Brought all patio plants and furniture inside after receiving four tropical storm warning alerts in less than 24 hours. Winds are expected to pick up to something like 70mph.
This has resulted in furry house guest obtaining a new favorite laying spot, which also doubles as a stealthy hiding spot, from where she likes to pounce on what she assumes are unsuspecting victims. I refrain from telling her that her stark black and white coat is too much of a giveaway from as far as the eye can see.
Just read Paul J. McAuley's GENE WARS in THE BIG BOOK OF CYBERPUNK and fell in love. I am however ashamed to admit that this is the first of McAuley I've read. The story is pretty out there, but certainly much less out there than the time it was written (1991). Which leads me to believe that Paul J. McAuley possesses a mind of incredible foresight. To determine this from just one story may seem ridiculous, but you have to read it and then you will understand! He is clearly concerned with ideas far more than over-indulging in the soap operatic turmoil of fictional characters, which is very much my shit.
Solo month with the child has commenced and I am loving it. All pages for TSG 08 (#9 in the print installments) are inked and scanned. Next week I work on the covers.
Other things to get out of the way next week: – Adjustments on cover art for another thing (can't even remember the code name I had assigned it prior so will no longer bother). – Poster design for the next Zine Fest Houston. – Draft next newsletter.
Other things I'd really like to do but doubt I'll find the time: – Install blackout curtains (generally never been a fan, but this Houston summer heat is winning the battle against my AC system). – Pot a couple new plants. – Update Ganzeer.com.
Can't keep my brain from thinking about life post-TSG. I know that's a big no-no, and I really ought to focus exclusively on the thing sat on my drawing table right now, but I just can't help but think ahead sometimes.
“While Anglophone publishing is intensely concerned with comparative titles and where a novel fits into the landscape, contemporary Arabic publishing largely is not. As such, there is no fixed terminology used for cli fi (climate fiction) in Arabic—though there is fiction that looks much like cli fi in English.”
— Speculative Climate Futures in Arabic Literature
Personally, I think genre is bullshit and one of Western civilization's most detrimental inventions for culture at large.
Warhol's MY HUSTLER cost $500 to make. Its first week at The Filmmaker's Cinematheque in New York brought in $4000 USD. The year was 1966.
It's hard to imagine being able to shoot an indy film today and make a profit after screening it in no more than one movie theatre, for months even let alone a single week.
Where did the world go so wrong.
Andy Warhol sold one of his largest flower paintings to Isabelle Collin Dufresne (who would eventually adopt the moniker Ultraviolet) for today's equivalent of about $5,000 USD. Hardly comparable to some of the sums fetched by today's top working artists, but here's the thing; his rent for The Factory, the legendary space that was his art studio, production house, and entourage hangout was no more than $150, the equivalent of close to $1,500 today.
For context, the Factory was 5,000 square feet and located in Midtown Manhattan. It was by all accounts beyond dilapidated, but still a massive centrally located space in America's densest city. The best you could hope for for that kind of money today is little more than a closet and chances are it wouldn't even be so centrally located.
Another way to look at this is: The sale of one painting could cover the cost of over 3 months' rent.
“Large Language Models are remarkably similar to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein monster—because they're a big, stitched-up gathering of many little dead bits and pieces, with some voltage put through them, that can sit up on the slab and talk.” — Bruce Sterling on AI for Newsweek.
Somewhat relatedly, Fast Company Middle East surveys a number of artists, including myself, on developments in AI-generated art.
Re-watching RUN LOLA RUN for the first time in over 20 years. So much stranger than I remember, with many odd narrative choices. Its cool factor is still very cool, but it's also incredibly ridiculous. The fact that the entire premise of the film stems from the anxiety of not being on time, makes it funnier than its meant to be, and also very German.
Still a lot of fun to watch, and oddly refreshing somehow.
On a completely different note, I recently discovered that before landing on BLADE RUNNER for a title, Ridley Scott considered calling his movie ANDROID. While not as inventive a title, it would've been particularly cool after having just come off a movie called ALIEN.
Andrew Huang and Rob Scallon make a song using only their left hands. Watching the gears in their minds at work as they arrive at solutions and encounter revelations is such a joy to observe.
Newsletter dispatched, email zero, RSS feed at 285.
It is lethally hot out (“35C, feels like 42C”), so I will stay in and tend to this unruly RSS feed with AC on full blast and many cold beverages consumed.
Watched DUNE 2 last night, it is awesome.
Inks on one TSG page remain before moving on to letters, compilation, and colors/tones where necessary. After which, all that will remain shall be one chapter only before the book is finally complete.