Hey all!
I'm switching up the format a little this time! It should help me get things written a little further ahead, and drive a little further at wedges I’m interested in.
Social Edging Update
You'd expect a man with who enters politics with the name Dom Cummings to appreciate upon what thin ice he treads. Seemingly not, but there is a smart political edge to this story.
As is well established by now, we're all pretty tired of quarantine. Those of us with powerful social consciences and a trust in expert authority tend to be at least making the appearance of conforming, with the odd indiscretion, while attaching a strong moral value to compliance that sometimes borders on shaming rule-breakers.
Meanwhile, a right-wing man looks out for his children, takes his car, risking his career, defended with appeals to common sense, family values, and him being a complete shit. The harsh criticisms may apply to most readers by this point, and the distinction of his position may prove too subtle a point.
I'm not saying the whole thing was a calculated attempt for the right to come out of lockdown with the political initiative — but it's certainly being played that way. And if you note that in the coming weeks a certain moralistic vibe to the activities regrettably forgiven (family, sport) vs those condemned (sex, clubbing) — I will not be surprised.
Some parts of the left are fortunately figuring this out. In Quarantine Fatigue is Real a HIV researcher takes the 'shame doesn't work' perspective to reopening the USA, advocating for more pragmatic approach based on risk-reduction. We'll all have to accept this in the end.
In other quarantine news:
A biology professor schools you on taking a personal approach to risk reduction (if you want to educate yourself on COVID19 risk, this is a really great article and I would so far as to say essential reading);
NYC Health confirms what many of us have hitherto only suspected — you are your own best sex partner;
And the woman who sparked The Clap says next Thursday should be the last — seemingly because she's concerned people may now be clapping... politically? Can't argue with that I guess.
That new weird genre of cinema called ‘theatre’
One man doubtlessly disappointed by this is Standing Ovation Man. Apparently Mr. Best was known in the Sydney theatre scene for giving a standing ovation to literally every show he sees. “I’ve never seen a boring show and I’ve never walked out on a play. People say to me, what’s your favourite play? I can never answer because it’s all of them.”
It's actually a pretty sad story. He's an older guy, 73, and he genuinely seems to be in love with the theatre, seeing 4 shows a week even through major illness. He keeps a ghost light on in his house. I always find these obsessives quite interesting because... well, I figure I'll end up being one of them. Hope you get to see some theatre soon, Grahame!
Forced Entertainment's quarantine show, End Meeting For All takes place on a Zoom call. We're all familiar with the vibe: a glitchy set of people tediously talking, stilted, repeating themselves, saying nothing and taking a long time doing so, at first you sneak a glance at your watch, then you start wondering why you even turned up, you knew it would be like this, it always is, and it goes on until the tedium starts to claw at the inside of your skull, screaming WHY DO THEY KEEP TALKING, WHY WON'T THEY JUST STOP.
Or anyway, that's what my last Forced Entertainment show felt like, so I was curious to see whether it would work online. In short: kind of not really? Being in the theatre means you're effectively stuck there, but online I caught myself hovering over to see the time left and exercising willpower to not just... skip ahead a bit. In the theatre social pressure essentially makes you stick with it. Maybe Forced Entertainment only works if it is... forced? It's an interesting prospect.
But it didn't really have that thing I love about Forced Entertainment shows. Which is that the meditative boredom eventually brings out a powerful experience towards the latter third of the show, partly as they ramp it up a bit but also partly I assume out of a sensory-deprivation tank style effect.
Though — it is in 3 parts, and I could only bear to watch the first. Maybe the reward is in the latter 2 parts?
Relatedly, the Guardian Stage team have clearly gone weird with this giant megalist of online theatre. I'm not quite sure what it means but it's not journalism as we know it (the point of which is surely to curate, not just be a dispassionate list of all the theatre occurring that day) and I suspect it signals something strange.
Anxiety Dream Simulator
Apparently the makers of SimCity made all kinds of bizarre things. People told them wow hey you can simulate a city, what can't you simulate? Will this help train people? Turns out, again: kind of not really?
This video is a demo Project Challenge, a game where you wake up as an IT Project Manager and all of your colleagues are bizarrely straightforward. Stick around for the bit where the guy with bad interpersonal skills shows up (and, if you like, for a twist later on). About the only realistic aspect of this is that you can eavesdrop on your colleagues at the snack desk.
Read the full story of SimCity, including SimOilRefinery and SimUSAHealthcarePolicy.
I have a soft spot for weird old software like this. If you do too, you might enjoy this literal anxiety dream simulator — Halloween Night II. And yes, you do get to stroke/pet/clap the cat. Trick or treat, thank you, goodnight!
Story of the week
Remember WannaCry? That ransomware virus which took down the NHS for a bit, and then some guy popped up and was like "hey uhh I stopped it accidentally".
He was called Marcus Hutchins and he's the cover story of Wired's June edition. It's a fascinating story which takes him from maladjusted teenage hacker to arrested by the FBI. I won't spoil the ending.
It's especially interesting to me because so much of it is familiar:
Within Microsoft Word, he discovered a feature that allowed him to write scripts in a language called Visual Basic. Using that scripting feature, he could run whatever code he wanted and even install unapproved software. He used that trick to install a proxy to bounce his web traffic through a faraway server, defeating the school's attempts to filter and monitor his web surfing too.
I essentially did this, and much of the rest of the stuff in that section. I even joined hacking forums, learned reverse engineering and created & released internet malware. I ended up channelling all this into more constructive pursuits (arts) but things could have easily gone differently.
Other stuff
How many lipsticks can a cat jump over? This video does not answer the question fully but it does push the upper bound. Let the cat push them over!
This week I was possibly the last to realise the double entendre in the title of Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (is the lady on fire or the portrait?). I also discovered this. Not sure what’s going on? Just keep looking…
A slightly shy man interviews the voice of a popular telephone menu system. Pleasingly uncanny.
I've never wondered how they determine if something is bear proof, but I didn't mind finding out that they just get a bunch of bears to try to smash it.
That's it!
I realised while writing this that last week was actually #5, but I called it #4! I hate to cover up my mistakes so I've called last one #4 II. #5 is now the forbidden newsletter.
Wishing you an expansive week ahead.
K