Author: dave-o

If you’re looking for a monstrously overwritten 1870s guide to NYC brothels, then you’re in luck!

…’cause the whole damn thing is digitized online: and free for all: A Vest Pocket Guide to Brothels in 19th-Century New York for Gentlemen on the Go

Choice bits include these sick burns on pg. 19 (original page numbering):

Text from "A Gentleman's Directory (of NYC Brothels)" published in 1870. Reads: "The establishment Spring street is a house of assignation kept by Hattie Taylor, It is 8 third class house where may be found the lowest class of conrtezans. It is patronized by roughs and rowdies, and gentlemen who turn their shirts wrong side out when the other side is dirty. The house NO. 114 PPL05 is kept by Mrs. Palmer. It is a low eatablishment and frequented only by the fagends of the community."

and this bit:

Text from "A Gentleman's Directory (of NYC Brothels)" published in 1870. Reads: "No. 127 W. 26th street is & ladies boarding house of the second class, kept by Madame Buemont. There is a report of a bear being kept in the cellar, but for what reason may be inferred. There is not anything else attractive about the place."

I’m gonna admit that I’m extremely naive and just say it: I cannot infer the reason the bear is kept in the cellar. Our sex ed class didn’t cover this. Can someone please explain?

I also love the reasoning highlighted on pg. 7 (annotation #3), because it’s literally Skinner’s “I was only there to get directions on how to get away from there!” gag from the the old “Marge vs. the Burlesque House” episode of The Simpsons:

“In the Sharing Place”—now available in Farsi!

My SF-horror story “In the Sharing Place” is now available in Farsi at Metaphorspace, thanks to the work of editor Amir Sepahram:

در محل اشتراک

I’ve gotta say, I especially love the treatment they (and presumably some A.I.) gave my author photo, making me look at least 60% more dashing and restoring both my hair color and widow’s peak (which latter I don’t think I’ve seen in the mirror since the early 2000s):

Comic-book style author photo of David Erik Nelson, courtesy of Amir Sepahram and Metaphorspace magazine: https://metaphorspace.com/tag/david-erik-nelson/

I look like the colleague that turns out to be the villain in a mid-1980s Indiana Jones comic!

Recommended Listen: Rick Rubin interviews Tom Hanks

Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin: Tom Hanks

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t always agree with Rubin’s choice of guests. But when this show is good, it’s really, really good. This episode with Tom Hanks is a really good one. I always love listening to accomplished craftsmen discuss craft (as I’ve said before, if there was a documentary interviewing accomplished old plumbers called “Talking Toilets,” I’d be there). In part, I just enjoy hearing the intricacies of any craft. But I also like the consistency that I hear across crafts and craftspeople, and it boils down to something like this:

In order to be good at a craft, we need to accept and embrace the fact that we are an intelligent conduit for that craft. We are nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

Hanks says basically that in a gajillion little different ways here, and each is worth hearing.

AI “Art” I Sorta Like: “Pooky Park”

OK, those scare quotes are unfair; this is indeed art, even if the creator is phoning in bits where he or she could certainly have applied a small amount and greatly improved their work.

Yes, “Pooky Park” is credited like so:

This is an AI-generated 1950s TV commercial for a family theme park called Pooky Park, where customers are chased by giant, somewhat terrifying puppets. Script: ChatGPT Photos: Midjourney Video: PikaLabs, Runway

That leaves the impression that someone typed “Make a 1950s TV commercial for a family theme park called Pooky Park, where customers are chased by giant, somewhat terrifying puppets” into ArtGT, hit the GO! button, and it pooped out this short, festive romp whole.

But that’s not how any of these tools work. For example, I can tell you from experience that Runway only gives you three or so seconds of footage at a time. The creator is eliding the fact that a lot has gone into editing the visuals and creating the audio. Yes, the script sounds like it’s straight ChatGPT (“Colossal howdy-doody-type puppets”? 🙄), and us thus hella week. But this is still an excellent creative application of new artistic tools—evidenced by the fact that I watched it and shared it not because of the gimmick (“AI made this!!!1!“), but because it captivated me and entertained me and unsettled me and made me want to share it with other people so they could be captivated and entertained and unsettled, too. And that, my best belovéd, is what art is all about.

UPDATE: we nuked $1.1 million in medical debt

Remember this project from last November?

$10 will erase $1000 of Medical Debt in Michigan RIGHT NOW! 💸

Well, for those who like closure:

Y’all did it!

Just before Xmas we closed out the project, having raised a bit more than $10,000 with your help. The end result was the abolition of $1,114,133.50 in shitty medical debt, freeing 2,006 Michiganders across 17 counties from one more dumb late-stage capitalism headache:

Eliminate-Medical-Debt-in-MichiganDownload

Bummed that you missed out on this project? Then I have excellent news:

You and your pals can start your own! The folks at RIP Medical Debt are super sweet and helpful, and it’s a blast.

I want that to be the takeaway here: there are plenty of religious and moral and political and ethical reasons to work on a project like this, but I still believe the best reason to do it is that it is fun. Every day, multiple times each day, it would occur to me: We’re going to nuke a million dollars of medical debt. And just that thought, that a bunch of us regular folk going about our regular lives could do just a little something more and move such a big goddamn rock—it’d make me laugh. It literally tickled me, that notion. And it worked! And that cracks me up, every time it comes to mind.

Good job, all! When you start your project and need a little dough to nuke a little bad medical debt, hit me up.