Phil's Newsletter #26

The Door Is A Jar

Previously on Phil’s Newsletter: We got back to… taking it back. I wrote about my hurt fee-fees.

You can subscribe to this newsletter to get some perks and directly support me. If newsletters ain’t your bag, I’ve got a Patreon, too. Phil’s Newsletter is brought to you by paid subscribers Jessica Nelson, Jeff Powers, Vikas Reddy, David Demchuk, Ian Scott, Adam Rodnitzky, and Kat Angus. You are each, individually, the best.

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This morning’s edition of OpenCV Weekly, the webinar series I host every Thursday at 9am, featured Tyler Compton of AOTU.ai. Tyler and Satya discussed Video AI pitfalls and solutions and as always we took some questions from the audience. This week’s pro wrestling shirt: This Is The Worst Town I’ve Ever Been In

Published this week: OpenCV AI Competition 2021 Highlights and Team Profiles Part 1. I wrote this post highlighting some of our favorite videos and pics from the early part of #OAK2021. In it you will learn about a super Lego robot named Charlie, how to control a jet with your face, and more. It got to #2 on Hacker News last night. Cool.

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The Door Is A Jar

I have a deep abiding love for The Bacon Grease Jar. I mostly eat vegetarian these days, at least until vegan cheese technology improves, but I do sometimes grab a pack of bacon. I savor the bacon, and I savor it’s sweet sweet grease. After cooking any, I filter the grease through two layers of cheese cloth into an old pasta sauce jar. The pic above is 2-3 cookings worth, carefully strained into a (relatively) air tight container and kept away from the light and heat to maximize its longevity.

A little bit of this goes into practically everything I make, and a little goes a long way. Adding to the The Jar is one of those processes that must be done in a specific way, and you need to pay attention. It requires just enough focus that when your mind wanders, it wanders only along the path of The Jar. When I am pouring grease from the tilted baking sheet or skillet, I imagine my mother and father doing this, my grandmother and grandfather, their parents, stretching back beyond my knowledge of our bloodline. All of us alike in that single moment gazing intently, if not slightly dreamily, at the slow yellow drip.

Time is never time at all. Hail The Jar.

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New on the Extra Future blog: Where to Find Phil Online April 2021 Edition, a list of all my active haunts and projects for the Phil completist.

Speaking of blogs, I've been using Linode as my web host for like entire 10 years. I’ve built tiny blogs and million-dollar storefronts with them. They're very affordable, plans start at $5 for your own virtual server, and support has always been responsive. If you’re looking for your first web host, or looking to leave your current provider, look no further. Sign up with my code and I get a little kickback

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RetroStrange TV and Movie Night

You can watch my intro for Movie Night #23 on the RetroStrange YouTube channel. For the next movie night we’re bringing the DEVIL MOVIES. The kind your momma warned you about.

Join us on May 1st for Lon Chaney in The Devil’s Messenger, and City of the Dead starring the the one and only Christopher Lee. More info on the RS blog post.

We also added some content to the RetroStrange TV channel for the first time since launch, and increased the quality of the feed. It’s still low bitrate and meant for bad bandwidth scenarios, but it looks a lot better.

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Thank You, Patrons

This is the card that shows every single RetroStrange Movie Night, and I’m gonna start posting it here every month too. My Patrons, and you newsletter subscribers, have helped me through a really hard time in my life when I felt absolutely worthless. Thank you.

1993 Divergent League ALCS, NLCS, and World Series

The Divergent League season is winding down, with the Chicago White Sox winning the ALCS. In the NL we are left with Charle’s Expos down 3-2 against his son Henry’s Giants. The final game of the NLCS broadcasts tomorrow, Friday the 23rd, at 5pm PDT.

Phil’s Good Links

As I type this I am watching The Doughnuts on my TV channel. I love that this just happens. I love my TV channel.

• This 1-bit graphics shading/dithering guide is amazing and I want to smooch it

• During a trail it has been proven that Baltimore Police carried fake guns to plant on their victims

• This will either be word salad to you or it will give you ASMR: 1977 Heathkit H8 loading Benton Harbor BASIC

• The original sketches for the aliens in Space Invaders

• I mean, I knew but now we know: Laziness doesn’t exist

• The writing on the wall is neon: Coal miners’ union lobbies for jobs in renewable energy

• This post uses the metaphor “Green” .vs. “Brown” programming languages, and shows how over time the new ones become about as disliked as the old ones

• I never tire of being reminded that Prince’s PR team distributed floppy disks to media orgs with the Love Symbol on it when he changed his name

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Someone told me I need to post most photos of myself or it’s not a real newsletter. I bought a new shirt. This is what I look like right now:

It cost $40 and that seems insane to me which is why I am scowling in the photo. You’re welcome for the glimpse into my bathroom. Yes, that is a tray I use when I take baths. I am a fancy boy.

Whelp that is another Phil’s Newsletter down. Officially half a year of these. Happy Earth Day, I guess. Thank you for reading this, and thanks for your support. See you next time.

— Phil Nelson

Wizard Tower Gamma

extrafuture.com

4.22.21