About Wyrd Smythe
The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.
I’ve said in the past that all the crazy and stupid in the world doesn’t make me bitter so much as bemused (which is not at all the same as amused). Lately, as the stakes seem higher and the ought-is gap ever wider, I have to admit to a fair degree of bitterness. It just doesn’t have to be this bad, and often I can’t really grasp why it is.
I read my news feed and am struck by the juxtaposition of items describing the tragedies of life so many experience daily with… handwringing over Taylor Swift’s latest romantic breakup.
Ah, the flotsam and jetsam of modern humanity…
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18 Comments | tags: Burning Man, Candy Crush, Clint Eastwood, fads, Harambe, internet, interweb, National Parks, Pokemon Go | posted in Brain Bubble, Society
Looking back over the trail of sour bubbles, obvious themes emerge: Society, Politics, Media, The Interweb. Important topics that affect and reflect us. Topics I find filled with dire signs and portents, chill winds carrying a hint of smoke that makes my neck hairs stand up straight.
For example, Vin Scully is retiring. If that’s not a sign of the coming apocalypse, I don’t know what one is. Adding insult, my Minnesota Twins are having a bad season of truly biblical proportions.
So, a strange sour silly summer…
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2 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, democracy, democratic society, dogs, Dunning-Kruger effect, emotional mind, Google effect, internet, interweb, millennials, nevermore, opinions, politicians, rational mind, rational thought, stupid, stupid people, stupid stupid stupid, stupidity, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, truth, Vin Scully | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics, Society, The Interweb
I was thunderstruck — brought to a speechless halt — by a thought I had last night while hanging out with friends and (as required by urgent social custom these days) the talk turned to the candy corn-colored bag of GOP chickens come home to roost.
The thought suddenly that occurred to me: We might actually end up being very grateful for Donald Trump for the very simple reason that Hillary Clinton might well be losing against any reasonable, and sane, GOP candidate!
We might otherwise have been looking at strong odds on a Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio presidency (and, no, poor Jeb! never had a chance; he just doesn’t have the right stuff).
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7 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, candy corn, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Melania Trump, nationalism, Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette, politicians, psychopath, Republican Party, sociopath, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics
Last April I finally bought my way into the touchscreen generation when I bought an iPad Air 2. After roughly four months of daily use, I have developed a very definite love-hate relationship with the pad itself as well as with the apps on it.
When I say “love-hate relationship” I don’t mean that in a casual ‘some stuff is good, some stuff not so much’ way. I mean, I really love certain aspects of it and think it’s wonderful, but I’ve come to deeply and very seriously loath a whole lot of others.
And I can’t quite make up my mind which one wins. The final analysis seems to be that I’ll go on using it — for better or worse, it’s a part of my life now. In that sense love won, and I really do love the parts that work for me.
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6 Comments | tags: Apple Corporation, apps, ebooks, fingerprints, gmail, Google Earth, Google+, iPad, keyboards, microfiber cloth, Microsoft Windows, Numbers app, Redshift app, touchscreen, toys, YouTube | posted in Brain Bubble, Computers
In its early days, circa 1990, social media provided a ready platform for fan communities of TV shows and movies. I spent a lot of time in a group devoted to Star Trek. We fans believed the creators were aware of our groups, that they even silently monitored them, but it was very rare that they ever engaged us.
Today the power and allure of social media has broken down the wall. Artists of all stripes use these public platforms to reach, and be reached by, fans. The visible connection between artist and fan has never been stronger.
And as always, there’s a Yang to the Yin…
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Leave a comment | tags: fanatics, fans, Ghostbusters, Harry Potter, infantilization, internet, interweb, Leslie Jones, remakes, sequels, sharing, social media, tyranny of the majority | posted in Brain Bubble, Movies, Society, TV
How is it that I live in a world in which the graph above is real?
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18 Comments | tags: Ani Kokobobo, Anyone But Trump, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Jennifer Rubin, Julian Zelizer, Khizr Khan, Michael Grunwald, politicians, Republican Party, Rosalie Chan, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics
It has become self-evident that the interweb is a game-changer in human society. It is generally welcomed — rightfully so — as a big step forward in terms of access to information. More crucially, it’s a giant step forward in sharing information, which is what Tim Berners-Lee originally intended.
But, as with any powerful tool, there’s a Yang to the Yin, and something as extraordinarily powerful as the web is bound to have a strong Yang balancing that Yin.
If we consider the web as we know it as beginning in 2001, we’ve had 15 years to study the effects.
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16 Comments | tags: internet, internet communication, internet of shit, internet of things, internet tubes, interweb, messaging, mobile devices, notifications, sharing, smartphones, social media, Tim Berners-Lee, toast | posted in Brain Bubble, Society, The Interweb
There is no question ‘the urge to write is strong in this one’ but these days I’m weary (on many levels) of writing structured blog posts. At the same time, after so many years of writing for presentation, it’s hard to relax one’s own rules enough for a major style change. But it’s what I keep reaching for.
Seeking that, as well as catharsis from a world that has either gone mad, or — at the very least — is driving me mad, I realized, a-ha: Brain Bubbles! While intended for off-the-cuff passing thought posts, many turned out as collections of related (or unrelated!) thought bubbles.
So pop the cork and let the bubbly flow…
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Leave a comment | tags: Anyone But Trump, comment section, democracy, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, NPR, politicians, Republican Party, social change, social issues, social media, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics, Society
Yesterday’s post was a rant; this one counters with a rave. The bad news is that it’s my even earlier writing chops from three years prior to the Stargate review, plus — as this was essentially an email — the writing is especially informal and unstructured.
The original plan was to write a new piece on Grand Canyon, because it’s one of my all-time favorite films, and I wanted to do it proper justice. The “review” you’re about to read I wrote shortly after seeing the film for the first time, so it lacks any thoughts I have about it after 25 years and many viewings since then.
But I’m all about clearing my weblog backlog (the blog bog), so here it is in all its informal gushy glory.
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14 Comments | tags: Alfre Woodard, Danny Glover, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon (movie), Kevin Kline, Lawrence Kasdan, Los Angeles, Mary McDonnell, Mary-Louise Parker, Meg Kasdan, modern life, Steve Martin, violence in movies, violent society | posted in Movies
You read the title correctly, dear Reader, this is, indeed, a review of a movie that came out 22 years ago. (And tomorrow I plan to post a review of a movie from 25 years ago!) This blog of late is operating in a personal archeology vein (or would vain be the better word in this case?) as well as a sociopolitical one. Remembrances and Rants R me!
The two reviews this weekend are very Yang-Yin in nature: I really hated Stargate and really loved Grand Canyon (in fact, it’s one of my all-time Fave Five movies). Yet the former film spawned a multi-film and TV series franchise, so there you go.
If anything, the amusing thing is how much I hated the film. It passed some threshold that put it forever on my blacklist…
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5 Comments | tags: James Spader, Kurt Russell, Roland Emmerich, Stargate (movie) | posted in Movies, Sci-Fi Saturday
BB #50: Blog Bubbles
Seeking that, as well as catharsis from a world that has either gone mad, or — at the very least — is driving me mad, I realized, a-ha: Brain Bubbles! While intended for off-the-cuff passing thought posts, many turned out as collections of related (or unrelated!) thought bubbles.
So pop the cork and let the bubbly flow…
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Anyone But Trump, comment section, democracy, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, NPR, politicians, Republican Party, social change, social issues, social media, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics, Society