TMoney

Happy birthday, Marc!

Paul Allen's Vulcan crew found the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi sunk during the Battle of Midway. Cool stuff! https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/us/battle-of-midway-carriers-ww2.html?searchResultPosition=1

Well, that was not what I expected. I am intrigued but confused. I’ll be looking forward to it next week.

Yup. Looking forward to it as well. The original Graphic Novel is fucking amazing. Going back in to that world after the events of the original Watchmen? Sure, lets do it!

Happy birthday, Peter!

CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

It is always hard to tell the signal from the noise with the whining that occurs any time Apple ever does anything. The plural of anecdote is not data, but if there is smoke there could be fire. I updated my work computer on Monday and have been having no real issues. All the apps I use work just fine, including MS Office. I didn't use any apps that weren't updated from 32-bit, so I'm sure that helps.

Wait till you get to the end of the day and have 30% more battery life left than you did before. The battery improvement is the best thing about the new phones, IMO.

Finished up Ken Burns' Country Music. I wouldn't say it made me any more of a country fan, I but I do have have new appreciation for the effort, craft, showmanship and musicianship. It is well done. I learned a lot. Two artists who impressed me were Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. Vince's songwriting and musicianship clicks with me. He is a little more cerebral than some of his peers without going too far. As for Dolly, I've always been put off by her appearance but after hearing her story and her songs I'll admit... the woman is a capital-S STAR. Really impressed by her. The fact that she isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while clowns like Bon Jovi are is a complete joke. As for the old warhorses, the music of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams never gets old.

Twin Peaks is where I found out about them as well. Almost every band that performed on that show has been fun to listen to.

Chromatics - Kill for Love

So this is pretentious, overwritten, nerdy... and... pretty good? I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

Sunny and Liz go on trial next year for the criminal charges. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Maybe I'm just projecting with the benefit of knowing what lied ahead for the band, but listening to these extras the guys just sound creatively and emotionally spent compared to the energy in the extras for the Super Deluxe edition of the White album a few years back. Interesting nevertheless.

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

Finally drove Colin’s X around to see what all the fuss is about. Overall I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very nice grand tourer. It is not a dialed in performance-mobile but for highway commutes and City drives it’d be very easy to live with. Quick impressions: View from driver’s position is like nothing else on the road. The “infinity” windshield is crazy. Drives great. Electric transmission/power delivery is very smooth (though I’d expect nothing less from a car with such a sticker price). Regen braking is cool. Able to drive it pretty easily with one pedal. Going back to a normal car I missed the regen. Get-up-and-go from a standstill is impressive, especially for something this heavy and even on the smaller battery model. Power is noticeably less when already moving at interstate speeds. I miss the sound of a growling V8 though. So much tech, but worry that some may be obsolete in a few years time. Tesla’s mapping worked just fine but when you’ve grown addicted to gmaps/Waze it is hard to envision using anything else. Back doors are just silly. Back seat experience is fine but doesn’t stand out vs. the luxury SUV competition.

Happy birthday, Santa-man!

Happy birthday!

Alright, I'll take the plunge on the trial. I'm not really unhappy with Tidal, but I worry about their ability to survive with (IIRC) around 5mm subscribers when Amazon, Apple and Spotify all have many multiples of that. I'll check back in with thoughts after some use.

I've been starting to dig in to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books. There is something about her prose that I really enjoy reading. It is apparent right off the bat that she is an extremely talented writer.

Happy birthday!