I’m not going to make my June 20th deadline, so the new, hard deadline is June 30th. That will give me a few days to do some post-production work before I start to distribute copies to people.
At least, that’s the plan at the moment.
The biggest obstacle to this happening is I keep thinking up new ideas for the Public Beta that require me to write entirely new scenes, rather than edit scenes that exist — and have existed for some time.
Anyway. I have to do some hard work now. I have to stay focused and do some hard work.
It used to be, once upon a time, that that where I live in the United States had a certain rhythm to it. That rhythm is definitely gone now. And this is very aggravating to me because reality is very important to me since I’m bonkers. And I know what I’m experiencing is real — nature is acting is strange ways for some reason.
We need Little Green Men to help us out.
And that reason is global climate change.
And yet, whenever I bring this issue up to my family members — who I love dearly — I either get some extreme Right wing MAGA talking point or I get a shrug. They just do not, will not, address the issue at hand — we have to do something about global climate change NOW.
But because of the fucking MAGA cocksuckers who control the minds of millions of people, we’re just not going to do anything until it’s too late. Of course, if you wanted to get kind of wonky about it all, you might suggest that if we had — glup — a Second American Revolution that Blues instigated and won, then maybe we could fucking fix this particular problem.
I hate violence too much to take that option seriously though. So, I guess we’re just going to suffer. Or, more specifically, our children and grandchildren are going to suffer. I suppose AI or, I don’t know, First Contact, might somehow help us out….but barring Little Green Men landing on the front lawn of the White House….I think humanity’s goose is cooked.
To every season, turn, turn turn. As such, it is at least possible that we’ve finally reached the end of the post-911 “If Only A Superhero Could Have Saved The Day” expectations of audiences. But what’s going to replace the Superhero Movie Era if that is the case?
I only ask this question because, apparently, The Flash was something of a dud this weekend — at least, relative to Hollywood expectations. My natural inclination is to think that Hollywood is going to, because of inertia — just drift until AI Generated Movies are good enough that, lulz, movies made by people will seem quaint. Like silent films once Talkies went mainstream.
And, yet, nature abhors a vacuum, so, it’s at least possible that the upcoming hard reboot of the Alien franchise might be so good that between now and our inevitable Her scenario future where we have a digital assistant who will make all our entertainment for us, that humans might manage to squeeze out a brief era of good scifi movies.
Maybe?
I wouldn’t get too excited, however. I think we’re just going to slouch towards a post-human Hollywood between now and, say, maybe 2026-2029. Remember, there’s a good chance The Fourth Turning is going to happen and all hell will break loose for a few years while we sort out if America will be an autocracy or not.
Anyway. Enjoy your human-made movies while you still can, I guess.
As I often say — I’m always, always wrong. But it definitely seems as though it’s at least possible that we’re in something of a waiting game when it comes to the current WGA strike.
And the two sides, tragically, are waiting for different things.
The WGA is waiting for the Suits to come back to the negotiating table, while the Suits are waiting for LLMs to advance to the point that Hollywood writers are…moot. So, rather than “September” being the deadline as one very young and naive striking WGA writer proposed, I think we have a far more open-ended situation on our hands.
It could be 18 months before there’s any resolution to the Writers’ Strike and the resolution will be that technology has reached a point where the Suits feel like they can just ignore the WGA altogether. And, rather than thinking about a WGA strike, they’re thinking about how many programmers they’re going to have to pay in place of them.
Like I said — I’m always, always wrong. So, I suppose it’s possible that something will happen and the Suits will come to some sort of agreement with writers. But..I couldn’t count on it.
These the times that try men’s souls, as they say. And, let me be clear — I hate violence. Totally and completely. But I *AM* growing more and more alarmed at how frothy and violent the rhetoric is growing on the MAGA Right. Because I like to make my abstract fears concrete, I think I might begin to write why, if push came to shove, Blues would have the right to revolution.
The key thing to remember for me is the Constitution itself ensures the right of the people to revolution.
I make a clear distinction between civil war and revolution. I don’t want Blues to leave the Union, I want us to –if necessary — to renew the Union. To make it a stronger democracy. I just want to live in a liberal democracy like I have my entire life.
Again, let me be clear — I hate violence so much that, if need be, I’ll just accept living in a MAGA autocracy if that’s the only way to avoid it. But at the same time, I refuse to intimidated by MAGA Nazi thugs. They want to play, then maybe we’ll play.
I really liked David French’s book about potential civil war scenarios, but he kind of misses the point on the Blue side. The only civil war the United States has fought was one based on slavery and regional differences caused by it. The Right really latches onto that deep political echo. The “South shall rise again” and all that bullshit.
Meanwhile, for the Blue, it would be an issue of saving 250 years of American democratic tradition, if it came to that. Which, hopefully, it won’t. But as I keep saying, they say you go bankrupt gradually then all at once, so, lulz, anything is possible.
But the more I think about it, I just don’t see there being a “National Divorce” if Blues, rather Reds, decide it’s “time for a change,” as The Rolling Stones might quip.
Not to sound too much like a political history nerd, but there IS a difference between a “civil war” and a “revolution.” What Curt Schilling believes should happen is a “civil war” while what Blues might do would be a “revolution.”
Reds are always talking about a National Divorce — which would cause a civil war — because 1) it’s the worst thing they can think of 2) they want to the opportunity to murder people like me with impunity.
Anyway.
The point is – “revolutions” tend to be center-Left in nature while what people like Curt Schilling want is a “civil war.”
I still don’t see why Schilling is so eager for a civil war — or whatever. MAGA is politically ascendant and MAGA just has to be patient and they will get everything want.
I have very strict metrics for consuming a story and if the story doesn’t meet those metrics, I bounce. And, yet, I can’t just read my own writing all the time. If I’m going to be a well-rounded author, I have to consume someone ELSE’s story on occasion.
I’m trying to watch Tar, but I’m not having much success. It’s a really good movie and if I was 20 years younger, I probably would really enjoy it. But I’m an old coot now who has spent a few years obsessing over the finer points of storytelling and I find it overwrought and sort of meh.
Get to the point, people!
But, whatever. It IS a good movie. I think I’m going to have to get so drunk that I don’t care and just sit down and watch it without skipping 10 seconds forward TOO many times.
Ok. I’m not going to make my first deadline of June 20th for wrapping up the Public Beta of my first novel. But I still can make a July 4th deadline for this momentous event if I hunker down and get to work.
So, starting today, I’m going to begin to line edit a pre-Public Beta version of the novel I have. I have a number of blank scenes I have to fill out. But not so many that I can’t finishing something by June 30th.
That will give me a few days to do some of the post-production things necessary to get the Public Beta into people’s hands in a way that makes me feel good.
If we really are heading towards some sort of “Her”-like future, then people who can ask Her-like digital assistants will be the people with the most important jobs. And the people who can do that?
Usually, in today’s world, they’re journalists.
As such, there may come a point in the future where the skill set usually associated with journalists will be the most valuable in the marketplace. Remember, of course, that the path to such an idyllic future for today’s journalists won’t be a straight line.
Pretty much all knowledge economy jobs could become moot before it happens. It could be that not until the entirety of human civilization is reorganized will any such thing happen. There could “Tribunes” who are the people who talk to our new AGI overlords on a daily basis.
Something. Something like that.
Everyone else will be living off of UBI. And there might be a civil war / revolution in the US between now and this future (and a WW3.)
So, all the bitter journalists I know will still have every reason to be bitter for years — decades? — to come. But I do think that all these new jobs I’m being promised because of AI (AGI) may be a real revolution in how we view work. It will be people who can asks a good question who will have a job.
That’s it.
That will be the only job in existence — being able to ask a good question.
I watched “This Is Where I Leave You” and all I could think was, “Man, this movie has really bad background music compared to The Big Chill.” The movie itself was pretty good. I didn’t roll my eyes too much. I did skip through some parts, but that says more about me than the movie.
But I will note — spoilers — that it would have been more interesting if the wife had slept with the “good brother” and they were forced to keep it a secret. This prospect happened in the third act and THAT would be have taken things to the nexxt level.
But, whatever. I’m just pleased I managed to get through a movie — any money. I’m so spoiled when it comes to storytelly that just the act of finishing a movie is a big deal for me. I usually get upset and don’t finish a story if it doesn’t meet my own very — very strict — requirements.
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