justing.net

Week Notes No. 25

By Justin G. on 24OCT14MON

Changing things up this week, publishing on Mondays from here on out. This is kind of a bankruptcy and reset too. Posting everyday last month gave me new materiel to examine and evaluate which parts I gain from. And there are parts that I do gain from, no doubt.

First week

Almanac

There will be a heat wave for much of the week, mid- to upper-90s Monday to Thursday, possibly 100 on Tuesday. Nearing the new moon, so dark nights all week.

SEP30MON

Running.

OCT02WED

Running.

OCT04FRI

Backpacking. Well, make do backpacking because it’s definitely probably too hot at the original destination which is high in the Sierras. We run for the coast and it seems like a good choice.

OCT05SAT

Pack out, and then afternoon in Point Lobos. On the trail we meet a rather large group of other hikers, heading in.

OCT06SUN

Day hike at Wilder Ranch. It’s still hot. This place would definitely be cooler with fog and marine layer and such. Next time hit up the coastal bluff Ohlone trail.

Second week

Almanac

No almanac. I was busy and didn’t have time to write it.

OCT07MON

Last day of makeup activities. We’re at Fort Point, right underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. By the water it was cool, jacket weather. It warmed as soon as we strayed from the edge.

OCT10THU

Running. Believe it or not, I am still recovering from all that hiking over the weekend. A little weakness in my right knee, maybe I mis-stepped on the trail and didn’t realize it. Still, it was a generally faster than usual run and I don’t want to lose that.

And new phone day.

OCT12SAT

Quick gardening in the morning. Burger and a movie in the night.

OCT13SUN¹

Made the east half of my survey of the Santa Teresa Ridge and Coyote-Alamitos canal. I’m mostly looking for signs of slumping, and making an index of the various graffitis that wax and wane throughout the seasons. It’s mostly tags and some throw ups, no pieces, but some symbols or logos (I’m not sure what the right name is for things that aren’t letters but aren’t pieces either).

Media

Some of the intake this week.

Movies

The Matrix Resurrections I think I enjoyed it, but also can we have new stories? I ask that a lot these days. I’m probably looking for movies in the wrong places, and should take more risks on unknown things. Some things didn’t make sense to me, such as Smith’s motivations at various times. Some things I appreciated, such as the on the nose addressing of the film’s outer reality. Some things annoyed the eff outta me, such as the frame rate settings not playing well with my TV. I sure would like them (they, those people that figure this sort of thing out) to hurry the hell up and figure this aspect of movie viewing at home out. I noticed it a lot during the fights scenes and it took me out of the film each time and had me questioning if it was worth it to not spend this time on a new story instead. Overall though, I think it was worth the effort. I rank it below the first one, but above the earlier sequels. [Added later:] Would I watch a sequel to this sequel? Maybe. I don’t rule it out, but nor is it obvious to me that I want even more of this. Maybe something different in the same world, but something entirely different would be good too.

YouTube

Martijn Doolaard starts on the second cabin.

Ninurta A new one recommended by T. Tiksi part 1 and part 2. These were good, longer slightly panning shots of a super interesting abandoned place in winter. The ships in part 1 are a very unusual subject for this genre, and in an unusual atmosphere. Must have been a lot of work to get there. Most of the editing was ok, shots are held long enough, but my preference is always for longer cuts, more real time like ambient experience. There’s no need for music, I’d rather just hear what it was like there.

I didn’t really enjoy the Mining Ghost towns (remastered) video, it was much too choppy. It was only a few seconds between cuts, which is basically unwatchable to me. Glad I stuck with it and checked out another video.

Gifgas Trainhopping across Scandinavia is the compilation of the 4 parts already uploaded of Mission to the Arctic Circle. It’s good, always enjoy the pacing and scenery focus of Gifgas.

Any Austin on Morrowind’s “rivers”.

Space: Starship 5.

Weather: Hurricane Milton aftermath, Hurricane Helene aftermath in North Carolina. This seems bad.

Podcasts

Harari on Making Sense, it’s really only the first half.

Music

Martin Stützner Home Concert 66 is 3 hrs of ambient, I enjoyed it.

Chris Luno from Anjunakitchen, I enjoyed it.

Reading

As much as I thought that Ancillary Justice was a good complement to Nexus, I think that A Natural History of Empty Lots is even better. A Natural History of Empty Lots is a book that sits well between Jenny Odell’s How To Do Nothing and On Looking by Horowitz. For more related books, see my post detailing the imperfect library of noticing. Maybe I should just rename it the incomplete library.

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