Tuesday, April 28, 2020

TV: Peaky Blinders Season 1

Well hey, its got the filter where everything looks blue and gray.  They play with the lighting almost every episode.  There appears to be some CGI.  Definitely for the lads, lots of booze, smoke, gore.  Some of the acting is really competent and other bits are really cringey, but they make a good show to talk shit about.  Abrupt plot twists are part of gangster shows, but some of these are just implausible.  Suddenly all these geniuses fall in love and put years of plans and family in the trash.  Anyway, there's a bit too much talk of how awesome everyone is and lack of actually being awesome.

Still, I'm enjoying myself and I'm now in season 2 steaming along.


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

YT: Permaculture Farm Tour

https://youtu.be/dztgMnaH1rw

these people have really gone for it.  farmsteading.  growing all their own food, even only burning wood from their land in their oven, which is a giant one they built that stays warm for 4 days.  pretty nice.  but yeah, i saw a lot of stuff i recognized, plant wise, but i hadn't seen it set up like they have it.  and yeah, some things are ugly, like big plastic planters.  but they seem to be working and without a doubt these people have an amazing setup and accomplishment.

YT: Slow Clap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW68goC4_es

Just a few guys slow clapping, one starts and then the others follow.  Its kind of like a nice rick roll.

Monday, April 20, 2020

YT: fermenting citrus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUHp3ve4m50

this guy ferments some citrus fruits in vacuum sealed bags.

weigh the fruit, add 2% of the weight in salt, seal up, and wait 10 days.

he says fresher fruit is better

thankfully i have access to a food saver vacuum sealer, so i can try this out.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

YT: Autonauts Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l76kORuY_I

I heard about some games that help you program and went down a rabbit hole.  I found Zachtronix and did some research about their games.  This was "an easier one" than others.  Its visual programming.  Moving stuff around from A to B.  I think the mind games might be fun, but also I know this stuff starts to feel like work at some point.

Monday, April 13, 2020

YT: Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Waffled Grits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXnMogICTGU

This is the savory waffle I've been looking for. Basically it is grits cooked on the stove, mixed with cheese and bacon, and put in a griddle.  Nice and simple.

But I always like to switch things up.  I'd use canned hominy.

YT: Betty's Kentucky Style Fried Cabbage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ZIxzb9ha4

Betty has an interesting recipe.  I might call this a stirfry.  She uses bacon and onions to season some cabbage.  It looks pretty good, but maybe a bit heavy. 

Like she says though, this dish might be best for people that don't like vegetables.

YT: Information about checks from the government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smcREJKOl-4

this guy wears a suit so he must be informed.  he says checks are coming soon, and talks about some myths he has read on comments in his other videos.

YT: Stay the fuck home song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0G63uzhFP4

my friend sent me this.  its not bad.  a guy on piano sings a song about quarantine.  the top comment is good: they should play this song everyday and not the press conferences.

Film: The Big Lebowski

Well I'd seen this before.  I remembered a few scenes, but many seemed new.  I was surprised how intricate the unconscious scenes were.  Flying and bowling, were they glimpses of heaven? Sometimes their conversations were so annoying that I cringed.  Other times I could just watch and enjoy.  I was expecting a bit more because this movie is so popular.  I can't tell if this is a hollywood film or an art film.  Can it be both?  Are the tropes hackneyed or are some of them rooted in this film?

Well anyway, it passed the time.  I learned that the Cohen brothers also directed Fargo, which I thought was supposed to be very gruesome.  Lebowski wasn't gruesome, although he did end up in the same place as he started.

Friday, April 10, 2020

Film: The Bodyguard

The acting is bad.  Whitney Houston's performance is forgivable, she isn't a trained or experienced actress.  Kevin Costner is abysmal.  He is trying to sound like a battle hardened warrior, but ends up sounding like a constipated and angry dad.

The shots are pretty.  Lots of dark yet well lit scenes that add to the drama.  But they are too long, too often we are looking at nothing wondering what is going on.

The movie is too long.  I was really surprised by the whodunnit nature of the film, like I thought this was an austere minimalist film and didn't even realize I should be trying to figure out which character was responsible for all the drama.  So yeah, suddenly I feel like I've been watching the whole thing wrong, and don't feel like going back to watch more, because I'm bored.

There are some real hardass samurai moves, that are actually awesome, but they are so far apart that they almost don't fit with the rest of the movie.

There are a few deleted scenes floating around on the internet, some worth watching.

Overall, the movie is a cultural touchstone, especially because of the song I will always love you, but also because the shooting takes place at the Oscars.

YT: Is Cybernator Worth Playing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzQD8y8zQ28

Ok so, you run and gun, but there are shooter aspects, these are the good things.  Then, there's the story, which is bad.  No puzzles to solve.  Sounds fun.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

YT: Crested carara eating baby caiman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLfME20BqbU

that video took a very long time to get to a very short segment that then matched the title.  thankfully baby caiman are very fun to look at.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

YT: Zizotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7LHGSezMA

Watchin monarch butterflies eat vegetation


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0RrQj9QyfE

collecting zizotes seeds, they come in a pod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ig4TLZjLMk

a monarch laying eggs on a zizote

YT: Caracara call

https://youtu.be/fg8EPBINqcE

their call sounds like videogame lobster hands and they can bend their heads back 270 degrees.  rad

YT: Loquats

 all watched at 1.5 speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_TIy-_9jiQ bunch of facts about loquats.  learned they are a good source of many vitamins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X3uIgsM_Ic

this lady makes a loquat jam.  the recipe looks good, and the jam's color is that of a ruby red grapefruit, much different than the fresh fruit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNobCdryIPU
 this japanese channel's take on loquat jam is peaceful.  no music or spoken word, just a few labels for ingredients that popup.  they show the whole thing from start to finish, for making jam.  their house also looks great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhE5sJcC0pQ
this white guy makes tea, he makes some loquat tea.  he does a good job showing how to scrape off the spiny stuff on the back of the leaves before they are steeped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riGvAXZZdTc
this video shows another way to prepare the tea, by using a sponge to scrape off the spiny stuff.  it looks like it is more theraux than using a knife.  also this recipie calls for older leaves, not chopping them, and says they can be reused several times.


Tuesday, April 7, 2020

TV: Parks and Recreation Seasons 2 and 3

some good laughs

a definite feminist bent

starting to turn away from the pit of the first season as a unifying story arc, now turning into a bit of a soap opera

blurring into the 4th season

YT: How to make oatmilk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTt_Mlj6YN8

the secrets to making oatmilk: used cold oats, cold water, don't blend too long, use a nut milk bag, and maybe try soaking the oats in digestive enzymes.

Monday, April 6, 2020

News: How to clean your groceries in the corona virus

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/04/03/sanjay-gupta-wiping-cleaning-groceries-demo-town-hall-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/novel-coronavirus-explained/

So, use a cleaner. Have a clean area and a dirty area.  Seems like he doesnt clean things that well, but it is just an example

the virus can live on cardboard and plastic

TV: High Maintenance S4E9 Soup

Kinda gave me anxiety.  We learned the dudes name, I think.  I don't know if he really went to New Zealand.  The flight attendants seemed pretty real, but not American.

TV: John Oliver Tonight on the Corona Virus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSILVWDKL8

Well he goes over a few internet viral type things that I've seen on reddit before. But he also covers OAN, which is a bullshit news network that gives him softball questions.

I'd never heard of OAN before, but I do remember something very similar during the Bush II era.  A flimsy journalist in the media pool for the white house fucking stuff up.  Free speech and all.

Anyways, I can't remember if I laughed.  But I learned a bit.

Friday, April 3, 2020

TV: High Maintenance S4E8 Solo

An episode about a person who can't stand to be alone, who rifles through relationships and people, seemingly leaving a lot of broken hearts in wake.

Drugs, arcades, alcohol.  Some cool texting videography.  An excellent drug sequence featuring videogames and bowling balls.  Pretty fun.

Film: Dead Presidents

A pretty slow moving film.  I'm not sure how well the characters were developed.  Looks like they were chopped together, tossed in at unpredictable times. 

The first half of the movie was prettier in the first half, visually. 

The scenes in Vietnam were interesting.  Less stupid shit and more of just terror and fear.  It made war look terrible.  But the scenes in the city seemed less interesting.  I mean, I guess there was a blue filter for so much of the movie.  Things looked kinda dull.

But yeah, there were plenty of surprises in the plot.  It managed to avoid quite a few of the tropes that I thought it was leading into.

This was an interesting take on the African American's role in the the Vietnam war and its aftermath.  It made me realize how Deer Hunter, Platoon, Rambo, and others are all about white people.

YT: Korean Doctor Talks about the effectiveness of wearing masks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAk7aX5hksU&feature=youtu.be&t=951

This guy seems to know what he is talking about.  It feels like a real doctor is giving me information, instead of propaganda that I see in the United States.

YT: How to change window weights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsgivH6kbkk

They look pretty chill, doing this job.  Break all the seals, and then pop off some stuff.