Japan

    Japan is great. You should visit if you can. We just did and this is a little bit about what we experienced there. Read the rest...

    Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto
    The image shows a brightly lit traditional Japanese gate, likely the entrance to a temple or shrine, at night. The structure is characterized by its vibrant red color and intricate architectural details, including ornate roof tiles and wooden beams. Sever
    The start of our walking tour of Kyoto. These sites are incredible. Some are tiny little buildings in the middle of apartment buildings on a tiny street, and some are massive complexes that span entire sections of the city. https://jerz.us/z/7w0
    March 31, 2025
    Tags: shinto | kyoto | shrine

    A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima
    A silhouette of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (A-Bomb Dome) at sunset, showing the skeletal remains of the domed structure with shattered windows and exposed metal framework. The sky in the background transitions from warm orange to cool blue, while bare t
    The sun sets behind the A-Bomb Dome, one of the few structures to even partially survive the nuclear blast in the city center. https://jerz.us/z/84j

    Waterworld (1995)

    The image is a movie poster for Waterworld. It features a close-up of a man's face (partially tinted blue) on the right side, staring intensely. On the left, a large red-orange sun is setting over an ocean, reflecting on the water. A mysterious symbol is

    I have been on a mini run of “you gotta hand it to him” with regard to Kevin Costner. That run led me to dive with reckless abandon into Waterworld, a movie that I was ready to believe was treated unfairly over the years. It has not been treated unfairly. This wasn’t good.

    The movie has a decent enough idea and a not-awful plot line. The premise is not subtle (the intro voiceover describes the melting of the polar icecaps, creating a world without land), but that unsubtlety to start the movie can be seen as world-building. It’s quickly just part of the movies, with a minor line here or there to remind you that the people alive today at least abstractly understand that their ancestors had really fucked up.

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    March 28, 2025
    Tags: Waterworld | Kevin Costner | Jeanne Tripplehorn | Dennis Hopper

    Mikey and Nicky (1976)

    Two men, one holding a telephone and the other holding a gun, with the text "MIKEY AND NICKY" at the bottom.
    I had a tough time with this one. I feel like the evidence is mounting that I just am not a huge fan of the visual style of this type of movie. What I mean is the movie that shows you gritty, 70s New York or some other American city. I don’t really appreciate the camera work of the intimate close ups, I dislike the amount of contrasty darkness that obscures what I can see. And I think I dislike the “real people” genre when it’s a couple of mugs who are just shitty in their existence. Read the rest...
    March 14, 2025
    Tags: Elaine May | Peter Falk | John Cassavetes

    A year with an EV

    A car is parked at the side of the road with yellow flowers blooming for miles behind it. Behind the flowers is a mountain range with storm clouds above and a rainstorm happening to the left side.
    Despite US politics, EVs are here to stay, and I won’t buy another ICE car again without an absolute need.

    We have had our EV now for just over a year and 11,000 miles (~4,000 miles in road trips). I want to reflect a bit on what the experience has been like in that time, and how it has changed things.

    We bought a Kia EV6, 2024 Wind trim (mid range) with AWD and the tech package. The tech package includes a few cool things, like a 360 camera view, and a few kinda useless things, like a parking assist feature that takes minutes to get you into a parking spot. It also features Highway Driving Assist (HDA)(Kia’s name for it), which is Kia’s version of self-driving. It’s not that, but it is a great feature. More on that later.

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    March 05, 2025
    Tags: ev | Kia EV6 | electric car | car

    The Doom Generation (1995)

    A grainy, moody cover for The Doom Generation featuring three young people lying closely together. The central woman has short black hair, red lipstick, and a sultry expression, flanked by two men with silver chain necklaces. The title appears in bold whi
    I suspect this was made for me and my generation. I didn’t care or it, or even get it, really. I have a major gap in my movie watching that’s about ten years long, from 1995-2005. I had little kids at that time, so many of the movies that helped shape the young adults of my I missed. This, and probably a lot of the things that inspired it, were movies that never really made it into my life. They weren’t the easy to spot ones at the video store, and I didn’t have time for that. Read the rest...
    March 01, 2025
    Tags: James Duval | Gregg Araki | Rose McGowan | Johnathon Schaech

    The Red Shoes (1948)

    Close-up of a woman with dramatic makeup and a surprised expression. The text reads, "The Red Shoes," a film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Criterion Collection edition.
    I watched this as part of the Criterion Challenge, with this being in the category of, wait for it, “The 1940s.” As a Criterion Collection fan, this has been at the top of my list for a while. It’s another that has felt so overwhelmingly important that until now I was unable to get myself to watch it. Thank goodness for this challenge. Read the rest...
    February 27, 2025
    Tags: ballet | Anton Walbrook | Maruis Goring | Powell and Pressburger | Moira Shearer | dancing

    The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

    Cover for "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" from the Criterion Collection, featuring a photo of a woman with a pink umbrella graphic and blue raindrop pattern.
    This covers a couple of required viewings for me. I got his suggested in the Letterboxd Roulette group, and I have it listed in my Criterion Challenge under the category “European Film.” It’s definitely that! Read the rest...
    February 24, 2025
    Tags: Nino Castelnuovo | Anne Vernon | Catherine Deneuve | Jacques Demy

    Call your representatives

    I have spent time each day since Friday calling my representatives. I started calling everyone—my two democratic Senators, my Republican Congressman, and my Republican Governor ask them to get oil television denouncing what is happening in Washington, D.C. and with Elon Musk effectively working through a coup on our government. Amodei’s office hung up on me twice. Read the rest...
    February 05, 2025
    Tags: rosen | lombardo | amodei | cortez-masto