Phil's Newsletter #45

A blind delegation

CommentShare

Previously on Phil’s Newsletter: I got a Roland SoundCanvas, and teased a big announcement on the 15th.

You can pay for this newsletter to get some perks and directly support me. 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.

—

We announced the Regional and Grand Prize winners in OpenCV AI Competition 2021. What a long, strange, trip it has been. I’m so proud to have been able to shine a light on these amazing projects. Check out their final submission videos on the official Competition page.

—

As per usual, my reach has exceeded my grasp. I had the best of intentions for the newsletter the last few weeks, but… well. Work has been crazy and I have a lot to do still before the big Kickstarter launch on 9/15. With that in mind, please enjoy this double newsletter.

A Week In The Life

I wrote this for last week, so it’s time shifted by 7 days. Er… 8. Whatever. You get it. - Phil

On Sunday after playing some Star Wars: Battlefront 2 with my nephew (we lost a bunch but I leveled up and went on a killstreak with an AT-ST, it was a good time) I finally sat down to add produce and export Episodes 21 and 22 of OpenCV Weekly Webinar. I got titles added, I had to re-export Ep 21 twice because of a rogue voice clip decided to take up residence in the middle of someone else talking and I did not notice. Wrote the YouTube description, set Ep 21 to go live at 6:00am Monday, and went to bed about 12:30am.

Monday I woke up at 4:30am, 6am, and 8am. 8am finally stuck. I got up and took my “daily” vitamins and supplements, hopped in the shower, wolfed down some oatmeal and too much coffee.

Had a meeting with Microsoft and Intel about the go to market plan for OpenCV AI Competition 2021. Leveled up my Assault class in Battlefront 2 a little bit. The more I play it the more it feels like they resigned TF2 and made it slightly worse in most ways- but it’s fun to play with Ev and so I do not care. Went to bed around midnight.

Tuesday morning I popped out of bed at 7am. It was no use. Spent all day writing press release and blog post drafts. This day flew by. At 4:00 I put on the simulcast for RetroStrange Movie Night: IRL, and watched that for awhile. Did some mod spelunking on my Fallout: New Vegas installation. Fixed some bugs I was hitting. Ended sup killing a save file with 20+ hours into it, though, which was a bummer. Started a new game as an unarmed / guns monster. Went to bed around midnight.

Wednesday, 8:30am wake up time. Watched another episode of Family Matters. Had a meeting with tomorrow’s guest on OpenCV Weekly Webinar. Recorded a quick promo for the Kickstarter just for fun. Wrote another draft of that script. Hoping to have a rough cut of a video by Friday. Weird end to the night that I can’t share here for privacy reasons. Got to bed around midnight thirty.

Thursday, a goddamn blur. Up with the dawn. Watched 1 episode of Family Matters. The one where Will “The Thrill” Morgan teaches Carl not to live vicariously through his son. As of today I’m running the OpenCV AI Kit campaign again. Someone really cool matched with me on Hinge. I am going to buy her so many lizards. Slept around 2am.

Friday: Long day to complete OpenCV AI Competition and OpenCV Kickstarter content in advance of those huge launches. Video editing, generating certificates and other assets, coordinating the social media posts and all that across multiple projects at once takes it out of you. Slept around 2am.

Saturday / Sunday: Worked all weekend in a blur, breaking to watch AEW’s pay-per-view All Out, which was just a hell of a show top to bottom. One of the best nights of pro wrestling I’ve seen in ages. Slept at 10pm Saturday, 2am Sunday.

—

Jessica Nelson Critiques A Couple of Phil’s Favorite Beatles Songs, Pt. 2 of ??

Jessica Nelson is my sister-in-law, mother to my dear nephews Henry and Ev, practitioner of Pilates, and writer of her own newsletter. Go subscribe to it. I asked her to use her Beatles fandom to critique some of my favorites. The following are her unedited words. - Phil

—

Back for more Beatles? How delightful!

This time we’ll take a listen to “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “Taxman.” Buckle up, babies. You’re now on the Beatle bus. (Fuck! Buses usually don’t have seatbelts. I fucked that one up. I mean I could have said, “Step right this way for the Magical Mystery Tour” but no, I say Beatle bus… Stay with me here, folks. I’ll recover. Promise.)

First, I have a little explaining to do. Previously I mentioned that I love George Harrison when making a reference to “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” which may seem odd since it’s a Lennon song. But, growing up, I watched the movie Help! many, many times and George’s expressions in this video are seared in my mind. It was the first time I realized; George is funny! 

This song is fucking sad. I’ve sung it mindlessly so many times and never really let the words sink in. I think it’s because the music hides that pain. I mean that tambourine makes life a little better, no? I get it, John. Life sucks when you’ve experienced rejection from a loved one. That’s why it is so important that we develop a strong sense of self-love and self-compassion. That way when "all those clowns gather round" you can proudly stand tall and let your love shine brightly. Fuck ‘em! Also, I would bet that the Beatles would support my stance here now. They were all about finding peace and love. Hiding your love away does not achieve that goal.

Speaking of George, let’s look at one he did write, not just make funny faces on. “Taxman” is pretty punk rock in its message. This one ranks in my top 15. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a tax dodger and I totally understand the need for a fair tax rate to keep the home fires burning in any country but being taxed 90% of your earnings is just ridiculous. Furthermore, George was protesting the use of tax dollars to pay for the manufacture of military weapons. The first of several Beatles protest songs. I really like the energy of this one. Gets me all keyed up, wanting to stick it to the man and whatnot. 

Well, that’s all for this week. Maybe Phil will have me back. Maybe not. I never did recover from that stupid Beatle bus reference. Sorry guys. I’ll try harder next time.

—

The Next Movie Night Is Sept 14th

We’re welcoming back that flying friend to children, Gamera. You can watch along live at the NODE in Downtown Niles, MI, or on RetroStrange.TV at 7pm Michigan time, 4pm Pacific.

The Good Links

Still, I toil. Welcome to the Link Zone

So that’s the newsletter this week. We’re officially moving to Fridays at noon Pacific for the publication date.

Media-wise I’ve been marathoning the 90s TGIF show Family Matters, which is not a sentence I ever expected to type. There is something so dear and simple about it. It smells like big square “party pizza” from Little Caesars and video rental stores. Also: Re-watching the original Star Warses.

— Phil Nelson

Wizard Tower Gamma, South of Market, San Francisco, California, United States of America, Earth

09.10.2021

CommentShare
← Previous