Source: Against Lists by Elena Gorfinkel via S/FJ
Talk paper scissors, anyone?
I have the always wonderful Dense Discovery to thank for introducing me to the weird art of Tim Andraka.
I love Seth’s idea of personal process notation. I’ve been doing more of this sort of thing lately.
I’m on a flight with my family reading research on the intelligence of birds, as one does. My daughter has been training crows in our neighborhood for months now. I exported a 62-page paper to a PDF and asked ChatGPT to write an article for a high school newspaper (for my daughter). Results were pretty good, but took a little effort, which might have to do with the custom instructions I’m currently using, which likely aren’t the best for this sort of prompt.
Sad, but it will live on! Long live Usenet.
My friend Ian shared this gem of an album from 1977 today and I’ve been listening ever since. As I’m doing a web search for the cover (for this very post), I stumble upon this incredible music blog and a post from 2017 that provides some additional context.
Old and New Dreams was formed with the mission to play the music of Ornette with the same spirit and intensity they played it with the maestro. Blackwell recalls the gigs at the Five Spot: “During this time most of the clubs were featuring two bands a night. There would be four sets. Ornette would play two sets and the visiting band would play two sets. This was going on for like six nights a week. We had a chance really to stretch out during our sets. Sometimes Ornette would stretch out our set, and sometimes he would just cut them a little shorter, depending on what mood he was in. But it was always intense. A lot of times we would rehearse all day and then come to work that night, and everybody was always geared up to play. The energy that flowed through that band was phenomenal.” Outside of Ornette Coleman’s version of Lonely Woman, Old and New Dreams’ interpretation of the piece from their 1979 album on the ECM label is my favorite. The opening of the tune sets you immediately into a mood like very few pieces of music do, and the sensation that Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell create with their rhythms is a joy to listen to. Haden said simply of his role with the original quartet: “With Ornette, there was no piano, but I became the piano.”
Flighty is one of my very favorite apps. It’s exceptionally well-designed and extremely useful. They just pushed some big UX updates, including this cool year-end passport, which I thought was nice. I had many years of travel data in TripIt, which I was able to import. Cannot recommend this app enough. Because I travel somewhat infrequently, I just pay the monthly subscription before my flight and then deactivate it after travel is complete. Nice to have that as an option.
Just came across French artist, David Vanadia and absolutely love what he’s doing.
Earlier today Apple’s classic Think Different commercial popped up in my feeds, but this was the version Steve Jobs narrated. It gave me chills and nearly brought me to tears. It made me emotional not just because it’s one of the greatest commercials ever, but because it immediately took me back. Back to The Before Times. And I miss Steve or maybe it’s what he stood for as much as what he stood against. What a time to have been alive.
Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. — Steve Jobs, 1997