FIRST THINGS FIRST
I’ve been obsessed with this image of a cat drinking egg water with the caption “cat drinking egg water.” If you know what it means, don’t tell me.
IN OTHER NEWS
Lightning McQueen from Disney Pixar’s Cars is Chechen—or so I infer from one of the more deranged Russian public telegram accounts called “Reviews of Cars.” Apparently the number 95 is the region code of the Chechen Republic. Coincidence?
NO!
I looked up “Disney Pixar Cars Chechnya” and found this genuine entry on the World of Cars Fandom Wiki. Make of it what you will.
THE BROTHERS KARSAMAZOV
Speaking of, one of the artists who worked on Disney Pixar’s Cars taught at the terrible school that I briefly attended a decade ago. He once casually mentioned to the class that he enjoyed having sex in front of the mirror, and he also had unlikely monarchist takes on Russian history and despised Dostoevsky for attempting to explode the Czar.
ANYWAY
I finally finished Elden Ring! Went with the Ranni simp ending and uninstalled the damn thing right away so I can have my life back. The Academy was probably my favorite part—so dreamy and quiet, and the wizards with statue heads are among my favorite designs in the game, along with the watchdogs (cats!) and the horrific Caelid wildlife.
FIND THE ALBINAURIC WOMAN
It does deflate after the second big lift, and I can’t help but feel that trimming it down some 25-50% or delaying it for a year would’ve sweetened the final impressions. Also, some of the cut content is baffling, especially the merchant hole and the mimic quest. FromSoft’s finest parts were always these weird stories and details, and I hope they can lean into that instead of bloating the map with plants and caravans and all that videogamey matter.
WOULD YOU LISTEN TO THIS
My friend Laurie of Angel Pen has been making excellent mixes on Particle FM, and I have a very small contribution in the Valentine’s Day show from this year. Anyway, here’s a couple more things lifted from (a different) deranged Russian public telegram channel:
NFT POX
Speaking of, I was recently asked to talk about the AI illustration threat, and I think I was expected to say impassioned things in defense of the working illustrator, but honestly, I have nothing to say. The whole thing strikes me as largely embarrassing and tasteless, so far at least, and the stuff that it threatens to replace is the absolute worst of illustration. If it inspires people to come up with something new, great—the industry needs a kick in the genitals. My friend Erik of Design Harder wrote a good piece on the matter.
PS. DEAL OF THE CENTURY
If you always wanted to get one of my prints from Room50, but felt that you would only pay 90% of their price, here’s a secret promo-code which will give you a 10% discount: MURADOV10
PPS. BAK2BAY
I’m going to SF for a week first week of August. Hopefully it won’t be on fire again, and I won’t get run over by a vengeful Pixar employee.