Tag: weird ideas

Why Now?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s very possible that we’ve just about reached a similar situation as what happened in the lead up to Columbus “discovering” the New World –everyone will know something is true, just not the details. In 1492, everyone pretty much knew not only that the world was round, but it’s size. In fact, the big mistake that Columbus made was thinking that the world was more of a pair that a sphere.

The same thing is going on with extraterrestrials.

It’s growing more and more acceptable that believe that We’re Not Alone. In fact, it makes you wonder if maybe The Powers That Be have decided to something akin to a “soft launch” of First Contact for some reason. By why? Why would do they pick now to do such a historic thing?

They say how you approach space aliens says a lot about what you think about God and, as such, I guess you’re going to be able to discern something about me with the following.

There are A LOT of different options whenever you talk about UFOS, but there is a key issue that a lot of people ignore — it’s not exactly like humanity is being quiet. We’re spending out an endless deluge of radio waves that any sort of ET civilization has had time to study. And if it’s true that they’ve actually visited earth to the point that the Airforce has probes in its possession, there’s every reason to believe that ETs aren’t the type of send mysterious Monoliths to us.

They know EVERYTHING about us and it’s very possible that there MIGHT be some sort of backchannels that exist between the governments of the world (or at least the USA) and any aliens and MAYBE because of things like AI the aliens have sort of forced the hand of the US government — hard First Contact is on its way, time to prep the populace.

Or not.

I have no idea.

But all these developments on the UFO front are very…curious.

I still think that First Contact will happen like “a theft in the night” and, lulz, it may never happen — or at least not in my lifetime.

But everything that is going on at the moment is…something to think about.

A Potential ‘Big Shrug’ for ‘Hard’ First Contact?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I find ANY suggestion that there is proof of Hard First Contact very dubious. I mean, how the fuck did the Little Green Men get here, to begin with? But, putting aside those concerns, the idea that the U.S. Airforce may be in possession of some sort of alien probe is very curious.

What’s even more curious is, it’s very possible that we may have proof of ETs and…nothing will happen. We’re all so being sucking our own cocks as we debate if this or that thing is “woke” that we won’t even care that The Single Biggest Event In Human History has be proven.

I can only think of a hand full of events that would be equal to Hard First Contact. The birth of Jesus. The discovery of the New World by Europeans. Splitting the Atom. Landing on the Moon.

That’s about all I got.

But it remains to be seen if what we’re being told is true turns out to be true. Yet there is hope — if it becomes clear to The Powers That Be that no one gives a shit that Hard First Contact has happened…it’s a lot more likely that The Truth about that issue will become known.

At least, that’s my hope.

The ultimate endgame of all of this is we’re all going to know that we’re not alone in the Universe and no one will care. Space nerds will whisper about this or that additional discovery, maybe by the James Webb Space Telescope, but in the end only if Little Green Men land on the front lawn of the White House will the average person care.

Would The Indictment Of Trump For Espionage Be A ‘Disruptive Event?’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear — I think much like the late Roman Empire, America has given itself over to the macro forces of history. We’ve just given up and there just doesn’t seem to be any way to avoid our inevitable transition into an illiberal democracy.

In fact, between now and spring 2025, our choice will be rather stark — autocracy or civil war.

So, I don’t really give much credence to the idea that anything — ANYTHING — can stop Trump from being 2024 Republican nominee and probably the next POTUS. In short, we’re fucking doomed. And, yet, for some reason, 50 Senators have, according to CBS News, been given satellite phones because of the fear of “a disruptive event.”

Just like how the paranoid Right spent 30 years mulling what James Baker was going to say in the “New World Order” speech that he never gave, it’s possible that the same people are going to spend the next 20 years worried about a “disruptive event” that never comes.

But it does seem that Trump might — MIGHT — be on the cusp of being indicted for a number of Big Boy Crimes, amongst them being espionage. I just don’t see that as rising to the status of a “disruptive event,” however, because everything is so baked into the cake with Trump that even if he, I don’t know, ate someone live on TV, he would still be 60,000 voters in five swing states away from being president.

That’s how much America has collectively given the fuck up.

It definitely will be interesting to see Trump running for POTUS between now and Election Day 2024 having been indicted for espionage of all things. Jesus Christ.

But, here we are.

Who Is The Person In California Who Is Obsessed With This Blog?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Here are my current guesses as to the person in California who seems absolutely determined to read every single post on this site. Now, I don’t mind the attention, I suppose, because I love attention. I am, however, a little nervous that the person is some sort of stalker.

Anyway, here are my guesses as to who this person might be

  1. Someone from KAF
    There was at least one young man who was absolutely fucking obsessed with me who was a member of the Kermit and Friends community. And I seem to recall he was in California. That would make a lot of sense.
  2. Someone who knows me from South Korea who loves / hate mes
    I was quite the unique character in Asia and it would make a lot of sense if someone who knows me from my time in South Korea was now totally obsessed with me. If Annie Shapiro was still alive, I would assume it was her. But my fear is, of course, that someone connected to her in some way is obsessed with me because they know of my troubled relationship to her.

I’ve Noticed Something

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It seems as though American pop culture is in the midst of some sort of vibe shift. I’ve been listening to Ben Smith, formerly of BuzzFeed, go on his podcast book tour and I’ve noticed a few things from listening to all of his conversations asking him questions from different directions.

Smith makes it clear that he thinks we’re kind of between media eras at the moment. The thing he kept saying that caught my attention is that people have returned to reading The Drudge Report to “know what’s going on.”

I find that comment intriguing.

Before I continue, let me be clear that months go by before I actually go to a Website and read content. I get all of my information passively via Twitter or through reading the headlines of various email lists I’m subscribed to. And, what’s more, it’s clear that it’s very possible that generative AI is about to revolutionize the EVERYTHING, including journalism.

And, yet, there’s a little part of me that wonders if we’re overdue for a site that would have the personality of The Drudge Report — and serve a similar purpose — but would have a more modern and mass sensibility.

My vision of this site would be something in the tradition of Spy Magazine, Late Night With David Letterman and Gawker. It seems as though if you came out of the gate swinging with a unique, interesting take on the days news that was more than just links that you might — MIGHT — be able to recreate the magic of the snarky 2002-2004 era of the Web.

But it would have to be updated for modern audience expectations. You would have to have not just a blog you updated throughout the day, but a podcast or two as well. The window of opportunity for this venture is pretty small and closing fast because, well, luz, who knows how fast AI developments are going to go in the near term.

And you would have to have the resources to pull this off. So, it’s not like I could just do it on my own, no matter how much I am so delusional to try (if I had the resources to do so.)

But for the rise of AI and the metaverse, I would propose that conditions are there for a Gawker-like blog that was really aggressive in being a place where people would visit when they woke up — or got to work — to know What’s Going On.

And, yet, just as we’re overdue for a third wave of punk….I think my hunch while correct on paper just doesn’t make any business sense. The Web is mature. Apps are mature. AI and the metaverse are zooming towards us at an alarming rate.

So, lulz. My little dream is essentially 20 years too late. I need to go back t omy novel.

Welcome, Bytedance

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Given that Bytedance, the owner of Tik-Tok, has gone so far as to track the location of Forbes reporters, I suppose it was inevitable someone from that company would check me out since I keep ranting about I suspect their app can read people’s minds.

So, today, sure enough, I saw someone from Bytedance in my Webstats.

I don’t really think that Tik-Tok can read our minds. I don’t. I swear. But repeatedly, again and again, I have been pushed very, very specific videos that seem to track with my internal monologue and I simply don’t have any ready answer for it.

Usually, it seems to happen after I think about something really hard in a concrete way. I like, I see an image in my mind for an intense moment or two. Then, usually within 24 hours, I get pushed something along those lines by Tik-Tok.

It’s eerie. It’s inexplicable.

I suppose it’s all just a coincidence. It has to be. Right? Right? Big Tech can’t read our minds — yet. I mean, if Big Tech had the ability to read consumers’ minds wouldn’t that be, by definition, one of the biggest advancements — and secrets — in modern history?

I know we’re working towards having some primitive ability to read people’s minds, I call it “digital telepathy,” but for the time being such stuff is the stuff of cranks like me with too much time on my hands.

I suppose AI might has something to do with what I’m noticing? Maybe? But for me, the point is, be it digital telepathy or AI, whatever it giving Tik-Tok the ability to figure out what I’m thinking in such a concrete manner fucking needs to be banned or regulated.

I don’t care which.

Anyway. No one listens to me.

‘The Rumor’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is a totally baseless rumor as far as I can tell, but I’ve had a bit to drink, so I will share what I saw on a very dubious Tik-Tok some time ago: there may be a Kamala Harris sex tape.

I’m sure this is total, complete bullshit. But just the idea that one MIGHT exist is enough to give me a serious case of hives because as today’s abrupt and unexpected firing of Tucker Carlson today proves — we may be entering a very strange election cycle.

My fears about this totally untrue rumor go something like this — Biden shuffles off this mortal coil between now and election day 2024. Harris becomes POTUS and she’s forced to resign because we all see her doing the nasty. The rumor I heard is she does it with her old beau Montel Williams. Anyway, THEN, we end up with a President MacCarthy.

It would be a head spinning series of events.

Again, I think all of this is total bullshit. But it definitely would make a lot of sense if it did exist. Harris is a very attractive woman and she seems like she was something of a wild child in her younger days.

I still believe the 2024 presidential cycle is shaping up to be completely fucking bonkers in ways that none of us could possible imagine.

I May Have A Tip For Matthew Belloni About Warner Bros. Discovery — Too Bad It’s Dubious At Best

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m something of a media nerd and so I’m a big fan of Matthew Belloni’s podcast The Town. I often pontificate on shit I know nothing about — that’s kind of my thing — and I also am totally completely obsessed with monitoring my Webstats.

Very, very few people read this blog — mostly stalkers and family members who don’t want to admit that they are interested in my rantings — so whenever something curious pops up in my Webstats I take note. I have no idea why a person from Cortlandt Manor, New York would look — repeatedly — at my musings about the possibility that it seems inevitable that Warner Bros. Discovery will merge with NBCUniversal…but they have.

The ONLY reason why I find this both curious and intriguing is where Cortlandt Manor is — just north of NYC in what I suspect is a fairly wealthy part of the state. It would make a lot of sense if some high-powered media person with inside knowledge would be searching the Web about such a merger if it was actually something actively being discussed.

Or not.

Anyway, absolutely no one listens to me — certainly not Mr. Belloni — so, lulz, I’ll just be content in my scenario running abilities if I turn out to be right. Though I will point out AGAIN — if such a merger did happen, what the fuck happens to CNN?

I can think of a few plutocrats who would shell out a few billion for CNN. The general base price would be $1 billion, but I think if there was some sort of bidding war, you could see a final sale price closer to $5 billion.

Anyway. I need to work on my novel.

So Very Strange

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

A few days ago, I thought really hard about the time many moons ago when I slept overnight at a hostel. Well, would you believe that I got pushed a Tik-Tok just now about that VERY SAME THING — someone worried about sleeping at a hostel.

Because that was the memory I thought about — how unhappy I was as an Old sleeping at a hostel. And there it was, a video of a young woman looking very concerned about the risks associated with sleeping at a hostel.

I know — know — it’s not possible that Tik-Tok is actively rooting around in my mind.

But…it is very eerie. I didn’t tell anyone about this memory. I didn’t tweet or blog about it. Only *I* specifically knew that I was even aware of such a situation in the first place.

A.I. Killed The Hollywood Star?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a really interesting Space conversation on Twitter with a guy who proposed the following provocative concept: the rise of AI generated technology will mark the end of Hollywood as we know it.

He posits that the entire celebrity parasocial edifice will come crashing down as everyone can tailor their entertainment to be very personal and without any “real” actors. Everything will be generative, no IRL humans involved.

This is a really interesting idea. And I like it because it forces me to challenge some basic assumptions and to come up with and answer to this guy’s very valid observations.

The more I think about it, the more I think Hollywood celebrities have nothing to worry about, for no other reason than they still have time to warp the advance of technology such that they thrive. For instance, just because you may be able to create a completely generative movie or TV show in the near future, doesn’t mean you will want to, especially if there’s a huge marketing campaign to make you feel that your generative actor isn’t as “special” or entertaining as a scan of a real person.

In fact, there is a novel by David Brin that deals with something like this. It’s called Kiln People and it has some really thought provoking ideas about the nature of celebrity. Anyway, I think in the near future when we Petite Singularity is in full force that instead of Hollywood being burned to the ground that the basic elements of Hollywood celebrity culture will simply exist in a different form.

So, when you sit down to watch a TV show or movie, yes, you will create something generative…but you will also probably be willing to pay a premium for a scan of, say, Harrison Ford (and other actors) to plop into your generative, personalized content. In fact, one could even go so far as to say that in the future you will be paying a flat monthly fee not for Netflix, but for access to the scans of a multitude of actors you might use for your movies and TV shows that you generate via a prompt

And, what’s more, once AI technology reaches something akin to that seen in the movie “Her,” you might simply tell your personal assistant to create the content for you using voice commands and you can be even more lazy.

I still think that instead of going to Hollywood in the near future that young starlets will head to New York City to see if they can make a name for themselves on Broadway then get scanned into the Big Hollywood Database and then live off the passive income of their body scan. I don’t feel enough people are listening to me about this possibility.

Anyway. It definitely seems as though the future of entertainment is going to have a lot of twists and turns.