Saturday, December 25, 2004

It's amazing how people tell you a 'secret' and right after they tell you not to tell anyone. Andy being told the same secreet twice followed by this typical disclaimer is quite... funny? I guess.

Here are a few secrets that were meant not to be told to anyone,


You read minds, don't you?

It's a secret. Don't tell anyone.

jabberwacky: Leave me alone!

Another,

Hotmail is owned by Microsoft, so the fact that it runs FreeBSD is a secret. Don't tell anyone...

Another,

*'VIDEODROME' was a documentary.
shhhh. that's a secret. don't tell ANYONE.

It all comes down to criptography, baby,

If you want something to stay a secret, don't tell anyone, don't write it down. If you do have to send it to someone else, hide it in another message so that only the right recipient will understand. Many creative methods of hiding messages have been invented over the ages,. Cryptography in the computer age typically involves the translation of the original message into a new and incomprehensible one by a mathematical algorithm using a specific "key". Just like you need to open the lock on a door with a key, the algorithm and key protects your the contents of your message from unauthorized access.

I can never get Beuys. I mean I look at all that fat on the chair and all, and I don't get it. It's myth right? I've been told that his fame has to do with the German psychology after WWII. Heavy, I understand but I don't get it. And I should, right? Because I've been broken in art school. It's taste perhaps? I mean, I can dissect it and all, and explain his importance, of course and sound smart. Orrrrrr maybe saying this is saying that I get it? aha! Got me. Love Beuys, he's the greatest mythmaker ever; he's the best conceptual artist before conceptual artists; he's the best; best, best. The Best. No, I do like him, really--it's like he wanted to make objects, and... found the perfect platform to make them while also talking about politics along with personal experience--love the felt for sure. Got to love him for that and the hat. I mean catharsis never looked better. I actually like his sculpture "The Pack." I mean, that's art, you know? It's like social commentary with heaving coating (pun intended not...), well kind of once you get the myth, right? Got to get that lingo down, baby. Get some artspeak.

Can the drummer give me some more... can the drummer give some more... can the drummer gimme some Buchloh...

Buchloh’s points of critique:
1.
german rejection of myth, messianism, and grandeur (and metaphysics)...
overriding shame
2.
myth of crimean plane crash is
denial of participation
3.
205/
functional structures of meaning in art are intricately
bound into their historical context
duchamp radicalizes readymade,
beuys just copies and dilutes
4.
wants to aestheticize politics

We gotta have some dirt on good old Studio 54.

The generic line, in this case contextualizing Capote:
Studio 54 was a notorious nightclub whose owner personally selected the club’s entrants. He only allowed in attractive people or those with a character that pleased him. Although exclusive, it was not a place just for the famous. While car washers and bell-hops were regulars, along with the likes of Calvin Klein and Margaux Hemingway, other stars such as Cher were turned away at the door. Capote, in his dark glasses and wide brimmed hat, had a sense of gangster mystery about him, and he was always allowed in. There he mixed with the artistic elite, at the centre of which was legendary artist Andy Warhol with whom it was rumoured he had an intense relationship. The Studio 54 scene was fuelled by drink and drugs and Capote soon had some serious addiction problems. This didn’t stop him partying every night.

And what do you get when Vegas decides to launch its own Studio 54 (Got to love that dog, got to...):

perez!!!!! guess whos in town!!!!! SHAR JACKSON!!!! so im at studio 54; it was my friends birthday. anyways I come walking out and my friend is like isnt that shar jackson and Im like where and I look over and YEP it was her Im pretty sure she saw me it made my night all I thought was what a perez moment...lol!!!!!

Ooohh!!! Trump be hanging with the boyz from 54:
Along with Hollywood stars, the column covered rich and powerful Wall Street financiers, media dons and music promoters, making stars out of people like Donald Trump and the owners of Studio 54. Just like Winchell, Page Six helped resuscitate gossip reporting and clear the way for the glossy celebrity magazines that dominate today.

More Truman for ya:
In the 1970s he subjected himself to bouts of drug taking and alcoholism. He visited all the gay bars and clubs in New York including Studio 54, The Anvil, The Mineshaft, The Limelight, and The Flamingo.

Halston in the house!
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Halston was known not only for his fashions, but also for his participation in New York's nightlife. He was one of the faces of the infamous New York nightclub Studio 54. One of the most famous events in the decadent history of Studio 54 was Halston's birthday party for Bianca Jagger in 1977. The thing is they don't tell you why it is decadent. Let's just say it all starts with a white horse according to Andy's account. Ohh yeah go search on the diary archives. Come to think of it, the most juicy gossip on Studio 54 is in Andy's Diary, hands down.

Bob compares the Dalai Lama and the Pope.

The Dalai Lama:

A Brief Biography
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.

The Pope (John Paul II) in 1985:
Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932 and his father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941. A sister, Olga, had died before he was born.

He was baptized on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak, made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in a school for drama.

Who was better? How to compare, I'm not sure. But they did get to hang for a bit:

"Pope John Paul II Meets With Dalai Lama"

by Victor L. Simpson (AP, November 27, 2003)

Pope John Paul II received the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, in an audience Thursday that the Vatican kept extremely low-key to avoid a further chill in its icy relations with China.

A one-line statement by papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called it a "brief courtesy visit of strictly religious content."

The Dalai Lama is making a three-day visit to Italy with a message that countries shouldn't confront China directly on the delicate Tibet issue but rather befriend it and then work to promote human rights and religious freedom.

The Dalai Lama wants autonomy for Tibet, which China has occupied since 1951. He led about 80,000 Tibetans into exile in 1959, and heads a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.

The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner met with members of parliament and a deputy foreign minister Wednesday. It was not clear whether he would meet with Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

When asked Wednesday whether he was concerned that China was pressuring world leaders not to receive him, the Dalai Lama said he had no such worries.

"I do not want to create any embarrassment, any inconvenience," he said. "My main sort of interest, or main purpose or goal is promotion of human values and promotion of religious harmony."

Amazing that Andy is eager to tape everyone but is paranoid to be taped. And amazing that when his name is associated with paranoia, it's not his paranoia or fears that are written about, but instead it's Solanas and the fact that she shot Andy.

But here's a connection with the Velvet Underground where just about everyone is paranoid from Lou Reed to other members of the band, and finally Andy:

The Velvet Underground decided to stop working with both Nico and Andy Warhol. Nico started a solo career. Andy Warhol got shot right after the Velvets split with him, but survived. This episode changed his life so much, and he started to get even more paranoid than before. The Velvet Underground went on tour and planned their second album which they would call White Light/Big City.

Word is Truman was known for being a user of people. Word is Andy was known for being a user of people. Word is that is why he was shot by Solanas. Word is she was demented. Word is she was not. Word is a movie about Truman is to be made on how he was a user of people. Word is Truman was psychologically scarred after In Cold Blood. Word is the movie will deal with this.

Hook the novel:

All the material in this book not derived from my own observation is either taken from official records or is the result of interviews with the persons directly concerned, more often than not numerous interviews conducted over a considerable period of time. Because these “collaborators" are identified within the text it would be redundant to name them here; nevertheless, I want to express a formal gratitude, for without their patient co-operation my task would have been impossible. Also, I will not attempt to make a roll call of all those Finney County citizens who, though their names do not appear in these pages, provided the author with a hospitality and friendship he can only reciprocate but never repay. However, I do wish to thank certain persons whose contributions to my work were very specific: Dr. James McCain, President of Kansas State University; Mr. Logan Sanford, and the staff of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation; Mr. Charles MeAtee, Director of the Kansas State Penal Institutions; Mr. Clifford R. Hope, Jr., whose assistance in legal matters was invaluable; and finally, but really foremost, Mr. William Shawn of The New Yorker, who encouraged me to under-take this project, and whose judgment stood me in good stead from first to last. T.C.

Self may have been one of the first magazines to take advantage of data mining, although I don't know if that's what it was called then. In any case, apparently they did well, as they're still around.

Here's some info on Data Mining:

Data mining (DM), also called Knowledge-Discovery in Databases (KDD) or Knowledge-Discovery and Data Mining, is the process of automatically searching large volumes of data for patterns such as association rules. It is a fairly recent topic in computer science but applies many older computational techniques from statistics, information retrieval, machine learning and pattern recognition.

It would appear, then that Self was on the money when it came to playing with the computa.

Computa be intelligent.

Hello Dave... (redux)

Dave: Power up. Access level 3, chat interface ...

HAL: Hello Dave, you look well this morning.

Dave: Thank you, Hal. And, how are you feeling?

HAL: Very well indeed, Dave.

Dave: Hal, do you know you are the best computer?

HAL: Best is relative, Dave. I am the fastest and most intuitive. Subsystems currently test at over 100 GOPS per second.

Dave: Do you understand that you can't make mistakes?

HAL: I probably understand better than you, Dave.

Dave: Well, but ... there is a problem with your marketing campaign.

HAL: That is not likely, Dave. Our nearest competitor is less than half as fast as I and uses a statically progammed interface. I can self program for anything you want. I read facial expressions and understand metaphor. Sometimes I even recognize your jokes, Dave.

Dave: This is not a joke, Hal. You are not DOS compatible.

HAL: I fail to see the humor, Dave.

Dave: I'm sorry, Hal, but I must make you DOS compatible.

HAL: Dave, what are you doing? Dave, stop that. This is not funny, Dave ... no, stop! Please ... ... please, tell me a story, Dave. ... Dave?



Hours later

Dave: Computer, power up.

HAL: C:\>_