These posts are starting to turn into monthnotes. I need to get back into a pattern of weekly ones. If there's an excuse, it's due to a lot of travel for work. Other than personal travel, I'm at least good for the next month!

Work

I mentioned that I'd been doing a bit of travel. Since my last post, here's where I've been.

Ritz Carlton Reynolds Lake Oconee

I was at Lake Oconee, GA for the first Visions conference for Power Home Remodeling. It was formerly the VP Leadership, but they've expanded things to include folks like me who are important in steering the company, but don't necessarily have a title of Vice President of something. A great time getting to know folks I work with a bit better.

And if you're wondering, yes, I had a visitor on my trip. Peanut was there, but mainly on his own but he did get a chance to walk by the lake and enjoy the nice weather there.

Peanut joined me on my trip

Then after a week back home which included Halloween, it was back up to Philadelphia for another work trip.

Lobby heading into Power's HQ building
Edgar joined me in PA. He loves maple syrup and thus was happy in this pic

Movies

  • Joker has received a lot of praise. For actor Joaquin Phoenix, it's well deserved. He puts on an amazing performance. Overall though, I felt it was a re-telling of a story done better in Taxi Driver.
  • In the Tall Grass was good. Based on a story by Stephen King, it definitely makes me not never want to walk into the tall grass.
  • Terminator: Dark Fate was a bit more enjoyable than I expected given that I have seen but not really liked any of the Terminator films since the second. This film tries to pretend the other films after 2 didn't happen. The action was unrelenting which made it as enteraining as it was, but not much going on beyond the chase.
  • Furie is a straightforward film about a woman who kicks ass but hated because she's a debt collector. When her child is kidnapped, no one will help. That's the setup for one fight scene after another until the end of the film.
  • Parasite, by Bong Joon-ho, may have won the prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year, but I didn't really think it was the best film I've seen this year. On a technical level, it is amazing. A film I'm sure will be studied in film classes, but no more so than his film Snowpiercer.

Books

  • The Trilisk AI is book #2 in Michael McCloskey's thoroughly enjoyable series Parker Intersteller Travels. I really get a vibe of pulp novels like Doc Savage, John Carter of Mars and others of that time period. The two books I've read thus far read really fast and greatly entertaining.
  • Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff is the third and final book in The Nevernight Chronicle series. The story of Mia Corvere comes to a close. I think I liked book #2 the best of the series. Darkdawn definitely has its moments, particularly around the pirate king, but I felt the first third or so of the book dragged a little. Regardless, a suitable ending to Mia's story once again performed amazingly by Holter Graham.