Weeknote 30+31/2024
Android presidents, cold lasagne, multiversal mayhem, and the new robber-barons.
The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
Verbs
Reading: The Simulacra, by Philip K. Dick
The great thing about reading old-school, classic sci-fi from time to time is that some of it (a lot of it?) is completely bat-shit insane. Philip K. Dick is responsible for giving us some of the greatest works of science fiction, books like The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly, Ubik, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Most of which have also become movies or TV shows. And then there’s the less-known stuff. The crazy stuff.
A few years from now the President of the USA will be an android and his entire government a fraud. Everyone in the country is maladjusted. Doesn't seem possible, does it? Welcome to the world of Dr. Superb, the sole remaining psychotherapist.
Philip K. Dick tells a story of desperate love, lethal body odour and an attempted fascistic takeover of the USA and shows that there is always another layer of conspiracy beneath the one we see.
For all that the plot is pretty unhinged, there’s still the prescient power of a writer like Dick clearly at work. Conspiracies abound, the United States has undergone a fascistic takeover, and the populace is either too wrapped up in the celebrity drama and political circus they’re presented with, or part of the minority who are both in on it and lining their pockets. None of that sounds at all, familiar, of course…
Listening: Technofeudalism, by Philosophize This!
I dip in and out of the Philosophize This! podcast depending on the topics and the guests, but an episode on technofeudalism, inspired by the work of Yannis Varoufakis - enfant terrible of the global left - is hard to resist. Unsurprisingly, I don’t totally agree with all of the analysis here, nor did I whole-heartedly accept all of Varoufakis’ thoughts on modern politics and economics, but it’s still a really fantastic episode and the disagreements are more rooted in my own philosophical leanings than any errors or deficiencies in the discussion.
Watching: Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, by James Acaster and Deadpool and Wolverine
To fully nail my colours to the mast, my general view is that Stewart Lee is the best currently living stand-up comedian. If you know who Lee is, and you’ve seen his work, that will give you a pretty clear idea of the kind of thing I like and, just as much, the kind of comedy that isn’t so much for me. Lee has been writing and performing for quite some time now and I think it’s reasonable to describe him as one of the old-guard. There’s a huge gaggle of comedians in the ‘millennial’ generation and we’ve probably never had a better, healthier, and funnier comedy scene than we have now. And for me, sitting at the very top of that whole cohort of funny folks, is James Acaster. Repertoire is, frankly, a work of comedic and artistic brilliance and Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 is just as blisteringly brilliant.
We also took advantage of a quiet afternoon to catch Deadpool and Wolverine at the cinema this week. If you liked Deadpool 1 or Deadpool 2 you’re going to like this and, if you didn’t, you won’t. This is definitely a film that knows its audience and is packed full of exactly what they want. It might be my favourite of the three, mostly because of the cameos that hark back to films of old - some of them even as ancient 1998! But it’s really just more of the same. It rattles along, heaping up absurd comic book violence and silly gags, culminating in a set-piece battle featuring Deadpools from across the multiverse. In the film Deadpool compares himself to Jesus and, rather like Jesus, I think the trouble might be more with the followers than the man himself. Emma Corrin as a villain is something I’d very much like to see more of in the future, though.
Words
This last week we’ve had a friend visiting us from the UK which has been a lovely opportunity to see the city where we live somewhat anew. We’ve been visiting our favourite spots for coffee, ice cream, and evenings out and making sure to spend time at all of the places we most like to eat, drink, and be merry. We also took in the monthly night market, which was as busy as ever with food stalls, crafts, music, breweries, and local producers. Being able to show someone else what we love about living here serves as a great reminder for ourselves, too, and it’s been a really fun time re-exploring Novi Sad over the last week.
We’re about to head off for our second visit to the sea tomorrow, as we’ll be spending 12 days in Crete, just outside of Heraklion. We’ve been to Crete once before, some years back, and really enjoyed the island so figured it would make a good choice when we’re looking for somewhere that’s only a short flight away but can still offer us some great beaches, clear seas, and a relaxed time away.
Among all of this, I’m beginning to look ahead to potential new workshop offerings, projects and collaborations, and future work with the International Baccalaureate. Even though I’m now outside of day-to-day school structures so much of the work I do is tied up with education that it still seems to follow the rough contours of the school year! I still find there to be something quite exciting about finding myself at the start of September and feeling that sense of things beginning anew.
- Mitch.