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Is there anything worth photographing in Arnold? There is basically one landmark in Arnold: the water tower. If you haven’t seen it, that’s not as pathetic as it sounds. Arnold’s water tower is huge, of an unusual design, even today. It represents one of the two main reasons why Arnold was incorporated. After it was […]
I am a cyclist, but I do not own, nor have I ever ridden, an e-bike. I find the e-bike concept and technology to be interesting, but e-bikes do not align with my cycling goals. Perhaps when I am older, it will make sense for me. An ad from REI popped up on FB, suggesting […]
I debate with myself about whether “progress” is a real phenomenon or an illusion. As much as our culture may seem to progress, it is at least partly nailed down by human nature, which is genetic and does not change, except at the much slower pace of evolution. The competing forces of cultural progress and […]
As of today, I have watched (extended highlights of) 20 of the 21 stages of the Tour de France. This is probably more sports than I have ever watched on television, including the year Mark McGwire was doing his home run thing. But hey, I’m kind of serious about cycling now. I will watch the […]
I am thinking about abandoning Tidelands, by Philippa Gregory. Unexpectedly, I used up all of my audio books, leaving me with nothing to listen to during longish drives. In an act of desperation, I went to the local Barnes & Noble to sift through their inadequate inventory. All they ever stock are trash pulp novels […]
I have been listening to the Revolutions podcast, lately learning about Mexican history in regard to the Mexican Revolution. I’ve just gotten through a segment about the Porfiriato, a 35 year period of rule by Porfirio Diaz which has been characterized as a de factor dictatorship. When I read about this classification, I immediately thought […]
This is going to become my authoritative list of recommended science-fiction that involves Artificial Intelligence characters. I realize that it will become unwieldy. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie This is probably my favorite. I say “probably” because Murderbot is a very close second. The protagonist of this space opera was once the central AI of a […]
I assume all the show’s writers were fired after this episode. It was so bad, my friend Carlos could have written it. It was so bad, they had to fill it in with artistic montage footage, which they did on at least three occasions. It wasn’t supposed to be funny, but the number of stereotypical […]
My brother went through a phase where he tried all of the smallest semi-automatic pocket pistols that weren’t made by Kel-Tec. They tended to have nightmarishly long trigger pulls, but they worked, and they were compact. The exotic bottlenecked NAA calibers were difficult to handload. The Kel-Tec P32 fascinated me, but their reputation for poor […]
I sat down to read The Kaiju Preservation Society, the latest novel from one of my favorite authors, John Scalzi. Right away, the protagonist is introduced as Jamie, an ambiguously gendered name. No hint right away whether the character is male or female. No problem, I’ll just keep reading, and I’m sure it will be […]
