YouTube Obsession

Sometimes there will be some really wild self-incriminating evidence just free on YouTube.

The multiple lines from the children “If you hadn’t told” and “That was supposed to be a secret” in reference to the Ghost Michael’s “weird” behavior is especially disturbing.

I’m really obsessed with the idea that this music video(?) that Michael Jackson, wrote, produced, choreographed and starred in, is still somehow the most harmful to his image. I mean, it is obviously the most thinly veiled analogy to the real-world accusations of child abuse levied against him. Reducing the parents of his victims to over-bearing (in one case abusive) dolts and his predatory behavior to child-like whimsey it becomes a bizarre, misrepresentation of events. And I’m absolutely fascinated.

Watching

I’m gonna say it again: Abel Ferrara rules.

Don’t be mislead by the awful DVD cover/Netflix thumbnail for Bad Lieutenant, this is a sick, deprived and raw look at the hypocrisies that make up the fantasy of the American dream.

Seriously this makes the movie feel like David Shwimmer is his goofy side-kick and they’re all going to laugh over beers at the end. A horrible misrepresentation of the film’s vibes. The foreign poster however….

Yessssss, now this is the sicko shit. This tells you that this movie is not going to hold back, that this guy might really be a bad lieutenant.

Also want to point out how similar this film is to the Safdie bros film Uncut Gems. Right down to the looming sports betting and the major league playoffs bracketing the story. Not saying the stole the idea but you know the saying about great poets!

Reading

I put There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm on my hold list at the library ages ago based on the hype around it and the bureaucratic horror themes. I loved the little blurbs of office protocol horror in Remedy’s Control so I was curious how a full-blown novel would feel. And there’s a reason why internet creepypastas are usually only a few paragraphs on 4chan: It gets less creepy the more is explained.

I am fully aware of the the SCP Foundation roots of this book and while I find that site to be mostly unbearable, I do love a story of high strangeness. That’s really all this book is: A loosely connected series of creepypastas. The “loose connection” is the plot that if entities existed that could make people forget, then what would a war with that entity look like. I enjoyed snippets of this book immensely but was ultimately underwhelmed by the overall product. There are just a lot of chapters that really have nothing to do with the over all plot, they’re just creepy stories. This would force other chapters to cram in as much plot as possible and exhaust my patience.

It is a quick read and if you like this stuff, give it a go.

However, while reading I kept thinking of the only book (In my limited experience) to do creepypasta well: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Mainly because that book has a lot more going on than just “Here is a spoOOooOOoky house!” There’s multiple plots, a meta plot, a macro plot and not to mention the ergodic layout that forces the reader to physically engage with the work. This style manages to keep the sense of discovery alive.

Other Notables

** The Only Thing Worse Than Spirit Airlines… is a world without Spirit Airlines.

** Call it the Great Aging.

** For those of you who don’t know one of the regional sodas of my youth is Big Red. It’s the best soda (hands down, there will be no discussion) and for some reason is really only sold in the mid-west, parts of the south and Texas. Imagine my surprise when, in a random (menacing) liquor store in Hollywood California, I stumble upon an ice-cold Big Red. Of course I got one and then preceded to take the sexiest picture anyone has ever seen.

Just look at that neon red, glowing almost radioactively. Beautiful, delicious.