Mac on Missouri

"There's no shore where I am. But there probably will

be in 50 years!"

- Mac Tonnies, 2/10/06

Mac on a rock...

"Last January I had the opportunity to speak to a UFO group in Sedona, AZ. What a cool place. Like being on Mars...

I climbed a big rock and, being weird, recited Roy Batty's closing monologue when I reached the top: 'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe . . .'"

- Mac Tonnies, 2/7/06

To refresh your memory of Roy Batty's closing monologue, click here.

PHB 4/6/07

"There's a strange symmetry at work here: if Earth becomes intolerably hot within the next 100-200 years, we might discover that Mars has taken the first steps toward effectively terraforming itself, making it that much more important in terms of human settlement. Ironically, our trashing of Earth's climate may hasten our first efforts to colonize Mars, thereby helping to ensure the human legacy isn't wiped out in some quite unguessable orgy of destruction."

- Mac Tonnies, PHB post 4/6/07

PHB 3/29/08

"It's not that I don't try to be optimistic. It's that I've become aware that I'm living in a society that's about to end in a most unceremonious manner. And we're not necessarily blind to the brick wall bearing down on us; on the contrary, I think we see it all too well. The gestures and symbols are intended to be useless in precisely the same way that last month's cellphones are intended to be thrown out when the fake chrome starts to chip."

- Mac Tonnies, PHB post 3/29/08

History Repeating Itself

Just found this on YouTube; "The Rachel Maddow Show" from May, 26, 2010. I think she really puts the Gulf Oil Spill 2010 in perspective... by comparing it, element by element, to the Gulf Oil Spill in 1979.

But, why stop there? Our oceans have been consistently polluted by oil... Here's the 10 top oil spills from 2009.

Cartoons on a Saturday

Bugs Bunny meets the X-Files... gotta love the gremlin! :-)

Found Object #4

"I've got an atom-emblazoned T-shirt (not seen in the snapshot I sent). BTW, I don't go around with my shirts unbuttoned in real life, as the glare

from my pale chest might blind and/or distract passersby..."

Mac Tonnies - 8/20/08

I had reason to go into my old off-line Imac the other day... presently an obsolete artifact, but, additionally my own personal "Black Vault", storing my old websites, old graphics and pre-2009 email correspondence. The latter is comprised in part by a wealth of emails from Mac, which I'd been reluctant to read in full... that is, till the other day.

The dragonfly-Mac-avatar ("snapshot") was attached to an email dated October 20, 2008. Apparently he was attempting to create an avatar for "Second Life". I've never been involved with "Second Life" (as I have enough problems with Life #1!), so I don't know what he ended up using. His explanation for the wings: "They're just a momentary affectation... just for the whimsy of it."

Found Objects #2 and #3

"I'm sympathetic to the idea of avatars functioning as helpers in the real world. I don't see them as omniscient AIs anytime soon, but I can see the idea taking off alongside augmented reality schemes and different forms of automation. A virtual me, for example, could "hold down the fort" online while I'm away.

It's a schizophrenic notion - and perhaps only that - but I don't think it's crazy or unfounded."

- Mac Tonnies, from a comment on a 2008 PHB post

"Manga Mac", dated 8/19/08.

The Dead Sea

"It could take years, possibly decades, for the system to recover from an infusion of this quantity of oil and gas," Joye said. "We've never seen anything like this before. It's impossible to fathom the impact."

Up-to-the-minute blues...

Also: here and here...

Mac's Interviews

I've just added a list of Mac's online interviews to the sidebar. If you know of any additional interview links, please let me know and I'll add them to the list. Thanks!

Found Object

"Paul ("The Other Side of Truth") Kimball's been working on a publicity poster for the Symposium. His first effort, while superficially striking, needed some work. So I helped him out a bit and he came up with something considerably more effective...

Feel free to print this out (preferably in color) and hand out to the unsaved. (Want the full-size version? Who can blame you?) ;-)"

Found on Posthuman Blues, posted September 14, 2006.

Banishing the Monday Blues

If you love all things Asian, like I do, then head on over to Pink Tentacle, one of Mac's favorite sites, and feast your eyes on the latest exhibit of some vintage Japanese steamship travel posters. So pretty!

Identified Failing Object

"I wouldn't say it's failed yet," BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. "What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn't work."

Go tell it to the swimmers in Alabama currently dodging tar balls...

I'd really like to move off this topic, gang... and, really, I will try. Really I will.

A Room With a View...

Mac's office space - photo found on his Flickr pages
(click to enlarge)

... to Mars, that is. The map was an insert from an old Times magazine sent to him by a friend.

Found in my vaults.

Mac's kitty, Ebe, relaxing in the captain's chair. While the small orange blob on the floor might be an alien life-form, it might also be an orange peel. You be the judge.

And, below is the 2007 Blogging the Singularity interview w/ Chris Williamson that took place in the same room, too.

It's not (only) the oil, stupid...

Apparently, all the dead turtles and jellyfish suddenly washing up on the Mississippi shore are "clean" of any evidence of oil... but I wonder if anyone is addressing the dispersants used to clean up the BP mess? See video below...

Apocalypse Now

I generally try to avoid current events, but I've had to make an exception regarding the latest BP oil-spill... Let's face it, people go to jail for drugs... not so for creating massive ecological disasters.

And, it goes without saying that one posthuman we all knew is spinning in the aether.

P.S. So, what about a worthy image for "your brain on drugs"? My pick is "Turkish Delight" by sylverdali. Hell, we could all use some right now... delight that is... ;-)

Post-Mac Blues

Yes, I've changed the title of this blog again. Belatedly, I realized that the blog was appearing as "Mac Tonnies" without the "memorial" bit, making it appear, well, sort of like false advertising. "Post-Mac Blues" is more to the point.

Yves.Leqoc

Browsing around and just had to share this photographer. His name is Yves.Lecoq and his surrealist images are amongst some of the most amazing I've ever seen. Trust me, and check them out at his Flickr.com gallery!