redshift-13

Me: An opening door to the universe, continuously learning, evolving. Primary intersets in not particular order include: futures studies, philosophy of religion, philospohy of science, ethics, deep green religion, environmentalism and ecology, evolution and biology, astronomy, atheism, humanism, left politics/theories/ideas, meditation, humanistic psychology, the future of psychology, human potential, secular Buddhism, the paranormal from an open-minded but non-dogmatic skeptical viewpoint, being in nature, theater, art, classical music listening/theory/composition/history, electronic/ambient/space music, languages: French (Italian & Russian on hold) (only fluent in English), big history, experimental & visonary art/living/architecture/theater/music/literature, animals, animal rights, human rights, feminism, optimal health/longevity/voluntary mortality,  transhumanism, open minds, reason, creativity, science in general, the progressive evolution of culture and consciousness, organizational studies/change/development, leadership studies, the New York Review of Books, radical thought in general, literature especially French and Russian...  I'm always happy to meet new people.

[ullathynell]

The Dream Guide 🌒 This is the May illustration for my 2027 wall calendar. And art prints are also available!

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[filmphotofranz]

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH RIP SOPHIE XEON

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Tethys, 2024, Emilija Škarnulytė

"Tethys,” showcased at La Citadelle in Villefranche-sur-Mer as part of the Saison de la Lituanie en France 2024, prompts viewers to rethink the connections between the artificial and the natural, the cosmic and the earthly, myth and reality. The title references the inscription above the fortress entrance, “Tethys,” which alludes to an ancient Greek sea goddess and a primordial sea that existed long before present-day continents took shape. In the film, Škarnulytė embodies the mermaid chimera, navigating the azure waters and the ruins submerged beneath. While the mermaid is a recurring motif in her work, here she symbolizes Tethys, representing an ancient force linked to both the ocean and swirling galaxies, bridging the gap between a distant past and a post-human future."

emilijaskarnulyte.com/tethys/

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IVF Documents, 2025, Tamar Ettun

The Dreamsong gallery in Minneapolis is currently showing the full video and other works by Ettun.

I was thrilled by the music for this piece, which was composed by Ka Baird. Here's a link to her/their recordings:

https://www.kabaird.com/recordings

[amnhnyc]

You won’t find this pigeon on the streets of New York City. Meet the Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans)! This colorful bird can be found throughout Southeast Asia, where it inhabits forests. It hangs out in small flocks in the treetops, foraging mainly for fruit. Distinguishing males from females isn’t too difficult: Females lack pink necks and are mostly olive-green in color!

Photo: Yi-Kai Tea, CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist

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xAI Asks Court to Strip Alleged Grok Deepfake Nudes Victims of Anonymity

Four people suing Elon Musk's AI firm under pseudonyms due to the risks of being identified may face a difficult choice: Reveal your real na

The titans of AI and their cheerleaders are their own worst enemies.

[rlephant]

the house

[101photographers]

http://rlephant.tumblr.com

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The conservative movement is driving journalism into the gutter. It's leaders and billionaire backers won't be satisfied until the entire media landscape shares the same debased disregard for the truth as Fox News.

[the1920sinpictures]

1927 Hotel Particulier (private home) de Jacques Doucet, couturier, France. From Art Deco Around the Globe, FB.

[xphaiea]

Jan Toorop

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Opinion | My Students Can’t Read

The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.

Literacy is not just reading words on page, it's the key foundation for one's own personal capacity for self-evolution, for self-insight and analysis. It creates capacity for self-insight and analysis. After all, a key function of language is abstracting the raw data of experience and assigning linguistic meaning to it. The stuff of what you are - how you feel, change, and think - can remain hidden and inarticulate without the intermediation of language. Assign words and concepts to some aspect of self or world and meaning blooms from the background of this experience to reveal a richness of significance, meaning and association. It's only when you move upward through stages of literacy that the lower levels of literacy increasingly appear as chains on the self, and that the self that existed there is something you're happy to have left behind.

I'm not adding anything to the storehouse of knowledge about the importance of literacy, of course. I'm just once again trying to process what this trend line means for everything.

I have an optimist side, but it's hard to interpret this meta-problem as something other than an emergency siren for reason and intelligence and much else.

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The definitive history of LGBTQ music, from Stonewall to RuPaul, and its impact on culture and American life

From the underground dancefloors of the Seventies to the global charts of the Nineties, LGBTQ artists and audiences shaped music’s sound, style, and spirit. In Mighty Real, veteran journalist Barry Walters chronicles its LGBTQ history from the Velvet Underground to the 21st century’s dawn as he honors the artists who redefined gender, defied tradition, and dared to challenge sexual norms with the help of a record business that wasn’t as straight as commonly believed. Drawing on his decades as a New York- and San Francisco-based music critic, Walters examines how LGBTQ musicians, music industry executives, and fans reshaped the mainstream. He connects the dots between David Bowie’s dazzling reinventions, Grace Jones’s androgynous glamor, Prince’s boundary-shattering sexuality, and the radical candor of the Indigo Girls to prove they’re all doing the same thing: fighting oppression. With exuberance, insight, and encyclopedic knowledge, Walters brings to life the songs and society that filled dancefloors, bedrooms, and streets as he uncovers yesteryear’s coded LGBTQ messages that paved the way for today’s unabashedly queer hits. Mighty Real is a masterful love letter to the music that liberated generations, and it’s written in a page-turning, personal way that blurs distinctions between chronicle and memoir. This is the rare and revolutionary music history told to help you laugh, cry, and then rally against lingering inequality.

“An excellent history of the queer world’s countless music scenes.” —Emma Alpern, Vulture “An essential book for this moment.” —Rob Sheffield

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Philly Cops Are Reportedly Monitoring Anti-AI Memes, According to Internal Alert

A bulletin from a regional fusion center clocks increasing anti-AI sentiment on social media and warns offline destructive action is coming.

[rrrick]

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True story: When I was doing photography I also took some band photos. (Not the above of course.) One of my shots actually ended up on the MTV website - without attribution. (Using other people's music without attribution is generally frowned upon, but using photos without attribution is apparently more acceptable.) About a year later I checked the website and the photo was gone.