Ars Nihil

Self Portrait of a Drowned Man , Hippolyte Bayard (1840) I've been flipping through some books about the history of photography and this photo was one of the more striking examples of how strange early photos actually were. It's a considerably famous work not just because it's the first staged photograph ever taken but also because it's one of photography's funniest and pettiest "fuck you" moments. The overall story is that Bayard got robbed of his credit in innovating the fi

I'm fortunate that I've never experienced poverty. So while I don't have lived experience to relate to a thread I saw the other day on Bluesky, it feels important enough to embed and post in full here as a Basic Knowledge Stuff post. I'm also including a non-connected but related Bluesky post with relevant information. Photo by Isaiah Villar ( Unsplash )

Saw this earlier while looking through my feeds and the person who wrote this certainly has a flair for making a story interesting while disclosing certain things about the magic trade. Also adding a video of the 1973 Tonight Show appearance for context, some of the more interesting resources cited in this write-up, and related articles.

This one is personal because I'm the son and grandson of Marines. While I never served and I don't always agree with the mission, I would also feel short with myself if I didn't post something to commemorate this day.

While I knew today was the anniversary, I had always thought the wreck of SS Edmund Fitzgerald was much older (I know someone from Michigan and the way they describe it made it sound like it was in the late 1800s/early 1900s) but apparently it was only 50 years ago: Image from Wikipedia I'm also admittedly not a huge Gordon Lightfoot fan (my mom loved his music, though) but the song is both appropriate and fitting to what happened without making it cheap. Let's remember the

I'll be honest: I haven't been feeling it with either the journal entries or the blog overall lately, so I'm going to call a rough hiatus for the rest of 2025 for daily journal posts. On the plus side, doing those has helped remind me to tend to this blog regularly and not just let three months go by without a thing. Recently I tried to mix them up by adding "offerings" but that was only turning into more of a chore without adding much else of substance about what's actually

Started teaching myself Spanish, which seems to feel easier than expected (took German and Latin when I was younger, so that might be why). Otherwise relieved about this past Tuesday, which makes things feel less hopeless but still exercising caution about the future. - AB 11/7/25 Today's Offerings Album ...And Out Come the Wolves by Rancid (1995) Image/Video Zane Golia has some weird super-cut videos I've been binge-watching lately. They're funny if you can find the dark h

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 11/6/25 Today's Offerings Album Sun Goddess by Ramsey Lewis (1974) Image/Video Image by Mariola Grobelska ( Unsplash ) Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 11/5/25 Today's Offerings Album Siren by Heather Nova (1998) Image/Video Image by Karsten Winegeart ( Unsplash ) Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 11/4/25 Today's Offerings Album Heartbeat City by The Cars (1984) Image/Video Yes, this is an ad for a synthesizer (the Orchid ORC-1 from Telepathic Instruments) but getting both Matt Berry and Jermaine Clement to be part of an 11-minute piece of wry weirdness is quite a hat trick. Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interes

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 11/3/25 Today's Offerings Album Quicksilver Messenger Service by Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968) Image Photo by Liana S. ( Unsplash ) Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 11/1/25 Today's Offerings Albums The Story-Teller… A Session with Charles Laughton by Charles Laughton (1962) Video This weekend's video is the full performance of the Max Roach Double Quintet at Jazzgipfel Stuttgart 1990. Found it a couple weeks when, out of curiosity, I was looking for good examples of when string quartets met jazz quartets. It did not disappoint. Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/30/25 Today's Offerings Album The Rocky Horror Picture Show Original Soundtrack (1975) Video I'm sure I've posted some version of this before (the "3-D House of Beef" part?) but in honor of both Halloween and being the late John Candy 's birthday, here's some compilations of the Monster Chiller Horror Theatre skits from SCTV . Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipe

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/30/25 Today's Offerings Album Captain Fantastic and the Dirt-Brown Cowboy by Elton John (1975) Image Photo by Bobby ( Unsplash ) Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/29/25 Today's Offerings Album Willow in the Wind by Kathy Mattea (1989) Image Photo by Sandie Clarke ( Unsplash ) Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/28/25 Today's Offerings Album O by Damien Rice (2003) Video Wired hired musician and educator Larnell Lewis to provide a crash-course on how to drum. Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/27/25 Today's Offerings Album Soon Over Babaluma by Can (1974) Video Extra Credits covers the mechanics that make escape rooms work. Currently Reading Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture , edited by Roxane Gay Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/25/25 Today's Offerings Albums Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) and its live predecessor, Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin' (1974), both by Paul Simon [selected since 10/25 is the 50th anniversary for one of my favorite albums] Video Up From The Depth , a channel dedicated to all things Godzilla, has a good video that works as a primer for anyone getting into giant monster movies and wants some recommendat

Today's pretty non-descript - enjoy the offerings. - AB 10/24/25 Today's Offerings Album Starfish by The Church (1988) Image Photo by Valeriia Neganova ( Unsplash ) Wikipedia Entry Social Media Share Article of Interest Special Day of the Year

Last night was a bit rough due to helping my spouse deal with a couple of crises, which unconveniently had to happen the day before a big trip so we only slept between 1am-5am. So I'm a bit groggy while also fighting a possible sinus infection. Mostly taking it easy today. - AB 10/23/25 Mood: Spouse is away, so just me and the dog in the house so just chilling right now, not fully sure what to do with myself... Weather: Chilly, sunny, wouldn't mind some rain. Today's Offerin