Scott Baerst

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Grasshopper, when you can party like it's 1999...

I opened HBO the other day, and The Long Riders was prominently featured. Is HBO getting to know me, or was it just a reasonable AI/algorithm prediction based on my age and viewing history? The Long Riders, directed by Walter Hill, came out in 1980. I grew up watching

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Memory.

I successfully cancelled a few streaming platforms. I'm probably not the only person who signs up for trials or for a series and then forgets to cancel. It's not a great feeling knowing I've been mindlessly paying one company $10+ a month and not watching anything as they were preparing

London

Extrapolations

Two years ago, making the blog work with Lightroom and an increasing number of hard drives was easy. Step away for just a moment, and the muscle memory deteriorates. Took me ages to find and reconcile a few images I wanted to post today. Such is the blogging life. Poor

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Are you there HAL? It's me, Margaret.

A friend of mine is working for an artificial intelligence (AI) company. Their product is very much in its infancy, and I think they're working out how to position themselves in the growing AI market. My friend asked if I'd like to be a beta user of sorts, tinker with

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Memory of a Place and Time

I'm looking forward to Dune 2 on HBO. I'm not sure how the HBO episodes match up with the Frank Herbert novels; it's been a long time since I've read them. I can't remember how many I made it through. When I was reading them, I liked the idea that

On the Streets

To Boldly Go

I finished the third season of For All Mankind. It wasn't easy. The writing, dialogue, and acting were pretty bad in spots. But I like stories about space, what-ifs, science, and problem-solving. For All Mankind has plenty of that. I didn't know anything about the show going in. Not a

On the Streets

Unexpected Purchase

Note: This post is a few weeks old, sitting in my drafts. What the heck, I'm posting it. I'm not thrilled about the wet, cold Seattle March. In happier times, I would be. It's about this time that I start (very low-key) dreading the summer heat and smoke without air

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CB Strike

The first season of CB Strike was very good. Season may be imprecise - I think HBO got it from BBC, so the order might differ. There was a little bit of overacting here and there, unnecessary zigs and zags. But it was fun, and it reminded me of Remington

Travel

Something in the way

You say eavesdropping, I say just part of eating at the bar. I overheard a story that I loved. Three people. One of them is trying to sell her father's waterfront home. That person was fairly quiet, but a friend filled the third person in on the details and then

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It's never entirely about the apocalypse.

I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic stories and shows. I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says, "Sometimes I worry about zombies." It's next to the Andre the Giant magnet from the Princess Bride - anybody want a peanut? The zombie world is multi-layered. I like all the layers. Comet

Movies

Banshees (probably a repeat)

I had to watch the end of The Banshees of Inisherin again. I couldn't remember how they left things off. It's not an easy film to watch, but it's stayed with me. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farell turn in fantastic performances, no doubt, but I think Kerry Condon steals the

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Requiem

Sorry for the dramatic title or subject line. I got in my car today and the classical music station was playing Mozart's Requiem. Texted some friends and told them if they hadn't listened to it in a while, they should. One friend wrote back, I think sarcastically, that he'd fire

Foreign Policy

Dirigible

There are times that I miss my old USG job. Those times are increasing in frequency. Holy shit, I'd be 5 years from a life-long pension and health care! Won't lie, that's a waking thought more often than I care to wake to. But today is not one of those

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Quick post, for momentum

Well, that was a busy January of writing. Made that deadline, but there's always another. I've got 33 minutes to make an end of month - start of month combination. I forgot to add Master and Commander to yesterday's movie list. It's a wonderful movie with a fantastic score and

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Trying to beat the clock

January 2023. No one wants a it's been a while post, so I'll skip past that in hopes of getting this written before February. A wee bit of momentum, perhaps. Hope springs eternal, right? It's 2330 in Phoenix, so I'll need to keep this short if I'm to beat the

On the Streets

H Mart wasabi hits different

Capitol Hill has an H Mart (technically their M2M urban convenience variant...ugh, I wrote variant). I love it. I haven't really bought much there, but I like walking around, despite the looming security guards. I've been on an Asian noodle kick recently. Thanks, Kenji. I need to ask one

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This is going to be interesting

I didn't feel like cooking anything tonight, and I wasn't particularly hungry, but I knew I'd want something during the obnoxious booms. I took a gamble on a Simple Truth, plant-based, spicy veggie masala. I'm a bad gambler, and I think I'm about to lose. One bright spot - it's

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Out damn spot...

It turns out I did sign up for Apple+. I blame (and thank) Chuck for the Severance recommendation. I am doing my best to spread the contagion. It's a great show. Tonight I started watching The Tragedy of MacBeth. I think MacBeth and Hamlet are neck and neck for the

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Odds and Ends

The finale of Severance was intense. (No Spoilers here.) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Our main characters had a window, of unknown length, to reflect and gain awareness about their circumstances. A window that could close at any moment. Some of their actions confused

Photography

Of two minds

Try not to take your work home with you. What if you couldn't, no matter how hard you tried? That's the premise of Severance, but it's drastically oversimplified. I'm really enjoying the show. Thanks for recommending it, Chuck. It's got everything. And, as a sometimes blogger who claims he likes

Chow Hall Eats

Gonna need a bigger tortilla

Warning (too late) - pictures from a dirty kitchen. I didn't want to cook, and I didn't want to go the easy route of takeout. I wandered over to the local for a pint as I contemplated my next two hours. There are far healthier ways to find one's community

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Changes

I think we can call it Spring in Seattle. I saw people in shorts and t-shirts today. It was warm, and the shorts and t-shirts weren't unreasonable, but I've noticed that people in Seattle have an amazing ability to dress relative to the sun's presence. I haven't posted much recently.

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She's so popular

My mom and I share an inside joke. I can't remember how it started, and there's no sense trying to explain it. It just won't make any sense. But here's how it plays out. I listen to a lot of 70s and 80s music, the prime years for a certain

Site Woes

I know I mentioned this, but I wanted to post a reminder. I have to tweak a couple of things on the site, and it looks like I've broken some things. If I haven't replied to comments, it's not because I'm ignoring them! It's because I'm a tech-idiot.

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Chow Hall Eats: Eggs and a tortilla

The other night I mentioned getting a burrito at Bimbo's (or is it Cha Cha?). Chuck replied, saying that he prefers tacos, so as to avoid the gluten. That reminded me that I would like to try cutting out gluten. Just want to give it a try. This is a