Author: Grey

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Review

“Strong Towns”

Charles L. Marohn, Jr.

I’ve been hearing about this book off and on for a while now. Mostly by way of Merlin Mann’s podcasts, I suspect, as he’s been a proponent of some of the ideas of late.1 Honestly, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

If I were to try to distill it down, I think the core argument of the book is that we need to stop optimizing for growth. Which largely makes sense — building a city budget around “if you build it, they will come” can look like it’s working, but infrastructure maintenance is expensive and tends not to be budgeted for all too well.2 What Marohn argues is that we should stop building new infrastructure, cut off the stuff that’s the worst bang-for-buck, and refocus on value-per-acre. Specifically, that city planners should be focusing on value-to-the-city-per-acre. And, again, it’s a solid argument: why should the city spend $10 million building roads and water and sewer and power lines to connect up a new Walmart when that Walmart will take 30 years to put $10 million of tax revenue back into the city’s coffers, and over those 30 years a bunch of that infrastructure will need to be (expensively) maintained or replaced?

If I sound skeptical, it’s the Keynesian economist in me. I rather suspect I’m going to have to read this book a second time and sit with it some more, though. Because, yes, Keynesian theory — I think the role of government is to not act like a business, to spend money that private industry won’t in order to solve problems that the economy doesn’t provide the incentive to solve.3 But then, maybe Marohn is right, and that’s only true at the state and national level, and that sort of responsibility doesn’t fall to cities? What’s the right level of government for interventions like that? I don’t know!

That whole debate aside, I think there’s some arguments he makes that don’t need that sort of alloying to be palatable. We totally should be lightening or even getting rid of zoning restrictions — when I was studying a broad in Vienna, one of the nicest things that was easy to not notice is that there was always a grocery store in walking distance. Going grocery shopping without needing to get in the car is the best, and any city regulation making it harder to achieve that state of being is bad and it should feel bad.

All in all, I… am a bit unclear on how I felt about the book. I don’t regret having read it, though, and I think at worst it’s a good way to start asking yourself some interesting questions. So, hey, check it out!4

  1. Relatedly, he was also the tipping point for me on buying an ebike, which I’ve been enjoying and slowly working into more ‘personal mobility’ use. ↩
  2. Citation: gestures broadly ↩
  3. And hey, while we’re on the topic, call your state and federal legislators and tell them to pass a carbon text. ↩
  4. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Soonish”

Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith

I’m really the exact target market for this book — I love the sort of ‘pop science’ stuff like this, examining some of the stuff currently happening in the lab and looking at what it could be useful for in the future. A nice plus to this book over the versions of that that you’ll find online, though, is that they’re willing to say “actually, no, that’s a cool concept but it just won’t work.”1

Honestly, I don’t have a ton to say about this book. It’s an easy read, comedic and informative, and I totally recommend it to any of my fellow “I wanna know about the Cool Science Stuff” people. Check it out.2

  1. Specific example: space-based solar power, which they pan for being so economically infeasible that it’ll probably never pan out. Personally I still somewhat disagree, but part of that is that I think they’ve missed an opportunity for getting two birds with one stone by parking the space-based solar panels in an orbit where they block some light from reaching the Earth. A one-two punch against climate change! ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Open Borders”

Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith

As a Certified Liberal, it was never going to be particularly hard to sell me on “we should loosen our immigration restrictions,” but I still think this book did a great job at selling me on it. It’s a very quick read—more of a highly-illustrated essay than what you’d think from the term “book”—and is well-organized around the topic idea.

Structurally, it reminds me of writing essays in school. A chapter of overview, a chapter of the primary argument for, and then a few chapters rebutting the arguments against your thesis, and then a final wrap-it-together with a call to action. And, hey, they teach essay structures like that because it’s effective!

I think my favorite line from the book comes from a discussion of keyhole policies.1

“How can immigration restrictions handle problem x?” is simply a bad question.

It makes far more sense to ask: “What’s the cheapest, most humane way to handle problem x?”

The final call to action is less a “let’s make open borders happen!” and more a “let’s start moving the Overton Window to make open borders happen!” So, by reading this post: thank you for your contribution. If you’re interested in furthering that goal, I recommend you check out the book, as I quite enjoyed it.2

  1. Keyhole policies are defined in the context of keyhole surgeries: instead of cutting the patient wide open, you make as small an incision as possible—a keyhole—in order to reduce collateral damage/side effects. Similarly, a keyhole policy is a narrowly-focused policy in place of a (possibly overly-) broad one. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: June 2022

Apropos of… something, how about you go see how your senator feels about filibuster reform, and then give them a call and either say “thanks for thinking we should reform this!” or “we desperately need to fix this horrible broken system.”

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

All Eyes On Me – Bo Burnham on Inside (The Songs)

Holy Ghost and Hallelujah – flora cash on Our Generation

Fix You – Thorin Loeks on Fix You – Single

Lost in Space – Emmit Fenn on Lost in Space – Single

How It Is – Majik on Under the Influence – EP

Let Me Swim – Yoste on Let Me Swim – Single

How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Tyler Ward on How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Single

Real – Majik on NOON // 215

Walk Me Home – Said The Sky, ILLENIUM & Chelsea Cutler on Sentiment

Howling – RY X on Dawn

Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Forest Blakk on Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

Minimum – Charlie Cunningham on Lines

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single

Small Things – Declan J Donovan on Small Things – Single

2012 – Joey Purp on QUARTERTHING

iPad – The Chainsmokers on So Far So Good

PARIGI RMX – Alfa, Slings & SHUNE on PARIGI RMX – Single

lOnDn – EMBRZ on Don’t Look Back

Making Memories of Us – TORRES on Making Memories of Us / All Apologies – Single

Lungs – Yoste on Lungs – Single

Heartbeat – Childish Gambino on Camp

Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Single

For a Long Time – Star Pitchee on For a Long Time – Single

Set The Fire To The Third Bar – Snow Patrol on Eyes Open

City of Angels – Thirty Seconds to Mars on LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS

Sunrise – Childish Gambino on Camp

Paris (Acoustic) – Canyon City on Paris (Acoustic) – Single

Centre (The Fairmount Sessions) – Arliston on The Ground Might Disappear (The Fairmount Sessions) – EP

Crying As We Fall – Mark Diamond on Crying As We Fall – Single

Oxford – Yoste on Never The Same

Holy Ground – HAEVN on Holy Ground – Single

Coastline – Yoste on Never The Same

Figureskating, Neusiedlersee – SOHN on Figureskating, Neusiedlersee – Single

Auntie Diaries – Kendrick Lamar on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Destiny – Chloe Ament on Broken Bodies, Broken Hearts – EP

Underneath – Hayden Calnin on Something / Anything – EP

STAY (Apple Music Home Session) – KAWALA on Apple Music Home Session: KAWALA – Single

(This Is) The Thing – Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine on A Beginner’s Mind1

Love Me Again – Isak Danielson on King of a Tragedy

Tell Me, Before I Forget – Allegories on Endless

Give You Love – Forest Blakk on Give You Love – Single

GRACIAS POR NADA – Rauw Alejandro on TRAP CAKE, VOL. 2

Poets – Gallipoli on On Vodno – EP

Glass House – Henry Jamison on The Years

The Reason I Hate Home – Munn on The Reason I Hate Home – Single

Olympus – Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine on A Beginner’s Mind

Party – Bad Bunny & Rauw Alejandro on Un Verano Sin Ti

Hollow – Seafret on Hollow – Single

Mothercall – Hayden Calnin on Something / Anything – EP

Freeze – Kygo on Freeze – Single

Oceans – RY X & Ólafur Arnalds on Oceans – Single

Fire Burns You Cold – Isak Danielson on King of a Tragedy2

Atom 6 – Sleeping At Last on Atom 6 – Single

Sidelines – Phoebe Bridgers on Sidelines – Single

Dry Spell – JORDY on Dry Spell – Single

I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance) – Glass Animals & Albert Hammond Jr. on I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance) – Single

Leywole – Falle Nioke & Ghost Culture on Badiare – EP

Sailor – KAWALA on Better With You

Sunburn – Isaac Dunbar on Banish The Banshee

Friends (Under the Influence) – Majik on Paralysed / Friends (Under the Influence) – Single

Running Up That Hill (Dermot O’Leary Saturday Sessions) – Will Young on 20 Years: The Greatest Hits (Deluxe)

The Ground Might Disappear (The Fairmount Sessions) – Arliston on The Ground Might Disappear (The Fairmount Sessions) – EP

Ojitos Lindos – Bad Bunny & Bomba Estéreo on Un Verano Sin Ti

Mountaineer (The Fairmount Sessions) – Arliston on The Ground Might Disappear (The Fairmount Sessions) – EP

Fareal – Joey Purp & KAMI on You and the Money

Bittersweet, TN (feat. Erin Rae) – Kevin Morby on This Is a Photograph

Where Does the Good Go – Luca Fogale on Where Does the Good Go – Single

Caves – REUNIØN on Caves – Single

Yours – K E M A L on Yours – Single

Behind The Sun – ODESZA on The Last Goodbye

Violet – Yoste on Never The Same

Die Hard – Kendrick Lamar, Blxst & Amanda Reifer on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Nazareno – Farruko on Nazareno – Single

Mirror Me – Mansionair on Happiness, Guaranteed

Is It Alright for You – Isak Danielson on King of a Tragedy

It’s A Waste Man (feat. Aquilo) – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on It’s A Waste Man (feat. Aquilo) – Single3

Modern Warfare – EDEN on Modern Warfare – Single4

Zeroes & Ones – Yoe Mase & Gavriel on Zeroes & Ones – Single

Lacrimae – Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine on A Beginner’s Mind

Arizona – Adam Turley on Arizona – Single

The Way Back Up (feat. Nick Acquroff) – Hayden Calnin on Something / Anything – EP

damn Right Pt. 2 – AUDREY NUNA & DJ Snake on damn Right Pt. 2 – Single

Hold Me Down – YOKE LORE on NOON // 187

Rush – Tomas Ferdinand on Lover, I’m Down for It. – EP

Slower – Addict., Rewind & Achex on Slower – Single

Bloodstream – Stateless on Bloodstream – EP

Egosystem – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Interiority5

Sausalito – Daniel Leggs on Sausalito – Single

Him – Isak Danielson on King of a Tragedy

Chaotic (Acoustic) – Landon Austin on Chaotic (Acoustic) – Single

Slowly – ODIE on Slowly – Single

Livin It Up (with Post Malone & A$AP Rocky) – Young Thug on Punk

Notion – Tash Sultana on Notion

Solo Mission – The Chainsmokers on So Far So Good (+ Why Can’t You Wait)

All I Want – Kodaline on In A Perfect World

  1. Sufjan Stevens has a very specific musical vibe, and a very specific album art vibe, and they are not the same vibe. ↩
  2. I should start tuning into the lyrics, I really think Danielson is just out here writing and performing entire musical theatre productions. ↩
  3. Absolutely love both Aquilo and Fyfe & Iskra Strings, so this is a great collaboration. ↩
  4. I’d forgotten how much I like EDEN; this sounds new and also absolutely like EDEN. ↩
  5. Really reminds me of Steve Reich, at least the opening. ↩
Categories
Review

“The King’s Man”

Evidently, I do movie reviews now? I suppose it’s somewhat in keeping with all the book reviews I’ve been doing, but as it’s a new thing I still feel the need to point out: I am not a professional reviewer, I just don’t want to make an account on… whatever website it is that people use to do movie reviews.

After having it in my queue for a while, I finally got around to watching The King’s Man. I absolutely love Kingsman, and while there’s still a good deal to enjoy in the sequel, it was nowhere near as good as the original. I was hoping the prequel, then, would be as good as the original. Sadly, it wasn’t.

Quite frankly, The King’s Man is bad. Not terrible, but absolutely not good. It’s campy, but I can’t tell if it’s campy in the “this will be a cult classic in a decade” way or just campy in the “we’re all going to forget about this” sense. Too early to tell on that regard.

The plot makes absolutely no sense. And, yes, I realize that I’m saying this about a prequel to a film that had “a SIM card makes you murder people” as the core of the plot, but at least that just required some hand-wavey science fiction. That’s the problem with trying to do a prequel—we know how history went. If you haven’t sat down and called it Alternate History as a genre, then when you start breaking the timeline, it gets really hard to suspend that disbelief.

Like Deadpool 2, it feels like they came up with a couple key scenes they wanted to have in the movie, and then had to figure out a way to string them together with some semblance of a plot. As a result, though, here I am, a day later, still trying to come up with a sensible explanation for why any of the Bad Guys were listening to the Big Bad. He’s just… some guy? Like, sure, I can believe some guy with a hatch to grind could pull together a few well-connected people with grievances to start this evil plot, but Rasputin just doesn’t fit. What’s Rasputin’s motivation for listening to you, dude? He’s the de-facto ruler of Russia, he’s got all the food, drink, drugs, sex, and power a man could want; why would he show up to your drafty Evil Meeting Place in the middle of nowhere together threatened by you into messing with his good thing he’s got going?1

That said, I still enjoyed watching it. I’m glad I missed it in the theater because the best way to watch this is somewhere that you can pause it to laugh in disbelief with your friends. It’s got some solid action scenes, and the cast is fun and does a good job of it all. The pacing is all over the place, the plot makes no sense, and there’s a serious change of tone for a bit in the middle, but so long as you don’t go in expecting something that’s gonna win awards, you’ll have a good time.2

  1. And, speaking of that drafty Evil Meeting Place: this movie is set prior to the invention of the jet plane. How, exactly, is Rasputin making it from Moscow to your undisclosed location on the other side of Europe for these meetings without it being commented on? ↩
  2. The bit in the middle is probably even more effective if you haven’t seen Kingsman, or you have the kind of brain that doesn’t latch on to world building details like mine does. For me, it was predictable, and the tension was in wondering when that Canonical Event was going to happen; I suspect that scene feels very different if you go in without that foreknowledge. ↩
Categories
Review

“Sandstorm”

James Rollins

I, for whatever reason, grew up reading Clive Cussler. My favorite was always The Oregon Files, because I’m a sucker for the high tech kinds of things, and a ship with sci-fi engines and a bunch of hidden weaponry worked quite well for my teenage aesthetic.

These days, though, I don’t ever read much Cussler; thanks to his “get someone else to write a book, stamp his name on it for the Brand Recognition” methodology, there’s a great deal of them that I’ve never read. But, between the aforementioned mass-production, and the same plotline getting reused in every book, they just can’t hold my interest. They’re airplane reading—the kind of thing I’ll go for when I’m gonna be mildly oxygen-deprived.

The rest of the time, though, I’m good working through big pile o’ backlogged books. And, when I’ve got the hankering for that Cussler-esque adventure novel, I go for James Rollins.

And that’s the best way I can think of to explain what Rollins’ writing feels like. He’s the upmarket Clive Cussler; there’s fewer of the books, but each one feels like a lot more care went into writing it. Plus, his treatment of female characters, while not perfect, feels a lot better than Cussler tends to manage. They exist to be more than a motivation for the male protagonist; in fact, I’d argue that the male protagonist in “Sandstorm” is a supporting character, as just about everything driving the plot is either Safia’s doing or Cassandra’s. Palmer is largely just along for the ride, which in a way gives it a bit of a “space opera” feel.

That’s my review, then: if you want an action-adventure novel, James Rollins is a solid bet. And hey, may as well start with “Sandstorm”, since it’s how he kicked off his Sigma series.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: May 2022

I have no idea when the seasons officially happen, but I do know that it definitely feels like spring now!

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

Oh Dear, Oh Beaux – beaux on A Love Letter To the Moments Spent Outside

All Eyes On Me – Bo Burnham on Inside (The Songs)

Holy Ghost and Hallelujah – flora cash on Our Generation

Fix You – Thorin Loeks on Fix You – Single

Lost in Space – Emmit Fenn on Lost in Space – Single

How It Is – Majik on Under the Influence – EP

If I Die – Ed Prosek on If I Die – Single

Let Me Swim – Yoste on Let Me Swim – Single

How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Tyler Ward on How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Single

Real – Majik on NOON // 215

You (feat. Tusks) – Axel Flóvent on You (feat. Tusks) – Single

Walk Me Home – Said The Sky, ILLENIUM & Chelsea Cutler on Sentiment

Show Me Where I Belong – Extreme Music on Dream Folk

Howling – RY X on Dawn

Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Forest Blakk on Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

Good Like This – KAWALA on Better With You

Hurt – Johnny Cash on Unearthed (Box Set)

Echoes (Apple Music Home Session) – KAWALA on Apple Music Home Session: KAWALA – Single

I’m Gone – Charles Fauna on Renewal

Where’s the Catch? (feat. André 3000) – James Blake on Assume Form

Minimum – Charlie Cunningham on Lines

Catwalk – Emmit Fenn on Catwalk – Single

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single

Dumb – Emmit Fenn on The Last Dance, Pt. 2

Small Things – Declan J Donovan on Small Things – Single

2012 – Joey Purp on QUARTERTHING

iPad – The Chainsmokers on So Far So Good

PARIGI RMX – Alfa, Slings & SHUNE on PARIGI RMX – Single

Liquorice – Tomas Ferdinand on Liquorice – Single

lOnDn – EMBRZ on Don’t Look Back

Tainted Love – Isaac Dunbar on Tainted Love – Single

Why Does It Hurt – Will Young on Why Does It Hurt – Single

Making Memories of Us – TORRES on Making Memories of Us / All Apologies – Single

Deep Dive – Forester on Watercolor

June – King Henry on June – Single

Lungs – Yoste on Lungs – Single

Heartbeat – Childish Gambino on Camp

Cambria – Forester on Watercolor

A New Kind of Love (Demo) – Guy Sigsworth, Imogen Heap & Frou Frou on A New Kind of Love (Demo) – Single

get away (feat. Rewind) – Addict., Aliss & Hue on get away (feat. Rewind) – Single

Crazy Like Me – Emmit Fenn on Crazy Like Me – Single

dntstartwme. – Knxwledge. on HX​.​PRT14​.​8

BAG BOY (feat. DexLVL) – Joey Purp & KAMI on BAG BOY (feat. DexLVL) – Single

Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Single

Petrichor – Mark Diamond on Petrichor – Single

Asleep – Sleeping At Last on Asleep – Single

Hold You Down – Childish Gambino on Camp1

Les – Childish Gambino on Camp

Beyond My Reach – sød ven on Beyond My Reach – EP

New Ambition – DJ Taz Rashid on Illuminate

Fire Fly – Childish Gambino on Camp

Letter Home – Childish Gambino on Camp

Ingenue (Acoustic) – Jane. on Ingenue (Acoustic) – Single

MUSEO – Rauw Alejandro on TRAP CAKE, VOL. 2

All Apologies – TORRES on Making Memories of Us / All Apologies – Single

Lovely – Bleedingxheart on Lovely – Single

For a Long Time – Star Pitchee on For a Long Time – Single2

Set The Fire To The Third Bar – Snow Patrol on Eyes Open

City of Angels – Thirty Seconds to Mars on LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS3

Sunrise – Childish Gambino on Camp

Paris (Acoustic) – Canyon City on Paris (Acoustic) – Single

Centre (The Fairmount Sessions) – Arliston on The Ground Might Disappear (The Fairmount Sessions) – EP

heartisahouse. – Knxwledge. on HX​.​PRT14​.​8

Crying As We Fall – Mark Diamond on Crying As We Fall – Single

Oxford – Yoste on Never The Same

Holy Ground – HAEVN on Holy Ground – Single

Coastline – Yoste on Never The Same4

Figureskating, Neusiedlersee – SOHN on Figureskating, Neusiedlersee – Single

Take My Breath Away – Duncan Laurence on Take My Breath Away – Single

Auntie Diaries – Kendrick Lamar on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers5

Antidote – j. pastel on Waiting Days: B-sides – EP

Destiny – Chloe Ament on Broken Bodies, Broken Hearts – EP

It Was You – Said The Sky & We the Kings on Sentiment

Forgotten You – Said The Sky & Olivver the Kid on Sentiment

Underneath – Hayden Calnin on Something / Anything – EP

  1. I know, I know, I’m very late to this album, but as it turns out, it’s still very good! ↩
  2. Whilst thoroughly explicit, I still love this – the backing vocals are just beautiful and haunting, and it all comes together so, so well. ↩
  3. Having just moved from the suburbs into the actual city, this song felt strangely appropriate. (Ignoring that the city I moved to definitely isn’t ‘the land of a billion lights.’) ↩
  4. Absolutely loving this whole album. Yoste is starting to fill the hole in my heart left by Majik disappearing. ↩
  5. “To truly understand love, switch positions” ↩
Categories
Review

“Moonfall”

This movie is, first and foremost, stupid. The core concept doesn’t work, and a lot of key plot elements don’t work either.1

But then, it’s a Roland Emmerich movie, and he’s got a distinct style: take a thing people are concerned about in the real world, crank it up to 11 so it’ll be visually interesting, and off we go. I certainly didn’t go in expecting a robust understanding of orbital mechanics, and you shouldn’t either.

And here’s where the tone of my review changes, because for all the bashing on the concept I just did, I actually really enjoyed the movie. It’s in that sweet spot of “bad movie” where it’s fun to watch with friends and mock. “Mystery Science Theater 3,000” bad, not “Star Wars Holiday Special” bad. Do just enough prep work to know how silly it is—in my case, I went with “having been an avid science fiction nerd my whole life,” but if you want less of a time commitment, go for this Kurzgesagt video about what would actually happen if the moon fell out of orbit—then grab some popcorn and get ready to roast the movie.2 (Bonus points: make a drinking game every time you spot a sponsor of the movie. The easy ones are Elon Musk and the Chinese government.)

  1. “The moon’s been falling out of orbit for a decade, and nobody at NASA or any other space agency noticed until just now!” ↩
  2. And, while you’re watching Kurzgesagt videos, I also recommend this one explaining why the military’s “contribution” to the plot is stupid, and this one that explains what megastructures actually are. And, really, pretty much everything on their channel is worth a watch. Kurzgesagt is great. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Ministry for the Future”

Kim Stanley Robinson

I don’t know that I’ve ever read something this simultaneously terrifying and hopeful. And now, having read it, I want it to be required reading for anyone running for office, and possibly just everyone in general.

We are, without a doubt, in the midst of a global climate emergency. At this point, the amount of evidence against anthropogenic climate change is about tied with the amount of evidence for “gravity isn’t real, you just think you’re stuck to the ground.”1 Climate change is a fact, and one that nobody is scared enough about.

“The Ministry for the Future” is a retelling of the next 50 or so years. Aside from the horrific opening, a call to action for the characters more so than it is for the audience, it is immensely hopeful: it’s a timeline where the Paris Agreement came with slightly more enforcement mechanisms, which combined with that horrific opening event to give the world enough of a push to start cleaning up our collective mess.2 It’s hopeful because everything in it feels possible; there’s no deus ex machina, no “and then we invented cold fusion and everything was fine!” Every technological innovation in the book is entirely, utterly feasible, using the technologies we have access to right now.

But that’s also what makes it terrifying. It feels like reading a history book sent back from the good timeline. It feels like staring down fifty years of threading the needle, narrowly navigating between potential disasters on all sides.3 And we don’t feel like we’re particularly on the right path for that yet.

So, having read this book and loved it, my usual call to action: go read it.4 And then, having read it, go contact your representatives. And tell them, in no uncertain terms, that the world is on fire and they need to do something about it.5

  1. Anthropogenic, for those who aren’t Big Ol’ Nerds about this topic, means “caused by humans.” ↩
  2. Proportionally, too: the US has to contribute a lot more cleanup than, say, Kenya, because the US has contributed a lot more to global carbon emissions than Kenya. ↩
  3. To go for a pop culture reference, it feels like Doctor Strange holding up a single finger; ‘there’s one future where we win this.’ ↩
  4. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
  5. And, yes, make personal changes as well! Your individual choice to eat less meat, buy an EV (or better, bike/walk/public transit!), turn down the heat—that one change doesn’t make much of a difference, really. But if we all do, that’s a huge change; and for every person that starts that trend, that’s one more little bit of social pressure to everyone else to do it too. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Design of Everyday Things”

Don Norman

Unlike my usual book reviews, this wasn’t my first time reading the book. Last time, though, it was an assigned reading—I have this in print because it was provided as a textbook! And, as a textbook, it is both an excellent choice and a seminal text.

On both a first read and a reread, it holds up remarkably well. That tends to be an issue with the things that were formative to their field—eventually, they start to feel very obvious, because what was innovative has become a well-known trope. Not here, though; the only part of the book that felt noticeably dated was the couple pages that went into “the video phone” as a technology that hasn’t yet gotten big. That portion will need to be rewritten for the next edition.

Despite having been one of my textbooks, this doesn’t feel overly academic. I wouldn’t recommend trying to get through the whole thing in one sitting, but you won’t fall asleep trying to navigate through a sea of citations. If you’re at all interested in design as a discipline, check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Free Guy”

I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting from this movie. Something akin to Ready Player One, I suppose, if a bit less hitting-you-over-the-head with the pop culture references. And, sure, in places it has some of that—the big fight towards the end definitely does that, but it also leans in with the reactions. (An excellent use of Chris Evans!)

In general, while watching the movie, I enjoyed it. There’s some fun playing with tropes, and I really do like the concept—Mogworld gone mainstream!1 And I can set aside the bits of “that’s not actually how technology works” as being something of a Plumber Problem.2 Really? This Silicon Valley tech company has all their servers in a ground-floor room of their main office? Yes, definitely, for sure, that’s an efficient way to use horrifyingly-expensive San Francisco real estate. And all the players in Europe definitely love the super-laggy gameplay experience that creates.

But, again, that’s stuff that I, as a big ol’ tech nerd, notice, and the average viewer probably doesn’t know about. It moved the plot forward, and it wasn’t egregious, so why not; I’ve already suspended my disbelief about the core plot elements, so why not this too?

Where it fell down for me, though, was the end. Spoilers ahead!

Because, all told, the end seems to wrap up very nicely. The twist on the whole “the guy gets the girl” trope was nice, and answered a question I’d had floating around for a while, which I enjoyed. But if you think about it at all, there’s just… no exploration of the consequences of anything. Somebody invented general AI and… nobody cares? We’re just leaving them in a video game, and the positive change in their lives is that instead of a torture chamber it’s a People Zoo?

Oh, and let’s look at ‘torture chamber,’ too—because that’s what the video game they were living in was. A nightmare world where everyone is constantly in danger, generally dying every day and being reset the next morning, and for who knows how long, they were all being gaslit into thinking that was Fine and Normal. It may have been an accident, but the creators of this game up and created a slave race for their entertainment. That’s the kind of thing that the UN generally likes to do a bit of investigation of.

And, speaking of investigations, there’s no investigation of Antwan? The world seems to have, at least somewhat, accepted the concept that Guy, if none of the other NPCs, is a fully-sentient AI. Antwan just… gets away with trying to kill him? Sure, his stock price tanks, and he looks like an idiot on the news, but generally attempting murder in front of dozens of witnesses has slightly more of an impact on your lifestyle. Never mind the fact that he didn’t just attempt murder, he followed it up by attempting genocide against the aforementioned slave race.

Beyond all that, there’s the fact that this entire new population of artificial intelligences were born in that kind of a crucible. Trying to create an AI that doesn’t accidentally wipe us out is difficult enough; in this world, we created an army of them and they spent their childhoods as our torture-slaves. Given the rate at which they’re learning… well, Guy’s little “leveling up faster than anyone thought possible” montage sure looks more terrifying when you remember that they have no reason to like us and they know we’re a threat to their survival. If they make a sequel to this movie, it’s going to be about getting Guy a virtual girlfriend, because Hollywood is predictable like that. Joke’s on them, though, because we already have the sequel: Terminator.

  1. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
  2. A phrase coined, I believe, by John Siracusa. A plumber watching a movie will notice “that’s now how plumbing works!” a lot more readily than anyone else. ↩
Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: April 2022

I had COVID this month, and let me tell you, as a young, healthy, vaccinated-and-boosted person: it sucked. Get vaccinated—it may not keep you from getting it, but “a couple days of fever and a couple weeks of coughing” is a lot better than I would’ve done without the vaccine.

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

Oh Dear, Oh Beaux – beaux on A Love Letter To the Moments Spent Outside

All Eyes On Me – Bo Burnham on Inside (The Songs)

The Wire – Vancouver Sleep Clinic on The Wire – Single

Picture of You (feat. Hayden Calnin) – Axel Flóvent on Picture of You (feat. Hayden Calnin) – Single

Fall Creek Boys Choir – James Blake & Bon Iver on Enough Thunder – EP

Holy Ghost and Hallelujah – flora cash on Our Generation

Fix You – Thorin Loeks on Fix You – Single

Lost Angel Nights – James Blake on Friends That Break Your Heart (Bonus)

Their Superhero – Jack in Water & Alaskan Tapes on Their Superhero – Single

Lost in Space – Emmit Fenn on Lost in Space – Single

How It Is – Majik on Under the Influence – EP

If I Die – Ed Prosek on If I Die – Single

Soul Mate – flora cash on Our Generation

Liberation – BUZZ on Liberation – Single

Your Love – The Outfield on Big Innings: The Best of the Outfield

Let Me Swim – Yoste on Let Me Swim – Single

How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Tyler Ward on How To Save a Life (feat. Max Schneider) [Acoustic] – Single

The Chase – Emmit Fenn on The Chase – Single

You Found Me – The Fray on The Fray

Real – Majik on NOON // 215

You – Emmit Fenn on You – Single

Deletia (feat. Mysie) – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Deletia (feat. Mysie) – Single

You (feat. Tusks) – Axel Flóvent on You (feat. Tusks) – Single

Run – Vallis Alps on Fable – EP

Walk Me Home – Said The Sky, ILLENIUM & Chelsea Cutler on Sentiment

Fall with Me – King Henry & Delilah Montagu on Fall with Me – Single

Show Me Where I Belong – Extreme Music on Dream Folk

Howling – RY X on Dawn

Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Forest Blakk on Fall Into Me (Acoustic) – Single

La Culpa (feat. Canelita) – C. Tangana, Omar Montes & Daviles de Novelda on La Culpa (feat. Canelita) – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

So Unimportant – Ethan Gruska & Bon Iver on So Unimportant – Single

Night Sky – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Night Sky – Single

Good Like This – KAWALA on Better With You

Bel Air (feat. Mahmood & Poupie) – TODIEFOR on Bel Air (feat. Mahmood & Poupie) – Single

Hurt – Johnny Cash on Unearthed (Box Set)

Bittersweet Melody – Said The Sky & FRND on Sentiment

Chinese Satellite (Live From Sound City) – Phoebe Bridgers on Chinese Satellite (Live From Sound City) – Single

Echoes (Apple Music Home Session) – KAWALA on Apple Music Home Session: KAWALA – Single

One Word – Armen Paul on Mē – EP

Honey – Charles Fauna on Renewal

Credit Card – Quinn Lewis on Credit Card – Single

Your Love – RY X on Blood Moon

I’m Gone – Charles Fauna on Renewal

Innerbloom (Lane 8 Remix) – RÜFÜS DU SOL on Innerbloom (The Remixes)

Where’s the Catch? (feat. André 3000) – James Blake on Assume Form

Minimum – Charlie Cunningham on Lines1

Catwalk – Emmit Fenn on Catwalk – Single

Love You Like I Do – Vancouver Sleep Clinic on Fallen Paradise

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single2

If I’m Insecure – James Blake on Friends That Break Your Heart (Bonus)

Todo De Ti – Rauw Alejandro on Todo De Ti – Single

feel away – slowthai, James Blake & Mount Kimbie on TYRON

Iris – The Goo Goo Dolls on Dizzy Up the Girl

Fall In (feat. Lizzy Land) – Kidswaste on Fall In (feat. Lizzy Land) – Single

Dumb – Emmit Fenn on The Last Dance, Pt. 2

Running Around – Goth Babe on Santa Catalina – Single

Small Things – Declan J Donovan on Small Things – Single

Giorno del giudizio – Paky, Luchè & Mahmood on Salvatore

2012 – Joey Purp on QUARTERTHING

The Fall – APRE on A001

Show Me Yours (Acoustic) – Jordan Hart on Many Thoughts… (Acoustic) – EP

Magic (Acoustic) – By The Coast on Magic (Acoustic) – Single

Last Time (Acoustic Version) – Lost//Youth on Last Time (Acoustic Version) – Single

Maybe It’s You – Charles Fauna on Renewal

tiger balm (magenta) – slenderbodies on i can’t make up my mind / tiger balm (magenta) – Single

neverletyougo – ROLE MODEL on Rx

High – The Chainsmokers on High – Single

iPad – The Chainsmokers on iPad – Single

Time – Emmit Fenn on The Last Dance, Pt. 2

Famous Last Words – James Blake on Friends That Break Your Heart (Bonus)

In Your Body – ¿Téo? on In Your Body – Single

PARIGI RMX – Alfa & Slings on PARIGI RMX – Single

All That You Want – sød ven on Beyond My Reach – EP

Liquorice – Tomas Ferdinand on Liquorice – Single

Black & Blues – Armen Paul on Mē – EP

lOnDn – EMBRZ on Don’t Look Back

Last Call – Khalid on Last Call – Single

Diamond Sky – DJ Taz Rashid & KR3TURE on Diamond Sky – Single

Tainted Love – Isaac Dunbar on Tainted Love – Single

Why Does It Hurt – Will Young on Why Does It Hurt – Single

Making Memories of Us – TORRES on Making Memories of Us / All Apologies – Single

Deep Dive – Forester on Watercolor

June – King Henry on June – Single

Lungs – Yoste on Lungs – Single

Heartbeat – Childish Gambino on Camp3

Cambria – Forester on Watercolor

Let You Go – RY X on Let You Go – Single

Someone Worth Dying For – Armen Paul on Mē – EP

Nothing Left Behind – Isak Danielson on King of a Tragedy

Saint – Forester on Watercolor

A New Kind of Love (Demo) – Guy Sigsworth, Imogen Heap & Frou Frou on A New Kind of Love (Demo) – Single

get away (feat. Rewind) – Addict., Aliss & Hue on get away (feat. Rewind) – Single

would you call me up? – Jon Bryant on would you call me up?

Crazy Like Me – Emmit Fenn on Crazy Like Me – Single

House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls (Original) – The Weeknd on House of Balloons (Original)

Spider – Said The Sky & Boy In Space on Sentiment

Storie tristi – Paky & Night Skinny on Salvatore

In My Imagination – sød ven on Beyond My Reach – EP

Empty Promise – Mansionair & Vandelux on Happiness, Guaranteed

dntstartwme. – Knxwledge. on HX​.​PRT14​.​84

BAG BOY (feat. DexLVL) – Joey Purp & KAMI on BAG BOY (feat. DexLVL) – Single

Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Fyfe & Iskra Strings on Purpose (feat. Ghostpoet) – Single

Lover, i’m down for it. – Tomas Ferdinand on Lover, i’m down for it. – Single

bankakkount. – Knxwledge. on HX​.​PRT14​.​8

A Little Bit Yours (feat. Eric Chou) [Mandarin Version] – JP Saxe on A Little Bit Yours (feat. Eric Chou) [Mandarin Version] – Single

Change Your Heart or Die – The Midnight on Change Your Heart or Die – Single

Petrichor – Mark Diamond on Petrichor – Single

Antidote – Chloe Ament on Broken Bodies, Broken Hearts – EP

  1. This is one of those songs that I find via Apple Music suggesting it, and then a few days later start seeing it in Instagram stories. There’s probably some kind of connection there, but it’s a “this song is about to be popular” kind of thing, and not an “omg my phone is spying on me!!1!” thing. ↩
  2. Really digging the new Yoste this month. ↩
  3. Possibly my favorite addition this month? Don’t mind me, just very late to this album. ↩
  4. Getting this album into Apple Music took some doing. If you start getting an error talking about Genius (a feature that no longer exists), the actual fix is “sign out of iTunes, quit, relaunch, sign back in.” ↩
Categories
Review

“Please Don’t Tell My Parents I Work for a Supervillain”

Richard Roberts

I consistently forget how much I like Richard Roberts’ books. They’re a really excellent take on the superhero genre, embracing the ridiculousness of the whole thing while at the same time doing an excellent job of exploring some of the implications of living in a world that regularly has said ridiculous things happening. And, even better, doing things that would only work in the written form—there’s a truly delightful bit with a character named Retcon that I can’t imagine working in any format except first-person-written. A bit of their introduction, roughly paraphrased:

“You’re wasting your time, Retcon never comes to Chinatown.”

“Normally I don’t, but once I’d read that letter, I’d been here all day.”

And, beyond that little bit of messing with tenses to establish their power, you get the only-in-writing aspect: every time they speak, we get the “this is the first time I’ve seen this person, let me describe” them happening over again, and they’re described completely differently each time. (You may not the ‘they/them’ pronouns—the book doesn’t use those, but does switch between ‘he/him’ and ‘she/her’ a couple times.)

And that? That’s delightful. A character whose power is that they’re constantly being retconned? Just, chef’s kiss, beautiful, I love it.

As I said, I really like Roberts’ writing. It’s fun, and light, without being vapid. This book is nominally eighth in the series, but it’s eighth in the same way that, say, a new Marvel movie is the hundredth Marvel movie: sure, if you’ve seen the others, you get a bit more background on people, but it’s not required to understand what’s going on. So, if you haven’t read any of the others, this is a pretty solid jumping-in point. Give it a go.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“On Basilisk Station”

David Weber

I really, really enjoyed this one. One of the things I tend to struggle with, or at least gloss over, in military fiction is that I truly have no idea how the ranks work. I know a general is above a private, an admiral outranks an ensign, but any of the finer details, and I’m totally lost. This book did a fairly good job of addressing that—while there was certainly some of the usual “meh, I figure I’ve got this close enough” going on in my head, there were a few distinct moments where the narrative paused to explain the context.

That sort of pause occurred a few other times, notable examples being a several-page explainer of the structure of the government of one of the major powers in the book, and another several-page history lesson on the various faster-than-light drive technologies in use. And in both cases I found myself thinking that, while it’s a violation of the show-don’t-tell principle, it was also a much clearer way to explain than any “show” could’ve been. Plus, the addition of the actual history of when they were invented and what the interim periods were like added a nice bit of color to everything.

This was quite a good read, and I finished it much more quickly than I was expecting to; at some point, I may have to come back and read more of this series. And, of course, if you like military science fiction at all, I think you’ll enjoy this. Give it a read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“The 99% Invisible City”

Roman Mars and Kurt Kohldstedt

Given how much I love the 99% Invisible podcast, it’s utterly unsurprising that I also enjoyed this book. There’s a lot of overlap between the two—to the point that, in a few places, I was reading going “yes, yes, I know, can we get to something new?”

Most of the time, though, the things being discussed in here were new information, and the exact sort of tidbit that keeps me listening to the podcast. It’s a very digestible book, with chapters divided into subchapters divided into subheadings, each of which can be independently read. Bite-size portions like that make it very easy to pick up and read a little bit while you’re waiting for something, and put back down once you’re back in action.

Overall, I totally recommend this book. If you’ve ever looked at a bit of architecture, or a weirdly-shaped park, or even just a street light, and thought “I wonder how that wound up being there, like that?” this is the book for you. Check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩