[{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Bill Vinson","summary":"","title":"Bill Vinson"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/convention/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Convention"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/dragon-con/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Dragon Con"},{"content":"Dragon Con was great as always. It seemed like I accomplished less this time, but I still had a great time. I think I treated it more like a holiday and just floated around as I wanted and didn\u0026rsquo;t fear taking some downtime. I didn\u0026rsquo;t even visit the gaming halls which I was a bit disappointed with, but I added watching the first hour and a half of Dragon Con Wrestling for the first time. I don\u0026rsquo;t think it was for me, but 🤷‍♂️. I got to meet and get photos/autographs from a few celebrities.\nSimon Pegg - Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World\u0026rsquo;s End), Mission: Impossible, Star Trek Deborah Ann Woll - Daredevil, The Defenders, The Punisher, Daredevil: Born Again, True Blood Chloe Bennet - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The cosplay was great and a lot of people seemed happy with the Swag N Seek items I hid/handed out. I had the opportunity to give Alien facehuggers to a formally, dressed xenomorph couple and Rise \u0026amp; Fall of Sancturary Moon keychains to a group of acapella singers who then insisted on serenading me with the theme song 😁\nI still haven\u0026rsquo;t quite mastered the group up with people I meet in lines. As a solo con-goer, if I find interesting people while waiting in line I try to engage with them and get to know them a bit. Unfortunately, this always just results in \u0026ldquo;line friends\u0026rdquo; and not a recurring group up. Most people have their existing groups and that works for them. I\u0026rsquo;ve tried some of the other meetup groups and nothing has clicked for me\u0026hellip; Maybe one day.\nI began and ended the trip with a meal at the Varsity chili burger, chili dogs, fries and a large F.O. (Frosted Orange):\n{% photo \u0026ldquo;IMG_0130.jpg\u0026rdquo; %}\n","date":"September 1, 2025","permalink":"/posts/2025-09-01-dragon-con/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dragon Con 2025"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/photo-gallery/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Photo Gallery"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/3d-printing/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"3d Printing"},{"content":"I have been going to Dragon Con every year (mostly - COVID caused \u0026hellip; issues) since 2012. In more recent years, I have been participating, in varying degrees, with a group called Dragon Con Swag N Seek while at the convention. It\u0026rsquo;s a group that encourages making/buying gifts to give away (the encouragement is towards selfless giving and random acts of kindness). Swag gifts could be anything (stickers, candy, toys, keepsakes, etc.) and they can be hidden/found anywhere within the convention space (5 host hotels) or you can give more directly by offering items at panels where con goers can take what interests them. I mostly stick to the former. It\u0026rsquo;s a lot of fun as an added bonus during the convention. Sometimes you won\u0026rsquo;t have any clue who found your swag and sometimes you might catch a glimpse of the find.\nThis year is my first year with a good \u0026amp; working 3D printer, so I\u0026rsquo;ve gone a bit overboard with my makings recently\u0026hellip;\nHere is what I\u0026rsquo;m currently planning to take, but there\u0026rsquo;s a bit more than a week left so the list could grow 😄 Some items I will have just a few (T-Rex skeleton as they\u0026rsquo;re slow to print/assemble), whereas others I may have more than 100 items. The fidget clickers all have a blue keyboard switch inside to give it that \u0026ldquo;click\u0026rdquo;.\n","date":"August 17, 2025","permalink":"/posts/2025-08-17-dragon-con-swag-n-seek/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dragon Con Swag N Seek"},{"content":"Another year, another Dragon Con. I again got to meet some cool celebrities.\nJohn Cleese - Monty Python, Q from James Bond and Nearly Headless Nick from the first 2 Harry Potter films Eugene Cordero - Pillboi from the Good Place, Sam Rutherford from Star Trek: Lower Decks and Loki Tawny Newsome - Beckett Mariner from Star Trek: Lower Decks Cobie Smulders - How I Met Your Mother and Maria Hill from the MCU The cosplay is always good and I got to see Riddle (Riki LeCotey) again, cosplaying in one of my favorite of her costumes, Sheila from the D\u0026amp;D cartoon. I also got to participate in a late night D\u0026amp;D session which was a lot of fun.\n","date":"September 2, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-09-02-dragon-con/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dragon Con 2024"},{"content":"Munich Itinerary #Munich is the city that I believe everyone was most interested in visiting. I was especially focused on this part of the trip as I have visited before, but that was in the summer of 1990.\nTravel Day (June 27, 2024) # Le Crobag Deutschebahn train from Berlin to Munich Hofbräuhaus Bräustüberl We got to the main Berlin train station and were waiting for our train to arrive. Ian and I went to grab some pastries for the train from Le Crobag and got turned around in the train station (it was quite large) and ended up on the opposite end of the platform trying to make our way towards Heather and Ben. Unfortunately, the train was preparing to leave. As we found each other and started making our way towards our car, it was obvious the train was about to pull out and the attendants were yelling at us to get on. It hadn\u0026rsquo;t occurred to me that we could board any car and just make our way through the train. It\u0026rsquo;s not like we do a lot of train travel in the US, but I\u0026rsquo;m thankful they got us on despite their annoyance with our ignorance. The train ride itself was enjoyable. Much nicer than Amtrak at home and fairly comfortable. We had a nice table where our 4 seats faced inward and we could eat or play on our devices during the trip. Once in Munich, we made our way to our hotel, Holiday Inn Munich - Unterhaching 1.\nYou may be asking why an American hotel brand? Well, it wasn\u0026rsquo;t sought out specifically, but I need hotel rooms with \u0026gt;1 room if at all possible given there were the 4 of us. I had also aimed for air conditioning being available. The room I booked was a downstairs bedroom/living room with an upstairs bedroom. It would\u0026rsquo;ve been perfect, but the AC only cooled the upstairs bedroom and not the downstairs and given the high heat in Germany, that wasn\u0026rsquo;t a great option. They were kind enough to relocate us to a living room with sofa bed and a separate bedroom. It was a bit cramped, but much more comfortable at night.\nWe had dinner at the Hofbräuhaus Bräustüberl (brewery dating back to 1589, but the actual Hofbräuhaus opened in 1828 to the public). The meal was\nDay 1 (June 28, 2024) # Ratschiller\u0026rsquo;s Munich Cathedral (Frauenkirche) Pommes Freunde Residenz München Odeonsplatz Theatiner Church Augustiner Klosterwirt Asam Church On our first full day in Munich. I got up and went out to a nice little take-out cafe and picked up pastries for everyone for breakfast. We didn\u0026rsquo;t have a specific time to be ready, but we did have a decently full day of sightseeing. We then made our way to the station and rode our way into the city. We first went to the Munich Cathedral. It was a lovely building (that I have seen from a visit years ago), but I didn\u0026rsquo;t take the time to climb to the top of the south tower at the time and sadly, the opportunity did not present itself again 🙁. We decided while wandering around the city to get some bratwurst and fries from Pommes Freunde. Definitely a chain, but it worked for the moment and it gave us a moment to sit, rest and cool down. We visited the Residenz München which is a former royal palace and contains lots of art and artifacts from the the royal families that lived there. Some beautiful pieces are interiors. It is definitely worth visiting. We then visited the Odeonsplatz and while Heather and Ben went to look at a Lotus car dealers shop, Ian and I went inside the Theatiner Church. It has a beautiful baroque dome and interesting yellow exterior. Finally, we went to dinner at the Augustiner Klosterwirt in the same plaza as the Munich Cathedral. Another night of excellent food and yet another Radler to drink.\nDay 2 (June 29, 2024) # Café ImBiss Day trip to Füssen/Hohenschwangau to see Neuschwanstein Castle Photos from the Marienbrücke Tour of Neuschwanstein Castle Solo walk up to Hohenschwangau Castle for exterior photos Lost in Bavaria\u0026hellip; Dinner takeout from Pizza Pub Döner \u0026amp; more We had to get up exceptionally early on June 29 to get on our train to Neuschwanstein Castle. We got to the Taufkirchen train station a bit before 7am and grabbed some breakfast pastries and coffee from Café ImBiss. We then took the train to Füssen. It was a long ride with several stops and a required us to stand for part of the trip due to the train being completely full. Once in Füssen, we had to wait a bit, but then took a bus up to Hohenschwangau. From there, we made our way up to Castle Neuschwanstein. This involves walking, horse drawn carriages that let out below the castle or a shuttle that lets out above the castle. We chose the latter as our first stop was to Marienbrücke or Mary\u0026rsquo;s Bridge. The bridge is positioned over the Pöllat gorge and while often crowded, offers some of the best views of the castle. We got some photos here and then Ben, Ian and I continued along some dirt trails to a bit more of a hidden viewpoint to get yet more photos.\nAfter we were done in Hohenschwangau, we boarded a bus back to Füssen\u0026hellip; or so I thought. We had actually gotten on the wrong bus. In fact, it was such a wrong bus, it never goes back to Hohenschwangau or Füssen. This was a bit of a problem as after we worked this out and got some local help to communicate with the driver (my German wasn\u0026rsquo;t good enough, nor was he forthcoming), we got off the bus in the small town of Büching. This was a bit of a problem as we were quite a ways away from where we were supposed to be and we had a train to catch to get back to our hotel. Unfortunately, there wasn\u0026rsquo;t much there, but we did find a cheese shop that was open and a kind lady helped us to contact a taxi to get us back to the train station. It was touch and go, but she helped us immensely. We couldn\u0026rsquo;t buy cheese as it would be too long before we got back, so we bought sodas and thanked her again. If you ever find yourself in Büching, visit the Hoch\u0026rsquo;Alp Käsehaus as their selection looked great. One thing to note, I had bought our cell plans through Holafly, but they didn\u0026rsquo;t include voice minutes. I was attempting to use Google Voice via my mobile to call the taxi and it just wasn\u0026rsquo;t working. I\u0026rsquo;d say the eSIMs were pretty successful, but there were a couple of occassions where it just seemed to break down a bit. I think my kids were much more concerned than I was. I knew thts detail could be painful (in terms of lost time or money) \u0026amp; definitely wasn\u0026rsquo;t what I was wanting, but travel sometimes goes awry and you just have to deal with what you\u0026rsquo;ve got. The taxi was great and got us back without costing too much money. We had a little bit of time, so we found some dinner at a small restaurant, Pizza Pub Döner \u0026amp; more. While it wasn\u0026rsquo;t what we had planned for, at that moment, it was great. We also visited a very small renaissance fair that was going on in a park near the train station while waiting for our departure time. The ride back to our hotel was fairly quiet and we were all quite exhausted by that point.\nDay 3 (June 30, 2024) # Café ImBiss Chinese Tower BMW Welt Behind the Scenes Tour Museum EURO 2024 Fanzone in the Olympic Park Solo outing in Munich and to pick up take out from Ratskellar Day 4 (July 1, 2024) # Heather \u0026amp; Bill doing laundry at the Wasch \u0026amp; Sauber Lunch at the Chinese Tower English Garden Solor outing in Munich and dinner at the Ratskellar On our final full day in Munich,\nHoliday Inn Munich, Inselkammerstrasse 7-9, Unterhaching 82008 DE\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","date":"June 30, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-06-30-europe-trip-munich-germany/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"European Trip: Munich, Germany"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/travel/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Travel"},{"content":"Berlin Itinerary #Day 1 (June 24, 2024) # Arrival via the Brandenburg Airport Brandenburg Gate EURO 2024 Brandenburg Gate Fanzone Victory Column Dinner at Vivolo Olé - Spanish Tapas Our family\u0026rsquo;s European trip began with Germany, specifically Berlin. We flew into Berlin\u0026rsquo;s Brandenburg Airport and we arrived just before 8am local time. We had 3 days planned for Berlin. We got to our hotel, Hotel AMANO 1, and checked-in before heading back out.\nThe first day did end up being somewhat rough due to jetlag and the fact that Berlin was rather hot for this time of year. I had multiple outings planned, things I cared about, things my wife cared about and things I believed my sons should or would want to see. I tried to light load the days so we weren\u0026rsquo;t overwhelmed, but I don\u0026rsquo;t typically aim for relax on the beach kind of vacations. A trip like this is to see what you can from a new place.\nFor Day 1, we explored the Brandenburg Gate and the co-located EUROs Fanzone. We arrived while the EURO 2024 tournament was going on and as you likely understand, soccer is much more important to Europeans than it is to Americans (well, my sons accepted as not typical). I tried to get us into a match while we were there, but it was just too costly for the tickets I could buy. So, I wanted them to experience the festivities as much as possible. We then visited the Victory Column which I climbed with my younger son and got a view out of the area. Finally, after lots of wandering, getting checked into our hotel and exploring, we had dinner at a Spanish Tapas restaurant. Why not German food? Well, that would definitely happen (as I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of the cuisine), but Berlin is really a mixture of many cultures within the city and doesn\u0026rsquo;t have the same old world feel as other cities, like Munich.\nDay 2 (June 25, 2024) # Topography of Terror Checkpoint Charlie Reichstag Dome Ritter Sport Berlin Cathedral Standard - Serious Pizza On Day 2, we went to the Topography of Terror museum. It\u0026rsquo;s not a fun museum, similar to some of the next day\u0026rsquo;s stops. However, I think it\u0026rsquo;s important to spend some time with things that are uncomfortable, even if fascinating. I did try to space out the more painful exhibits. The museum focuses on the history and the crimes committed by the police and SS, Gestapo in the Third Reich. We then went to visit Checkpoint Charlie on our way to our scheduled appointment at the Reichstag Dome. Note, it\u0026rsquo;s free and great, but requires requesting an appointment and they are very serious about security in that I had to provide Passport details in advance and then show the matching passports when going in. The Dome is beautiful, but the view of the city is also quite something. Next we took a proper break and went to Ritter Sport, which I would enthusiastically recommend. It\u0026rsquo;s part cafe, part store, part museum for chocolate. We ended up having some free chocolate, buying some chocolate and enjoying some cooldown in the cafe. I had a delicious, fancy chocolate milk drink (picture in the gallery below). Finally, we went to the last stop, the Berlin Cathedral. Ben and Ian chose to climb the 270 steps up to the dome where you get a 360° panoramic view. Finally, we all had pizza for dinner (yes, again with non-German food).\nDay 3 (June 26, 2024) # Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe East Side Gallery Stasi Museum Greta Van Fleet On our final full day in Berlin, we went to see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is a LOT. The museum is extremely sobering and painful to consider what is being shown. The museum occupies two levels, a lower exhibit with photos, video and explanation and an above field of stelae in rows \u0026amp; columns that is left to the interpretation of the visitor. It looks like a graveyard and is still rather unsettling, but also impressive. From there, we went to view the East Side Gallery which is longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall that acts as an open air art. From there, we went to the Stasi Museum which is housed in the former headquarters of the Ministry for State Security. I would not recommend the guided tour as it is somewhat dry, but the museum gives a glimpse into what was done to control the state in those years. The museum has no air conditioning and was rather stifling as you go up the floors, but it is still very much worth visiting. At this point, I split for the evening with my wife \u0026amp; sons. They went to get dinner and to watch a EUROs match on TV and I went to see Greta Van Fleet at the Spandau Citadel.\nHotel AMANO, Auguststrasse 43, 10119 Berlin\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","date":"June 27, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-06-27-europe-trip-berlin-germany/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"European Trip: Berlin, Germany"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/concert/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Concert"},{"content":"On our third day in Berlin, I decided to take advantage of an opportunity to go to a concert as the family had wanted to get dinner \u0026amp; relax, but I preferred seeing a bit more. I wasn\u0026rsquo;t initially planning to, but had looked over possible options for the days of our trip. This opportunity jumped out at me to see Greta Van Fleet. Yes, I liked their music, but the venue also caught my eye. The concert was being held in an old citadel/fortress, Zitadelle Spandau dating back centuries. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be afforded the opportunity to really check it all out, but I don\u0026rsquo;t know how many chances I\u0026rsquo;ll have in life to go see a concert inside a fortress dating back to the 1500s (completed in 1594).\nIt really was interesting, but also familiar in that it\u0026rsquo;s like going to see an outdoor concert anywhere in the US. There was food , but better as they had Bratwurst, lots of drink options and vendor sales. It was just the same experience, but put inside a great, old structure. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure why I thought the experience would be any different, but honestly, I had a blast.\nI didn\u0026rsquo;t get there as early as intended as it was a decently long ride out on the U-Bahn, but I still was in plenty of time to see the show. It was standing room only and I couldn\u0026rsquo;t get very close to the stage, but still a great time. I got some bratwurst and drank some Radler while watching the show. Yes, it is a regional version of what we call a Shandy, but don\u0026rsquo;t let that fool you, the Radler is vastly superior to my tastes.\nThe setlist mostly held songs from their latest album, Starcatcher, and then a few from The Battle at Garden Gate and finally a couple of their biggest hits from one of their 2 early EPs, From the Fires.\nSet 1:\nThe Falling Sky The Indigo Streak Caravel Set 2:\nMeeting the Master Heat Above Highway Tune Runway Blues (Highway Tune reprise) Drum Solo Set 3:\nBlack Smoke Rising Fate of the Faithful Sacred the Thread The Archer Encore:\nLight My Love Farewell for Now ","date":"June 26, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-06-26-greta-van-fleet/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Greta Van Fleet"},{"content":"GalaxyCon is not Dragon Con. It\u0026rsquo;s a smaller convention with a lot less organized activities. That doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean it isn\u0026rsquo;t fun, but it\u0026rsquo;s just a different vibe. Basically, for me, Galaxy Con is celebrity photo ops and a vendor hall. I go attend a few panels, but that\u0026rsquo;s definitely less. Unfortunately, in both Raleigh \u0026amp; Richmond, while being MUCH smaller than Dragon Con, the conventions are still bursting at the seams because they don\u0026rsquo;t really \u0026ldquo;fit\u0026rdquo; their convention centers. For example, the photo op area is crammed in the back of the vendor hall \u0026amp; it really doesn\u0026rsquo;t have the space to fit the number of people that show up. They need to be able to spread out more for comfort, but it\u0026rsquo;s just not an option. I do think they have some decent \u0026ldquo;After Dark\u0026rdquo; panels that have talented burlesque acts which also gives it a bit of identity (not that Dragon Con doesn\u0026rsquo;t have similar events, but they are distinct). I basically treat going to Richmond as a short solo vacation and relax as much as possible. In 2024, I met:\nIan McDiarmid - Dragonslayer and Emperor Palpatine from the various Star Wars properties Paul Sun-Hyung Lee - Captain Carson Teva from The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka Garrett Hedlund - Sam Flynn from Tron: Legacy ","date":"March 17, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-03-17-galaxycon-richmond/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"GalaxyCon Richmond 2024"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/apple/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Apple"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/hardware/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Hardware"},{"content":"I’ve been trying to coalesce my thoughts on AVP. No, not Alien vs. Predator, but rather Apple Vision Pro. I got the opportunity to get a demo in the Apple Store, so I haven’t had an abundance of use, but a few things became clear over the ~30 minutes.\nFit #First off, for short use, the headset is heavy, but not overly so. I found it comfortable while using the Solo Knit Band (the only thing they use for in store demos as far as I know). Obviously, a 2+ hour movie would likely have a different result. The device has a premium feel, but I have been constantly wondering if they’re making the wrong tradeoff in using metal so exclusively. This device could likely be much lighter.\nThe View #I liked the view in the apps that I got to see, but I can definitely say that it isn’t as crisp as I would like. Apps and environments were good, but not as sharp as I expected, but maybe this is a fit issue or lens issue that I was not noticing. The edges of the lenses have a lot of distortion and aberrations. I had to fight not to use my peripheral vision as it’s almost always a bad idea. Turning your head is the only good option.\nUse Cases #Basically, it’s movies right now. The apps are present, but not yet plentiful. I didn’t get to try out a Mac virtual desktop, but based on the positive \u0026amp; negative comments I’ve read, it doesn’t seem to offer any real improvement unless you’re away from your home display setup. This is not something I commonly do, so you may judge it more favorably. The videos that I was shown looked good, but it doesn’t appear that there is much in the way of immersive content (videos that feel more present than a typical 3D film) or environments (the rendered views that offer a fully virtual space). So, mostly we’re down to watching TV \u0026amp; movies.\nFit Into My Life #For someone who works from home \u0026amp; watches much of my entertainment content solo, this feels like 1 step back/1 step forward, it would seem like this might be a good fit, but I don’t think so. I don’t see value over working at my desk with my current display setup \u0026amp; I’m not sure normal/non-immersive films will really be better than the view from my office sofa to my 65″ TV. Now, if I could watch a movie WITH someone who lives miles away (or with my wife/kids), then it could have value, but Apple seems to have gone out of its way to make this device hard to share (only 1 user and, based on my reading, a guest mode that is rather user-hostile).\nIn my view, all of this combines to equal a device, that as of shortly after release, makes for an incredibly bad purchase (for me) from the perspective of return on the expense. I do believe the technology is worth pursuing and I don’t fault them for releasing it, but some of the choices seem wrong (to my eye) or truly bizarre (guest mode limitations and cost of every accessory). Maybe aa subsequent iteration will be worth it for me, but this isn’t it.\n","date":"February 19, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-02-19-thoughts-on-avp/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Thoughts on AVP"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/film/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Film"},{"content":"I got the opportunity to go see Godzilla Minus One back in December and never really had the opportunity to post my thoughts. I was a bit unsure about the subtitling as, admittedly, I’ve become a lazier consume \u0026amp; tend to watch dubbed films more often. Luckily, it was absolutely not an issue. I personally think that this is one of the best entries in the Toho Godzilla franchise.\nThe film fairly quickly dives into some action as part of setting the backstory (1945 near the end of WWII) and introducing some important characters and motivations. On a small island, Godzilla emerges and destruction ensues. There are only two survivors: Koichi Shikishima (played by Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a kamikaze pilot and is saddled with guilt from his actions (or lack thereof at the end of the war) and the other man who knows of his shame and blames him for his actions, the lead mechanic, Sosaku Tachibana (played by Munetaka Aoki).\nFrom there, it slows down and shows Japan after the war. Shikishima has returned home and found his parents died in the bombing of Japan. He finds work helping to clear mines from the sea aboard a small, wooden fishing boat while also supporting Noriko Oishi (played by Minami Hamabe) and her rescued, adopted child, Akiko.\nWhile Godzilla supplies the action and underlying existential dread in this film, the real story here is the human story of guilt and redemption. I was a bit put off at first at having less of Godzilla than what I had been expecting, but as the story unfolds, it’s hard not to get wrapped up in it. So well written and acted.\nThe effects are great, but they’re definitely a different type from the current, modern Hollywood films. These are more chunky and rough, but I didn’t find them any less compelling. I guess I enjoy both approaches.\nIn my opinion, this is a must see and it really should be a subbed version if at all possible.\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIKfDGmNaM\n","date":"February 13, 2024","permalink":"/posts/2024-02-13-godzilla-minus-one/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Godzilla Minus One"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/review/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Review"},{"content":"I attended opening night for The Marvels as I usually do with MCU films and I wasn’t sure what to expect. How will the 3 main characters work as an ensemble? How will such an OP character fit with “weaker” characters? How light-hearted will it be? Well, ultimately, I think it worked pretty well. You really don’t need to know much about the MCU (prior events are explained where needed) and the characters work to make an enjoyable, if short-ish, movie.\nI enjoyed Captain Marvel and saw it on both coasts (multiple times in North Carolina – opening night and with work and in Los Angeles, CA at the El Capitan Theatre). I do think Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson) is a tough character to make work some of the time due to how powerful she is in the MCU. It is, in someways, similar to Superman as finding credible stories that present the proper challenge can be difficult. I also watched Wandavision and enjoyed the portrayal of Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris). They have only started to develop her character and this movie continued that process. In my opinion, the standout character in the film is Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (played by Iman Vellani). Ms. Marvel is a 16 year old Pakistani American who was first introduced in the Disney+ show that shares her name. When introduced, she continues to be a Captain Marvel “stan”, obsessing over the character and imagining a life where they are friends and teammates. Her levity and innocence help the film find meaning and explore the trauma and baggage of Danvers \u0026amp; Rambeau. Kamala Khan’s presence means we get to see her family again who has come to terms with her superheroics, but is still protective. They continue to be a fun addition and act as a foil and comedic element in the movie.\nThe villain serves to connect the story from the original Captain Marvel to current events. Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton) is a Kree who is out for revenge against Captain Marvel and she has no qualms about the method. Ultimately, there’s a bit more to conflict than that, but it is, much like many superhero films, fairly basic and not a well-developed rationale for the antagonist. The actress did all she could with the roll, but I just don’t think there was quite enough to work with. Luckily, the side stories of the 3 main characters work well enough to give the story a bit more color. I don’t want to give everything away, but I felt the 1hr 45min runtime wasn’t short on action or humor. I found it enjoyable and fun. Is it the best MCU film? No, but I had fun with it just the same.\nThere is a bit toward the very end that feels like it would normally occupy a mid or post-credit scene spot, but it is part of the actual movie and it points to something that Marvel is likely setting up. There is also a single mid-credit scene which is interesting, but may not really be directly consequential. It’s hard to say. Finally, there’s a bit of audio post-credits, but not necessary at all…\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmDH12MAA4\n","date":"November 12, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-11-12-the-marvels/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Marvels"},{"content":"Dragon Con was a blast as it is every year. I got to meet and get photos/autographs from a bunch of celebrities.\nSean Astin - LOTR, The Goonies, Stranger Things, etc. Dee Bradley Baker - Captain Rex from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and so many other things Paul Bettany - Vision from the MCU Phil Lamarr - Futurama, Justice League, MAD TV, etc. Katy O\u0026rsquo;Brian - The Mandalorian, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Sam De La Rosa - Marvel comic cover artist Adam Savage - Mythbusters Andy Serkis - LOTR, Hobbit, and Ulysses Klaue from the MCU Elijah Wood - LOTR and Sin City \u0026hellip; and then there was the cosplay and it was top-notch as always!\n","date":"September 4, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-09-04-dragon-con/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dragon Con 2023"},{"content":"Model: LU28R550UQNXZA\nI have been using a 43″ 4k TV as a monitor for my M1 MacBook Air in clamshell mode for quite some time. However, it has less than great colors as the angles don’t serve it well when viewed in close proximity (like while sitting at a desk). I wanted something that would be a bit crisper with text display, generally consistent color and obviously a bit smaller for better ergonomics.\nI’m not getting rid of the TV from my office, but instead it is shifting to my 9-5 work display as it’s an improvement over the 2 x 21″ old Acer FHD displays that I had been using that seem to have even worse viewing at an angle.\nIn looking at options, I hadn’t found much that worked and I was about to give up \u0026amp; buy an Apple Studio Display, but this wasn’t my first choice. While it is very attractive and has a crisp/consistent display of text and colors, in my opinion it is absurdly expensive for a 5k display. The engineering choices that we made resulted in a product that is basically old monitor tech bolted to an iPhone. For the price, I’d really expect one or two of the following:\n30 inch screen MUCH better quality camera for the intended use case (CenterStage is only mildly interesting here) HDR (wanted for photo and video viewing/editing) Unfortunately, I think we’ll eventually get that at a further inflated “pro” cost.\nRegardless of future changes, it is more than I wanted to spend for what is currently provided. Many of the monitors that I thought might work, fell short somewhere in a glaringly bad way, such as flickering/not waking from sleep properly on DisplayPort or some such. In the end, I decided to try a cheaper monitor as a usable solution now, that I could roll into my 9-5 work setup in the future when I got something better. For this I found the Samsung 28″ ViewFinity UR55 display. It is not without it’s faults, but for $279.99 at BestBuy, it seems to fit the bill.\nPros:\nAttractive (enough) from the front. Minimal bezel (except chin with branding) Cheap Connectivity (1 DisplayPort, 2 HDMI, audio out, but no speakers) Fast enough display power up: 3 seconds – DisplayPort 6 seconds – HDMI Data Display Channel (DDC) support (usable via DisplayBuddy/BetterDisplay) Cons:\n4k is NOT a proper Retina display at 28″ inches. I’m not sure my eyes could tell unless I see them next to each other, but still… Plastic/Cheap feeling, but I don’t touch the display that much Bad VESA mounting (see below) Brief on-screen display when screen turns on or input is changed (see below) As far as the VESA issues, this was a big deal to me as I dislike my monitor sitting on the desk. It feels MUCH more secure and more aesthetic to me when on an adjustable arm. Also the included stand allows for front/back tilt, but no height adjustment. Given that, you can see here that they chose to inset the mount points which means almost no VESA plate will fit. My solution was to buy a pack of 16mm M4 machine screws from Lowe’s and a set of M4 black ABS spacers on Amazon. I laid the monitor on a town on my sofa and placed a spacer over each hole and carefully set the plate on top for attaching (somewhat difficult as the arm doesn’t have a detachable VESA plate). I used the 16mm screw, 5mm spacers and the 1-2 mm plate, so I had 9-10mm of mechanical connection between the arm to the display when seems to be good enough.\n{% photo \u0026ldquo;LU28R550UQNXZA_back.jpg\u0026rdquo; %}\nThe on-screen display looks like this:\n{% photo \u0026ldquo;samsung_ur55_osd.jpg\u0026rdquo; %}\nLike most multi-input monitors, there is a brief popup in the upper-left saying which import is being used. That doesn’t bother me in the least, but Samsung also pops up the above OSD. It occurs at ~2 sec after the screen becomes active and remains on the display for ~4 sec. I find it annoying, but an acceptable tradeoff given the low cost of the display. Others may be more bothered than I am, but Samsung should absolutely make this configurable or get rid of it altogether.\nOn the whole, I’m content with my purchase. I wouldn’t rave about this monitor, but it’s better than what I was using and affordable. I’d probably rate it a 3.5/5, but I think that’s about the top end for most consumer displays as so few are really “good”.\n","date":"August 20, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-08-20-samsung-28-4k/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Samsung 28\" ViewFinity UR55 4K IPS Monitor"},{"content":"Following the original The Guardians of the Galaxy movie is not an easy task. That film came out of nowhere to excite so many and showed that Marvel was willing to play with some of the weirder characters from its long history (Iron Man wans’t top iter, but I also wouldn’t refer to him as “weird”). On paper, the Guardians never made sense; a human, aliens, talking tree, talking raccoon, etc.\nNote: This film is wrapped up in what has come before. Definitely the first 2 Guadians films and also, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Also, if you haven’t watched The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, I suggest you check it out before watching Volume 3. While not absolutely necessary, details are referred to that are revealed in the special without any fanfare or explanation.\nNote: There are scenes in this movie that may be disturbing to animal lovers depending on your tolerance. Experimentation and cruelty are both shown and inferred, so take that knowledge with you when choosing whether to watch.\nJames Gunn is again at the helm, both writing and directing for his final MCU film before taking over as the boss at DC. Both Volume 2 and Volume 3 have been enjoyable films, but they haven’t reached the heights of the original for me. Still, I always enjoy each new entry and this one is no exception. It is an often sad or bittersweet journey toward a “final” conclusion for these characters. Yes, there is obviously plenty of humor along the way, but this seems to be an end to the story for this particular team. However, a huge piece of this final story involves Rocket, again played by Bradley Cooper, and his origins. Here’s where things get rough. In the MCU, this story involves a character named the High Evolutionary, very well played by Chukwudi Iwuji. Their interactions were not what would be described as kind \u0026amp; loving. The story is compelling enough and they tweak the flavor a bit for the MCU to tie up some previously revealed characters, but still, it can be a rough ride because it is sad and tragic. Rocket has been a favorite of mine just because of the attitude and delivery by Cooper. This is what I think of when I think of Rocket…\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB8BLMMVFLg\nStop reading now if you don’t want any spoilers\nGenerally, the story is largely a rescue/heist caper. but I don’t want to give away too much as it is fun to see it all fall into place. The existing team is back together with some more recent additions:\nRocket voiced by Bradley Cooper Peter Quill/Star-Lord played by Chris Pratt Drax played by Dave Bautista Nebula played by Karen Gillan Groot voiced by Vin Diesel Kraglin played by Sean Gunn Cosmo voiced by Maria Bakalova Gamora played by Zoe Saldana (belated reluctant return) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqcncLPi9zw\nThrough a series of events, Rocket is injured and they have to find the MacGuffin to help him to survive. Along the way, we get flashbacks to Rocket’s past which fill in the story details. Inevitably they are led to a planet in this quest that feels very much like when they originally went to Knowhere in the first film. Hijinks and smaller battles ensue and in this location we’re introduced to a character played by Nathan Fillion (great to finally see him involved without being completely obscured by a costume). The outcome here leads them toward the High Evolutionary and another planet which is shown in the trailers (intentionally looks like Earth). More battles occur and there is expository on the High Evolutionary’s raison d’être. The MacGuffin is recovered. The team fully forms and a version of the MCU final battle takes place. Along the way, we’re introduced to Adam Warlock, played by Will Poulter. I wish this character had gotten a more full-featured story, but given all that Gunn is trying to do in this film, I think this is what was possible. His story is intertwined with the film’s plot and don’t want to say too much outside of the fact that his introduction wasn’t really “necessary”, so I have to imagine they wanted to introduce him to for later use in the MCU. Cosmo is actually one of my favorite additions in this film. There is a great bit that plays out through the whole film between Kraglin and Cosmo that I think fits the Guardians vibe perfectly.\nThe film ends on a poignant note as the team is ending. Characters have found closure with it apparent that there are some that will and some that won’t likely be seen again. The door is left open, but similar to Captain America in Endgame, some of these characters will likely be otherwise involved in the future. There are 2 post-credit scenes that give an idea of the future for some of these characters. It is definitely worth waiting to watch both. The 2nd will seem odd, but keep watching 😃 As well all know by now, post-credit scenes may or may not actually predict a future storyline. There have been a number that have yet to pay off, but still could in the future.\n","date":"May 6, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-05-06-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol3/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3"},{"content":"I had planned to attend GalaxyCon Richmond in March 2023, but unfortunately a case of COVID derailed that trip. So, I was looking for alternatives after I got better and stumbled across SC Comicon in Greenville, SC.\nI tend to look for a few things in a convention:‌\nGuests of interest (movie/tv actors, voice actors, artists, etc.) Panels \u0026amp; workshops Cosplay – Higher quality costuming skill or fun/entertaining takes on characters is what I’d be looking for here Concerts Gaming or Social – I always intend to do more gaming and then usually don’t and finding/meeting people to hangout with at a con is complicated/stressful for this introvert since people I know typically aren’t as interested in going. SC Comicon really only offered one of those. There was definitely cosplay, but much of it was anime that I’m not familiar with, so it worked less for me. It is very small in comparison to something like DragonCon (5 total panels vs. literally hundreds), but they had 3 guests that I hadn’t seen previously and wanted to:\nEmily Swallow (The Armorer from The Mandalorian) Billy West (Voice actor mostly known to me through Futurama) Kevin Eastman (Comic artists and co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Luckily, it was an easy drive away and the hotel was affordable, so bought a 2 day pass for the weekend \u0026amp; pre-purchased a selfie/autograph with Swallow \u0026amp; West. I got there on Saturday, April 15th, just a bit before 1 pm and was able to quickly make my way inside. The con was in a single large convention space with no separate rooms. Basically, guests to the left, panels to the right and merchants/artists in between. The guests I cared about all seemed to have decently long lines. I waited about 1.5 hours to see Emily Swallow and that was due to a longer line \u0026amp; the fact that she was taking some time to chat with each person (a plus in my opinion). She was very kind and friendly. I got the autograph and then took a photo with her.\nNext up, I met Billy West. His line was a bit shorter, but still took about 30 – 45 minutes to get through. He was also willing to take time and speak with each person. I ended up paying a bit extra to get a video with some of his famous phrases from Futurama.\nFinally, I went to get in line to meet Kevin Eastman, but sadly it was capped, so I bought one of his posters, did a bit of browsing of merch and returned on Sunday to meet him. The poster was already signed, but as I get older, I don’t want to buy merch as much as to obtain memories, so a signed item means nothing if I didn’t get to meet the person. Luckily, I got in his line and got the chance to meet him. He does signings, but also offers a “remark” which is often a little turtle head sketch, so I went with that to personalize the poster a bit. I also tried to buy one of the enamel pins he was selling, but they ended up giving it to me for free. Pictures of both below from where they’re on display in my office.\nFinally, here’s a taste of some of the cosplay \u0026amp; miscellanea I saw and thought was worth photographing…\nAll in all, I really enjoyed myself and got to meet some great people whose work I love. It was largely just a relaxing weekend outside of the standing in line, but that’s kind of what I was wanting 😃\n","date":"April 23, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-04-23-south-carolina-comicon/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"South Carolina Comicon 2023"},{"content":"I had been waiting for this to come out for a while now, mostly out of a desire to finally have D\u0026amp;D transcend media (from games/literature to the small/big screen) and release something … good. I watched the reviews build up and was convinced it was only a matter of time before they took a downward turn, but it currently sits at a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It seems the reviews felt the same way I do in that this is just a fun movie overall with a reasonably contained plot \u0026amp; some honestly good acting.\nThe story focuses on a group of thieves who take on a questionable job and everything goes wrong from that point. The movies starts with a large amount of exposition as the main character explains his plight to a parole board. At first it seemed too drawn out, but it was a good way to setup their motivations and the state of the world. Humor is woven in to each scene so there’s really never a point that is pure action, but always a bit of fun laced into the story.\nAs the story gets moving, the main duo, Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, are the heart of the film. It is their story (and largely focused on Pine) that sets the stage for the plot. However, they need help so the “crew” is assembled. Setbacks occur along the way and side quests become necessary which feels just like playing through a D\u0026amp;D campaign. Additional characters, such as Regé-Jean Page‘s Paladin are introduced and give the world a bit more flavor. I wasn’t familiar with Sophia Lillis, who plays a druid in the movie, but she was quite good and her snark was fun as a foil for other characters.\nThe movie makes many fan service references to names \u0026amp; places from D\u0026amp;D and there’s a REALLY good easter egg that I feel they’re marketing spoils, but I won’t contribute to that mistake here. There is some fast \u0026amp; loose work with the “rules” of the world of Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons, but I think it’s fine given the story they’re trying to tell and typically, a Dungeon Master sets the rules of the world and has ultimate control of how things are allowed to proceed.\n","date":"April 2, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-04-02-dungeons-and-dragons-honor-among-thieves/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dungeons \u0026 Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"},{"content":"Let me just say that I do NOT understand what is going on with the reviews of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Currently (the evening of 2023.02.17), Rotten Tomatoes has this movie sitting at a Tomatometer of 48%. That feels like an incredibly low percentage for a movie that I really enjoyed. That isn’t to say there aren’t issues to be had with this movie, but I found it to be lots of fun. I do know that I’m pretty good at allowing myself to enjoy movies without engaging in too much criticism. I just enjoy the rollercoaster for what it is and don’t sweat the details too much in the moment. I also know these characters and often the comic storylines that are being referenced which obviously can change how a film is approached.\nThere will be some minor spoilers below…\nThere’s a brief bit of backstory and then things switch over to show how Scott and family are doing in the current MCU timeline. We still have Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), daughter Cassie Lang (Kahtyrn Newton), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) all together. There’s a fun family dynamic where they all kind of pick on Scott, but it does feel like it is done out of love. However, there is real constructive criticism that Scott is playing it safe and is no longer trying to do anything more than live his life. This leads through some short conversation to a project Cassie has been undertaking to map the Quantum realm via a signal. This leads to some conflict and a portal that pulls them all down to the Quantum realm.\nThe Quantum realm is where all of the action and 99.9% of the rest of the movie occurs. The Quantum realm is weird \u0026amp; otherworldly and while I’ve seen complaints about the CG quality, this is where the movie becomes beautiful to behold. There are stark mixes of dark and light with brightly lit elements everywhere. The environments are often alive in some way and I really enjoyed the experience. There is a whole host of characters present here, but they are mostly present for comic relief or to give tale to the central story that the Quantum realm contains a menace known as the Conquerer. As a quick aside, WHY is there humanoid life in the Quantum realm that didn’t come from somewhere else? The movie never explains and I think that’s for the best. Getting back to the menace, anyone who has been paying attention to the marketing for this movie knows that everything is leading up to the introduction of a new villian, Kang the Conqueurer (Jonathan Majors). Just to state the obvious (in my opinion), Jonathan Majors chews up every scene he’s in. He is either completely manacing or calmly trying to gain acquiescence (before destroying those who fail to yield). I loved his portrayal of the character that is not completely comic canon accurate, but tweaked to fit into the current MCU story. He WAS the highlight of the film for me.\nThere is the introduction of another classic comic character in this movie and it seems rather divisive. M.O.D.O.K. (i.e. Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) joins in the chaos fairly early on. I don’t want to spend much time on the MCU backstory as if you haven’t been spoiled it probably is kind of a fun reveal. However, it is one of the worst kept secrets around so you probably aren’t coming in fresh. The CG for this character is uneven and better in some scenes than others. I actually enjoyed the armored version in practice while I was sure I wouldn’t in advance. Just to get it out of the way, M.O.D.O.K. is ridiculous, but the comic M.O.D.O.K. was also ridiculous. This was fan service, through and through, and while I’m not sure it was successful, I enjoyed how they adapted the character and that M.O.D.O.K. himself was really kind of uncertain of his own motivations. He simply acted out of emotion without much thought and provided some comic relief. He could have been MUCH more menacing, but that would’ve taken away from Kang, so maybe ultimately the right choice and possibly a one and done character here. I can’t say I was the first to think of this, but I think this line from Ant-Man sums up my feelings on M.O.D.O.K.\nFrom here, there are various machinations all focused on Kang getting back to conquering all of time \u0026amp; space. He has power through his tech and his intellect, but needs his power core (i.e. MacGuffin) to truly become who he was/wants to be again. Obviously, things ultimately go his way and he is about to leave the Quantum realm when the heroes intervene. There is heavy use of the Giant-Man abilities of Ant-Man within these scenes, but almost none of the drawbacks highlighted in previous MCU films (save the resulting hunger and love of citrus). This is a huge plot hole, but one I choose to fill as Scott/Hank have come up with new enhancements allowing for him to better use the ability. It is never explained and I feel it would’ve been better had that been fixed. I also choose to ignore that growth on that scale would cause numerous issues that are better left to suspension of disbelief in favor of enjoying the movie. There is near constant action and flipping from character to character and leads to a bit of a herky-jerky feel to these scenes to get everything in.\nAs the heroes seem to “win”, we get drawn in to the final battle with Kang. It is an MCU film after all and there is an obvious formula at play. This battle seems somewhat anticlimatic as Ant-Man (with a bit of help) is able to defeat Kang (again, this is the MCU that rarely subverts its own formula)? This doesn’t feel quite right for a character that is supposed to be the new big bad of the MCU, but we are reminded multiple times that Kang is a multitude of variants. So, it will be curious to see which Kang shows up next.\nThere are 2 stingers, a mid-credit and a post-credit, and atypically they both focus on the same character (I bet you can guess who). The mid-credit is a vague hint of what is coming, but the post-credit scene is a more solidly grounded setup for upcoming MCU faire.\nAll in all, I really enjoyed this movie for the visuals and portrayals. It is uneven. It is still a bit too by the numbers MCU film and I wish they would step out of that comfort zone. Howver, as part of the Multiverse Saga, I would put this movie in the middle of the outings so far. It’s hard to rate without a rewatch and we don’t yet know how Kang will playout. This movie may improve as the start of something amazing if the big bad works out as Marvel hopes he will.\n","date":"February 17, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-02-17-ant-man-and-the-waspquantumania/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania"},{"content":"I haven’t subscribed to Netflix for a bit as I feel they are overpriced for the content they offer. However, while I was caught up on Stranger Things, my younger son, Ian, was keen to watch it with me. The first two seasons didn’t particularly concern me as he isn’t easily frightened, but each season gets a bit more dark (similar in that respect to the Harry Potter series) and with seasons 3 and 4, I feel they crank up the gore and scares (compared to previous seasons). I think they actually do a good job compared to modern horror films as much of the excess gore that makes it on to the screen only serves to detract from the story. Being a bit more family friendly isn’t a negative as they do keep it frightful, but balance making it accessible. Given all of this, we started watching in late December and I’ve been monitoring his desire to proceed. Surprisingly, he hasn’t had an issue with anything.\nThere will be NO attempt to avoid spoilers, but I won’t be going through many plot details…\nWhile it hasn’t been that long since I completed season 4, it hasn’t been difficult to work through all the episodes. Before going too far, I definitely would say my favorite season was number 3. The introduction of some very Eighties plot points really works for me: the a mall that kills many of the other businesses in the town and the use of the Russians as the earthly villains. These both leave this season feeling the most nostalgic to me (I guess that would be what I felt). Season 3 also introduces and strengthens some favorite characters. The great newcomers were Eddie Munson played by Joseph Quinn, Robin Buckley played by Maya Hawke and Max Mayfield played by Sadie Sink. As far as most growth, I kind of feel like Steve Harrington played by Joe Keery has shown a lot of growth as a character and has become one of my favorites on the show. Interestingly to me, Ian also feels that season 3 is best. I wasn’t expecting that given he holds none of the same nostalgia that I do.\nI continue to enjoy the writing and world building that they’ve done through this series. Not everything immediately connects, but it usually is weaved together overtime. For example, season 4 brought multiple threads together dating back to the first season. The introduction of Vecna in season 4 was an excellent choice as it offered a once human opponent for the gang to focus on in addition to the creatures. Also, it continues to be a great convention to name their evil opponents after characters/creatures from Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons. It just feels right to me at this point. Vecna/Henry Creel/001 is played as an adult by Jamie Campbell Bower to great effect. I didn’t really enjoy the telling of his past crimes as a child as to me that strayed too close to a story of real life evil acts that I tend to dislike. I tend to like horror that holds no chance of actually happening, while I avoid more of the things that remind me how awful humans can be to each other in reality. I checked in with Ian repeatedly during these story bits to make sure all of this wasn’t bothering him, but luckily he understands it is fiction and took it in stride.\nIt doesn’t appear that season 5 will start pricipal photography until mid-way through 2023, so who knows how long it will take to be able to see the finale. I think Ian and I will definitely be watching the final season together. That will be interesting as I won’t be able to speedrun the season as I will have to conform to his availble time. I also won’t be able to prep him in advance for anything that might be cause for concern. Still, I’m glad that he has enjoyed the show and wants to keep going.\n","date":"January 25, 2023","permalink":"/posts/2023-01-25-stranger-things-1-4/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Stranger Things (Seasons 1-4)"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/tv/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tv"},{"content":"I went to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last night with my younger son and we both enjoyed it. However, I think I enjoyed it more than he did as it is a slow burn of a blockbuster (there’s more dialog and less action set pieces or at least it felt that way). There is a large amount of attention to handling grief (rightly so). The loss of Chadwick Boseman weighs heavily on so much of this film.\nNamor (Ku’ku’lkán) is a solid inclusion and is handled well. I thought the character development balanced respect for the comics as well as a desire to present a more diverse view of the character’s backstory. The shifting from him being from Atlantis to the underwater kingdom of Talokan is presented as a diversity change in some ways, but I have to imagine this is also to avoid camparisons to Aquaman. I don’t know much about the actor, Tenoch Huerta, but I thought he did a great job breathing life into the character and making Namor feel like he had authentic motivations.\nReturning from the last film, Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Dani Gurira as Okoye and Winston Duke as M’Baku were all great. I also liked Martin Freeman though he had a smaller role in this film, but he did help to flesh out Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.\nI thought Letitia Wright did good work evolving the character of Shuri in this film. She grew on me in this film in a way that she didn’t in the first film. I’m curious to see how long she continues in the role given that this film could be seen as an entry resetting the Black Panther character and it felt like they left a couple of options open for the mantle to be passed from her to another.\nI did feel Ironheart and the Midnight Angels had a bit of an odd design in that the face mask portion of the armor felt too animated/video game-esque for my tastes. The characters themselves were just fine, but it’s the design that felt off to me. When I think back to how the Iron Man suit looked (starting with Mark 2), I remember being struck by how kinetic and physical everything looked. It was as if someone had made a working suit. These two designs just didn’t work for me on that level, but maybe another viewing will lead me to feel different. Having said all that, I am very curious where the character will go in the upcoming Ironheart series as I do believe Dominique Thorne made for an interesting Riri Williams.\nIt’s not the rollercoaster ride that I can’t wait to board again, but rather the film that leaves me thinking about how this story will grow and evolve in the MCU as I don’t believe this is the last we have seen of Talokan or Namor and I look forward to seeing their interactions with the wider MCU.\n","date":"November 11, 2022","permalink":"/posts/2022-11-11-black-panther-wakanda-forever/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"},{"content":"","date":null,"permalink":"/tags/wwdc/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Wwdc"},{"content":"This is a collection of some improvements that I am hoping to see as part of WWDC 2022. Some are more likely than others, but they’re all things I wish to be undertaken by Apple…\niOS/iPadOS # Fix autoplay while in CarPlay If I have my music/podcast paused and I try to browse anything (while parked) that has media on it, the music/podcast auto-resumes I can find no way to prevent it without killing the music/podcast app It is the bane of my existence 😁 Messages Spam Filter Universal notifications – notifications clear from all devices when read on one (Thanks to Juli Clover) Share “some” parts of Home app with other family members My kids don’t need access to everything Interactive Widgets Update widget details more often (Fitness is always way behind for me) Control Center API for third-party apps Photos Family library Allow for viewing/editing keywords Emoji zoom Allow for a tap and hold to enlarge the emoji to make it easier to identify Allow for scheduling of full subscribed calendar refresh Currently, it seems to refresh haphazardly or not at all in iOS/iPadOS macOS # Fix Time Machine when using a NAS It will work for some random amount of time (a day to a few weeks) and then just stop with no useful error logging Regular use of the NAS still works at this point, but Time Machine seems to become permanently broken without deleting the backup and starting over… tvOS/Apple TV app # Every piece of video content should display whether it is 4K, HD, SD, HDR, etc. on the details page consistently Allow for paid upgrades from HD to 4K Stop showing content that is already owned as “un-purchased” when the content owner repackages it as “new” (see images below showing the store and library view of “Pulp Fiction”) At minimum, show me that I own a “previous version” of the title Metadata adjustment (title, genre, cover art) Sometimes the metadata is just wrong, ugly or shows zero effort on the part of the content owner ","date":"June 4, 2022","permalink":"/posts/2022-06-04-wwdc-2022-wishlist/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"WWDC 2022 Wishlist"},{"content":"Heather and I got to go see Nine Inch Nails at the Red Hat Amphitheater last night for the opening stop of their 2022 tour. We haven’t been to this venue before. It’s on the smaller side as it only holds ~6k people. The actual performance was good, but I didn’t love everything about where we were in the venue. The people in our row were constantly coming and going which leads to a lot of distractions. We were on the end of our row on the far left of the stage so we also had the crowds from concession lines. Not ideal, but I’ll just try to remember that in the future. Luckily, none of that ruined a great performance.\nThe setlist was a nice mix of favorites:\nSomewhat Damaged The Day the World Went Away The Frail The Wretched March of the Pigs 1,000,000 Survivalism Piggy Closer The Perfect Drug The Becoming This Isn’t the Place Every Day Is Exactly the Same I’m Afraid of Americans Fashion Only The Hand That Feeds Head Like a Hole Followed up by the Encore:\nReptile And All That Could Have Been Hurt Heather and I were trying to recall when we last saw Nine Inch Nails. To our recollection, it was 2017/2018, but unless my email has some big gaps, it was 2013 at the PNC Arena. That was a huge surprise as it doesn’t feel like 9 years ago.\nHonestly, as long as Trent Reznor wants to keep performing, I’m probably game to keep showing up 😃…\n","date":"April 29, 2022","permalink":"/posts/2022-04-29-nine-inch-nails/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Nine Inch Nails Concert"}]