Building A New City

Silicon Valley elite trying to build a new city in Norcal.  Two thoughts:

1) Great idea. I think we should be building 10 new American cities.

2) This also sounds like the bad guy plot of Chinatown

Disliking the US

Whenever I hear someone poo-poo the US, it just makes me think they haven't travelled enough. 

Ramaswamy

Sounds good for about 3 minutes before you realize he's a complete charlatan with terrible ideas.

This is a guy who thinks and operates on 3-4 year timelines which is probably why he's running for President.

Separate, I don't understand how DeSantis can't just be running on the message: all these guys may sound right but I can govern and they can't. 

Gender Surgeon Justification

Consider - gender surgeons often say they do what they do to kids because the alternatives are suicide - that is, a 13 year old says I'm going to kill myself unless you change my gender. But what if the 13 year old just cut out the middle man part of the equation and said, "Gimme 10K or I'm going to kill myself." Would the gender surgeon pony up the cash to do this? Why not?

The Antidote

To how depressing the world can be is to have kids and play sports and games with them. 

Logging

Short Story: Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard 

Boy, is he good. Packs so much feeling, character, joy, humor into short little space. Inspiring really. The whole TV pilot is laid out in this story...

Film: The Fabelmans

Halfway through...obviously terrific filmmaking but I find myself experiencing low level depression watching it. Why? Among other reasons, I see the America being depicted here as irretrievably lost and in a bad way:

1) Hardly anyone has 4 kids anymore - the early scenes of Spielberg teaching himself to make movies was with his sisters. No sisters no Spielberg.

2) The Boy scout pack is HUGE and fully engaged with the filmmaking of young Spielberg. Could any kid gather such help to make movies today? Would the parents stop them for not meeting diversity requirements? No Scouts no Spielberg.

3) The father's job. He's so excited about building things and examining how things work in the physical world. Do Americans have jobs like this anymore? Are Americans like this anymore?

A Brief Theory on Education/Teaching

You learn so you may forget. 

When you teach a child phonics, you hope they will internalize the lessons so much they don't need to expend any brain energy on the formation of words when they are reading. You learn it, so you can forget it and concentrate on the bigger issue of meaning.

You teach basic math so that the lessons are internalized and you don't need to count on your fingers when getting change at a store. You learn basics so more complex math can be done at a later time. You can intuitively understand compound interest when you know multiplication. Without it, you are lost.

Many great writers de-emphasize learning "structure" when it comes to storytelling suggesting it isn't helpful or how "real writers write." But many people who aspire to write don't actually understand or know structural basics. It's like saying, real race car drivers don't check the RPMs when they shift gears. No shit. Because they've internalized the lesson. But a kid learning to drive stick shift should probably think mechanically about the steps as they are practicing in the parking lot.

Hurricane in LA

Judging by the traffic and weather of the last two days - I hope we get more hurricanes in Los Angeles. Shit, I think we should have one every month. God - are you listening?

Logging

Film: Detectives vs. Sleuths 

Needed to wash off the stink of Barbie so I watched this insane Hong Kong action film that 100% deserves a nomination for a holy fucking shit movie of 2022. Question: can a holy fucking shit movie also be good? I think so, but could see a debate on the issue. This movie is somewhat close to being good but engages in a familiar problem with Chinese action films - a complete lack of characterization in favor of "twists." Still, the main character is a paranoid who believes he is the "chosen sleuth" meant to solve all the botched cases within a corrupt police department. He also sees demons. In my language that translates to "you had me at hello."

Logging

Film: Barbie 

So much to dislike! Bill Simmons coined a term "sports hate" to distinguish between actual real hate and just "sports hating" a certain player. So I "movie hate" Noah Baumbach films and he's managed to extend his circle to his now wife Greta Gerwig. 

Where to begin? In no particular order:

Hitting a trifecta of things I hate in films: corporate brand extension, misanthropic hipsterism, gender studies 101 themes...  

Irony - the best parts of the movie are Will Ferrell and Ryan Gosling. At least I laughed (lightly) during their scenes. So in a movie about feminism, the guys steal the show.

The underlying misanthropy. This is my main issue with Baumbach film in general. It's shallow cruelty masked as "realism." I find them boring, tedious, and untrue. Like I'm hanging with a depressive. So while yes, a lot of ideas are brought to the fore in the film - none of the ideas are interesting. The father gets mocked for trying to learn a second language. The Ken's are mocked for their helpful attempts to show Barbie's how to work photoshop and invest. There was some wit in that final sequence, but if you excavate the underlying meaning, it's got an upside down world view. The Barbie's basically steal the election validating the claims of the Jan 6 protestors! This is the Gerwig-Baumbach political philosophy?!?

Lacking emotion. The only vaguely true emotional moments are tiny moments between America Ferrara and her daughter and Gosling's lack of identity. For a movie about Barbie, she's a pretty uninteresting character. I don't buy her existential crisis one bit.

I don't mind the nonsensical plot mechanics. Par for the course for these type of movies. 

Kate McKinnon was a tiny jolt of life into a movie that starts off dead for 20 minutes. I was in a theater about 30% full - not a single laugh for nearly 25 minutes into a movie that is supposed to be a comedy.

Musical numbers were lacking passion. Like they were just there to fill in runtime. Also - just me - or were there too few musical numbers to feel like a musical and too few jokes to feel like a comedy?

Thankfully no audience cheers for America Ferrara's lecture. Pure cringe. 

Why does Barbie decide to become human in the end?

In her "meeting God" (ie Rhea Pearlman scene) was it just me, or is this what I imagine happening in an acting class?

Gerwig likes 80s and 90s sitcoms, doesn't she? This is a point in her favor and probably why she's a better filmmaker than her husband.

Gerwig seems to diss on her dad in a lot of these movies - reading into this and Ladybird I'm sorta like: does she blame him for dealing with a bout of unemployment when she was a teen? Sorry to be so Freudian. 

Some nods to wokeness being hijacked by corporate stooges. Fine point. Not sure what to take away from it. Not sure the film knows. Does this undermine wokeness? Further validate it? Similarly, not sure if handicapped and trans Barbie's were making a joke about inclusivity or trying to be legitimately inclusive. Does Gerwig know? Does WB know? Does Mattel know?

Trans Barbie tough to stomach on screen. No one will say it, but everyone will think it. You can tell because post-production did a job on actor to make it seem like maybe just a sort of ugly barbie - but informed viewers will recognize the actor and someone involved with the film is hoping it will "open up discussion" on the matter while others see it as an opportunity to sell dolls.

My wife defends the film because it was a smart move by Mattel and better-than-expected-for-a-Barbie movie. Is there a term that can describe this nonsense? Like a cousin-term to "damning with faint praise." A good move for Mattel? That's what we ask of our movies now?

This is not a film for kids. This is a film for women who want to it every which way. This movement of women taking their daughters (and sons) into this cult of hateful nonsense will have a very nice backlash that I am going to enjoy watching.

UPDATE: Just had a realization about the end of Barbie - the weird mother-daughter /tree of life montage at the end was about Barbie discovering she wanted to be a mother (never felt this emotionally at all in the film). Trip to gynecologist nails this point. Took me 2 days to figure this out - either I'm dumb or the hid the ball on it. Why? 

Logging

Film: Yojimbo

Definitely a rewatch but strangely I have no recollection of when I watched the film or how many times I've seen it. Not one of my favorite all time films - nor even one of my favorite Kurosawa films - but nevertheless it feels like it belongs on any list of greatest films of all time. Is this discussed as an action film? It might be the birth of the genre...alongside James Bond.

Good

NYC pension funds threaten to divest from entertainment companies unless they resolve strikes. 

More like this please. I feel we need total replacement of all management at all the major studios. But that's just me.

Alcohol

Good twitter post on alcohol.  Turns out all studies saying modest alcohol is good for you are full of shit. Any alcohol is bad. Makes sense since it is a poison.

But the important question is not: booze or no booze. It's what to do in the evening when you can't/shouldn't be working anymore or hanging with kids. 

Milf Island Storyline in 30 Rock

In 30 Rock there was a storyline where Jack superimposes Jerry Seinfeld into his "Seinfeldvision" programming and Jerry is the host/spokesperson for a show called Milf Island and a dozen other NBC shows. Naturally, Jerry finds out and gets upset. Jack threatens Jerry with a lawsuit and Jerry counter threatens to buy NBC at which point Jack realizes NBC could be bought for 4 million dollars.

Does any of this sound familiar? 

And yes, there is a show called Milf Manor running on TLC right now.

San Diego Notes

Timkin Museum in Balboa Park what museums ought to be. Small, doable in an hour. Roughly 12 incredible paintings in the Dutch/Flemish room alone including a Rembrandt.

Safari Park twilight tour worth the time and money. Saw a few different rhino species, giraffe, a lot of antelopes. I sheepishly asked whether predators get mixed with prey. The guy laughed and said a lion in the park would mean the end of the other animals. 

Barrio Logan in SD. Gentrifying, but still feels like "the barrio." Kids wanted to play on playground with drug addicts around, possible gang graffiti, and no other children around -- my answer was "no." Went to eat at Las Cuatro Milpas, a Mexican restaurant open since 1933. An hour long wait. Worth it for the experience and to "have done" it. Food was good, but perhaps not remarkable. Best thing was chorizo and huevos...basically a stew with chorizo, eggs, beans, and rice -- you could barely tell there was chorizo and eggs in there. Squeeze some lemon, eat with the magnificent homemade tortillas - very good. I'd skip the "rolled tacos" which are just taquitos. 

North Park neighborhood. Like other hipster areas but with a San Diego vibe. Tribute Pizza joint in wonderful old post office location. Got a Jeni's ice cream shop. Felt younger than LA hipster areas or maybe I'm just older...

Hillcrest brunch...place called Trust. LGBT blah blah blah flags flying everywhere. Sort of weird. Wasn't pride month several months ago? Menu looked terrific, food was solid.

Might San Diego whether the current California weirdness better than LA and SF? Both LA and SF have noticeably declined in the past 7-8 years. And I noticed a considerable homeless problem in San Diego, so it wasn't immune. But certain characteristics - military presence, older folks, a science-oriented UCSD, and just being generally less attractive to the most batshit people on the planet suggests selling LA/SF and buying some San Diego.

Travel With Kids

Is a battle of attrition against the use of iPad, one you will eventually lose. 

Good Title: Beware Psychotherapy That Works

On a macro level the more ubiquitous and de-stigmatized psychology becomes we seem to be more awash in mental illness. 

One would imagine the opposite to be true.

And Behold The Business Genius of Our Time...

These are the types of people who make money in show business now...the person who came up with the brilliant idea of branding popcorn.

Logging

Film: Man on Fire 

Never been a gigantic fan of the ADHD style of this film. For what gets remembered as a classic action thriller - remarkably little action. Sure, Denzel sticks a bomb up a guy's ass but the film is more drama than action. I suppose for the entire 2nd half of the film, Denzel's walking around with a gun or bazooka but the set pieces are more memorable for their brutality than spectacle. An interesting flick - almost for how much people seem to know, follow, and remember it. Can anyone explain to me Mark Anthony's scam for getting his own daughter kidnapped? Insurance pays ransoms for these things? Seems like a pretty flawed system and would encourage mass kidnapping... Nice use of music in the film.

Film: The Apartment

Writing lesson: a lot of plot revelations early into the film pulls us into the story. I mean we start with the guy already loaning out his apartment. Most of the 2nd half of the film just deals with emotional fallout and the various ironic scenarios of Lemmon being a ladies man. 

Depressing that such a film of this scale would be an "indie" today and look like shit compared to what we were making in 1960... Even more depressing it wouldn't even be made as an "indie" because of various "problematic" elements featured in the film -- no point in getting depressed pointing these out.

Film: The Drop

Watched the first half so far. Crime films from book adaptations often allow for much more sprawling, digressive narrative structure that has high risk and high return when done well. They should've promoted this film as a "dog movie." Amazing cast...want to see how it ends.

Luke Combs Version of Fast Car

He kept in the lyric "worked in the market as a check out girl..." a beautiful, elegant choice to honor the original song and simultaneously make a subtle fig leaf gesture on the "gender wars." Not sure who can object to this thing.

Ohtani

Saw in person last night. A few notes:

-He's an incredible player. Took an extra base on a single with no outs to put himself in scoring position. 

-I haven't watched a ton of baseball in recent times, but he's a bit Barry Bonds-ish at the plate. You can feel the entire stadium stop and watch. Each pitch a giant moment.

-He whacked a fly out that seemed to go up 1 mile in the air - a millimeter off a monster home run.

-A single man interested in meeting a Japanese woman would put himself in a good position to do so by attending Angels games.

-The Angels as a team stink.

-"He Gets Us" was advertised at the stadium. Clever. It seems like the Christians are stealing a page from the BLM playbook by creating a strong slogan and pushing their ideas through sports and other significant cultural touchstones.

-As I get older, I think the food at games improves slightly and yet I'm more disgusted by it.

-Beer is tempting to order, but I'm glad I didn't have any. Why do stadiums/events carry the large/22 oz type of beers now? I would prefer smaller sizes (and order more) to maximize number of cold sips. Temperature of drinks an underrated vital factor in enjoyment. This applies to beer, martinis, coffee, soft drinks, just about anything and why Musso and Franks martinis are the best (the extra bits kept cool in ice bucket for you)

The Studios

This WGA-SAG strike will create 1-2 generations of people in entertainment who fundamentally hate and distrust the studios and their new friends in tech. But of course the people who work in those places don't care since they know they will be fired or quit by the time the chickens come home to roost. Hence the problem. 

Nuggets of Gold

I haven't even finished reading this yet, but there's already genuine nuggets of gold in the article. 

And so misogynist, once a term used for men who repeatedly beat their wives or who pushed a sexually aggressive “PUA” agenda, now accrues to those of us who don’t find much to love in the music of Taylor Swift.

and 

The assumed ideology in 21st-century American life is that your personal and political virtue is expressed in your consumer choices, that you reveal your innermost ethical self not through your actions or even your utterances but with the consumerist cultures you labor to broadly associate yourself with.