John Bruni
@johnpbruni.bsky.social
Country-rock songwriter/Lecturer in Communication Theory and Digital Studies/Revising a book-length project on the unreleased and released versions of John Cassavetes's Husbands.
Take it easy. But take it.
He/Him/His
Take it easy. But take it.
He/Him/His
Reposted by John Bruni
Jesse Jackson in MEDIUM COOL, Rest in Power.
February 17, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Jesse Jackson in MEDIUM COOL, Rest in Power.
I think Desk Set (1957) has a little subversive reminder that business management “tech innovations” often cause problems, that once solved, can then be forgotten about, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to let the dumbasses who made the mess off the hook.
February 17, 2026 at 3:53 AM
I think Desk Set (1957) has a little subversive reminder that business management “tech innovations” often cause problems, that once solved, can then be forgotten about, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to let the dumbasses who made the mess off the hook.
Reposted by John Bruni
"Power doesn't always corrupt. Power always reveals. When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do."
-Robert Caro
-Robert Caro
February 16, 2026 at 1:28 PM
"Power doesn't always corrupt. Power always reveals. When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do."
-Robert Caro
-Robert Caro
Reposted by John Bruni
The coolest cab ever? (cab driver Robert Duvall and passenger Steve McQueen in Bullitt)
February 16, 2026 at 6:47 PM
The coolest cab ever? (cab driver Robert Duvall and passenger Steve McQueen in Bullitt)
Reposted by John Bruni
The fact that these sentences always end with "... which we will cram with more work for them" and not "... so we moved to a four-day workweek" really illustrate the hollowness of some AI evangelists' promises that AI will deliver us to some kind of post-work utopia.
“By removing writing from reporters’ workloads, we’ve effectively freed up an extra workday for them each week” is such a strange sentence to read.
February 16, 2026 at 5:13 PM
The fact that these sentences always end with "... which we will cram with more work for them" and not "... so we moved to a four-day workweek" really illustrate the hollowness of some AI evangelists' promises that AI will deliver us to some kind of post-work utopia.
Reposted by John Bruni
fun pier, wildwood, new jersey, 1978
February 16, 2026 at 2:36 AM
fun pier, wildwood, new jersey, 1978
I can't really think of a more hostile learning environment for students than having their papers graded by AI.
February 15, 2026 at 5:49 PM
I can't really think of a more hostile learning environment for students than having their papers graded by AI.
Reposted by John Bruni
The deep stupidity is to think that multiculturalism can't be a country's culture. The deeper stupidity is to think that monocultures even exist. Motherfucker, if you like the Beatles, you have Black, Indian, and other non-white musicians to thank.
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
February 15, 2026 at 4:07 PM
The deep stupidity is to think that multiculturalism can't be a country's culture. The deeper stupidity is to think that monocultures even exist. Motherfucker, if you like the Beatles, you have Black, Indian, and other non-white musicians to thank.
Reposted by John Bruni
I told my smart speaker to play WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES by the Doobie Bros for a particular reason. And now she’s just playing yacht rock songs and my kitchen sounds like “ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION ADS: GREATEST HITS”
February 15, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I told my smart speaker to play WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES by the Doobie Bros for a particular reason. And now she’s just playing yacht rock songs and my kitchen sounds like “ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION ADS: GREATEST HITS”
Reposted by John Bruni
“We should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” hell yeah, it’s bebop time
February 14, 2026 at 6:59 AM
“We should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” hell yeah, it’s bebop time
Evan Dando is sure manning it up, as, curiously, such excuses as the ones that he's giving aren't available to women.
February 14, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Evan Dando is sure manning it up, as, curiously, such excuses as the ones that he's giving aren't available to women.
Reposted by John Bruni
guys I've got the name for that new super boombox. we will sell twenty million of them. put down that down payment on the yacht now, we don't have to be modest here. the Ratecaputer is gonna take us all to the stars, baby, to the stars
In the 70s, Sharp had a series of "Latte case" boomboxes; as the line went on, more and more got put into it, like TVs. One of the last in the line was the RatecaPuter - a latte-case boombox with a 2KB computer that could run SHARP Basic programs off of the built in tape deck.
February 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM
guys I've got the name for that new super boombox. we will sell twenty million of them. put down that down payment on the yacht now, we don't have to be modest here. the Ratecaputer is gonna take us all to the stars, baby, to the stars
Count Basie, "April in Paris" swings hard. When I played it for my students to introduce the lesson on space/intervals in comics, their toes were a tappin.'
February 13, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Count Basie, "April in Paris" swings hard. When I played it for my students to introduce the lesson on space/intervals in comics, their toes were a tappin.'
Reposted by John Bruni
The kid’s excited to pass out his Jean Dielman valentines.
February 12, 2026 at 11:14 PM
The kid’s excited to pass out his Jean Dielman valentines.
Reposted by John Bruni
“Useful to any boss” answers your question right there.
The predominent anti-AI position on bsky is that AI is useless, fake, shit and basically the same as NFTs, destined to collapse in months once everyone sees how poor it is. So anyone who suggests that it could improve or be useful to any boss in any situation in the future must be evil.
February 12, 2026 at 5:19 PM
“Useful to any boss” answers your question right there.
Reposted by John Bruni
I am not religious but if you think about it packing a swimsuit for a work conference trip is basically the same as having steadfast faith in things not yet seen.
February 12, 2026 at 1:42 PM
I am not religious but if you think about it packing a swimsuit for a work conference trip is basically the same as having steadfast faith in things not yet seen.
In Fear (1974), John Cale looks at his reflection in the mirror of the world, and cracks were showing. The quiet spaces in "You Know More Than I Know" are unsettling; "Ship of Fools" unfolds like an acid western: "A hangman's noose on a burnt out tree/Guess we must be getting close to Tombstone"
February 12, 2026 at 4:42 AM
In Fear (1974), John Cale looks at his reflection in the mirror of the world, and cracks were showing. The quiet spaces in "You Know More Than I Know" are unsettling; "Ship of Fools" unfolds like an acid western: "A hangman's noose on a burnt out tree/Guess we must be getting close to Tombstone"
Reposted by John Bruni
Opening day of SHAMPOO, 2/11/75
February 11, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Opening day of SHAMPOO, 2/11/75
"Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't."
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 6:37 PM
"Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't."
"What are you thinking about? Sex?"
"About the revolution."
So begins the train scene in Love Is Colder Than Death, written/directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder: tension pulses through what feels like a setup for seduction. But we then drift further away from any sort of "truth" about the 2 people.
"About the revolution."
So begins the train scene in Love Is Colder Than Death, written/directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder: tension pulses through what feels like a setup for seduction. But we then drift further away from any sort of "truth" about the 2 people.
February 11, 2026 at 3:54 AM
"What are you thinking about? Sex?"
"About the revolution."
So begins the train scene in Love Is Colder Than Death, written/directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder: tension pulses through what feels like a setup for seduction. But we then drift further away from any sort of "truth" about the 2 people.
"About the revolution."
So begins the train scene in Love Is Colder Than Death, written/directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder: tension pulses through what feels like a setup for seduction. But we then drift further away from any sort of "truth" about the 2 people.
Reposted by John Bruni
The last honest advertising slogan was: “Behold…the power of cheese.”
February 10, 2026 at 3:23 AM
The last honest advertising slogan was: “Behold…the power of cheese.”
Only Sam Shepard could describe one of his own plays as an "atavistic mystery"
February 10, 2026 at 3:26 AM
Only Sam Shepard could describe one of his own plays as an "atavistic mystery"
Listening to Freddy Fender, Before the Next Teardrop Falls. Essential mid-70s country. The self-penned liner notes start with: "My real name is Baldemar G. Huerta. I was born in the south Texas valley border town of San Benito. I'm a Mexican-American, better yet, a Tex-Mex."
February 9, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Listening to Freddy Fender, Before the Next Teardrop Falls. Essential mid-70s country. The self-penned liner notes start with: "My real name is Baldemar G. Huerta. I was born in the south Texas valley border town of San Benito. I'm a Mexican-American, better yet, a Tex-Mex."
Reposted by John Bruni
The upside of following vintage recording studio webpages: exhibit A
Bobby Gentry session for "Ode to Billy Joe"
Bobby Gentry session for "Ode to Billy Joe"
February 8, 2026 at 2:17 AM
The upside of following vintage recording studio webpages: exhibit A
Bobby Gentry session for "Ode to Billy Joe"
Bobby Gentry session for "Ode to Billy Joe"