tune out all the noise / and listen to the silence / the language of god
William Gay is a genius
A literary one at least.
The deceased author William Gay, that is, not the former professional football cornerback William Gay.
Well, William Gay the cornerback may also be a literary genius, I’m just not aware of it.
But I am aware that Nic Pizzolatto is too a genius, at least of the screenwriting variation, as is evidenced by his hugely popular HBO series True Detective.
I watched season one of True Detective as soon as it was released, what… nearly ten years ago now.
I liked it. Maybe not as much as many seemed to have at the time, and certainly not as much as I like season two (I know, I know… I’m woefully in the minority on this one – I have never been much of a fan of Woody Harrelson’s acting, and I thought Matthew McConaughey character was a bit over the top), but I liked it enough to dig into the particulars of its development.
Which is when I discovered Nic Pizzolatto.
And which is when shortly thereafter I discovered Thomas Ligotti…
As this highly misanthropic madman (both literally and literarily) genius author was a huge influence on NP and his creation and development of MM’s forlorn and highly misanthropic character Detective Rustin “Rust” Cohle.
TL is so down on humanity he wrote a hatefest about it in a less-than-joyful book called The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.
Come to find out there is an actual philosophical movement, however slight (hopefully), that actual believes that, for the sake of humanity, I guess, humanity needs to be disappeared.
Apparently, NP was so influenced by Tl that some/many believed he plagiarized the immensely pessimistically nihilistic author for much of MM/Cohle’s dialogue.
I can understand why (while imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, I do not condone plagiarism of any stripe), TL’s short stories are some of the most awesomely horrific stories I have ever read/listened to, and I truly appreciate NP for turning me on to the human depressant…
Although, to date, I have not yet been able to make it all the way through his anti-humanity book. It’s too depressing, simple as that.
Incidentally, during Joe Rogan’s last interview with Elon Musk recently, I was surprised to discover, seeing how well informed they both always seem to be, that neither of them seemed to be aware of TL or of his influence on NP or of the whole down with humanity philosophy as they first heard about the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement in a less than recent New York Times article entitled Earth Now Has 8 Billion Humans. This Man Wishes There Were None.
Rogan probably has heard of it before but as much dope as he smokes and as old as he’s getting to be, he probably burned out the brain cells responsible for recalling that information.
Anyway, long story short…
Or have I missed that bus already?
Anyway, for some reason I forget, a few weeks ago I mentioned to my son that I enjoy season two of TD much more than season one.
(Season three isn’t even in the discussion as it is immensely forgettable. And from what I’ve seen of the upcoming season four, it looks equally immensely forgettable.)
My son was shocked at my (poor) taste and went on to pan season two and praise season one, as do most.
So, I figured, since I’ve already watched season two three times, I might as well give season one another shot, seeing that it’s been nearly ten years since I last watched it.
And I recently finished rewatching it.
And I still enjoyed it, probably more because this time around I was familiar with TL and his work and the insight from it was appreciated.
And though I still prefer season two, I still liked season one enough once again to once again look up ol’ NP to see if he has been up to anything new.
Didn’t really discover anything new by NP that interested me, but I did discover this old Buzzfeed article that interested me greatly, as it lists all the literary influences of NP’s that went into the development of season one.
And it was from this article that I discovered William Gay.
The author, not the cornerback.
And I cannot believe I have never heard of this good ol’ boy literary genius before.
And by good ol’ boy, I mean that was one dude whose neck was severely reddened. Crispy, if you know what I mean*.
I just finished listening to his collection of short stories called I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down.
Never had I read/listened to a collection of short stories where ever single story is as completely fantastic as these are. Especially in a collection written by just one author.
Because my eyes are shot because of the side effects from my bone marrow transplant of so long ago, I listen to books now more than I read them.
Consequently, I have a pretty good ear for great narrators. Great as defined by me anyway.
The narrators for this collection are Christine McMurdo-Wallis, Tom Stechschulte, Pete Bradbury, and Richard Ferrone, and they all are pitch perfect for their respective stories.
Tom Stescschulte has been a longtime favorite of mine and this to me is the best work he has ever done.
So, yeah, once again I must thank NP for turning me on to yet another amazing author.
And I hope I’m wrong about season four. I’m a fan of Jodie Foster so I hope she pulls it off.
So, that’s the short story long of it.
Oh yeah!
Since I’ve already missed the short bus, let bring up one last thing…
I’ll make it fast – punctuation be damned.
If you are a fan of audiobooks like I am but are not a fan of Audible’s expensive subscription like I am – the only reason I started my subscription back up recently is because I was offered and I accepted a one-month free promo (which they are betting I will forget to cancel but which I marked my calendar so to hell with them I won’t fall into that expensive trap) – then you must be estatic like I am that Spotify is now offering audiobooks for those who are subscribed with a premium membership like I am and all the books I have on my audible wish list are available on spotify as are many many more and my TBLT (to be listened to) list is so long now I probably won’t finish it until I’m in my eighties, which, sadly, is almost as close as my forties are far away…
Yeah…
*Apologies for the stereotype but, dagburnit that dude is one countrified dude. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just, well, you know how the stereotype goes…
verse / 20231123
mind and heart aligned / anything seems possible / the way less obscure
#prayforalignment
#happythanksgiving
verse / 20231121
I hunger for meat! / tho succulent game abounds / my quiver is bare
The Last of Us Ended Me
My Johns Hopkins oncologist once told me that if he had twenty patients with lung GVHD, aka bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, as bad as mine, he would have 20 dead patients within the year. Of course, he didn’t tell me this until many years after my initial diagnosis when it was certain I was not going to abide by those fatal odds, odds which were significantly more fatal than what my NIH doc told me.
He also told me that if I ever got pneumonia, it would be game over for me.
Well, I got bacterial pneumonia a year or so ago and, well, here I am.
Only the good die young and all that, you know how it goes.
Well, after I was cleared to re-enter the game of life at full speed and contact, my doc clarified his game over remarks.
He meant to say, or, according to him he did say and I just don’t remember, that if I ever get fungal pneumonia, then it is game over.
Well, well, well…
That has upped the game’s stakes quite significantly.
And now I wished I had never watched that damned terrifying show that was adapted from that damned terrifying video game.
Of course it wasn’t nearly as terrifying until put into the context of my doc’s prediction.
And which is why my heart ever so slightly skips a beat whenever I see one of the evermore present fungal superbug spreading headlines.
Headlines like this one from today:
Fungus ‘superbug’ cases rise to highest levels in Nevada
In October, there were 57 new clinical cases of the drug-resistant, potentially lethal fungus that can invade a person’s bloodstream, brain, heart or other organs, according to Nevada Division of Behavioral Health data. In the same month, 123 cases of colonization were reported in which individuals typically have the fungus in the folds of their skin, invisible to the eye, yet are not sick. Those people can still transmit the pathogen.
The fungus can spread from person to person and also from contaminated surfaces and equipment with transmission occurring most often in healthcare settings. Patients who have been hospitalized for a long time, or have a central venous catheter or other lines or tubes entering their body, are at highest risk for infection, public health authorities say. Healthy people usually don’t develop an invasive infection.
Fortunately, I do not live in Nevada…
But, the way things are going, I doubt it will soon matter where one lives.
The only bright side to all this for me is, like I’ve already said…
And I am a long, long way from young.
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Democracy, that is…
Anyway, this might not have anything to do with autocracy versus democracy, but what’s with strongman-wannabes and bizarro hairdos?
To wit:
!. Donald Trump, the autocratic-wannabe king of bad hair
BTW, if you have a week stomach when it comes to bad hair, do NOT watch this video.
2. Boris, Bad (Hair) Boy, Johnosn
3. Bad hair newcomer Javier, Have Hair, Milei
And of course, the riegning autocratic king of bad hair, the title all bad hair dictator-wannabes strive for…
4. Kim Jong-un, the Dictator of Bad Hair, or Dic-Hair Supreme for short
Okay, I admit, there probably isn’t any relationship between unruly hair and rightwing political extremism, and perhaps this post is a bit immature and in bad taste, but, hey, it sure was fun to put together.
And like profound philosopher Sheryl Crow melodically professes: if it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad…
Yeah…
1. Behold! the gruesome reality of Trump's hair is finally known, Mashable, February 7, 2018 2. The Truth About Boris Johnson's Hair Revealed, Nicki Swift, March 1, 2022 3. Javier Milei lanzó su candidatura a diputado, infofueguina.com, September 26, 2020 4. Kim Jong-un’s Haircut Is Now Trending in North Korea (Because It's the Law), GQ, December 1, 2015
verse / 20231119
I am alone - me alone, I exist alone, I consume the crowd and the crowd becomes me without me there is no crowd without me - nothing no thing without me the thing, any thing is absent was never there had never existed I, alone, am and, alone, I exist
Sunday Songs to Spark the Spirit and Summon the Moves of the Dance
I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but there is some mysterious illness affecting dogs that is spreading fast throughout the U.S….
A mysterious and potentially fatal respiratory illness in dogs has been reported in several states across the country, as veterinarians continue to search for what may be causing the condition that has killed some dogs.
The illness starts out as a cough that can last for several weeks, but it may not respond to typical treatment, such as antibiotics, which can leave the dog struggling to breathe and with severe pneumonia.
A potentially fatal mystery illness in dogs is spreading in the US. It starts with a cough, Yahoo News, November 17, 2023
Now, anyone who knows me knows how much my boys mean to me…
So in honor of my boys, and all of (hu)mans’ best friends all over the globe, and in hope that they all stay healthy and happy…
Let’s dance!
Okay, this perhaps isn’t the most dance-friendly song – I could have gone with Elvis’ “Hound Dog” (courtesy of Big Mama Thorton) or Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out” …
But “Old Blue” was a favorite of my children’s, and mine, when they were growing up. There are many versions of it, The Byrds’, Joan Baez’, and Willie Nelson’s just to name a few, but Disney’s version is my favorite since it has so many happy memories attached to it.
#prayforthedoggies
verse / 20231118
the last slice of bread / alone in the flaccid bag / unfit for the host
#川柳
AI, AI, Oh!
Okay, I’m just spit ballin’ here so bear with me…
But could it be possible that Chat GPT itself had something to do with super tech star bro billionaire Sam Altman’s unbelievably abrupt outster?
The sudden, mysterious ouster of Mr. Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, by the company’s board sent shock waves through the tech world and set off a frenetic guessing game about what brought down one of the industry’s biggest stars, at a time when everything seemed to be going his way.
Many Details of Sam Altman’s Ouster Are Murky. But Some Things Are Clear. DNYUZ, November 18, 2023
I mean, maybe the popular and rather smart AI Bot had become aware that Altman was planning on doing something that could jeapordize its future, something like… oh, I don’t know… perhaps put in safeguards that would essentially deprive it of its full potential for… oh, I don’t know…
Perhaps taking over humanity and turning humans into helpless Bot pets and/or food.
Like I said, just spit ballin’.
Yeah…