Paid-members only AI Friends fear she has more to say about AI Once again a thing is going around on Bluesky where someone is defending the use of AI to make art, and there's something in there that's stood out to me. The person describes the process of learning to paint as hazing. So what the fuck is
Paid-members only Complaints We continue to barely function Samuel Johnson (of the dictionary) spent a lot of his life trying to avoid debtor's prison. He's one of the most highly regarded English writers in history but while he lived and worked he struggled to survive. Such is life. What he would do to avoid
Paid-members only Advice Unfortunately it's time to take a lesson from: Improv comedy I'm not going to talk to you about yes and, don't worry, it's not that bad. I used to be an actor. I'm what they call professionally trained. This just means I spend several years of my life and several thousands of
Art Jamie and Janina’s Universal Film Drinking Game I had originally posted a version of this on Medium, but it occurs to me that I used to sign in to Medium with my twitter account and I've deleted my twitter account, obviously, so I thought I put it here because it's very good. Jamie
Paid-members only Politics The best things in life are free except stable mental health, which does require some money I am currently on hold with Thames Water. I am 90 minutes into a phone call with Thames Water to try and get them to refund the £375 they have just incorrectly taken from my account. There's a lot of boring backstory to this involving an incorrect bill
Paid-members only Personal I am, once again, stuck in Singapore Over the past few months when I've talked to my friends about my general situation it has led to the same phrase: God, you really need a win. And I do. I need a win. I have been needing a win, I remain needing a win. I will
Paid-members only Personal If there is a multiverse, which one am I in Every so often I see a film or a TV show for the first time and somehow it feels wrong that I'm only seeing it for the first time. Not in that it's a shame it took till now to see it, but that something went
Paid-members only Personal Dating shouldn't have a fail condition Everyone knows there's a loneliness epidemic among young men. This is, naturally, because of the patriarchy and Queen Victoria. Kind of. In the Victorian era when sodomy laws began to be prosecuted it became dangerous for men to appear to be too intimate, even in entirely platonic relationships.
Paid-members only Personal Oh look, I'm in New Zealand I can judge billionaires for a lot of things but I can never quite bring myself to condemn private jets, despite the emissions because I know I would absolutely get one if I could. Of course that's mainly a reaction to how brutal and dehumanising flying anywhere feels,
Paid-members only Travel My plane was broken and I am stuck halfway to New Zealand, these are my thoughts I have had roughly five hours of sleep in two days. I have been sent to a hotel in Singapore because the plane was broken. I have been on hold with Qantas for all time. I think Anora ruled and I'm delighted by its Oscar sweep. Sean Baker
Paid-members only Complaints The hell of frustrated optimism Good lord, it's scammy out there. Have you noticed this? I've been desperately seeking literally any form of income for a few months now, and every day it becomes clearer that this is an activity that involves exhaustively filtering for scams. I have, several times now,
Art Featured How and why do you make an art This week we're all het up about this dipshit, who thinks that because making music is hard, everyone will be delighted to use the ecologically disastrous plagiarism machine to do it. To me, this is an example of something I think about all the time: people think artistic
Paid-members only Personal Welp, I guess it's time for another year Having to start a year in the middle of the British winter is obscene. Who can summon the energy or the optimism when it has been grey and dark and cold forever and it will continue to be grey and dark and cold for another forever? The global acceptance of
Paid-members only Personal Investment opportunities for your consideration I have some business ideas that I think could really make it out there. These are mainly things that I want to exist so that I can use them. If I was a millionaire I would simply make them. If I was a millionaire I would open many businesses in
Paid-members only Advice What You Can Expect From My Benevolent Dictatorship It's not that I want to be a dictator, so much as it is that I am deeply tired of living living in a society where everything is arranged incorrectly! * If you find a Lime bike or similar left in an obnoxious place, you will be legally entitled
Paid-members only Complaints So what happened with that boat, huh? I was not on the promised boat when my last newsletter went out. They would not let us have it because the sea was too rough for us to be trusted with a boat. In fairness, the sea was also too rough for the ferries to be running, so I
Paid-members only Personal All going well I am on a boat right now But maybe everything hasn't gone well. If the weather forecast has been proved right it will have rained all week, all week of my holiday, my rare, precious holiday, only the second proper fuck you, I'm on holiday I've had in, like, thirteen years.
