Neal Romanek
@nromanek.bsky.social
4.1K followers 2.8K following 3.5K posts
Founder of publishing company ¡AU! & a media biz journalist of many years - plus sustainability. Author of novel SKIES OF VENUS & graphic novel BOUDICCA. Used to write for the pictures. Dayton to L.A. to London https://linktr.ee/nealromanek
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nromanek.bsky.social
Our new monster event at ¡AU!, which kicks off Oct. 18. It's going to be a mix of fun and deep monster study. Still working out what the frequency will be, but we'll be doing Monster Lab regularly. Ticket prices are absurdly low for this first outing. Join us.
auworks.bsky.social
¡AU! has launched a new event series, MONSTER LAB, where creatives of all types (from painters to brain surgeons) gather to talk monsters & see what we can learn.

First MONSTER LAB is Oct. 18, 2-4pm UK time, online. Get your ticket now!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/monster-la...
Monster Lab poster with a cluster of comical - slightly friendly looking monsters at left - and the Monster Lab logo in spooky green text at right
nromanek.bsky.social
This is the right answer to fascism.
courtneyvaughn.bsky.social
Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.
Reposted by Neal Romanek
internethippo.bsky.social
Sometimes a user will post a joke and then that very same user will post something sincere. And I as the reader am expected to understand this, using my brain?
nromanek.bsky.social
If the Tories are supposedly the party of capitalism then how about: "I paid for it. I can do what want with it. Eff off."
nromanek.bsky.social
I guess it must be that investments are made on the promise of success not success itself. As with AI, I don't need to produce a result, I just have to make you believe in a result enough so that you invest (at least that seems to be how it works in late stage capitalism).
nromanek.bsky.social
Top Cory Doctorow, with splashes of ice water to the face:

"I firmly believe the (economic) AI apocalypse is coming. These companies are not profitable. They can't be profitable. They keep the lights on by soaking up hundreds of billions of dollars in other people's money then lighting it on fire"
pimlicat.bsky.social
"AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations"

pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...

What do you think?
Pluralistic: The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh (27 Sep 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
nromanek.bsky.social
At £6, this Monster Lab is already a bargain, but attendees at our inaugural event will get Monster Lab For Life!
Monster Lab poster with friendly colorful monsters posing at left, and Monster Lab logo and purple egg with a crack in it at right.
nromanek.bsky.social
The trains ran on time if you paid off the right person.
nromanek.bsky.social
Yeah, when we think of the fascists as efficient, orderly, and hyperdisciplined, what we're remembering is the propanganda they produced themselves.
nromanek.bsky.social
In the AI future, every single day will feel like a scene from Arrival.
nromanek.bsky.social
I just think it's sickening that she's getting called "hon".
nromanek.bsky.social
Hey, I didn't realize the US Department of Defenser - er, War - uses the url www.war.gov

Neat!
www.war.gov
Reposted by Neal Romanek
joabaldwin.com
Outrageous! The moon rotation in this shot of
The Lion King remake implies it was shot far into the northern hemisphere. What happened to realism? Literally unwatchable.
Screenshot of shot with the full moon rising in front of Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa. Below are three moon diagrams showing the proper orientation of the moon from the northern hemisphere, equator (Kenya) and southern hemisphere. The moon from the film is aligned to the northern hemisphere version because realism means nothing any longer.
nromanek.bsky.social
Turner Classic Movies has posted Chaplin’s speech from The Great Dictator but with the run up included - which you don’t often see in clips

youtu.be/k0CzXi9e66M
The Dictator’s Speech (Clip) | The Great Dictator (1940) | TCM
YouTube video by Turner Classic Movies
youtu.be
Reposted by Neal Romanek
seantcollins.com
CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true
nromanek.bsky.social
A great day out here in The London, mingling at the Be You Festival. Heaps of talent here, new & old.
auworks.bsky.social
Today we’re at the Be You Festival in #London, by Soho Media Club, featuring guests like the great Ash Atalla.

Attendees here are figuring out the future of UK media. They’ll get back to you.
Producer Ash Atalla talks with moderator Muki Kulhan in an onstage interview at Soho Media Club’s Be You Festival in London.
nromanek.bsky.social
It looks very cool. And timely!
Reposted by Neal Romanek
meredithsnextday.bsky.social
The world is a state of flux. How do we experience time during this upheaval?

Join me for a conversation about experiencing time and urgency while adapting to change and loss. Online, free, 6-7pm, 23 October AEDT.

events.humanitix.com/time-is-weir...
Time is Weird Now
A facilitated conversation about how time is experienced during times of grief and adaptation.
events.humanitix.com
nromanek.bsky.social
It’s one good way to design - startwith a metaphor or symbol and then keep messing with it.
nromanek.bsky.social
I just love me some production design. And esp. with sci fi, there will often be metaphors underlying the design. The orig Star Wars is obviously the big one worth study - the Millennium Falcon is a hand (“Han” + someone who takes things for himself) and it has one eye, like a pirate.
Reposted by Neal Romanek
thewritertype.bsky.social
It’s really not fair to pit men like Trump and Netanyahu against a diminutive peace activist of twenty-two like Greta Thunberg. They’re way out of their depth.
nromanek.bsky.social
Social media sites are created by engineers, not by people who understand humans. So you might run into problems now and then.
Reposted by Neal Romanek
naomialderman.bsky.social
I didn't know until we buried my mother, so probably most people here don't know: Jewish cemeteries strongly recommend that you get insurance for the headstone.

Because the cemeteries are so often desecrated, the gravestones smashed.