윤

Missing the $10-off deal at Target somehow Even-Steven’d itself when the Amazon support lady was able to defy the information online and swap the music service to the new device (or the fortuitous price drop on the Katana Mini), but watching the boy casually request a rundown of his flitting favorites starting with Len’s “Steal My Sunshine”, which must have made its way back to him on Spotify after a brief run as one in the small pool of tracks in the car’s 90’s Electronic set, without so much as the press of a button, reminded me again how far we’ve come. There are volume controls on top to accommodate his restless fingers, of course, though nothing like camping the radio with them on Play and Record, or waiting on the Space: 1999 end theme only to realize you’ve hummed through it, a story that shall surely be included in Chris’s eulogy for me.

Just when I thought I was out of weekly TV to watch with the end of Inspector Koo, they pull me back in with the next season! It’s a short one, unfortunately, but then again I’m grateful they don’t drag out the painful reign of the Belter egomaniac between the larger threat beyond the gates. There’s always something, right? I’m reminded of times when this nearest of futures was uncertain, but not only do the content providers always manage to come through, somehow, more miraculously, one of their committee-driven products gets me.Novels had a satisfying finish, thanks Libby! (I’m reminded of blowing through the Ice and Fire books on the Kindle, but the OLED screen’s a vast improvement, as fond are my memories of that device. The service-free unlimited Internet was not long for this world.) Looking back at them I can see the story arcs comprising the narrative of a game it was originally intended, with the player as Holden. An MMO might have had to delve into the 30-year gap or extend the war between universes, but that ending was straight outta Final Fantasy, tentacles and all.

Netflix has certainly struck gold with their Korean co-productions lately, with Kingdom (what was that last outing but another Joker), Move to Heaven and now this Parasite-cum-live-action Fall Guys, which should one-up their investment in comparatively ludicrous Alice in Borderland.Weebs claim that the concept was lifted from 神さまの言うとお, but seeing Miike’s adaptation, I realized why I let 13 years pass. Seems boredom is always the given reason for the powers that be to cycle back Adams’s course of history, but maybe we’ve reached a point in our “civilization”, too, where instead of allowing teenage superheroes overcome all the challenges it’s become more entertaining to see the players suffer and beg them for their lives—at which Koreans excel.

It’s good enough to stand on its own, even for viewers like me who aren’t necessarily subject to the period nostalgia (I did wear the fuck out of those pants in high school), but I can imagine the frustration if I were by these licensing blackouts imposed on Netflix. The measures are more reminiscent of “White Christmas”, aren’t they, but my mind went first, as it is prone more so than ever nowadays, to my favorite Black Mirror, which does take me back—and forward—how fulfilling would the soundtrack at San Junipero be without Amazon’s reach, or if the arcade required subscription to multiple gaming services?

No wonder I don’t remember this one from Saturday mornings, it’s just a rehash of the epic Executioners from Shaolin (with Lo Lieh quasi-reprising a similar villain he played 3 years prior after amazingly another 73 films), though Kara Hui demonstrates excellent form in her mentor role. She still looks great, while poor Gordon Liu might provide a glimpse of my future beside my own young auntie.

I was driving through Cypress with the mother-in-law when the red and blue lights of a police car appeared to my left and directed me to pull over by literally throwing a smaller flashing one onto my hood.  This was, I had just learned, how it’s done, but as it seemed unlikely that a lone driver could handle it without a passenger’s assistance, I surmised before complying that it must’ve been launched from a control inside.  It was a tight fit between two parked vehicles, but there was more on my mind, like exactly what I had done (I might’ve made an illegal turn at the last intersection, which would embarrass me in front of Mrs. Lin after making a big deal about Sheila having done the same just a week ago; or more likely, the cops were busting me for reading forbidden literature by hacking into my Kindle) and what I would do now that this town could go fuck itself.

Worse, when our business was concluded, the stress of the situation had gotten to me and I carelessly bumped the car behind me returning to the road.  It was a large old American sedan, the kind which we used to call boats, so given the difference in weight and amount of steel—had the elderly owner left it off the parking brake—the RAV4 should not caused it to roll away as it did.  In light of compounding my legal infractions insurance premium hikes, I chose to flee the woe that my life had become, and found salvation above: dark clouds collected unnaturally with a fringe of Kirby dots and aliens descended in the form of menacing red or blue bubbles, which apparently distinguished their genders.  They were slow enough for me to evade or shake off, but most everyone else, children, the mother-in-law included, got enveloped and carried away, their bodies used as hosts.  The human race would eventually evolve the power of flight to resist the invasion, or so the epilogue revealed.

As much as I enjoyed the HBO series, the books (I’ve Kindled the fifth, no less) have been a disappointment. I read them as spoilers more than anything, but if the following seasons are paced like this, author George R.R. Martin might have to take back what he said about Lost. Using the word “fuck” as an adverb is inexcusable for a Tolkien—and seeing Monty Python in so-called high fantasy is like Wayne’s World in myth—and only adds to my growing realization that the best of all things is behind us.

The Sony’s wore like how I imagine clip-on piercings would, and crapped out like the other $20 disposables, and while I was comforted by the thicker gauge of the Apple in-ear buds, their pendulous weight is unavoidable. So if not for this nagging cough, I’d be reporting back on these Sennheisers, whose cost I justify with an unheard-of two-year manufacturer’s warranty. Cords still look flimsy, exposed as they are in a wraparound track that’s twice the size of the Nike design, but I like how its first “section” is just the right length to my upper arm, and I can do without the rest. The question remains: can I even run anymore?

Funny how things turn out: the Stargate MMO never makes it, and STO lies unopened in my drawer. Story reminds me of Earth 2 (again), and I wonder how effective it’ll be in a persistent world, but I’m sold on Amazon’s pre-order bonus.

Last week’s experience with Redbox was the last straw: $1.07 (or $1.08, depending on where the higher taxes round to now) does not factor in the drive time and mileage between locations with faulty machines, 2/3 among the nearest Albertsons. A ratio only to worsen. So 老婆, she of the torrents and myself more at home on the Amazon, we decided finally to take the plunge—see what I’m doing here with the metaphors; it’d impress in high school English—and become a Netflix couple, which is surely some salient stage of household settlement.

I moved the Xbox to the big TV from the small monitor where it’d been running FFXI, and poorly at that, though the fault there’s less in the hardware than lazy programming from SquareEnix. That the app requires paid Gold membership, however, I’m not forgiving. Fuck them, a 48-hour code from 남재 proved streaming through Live (even with DD-WRT priority over a wired connection) is no superior to just hooking up my notebook on WiFi; in fact, Ping Pong Playa jumped after a ten-minute pause into YouTube resolution …speaking of which, that Jimmy Tsai sure looks like 송강호’s son. Oh, and those two White devils? Ted & Emmett from Queer as Folk.