Letter from a Region in My Mind by James Baldwin for The New Yorker, 1962:
If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.
JCP: Now we’re all on Twitter and Instagram. We can see at least a version of ourselves that we want to put out to the world, which is still more than when you had to find that one article of the band where they had a few paragraphs. You had to read it. You didn’t get to see video of the person that’s speaking.
It’s just so much easier to connect to people now. There less mystery involved. I think back then, everyone just seemed way cooler than they probably were.
TM: This is brought up a bunch because of the time period of some of these bands and their age. You knew it before [the internet/connectivity], and now you have it. You have this context of being able to know when you didn’t have it and that feeling, versus someone today who’s younger doesn’t. They’ve only always had a phone. They’ve always had Wikipedia.
You talked about that feeling, but it’s also that sense of discovery. It felt like you were turning a page of a book that you’d never opened before. That feeling I try and replicate as much as I can today.
More and more I realize how detached I am from new music. As much as I looked forward to the new Cursive, Minus the Bear, Saves the Day, and Thrice records, they are new records from old bands. Plus, there was little for me to chew on aside from the music itself. Little in the way of liner-notes, thank yous, etc. Or maybe it’s just my lack of focus, time, and energy.
Even more is that my pendulum of consumption has swung far in the opposite direction of video games to books this year. I don’t think I’ve finished a single game I’ve purchased in 2018.
Together, I now get the sense of discovery I used to have with music intertwined with the insatiable appetite I had for video games rolled into reading. I’m on pace to read more than I ever have in a single year.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, books are my new albums.
Deep Work by Cal Newport
The complex reality of the technologies that real companies leverage to get ahead emphasizes the absurdity of the now common idea that exposure to simplistic, consumer-facing products—especially in schools—somehow prepares people to succeed in a high-tech economy. Giving students iPads or allowing them to film homework assignments on YouTube prepares them for a high-tech economy about as much as playing with Hot Wheels would prepare them to thrive as auto mechanics.
The ability to play classic games in 4K is one of the most interesting, and sometimes under-discussed, features of the Xbox One X. The system currently provides the only way to play the first _Red Dead Redemption _in 4K, and doing so is absolutely worth your time. The list of Xbox One X-enhanced games that are backward-compatible isn’t huge — there are currently only 21 as of this writing — but there are some jewels in there, from the original Mirror’s Edge to Portal.
I bought a 4K HDR TV last weekend. My first thought after purchasing it was, “PS4 Pro or Xbox One X?”
Thankfully for my wallet, the original PS4 supports HDR, and that’s more meaningful than 4K in my book. But had I owned neither, I’d be all over the Xbox One X.
While the breadth of catalog isn’t there, there’s certainly enough for my casual needs. But most importantly, for cross-platform games, I’d know I’m getting the best console experience on the market. That’s tough to swallow for a snob like me.
Between (enhanced) backwards-compatibility, early adoption of cross-platform multiplayer, and unmatched performance, I agree with Kuchera. This will be a holiday to watch Microsoft.
Moments ago, WSJ broke news that WSJ is breaking Nintendo news.
Earlier this evening, after seeing reviews for Super Mario Party emerge, it dawned on me the appropriateness of the “super” brand in an era of mid-cycle console refreshes. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was a next-gen console at the time, but “Super” now feels like a supreme version of an existing console.
My crack-pot hunch is that this new Switch will be named the “Super Switch” (as opposed to “Switch XL”) and will feature a larger display (smaller bezel), richer speakers, better kickstand placement, and Bluetooth headphone support at a minimum. Just a hunch.
