The Prisoner… Dead. Long Live the Prisoner

Sadly it looks as if Patrick McGoohan has died… and I had just watched this slow-paced documentary on the press opening of the prisoner..

Not a Number!

Newly Departed Studs Terkel

Sadly it seems Studs Terkel died last night, halloween. A good quote from his wikipedia page:

“With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, ‘Studs, you’re an optimist.’ I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what’s the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.”

Planet and Culture in Crisis? Return of the Swibbles.

Can things called planets, or called cultures, even “be” in crisis? Its all relative to the human, I think. If such threats as our planet under stress continue unabated, it may be time for the evil, swibble-like tendencies of new anti stress techniques like Dr. Ronald Chevalier’s Relaxating technique, or the oft-mentioned Stress Reduction Kit. Or even atomic stress comics. Or unquarantined fast zombie movies about biotechzombie stress…

However, it is important to remember the origin of all stress reduction techniques: The Swibble, in particular, the Experimental Model-A:
[From "Service Call," a short story by Philip K. Dick, wherein swibbles first appear to save humanity from its own ethical degeneration : (the full story is in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 4: The Minority Report..)]

“We’re getting nowhere,” Anderson spoke up. “The swibble is manufactured, isn’t it? You must have schematics, then; hand them over.”

The young repairman gripped his tool kit defensively. “What in the world is the matter, sir? If this is your idea of a joke… ” He turned back to Courtland. “I’d like to start work; I really don’t have much time.”

Standing in the corner, hands shoved deep in his pockets, MacDowell said slowly, “I’ve been thinking about getting a swibble. The missus thinks we ought to have one.”

“Oh, certainly,” the repairman agreed. Color rising in his cheeks, he rushed on, “I’m surprised you don’t have a swibble already; in fact, I can’t imagine what’s wrong with you people. You’re all acting — oddly. Where, if I may ask, do you come from? Why are you so, well, so uninformed?”

“These people,” Courtland explained, “come from a part of the country where there aren’t any swibbles.”

Instantly, the repairman’s face hardened with suspicion. “Oh?” he said sharply. “Interesting. What part of the country is that?”

Again, Courtland had said the wrong thing; he knew that. While he floundered for a response, MacDowell cleared his throat and inexorably went on. “Anyhow,” he said, “we’ve been meaning to get one. You have any folders with you? Pictures of different models?”

The repairman responded. “I’m afraid not, sir. But if you’ll give me your address I’ll have the sales department send you information. And if you want, a qualified representative can call on you at your convenience and describe the advantages of owning a swibble.”

“The first swibble was developed in 1963?” Hurley asked.

“That’s right.” The repairman’s suspicions had momentarily lulled. “And just in time, too. Let me say this, if Wright hadn’t got his first model going, there wouldn’t be any human beings left alive. You people here who don’t own swibbles – you may not know it – and you certainly act as if you didn’t know it – but you’re alive right now because of old R.J. Wright. It’s swibbles that keep the world going.”

Opening his black case, the repairman briskly brought out a complicated apparatus of tubes and wiring. He filled a drum with clear fluid, sealed it, tried the plunger, and straightened up. “I’ll start out with a shot of dx, that usually puts them back into operation.”

“What is dx?” Anderson asked quickly.

Surprised at the question, the repairman answered, “It’s a high-protein food concentrate. We’ve found that ninety per cent of our early service calls are the result of improper diet. People just don’t know how to care for their new swibble.”

“My God,” Anderson said feebly. “It’s alive.”

Courtland’s mind took a nose dive. He had been wrong; it wasn’t precisely a repairman who had stood gathering his equipment together. The man had come to fix the swibble, all right, but his capacity was slightly different than Courtland had supposed. He wasn’t a repairman; he was a veterinarian.

Laying out instruments and meters, the young man explained: “The new swibbles are a lot more complex than the early models; I need all this before I can even get started. But blame the War.”

“The War?” Fay Courtland echoed apprehensively.

“Not the early war. The big one, in ‘75. That little war in ‘61 wasn’t really much. You know, I suppose, that Wright was originally an Army engineer, stationed over in — well, I guess it was called Europe. I believe the idea came to him because of all those refugees pouring across the border. Yes, I’m sure that’s how it was. During that little war, back in ‘61, they came across by the millions. And they went the other way, too. My goodness, people were shifting back and forth between the two camps — it was revolting.”

“I’m not clear on my history,” Courtland said thickly. “I never paid much attention in school. . . the ‘61 war, that was between Russia and America?”

“Oh,” the repairman said, “it was between everybody. Russia headed the Eastern side, of course. And America the West. But everybody was in it. That was the little war, though; that didn’t count.”

“Little?” Fay demanded, horrified.

“Well,” the repairman admitted, “I suppose it looked like a lot at the time. But I mean, there were buildings still standing, afterward. And it only lasted a few months.”

“Who — won?” Anderson croaked.

The repairman tittered. “Won? What an odd question. Well, there were more people left in the Eastern bloc, if that’s what you mean. Anyhow, the importance of the ‘61 war — and I’m sure your history teachers made that clear — was that swibbles appeared. R.J. Wright got his idea from the camp-changers that appeared in that war. So by ‘75, when the real war came along, we had plenty of swibbles.” Thoughtfully, he added, “In fact, I’d say the real war was a war over swibbles. I mean, it was the last war. It was the war between the people who wanted swibbles and those who didn’t.” Complacently, he finished, “Needless to say, we won.”

After a time Courtland managed to ask, “What happened to the others? Those who — didn’t want swibbles.”

“Why,” the repairman said gently, “the swibbles got them.”

Financial Crisis

The recent financial stock market crisis and sellof has led me to wonder, how can i survive a financial disaster, or even if it is worth it trying. But it seems, even with the Asian and European problems, and the upcoming British and American attempts to resolve the bank crisis, that the best thing is just to continue on with life as usual, ignoring the fear and panic.  So thats what i’ll be doing.

Holy Bloke… WaMu!

Once again, it seems like excitement all over again… too many sensory buttons. This time, Washington Mutual Bank was seized by the FDIC, and bought by JP Morgan.  Where are the Swibble repairmen when you need them? If I remember correctly, this is one of the larger American banks. WTF? Ah well. Dream on. Is that the doorbell?

Games vs. Movies?

It looks like a lot of things are synching up, what with games overtaking movies for swibble-based “market penetration demographics”, but.. wheres perspective go when your caught in a web? Integrating real life stuff like ARGS and advertising is only beneficial to the swibble, but how else can it be avoided? Perhaps the physical aspect of games. Over at Database of Games, a bunch of physical games like when wewerekidz.. some of them seem pretty simple and for the tots etc, but it totally reminds me, as a techenslaved adult that there was a time.. there was a time.. on the other hand, there are things like Spectrum Games, a nostalgia journey for being entirely unphysical in front of the old classic cassette tapes. And on the third hand, are these things outlets for swibble-future corporate viral event methodologies? WTFHIDK. It might take awhile to find out.

Chengdu earthquake

Another Chinese earthquake in Chengdu the boom town, makes one wonder just how many of these recent werid earthquakes are linked up to some sub-tectonic movements, some kind of underground movement… but in china, who can really tell one way or the other. seems to have created a big thing in the twitter scene tho.

Swibbles may have arrived?

A recent advance in electronic technology called the Memristor apparently will be able to mimic human brain structure in an analog type of way. One word: Swibbles! Soon, we will all be able to welcome our own swibble overlord into our homes. In fact, I think I hear the doorbell…

Watchem watching

On the upcoming version of the alan moore comique classique, “You may now be asking, “Jeff, haven’t there been enough superhero movies?!?”". good question and I wonder if its going to be exceptionally terrible, or if nucule-ar terror will target us before then..

update: found game metareal

the game I couldnt remember in my last post about the Experiment game is called Ankh, not Metareal, and the author has made emulator files available… may have to try this one out.