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2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Xuebing Du
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Cosmic Funnies
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@kijafa-blog
So I remembered I had a tumblr account today
I guess that's kinda cool. I'm not sure exactly what I'm gonna do with it now, but a blog in the hand is worth two blogs somewhere less accessible. Anyway I'll write some stuff and we'll (using the royal we here) see if anybody reads it. At least I know I can look back on it later a cringe a bit. That's always fun right?
Wes Anderson, You Magnificent Bastard
For anyone out there who hasn't heard about it (you Philistines) "Moonrise Kingdom" is Wes Anderson's newest film. It's got all the usual suspects plus Bruce Willis. Anyway I just realized that his release schedule for this film is goddamn genius. First he shows at Cannes, which isn't all that different. I mean everyone wants to show a film at Cannes. But the initial release is tiny, minuscule even. Just enough for all the reviewers out in Hollywood to cream their jeans over. They like it because it's a good film, but they also like it because it's exclusive. Then there's a wider release, to all the hipstery places. Austin, DC, more Cali. Enough to get the blogosphere talking. All the cool kids on the webs are talking about it now. First because, fuck, it's Wes Anderson. If he sold the team Zissou kicks I'd pay $200 for them. Anyway it's also still exclusive. It'll get rave reviews because people will be like "Hey how was the movie? They're not showing it in my town/county/state!". And all the kids in Austin/Hollywood will say "It's was the cat's pjs, too bad you're not cool enough to live where they're showing it!". Still exclusive, still cool. Cool = Rave reviews. Then it gets an even wider release. All the art-house joints all over the country. Still cool, still relatively exclusive. That way I can talk about it to my friends/co-workers and point out how savvy I am for driving an extra 20 min to see it. I'll totally blow a load about that. This equals more praise. Then, finally, nationwide release. By this point all the opinions of it will be positive. I'll be happy just to say I've already seen it. People will flock to it, because the consensus is that it's a great flick. Wes Anderson, you are a magnificent bastard. I can't wait till Moonrise Kingdom opens up in my state.
Drunken Book Reviews: Snow Crash
I'm gonna start by saying that I am considerably drunk. Four Bombay Gin & tonics will do that to you. And none of that Bombay Sapphire stuff, this is Bombay dry. Anyway I also think I should note in a bit burnt out on Neil Stephenson. I read the ENTIRE Baroque Cycle before I read "Snow Crash", so I know his particular tropes. Particularly the "Strong Female Character" he seems to love so well. In fact, he loves this particular slant so much he has two strong female characters in "Snow Crash". Not that there is anything wrong with that, I happen to know quite a few women who can handle their own business. But after reading much of his other works the formula begins to become all too clear. It's the most obvious kind of fan service. Plus the statutory tape is a bit disturbing. The apologist stance for Catholicism doesn't endear it to me either, being a Catholic myself. Denying the Resurrection denies the central point of Christianity. But I'm drunk, what do I know? Anyway the whole plot feels a bit like literary masturbation. You like Japanese culture, yeah we get that. Does it need to play such a central part in all of your stories? Does your protagonist need to have katanas as he weapons of choice? I think not. Also Stephenson fails to address that half-black half-asians are usually short. I have a friend who is Afro-Japanese and he's about. 5'3". Anyway I found this book distinctly less-than-satisfying. I loved "The Diamond Age", but I feel like Stephenson's body of work does not stand up to the standard that novel sets . I like the whole "enclave" style of governance, but it gets bogged down in so much fan service it's painful to read. If I had to rate it out of ten, I'd give it a five. It isn't entirely stupid, but the entire experience was painful at best.
Life After Separation
The Best Western in Staunton VA provides a complimentary rubber duck in the bath tub. It's a nice touch that costs almost nothing. It is symptomatic of an overall level of care that is evident. It's clean and there is a bed, which is all I really need at this point. In fact the room has two beds, which feels weird since I'm the only one here. It felt weird to leave today too. I got a nice send-off, as well as help with the crazy amounts of stuff I seem to have accumulated. And in classic fashion I almost destroyed my coffee maker while loading it up. It was good to leave when I did. It was a nice goodbye, heartfelt but without any tears or theatrics. It's like I was going away for a vacation instead of leaving Annapolis for good. I think if I would have stuck around until there was time for a real going away party I would have broken down. I would have been a melancholy drunk; salting my gin and tonic with my own bitter tears (yes Abbott I used that semicolon just to annoy you). No one wants to see that. I think the fact that I'm actually gone is still sinking in. I feel like tomorrow I'll wake up to chow calls and formation. Like I'll go to meals and class. Like I'll worry about the same midshipman problems as always. But those days are gone. It hurts to know that I won't be a part of that world. I'll see all the statuses about I-ball and ring deliveries and people bitching about parade practice from far away. It's the small things I'll miss. The small things and the people who made them worthwhile. My friends who were more like brothers than friends. I guess I could get bitter. I could get angry and spiteful, even though the blame for getting kicked out is mine. But I don't think I will. I still love the Academy, even though it sent me away. I won't forget the bad parts, but on the whole I still love the USNA. All its stupidity right along with its intelligence and beauty. Anyway that's enough of that. I have waxed melancholic enough for two posts by my estimate. I'll be keeping this blog so people can keep track of me (and know exactly when I start using crystal meth). Also CDR Huey told me to keep a journal. So here's me keeping a journal. I've got 10 hours to drive tomorrow so I guess I'll try and sleep now.
My favorite Ocarina of Time song remixed in a dubstep style. Oh internet, will you ever cease to amaze?
afternoonsnoozebutton:
Hello, alcohol poisoning.
Drunken Book Reviews: A Movable Feast
I write this somewhere halfway between Baltimore and Germany. I've been drinking gin and tonics for the last hour or so. I'm pretty sure the flight attendant thinks I'm an alcoholic at this point. I really enjoy gin and tonic because you really know when you've had enough. I think this will be my new go-to beverage. Anyway, I figure now is as good a time as any to write. Once we get to Ramstein Aim going to get a real leather notebook for writing. This iPhone touchscreen really doesn't cut it. I never really appreciated Hemingway until now. He sparse prose is straight and to the point. And a little bitter, a bit like a gin and tonic. It's powerful without droning on about itself. What I found interesting was how Hemingway realized the fault with the failure of his first marriage. He was weak, naive and male. An unfortunate condition that probably afflicts an eighth of the world's populace. This book strikes me as an excellent Springboard for understanding the rest of his work. Now when I'm reading "the Sun Also Rises" I can see who inspired some of the characters in that story. It gives you a great background to the rest of his books. Also it's made me fall in love with the idea of Paris a little. I can't really fall in love with the city proper till I get there. But it's a wonderful abstraction. The chapters jump around a bit. There's no real continuous narrative, probably because it was published after he died. For all that it's still very powerful. It is a bit like watching a dead friend's home videos. It is emotional, powerful, and and deeply intimate. It shows a proud man's failings of character. Were I to meet Hemingway in the street today I doubt we would be friends. Despite that I admire his work and his life. Vive la mor, vive la guerre. (correct spelling on last line?) Note: this post was written entirely on my iPhone.
Concerning Anon's new "Operation Orlando"
I’m going to start with a warning; this is about to be really roundabout and somewhat nerdy.
So I was reading BBC online just now and I noticed a strange headline. “Anonymous Declares War on Orlando” This in turn answers a question I asked myself earlier today. Namely: what happened to all the people on 4chan?
I went on the /b/ today for the first time in a long time. It was almost sad. /b/ has always held the distinction of being the most horrible place on the internet. I breeding grounds for the worst kind of shit, as well as most good memes of the 21st century. Now it’s just another image board with some old recycled trash. Where did all the real trolls and hardcore haters get off to? ED is some respectable-type site, and /b/ is no longer the unwashed taint of the internet. Did the world just turn nice or something?
I think they all just grew up. All the users on 4chan that made it interesting looked around one day and realized they could do better. Raiding Habbo Hotel and trolling YouTube comments can only be so fun for long. So they went to this new “hacktivism” thing. They didn’t even come up with a new name or a new slogan. They even kept the “we are Anonymous. Expect us.” thing. The same ending line used against the whole anti-Scientology attack. The 4chan hackers have simply moved on to the global stage. It explains why 4chan is now boring, and why Anon seems like it’s trying to troll the whole planet. That would also explain why someplace as random as Orlando is getting attacked.
I’m pretty familiar with the root of this dispute. This group wants to give out food to the homeless at Lake Eola park. The city wants them to stop. Now as I see it, both sides are being d-bags. Orlando doesn’t want these unsightly vagrants ruining the persona of being most magical city on earth. It’s hard to maintain when one of your nicest city venues is full homeless people. But the Food not Bombs folks are kind of being bastards too. Of they really cared about feeding the homeless, they could get a permit or give out the food somewhere that doesn’t cause a huge public disturbance. They’re leveraging their position to get political attention. I mean who is going to say “I am against feeding homeless people.” While they are doing something good, they’re also using people as a tool to get media attention. Both sides are sorta right, both sides are kinda wrong. This fight has been going on for awhile. It’s just now that people have been arrested, which brought in the media attention. Which is where Anon steps in.
My bet is someone saw a news headline that said “Several People Arrested for Feeding Homeless.” Then some member of Anonymous got all white knight and decided that this injustice had to be stopped. He/she probably told other members “Look at this bullshit!!1!” or something to that effect. The word got out. It looked like an easy choice of who had the moral high ground. So these ex-4channers stepped in to help the little guy. A simple DDoS attack on a private website and now I see it on my BBC feed. All because people in newsmedia are old, and don’t really get internet groups. “Hactivism” is some half-baked phrase that allows them to put Lulzsrc and Anonymous into a nice little category. The only question now is where we all go from here.
The first salvo was a DDoS attack on some Orlando tourism site. Not an actual city owned site, but a site that was simply about Orlando destinations. So what? Well now apparently they’ll keep shutting down sites until…until they get bored? I mean what’s the endgame here? Until the ordinance requiring permits for large gatherings gets repealed? Until the situation gets sufficient media exposure? I just don’t see it. The city won’t back down, because this essentially cyberterrorism. If you change laws because someone is shutting down your websites, is that any different than changing laws because people someone is blowing up buildings? This isn’t easy-to-hate terrorism either. It’s more IRA than Al-Quaeda. More of a “well I sorta see where they’re coming from plus my grandparents are Irish deal.” I like the internet, and I like the idea that it can be used to fight injustice. However trying to systematically attack a city government seems a little iffy. I doubt they’ll win, but what if they did? If legislation can be forced through coercion, what’s to say it’ll stop at insignificant things like this. I mean, do you really want people from 4chan telling you what’s right and what’s wrong? I know I sure as hell don’t
tl;dr
4chan has evolved into Anonymous!
Anonymous used DDoS!
It’s not very effective…
Because I can't sleep, I posted this
It’s 1:30 here on the east coast, and once again I’m awake. I made the mistake of reading in bed instead of going straight to sleep. I do this every night, yet I always seem to expect a different outcome. I believe that is a loose definition of insanity. I’ve been reading “A Movable Feast” and I’ve been enjoying it so far. I love Hemingway’s simple and direct prose. I wonder if anyone ever told him he writes a bit like Albert Camus? Or maybe it’s the other way around. Anyway I’ve decided that tomorrow or the next day I’ll finish the book. I have to finish it before I leave for Europe, as apparently it gives you a good feeling for Paris. We shall see. Also when I finish the book I’m going to have a pitcher of Calimocho, as it’s supposed to be the semi-official drink of the feast of San Fermin. I’ll hopefully be in attendance and it’d be a shame to show up unprepared. So I’ll go out and buy a cheap bottle of Rioja and mix it with coke. Over ice. It sounds pretty bad, but not as bad as fourlokos so I’ll probably be alright.
I also realized today I don’t have any close friends who are book nerds. This strikes me as a major deficiency. Something I’ll have to rectify before long. Probably something I’ll do when I get back to school, as I’m only down here in Florida for a few more days. I love this state, and I love my family, but if I had to stay here another month I think I’d lose it.
I don’t know why I can’t sleep. I got up early today. I was pretty active too. Once my head hit the pillow I just woke up though. I have the last day of my internship tomorrow, so I need to get up early-ish. I know this, yet my eyes won’t stay shut. Frustrating. Well that’s all I got for now. I’d hoped writing this would help me sleep, but it’s failed so far. Time to move on to something else I guess.
Nowhere near as awkward as having to explain what "2 girls 1 cup" was.
Whenever I'm feeling down, this song reminds me that I'm in paradise. And by paradise, I mean Florida.
Drunken Book Review: A Clash of Kings Through A Feast for Crows (still drinking Graffigna)
Well I seem to have forgotten a simple fact of drinking. Namely that your body metabolizes alcohol at a constant rate. So despite the fact that I've finished my bottle of wine, I'm still getting drunker. Hooray! And since I'm still drunk, I can continue to post. It's my personal bias against false advertising. I don't do drunken book reviews unless I'm actually drunk. So I'll take advantage of my drunkenness to continue reviewing.
Anyway, my verdict on the rest of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books that have been published is very similar to my verdict concerning the first book. In fact, I consider them more of a single unbroken narrative. This is mainly because I bought them all at once, and then read them in a constant stream. FYI there will be spoilers in this one. Mostly because my level of drunkenness has progressed. So if you don't want spoilers, open a new tab and do something else. Anyway, the follow-up books to "A Game of Thrones" are pretty much as good as the first novel. I personally didn't like the middle two as much as I liked the first and the fourth. Probably because they were full of terrible things happening to my favorite characters. There were a few plot points that were pretty obvious. For instance: if you didn't foresee Jon Snow becoming the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch then you have some serious cognitive problems. Same goes for Arya becoming one of the Faceless Men (and women?). I'll not belittle these events though. I saw them coming, but they were my favorite scenes to read. I didn't like the Red Wedding, or the victorious Defense of King's Landing. Not because of the writing or anything, it's just because I love the Starks and dislike the Lannisters. Well, I disliked them at the time. I applaud George RR Martin for the transformation of the Lannisters though. I always liked Tyrion, but I started out despising Jamie and Cersei. To be fair I still hate Cersei, but I'm starting to like Jamie as much as I like Tyrion. Now that he's not an invincible force in battle it's interesting to see how much Martin in humbling his character. And the whole "Tyrion was Tywin's true son" thing really felt right. Despite how that all worked out. Anyway I love GRRM in that manner that a junkie loves his connect. I'm excitedly waiting for the next shipment, and when that's all gone I'll go through my post-fix withdrawal. I'm just glad there's still three books left to look forward to.
On a personal note, my favorite character right now is Arya. She's so goddamn badass. If she's permanently blind I'm going to hit something. I'm still hoping this is a Mr. Miyagi-style lesson she has to work through. Also the title totally threw me off. I thought it would be about the Night's Watch (they're called "crows" by the wildlings).
Drunken Book Review: Game of Thrones and Graffigna
I guess it's appropriate that I'm doing these two together, as they are both a personal favorite. The Graffigna is a 2007 Cabernet Savignon, and A Game of Thrones is, well...it's a Game of Thrones. As a side note, a started drinking Graffigna because it comes from San Juan, as opposed to most Argentinian reds (which usually come from Mendoza). I prefer wines from San Juan because I've been there, and I have some good friends in the industry there. That put aside, this is a very good red. It's smooth, yet robust. I know that sounds kinda trite, but it is simply delicious. I'm not a sommelier, so I can't tell you what sort of undertones there are, but they're good. If you're not big on wine, I have an analogy that will make it a little better. A merlot is kinda like a hammer, where a Cab is sort of like a sword. Graffigna would be like a good sword, perhaps a sword of Valyrian steel? (See that transition, where I went from talking about wine to talking about a book?)
As much as I like this wine, I'd have to say I like this book better. It was truly a joy to read. I'm not going to pretend that I started reading the books on my own though. I'm a bandwagon fan, to be sure. I saw the show and I figured the general rule of book adaptation applied. Namely that whenever something is adapted from a book, the book is always better. Since the HBO series was excellent, I figured that the book would be exemplary. I wasn't disappointed. I'll try to have any spoilers, since some people are still discovering this series for the first time. As good as the show is, there are some things that are left out. For all the Harry Potter fans out there, it's a lot like the relationship between the books and the movies. The movies are great on their own, and they stay true to the source material. However there are some things that simply get cut due to time constraints. I'd say the same thing happened with A Game of Thrones and it's similarly titled TV adaptation. The show is wonderful, but there are a few details that get lost. Those details are what gives the book a level of richness that are missed in the show. Like the three-eyed crow. I saw the show and I thought "What's all this then?" It was a bit confusing. In the books though, the crow is more fully explained. The only complaint that I have with the whole series is that the narrative structure becomes a little transparent after awhile. I say this after reading all four of the released books of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" septology in the space of a week. I just realized that there are seven books, and the southron god (or God?) in the book has seven facets. Fascinating! (Alliteration!) Anyway you start to notice that all the bad things that will happen to POV characters happens mid-story. By the end of the each book (and each season of the show I guess?) things are going pretty well for each main character. Then at the end there's some huge cliffhanger which leaves the audience spoiling for more. It's a good strategy, and it's wildly effective. I saw it coming, and I'm still waiting with bated breath for "A Dance With Dragons", which is purportedly coming out mid-July. I haven't been this wrapped up in a series since I got into the "Ender's Game" series, which is about the highest praise I can give. As far as the complexity of the flavor goes, I'd put the story at "Above Average". It's not as "out-there" as China Mieville's books are, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you want sushi, and sometimes you want a steak. "A Game of Thrones" is like a steak, it's thick, satisfying, and juicy. And after you finish it, you'll be looking forward to the next one. Plus if you want to stay current with the Geek-chic, you need to read it. PvP did an entire week dedicated to "A Game of Thones" jokes, so if that's not reason enough I don't know what is.
Bee-tee-dubs: here's the link for the PvP comics I referenced.
http://www.pvponline.com/2011/06/13/game-of-throwns/
Drunken Book Review: Embassytown
So I've had a bottle of Malbec and now I'll review Embassytown. Let me just preface this by saying that I love China Mieville's work. I've read four of of his books now, and I've treasured every one. So if you don't like his books, you won't agree with my opinions. Also there will be some spoilers; sweet, delicious spoilers. So if you don't want to know what happens, don't read this.
What set's China Mieville's books apart is their ruthless originality. Any of his many ideas would be enough for a book in itself. I could've read an entire book where the main innovation was bio-rigging. Using animals in place of concrete and steel is a strange concept, but then Mieville excels in the realm of strange concepts. The book centers around Language. Not just language, but Language. He explores the idea of abstract thought, and what would happen to a race that could not use it. How does a species that cannot articulate abstract thought consider things that do not exist? They can't, at least not directly. It's an extremely interesting concept; an idea that the author wraps in enough intrigue and plot twists to keep interesting. To spice up this linguistic case study are enough new takes on sci-fi standards to keep anyone entertained. The way they describe sub-space/hyper-space as the abstraction of "immer" is worth it's own novel. The re-designation of humankind as homo diaspora also deserves its own tome. What is humanity when we've no homeworld of our own? There's just so much goodness packed into the pages of this book. The idea of Language, with all it's seeming absoluteness, is such a fun construct to think of. Plus I love the absence of any real exposition. Things are explained in passing as the plot moves along. Thus, when you finally understand something you feel as though you've really earned it. It's ironic that what the Ariekei are addicted to is abstract thought, because that's what's addictive about Mieville's writing. Its originality, its complexity. The vagueness that draws you ever in. The understanding is like a drug, you desperately desire to understand. To know what the hell is going on. I wouldn't recommended this book for everyone. I'd only recommend it to people who love to think. It's a great book, and my only sadness is that it wasn't longer.
Drunken Books Reviews: An Introduction
I feel like a blog should have a purpose, something that I can support wholly. I love drinking, and I love reading. So why not combine the two? Why not indeed. So I've decided that I'll just start drinking, and afterwards I'll write about books.
My roommate threatened to annoy me with dubstep polka (a genre neither of us were sure existed) and we found this. The most surprising thing about this video: I actually kinda like it.
Making me love Canadians, one Tuesday at a time.
