Dudes, what’s your favorite gun scene in a movie?

The after-robbery gunfight in Heat. It accurately depicts small-squad tactics used during a fighting retreat, and is very cognizant of space and how much ammo the weapons in question can actually hold. It also has unparalleled (especially for the time) sound design and it is visceral and cohesive in a way that movie gunfights almost never achieve.

That scene is a masterclass in blocking, cinematography, direction and editing. I am very glad I got to see that film in the theater.

Why would a random baby point at you and cry hysterically?

Perhaps because I just hit it with a flamethrower blast two seconds before? Could be, could be.

No One Will Save You movie review (2023).

This is pretty much my read of the film — it had a lot of potential, completely and utterly squandered by inept plotting, editing, and its lack of a general sense of what was important. Kaitlyn Dever is a damn gem, though, and she’s the only reason I watched this one to the end. If it’d been another actor I probably would’ve quit it.

It’s particularly exasperating when a film with such potential ends up disappointing — you see what it could’ve been and that makes it all the worse in juxtaposition.

I did really enjoy that the film had almost no dialogue. That worked quite well because Kaitlyn is so in control as an actor, and so expressive. The lack of talking accentuated the tension and the clarity of her actions while giving no opportunity for pointless exposition. The sound design was also thoughtful and I began paying more attention to that than the poor film decisions when the protagonist was not highlighted in the frame.

Apart from (but contributing to) the movie itself, I also appreciate that Kaitlyn still looks like a normal human being — sure, a pretty one, but normal pretty. She has not gotten extensive plastic surgery unlike most working actors today. She still has the same big nose she did a a kid acting on Justified years ago, and the same face, just grown. That makes it easier to connect with her and her performance, that she does not look like an operating-table-curated creation.

If you like great acting and good sound design and can overlook an extremely flawed film, watch this. Otherwise, avoid.

This is how it be:

My tech skills are pretty good, but my people skills are quite high level especially for a tech person. This makes me a fucking gold-plated valuable-ass unicorn in my field. I can get on a call with a customer and my boss doesn’t have to worry about me doing or saying bizarre crap, being generally weird, or alienating that customer in some other way. Over 90% of tech people simply cannot be trusted this way.

It also makes me able to schmooze with execs which means they think of me first when it comes time for promotion — especially since I already have leadership skills (polite way of saying I am bossy — have no trouble telling people what to do). But yeah, if you’re in tech and have good people skills you are doing better than nearly everyone and your path is cleared by general competence.

The first ten on today’s playlist:

Don’t give them ideas; there are already too many nasty “milks” out on the market. Almond milk is a vile abomination.

It’s weird all the bizarro-world excuses people use for being fat and out of shape.

Just say that you like to eat a lot and don’t want to do anything about it. It’s fine. It’s true. There was a fat guy at an old job and he said, “I”m fat because I like to eat and don’t like to work out. And I plan to stay this way.”

I can respect that. That’s an intellectually valid position to hold and is just fine. But the whole “I’m fat despite eating only 500 calories a day and exercising for 10 hours a day” is just complete bullshit that I don’t even think they expect anyone to believe. It’s just mood affiliation hopefulness. Or the similar “I’m fat because Kraft and Nestlé told me to be and I have no choice” is just as bad. How exactly is that supposed to be a defense?

If you want to be fat, just be fat. Who gives a rip. Just don’t make up transparently obvious baloney about it.

Never did see this live performance. That’s a really hard song. Damn impressive.

I get recruiters contacting me constantly. I usually ignore and/or block them but one sends jobs that are actually applicable mostly, so I let his emails through and even look at them sometimes. But today, unlike most of the time, I did respond with this:

I am not in the area any longer, but thanks for the offer. I also don’t accept any roles that are not fully remote. My skillset is too valuable to compromise on that and companies that don’t offer remote work especially in the tech space are only going to get mediocre people in the future.

It probably won’t help push back against the RTO nonsense promulgated by MBAs, but it’s something. I have not yet gotten a reply from the recruiter.

What I said was not inaccurate about my skillset, but I wanted to put it deliberately arrogantly so that it’d sting a little and he’d think about it more and perhaps mention it to someone. I am good at that kinda shit; I’ve studied propaganda and related for a long time now.

The first ten on today’s playlist:

I have so many tabs open in Safari it keeps whacking out and needs smacking about. Don’t even talk to me about Firefox. They don’t even make numbers that high.

Why do I live this way?

When Americans Lose Weight on Indulgent European Vacations, What Gives?

Two reasons, both obvious:

1) You tend to walk more in Europe. Anywhere in the West outside the US is much friendlier to pedestrians and walking is often the easier and more pleasant option.

2) Food in Europe is much higher quality and usually not as processed so you need far less of it to feel satiated.

The US has the worst food in the world outside of Mongolia and we seem to not even care. We resolutely follow the “cheap slop piled high” model even in the face of clearly-superior alternatives.

Experts say don’t rinse your dishes. We put that advice to the test.

Perhaps we’ve just had shitty dishwashers over the years, but if we don’t rinse the dishes beforehand most of them will be dirty after the dishwasher does its thing.

It probably matters that there are only two of us and we don’t run the dishwasher often — on average, once a week. That’s a lot of time for food to get really encrusted on things. If it’s a larger family situation where the dishwasher gets run once a day it’ll probably do an ok job. Also, we do rentals which (as nodded to above) tend to have substandard and/or abused dishwashers.

Given the average family size these days the “don’t pre-rinse” advice, though, is probably wrong for a lot of people.

The first ten on today’s playlist:

I really wish feminism had ended up better than it has. Despite its achievements, in the past decade and more it has failed to focus on what it should such as preventing the loss of abortion and contraceptive access for all women. Meanwhile, the movement has become inundated with weird prudish neo-puritans who both infantilize women (tee-hee) and demonize men primarily via pointless social media posturing.

This focus on the exact wrong things destroyed any chance of keeping Roe as well as making many men (like me) who in the past have been extremely supportive of feminism pull back from it. No, I am not becoming an incel or a manosphere member, but I’m also not a sex-crazed demon and I don’t think any woman under 45 is or should be treated like a fragile baby.

Whatever that is, that ain’t for me and I won’t have anything to do with it.