I mentioned this one in an earlier blog, but it could definitely use some more exposure! Three weeks to go and it's still just over halfway to the funding goal... and it wasn't that different the last time I checked it.

Seems there was an influx of funding initially but then... standstill.

I wonder if NG's time is waning.

I wonder if they're making decisions that'll impact their legacy negatively - or reduce their support, with for example their recent focus on online safety, when they've been known as the rebels for so long, when their main selling point has been their community - comprised of the most diverse and amazing but also at times pretty mental individuals, and how they've embraced not just freedom of speech and expression, but all faults and flaws too, with both individuals and with the world in whole.

The tagline used to be The problems of the future, today FFS!

I'm not a fan of the changes... but then again I'm not a fan of how the Internet is changing as a whole either, and it seems like some of these changes on their behalf are inevitable, to cope with bigger changes in regulation and legislation elsewhere.

I'm not a fan of restrictions either.

And that, if anything, is a good reason to fund this documentary! To give the makers unrestricted potential to tell their story!

And to tell tales of how the Internet used to be, and how it can be once again! Of how one particular rebel managed to create a venue for artists all over the world, and impact the creative culture of said world for decades to come. And they're still impacting. We're still impacting!

I really hope the unnecessary legislation that's being passed around the globe lately, trying to keep teenagers off of the Internet; from pursuing their possible optimal paths in life, limiting access to any form of 'indecent' content, is just a temporary whim of woke culture and what-not.

Safety's important, sure. Integrity too. The ability to connect to people also.

Yet we're making all facets of collaboration and communication more difficult to arrange and manage when we try to control and monitor other things, and how weak have we really become? You don't think teens can handle a little violence or indecency anymore? Aren't we past that yet?

I turned out alright didn't I? You did too right? But hey I'm rambling.

I'm glad I'm not running a social media site myself right now, cause I wouldn't want to be the one forced to make these choices or changes either, and I shall stick with this ship till the end, no matter where it's going...

The world would be a different place without NG, as would my life for that matter, so it's worth at least that much.

Hopefully it keeps leading the charge, and both innovating and influencing the world in the best way for lifetimes to come.

GO FUND THAT DOCUMENTARY!

Ever seen a crackhead do a backflip off the roof of a two-story house?

This video pains me, he can't have been OK after that landing. Giving someone a dollar to do something like this is in no way the responsible thing to do, and yet since he did how can you not watch this?

It's definitely up there with some of the most impressive movie stunts of all time. And this ain't no movie. And with no dampening. Damn.

It's definitely not the type of thing you'd do if you're trying to abide by a strict longevity protocol to maximize life either, but then again what does our life matter if all we do is live? I mean if we don't LIVE? If our lives are mundane and devoid of death-defying rooftop backflips and/or other forms of grand adventure?

And how do we go about immortalizing our time on this planet if we don't strive for feats like this one? Then again why do we even care? Why are humans so vane and self-indulgent?

I can't but not think of the legacy I leave though, and want there to be more of it. Meanwhile I'm on here updating anime episode counts and archive links in the sidebar, and writing up a quick walkthrough for a little gem of a game I just discovered (DOOM: TGE).

I listened to a fascinating pod with Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently too. Although Lex (the host) comes across unfortunately naive when you listen, it's clear he prepped a lot for this episode, and just hearing Volodymyr's perspective on things, and his patience, is enough to make it all worth it.

The fact that we're getting interviews with world leaders in podcast form now is just amazing, and shows how the world is changing. I really prefer one-on-one conversations like this too, with hosts that I trust to ask the right things, or at least keep a clear mind and judgement, as opposed to our very spoonfed and shortform traditional news and media.

Even if the final verdict in regard to Volodymyr's take on the war, and how to end it, is ultimately that Ukraine has to be in a position of power for any meaningful negation to be possible at all.

Pride really will be our downfall. It makes sense it's part of the seven deadly sins.

Speaking of which: They'll actually be showing Se7en at the cinemas again soon! I hope to see it. It was before my time of seeing anything but kid's films at the cinema.

Saw Heretic, Nosferatu and Paddington in Peru there recently - all three on the same day - yesterday, and that was a killer set of movies.

Watch in reverse order if you want to save the best for last. Or watch in that order if you want to have a laugh when it's over, and not linger on contemplations of life and death and the essence of control.

Wonder what perspective Putin would have on Heretic. World leaders commenting on controversial or otherwise make-you-think type media would be fascinating to see...

On a more positive note do y'all know Harry Mack? Did y'all catch his Dr. Phil freestyle recently? Did y'all know he could do this? Did y'all know his house burned down in the recent California wildfires? I guess this wasn't all that positive a note after all! My bad.

The New Year may not be starting off as ideally as the last one for all, but I do hope his spirit's still strong, and I really hope he had offsite copies of all of his songs!!!

Reminder: Spend time in the moment. Take nothing for granted. Live your life with this kind of energy. RAGE.

Mike Shinoda's final meal may be worth a watch too. Good conversation. Some other LP videos. And here's Madelline singing Dopamine IN TWO LANGUAGES AT ONCE (French/English). Very cool! Headphones is a must though. Or a broken speaker, if you'd rather just listen to one language
at a time.

Apparently that particular track's good for ADHD too! Who knew some people need to play two tunes at once to truly appreciate 'em the way most of us appreciate the one song, and calm the fuck down.

To spend time in the moment. And take nothing for granted. And live.

Yes I realize I've been spending all too much time on YT again. I'm attempting to do something about that right now - as I type this after just skimming through a bundle of RATM reaction videos with Krizz Kaliko, Shaq, LBoyd and FlawdTV.

To be fair these particular selections of viewables have been building up in my Nytt textdokument (4).txt draft file for a while now, and I'm just now getting to posting about 'em.

Also gotta post about this new WaterFlame album.

I'm not a huge WaterFlame fan - I have none of his other albums, but when I first found out about the great NewGrounds back in the day, and started perusing the audio that was available there, and unexpectedly stumbled into the realm of Techno and Trance, with artists like @ParagonX9 spearheading my interest for the genre, there was also this one up-and-coming artist by the name of @chainsaw_09 there, who piqued my interest... and then he disappeared!

Years later I find out it was in fact @WaterFlame!

So he went back to his roots with this one, remastered a bundle of his old stuff released under said alterego, and threw in a bundle of previously unreleased tracks from the same era. And that is pretty cool. So I had to buy it. And soon I shall listen through...

There's also a NEWGROUNDS DOCUMENTARY ON THE WAY!

Here's the Kickstarter for it.

My first thought when I saw the ask was honestly that Conner's getting a little greedy with the budget, but I misread, I thought it was 800,000 USD, it was but 800,000 SEK! That's conservative - especially after that misconception.

It's still a lot. It's more than most creative projects of a seemingly similar caliber, but considering this'll probably be a full-time gig for at least a year or so for two people, and involve plenty of other artists and creators on the site, who ought also get some compensation, it's a bare minimum for sure.

I hope they make it. Will check back later and remind. They're certainly doing their marketing right, but there's a long stretch left on the funding.

Also Nintendo just introduced their next console, the Switch 2, the first console in their assortment with a straight up numerical title?! This one really won't stand the test of time when it comes to innovation, mark my words, it looks like an appreciative upgrade but... same name!? Come on.

The trailer's a disappointment too. I miss the old Nintendo, when they were always on the cutting edge; always new new...

Also this giveaway is still going!

That's all. Cyberdevil over and fall.

The cost of electricity reached an all-time high here yesterday.

Between 5 and 6 PM a shower would supposedly cost you 50 SEK (or ~5 USD) - in electrical cost only, water excluded. If you had a house you could factor in water heating too, as we do. And I wonder at what temperature and duration they estimated said cost, surely it'd go way higher in our household...

So I didn't shower yesterday.

We kept the lights relatively low, and avoided using unnecessarily power-hungry devices, though the computer did stay on, as did the TV, and advent stars in all windows.

Who would've thought electricity would become such a commodity in the first world though?

It's been a problem in for example South Africa a long time - shops have their own generators, and power outages are a part of daily life, but that people would schedule their electricity usage on a day-by-day basis in Europe, of all places, where they've been selling us the dream of green energy and electric vehicles for the past ten years at least?

Owning an electric car's not cheap now. And since electric cars are a big thing, neither is electricity. And since our electricity is apparently sold on the international market, shortages in the rest of Scandinavia, and Germany, affect our electricity costs as well.

So even though we have not enough to satiate our own population at a reasonable price our suppliers are selling shares to neighboring markets as well.

It's pretty messed up innit?

Companies earn more the less they're able to produce - or rather the worse they're able to meet our demand.

We pay for their lacking infrastructure. And instead of actually expanding, or trying to conserve energy, they shut down fully functional nuclear plants, and invest in green energy that won't work at all during our winter.

The government may be at fault too, but when Vattenfall's (that's the main player in energy production here - partially owned by the state) CEO has a salary of one and a half million SEK/Month (~132,328 USD) - many times more than what most people make in a year here... I fault the company.
I deplore their agenda. I blame them for not being able to uphold reasonable pricing on essential energy during this most taxing time of the year.

Anyway good buddy @Jabun released a new ambient album recently, and has more on route under his band name, have a listen! I managed to attend one of the live YT premieres, and got to see both a bird and a bug in the process - amongst many an imaginary beast. Nephology's fun.

Also here's a kickstarter I meant to post about ages ago, and this was fun. More modern fun here.

I've been waiting all week for a Freerider (a free rental car they need driven to a particular destiantion) to get to Östersund, but it seems I won't be getting there this weekend... when travel plans fail, or pan out not as intended, I'm a little disillusioned TBF. Am I not affirming enough? Has my luck run out? What am I doing wrong here on my cosmic journey through time and space to all these places adjacent, when I can't make it on a brief weekend trip/Big Bro bonding vacation?

Oh well. Hope to join up with my nephew in Skellefteå next week instead. And get to Östersund in January maybe.

Happy Saint Lucia's Day! (They're giving out free coffee at the Station Café if you happen to be in Bro today - props Floristhörnan!)

Toodles.

A short social-realist drama about an apprentice butcher in Dundee, Scotland.

Brought to life via Kickstarter. Here. I contributed.

It's a dark one this one... but better than expected. You get a connection. You feel for and with the characters. It does what a movie's meant to - even if it's just a short film.

I can't say it's a movie I enjoyed but... it makes you feel.

In that regard they did it well.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

Go back it yo! Get that package! Better than cabbage!

It's from the same dude who made this great thing back in the day.

The above so far five years in the making.

This thing really made it! Not that I doubted. I mean they REALLY made it!!! I mean it went way beyond expectation. Holy shit this is POPULAR.

Alas they didn't reach THREE MILLION... so no PSX port. But...

Go read their updates too. They're entertaining. I can see how this happened now. It's all clear. The lines align...

They REALLY made some money.