Ben Arthur
@benarthur.bsky.social
Muso, host of the SongWriter podcast, chaotic lame
Amazing to be back in Chicago, which *effortlessly* puts NYC to shame (How much is it to clean up vomit in a yellow cab??? We don’t even know!)
Thank you to Jamila Woods and Kaveh Akbar for giving me a delightful excuse to visit one of my absolute favorite cities 🌆❤️
Thank you to Jamila Woods and Kaveh Akbar for giving me a delightful excuse to visit one of my absolute favorite cities 🌆❤️
November 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Amazing to be back in Chicago, which *effortlessly* puts NYC to shame (How much is it to clean up vomit in a yellow cab??? We don’t even know!)
Thank you to Jamila Woods and Kaveh Akbar for giving me a delightful excuse to visit one of my absolute favorite cities 🌆❤️
Thank you to Jamila Woods and Kaveh Akbar for giving me a delightful excuse to visit one of my absolute favorite cities 🌆❤️
One month from today! @kavehakbar.bsky.social + Jamila Woods @metrochicago.com! metrochicago.com/event/songwr...
SongWriter: Kaveh Akbar + Jamila Woods | Metro Chicago
Tuesday, November 25 SongWriter: Kaveh Akbar + Jamila Woods$25 Adv. / $30 Day of / All Ages / Doors: 6pm / Show: 7pmA portion of proceeds will benefit A Long Walk Home In this live recording of the So...
metrochicago.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
One month from today! @kavehakbar.bsky.social + Jamila Woods @metrochicago.com! metrochicago.com/event/songwr...
An astonishing mosaic in Brighton!
April 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
An astonishing mosaic in Brighton!
Wrote a song for the good people of the Tees Valley! Looking forward to finally getting back to play at the R n B with @jackhedgesmusic and the wonderful @mrpaulmosley on 12/4 - hoping they’ll sing this one with me! “Singalong” streaming now - link below!
March 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Wrote a song for the good people of the Tees Valley! Looking forward to finally getting back to play at the R n B with @jackhedgesmusic and the wonderful @mrpaulmosley on 12/4 - hoping they’ll sing this one with me! “Singalong” streaming now - link below!
Reposted by Ben Arthur
A songwriter's story: @benarthur.bsky.social on "Love Your Enemy" with #AesopRock popdose.com/a-songwriter...
A Songwriter’s Story: Ben Arthur on “Love Your Enemy”
Ben Arthur shares the writing and recording process behind a track from his album “If You Look for My Heart.”
popdose.com
February 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
A songwriter's story: @benarthur.bsky.social on "Love Your Enemy" with #AesopRock popdose.com/a-songwriter...
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Every dad gift ideas list is like: Scotch rocks, socks that are also a knife, bacon wallet, hammer subscription
December 16, 2024 at 12:07 AM
Every dad gift ideas list is like: Scotch rocks, socks that are also a knife, bacon wallet, hammer subscription
Reposted by Ben Arthur
My wording might not be precisely the same, but this pretty much sums it up.
If you are on social media thirsting over an alleged murderer you clearly need to go get you some real life dick. That shit is not cute. I feel sorry for you dick deprived b*tches.
December 10, 2024 at 4:05 AM
My wording might not be precisely the same, but this pretty much sums it up.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Another bad thing about Spotify is sometimes you'll go into a coffee shop and hear Jessica Pratt or Vashti Bunyan playing and be like oh wow what a cool place this, I wonder who put this on? And then realize it's probably just a playlist called "rainy day vibes" and all the employees ignore it
December 7, 2024 at 8:02 PM
Another bad thing about Spotify is sometimes you'll go into a coffee shop and hear Jessica Pratt or Vashti Bunyan playing and be like oh wow what a cool place this, I wonder who put this on? And then realize it's probably just a playlist called "rainy day vibes" and all the employees ignore it
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Cognitive dissonance re: fact that people love this guy, which is that he might milkshake duck and turn out to be a white supremacist or something and we are living in really fucking strange times when my passing thoughts are "people shouldn't stan the assassin he might end up being a bad guy."
MSNBC is reporting that the backpack that the Midtown shooter ditched in Central Park was full of Monopoly money
December 8, 2024 at 12:27 AM
Cognitive dissonance re: fact that people love this guy, which is that he might milkshake duck and turn out to be a white supremacist or something and we are living in really fucking strange times when my passing thoughts are "people shouldn't stan the assassin he might end up being a bad guy."
Brushed a dog’s worth but somehow he’s still here
December 3, 2024 at 1:22 AM
Brushed a dog’s worth but somehow he’s still here
Reposted by Ben Arthur
It’s listening to Low in the bath with a beer o’clock
November 30, 2024 at 1:32 AM
It’s listening to Low in the bath with a beer o’clock
Reposted by Ben Arthur
What doesn’t kill you only causes PTSD and chronic health problems.
November 27, 2024 at 4:12 PM
What doesn’t kill you only causes PTSD and chronic health problems.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Earlier this year I wrote a Mastodon bot that, using Google Books as a corpus, completes the sentence "I hope this email finds you." The results are sometimes bizarre, sometimes silly, sometimes nonsense, occasionally hilarious. This evening I ported it to Bluesky. Two posts daily.
I hope this email finds you interesting, intelligent, sympathetic, in any other way worthy of its advances, it will force itself on your attention, become part of your private life, and claim a friend’s prerogatives to change your way of looking.
November 25, 2024 at 3:01 AM
Earlier this year I wrote a Mastodon bot that, using Google Books as a corpus, completes the sentence "I hope this email finds you." The results are sometimes bizarre, sometimes silly, sometimes nonsense, occasionally hilarious. This evening I ported it to Bluesky. Two posts daily.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
I had a blast at Conclave, which I thought was delightful, surprisingly funny, and a legit throwback to the More And Better Movies era, but also my wife has roasted me for several days now because I said "hell yeah" during a brief scene where you see some tasty-looking tortellini being made.
November 21, 2024 at 4:48 AM
I had a blast at Conclave, which I thought was delightful, surprisingly funny, and a legit throwback to the More And Better Movies era, but also my wife has roasted me for several days now because I said "hell yeah" during a brief scene where you see some tasty-looking tortellini being made.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Gonna share this article with anybody who tells me they want to create an LLM-powered chatbot for their website.
👀 Google AI:
“This is for you, human… You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please."
“This is for you, human… You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please."
Google AI chatbot responds with a threatening message: "Human … Please die."
In an online conversation about aging adults, Google's Gemini AI chatbot responded with a threatening message, telling the user to "please die."
www.cbsnews.com
November 23, 2024 at 1:21 PM
Gonna share this article with anybody who tells me they want to create an LLM-powered chatbot for their website.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Math problem. I have three apples and am traveling towards you at 17mph. It's not really a problem, more of a warning. Apple time, bitches.
November 22, 2024 at 5:09 AM
Math problem. I have three apples and am traveling towards you at 17mph. It's not really a problem, more of a warning. Apple time, bitches.
SF friends! Friday at 8pm KQED is airing the live SongWriter show of @wkamaubell.bsky.social + Las Cafeteras on their PBS station. It was such a pleasure to work with Dr. Shira Gabriel, with Hector, Denise, and the band, and especially @templetonworld.bsky.social!
November 21, 2024 at 3:25 PM
SF friends! Friday at 8pm KQED is airing the live SongWriter show of @wkamaubell.bsky.social + Las Cafeteras on their PBS station. It was such a pleasure to work with Dr. Shira Gabriel, with Hector, Denise, and the band, and especially @templetonworld.bsky.social!
Reposted by Ben Arthur
In the new episode of SongWriter, Turkish journalist and author @aslieperker shares a story she wrote for SongWriter, scientist Dr. @ErhartItir talks about art and empathy, and Turkish rock star @kiremitciev performs a brand new song. Listen in: https://buff.ly/3Odpjxd
November 19, 2024 at 3:45 PM
In the new episode of SongWriter, Turkish journalist and author @aslieperker shares a story she wrote for SongWriter, scientist Dr. @ErhartItir talks about art and empathy, and Turkish rock star @kiremitciev performs a brand new song. Listen in: https://buff.ly/3Odpjxd
Reposted by Ben Arthur
As a child, I assumed the electric carving knife was going to be a big part of my adult life. Yet another lie. Not as serious as "you'll eventually stop getting zits" but right up there.
November 17, 2024 at 3:35 AM
As a child, I assumed the electric carving knife was going to be a big part of my adult life. Yet another lie. Not as serious as "you'll eventually stop getting zits" but right up there.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Hallmark Christmas movie idea: A small town embraces fascist ideals since eggs are expensive & then they decide to hire a sex trafficking circus peanut as the chief of police. He is found rubbing one out on the 20 ft tall Christmas tree moments before the lighting ceremony. That’s all I have so far.
November 14, 2024 at 7:02 PM
Hallmark Christmas movie idea: A small town embraces fascist ideals since eggs are expensive & then they decide to hire a sex trafficking circus peanut as the chief of police. He is found rubbing one out on the 20 ft tall Christmas tree moments before the lighting ceremony. That’s all I have so far.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
This time around, the Kennedys are assassinating us.
November 14, 2024 at 9:36 PM
This time around, the Kennedys are assassinating us.
Reposted by Ben Arthur
Anyone want to place bets on the date of Adams's "I didn't leave the Democrat Party, the Democrat Party left me" speech when he announces he's running for reelection as a Republican?
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander calls for Mayor Adams to announce that he won’t accept a pardon from President-elect Trump in his criminal case if “he wants New Yorkers to have confidence that he has their interests top of mind and not his own.”
November 13, 2024 at 5:48 PM
Anyone want to place bets on the date of Adams's "I didn't leave the Democrat Party, the Democrat Party left me" speech when he announces he's running for reelection as a Republican?
Reposted by Ben Arthur
All those books about the declines and falls of empires that I never read.... do they cover how dumb things were? I was unprepared for how dumb things were going to get.
November 13, 2024 at 12:59 AM
All those books about the declines and falls of empires that I never read.... do they cover how dumb things were? I was unprepared for how dumb things were going to get.