![news](/spring-2024.jpeg)

# Town Hall #22: News

Breaking news: I think we've reached peak culture, folks.
[I got an Ozempic ad while watching Caramelldansen memes.](/ozempicdansen.jpeg)
If these terms are unfamiliar to you, please trust me -- it's a very bad omen.

Other news:

- [new website, who dis?](/)
- new [georgism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism): coming soon
- new essay: [the best bad baby names](/baby-names)
- [new yoooooork](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUYSGojUuAU)
- new facial hair:
  [hide yo gold, hide yo ruling class](/musketeer.jpg)
- new regrets
- new microblog: [rss](/feed.xml), [x.com](https://x.com/surprisetalk),
  [mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@surprisetalk)

## Soon

|               |                 |                                                                     |
| ------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 2024.05.21-24 | Chicago, US     | [Circularity '24](https://www.greenbiz.com/events/circularity/2024) |
| 2024.05.26-31 | Amsterdam, NL   | [DDD Europe](https://dddeurope.com)                                 |
| 2024.06.07-15 | Oslo, NO        | [NDC Oslo](https://ndcoslo.com)                                     |
| 2024.07.04-07 | Los Angeles, US | [Anime Expo](https://anime-expo.org)                                |
| 2024.08.08-11 | Las Vegas, US   | [Def Con 32](https://defcon.org)                                    |
| 2024.10.19-21 | Las Vegas, US   | [WWWY](https://www.whenwewereyoungfestival.com)                     |

## Thoughts

|            |                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 2024.05.03 | surprise! you can append ".txt" to my posts [like this](https://taylor.town/two-toucans-canoe.txt)                                                                                         |
| 2024.05.02 | addicted to rss                                                                                                                                                                            |
| 2024.05.02 | my dentist tried to spit-shine my teeth; the whole experience left a sour taste in my mouth                                                                                                |
| 2024.04.23 | of course you can put soy sauce in coffee                                                                                                                                                  |
| 2024.04.22 | things "worth noting" are often worth nothing                                                                                                                                              |
| 2024.04.18 | 5214 weekends per century                                                                                                                                                                  |
| 2024.04.18 | It's not a fart -- it's a "cheeze breeze".                                                                                                                                                 |
| 2024.04.18 | my calm space algorithm: fix broken stuff, move non-furniture off the floor, send stuff to goodwill, make surfaces sparkle, make outside alive, put all possible materials toward projects |

## Finds

|            |                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 2024.05.03 | [fish seeds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=463QvdslCmQ)                                                                                                             |
| 2024.05.02 | [volleyball with feet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IIFmsmpjLM)                                                                                                   |
| 2024.05.02 | [probably a metaphor for living](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3gef1Wn9BE)                                                                                         |
| 2024.05.02 | [benefits of inconvenience](https://jacobfilipp.com/fuben-eki-the-benefits-of-inconvenience/)                                                                         |
| 2024.04.29 | [metal pipe falling in fifteen languages](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EclG23YBFQo)                                                                                |
| 2024.04.26 | [a surprisingly sane manifesto against dog ownership](https://mattlakeman.org/2020/03/21/against-dog-ownership/)                                                      |
| 2024.04.24 | [modernist churches](https://www.dezeen.com/2024/04/24/sacred-modernity-brutalist-churches-book-jamie-mcgregor-smith/)                                                |
| 2024.04.23 | [the future funk tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Ld60tQAdI)                                                                                               |
| 2024.04.22 | [understanding svg paths](https://www.nan.fyi/svg-paths)                                                                                                              |
| 2024.04.21 | [a country where people can kill others](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/GRGG70M5R/a-country-where-people-can-kill-others)                                          |
| 2024.04.18 | [measured take on seed oil theory](https://dynomight.net/seed-oil/)                                                                                                   |
| 2024.04.18 | more interesting facts about Jesus's foreskin [for laymen](https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-happened-to-jesus-foreskin) and [serious academics](/ring-of-flesh.pdf) |

## Books

|       |                                     |                                                           |
| ----: | ----------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------- |
| ★★★★★ | [review](/books#synthesis-form)     | _Notes on the Synthesis of Form_ :: Christopher Alexander |
|  ★★★★ | [review](/books#bears-fire)         | _Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories_ :: Terry Bisson   |
|    ★★ | [review](/books#phlebas)            | _Consider Phlebas_ :: Iain M. Banks                       |
|    ★★ | [review](/books#lawns-meadows)      | _Lawns into Meadows_ :: Owen Wormster                     |
|     ★ | [review](/books#court-thorns-roses) | _A Court of Thorns and Roses_ :: Sarah J. Maas            |

## Music

|      |                                                          |
| ---: | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| ★★★★ | The Daysleepers :: _Drowned In a Sea of Sound_           |
|  ★★★ | Papadosio :: _Pattern Integrities_                       |
|  ★★★ | POLIÇA :: _Shulamith_                                    |
|  ★★★ | Motion City Soundtrack :: _I Am The Movie_               |
|   ★★ | Modest Mouse :: _We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank_ |
|    ★ | Tom Waits :: _Closing Time_                              |
|    ★ | Shinichiro Yokota :: _I Know You Like It_                |