IdleRich
IdleRich
Scared of what?
A catalog in america
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There was an edge to most of Hollywood. Lot of homeless people and fairly heavy police/security presence. Not much dawdling or taking of pictures until people were safely inside the mall area. Nothing too sketchy but I was with my relatives and they were walking very quickly, so I did the same.
After LA, headed to Texas.
Been a hectic few days in Austin at SXSW. Nice city, feels like the North of England, but with better weather and a lot of nature. This is a Texan bird known as a grackle.
I went to a few talks on psychedelics as therapy/medicine. There's a few states where use is completely legal now, feels like it's only a matter of time before it catches on in the UK.
They recommended the blog of the Berkeley Centre for psychedelic research https://themicrodose.substack.com/about
And went to this VR thing called "in pursuit of repetitive beats" which is a sort of rave nostalgia piece. As well as the goggles and headphones, you also have to wear a backpack which vibrates at certain times.
And I chatted to the people behind this thing called "plant wave" where they connect electrodes up to the leaves of plants and the moisture differentials create a wave which generates sound
PlantWave
Listen to plant music with PlantWave! Tune into nature and hear plants make music.
plantwave.com
But mainly I took advantage of the free beers in all the corporate areas and got stinking drunk every night, then up early again every morning. So pretty tiring.
Im now in Houston, with another cousin. Gonna take it easy til I fly home on Saturday, although he's booked us tickets for the Rodeo tomorrow night.
IdleRich
IdleRich
The tipping thing is total madness, I feel like you guys are frogs in a saucepan of water that is slowly being heated, the temperature rising by a tiny amount each day. Although the comparison is not exactly fair as in the famous thought experiment the frog doesn't notice what is happening, whereas you guys not only notice, but tell everyone loudly what a good thing it is . ... it might be a long time off, perhaps decades, but it's inevitable - at least for you young 'uns - that it will eventually reach the fatal 'temperature'.
One day you (@sus , @linebaugh or @Leo) will glide into your local cool friendly coffee joint, perhaps your preferred spot of the three or four you alternate for your daily jolt. You'll chat to the friendly guy paid to look busy and chat to customers while the robot assembles the hit. This guy will of course be super hip in whatever style is in vogue by then, though not so much so that he's intimidating... very soon you'll be enjoying uploading the caffeine data to your cortex, and also so deeply caught up in the conversation about [delete as appropriate] mavs (whatever that is) or tatts or that gig you both attended at the Mudd Club in 82, that you'll barely register tapping your pay-enabled finger on the screen he points at you.
It's only that evening when you try to order a DroneDelivered Meal to your level eight hundred and fourteen aeropad that you realise there is a problem. The coffee hit was priced at a now standard $275 but the $100bn tip to which you unthinkingly acquiesced is just above your net worth and you are now officially insolvent! The failed payment immediately alerts some bailiffbots to the situation - specifically the rent related aspects - and in seconds they are restraining you as every single possession you have accumulated in your artificially extended lifespan is seized and auctioned off to mitigate your debt. That accomplished they tip you unceremoniously through the entrexit portal whence the reduced gravity field surrounding NY Village ensures that the eight hundred floor slo-mo fall is embarrassing and undignified rather than fatal.
On the way down you have plenty of time to contemplate the wreckage of your life which will now inevitably be eked out on the ground/garbage level* where you will be locked in a life and death struggle for resources with the other non-persons. In fact the fall is so long you have time to compose a powerful argument in essay form and so at the bottom you are able to jump up, dust yourself off, and quickly log on to dissensus where you write out an impassioned defence of the tipping system which is clearly the fairest conceivable, sneering at the foolish hicks and rubes out there in Englandia and elsewhere who remain simply unable to grasp that. Pleased with your post you resolve that if you survive long enough without the insulin you can no longer dream of affording, your next essay will be one educating those European idiots who persist in thinking that health care is some kind of human right and who would rather be alive than be free, poor dumb bastards.
*only one level exists below this - a nightmarish hellhole created purely for the punishment and agonizing torment of the very worst and most disgustingly degenerate members of the race, known incongruously and for reasons lost in the mists of time as The Mixed Biscuits Level
One day you (@sus , @linebaugh or @Leo) will glide into your local cool friendly coffee joint, perhaps your preferred spot of the three or four you alternate for your daily jolt. You'll chat to the friendly guy paid to look busy and chat to customers while the robot assembles the hit. This guy will of course be super hip in whatever style is in vogue by then, though not so much so that he's intimidating... very soon you'll be enjoying uploading the caffeine data to your cortex, and also so deeply caught up in the conversation about [delete as appropriate] mavs (whatever that is) or tatts or that gig you both attended at the Mudd Club in 82, that you'll barely register tapping your pay-enabled finger on the screen he points at you.
It's only that evening when you try to order a DroneDelivered Meal to your level eight hundred and fourteen aeropad that you realise there is a problem. The coffee hit was priced at a now standard $275 but the $100bn tip to which you unthinkingly acquiesced is just above your net worth and you are now officially insolvent! The failed payment immediately alerts some bailiffbots to the situation - specifically the rent related aspects - and in seconds they are restraining you as every single possession you have accumulated in your artificially extended lifespan is seized and auctioned off to mitigate your debt. That accomplished they tip you unceremoniously through the entrexit portal whence the reduced gravity field surrounding NY Village ensures that the eight hundred floor slo-mo fall is embarrassing and undignified rather than fatal.
On the way down you have plenty of time to contemplate the wreckage of your life which will now inevitably be eked out on the ground/garbage level* where you will be locked in a life and death struggle for resources with the other non-persons. In fact the fall is so long you have time to compose a powerful argument in essay form and so at the bottom you are able to jump up, dust yourself off, and quickly log on to dissensus where you write out an impassioned defence of the tipping system which is clearly the fairest conceivable, sneering at the foolish hicks and rubes out there in Englandia and elsewhere who remain simply unable to grasp that. Pleased with your post you resolve that if you survive long enough without the insulin you can no longer dream of affording, your next essay will be one educating those European idiots who persist in thinking that health care is some kind of human right and who would rather be alive than be free, poor dumb bastards.
*only one level exists below this - a nightmarish hellhole created purely for the punishment and agonizing torment of the very worst and most disgustingly degenerate members of the race, known incongruously and for reasons lost in the mists of time as The Mixed Biscuits Level
IdleRich
IdleRich
I'm watching Cocktail at the moment and there is a scene where a guy is drinking on a stool at the bar with a beer in front of him and a five dollar bill next to it, the barman suddenly strikes like a snake and seizes the money before the barfly can protect it, he can only complain "Hey, that's my cigarette change" but is overruled with "When you hand it to me it's for change, when you put it on the edge of the bar it's a tip"
And instantly I thought of you guys (the dudes I mean) and how you think that's not just ok but right and proper and how you insist on defending that kind of behavior and demand that we start doing it in our countries. And just remembering how every single one of you is so weird and passionate about it made me get a little bit annoyed and that's why I wrote that previous post.
But seriously I don't get how you think it's ok for a barman to just grab someone's money when he's actually trying to stop them, and then claim it as a tip. Well... you do as you like I guess but we will never start doing it here however much you want us to and no matter how much you keep going on about it.
And instantly I thought of you guys (the dudes I mean) and how you think that's not just ok but right and proper and how you insist on defending that kind of behavior and demand that we start doing it in our countries. And just remembering how every single one of you is so weird and passionate about it made me get a little bit annoyed and that's why I wrote that previous post.
But seriously I don't get how you think it's ok for a barman to just grab someone's money when he's actually trying to stop them, and then claim it as a tip. Well... you do as you like I guess but we will never start doing it here however much you want us to and no matter how much you keep going on about it.
This has been an issue for ages, tarantino was dealing with it back in the 90s.
The issue is that there's some piss taking going on.
So I went to the rodeo in Houston, 80K capacity crowd. Went to get a couple of beers for my cousin and I.
They had this sort of self service area to make it quicker, cos thd queues were huge for anything hand pulled.
So I went to get a couple cans out of the fridge, this girl stops me and says 'oh hang on, let me get you a couple colder ones'. OK sure.
So then she takes them to the till and scans them for me.
It's like 30 Bux. Absolute rip off. But whatever, we're at the rodeo.
But then swivels the card machine round on the tip screen and the penny drops for me...
The issue is that there's some piss taking going on.
So I went to the rodeo in Houston, 80K capacity crowd. Went to get a couple of beers for my cousin and I.
They had this sort of self service area to make it quicker, cos thd queues were huge for anything hand pulled.
So I went to get a couple cans out of the fridge, this girl stops me and says 'oh hang on, let me get you a couple colder ones'. OK sure.
So then she takes them to the till and scans them for me.
It's like 30 Bux. Absolute rip off. But whatever, we're at the rodeo.
But then swivels the card machine round on the tip screen and the penny drops for me...
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah of course, don't you remember that I did this brilliantly observed parody of that where... well I forget the details but I realised our tipping argument was a bit like that scene AND I cleverly spotted that Mr Tea had a name a bit like the gangsters in the film and drew a very witty parallel, and I concluded with calling a member Nice Guy Version cos everyone likes him, and in the film there is a guy called Nice Guy Eddie. I was very disappointed at the time that it didn't get the appreciation it deserved in terms of likes etc but from the post you made above it looks you either forgot what I said (which, frankly, is impossible) or maybe you didn't spot the cunning reference. So I'm thinking actually my post was a bit too clever for people, which was why it didn't get the response it deserved. I feel a bit better about it now.
IdleRich
IdleRich
80,000 people go to the rodeo? I reckon I would like that, the atmosphere would be rockin' - I doubt I'd go often, in fact maybe I'd just go once, but I'd bet there would be some bits where the whiskey has flowed and the crowd is vibin and I'd be going fuck yeah this is ace! But what did you think to it?
In the town a few miles from us, heading away from Lisbon, they have this bullfighting festival every year - or at least they did before covid. I'm tempted to go cos I think it's basically like a street festival for several days with food stalls and getting pissed etc presumably with a sort of bullfighting theme, but you don't have to go to the arena and actually see a fight. Also in Portugal they don't kill the bulls in the arena, which now I've thought about it is quite a big difference, much less bloodthirsty, although I'm not sure if it means the bull can come back next week... or if he goes off stage and you hear a gunshot and a bellow of pain.
But what you saying below? She charged 30 bux for two beers but when you saw the actual bill it turned out 25 dollars were a tip she'd added for herself... something like that right?
Murphy
cat malogen
The rodeo had this sort of all-encompassing-america feel to it.
Performative patriotism (hand on heart for the national anthem as expected but also the main C&W singer, Cody Johnson, at the end of the night, saying something to the effect of "next time you argue with someone, be happy about that, cos we live in a land where you have that right to disagree").
Over the top caveman style food. Lads walking round with giant BBQ turkey legs, looked like the flintstones or something. Just an insane amount of food. I had deep fried oreos.
But also the show nature of it. Women in ridiculous outfits, one in front of us in a sort of see through skirt showing off her thong, but big cowboy boots to go with it and a massive hat too. Just loads of cowboy hats generally.
And then the animals. We went into the stables/cowshed area where you can see the animals, give them a pat, see all the owners who are there all week, trading.
So there is this element of "real" connected to the more superstructural thing that follows, where you've got the guys going on the horses and bulls, seeing how long they can last. Like 4 seconds on the bulls.
And they've even got the kids going for it. There's a thing called "mutton bustin" where they put a 5 year old onto the back of sheep and set em off, see how long the kids can last.
And what got me was how when the kid falls off, there's a camera right there in their face and they are doing a thumbs up.
Also my cousin introduced me to this new type of drink they have over there now, called a "seltzer", its basically an alcopop type thing, but there is NO taste of alcohol at all. Its like drinking one of those flavoured sparkling waters. Incredible.
Performative patriotism (hand on heart for the national anthem as expected but also the main C&W singer, Cody Johnson, at the end of the night, saying something to the effect of "next time you argue with someone, be happy about that, cos we live in a land where you have that right to disagree").
Over the top caveman style food. Lads walking round with giant BBQ turkey legs, looked like the flintstones or something. Just an insane amount of food. I had deep fried oreos.
But also the show nature of it. Women in ridiculous outfits, one in front of us in a sort of see through skirt showing off her thong, but big cowboy boots to go with it and a massive hat too. Just loads of cowboy hats generally.
And then the animals. We went into the stables/cowshed area where you can see the animals, give them a pat, see all the owners who are there all week, trading.
So there is this element of "real" connected to the more superstructural thing that follows, where you've got the guys going on the horses and bulls, seeing how long they can last. Like 4 seconds on the bulls.
And they've even got the kids going for it. There's a thing called "mutton bustin" where they put a 5 year old onto the back of sheep and set em off, see how long the kids can last.
And what got me was how when the kid falls off, there's a camera right there in their face and they are doing a thumbs up.
Also my cousin introduced me to this new type of drink they have over there now, called a "seltzer", its basically an alcopop type thing, but there is NO taste of alcohol at all. Its like drinking one of those flavoured sparkling waters. Incredible.
Oh yeah sorry I do remember that now.
Yeah the rodeo was very interesting. And no bull death. Felt like there was some dare. And no, it was 30 for 2 beers standard and then she expected 20% on top, which I duly gave her.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Thank God you do. You critiqued it harshly, savagely in fact, your cruel words are even now seared into my heart. I tried to put a brave face on it but in all honesty, I did shed a tear. To realise that you had callously forgotten crushing my spirit like that is yet another blow to what remains of my soul.
Murphy
cat malogen
The rodeo had this sort of all-encompassing-america feel to it.
Performative patriotism (hand on heart for the national anthem as expected but also the main C&W singer, Cody Johnson, at the end of the night, saying something to the effect of "next time you argue with someone, be happy about that, cos we live in a land where you have that right to disagree").
Over the top caveman style food. Lads walking round with giant BBQ turkey legs, looked like the flintstones or something. Just an insane amount of food. I had deep fried oreos.
But also the show nature of it. Women in ridiculous outfits, one in front of us in a sort of see through skirt showing off her thing, but big cowboy boots to go with it and a massive hat too. Just loads of cowboy hats generally.
And then the animals. We went into the stables/cowshed area where you can see the animals, give them a pat, see all the owners who are there all week, trading.
So there is this element of "real" connected to the more superstructural thing that follows, where you've got the guys going on the horses and bulls, seeing how long they can last. Like 4 seconds on the bulls.
And they've even got th kids going St it. There's a thing called "mutton bustin" where they put 5 year old onto the back of sheep and set em off, see how long the kids can last.
And what got me was how when the kid falls off, there's a camera right there in their face and they are doing a thumbs up.
Also my cousin introduced me to this new type of drink they have over there now, called a "seltzer", its basically an alcopop type thing, but there is NO taste of alcohol at all. Its like drinking one of those flavoured sparkling waters. Incredible.
soundtrack
IdleRich
IdleRich
Oh man .. obviously I said a few things being silly, but I do find this genuinely annoying. I guess my problem is... first up you wanna buy some beers and they're fifteen each so you got your thirty dollars ready. But companies don't pay enough and it falls on customers to make up for that. Which is shit and unfair. So you gotta pay something more... but waiters are getting greedy so tips have grown to ludicrous proportion.
It feels to me that after the transaction at least one or possibly both parties will feel aggrieved and it's all in the name of letting a selfish, greedy employer off the hook.
Meant to post these earlier.
I visited a really good museum in Baltimore: https://www.avam.org/
'The American Visionary Art Museum'.
Mainly outsider artists but a few professionals. No Dargers unfortunately.
Nice mosaic on the outside
And a weird sculpture outside the door
Some of the paintings/exhibits/sculptures that caught my eye
Close up:
This one above reminds me of the 'fan art' I did for Dean Blunt / Jah Shaka:
Some more from the museum:
This next one was my fav, by Ramon Alejandro, who I've not heard of before
I visited a really good museum in Baltimore: https://www.avam.org/
'The American Visionary Art Museum'.
Mainly outsider artists but a few professionals. No Dargers unfortunately.
Nice mosaic on the outside
And a weird sculpture outside the door
Some of the paintings/exhibits/sculptures that caught my eye
Close up:
This one above reminds me of the 'fan art' I did for Dean Blunt / Jah Shaka:
Some more from the museum:
This next one was my fav, by Ramon Alejandro, who I've not heard of before