December 1, 2024

The ChangeLog – November 2024

I am writing this issue of The ChangeLog on November 29th, two days after I "won" this year NaNoWriMo. Therefore, given the circumstances and the time I spent just writing, this post will probably be a reduced version. (Note from the future: is actually 1400 words, so not so reduced, after all.)

I have to say that winning a NaNoWriMo is not really a challenge anymore. I have a reliable and proved strategy: I start strong so that I can reduce the required amount of words to a manageable daily amount, and then use that momentum to glide over the finish line with a reasonable effort. Every time, I deplete my stamina around November 20th, but at that point I can just sail off with 500 words a day (that is, in around 30 or 40 minutes, if I know what to write about).

If not for the challenge, why do I put myself through all this? For two reasons. First, it teaches me how much work I can safely handle. I cannot write all year with a pace of 2000 daily words, but I can easily do 500/800 and some editing. That's good to know. When you tackle any big project, you need to know your "competition pace." Remember: it is a marathon, not a sprint.

Second reason to do a NaNoWriMo: it is a way to spawn a lot of ideas. There is no other way that gives me so many unrelated and interesting ideas than to write about something else. Many of them happen when I am bored with what I am writing and my crazy brain tells me "it would be much better if we wrote about XYZ." It works like a clock.

Anyway, other this November has been okay. Focusing on something else helps not to spiral down¹.

But I mostly did two things: I wrote, watched sports, and enjoyed random entertainment.

Housekeeping

I am changing a bit the structure of my blog. I’d like to merge the various navigation sections for books, games, projects. At the moment, they are just an outdated mess. I need to clean them up.

Reading

This month I only read one book. I think. I may have read minor things I didn't track as I was in the wildest part of November's writing.

Anyhow, I am re-reading The Lord of the Ring. Or, to say it better, I am listening to it. I am listening to the audiobook recorded by Andy Serkis (of Gollum fame) and it is very cool, but also very long. I only completed The Fellowship of the Ring and just started The Two Towers.

Watchlist

I had less time for full movies, so I had to limit myself to only six (two of them, I technically watched before November 1st). But I have to say, I nailed the quality over quantity ratio.

The Fall Guy (2024)

I got into this movie with no expectation. I didn't particularly want to see it, but it was on my watchlist and I had nothing better to do, so why not?

And I had way more fun than I expected, and this is probably the movie I randomly recommended more in the last couple of weeks.

Ryan Gosling takes on the role of a stuntman once again. This time he is in love with an emerging director (Emily Blunt). The result is a weird but well crafted mix between a romantic comedy, a thriller and a very exaggerated action movie.

Besides all that, this is a movie that loves cinema and a well-deserved tribute to the uncelebrated heroes of the media: the stunt crew.

It is not "absolute cinema," but it is a well-spent couple of hours.

Kuroneko (1968)

Kuroneko (original title, Yabu no Naka no Kuroneko, "A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove") is another wonderful Kaneto Shindo masterpiece. It is very similar to the other Shindo's movie I watched (Onibaba - 1964) and, at the same time, very different.

They both talk about war and the brutal effect of war. Once again, it is a touching story of pain, love, vengeance and ghosts. But while the first had an almost "neo-realistic" take, this one is very theatrical. The dances, the use of the spotlight, everything is a tribute to Kabuki Theatre's performances.

And there is a black cat on screen quite often. So that's a plus!

All the rest

The other movies I watched are:

• The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). One of the most famous Roger Corman's comedy-horror movie. It was shot in only three days. It is fun, but you can tell.

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). A wonderful remake, very disturbing, much more than the original. But somehow the original felt better. Probably because the remake errs a bit on the too-long side.

• Rogue One A Star Wars Story (2016). Sometimes, I think Star Wars movie are a social experiment designed to see how many times they can make the same movie with slightly different characters before people really start to notice. To be fair, the last 20 minutes are good. But too little, too late, imho.

• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Finally. It is a Deadpool movie, and I think I have some problem with those. But it is a good one. But I wonder how we will rewatch these movies in 20 years when all the meta-irony will be lost in the sand of times.

A lot of series

Maybe it is because they are bit-sized and I could squeeze through some episode in between writing sessions, but I've completed a good amount of series.

So, this is a recap:

• I have completed Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building. I always like the "funny Agatha Christie vibes" of this series. Maybe they put too much meat on the fire this season. But it was fine. I love the trio.

• I watched Penguin (2024). It is brutal, man. Cristin Milioti performance was something else.

• I finished Aghata all Along (2024). I'll be honest, I was pretty bored until the half point. The trials trope was really meh. But I am glad I stick around because the last half, especially the last three episodes, were absolutely great.

• I also, like mostly, watched Season 2 of Arcane and I'll probably recover from all that emotional damage in a year or so. It is a stunning work of animation. Stunning.

And I am continuing with Kobra Kai from time to time. It is getting weaker, more soap-opera-like maybe, but it still makes some banger episode. So let's see.

Music

Not a lot to say on the music side. More progressive rock, and a lot of Quincy Jones (RIP).

Gaming

I had no time to touch a gamepad, I'm sorry.

Other Interesting Things

• 📝 The overdesign trap of game design. A short nice article on an important topic: the pitfalls game developers face when they overcomplicate or excessively innovate their designs, often to the detriment of the gameplay experience. I need to go back to talk about game design more 🤔.

• 📝 The Free Web. Jay Hoffmann writes a small piece on something crucial and close to my heart: you have to put yourself on the free web. Have a blog. Write a web page. Edit a Wikipedia article.

• 📝 For The Love of God, Make Your Own Website. On the same topic: an article on why it is important to have your own place on the web.

Conclusions

And here we are! After a quite focused November, I plan on enjoying the December's vibes. After all, I really like Christmas and the Christmas lights, and the Christmas songs, and the Christmas foods, and the ugly sweaters and so on.

Unfortunately, my family is more on the side of "OMG, NO! IT IS CHRISTMAS AGAIN." So, I think my Christmas experience is better summarized by the closing image.

But I don't care. Nervertheless, I'll vibe.

See you next month. And next year.