A very important person in retailing new English Language books in the US and the UK, perhaps. Guessing that 80%+ of the global literate population haven’t heard of, or been influenced by, him. Doesn’t seem like he has much presence in the used book market either, where I spend most of my shekels. Or online.

This is not an article on “the new age of reading”. It’s a puff piece about the personal life of one UC businessman with great influence in mass-marketing middle-brow new books in the English Language through brick-and-mortar retail spaces. Seems like a nice guy, though. Hope he does good work. Shame to hear Foyles got bought out.

And, for several others, I have physically cut out and disposed of offending chapters or introductions using the same physical technique as the article suggests. Deeply emotionally satisfying, and not an option available for DRM e-books, as far as I know. And again, a book lover.

Hmm, music that takes refuge from its critics by claiming to be better than it sounds, and also claiming it’s the listener’s fault if they don’t get it (i.e. they just aren’t trying hard enough, blaming the customer). Must ask if the game was worth the candle at that point. Experiments? If so, then a very low-yield experimental program, given the listening public’s general disdain for the genres in 2026, after 50 or so years of due consideration.

Who made me the genius I am today The mathematician that others all quote? Who's the professor that made me that way The greatest that ever got chalk on his coat?

[Chorus] One man deserves the credit One man deserves the blame And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name Oy, Nicolai Ivanovich Lobach—

[Interlude] I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: Plagiarize

[Verse 1] Plagiarize Let no one else's work evade your eyes Remember why the good Lord made your eyes So don't shade your eyes But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize Only be sure always to call it please, "research"

[Chorus] And ever since I meet this man My life is not the same And Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name Oy, Nicolai Ivanovich Lobach—

[Interlude] I am never forget the day I am given first original paper to write It was on analytic and algebraic topology Of locally Euclidean metrizations Of infinitely differentiable Riemannian manifolds

Боже мой

This I know, from nothing What I'm going to do I think of great Lobachevsky and get idea, haha

[Verse 2] I have a friend in Minsk Who has a friend in Pinsk Whose friend in Omsk Has friend in Tomsk With friend in Akmolinsk His friend in Alexandrovsk Has friend in Petropavlovsk Whose friend somehow is solving now The problem in Dnepropetrovsk And when his work is done Haha, begins the fun From Dnepropetrovsk to Petropavlovsk By way of Iliysk and over Novorossiysk To Alexandrovsk to Akmolinsk To Tomsk to Omsk To Pinsk to Minsk To me the news will run Yes, to me the news will run

[Verse 3] And then I write by morning, night And afternoon, and pretty soon My name in Dnepropetrovsk is cursed When he finds out I published first

[Chorus] And who made me a big success And brought me wealth and fame? Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name Oy, Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachev—

[Interlude] I am never forget the day my first book is published Every chapter I stole from somewhere else Index I copy from old Vladivostok telephone directory This book was sensational! Pravda—well, Pravda—Pravda said: "Жил-был король когда-то, при нём блоха жила”…it stinks But Izvestia! Izvestia said: "Я иду туда, куда сам царь идёт пешком”…it stinks Metro-Goldwyn-Moskva buys the movie rights for six million rubles Changing title to 'The Eternal Triangle' With Ingrid Bergman playing part of hypotenuse

[Chorus] And who deserves the credit? And who deserves the blame? Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name Oy

(Tom Lehrer put all of his work in the public domain prior to his passing. Find versions of his performances on YouTube.)

https://tomlehrersongs.com/disclaimer/

Superficially smart, smug, supercilious and (ironic, eh) emotionally satisfying…but ultimately very foolish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_%28codename%29

https://olasquid.com/en/delicious-jellyfish-dishes/

What about performers so outrageous they may not qualify as a “real person”? Say, Keith Richards? Or Ozzy Osborne? Is there some hazy intermediate category for such liminal artists?

Until I played around with AI companions. Ugh. Bells went off in my head immediately and dropped any engagement after a few minutes. Burn it with fire.

https://www.monroeinstitute.org/pages/early-history-research...

Cavalry was never that important in the military experiences of Americans since its founding a mere 250 years ago, whereas lots of folks served in the infantry — Civil War through WWII. The US, moreover, is essentially a 20th Century country; infantry, tanks, air forces, etc. is 20th Century warfare; and American football echoes those 20th Century technologies.

The romantic ideal and practical effectiveness of cavalry over many centuries, ending in the 20th Century/WWI, made it much more deeply ingrained in the European (Old World) psyche. Soccer is cavalry, thus Europe and past colonies gravitated towards it.

A few decades ago, sales training made the distinction between transactional connections and relational, suggesting a relational connection between you and your clients was far superior and more powerful than a mere transactional one. I’d imagine that would be even more true if you are considering a (lifelong) marriage with your “client” and perhaps children in the offing.

Gave up on the video halfway when the notion of an actual emotional, much less spiritual, relationship didn’t pop up once. AI slop? I’d downvote if I could…