AITA for realizing that my best friend is actually a ghost and not telling him because i’m worried that if he realizes he’s dead he’ll finally be able to accept it and fully pass on and i won’t be able to hang out with him anymore?
AITA if i’ve been dead for a while but haven’t told my best friend yet because he doesn’t seem to have realized i’m a ghost and if he does i’m worried that he’ll finally be able to accept it and let me go and i can’t bear the thought of losing him?
If you need context, earlier this year, CorridorDigital put out an “AI-made anime,” where an AI filter was used to convert live action footage into “animation” (for the record, this is NOT animation. Animation is not a look, it’s a process. By this logic, anyone using that Pixar Snapchat face filter is a Pixar animator). They touted themselves as “revolutionizing animation.”
They were met with considerable backlash and criticism from the animation community. For one, they were taking frames from the real anime Vampire Hunter D to feed the AI. For another, the video was essentially a proof-of-concept for how “easy” and “inexpensive” it is to reduce animation to an automate-able process.
Well, Corridor did not learn anything, because they released a sequel… In the middle of a strike against the use of AI to replace/exploit/profit off of the labor of workers in the film industry. Corridor assured they hired their own artist to train the AI, but remember that industry discourse like this is interconnected. They may not be stealing art, but any studio that sees this and goes ‘wow, it’s that easy’ will. Corridor’s also boasting about AI democratizing animation-making. Now anyone can make animation in their bedroom with nothing but a camera and a free software! Except, anyone could already make animation in their bedroom with nothing but a camera and a free software. I made animation in my bedroom with nothing but a camera and a free stop-motion software when I was 10 years old.
Anyways, work like this is exactly what studios hellbent on exploiting workers want to see. It doesn’t matter if it’s cool or fun. Remember that AI discourse is currently the frontlines of the labor crisis in the film industry. Corridor putting out this video as “fun education” in the middle of an strike is so incredibly irresponsible and disrespectful.
is there anyone out there with a nyt cooking subscription
will they send me the chamomile tea cake with strawberry icing recipe
This buttery, chamomile tea-scented loaf is a sweet pop symphony, the Abba of cakes. A pot of flowery, just-brewed chamomile isn’t required for drinking with slices of this tender loaf but is strongly recommended. In life and in food, you always need balance: A sip or two of the grassy, herbal tea between bites of this cake counters the sweetness, as do freeze-dried strawberries, which lend tartness and a naturally pink hue to the lemony glaze. This everyday loaf will keep on the counter for 3 to 4 days; be sure the cut side is always well wrapped.
Ingredients Yield: One 9-inch loaf
½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter 2 tablespoons/6 grams chamomile tea (from 4 to 6 tea bags), crushed fine if coarse 1 cup/240 milliliters whole milk Nonstick cooking spray 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt 2 large eggs 1 large lemon 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour 1 cup/124 grams confectioners’ sugar ½ cup/8 grams freeze-dried strawberries
Preparation
Step 1
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon chamomile to a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot melted butter over the chamomile and stir. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour. Step 2
Use the same saucepan (without washing it out) to bring the milk to a simmer over medium-high heat, keeping watch so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from the heat, and stir the remaining 1 tablespoon chamomile into the hot milk. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour. Step 3
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper so the long sides of the pan have a couple of inches of overhang to make lifting the finished cake out easier. Step 4
Add the sugar and salt to the bowl with the butter, and whisk until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, vigorously whisking to combine after each addition. Zest the lemon into the bowl; add the baking powder and vanilla, and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour and stream in the milk mixture while whisking continuously until no streaks of flour remain. Step 5
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK, but you should see no wet batter), 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Step 6
While the cake cools, make the icing: Into a medium bowl, squeeze 2 tablespoons juice from the zested lemon, then add the confectioners’ sugar. Place the dehydrated strawberries in a fine-mesh sieve set over the bowl and, using your fingers, crush the brittle berries and press the red-pink powder through the sieve and into the sugar. (The more you do this, the redder your icing will be.) Whisk until smooth. Step 7
If needed, run a knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. Holding the 2 sides of overhanging parchment, lift the cake out and place it on a plate, cake stand or cutting board. Discard the parchment. Pour the icing over the cake, using a spoon to push the icing to the edges of the cake to encourage the icing to drip down the sides dramatically. Cool the cake completely and let the icing set.
AITA for not telling my son we know he’s queer. I 40s(m) and my wife 40s(f) have a 17 (m) son lately he’s been sneaking around and keeps almost starting to come out and then backing out or getting interrupted. It’s exhausting and I think we should just tell him we know but I’m not sure that’s the best course of action? I worry it might come off wrong.the worst part is his grades have been slipping and if he’s sneaking around with a boyfriend that might be what was causing it? I don’t care if he has a boyfriend I just want him to succeed.
