Japan Eat: A Japanese Chef I’ll Never Forget [1min].

Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis [2min]. Available free on Kanopy if you have a US library card.

2031 Commercial.

JEFF GOLDBLUM holds [PRODUCT] in his hands, standing on a dark stage, single spotlight. He stares into the camera for 29 seconds.

[00:00:29] GOLDBLUM: “This thing su–”
[end]

Fern: The Dumb Design of Modern Cars [25min].

i boycott stuff that gives off even the slightest whiff of ai

when i get 2x whiffs from the type and the imagery, i make a boring post about it

MARRY ME

not saying this is ai

it’s the feeling of the type

that rounded gross-ass stuff

i wonder if there will be sort of a slow crawling-away from typefaces like this

and digital typefaces in general

and toward hand-drawn type

i hope so

DIVORCE ME

Premodernist: The boring truth about the Library of Alexandria [22min].

Michael Reeves: Gaslighting the Clankers.

Tor’s Cabinet of Curiosities: The Most Hardcore Railroad Crossing Ever [22min].

Not Just Bikes: The Laziest Excuse for Bad Cities [29min].

2025mixtape now available.

Taskmaster: Drink All the Vinegar [9min].

Bike update #293. There is not much to tell. Today, for example, I was in the “PED XING” of a major street, had already crossed three stopped lanes of traffic very slowly on the Dutch bike, and a truck with tinted windows zoomed past in the fourth/final one. I saw it coming, tinted windows always spells trouble, trucks spell trouble, trucks + tints = bad news. So, as one does, I yelled “HI!!!!!” about three feet from wherever his head would have been. He stopped just up the road, because the .1cc of blood in his system had gone from his brain to his junk. I counted off for him. One ... two ... three annnd he started back on his exciting journey to the liquor store.

So that’s what happens about one out of five outings. Truck person does a stupid fuckhead thing, gets angry when there’s blowback, but then sees that it’s going to take awhile for me to ride up to where they stopped (if it even turns out I’m riding in the same direction), so they give up. Sorry, I would have peddled faster had I known you had an important message/fisticuffs/bullets to impart. The more experiences I have with humans on this planet, the less I like you as a group. It just isn’t working out. My friends are jpgs of cats and dog videos now.

I got an ebike. It mostly functions as a coat rack, but it’s there in the clutch when I need to move typewriters and art and bulky junk. The point of the Dutch bike is that it is a workout. One speed. So I’m not going to pedal-assist my way to Even Less Exercise. I am packing a lot on the ebike in the future days/weeks/months, I am tired of having things. I got an “ABUS” frame lock for the bike but the old “AXA” frame lock on the Dutch bike kicks it in its frame lock ass. Go with AXA if you are shopping for frame locks. Everything is a lot more snappy. Just ... get a black one. At one point they sold them in some weird sickly light tan color when my bike was purchased. Maybe they stopped. Take it from me, Squirrely Joe, the safety woodchuck. They are sometimes called ring locks. I like “frame lock,” it sounds more sturdy. The thing about frame locks is that you also buy a “plug-in” chain that ... plugs in to the frame lock. AXA ring/frame locks. If you buy one of these (and the chain), you are 87.2% more secure than most everyone I see locking up bikes in the East Bay, who clearly went to [shitty big box store here] and said “give me your thinnest, crappiest U-lock” or “you got one of those cable locks you can cut through with a cheap pair of tin snips? Tight.” Cable locks are ass. All of them.

I have to build a little drink holder for the ebike and the Dutch bike for little cans of Suntory BOSS Flash Brew Cold Café Au Lait. Maybe get a better kickstand for the Dutch bike, but I’ve been getting by w/o using the fold-down one which somehow is barely functional, though I can’t see how to re-balance it w/o getting out a welding torch. I do not have a welding torch. Was it installed like this, ready to collapse w/the slightest touch? Apparently.

Tired of people, tired of having things. I kind of just want to be a pinball machine or a really good bakery. Or a chocolate bar metal mold. That would be okay.

Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching [2hrs].

TODALLY EXTREME!!!!!!!111!11

In sad weblog news, New Shelton Wet/Dry is packing up shop. Safe travels and thank you for the thing with the stuff.

Laura Kampf: I Built A Hovercraft Suitcase [30min].

Someone in the comments mentioned a sphere form factor, which reminded me of the Q Drum. Look for my Non-hovercraft Q Drumee Luggage Rollerer in participating Kresge’s 5 and 10s.

Fern: The Evil Design of Communist Surveillance [22min].

Kiwami Japan: Engagement ring made from human nails [2019; 17min].

Angela Collier: Dyson Spheres are a Joke [53min].

First Official World Tram Driver Championship [6hrs 24min].

Something something US driver was disqualified beccause something something car cult kickbacks something individualism something.

Comedy jokes. In actuality, US came in 25th. Out of 25. Honestly, surprised there was even someone there for Usa.

Hundreds of Beavers (2022; 1hr 48min).

Innovative slapstick for the now-now generation. I laughed a lot, and didn’t pause the movie every five minutes like I do with everything else lately. I highly recommend it.

Digest of Telephone Patents: Telephony 1904-06: Vol 7 Issue 6.