Now Reading

  On 2/11/2022 at 7:17 AM, logakght said:

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Just finished it and, damn, what a wonderful piece of work. Really recommend it even just for music fans. Theory, history, tears. 

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

3/4 through

Certainly one of the best novels i've read.

Found: ''The Norton Anthology of short fiction, 3rd edition'' for 5 bucks at thrift store. 108 stories. Now that's a good deal.

Read a few including:

“The Babysitter” by Robert Coover

''Rape Fantasy'' by Margaret Atwood

Both excellent.

It's actually been a couple of years since I read this but it's now available also in English. Jessikka Aro's Putin's Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia's Information War Against the World.

As the name says it's about Russian troll factories and disinformation campaigns especially in Finland and in the Baltics.

She's been targeted and harassed for years by far-right groups in Finland. There was also some kerfuffle when the US State Department International Women of Courage Award was rescinded apparently because she criticized Trump.

The book also mention's one former watmmer's sister, who you might remember from back when the Russian annexation of Crimea happened.

  On 3/14/2022 at 5:18 AM, thefxbip said:

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

3/4 through

Certainly one of the best novels i've read.

Found: ''The Norton Anthology of short fiction, 3rd edition'' for 5 bucks at thrift store. 108 stories. Now that's a good deal.

Read a few including:

“The Babysitter” by Robert Coover

''Rape Fantasy'' by Margaret Atwood

Both excellent.

 

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Funny, just finished Slaughterhouse V. Heard such great things about it for years, finally decided to pick it up. 

I .... don't know what I was expecting. Somehow in my mind it was going to be a "jolly good, mind bending sci-fi time travel romp" and uhhhhhhh it turns out the guy who writes back of the book synopses for books I've never actually read got it way wrong. 

Fantastic, but really gut wrenching. Probably the best anti war novel I've ever read. On par with Requiem for a Dream as being the best anti drug movie I've ever seen, and vaguely The Jungle being the best anti meat book I've ever read. By which, I mean, all of these make me never want to fight in a war, do heroin, or eat meat, respectively. 

It also made me think about the horrors that are going on in Ukraine right now. It's like... fuck, human beings never really change do they? I know that's cynical but. ... oof. 

On the flipside it also made me really grateful to just exist in a non-war state. Like, it does such a good job of evoking the numbing claustrophobia of war and PTSD that simple things like crapping in a toilet suddenly seem like a godsend. 

1 lovable scamps / innumerable moments of existential dread

  On 4/14/2022 at 3:32 PM, T3551ER said:

Funny, just finished Slaughterhouse V. Heard such great things about it for years, finally decided to pick it up. 

I .... don't know what I was expecting. Somehow in my mind it was going to be a "jolly good, mind bending sci-fi time travel romp" and uhhhhhhh it turns out the guy who writes back of the book synopses for books I've never actually read got it way wrong. 

Fantastic, but really gut wrenching. Probably the best anti war novel I've ever read. On par with Requiem for a Dream as being the best anti drug movie I've ever seen, and vaguely The Jungle being the best anti meat book I've ever read. By which, I mean, all of these make me never want to fight in a war, do heroin, or eat meat, respectively. 

It also made me think about the horrors that are going on in Ukraine right now. It's like... fuck, human beings never really change do they? I know that's cynical but. ... oof. 

On the flipside it also made me really grateful to just exist in a non-war state. Like, it does such a good job of evoking the numbing claustrophobia of war and PTSD that simple things like crapping in a toilet suddenly seem like a godsend. 

1 lovable scamps / innumerable moments of existential dread

 

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Yeah i started it just before the war in Ukraine started.

It kinda hit even more when there is a war going on. The tragedy of it, the absurdity, the foolishness of men.

Makes you cry and laugh at the same time.

It's a beautiful book.

also this is worth a watch:

  On 4/14/2022 at 5:02 PM, thefxbip said:

Yeah i started it just before the war in Ukraine started.

It kinda hit even more when there is a war going on. The tragedy of it, the absurdity, the foolishness of men.

Makes you cry and laugh at the same time.

It's a beautiful book.

also this is worth a watch:

 

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Cheers! Watched part of this at lunch, look forward to finishing it up. Weirdly comforting to hear his voice sounds eerily similar to what I heard in my head while reading....

I read Arthur C. Clarke's novelization of 2001 A Space Odyssey and after that rewatched the movie. The book was published after the movie but it was partially written while to movie was being made and it's based on an older version of the script so the events aren't exactly the same. But the funny thing for me was that while the movie is long as hell and explains nothing, the book is relatively short (about 220 pages) and explains fucking everything. It has an omniscient narrator that just hands out all the explanations on a plate. So if you ever wondered about things like what the monoliths were, who made them, what actually happens in the "Star Gate" sequence or what the hell is the ending about then this book basically answers those questions in detail. It's like the polar opposite of Kubrick's artistic vagueness and "let the viewer make their own interpretation" stance.

Also while the movie has a bit of space horror thing going on because of the music and how the monoliths are represented as ominous alien things, the novel is more straight up hard scifi with quite an optimistic message. A decent scifi novel in any case. And it made rewatching the movie a more rewarding experience.

Reading the book and watching the movie got me thinking that, while an iconic part of the movie and culture in general, the subplot with HAL is pretty much completely irrelevant to the main plot. I mean both the book and the movie would have ended pretty much the same way even if all the shit with HAL didn't happen at all? It feels kind of pasted on from some other story. Just my hot take.

Should I read House of Leaves? I like a good mystery and certain psychological horror (e.g. Ligotti) as well as cosmic "a man will meet insanity merely by hearing of it" horror / weird fiction (Lovecraft, Machen, Blackwood and so forth) and oldschool ghost stories (e.g. M.R. James). I'm only occasionally put off by artsy/philosophical pretentiousness (which probably means I'm pretentious). The way people describe HoL makes me wanna check it out, but there's at least a dozen unread and rather long tomes waiting for my attention already. Worth it, watmm? 

started reading this twitter thread- which then led me to this amazing (and hilarious) book review (mostly highlights)

so i picked up all 3 books (for zero) for the rest of the tea

  On 5/7/2022 at 10:17 PM, luke viia said:

Should I read House of Leaves? I like a good mystery and certain psychological horror (e.g. Ligotti) as well as cosmic "a man will meet insanity merely by hearing of it" horror / weird fiction (Lovecraft, Machen, Blackwood and so forth) and oldschool ghost stories (e.g. M.R. James). I'm only occasionally put off by artsy/philosophical pretentiousness (which probably means I'm pretentious). The way people describe HoL makes me wanna check it out, but there's at least a dozen unread and rather long tomes waiting for my attention already. Worth it, watmm? 

It's a fun read, and not too long... I'd give it a go. I was thinking of re-reading that, actually

  On 2/17/2022 at 6:08 PM, taffer said:

re-reading Proust as a new years resolution

Is Proust a Buddhist?

I can't read at home. Where do you guys find the time and place? Im so distracted at home by screens. And will power doesn't work

Reading Neal Stephenson's "Termination Shock". It's good, but seems to be lacking something characteristically Stephenson-esque so far (just over halfway through). It's hard to put your finger on it, but it just seems somewhat bland for NS.

Also, my boy loves him some preppers.

I started on knausgaard my struggle book series. And stumbled on this part

""

As your perspective of the world increases not only is the pain it inflicts on you less but also its meaning. Understanding the world requires you to take a certain distance from it. Things that are too small to see with the naked eye, such as molecules and atoms, we magnify. Things that are too large, such as cloud formations, river deltas, constellations, we reduce. At length we bring it within the scope of our senses and we stabilize it with fixer. When it has been fixed we call it knowledge. Throughout our childhood and teenage years, we strive to attain the correct distance to objects and phenomena. We read, we learn, we experience, we make adjustments. Then one day we reach the point where all the necessary distances have been set, all the necessary systems have been put in place. That is when time begins to pick up speed. It no longer meets any obstacles, everything is set, time races through our lives, the days pass by in a flash and before we know that is happening we are fort, fifty, sixty… Meaning requires content, content requires time, time requires resistance. Knowledge is distance, knowledge is stasis and the enemy of meaning. My picture of my father on that evening in 1976 is, in other words, twofold: on the one hand I see him as I saw him at that time, through the eyes of an eight-year-old: unpredictable and frightening; on the other hand, I see him as a peer through whose life time is blowing and unremittingly sweeping large chunks of meaning along with it.

"

Would someone know what he means by this in this context ? i dont get the highlighted part. Cant find any discussion on it on the internet sadly.

  On 5/18/2022 at 10:41 PM, Wunderbar said:

I started on knausgaard my struggle book series. And stumbled on this part

""

As your perspective of the world increases not only is the pain it inflicts on you less but also its meaning. Understanding the world requires you to take a certain distance from it. Things that are too small to see with the naked eye, such as molecules and atoms, we magnify. Things that are too large, such as cloud formations, river deltas, constellations, we reduce. At length we bring it within the scope of our senses and we stabilize it with fixer. When it has been fixed we call it knowledge. Throughout our childhood and teenage years, we strive to attain the correct distance to objects and phenomena. We read, we learn, we experience, we make adjustments. Then one day we reach the point where all the necessary distances have been set, all the necessary systems have been put in place. That is when time begins to pick up speed. It no longer meets any obstacles, everything is set, time races through our lives, the days pass by in a flash and before we know that is happening we are fort, fifty, sixty… Meaning requires content, content requires time, time requires resistance. Knowledge is distance, knowledge is stasis and the enemy of meaning. My picture of my father on that evening in 1976 is, in other words, twofold: on the one hand I see him as I saw him at that time, through the eyes of an eight-year-old: unpredictable and frightening; on the other hand, I see him as a peer through whose life time is blowing and unremittingly sweeping large chunks of meaning along with it.

"

 

Would someone know what he means by this in this context ? i dont get the highlighted part. Cant find any discussion on it on the internet sadly.

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here's my take on it: 

meaning requires content, content requires time: you need to acquire a whole bunch of data (content) through experience and investigation/learning in order to make sense of the world, of how things work - which takes time. 

times requires resistance: i guess he meant time requires mental strength/perseverance/resilience. not sure though. 

knowledge is distance, knowledge is stasis: he did explain what he meant by that earlier in the paragraph so no need to break it down for you. 

and the enemy of meaning: knowledge demystifies the world/the human experience/life - the more you know, the more you realize that life is devoid of meaning. anyway that's how i interpret it in context. 

i've never heard of that author btw. i don't even read books lol. i can't remember the last one i read, it might be cujo by stephen king or some dumb shit like that lol. i have a bunch of music theory books in pdf i'd like to read but for reasons i won't explain here (uninteresting) i just don't. another book i downloaded that i'd really like to read is the mind is flat by nick chater. sorry for mentioning my dumb stories (or lack thereof). 

what do you think of my interpretation? a bit off? completely off? boring? music theory 4 life baby.

  On 5/18/2022 at 11:46 PM, brian trageskin said:

here's my take on it: 

meaning requires content, content requires time: you need to acquire a whole bunch of data (content) through experience and investigation/learning in order to make sense of the world, of how things work - which takes time. 

times requires resistance: i guess he meant time requires mental strength/perseverance/resilience. not sure though. 

knowledge is distance, knowledge is stasis: he did explain what he meant by that earlier in the paragraph so no need to break it down for you. 

and the enemy of meaning: knowledge demystifies the world/the human experience/life - the more you know, the more you realize that life is devoid of meaning. anyway that's how i interpret it in context. 

i've never heard of that author btw. i don't even read books lol. i can't remember the last one i read, it might be cujo by stephen king or some dumb shit like that lol. i have a bunch of music theory books in pdf i'd like to read but for reasons i won't explain here (uninteresting) i just don't. another book i downloaded that i'd really like to read is the mind is flat by nick chater. sorry for mentioning my dumb stories (or lack thereof). 

what do you think of my interpretation? a bit off? completely off? boring? music theory 4 life baby.

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Yea i feel like this is a good interpretation, in the context of the book and all.   I struggled most with this part : times requires resistance.  I interpreted resistance wrong which confused the whole thing for me . Thanks for your perspective cleared it up for me.

I just finished reading Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Which is the first book i read in a loonnngg time.  I can really recommend it if u want something short to read to get in to maybe get in to the habbit of reading. Its only around 80 pages. It really bloomed up a new passion for reading which im really enjoying right now. I also hope it will expand my vocabulary and better my English.

The last part of your message reminds me of my goal to get better at drawing ( which i dont really enjoy ) and learn the  drawing fundamentals to move over to painting which is my ultimate goal. And the thought i have to start the work: you dont have to like it you just have to do it. Starting has always been he hardest part about the process for me. Which is pretty common i think.

thanks for the book rec as well i bookmarked it.

  On 5/19/2022 at 12:56 AM, Wunderbar said:

I just finished reading Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Which is the first book i read in a loonnngg time.  I can really recommend it if u want something short to read to get in to maybe get in to the habbit of reading. Its only around 80 pages. It really bloomed up a new passion for reading which im really enjoying right now. 

i read part of war and peace a few years ago and i quite enjoyed it. yeah short books seem appropriate to get back into reading. thanks for the recommandation. 

  On 5/19/2022 at 12:56 AM, Wunderbar said:

The last part of your message reminds me of my goal to get better at drawing ( which i dont really enjoy ) and learn the  drawing fundamentals to move over to painting which is my ultimate goal. 

nice! i've been watching oil painting tutorials quite a bit lately for some reason. i also like watching landscape photography tutorials, even though i have zero interest in learning photography. it's very similar to figurative painting anyway. 

my brother is a painter but his technique is very similar to drawing, he uses oil sticks on wood panels. he makes the sticks himself, it's way less expensive than buying them, plus you get to choose their specific colors. not that you give a shit but he discovered oil sticks through richard serra's minimalistic drawings. also, one of his best friends started using them after he saw my bro using them, turns out he became an influential artist and his oil stick paintings made him crazy rich lol.

what type of drawing or painting would you like to learn? i'm interested. i used to be very interested in art even though that's all behind me. any artists you like in particular?

  On 5/19/2022 at 12:59 PM, brian trageskin said:

i read part of war and peace a few years ago and i quite enjoyed it. yeah short books seem appropriate to get back into reading. thanks for the recommandation. 

nice! i've been watching oil painting tutorials quite a bit lately for some reason. i also like watching landscape photography tutorials, even though i have zero interest in learning photography. it's very similar to figurative painting anyway. 

my brother is a painter but his technique is very similar to drawing, he uses oil sticks on wood panels. he makes the sticks himself, it's way less expensive than buying them, plus you get to choose their specific colors. not that you give a shit but he discovered oil sticks through richard serra's minimalistic drawings. also, one of his best friends started using them after he saw my bro using them, turns out he became an influential artist and his oil stick paintings made him crazy rich lol.

what type of drawing or painting would you like to learn? i'm interested. i used to be very interested in art even though that's all behind me. any artists you like in particular?

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Im definitely trying to work towards oil paint aswell. I never heard of oil sticks before might have to check it out down the road since oil paint can get pretty expensive. The stuff im interested in is paintings with bold colors like u would see in fauvism movement or expressionism / post - impressionism ( to my knowledge ),Or more abstract/ surrealism stuff.  Artist i really like are  : André Derain , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and van gogh ofcourse. But i find Hermann David Salomon Corrodi more realistic depictions of landscape really beautiful as well. But im still at the beginning im just at learning perspective which is like the first thing you do, So its going to take a while.

Do you have any favorite artist / paintings ?

In what way was your brother's friend influential ?  You mind sharing any of his works.

  On 5/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, Wunderbar said:

Im definitely trying to work towards oil paint aswell. I never heard of oil sticks before might have to check it out down the road since oil paint can get pretty expensive.

well, oil sticks are pretty expensive too unfortunately. depends on how agressive you are with them though. think of a butter stick. it can last more or less time depending on how much you spread it on the surface and it gets more malleable depending on the temperature in the room. 

  On 5/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, Wunderbar said:

Im definitely trying to work towards oil paint aswell. I never heard of oil sticks before might have to check it out down the road since oil paint can get pretty expensive. The stuff im interested in is paintings with bold colors like u would see in fauvism movement or expressionism / post - impressionism ( to my knowledge ),Or more abstract/ surrealism stuff.  Artist i really like are  : André Derain , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and van gogh ofcourse. But i find Hermann David Salomon Corrodi more realistic depictions of landscape really beautiful as well.

never heard of corrodi. quite beautiful indeed. 

  On 5/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, Wunderbar said:

But im still at the beginning im just at learning perspective which is like the first thing you do, So its going to take a while.

learning perspective sounds fun. cool. 

  On 5/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, Wunderbar said:

Do you have any favorite artist / paintings ?

my fav artist is merlin carpenter. are you asking me my fav painters or my fav paintings? 

  On 5/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, Wunderbar said:

In what way was your brother's friend influential ?  You mind sharing any of his works.

he's influential in that he's not a nobody on the art market and works with top galleries. he's no jeff koons but i guess he's well-known among the new generation of painters. i won't say his name though, i don't want him getting doxxed (better safe than sorry)(not by you btw, i trust you). 

now reading: brian's inability to stay on topic (jk)

this is the most idm book I've read in a long time, I love it. Bought it partly bc I wanted to read Rucker's novel White Light but figured it'd be easier to grasp after checking this out, and man oh man is it a fun ride. If you like Paul Davies or Martin Gardner, or just enjoy dwelling on questions about whether various types of physical/temporal/mental infinities might exist and what that may mean, this gets a high rating from me. Bonus points for not taking a dogmatically materialist stance, and for not childishly attacking thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, St Gregory, showing respect for the Vedas & Upanishads, etc etc (as well as throwing a little shade at Aristotle, that's always fun. He's fair about it). It gets a little hairy in places -- there's a deep dive into transfinite cardinals toward the end that is gonna require at least a full pot of coffee to comprehend, but I'm into it

https://1lib.sk/

search for a book, any book

I always appreciate reflections on the real.

Michael Mann has written a prequel/sequel to Heat, wonder if he can write a novel as well as a screenplay 

Secret of the Golden Flower.pdf 

wiki 

Finished Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher.

Started Tecnoceno by Flavia Costa: Book about the future of humanity.