04/26/21: Mortal Kombat & Murderbots
TLDR
Update: Second Jab
E/C/B: Impulse Chicken
Listening: Diceology by Jamal “Mad Jay” Brown
Reading: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
Watching: Mortal Kombat (2021)
End Notes: You can contact me at jadettman@gmail.com
THE UPDATE
This week I got my second Covid vaccination and the after-effects really kicked my butt. Pain, muscle aches, fever, chills, and (as a result) insomnia, which really sucked. Luckily, the worst of it passed within 24-hours but the effects of the insomnia and some lingering exhaustion really derailed me. Anyway, lots of rest kept me moving forward and I’m happy I got the vaccine, even with the side-effects.
EATING / COOKING / BAKING
We got a Costco membership last year and it’s been okay. I don’t know that it actually provides us with much of a savings for the things that we buy. What it has done is led to us eating more meat. Nothing epitomizes this more than Impulse Chicken: the roasted chickens that Costco cooks throughout the day and keep under heat lamps. They are an enticement that we frequently enjoy. They are tasty and they give us an easy night without a lot of cooking. And, since we only go to Costco once a month, it’s a nice treat.
We originally coined Impulse Chicken when we lived in Ithaca and did our grocery shopping at Wegmans. If you’ve never been to a Wegmans, you’re missing out. They are like a swankier Hyvee and that isn’t meant as dig on Hyvee.
LISTENING
Diceology by Jamal “Mad Jay” Brown is an interview show about gamers and games. Many of the gaming focused podcasts I listen to are about design or discovery, both interesting in their own ways, but Diceology is frequently about people. Mad Jay often just sits down and talks to a guest about themselves: why they became a gamer and what they like about games. Sometimes an episode will drop with a guest where they just talk about a game or an episode in which Mad Jay runs a game for his son, and that’s cool too.
Side note: I originally started listening to Diceology as Mad Jay was putting things out but quickly stopped because of some background noise issues. This time around, I picked things up a little later in the production and that is no longer a problem. Your mileage may vary.
https://www.diceology.com
READING
I’ve been re-reading The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells, lately. Most of the series is novellas, so far, though there is one novel from 2020 and another coming this year. This week I made it through the first three: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, and Rogue Protocol.
The series is about a SecUnit (a security cyborg) that is owned by a security company in a hyper-capitalist sector of space that rents them (the SecUnit) out for dangerous jobs. SecUnit has disabled its control software and just wants to spend its time watching tv shows. But they keep doing their job protecting the people that the company it assigns them to, too.
Eventually, of course, things go off the rails and our protagonist goes on various adventures. Looking back, I’ve made the series feel dry but, mainly, I just don’t want to spoil any of the fun if you decide to read them for yourself. I think they’re delightful.
And, if you’re interested in reading these, I have DRM-free epub copies that were given away by the publisher in the lead up to the novel’s release and I would be happy to send you copies.
https://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm
WATCHING
We watched the new Mortal Kombat movie when it became available on HBOMax, Friday. I have fond-ish memories of the original from the nineties and, I figured, what the heck. This movie is a mess.
Things I liked: Lots of asian and POC actors, updated special effects. Things I didn’t: plots that didn’t make sense, very little character development, and a distinct lack of an actual tournament.
So, going in, remember that the movie is called Mortal Kombat and is based on a notoriously bloody video-game. The movie is extremely bloody and gory. There is no good reason, story-wise, I figure it’s just because the studio figured that’s what fans would want.
That’s it. I don’t know that I have much else to say about this movie. Boy, it sure does exist.
Here’s my recommendation: if you’re going to watch one movie called Mortal Kombat, go watch the nineties version. It’s got a better soundtrack and, though it’s probably cheesier and the special effects may not be as cool, it at least has some heart to it.
END NOTES
If you’d like to send me some feedback or discuss one of the topics I’ve talked about here (or even a different topic), email me at jadettman@gmail.com
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