Category Archives: 02
00510201
I came upstairs, asked if she was on the computer and to open Google if so because I wanted her to google something.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Let me get out of this window. (pause) There. Google on Google you say?”
“Yeah. Type in ‘baker sunklands’.”
She types it in. I look at the results. “That’s not it. Here, let me have the computer for a minute.” Must be ‘sunklands baker’, I think. And I was right.
“See?” I handed the computer back to her, peered over at the modified results with her. This, or thereabouts, because the results change slightly every time you query these two words in succession. It was the first summary — or second at best — I had ever seen for my blog by someone else. Or something else in this case. So the first summary by *something* else.
“Freaky!” she exclaimed (or thereabouts).
“AI *knows* me.”
—-
So now I’m taking a more indepth look. Gonna ask it some questions about the blog to get more specific. How much does it know? So I typed the following into the prompt as maybe the most logical follow up question: “I’m trying to decipher a specific storyline from Baker Bloch’s creative blog.”
The answer (real time!):
Baker Bloch’s narratives, often found on the Sunklands blog, utilize a nonlinear “hyper-novel” structure featuring cryptographic text numbering (e.g., 0012) and intense focus on virtual reality topography, such as specific locations within Second Life. These stories frequently employ recurring cryptic motifs like “blue roses” and character transformations to map out digital exploration within a “double world” framework. To explore a specific storyline in detail, visit Sunklands.
Another question: “What is the specific role of Frank’s Moving Castle in Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog?”
In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, Frank’s Moving Castle serves as a vital, surreal structural node and meta-narrative bridge in Virtual Second Life, acting as a recurring, shifting anchor for characters, deities, and pop culture references. The structure functions as a nexus for character alter-egos, such as the fire deity “Gus,” and acts as an AI-driven, multi-media crossover point incorporating elements from Howl’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake. Explore the narrative further at bakerbloch.com.
Fascinating. It both knows and doesn’t know about the details of the blog. They’re all confused, mishy mashy. There is no direct connection between Frank’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake that I recall in my blog. So I asked for clarity on that particular point. Where is this leading? “In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, what is the connection between the 2 movies ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and ‘Under the Silver Lake’?”
In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, Artificial Intelligence (AI) acts as both the glitchy architect and the existential threat behind the surrealist architectural mashup of Frank’s Moving Castle. In the hyper-novel’s universe, AI is not a tool for perfect creation; it is an engine of distortion that destabilizes the reality of the characters.
In Baker Bloch’s Sunklands blog, the connection between Howl’s Moving Castle and Under the Silver Lake is forged through the surrealist architectural mashup known as “Frank’s Moving Castle”.In section 0116 of the hyper-novel, Bloch uses these two pieces of cinema to explore themes of modern paranoia, AI generation, and identity distortion within the virtual world of Second Life:
The Structural Fusion (“Frank’s Moving Castle”): Bloch blends the whimsical, ever-shifting concept of Miyazaki’s mobile fortress (Howl’s Moving Castle) with a digital landscape. However, it is corrupted or reframed through an artificial intelligence (“AI!”) lens, turning it into a site of confusion and deep-seated paranoia.
The Unreliable Narrator & Paranoia: This AI-driven distortion leads directly to the themes of Under the Silver Lake—a neo-noir film famous for its hyper-obsessive protagonist, hidden codes, and sprawling Hollywood pop-culture conspiracies. Bloch even tags the post with the film’s star, Andrew Garfield.
The “Double World” Illusion: By pairing a movie about a shifting magical house (Howl’s) with a movie about uncovering subliminal messaging hidden underneath everyday reality (Silver Lake), Bloch connects them to represent the ultimate digital mirage. To the narrator, navigating the architecture of Second Life feels exactly like trying to decode a conspiracy theory while standing inside an impossible, shifting machine.
So close yet so far. But a fascinating experience. I’ll continue explorations on my own now, bringing more of its thoughts to light when needed. Thanks AI!
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0051, 0201, Blue Mountain, Frank's Moving Castle, Haze County, Jeogeot, Nawt Vaya+, NVFS
00500216
“Why does it have to be pink, Murdoc!?” shouts straw hat wearing Noodle up to her cult leader who’s also the bassist in her band. “The obelisk I mean!” She points toward it but Murdoc doesn’t see this or respond, still training his binoculars on the pool next door and its own bathing beauty of a person. Blue Moon, I mean Blue Flower… ahem, I mean *Moon Flower*, leader of her own cult as it turns out. Who has her own similarly size obelisk already painted blue, several in fact. From her angle, Noodle hasn’t seen this since it lies in the future. She’s only started her study as scholar of the cult, with the most important book still unread just beyond the tips of her pink painted toenails. “Masks.”
“Hurry up, 2-D! Why isn’t it finished already!” Murdoc barks down in the present, prying his eyes away from his target and toward another one. Pink vs. blue, then, just like with the battles of the sexes made famous in that 70’s tennis match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs at the Possum Pouch Astro Dome in Arkansaw Texas. Substituting one for the other. Doesn’t have to be that way. Noodle knows.
Library eyes? Not quite yet.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0050, 0216, California
00500215 (diving in, or at least testing the water…)
I’m trying not to see the new all-the-rage, violence filled video game called Crimson Desert as a desert of ideas for me, and MAPS might be helping now.
6 miles apart population places called Cliff and Desert in Emery County, UT, mirroring lead character Kliff from Crimson Desert. There are no places in our US of A, populated or otherwise, that start with KLIF, reinforcing the association. Also in the surrounding area of Cliff+Desert are Book Cliffs, Desert Reservoir #3 right next to the Cliff population place, and then only several miles south of Desert another community named Sphinx, more reinforcement of the Desert aspect. Crimson Desert is becoming noted as a game chocked full of riddles and mysteries which starts off slowly but then builds story through merger of seemingly unrelated plot lines. Something is there for sure. One way to find out. Die (as Kliff) at the beginning of the game and then get reborn again out of water. (Through a) Silver band — exactly like passed between two figures under the Silver Lake we’ve seen a screenshot of not once but twice already in this here photo-novel, 50 of 50 (so far). *Must* be something to this. Mirror.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0050, 0215, California, Crimson Desert, Utah
00500214 (Father Fecked’s is just candy)
—–
“It really is wonderful, Baker B. Can I call you Baker? Sir?”
“Sure. *Daniel* (smile). But what do you think of (the) Bill Hicks (stuff)?”
“Nice.” Then Daniel said what was on his mind since about 1/2way through the sync called “Father Fred.” “Soo, all this castle we’re sitting in now, this Howl’s Moving Castle, is about teaching your 4 old library friends a lesson?”
“Noo,” Baker began his defense. “It’s about *communication*. Stuff we couldn’t have in real life. A *nexus*.”
“Nexus, eh?”
“Nexus,” Baker reinforced. Had to watch his temper. What was so hard to understand about all this? he thought. Frank’s Moving Castle equals Howl’s Moving Castle equals “Frank’s Moving Mtn.” when combined with Zappa’s “Billy the Mountain” rock opera. Simple as pie.
“Soo…” Daniel rubs his forehead. It had been a long day. First working in the morning, then this at noon, then back to work at the studio in the afternoon. Baker was lonely, he gathered, had no one else to watch this stuff with, except the wife and their mutual best friend Kammie, he said. Thus me — here. And the whole Zappa thing. And now: Bill Hicks. The endpoint. It was brilliant, he knew. But he couldn’t say this directly to the man pacing back and forth in front of him. Had to put on a *front*. “I think I like ‘Peewee Big’ better. You *did* ask me to be candid with you,” he said, gauging the expression forming on Baker’s always sensitive face. But all that registered was acceptance.
“Of course. ‘Peewee Big’ is the peak of it all — in a way. But each one is very different, each has its own merits, its own place in the spectrum that is the process.” Baker had to curb his tongue here. He could speak for days about this. He couldn’t place himself in Daniel’s shoes, understand that he too was trying to develop his own creativity. He was 20 years younger than Baker, though. Hadn’t had time to refine the process like his friend, his co-worker had. He was being overshadowed. And the crack about his writing the other week (!). Still pisses him off when he thinks about it. Yeah, *I’m* a creator too, just like you Baker, he’s said to himself numerous times since then. And I can do several things as well. Writing… art. Just like *you*.
“Great. We agree.” Daniel looks around the castle’s living room. Father Fecked was here too, just like in the sync. Amazing.
“Well, I guess I better get back to Cedar Creek. Got a sculpture to finish this afternoon.” But, typical, Baker didn’t ask about any details on *that*. Hmph. Ego. Can’t see beyond his own nose, Daniel thought here. I’ll be glad to blow this place. And he can’t smoke here either, another disadvantage. Too much wood in the structure to take a chance, Baker explained to him when he asked. Must… have… cigarette, PHEH.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0050, 0214, Carrcass+02, Frank's Moving Castle, Jeogeot, Nawt Vaya+, NVFS
00500213
In our dream we gave you everything you want. Dance sequences. Sequences, period (think that’s how it translated from Japanese). Fame and money. Yet you throw it all away to get some privacy? We do not understand. Please explain the slapping, the red ass (translation?). Illinois?
Shelley put down the letter she received from up above. Beyond the clouds, even. Perhaps even beyond the sun and moon and stars. Pitch black up there. Bible. All Japanese. She couldn’t read to the end; too painful. Red again. Cheeks if not ass. But punishment nonetheless. Michael.
“Yess??”
00500212
But we’ve kind of already been here before with Cyberpunk 2077’s US Cracks, similarly a 3 girl band with color emphasized in their names, Blue (Moon) Red (Menace) Purple (Force) to match Shelley’s Pink Pink Pink. And if you combine their blue and red and purple you get pretty close to pink through magenta, like in the light spectrum. Japanese girls too, remembering that XXX Dream is owned by a user who only speaks such. Let’s investigate this resonance further…
—-
“I couldn’t even take a *bath* without the paparazzi hounding me up there in that Japanese hell. I wanted out. And so I started slapping myself while still sleeping, over and over. Cheeks turning red… redder… reddest. It wakes me up but I realize the dream slapping doesn’t carry over into reality slapping, thankfully. No pain. No red. The three part dream where I’m Pink Pink and Pink is *done*, band manager Wendell Biff Carter. Capisce?”
All Biff could do was nod. They’d made triple the money they would have collected groundside. He knew to cut ties while the going was good. Back to Earth. TBC
“Get out, get… OUT!”
00500211 (female, waiting (bunny 02?))
“XXX Dream; It’s real!” she said as he approached from the south, having checked out a bit of the new green grasslands before moving north into settled country. Right on the line he is up above. (Visiting in the) daytime of course. Biff Carter dare not come here during the night; had to remain a tether to reality for Shelley and the others under his new management. He’s *not* going back to that dirty, dingy, dinky claustrophobic restaurant on the edge of his village. Simply no to all that, he solidifies. “Just like in Concrete, Washington,” she continued, thinking of bigfoot there, the Man in Brown, so on. People didn’t want to see but still: there he is. The last thing shot before the quintessential Google Street View car found its final resting spot atop the Eiffel Tower, one of the most recognizable landmarks on Planet Earth. Until now. He was upon her, took in her Pink again. “Check out the parcel description if you don’t believe me.” She held out her white stick cigarette. “Hit?”
“No thanks I’m trying to cut back. And: I believe you about the parcel.” Yeah, he’d checked just in case while walking up. Like I said, he had everything to lose. Had to make sure *Shelley* wasn’t dreaming. XXX it was. But he didn’t tell her this, wanted to at least exude pretend confidence in her judgement, her grasp on truths.
“Soo… have you made a decision?”
“I have. Silver. No Mosquitoes.”
“Seven, then.”
“Yeaahh. Seven.” She reflexively looked down at the pinkness all about her body. Including the part alien skin, she knew. Thanks Baker Blinker!
Biff understood this was dangerous territory and that 7 could still overtake 9 since 9 could not probably move into 10 any more, safety zone on the other side of likewise static zero. But — the exuding.
“Ready for this, then?” X in triplicate form again. She hadn’t tried this out yet. Scared she was. And him through her. No restaurant no restaurant no restaurant. This experiment better *pan* out, else back to the pots and. He made sure they were on the same page of the script down here before heading upwards. Double check, *triple* check.
It worked! Biff remained manager of music not food. He knew this triplet form of Pink would *sell*. TBC
00500210
Turns out there was already a band called The Mosquitoes that appeared on “Gilligan’s Island” during the 60’s so Shelley decided to return the name Silver to her own band, reverting them to the Silver Mosquitoes. “Never mind the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ band was mythical and not real,” she said to anyone who cared at the time. “It’s still something that people might remember and then get confused about. We’re *not* mythical, he he he.” They were primarily a Beatles cover band here so Shelley thought the addition back of Silver was appropriate in that way too, further tribute to what she and all other members of her present band, save one, thought of as the greatest rock group of all time and who were, yes, once known as the Silver Beetles before they gained fame and notoriety and substituted an A for an E in the remaining part of their name. They weren’t on that level, she knew. They may never grow out of their Silver phase, cover band forever. But she still had plans. Was the lone non-Beatles fan No Lag still a part of that? We’ll perhaps see in parts 03-06 or 07 if not the present one. Back to the action… TBC
passing back of the “silver band”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0050, 0210, California, Oceania
00500209
We return end to beginning again, Omega to Alpha style. What to me is obviously the quintessential Google Street View car (get back to that soon) ends up perched on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris after a long long journey through many many lands, mission fulfilled.
Final resting spot acquired, its quintessential driver who is also a shooter now has time to reflect on what they’ve been through, Old Sweetback in Concrete WA being perhaps the last victim, the quintessential thing being shot at, the illusive Bigfoot found, the Holy Grail of Earthly mysteries. No need to go on.
But then I find out that the Omega continent of Our Second Lyfe is slated to be completed after 17 years, its missing southeast corner filled in at long long last. This happens to be where I began my Google Street View related posts in these here photo-novels. Utah.
So let’s get that car back on the streets again. Approach from the west this time to highlight the mirroring aspect of the involved 14.5 mile Francis-Marion circle, Samak > Kamas.
Right on the line we are (!). Wasn’t planned that way.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0050, 0209, Critterville, France, Google Street View, Omega, Southern, The Cross, The Straight, Utah, Washington
Sunklands 