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Summer Solstice ’23

The major solar holidays are four, and mark the official beginnings of the four seasons in the Gregorian calendar, which is standard in most of the West and indeed much of the world. The solstices are in winter and summer, predictably marking the day with the earliest sunset (and therefore the shortest day and longest night) and the latest sunset (and therefore the longest day and shortest night), respectively. The spring and fall equinoxes are notable for being midpoints between these. The solstices are even more dramatic when observed from far above the Tropic of Cancer or far below the Tropic of Capricorn (note: which may have to be adjusted on maps at some point due to the current pole shift potentially redefining both poles, possibly hundreds of kilometers from their current positions), and incredibly exaggerated very near or at the north and south poles.

Today is the summer solstice, which means it’ll be summer from now on until the equinox ushers in the fall in September.

Seasons in most climates have the esoteric quality of having very discernible tones, perhaps even moreso than years or months. They are that cyclical, and return to us like something we know, year after year. This is perhaps one of the nice luxuries of time.

My new Spotify concept playlist is called That Summer (part of a seasonal set; note that you may have to refresh the page once before the list actually comes up to play on the web interface; you can search for this list as “That Summer (mix)” on the app). It’s a fairly short listen, compiled with summer’s signature tone in mind, as well as my personal ideas of summer as exciting, warm and rhythmic, sweet at dusk, and full of moments that are hard to encapsulate by description. Check it out. Happy Summer.

──── by Lync Dalton ────

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New playlist

King Mob’s evolution mix is up now. The King Mob evolution mix is technically one of my new-classics-rich villain playlists, which I started compiling in 2013 as a framework for me to organize music I liked in a fun way while sort of excusing myself for the explicit lyrics that inevitably creep into some of the true bangers. In 2019, as I was trying to recover from being targeted with a series of bizarre and cruel crimes and violations in Canada that nearly defy explanation (for example, see: the Easter egg page associated with: Apocalypse report #5), I started expanding the collection quickly. My playlist methodology has proven to be good for relaxation and addressing current traumatic stress. There are over a dozen of them now. I don’t like villains, to be clear, but I like fiction.

There’s a permanent link to my playlists in the sidebar (which is usually situated at the bottom of the site on mobile devices).

King Mob, of course, is sort of a villain protagonist from Grant Morrison’s iconic and iconclastic ’90s-era conspiracy punk comic book series The Invisibles (which by the way, was unnecessarily rough with the Moonchild mythology, perhaps in reaction to how mysterious the term was in the U.K. back then). There are villain villains throughout the story, but King Mob mostly goes up against them in a very bleak fictional world influenced by Gnostic theories, Illuminati rumors, and eschatology. He gets a graffiti shout-out in the show Stranger Things; you notice it if you do. Villain protagonists were a trend in the ’90s, and they were a novel enough trope at the time that they didn’t come off as too offensive until we hit market saturation, which arguably happened in the 2010s. Have they contributed to a disaffected populace beset by malaise? Maybe.

The villain evolution mix playlists are supposed to invoke concepts of rehabilitation and de-escalation. Some of the songs have dark themes, but that’s art for you sometimes. A song is a point of view, not instructions. The lists celebrate fiction as a framework for presenting a wide range of music, and are also good for stress relief and other therapeutic applications. Be advised that Spotify seems to remove certain tracks from its public catalogue from time to time, and those I tend to leave on my playlists, but users can hide those greyed-out tracks via Spotify’s user settings, and there’s also an option there to hide songs with explicit lyrics. As always, please evolve responsibly.

The Divine Feminine evolution mix and the Divine Masculine evolution mix also went up this year, and have nothing in particular to do with villains.

──── by Lync Dalton ────

PLEASE DONATE TO WEIRDO CAMP. Do you enjoy and/or enrich yourself with Weirdo Camp and its unique, original content? Please send a donation via Paypal (see site sidebar) or to $alchemylynx on Cash App.
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More on those Sims I mentioned…

Now that I’ve told you about my Sims, I’m feeling somewhat committed to giving you an update on how they’re doing. I don’t know why. They are, in fact, fine. They’re always fine enough. I’m not sure that Sims can even die, come to think of it. And everyone wants to give them nice things.

On dialogue: Now, to be clear, speaking in the purely digital sense, Sims can talk to one another in the game, but they only talk in gibberish. I’m spontaneously channeling them like they’re fictional characters, and that’s how I’m quoting them in English. As usual, I do not claim to be able to translate gibberish particularly well. It seems that Sims no longer say “Deg deg”, which I think they did used to say for goodbye. Now they just leave, like they’re ending a phone call in a movie or TV show, without saying a word.

By the way, did you know that dog bowls cost them 5,000-8,000 Simoleons (cunning usage of the slang to this day goes to the Sims family of games) apiece?

Current Sim roster:
Andre: Andre moved to a bigger house yet again. Long story. Andre and Sea are not doing so well as a couple. That’s their update. Sea is sick of Andre not taking things seriously enough and Andre keeps cracking jokes at the wrong time. Things are tense. Andre does not want Sea to move in even though I notified all my Sims that they should couple up so that I could make new Sims without having to build new houses. What gives, Andre?
Narelle: Narelle had a brief fling with Gray. He had a dream about her and they danced in the rain for a while. Honestly, it was part of an in-game challenge, and they both snapped out of it pretty quickly. My Sims decided that Narelle’s house has the best view in town, where it looks out on the harbor. I put a window in her bathroom for this reason. We almost put one in her bedroom too, but she had a picture of the ocean in the way, and liked that better. Alright, Narelle.
Tom: Tom and Twyla are both very into work right now. I’m not mentioning anyone’s jobs just like I’m not mentioning their last names. Is that fine? They’re just Sims. Tom and Twyla took some time out to help Sea renovate. They all gazed into mirrors and remembered their past mistakes, for over three hours each. Intense. Tom and Twyla still certainly seem to be in love. Tom calls their “Be Romantic” option “57 Seconds in Heaven”.
Twyla: Twyla got a nice Siamese cat named Finches. Twyla likes to make up little songs for Tom, and he loves them. Did I mention that she put seven ferns in their enormous bathroom, while Tom was at work without her for once, and they now like to call it a “lagoon-like bathroom” for giggles?
Sea: Sea is so ambitious lately. He’s been renovating a house in the desert, and he talked about moving there with Andre, but Andre said the place wasn’t ideal and that he preferred his current setup in his ranch McMansion, which he then impressed himself by calling a McRanchion. I think Sea’s going to get a husky and possibly a new boyfriend soon.
Dylan: Dylan went for it with Gray after a brief disappointment involving Narelle and a rainstorm, and they’re living together now. They’re sweet together so far.
Gray: As soon as Gray moved in with Dylan, we made a special Sim magician room for him. A dramatic archway opens into the small chamber from right off the living room. Gray also wanted an extra door put in the bedroom because he personally cannot stand that Sims thing where they’ll just go outside to go between rooms. Dylan said that the two of them should talk about what their kids are going to be like, and Gray said “They’ll be happy”. She thought that was the most romantic thing.
Agrippa: Agrippa got a sweet German Shepherd and promptly named him Shadowfax (like from Lord of the Rings). Turns out Agrippa’s kind of a jock; he likes to spend a lot of time at the gym. He thinks that Twyla is very beautiful, but he means no disrespect to Tom.
Arnold: Arnold is the new guy, and got the house right next to Dylan. Works with Andre. Arnold requested his bed be pushed against the wall as a preliminary preventive measure against Woohoo, although he’s not necessarily against moving it. He wanted red countertops, which was a bold color choice in that kitchen.
Starry: Starry is new as well, and currently living in Tom’s old place (which Andre also lived in briefly, leaving eggshell colored walls in every single room). Starry is rescuing a puppy, which might be a Greyhound, but I’m not sure. She wants to name the puppy Chops if she can keep her. She’s reading a puppy book for 22 hours or something absurd like that right now.
Irulan: Irulan is new too, and currently in Gray’s old townhouse (which Twyla lived in very briefly before that). Rather religious (which Narelle is too, kind of). Irulan was very direct in telling Arnold they could be boyfriend and girlfriend this morning. He was like “Oh, interesting. Do you want to…” and Irulan cut him off, saying “No. I’m just informing you.” and left. They still haven’t kissed.

Are we living in a simulation?

──── by Lync Dalton ────

PLEASE DONATE TO WEIRDO CAMP. Do you enjoy and/or enrich yourself with Weirdo Camp and its unique, original content? Please send a donation via Paypal (see site sidebar) or to $alchemylynx on Cash App.
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Leisure city

I’m back to playing The Sims, after a years-long hiatus during which I experienced many things that I’ll have a cry over yet again shortly. My play style is significantly different now that I’m a shaman.

Current Sim roster:
Andre: Male. Likes to rant in the park for fun. Yes, he practices speeches in the mirror. Dylan and Tom seem to like to listen to Andre’s rants. Their sprites gravitate toward his soapbox when it’s ranting time, if they’re in the park too. The rest of the Sims hang back a little, but assure me that they enjoy Andre’s rant stylings just fine. Sea usually reminds me that he can hear Andre from anywhere in the park. Andre was the first Sim to get the best shower, but now Agrippa has that particular one.
Narelle: Female. She is the only Sim who wanted to do the Survivor-inspired island game show challenge. She’s a little blunt, but it’s refreshing (all my Sims seem to have good personalities). Has the biggest bathroom, I think. Tom and Twyla’s is also quite large.
Tom: Male. A straight forward, driven guy. Got a crush on Twyla right away, and things progressed very quickly. Shortly after their Sim wedding, Tom let me know that it was definitely not okay if anyone had a bigger house than them, and so we moved them to a different house two doors down. They’re currently happy together and have a mirror triptych.
Twyla: Female. Married to Tom. Twyla is sweetly funny, and seems to be the Sim most likely to stay chill in all the village. She has orange hair. She DJs at the club sometimes. She wants a pet once I unlock them. Sea had a crush on her at first, but she was into Tom. I’m a channel (including of fictional characters at times), and Sims seem very clear on their preferences when I ask them. The first time Tom told Twyla he loved her, Twyla responded: “That is the best.”
Sea: Male. Slightly cranky, yet still somehow maintains a consistent good humor. Likes to bake. Currently dating Andre. They like each other well enough, but really they got together because Sims have to be in a relationship to make Woohoo. They say they’re not sure if they want to move in together. They love the good showers.
Dylan: Female. Dylan had the biggest house until Tom and Twyla built a slightly bigger one. She has pink hair, and had a crush on Andre about thirteen seconds before he started dating Sea, and now she likes Gray. She’s a little wry.
Gray: Male. Gray is short for Grayson, but he likes Gray. Bright primary red hair. The only Sim who wanted to be a Sims wizard, Gray has relentlessly pursued every Sims magic challenge, and recently saved the town from mummies. Dylan, whom he is not currently dating and who swears to me that she is in love with him, went around the neighborhood during his quest telling everyone about his heroics.
Agrippa: Male. Agrippa’s new to town today, and he’s going to want a dog. Requested cozy wood paneling installed in Andre’s old living room.

Are we living in a simulation?

────────── by Lync Dalton ──────────

PLEASE DONATE TO WEIRDO CAMP. Do you enjoy and/or enrich yourself with Weirdo Camp and its unique, original content? Please send a donation via Paypal (see site sidebar) or to $alchemylynx on Cash App.
Want the coolest tax deduction in the world? Donate to Terra Thesis Institute.