let's talk about the mall

November 15, 2021

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that kind of can't believe November is already half over, which doesn't bode well for the savoring of holiday cheer next month; let's all agree to slow time long enough to recharge our serotonin for 2022, how about 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory GiveawayHere's what I want to know: is there anyone out there aside from me who keeps their ideas in note form somewhere? I'm looking to a future where I'll be able to edit podcasts again, and that means finding folks to eventually record episodes with; the ones where we get to swap idea files with guests are my favorite, so that's what I'd like to prioritize, but I'm not sure how many people like me are out there. I know there are a few! But are there .......... more????Still basking in the glow of attaining 40 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ratings on our Apple Podcasts page; if you haven't already, go read the new review someone left! It's great! But do you think you could do better?? There's only one way to find outInstant Band Night 15: January Dreamin'That's what we're calling this, the fifteenth installment of Instant Band Night, unless it ends up getting pushed to March. In which case it'll need a new name. Whether or not it comes to that is dependent entirely on the vax schedule for kids under 5! (Eventbrite) (Facebook)+ +  r e t u r n i n g   i n   2 0 2 2  + ++ +  h a n g   i n   t h e r e  + + 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.One odd aspect of my slow, fitful exit from pandemic hermitude is a low but insistent urge to go visit a mall. If I had to guess, I think it's some combination ofDesire to see shiny baublesCuriosity about what-all is even out on shelves these daysPeoplewatching impulseHaving incorporated Mall Talk into my podcast rotationNeed to see holiday decorations at a scale not found in homesSimple nostalgia for mall wanderingAnyone my age or younger who grew up in the US probably has memories of their high school mall, but I also remember making trips to the mall near my office years ago just to go to the kiosk where they were demoing the Nintendo Wii (I just looked that up: it was 15 fucking years ago, holy creeping Christ in the cornfield). I miss a lot of things from pre-pandemic, but the mall is one I wasn't expecting for some reason. Also, there aren't a lot of them around here in the Bay, not the way there are (or were) in my hometown of Syracuse -- shout out to the Great Northern, Shoppingtown, Fayetteville, and good ol' Carousel Center, one or two of which I'm sure are no longer a going concern, although Carousel Center has mutated over the years into something monstrously huge called Destiny USA.All this is just to say that I visited the Sunvalley Shopping Center out in Concord because it's the most mall-like of the various shopping concourses available to me in the East Bay. I was there once a few years ago, having been drawn out to that area on a quest for a specific model of space heater at a specific Home Depot. In need of some lunch, I paid a visit to Sunvalley's food court, which was bizarrely, eerily empty -- I was basically the only person there, at lunchtime on a weekday, during what I would've assumed counted as holiday shopping season (they were all set up for Santa in the main atrium). This time around it was actually kind of crowded, but everyone was masked and Sunvalley has a strangely high ceiling. Maybe this is just a result of pandemic market forces determining who's survived this long, but the selection of stores was weirdly monotonous; the lower level especially featured a noticeable preponderance of streetwear-type stores where you could get a hoodie or a puffy jacket with some big writing or a drawing on it. I mean there were a lot of these shops, to the point where I found it strange they weren't all competing each other to death. I admit that I now want to visit the ol' Westfield Valley Fair (a literal hour's drive away) to see what it's got going on these days. What weird urges are surfacing for you as 2021 winds down? 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Quentin turned 4 over the weekend; his powers are growing year over year and I project that by 12 he will be unstoppable. There seems to be an unofficial tradition at his little preschool wherein the kid celebrating the birthday brings in a little goodie bag for everybody else there, which is pretty sweet. I wasn't sure how to approach assembling Quentin's, but fortunately there are greater minds than mine in the house: Mavis suggested I assemble some photos of likely candidates and present them to Quentin for selection. This will explain why every kid went home on Monday with a little goodie bag containing:A wand with a star at the end*A little rubber lizardA plastic toy airplaneA sheet of little rainbow stickers in the shapes of starfish and seashellsBeing conscientious parents, we disincluded anything battery-powered that makes noise (which would've been a ridiculous expense anyway, what with there being like 20 kids at this school now). Note to anyone out there who needs to assemble a goodie bag: try a party supply store! I made that connection much later than I probably should've, so I present this (possibly entirely obvious) information here as a service to the reader.The head teacher just shared some pictures of the celebration, and they're very good. I don't know if this is a Montessori thing or something she made up: they put a paper sun on the rug and Quentin carries a little globe while he circles it, and every time he completes a lap, they put down a picture of him a year older (she had me print out five: birth, 1, 2, 3, 4). The photos made me misty. Our big little guy!!* The only selection I made independently; I saw them at Target and was sure they'd be approved, plus there were exactly as many left in stock as I needed. 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye. 

  • More Republicans have been dying from the rona lately, and I can't say I'm sorry to hear it. ($NYT) 

  • "Rich countries still don’t want to pay their climate change tab: More money is on the table at the Glasgow climate conference, but it’s not enough." (Vox) 

  • In the immediate aftermath of Columbine, NRA leaders had a conference call to figure out what to do about their convention, and they knew they were in deep shit; we know because it was recorded, and NPR has the audio. I would love to see a full transcript, though. (NPR) 

  • Did all those articles you might've read about the fuckup AI that The Scientists tried to teach ethics mention that it was in fact 92.1% on point? (IEEE Spectrum) 

  • Most of us are doing mindfulness wrong. (U of Waterloo) 

  • What in the shit: The Scientists have been able to induce the spinal cords of mice to repair themselves using something they call "dancing molecules." (Northwestern) 

  • A record number of office spaces were converted into apartments this year, perhaps unsurprisingly. (RentCafe) 

  • How about some sustainable, biodegradable glitter made from cellulose? Yes, there are pictures. (U of Cambridge) 

  • The reason there's no centrist third party is that the people who would theoretically be in it don't agree on shit. Read the report, btw: it's fascinating. (~$NYMag Intelligencer) (Pew report) 

  • Looks like the residents of Flint are getting something, which is better than nothing, but also not as good as "seeing the officials responsible dragged out into the street and beaten to death with tire irons," which admittedly is probably something of a tall order. (CNN) 

  • A Japanese study seems to indicate that cats maintain an awareness of their owners' whereabouts in the house at all times and get surprised when they show up someplace they shouldn't be. (Guardian) 

  • Computer modeling shows that the city of Melbourne could get fully 3/4 of its power needs met just by slapping solar panels on all its roofs. (ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science) 

  • Nobody really knows why giant ammonites got so huge, but the current best theory is: so the other animals couldn't get their mouths around 'em. (Science Alert) 

  • Here's an ambitious conceptual redesign for a New York street. (~$Curbed) 

  • The biggest study yet on psilocybin for therapeutic purposes has yielded some promising results. (STAT) 

  • Radiation shielding for space travel is actually a significant engineering problem; what if a radiation-eating fungus is the answer? (Science Alert) 

  • Back during its development, Colin Trevorrow wrote a rejected script for the ninth Star Wars movie that by comparison kicks the ass of the bullshit we ended up getting, and someone turned it into a webcomic you can read right now. (Duel of the Fates) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumThe Nameless Curiosity, Holding Back the Blood(If you've made it this far, feel free to hit REPLY and tell me what you think this band/album sounds like, because now I'm curious) 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.