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Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Sunshine Coastline” from Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

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It’s weird. I tend to enjoy rock or metal instrumentals in video game soundtracks more than I do from traditional virtuoso artists. The reason is that instru-metal guys—who are mostly guitarists, obviously—can’t get past their virtuosity and present a coherent song without their chops getting in the way. A song that has “handles,” where you … Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Sunshine Coastline” from Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Anne Bradstreet Day

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Today is Anne Bradstreet Day, dedicated to someone I never heard of: She was one of the first colonial poets to be published in the New World, the first Englishwoman to publish a book of poems and the first published American poet. While her early works were more rooted in the traditional poetry structure at … Anne Bradstreet Day

How to Wake Up in a Movie

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It’s not that movies need to be all realistic, but the dramatization of someone waking up from a nightmare has been overplayed for a while now. I can’t speak for everyone, but I never wake up from a bad dream by sitting bolt upright, breathless, and yelling out. That might be appropriate in a comedic, … How to Wake Up in a Movie

You Won’t Pass

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It’s been quite the minute since I posted, hasn’t it? I haven’t had the privilege of naming a wifi network in a while. I was going to do something like “FBISurveillanceVan” or “NSALogin” but I’ve seen that approach too much. There are some funny names in this forum thread—note all the “FBI” examples—but most of … You Won’t Pass

Photos: Memorial Park Hike

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I almost didn’t want to label this as a “hike,” since it was more of an easy walk through mostly-paved paths. Really no elevation changes or rough terrain. Memorial Park in New Kensington is mostly a forest. The developed section has a road, parking lot, a small soccer field, basketball courts, tennis courts, not-ice-or-field hockey … Photos: Memorial Park Hike

A Liar’s Paradox Solution

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We’ve probably come across many forms of the paradox before. The most amusing one I’ve ever seen was the two door dilemma from Labyrinth. Is the following statement true? This statement is false. If it’s true, it’s false. If it’s false, it’s true. What to make of this? There’s been many convoluted solutions to get … A Liar’s Paradox Solution

Movie Review: The Imaginary

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The Imaginary Rudger, Amanda’s imaginary friend, is forgotten and must learn to live with the other forgotten imaginary friends and evade the clutches of a strange man seeking to consume him. Toy Story meets Spirited Away, and I’m not referencing the latter because Studio Ponoc was related to Studio Ghibli. This was honestly more British … Movie Review: The Imaginary

Movie Review: Mars Express

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Mars Express A pair of private investigators travel between Earth and Mars to probe into the disappearance of a college student and her roommate, who have been jailbreaking androids from their constraining moral programming. This was a French film, which I suppose means something. I was ready to dislike this because a movie about advanced … Movie Review: Mars Express

Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Rosekranz” from SaGa Frontier 2

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I watched part of a playthrough of this game a while back, back before playthrough videos on Youtube got obnoxious with overediting and spastic commentary. I was initially attracted by the watercolor portrait artwork and the hand-drawn, diagonal gameplay backgrounds, and the story was unique enough to bother paying attention. The soundtrack, written by Masashi … Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Rosekranz” from SaGa Frontier 2

Movie Review: Divergent

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Divergent In a highly-structured, post-apocalyptic Chicago, a young woman hides her “divergent” gift when she joins the peacekeeping Dauntless faction. Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way. Without knowing the books at all—which are in my library, yet to be read—I would be fine with the story: a paint-by-numbers dystopian teen sci-fi action … Movie Review: Divergent

Photos: Pittsburgh, June 2024

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A ginko tree on Forbes Avenue and Smithfield Street: The Citizens Bank Tower on William Penn Place, taken from PNC Plaza. On the middle right is the old Kaufmann’s building, with a basketball court on the roof. Bottom right is the Warner Theatre sign, which I believe has been there since 1918: Fifth Avenue Place/Highmark … Photos: Pittsburgh, June 2024

Made for Each Other

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I was asked by a friend what I thought of the video on this page: Heavenly Fire – The John 10:10 Project. On the whole, I like what it says, despite the American evangelical bent of what’s expressed there. The explanation of the sun’s and Earth’s magnetic fields and how they interact is accurate, as … Made for Each Other

Aragorn: Book Versus Film

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“Aragorn: tall, dark, ruggedly handsome, dangerous, brooding, of a royal bloodline, good with horses, a natural leader, slightly superhuman. He’s just like Jay!*” I missed the The Lord of the Rings trilogy the first time around in the theaters, in the early aughts. I was too single-mindedly involved with music and making websites at the … Aragorn: Book Versus Film

“He’s good at what he does”

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I’ve heard it a few times before, in the context of musical talent: “he’s good at what he does.” It’s applicable to other performative arts as well. It’s said when you want to admit someone is talented, but the subject in question isn’t talented in the manner in which you’d like them to be. I … “He’s good at what he does”

Acting Against Type in Blade Runner 2049

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The thought occurred to me recently that a lot of the characters in Blade Runner 2049 act strongly against their profession while simultaneously maintaining that profession. Or, they act or are in circumstances that contradict their character in the previous movie. I don’t know how much merit there is in these observations. I suppose in … Acting Against Type in Blade Runner 2049

Photo: Silver Street, Pittsburgh

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That’s it. That’s the whole street, in one photo. This is facing west on Sandusky Street, after getting off the Andy Warhol Bridge, and on the opposite end is Vulcan Way. The gray wall on the left belongs to the Burns White building. Burns White is a law firm that moved out of that building … Photo: Silver Street, Pittsburgh