OT: Hurricanes Lounge XLV: Y2K Twenty-Four Years Later

[tarheelhockey]

But maybe it doesn't matter how we got to where we are- because we're here.

That’s where I’m standing at the moment. Very different worldviews should coalesce around the same conclusion when it comes to this topic.

 

[To Be Determined]

If you happen to follow too many folks from "Canes Twitter", you do see quite of bit of political shit. Most of that comes from them retweeting other people's political commentary, but most of Canes Twitter is a kindergarten of the uninformed and easily led when it comes to those types of discussions.

It mostly makes me laugh at the displayed amount of ignorance....on all sides of the political spectrum.

the part i've bolded holds true pretty equally whether you're talking politics or hockey.

 

[WreckingCrew]

After seeing your posts on here for a long time, I think it’s fair to say we generally see the world through different lenses. You see a lot of things being pre-planned or at least deliberate, while I see them being the outcome of bad process.

In this case, the difference doesn’t matter because both paths lead to the same conclusion. Was Twitter designed to be a weapon of information warfare? Maybe, maybe not… without question, it definitely is a weapon now. Are they deliberately farming your interactions to make you hate people with certain beliefs? Maybe, maybe not… but the negativity leading to hatred definitely is built into the architecture of the platform.

At this point, I see our society at a strange precipice where by all rights we should be disconnecting from the platform, and instead are actively deluding ourselves into thinking we can co-exist with it.

We don’t need to speculate that our perception is being manipulated for political/military/commercial/unknown effect, because that is a known fact and has been for some time now. Yet we keep coming back for another dose of the seratonin because we can’t make ourselves stop. Do we need to monitor Canes news as it’s breaking by the minute? No we do not, it will be on major news outlets within 10 minutes either way. Do we need to see a bunch of unverified speculation and propaganda every time a political event happens? No we do not, we’re seeing a live feed of events as they unfold. Does the platform offer healthy or even meaningful social engagement? No it does not, it simply leaves you craving validation from strangers.

So what’s drawing us back to keep making profiles and pretend we’re somehow smart enough to control the algorithm, when we know that it’s controlling us like a puppet on a string? Smells a lot like addiction, of a kind that is impacting the world on a broad social level. None of this adds up to anything good happening in the end, IMO.

This and because people can formulate echo-chambers that reinforce their cognitive bias' and some pretend sense of OBJECTIVE morality. "All these people agree with me, so we're right, you're wrong!!" Everything has come down to black & white, you're either on the side of good or evil, right or wrong, no grey-area/nuance allowed because that can crack the cognitive dissonance.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Read part of a book
Go for a short walk
Meditate
Watch a how-to video (technically YouTube is still social media but you can avoid politics and you pick what you want to see).
Close your eyes and rest
Listen to music.
Do a crossword puzzle or sudoku
Plan out you day or week
Practice learning a new language
Look up recipes you might want to try
Look up spots in NC you may want to visit
Strike up a conversation with the person next to you.

etc..
Hundreds of things other than scrolling twitter you can do if you so choose.

No joke, the most useful app on my phone is StayFocused. The ability to deny myself that serotonin hit on a per-app/per-site granular level has been one of the best life hacks for me in a long time.

As Aristotle said, we are what we repeatedly do. Either I can study foreign languages, or I can be mad about a whole bunch of bullshit that I can't change.

 

[Derailed75]

I listen to music for 90% of my down time. Currently my soundtrack is mainly Linkin Park and Shinedown.

Shinedown is pretty much the best current rock band playing these days. Sympton of Being Human is such a great message.

State of my head is great also

 

[Negan4Coach]

Probably my favorite author. I was sorry to hear he had passed; was hoping for maybe another book or two from him.

I only relatively recently discovered him. Got a copy of "Lords of Discipline" out of one of those book boxes you see in neighborhoods. Always liked the movie, and I was blown away by the way he wields language.

Have over the last 2 summers read "Beach Music", "South of Broad", "The Great Santini" and "Prince of Tides". It might be recency bias but I kinda think Prince of Tides is my fav. "The Water is Wide" is next.

He is definitely up there at the top of my fav authors now. Never seen language wielded so deftly and relentlessly to evoke emotion. Mark Helprin and perhaps Ken Follet come to mind in the same ballpark.

Only criticism is that he is kinda a one trick pony, and his books are all an amalgamation of several themes:

- Charleston area setting
- Aloof and beautiful mother
- crazed, abusive alcoholic father
- crazed yet adventurous siblings
- crazed and unfaithful wife

But combining those over and over in different ways to make books you can hardly put down is a tall order for sure.

Which is your fav?

 

[LakeLivin]

I only relatively recently discovered him. Got a copy of "Lords of Discipline" out of one of those book boxes you see in neighborhoods. Always liked the movie, and I was blown away by the way he wields language.

Have over the last 2 summers read "Beach Music", "South of Broad", "The Great Santini" and "Prince of Tides". It might be recency bias but I kinda think Prince of Tides is my fav. "The Water is Wide" is next.

He is definitely up there at the top of my fav authors now. Never seen language wielded so deftly and relentlessly to evoke emotion. Mark Helprin and perhaps Ken Follet come to mind in the same ballpark.

Only criticism is that he is kinda a one trick pony, and his books are all an amalgamation of several themes:

- Charleston area setting
- Aloof and beautiful mother
- crazed, abusive alcoholic father
- crazed yet adventurous siblings
- crazed and unfaithful wife

But combining those over and over in different ways to make books you can hardly put down is a tall order for sure.

Which is your fav?

"The Water is Wide" and "My Losing Season" are both non-fiction but still very good reads. I agree about his later stuff having somewhat derivative elements and started to note that in my original post, lol. It's been a long time since I read a lot of them but off the top of my head I'd probably go with The Lords of Discipline or The Prince of Tides (kind of nice to see him get out of the south for a bit and the ending is so . . . poignant?)

I don't recall seeing any movies of his stuff except The Great Santini, and I thought that was terrible, almost a crime with how much of an injustice it did the book; I'd love to see someone remake it.

 

[Unsustainable]

This is the first election since 1976 that does not have a Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This is the first election since 1976 that does not have a Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.

The Trump streak is at 3 though…

 

[Unsustainable]

Aftermath

 

[LakeLivin]

This is the first election since 1976 that does not have a Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.

Not true (unless Kamala does full Brazilian)!

p.s. make sure you include the word "drum" if you google "rimshot gif".

 

[DaveG]

So watching the Rugby 7s while working out, this sport is badass. It's like football with a higher level of endurance required and far fewer damn stoppages, which makes this the superior sport. I will accept no counter arguments.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

For those into music, or not even that much into music, "The Beach Boys" on Disney+ is a great watch. Goes through their whole history which is way more remarkable than I would have known.

A couple of really surprising things for me.
1. Glen Campbell was once a Beach Boy. Brian Wilson hated touring so he kept trying to stay back in the studio when the band toured.
2. They released a b-side song written by Charles Manson. Manson wanted to work with Terry Melcher (a record producer who worked with The Beach Boys) who was Doris Day's son. Melcher previously owned (but sold) the house where the Tate murders occurred.
3. Before they released an album, they went to London to tour and promote the album. Keith Moon was their host that took them around.
4. In London at that same time, when one of The Beach Boys came back to the hotel, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were waiting for him and wanted to hear the to be released album. McCartney said it was incredible and said "what are we going to do to top that?" The documentary hints that it lead to Sargent Peppers (which is probably a stretch), but it shows that the McCartney was influenced by The Beach Boys.

There are some drepressing parts as well. The Wilson's father was abusive. Brian Wilson suffered from mental health issues, etc.... Still a good watch.

Oh, and with all the early surfing songs? Only 1 of them was an actual surfer.

 

[raynman]

For those into music, or not even that much into music, "The Beach Boys" on Disney+ is a great watch. Goes through their whole history which is way more remarkable than I would have known.

A couple of really surprising things for me.
1. Glen Campbell was once a Beach Boy. Brian Wilson hated touring so he kept trying to stay back in the studio when the band toured.
2. They released a b-side song written by Charles Manson. Manson wanted to work with Terry Melcher (a record producer who worked with The Beach Boys) who was Doris Day's son. Melcher previously owned (but sold) the house where the Tate murders occurred.
3. Before they released an album, they went to London to tour and promote the album. Keith Moon was their host that took them around.
4. In London at that same time, when one of The Beach Boys came back to the hotel, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were waiting for him and wanted to hear the to be released album. McCartney said it was incredible and said "what are we going to do to top that?" The documentary hints that it lead to Sargent Peppers (which is probably a stretch), but it shows that the McCartney was influenced by The Beach Boys.

There are some drepressing parts as well. The Wilson's father was abusive. Brian Wilson suffered from mental health issues, etc.... Still a good watch.

Oh, and with all the early surfing songs? Only 1 of them was an actual surfer.

Having Keith Moon as your host must’ve been absolutely insane.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Having Keith Moon as your host must’ve been absolutely insane.

Not as insane as having Charles Manson as your song writer.

 

[Bub]

Not as insane as having Charles Manson as your song writer.

Read a book recently that tried tying the BBs and Manson as working together in the California drug scene. The author also tried arguing that Manson was involved in CIA drug testing on citizens, and the result was the Tate-Lobianca murders... So, YMMV.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Read a book recently that tried tying the BBs and Manson as working together in the California drug scene. The author also tried arguing that Manson was involved in CIA drug testing on citizens, and the result was the Tate-Lobianca murders... So, YMMV.

I'm not making any connections. Just surprised by these facts/statements:
1. beach boys recorded a song by Manson
2. Beach boys had a relationship with Melcher and reportedly, Manson wanted to have a relationship with Melcher (Doris Day's son) but was rebuffed.
3. the Manson murders occurred at a home Melcher used to own.

 

[Bub]

I'm not making any connections. Just surprised by these facts/statements:
1. beach boys recorded a song by Manson
2. Beach boys had a relationship with Melcher and reportedly, Manson wanted to have a relationship with Melcher (Doris Day's son) but was rebuffed.
3. the Manson murders occurred at a home Melcher used to own.

Sure. I was just talking about this guy's book full of insinuations.

 

[Derailed75]

Not as insane as having Charles Manson as your song writer.

As crazy as Charles Manson eating fruit loops on your front porch?

Credit Mike Muir Suicidal Tendencies

 

[raynman]

Not as insane as having Charles Manson as your song writer.

A week partying with Keith Moon vs running in the same circles as Manson. One is certainly more fun but which is safer?

 

[Unsustainable]

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

If you want to get into probably the most researched and well written book on Manson, that is it.

 

[Bub]

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

If you want to get into probably the most researched and well written book on Manson, that is it.

That's the book.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

If you want to get into probably the most researched and well written book on Manson, that is it.

Most researched? Agree. Guy did a ton of work.

Well Written? yes and no. Ended up with no real solid conclusions and created too many conspiracy theories when he didn't have the facts to back it up and/or ran into dead ends. Very unconvincing and at the end left me thinking "That's it? All those years of investigation and that's the end?"

If one is into conspiracy theories without all the facts to back it up, then a person would probably like it more. He seemed to lead readers to conclusions they may have wanted to come to or as Bub said, a lot of insinuations.

It was an entertaining read though, just left me wanting the research to end in something concrete.

I'm sure it was fine for him though as he probably made money off of it so it was worth it

 

[Unsustainable]

Most researched? Agree. Guy did a ton of work.

Well Written? yes and no. Ended up with no real solid conclusions and created too many conspiracy theories when he didn't have the facts to back it up and/or ran into dead ends. Very unconvincing and at the end left me thinking "That's it? All those years of investigation and that's the end?"

If one is into conspiracy theories without all the facts to back it up, then a person would probably like it more. He seemed to lead readers to conclusions they may have wanted to come to or as Bub said, a lot of insinuations.

It was an entertaining read though, just left me wanting the research to end in something concrete.

I'm sure it was fine for him though as he probably made money off of it so it was worth it

I feel attacked here. Lol.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

For those into music, or not even that much into music, "The Beach Boys" on Disney+ is a great watch. Goes through their whole history which is way more remarkable than I would have known.

A couple of really surprising things for me.
1. Glen Campbell was once a Beach Boy. Brian Wilson hated touring so he kept trying to stay back in the studio when the band toured.
2. They released a b-side song written by Charles Manson. Manson wanted to work with Terry Melcher (a record producer who worked with The Beach Boys) who was Doris Day's son. Melcher previously owned (but sold) the house where the Tate murders occurred.
3. Before they released an album, they went to London to tour and promote the album. Keith Moon was their host that took them around.
4. In London at that same time, when one of The Beach Boys came back to the hotel, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were waiting for him and wanted to hear the to be released album. McCartney said it was incredible and said "what are we going to do to top that?" The documentary hints that it lead to Sargent Peppers (which is probably a stretch), but it shows that the McCartney was influenced by The Beach Boys.

There are some drepressing parts as well. The Wilson's father was abusive. Brian Wilson suffered from mental health issues, etc.... Still a good watch.

Oh, and with all the early surfing songs? Only 1 of them was an actual surfer.

I will definitely check this out. Recently got into a deep Beach Boys rabbit hole, specifically around Smile. Surf's Up was an incredible piece of work, and turned me on to Van Dyke Parks.