Re-reading Hail Mary before the movie comes out.

I’ve been watching Wednesday kind of over and over. I grew up loving the Addams Family, so it was kind of inevitable I’d end up obsessed with this one too. I find its quite a bit different from the original Addams Family just with Wednesday’s relationship with her mother, Morticia and all but I enjoy the show. It’s my bedtime show lol.

Bit late to the party, but I finished reading William Gibson’s Neuromancer not too long ago. One of the foundational books of cyberpunk, and I can see why. I really liked it! And it’s not too long a read either, at 280ish pages if I recall correctly.

Just finished reading “Such A Fun Age” by Kiley Reid. Spent the night watching the NY Knicks beat the Lakers and then finished watching the 2026 Grammys telecast.

I watched two related docuseries:

One is baked Hollywood Hustler. It is about this guy who brings in all his college buddies and executes a Ponzi Scheme but claiming to sell Shows to HBO in Latin America.

While the dicuseries is entertaining at times, it is pretty thin on details of what the scheme was and how it went down. A lot of that was because he pleaded guilty so the details were not made public.

One interesting aspect of it all was how he completely kept his wife in the dark about her whole thing. Unless she is just as good of a liar as he is, she claims that she was completely oblivious to the whole thing.

The second one is called ROMCON, Who the Fuck is Jason Porter. I am only about an hour into it and it is about a guy who presumably ripped off a bunch of very successful women.

I’ve been re-reading Zola’s novel “The Downfall” on Gutenberg, about the Franco-Prussian War. It may seem a bit esoteric, but it’s an interesting description of what happens when a government prioritizes loyalty over competence, and then overextends on foreign policy.

Just finished watching 11.22.63

I liked the premise of a time traveler trying to prevent JFKs assassination, and seeing what life might have been like for Lee Oswald. But the ending is predictable, and the science gets handwaved over hard (theres even a meta joke about it), but the story isnt about how tk time travel, but why.

I don’t watch or read news online (and we have no TV at home). I will read a couple (print) newspapers every day instead. I receive one in the morning, and the other arrives in the early evening, each one from a different political side in my country (France).

Why print? No one is tracking what I’m reading, and also I don’t need to use a computer which helps in getting a better sleep mood: less bright light directly in the eyes, and a lot less shit content too ;)

When I don’t read those newspapers, I will read some magazines (print too) or read books (yeah, in print too).

steal. I hope you get some sleep!

Been watching:

• sg1 on dvd. It’s like if star trek were real life air force sponsored, and from the late 90s and serialized scifi television. Adventure, character driven, scifi, action. “Modern” humanity finds a mysterious portal device on earth that wormholes to other places in the universe, where it turns out humanity has been planted around as a slave race for tyrannical alien symbiotes posing as gods to all the dumb humans and other aliens.

• yakitate japan. An early 2000s anime about bread. Comedy, cooking, educational, puns. I like it a lot because it reminds of when the future was hopeful and whimsical.

• the poly couple on YouTube. Can’t stop watching it. I need to know where it goes. It’s an online series about a polyamorous couple and their escapades. Comedy, semi shortform, slice of life, thriller?

• blacklist. It’s okay. An older tv series 2013i think, about a maybe paychopath genius criminal and how he charismatically helps and uses the fbi with their full knowledge. Sorta house md like, but crime and not as good.

I just finished watching Wonder Man, and what a ride. Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen are fucking amazing. I know I’m probably going get piled on for liking a Marvel show but it’s a major step up from most of their stuff lately. I’ve been really impressed with the stuff Destin Daniel Cretton‘s been doing lately and Yahya Abdul-Mateen was so good in Watchmen.

Partner and I are going through Better Call Saul (BCS) after a run on Braking Bad. She’s seen Breaking Bad once but never BCS, while I’ve watched both many, many times. I love showing somebody a movie or a show for the first time; the closest way of watching something for the first time again is vicariously through someone else.

As far as reading material, I’ve finally gotten my hands on Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer; it blends in cosmic horror with some sci-fi, and reminds me of a horrific acid trip. The movie is amazing, but I’ve heard the books have lined up some sequels, and I wanted to get ahead. As per usual, book is much better, but also drastically different. Movie and book are each pretty much brand new experiences. High recommend either.

I just finished watching Mr. Corman on Apple TV in just one day (in quarantine trying to not to get my wife sick) and I’m left mind blown.

Warching Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. First time in nearly 20 years I watch a movie starring him, and now I find his humor enjoyable. Also nice that a relatively long segment is both humorous and respectful to a certain serious topic. And a tangent, but is it just me or does Jackie Sparrow’s behavior remind of Chaplin’s characters? Wonder if Johnny Depp inspired himself on Chaplin…

Also planning to continue Yu Yu Hakusho season 4, but season 3 had a bit too many elements shoehorned for me and now I’m concerned about quality consistency.