🎥 Watched: Obsession
Obsession is a new horror film about a young man named Bear who uses his one wish from an enchanted novelty shop to make his best friend, Nikki, “love him more than anyone on the f*cking planet.” The wish goes sideways and Bear’s dream girl is turned into a walking nightmare.
I really liked the film, although it is deeply unsettling and not for anyone who is easily disturbed. I think the film actually has a lot to say about the gender politics of youth and the loneliness epidemic. The lead actress' performance is one for the history books, seriously. The entire movie is summed up by this line from Sylvia Plath:
“I must get my soul back from you; I am killing my flesh without it.” ― Sylvia Plath
🧟♂️ Sherwood News has a great report on the “Resurrection Economy”— i.e. the various ways that companies are making money off of the AI likeness of deceased celebrities. This is legitimately going to be the birth of a whole new industry; just wait until it becomes accessible to the general public.
✍️ Recognized that I have not been believing the best in others recently. Wrote this post as a reminder for why I should be more open-hearted // bradley-andrews.com
And while its true that our culture undervalues simplicity, we have more than a few examples in fiction that embody, and even exaggerate, this virtue. Inspector Clouseau, Mr. Magoo, and Mr. Bean, are great examples of what is essentially the same character. They are simpletons in every sense of the word, always out of step with the rhythms and conventions of modernity, yet still one step ahead of the deceivers, thieves, and robbers who try to take advantage of them. The satisfaction we receive from watching these individuals expose hypocrites is the same triumph we feel when the Road Runner escapes Wile E. Coyote. It is the victory of austerity over cleverness, simplicity over scheming, and humility over genius. A person who chooses to be simple, surrendered, and accepting is choosing a path that is both incomprehensible and intractable to the hypocrite, because the hypocrite has optimized for complexity, power, and force rather than simple, unassuming honesty.
Would love if you took the time to read and let me know your thoughts! I am quite fond of the closing paragraphs (not included above), if I am allowed to say so. ❤️
👨💻 I found a Reddit Page that asks if Paradise Lost and Dante’s Inferno aren’t technically ancient fanfictions about the bible—and the implications are quite funny when you think about it.
💬 From Rob Henri:
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.”
💬 An excerpt from Pablo Neruda’s The Pueblo. This whole poem has such “long live everything” spirit:
I believe that Heaven must include
that man, properly shod and crowned
I think that those who made so many things
ought to be masters of everything.
And those who make bread ought to eat!
And those in the mine should have light!
Enough by now of grey men in chains!
Enough of the pale lost ones!
Not another man will go past except as a ruler.
Not a single woman without her diadem.
Gloves of gold for every hand.
Fruits of the sun for all the obscure ones!
✏️ New word learned:
Hypnagogic: of, relating to, or occurring in the period of drowsiness immediately preceding sleep
💬 From the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé:
“Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.”
🎵 Drake dropped 3 new albums last night. I’m pretty biased, but I don’t think these projects will be enough to get him back on top. First songs on Iceman were promising but then got repetitive quick. He just isn’t having fun anymore—and it shows. Will comment more when I listen to everything though.
🔊 A fascinating article on how whales and dolphins now yell in order to be heard over ship traffic:
Long-finned pilot whales navigating busy shipping routes are having to yell when communicating with other members of the pod… However, this was only noticeable for two types of calls: high-frequency and short-pulsed calls. Dolphins appear unable to increase their volume when producing low-frequency and two-component calls, which, according to the researchers, are the most important for locating other pod members after a dive. Essentially, they were already shouting as loudly as they could.
🎬 One of the many perks of living in the most gorgeous corner of Brooklyn is how many movies choose to film here. Kit Harrington of Game of Thrones fame sighted today on set!
💐 Today’s flowers go to:
- Learning from mistakes
- Having responded to all texts
- A group hang involving no alcohol
- The 1st bite of food when you’re really hungry
- Grapes with that perfect ‘pop’
- All examples of Onomatopoeia
- Giving your subway seat to a stranger and a new seat opening at the next stop
🃏 Recently, a friend of mine who has been single for a long time showed up to a party dressed as a USPS worker. I said, ‘What’s with the costume?’
She said, ‘What do you mean? Everyone keeps telling me that I should be appealing to the mail gaze.'
📹 Feeling famous because I made a cameo in my dear friends’ latest Youtube video: 24 Hours with a 1 Week Old Newborn in NYC.
As you can see, they are the sweetest people and make such genuine content. Do yourself a favor and join the other 50k+ subscribers who enjoy their videos weekly!
✈️ Spirit Airlines has officially bit the dust, which is a great reason to revisit the recurring Daily Show gag where Trevor Noah would frequently roast their service.
“Spirit Airlines—we shut down the day we opened.” 🤣
🧠 Having gone through a relatively strong Jungian phase in 2015-2016, I am astounded at how much of that school I find very disagreeable now. The exception, however, is the concept of “shadow work”— which remains absolutely invaluable.
🎵 Some classic recs:
- Don’t Look Any Further by Dennis Edwards
- Give Me The Night by George Benson
- Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover by Sophie B Hawkins
- Tom’s Diner by Susanna Vega
- Outstanding (Original 12" Remaster) by The Gap Band
Is Outstanding one of the best songs ever? Essay on Tom’s Diner soon.
💬 My final quote from Kierkegaard—a thought-provoking parable and a personal favorite which I believe helps unlock a main theme of his philosophy:
“Something wonderful happened to me. I was transported into the seventh heaven. All the gods sat there in assembly. By special grace I was accorded the favour of a wish. ‘Will you,’ said Mercury,’ have youth, or beauty, or power, or a long life, or the prettiest girl, or any of the many splendors we have in our chest of knick-knacks? So choose, but just one thing!’ For a moment I was at a loss. Then I addressed myself to the gods as follows: ‘Esteemed contemporaries, I choose one thing: always to have the laughter on my side.’ Not a single word did one god offer in answer; on the contrary they all began to laugh. From this I concluded that my prayer was fulfilled and that the gods knew how to express themselves with taste, for it would hardly have been fitting gravely to answer, ‘It has been granted to you.'”
Happy Birthday, Soren!
💬 Kierkegaard on the beautiful partnership between calling and correction, in Purity of Heart Is To Will One Thing:
A Providence watches over each man’s wandering through life. It provides him with two guides. The one calls him forward. The other calls him back. They are, however, not in opposition to each other, these two guides, nor do they leave the wanderer standing there in doubt. Rather the two are in eternal understanding with each other. For the one beckons forward to the Good, the other calls man back from evil. Of these two, the call of remorse is perhaps the best.