#442 - Seattle festivals, taking estrogen for fun, and the etymology of 'California'
I'm back after missing last week due to the insanity of doing two camping festivals back to back weekends. Hard to do unless unemployed!
Lightning in a Bottle was an interesting time, combing the magic of deep playa Burning Man with a normal hippie music festival experience. I actually enjoyed being able to buy food or whatever else I needed, handily vended to me onsite for 3x outside prices. The stage design was incredible and the light immersive elements a nice touch, though it did feel like it was trying to do everything at once.
The other festival, codenamed Tupperware, was far more fully immersive, as those who know, know. Another one for the books - as for online content check out one of the puppet artists's hilarious rebranding of Pepsi cans to Peb-Z - oh so fun to accidentally read that on a can IRL.
Then I flew straight to Seattle for a friends wedding - my first destination wedding ever! You sure don't get much time with the bride and groom at these things, nor do you really want to spend time with extended family. It was nice getting to reconnected with their friends of friends I knew though.
We rented a hot tub boat from hot tub boats dot com which was a fun novelty, though the Museum of Pop Culture wasn't much, though the MOX Board Game cafe was.
Tech
San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin Defends His Record Ahead of Recall Vote on June 7 — www.youtube.com
If you've been following this latest SF recall saga (update, he's out), its a sad story no matter whose side you're on.
Republicans spending millions on recall efforts after failing at the polls, while supposedly indie media outlets like this one here blatantly fail to mention crucial information like the fact that his mother was jailed for felony murder and spend time on the progressive puff piece of the sadness of being in jail.
'Rehabilitative justice' does not equate to 'soft on crime', and punitive justice isn't shown to affect crime anyways.
Lifehacks
Sexual motivation and hormones — en.wikipedia.org
I spoke to a male friend who took some estrogen for fun (not for gender conversion) and said he was amazed by how it uncovered which parts of him he thought were his identity were just hormones. He said he lost all desire to swipe on Tinder and just wanted to have an empathetic conversation instead, and noticed himself talking over others less.
I'd be interested in explored which parts of me are hormones vs identity as well. Just gotta be careful not to change my physical body while doing so 😳
Etymology of California — en.wikipedia.org
You'd think we would have learned this earlier - turns out the state is named after a mythical Spanish land ruled by women, from a contemporary epic saga book. NOT due to the Moorish Caliphate, though that was a reasonable guess.
Fun
THE INSIDE OUTTAKES - Bo Burnham (4K)
Last years's hottest one man show just released its outtakes!
Some piping hot new jams in here, from 'they really gonna make me vote for joe biden' to 'everyones a feminist until they see a spider'.
NRA Conference — www.youtube.com
Channel 5 reporting from the front lines of the culture war again, this time from a gun conference right after another mass shooting.
Note how the people yelling obscenities at each other across the street quickly become eloquent and almost relatable once Andrew creates space for them to talk and be listened to.
That's what we need more of today if we're going to make any progress on these issues.