Movies, Shows, etc
Groundhog Day
Every year I think, “Hey, I should watch this again!” when February 2 rolls around. Then it either isn’t available on a free service, or I missed when it would air on cable. This year I finally did it! Probably the first time I’ve seen it all the way through since the mid–90s. I forgot how dark it gets for a long stretch. The final quarter feels very 90s, but, hey, that was the time.
A-
Beastie Boys (ASPCA Benefit Live Show) @ The Hiro Ballroom Oct. 4, 2006
AMAZING performance brought to my attention by Brother in Music E$.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
Powerful film about the bond people form during combat. And a reminder how fucked up everything about our war in Afghanistan was after the initial satisfaction of driving the Taliban from power.
B+
Spy Ops
This Netflix series about various intelligence service operations fell oddly flat with me. I’m not sure exactly what was missing, but something felt off about the entire thing.
B-
GoldenEye
I was browsing the DVDs at the library and found this. It’s been a few years since I’ve watched it. Once again it confirms that the Daniel Craig era kind of ruined most of the old Bond films.
B
Saturday Night
I watched this the night before the SNL 50 anniversary show. I really enjoyed its look at the 90 minutes before the first SNL broadcast in 1975. I haven’t read up on how much of it was accurate, but it was an enjoyable look inside how close they cut it with pretty much everything that first night.
A-
SNL 50
I wrote about this here.
A
Ferrari
I remember hearing, when this was first released, how it wasn’t what you expected it to be. That was certainly true. I understood exactly what Michael Mann was going for in this film. I’m not sure I understand his reasoning behind that, though. I was never sure that Adam Driver was speaking with an Italian accent, either. It seemed to drift into some kind of strange Italian-Eastern European mishmash. Penelope Cruz was terrific, though.
B
North By Northwest
Somehow I had never seen this, considered one of the greatest spy movies ever, even if it isn’t standard spy movie fare. It has that snappy dialogue common of its era, and also some scenes that stretch out far longer than they would if written and filmed today. Have I ever watched a Cary Grant film before? I’m not sure. He was fantastic, never taking himself too seriously. Eva Saint Marie? Yowsa! Although I did the math and she and Grant were nearly 20 years apart in age when they made this movie, which is a little cringey, if typical of Hollywood. An absolutely wild ending was the only thing that made this film feel super dated.
B+
Meru
This has been on my list for years and I honestly thought I had watched it, just not noted it. But when I started it to confirm, it was indeed new to me. The usual harrowing mountain climbing movie, complete with multiple brushes with death and a truly remarkable final ascent.
A-
No Reservations
I ran across a blurb how the old Anthony Bourdain shows were the perfect anecdote to both the state of the world, and state of TV these days. It noted how No Reservations was available on Prime Video. So I knocked out the first three episodes of season one over a couple nights, with the plan to slowly work through the series as I had time over the coming months. When I went to watch episode four, they had mostly disappeared from Prime. Which was weird, as this was in the middle of the month, not at the beginning or end, when shows usually drop off. Alas, it will show up again at some point and I’ll work through it then. Even with AB not fully locked into the persona nor the show into its eventual format, it was indeed a wonderful reminder of how great this was.
A
Homeland
Over the years several friends asked if I watched this show, as it seemed right up my alley. My answer was always no because we never had Showtime during the show’s initial run, and I wasn’t sure what platform it was on in more recent years. I was also daunted by there being eight seasons or whatever. But I recently saw it was on Hulu, and read that, really, only the first two seasons are essential, so I jumped in.
Terrific show. There is a little clunkiness in the middle episodes, but generally it started hot and stayed there. And the final three episodes are nuts, in the best possible way. I’ll definitely be watching season two and then go from there.
A
Pearl Jam – Chicago – Wrigley Field Night 2 – 2024/08/31
I watched night one last month, made sense to watch night 2 this month.
A
Pearl Jam – Self Pollution Radio 01/08/1995 – Full Broadcast
I skimmed through this, listening only to the PJ songs. What a time.
A-
Shorts, YouTubes, etc
WarGames (1983): 20 Things You Never Knew!
Probably the least interesting and informative of these I’ve watched, but there are still some good nuggets in it.
Will Ferrell Breaking People on SNL for 5 Minutes Straight
Shouldn’t the Jimmy Fallon ones not count, since he broke in every sketch he was ever in?
Matt Damon Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
George Clooney Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
Samuel L. Jackson Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
I can’t get enough of these. I also just wait for YouTube to spit them out at me rather than seek new ones. That makes it kind of fun to see who pops up and when they hit my feed.
Matt Damon & Casey Affleck Curse Like True Bostonians
Not as much cussing as the title promised.
U.S. Deploys Socially Awkward Men Along Border To Deter Migrants | Onion News Network
Genius!
Inside Daniel Craig’s Iconic James Bond Watch Collection
“Things I Would Steal” for $400, Ken.
Watch Shopping With Marc From Long Island Watch: Building The Best Collection
Restoration of an Omega Flightmaster – Crazy Transformation
Restoration of a Rusty Omega Seamaster Professional watch – Severe Water Damage
Yeah, so I added a new watch to my collection this month, thus tweaked my algorithm with a bunch of watch vids. These restoration ones are oddly soothing and fascinating.
Why the South China Sea is a time bomb
Just one of many reasons…
F*ck your wallet, go travel.
Good advice. I wish I would have taken it in my 20s.
100 Days of Solo Travel in 3 Minutes
Again, to be young, unencumbered, and motivated…
How This New York Times Bestselling Author Perfected His Daily Morning Routine
I may start following this plan to see if it elevates my blog readership.
Driving the World’s Longest Road: Our Epic Journey Begins
Alaska to the Yukon: The Most Breathtaking Views on Top of the World Highway
I tried this series but after two episodes I just wasn’t into it that much.
We Landed in the SECRET World of Bhutan
Then you have this video about one of the most isolated countries in the world and the host could not be cheesier, which kind of ruined it for me.
I used 1950s technology for a week
Fun concept but this guy is 35% too goofy for my tastes.
Indianapolis, Indiana | John McGivern’s Main Streets
A look at my favorite part of Indy, Mass Ave.
I drove my lifted porsche 1500km through New Zealand
More travel than car related, and it’s not an EV, so this goes into this section.
Fighter Jet Low Level in Norway 4K
Film this for IMAX and name your price, I will pay it.
THE LAST CRUISE IRAQ – F14 VIDEO
One of the odder, while also delightfully dated, jet videos I’ve come across.
Top 30 90s Rock Songs You Forgot Were Awesome
Top 30 Cheesiest One Hit Wonders of the 1990s
There are a few interesting/odd choices in these, but still probably several songs that you haven’t heard in years and will send you to the streamer of your choice to revisit in full.
We Put DIRT Host Josh Rosen in the Huckberry Hot Seat | Ask Huckberry
The next DIRT location is revealed here, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Why There’s a Straight Line Through Scotland
Why are so many countries called Guinea?
Why the Dutch always say what they mean
Fun with maps!
Pro Designer Turns an Abandoned NYC Loft into His Dream Apartment | Architectural Digest
This is gorgeous and all, but tell me what the budget was.
Building an official “Stealth” Apple IIgs
Geek powers being used for good.
Miracle on Ice Highlights
Never a bad time to re-watch this, which is now 45 years old!
Car Content
I Spent 10 Days In China Testing Electric Cars! Here’s What Happened
Onvo L60 Is The First Serious Tesla Model Y Competitor I’ve Driven
First Chinese EV Road Trip! Quick NIO Drive From Hefei To Hongzhou
Ultra Luxury NIO ET9 First Look & Full Tour! The Next Chapter Of Chinese EV Engineering
Shanghai To Beijing EV Road Trip! Fast Charging & Battery Swapping Through China In The NIO ET7
The Out of Spec crew traveled to China to see what the EV landscape is like there. In short, it’s pretty amazing. Thanks to a variety of reasons, the US pissed away its clear lead in the battery race over the past few years. And thanks to a different variety of reasons, Chinese car manufacturers have leapt ahead of pretty much every US manufacturer other than Tesla. Now they are making amazing cars that are cheaper than anything built in the US and pushing the battery side of the equation forward faster than we are. Naturally tarriffs, rather than innovation and government support, are the answer. 🤦♂️
Rivian Gen 2 Refresh – It’s the Little Things
OK, I like their trajectory. We just need to get the R2 manufacturing lines cranking, iron out the first gen issues, and have them available and affordable in the spring of 2027.
Tesla’s Monitor Everything—Including You
The future of all autos, sadly.
Photography
Sony vs Leica vs Hasselblad Photos
Corky Lee’s quest for “photographic justice”
Roots & Ranches
My weird love for the Fujifilm XT3 (not buying the Fuji XT5, for now)
What’s the BEST focal length? 28mm? 35mm? 50mm?
50mm Prime Lens ONLY Challenge: What I Discovered
Podcasts
The Rest Is Classified
Former BBC security reporter Gordon Corera and former CIA agent and current author of terrific spy books David McCloskey dive into famous stories from the history of espionage. Like its sister pod, The Rest Is History, it is equal parts informative and entertaining. There isn’t a specific website for the show, but you can easily find it on the platform of your choice.