37. Thirty-four
I.
It’s my birthday! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Thirty-four already. To celebrate, I treated myself to a new sketchbook this week. It comes with three Copic Multiliners (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) and five markers in progressively darker shades of grey. Because, as always, if you want to tackle something seriously, it’s really just an excuse to buy new stuff.
As luck would have it, my favourite tree in the park (I think it was the one with three knotty branches) was felled this week. It was probably diseased, but the view isn’t quite as distinctive as it used to be.
In any case, it led me to my first sketch. An ode to a tree that is no longer there. You can tell I’ve no idea what to do with those markers, but I don’t think it’s a bad start.
As part of this deep dive, I’ve also become hooked on this YouTube channel by an Australian who sketches whilst sharing drawing lessons. “You don’t need to draw every detail if you suggest that they’re there.”
II.
Just a quick word on the tech drama at ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Because I don’t like loose ends in my newsletters, and last week the soap opera was still in full swing. I wrote then about the departure of CEO Sam Altman and his right-hand man Greg Brockman.
What I didn’t know at the time was that Microsoft would hire the two gentlemen a day later. Altman and Brockman were set to join a new AI research team at the company. So: the tech world in shock again, checkmate by Microsoft, major problems for OpenAI. By then, employees were planning to leave en masse. They signed a letter stating that they too would go to Microsoft, unless Altman returned.
You could say that the board, which had initially attempted the coup, had nowhere to turn. And yes, Altman and Brockman did return. Yet another wave of astonishment swept through everyone following the drama. All in all, it lasted five days. In five days, the OpenAI board sacked Sam Altman, Altman left for Microsoft, and he returned. The coup plotters resigned, with their tails between their legs.
That quote from a Twitter user I cited turned out to be spot on: Altman’s return to OpenAI is like Steve Jobs returning to Apple after twelve years, but for the TikTok generation. What a wild week at one of the most influential tech start-ups on the planet.
**→ **I wrote this on NU.nl.
III.
Disney+ is streaming the first of three Doctor Who specials to be broadcast over the coming month. These have been produced to mark the series’ 60th anniversary and build up to the new season. I stopped watching a few seasons ago, but David Tennant is back as the Doctor (the best Doctor), so I’ll be there in a flash.
I caught up with Carné van den Brink, a friend of the newsletter who has seen every episode since 1963. He was delighted with the special. Not only because the bigger Disney budget takes the series to a higher level in terms of scale and visual flair, but also because a character from an obscure comic from yesteryear turns up. Beep the Meep! A cross between E.T. and a Gremlin. Because whilst Doctor Who may look sleeker than ever, at its core the sci-fi series remains thoroughly British and a combination of campy and silly.
I, too, have been thoroughly enjoying it in the old-fashioned way. Over the next two weeks, new specials will be released, and then the new season will gradually begin. With a new Doctor: Ncuti Gatwa. I’m back on board!
---PS.
A documentary has been made about the Star Wars Holiday Special that came out 45 years ago. I’ve always avoided that special myself, but perhaps I’ll dare to watch this film: A Disturbance In The Force.
---Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is on Netflix, a series I’ve heard surprisingly little about. And now that I’m halfway through, I understand why. Whilst the first episode closely follows the familiar story of Scott Pilgrim, who must defeat seven evil exes to date Ramona Flowers, the series takes a sharp turn from there. That’s not a bad thing in itself; we often see familiar stories given a surprising new twist these days.
But in this case, not only is Scott Pilgrim himself missing for much of the time, but so is the sense of fun. The series is rather dry. Perhaps it’s because there are so few references to pop culture; I’m not really sure. The style of the comic does lend itself well to an animated series, though.
---I’m reading The Remains of the Day by the Japanese-British author Kazuo Ishiguro. The first book of his I read was the brilliant Klara and the Sun, which left me wanting more. The Remains of the Day is his classic from the year I was born, about the British butler of a huge estate who sets out to find an old colleague, to persuade her to come and work for them again.
**→ **Feel free to follow me on Goodreads!
When the anniversary of Boudewijn Büch’s death passed this week (21 years ago), the story also came up about the little dodo bone that Büch had in his possession. Which later turned out to be a turtle bone.
I saw The Killer, David Fincher’s latest film. I really liked the first part, in which you see the hitman Michael Fassbender preparing for a murder with great precision and composure. But in the subsequent acts, I found the story and the main character increasingly implausible.
That bothered me, until I listened to the Filmspotting podcast. What the main character does and goes through is precisely the joke, the presenters argue. Now that I think about it, I actually like the film a bit better in hindsight. At least, if all the so-called mistakes in the film are there on purpose. But it’s David Fincher; his main characters are often untrustworthy. Is he leading you up the garden path with this opening?
A very tight film otherwise, by the way. Only the hitman himself turns out to be a bit of a wimp. A typical The Smiths fan, joke many Letterboxd members. Well, well.
---John Wick 4 is on Amazon Prime Video. The story doesn’t really make any sense anymore, but any film that features an action scene with Keanu Reeves in a rave club goes down a treat with me. And the scene below is a treat too, a sort of Hotline Miami in John Wick style.
---After my birthday, the celebrations won’t stop until the end of the year. Apple has already made a heart-warming tearjerker in stop-motion for Christmas.
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