About a month ago, Sleep Good debuted the song "Somewhere" off his forthcoming yk records album, Bohemian Grove. I'm happy to say that song now has an official video and you should watch it right now. It's a Vaporwave-y, VHS soaked, layered journey complete with surfing, flying sharks, infinite grids and spinning diamonds. Wonderful spinning diamonds.
I'm way into it and hope you watch it at least thrice, as I do every morning.
As you may have noticed, today is the Battle for the Net, a Fight for the Future sponsored day to bring awareness and solidarity on the issue of Net Neutrality; an issue that was "resolved" in 2015 but has been challenged by big companies ever since. It's a tiresome fight that seems to be, like many things, a losing battle. It's difficult for the average citizen to have their voice heard on a subject as big as Corporate Interest vs Neutral Creative Landscape but today attempts to bring together disparate voices into one louder shout.
There's lots of big companies joining in - from Amazon to Vimeo to GitHub and tons more. You can read a nice-and-simple overview of the history of the issue over on the The Guardian and keep up with latest developments on The Verge.
But what can be done aside from a pop-up ad that asks for mailing list signups? Specifically, you should be leaving a comment for the FCC for their review on July 17th. Not a scathing, screaming, Internet lambasting of a comment but, rather, a rational bit of feedback that explains how a level playing field benefits you.
I think it's safe to say that having your voice heard by a government agency is even harder than having it heard by a corporation (particularly with any meaningful feedback) but this filing is setup to allow exactly for that kind of direct contact. Pop-up windows and avatar changes create awareness but talking to the FCC allows you to actually contribute. Today you should be working to get anyone you know that isn't mired in Internet all day to also do this.
While I typically shy away from being overly nostalgic, I must admit that this exhaustive history of Oregon Trail is pretty fascinating. The piece is written by Philip Bouchard, the man responsible for porting the original 1971 text-based version of the game into the more visual immersive 1985 Apple II version most people are familiar with.
While I say it is exhaustive (even Medium says it will take you 40 minutes to read), there is also a 500-page book on the subject as well, if you're looking to dive even deeper. Bouchard writes in a compelling manner, particularly for a subject about likely dying (virtually) on your way out West.
The work of Jan Pypers reminds me of Gregory Crewdson, strangely intimate moments lit in a way that feels surreally perfect. There's an odd stillness to it. The Night Gardeners series also depicts a number of bizarre characters, possibly telling an interwoven story that we're never quite let in on.
The extra fascinating part about Pypers work is that it's not purely photographer at all, it's a combination of well-mademiniatures, collage and digital sprucing. It feels other worldly because it is other worldly, despite keeping a firm anchor in the almost believable.
