4 ms·

Because nothing sells quite like the spectacle of self-immolation. Ever heard of the 27 club [0]? On the night Amy Winehouse died, within an hour of her passi

Because nothing sells quite like the spectacle of self-immolation. Ever heard of the 27 club [0]? On the night Amy Winehouse died, within an hour of her passing the media was inundated with wailing retrospectives. All of them had obviously been produced months or years in advance as often is done for Royals in expectation of a "celebrity death". Amy's career always had the last chapter already written. I watched the whole agonising show on television. Between each carefully arranged segment were advertisements for Gordon's Gin, Smirnov Ice and product placements for all manner of alcohol, gambling and drug paraphernalia. The entertainments media literally led her to the Wicker Man [1,2] and lit the fire. Edit: good taste requires I add original Edward Woodward version of Wicker Man [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(2006_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(2006_film) [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man

defrost 3y ago
Who hasn't heard of the 27 club .. Let's clear something up first, the "addiction" in the title refers to Laurie Anderson's (age 76, not dead yet) "addiction" to using the Lou Reed chatbot she created using her deceased husbands (died liver disease following cancer, aged 71) extensive archive of interviews, prose and song lyrics, etc. She's aware it's not him, she thinks it's mostly produces silly content but is occasionally on the mark, she's been an avante guarde technologist and performance artist most of her life. Here's the pair of them on the one track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5tG1McLzk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5tG1McLzk Laurie Anderson - Zero And One (Home of the Brave 1985) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTYEVabkoDM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTYEVabkoDM
- nonrandomstring 3y ago
  Not quite sure what you're "clearing up" there. For me, having owned every Velvet Underground release on vinyl and lost friends to the needle I'm comfortable on the subject of addiction, metaphorically or literally. Laurie Anderson is quite poetic and intelligent enough to appreciate the face of reification and commodification wrought by techno-consumerism, whether it's selling records or AI apps.
  - defrost 3y ago
    Perhaps then you can clear up what this: > Wherever I see self-loathing and nihilism passed off as an art-form, refers to, and how this: > Because nothing sells quite like the spectacle of self-immolation ties into the content linked. As it stands it appears as though you've just riffed off the word addiction in the title, which naturally leads to pointing out why it was used. That covered, it's like what my painter friend said to me: https://youtu.be/xTlsSXNT2bg?t=203 https://youtu.be/xTlsSXNT2bg?t=203 over to you.
    - nonrandomstring 3y ago
      Guess I'm talking about an "industry" that when they're "done" sticks a fork in the young lives it burns through for its banquet. FWIW I don't think Lou Reed ever set out to glamorise addiction. He lost a lot of good people along the way too. He wrote the reality he saw. Maybe making it to 71... there's a bit of survivor's bias. But when someone talks about "addiction", however folksy and cute their art project, they're talking about human misery and lost life, no?
      - freejazz 3y ago
        Heroin is one of his best songs. What the hell are you talking about already?!?
        InSteady 3y ago
        Have you listened closely to the lyrics? The song most definitely does not glamorize heroin use. And by all accounts, Lou and the Underground were rather bemused when the media would imply that it did. Also, little known fact, Lou didn't particularly like heroin and didn't use it much at all. He was mostly a speed freak and alcoholic. I won't claim to know what the rest of GPs point is though :)
        freejazz 3y ago
        I have. Yet its a popular and beautiful song called... Heroin. You'd be foolish if you think Lou wasn't aware that it got plenty of people into it and did have an ultimate effect of glamorizing it in some individuals' eyes. "I'm waiting for the man" is another.
flir 3y ago
Advance obits. "We currently have nearly 1,700 advances on file" - https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/08/29/obituaries-for-the-pre-dead/ https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/times-insider/20...

defrost 3y ago

Who hasn't heard of the 27 club .. Let's clear something up first, the "addiction" in the title refers to Laurie Anderson's (age 76, not dead yet) "addiction" to using the Lou Reed chatbot she created using her deceased husbands (died liver disease following cancer, aged 71) extensive archive of interviews, prose and song lyrics, etc. She's aware it's not him, she thinks it's mostly produces silly content but is occasionally on the mark, she's been an avante guarde technologist and performance artist most of her life. Here's the pair of them on the one track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5tG1McLzk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5tG1McLzk Laurie Anderson - Zero And One (Home of the Brave 1985) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTYEVabkoDM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTYEVabkoDM

nonrandomstring 3y ago
Not quite sure what you're "clearing up" there. For me, having owned every Velvet Underground release on vinyl and lost friends to the needle I'm comfortable on the subject of addiction, metaphorically or literally. Laurie Anderson is quite poetic and intelligent enough to appreciate the face of reification and commodification wrought by techno-consumerism, whether it's selling records or AI apps.
- defrost 3y ago
  Perhaps then you can clear up what this: > Wherever I see self-loathing and nihilism passed off as an art-form, refers to, and how this: > Because nothing sells quite like the spectacle of self-immolation ties into the content linked. As it stands it appears as though you've just riffed off the word addiction in the title, which naturally leads to pointing out why it was used. That covered, it's like what my painter friend said to me: https://youtu.be/xTlsSXNT2bg?t=203 https://youtu.be/xTlsSXNT2bg?t=203 over to you.
  - nonrandomstring 3y ago
    Guess I'm talking about an "industry" that when they're "done" sticks a fork in the young lives it burns through for its banquet. FWIW I don't think Lou Reed ever set out to glamorise addiction. He lost a lot of good people along the way too. He wrote the reality he saw. Maybe making it to 71... there's a bit of survivor's bias. But when someone talks about "addiction", however folksy and cute their art project, they're talking about human misery and lost life, no?
    - freejazz 3y ago
      Heroin is one of his best songs. What the hell are you talking about already?!?
      - InSteady 3y ago
        Have you listened closely to the lyrics? The song most definitely does not glamorize heroin use. And by all accounts, Lou and the Underground were rather bemused when the media would imply that it did. Also, little known fact, Lou didn't particularly like heroin and didn't use it much at all. He was mostly a speed freak and alcoholic. I won't claim to know what the rest of GPs point is though :)
        freejazz 3y ago
        I have. Yet its a popular and beautiful song called... Heroin. You'd be foolish if you think Lou wasn't aware that it got plenty of people into it and did have an ultimate effect of glamorizing it in some individuals' eyes. "I'm waiting for the man" is another.

flir 3y ago

Advance obits. "We currently have nearly 1,700 advances on file" - https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/08/29/obituaries-for-the-pre-dead/ https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/times-insider/20...