3 min read

Friday, March 10, 2023

Last week was a rough one. How was I to know that so many of my followers have terrible opinions about charcuterie? I even heard from a lardo apologist. That's just pig fat!

I'm sure this week will go better, as there's nothing objectionable to be found herein.

Cover of "Minesweeper" by Kyle Orland, described herein

There's this company that publishes little books about old video games. The books are short but well-reported and make for a fun afternoon on the couch. I've tackled a bunch of these (a few of my past favorites are Katamari Damacy, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and GoldenEye 007). You've already missed the Kickstarter but the next round of games they're covering is all hits, no skips: PaRappa the Rapper, Minesweeper, Day of the Tentacle, and Animal Crossing. I'm at least somewhat interested in all of these but by sheer number of hours spent right-clicking, Minesweeper may be my all-time most-played video game – don't ask me how long it took me to beat it on expert without flagging mines – so I'm especially looking forward to that one.

Ars Technica published an excerpt from Kyle Orland's Minesweeper book, focused on Microsoft's creation of the game and its subsequent ensorcellment of Bill Gates, with some tangents on Reversi, Solitaire, and Flight Simulator. If you find the excerpt (or the topic) at all interesting I recommend tracking down the book when it's published. And if you have fond memories of any of these games from previous rounds, you can buy the books about them in physical or digital format on the Boss Fight Games site.

Item 2: a list

2023 MLB uniforms, ranked

  1. Los Angeles Dodgers
  2. Philadelphia Phillies
  3. Chicago Cubs
  4. Oakland A’s
  5. New York Mets
  6. New York Yankees
  7. St. Louis Cardinals
  8. Kansas City Royals
  9. San Diego Padres
  10. Baltimore Orioles
  11. Milwaukee Brewers
  12. Seattle Mariners
  13. Toronto Blue Jays
  14. Pittsburgh Pirates
  15. Detroit Tigers
  16. Texas Rangers
  17. Cincinnati Reds
  18. Minnesota Twins
  19. Boston Red Sox
  20. San Francisco Giants
  21. Washington Nationals
  22. Colorado Rockies
  23. Miami Marlins
  24. Houston Astros
  25. Chicago White Sox
  26. Los Angeles Angels
  27. Cleveland Guardians
  28. Arizona Diamondbacks
  29. Tampa Bay Rays
  30. Atlanta Braves

Item 3: a media recommendation

Gorillaz (I like the new album! but this song is from 2001) - Man Research (Clapper)

Item 4: word of the week

Spikenard

Item 5: a photograph

Parvizyar Design Mart - 8500 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA (1986) - via Tumblr

See ya!

Thanks for reading... oh, here are my Oscars picks (not predictions) for the feature film categories:

  • Best Picture: Tár (honorable mention: Everything Everywhere All at Once)
  • Directing: The Daniels, Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Actress in a leading role: Andrea Risebor- jk, jk. Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
  • Actor in a leading role: Paul Mescal, Aftersun (why isn't Ke Huy Quan up for best actor?)
  • Actress in a supporting role: Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Actor in a supporting role: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Original screenplay: Tár
  • Adapted screenplay: Top Gun: Maverick
  • Cinematography: Tár
  • Editing: Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Production design: Babylon
  • Costume Design: Everything Everywhere All At Once
  • Makeup and hairstyling: I don't know. Let's throw Elvis a bone.
  • Visual effects: Avatar: The Way of Water
  • Animated feature: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
  • International feature: Close
  • Documentary feature: haven't seen any of these but I hear good things about All the Beauty and Bloodshed...
  • Original score: The Fabelmans
  • Original song: "Naatu Naatu" - RRR
  • Sound: Top Gun: Maverick

Okay, see you next week.

Published by:

Jacob Wolman

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