8.217. Things I Think I Think

In this topsy-turvy reality few things are truly certain. Death, for now, and taxes continue to be stalwarts, but other sure-fire bets aren’t so sure anymore. So, here are a few things I think I think…

  1. The Gaza ceasefire ends in a bloodbath: The fact remains that Bibi wants to hold on to power and war gives him that option. Elections are approaching and once he gets the hostages back later today, the expectation will be that he pulls the troops all the way back. That is not going to happen. He’s too closely aligned with the No-more-Gaza contingent to do anything less than a full re-escalation. I think he finds a way to kick things back off. The Wall Street Journal already hinted at such, claiming Hamas has refused to leave the area. We’re well into the genocide stages now folks, and the victims will be blamed for the next decade. After, blowback is gonna be a bitch.
  2. Parity is coming to everyone but the Power 4: Football prediction, folks. I’ve watched the FCS start to lose cohesion because voters are ranking by logo and are constantly surprised when an unranked or unheard of team gets hot. It is good for the sport, and it is going to happen more. Football is more and more about money, and the people who have it are at the Power 4 level. Everyone else is just playing second fiddle. Once those top talent kids (or top rated) get paid, they’ll realize they cannot play where they are at and they are going to hit the portal for a chance to play. That chance more often than not will come at the FCS level. These are hungry clubs with limited resources, but a great chance to start and earn the clout and numbers to claw back up into the P4 where the payday hits. A lot of teams will be talented.
  3. AI Authors are on the way: Type.AI, Squibler (I hate these silly names), SudoWrite, AuthorCraft…. We are mainstreaming AI writing. It is cheaper and faster to produce books that are not actually written by people. I suspect the romance genre will be the first hit, because so many of the plot elements are coded into the genre. Thrillers will follow closely…
  4. AI movies are on the way: Shane Black’s latest film feels like AI Slop. Not sure that it isn’t. It may feature real actors, but the stuntwork is performed at the level of GTA 6. While the Guardian praised the film it it’s review, the truth is much sadder. 2 out of 10 and that is Sunday generosity. At some point in the film the actors chucked their characters and began to freestyle the roles. That was probably better.

8.216. Reflections on a Saturday

I always find it interesting how we shape meaning around our own upbringing and culture. For example, because we call it Saturday there is an expectation that everyone else does too. That isn’t the case at all. In fact it is surprising that we have a almost universally agreed upon standard of seven days. The Egyptians once used 8 while the Aztecs had 13. I won’t even get into the Korean standard. Yet for all of this, my lens of this day is really only ever seen through football this time of year.

My kid won his game. They beat #13 ranked Idaho and put the rest of the Big Sky on proper notice. People kinda knew, but now they legit know. These next few weeks will be different. They are starting to operate with a swagger that the team, as it gets healthy, can back up a bit more. Still need to figure out how to stop the run consistently. That has been a big problem. However, they are headed to California next week to face a surging Sacramento State team that likes to throw. My kid will get the test he wants and we will see how far his game has come.

Meanwhile, Coach Prime got a win against my Cyclones. That’s a big moment for his squad. It makes them relevant in the Big 12 battle for now. The rest of it will be decided by the teams at the very top–if they can sustain their own streaks. However, if Texas Tech takes a loss and The Utes take one as well, the Big 12 will get a lot more interesting.