#granfalloons

[quotessentially]

From Kurt Vonnegut’s Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

[quotelr]

Plato says that the unexamined life is not worth living. But what if the examined life turns out to be a clunker as well?

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

[totesmccoats]

Granfalloon is the real villain of Across the Spider-Verse

In addition to the living existential crisis threatened by The Spot, one of the primary antagonistic forces in Across the Spider-Verse is, ironically, the Spider-Society. Led by Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099), this league of Spider-People is introduced as a specialized strike team with the mission of preserving the integrity of the multiverse by preserving so-called “canon events” – things that…

[gameclam4]

plural vonnegut reader who calls their system a karass

[findasongblog]

Find A Song about wanting to be reborn in a tree

Granfalloon - Why Bury Me in the Graveyard?

I remember falling into a long discussion with my friend Charlotte about burial practices and she introduced me to this idea that she was keen on. That instead of being buried in a cemetery or cremated when she died, Charlotte wanted to be planted as a tree.

It’s certainly a romantic notion. And one filled with all the “good intentions of doing good” that we crave in this environmentally conscious age. I liked the notion. It seemed like fertile ground for a song.

[tonyvasquez]

Unforgettable Bliss The Flaming Lips Wrap Up The Granfalloon Festival

Link: https://www.nuvo.net/music/unforgettable-bliss-the-flaming-lips-wrap-up-the-granfalloon-festival/collection_09fa44da-088f-11ee-a1a6-33c0ee5748d3.html#2

[theangryman]

*Slaughterhouse Five* is absolutely the perfect metaphor for PTSD

time breaks apart, there are a smattering of points that you can cross into without warning

and the only balm it really offers is that maybe if time is fractured it is endless and one can imagine bright moments ever there, that we can someday spend all of our time in the collection of happy memories instead of being helplessly wrenched back into to the past

the small blessing, the exchange for the fact that various people in my life have done things that mean the wrong touch or smell or thought will make it so that it’ll be the third night of three hours of sleep, maybe i am gifted with the ability to pass through time. the way i feel my muscles tense and pupils constrict when i pass certain streets must have given me super powers

compare it to *Cat’s Cradle* - that instead teeters with the idea of saying fuck it, destroy it all. the true depression of my adult life is seeing a “granfalloon” everywhere - the fakeness of most social interactions, the meaninglessness of fandom culture. He describes “Hoosiers” - the utter ridiculousness in finding community with people who are from the same state as you.

“Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.” But he showed how much everything was ugly and pointless and stupid. He showed how much being a human is painful and miserable and there doesn’t appear to be some big G-daddy to give us pie after it is all down

that seems comforting that he was able to sum it to that, a puzzle i can’t understand but seems to promise hope. Emil Cioran died of old age - how do you write *The Trouble of Being Born* and live a long life where you die of old age, seemingly happy?

the atheist problem of evil is a lot more thorny than the religious one, I have to admit

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Raspberries and Goldfish, by Janet Fish.

* * * *

“Artists use frauds to make human beings seem more wonderful than they really are. Dancers show us human beings who move much more gracefully than human beings really move. Films and books and plays show us people talking much more entertainingly than people really talk, make paltry human enterprises seem important. Singers and musicians show us human beings making sounds far more lovely than human beings really make. Architects give us temples in which something marvelous is obviously going on. Actually, practically nothing is going on.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

[csharchive]

© Elle Hodge, 2022

Car Seat Headrest at Granfalloon Festival

[umbrasdoodles]

Next in the Alternate Form Project is Granfalloon! Their beast form is a giant locust to reflect both their locust shadow thralls and their related hivemind ruler nature. Fear the swarm. 

[nikkiiiiiiiiiiiii]

“If you wish to examine a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon.”

[popentertainmentconcertreviews]

Sleater-Kinney – The Belasco Theater – Los Angeles, CA – March 29, 2024

Rounding out one of the last stops on their Little Rope tour, the prolific rock band Sleater-Kinney made sure to not hold anything back from the start – taking the stage in moody silhouettes, before the crowd full of adorning fans was cast in a sea of red lights to kick off the night with their recently released song, “Hell.”

Sleater-Kinney’s unique ability to pair chilling vocals with badass dual guitar riffs, while maintaining high energy with the crowd, shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. The band has nurtured a flourishing career that has spanned three decades and eleven studio albums thus far. While they have reinvented themselves constantly over the years, their grunge punk essence has endured throughout their work.

The group was founded in Olympia, Washington in 1994 by Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, as respite from the bands they were separately part of. They found inspiration within the popular Riot Grrrl movement in North America, and quickly solidified themselves as a key member of the indie rock scene – and one of the only groups from that time to still be cohesive. In its current form, the band is made up of the founding duo who cover both vocals and guitar, Angie Boylan on drums, Toko Yasuda on keys, and Teeny Liberson on guitar & keys.

Little Rope, their latest album released in January 2024, is a strong reflection of the band’s evolution while keeping intact their signature 90s feminist punk sound. Brownstein skillfully got the crowd bobbing their heads to her angsty intro in “Small Finds,” Tucker shined in her emotional depth during “Needlessly Wild,” and they rounded out the night by playing their catchy “Say It Like You Mean It” as one of the encore songs.

While their new material clearly resonated with fans, Sleater-Kinney also made sure to work in the amazing guitar riffs and brazen vocals featured in the hits from their extensive catalog, including “One More Hour,” “A New Wave,” and the enthusiastic melodica-forward “Modern Girl” – much to fans’ delight as they swayed back and forth, singing along.

There are still numerous opportunities to catch a live Sleater-Kinney performance this summer, as they tour Australia in May, are part of several festivals (Granfalloon Festival, Summerfest), and continue to tour US cities across July and August.

Larisa Jiao

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 1, 2024.

Photos by Larisa Jiao © 2024. All rights reserved.

[play-now-my-lord]

that last post of mine should be modified with the understanding of the commodification of identity through consumption of products. while a new phenomenon, it relies on old memes in our culture (the appearance being "literate" or "common" through literary habits, the idea of "elevation" through exposure to fine culture, these are 19th-century or older phenomena), but it is part of a conscious strategy.

in the 1950s it appeared quite possible that in 50 years no one would read books, because reading books was a form of entertainment to people who were adults then, and they near-universally regarded movies and television as denser, more value-efficient forms of entertainment. it was not primarily a form of self-edification. this produced moments of supreme vertigo, and was most foregrounded in the frankly kinda stupid novel Fahrenheit 451. we of course never arrived at a post-literacy society; people if anything read more in the course of their daily lives than they did in the age of the landline.

BUT: all the same, books are one of the products which were thoroughly studied through the lens of marketing demographic research early, and one of the first conclusions researchers reach in any such field is that products can be moved more efficiently by reifying the category, making "horror book reader" or "pickup truck driver" or "long rifle hunter" a socially readable category of person with shared shibboleths, social standing, and most importantly buying habits. the great illusion of late modernity is that these categories proceed from the nature of the things they are imposed on, that they are more or less homogeneous and people are well-served by viewing themselves through them. Vonnegut, writing early in the history of the manufacture of these imagined communities by mass culture, used the word granfalloon to describe them.

literacy is challenged and inflected by this marketing campaign. the experience of reading is nearly universal in the 21st century, and the experience of reading books only ever so slightly less common. but a wide-ranging effort has been made to ensure people are reading roughly the same things, and considering membership in this meaningless majority a sign of higher cultivation and spiritual success.

[tsuki-sennin]

You may have noticed that this watchthrough of King-Ohger has been dead for... months. There's a multitude of reasons for this. Mainly that I keep forgetting or I've been too focused on other things or some game came out, or... I fell off big time.

That is why starting today, I will be rectifying that extensively!

A three-part adventure! Spiders Jeremy allegedly betrays his closest friends! Rita meets their predecessor! We meet Jeramie's hot spider mom! All this and more on Spoilers I guess!

So uh... Spoilers, I guess...

-Oh yeah, I left on this cliffhanger, huh?

-Nooooooo

-"How dare you..."

-Everyone is dead.

-Everybody is comatose in the intro, Jesus fuck

-Gerojim.....

-Evil bug ladies have a tendency to be distressingly hot, so Hilbil frightens me

-"Well, now~! It was you, hmmm?" Jeramie says, barely holding his rage.

-Ohhhhhhhh, straight up holding him back.

-OH GOD I FORGOT ABOUT THIS HELL DIMENSION

-Goddamn Jesters.

-Jingoist Ignition.

-The Lady Leech strikes.

-...I wonder if she's meant to evoke a succubus?

-Jesus this is messed up

-Misapplied patriotism.

-Sooooo, Jeramie... whaddya doin' up there?

-He loves that planet.

-"Wanna help me out~?"

-The clock strikes high noon in the kingdom of Shugoddam. In the dungeon, Gira steps forth to Captain Douga's cell, placing a lantern just in front of the bars.

-Ohhhh...

-"We NEED you!"

-"...oops? Oh well, you can handle it. I know you can :)"

-Their qualifications left on their chairs.

-"Ohsama Sentai Kingohger..."

-"Hiiiiiiiiiiii~!"

-JERAMIE?????

-"I am Jeramie Idmonaarok Ne Brasieri, last of my great line, son of a hero and a gentle-hearted woman, King of the Bognaarok, and the greatest of the Ohsama Sentai! And you can all suck it!"

-What the hell is your game here, Jeramie?

-"Okay, no you just gotta execute me, feed the bugs I shoved into Rita's basement, and make sure that all the humans are happy and we're set :)"

-W-wha...?

-OKAY?????

-Wha????

-Jeramie... You're really going back to square one just for this? There were better ways than this, surely.

-Oh

-Oh I see now.

-A long due big hand for Jeramie Brasieri.

-For Spiders Jeremy.

-Ohhhhh, that's great to hear again.

-"So uh... what's the matter here?"

-HOLY SHIT GIRA HULJ

-Get her ass!

-Insert WOOOO

-That leech has way too much movement.

-Ohger Finiiiiish~!

-Well damn. Got away, did she?

-Seems Dagdaddy took poorly to his in-flight entertainment.

-"I've already waited 2000 years. What's like... two more, really?"

-G

-Grodie

-Oh my god, they have their own Spiders Jeremy.

-Episode 30, okay

-Jeramie refers to himself in the third person.

-Jewelry~!

-Karras...

-That's spelled close enough to "karass", which in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is a Bokononist term referring to a group of people who share a significant connection or higher purpose. This is opposed to "granfalloon", which refers to people who think they're connection is special but really means about as much as two people both being Hoosiers.

-Fairly appropriate, given this is a chief justice.

-Oh come now Rita, you can spare a second for tea, right~?

-"That is my schtick, but to be honest I'm way more worried about you."

-Jeramie...

-Ohhhhhh, the Sanagim!

-You guys are super adorable, I'm glad you guys are... seemingly kinda okay, given the circumstances.

-Freezing!

-Down the lake they go.

-Daaaaaang, you sip so closely.

-She liiiiiikes yoooooou~!

-Awwww, Himeno...

-"Bite my head off, why don't you..."

-Ohhhhhh, language?????

-Taselles mirullia da'pago!

-Hiiiii, boss.

-There's that eye of theirs again.

-Chief Justice???

-"Spill it, Rita."

-Freezing a kid's eye for power...

-Jesus Christ, Karras-

-That must be our Grodie then, eh?

-"A hospital..."

-OHHHHHH

-Okay, it's a little hard for me to tell past the make-up and glasses, but that's Kousei Amano! That's Sakuya Tachibana!

-His murder fetish has become.

-They're all dead!

-Grodie Leucodium.

-"Who dat?"

-KAMEJIM?????

-"Oh~! You forgot, didn't you~? Oh well, don't worry, I took care of it long ago~!"

-"Oh no, no, no~! It's genocide we're doing today, you see~!"

-I see... an enemy with no control.

-Himeno and Rita.

-Oh

-Cool, he's immortal too.

-Stop talking about your death boner, please.

-KAMI NO IKARI DAAAAA

-"Stupid life-livers..."

-Use of extremely lethal force.

-Taselles mirullia da'pago.

-Moffun...

-Himeno....

-"We will kill his ass. Together."

-OH????

-Oh hi there

-"Mom?????"

-Oh sure you do.

-Hello, Mrs. Nephila.

-Oh hi, Dogdad.

-"Instant genocide, it's gonna be Off Da Chain~!"

-Jeramie's fucking hammock

-Kaguragi's beyond impressed.

-Holy shit, Nephila just

-Wiped him the fuck out

-I think I'm in love

-United by one purpose

-Warm....

-"Count me out of this one, please."

-Poor Jeramie.

-I suspect the severity of the situation calls for Yanma's... direct approach.

-Play a sick game.

-"Rita! Ref time."

-You're a lucky gal, getting cuffed by Rita like that.

-Kaguragi?????

-Bro????

-Ventra!!!!

-"We're going to beg like little bitches because the absolute last thing we should be having right now is pride!"

-Fotsuka Fortune.....

-That's bribery Rita!

-Into the cage they go.

-"Ugh screw this, who cares, let's do it."

-Just when they were starting to have fun...

-VENTRAAAAAA!

-"That's not happening, man."

-"Screw this, we're doing this ourselves!"

-Digdug

-Giant Spider Milf.

-...this is truly dangerous territory we've entered.

-"Sorry you lost, by the way. <3"

-"Laugh, boy!"

-KERPRANKED

-"...Huh?"

-CHICANERY

-Oh...

-No Giant Spider MILF then?

-Dugded Dujarden, you have been played.

-"Nobody lied to you. Nobody told you."

-The salt in that water bear.

-Ms. Nephila...

-Farewell, ma'am...

-OH FUCK THEY GRABBED KAGURAGI

-EVERYBODY'S GONE

-The worst place imaginable.

-Tokyo.

-Yeah the Kyoryuger crossover~! That'll come later today though. And it will be later today, because today's Kyoryuger's 10th anniversary!

[ugfriends]

Mao II moonies are married in a crowd Did Donne pen ego death be not proud? The Andy Warhol portraits Mao Zedong Yield a title for this tale Now the Throng Little Red Book image made pop shroud

Scott tries to keep Bill in isolated cocoon Karen is refugee from Sun Myung Moon Brita has a plan to photograph all writers The good the bad and even the blighters Together they form a curious granfalloon

Does the future belong to the multitude? If so prepare to hear cliché and platitude Writers supplanted by terrorist spectacle Fear pageant instead of prose dialectical  Sounds like a stage set for mob turpitude

Mao II theater of people not a ghost town Delillo prognostication takes triple crown A wedding party following a tank in Beirut Distant photo flash a benign kind of shoot Watch wedding parade and put it all down

[findasongblog]

Find A Song about freedom and home-sickness

Granfalloon - Travelling Song

Richard Lomax (AKA Granfalloon) first embarked on writing songs for a proposed year-long journal in 2014… a maddening yet rewarding journey that documented the fever dream of a chaotic year in the form of fifty-two pieces of music.

Almost 10 years after its initial conception Lomax is about to release Calendar - Chapter II as a collaboration with fellow songwriter Lobelia. Chapter II is the follow up to 2022’s Volume I album, taking those fifty-two ramblings, ideas, half-baked thoughts and overcooked dreams and turning them into what will become a trio of albums.

‘Travelling Song’ is a co-write between Lomax and Lobelia. Inspired by both the creative freedom one feels whilst in motion and the bitter pangs of homesickness for a home that no longer exists.

Added to FAS Spotify playlist indie folk/country/americana.