Media — May 2026
A delayed May post before I post my June post. Post. 😆
Reading
Finished Mariel of Redwall with kid and moved on to Salamandastron, which we’re reading a little more slowly.
I also tried more Absolute Batman and Superman from the library and while they have some interesting reboot setting concepts they’re just way too grimdark for me.
The Boring Internet
A lot of this resonates with me, and is related to why I blog at all as a hobby/output. This is the internet (in the sense of community and connection) that I want.
We Need to Rewild the Internet
An older article on a similar topic, through the lens of the Biden administration’s attempts at regulation. Again making it about people first, not commerce and corporations.
Apple: The First 50 Years — David Pogue
I think I was one of the first people to get this book at the library; I put it on hold as soon as I heard about it on Upgrade. It’s a really well laid out history with tons of fascinating anecdotes even for someone who’s been pretty immersed in this as a MacAddict over the years. More recent years felt a little compressed but then again the historical impact isn’t quite clear yet. Generally casts Apple in a consistently positive light although it does get into a lot of the leadership personal conflicts that nearly sank the company. Definitely accessible to a non-technical audience even with some technical details.
Modern Microprocessors
Fascinating long read. Covered some stuff I learned in CS25 but also added a ton of little details I never knew, especially about SMT.
As We May Think — Vannevar Bush
I don’t think I’d ever read the full essay before. You can definitely see the influence on modern projects like Obsidian.
What’s always fascinating to me about retrofuturism is the visionary parts mixed with being stuck in their present day: certainly the microphotography without leaping to electronic information storage, but also the casual misogyny about the role of women at work.
Playing
Good Pizza+
More chill than a Cooking Fever or Overcooked, with much of the challenge in interpreting weird orders, this game is kinda fun but with the daily achievements can head into chore land.
Watching
We finally subscribed to Dropout. We’ve been catching up on Game Changer and I also started catching up on Very Important People. Tried the current Dimension 20 season but I think watching people play TTRPGs might still mostly not be for me, as I just want to play!
The Mandalorian and Grogu
It has a ton of good Star Wars vibes: mountain planet, tropical island planet, cyberpunk planet, swamp planet… plus a fun Hutt reimagining. Good fight action throughout, although Mando kinda has one takedown move he uses a lot. It’s a smaller, contained story focused on their relationship, which I think is why it didn’t become a huge hit.
Soundtrack is great, and the effects brought in some vintage stop motion look and feel that made it fit in more with the original trilogy in a nice way.
Great movie to see in the theater with the crowd laughing at all of Grogu’s antics.
What We Left Behind
I backed this Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary years ago, and we started watching it at some point but never finished. Some interesting interviews but Behr is way too wrapped up in himself. The whole grimdark season 8 pitch session was kind of a waste; I would have much rather they spent more time interviewing cast members.
I think they wanted a narrative around “DS9 was ahead of its time” which required cutting a lot. Maybe some more of what I want is in the bonus features?
Steven Universe: The Movie
Kid had been bingeing the show and picked the series-bridging movie for movie night. I had dropped off some time in Season 3 I think, but the storylines I missed didn’t matter too much.
The songs are a little generic but bring a Disney vibe that’s fun. Overall a little predictable but had most of the characters I like.
Game Changer Culinary Skills
Promotion for the new season but still a funny segment over at Epicurious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWD2EvNcTh8
10 Second Kettle
An old one, but answers the question of what happens when you give some Brits a very very big power supply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLw1Rx_cAI
Listening
Evanescence — Who Will You Follow
Somehow, Evanescence returned. I’m sure they’ve been here the whole time but I really only listened to Fallen on my iPod a bunch in 2003-2004.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak4Ti54Y6rY
Constitution Breakdown — Article V
Nice 99pi discussion with Jill Lepore on the history and future of amending the US constitution and why it’s mostly stopped. (Doesn’t seem like outcomes would be very good right now!)
#apple #computerScience #dropout #internet #retrofuture #starTrek #starWars