While it might fall under the purview of invasion of privacy, I wish my phone could read my mind or at the very least understand my intent. Tapping the screen incessantly for even basic interactions feels too wasteful for me to do, all of the time. If it could just detect where my eyes were glancing and tap with the blink of my eye that would be just perfect
Name one thing you wish your cell phone did for you that it currently does not.
When Dark Season 1 first came out on Netflix in 2017 I was expecting it to be a slightly darker version of Stranger Things.
What it actually turned out to be was something certainly not for kids. There were no monsters besides people themselves. Everything wrapped around the central conceit of time travel. But what made it extraordinary was how far the show was willing to push things.
It juggled time-lines and a vast number of characters with the assured confidence that viewers would be able to cope up. The twists and turns kept coming and by the end of the season I was a fan. Dark was actually far stranger than I could have imagined. It was also a lavishly mounted production with the highlight being the choice of music and tracks that were used throughout the season.
This Season introduces more characters, more revelations, weaving a more complex web this time around. Once again it manages to go even further with the time travel tropes and paradoxes. Only the soundtrack choices felt a little disappointing this time around. Peter Gabriel’s My Body Is A Cage was a powerful song for any finale. It worked well here but that amazing song has been used too much before which lessened it’s impact for me here. Still this one of the best shows on Netflix right now. Also as a suggestion for anyone planning to watch this. Keep the original German audio. The English voice somehow detracted from the mood of the show for me.
In the end, she was the only one,
Because before her there were none,
The first time I laid my eyes on her,
Even the colour of her dress I failed to remember,
Many days passed by and I heard nothing,
Then she called and I knew there was something,
As our conversations got longer and longer,
I knew a year later, she was to be my forever
Based on the writing prompt
If you wrote a song about your love life, what would the title be? Write the first verse
The first time I became familiar with the Chernobyl incident was the year 2007, the much-anticipated game Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl came out. At the time, however, just having started working and as a single guy with a lot of free time on his hands all I cared about was playing the game. Soaking up the atmosphere and completing its missions. Beyond that, I have no memory of me ever researching up on Chernobyl. In the years after the game came out, I never played games of the nature much. While the atmosphere it generated was extremely good, it also meant it was bleak and lonely as hell.
Enter June 2019 and I see HBO’s Chernobyl being mentioned everywhere. The thing was I never really lost interest in finding out more about what happened at Chernobyl. I just hadn’t chosen the right medium to understand it. Also, the game I was playing came out in 2007. I am more than a decade older. Perhaps I am more receptive of this kind of subject matter.
This 5 part mini-series is a must-watch for several reasons. It feels extremely authentic and well researched. From the very first episode right until its last it is relentlessly grim and uncompromising. It tries to tell its story sticking as close to what they could have established as fact. It never tries to take sides. I have never had a series show me so clearly as many aspects of a catastrophe as they have managed to do here in just 5 hours.
By the end of it, I actually understood the basics of how a nuclear reactor works. The incredible sacrifices that scientists can make to ensure that the truth can emerge. The lengths that a state and its government can go to preserve their image in the eyes of the world. All of the efforts that went into ensuring that the nuclear accident did not escalate. The lateral effects of the disaster, not just those who died but all of those who had to leave their homes at short notice, to never return. To say any more would spoil what is actually a gripping tale full of unease and tension that never lets up.
Bandersnatch the interactive episode was the last Black Mirror content that was released before this season. While it was an interesting experiment, it never felt like a true Black Mirror episode to me. So I was excited about the new season and looking forward to more of what I call tech dystopia.
The first episode “Striking Vipers” did not disappoint. Its a bold and unexpected exploration of what infidelity could actually mean in the future. Its also a great example of how deep the divide between emotional love and physical lust can be. This episode felt like classic Black Mirror, which means it gives you plenty to think about once the credits have rolled.
This was a somewhat middling episode that started out interesting. The presence of a star cast that includes Topher Grace and Andrew Scott of Sherlock fame lends some weight to the episode. By the end of it all however the end episode goes nowhere interesting and the motivation of the central character seems weak at best. Â An episode that never says anything meaningful. So while the performances are quite good, it leads to a very ordinary end.
The presence of Miley Cyrus added nothing of value to this episode for me. I felt like I was watching a teen pop star comedy movie of some kind. What should have at least been a strong end to the season instead left me with the feeling that shows creators have finally begun to run out of ideas.
I don’t eat fish. It’s just the way I always thought of the ideal European village.
I will admit that when I first read about this podcast on The Verge article what caught my attention was Rami Malek’s association with it. The setup might seem familiar. A power blackout that begins to affect the inhabitants of a small town. The production quality is top notch and the cast of characters engaging as well. Rami does give a fine performance as the main protagonist who is also a father to two children. It took a little time to get used to this role because he plays a much younger character on his TV show Mr Robot and that was how I was visualizing him every time that I heard his voice. Learn more about the show here
Once the credits for Avengers: End Game had begun to roll by, my primary feeling was one of exhaustion. As good as Marvel’s superhero movies have been I felt like I couldn’t take another one of these for a long time to come.
It also reminded me of one of my all-time favourite superhero movies. The first Spiderman starring Tobey Maguire. I very rarely watch movies twice in the theatre. The original Spiderman and Return of the King are the only ones.
Spiderman may very well be considered a product of its time but for me, it’s one of the few which holds up even today. It had the awesome visuals and the requisite set pieces that we have come to expect of all superhero movies today. It was also full of a heart and soul. A hero that looked very different from the ones that you see today.
When it comes to movies I have a rather weak memory when it comes to its individual scenes. When it comes to Spiderman despite having last watched it more than a decade ago I vividly remember so many of its specific scenes.
If you fell down a rabbit hole, what do you think you’d find?
I found myself falling further and further until I landed with a thud on a bed. I looked up to see a little boy staring at me with a blank expression. I looked up. Apparently I fallen through some kind of a chimney. Why was it above a bed?
Far beneath the earth’s surface, further than we have ever tried to go there seems to exists an undergroud version of our world. How do they manage to survive here? Do they get their air via the rabbit holes extending all the way to the earth’s surface. Do the rabbits and underhumans as I have chosen to call them, co-operate to ensure each other’s survival?
The rabbit bring them air via their tunnels while the underhumans ensure that they have a steady supply of carrots.
If you have found this message and bothered to read it in its entirety, then you and I both believe in serendipity. This message does not reveal an extraordinary secret from the past or a clue to the future. All it is is a message in a bottle. An ordinary message. It’s the fact that you found it, that is extraordinary. All I ask of you is to write your own message and pass it on to the one who will find this same bottle. We may have passed on by then. We will always, however, be connected by our words until the very end of time.
