Half Conscious, Half Unconscious
Norwegian Wood, Flourishing in Calligraphy, Chantal Akerman’s Methodology, Chat GPT Updates, Some Fav Apps and a Shortcut, Translating Srts Subtitles with Chat GPT and More
Hey guys! One more week is over and let me share with you a few things that stood out:
On Literature
I finished reading Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. This is the first book I’ve read from Murakami and compared to several other Japanese writers I was surprised that it was such an easy an immersive read. I haven’t read a lot of novels in the last few years but I definitely enjoyed this one—maybe more because of its style than its content, though. Synopsis: Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. A poignant story of one college student’s romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man’s first, hopeless, and heroic love.
On Learning
This past week I enrolled on THIS calligraphy class on flourishing. It is the first time that I am paying for an actual calligraphy class. Everything I know so far has been mostly self-taught from books and YouTube, but I think my cursive and calligraphy level is up to an okay level—to the point where I can actually teach the basics—so I thought why not. Schin, the instructor of this new class I am taking, has a Youtube channel that was a huge resource when I got started with cursive a bit over a year ago so I kind of knew what I was getting into. I still have a couple of lessons to go but this has been truly great. Honestly, I still don’t have much of an idea of what am I doing learning calligraphy but following my curiosity has taken me down this path and it has been a joy and it has been so satisfying to see my progress over time.
I read THIS article which talks a bit about Chantal Akerman’s methodology. I love the film work by Chantal and there’s some very good insights here. Here’s one of my highlights: Akerman says that the work “has to come from somewhere which is half conscious, half unconscious. If it’s totally conscious, it’s dead. And, again, the unconsciousness brings out something which you were not expecting, which is usually the richness of the work.”
I recently followed the Instagram account of Emily Keegin—who does photo direction—and her content ( particularly some of her stories and reels) seem to actually teach a lot about photography or design in a very fun way. Her account was a very cool find in my previous week.
On Apps and Chat GPT
This week Chat GPT models got an exciting update. I am not a paid user so I don’t have access to the GPT-4 model, but the GPT 3.5 now has function-calling capability (more of that in a second), and there’s also a GPT 3.5-16k which offers 4 times the context length we previously had. This is really really cool especially for people that like to have either long conversations with Chat GPT or those that need to process big amounts of text. Basically, this bot will now remember 4 times more than before.
I have only used Typing Mind for a few weeks but this app seems to be at the top of the game when it comes to Chat GPT usage. They are rolling updates so frequently and even things like the new models were incorporated less than a day after I read news. The new update on GPT 3.5 allows function-calling which in simple words allows the use of Plugins for Chat GPT. I researched about ‘official’ chat GPT plugins and so far these are only available to Plus users. Typing Mind is planning on releasing a plugin marketplace for third party developers. If you only pay for API usage of Chat GPT like myself and you are not a Plus user, Typing Mind is a no brainer. I can’t speak as a Plus user but it also seems to be awesome for them.
I have been playing more with the Shortcuts capability of Chat GPT’s official iPhone app. Every day I process large amounts of text to fix either grammar, spelling, line breaks, or translate, etc. The amount of text I usually process at once is about 6k to 8k characters, so I need to split it or my Shortcut times-out. The new update seems to make Chat GPT API usage almost fast enough to process all the text at once without the need to manually split text under 8k characters, but it’s not there yet. Then there’s the official app’s limit on delivering answers, which seem to cut off at around 2k characters (when using the API you don’t usually run through this issue). I have been trying to figure out ways to make a shortcut to work with Chat GPT official app. The cutoff of its answers is a bit annoying. Here’s a shortcut for you to mess around with, and you can see the DIY workaround if you go in there and read my instructions. Just make sure you have selected and copied a big chunk of text, something more than 4k characters preferably, for you to see how I split the text in 4000 (or whatever amount of characters you decide) and how the shortcut combines it all at the end. There’s a “big” Split that I do with a “@“ symbol between double line breaks, but then there’s the “split” that Chat GPT does by cutting off its answers and I have to ask for it to continue (I automated that in the Shortcut).
WhisperScript, my favorite app using Open AI Whisper for subtitle creation is growing and expanding. I got an update from them saying they are applying for public funding and will pause sales for a few months after June 30th while they develop new features and refine existing ones. Honestly, it looks like this app is about to grow bigger and better, so if you need their Pro version now is the best time to grab it. You can use their code BeBackSoon14 to get it at 14 Euro. Note, this is not an affiliate code, I don’t get anything from their sales, but I think it’s a great product.
By the way, if you want to use Chat GPT for subtitle translation there is this free app that works great. If there’s a YouTube video in a language I don’t understand I normally do the audio transcription with WhisperScript which gives me an SRT that I then run through this subtitle translator app. I can then stream the Youtube Video with IINA and include my newly generated SRT alongside with it. Whisper’s translation is okay but not as good as Chat GPT.
On Cinema
Beau Is Afraid (2023). I loved Midsommar, from the same director, so my expectations were high. This one was a tiny bit too surreal for me. It’s one of those movies where I was left wondering if everything was a metaphor to something else or if it’s just nothing. Anyhow, it was still okay. Synopsis: A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother.
Showing Up (2023). Very dry humor. Minimalistic both in plot, narrative, and even in tone. I really liked it. Synopsis: In the days leading up to a possibly career-changing exhibition, a sculptor navigates her relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023). Few months ago I took the masterclass by Judy Blume where she talks a lot about a the process of writing this novel—now adapted to film. I didn’t have the chance to read the book yet but now I’ll have to make space for it. I really liked the film. Synopsis: When her family moves from New York City to New Jersey, an 11-year-old girl navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
Norwegian Wood (2010). Years ago I watched this same film and I very much disliked it. Having read the book I wanted to give it another try and was surprised by it. Of course, I can’t expect the same depth found in the book but the adaptation captures a visual beauty and suggests a lot through tone in a way that the narrative of the original text didn’t. So I think the film succeeds at translating the story to another medium where the language is just different. Pretty good, actually. Synopsis: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, Norwegian Wood blends the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love. Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before.
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