TMoney

I never grew up driving a manual so the appeal of one is lost on me. The paddles on the PDK are fantastic for selecting gears and you don’t ever need to worry about heel-toe rev matching or something like a money shift. When I’m going flat out or close to it I’m pretty mentally engaged as it is! Speaking of Porsche limits, the fun thing with the modern Porsches is they tell you at how well you are driving to the limit of the car when you activate the data recorder. I am very much a novice driver, but even I can get this thing up to 84% of its limit. It is also cool that I can compare my telemetry with other Porsche drivers on the same track. It goes without saying, but the biggest different between the skilled drivers and the novices like me is the brake pedal, not the gas. They brake a lot later and harder than I do allowing them to get back on throttle faster. My next session ended in tragedy as I had an “off” that resulted in rear suspension damage and a tow home, but hey, shit happens and performance driving is a risky activity. I am doing my penance in a rental Chevy Malibu while my baby gets repaired.

Whether you get a manual or a PDK, they are worth waiting for. See you at a PCA track event some day, I hope!

Happy birthday, Kerry! I miss getting to listen to your delightful creations.

Welcome back, GoT. We missed you!

Shogun (2024) I watched the old 80s mini-series a few years back and absolutely loved it. For the time it was so well done. I could forgive the 80s TV production values because the story, setting and characters were so captivating. I also loved that all the Japanese characters spoke in Japanese and there were no subtitles. The story of the 80s mini-series sticks closely to the English Pilot whose ship washes up on the shores of 16th century Japan, John Blackthorn. You see more or less the entire story from his perspective. For this reason I think it was a smash hit in the west, even though the Japanese home market does not look back on it kindly. It wasn’t their story, it was ours. The 80s version made me want to travel to Japan very badly. The 2024 Shogun (based on the same source material) takes a different path. The production values are crazy good, the acting is better (for the most part), and all the Japanese characters are subtitled. For all the 2024 version does well though, it never quite hooked me the way the 80s version did. I think the change that hurt this (for me) the most was making the story more Torunaga’s and less Blackthorn’s. Rather than being a fish-out-of-water story of a marooned Englishman in a foreign land, this show is much more centered on Torunaga and his machinations to become Shogun. I hate to say this, but I just didn’t find Torunaga that compelling. He is cold and icy, and is defined more by his rivals than by his own deeds. I was not engaged by lot of the political maneuvering. Enjoyable show, to be sure. Very well made. Game of Thrones level political fun? I say no. Still, recommended.

RIP to Jerry West. Maybe (up until today) my favorite living athlete. Jerry lead the Lakers against the Celtics and Knicks in the finals 8 times before finally winning in his 9th time. That sisaphesian-effort alone makes him almost some kind of Greek tragic hero. To get near the top of the mountaintop that many times and still get back up and go again is inspiring. After retiring as a player he built not one but two great Laker dynasties, the Showtime™ Magic-Kareem teams and the Shaq-Kobe teams. He would later serve as a front office executive for other teams, including my Golden State Warriors during the Curry championship years. I think what allowed him to succeed in every era of the game was his respect for the current players and the changing game. Rather than insist things be done “his way” or the way it was done when he was a player, he adapted and respected the players as the skills the league valued and the style of play changed. There is no common thread to the championship winning teams he constructed, because he was the kind of thinker who evaluated and respected the tools he had at his disposal with fresh eyes and with a lack of deference to old dogma. He was able to build teams around many of the league’s most unique talents. Kareem, the great stoic. Shaq and Kobe, the best of frenemies, and Curry a one-of-one player who heralded a new era of three point shooting. We will miss you, Jerry.

Watched the first episode of this last night (on HBO). Fan-tastic! If, like me, when you hear "Stax" you think of the record company first and electrostatic headphones second, watch this! The music that came out of Stax in the 60s was absolutely molten. Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Issac Hayes. They are all among my favorites. There was a ton of musical talent in the south that they really were able to tap. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the four parts.

Won’t have to wait long. FML.

Sacramento is a nice place to live, but learning to deal with to the heat here vs. the coastal weather of the Bay Area is a big adjustment. I keep getting my butt absolutely kicked on hikes that I’d have no problem with if it were cooler. I’d estimate there is something like a 15-20% difference in effort required to do outdoor activity at 65F near the coast vs. doing at 90F inland. I think the body just has to spend a lot more energy keeping itself cool. Thankfully I am bringing plenty of water. A nice cold Gatorade at a gas station after hours hiking out in the sun also really hits the spot.

RIP Big Red. You were a weird dude, that is for sure. Pretty good ball player before his injury too.

It is treacle-y, it is over produced, it is emotionally manipulative… and yet. This show is my guilty pleasure. I am won over by it every season. This third season is no different. Just delightful.

The messages as if it were speaking in tongues have me in tears. 😂

How you made it another year is a mystery to us all. 🙃 Happy birthday, Br0nt!

Happy birthday, Rob! Hope you are able to get outside and enjoy this lovely spring weather!

Ok, boomer. 😉 On a related note, it is truly insane to me how many people exclusively get their news from social media or other algorithmic sources these days. I feel like a dinosaur still reading newspapers that I have to pay for!

Couldn’t disagree more. News is the best it has ever been and there has never been more transparency from governmental entities in the US. You have to look for good sources, but they are out there. Usually not on TV.

Happy birthday, Pars!

People told me this was the best Star Wars thing Disney has done. I don't know. I tried. Made it four episodes in before giving up. There is a magic to the first two movies that nothing else in the franchise has really been able to recapture for me . This just isn't a sci-fi world I want to spend part in anymore, which does make me sad.

This is how you make a car video. That bugatti looks insane. This was also filmed where I autocross.

Holy shit. RIP Steve Albini. Only 61. Absolute fucking legend of a producer. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/arts/music/steve-albini-dead.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Albini_discography

Happy birthday, Teach!

That guy's articles rule.

Right near the junction of the Skyway and the Dragon, nice! My car is similarly decorated with bug splats like the blue GT4. Comes with the territory of running these backroads!

Ditto with Fallout. Bounced off the first episode and a half but now I'm on Ep. 5 and having a fun time.

Happy birthday, Jeffy!