Guadaloopy

Now through episode 5 and my initial concerns have been completely overcome. They have done an amazing job adapting the first book, which episode 5 completes. All of the changes so far have purpose in simplifying the narrative and adding depth to the motivations of the antagonists. I’m very impressed.

Probably doesn’t even speak Japanese like one of those ASL fakers. Next up as Shohei’s interpreter is this guy, who’s currently unemployed:

Overall, really enjoying this, but If I were coming into this cold, I know I would enjoy it a lot more. A big piece is lost when you know the answer to the central mystery of the show. It's very well-acted so far and looks great. As a book nerd, I have thoughts on the first two episodes. SPOILERS inside.

No way Kev was a 16 seed.

Did he really walk up to a Bruno Mars song today? If that’s true… major lulz.

Everyone who confuses causation with correlation is going to die.

Finland is 90+% Finns. The degree of difficulty in instilling and acting on a common set of values is orders of magnitude lower in a racially and culturally homogenous population. It's not about them "doing the work" so much as the fact that they have far fewer societal obstacles to overcome than a pluralistic society like the US. Whether we like it or not, the tribal instinct is deeply ingrained in our psychology and it significantly hinders our ability to work together on common solutions. It's a hard problem to navigate.

She’s our little wall-eyed girl.

Ody is chill in the back and Penny looks like she’s seen some stuff.

We are suckers for these too. Started watching "The Vow" last week, but they have really drug this one out. 2 Seasons? WTF?

Walking away from $100M+ guaranteed is the level of "fuck the Yankees" I aspire to.

Yeah, seems like a no brainer. The only thing I don’t like is the post ‘24 option.

I did not want to leave CA. Ever. But the housing situation is horribad. Younger people really struggle to find affordable housing, which resulted in a huge explosion of multi-generational families in our neighborhood. Noise went up. Street parking blew up. My wife was about to lose her shit with the lack of peace. In early 2021, she told me that we needed to move or she was going to go insane. We are pretty well set financially, but there was absolutely no place in SoCal that had the peace we needed that we could afford without taking out another 30-yr mortgage. Fuck that. I want to retire someday. We took advantage of the crazy real estate rush mid-COVID and bolted. Now instead of never retiring, we brought the retirement horizon in by at least a decade by leaving CA. I imagine a lot of people leaving CA have done that same math.

Furk

Tulsa. Oklahoma is still batshit crazy, but it's within a half day's drive of both sets of aging parents and just feels less aggressive. Or maybe it's just that I don't have a love for Oklahoma, so it doesn't break my heart every day like living in Texas would.

Good Stuff, Brisket. Texas is a complicated place, and I have a complicated relationship with it. I haven't lived in the state for nearly three decades, but I've never gone more than 12 months without at least a short visit. Three years after leaving Texas, I found myself drunk in a tattoo shop in Pacific Beach, CA getting the Texas flag embossed over my heart to symbolize how deeply the state was embedded in my heart. The ink has faded over the years in perfect correlation with how strongly I feel connected to the state. When I first left, there was no doubt in my mind that someday I would return to live there again. Around 2012, I started to feel some doubt about ever living in Texas again. In 2021, when my wife and I decided to leave CA, she asked me if I wanted to move to Texas. I answered without hesitation, "Hell no." I can't put my finger on a specific reason other than it feels "mean" and "angry" after I'm back in Texas for a bit. I used to feel proud to be from Texas, but that pride has been tempered greatly, almost to the point it shades towards embarrassment. I hate that feeling. That said, I'm always happy to return for a visit. But sadly, I'm always happy to leave again.

This is another one I gave up on after less than an episode. I’m utterly exhausted by the govt conspiracy genre.

I couldn’t stand it. Quit after half an hour. I agree that it’s a story that needs telling, but she wasn’t the one to do it.

https://www.ign.com/articles/3-body-problem-review-netflix-benioff-weiss I'm stoked for it. Benedict Wong as Da Shi is pretty much perfect casting.

"Bill Roberts?" "No, not that motherscratcher. Bill Parker!"

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