Author: admin

Today I went to my high school reunion. So much to think about.

I need time to process. More tomorrow.

One of my favorite videos of all time is of a 1969 TV performance of Hair by the Cowsills, an unlikely yet wildly successful pairing of song and performers brought about by none other than Carl Reiner.

At one notable moment, as the Cowsills are describing, in song, all the many varieties of long hair styling, there is a brief shot of little Susan Cowsill, who was around nine years old at the time, adding one more. She pipes up brightly “And spaghetti!”

To me, as a young child, this was the epitome of coolness. In one of the most wonderful production numbers ever on national television, a little kid gets to have the most wonderful moment.

And she is clearly having the time of her life. On behalf of all former little kids everywhere, I would just like to thank her for that awesome memory.

I know it’s unfair. But for much of it I found myself making mental comparisons to Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith and Kevin Kline and Tony Azito. Tony Azito!!!

But then — David Hyde Pierce. And all was right with the world.

The residents of New York City have one common enemy, whether they are ready to admit it or not. Which means that who our mayor is doesn’t matter as much as whether that mayor has the strong support of New Yorkers.

From the results of yesterday’s Democratic primary, it looks as though our next mayor will indeed have the support of his constituents. The general election seems like a far gone conclusion at this point, and then on to the battle with the real enemy.

Today I was deeply moved by a masterful article in the NY Times. Artist and illustrator Christoph Niemann wrote and illustrated this delightful thought piece expressing his fears and anxieties about the rise of so-called A.I. art.

One illustration in particular from the article still haunts me. It might be one of the most powerfully persuasive images that I have ever seen:

There is nothing like a heat wave to make you truly appreciate the wonder of modern air conditioning.

How frightening for the entire world that suddenly the United States is in the middle of a hot war. Whatever your politics, you should be very worried right now.

Rather than dwell on that today, I am going to talk about something more positive. I was having a conversation today with a colleague who has been working in the field of computer graphics for as long as I have — which is a very long time.

As we compared notes about our respective origin stories, we realized that we were both similarly inspired by the very first time we saw Disney’s Fantasia. For me, it was the first time I saw something on the big screen that showed me that anything is possible.

For both of us, seeing that film, back when we were teenagers, helped start us on the path to working in computer graphics and animation. And I can attest that the sheer visual inventiveness and sense of possibility contained in Fantasia literally changed my life.

Which is very impressive, given that Fantasia came out 85 years ago. I wonder how many people who have worked in the field of computer graphics were inspired to enter the field by seeing that movie.

Our Vice President visited L.A., and of course immediately blamed the Democrats for his own administration’s attempts to turn peaceful protests into a clash with the military. He made sure to place special blame on “Jose Padilla” — which was apparently his name for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla — who was met with violence for having dared to ask a reasonable question of Kristi Noem.

Peter Thiel must feel bad about the millions of dollars he has spent propping up Vance’s political career. All that money cannot, in fact, give the Veepacheep more functional brain cells.

I suggest that from now on we simply refer to Thing 2 in the White House as “Jose Vance”. That will help remind us of our V.P.’s weirdly fractured relationship to reality.

Today, June 20, is an interesting day in history, from the perspective of technological innovation.

For example, on June 20 in 1840, Samuel Morse received a patent for the telegraph. Just a few decades later, on June 20 in 1877, Alexander Graham Bell installed the world’s first commercial telephone service. His bold move helped end the use of telegraphs.

On June 20 in 1944, a German V-2 rocket became the first ever human-made object to reach outer space. This despite the fact that the director of the project, Wernher Von Braun, was imprisoned by his government just a few months before the launch, apparently on suspicion of thinking too much. It would seem that his government and our current government have a lot in common.

Now one of my favorites. On June 20 in 1990 the Asteroid Eureka was discovered. At which point it became the world’s first perfectly tautological celestial object.

Happy Juneteenth everyone. One of only 11 U.S. Federal Holidays, it celebrates one the occasions in history when America did something truly positive.

Notably, the current inhabitant of the White House did not mention it at all, even though in the last week he took time out to acknowledge Flag Day, which is not a federal holiday. What could be the reason for this?

One explanation is that he is a dyed in the wool racist who thinks the U.S. made a mistake in abolishing slavery. Another explanation is that he is just an idiot.

I would go with the explanation that best fits the facts. Unfortunately, they both do.