I drove in from OC to Santa Monica. I took the Five Freeway North to the Ten East. This is the most active 4th of July, in my thirty odd years of living in Southern California. A journey of 45 miles of freeway was garlanded in fireworks, 40 miles were lit up. The other five were smokey. It was brazen, mortars in air. Bombardment. People along the freeways look to be having a great time with fireworks out in Los Angeles and northern Orange County. Glorious drive. I love this.
Media diet
News:
Lately I’ve been reading the Wall Street Journal, haphazardly because I have a two month subscription for one fiat dollar. My other news sources are journalists like Michael Tracey, Glenn Greenwald, and various and sundry other twitterers. I read antiwar.com for foreign policy news as well.
Movies at home:
I recently bought X-Men: Days of Future Past on a streaming service. I got the Rogue Cut which expands the plot in the dark future by adding Rogue, and a rescue of her in order to replace Kitty Pryde who had been grievously injured by the Wolverine. This movie uses the trope I find most fascinating: pinpointing a moment that leads to a future we’d preferably not live in. Bryan Singer presents that future in Days of Future Past by starting in a New York City, presented as an open air prison in the literal sense, thoughtfully contrasting to our present reality’s neo-liberal caraceral affliction in New York City.
Podcasts:
I really like Part of the Problem, a podcast by Dave Smith. He is culturally a Jewish New Yorker, and a comedian by trade. Smith’s unique interest in current events, culture, news and libertarianism’s most consistent school of thought have made him the equivalent of Jon Stewart during the Bush years. Smith, like Stewart, has a comedic point of view with a role that requires him to comment on the news of the day.
Check him out in conversation with Michael Malice, another podcaster worth checking out:
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The Free State Project’s Porcupine Festival
I just returned from a week at ForkFest and PorcFest in the woods of New Hampshire. I was able to spend crypto currency on:
- Espresso (from a coffee bar inside of a tent out of Arabian nights, that also sold a steak and bourbon dinner special)
- Pellegrino mineral water – from a ManCamp, a site that had skill building opportunities with black smithery, knife/chainsaw sharpening, among other things)
- Coffee with MCT oil and grassfed butter
- Low carb foods from a couple selling a larger, carby menu but ate low carb for their own health.
- Paleo pancakes made with bananas, nuts and seeds as well as cashew milk lattes from a man who also sold plated dinners of wild ahi tuna and scallops, as well as vegan options.
- Pulled pork and sausage from a locally sourced provider called Bardo Farms
- Chicken soft tacos, made in the style of Southern California taquerias
- Admission to a party inside of a geodesic dome
- Various other drinks, snacks and sundry goods.
Photomosh Test
Gifs from Photomosh
This is more entertaining than it out to be.
Tulsi Gabbard and Justin Amash
These are the two most interesting dissident members of the two major parties.
They are both in the House of Representatives and are known for challenging their party on issues near and dear to me – war. Gabbard is running for her party’s nomination. Amash, I hope, will look to the Libertarian Party for their nomination. Looking forward to seeing how they approach a very opinionated media, the Trumpist trolls, the military-industrial complex (called “The MIC” on Twitter), and the Evangelical Left.
America then and now
I have organized a recommended reading list of cultural history/criticism/history about America in the 20th and 21st century – roughly in order of publishing. Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day is a good amount of time to peruse ten books that will leave you with a greater sense of why the world around you is so twisted.
1995:
“Hotel America: Scenes in the Lobby of the Fin de Siecle (Theory, Culture and Society)” – Lewis Lapham
1999:
“The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy” – Nicholas Lemann
2000:
“Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” by David Brooks
2001:
“The Last Empire” – Gore Vidal
2010:
“A Renegade History of the United States” by Thaddeus Russell
2012:
“Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” by Gustavo Arellano
2014:
“Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals” by John LeFevre
2015:
“Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic” by Sam Quinones
2019:
“White” by Bret Easton Ellis
“The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics” by Michael Malice
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The Golden Eternity
The point is we’re waiting, not how comfortable we are while waiting. Paleolithic man waited by caves for the realization of why he was there, and hunted; modern men wait in beautified homes and try to forget death and birth. We’re waiting for the realization that this is the golden eternity.
16, The Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac
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Skin Care Routine
Men of a certain vintage ought moisturize. I recommend visiting Koreatown Galleria in Los Angeles and consulting with the brilliant ladies of Palace Beauty Galleria. But at the very least do the following:
After you wash and rinse your face with cool/cold water:
- Apply a toner. I use Huxley. Allow toner to dry.
- Then pick a serum or essence or a couple as needed. Going from lightest to thickest, I usually alternate between niacinamide and retinol based serums.
- I really like Eva Naturals Retinol Serum and Tree of Life Niacinamide Serum.
- I also use Dr. Jart Tiger Grass Serum as needed, spot treatment, so to speak.
- Finally, moisturize with a bit of L’Oreal Paris Skincare Hydra Genius Daily Liquid Care Oil-Free Face Moisturizer for Normal to Oily Skin with Aloe Water and Hyaluronic 3.04 fl. oz.
All of this skin care is non-sense if you are not eating proper proteins and particularly, collagen. The retinol, niacinamide and moisturizers cannot revive flesh thats lost its natural elasticity.
I recommend buying collagen by the six-pack and sharing it with those you love. Collagen is a helpful add on to coffee or tea, and this type of protein helps with skin and joints. I recommend Great Lakes Collagen, buying bulk because it comes down to 18.75 per canister, which is a great discount.
Science behind the retinol and niacinamide:
Science behind collagen:
https://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2019/4/Restore-Youthful-
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Comedy at the power plant
