Books
I finished Morning Star by Pierce Brown, the 3rd in the Red Rising series. I read these ages back and have forgotten so much and I think I abandoned it somewhere around book 3, so I want to finish the series. Unfortunately for that plan, I know that the next book in Dungeon Crawler Carl comes out and I need some “God damnit, Donut!” in my life.
Movies
Gladiator II. Whooboy. The most I can say about it is that I gave it 0.5/5 stars on Letterboxd. And that was only because I told Augs “I will give them points for flooding the Colosseum.” watched for a minute more “…aaaaaaaand I’m taking away most of them because sharks.” When I sat bolt upright and pointed at the screen and proclaimed “YOU HAVE NOT EARNED THE RIGHT TO USE THAT MUSIC” when the familiar haunting tones of the Gladiator soundtrack started to form… Well, I got a fistbump from my husband and he felt confirmation that he married the right person.
I haven’t seen it (it’s on the list), but I can say with 100% confidence that if you want to watch gladiators doing things, Spartacus: Blood and Sand will be a better pick. Also, you get Nick Tarabay who has actual levels of charisma.
The thing about Gladiator II that really confuses me is the seeming generational divide in ratings. People who remember the “oh holy fuck, this is goddamned epic” of seeing the first one in movies seem to rate Gladiator II very poorly. The ones who didn’t seem to rate it highly. I have seen very few middle of the road responses to it.
Thankfully, my movie-watching buddy was available this week so I could do a palate cleanser with Stranger Than Fiction. Years ago, Augs introduced me to this movie and while I’m not a fan of Will Farrell’s movies (his acting is quite good, I just dislike the yelly-man – either happy or angry – style of character that he gets parts for), I adore this one. The cast is amazing, the visual presentation of the movie is interesting but not out of place, and the story is solid.
Television
The Expanse continues, decided that the next rewatch will be The Good Place.
We survived Ilus/New Terra. For me, it’s the weakest book of the series and the weakest season of the show. (Even though the last Amos scene is my favourite line of his in the show.) I think I’ve figured it out. The movement feels plot driven rather than character driven which is such a switch from the other books.
On Severance… I still can’t say much because I don’t want to spoil things, but I am pleased to say that I was right! Also, Irving, you fucking boss.
Knitting
Aug’s Christmas Sockstravaganza continues, as does the blanket for downstairs knitting. I’ve completed the width of the first row of the blanket so now I just need to get more sock yarn scraps.
Sewing
On pause until I free the cutting table.
Lego
No progress but more pieces for the winter wonderland acquired.
Home Automation
Still working on getting things going. Almost all the windows and doors have sensors on them and it’s already proved handy twice. The first time, I forgot to latch a window properly and it blew open during a windstorm. Thankfully, it was just the tilt out, but it was nice to see where the issue was. The second time was another windstorm and it was Augs’ office door that got blown open.
The piece for the carport lights to connect to the solar panel should be arriving this week and I look forward to getting that set up and being able to see a bit better at night.
The current sticking point is the IR repeater. And that’s because I was unaware that IR codes were wildly different for different button presses of the same button. It makes sense, but also… wow. Whoever sorted that need out, good job you!
Cooking
The poached eggs did very well. I need to poach them for a bit longer but man it was nice to have them in the fridge for breakfasts. Definitely doing that again while we’re minimally effected by avian flu. Many thanks to Brian Lagerstrom for the vinegar brine tip.
Thanks for the patience while this one went out late. It was one of those weeks that was extremely busy but it felt like nothing substantial got done. Next week should be more productive. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones. See you next week!