5. A pile of faxes as an intimate autobiography
I.
Last year, I read Nicolien Mizee’s De kennismaking in one go. For almost thirty years, Mizee has been sending faxes and emails to her former lecturer, the screenwriter Ger Beukenkamp. As a student, she was so impressed by this ‘all-consuming’ man that she decided to open up to him in diary-like updates.
The messages have been collected in the book series Faxen aan Ger (Faxes to Ger), the second volume of which I finished reading this week. In this instalment, the idea of eventually compiling and publishing the faxes takes shape. You can tell, because the messages become more detailed and narrative in nature, with a clear beginning and end.
Gradually, you sink into Mizee’s world. It is a unique world, because she lives by her own rules. These often do not align with those of others. Her faxes are thoughtful, witty and surprising. Through these messages, an intimate autobiography slowly but surely takes shape. Fortunately, there are still three volumes in the shop, and hopefully it won’t stop there.
II.
Haruki Murakami is publishing a new book for the first time in six years. Unfortunately, a Dutch translation of The City and Its Uncertain Walls has not yet been announced. Nor, for that matter, has an English version.
The first news reports about the book are somewhat vague about the plot. In any case, it is about a walled city, dreams and shadows. The seasoned Murakami reader will probably recognise in this his book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Murakami has had a story in his head for years that he has so far been unable to write to his satisfaction. Earlier attempts were published. Hard-boiled Wonderland was already his second attempt; a first version appeared in 1980 solely as a short story in a magazine. Now the 74-year-old writer says he has finally found the ultimate form. We await an announcement from publisher Atlas Contact.
III.
AI art generators such as Midjourney are producing increasingly realistic images. But when people are in the picture, hands often give away that they are fake. Such as this realistic-looking image of a woman in a café. Her hand is attached to her arm the wrong way round. And the fingers of this witch in a forest are also incorrect.
Hands are tricky to draw anyway. Even for us humans. And we understand what a real hand should look like. It’s a bit different with artificial intelligence. Vox has a great explanatory video on why AI struggles with this so much. But for how much longer?
---PS.
The second edition of the html review is out. Publisher Maxwell Neely-Cohen describes the publication as “an annual literary magazine for the web”. It is, therefore, highly experimental. And beautifully designed by Shelby Wilson.
There’s another book about Apple founder Steve Jobs. It’s a free ebook, beautifully published by The Steve Jobs Archive. In Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words, you can read emails, interviews and speeches given by Jobs. Some of the texts and photos have never been published before.
LoveFrom, the company run by former Apple designer Jony Ive, created the design (and the typeface).
In Seattle, thieves stole half a million dollars’ worth of iPhones. They broke into a coffee shop next to the Apple Store, then drilled a hole through the wall of the toilets. It led straight into the shop’s stockroom. Sounds like a rather dull heist film.
---Patti Smith visited the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum (I’m going soon too!). She admits that as a child she was in love with The Geographer.
Via Kottke I stumbled upon Floor 796. An animated webpage reminiscent of When the Internet Was Still Fun. You can’t get enough of it. Packed with references to pop culture figures from the past few decades. A one-person hobby project!
A bicycle with square wheels. It exists and it rides.
Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom is released on 2 June on double vinyl and on streaming services. Watching the River Flow is already available on Spotify. I wrote last year about the bizarre recording of this semi-live concert. From 6 June, the Shadow Kingdom film will also be available to buy and rent.
Theo Maassen is to be the new presenter of Zomergasten. Hopefully the conversations will be just as mind-boggling as [this one with Herman van Veen](https://soundcloud.com/ervaringvoorbeginners/s7-afl-9-herman-van-veen). Although that’s probably down more to Van Veen.Suzuki is releasing a new Omnichord later this year. I didn’t know what it was, but after seeing this video, I want one too.