Anyone Else Remember That Brief Period In The 2000s When Every Band Was Dressing Like This?

Anyone else remember that brief period in the 2000s when every band was dressing like this?

On liking stuff.

There's a post going around on Tumblr about reminding people that they had a Hamilton phase and them being ashamed of it, and I must be in a minority because I still think Hamilton is great, so I don't know what there is to be ashamed of.

I'm aware that the fandom of that particular thing had a reputation for being... strange, but I'm pretty sure being part of a cringey fandom is, like, a rite of passage to be on the internet nowadays. No need to throw the play itself under the bus because of it.

Maybe I'm just OOTL, but in general I don't understand the mindset of being ashamed of having loved something in the past that you aren't as into anymore. That's part of your growth and development.

Been thinking a lot about the lyrics of this song lately.

The upscaling of old cartoons is definitely a good use for AI. On that note, it could work wonders in terms of upscaling old concert footage and theater bootlegs well.

For example: As a huge Pink Floyd fan, it does kind of bum me out that the best and definitive way to experience Pink Floyd's rock opera The Wall is the live concert tour from 1980-81, which is also nearly impossible to watch--the band filmed the Earls Court shows but they have never been released, and they will never be released as an official concert film until Roger Waters and David Gilmour agree on a release, which... is never going to happen.

(The band gave a few reasons behind the footage's lack of release--the footage was too dark and didn't capture the band well, the footage was destroyed, only a few clips were actually filmed, etc.--but fans know the band has the entire show filmed since many clips have resurfaced over the years.)

So currently, the only way of watching The Wall Tour is via low-resolution multicam bootlegs filmed at the time and having gone through 40+ years of wear. But now that we have all this cool new tech, it's just a matter of restoring the bootlegs by upscaling them to 1080p, removing some of the grain, and brightening the colors.

Such a technology could also work for old videos filmed of Broadway shows, including shows that are not being performed anymore. I think we'll be seeing a lot of these in the near future.

Hopefully not a controversial take? The fact that people are able to AI-upscale and clean up older animations and audio to be ever so closer to Good As New/Studio Quality is genuinely magical.

I love being alive in a world where all 3 seasons of Gargoyles or coutless obscure anime can be cleaned to look better than the old jittery vhs-ripped dvd or laserdisc releases. AI for media restoration, as in preservation of art, should be celebrated.

We need everyone's help right now to protect the rainforest and Indigenous People

The Amazon Rainforest is under a massive threat. I know you've heard this a million times, but this is different. There is a piece of legislation that will decimate the rights of Indigenous people of Brazil, who have been protecting the rainforest. It's unfathomably bad. It has majority support. And they're voting tomorrow. As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

The thing you can do—and I know this sounds overly simple—is sign this petition—and tell your friends to do the same: SIGN HERE.

As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

Again, this bill has majority support. You may be wondering, why will a petition signed by people who don't live in Brazil make any difference? Because it will give those opposing it political air cover. It will show the world is with them.

But we need a LOT of signatures.

Please do this simple act and spread the word.

Happy 2023!

Sorry I didn't say it earlier, I had a late-night gig yesterday and didn't wake up until 1 in the afternoon. But I'm saying it now, so happy new year! Let's hope this is an improvement!