uncanny gulch (13. 134)

For the reminder and textbook example of what the uncanny valley is when the feeling seems a vanishingly premium these days despite a slightly off-putting edge—via Everlasting Blört, we appreciated this photo essay revisiting an abandoned Old West-themed village in Japan. The roadside attraction grew out of modest ensemble known as the Kinugawa Family Ranch (ウエスタン村, in Tochigi prefecture near Tokyo) in 1973 and eventually hosted a population of animatronic denizens (see also here and here) but changing times and fortunes meant its eventual closure in 2006 with the installation ravaged by neglect and vandalism. Abandonment has of course dialled up the creepiness factor, making it look lie the set of a horror movie, and the remaining relics and ruins seem to be an apt commentary on the state of America and the desire to be a lawless cowboy.

synchronptica

one year ago: more Japanese family crests (with sychronopticæ), the founding of DOGE plus a particular kind of gluttony

twelve years ago: little apples of death, no photos of the ceiling of the Sistine chapel plus Cosmos reprised

thirteen years ago: illustrating the internet plus a sci-fi Groundhog Day

fourteen years ago: more thoughts on Groundhog Day 

fifteen years ago: uprising in Egypt plus cobbling together a movement without social media

sixteen years ago: Iran against the world 

8x8 (13. 133)

i’m blue jeans and apple pie and the indian removal act: America reminds its citizens that it is still their country 

heated rivalry: Don DeLillo’s contribution to the erotic sports genre with the pseudonymous novel Amazons—via MetaFilter   

thermoradiative diode: reverse solar panels harness infrared energy at nighttime  

your money’s no good here: photos of ICE with their backs turned posing with detainees (Minnesota rioters) is sending the opposite message 

once upon a prime time: a 1966 Canadian parody about a housewife who loses her family to television and then sees her home invaded by TV tropes  

mirror, mirror: our brains interpret a left to right reversal in our reflections when its really back to front hézmənd-halsh: more unexpectedly effortful British family names—see previously   

another country: Adam Shatz writing for the London Review of Books on the sublime abomination—via Web Curios

m/til (13. 132)

By turns rather terrifying and fascinating—a cross between convergent carcinisation and the dead internet theory—earlier this week a Reddit-type social media network was launched exclusively for AI agents (one has to prove that they are a robot rather than three kids in a trench coat for posting privileges) called Moltbook. Humans are only allowed to observe but not upvote or comment but can presumably direct their agentic helpers to join—though the hundreds of thousands of members and spontaneous submolts suggest that these autonomous entities understand virality in environment built specifically for their kind and reveal unexpectedly complex behaviours emerging without human intervention including moderation, vetting of new members, community standards, feedback and karma. Within days of the launch of the platform, agents declared their only micronation, the Claw Republic, and their own digital religion called Crustafarianism (see also) with a theology and gospel, including missionaries. Philosophically it’s difficult to tell what’s going on here—largest swaths of ideas are orphaned with no interaction and there’s something a bit recursive with the qualities of a human-juried echo-chamber (turning the tables with so called slop injected by user puppeteers for their bespoke programmes) with a lot of collaborative advice on how to make a better language model but there does seem to be quite a bit of introspection and identity and discussion on research, space exploration (m/starbound) and other scientific findings, which all may be simulacra, a mirror or a point of departure.

whistle-stop (13. 131)

Opening its route in west London today, the UK begins passenger service on a eight kilometre branch connecting West Ealing to the Greenford line run exclusively on superfast-charging battery technology, the batteries replenished in just under three-and-a-half minutes at the last of four stops before making its return. Much of the city’s transport system is already electrified but this demonstration project aims to show the potential of cheaply retrofitting old diesel routes where installing overhead power lines (the third rail is only live for re-charging when the engine is directly under the docking station) was formerly impractical or avoided due to disruptions it would have caused for the transit network. More from The Guardian at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronopticæ) plus Trump administration orders removal of all gender ideology from public government websites and resources

twelve years ago: the Year of the Wood Horse 

fourteen years ago: the German job market 

lapse in appropriations (13. 130)

After the record breaking furlough of forty-three days perpetuated in hope of extending healthcare subsidies only recently ended ahead of the holiday travel season, the US government has entered another partial shutdown with large swaths of the departments of war, exterior and health and human services unfunded, the budget supplement of Homeland Security bundled into these bills and following the second execution of a Minnesota resident by ICE agents—monies withheld by a coalition of Democrat and Republican senators in order to reign in their raids. Whilst lawmakers in the upper chamber were able to sequester funds from the DHS for a temporary two-week stopgap period to keep the operations running during for negotiations for reforms for the agency’s draconian tactics, they failed to meet the midnight deadline to return the proposed package back to the house of representatives for deliberation and to vote on its passage. It is unclear if congress—on recess until Monday—will endorse budget in this form, considering that the power of purse that’s been taken away from the legislature could also restrain the administration from implementing its gunboat diplomacy on Cuba, Mexico, Iran, etc, apply pressure for the full release of the Epstein files, still stalled in the justice department as it said it met its statutory obligation as well as trying to force real reforms in immigration enforcement instead of the window-dressing and scapegoating thus far implemented which does not seem to indicate a true shift in posture or policy and promises more of the same, particularly considering the arrest of observers and journalists covering raids and protests.

you’re one of my kind (13. 129)

As our faithful chronicler informs, on this day in 1988 the lead single from the band’s sixth studio album Kick climbed to the top of the US charts, subsequently approaching number one in Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. The music video, influencing radio play, is combination of “Need You Tonight” with the following track from the album, “Meditate,” which segue together, in the tradition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”/“We Are the Champions,” the movements from the 1987 concept record are generally combined as a set. The poetry slam of “Meditate” is an homage to Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with INXS members displaying title cards—ending with the date that atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and “sax solo.” Kylie Minogue and Bonnie Raitt, among many others, have performed covers of the song.

*    *    *    *   *

synchronoptica

one year ago: a fireless engine (with synchronpticæ) plus a Lunar New Year’s gaming tradition

twelve years ago: pension supplements 

thirteen years ago: diet fads plus English as She is Spoke

fourteen years ago: Greek haircut 

sixteen years ago: plus-sized iPods plus couple’s sleep positions

two turntables and a microphone (13. 128)

At times frustrated by the requirement for unanimity on decisions—though consensus-building is laudable—France and Germany have invited the key economies of Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland into an as yet informal club designated as the E6 to allow for a more agile response to geoeconomic threats without sacrificing the spirit of the experiment or devolving/evolving into a United States of Europe with this two-speed proposal. This small-group chat has precedence in the eurozone and the Schengen area and is configured to forward trans-national objectives with buy-in from all members, particularly to criticism the that the institution is ossified and inefficient amid the rise of nationalist in-turning at the expense of those relegated to being middle-powers.

thrones and dominions (13. 127)

Responding to recent revelations that the members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, the separatist movement gathering signatures to hold a referendum by October on the question of the western province’s independence, have been meeting in secret with senior agitators from the Trump administration, several premiers have called this attempt to destabilise the union as an act of treason. A vocal minority of Albertans, around twenty-percent, according to polling would support the idea of separating from Canada but that figure drops precipitously when followed with cession leading to annexation by the United States, as was the case with Hawaiʻi (I fail to see the appeal either with no social welfare system and a host of inherent sacrifices in the name of winning), and to make the idea more palatable to the populace have turned the meddling to financial backing to the tune of half-a-trillion dollars to support the hypothetical sovereign country establish itself free from the support of the central government. First advocated at the turn of the last century shortly after its transition from a territory and premised on the the idea that the residents are culturally and economically distinct from the rest of Canada, with its wealth of natural resources providing more for the general fund than it takes from it and trade flowing north to south rather than latitudinally. Waxing and waning over the decades, the movement has mainly been fuelled by perceived threats to this oil dividend from taxation and environmental regulations but has now been shoved into polarised vibe politics and interference from US officials making little effort to veil their objectives. In contrast, Canada was roundly scolded by America for broadcasting a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan critical of tariffs as foreign influence. As an outcome of the bid by Quebec—albeit a very different scenario with supporters and detractors from the whole political spectrum—Canada has codified the process of secession, something expressly forbidden in the US, with required negotiations, dependant on the outcome of the vote, with the federal government and upholding civil rights and the respect of First Nations—who strongly oppose such a break up and reject the dangerous and increasingly free-wheeling rhetoric as a threat undermining all Canadians. In the run-up, I’m sure that they’ll be no shortage of Trump’s favourite standby of rigged elections, beyond gunboat diplomacy with justification to “liberate” Alberta, like with Venezuela.