Summer Solstice 2024
By Robert Ellison.
Summer starts at 20:51 UTC on June 20, 2024, Winter if you happen to live south of the equator. Rendered in Catfood Earth.
2,000 Sea Lions
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
Google Pixel 8 Pro 2mm f2.0 1/1,900s ISO41
Google Pixel 8 Pro 18mm f2.8 1/200s ISO16
I heard that we have over 2,000 Sea Lions at Fisherman's Wharf and had to check it out. There are thousands of them sleeping off their anchovy comas, a handful swimming around, and overflow onto many nearby docks. Worth checking out.
Firefly Petunia
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
SONY ILCE-7C 20mm f1.8 15.0s ISO800
SONY ILCE-7C 20mm f1.8 1/1s ISO800
I bought the first commercially available bioluminescent plant on a whim. The Firefly Petunia from light.bio glows thanks to fungal DNA. The plant that arrived was badly damaged from shipping and for a few weeks just looked like it was going to die. But over the last week it rallied and bloomed. It's really quite impressive. Hopefully it doesn't grow up to be a triffid.
Maine joins National Popular Vote
By Robert Ellison.
Maine just added its four electoral college votes to the National Popular Vote project. This is a compact between states that will elect the President based on the nationwide outcome once 270 electoral college votes are committed. We're now at 209. Two thirds of Americans support this project. Americans are a sensible bunch and support a lot of things that they will never get until we fix the broken electoral system. Visit my democracy page and do the four things listed there right now.
Sandpipers
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
SONY ILCE-7C 500mm f6.7 1/1,000s ISO200
Sandpipers flying past Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore.
Curlew
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
SONY ILCE-7C 500mm f6.7 1/800s ISO160
A Curlew on Limantour Beach in Point Reyes.
Bolinas Point Loop
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
Short and fairly flat loop above Bolinas in California. Plenty of cows. Comes back past Commonweal which is a retreat center. The area used to be a Marconi Telegraph transmitting station and there are a lot of poles and concrete anchor points dating from that.
Hike starts at: 37.918301, -122.720442. View in Google Earth.
Point Reyes - Divide Meadow Loop
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
Five mile loop hike from the Bear Valley visitor center to Mount Wittenberg and back. Great day for it with clear skies and a mini heatwave. Lots of tree cover and a fairly undulating climb although it gets pretty steep towards the top. Some rewarding views over Point Reyes before scrambling back down again.
Hike starts at: 38.039678, -122.799728. View in Google Earth.
Reviews for April 2024
By Robert Ellison. Updated on
Spoilers!
Podcasts
Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat
Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat is a six part survey of instant messaging, from Whatsapp parents groups to Telegram. The snippets of the worst mistakes people have made in chat are worth it alone, as is the somewhat haphazard invention of xxx is typing.
TV
3 Body Problem
After some terrible adaptations of cherished books I was pretty worried about this one. I think they nailed it. Trisolarians are now San-Ti, it's set in London and there are plenty of character and plot changes. But it's a compelling narrative that so far captures the spirit of the books without their somewhat clinical style. And I didn't see a single out of place Starbucks cup. Can't wait for the next installment.
Tokyo Vice Season 2
Season 1 was great, if based on a maybe exaggerated book. Season 2 starts off a little slow and had the feel of a writers room that ran out of source material. Then they bring back Tozawa who is on the cusp of subverting the entire nation and order needs to be restored. From that point this is as compelling and unputdownable as the first installment.
(All images included with ITHCWY reviews are the property of their respective owners and are used to illustrate reviews only.)
Robert Ellison's blog, I Thought He Came With You, on the Fediverse via fed.brid.gy. Photography, time lapse, programming, politics, hikes and more.