Jason Wilder

Infinitely Curious and Mildly Amused

links I like/endorse

Doyers
gonechester
greenwood books
nts
popwars
spiritualized
sun ra arkestra
vernacular social club
wayofm

  • judgment

    Trying to talk about UFOs on the air today was a struggle. I’m not used to speaking about this topic outside of my conversations with my wife. It’s even harder when you are staring off into space, talking into a microphone and no one is around. All the while feeling the judgment of the listeners.

    Meanwhile grifter doctor/rapper Dr. Phil is REALLY ANGRY the government lied to him. Neil deGrasse Tyson now believes, I think, after pretty much ridiculing the topic. He has books to sell. The circus is getting more circusey. I do have the feeling the a certain section of podcasting and news grifters will label anything non-human on the same level of the humans they hate.

    At the end of the day, I’m ok being the crazy guy on a community radio station puking out thoughts in between songs.

    Rewatched: The Matrix. It flew over my head when I first watched it but it’s kind of a depressing movie. Younger me thought it was pretty exciting. I laughed more at this movie more than I did before. Say we are living in a virtual world already? We are taking this virtual world and making it more virtual with A.I. Ugh. Still a good movie. Get past the cinematic sugar and the philosophy of the film becomes the most exciting part. 5/5 Baudrillards.

    Close Encounters / Disclosure Day. Sort of a double feature. Close Encounters because Beth had not seen it. I love the scene with the sound and lights before Roy goes on his journey. The next day we watched Disclosure Day at the Little. I can admit, it was pretty moving and I came close to getting choked up a few times in the second half of the movie. If you are an even a little UFO nerdy, there are some easter eggs in the movie. There’s talk that Spielberg took military money to collaborate on his films. E.T. is based on a true story. There’s a great discussion about films, the UFO topic and the government/military involvement on the Sound, Light, and Frequency podcast. Anyways, both movies are iconic and I highly recommend watching both close together. 10/10 Little Popcorns. (The best popcorn.)

    Project Hail Mary. Another Little Theater venture. It’s really the only theater worth going to. You can argue the Dryden and I would agree but it’s mostly one movie showing and there’s a discussion aspect. One screen too. The movie … I enjoyed it like I enjoyed E.T. or the Last Starfighter as a kid. I really dig the space exploration trope. There’s a bunch of stinkers out there but there is a pretty big selection of art films, independents and blockbusters to choose from. Most of the stinkers rise to cult classic status.

    Night sky, July 3rd. Chaumont, NY.

    Last time I went to a ballgame it did this. Certainly not getting to as many games as I hoped this year. Hope I have a bit more weather and time luck in the second half of the season.

  • first fire

    First fire of 2026 was on Saturday, June 20th. Started around 7pm and ended in time for the Dodger game at 10pm. Enjoyed a couple beers, listened to a Fantastic Voyage song bank from the 70s. The lake and river are pretty high. The winds of the past few weeks wreaked havoc on the shorelines and docks. I was lucky to get a calm and pretty clear night to see some stars and hear a more tranquil water.

    This is my new coozie for Chaumont Bay. Picked it up on Clayton on a rare real day off for both Beth and I. We ate at The Hops Spot; shared a Hangover Helper poutine. Looking forward to going back to that place as their food and beer menu was perfect for a day on the St. Lawrence.

    We also watched a dog jumping contest in Clayton. Dogs doing any kind of tricks are up my alley.

  • Meteorologists, am I right or what?

    I say that tongue in cheek. Passing rain shower. Not much of a factor. Half way in my walk to the ballpark, it starts coming down pretty hard so I run into the alley way behind Frontier to take cover.

    I eventually got bored so I made some photos of the graffiti.

    Industrial vents remind me of Firefly.

    It was raining for a while. At least I knew there was a toilet.

    Someone had the same idea as me and walked in from out of the rain and then continued on the other end back into it.

    Tarps on at the stadium. Rumor is another shower is making its way through.

    Luckily I went to my shady philosophy dealer, Franlee, over the weekend. This should help me pass time.

    I doubt Ms. Weil ever watched a baseball game but I imagine she may have found it interesting if she went with the right person.

  • bay breeze

    Lake Ontario has reached flood stage. On Saturday the wind was really whipping and the bay was angry. Waves were crashing up over the sea wall and spraying the house. Across the bay, we heard of some dock and boat damage. Today, Sunday, everything was very calm. I’m here spending time with my parents as my dad recovers from heart surgery.

    Started playing No Man’s Sky. Come to find out it’s pretty relaxing exploring space and planets, albeit via a video game.

    Movies:

    Solarbabies. My sister reminded me of this. This is a typical movie of 80s sci-fi I grew up on. While it is corny, obviously, it certainly captured my imagination back in the day. Not sure how well it holds up in 2026 cinematically but it is worthy checking out if you like 80s sci-fi.

  • rally

    My dad recently had a heart attack. In a couple days he gets open heart surgery. Before that, last fall into the winter, my wife and mom were both diagnosed with breast cancer. They recovered nicely and gracefully. Before that, for a couple years over lapping into the cancer diagnoses, I had varying degrees of injuries to a leg and shoulder/arm from hiking and weight lifting. Aside from volunteering at the radio station with my radio show, I have been playing and feeling pretty low. Some of the time it was self pity but for the most part, we all have just been trying to rally the past few years. As a result I had to say no to a lot of people and things. A lot of people never asked why or just stopped asking. It made me mad at first and then I remembered, we all have our stuff and we are trying to rally. Just as we were rallying, we are now into extra innings with my dad.

    That’s a bunny that got attacked by a cat. I pet the bunny as it passed and then had to go check in my dad at the hospital. I buried it when I got back home. I said this to the bunny as I carried him in a shovel to it’s final resting place:

    Hey bunny, sorry that cat got you. I hope your time and experience as a bunny was at least a decent one. If we are all souls connected, maybe you will come back as a tree or a person who eventually always has a pet bunnies. Thanks for letting me pet you. You are soft. We probably could have been friends. If I ever see that cat, want me get revenge? Just kidding. Hope your next experience has a more pleasant outcome.

    These events definitely made me think more about mortality and spirituality. My wife and I usually have at least two or three conversations a week about that coupled with space exploration, UFOs and other normals call woo-woo stuff like telepathy, lucid dreaming, and meditation.

    Spent some time in the north country this weekend to help out around my parents’ house. My wife and I planted some flowers and got some work done in and outside the house. It was too cold and windy to have a bonfire last night so we just watched the moon rise above the bay from inside. Earlier in the day, we ventured into General Brown Days, specifically the garage sales and in this year, Dexter, NY, instead of Brownville. My wife found a North Face jacket for $5. No photos of the jacket or the moon but I did find the above in Dexter and it made me proud to know that some people like me still live in that area.

    Currently reading: The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay. A review of the book. For his previous book, [NSFW], I reviewed it:

    If Georges Bataille wrote Story of the Eye while working for META.

    I read [NSFW] after reading this at Largehearted Boy.

    Blogs, right? Just like a lot of people have gone back to owning music on vinyl, cd and cassette, I hope blogs make a comeback.

    I DJ’d for WAYO at the record fair at Radio Social. A full two hour set of space music. That was pretty fun. Got some great compliments and caught some people mindfully joining me into the grove I was feeling in my selections. Played a selection of psych, motorik, city pop, French pop, space disco, and cosmic jazz. I snuck a few non spacey songs in there as well. And I didn’t buy any records. Playing in the photo above is the first song in the set, Spiritualized’s “I Think I’m In Love,” off my all time favorite record. The baseline on that song always gets me.

    Movies I’ve seen recently:

    A cool movie about an octopus. Sally Field is in it too. I watched a movie about a stowaway. Anna Kendrick is in it too.

    On “TV”: Widow’s Bay on Apple TV is very entertaining. Getting really tired with For All Mankind. While well intentioned, I’m finding it pretty corny and predictable. Hoping the Star City show will be equally entertaining as most seasons were for For All Mankind. It would be pretty cool if they eventually made a cut of both series happening at the same time … if that is what they are actually doing with the new show. Started the Burroughs. It’s supposedly like Stranger Things but in a retirement community in the middle of Arizona. First episode was pretty good.

    I need to get better about writing in my other blogs. I have a cool story about the picture above that I need to feel is ready for the world to read. And I have reviews of albums in my notes app that I need to put together. I should probably do that now ……

    But first, it’s the internet. Back in the day, a lot of the blogs I read included a random assortment of cat photos from time to time.

  • inside outside

    Movie Reviews:

    Atropia: Alia Shawkat is cast in many of my imaginary movie roles. In my most recent one, she plays an artist-scientist who can make hologram chairs that turn into physical chairs. When the hologram turns off, the chair is gone. No one, except her, knows the science and her chairs are sought after artwork, if it was for sale. There’s a few tropes that can follow the gist of the premise.

    Atropia is a biting commentary on the government and the military industrial complex who employs actors to help train the military for real life combat in the Middle East. The dialogue gets really John Waters-like weird at some parts, which I really liked. It didn’t rate well but I gave it a 4/5 stars on Mubi. And a high-five to Alia Shawkat.

    Stowaway had a very cool spaceship. It’s about being in space … specifically going to Mars and back to Earth. The crew of three at some point realize there is a stowaway, which the movie could have added ten minutes tops to show how he actually got there. Otherwise, pretty good movie. I’d give it:
    5/5 spaceships
    3/5 plotline
    5/5 casting/acting

    Making ad to start selling my digital cameras. Going to put it up at local coffee shops. Reasonable prices, more what I could trade it in but less than retail. I do not like over pricing camera gear. I’m kind of excited because they do not fit me anymore. I highly doubt I will act upon my previous music idea.

    My Goodreads. Any recommendations?

    Paul Dodd likes unintentionally intentional public art.

    Really enjoy this series on Gonechester.

    We addicted to the falcon cam.

  • Considering selling

    Considering selling everything I have photo (cameras, lenses, photobooks) related* and use that money to start my own solo band (lofi, cosmic, earthly, space influenced). I already have a couple Arturia midi controllers and a computer with basic software, with some basic knowledge. Also, a microphone for rudimentary field recordings. Overall, I’ll have no idea how to synthesize my goals but maybe I can figure it out. Not because I think it’s easy or I think/know I could do it, but because I want to try. I want to experience the process, mostly. Make some sound collages.

    I have some ideas that would be fun to try out.

    *I’d keep a couple cheap film cameras (Nikon N80 and Polaroid) and a couple lenses and use it for track art and keeping a visually creative balance.

    I’m 80% for this. I do not need much to start with adding some cheap used equipment (does borrowing exist?) and the remainder can pay off/down bills.

  • Night Moves

    We watched Night Moves after our morning coffee. I’ve become a big fan of Kelly Reichardt. Night Moves is about a trio of environmental activists whose attempt to blow up a dam has both expected and unexpected results. The beauty of Reichardt’s films are not only the story but the scenes where nothing is said and the cinematography that accompanies the silence. Mastermind was brilliant too. I might have to watch another Reichardt film tomorrow morning.

    We also finished Firefly. A somewhat rewatch for me but new for Beth. On to the movie Serenity next. Maybe we will watch it while we are camping this summer. I love how you can track sci-fi shows/movies like Firefly and Serenity to Westerns and Samurai movies. My goal is get Beth to sit through Seven Samurai and Ran sometime this year. I’d love to see them in a theater.

    Zach Galifianakis has a show on Netflix called This Is A Gardening Show. The show reminds me of public access television, which is a compliment. Also, I agree, the future is agrarian.

    Going through some photos recently. I’ve always meant to try to find this varsity jacket. I found it but it looks a little different. As far as I can tell, this specific jacket does not exist online, except this photo.

    Today we found out our old neighborhood bar that closed last summer is now going to be sports bar with new owners. We instantly got pretty psyched. Looking at the photos online, though, maybe, we celebrated too soon. The owners seem very cool. That’s the bright spot. Very sweet back story. But they got rid of or didn’t replace the tables so it’s either the bar or public … couches. Public couches are so gross. They added dorm room lights to the trim of the bar and other places.

    I always imagined that bar would be a great kissa. If I had the money, I would have swopped in and saved/invested into the old bar as I really appreciated the owners and their staff … then make it a kissa. If we lived in other areas, bars like Dicky’s would be very welcome downtown / center city. I’d be there tonight watching the Dodgers since I do not pay to have Fox while having random conversations with a wild selection of people.

    Anyways, I’m happy a business went in with such great owners. Just wish it was less of they made it. Will we go and support it, I’m pretty sure.

    Anyways x 2, I think. business people in Rochester tend to go to either Five Below for fancy or a close but not quite NYC experience or just keep it simple stupid. The KISS places are my places. I think is a kissa would be a kiss. Of course, there are a very few exceptions. I’m just glad there’s lots of places for people to get to the city and enjoy themselves. I hope they also consider the people already here.

    Making a Fantastic Voyage setlist inspired by the bars on here. Imagine working or drinking at places like these? Gonna go straight vinyl on this one.

    It’s sad that nature is taking over the vacant buildings downtown while we build new condos on a green space. Man, the passive aggressive barbs from both sides were slyly brutal. Also, a lot of people in the burbs had strong opinions on this on social media. All this hub bub while we don’t have a grocery store downtown. Getting fresh fruits and vegetables is a luxury. I’m glad to know that all those people in Gates, Pittsford, Churchville, and Webster have an opinion on this.

    Oh, the movie Emerald Cities. Five stars. No notes.

  • Material Objects

    In 2025, I only went to three local shows. My heart just isn’t in it for live music anymore. Last night I went to my first of 2026 show to see some bands. There were five bands on the bill at the Bug Jar. I struggled to find the energy for three then I walked home. I brought my camera along to document me being there but didn’t care to make photos like I did in the past. Again, my heart just isn’t into that subject matter anymore.

    Joe Tunis solo’d some psychedelic wavey guitar work as Joe+N. Earlier in the night, Joe and I discussed music from New Zealand, which he is a passionate expert of. I always enjoy Joe’s performances as well as his label Carbon Records. I’m positive every year I’ve been in Western NY I’ve listened to something Joe has been a part of and/or released on his label.

    Next up was Radon Flowers. This is a new to me band with Needledrop Russ on the bass. Their last song reminded me of a rollicky Ride song. I was very impressed as I knew nothing about the band going into the night. No fault to anyone but I couldn’t make out their lyrics so I hope they release some music with some liner notes. (side note: every band should include/release liner notes regardless if they release physically or digitally.)

    Finally, I got to see Material Objects again. Their Lux show last year was one of the three I saw. I found out about the band, originally, through guitarist/singer Domenic Gagliano’s YouTube channel. Dom’s YouTube channel stands out much like Joe’s passion for New Zealand music. Social media cult behavior doesn’t get in the way of honestly sharing their musical interests and passions. Material Objects had Gabriella Evergreen joining them on cello, which added both a sweet and gritty dynamic to their take of what 80s/90s underground music heads love about that era. I’m not talking low hanging fruit/riffs/melodies either. This is a band filled to the brim with pleasurable nuances of a time period of music that I will always enjoy.

    Then that was it. I hit that final wall of exhaustion and made my way home. I wish I had the energy for Comfy and Growing Stone. I really enjoy Comfy’s music and Growing Stone I have yet to hear a song by.

    On the way home, I made a few double exposures.

  • Had a pretty poignant conversation about photography with another local photographer. Specifically, the art of it and what is subjectively good/great artistic photography and what’s just amateur photography. We both think that lines have blurred so much because the democratization of cameras. Blurry lines bad, democratization good. I also believe art criticism when it comes to most photography is not welcome anymore, especially among people who like to show their work. I’ve seen it at group meetups where the whole point was question making and criticism. I’ve seen it in person.

    Everyone is capable of artistic and amateur photography but very few people I come across only want/need praise. If you are unwilling to be thoughtfully challenged, whats the purpose then? What I think is the worst is the gamification of photography. Likes, comments, numbers of shows, podcasts, books, zines, followers, tagging, emojis as comments, hashtags, reels, updates, algorithms, etc., it’s all corporate metrics, overwhelming and cultish. And much of it is not thoughtfully done.

    Thinking out loud, but maybe that’s just society now and my friend and I should just accept it..

    Back in the photoblog book in the late 90s and early 2000s, everyone was an amateur. It wasn’t an insult or a badge of honor. Now everyone is a Picasso. Or in this case, a Cartier-Bresson. It doesn’t feel like that anymore.

    I do feel like a decent selection of amateur photography can make a great artistic statement. I also think a decent selection of artistic photography can feel generic. Am I talking out both sides of my mouth?

    I guess my point is that we aren’t thinking about photography, we are thinking about everything else that shouldn’t be important. People are afraid of losing “a community” if they leave the cult. And people who leave the cult never hear from the cult members anymore.

    I should point out this is not about or directed at anyone. I just watched a video about how some photographers feel it is harder and more dangerous to make photos in public. Some of the points made in the video also correlated with my other conversation. I like to think and philosophize about this stuff.

    Anyways, the photo above was made when I still was bringing my camera on the three minute walk I have to work. I had a couple minutes so I stopped at the corner to mill around and heard something in the sky, so I made a photo. It’s definitely a snapshot and not intended for anything other than being a snapshot of a moment only I remember. Never did see anything in the sky. Probably just a plane. No one else seemed to care.

    Artemis was all pretty damn amazing. Right up there with all the recent UFO related news. My wife and I will chat about this stuff for hours after listening to podcasts with astronauts, physicists, doctors, researchers and experiencers. I never imagined when I met her that we would watch the Dodgers together and have passionate conversations about UFOs. Ten years ago a couple weeks ago, after I went to a Gerry Szymanski photography showing (A Clear Midnight), we met for the first time and stayed up all night talking, drinking champagne.

    Red Wings back in town this week. If you like baseball, me, and/or want to follow along in my project, take a look at High and Inside.

    Had a little movie marathon.

    Sometimes I Think About Dying.

    Sick of Myself.

    Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.

    Nightide.

    All very fun movies for different reasons.

    Rewatching for me, and first for Beth, the Firefly series. Word on the street there is an animated version coming soon.