THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) The new 4k UHD restoration looks AMAZING. But after a fresh viewing, it PAINS me to say this but: the movie only really works if you first see it as a ~8-12yr old. It's just too slow and weird and dated to get through once you're older. It has a special place in my heart since I first saw it when I was probably a little too young for it: it was scary and challenging and hideous and magical. I was hoping to watch it with my teenage nieces, but it definitely would NOT work for them. The creepy creatures and various delights would still land, but there's just too much slower paced / puppet awkwardness "meh" that would make it a slog for them to get through. If you think of it fondly, definitely watch this restored version (dunno if it's available via streaming or only on the 4k disc). It's an absolutely marvelous effort to capture everything this had to offer 44 years ago. 4k is so sharp that you can now see the wires holding up the crystal 🤣! The film is a remarkable achievement... but also an artifact of the past.

THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998) Killer combo of director Peter Weir + writer Andrew Niccol. Great news: It still holds up extremely well almost 30yrs later. Back then it was wildly inventive speculation on how far the then-nascent reality TV craze might go. In 2026 it's just as fun and interesting and entertaining, but is no longer shockingly absurd. If anything, it's too idealistic. Part of the fun in revisiting some of these movies is when they have a new 4k UHD restoration. This one looks great, relative to its modest source material (though it's astonishing to think that THE MATRIX was just one year later and looks incredible).

MOON (2009) Director Duncan Jones' debut. He clearly has a knack for pretty well-made yet stealthily low budget movies (see: SOURCE CODE). Respectable effort here. Somewhat intriguing premise. But some odd misses for crucial emotional turns. This is a one-man character study / situation study and you just can't screw up how you deliver his evolving internal state. * Biggest complaint (mild spoilers): After being completely isolated for almost 3 years, Sam awakens to find there's a clone of him(!!) at the base. His reaction: mild, dull confusion. And moments earlier his clone (not knowing he's a clone) finds Sam #1 near death and rescues him. Sam #2's reaction is also way too muted and internal. Both of them should have been: I have no clue why they chose to play it this way. * (bigger spoiler) It's clear that the clones have a 3yr lifespan and Sam #1 discovers a long history of Sam clones hitting their expiration date, just as he's about to. But, oddly again, that realization is only half played out. And he doesn't share that info with Sam #2 who will be similarly doomed in 3yrs. * So the writing and directing is a disappointment here. Surprising considering how well-executed Jones' follow-up SOURCE CODE was. * The vapid THE SIXTH DAY (2000) covered some of the same philosophical / moral ground and, embarrassingly, did it better than MOON.

SOURCE CODE (2011) tldr: It's basically Groundhog Day but... on a train... that blows up in a terrorist attack. Pretty well done mild sci-fi thriller with a simple but really effective emotional core. But not terribly memorable, either. Interesting faux-science-y premise: Mostly hand-wavey quantum state magic leftover in a dead person's brain lets a soldier explore that person's last eight minutes of life. Not just replaying their memories, but fully interacting with the world as it existed in those 8 minutes. They boot up this full clone of the universe's quantum state at that point in time over and over again so he can figure out who's responsible for the terrorist attack that goes off at the 8min mark. * Strikes a nice balance between the ticking clock of uncovering terrorist (can't stop the train from exploding; that already happened. But CAN stop the next, bigger attack), the soldier's own internal struggles and priorities, and a growing bond with a girl on the train (which is hopeless; we already know she died in the explosion). * The human side is the highlight and really well delivered by the three leads (Gyllenhaal, Monaghan, and Farmiga). * So it's a shame I won't really remember this movie. Has a lot of great things going for it, but just somehow ends up not being that memorable, perhaps in part due to its small scale (it's mostly a "locked room" thriller in 2 train cars). * Clever way to make a low-budget sci-fi movie without the audience noticing. Only 2.5 sets: the train where the 8min replay takes place. The command center managing the quantum reboots. And the soldier's cramped technopod.

Voice dictation L. Parakeet v2 would rather invent nonsense than correctly transcribe @SeedSigner. This one's new; I usually get "Seat Center". Annoying, but still: talking > typing Thankfully Claude gracefully ignores dictation garble and usually understands what I'm trying to say.

ARRIVAL (2016) I saw this a while ago but somehow had no memory of its core twist. Director Denis Villeneuve is a master craftsman and ONLY makes interesting movies (Blade Runner 2049, Dune pt I & II). This generation's Spielberg? Is there anyone better right now? There's a much deeper emotional core to this film than you'd think at first (and, indeed, in my lackluster memory). And its fascinating plot twist ending (I won't spoil it here) is really cool and enjoyable, even though I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually make sense. Villeneuve masterfully manages the pacing which is amped up with tension and lots of anxiety yet is also incredibly patient and is never in a rush. Villeneuve's films know how to breathe. Highly recommended for people who enjoy the filmmaking craft. But did I love it? I don't think it was designed to be a movie that someone would love, exactly. Respect the hell out of? Yes. Engrossed in the storytelling? Yes. Kind of the same for his Dune pt I & pt II, slightly less so for Blade Runner 2049. He casts an all-encompassing spell and delivers sumptuous storytelling. It's not about loving it, it's about being fully enveloped in the experience he creates.

THE CREATOR (2023) Ambitious, earnest, mostly well crafted, and yet... meh? Damn, so much good filmmaking DNA here: * Director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One). * Co-writer Chris Weitz ("About a Boy" was wonderful and special, Rogue One, more recently Murderbot). * Cinematographer Greig Fraser (Rogue One, Dune pt I & II, The Batman, Project Hail Mary). They all worked on Rogue One, which is my favorite Star Wars film as an adult (12yr-old me would still go RotJ or ESB). THE CREATOR plays out logically but most of the key emotional turns along the way just don't really land. Some combo failure of acting, directing, and editing, I suppose. Pretty disappointing. --- Side nerd rant: one thing they totally blew was the portrayal of the giant threatening sky/space fortress. They wanted it visible in shots from the ground, which was undoubtedly cool looking and cinematic, but it made it look like it was just hovering nearby in the sky rather than something up in orbit. It should have been a tiny speck. But when they show that it is indeed in orbit... there's normal gravity on it. And knowing how orbits work... everything about it is a science disaster. It's obviously portrayed as a low Earth orbit but you can't just hover over targets in LEO. I know, I know, not everything is trying to be hard sci-fi.

For whichever employee sorted the Daily Specials this way: THIS IS A FIREABLE OFFENSE!!

Sixth book this year: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig. Really lovely read. Which is odd to say given that it starts with the protagonist, Nora, having such a miserable day in her incredibly disappointing life that she commits suicide. But she wakes in an infinite library. Each book is an alternate universe version of her life where she had made different choices. She can jump into those other lives and experience what might have been. And if she finds one that fits, she can stay and make that her REAL life and live it out to its end. But if the life proves to have its own unacceptable flaws, she's transported back to the infinite library to choose again. --- Somehow, despite involving suicide, the novel isn't hopelessly depressing nor unpleasant. Nora's shitty day and state of mind is darkly comedic in a way, with Haig deftly walking the reader across an unusual emotional tightrope. Each of Nora's alternate lives (Olympic champ! Rock star! Arctic researcher!) fill some hole her real life missed. But they also give her perspective to help her more fully understand her small/shitty/insignificant/failure life in pretty touching and profound and insightful ways. --- Haig doesn't try too hard, doesn't really go for overly melodramatic schmaltz. Just strikes a lovely, reflective, and generally fun tone throughout. Despite the cosmic / quantum mechanics conceit, he has modest ambitions here (in a good way) and easily succeeds. It's a book that demands reflection on one's own life. But isn't heavy-handed about it. And almost seems designed to NOT throw you into your own life re-evaluation crisis. Haig could have punched way harder. But he chose instead to aim for palatable and enjoyable. I think it was the right call, but totally fair if someone feels it was a missed opportunity to really examine the fuck out of life. It's interesting. It's well done. It's an easy 6-7hr read. Definitely recommended.

Successful shoulder surgery yesterday! Surgeon wasn't sure what he'd find. Thankfully there was more repairing to do than he had expected. I didn't want to wake up and have him say, "eh, didn't see much, not sure how much it'll help." So, cool, got a bunch fixed. Means the recovery will be longer. 6wks in the sling. No driving (👀). 6mo rehab. But it'll be worth it if I can hang from a bar again, tumble again, umm... wash my back again... And so far no terrible pain, but the nerve block is still wearing off so the pain is steadily increasing. Probably going to avoid writing any new @SeedSigner PRs until I'm off the narcotics! Can't say that @KumaDawg is being extra caring, but she's always a good snuggler so we're getting in good pass-out-from-morphine nap time.

Best crappy handstand I could do the day before my shoulder surgery. Was a good reinforcement for me for why the surgery was necessary; the limitations I've had the last 12-18mo are NOT acceptable! (can't do a good handstand if you can't fully open your shoulder angle. Can't adjust the handstand if you can't exert much force through the front of your delts)

I've always been annoyed by Debian's version naming. My first encounters with it were in the "Stretch" and "Buster" eras. Which was the more recent one and which was being phased out? When you search for compatible binaries, libraries, etc, you have to specifically search by name: We're currently in a "Bookworm" vs "Bullseye" era. Which do I need? And the repetition of the "B" names makes it even harder to remember which is which. (note to self: Bookworm... except in the older setups that need Bullseye... 😭) But I never thought to ask what the naming convention was. Fuck, I kind of love that. But as cute as it may be, VERSION NUMBERS WILL ALWAYS BE MORE USER-FRIENDLY!!!

I haven't gotten too deep into AI yet, but is this logo an actual wink to Vonnegut or do the folks there just not read? 🤣

REVERSE SEAR YOUR SALMON!! The ultimate crispy + buttery smooth combo! My first time trying it (I usually just saute small single-serving thin filets in a cast iron pan). Amazing results! It's better overall AND easier to cook thicker filets and larger portions. Pre-salt it on both sides. Light coat of high-temp oil (I use avocado). Oven at a low 325°F. Cook until internal temp hits 135°F. This 1lb cut was about 1.5" thick so it took about 25min. Low and slow keeps it moist. You could let it proceed to 145°F and eat it as-is, but low-temp baked salmon just looks horrible. Do the next step! Prep a blazing hot cast iron pan w/more oil or butter. Just like a steak, sear the shit out of all sides with high heat. Should only take ~30s per side, plus the edges. Perfectly juicy on the inside (and, yes, I left the temp probe in and confirmed that the center reached 145°F during the sear). The sear gives it a flavor kick and looks SO MUCH better than baked salmon's gross pastiness. I then used the leftover oil and the hot cast iron pan to saute broccoli, mixed in some spinach and miso paste at the end.

FOURTH book of the year finished last week! HAMNET is a fictional portrayal of Shakespeare's real son who died of the plague. O'Farrell says she couldn't understand how Shakespeare could write "Hamlet" just 4yrs after his Hamnet's death. So she had to explore it. This opening note explains wtf is up with the weird HamNet vs HamLet thing happening here, which I found maddening upon first hearing about this book: O'Farrell is a beautiful writer. It's somewhat stream-of-consciousness; a character enters a room and notes each moment that hits their senses: this quality of the light, a faint aroma, etc. O'Farrell is a lovely observer of the world and imbues her main character, Shakespeare's wife, Agnes, with a deep connection to nature. It took me about 50 pages to get settled in and accustomed to O'Farrell's style. Well worth it. "Lovely" really is the key word here. (pretty baller way to open the novel!) And this really is Agnes' story. The Shakespeare-y-ness of it all is deliberately shrouded; the name Shakespeare is never mentioned and her husband's first name is actually never uttered, either. Agnes has a kind of magic about her via her deep intuitions. It's lovely and in a horrible way makes the death of her son even more painful. I absolutely can NOT recommend this for anyone who has young children; it's just too steeped in the mother's grief and despair. (The book has been adapted into a film that is now winning all the awards) One critique: the portrayal of Shakespeare as a ne'er-do-well lost dreamer just isn't credible. There's no way he could discover theater in early adulthood and within 4 years write "Hamlet". The works of Shakespeare reflect a life dedicated deeply to the craft from an early age. Simply wandering into his calling later in life is absurd. At a showing of "Hamlet" he even wonders to himself if his writing is any good. Abso-fucking-lutely absurd to have that kind of doubt when that play is the pinnacle of his skills. Another: When O'Farrell finally pays off the concept -- how does Hamnet relate to "Hamlet"? -- it's quite disappointing. Cathartic for Agnes but just a too-thin attempt to join the ideas together for anyone who's studied the play. "Hamlet" just isn't how you'd honor your dead 11yr old son. O'Farrell seems to get unmoored as Agnes is lost in despair. Her narrative stops making much progress and then the final payoff is meh. But overall, O'Farrell is such a strong writer and Agnes being such a unique, in-tune creature in the world make HAMNET still well worth the read. --- *(My UCLA Shakespeare prof favored the theory that the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, was really the author of Shakespeare's plays. De Vere had the privilege and deep + broad education that was exceptionally rare at the time that would seem to be a prerequisite for being able to produce those plays. Always made more sense to me)

Got some AMAZING news yesterday: @KumaDawg's giant golfball-sized brain tumor has "almost completely resolved"! There is residual meningioma around the outside of her brain, but her doc says she has "an estimated 90% reduction in overall tumor burden"! Her pet insurance covered the very expensive radiation therapy to zap the tumor last April. Now 10 months later her doc is thrilled to say that this is probably the best outcome he's ever seen. She has residual brain damage and will need to stay on her anti-seizure meds. And there's no way to predict if or when the tumor might come charging back. But for now there's a real chance that she'll live well past her upcoming 8th birthday. She's my first doggie and, as a single guy, my only constant companion. The moment I sit on the couch, she hops up to snuggle. Every time. No creature (dog, human, or otherwise) has ever wanted to spend so much time with me, so consistently. 🤣 So glad to get this bonus time with her!