Richard Littler

A painting of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in the style of Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

A painting of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in the style of Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

My GP wouldn't give it to me, even though I have 3 conditions in the higher-risk category. She insisted one of the conditions isn't on the list, even when I pointed out that it's literally listed as such on Paxlovid's own website.

I was refused it

Smashed hotel room

Smashed hotel room

Keith Moon in a smashed hotel room

Into my second week of Covid and I feel like a hotel room that Keith Moon is staying in.

I'm starting to believe that we shouldn't have graduated into the 21st century without first ensuring we had all fully comprehended and mastered the 20th.

Tempted to add questions such as:
"Can this vinyl record be folded?"
"Are any tracks flammable?"
"Is this product edible for kittens?"
"Does it include a hot-air balloon or goblin?"
"Can this record be used as a rowing boat?"

"Does it include a bag?"
"Are there plans for an audiobook version?"
"What is the diameter?"
"Are any rare ephemera included?"
"Any there any plans for a vinyl release?"

I found these questions suggested by Amazon's AI assistant for vinyl music records:
"Is it compatible with other books?"
"Is the inner sleeve archival quality?"
"Are the vinyl disks flat?"
"What material is the vinyl made of?"
"Does it contain any skippable tracks?"
All the crucial questions, right?

Same. And not just these tests. Ask me almost any question and I'm stumped because I see a myriad possible interpretations.

It looks like a photo in a local newspaper story about a woman who found a forgotten jacket potato in her oven and realised it looked like it had a face.
"'I'm going to name it!' said local resident Morony Clot, before changing her mind, having realised she did not possess an imagination.'

Still astonished I got an #autism diagnosis a few years back, I sometimes do those online psych tests that pop up every now & then. It's like trying to catch my brain out when it's not looking.
The latest (for monotropic tendency):
"Autistic people score over 179. Your score: 199"
Crafty brain. Grr.

RFK tweet to his wife. "thanks for 11 years of love and laughter. You fill all my empty space"

I think #RFKjnr is trying to say she's in his head.

Every US drama/thriller series on streaming services right now seems to be a blatant analogy of Trump's America. ICE, corruption of the legal system, sociopath tech billionaires, conspiracists. Older shows are cautionary tales; newer ones a call to arms to stand up to fascism.

It's crazy how much AI is like the your worst coworker.

Doesn't do their job right, steals your shit, isn't funny, and in the end you still have to redo all their work and for some god knows what reason your boss loves them and never fires them.

Ok, so now I understand why this Covid variant is known as 'Razor Blade Throat'.
It isn't hyperbole.
If anything, it's a bit conservative. Excruciating.

Now I understand what Margaret Atwood meant when she said that by the time your book comes and you're expected to promote it, you can hardly remember it because you finished it so long ago.
And that's Margaret Atwood!

holding on

I've stopped checking my email every 20 mins to see if a publisher has read, or even accepted, the book I submitted 3 months ago. Too obsessive. So I've drastically reduced the intervals between checking to a more reasonable 21.5 mins.

Ha. Same. Adore's the last thing I bought of theirs so it's still *new*. Saw them on the Mellon Collie tour.

In the 1970s/80s we imagined apocalyptic tech coming in the form of relentless, homicidal Terminators.
But in reality, it turned out to be billions of oblivious humans creating images of themselves as cute action figures for their social media accounts, 80% of whose followers are #AI bots

Maybe if AI's global harms were recontexualised to show the cost to individuals, people might think twice. Updated ToS: 'Each time you create an #AI image, 8 mins will be removed from the duration of your life and fed to feral crypto-pigeons. Click OK to continue creating your artless, futile image'

#AI is like that trope about fairy-tale witches: Yes, you can have the power to cast spells, but each time you summon those powers, you must sacrifice a little more of your health/youth/life-force.

Swiss national day here. Fireworks going off every few seconds throughout the day and into the night.
Just a quick reminder that fireworks are for inbred, unevolved halfwits.
And imbeciles.
And dicks.

News headline: texas residents asked to cut back on showers for sake of AI centers

2035 AD: "Residents over the age of 65 and people with expensive disabilities who insist on drinking water will be arrested and charged with grand larceny and conspiring to commit criminal damage to a holy corporation."

I just checked the venue's upcoming shows:
Dr Feelgood, Canned Heat, Muddy Waters (Jnr), Nazareth, Ten Years After, The Dublin Legends (featuring, ex-Dubliners), Al McKay's Earth Wind & Fire Experience, The Amy Winehouse Band.
Plus lots of Queen, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, etc tribute bands etc.

Other types of band include those formed by the son of an original, now deceased band member, who, after a lengthy legal battle, is furious that the bassist "stole" the name rights of the band his father founded in 1969, so now tours under a legally similar name with a subtitle, eg: 'True Legacy'

My nearest gig venue only books bands that were big in the 70s but faded in the 80s. All the original band members are long dead, but, by a quirk of legal fate, the session bassist engaged for a one-off reunion show in 1995 now has the rights to the band name and tours with new 25yr old band members

I also had them all. Lost count. 6? 7? Something like that.