LadyCrimson

(Edit: Mandalorian looks like a cross between SW and Firefly, only without the humor. Well made trailer, certainly makes one curious) --------- Breaking Bad Netflix movie in early Oct. Written and directed by Vince Gilligan. I'm a little iffy re: whether a Pinkman coda is enough story to be riveting drama, but since it's Netflix and I can watch it right away, I'll tune in. Here's hoping it's at least good. (trailer doesn't show much, it's more of a teaser) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/arts/television/breaking-bad-movie-starring-aaron-paul-coming-to-netflix-in-october.html

Hunter in the suburbs: The neighbors behind us have kept small laying hens (and occasionally a rooster) in their backyard for a long time. They're the brown skinny type of hens. Lately it seems they just keep buying small chicks whenever they need replacements. They sometimes get in our yard via the tree and then can't figure out how to get back over the fence for a long time, ha. They've put chicken wire around a corner of their yard to semi-enclose them but ... ... lately this small hawk has discovered their presence and terrible sounds occasionally happen. Neighbors chase it off if they notice but, heh. They're going to need a real/secure chicken coop, since now that the hawk knows about them, it's going to come back every single day. I feel sorta bad for the chicks but not my yard. Pfft. :P Slightly closer look, crop: (hubby took on phone, no zoom, fuzzy etc)

I've been binging the King's Avatar via Netflix. Mostly because of Yang Yang, who was in another (also gaming related/themed) series I sorta liked ... eg, name recognition mostly. This one seems to be gaming plot centered vs. romance plotted (zero romance in 7 episodes so far, which is fine/refreshing actually), about pro gamer players and arena/team competitions. It's not all that good, but for some reason I keep watching for the "game" fighting scenes. It's not the best animation/CGI mind, but it looks like a game only with more souped up avatar faces, camera angles and action edits and oddly I find those bits entertaining.

I was doing my once every 3-6month brief browse of GoG and realized at some point they'd added Hellfire to Diablo1. I still have that on original disc but I never liked it all that much and have never tried to install it on Win7 (or Win10). Still, you know I had to download it, since ez-Gog version (and since I already bought D1 from there, it was "free"). Might be good for winter boredom.

I hope my ancient '98 Subaru Legacy wagon doesn't konk out from 20+ year old parts breaking down, any time soon. it won't be from high mileage since I hardly drive anymore. Can I make it last 40 years? Might have to replace more hoses... I really don't want to have to buy a new/used car with all the computer tech in it. Or with the way they design windows now (which makes me feel like I can't see anything, especially side/back windows). Blech. Maybe by then I'll be able to get some revamped classic car (which by then will be from the 80's....) or something. Edit: sadly most 50's/60's/70's "classic" cars don't fit me well and not many people revamp early 80's Toyotas. Ha.

Yeah, I read about this elsewhere and shook my head. I admit to being mildly curious what excuses they'll come up with to explain/get past the way the 3rd film ended, but not enough to be all that interested in watching it. Maybe when I'm stuck in bed with a cold someday. But whatever. Maybe it'll surprise us.

It does look decent and I recognize some faces. It's funny, I watch a lot of the Korean drama series, but I don't watch very many films. Although this is in part because TV series get all the website attention and it's often hard for me to even have access to Korean/Asian films. If it's not on Netflix, Viki, or Amazon rentals I won't ever see it and there have been Korean films I wanted to see because of the people starring in them. Occasionally they probably show up in "arthouse"/smaller theaters in the big cities but I'm not driving to San Fran. or SJ just to see one. I'm lazy.

Perhaps it's because we're in California, but that hasn't been the case for us at all. Hubby bought seedlings at the hardware store and just tossed them in the ground and hasn't touched them outside of watering. They're not very large plants but they produce a lot of peppers/seem hardy. Tomatoes were troublesome tho. For some reason at this house they kept getting that stem-rot disease, where the top of the tomato starts to rot late in the game (brown circle where the stem connects). Hubby started them from seeds this time (vs. buying storebought seedlings), just tossing seeds in the ground, among other minor changes, and no stem-rot or other major issues, but still seem not quite right to me.

One of those times where the flowers end up making a double-fruit. The tomatoes themselves are maybe 1.5 to 2 inches wide. Larger than cherry in stores, but still pretty small. They grow this way. Apparently a lot of peppers do, but it's the first time I've seen one. I laughed pretty hard when I first saw it. Not sure of the variety name. I kept asking hubby but then I forget so I stopped asking. There are three hot pepper plants. The oldest one survived a winter and has barely any leaves ( a few on top) but determinedly keeps producing tons of large peppers anyway. Hubby tried pickling some in mostly a salt brine or something. They stunk and I didn't touch them. I'll stick to the store bought pickled jalapenos until/unless he does something similar. He grew up with relatives who did lots of canning/jarring so he wants to try it I guess. There's baby cucumbers growing too. He's just experimenting at this point, mostly. But a year or two from now I expect him to till up and take over half the lawn space or something. Hah.

Still one of my fave action-y movies and just about the only Tom Cruise movie where I really liked Cruise. He should play baddies more often. I did like Minority Report a fair bit too although I can't really say why. Just the bleakness of it perhaps. Feeling like Disney has taken over a huge part of the film market doesn't help re: "kiddie" movies. I also feel like the PG-13 rating, over many years, has not helped at all in terms of production of interesting films for adults. Edit: remember when NC-17 was introduced? It almost feels like R has become that, now, at least in terms of the studio head's minds.

I tried watching the Westworld series. I was so bored I turned it off before the first episode ended. I did love (the first) Matrix tho. I think I liked the original Tron but mostly because it was so different at the time. The more recent remake of Tron was ok but meh. I'm (sort of) waiting for Netflix's 2nd season of their Lost in Space. Mostly because I'm curious where they're taking Ms. Smith and if I'll end up liking her any better. And for the robot.

At some point, the Summer Blockbuster became not just for Summer anymore. Also, just like with gaming, it becomes more and more about spectacle vs. substance. That said, I remember plenty of mediocre to terrible films from every decade vs. those few that I worshipped every year. One of the differences perhaps is that there are just so many movies being made per year these days - the (total) releases per year has gone up a lot, since it's a lot easier to make a basic movie (not talking about finances, just the tech). Heck you can make a decent looking digital movie on your DLSR if you wanted to and try to get it released as an indie/festival film or whatnot. But not even counting those (or direct to dvd/streaming), while the major studios (the "big 6", I think) hasn't really increased per-year releases, the total is massively higher (6 or 7 times since the 80's, I think, for wider or middling theater releases). It's the same with TV. Nostalgia has us remembering a better percentage of TV shows, but you had like 3 channels and little choice (numbers wise) to have to sift through to find something interesting - now we have hundreds of choices and all of them are trying to make shows but that doesn't mean there is really a higher percentage of quality. it just means we all have to sift through ever more choices in order to find something that maybe might fit our personal tastes. I hardly bother anymore, too much effort. Edit: Also, the film/video industry has become too obsessed with reaction-shots vs. dialogue. It's like the joke that the Twilight series running time is made up of 1/3 reaction shots of the couple staring at each other. I sometimes try to watch something and feel like nothing is happening because the characters spend a whole lot of time just staring/reacting.

Gary Oldman in a stuck on a boat in the ocean horror/whatever movie? I'm so there.

I have played about six casual hours of Dragon Quest: Builders2, so far. I say casual hours because I wasn't trying very hard to speed through it. I had forgotten how this game/series likes to make you either read or click-through exhaustive tutorial/story texts for the first few major missions, in order to gain basic tools, recipes, etc. which goes on forever and ever. "We need a way to protect the fields, build a scarecrow." "We need a place to sleep, make us a small bedroom." "Building/farming is forbidden! Wait, what tree is that, let it grow, here's a bunch of new missions to help that along." So one might spend 4-8 hours before feeling like one has any freedom at all. I find that annoying but once you get past that it's largely fine, albeit the quests continue but it's not restrictive. Anyway, I do like the graphical changes (nothing super special but looks better than the first game), and (mostly) the constant companion warrior dude, who as you go along breaking/harvesting materials will auto-help out. That said, if you're into micro-managing appearance and what you want to dig up, he might annoy a bit in that sense. Not entirely decided on that yet. But seems just as good as the first one, with some gameplay improvements like not having to start all over each island. I like how the island you wash up on is the actual "sandbox" island this time around, vs. sandbox mode being locked away for a long time, and with the idea being you go to other islands to gather resources and townsfolk to go back and turn/terraform that bare island into whatever you want, so to speak.

Was in the yard the other day and was amused to notice the hubster had placed "hay" underneath all the low lying, developing cantaloupe melons. He's a caring soul. Also, a couple of the tomatoes. Most of them grew to over six feet. They are all different varieties, from large cherry sized to average/normal color to those dark green/rust colored types that have become popular in stores lately. Always nice to go out and pick one for a sandwich or a salad. There are also (in other garden beds) long green beans (like the Chinese restaurant dishes variety), cilantro/coriander, dill, jalapeno's (three varieties), and, uh ... a few other things, I forget. He sorta went whole hog and experimented a lot this year. The dried grass/hay seems to help with reducing some types of ground pests. The yard sorta looks like we have multiple swingsets from the quickie/temp metal pole/bar supports he erected to help support some of them. He needs to come up with something a bit less fugly next time.

Well, they did say "magically." That said, if that's the case, you could just pick anything for poll choices so it is rather pointless as a poll. But if I were to vote, I'd personally pick guns, because while I do believe in the right to have general items of self-defense (whether a gun, a bludgeon, a big knife/sword, etc), owning a gun would personally offer me zero entertainment or emotional attachment value and there are other weapons for self-defense, even if they aren't as "easy" to utilize. In this magical what-if scenario, I'd also pick books, the internet, recliner chairs, pencils, and pizza over guns. Just me tho. *shrug*

I was going to come in here and make a usual flippant/unimportant bloggity post but yeah, wow. I don't know what to say, except that's a horrific situation and can't imagine having to go through it, and I will join you in hoping he gets that long prison sentence.

First I was glad I didn't go to the Garlic Festival, then these two incidents. imo the biggest issue is really still the sheer number of guns in the US, legal and not legal. Even with better checks or if state/gov started required licenses to purchase ANY guns (eg, like needing a drivers license, with training and checks and fees included in the registration etc), it'd still be easy to get hands on one if one is determined, I'd guess. I have no idea how you'd reduce them effectively at this point, however. It would take a long time and a lot of shaking up which I doubt is going to happen any time soon, if it's doable at all. At any rate ... gun injury/deaths in the US (not just "mass shootings" which get most of the mega-press) is way too high and countless years of production and piling up of merchandise and the ease of acquiring them (by any means) is not going to be solved by stricter "background checks" or whatever. It's always the same circular (official gov. and armchairs alike) talking points every time incidents like these become a major news story and nothing ever changes. Maybe in another 50 years.

Not my father, but one of my best friends. Condolences.

Finally, another K-drama (I think) I can really sink my teeth into. "When the Devil Calls Your Name." And who better to play a soul-contracting Devil than Park Sung-woon. The man who is awesome at comedy, drama/melo, and most things between. Also, whose charisma and mature expression gives him the ability to look great in even the worst "bad" suits. Haha. Sadly I can't binge-watch it since it's still airing, only the first two episodes (both great, funny and fantasy-drama at the same time). Not sure if I'll wait some weeks so I can binge. Lee El is also a nice presence (she had a role in Goblin). Main star is actually Jung Kyung-ho, who I also think is superb, seen him in a lot of things. I still haven't seen the last series where they first paired together because it's not on Netflix or Viki. :::sad face::: These two actors together is a fantastic pairing. Edit: I know, there are other sites you can watch that earlier series (Life on Mars). Not sure I want to go that route tho - quality of video and subs is usually low at such sites. Maybe I'll buy it.

Felt like kicking back so I got around to buying Dragons Quest Builders 2. Here's hoping I like it at least as much as the first one.

Hubby and I watched 3.5 episodes of The Boys. At the end of the first two, we looked at it each other and shrugged: "Can't decide if I like this show or not." There's stuff that was sort of interesting, some silly amusing things, but also long sequences of ho-hum. At the end of the third episode we looked at each other and were all: "Well, that was an effective way to end an episode, maybe it's getting interesting now." Half-way through the 4th we were back to ho-hum. So I'm still undecided. I do like the main "supe" guy, the actor is killing it re: being an all-smiles/politics on stage but an a-hat off it, some of the black humor, Karl Urban, and the French guy. Huey is lost on me tho - don't like that character at all yet. The concept of ego filled, spoiled, situationally-bad to actually-bad superheroes isn't new but they're using it fairly effectively. Shipping is why I got it as well. At the time I don't think they even had any "Amazon series" yet, just a poor selection of old movies. I saw the 1st ep. of Goliath because Billy Bob, but never went back for more. I love Billy but eh.

Yeah, it did that to me too a couple days ago. I just put in a fake date and then in the profile settings, used the right side drop down to select "Not Telling" which makes the other two fields blank again. I'm guessing maybe if one never set/even touched the bday setting in the first place, eventually there's a forced reminder to not leave it "blank."

*watches that Wolfenstein review video* ROFL. His commentary is hilarious. "Best thing about it is that the levels are so small, we don't want big levels anymore, we might get lost, we don't want that happening! Getting lost is not fun in a game, cause then you have to use your brains." Doesn't even look like a 99 cent game, for me.

I still have yet (I think) to like an Amazon series enough to finish it. I've watched one or a fewepisodes of some of their stuff but that's about it. And no, I don't think they're terrible, I can't really judge quality. Just so many shows are not my type of pacing/atmosphere or something I guess. I was going to try the Boy's but I have a feeling it'll be the same - not enough to keep my attention from wandering around. I tried watching that S. Korean version of the US "Designated Survivor." I've only seen one episode of the original US series (what's-his-face now acts like he's always stuck in 24 mode) but was mostly curious what S. Korea did with it (they did a version of Criminal Minds a while back too, which was mediocre). They change things quite drastically from the US series, felt like only bare premise was the same in that 1st episode. It's kind of bad, kind of amusing. Don't care about watching it all. I'm sure I watched some other stuff but I've already forgotten what they were. Edit: oh, some reality crime shows, some Smithsonian tour-like series for China, and a WW2 doc. series.