Knox Bronson ~ Riding The Wild Bubble

Little Alfonsas and Raminta on the shore of the Baltic Sea. I highly recommend  Romualdas's book "Little Alfonsas." It's one of the best photo collections I have ever seen. You can buy it here. It's only fifteen euros!

Just getting back in the Wild Bubble groove. A Saturday morning smorgasbord.

I was researching an episode for FRISCO: The Secret History and I asked Google Gemini to summarize the fallout from the Atherton Report of 1937 and  it listed several true things, but it then spun a tragic story of a policeman's suicide/murder of his family out of thin air. It took me several prompts to get Gemini to admit it was lying. What is it good for?

Simply one of the best books on Bowie I've ever read.

This episode is mostly about my friend Tony Meilandt, who produced Herbie Hancock and The Fine Young Cannibals and died to young, but I do mention a guy named Barlow who was one of the biggest assholes i've ever encountered.

Ruminations on the first hearing of Station To Station.

I asked Google Gemini if this passage from the Old Testament prophesized Trump: “In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.”

A few thoughts and my favorite David Bowie story.

the reason that I am alive by Boris Vian the reason that I am alive the reason that I am alive for the tanned leg of a blonde woman propped against the wall beneath the round sun for the billowing sails of a sleek schooner at the mouth of the harbor the iced coffee sipped through a straw for the caress of sand gazing at the watery deeps turning so blue descending into the deeps with the fish the tranquil fish they calm the bottom of the ocean fly above the seaweed hair like slow birds like blue birds the reason that I am alive because it is beautiful

I think a whole bunch. A couple short vignettes.

I asked Photoshop to create an image of Artificial Intelligence eating the Earth. It gave me R2-D2 with spindly legs holding a globe. Well-done. This episode is about when I was researching New Year's Eve celebrations in San Francisco in the 1930s and 1940s. Google Gemini made up a store I spent hours researching trying to find a primary source, like a newspaper article. I pressed Gemini for attribution and it gave me fake links. It even gave me an actual picture and lied about what was going on in the picture. AI is bullshit.

One of the most amazing theatrical productions I've ever seen. Staged at an abandoned gas station in Sausalito in the summer of 1979. Links to videos at knoxbronson.com.

Little did I know … what a wonderful life was in store for me.

How much did Waymo pay off the California public utilities commission to allow Waymo taxi cabs into San Francisco to block traffic and kill cats? And then the crypto degens move in like ghouls to create a Kit Kat meme coin. Stop the world I want to get off.

The Rich are just trying to figure out how to take even more and leave us less. And it’s all a scam. AI is bullshit as are their robots and Robo taxis. The image with this podcast is where somebody apparently accidentally set fire to a Waymo taxi cab. I do not advocate for such disregard for safety measures.

Random thoughts of mine & two jokes from one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century.

Lots of wannabe gurus in this timeline.

I wanted to share this article. I read on medium.com. As a favor to my listeners, I added my own six sentences that I think would work way better than the ones in the article. You’re welcome.