Kelly Hibbert / Almachrome

Astrud Gilberto wasn’t even meant to sing on “The Girl from Ipanema.” She stepped in to deliver the English lines and her effortless, unpolished tone became the track’s signature.

I have been working on Obsidian Reader for a over a year. I didn't want to share it until I felt it was good enough. It's finally there. Consistent formatting for any article. Outline, syntax highlighting, nice footnotes, adjustable typography. Runs locally. Just rules, no AI.

The word "psychedelic" was invented during a poetry battle. Aldous Huxley proposed "phanerothyme" with the line: "To make this mundane world sublime, take half a gram of phanerothyme." Psychiatrist Humphry Osmond countered: "To fathom Hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic." Osmond won. He debuted the word at the New York Academy of Sciences in 1957. We almost ended up calling them "phanerothymes."

Speaking about the deep contradictions in human nature, Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada said: “Some people dream of having a swimming pool at home, while those who have one barely use it. Those who have lost a loved one feel a profound sense of loss, while others often complain about the relatives still in their lives. Those without a partner long for one, while those who have a partner often fail to appreciate them. The hungry would give anything for a meal, while the full complain about the taste of their food. Those without a car dream of owning one, while those who have a car are always looking for a better one. The key to happiness is gratitude—to truly see and value what we already have, and to understand that somewhere, someone would give everything for what we take for granted.”

Check out this brilliant remix by Jake Mastered here at almachrome

We’re in the last chapter of US empire. Possibly the last paragraph.

MF DOOM only existed after his brother’s passing. 🕊️ The two formed the hip-hop group KMD in 1988, when DOOM was still known as Zev Love X. Together they were building their place in hip-hop and working on their second album in the early ’90s. But in 1993, Subroc died in a car accident. The loss hit DOOM deeply. Heartbroken and shaken, he stepped away from the spotlight and spent more than three years away from music. When he finally returned in 1998, everything had changed. He began performing in Manhattan wearing a mask. Zev Love X was no more. MF DOOM had arrived.

Thirty years ago this month, the world was gifted with Bahamadia’s Kollage. This album remains a masterclass in production and “quiet storm” lyricism, standing as a testament to the Philly sound that prized substance over flash. The album’s name is fitting, as it served as a collage of the best Hip Hop had to offer—jazz samples, crisp drums, and a flow that felt like a secret whispered in your ear. It remains a cult classic that every true student of the genre must have in their collection.

D’Angelo

Michael Jackson’s nephew Siggy Jackson speaks out: “My uncle didn’t die… he was murdered,” he said.

The last time a Chinese lab open-sourced something this big, Nvidia lost $600 billion in a single day. It's happening again. DeepSeek panicked Silicon Valley in January. Crashed Nvidia's stock $600B in one day. Made Sam Altman rewrite his entire business plan. Now there's a second one. Kimi just made AI notably cheaper to run. Open-sourced it. Put it out for free. Meanwhile OpenAI is asking people to pay $200 a month to use a model that already feels behind the curve. Two Chinese labs. Both open source. Both doing more with less. Both giving away for free what American companies charge billions for. The AI race isn't US vs China anymore... It's closed vs open. And closed is losing. And the wildest part? Nobody in Silicon Valley will quote tweet this.. Because admitting a Chinese lab just moved the field forward for free destroys the entire "we need $10B to build AGI" fundraising pitch.

“And the Romans lost to Persians in Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. At that moment, the mighty Roman Empire marched east convinced that Persia would collapse under the weight of Roman power. At Carrhae, the Persian army was commanded by the brilliant general Surena, who understood exactly how to exploit Roman weaknesses. Instead of engaging in a conventional battle, the Parthian cavalry surrounded the Roman formations and unleashed wave after wave of arrows. Whenever the archers began to run low on ammunition, camel caravans waiting behind the battlefield delivered fresh supplies. This logistical innovation ensured that the barrage never stopped Roman soldiers found themselves trapped in a nightmare. Their famous shield formations were designed to withstand brief missile attacks before closing with the enemy. But at Carrhae the arrows kept coming for hours. Shields were pinned to soldiers’ hands, armour was punctured, and the Roman army gradually lost cohesion. Crassus had assumed the Persians would eventually exhaust their arrows and be forced into close combat. They never did. At the end of the battle, thousands of Romans lay dead, thousands more were captured, and Crassus himself was killed during a failed negotiation. The defeat shattered the myth of Roman invincibility and established Persia as the only power capable of consistently resisting Rome.” History is always contextual one must learn lessons from it !

THE BLACKBYRDS ROCK CREEK PARK (1975)

A film about Bill Evans! @Interview interviewmagazine.com/film/grant-gee…

sell your music direct on @TIDAL starting today

The Pharcyde — “Drop”

Claude is an LLM OpenAI is a surveillance machine Grok is a propaganda machine

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” ―Mark Twain

“There are no wrong notes; some are just more right than others.” — Thelonious Monk