The Month That Was - April 2022

Where did that month go? It seems like yesterday I just posted last month's update. In any event, we are in Spring and as I type this I am planning my first shorts-and-t-shirt run of the year later today.

The stand out this month was a trip down to Savannah for the Parents Weekend at Savannah College of Art and Design, where the daughter of my significant other is going to school. More below.

Other than that, it was a month like any other. I'm thirty days older and no wiser. I continue to have so many "things I should get done" yet never get them done. As somebody once pointed out, what you say you want to do is self-delusion. What you actually do is what you want to do. By that cryptic measure I guess I'm happy.

[TV] Making Peace?

[Roaring 20s] Roaring 20s 2.0 AI Edition

[Travel] Savannah Daydreaming

[TV] Making Peace?

The backstory of the show is this:  When DC Films brought James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) in to the revive the mess that was made of the Suicide Squad movie (2016) by making The Suicide Squad movie (2021) he was so impressed with John Cena that he angled to make a solo TV show for his character.  The result, The Peacemaker, about a hero who claims to "cherish peace with all my heart.  I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it."

I binged The Peacemaker on HBOmax and I have to say it was delightful. If you are familiar with James Gunn's movies, I can happily inform you is more James Gunn-ish than any of them.  I also must tell you it is R-rated.  Very R-rated.  Not for kids.

The plot involves a shady government organization, alien invasion, and white supremacists.  The latter, a nod to the woke, probably because James Gunn himself got temporarily canceled at one point, but it's not so awful as to ruin the show.  And all the fun of the show is in the dialogue and character interaction as a group of misfits eventually come together through a barrage of quips, insults, and assorted hyper-ironic situations.

Aside: If I ever have the time and inclination to write an annoying, pretentious, long-form pop-culture analysis, it would be about how all these wisecracking, humorous superheroes owe a debt to Joss (semi-cancelled) Whedon's Buffy, the Vampire Slayer show and ultimately full circle back to Marvel Comics in the '70s.  Fear not, I don't foresee having the time and inclination.

The show slacks off a bit in the later episodes, but end to end I enjoyed the hell out of it.  Also, it has a kick-ass metal soundtrack -- Spotify Playlist -- that sounds good to me even though headbanging was after my time.

Recommended, but like I said, keep the kids away.

[Roaring 20s] Roaring 20s 2.0 AI Edition

The big idea news of the month came from the world of Artificial Intelligence. A quick round-up (you'll need twitter access for these):

• AI can now explain why jokes are funny.  There are caveats here that the specific examples might be cherry picked, but still it's pretty amazing.

• AI can create a picture of anything you ask.  Very cool pictures too.

• On the darker side.  Someone casually tried to use AI to bring his childhood imaginary friend to life and it tried to kill him. This one is wild.

• Related, a dense post at Marginal Revolution on if/how/when we should pull the plug on an AI that got out of control.

There are really two concerns with AI.  The classic is that it runs amok and damages or destroys humanity before we can stop it.  I generally placed that risk in the realm of science fiction but now I am not so sure. One of the difficulties is that if it happens, it could happen so fast we couldn't stop it.

The second is that AI gets so good at making our lives easy and convenient that we end up destroying ourselves.  If there is an anthropological concept that seems self-evident to me it is that humans need struggle.  As the struggle for survival and continuance has faded and comfort, convenience, and security are easy to come by (comparatively) we have invented more struggles -- mostly moral and aesthetic struggles to generate the conflict that provide the justification we need for our lives.  To wit, people from a millennium ago, or even a century ago, would take a description of our lives as some sort of utopia, yet we live in constant self-generated fear and rancor.

Now imagine what it would be like if most of the world never had to do anything.  Never had to work. Had important decisions made for them. Fulfilled any fantasy at will virtually.  We would be so desperate for purpose that we would respond by creating sources of righteous anger that make protests over pronouns seem rational.

Whatever the risks, we are going to have to figure out how to handle it because there is no such thing as halting progress.  No matter how much we fear it and regulate it and urge caution, somebody somewhere will push AI to the limit. 

[Travel] Savannah Daydreaming

I have visited Savannah several times over the years.  It remains a city dedicated to its own history and aesthetic.  The century old dwellings, the beautifully shaded squares -- all tightly preserved and controlled. Whether you're a history buff or a home restoration reality show addict, a walk through town will be a thrill.

What has happened is that it has gotten busier and more expensive (at least in the historic areas).  When I first visited (15 years ago?) people used to tell of finding beatdown dwellings for cheap and fixing and flipping them for good money.  Not any more.  An uninhabitable shack will go for hundreds of thousands on location alone before you spend a cent in restoration.  It's gentrification, but gentrification in imitation of the past under the watchful eye of the Savannah Historic Preservation Commission.

The city is busier also, I think in no small part because of the Savannah College of Art and Design, or SCAD.  Founded in 1978, it has grown in both enrollment and reputation very quickly for what is a fairly new university.  For comparison, my alma mater, the University of Michigan was founded in 1817.  I got a close look at the place this visit as I was attending for parent's weeks with my significant other, whose daughter attends.  

SCAD likes to say that their campus is the entire city of Savannah and that is certainly true.  Much of the SCAD activities are housed in various buildings throughout the city.  Of course I went into it with the usual preconceptions about art schools -- that it was a bunch of off-kilter kids painting and drawing all day and getting piercings and tattoos all night. I was way off.  First, SCAD is very focused on getting their graduates jobs in the arts. "The arts" in this case includes things like fashion and film and theme park design and…well here's the list. You should have seen the special effects studio and the art museum they have.  They are quite serious and arming these kids with marketable skills.  There is also a fairly significant dropout rate, which again indicates they are not fooling around or providing a four-year vacation.

Another positive note, from my observation, these kids are really, really talented.  I was quite impressed.  You may be asking if it is extremely wokey.  Well, yes, but all colleges are wokey. I don't think SCAD is more so than others, possibly less so than some liberal arts schools.  If your kid tells you he wants to go SCAD, it's not an absolute that he's going to have to move back in with you after graduation, is what I'm saying.  He will probably come home with tattoos and piercings, though.

Anyway, Savannah remains a delight; a place I would happily spend more time.  You do owe yourself a visit.  A perfect trip would be maybe three nights in Savannah touring and enjoying the city, followed by three nights in nearby Hilton Head lounging and enjoying the beach and the beach.   Count me in.

I note that nearby Dutch Island was named one of the best places to retire in Georgia.  Hmmm.