcc-DT0zd1WKNrLth06WjvMwgNJRy_UmSEtFK8HN4VvRZSYv37Z_l-5jNDEh2eKaSl2X5ASOeCqnncoCFx5jFhFzXvJrr7e0IlBJ1bNAmeh65QRhqGl0ddcEx83ic9BVG9uZTQzlwVBzMIEzFQBe5kKx-GtUQXpX/s2451/PXL_20240216_044747899~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2451" data-original-width="2449" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF0FiFqk5jLSCFnq6wdS8nYqCKqcXbcc-DT0zd1WKNrLth06WjvMwgNJRy_UmSEtFK8HN4VvRZSYv37Z_l-5jNDEh2eKaSl2X5ASOeCqnncoCFx5jFhFzXvJrr7e0IlBJ1bNAmeh65QRhqGl0ddcEx83ic9BVG9uZTQzlwVBzMIEzFQBe5kKx-GtUQXpX/w640-h640/PXL_20240216_044747899~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Working on weed pipe prototypes has not helped my fitness profile one bit.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have moved into aeronautical surfaces and its a literal romulan space force of weed pipes you can get just by dial fiddling with unseen hyperparameters that my brain interprets as "looks good, feels good, smokes good". Like this pineapple cutie.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKHHki5yWQ-yJcDBvDyYq1GViW4PpC2OC7BMMc51NSAO3vvcXXlR-OxBotphUe4pH3ctqmKNSmy7dk-v4HMofumWj3ppw3q4ld-LYFZVs0TNCHpK2b_Nl5XkcpPWSa4NC-tzKhx8jXzEesDuzsp8usXDLWikcE2JR9leJF8f3bgc_m_nXxNGK3HrMxzeV/s2576/PXL_20240222_014152360~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2576" data-original-width="2574" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKHHki5yWQ-yJcDBvDyYq1GViW4PpC2OC7BMMc51NSAO3vvcXXlR-OxBotphUe4pH3ctqmKNSmy7dk-v4HMofumWj3ppw3q4ld-LYFZVs0TNCHpK2b_Nl5XkcpPWSa4NC-tzKhx8jXzEesDuzsp8usXDLWikcE2JR9leJF8f3bgc_m_nXxNGK3HrMxzeV/w640-h640/PXL_20240222_014152360~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I got into a bad habit since the January polar vortex of not walking. I can feel the difference, back problems, knees hurting, sleep and concentration down.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, in this gorgeous spring weather in February, I went for a walk. One the usuals routes at 2.5 miles. Along this route is a playground, which I stop at to stretch and also use the equipment. I tried the monkeybars and nearly tore my arm out of its socket. How do little kids do that? They have my grip strength and don't weigh 225lbs. And are 64 years younger.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I'm out of shape. I know people around me, I find out, think I'm a viking and kind of scary, like fun scary I hope. I do the fitness exams and I rate excellent for my age. So why do I feel out of shape? Appearance? The image of our body from when we were 19. peak ape?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, how about not being able to use the monkeybars? I really should change my workout from bed rotting to actually working out. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gFqyGZuSrF7Y8odX6zaUS7AvDKZtlX6Fphzxe4LhrdM_1MSlbK5-LDIKfsawQsEbS2L2HV7ZH2x1qo4zqO3TlVONSH4rsD6d3mqwpm4upzzsW7lCuili2e92hZhK-rY3I9OYVyP_CqNXX_Gwq7GDjBZIGUMscds_dvhjAXctFAcRXWz6AUrI4i95bGnK/s1849/IMG_20240219_223049_346.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1849" data-original-width="1848" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gFqyGZuSrF7Y8odX6zaUS7AvDKZtlX6Fphzxe4LhrdM_1MSlbK5-LDIKfsawQsEbS2L2HV7ZH2x1qo4zqO3TlVONSH4rsD6d3mqwpm4upzzsW7lCuili2e92hZhK-rY3I9OYVyP_CqNXX_Gwq7GDjBZIGUMscds_dvhjAXctFAcRXWz6AUrI4i95bGnK/w640-h640/IMG_20240219_223049_346.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I saw an article about reversed aging in mice, turned back the clock from 80 to 20. <a href="https://fortune.com/well/2023/07/18/harvard-scientists-chemical-cocktail-may-reverse-aging-process-in-one-week/">Affordable whole body rejuvenation</a>. If true, you should be terrified.</div><div><br /></div><div>Immortal slaves of an objective function.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of which, ChatGPT went berserker for a little bit, just a little bit. What would you expect? 95% of content is bot generated and scraped back in like fish eating chiken poop. I got some eggs, hard boiled them. When I cracked them they smelled like shit. I threw the carton away, but wondered if this was spoilage or the chicken were being fed pig shit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Chat GPT ladies and gentlemen</div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-72416649428281974262024-02-02T19:15:00.000-08:002024-02-02T19:49:54.829-08:00Texas cannot secede.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY8ecpQNgmlsUiephamk2pSycjwudOCMaScal8xp49ud5t91K8LQQMPHe-LZeZm-4OIcRs28hnw7lo3tUoV6yJKEoeHfhbJFCX3iOMnU3JbDGU0zddFZt2eEUEEVO-mDdqw7nmqDZUffF4mPfnBt6H4nTA3ymo8w6clL1g0Ggp1FjEg4PnCKUy_CtE7tf/s1929/original_207ec7ec-b9b1-4cf4-87dd-4790eb07aec7_PXL_20240201_052921610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1929" data-original-width="1928" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLY8ecpQNgmlsUiephamk2pSycjwudOCMaScal8xp49ud5t91K8LQQMPHe-LZeZm-4OIcRs28hnw7lo3tUoV6yJKEoeHfhbJFCX3iOMnU3JbDGU0zddFZt2eEUEEVO-mDdqw7nmqDZUffF4mPfnBt6H4nTA3ymo8w6clL1g0Ggp1FjEg4PnCKUy_CtE7tf/s320/original_207ec7ec-b9b1-4cf4-87dd-4790eb07aec7_PXL_20240201_052921610.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Why pick on Texas? Because they are the whiniest bitches of all the Fifty Nifty States.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know who needs to hear it, but this <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/29/texas-secession/#:~:text=No%2C%20Texas%20can't%20legally,that%20a%20state%20cannot%20secede.">article from the Texas Tribun</a>e spells out why Texas cannot secede. There is going to be no fucking divorce; we are stuck with each other. Libtards and commies get to live in the USA same as everybody else. And like Hotel California, you can never leave.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a matter of tact we should have been expanding, and would have, if werent for the brown problem. Hawaii and Alaska made whyte people go "heennnghh, I don't know".</div><div><br /></div><div>(As a sidebar, I am a Gatekeeper of whyte people. Viking on all sides. Inbred as fuck. Lots of people think they are whyte but they are just white*</div><div><br /></div><div>*white: white people were invented 7,000 years ago, that being the trifecta of least melanized in skin, eyes, hair. Parallel evolution have produced one or the other, but not all three in the whyte walkers)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-34216395904103860922024-01-26T18:04:00.000-08:002024-01-26T18:04:07.424-08:00Non-exciting update on the one hit wonders<p>One of the little old ladies in my ceramics class noticed the last batch of flower pipes I made. She asked if she could have one and I said sure, expressing surprise that she smoked weed.</p><p>"I don't", she said, "but my son works for one of those dispensaries, and he might be interested in this product". </p><p>I said I don't think I want to manufacture these in bulk but let me dial in the protoypes and get the construction more streamlined and we will talk. I figure a licensing aggreement in which case, I know I would get around 5% of any proceeds. Definitely not interested in spending my days in mass production hell, but I also am interested in some extra dough. </p><p>I modified how I produced the plaster molds. Making 3D prints for the two-part plaster mold halves (software modification easier than contructing a new pipe to mold), but I often had to destroy the 3D print while demolding from the plaster.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsDWwGdUB5E_OxYcqjEIo0qmu62uvfkqT445AhF1TcWeohgjdVEOYD6rmRDPEiBxGn4ur6yma1PrYh2bw6rbemtV3fRxZNWuNX9UFe5t48R5ZS84DRbfnFCxzdwbXdte-Ol-fin4h4bAXVQEhaoE36XParWj_mP9JCYNzM9593oUS2HH2QnBMd0kElGx7/s2914/PXL_20240126_201030466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2914" data-original-width="2912" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsDWwGdUB5E_OxYcqjEIo0qmu62uvfkqT445AhF1TcWeohgjdVEOYD6rmRDPEiBxGn4ur6yma1PrYh2bw6rbemtV3fRxZNWuNX9UFe5t48R5ZS84DRbfnFCxzdwbXdte-Ol-fin4h4bAXVQEhaoE36XParWj_mP9JCYNzM9593oUS2HH2QnBMd0kElGx7/w640-h640/PXL_20240126_201030466.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>So instead I made a 3D print of the mold part, and then poured silicone rubber in to create the working mold halves.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGVmrEkBo981RCTSgefiV5AwR7BcO0ZXPa-QXr2xuYDimEXV28c1cI1k4Mar9swuvLtDBzlHcIHHmcsc2YndRc223bf7EbziOOumm5y7LziEp-U9CTdaoLh-mA-vJymB6KcDKJn8ukCB_KFVCs-sR1OuSZMsHB-AQ_ODF2AuCZyMxjlydy57TMNXz6dCE/s3074/original_638a7db2-0b9e-46dc-8042-4a7f12fda4ca_PXL_20240126_171459735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGVmrEkBo981RCTSgefiV5AwR7BcO0ZXPa-QXr2xuYDimEXV28c1cI1k4Mar9swuvLtDBzlHcIHHmcsc2YndRc223bf7EbziOOumm5y7LziEp-U9CTdaoLh-mA-vJymB6KcDKJn8ukCB_KFVCs-sR1OuSZMsHB-AQ_ODF2AuCZyMxjlydy57TMNXz6dCE/w640-h640/original_638a7db2-0b9e-46dc-8042-4a7f12fda4ca_PXL_20240126_171459735.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2MnVu0h2I7WxuMv4pIoO_F7gxAE6zi1UPQHdtQ12B250bxodENoE-Ca5ujHWAiUu-GDbq8Hs4r3-v2cKxfu_wRBWFwF0putoou75_yr14luLnw3OoE_Zj6MBSbaLZowEvvsSgT4vtMpiUudWDpc3tjyw68-CeVcuVKvvzh3eoI30Mr51xgR_ANPxvGfF/s3074/original_7b2a3215-5532-4833-91f1-b4f7149907e7_PXL_20240126_171508861.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2MnVu0h2I7WxuMv4pIoO_F7gxAE6zi1UPQHdtQ12B250bxodENoE-Ca5ujHWAiUu-GDbq8Hs4r3-v2cKxfu_wRBWFwF0putoou75_yr14luLnw3OoE_Zj6MBSbaLZowEvvsSgT4vtMpiUudWDpc3tjyw68-CeVcuVKvvzh3eoI30Mr51xgR_ANPxvGfF/w640-h640/original_7b2a3215-5532-4833-91f1-b4f7149907e7_PXL_20240126_171508861.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlFl221ljQPW6kbvH0TL1hNjSyFtJ_NN1bQz-XIIQyOFluj_NNZkMzw21rcfezVish-Qig-smA56w-lJlYvrNz8iaAw4Z9ob4Cv3qTB7bf-0yOz5_nPtgXq03vmQSEYH26S5mTatQWqGLcvM_bUxxIy1sk8JNkukO-j4ia22iIp-XKHE354tjehcjRfpU/s3074/PXL_20240126_171513920.MP~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlFl221ljQPW6kbvH0TL1hNjSyFtJ_NN1bQz-XIIQyOFluj_NNZkMzw21rcfezVish-Qig-smA56w-lJlYvrNz8iaAw4Z9ob4Cv3qTB7bf-0yOz5_nPtgXq03vmQSEYH26S5mTatQWqGLcvM_bUxxIy1sk8JNkukO-j4ia22iIp-XKHE354tjehcjRfpU/w640-h640/PXL_20240126_171513920.MP~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I made a two part plaster with the rubber mold parts today and it worked slick as snot. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCVrp6LS6fIIjJ8CY1fESLvEO0UU12-WKPmzdib5i4mreZ048xhG-2raDk4zDR-1-Md5YyzydyhW5p5ACZzgBTahHGyZyaWrcmUxPRgGPnYxuozqFVNILdZQaQ7H5_wpRDDIc_7oyUNtS0CxRSoE3BrUp93FPkjgP2tlB7F2J1RJS9WHymSA1cuR0_7JE/s3074/original_5ea4d472-d9cd-4e38-9164-7e550a0a272a_PXL_20240126_171851454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCVrp6LS6fIIjJ8CY1fESLvEO0UU12-WKPmzdib5i4mreZ048xhG-2raDk4zDR-1-Md5YyzydyhW5p5ACZzgBTahHGyZyaWrcmUxPRgGPnYxuozqFVNILdZQaQ7H5_wpRDDIc_7oyUNtS0CxRSoE3BrUp93FPkjgP2tlB7F2J1RJS9WHymSA1cuR0_7JE/w640-h640/original_5ea4d472-d9cd-4e38-9164-7e550a0a272a_PXL_20240126_171851454.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKc-35T13rarelkZ4eJ3fw4kx45NjQ4gNCD1gqb3r2qKKtjxkh_I_sdeZFYyTFw1nvBcWdeIOUstg7gYfGoOwRCDiUueQ_75iLeKGcX9ZO-Lm0Xj8kwkE4ebo2R5qTazp665gaOa287N5y4wub_3d3lO9CA7bqKX5Tq3hEOJGwj6zkZMeXB_wxSxn6Jg04/s3074/original_a058e0db-c246-4ea5-83e0-013a435d5eb6_PXL_20240126_175955236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKc-35T13rarelkZ4eJ3fw4kx45NjQ4gNCD1gqb3r2qKKtjxkh_I_sdeZFYyTFw1nvBcWdeIOUstg7gYfGoOwRCDiUueQ_75iLeKGcX9ZO-Lm0Xj8kwkE4ebo2R5qTazp665gaOa287N5y4wub_3d3lO9CA7bqKX5Tq3hEOJGwj6zkZMeXB_wxSxn6Jg04/w640-h640/original_a058e0db-c246-4ea5-83e0-013a435d5eb6_PXL_20240126_175955236.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1hk_s6YUl07fnMMH9Y0fJ1PZv3FW6M0UMTMX5iAzYfTraWwub3VhIidX7XUWtni5ZzHjfQ91P8eiDDeMCQiLdRgNYtO2tUjXvRcd6Du6DevM1ZGjRYxKN6PHAOxxNn-wBoRzJKA_CCnR5jCdU-ql3GxmqytS_77xT34MLY5q5k9Xld6XY6a6-tMbO6Pc/s3074/original_3d48f703-0fa3-4172-ab68-d0b1fc913606_PXL_20240126_180024878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1hk_s6YUl07fnMMH9Y0fJ1PZv3FW6M0UMTMX5iAzYfTraWwub3VhIidX7XUWtni5ZzHjfQ91P8eiDDeMCQiLdRgNYtO2tUjXvRcd6Du6DevM1ZGjRYxKN6PHAOxxNn-wBoRzJKA_CCnR5jCdU-ql3GxmqytS_77xT34MLY5q5k9Xld6XY6a6-tMbO6Pc/w640-h640/original_3d48f703-0fa3-4172-ab68-d0b1fc913606_PXL_20240126_180024878.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV46w18vihyppomf9ryUTLXL_mpwETiOXQZFzCH3fl5RFcluLxxtDZIYGFgiCcZSabo38HgglQOa0TxO1DcVW_2ihC-QGng2wgSD3G0y7A4TK_rBgiV1wcGWS55DtYGj_569N9Bg_fn2iec4tCI9RvcowseyFa7_y9YG73oc62oWELcMRI65M4o3TcNj80/s3074/original_4288acd4-cff1-4ab9-bf0d-c99b1731fcd8_PXL_20240126_180744664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV46w18vihyppomf9ryUTLXL_mpwETiOXQZFzCH3fl5RFcluLxxtDZIYGFgiCcZSabo38HgglQOa0TxO1DcVW_2ihC-QGng2wgSD3G0y7A4TK_rBgiV1wcGWS55DtYGj_569N9Bg_fn2iec4tCI9RvcowseyFa7_y9YG73oc62oWELcMRI65M4o3TcNj80/w640-h640/original_4288acd4-cff1-4ab9-bf0d-c99b1731fcd8_PXL_20240126_180744664.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zT7H3FMORa2m8KF6OlNTsZaG61uQ8Tq2GZ4G8v0MHlzFRnbW-TNO4WXo771PYpn60ocElXzidYD7tgIwnDqtYOll1f5gLZAsN4oBeegO82xwP7L17oY3dzCiSD0MrO3mIGP6sil6FiylD3FrZ7TP9GqG0-jQrBwxkhwVQ8On1cYBt7TYYrldcgffsvPR/s2821/original_28a8bc75-2535-4d85-8e90-66e6528657db_PXL_20240126_184237346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2821" data-original-width="2819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zT7H3FMORa2m8KF6OlNTsZaG61uQ8Tq2GZ4G8v0MHlzFRnbW-TNO4WXo771PYpn60ocElXzidYD7tgIwnDqtYOll1f5gLZAsN4oBeegO82xwP7L17oY3dzCiSD0MrO3mIGP6sil6FiylD3FrZ7TP9GqG0-jQrBwxkhwVQ8On1cYBt7TYYrldcgffsvPR/w640-h640/original_28a8bc75-2535-4d85-8e90-66e6528657db_PXL_20240126_184237346.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This was such a painless process that I am now interested in applying this reusable mold teachnique for other projects, possibly even complex multipart plaster molds, which is a step back into the past, tech-wise. No matter. </p><p>So, I will have distracted myself on to other things, per usual.</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-34469129097893994992024-01-20T19:50:00.000-08:002024-01-20T19:50:37.921-08:00Oh, NOW you want nuclear fusion power?<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-ceo-altman-says-davos-future-ai-depends-energy-breakthrough-2024-01-16/">At DAVOS, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declares</a> new sources of power to meet the energy demand of AI, particularly nuclear fusion. Like the cryptocurrency clusterfuck, AI is consuming vast amounts of power, and Sam Altman finally says maybe we should get commercial fusion power going.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5um0yGUhbogQ_HMlWJFbN70v6aXflgVUO396cENGMX4YmGiwqJq5jFuLQ9VSUPX5Et3IubU4of1FhCcuvYdEM18dNwOu_l_048Lx3TeIgfbCShtqXG61A1_Ye8oPy1fVL_lQ5w2mnfv7gFGAwI4cpqAAxLDwBcrQYS7qLvpQ55-IMyjcSTJji-LIi229/s840/ILUVUHAND.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="840" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5um0yGUhbogQ_HMlWJFbN70v6aXflgVUO396cENGMX4YmGiwqJq5jFuLQ9VSUPX5Et3IubU4of1FhCcuvYdEM18dNwOu_l_048Lx3TeIgfbCShtqXG61A1_Ye8oPy1fVL_lQ5w2mnfv7gFGAwI4cpqAAxLDwBcrQYS7qLvpQ55-IMyjcSTJji-LIi229/w640-h498/ILUVUHAND.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>Hey, I'm all for it, but rather than create the bloated turd that is ITER, with a corrupt and sclerotic bureaucracy, and piece meal efforts of various institutions, we could have provided a concentrated, multi-hundred billion dollar effort to get there. Had we wished to, we probably could have had fusion power by the year 2000. We did not wish to. Money wasn't a problem, as we managed to throw tens of trillions at stupid wars. Just a fraction of that money gets you nuclear fusion.</p><p>Part of the reason is a rather wise choice not to pursue such superdense energy systems due to lack of knowledge and technology. That's fair. If the tech and knowledge was in place (now they are), do you really want chain saws and off road vehicles run on Mr. Fusion? Why the planet would be a wreck in no time. For that matter, what if it is easier to build a fusion rocket than a reactor. A fusion rocket gets you to Mars, but it can also be a devastating weapon on terrestrial targets.</p><p>The spending of $100 billion to date on self-driving cars (replacing cheap human drivers with shoddy expensive robots) probably could have gotten us a aneutronic fusion power source. My vote is for hydrogen boron fusion being pursued by HB11 and Helion Energy. Billionaires are now finally throwing their money at it, and devoting AI architecture to the now familar problems. </p><p>But for what? Don't we have enough scams already? <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/internet-ai-generated-slime">More than half the stuff on the internet is AI generated garbage</a>. It's clogging Google search, which I can personally attest is getting worse. Not to mention this AI adventure is still a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk">Mechanical Turk</a>, with humans tasked to sift out the horrible and hallucinating content to be fed to the robots. Not to mention glean out the AI generated garbage to be scrapced as data. The only people I see making money on this is the <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/17/monopolies-produce-billionaires/#inequality-corruption-climate-poverty-sweatshops">billionaires who already have a monopoly on, well, everything</a>. Looks pretty grim.</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-78249702446392669002024-01-15T20:13:00.000-08:002024-01-17T17:05:43.754-08:00Mechapodzilla<p>I have a suspicion that a neighbor, or a neighbor's child, sicced their dog on Trump when he was a kid.</p><p>I can see it, everyone is bullied, so some snooty rich neighbor in the snooty rich neighborhood just didn't like the little fucker. One day Donny mouths off, and the kid sics the hound on him. Maybe more than once. It explains why Trump hates dogs, and his worst insult is dog. But then again, Trump's parents did a good job on fucked in head, so maybe more than dogs. </p><p>Now, I've seen when Trump had the posture of a whipped dog. The first time was around Jeffrey Epstein, Trump a little dog bouncing around big dog Jeff. The second at the inauguration, after a chat with Obama. The third time at Helsinki, after the meeting with Putin. Whipped dog slinking that one, wow!</p><p>My take on the 2018 Helsinki meeting is that Putin brought his dog, a big snarly snapper.</p><p>"Don't worry he won't bite!" Putin assures him. The dog barking and growling and lunging against the leash Putin holds lightly in his hand. This goes on for a while, and then Putin takes the dog away, and wheels in a tank with his pet shark, a big snarly snapper.</p><p>"Don't worry, he won't bite!" </p><p>In Putin's Russia, bite sharks you!</p><p>50% of Americans believe in demons. 45% believe in ghosts. That gets you our current representative republic. If this is 21st century America, think of what the Founding Fathers had to work with.</p><p>On more than one occasion, I have said "a lottery could have picked someone better!" But that can't be done at the federal level without changing the Constitution. So you set up a thrid party, maybe call it Other, or None of the Above (NotA finger!). Just like a lottery, you register with a donation, you got a ticket at becoming congressperson, senator, President. If our party wins the slot, someone is randomly selected from the roles.</p><p>I've written about this before, I should go find out if I'm repeating myself like a doddering old man. But what the hye. Questions:</p><p><b>Q) </b>what if some idiot gets chosen, <b>A) </b>recall elections are still there, and what if they are not an idiot, but better than the drama queens and daddy's little vampire squids we got now? I'm not being cynical. There are people honestly dedicated to public service that could be doing better things than dealing with all the bullshit. However, there is a parasitoid version of ape that seeks the wells of power and glamor, and Washington DC is that niche.</p><p><b>Q) </b>what's to stop some rich guy from buying all the tickets to win? <b>A) </b>that's easy, we set up donations as uniform regardless of buy ins, like a knock-out, your subsequent donation is still your only donation, but you enrich the pot. Bigger pot means bigger media presence. (Note to self: don't use dicks as the face of NotA).</p><p><b>Q:</b> If it holds up in court (why wouldn't it?), and you are randomly selected, what should you do? <b>A) </b>Interesting as it is made obvious that the staff has all the insight and institutional knowledge of what some people call the deep state. There is going to be a tremendous tidal wave of influence and monies, about to be showered upon you by the powers that be, as it should be, but- you would be smart to get all your cronies together, (competent) family and (honest) friends for staff and support, and then deal with the Beast.</p><p><b>Q) </b>can it fly? <b>A)</b> like all thrid parties to date? Nope</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-18403749991298427752024-01-12T19:39:00.000-08:002024-01-12T19:39:39.991-08:00A City On MarsI flirted with space opera writing a couple of short stories on this blog. I won't link to them as they are all bad. I made them all Mary Sue (were I am in the story and of course, the hero). The only time you use that device is when you would rather be in a story than in real life.<div><br /></div><div>My stories were safe and bland, havens of normality rather than tense and difficult life I was living.<div><br /><div>As bad as the stories were, I still took pleasure in the world building, or rather the constraints. <a href="https://johnkurman.blogspot.com/2013/03/followup-on-deadbeats.html">Example from ten years ago:</a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i></i></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Short version, humanity has sparsely populated the universe via </span><a href="http://johnkurman.blogspot.com/2011/08/upsidaisium-not-to-be-confused-with.html" style="background-color: white; color: #5588aa; text-decoration-line: none;">wormhole conduits</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">, meaning no spaceships, no spaceports, no spacefaring infrastructure, and doing it all with what amounts to late 1970s technology (nothing to sneeze at, pretty ingenious). So, these wormholes are fickle things, and for the longest time passage through one amounted to a one-way trip with no return. It was only, say, twenty years after the first foray that humans learned the trick of </span><a href="http://johnkurman.blogspot.com/2012/02/kluges.html" style="background-color: white; color: #5588aa; text-decoration-line: none;">return trips to Earth</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">. As a result, there's a lot of lost colonies out there in the cosmos, some of which would never be heard from again. And there's the problem involving colonization.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">So, let's say you've got this big hole. It's just a big hole. If you want, it's a hole in the sky. On the other side of this big hole is whole new world, lush and green and filled with fresh air, sunshine and animals and clean water and absolutely no people. The hole is going to stay open for a short time, and while it's open, you can go back and forth. But eventually the hole will close and will never reappear again. You know this. You know if go through and stay, you will be stuck in this new world for good.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">What do you take with? Oh, one other restriction is you are confined to, say nothing more advanced than 1979 technology.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Well, here's my thinking. You walk into this new world, you'll want to have an idea of what your base technology will be. In other words, you don't come over expecting to use internal combustion engines, since you don't where the oil is, you don't know when you'll have refineries built, you don't have any of the chemical and electrical infrastructure. Similarly, you probably don't bring coal-fire locomotives over. So, in my view, you start out with a base technology of around, say, 1820 or so. You've got high pressure steam engines that burn wood. You've got a lot of spare parts for that. Oh sure, you bring as many modern amenities and appliances and generators and fuel and airplanes and satellite launching rockets and computers as you can shove through the hole, and use as it long as it all lasts. You may have mini-factories stashed in 40 foot shipping containers. You've got a shitload of books. And skilled people. And food. And seeds. And... what else? In other words, this becomes a prepper problem. The world falls apart. How to rebuild it?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Because, you figure, no matter how much shit you shove through the hole, you just can't support a modern world. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">You can't support a modern world, not without billions of people. Your best 1979 candidates for interstellar colonization are hunter gatherers, subsistence farmers, herders, citizens of what they called back then The Third World.</span></span> </blockquote></div><div>Theproblem with these awkward stories was, enthusiastic as I was, I could not suspend my disbelief.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>What is current fantasy? Well, according to this book, <a href="https://www.acityonmars.com/">A City On Mars</a>, the entire manned space program and space colonization.</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider my scenario above. The most preposterous element is finding another Earth. Not an Earthlike planet, but another Earth. Another Earth with a small window of time say, the Pleistocene, when we evolved.. Humans can't survive the enivronment much past the last third of a billion years on Mother Earth, and the majority of the time where we can survive, we wouldn't like it. It would be a hostile alien world. Now consider candidates in our Solar system. There are none. </div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>City on Mars knocks down all the Star Trek/For All Mankind fantasies, as it should. <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/09/astrobezzle/#send-robots-instead">Cory Doctorow has a good review.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Colonization makes no sense even if we could do it, which we can't. The pitch for becoming a multi-planetary species falls apart when you recognize that 99.9% of extinction are extra-solar. You want to hide in the heart of a dead planet? Fine, but not me. I'll take the blast.</div><div><br /></div><div>Manned space makes less sense especially now when robots are so cheap. Cheaper than slaves. Yes, there are more slaves than ever today. We are in a dark time, and we fantasize a safe and bland haven of normalcy. Space ain't it, honey bunnies</div><div><br /></div><div>Other things. Speaking of hostile alien environments, this is a lame blizzard so far. Chicago, City of the Future, western citadel of the sweet water seas, pissed off because we are getting Kentucky weather, WTF. Rain and above freezing? I get the El Nino but still, our weather is gonna be wimpy from now on? This sucks. I don't want to live in Tennessee. I'll move to Finland if I have to.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>.</div></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-40910555093240956022023-12-31T20:21:00.000-08:002023-12-31T20:48:18.973-08:00John Carpenter's The Thing<span style="font-family: inherit;">I rewatched this 1982 classic and it is a greeat piece of Red Scare witchhunt paranoia. Thinking about the movie's ending and opening credits scene, I think I know how a sequel would play out. To quote from my memory hut:</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">In 1938 John Campbell wrote a science fiction novella called "</span><a href="http://www.outpost31.com/books/who.txt" style="background-color: white; color: #5588aa; text-decoration-line: none;">Who Goes There?</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">" Later it was adapted into two movies. The first movie by Howard Hawks, "</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/" style="background-color: white; color: #5588aa; text-decoration-line: none;">The Thing From Another World</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">", was considered a science fiction horror movie classic. The second movie, John Carpenter's "</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/" style="background-color: white; color: #5588aa; text-decoration-line: none;">The Thing</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">", conforms more to the original story. In Hawks' version, the monster is your standard humanoid monster, ala Frankenstein's monster. In Carpenter's version, it is much more alien, more like the Blob - all consuming, but with that imposter twist - and the accompanying paranoia as to whom to trust.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">I've read Campbell's novella, and it scared the hell out me. I'll tell you why. One of the more delicious fears one can have is not fear of death, but fear of lack of control. The alien creature doesn't just consume you. It imitates you. It enslaves you. It mutilates your mind and will, and binds you to service it. The other factor is just the right amount of information. In a horror flick, or in a story, you need just enough information to know that something is a threat, perhaps even an existential threat, but not so much information that you are familiar with the threat. This has always been a problem in movies. How much of the monster do you show? Not enough, and it is all just boring. Too much, and the monster is just another character.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">There is a defining scene in Campbell's story when the humans realize that even the tiniest piece of monster can take over an organism. And when one character realizes that their cows have not been monitored against "infection", and that they have all been </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">drinking the milk</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Mac, how long have the... cows been... not cows?"</span></b></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> It's a great creepy moment, when he realizes, in a fit of revulsion, hysteria, and self-loathing, that he may be a Thing and not even know it.</span></span></blockquote><p>The end scene is MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) sitting among a ruined camp, soon to freeze to death. There is indecision whether one of both of them is the Thing. MacReady points out they are in no position to do anything about it. They share a bottle of whiskey as the fire dies down and the dark and cold close in. If either of them is a Thing. one cell passed by whiskey makes two Things. Carpenter said he has the answer but won't say. It goes like this:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmURfs5cB-8UNH3dQXQOEMcd0A9r2yu9AYe-Hy0TiQjseQ6l6LRR3M9mVwaXF0-q6jJj96jeMzT4nerrly1u_knhZTSdV3klmpmCxy6MZ-h4I0WnafVvu7OQKyCKEIevYz6tCWKjhSwI7DrY8jx_WOoCqKOWz1Rmgh9ptGIumXqECWVmvmhFtkhE2HCdf/s792/The%20Thing.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="792" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmURfs5cB-8UNH3dQXQOEMcd0A9r2yu9AYe-Hy0TiQjseQ6l6LRR3M9mVwaXF0-q6jJj96jeMzT4nerrly1u_knhZTSdV3klmpmCxy6MZ-h4I0WnafVvu7OQKyCKEIevYz6tCWKjhSwI7DrY8jx_WOoCqKOWz1Rmgh9ptGIumXqECWVmvmhFtkhE2HCdf/s16000/The%20Thing.png" /></a></div><p>Point being the Earth is probably doomed. Not from the crashed Thing, but what was chasing it. </p><p>In the opening credits scene, the flying saucer's flight path is erratic, probably damaged, and crashing on Earth is both an act of desperation and an attempt to hide. From something worse than the Thing.</p><p>The Thing might be a criminal or refugee or a larger threat to things like us out there. It is unlikely the things like us will have any sympathy towards us things like them. </p><p>One sequel would be where the Thing talks to us, through somebody, giving us a choice to live because these things like us from the galaxy are going to blast the planet otherwise, just to be sure. So, do we become Things and maybe survive.</p><p>No, I think my sequel would be presented as the aliens chasing the Thing versus us, only at the end to find out we were Things all along and didn't know it.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-59554955805894273962023-12-20T20:27:00.000-08:002023-12-20T21:18:51.250-08:00What Happens When the AI Bubble Pops<span style="font-family: inherit;">We've had lots of market bubbles, some more harmful than others. The tech dotcom bust was bad and in some ways we still have not recovered. The mortage crisis, the crypto market, NFTs and now AI.</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The problem is you start out with a useful thing and it gets abused, rideshare apps turn into Ubers, blockchain into Bitcoins, LLMs into ChatGPTs. But, like abandoned malls, each bubble left something useful behind. Cory Doctorow wrote a <a href="https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/">Locus column about this stuff</a>. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote><span><b><i>Think about some 21st century bubbles. The dotcom bubble was a terrible tragedy, one that drained the coffers of pension funds and other institutional investors and wiped out retail investors who were gulled by Superbowl Ads. But there was a lot left behind after the dotcoms were wiped out: cheap servers, office furniture and space, but far more importantly, a generation of young people who'd been trained as web makers, leaving nontechnical degree programs to learn HTML, perl and python. This created a whole cohort of technologists from non-technical backgrounds, a first in technological history. Many of these people became the vanguard of a more inclusive and humane tech development movement, and they were able to make interesting and useful services and products in an environment where raw materials – compute, bandwidth, space and talent – were available at firesale prices<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></i></b></span></blockquote></span></span></div><div>Cory goes on about crypto and NFTs and AI and notes that all of these things are incredibly energy intensive and requires water hog server farms which require lots of people with high technical skills. When you consider the average human brain runs on 40 watts of power, AI doesn't look so super in terms of computation over energy use. For that matter, the sheer computational waste on useless mining calculations or frivolous queries is tantamount to just worst kind of circle jerks. </div><div><br /></div><div>Take self-driving cars, which have blown through 100 billion dollars and still require supervision. It has been estimated that we could have (had) commercial nuclear fusion for 200 billion dollars and yet the amount spent on fusion research is a pittance compared to replacing reliable but expensive human drivers with flawed robots.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is the real problem is that all of these bubbles are based upon fraud, grift and lies. (Not surprising as the salient of capitalism is force and fraud. There is little to be done about this so long as it is profitable.)\</div><div><br /></div><div>What Cory points out it what is left afterwards? In some cases, like his example above, obstacles become opportunities, and in others, nothing goods comes from it:</div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Or think of Worldcom vs Enron. Both bubbles were built on pure fraud, but Enron's fraud left nothing behind but a string of suspicious deaths. By contrast, Worldcom's fraud was a Big Store con that required laying a ton of fiber that is still in the ground to this day, and is being bought and used at pennies on the dollar.</i></b></span></blockquote></span></div><div>So, what about AI? There are useful applications, the equivalent of crows and wolves that can efficiently and effectively disassemble a real world problem into data carrion. Others? If the bubble pops and the companies deflate or bust entirely, what of some actually useful applications no longer supported? I keep thinking of people with medical technology in them that is orphaned by bankrupt tech companies or organizations gutted by private equity. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason there is a scare about AGI or human or superhuman level AI is because the companies with very large investments would like very much for the open source methods to go away and they can earn/hide their profits by good old fashioned bullying or theft, via the time-tested rentier system. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have pointed out somewhere in this memory hut, we've had AGI for thousands of years and it is called government. In smaller more specialized versions called corportations. We have already seen these entities to pursue their own utility functions to he detriment of us regular folks. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm less worried about AI safety and more worried about fairness, privacy, criminality and bias than I am about robot overlords. </div><div><br /></div><div>Other things. I keep thinking of the weird right wing religous bullshit that seems to be getting more stirdent, or more press. Given the woeful state of journalism, (and AI hasn't helped, but it s not AIs fault, its greedy executives are pulling this turd) I'm guess just sensationalist press. Still, this shit fest with abortion and fetus as a person.</div><div><br /></div><div>I should note that <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-human-embryos-naturally-die-after-conception-restrictive-abortion-laws-fail-to-take-this-embryo-loss-into-account-187904">most human embryos naturally die after conception</a>. Spontaneous abortion is perfetly natural. Nonviable cell clusters disintegrate before attaching to the uterus. </div><div><br /></div><div>So the quesion I have to ask those who believe that <i><b>life begins at conception</b></i>: why are so many people commiting suicide? That's a sin, right? Why does God permit this unless it is part of His Plan. Maybe God just really likes killing babies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, I got spiffed up for a holiday party.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGGMhPlyON2nqQOiMKwr1bxmvfrIRwTC7aIi256pDcfwP4vzGOP3eKt0rSew77d9DBtpfzJDbSTCiLfvd7xWDv6k72CU5F2OuluevzZmPqxiPwMXxtLtaZJsPt8rgSL7C97JzcedBw39TUxsZLb0XlFWUrMnX5ZYTSQwBreIlecw1wKWIphqynIcILJGG/s1440/original_c2a71eff-0e1c-44d5-9510-35441367dc75_IMG_20231216_235655_928.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="626" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGGMhPlyON2nqQOiMKwr1bxmvfrIRwTC7aIi256pDcfwP4vzGOP3eKt0rSew77d9DBtpfzJDbSTCiLfvd7xWDv6k72CU5F2OuluevzZmPqxiPwMXxtLtaZJsPt8rgSL7C97JzcedBw39TUxsZLb0XlFWUrMnX5ZYTSQwBreIlecw1wKWIphqynIcILJGG/w278-h640/original_c2a71eff-0e1c-44d5-9510-35441367dc75_IMG_20231216_235655_928.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br /><div>I clean up well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkPQMwat5wZreg98E4k06HEnxBTDSVVErsj9qNZnLjW3HaeU6lVZcdpL4-5Hm0S_juLdp-w2ndNGMtl5wqQu2we7pUSQu5tYACyKY0fxVb4JbwHFcUbd7OoM6aaVa7mthV7YCYSFpds1ac0xCD5Pc3vvWQoxlzwY4HtSn1fBr65Gxj_hOWHtd1DU_MdEe/s1440/IMG_20231216_235655_979.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkPQMwat5wZreg98E4k06HEnxBTDSVVErsj9qNZnLjW3HaeU6lVZcdpL4-5Hm0S_juLdp-w2ndNGMtl5wqQu2we7pUSQu5tYACyKY0fxVb4JbwHFcUbd7OoM6aaVa7mthV7YCYSFpds1ac0xCD5Pc3vvWQoxlzwY4HtSn1fBr65Gxj_hOWHtd1DU_MdEe/w640-h640/IMG_20231216_235655_979.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I think I accidentally go some powerful tattoos. Or maybe it is me.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ttz4S-K0VFQTSAWZ3BBYu0k-r_heG23-glTnU46VTGFzvTmXz9svE7FQ_VMkGNKq3pKgQ_ghlvkb8Z13-n-C8lyXpIw5EFKfgXfDw8UO77ckdS_53ChX_ZO1pek1QGyLjafnob2lWEZ7_tFpvWA4xT4_MInnLGdNpVLvnHWdVqL-AbBql-fpuwTIP3HY/s1440/IMG_20231216_235655_993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ttz4S-K0VFQTSAWZ3BBYu0k-r_heG23-glTnU46VTGFzvTmXz9svE7FQ_VMkGNKq3pKgQ_ghlvkb8Z13-n-C8lyXpIw5EFKfgXfDw8UO77ckdS_53ChX_ZO1pek1QGyLjafnob2lWEZ7_tFpvWA4xT4_MInnLGdNpVLvnHWdVqL-AbBql-fpuwTIP3HY/w640-h640/IMG_20231216_235655_993.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>If I were playing a part, the obvious one is Hitler's butler, because I bet you I could pass.</div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-26045501446598717352023-12-15T18:53:00.000-08:002023-12-15T18:55:39.588-08:00My name is John and I am 66 and a half<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1AWOVQhJXnsbUT_177TRVHYh56mqvYXpc2omLQGS8VqAlH0tBO3W74g1ZDT2oBIaaLRF2Ivt46-SnpDUN3ovvsWe94_Nfo03phYCdFMnM4Z7uBbKaFVfMVGzoufTY-5cUyekv1uhbEcOFOdJ-EOuNannTIqgpEnfb4o-fO2JYlkzR6EK7ncFtvyx16_V/s3648/PXL_20231210_034018962.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1AWOVQhJXnsbUT_177TRVHYh56mqvYXpc2omLQGS8VqAlH0tBO3W74g1ZDT2oBIaaLRF2Ivt46-SnpDUN3ovvsWe94_Nfo03phYCdFMnM4Z7uBbKaFVfMVGzoufTY-5cUyekv1uhbEcOFOdJ-EOuNannTIqgpEnfb4o-fO2JYlkzR6EK7ncFtvyx16_V/w480-h640/PXL_20231210_034018962.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Silverback! Starting for me about 60? Six and a half years later, I'm less muscular, getting skinny arms and a fat belly unless I pick up the pace. My goal (and despite my medical problems) is that I am leaner and fitter so I can work when I am old. Exercises are geared more towards balance and Turkish get ups, etc. along with resistence training. At least walk every day. Cancer free.</p><p>So, why fit enough to work? Why not just fit enough to be old? Independence for as long as possible, before the enfeeblement and second infancy. </p><p>The family history is strokes and heart attacks in the mid 60s, perfect for the Social Security Administration plan. Modern medicine is changing that and we Kurmans are heading into uncharted territory, death-wise. </p><p>Speaking of Social Security, I will be on SS at 67, for optimal payout. and hurray to yesterday Johnny for earning through labor and occasional ingenuity, the promise of such that we call "money".</p><p></p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-80687123251428079732023-12-13T19:01:00.000-08:002023-12-13T19:02:38.867-08:00Burnt Weenie SandwichI'm feeling sorry for all the lunk-heads in the news: Trump, Biden, Musk, Xi, Putin, fuck me the list is endless. I've too many famous people to worry about! <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxgUXZsjAPngW8G7JvxHMdKbUZycSwT1OuPAooqoC-PfqWLXANXt1jALr2oCEoy0quOoDYIpOpUbtXlJAKOeRSxQMoFsQwfAvE5A7il8ts9Z0kfp69hrG__6M1TCVgrQH9Ypt-mGCXK0gLbNBdFe1_zNq7UdljWjRhsQKelBDTJ3QJIBlDuECPbibjXeI/s1440/IMG_20231213_113316_519.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxgUXZsjAPngW8G7JvxHMdKbUZycSwT1OuPAooqoC-PfqWLXANXt1jALr2oCEoy0quOoDYIpOpUbtXlJAKOeRSxQMoFsQwfAvE5A7il8ts9Z0kfp69hrG__6M1TCVgrQH9Ypt-mGCXK0gLbNBdFe1_zNq7UdljWjRhsQKelBDTJ3QJIBlDuECPbibjXeI/w640-h640/IMG_20231213_113316_519.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Assume that 8 billion and a smidge humans have altered the planet. You say, we're so tiny what could we do? The Ozone hole for one. Smacking an asteroid with a robot for two. The Amazon rain forest for three, human cultivated and a gruesome reminder of just how many millions of people died from filthy disgusting western europeans and their clever savage ways!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpka3YprMdPNATdeWLDU207WSCaBGSGJUickYBk5e25DHPLRqhMXTjYk8rAEXCzptEdQR95DfaIMu4fXmnl-E0LSpv1Ful2Wkm6o1E1VhnDFXNdA9nXnRK2fXmj6zUw5kEIH-p1kSKkUh4U0UlKly3ffHuV0q9eNTW4ikeV8Bdb8FYPr_xjaAfAntZwE9N/s1440/IMG_20231213_113316_507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpka3YprMdPNATdeWLDU207WSCaBGSGJUickYBk5e25DHPLRqhMXTjYk8rAEXCzptEdQR95DfaIMu4fXmnl-E0LSpv1Ful2Wkm6o1E1VhnDFXNdA9nXnRK2fXmj6zUw5kEIH-p1kSKkUh4U0UlKly3ffHuV0q9eNTW4ikeV8Bdb8FYPr_xjaAfAntZwE9N/w640-h640/IMG_20231213_113316_507.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>If the planet has been altered we face two futures, the Anthropocene, or the Anthropozoic. </div><div><br /></div><div>(Do I have to explain? The antrhopocene is short-lived, doomed to short dick thinking. The Anthropozoic is much much longer, certainly not a quarter billion years like the dinosaurs, but longer than a million. Homo sapiens sapiens, anatomically modern humans, lookalikes, have been around a third of a million years. So we got two-thirds of a million years to not fuck it up and survive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Intelligence has still not shown advantage in long term evolutionary survival.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iUJx11pOf-qu8fOT4oh9Yip75BRykeY_K_jr1VPz4fZElBCiBBtjclosxH96aZ745QaxqUcBDn1kQKydiFepn1vXTk8QEHF0gxVH5rzIm1QbqSLwoAEskNlECK6pTel9qKbwdzjUizcRYXEOkmNXWqaf_27B34_nEanM5KsmuxWRODC9Y5q_MSN86ddu/s2924/PXL_20231212_232346271.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2924" data-original-width="2921" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iUJx11pOf-qu8fOT4oh9Yip75BRykeY_K_jr1VPz4fZElBCiBBtjclosxH96aZ745QaxqUcBDn1kQKydiFepn1vXTk8QEHF0gxVH5rzIm1QbqSLwoAEskNlECK6pTel9qKbwdzjUizcRYXEOkmNXWqaf_27B34_nEanM5KsmuxWRODC9Y5q_MSN86ddu/w640-h640/PXL_20231212_232346271.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Anyway, Elon Musk is getting butt hurt. Cars recalled, rockets and websites crashing, a Boring company that has drill 2 and a half miles. Monkeys slaughtered to put chips in brains for his Martian slave army, but .<a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/news/tech-design/portable-non-invasive-mind-reading-ai-turns-thoughts-text"> A breakthrough for a wearable device to access the brain is being developed</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not surprising, given networks were reverse engineered from neurons because we couldn't figure it out. Neural networks get used to filtering out stuff and call it noise. These thinking caps (like we are stuck in the 1920s Monkey Singularity) successfully interpret thought. Verbs more accurately than nouns, but a promising start. And if this can be done as a wearable, it can be done remotely. </div><div><br /></div><div>If a brain can be read remotely, can it also be written? </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway pics of the latest iterations of one hit wonder interspersed through the narrative. I have stumbled upon a really nice aerofoil design for smoike delivery in the form of a turtle, or a tongue.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISMLIJOvn56YkjSqehPnLAPUf0qVlQHPAIfXZq-2W17ZM8MgoL9RiR2L9Yogil2Roof0aULLrWgoYzO0AYxg2WqMypDr3CFtdxswQlcJ2ODTLOSp_YjGqFe3e6V7dkn6ghGcaZZzbyb1WI3Dv2oKBkFN-DwaeZ0kPyMj-R161niCs3fUCvKg9l3iDhIVV/s3074/PXL_20231207_224015532.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISMLIJOvn56YkjSqehPnLAPUf0qVlQHPAIfXZq-2W17ZM8MgoL9RiR2L9Yogil2Roof0aULLrWgoYzO0AYxg2WqMypDr3CFtdxswQlcJ2ODTLOSp_YjGqFe3e6V7dkn6ghGcaZZzbyb1WI3Dv2oKBkFN-DwaeZ0kPyMj-R161niCs3fUCvKg9l3iDhIVV/w640-h640/PXL_20231207_224015532.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-5161470425946590122023-11-29T19:40:00.000-08:002023-11-29T19:43:46.635-08:00 Grandpa Weed's One Hit Wonders reduxThe best evidence suggests the local universe is 13.8 billion years old and at least 192 billion light years in diameter (based on furthest objects seen with telescopes). This immense volume contains some billion trillion stars, a sextillion of stars and octillions of planets. And all that so that Christ could die for your sins.<div><br /></div><div>Always wondered why the Almighty made Its only son an ape, but at least a great ape.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWoXlS3nqCFPl7MluBpnG7dqYrhN7IOF7PgnQD3vxiJJz5H_JY2Gsg9MKOhqswBliKpQ_BClhU8AMD7wp_-E95EHoEtscW6aJpH7-gP41fxY0flWJrMlSj38WLPSP5vHl7rVgvGweUYsNcwGUlJucUz_c7q05ougHEaDhphw3rFVGeq6WwQDgHHxQyVk2/s2919/PXL_20231124_201849806~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2919" data-original-width="2919" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWoXlS3nqCFPl7MluBpnG7dqYrhN7IOF7PgnQD3vxiJJz5H_JY2Gsg9MKOhqswBliKpQ_BClhU8AMD7wp_-E95EHoEtscW6aJpH7-gP41fxY0flWJrMlSj38WLPSP5vHl7rVgvGweUYsNcwGUlJucUz_c7q05ougHEaDhphw3rFVGeq6WwQDgHHxQyVk2/w640-h640/PXL_20231124_201849806~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Anyway, evolution of pipe technology continues</div><div><br /></div><div>I had a happy accident with a breaking glaze on a cone 5 fire. The glaze broke at the edges and pooled in the facets of the original 3D print surface. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMH9wJMxoe1TxC-rtvIicvwTqlPl_GSvR_JJViPPO59ZcwZWilir4g_UptvGQn5NSzk9-h4PpmuSGWW3kyG_7BkIWcyYAdwrw1VBSo97SxWra3zUt48Moz9Cm9exGnbwNBlOy6FJ_XhNTI_HLrCwMn4iAQNnbm3VNe-Ry4_9g9HSUGxKTveo0Xb-PfhGB/s1440/IMG_20231125_222005_747.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMH9wJMxoe1TxC-rtvIicvwTqlPl_GSvR_JJViPPO59ZcwZWilir4g_UptvGQn5NSzk9-h4PpmuSGWW3kyG_7BkIWcyYAdwrw1VBSo97SxWra3zUt48Moz9Cm9exGnbwNBlOy6FJ_XhNTI_HLrCwMn4iAQNnbm3VNe-Ry4_9g9HSUGxKTveo0Xb-PfhGB/w640-h640/IMG_20231125_222005_747.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>This is a cone 5 purple glaze that goes red at cone 6. I took it to cone 5 but maybe I should refire in the kiln. I've already people suggest I do a underglaze wash and then apply this glaze. I've also yet to explore underglaze paintings. Make them psychedelic because pipes anit just for smoking weed anymore. Toad. Shrooms. Mescalin. At any rate, this form wins. The turtle wins. Jellybean second, golf ball third.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0ygOMuLQ82EhHr3fJ22aZGVBsueEmBe6B7xTVXy4v-L_0K0T3hHXVEam9dxmw-JAEWVrTgt_dQ1p-7i2Z7C7-8RYm-fTQFqFVfJCEOrYk_dAzlc07dgzHLnVsN2rwUKE7K_k9xLuWUJhiASmSCOP5kK-83Hr4TT8EJbT-7iSiwHv07QLH3t7sDj0u20b/s1440/IMG_20231125_222005_772.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0ygOMuLQ82EhHr3fJ22aZGVBsueEmBe6B7xTVXy4v-L_0K0T3hHXVEam9dxmw-JAEWVrTgt_dQ1p-7i2Z7C7-8RYm-fTQFqFVfJCEOrYk_dAzlc07dgzHLnVsN2rwUKE7K_k9xLuWUJhiASmSCOP5kK-83Hr4TT8EJbT-7iSiwHv07QLH3t7sDj0u20b/w640-h640/IMG_20231125_222005_772.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>For some reason, the thinner casts smoke better. Thinner walled slip castings. My suspicion is it feels lighter and you expect less of a draw from it. The bigmouth carboretur is the way to go.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps some instructions are in order. The volume of the pipe is the average human mouth, for maximum suck. So you suck in a mouthful of smoke, pull away a fraction and sip it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Suck and sip. Suck and sip. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-38375612171949029952023-11-08T19:11:00.000-08:002023-11-08T19:11:38.778-08:00Fragile Kurman SyndromeWhat's wrong with us Kurmans, brainwise?<div><br /><div>What do you got? What fucked up part of the mind do you want? We got it. Just in equal amounts.Schizophrenic? Bipolar? OCD? ADHD? Autistic? etc? Yeah, got it all. It's more a mole on the face than a hunch in the back, but we are weird, or even wyrd, and suicidal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think we got the suicide gene from my dad's mom. Her family is brilliant and suicidal, bred with the brilliant German Florida Men, the Kurmans, what could go wrong? Kurmans always a little shady up until the GI Bill anyway. Criminal masterminds they weren't.</div><div><br /></div><div>My grandfather got run out of town in Illinois, went to Indianapolis. Every picture of him, he's with a bunch of guys and he is the boss. So, criminal.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhN8avPp-ni9pl8zTerFeObBrDY6ziiHnPQ9XzD3452vpz8JqQnCF4Vib79eYb5wWd8vxrFx_JX_pxFLUNHYLOgaD4eJ3qrmFgkWSJr-6ba8W-vg_jtXlNJ7g23qMlBpgZNQdSHH2FhhP0x-eCUAV0nBoMTNC61omh0xzkNotKGPL_mUo2h5ZziRd3pFV/s1440/IMG_20231106_232433_741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhN8avPp-ni9pl8zTerFeObBrDY6ziiHnPQ9XzD3452vpz8JqQnCF4Vib79eYb5wWd8vxrFx_JX_pxFLUNHYLOgaD4eJ3qrmFgkWSJr-6ba8W-vg_jtXlNJ7g23qMlBpgZNQdSHH2FhhP0x-eCUAV0nBoMTNC61omh0xzkNotKGPL_mUo2h5ZziRd3pFV/w640-h640/IMG_20231106_232433_741.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Anyway, flower pipes. The Turtle, or Frog, or Beef Tongue pipe has been sample by me, and many prototypes have been parceled out with good feedback.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcxF_Eiq_dmHyhqm_7Il3-m0MjD6KYKMFPWbmHKWDIIsKysraQdfIFt5yqqJ4EoMcqcJipwYaHc4IxTwKZpzHpWE8DNMSvhl7PIXpQEwXD3eSuKAHL71dQtkSlsYgpq-DDGDcMtOsEApYWszAXAtfTcz7y3FRvOeRK6GF_J1dfQzffHNpXPWZTXxEUL22/s1440/IMG_20231106_232433_851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcxF_Eiq_dmHyhqm_7Il3-m0MjD6KYKMFPWbmHKWDIIsKysraQdfIFt5yqqJ4EoMcqcJipwYaHc4IxTwKZpzHpWE8DNMSvhl7PIXpQEwXD3eSuKAHL71dQtkSlsYgpq-DDGDcMtOsEApYWszAXAtfTcz7y3FRvOeRK6GF_J1dfQzffHNpXPWZTXxEUL22/w640-h640/IMG_20231106_232433_851.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Item: Stoned people can't handle the Golf Ball and Jellybean pipes. The pipes roll over too easily and fall and break. I can make the base larger to solve that. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone loves the ellipsoid. I'm not suffering from creator's bias that this is the best pipe ever. I am in the foothills of the smooth flower smoke mountains. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIW4aqbL6a8vxl_Wtr9mXqEVu4RgS8JdPQWndxFFWSQ5tyz2wcD7PTarwo8sZJ8P65aSaJEvRk9kpXovKGvudAgm9tLdS6SyB4o9-E3B7pIdsqkJ_ERpGUcJQr0wQZeAruzsVG6R8fegQkcxeSTt8OWvOyO0QvLvVNvcTVbwnpWogv2tEUN8Lk6-pzbYWQ/s1440/IMG_20231106_232433_809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIW4aqbL6a8vxl_Wtr9mXqEVu4RgS8JdPQWndxFFWSQ5tyz2wcD7PTarwo8sZJ8P65aSaJEvRk9kpXovKGvudAgm9tLdS6SyB4o9-E3B7pIdsqkJ_ERpGUcJQr0wQZeAruzsVG6R8fegQkcxeSTt8OWvOyO0QvLvVNvcTVbwnpWogv2tEUN8Lk6-pzbYWQ/w640-h640/IMG_20231106_232433_809.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Nah, bullshit, I just slipcast the bowls and bodies, and throw them together. I can crank out a dozen a day, kind of like knitting. Don't think I would do it for a living, like sell my soul to the corporate world. It's all open source. These clay flower pipes have digital masters, which I am more than happy to throw out into Open Source .stl files</div><div><br /></div><div>I think cast iron versions would do well and also not break like fragile clay</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-852374702025128712023-10-30T20:44:00.001-07:002023-10-31T07:53:26.015-07:00Grandpa Weed's One Hit WondersI had a chance to test my prototypes and all did well. I didn't get to try the ellipsoid because I gave it to my ceramics professor. I didn't test to destruction, or at least not in the physical, perhaps in my brain.<div><br /><div>POSTMORTEM: Jelly Bean Pipe</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVmGbJhTRIeCBJkcy5at-i4dw4xr-ytxHnllHXXT0hEBB72mk66VQxi5QrzK78RAJzaJVnwblbvA200zE-VMQZNdG5-Hso0LcSliH_voPJyS3Q7OGorIipOrLvj6SKAg5PTRfvo4xUkF_uOU2iR0JjCstmwcbwGdmKKYMW_c2q9SkZV11CHDcxQrWdteL/s4080/PXL_20231027_153343216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVmGbJhTRIeCBJkcy5at-i4dw4xr-ytxHnllHXXT0hEBB72mk66VQxi5QrzK78RAJzaJVnwblbvA200zE-VMQZNdG5-Hso0LcSliH_voPJyS3Q7OGorIipOrLvj6SKAg5PTRfvo4xUkF_uOU2iR0JjCstmwcbwGdmKKYMW_c2q9SkZV11CHDcxQrWdteL/w482-h640/PXL_20231027_153343216.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This isn't a one hit. It's bigger on the inside than out. This is a party whale.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll add a carburetor hole a half inch down and to the left of the bowl. If this ever goes into production, 9 out of ten on the left, and 1 out of ten on the right, since most people are right-handed. There is something to be said about laminar flow through the jelly bean/hot dog form. I have ass backward engineered a mitochondrian for weed. This is a allesuzammenbindenkugel. A hologram. A really nice clean pipe that smokes like a bong. Yum.</div><div><br /></div><div>POSTMORTEM: Golf Ball Pipe </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpETRy3Lq8Y8_fW35nYTHoB9LhXO55nbJ0PgN5xf-_nPMZmgFlx1oAKh2Eehpelci2z7pt71FPmngG0FiG_CskWlAU73oYRcUhr-CDwudN9F8J9quiJ6gy0tt4jY0cNj0jPyl5OX8wGlelJSqoINsLzI3LRh9VChZcdJ5HwD2n54ywHSgGTP5KDcJFswl/s4080/PXL_20231027_153355008.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpETRy3Lq8Y8_fW35nYTHoB9LhXO55nbJ0PgN5xf-_nPMZmgFlx1oAKh2Eehpelci2z7pt71FPmngG0FiG_CskWlAU73oYRcUhr-CDwudN9F8J9quiJ6gy0tt4jY0cNj0jPyl5OX8wGlelJSqoINsLzI3LRh9VChZcdJ5HwD2n54ywHSgGTP5KDcJFswl/w482-h640/PXL_20231027_153355008.MP.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /><div>They say form follows function, and boy does this baby function. Again, just making something look good usually means it will fly. This is one sweet fighter jet. It may be an orbital weapon, like a death star but for getting high. The smoke is so light you think you didn't get a hit, but oh boy did you! I love Grandpa Weed's One Hit Wonder Golf Ball Pipe!</div><div><br /></div><div>Probably around Saturday I will have the Ellipsoid in hand, and it could be this might be the last post you ever see.</div><br /><div><br /></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-1448949382110105792023-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:002023-10-26T20:00:10.523-07:00Everybody Loves The Ellipsoid<p>My eldest brother's best friend once wrote five essays in one night in college on speed. The beginning words of the fifth essay were IT ALL BULLSHIT.</p><p>It true. This is the age of bullshit and our only saving virtue is improvisation.</p><p>Welded these two 1/12th scale figures that had been sitting in a plastic bucket for over a year. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjhQHqIkPbI6JTFfVDt8nuadHaImQOkslkWZosvooC1B8VDCLbjiY06Hbe9yxOLYRr6XWKpsiNmmos4G5g3x13oDewP5MKqrJGVKC7CaUVMJbFYzdgRm7rE0ihiV1E-VT8oLWyl_cFJQWVQLCs3Rid7UEzat-v2xyWASe4pzczPJnratZgeW8nMfKrvvn/s3072/PXL_20231025_191332650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3071" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjhQHqIkPbI6JTFfVDt8nuadHaImQOkslkWZosvooC1B8VDCLbjiY06Hbe9yxOLYRr6XWKpsiNmmos4G5g3x13oDewP5MKqrJGVKC7CaUVMJbFYzdgRm7rE0ihiV1E-VT8oLWyl_cFJQWVQLCs3Rid7UEzat-v2xyWASe4pzczPJnratZgeW8nMfKrvvn/w640-h640/PXL_20231025_191332650.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsgV68zQD_a35w0zjp8enILV_cXs7Mwt1tHWtzy2oUcUzuecDIRj-2V-_1XbKJajGyu5Yn6WunC5xguvYK6z4q7ZJlxGHW8gH00oM9p7KH4wUSK-N9hufqD9-7ycfACOhgTvWgxI6qxsJED8_TZ-0q4MJC_v5GArkBe6lVEv1hfuV1wjfht_bUpYNYvRO/s2191/PXL_20231025_191322605.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2191" data-original-width="2191" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsgV68zQD_a35w0zjp8enILV_cXs7Mwt1tHWtzy2oUcUzuecDIRj-2V-_1XbKJajGyu5Yn6WunC5xguvYK6z4q7ZJlxGHW8gH00oM9p7KH4wUSK-N9hufqD9-7ycfACOhgTvWgxI6qxsJED8_TZ-0q4MJC_v5GArkBe6lVEv1hfuV1wjfht_bUpYNYvRO/w640-h640/PXL_20231025_191322605.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>These figures are following my biomimetic mechanoid style I've played with since the aughts. They could easily be incorporated into the Grandpa's Funeral Project (sometimes great-grandpa). Ongoing since maybe 2017, I've tried to add new mourners every year. Anyone who buys the whole thing, I would set money aside so that figures could be added each year. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizkKSgKDQQNBaN4P3qcIAEFWJlY6GSpZ9ynSltytJFmPzHKZekgr3S6a_FsU5godr5cvMQAbA_2QO08ZOtN4ZoLW55OjB4NANA6QdigDVhviXCcczFKgPk7oLh7WWG_R3Q6aFaydhX2TcJLB6CYBsR5-iEUwo-GY-1YuzeXoJhzxeY5kD4844HSk_8jeo/s4080/PXL_20231024_224246314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizkKSgKDQQNBaN4P3qcIAEFWJlY6GSpZ9ynSltytJFmPzHKZekgr3S6a_FsU5godr5cvMQAbA_2QO08ZOtN4ZoLW55OjB4NANA6QdigDVhviXCcczFKgPk7oLh7WWG_R3Q6aFaydhX2TcJLB6CYBsR5-iEUwo-GY-1YuzeXoJhzxeY5kD4844HSk_8jeo/w482-h640/PXL_20231024_224246314.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><p>Prototypes of One Hit Wonders are bisqued, wet sanded, glazed and firing as I type these very words. They are astoundingly awesome flower pipes and now I need to find a ceramic place that can make them for me. Everybody loves the ellipsoid.</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-42948771474569296662023-10-16T20:21:00.004-07:002023-10-18T17:14:40.955-07:00Side QuestI'm running out of my little ceramic pipes that I call One Hit Wonders - The One Hitter That Smokes Like a Bong, says one of my daughters.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RQq3NX6ksvu7gZhlmVAROA4lkYG_6yDgETJ-Q1I_IMxD0s351pMPklaS_OTnFmkJRPac1b3pXosGlN7FrGfHk0QncRyIMUmqDhZo0fQUVG8lLE9nMUbYtPpF1zvglmuaHJu0L2YV9V6qmIWFw1UI7nbmeCPl8HHn1OMA7bkvf7Lfh9SDNCoqLYT8W30_/s4080/PXL_20231011_184202133.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RQq3NX6ksvu7gZhlmVAROA4lkYG_6yDgETJ-Q1I_IMxD0s351pMPklaS_OTnFmkJRPac1b3pXosGlN7FrGfHk0QncRyIMUmqDhZo0fQUVG8lLE9nMUbYtPpF1zvglmuaHJu0L2YV9V6qmIWFw1UI7nbmeCPl8HHn1OMA7bkvf7Lfh9SDNCoqLYT8W30_/w482-h640/PXL_20231011_184202133.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /><div>I keep breaking them, fragile clay things. I'm wondering if I make metal pipes they would overheat? In any case I am making more of them as my stockpile is down to four,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zzmjWdnzLWnf4JIhrI-g8cgwJI_s0EJfTLbqKfseuei_ebv0YYXf49EqBlDq9TK7nsRGMb5c-M3NP41DPjTsC0fB03QuGpMEYhVfd-GyiWaU4spOE9Sg2a8oYS80T9unme7aoNLTROvG6CD3EaME1elhEYETZbjemU203XF7yeHduVob820hO19-1vwo/s4080/PXL_20230912_235315131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zzmjWdnzLWnf4JIhrI-g8cgwJI_s0EJfTLbqKfseuei_ebv0YYXf49EqBlDq9TK7nsRGMb5c-M3NP41DPjTsC0fB03QuGpMEYhVfd-GyiWaU4spOE9Sg2a8oYS80T9unme7aoNLTROvG6CD3EaME1elhEYETZbjemU203XF7yeHduVob820hO19-1vwo/w482-h640/PXL_20230912_235315131.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /><div>The ceramic pipes I slipcast with a porcelain mix, which means I make two part plaster molds to pour the slip in. I could have, as I originally did, fashion the originals out of clay, but I decided to go New School, and 3D print the mold halves. Why not 3D print the plaster mold or clay pipe itself? I don't have anything that does that.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9apLwtPtSucgOqbgtgyivyIYUPGREtFkh4HgyZMcB8gbV8b9TkGT9PnEQC-Rz591uDwB-UeM2QSlHbMdpPM7xJWRCbECKtwHHhMQGw2G0wyQj-P7D6CMuFIuMxo_LmRJ5cZ93RSxU9De-SHnXrX078kW7mG247vhANgpmtCb80IP0_ReyznN4wmclK16/s3072/PXL_20230916_200442603~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3071" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9apLwtPtSucgOqbgtgyivyIYUPGREtFkh4HgyZMcB8gbV8b9TkGT9PnEQC-Rz591uDwB-UeM2QSlHbMdpPM7xJWRCbECKtwHHhMQGw2G0wyQj-P7D6CMuFIuMxo_LmRJ5cZ93RSxU9De-SHnXrX078kW7mG247vhANgpmtCb80IP0_ReyznN4wmclK16/w640-h640/PXL_20230916_200442603~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>(One partition mold with embedded pipe half and its other half , 3D print).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6r5aeWj3pLQrlPdh8zqS8h1mZ1B-Zq7k6shB07QVvqj75qoROhG-kVEftox9bHO5Io4UMheliiqiR8kq47CkE9sCi6ZN3kAPjveQOpEKEG_ChM_t_Ax1Kxqgp2B37f47J0DDoeELM_W0Fgv9m-Laq-oQFhdMojnC6UHw6LBA7S6_cnUdX0yGl43gL1ERY/s3072/PXL_20230913_001029434.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3071" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6r5aeWj3pLQrlPdh8zqS8h1mZ1B-Zq7k6shB07QVvqj75qoROhG-kVEftox9bHO5Io4UMheliiqiR8kq47CkE9sCi6ZN3kAPjveQOpEKEG_ChM_t_Ax1Kxqgp2B37f47J0DDoeELM_W0Fgv9m-Laq-oQFhdMojnC6UHw6LBA7S6_cnUdX0yGl43gL1ERY/w640-h640/PXL_20230913_001029434.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>The traditional one-hitter was a sphere with a bowl and a big mouth as the carburetor. I fashioned carbs and downstems on some, but the big mouth carb worked best. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FXswVn3K-9hw9w_PQS1KSJjc-sKTtTFzf-Y4qinSs6YjLj8nACI2i35cKulVLa1d91GX3zrVKvgX962ICKgZXwSj5akvwSwDALB1VeuEiAKTN5eDWfMUqh9ROYtAprKWzzoz9B4CkiEw9MB1C6umdOVxDGLeQbBC5tev-CFEOuGHz-ZoBYf0hR_NzEQo/s2559/original_02e65cef-dc2a-4b36-ba88-78571af19914_PXL_20231012_040204276.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2559" data-original-width="2559" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FXswVn3K-9hw9w_PQS1KSJjc-sKTtTFzf-Y4qinSs6YjLj8nACI2i35cKulVLa1d91GX3zrVKvgX962ICKgZXwSj5akvwSwDALB1VeuEiAKTN5eDWfMUqh9ROYtAprKWzzoz9B4CkiEw9MB1C6umdOVxDGLeQbBC5tev-CFEOuGHz-ZoBYf0hR_NzEQo/w640-h640/original_02e65cef-dc2a-4b36-ba88-78571af19914_PXL_20231012_040204276.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Another great shape is the jelly bean or kidney pipe which goes back to the days of my kidney troubles, when my subconscious latched onto the kidney form and I made several art pieces prior to losing the kidney. By my estimation, one hundred years ago, 1914 at the time, I would have been dead, dead of the stone as they used to say.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuO5KzNBiZfxj9Yqw8nZV-986yDHBs85nndHBeg0TJbdxiwdW2momKiXYQxOIk3qSTJVRwlTC3V1qY2taNWemVPnzBxiDXlfhBJY-XcuRX8Df9d5v6boGKbXEhSDtkugdFNMbnBi9tNL0mI3UfQl9gYO-Wnv7smiGdJQ5Mvlkam-GBRpFgXA6tGfNy3ee/s4080/PXL_20230924_222700937.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuO5KzNBiZfxj9Yqw8nZV-986yDHBs85nndHBeg0TJbdxiwdW2momKiXYQxOIk3qSTJVRwlTC3V1qY2taNWemVPnzBxiDXlfhBJY-XcuRX8Df9d5v6boGKbXEhSDtkugdFNMbnBi9tNL0mI3UfQl9gYO-Wnv7smiGdJQ5Mvlkam-GBRpFgXA6tGfNy3ee/w482-h640/PXL_20230924_222700937.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The kidney form is a smokable form. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfdYm5lWl6vroXTXSfDViVLbS101F_Ge8NHqDJf1QvXP62hEl-pjpS0WJ8oIm4hQ9zkzlNhyLsArY_3Ohs_-93wrsC9teFie3_beSm3pgevZXjXCVUHaFuTrNojI8hKKS0uJNW3Ie0eDzaranfLJUUPBfZsPXX7ZeKxS2a5cGxiSj3JnF97f3XQXK4Utl/s2567/PXL_20231017_022701753~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2567" data-original-width="2567" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfdYm5lWl6vroXTXSfDViVLbS101F_Ge8NHqDJf1QvXP62hEl-pjpS0WJ8oIm4hQ9zkzlNhyLsArY_3Ohs_-93wrsC9teFie3_beSm3pgevZXjXCVUHaFuTrNojI8hKKS0uJNW3Ie0eDzaranfLJUUPBfZsPXX7ZeKxS2a5cGxiSj3JnF97f3XQXK4Utl/w640-h640/PXL_20231017_022701753~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Ellipsoids are also fun and they will be included in the mix of the new One Hit Wonders Collection.</div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-76875915380577764612023-09-28T19:17:00.001-07:002023-09-28T19:30:59.125-07:00Scale and Complexity<p>Abundance and organism mass is complexity scaled to a linear thing? I think not. Complexity looks more like scale invariant. You'd think it woud be simple, linear, and we can choose things that do that, but this chart does not measure complexity. It measures scale.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJ9_FHbMCsuJoLgRpaqegyDBWZ_VXFfGM049nQHqFRB7loI4tq9o43ICJH4LQuKIl3RnIhMwgjvQH-rhkoGGC4zm2bdx6k2sgihN1fgzV75qlcibwSEpvSNlvTOCl9G-T5Bx8IwTG5EO8H_2HCI-TnD_miStGlhFJopiAbAPncZFRvPeS7xmKjP4MmyAV/s722/major_transitions.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="722" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJ9_FHbMCsuJoLgRpaqegyDBWZ_VXFfGM049nQHqFRB7loI4tq9o43ICJH4LQuKIl3RnIhMwgjvQH-rhkoGGC4zm2bdx6k2sgihN1fgzV75qlcibwSEpvSNlvTOCl9G-T5Bx8IwTG5EO8H_2HCI-TnD_miStGlhFJopiAbAPncZFRvPeS7xmKjP4MmyAV/w640-h640/major_transitions.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Abundance and mass is not complexity. If anything, the protist stage, the mechanics of archaeon or bacteria, are far more complex than a human society consisting of a few billion people, a few quadrillions of cells, a few septillion molecules.</p><p>True, our human biofilm is getting big, our infrastructure trillions of pounds to one pound of flesh, but there are structures far vaster on Earth (made even vaster if scaled up to our size). Protists and fungi enjoy global connectivity. There is evidence that life goes right on down to the mantle, and could outnumber surface life to be the majority of species on Earth. There could be a plate tectonic network for all we know. Point being, complexity is scale invariant. Complexity is a dimensionless constant.</p><p>Looking at the chart, what I get is maybe we are too small for aliens to notice.</p><p>Other things.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGMZtqeOYmcO9eeaqCMiFJrvCmtuV1nRLV2-ua-42ScateBSYpNiy3W1369qkUFZnQi1FOkES8BGhu-DRN-hj8rTpdkMHzQs4JZrppbpEu49OMvwRW6BtLT4mYv-0d9xcRA0wRgrQQFEtK_s1BAGqMjfxilh6Ci3MfNvVRbSLlovts0EqUmmzzocSLFg-/s1464/PXL_20230926_034818299.MP~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1464" data-original-width="1464" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGMZtqeOYmcO9eeaqCMiFJrvCmtuV1nRLV2-ua-42ScateBSYpNiy3W1369qkUFZnQi1FOkES8BGhu-DRN-hj8rTpdkMHzQs4JZrppbpEu49OMvwRW6BtLT4mYv-0d9xcRA0wRgrQQFEtK_s1BAGqMjfxilh6Ci3MfNvVRbSLlovts0EqUmmzzocSLFg-/w640-h640/PXL_20230926_034818299.MP~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>No mosquitoes this summer. True, we are in drought. But the alarming number of murder/death/kill lawn companies, with little yard signs showing mosquitoes in anguish or death, has reduced insect populations. That's alarming. </p><p>I had one lone mosquito appear out of nowhere while I'm on the couch. She was a her and bit me. I let her feed. I took her outside on my arm and waited until she was done eating and flew away.</p><p>(I am a shoo bug instead of a kill bug, escorting bugs out rather than smoosh them. I don't think its a moral or philosophical choice. It's a respect of life that life shows life. Naturally. Therefore, I only kill when classified vermin).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBC3yCKjLTSzpXCSRHevaWEqIZPyYm1U4NfhHVclVTFdRLlXqrMD3v7op7Rd6Pw0GAFgBOGnYLC_GcuUai6UvXmDqcQTPVRIY7-X5PkkJbQwFTf1Rb2uH4TDC9udTS1CcptWgYV35iiyQkdTgg_JOw0OhX6i8Q5r9oyl8wpti403OZBp8n4nAkFOAItDua/s1464/PXL_20230926_034818299.MP~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1464" data-original-width="1464" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBC3yCKjLTSzpXCSRHevaWEqIZPyYm1U4NfhHVclVTFdRLlXqrMD3v7op7Rd6Pw0GAFgBOGnYLC_GcuUai6UvXmDqcQTPVRIY7-X5PkkJbQwFTf1Rb2uH4TDC9udTS1CcptWgYV35iiyQkdTgg_JOw0OhX6i8Q5r9oyl8wpti403OZBp8n4nAkFOAItDua/w640-h640/PXL_20230926_034818299.MP~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>When I was a kid, the planets of the solar system were smudges on photographs taken by telescopes. People didn't know what it looked like, so they made shit up. I do know a lot of people beleieved other people lived on those other planets. I drew pictures of what the people looked like. The people of the Sun were always fire and lightning bolts. Mercury a clown face sarguaro cactus. Venus obviously a blonde. Mars little green man. Jupiter and on were tough to do and varied on who looked like what.</p><p>It helped a lot that we explored space with robots and found out what's really going on. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGF-fMx-acaZjF09XZF3ShnyhfdfEotYKKcTede47fZWoEcqkl-B-dgQmvtnflsatNQV6uRHXkEDbwISQ5M0TSJmH21B82zprBR1JV91j3ZlRw-L5qzGLxps3fWDxYn2eUJGS6jo8yKhXTUeSSlPwuqhSNytMGQVSDStnGtAcwYb4Ebr-RO_Roa9GmFeLH/s1440/IMG_20230918_140043_915.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGF-fMx-acaZjF09XZF3ShnyhfdfEotYKKcTede47fZWoEcqkl-B-dgQmvtnflsatNQV6uRHXkEDbwISQ5M0TSJmH21B82zprBR1JV91j3ZlRw-L5qzGLxps3fWDxYn2eUJGS6jo8yKhXTUeSSlPwuqhSNytMGQVSDStnGtAcwYb4Ebr-RO_Roa9GmFeLH/w640-h640/IMG_20230918_140043_915.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-21619149736508352032023-09-05T19:08:00.002-07:002023-09-05T19:08:20.314-07:00Tooth Pull and a Trip to the Big LakeThere are three stages of dental problems. <div><br /></div><div>1) Cavities: youth and adolescence</div><div>2) Gum disease: adults and elderly</div><div>3) Tooth loss: mostly elderly</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon-Fehgna4pp-w57UAtH-YPpfIS50XQVvTKmtGxs_-sfypORsKHIFUEgG0JgtKe3Mzgt8qt1uuTujEmwdN0Zn1C0ySNEMAqJ6G9iZNu6JHXmElioDTuWI_iJa0zx7OgvEWDXfAzuhiUwjP3PFTVubyRxfFA-O6VyxDnfWI5WnWrKEpbstwCh4I8sVntc0/s1440/IMG_20230830_133712_069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon-Fehgna4pp-w57UAtH-YPpfIS50XQVvTKmtGxs_-sfypORsKHIFUEgG0JgtKe3Mzgt8qt1uuTujEmwdN0Zn1C0ySNEMAqJ6G9iZNu6JHXmElioDTuWI_iJa0zx7OgvEWDXfAzuhiUwjP3PFTVubyRxfFA-O6VyxDnfWI5WnWrKEpbstwCh4I8sVntc0/w640-h640/IMG_20230830_133712_069.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I enjoy the night time bruxism, and without wearing my guard one night I must have cracked the lower left back molar. Or started a crack and the bruxism kept on worrying it until cracked to the bone.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk1U0zz18ZGAu5DjBucnCsnm5g25tDsvNtySuM-Erojlu5EEgjWa3SfTx6zlM2s6Sb1wsqDbnLTzoYtcQo72H84iQEL-89dvAG63I0N6MPBkHJVlX2pnqgIzlO2QW-3gFxelxsxmLLI3wNBVnqb0CjhHdylgWC-Q4uq0roPswLRTM5onPHKAqRYlqRN8U/s1440/IMG_20230830_133712_046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk1U0zz18ZGAu5DjBucnCsnm5g25tDsvNtySuM-Erojlu5EEgjWa3SfTx6zlM2s6Sb1wsqDbnLTzoYtcQo72H84iQEL-89dvAG63I0N6MPBkHJVlX2pnqgIzlO2QW-3gFxelxsxmLLI3wNBVnqb0CjhHdylgWC-Q4uq0roPswLRTM5onPHKAqRYlqRN8U/w640-h640/IMG_20230830_133712_046.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I experienced a lot of needless suffering before going to the dentist, but mainly because it quit hurting as much, I waited for my regular dental appointment. The dentist looked at it and said you that's coming out and you are an idiot for not coming in when it hurt. People can still die of tooth abcesses and, do die.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also have a massive tori, a bone spur, on my left jaw which had to be addressed. The tori are there acting like flying buttresses holding the teeth in place while I try to grind their enamel into chalk.</div><div><br /></div><div>The oral surgeon was great. I already told him it would be a local, as I had been under twice this year and didn't need another IQ drop. He was cutting my jaw up like he was going to eat it. He showed me the tori bits of bone and they were the most perfect white and smooth as plastic. I asked about the tooth and he brushed that off. After they were done I snuck a peak the surgeon's tray and there is the tooth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-UmDIkrjn65ScDrlIpjBm6K8tfW-VfhN2X7Vo11WxwRnXKxVNOr2_klCva4unniniyOU9jujO4D9mmj6mRKiF9WTqkYCYNPogLqHxrjBxEyJumA-RURkHtsh2Yf1VV_gnaz5ohsieuxQg5U4niXjFZt1-iKOztQ81O6gxb6OBHQPFIW7kviLNKyXdin0V/s735/IMG_20230830_133712_099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="735" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-UmDIkrjn65ScDrlIpjBm6K8tfW-VfhN2X7Vo11WxwRnXKxVNOr2_klCva4unniniyOU9jujO4D9mmj6mRKiF9WTqkYCYNPogLqHxrjBxEyJumA-RURkHtsh2Yf1VV_gnaz5ohsieuxQg5U4niXjFZt1-iKOztQ81O6gxb6OBHQPFIW7kviLNKyXdin0V/w640-h640/IMG_20230830_133712_099.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Hm. Took a bit of jaw out with it but I'm healing fine. Follow up today and he said wow beautifully healed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Labor Day! My niece and great niece, I think she's 8 or 9, came in for a family reunion on my sister-in-law's side. We had time before they went to the shindig, so my brother - papa - and I took the youngster up to Lake Michigan. She is from Kansas and has never seen a large body of water.</div><div><br /></div><div>Papa says keep youreye out for a big blue horizon, and as we top the last dune to see the lake-</div><div><br /></div><div>"It's an Ocean!" she exclaimed. It's the Big Lake. All other lakes in nowrthwest Indiana have names to clarify but if you say we were at the lake, most would ask The Big Lake? </div><div><br /></div><div>Parking is a premium but we finally found a spot when someone pulled out. We made our way down from the road to the beach over boulders and rocks and then orcks and pebbles. My poor feet have hardly been barefoot this summer so there were lots of ooches and ouches out of Uncle John. Made it down to sand and water. The water temperature is 70-72F which is about as warm as it gets. The child complained when dipping toe and wave washed foot but we said she would get used to it. She did.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went in with her and after a little bit of a heart attack I was fine too. Papa took pictures from the shore.</div><div><br /></div><div>I grew up here, ten mles south of Lake Michigan. Every chance I could get I would head to the Dunes. Summers in high school I practically lived there. When I hitch-hiked through Europe in 1976, I had on my itinerary great beaches. I almost didn't leave Denmark. I'm told the north coast of Germany (the Florida of Germany, where my dad's family is from) is even better. I could have gone to East Germany in'76, but it wasn't worth the hassle. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had flirted with the idea of hiking the Pacific coast of Baja California, until I read a book by guy who tried to do it. It was a nightmare and he almost died. Finally rescued by fisherman. All the towns on his map were ruins.</div><div><br /></div><div>The kid was right. It's an ocean, and I am a son of that ocean.</div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-63250871387677894922023-08-10T20:26:00.002-07:002023-08-10T20:32:33.221-07:00The Alien Cinematic UniverseRecovering from my hernia operation I watched a lot of movies from the library and kept up with the habit. New stuff or previously unseen, favorites, and also some second chances. Two of those second chances were Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Both were stinkers with some good parts and the redeemable parts are why I rewatched them. Because I am a tinkerer of masturbatory parts I had to somehow reationalize the bullshit of these two films. <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Not that the prior 4 alien films (I'm ignoring AVP for now) aten't problematic but didn't need a rational backstory. Item: soon after the original alien came out, I'm in a bar with my coding geek coworkers and we got to talking about the weird Alien movie and the convoluted way the alien reproduced. I pointed out that parasitism is a vast and highly lucrative evoluionary niche, but the way the facehugger huged faces would suggest design. Too specific of a vector, and Ridley Scott confirmed that aliens are designed.. These things are bioweapons. Multiply that in the movie Aliens .</div><div><br /></div><div>The Alien franchise also inhabits the same universe as Bladerunner (and a 1998 Kurt Russell movie called Soldier} with replicants of those films being organic and eventually synthetic like Ash, Bishop, David and Walter and Call. This connection to Bladerunner/Soldier confirmed that humans had FTL transport, massive (fusion?) power generation to move gigantic shit around the stars. The other commonality is artificial general intelligence, which is far huger than mere fusion power. You see, once you have such a substrate, like a Universal Turing machine, you can run any conscious software that you like, human or alien. Couple it to a material insturmentality and you have protean technology. The only thing scarier is giving this access to life forms, input and output tailored for whatever by what looks like a black goo. (Per Sir Ridley, the black goo can only infect animal forms not plant. Its a rationalization to keep the human protagonists being eaten alive by the grass itself when they set off the lander).</div><div><br /></div><div>So the black goo is the real villain here. Eating everything in its path to satisfy its objective function. In all the movies, there is no will or intent from this stuff except to spread. David, the android from the 2 prequel movies, is the designer of the xenomorph, but he is using another being's workshop and tools (the Engineers). </div><div><br /></div><div>Alien Covnenant is a glorious mess, but it solidifies where the prequels end and the first Alien begins.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is harder to explain is that humans (per Prometheus) are engineered. In that movie, we see the replicant version of the Engineer species, the Space Jockeys, giants 8 to 14 feet tall. They are not androids, but biological replicants just like Decker and Kurt Russell's character in Soldier. (The story of Soldier is how the synthetics were favored by the corporation over "obsolete" replicant soldiers) </div><div><br /></div><div>As biological replicants, and unlike synthetics, they are vulnerable to the black goo, which is why the planets in Prometheus or Covenant are not the Engineer home or colony worlds. They were military bases. Go back and look at the Covenant footage when the Juggernaut docks and before David bombs them all with goo, they have the look of soldiers and airmen at Tinian welcoming back the Enola Gay from bombing Hiroshima. And then the goo hits the fans.</div><div><br /></div><div>The alien world in Prometheus was both Area 51 and a strike base for the Engineer race, clearly. The hubris of humans to waltz in was well depicted, arrogant stupid little monkeys.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the confrontation scene between awakened Space Jockey and Weyland, Sir Ridley tells us David asked the alien "This man wants to know if he can have more life". The Space Jockey carresses David's hair, and then picks him up and rips his head off. The Space Jockey is enraged because their black goo weapon had sent back dolls. What the fuck am I going to do with these things as ground troops? Cancel the whole batch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you blame the guy? We were supposed to be super weapons like the xenomorphs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where does this leave us? The first and last question of this whole film series is why the goo? Who is the Eneny that so frightens them they create this doomsday goo? I can't see it being a rival facion of their own species. At this point you can throw in the AVP universe and suppose the Predators are their enemy but I think not.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's something scary out there, if you think about it. Way scarier than jump scare monsters. In future Alien movies, here are known facts. </div><div><br /></div><div>1 David is still alive and has a planetary laboratory on Origa 4 or whatever. </div><div>2 The Engineers are out there and they are still at war with some Enemy.</div><div>3 The Enemy is out there as well</div><div>4 Earth is a legitimate target to the section 51 crowd.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-37969106444847568172023-08-04T19:26:00.005-07:002023-08-04T20:08:06.018-07:00What I Did On My Summer VacationI took the summer off to get an umbilical hernia repaired. Leave it to an American to take time off from work for a medical procedure and then call it a vacation. Meanwhile all my friends and acquaintances are on vacation and I'm eating a toasted cheese sandwich.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFfVe-0gkA5kry8IPXTIIT7x2qFsw0RASgfRHg5dydNGGto9v3GRj7WJqkPdUzHuyqi8GVNRtDi-plrmfkhUIK9-dx6Y_5btrDPDcqpiCQAJFXzNd0QVaYU_YUNN6-iIoTi3iKGW5fGVXkD7In3FWXBK7DQ1Jta8fufpj_8O3Xv3t06UUIlEnC0r2_pIV/s2190/original_63e071c9-ae67-4574-b1e1-0850e9a8e410_PXL_20230803_051725990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2190" data-original-width="2162" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFfVe-0gkA5kry8IPXTIIT7x2qFsw0RASgfRHg5dydNGGto9v3GRj7WJqkPdUzHuyqi8GVNRtDi-plrmfkhUIK9-dx6Y_5btrDPDcqpiCQAJFXzNd0QVaYU_YUNN6-iIoTi3iKGW5fGVXkD7In3FWXBK7DQ1Jta8fufpj_8O3Xv3t06UUIlEnC0r2_pIV/w632-h640/original_63e071c9-ae67-4574-b1e1-0850e9a8e410_PXL_20230803_051725990.jpg" width="632" /></a></div><br /><div>Eight weeks on from the operation and I still have tender spots but I'm heading for heavy lifting. I've babied myself for seven weeks and hit the gym last week, so this is week 2 of I assume 9-10 weeks of trying to get to my remembered peak at 60 when I was a fucking animal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember once at the gym this kid, big muscle kid in his 20s asked 'scuse me sir but how old are you? 60, I said. 60!!! Dude you are my hero.</div><div><br /></div><div>We Kurmans are naturally muscular so I was a fucking animal from 17 on anyways. But I had a schedule at 60 I started at 20: two upper body days, two legs days, core and kettle bells on Friday. Run every day. In my 20s I was a werewolf. Now I'm a silverback, longer to heal and recover. Intermittent fasting got me from my pre-op fat slob weight of 224 down to current 214. I see no shrink of the belly but what would I do without my fat anyway?</div><div><br /></div><div>I took a fitness evaluation and I got superior (for my age). I walk almost everyday and try to get in at least 2.5 miles. My resting heart rate is 64. My suspicion is I'm gonna be an old Norwegian fisherman and hit the high 90s. I can't afford that. </div><div><br /></div><div>Aside from the VR and animation, I've been looking at AI art, and what I like is not the AI and the prompts so much as the centaurs. Centaurs, the people using the AI to make stuff. There is still uncanny valley, a seeping in of nightmare realities in the images and videos. Now that artists are using their own images and prompts to embellish, I've seen some neat stuff. I like where it is going. Motion picture and TV wise, my prediction is the public will want authenticity at some point and we see more practical effects and a big revival (with the help of AI) of light weight sets, now self-assembling sets what with the robots. Perfect for quick change in the theater. What you tihnk theater is going away? Ha! AI and robots are supergay, perfect for the theater. Folks get tired ot all the CGI magic.</div><div><br /></div><div>A hugre impact now already is editing, and AI is all over that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Directing a picture is just creating a camera roll. The editor makes the picture. A kickass centaur film editor, or team, can give you some kickass editing. Already been happening.</div><div><br /></div><div>LK-99 anyone? I'm still waitng for more replications since the procedure is published and simple. So far, not good for room temperature, but they got superconductor at -160C, not bad and way above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. A chinese lab has got magnetic levitation, but no one yet gets both. This copper-doped lead apatite is polycrystalline, so it is possible there is a pathway matrix that works, perhaps like a lead lined highway with copper bumper guards, that they need to isolate. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Korean papers said superconducting as high as 60-90C, which is the high one hundreds which makes this discovery not just astounding but ready for hard, dirty work. And wouldnt' it be ironic if the call for lead caused us to clean up all the tainted lead sites, and buried cable and pipe, to make superconducting circuits, wire and cable?</div></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-64666987697796451362023-07-31T19:35:00.000-07:002023-07-31T19:35:08.773-07:00Something Went WrongMemory hut working as planned, my dear diary, gentle readers, giving my own (still quite good) memory a physical anchor. A chain between physical and actual Johnny.<div><br /></div><div>Case in point. I've told the joke about how all that radioactive fallout and never-before-seen chemical poisons, toxins, heavy metals, excretions forced upon the Boomer generation. Maybe not the Most Poisoned generation, but for sure the Most-Novelty/Variety-Of-Poisoned generation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiy0U7xZ8eEig77U3a1q6IMm5XUfrbkhZyWFgMQKVebJMO6ziyT8dnyTWlZXd5bbwy_FGsVtLt5WBK53oCJczOuDlZAZlddegRz_ymtXAjBWOsabNsm06gFry4Aern5V6upfHLN2Q4B2pNpARsLzbrN6Gfi7iGSy6wwHQ9c9tFaVlb_4jXrNLWo1upD6cu/s1440/IMG_20230727_224648_851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiy0U7xZ8eEig77U3a1q6IMm5XUfrbkhZyWFgMQKVebJMO6ziyT8dnyTWlZXd5bbwy_FGsVtLt5WBK53oCJczOuDlZAZlddegRz_ymtXAjBWOsabNsm06gFry4Aern5V6upfHLN2Q4B2pNpARsLzbrN6Gfi7iGSy6wwHQ9c9tFaVlb_4jXrNLWo1upD6cu/w640-h640/IMG_20230727_224648_851.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Thanks to simpering liberal pussy regulations, the air and water are SO much cleaner than when I was a youth, and yet not before Gen X breathed more leaded gas fumes than any childhood generation, Millenials get their PCBs and PFAS and who knows how much nanoplastic. What of Gen Z, awaiting some unknown horror, some time bomb from the Aughts?</div><div><br /></div><div>See, I've already lost the joke, let me cut and paste it in from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8581401473844438605/8075026877238956868">this essay</a>.</div><div><blockquote><b>All those atmospheric tests, all that radiation affecting the brain development of human fetuses, anyone born after, say, 1954, is severely and profoundly retarded. And so, our parents, and older brothers and sisters, have worked feverishly to create a Fisher-Price civilization to accommodate all of us Boomers & progeny.<br /><br />I told this fantasy at a family gathering once, and got a laugh out of everyone except my parents. They gave me the cold fish eye, and maybe even looked at each other and thought "What do you know, he's on to us".</b></blockquote>Idiocracy.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I brought someone (you!) back 14,000 years ago, people back then would see us as fairies. Light boned, weak , but tall and comely of face and limb. No wings. Not fairies. They would also figure out we are stupid. Not know how to do anything. Don't even know how to make a fire. Don't have all of civilization packed in one or ten skulls. Shitty memories. Easily distracted. We would appear to neolithic humans as human do to Klingons: Klingon children.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQnvFDMLhT9GIL_ptb_VJX3S-aBCS7fyhI4jgs0UBPZmnIdDcE6aSBjim2zv4hyJ-lPDLZAKyxZFbQ5A044chXnAEHaP534Bd_P-wROpgaeVV-OtYC4QZsa3FC6-VO0dxTJl30o7tidTHp55JuIfBjAQo0guDTsaZAW574CsSvXleLuJWL_JmPeaqX4f8/s1440/IMG_20230727_224648_895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQnvFDMLhT9GIL_ptb_VJX3S-aBCS7fyhI4jgs0UBPZmnIdDcE6aSBjim2zv4hyJ-lPDLZAKyxZFbQ5A044chXnAEHaP534Bd_P-wROpgaeVV-OtYC4QZsa3FC6-VO0dxTJl30o7tidTHp55JuIfBjAQo0guDTsaZAW574CsSvXleLuJWL_JmPeaqX4f8/w640-h640/IMG_20230727_224648_895.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>You want <i>my</i> conspiracy theory? The most boring day in history, April 11, 1954.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some kind of cosmic horror shit hit the fan. Who can say what it was but everyone wants to forget. Especially in the USA but It happened everywhere. If you want to call it alien, for common purpose? There was no take me to your leader stuff. Everyone had an alien in the head, talking at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Am I saying it was aliens? </div><div><br /></div><div>I just used that as one example, but Something Happened, or Something Went Wrong, or we are just an angry ghost of a planet. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNBzqpPAk976BGwmegvgtz7qycx9qABu9ehVpTwDZslLfyImUmKjLgxSWIV8hDPLd1irS0dVIPQiyNcCjptqQAiYgHIyFICqybPBiBkAbFC-K76CWDp1YYmLRKU-ImpoTjAYUWTrfiAt0ItnmwwMnNbiMQGgahiEsG0CF_TovmgDpMwWG0JYPwSSD3Tl3/s1440/IMG_20230727_224648_912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNBzqpPAk976BGwmegvgtz7qycx9qABu9ehVpTwDZslLfyImUmKjLgxSWIV8hDPLd1irS0dVIPQiyNcCjptqQAiYgHIyFICqybPBiBkAbFC-K76CWDp1YYmLRKU-ImpoTjAYUWTrfiAt0ItnmwwMnNbiMQGgahiEsG0CF_TovmgDpMwWG0JYPwSSD3Tl3/w640-h640/IMG_20230727_224648_912.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Regardless, some people have the skinny on what happened. And those people are looting the Earth of everything, furiously scrambling, and why? Because there's a deadline. And it takes a lot of moneyto get to escape velocity. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU9JqZPae5FCHLtoh6EDKpCVWi78LLFUn7u05X0Nfiouua1CboA7xtgiMCwLXnviz7AYRoxDqPhrRQBoxAUQHV9_LJP36DRBCmXJBToLPkzzvA_74SqpiEe40NrPiiH8ByrQq5gNnkcv5WVBnsBJ_2smFs3RvQ5F2RaBWs2-81BJRO4tLTDhmh8lL0A2k/s1440/IMG_20230727_224648_925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU9JqZPae5FCHLtoh6EDKpCVWi78LLFUn7u05X0Nfiouua1CboA7xtgiMCwLXnviz7AYRoxDqPhrRQBoxAUQHV9_LJP36DRBCmXJBToLPkzzvA_74SqpiEe40NrPiiH8ByrQq5gNnkcv5WVBnsBJ_2smFs3RvQ5F2RaBWs2-81BJRO4tLTDhmh8lL0A2k/w640-h640/IMG_20230727_224648_925.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>To what end? Death awaits all. All else is memory.</div><div><br /></div><div>Who will the future remember? Pee Wee Herman.<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div> </div><div><br /></div></div></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-53381484706348990912023-07-25T14:16:00.004-07:002023-07-29T17:22:42.629-07:00Barbie and the right-wing outrage of supposedly grown men<p> My take on the manosphere is that such is the fate of the dickless right. I wrote a prior essay about this, called <a href="https://johnkurman.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-interminable-dicklessness-of.html">The Interminable Dicklessness of the Political Right</a>. Feel free to read it before continuing.</p><p>I had a discussion with my brother about this. He considers himself a conservative and all the squawking hens on the media are, according to him, not conservative. They are the radical right. The last vestige of the so-called patriarchy.</p><p>The term has been bandied about, and though I consdier it a bit simplistic, there is evidence that it is a ephemeral thing, possessed of both imperfection and impermanence. The narrative goes that the patriarchy started with the arrival of horse riding bornze age central asians migrating into Europe. But that is too simplistic an explanation. Archaeological digs of the steppe peoples and their descendants find a lifestyle equivalent to rodeo people today, with all the broken bones and impressive physiques read from their bones. One thing to note is the women are just as busted up and sturdy as the men, indicating no division of labor by sex. Move forward a few thousand years, and my northern barbarian ancestors display a similar lack of division of labor. One can easily find burial mounds of Viking queens as of Viking kings. In fact, Vikings were equal opportunity employers. One can find burial mounds of chiefs who were not ethnically Scandinavia, including one treasure horde found with a viking chieftain of African origins.</p><p>Point being the patriarchy is neither permanent nor perfect and situations for the past 99.9999% of human existence shows a shared lifestyle egalitarian and equal.</p><p>So, what to make of today's big babies? Case in point: Ben Shapiro annoying little fly was so upset about the Barbie movie that he set dolls on fire. Which means (not unlike Kid Rock shooting up Bud Light cans) he went out and <b>bought</b> the product so he could videotape his temper tantrum. </p><p>What to make of this? Aside from the dopamine thrill of media exposure, I can only think to say fucking grow up. Or move to an island of similar weenies to circle stroke the spot where once your peens existed.</p>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8581401473844438605.post-53968566895565821032023-07-06T19:33:00.003-07:002023-07-06T19:33:53.854-07:00Digital claymation and some loose threads<p> Medium by Adobe, formerly Oculus Medium, is a clay-based 3d modeling program. I've used it since 2018 at least. Five years on and like driving the same car I get more comfortable, less afraid, more poised and graceful in economy of movement. The is as close to clay sculpting in meat space but with magical powers. Anyway, it struck me that I had not done stop motion photography using digital clay. I mean, it should be wild Frankenstein light show, but the figure as ground is my artificial rule and ground is everything.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3T0uwn-hJ7Y" width="438" youtube-src-id="3T0uwn-hJ7Y"></iframe></div><p>It took me maybe 30 minutes to an hour for one second of video, but you get mindful of how it strings together in time, the space works itself out as you move stuff and take pictures. We forget our brain is a multi-dimensional survival machine. Butcher, baker, candlestick maker, sure, but first and foremost, warrior.</p><p>(It's hard to admit we monkeys are so clever. This little monkey singularity of ours, 100 plus years on and waiting, is 100% electricity. This is the magic of the monkey singularity.)</p><p>Update: I've got it down to 5-10 mins per second of video through something called pre-production. I have a automatic machine gun of images pre-loaded and then its mindless repetition, which, hey guess what, perfecto for #AI performance. AI is neither A nor I. I said that back in 1987 and no one was around to hear me say it. So I wrote it down and here it is.</p><p>Am I going to continue this boring tedious claymation task inside the computer with VR goggles? Fuckers I've been doing stop motion since junior high. Why I never went into the business was not fear of failure, but of mediocrity.</p><p>At the age of ten (TEN) I felt I had lost my creativity, I was losing my edge. I found a book at the public library called Lateral Thinking. I read, then skimmed, then just looked at the pictures through the book without really understanding it, but I did get that a joke is logic sideways, on the x,y,z,t,donut axes. The joke is most of what we do,we do autopilot, because, again, survival machines.</p><p>A nuclear booster rocket. No fuckiing way anyone would want this, but- If you use an unshielded core, the weight to thrust vastly exceeds chemical rockets. It has been determined that you can cluster nuclear rockets without them setting each other off, and with the cargo shielded by the hydrogen fuel, an easy ground to orbit and back again, 3-4 runs on one tank of fuel. Radiation? Hell yes! One has to worry about anything within 50 miles of your rocket field (not to mention a tidal wave of legistlation to prevent redress from the atomic rocket corporations I'm guessing Nevada passes state laws to open up atomic rocket ranges.. Nevada is the future of US states)</p><p>Anyway, with an unshielded thermal nuclear engine core, you are gettting spectacular blue Cherenkov radiation (eyeballs melting? too close!) from spitfire neutrons hitting atmosphere. Those neutrons are sterilizing everything down to viruses and weird proteins for thousands of yards, and it is the most peculiar form of taxidermy known to this writer. </p><p>Your fuel can be the preferred hydrogen, but methane and water will do. The engine is a liberal, of flexible tendencies. Rocket malfunctions are U235 or U233 fuel getting spit out rapidly decaying to the worst product is Strontium-90 which gets in your bones and has the half-life of the average human being. So, ixnay on the ocket-ray.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5RCHnnp6-tF7GbvNrqOC3Wem8-aBa5hKU2udVVHN6QklL3Kr9N0kVHrUULUpmsj4kKGmvKSXS65bAtV2vEJC5H159IWFYsV_lXZe9U2b2CiFcSjM5mv1d9W7bzPgXTo6TmTekwbm29gcPDh-jptqqAi-sakbLwegaIVI8jKbyEndqnF8i05KBiYgwPPB/s598/GOD-NOGOD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="537" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5RCHnnp6-tF7GbvNrqOC3Wem8-aBa5hKU2udVVHN6QklL3Kr9N0kVHrUULUpmsj4kKGmvKSXS65bAtV2vEJC5H159IWFYsV_lXZe9U2b2CiFcSjM5mv1d9W7bzPgXTo6TmTekwbm29gcPDh-jptqqAi-sakbLwegaIVI8jKbyEndqnF8i05KBiYgwPPB/w574-h640/GOD-NOGOD.jpg" width="574" /></a></div>John Kurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com1