TMoney

The new Grand Tour special is delightful!

Nice piece on The White Lotus in the LA Times today. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-08-06/the-white-lotus-hbo-cast-mike-white-hawaii-resort-tourism

Feeling the exact same! I can't wait to see what they've come up with! Also I finally figured out how to raise the frame rate cap above 60. It feels so much better now. https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Outer_Wilds#High_frame_rate

I guess I just have a cold heart 😉. Even with those two I'd think the wife would have had to have some sense of what she was getting herself in to and the masseuse is trying to forming a business with someone not of sound mind. 🤷‍♂️

I've kept up, but I still don't know what to make of the show. It is keeping me engaged, but the characters are so unlikeable! It is hard to feel sympathy for any of them!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead What if the Underground Railroad was actually a subterranean railroad? That is the hook that draws you in here, but it is the journey through antebellum America that really drives the narrative. This has strong vibes of The Odyssey, filtered through Cormac McCarthy. In my opinion this is/was a deserving winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer for fiction. Whitehead really showed me something here. I think I'll read more of his stuff in the future. I read this ahead of diving in to the Amazon Prime series based on it. The book is brutal. I'm not sure I have the stomach to watch the series after reading the book. One of the things Whitehead does masterfully is to have asides where he will go back and show things from earlier in the book in a new light or from a different point of view. While Whitehead by no means is the first to do this, he does it so tactfully and so beautifully that it really elevates his narrative. I'll be curious how they handle that in the show, given how different the natural rhythms of reading a book are from watching a tv series.

Happy birthday!

HAHA. Dracula! https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/sports/olympics/mbc-broadcaster-apology-olympics-opening-ceremony.html

The guy who voices “Jerry” on Rick and Morty said in a comic-con panel that this is his go-to karaoke song. Not a bad choice!

Hard to not feel sad watching the subdued opening ceremony. Constantly panning over the empty stadium didn’t help. I would have loved to see what Japan would have done in a normal year.

Caught up with season 1 of Ted Lasso. Stretch was right on the money with it. They break you down with their relentless optimism and cornball charm. It put a smile on my face.

At @Grahame's suggestion, I started in on The Prisoner. (Streaming free on IMDB TV) Wow! First two episodes are great! Using the search function here I can see many others are fans as well.

I tried the first two episodes as well. Just seemed like actors having fun at the four seasons wailea to me. Let me know if it starts to pick up.

I wish this were the case but it pretty clearly is not. Nearly half the US Men's basketball team and a number of other athletes "who's vacation status is unknown" have been placed in health and safety protocols in the last few days alone. This is embarrassing. The vax should have been mandatory to be on the US team.

Pleased To Meet Me - The Replacements

Happy birthday!

The Leftovers I'm so glad I gave this show a second chance. It is magnificent. The first four to five episodes are a slog. Don't be discouraged. It takes the show a while to find its footing. The premise is weird and the characters start out unlikable. Stick with it though! Two things I think are done exceptionally well here are showing you plot events that won't be explained until many episodes down the line and the use of music to really drive the big emotional moments. The show is by no means unique in doing these things, I just think they do them fantastically well. The show also doesn't overstay its welcome. Ending it after the third season was perfect.

As a pour-over guy this is something I want to try next time I’m able to use a press. The long steep time is interesting.

Yeah, I’m watching The Leftovers. This cover is just incredible.

Happy birthday, fellow oenophile!

Where is everyone at on spatial audio? I think I'm done with it for now. Every time I turn it off I like the sound better on the traditional stereo mix. Apple sets spatial on by default when using AirPods or beats so maybe it will gain traction in a way binaural never could. At least for right now though I think it is more "gimmick" than improvement.

2112 fan club!