Reviews for July 2023
Spoilers!
Books
Invasive
Losely a sequel to Zeroes (same universe, different lead character), Invasive is a thriller about saving the world from genetically modified killer ants. It's a very competent beach read kind of book, keeps the pace moving along briskly and gets the job done. His Miriam Black series is much better (and darker) and I am on the cusp of dipping into Wayward, the sequel to the rather good Wanderers.
Killing Moon
I thought I was done with Harry Hole at the end of Book 12, but he's surprisingly back and with an ending that strongly hints at more. This time Harry is forced to solve a crime outside the Norwegian police by some hand waving circumstances in Los Angeles. The main plot is another very nasty killer with many red herrings along the way. This series is my favorite Scandinavian Noir and it's a very solid installment but start at the beginning if you're new to it. There is a lot of history with many of these characters.
The Starless Crown
I really struggled to finish this book, to the point it backed up my reading and had me turning to Netflix for several months. It's a pity because the concept is great, a fantasy quest in a distinctly Sci Fi milieu, and many of the scenes are phenomenal. Maybe it will make a great movie or TV series one day. But the actual mechanics of the prose are leaden and tropey. Not a series that I'm planning to continue.
Movies
Blackberry
I watched Blackberry expecting to find out something interesting about the history of the famous business accessory, or maybe the phone version of the outstanding Halt and Catch Fire. Nope. Apparently they built it with swearing and then once people fell in love with the iPhone the company died. Nothing to add here.
Discontinued
Funny movie about our particular version of reality getting shut down. I like that the reason for the simulation is inconsequential, see this.
Fast X
This is one of those irritating moves that doesn't really end and just sets up the next chapter. It's also an exercise in too much CGI, some of it unforgivably bad. Beyond that I don't remember much, and I don't know much about cars so the fact he's in a Spaghetti Chiron Ghia means nothing to me. Some of the earlier installments were OK. I've watched between 3 and 12 of them.
To Catch a Killer
To Catch a Killer is a competent, adult police thriller set in Baltimore. It doesn't have any particular angle or seeming reason to exist in today's cinematic landscape. It's just a well made gift that arrived for no reason. Lucky rent.
Music
Don't Delete the Kisses
Low key but can't stop going back to this by Wolf Alice.
TV
The Days
The Days tells the story of the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. A nuclear catastrophe is always pretty gripping and I was pretty gripped. They clearly didn't have the budget to compete with HBO's Chernobyl though, and seem to have gone for a daytime Emmy instead. The special effects were not that great, and some of the acting was more horrific than the meltdown. There is one nuclear advisor who emotes surprise like a Tasered fish and you wonder if AI actors might be a blessing in some cases.
(All images included with ITHCWY reviews are the property of their respective owners and are used to illustrate reviews only.)
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Black Crested Night Heron
Google Pixel 6 Pro 19mm f3.5 1/235s ISO36
A black crested night heron with a couple of turtles at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.
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SFO JFK
Philosopher's Way in McLaren Park
Philosopher's Way is a 2.7 mile loop around McLaren Park in San Francisco. The trail was designed by Peter Richards and Susan Schwatzenberg and opened in 2013. The stone markers are fun to look for and there are various interesting plaques on the route as well. McLaren is the second largest city park in San Francisco. John McLaren is more famous for developing and then becoming the superintendent of Golden Gate Park. He is responsible for the windmills - to pump water to irrigate the park and apparently insisted that there could be no 'Keep off the Grass' signs.
Hike starts at: 37.718265, -122.412104. View in Google Earth.
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(Hike Map)
3D Printing a Kong XL Holder
Problem: filling a Kong without it rolling around and dispersing its contents and then freezing without tipping over and oozing peanut butter. I found a couple of solutions for smaller Kongs, this one fits a Kong XL perfectly.
STL on Thingiverse or OpenSCAD code:
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Pride 2023 Laser Rainbow (Time Lapse)
For the second year Illuminate SF has put on a laser rainbow show from the Ferry Building on Market Street in San Francisco for Pride. This time lapse was shot from Twin Peaks and shows first light until around 9:30 PM. The number of lasers has been doubled from 6 to 12, and you could see the beams travelling between Twin Peaks and out to the Pacific.
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Summer Solstice 2023
Summer Solstice 2023 is at 14:58 UTC on June 21. The image above shows the exact moment of the Solstice as rendered in Catfood Earth. It's the official if not sartorial start of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter if you find yourself on the other side of the Equator.
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Reviews for June 2023
Spoilers!
Movies
I See You
A small town where kids mysteriously vanish. This is quite clever in how the story changes perspective a few times before being resolved.
John Wick 4
Very pretty, but also very flabby.
Knock at the Cabin
Sophie's Choice, set in an Airbnb.
Scream 6
Gory, not clever, not sure why I bothered.
The Last Sentinel
Should have ended: "What did the cats, the horse, the swallows, and Rob do to deserve this?". Reasonably atmospheric in places but ultimately not that good.
The Wandering Earth 2
I very nearly skipped this because the first movie was action trash, like a Chinese take on the indecipherable Transformers movies. The Wandering Earth 2 is a prequel, about dueling visions of how to escape the imminent demise of the Sun. Option 1 is attaching thousands of engines to the Earth and moving it to a different solar system (you can guess this is what ends up happening). Option 2 is digitizing people. It's never made entirely clear where the digitized people would live once the Earth has been engulfed by the Sun, but you're not going to enjoy this movie if you stop to think about any part of it for too long. Like why does a space elevator use rockets? Despite all this it's really good and has the Liu Cixin vibes that I missed from the first film.
TV
Anatomy of a Scandal
Anatomy of a Scandal has shades of the original House of Cards but without the dark humor. It keeps the pace up and the revelations coming, pretty good overall.
Beef
Beef is a Korean-American focused comedy about a parking lot altercation that rapidly spirals out of control. It's outstanding.
Succession Season 4
This ended as well as it could have. Roys, you suck but you will be missed.
(All images included with ITHCWY reviews are the property of their respective owners and are used to illustrate reviews only.)
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Presidio Loop Hike
A pleasant loop hike in the Presidio of San Francisco. This is a dog friendly version, many trails are closed to dogs in the spring due to coyote pupping season. It starts at Mountain Lake, winds down the Ecology Trail to the main post and runs past both the new tunnel tops parks before returning to Mountain Lake.
Hike starts at: 37.786106, -122.472095. View in Google Earth.
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(Hike Map)
ITHCWY Newsletter for May 2023
A time lapse of the Milky Way over South Lake Tahoe. And, World WebCams 2.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is 10 Electoral College votes closer. If you live in a state where this isn't law yet consider doing something about it.
Catfood WebCamSaver 3.31 released.
Reviews for March, April and May.
Adventures in telling ecommerce stories via generative AI. Also, using ML.NET to predict when fog will flow through the Golden Gate.
The Coronation was looking for a pledge of allegiance?
Although it's not supposed to do much I can now blog from a reMarkable tablet.
Previously:
- 2022: I would do anything to reduce gun violence, but I won't do that (an open letter to Joe Manchin)
- 2021: Catfood Earth
- 2020: Summer Solstice 2020
