You ever order a pizza, then they deliver it unsliced?...
Anyway...
This photo will go down in my digital history as proof that I was dirt poor at one point. I painted this at the mighty Shanty Town in Springfield (shout out to Triclops) somewhere between 2019 - 2020. I was supposed to be working (we were there to actually paint something professionally), but instead I was out back painting on the fence. That's probably why I was dirt poor. Oddly, though, I think that night was the first time I ate sushi in my entire life. So, I wasn't exactly dirt poor; just broke.
But...
This is the last thing I drew in 2025. I make a lot of promises I don't keep; I have so many half done canvases all over the place it's actually a shame. Especially since I've been asked a couple of times if I had any work available. Don't follow my example if you happen to be a young creative reading this. People will lose respect for you, then you'll end up being a graphic designer. (Not throwing shade on designers, I am one 😂) But I'll be drawing weird stuff until I'm geriatric; it's just one of my glitches.
I know it is a taboo form of cognitive or hindsight bias to say things like this out loud, but this...THIS is something I've been saying for most of my adult life...
From Big Think:
I've heard many people touch on this subject - mostly philosophers - and I've heard it phrased in other terms like "the universal bind". How I've heard it explained in the past is there are two different forces that pull an individual in separate directions: who you are and inherently know yourself to be versus who you are told you are and what is expected of you. I've also learned that this is one of the major sources of my anxiety; as it is with many people. I can't really speak for many groups of people, but I know in my culture there are many expectations put upon and aspersions cast upon Black men.
Keeping all of this in mind, my personal philosophy is that "weird" is a relative and somewhat nebulous term cast upon someone when they don't display a willingness to fall into the expectations of others. That or they walk a path that isn't expected of them because of aforementioned aspersions.
What a world we live in.
I'm not entirely sure what happened to the sound for this video during the transer between devices, but it's now a silent film made by yours truly I like to call...
Certain forms of media are made and destined to become a little destabilizing. I'm the type of creative that just likes to see how things move and learn what I can do to direct them. For more of this type of tomfoolery, head on over to Threads.
There was a time that I had to dig extensively to find an article like this...
From Intellectual Takeout:
"When people first encounter C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” they assume they’re getting a Christian book about temptation or a moral fable written for a specific audience who lived in a particular time.
Yet as I’ve begun reading the book for the first time, it’s clear that Lewis is doing something more precise than mere theology. Beneath the religious framework lies a careful investigation into how the human mind works – revealing how easily it can be manipulated.
Early in the first letter, Screwtape explains to his nephew Wormwood how the human he’s assigned to has long been accustomed “to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head.” This line struck me as profoundly modern. With the advent of the internet, we’re surrounded by compelling arguments that claim to describe how the world works, how we ought to live, and what ultimately matters in life."
I once got into a discussion with someone on the subject of whether it's more traumatizing for a young person to see sex portrayed on screen or violence portrayed on screen. I've actually been in that discussion with a variety of people; and some of the justifications for violence actually made me go abruptly silent.
Though the confusion and awe were not so much about their individual replies. Rather it was the obviousness of their lack of an origin of thought which lead them to their conclusions that was striking. Like when you hear someone singing a song that you've never heard, yet you can tell they heard it on the radio and have no idea who sings it.
I never saw any hype building up to this one, but man does it look impressive...
From Warner Bros:
"They Will Kill You is an upcoming American horror film directed by Kirill Sokolov, from a script written by him and Alex Litvak. The film will star Zazie Beetz, Myha'la, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette.
A desperate woman answers a cryptic ad for a live-in housekeeper at a luxurious yet foreboding New York City high-rise. Upon arrival, she uncovers the building's sinister history: residents have vanished without trace for decades, fueling whispers of a Satanic cult lurking in the shadows. As she navigates the eccentric, secretive community, paranoia mounts—doors creak at night, symbols appear in the walls, and her new "family" hides deadly secrets. What starts as a gig from hell spirals into a fight for survival against ritualistic horrors..."
The story is very intriguing, the characters seem sharp, the fight scenes are off the chain, and that subtle element of underlying comedy is present which makes this a recipe for promising cinema. I hope these types of left-field hitters keep coming!
Bruh, I slept on this one for waaay too long...
First, let me start off by mentioning how creepy the beginning of the end credits are. I mean, the majority of the movie is off the rails disturbing, but sitting there watching the beginning of the credits gave me the chills...for real. Pearl is the origin story of the villain from X and MaXXXine, parts of a trilogy coming out of the A24 camp. It stars Mia Goth and I'm telling you, she kills that role (no pun intended). There's also a scene where she pulls an Ellen Burstyn in Requeim for a Dream and bodies it (again, no pun intended). If she didn't win an award for that scene (I don't believe she did), then the acting game is rigged.
Horror in 2026 looks like it's going to be as promising (if not more) as it has been the last few years...
We've all seen Monkey Shines, The Monkey, and Planet of the Apes. We've even seen that one movie that I can't recall the name of that they sent a chimp into a room full of radiation to see how long it would survive (that was brutal). PRIMATE, however, seems to be a frightening mix of a few of those tropes without the musical instruments or the tribal warfare. It'll be another one on the list.
Now this, ladies and y'alls, is next level legendary...
I keep saying this, but the fact that I can sit here and just stream Yo! MTV Raps is enough, let alone being able to go back and see decades of music videos is one of the best things to happen on the internet. The major appeal to us old heads is that there's no algorithm - it's just a lottery of music like it was pre-internet. I realize this is bordering the overly nostalgic, but there's worlds of inspiration to be had within that audio realm.
I'm a sucker for unpopular tunes, so I'm going to end this with a tune in which I wore the vinyl right the hell out. Catch me on the next episode.
Stay up!
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