Appreciate the essay and the comments about the promotion of serendipity and humanity via small talk,small walks and small interactions (like checking out a DVD). One reminder: if you witness small talk among other people, promote and (even better) encourage it by not appearing harried and succinctly joining in, respectively. As illustration, recently I was in in the grocery store line and after- at the most 35 seconds- of innocent small talk among the elderly lady and cashier, I caught myself rolling my eyes and nearly crossing my arms. Sherry Turkle would frown, and I did too at catching myself. The cashier is on a faraway MBA designed revenue/keystrokes per minute turnstile, the elderly lady was on a government designed fixed income, and I in my haste was hampering both of them from a small escape from the almighty algorithm. Pity the fool that is me. I then uncrossed my arms, leaned onto the cart push bar to relax, and gave the old lady a head nod as she searched for a coupon on brown sugar. I wondered what she was baking. I told the cashier, "I'm good." Take out the ear buds. Be aware of the goings on around you. Ask questions and let it feed your curiosity.
Small talk may deserve an essay all of its own. With reference to Sherry Turkle of course. And yes we are conditioned for haste and hurry such that earbuds, self service and eyes on the screen are the default unless we resist it. And resist it we must to maximise our humanity.
You can learn surprising and useful local things by talking to people. Last week, someone told me that our public library is now lending e-bikes, but there is a long list of holds on the bikes. The DVD collection is still intact and their growing board game collection supports numerous local board game groups who can't afford to buy the games anymore.
The usual answer to the death of browsing is the increased responsibility for curation. To some degree reviews, lists, periodicals, and websites devoted to things like movies can be useful for finding good stuff. It's just that you have to self-curate the curators to ensure you're getting honest recommendations and not just the trickle-down content of algorithmic or highly sponsored commercialized products.
Honestly one of my favorite "recommendation engines" is a Facebook group called "Incredibly Strange Films" where people just post about shit they find wacky. The rules of what is considered "incredibly strange" is flexible enough to not be gatekeeping but exist enough that you're not going to get the latest run down of new releases at the box office.
If people want movie recommendations that are actually recommendations — not reviews, not critical analysis, but honest enthusiasm for people to see a movie I'm excited about after seeing it — I will be posting them to my Substack on the occasions that I am inspired to.
My idea for movie recommendations came out of the desire to platform movies I really love without any interest whatsoever in becoming a "movie critic" or generating regularly scheduled content trying to keep apace of new releases. I just want people to watch good movies, I don't want to have to try to put Major Studio Summer Release #4 into context.
100% agree. Enthusiastic championing of the good stuff is a valuable public service. This is the impetus behind my own recommendations as part of the soaringtwenties.substack Omnibus recommendations.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what this latest project or yours throws up. From what I’ve seen in the discord your taste is exquisite.
The loss of DVDs at your local library definitely speaks to a rift in the zeitgeist.
In my youth, I spent many seasons as a near penniless wanderer. I can imagine, even today with the proliferation of smartphones, that there are nomads without a data plan.
And even with the abundance of WiFi, movies are for watching on something bigger than your palm.
The same can be said for struggling families at this time. Could not a mom take her kids to the library for an afternoon of movies watched on one of the computers?
Streaming the movies online just opens you up to other distractions that cut into the narrative flow.
In essence, yes, the experience of longform art is changing.
Sure, the DVD has a pause function - but a good movie (keyword) is not something you put on "in the background." It is an activity worthy of intentional consumption.
This is why I’m drawn more and more to simply hitting the streets and reporting back on the little things. Same with my fiction too. These little details tell the whole story of our world as it stand now.
You either descend into the screen and live a palm sized existence or you explore and grab onto your part of the patchwork quilt that is there for the taking.
Hi, Thomas. I'm a paying subscriber -- how do I join your Discord?
Drop me a quick email at tjb_writer@protonmail.com and I’ll reply with a link for you.
Appreciate the essay and the comments about the promotion of serendipity and humanity via small talk,small walks and small interactions (like checking out a DVD). One reminder: if you witness small talk among other people, promote and (even better) encourage it by not appearing harried and succinctly joining in, respectively. As illustration, recently I was in in the grocery store line and after- at the most 35 seconds- of innocent small talk among the elderly lady and cashier, I caught myself rolling my eyes and nearly crossing my arms. Sherry Turkle would frown, and I did too at catching myself. The cashier is on a faraway MBA designed revenue/keystrokes per minute turnstile, the elderly lady was on a government designed fixed income, and I in my haste was hampering both of them from a small escape from the almighty algorithm. Pity the fool that is me. I then uncrossed my arms, leaned onto the cart push bar to relax, and gave the old lady a head nod as she searched for a coupon on brown sugar. I wondered what she was baking. I told the cashier, "I'm good." Take out the ear buds. Be aware of the goings on around you. Ask questions and let it feed your curiosity.
Small talk may deserve an essay all of its own. With reference to Sherry Turkle of course. And yes we are conditioned for haste and hurry such that earbuds, self service and eyes on the screen are the default unless we resist it. And resist it we must to maximise our humanity.
Great comment as always Worth.
You can learn surprising and useful local things by talking to people. Last week, someone told me that our public library is now lending e-bikes, but there is a long list of holds on the bikes. The DVD collection is still intact and their growing board game collection supports numerous local board game groups who can't afford to buy the games anymore.
Sounds like a great place. Board game groups can only be a force for good imo.
The usual answer to the death of browsing is the increased responsibility for curation. To some degree reviews, lists, periodicals, and websites devoted to things like movies can be useful for finding good stuff. It's just that you have to self-curate the curators to ensure you're getting honest recommendations and not just the trickle-down content of algorithmic or highly sponsored commercialized products.
Honestly one of my favorite "recommendation engines" is a Facebook group called "Incredibly Strange Films" where people just post about shit they find wacky. The rules of what is considered "incredibly strange" is flexible enough to not be gatekeeping but exist enough that you're not going to get the latest run down of new releases at the box office.
If people want movie recommendations that are actually recommendations — not reviews, not critical analysis, but honest enthusiasm for people to see a movie I'm excited about after seeing it — I will be posting them to my Substack on the occasions that I am inspired to.
My idea for movie recommendations came out of the desire to platform movies I really love without any interest whatsoever in becoming a "movie critic" or generating regularly scheduled content trying to keep apace of new releases. I just want people to watch good movies, I don't want to have to try to put Major Studio Summer Release #4 into context.
100% agree. Enthusiastic championing of the good stuff is a valuable public service. This is the impetus behind my own recommendations as part of the soaringtwenties.substack Omnibus recommendations.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what this latest project or yours throws up. From what I’ve seen in the discord your taste is exquisite.
Cheers D.B.
The loss of DVDs at your local library definitely speaks to a rift in the zeitgeist.
In my youth, I spent many seasons as a near penniless wanderer. I can imagine, even today with the proliferation of smartphones, that there are nomads without a data plan.
And even with the abundance of WiFi, movies are for watching on something bigger than your palm.
The same can be said for struggling families at this time. Could not a mom take her kids to the library for an afternoon of movies watched on one of the computers?
Streaming the movies online just opens you up to other distractions that cut into the narrative flow.
In essence, yes, the experience of longform art is changing.
Sure, the DVD has a pause function - but a good movie (keyword) is not something you put on "in the background." It is an activity worthy of intentional consumption.
Exactly this. Beautifully put.
This is why I’m drawn more and more to simply hitting the streets and reporting back on the little things. Same with my fiction too. These little details tell the whole story of our world as it stand now.
You either descend into the screen and live a palm sized existence or you explore and grab onto your part of the patchwork quilt that is there for the taking.