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A garbage media diet, and Sushi Chef Rapping...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
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Watching a lot of inane YouTube videos, true crime style docs in the style of JCS that use real bodycam and interrogation footage to go deep into the psychology of criminals.
And, as of late, with the increase in these technologies, there's a lot. I mean, a mind-buggering shit-tonne of sociopaths, from 91 year old grandpas that kill their adult children, to carefree gangs, murderous husbands/wives/mothers/fathers/serial killers/etc.
And the most terrifying thing is how well they fit in, how - not precisely plausible, but if you didn't ask the right questions, or - as in our current state of surveilled society, with internet, dashcam, security camera footage, phone records, gps data - might well go unsolved. Also remarkable and still - despite mountains of evidence to the contrary - how many women are up to the same murderous antics. 20 years ago they wouldn't have believed it - look at Karla Homolka & Paul Bernardo - but now there's more than enough evidence to say equality - at least in the low end of human nature - has certainly been reached.
The better ones use real interrogation footage. The worse ones use stock footage and simply voiceover the events. There is a difference. Anyways, one particular one - I'll save you watching the entire thing - a quick summary might be as follows:
Young successful married professional (engineer) does a "Thrill Killing" and gets caught. It's just a murder because he can and thinks it will be fun.
Anyways, following his capture he has these conversations with his wife, which are quite probably the most sublime(?), ridiculous and at the same time terrifying thing you've ever heard.
Link YouTube; conversation only
Which should give you an idea of how completely alien these people's mindset is. I mean, I can imagine a lot of heinous things, but this, well, this argues (like a lot of them) for very swift and merciless Capitol Punishment.
****
Clear my YouTube history, you can too deep down these rabbit holes and eventually it'll keep you up at night. What is most terrifying is that I've met (we all have, I'm sure) more than a few of these people, and that if only circumstance were different we'd as well be prey.
***
From that to work, where the Sushi Chef has been writing his rap lyrics in the slower periods. He shows me a few of his videos.
I actually search for "Sushi Chef Rapper" on YouTube and discover it's a fucking thing.
And somehow it gets my mind turning...
I start listening to Eminem - "Not Afraid" and "Love the way you lie". Maybe I've heard them before, but this is the first time I've listened to them, proper.
I'd excuse myself, the whole hip-hop rapper culture, toxic masculinity, posturing, racism, ghetto, misogyny, well, it's not my scene, not my themes. But I get how they resonate, don't admire but I can appreciate. (and yeah, I could actually rap that...)
I'm more an Aesop Rock sort of guy.
...but these tunes, well, the beats hit, the lyrics, well, they're to the purpose, I don't think they're the best but I admire the dense machine-gun imagery, the metaphors, the mixed beats and tunes and so I listen to them over and over, getting a feel for the rhythm and I think that I have some ideas for a new Sushi Chef in town...
Pitts River Museum in Oxford
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
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I was brought here by the rumour of a witch, trapped in a silvered glass bottle...
This varies from the usual Witch bottle, which are bottles filled with charms, fetishes, etc, usually laid in a foundation or threshold to keep witches out.
Scroll down and you'll see it:
Link: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/agu-nsi-bottle-rowan-loops
This was displayed in a different context as part of 7 part exhibition of "Presence and Absence" by Marina Abramović, who's show you can also view on the website. (Link here: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/event/marina-abramovic-pitt-rivers-museum)
I rather love these museums, that bring together objects of great antiquity and curiosity, little totems and trinkets who's ideas and associations far transcend the sum of their parts, and the varied and visually dense arrangement and curation.
Custom of the sea
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
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Which refers to the unwritten rule of drawing lots and cannibalism for shipwrecked sailors. An interesting read, note as well the interesting parallel between the Richard Parker of Edgar Allen Poe's & the Mignonette, and the double entendre of "Owen Coffin" - "Owing a Coffin", but life is frequently stranger than fiction...
The Cruise of the 'Alerte' - Project Gutenberg
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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This, recommended by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, was a much needed diversion from his own journal of the Antarctic Expedition.
In which we follow the author and his crew as they sail to the island of Trindade in search of the lost Treasure of Lima.
'Lost' may be the wrong word, 'Mislaid' is perhaps better.
Anyways, on the deathbed confession of a 'Piratical Finn' several expeditions were launched to the Island of Trindade (referred to loosely as 'Trinidad' in the book), of which his is one. Enough clues given by the confession tally with the description of the island and the author is persuaded to try his hand at digging for the treasure. So he rounds up a crew - via subscription (each member pays a fee for the travel/yacht, etc - to enjoy a portion of the plunder), engages a few staff, and sets out.
A real-life "Treasure Island", if you will.
Our adventures of various sorts, the perils of landing, the attacks made on us by the multitudes of hideous land-crabs and ferocious sea-birds, our difficult climb over the volcanic mountains, and finally our anything but regretful departure from one of the most uncanny and dispiriting spots on earth, are fully set out in my book, 'The Cruise of the "Falcon."'
That, describing his first expedition, the descriptive style is much the same in the second.
Link: Google Maps, Island of Trindade
I won't be giving much away if I tell you they don't find it. Nonetheless, an interesting idea and worth it if only for the rather humorous descriptions. And there's a business idea for you, chartering a yacht and leading wealthy patrons off on treasure hunts the world over...
You can read this online - Link: Project Gutenberg - The Cruise of the 'Alerte'
Curious, what a hold "Pirate Treasure" has on the collective imagination, when so few (in fact none, I'm assured) examples have ever been found. What treasure has been recovered has been from Pirate ships and Galleons sunk and on the bottom of the sea, I can find no references to pirate treasures ever being dug up on deserted shores or islands.
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