Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Took the midnight train

San Francisco Bay Area folks: did you attend the Taylor Swift concert at Levi’s Stadium? I sure didn’t, because who can afford the thousand dollar get-in price on the secondary market? You’d have a better chance of hitting the billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot than acquiring tickets through official channels.

Nevertheless, a friend of my friend did manage to score Taylor Swift tickets, and my friend got invited to join. The logistics of getting down to Santa Clara from San Francisco is, in a word, challenging. Nobody in their right mind would drive, unless you plan to get there super early. So public transport it is. My friend rode the BART train to Milpitas, then took the local VTA light rail to the stadium. So far, so straight forward.

Leaving the stadium, however, was apparently quite the nightmare. The concert did not end until 11:40 PM (Taylor really gives your money’s worth: a three hour plus jam-packed show). VTA trains were running after hour to ferry folks to either the Milpitas BART station, or the Mountain View Caltrain station. BART was not an option for my friend, as the special late-night train did not go all the way to San Francisco. So Caltrain it is.

Unfortunately, there’s but one special train heading northbound to San Francisco. It was scheduled to depart 75 minutes after the concert ends. That proved to be hugely optimistic. Due to the sheer number of people, my friend didn’t even get to Mountain View station until 1:45 AM - two hours after the show ended. At that point, the lone train was still there, looking less than half full, awaiting more passengers before departed. Our guess is it wouldn’t depart until after 3:00 PM at the earliest.

Lucky for my friend, I was there at the station to pick her up. What the heck did people do before the invention of cellphones? The peace of mind afforded by modern communication is really appreciated in situations like this.

Emergency cash

It was an unceremoniously start to this week of vacation. The latest macOS update - 13.5 - released on Tuesday, and it utterly broke my M1 MacBook Pro. You know the part where an update asks you to restart the device? Well, my Mac laptop did not restart, could not be restarted, and generally become unresponsive. The sucky thing about modern Macs is that there aren’t much buttons to press, no secret reset handshakes. Just about the only thing to do is hold down the power button for 10 seconds, and then press it again. That’s all an end user can do if their MacBook Pro is dead.

Well, not exactly all. If you happen to have another Mac lying around (few seldom do, I would reckon), you can connect that to the “dead” Mac via the included USB-C charging cable. Download and fire up Apple Configurator, press a sequence of buttons on the dead Mac to put it in DFU mode, then maybe there’s a chance the unresponsive computer can be revived.

Fortunately for me, I do have another MacBook Air lying around. Unfortunately for me, reviving the MacBook Pro using Apple Configurator did not work. The macOS 13.5 release so completely broke the machine it necessitated a visit to the local Apple Store. Good thing I live two blocks from one.

Bad thing my nearly two-years old MacBook Pro is out of warranty. When a Mac laptop is dead like it is, it usually means a logic board (otherwise known as the motherboard on PCs) replacement. For a 16-inch MacBook Pro, that means a flat charge of $850. Not an insignificant sum, though for a laptop that costs $3,600 new (I had opted for some upgrades), it’s not really that bad. What sucks is that I am now out the $850, all because of a faulty OS update. Negotiation with the head Genius Bar person did not net me any monetary sympathies, just some personal ones.

Funny enough, the same person asked me if I needed a moment to think about the $850 charge. While I recognize it’s a hefty sum for some people, ultimately I need a working computer! Unceremoniously forking over that money hurts, sure, but it’s not going to wreck my finances one bit. I mean, you’re able to come up with $850 easily in an emergency, right?

Barbenheimer Part 2

Let’s begin by saying how lucky we are here in San Francisco to have a proper IMAX theatre. One of about 40 in the whole world capable of showing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in the way it was shot: IMAX 70mm film. The image quality is beyond anything digital is currently capable of, and the vastness of the multi-story screen utterly fills the peripheral vision. It is indeed motion picture film at its qualitative zenith. Kudos to Nolan for being just about the only director to fully use this fantastic medium.

This is why whenever there’s a new Nolan release, I make it a point to go see it in IMAX. Sadly, didn’t do that for Tenet, because of the bloody pandemic.

You’re going to be disappointed if you’re coming into Oppenheimer looking for a Michael Bay-style romp about the atomic bomb explosion. This movie is a pure character piece on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer vis a vis the invention of nuclear weaponry. And as a character piece, Oppenheimer is superbly done. The audience is with the titular character practically the entire time. The story structure can be a bit Nolan-esque (read: it jumps around), but the whole story gathers itself nicely once the picture is complete.

Of course, a character piece can only be done with brilliant acting. There’s superb acting talent in Oppenheimer, and superb acting all around. The highlights are, expectedly, Cillian Murphy (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Robert Downey Jr (Lewis Strauss). and Emily Blunt (Kitty Oppenheimer).

I really like this movie, and will definitely see it again - but with captions. There's so much detail in the dialogue, but somehow Nolan refuses to mix the speaking parts louder. It's been an ongoing thing since The Dark Knight Rises. Other than that, the sound design/score is magnificent. Particularly during the trinity test sequence: as the atomic bomb explodes, all manner of sound was cut. After a bit, the loudest bang you can think of pops shockingly in. This perfectly mimicks how physics work: you see before you hear, because light travels faster than sound.

For a film that’s three hours long, there needs to be an intermission in the middle for people to take a breather and a bathroom break. For Oppenheimer, the perfect place to break is exactly where you think it is.

Barbenheimer Part 1

Alright, it’s the movie double-feature of the summer: Barbie and Oppenheimer. I am seeing the latter in proper IMAX 70MM film this coming Monday. Barbie I saw yesterday evening, and here are my thoughts. (Spoilers, obviously.)

I think it’s a brilliant move to have an auteur filmmaker like Greta Gerwig to helm this film. Barbie is refreshingly layered in its expected commentary on the legendary doll brand. We did not get a cookie-cutter hero’s journey, which is a surprise given how safe studios play it these days with franchises. Bold move by Mattel to hand the reins over completely to a director’s singular vision. It’s partly why Barbie has such a buzz around it (and Oppenheimer, as well): audiences know they are in for something different, something unique.

Historically, was Ken always such a needy nice guy? The Barbie movie played on the theme that Ken is completely dependent on Barbie. His happiness is totally hinged on her whims and approval. Who knew the blonde-haired buff guy on the beach is such a clingy nice guy? Whose every action to seek approval from Barbie only erects the barrier further higher.

So then Ken fully embraced the “men’s right movement”, the pendulum swinging completely the other way. The patriarchy looks super attractive when it seems to solve all the resentment Ken has towards Barbie. No need to seek approval when the world view is women are the enemy, and only the docile, placate-able ones should be let in. What a pleasant surprise to see this particular commentary on masculinity in Barbie. And we thought it was going to be just about feminism vis a vis the titular doll.

Ultimately, Ken arrives at a happy medium between being a doormat and Andrew Tate. Barbie needs him to be his own person, to have his own life and dreams. That is what will make him attractive and trustworthy. She also admits her part in their relationship, how she took him for granted.

Barbie gets a recommendation from me. Onwards to Barbenheimer Part 2!

Taking night class again

You guys remember taking night classes back in college? Those three hour slogs that starts at 7:00 PM. You’re fighting the urge to fall asleep the entire time. Did we really learn/retain anything pertinent from those courses? It was mostly just for the credit, and the privilege of only having one class per week.

It would seem I want to relive that experience as an adult in his mid 30s. I signed up for a six week foundational improv class at BATS School of Improv. Right here in San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center. During the six week we meet every Tuesday from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Indeed, it is just like the night classes back in university. Except this time, I voluntarily signed up for it, paying a not unsubstantial $350 for the 30 hours of training.

Why an improv class? Because peer pressure. My good friend took an introductory sampler class - at the same company - and was hooked enough to continue on to the proper stuff. Drawing from a sense of duty, I decided to accompany my friend on this new adventure. On the other hand, I think improv will greatly help me to be more social and getting out of my head. The whole point of improv is no preparation: it’s whatever coming out of your mind at that exact moment. You have to be flexible, intuitive, and most important: not give a crap about what other people think.

The moment you think you have something, the situation can change on a dime. It’s easy to then get caught thinking for something suitably appropriate, instead of simply going with the first thing that pops into mind. Improv is really useful for the self-conscious of us to get out of our heads. The remaining five class periods are going to be fun.

Year of NewJeans

Is my 2023 top 10 list of songs going to be mostly NewJeans?

I absolutely cannot stop listening to NewJeans’ latest pre-release EP, featuring the songs Super Shy and New Jeans. Both are the typical NewJeans flavor: catchy, cute, innovative, and super fun. Best of all, there’s more music to come as the full mini album is coming out next week. Expectations are rightfully very high.

NewJeans’ release at the beginning of this year - the tracks Ditto and OMG - has already solidify their place in my 2023 top 10. Unless a new song blows me away during the second half of this year, Ditto is likely number one (I’ve play the song more than 800 times already). A melancholic, hauntingly beautiful track that talks about platonic longing for a special someone.

So that’s two slots taken, with Super Shy and New Jeans knocking dangerously on the doors, and more releases coming up. Can I really dedicate half the slots to one group? That last time this happened was back in 2015, when Red Velvet came out with Ice Cream Cake EP and The Red album. Coincidentally, the creative director at the time for Red Velvet was Min Hee-jin, who is now the executive producer of NewJeans. Talk about someone tremendously good at her craft…

The 2023 list is going to be tough. Which is a good thing because who’s complaining about lots good music? Contenders also are aespa's My World EP, and LE SSERAFIM’s Unforgiven album. Both features songs I’ve been really digging. Why does it look like all I listen to are Kpop female groups, you ask? That’s where the innovation is, my friends. Kpop male groups are all trying to do the tough guy BTS thing. That gets tiring after the fifth track that sounds exactly the same.

Clearing the slate

Last week, I noticed a coworker checking out bicycles (of the self-pedaling kind). I asked if he’s looking to buy, or merely window shopping. Somewhat meekly he replied that he really shouldn’t be looking to buy, because he’s already got a bicycle that he spent a relatively significant sum on. Alas, the upgrade treadmill comes for us all. We’re always looking for the next better thing, aren’t we? This is why I’ve yet to keep a car longer than three years. (My BMW M2 is coming up to that threshold in September…)

Another coworker chimed in with a tip: if you truly wish to replace something with a new/better of the same, you should sell the one you already have first. That way, the slate is clean, and you’re once again deprived of the thing you want. (Ignore the depreciation, obviously.) Coincidentally, the coworker looking at bikes said he actually did put his old bike up for sale! And soon as it sells, he’ll have no reservations about buying the newer, shinier replacement.

Inspired by this, I decided to give my old Sony A7R2 camera (plus two lenses) to a photography enthusiast friend of mine. For free. I cannot be bothered to put it up for sale, wasting time with tire-kickers and having to go to a UPS store for shipping. I’ve had the camera for seven years, it’s served me well; it’s time to let it go cleanly and smoothly. Never mind the fact I hardly use the camera these days. By offloading the camera to my graciously accepting friend, I am now free to make a move for a newer camera.

I’ve been admiring the Fujifilm XT-5 for awhile now. It’s not an easy decision to switch from one camera brand to another, because you essentially have to re-buy everything that isn’t the memory card. The draw of the XT-5 (and any Fujifilm camera) is the film simulation: essentially a filter on your shots that replicate how old film cameras would look. No editing, just straight out of the camera. An easy button for when I don’t want to spend hours editing hundreds of RAW files.

Now I just need the XT-5 to go on sale…