CanofWorms
2mo ago
Considering how small potatoes this is compared to the endless scandals coming out of the White House, I’m not surprised this hasn’t become a big story.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
Thanks for complaining. I am exposed to way too any influencers and beautiful people online having the time of their lives getting paid to take photos of themselves, spend money, and be hot. Granted much of this is as fake as the porn industry, but it's hard to remember than when you're sitting in a cubicle working on Excel spreadsheets.
I am an engineering manager working for a renewable energy construction company and I have utter dread every time I go into the office. COVID was actually a godsend for me as it changed my working pattern from being 8AM to 5PM every day in office (with a horrendous commute) to 2 or three days in the office per week and no one checking what time I show up. It is so much more tolerable being able to work from home the majority of the time. But those days in the office, I experience so much anxiety and negative feelings it's almost physically painful. It's not so much that I dislike the work (though I do), but the fact I'm held in that office with boring-ass engineers sitting behind a computer all day long. Even typing this out increases my heart rate.
Anyway, you have my solidarity.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
He clearly didn't play high school sports or you would realize very quickly the men's team would steamroll the women's team in any sport.
CanofWorms
1mo ago
This movie reminded me of the line Billy Crystal made at the 2003 Oscars about LOTR Return of the King. "It was nominated for eleven Oscars...for its eleven endings!"
CanofWorms
1mo ago
They don't call me Barry Poppins for nothing!
CanofWorms
4mo ago
These aren't contradictions to me. All things considered, DOGE is cutting peanuts from the federal budget and is unlikely to make even a small dent in the annual deficit. They big leagues don't start until they start cutting Social Security, Medicare, and the defense budget.
At the same time, these cuts may end up being fairly devastating. I don't know that they will be devastating enough to send us into a recession, but they may really gum up the works for people who truly rely on government services. The other thing is with all these cuts to the IRS, it seems likely to me that tax receipts will be much lower this year than in years past, thus contributing even more to the deficit.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
Took a few months off reading, but I’m back! Going between Grant by Ron Chernow and Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. I’m also listening to the audiobook Incidents Around The House.
So far the most interesting thing about Grant is how absolutely mediocre his life was up until the breakout of the Civil War. He was essentially a 38 year borderline alcoholic (with long strings of sobriety) shopkeeper who went from being a nobody to running the military within 3 years. Wild stuff.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
Croissants are f-ing incredible. I used to be anti-croissant because of how messy and crumbly they are. I preferred a muffin or a bagel, something that caused far less of a mess. But after trying some outstanding croissants, I am a huge advocate. Croissants in Europe are particularly delectable, it’s hard to find anything in the US that rivals pastries from Italy or France.
If you live in the US and have access to Trader Joe’s, they sell sliced sourdough bread that is excellent toasted and combined with TJs cultured salted butter. The butter is the key, it’s honestly the best bang for your buck delicious butter you can buy, and this combo makes a great snack or dinner pairing.
CanofWorms
4mo ago
Fred Trump (Donald's father) live to 93 and Mary Trump (Donald's mother) lived to 88. Going back through the Trump family tree, many of his ancestors had higher than average lifespans. Considering Donald doesn't drink or smoke and that he walks and moves around very regularly, I find it highly doubtful that he kicks the bucket before his term is up.
CanofWorms
2mo ago
This is an interesting one. 26 years is a long time to pass to have someone come out of the blue and try to make a claim on your inheritance. In my opinion, it would be fair for Yale's estate to get a small piece of sale price, but half would be far too much. Something in the realm of 10% seems more fair to me. 0% also seems fair to me, but I wouldn't quibble if he was awarded 10%.
True Detective Night Country
There is a culture war internet discourse happening around HBO’s newest show True Detective Night Country. The discourse can generally be summed up as follows: HBO newest show TD Night Country is the 4th season of an anthology mystery/crime miniseries. The first season came out ten years ago and it starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as two detectives searching for a killer in Louisiana. The plot does not particularly matter, but the show is widely viewed as one of the greatest single seasons of TV ever. Speaking for myself, I agree with this assessment. I return to it every few years and I am still impressed at how good the acting, story, and cinematography are.
Fast forward ten years…two mediocre seasons (2 and 3) were released, and HBO announced the release of True Detective Season 4, co-named Night Country. Season 4 stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as two detectives unravelling a murder mystery in Alaska and people were very, very excited for this season. Prior to release, Night Country received overwhelming critical reception from TV critics. It currently has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score (RT can be gamed, but the 93% score shows the general reception).
I was also very excited for this show. Critics were calling it the best season of True Detective since season 1; some were even saying it was better than season 1. With these very lofty expectations, I watched the show as it was released, week by week.
By episode two, I knew this show had problems. By episode four, I knew it just wasn’t very good. By episodes 5 and 6, I was hate watching. Many people have reviewed and discussed the show’s problems much more eloquently than I. This video is quite good and sums up the many many problems the show has:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y2TCOd_YZF4
What I will say is that the show is simply…boring. It is a six-hour miniseries and at least 70% of the show is filled with boring relationship drama (the remaining 30% being focused on the actual…criminal investigation). The characters are uninteresting, low stakes, and unlikeable. The easter eggs paying homage to season 1 are like a frying pan to the face in their obviousness. The story carries no emotional weight, has major plot holes, and the ending is unsatisfying and bewildering. It’s bad. I would not recommend this show to anyone.
Now here is where the culture war comes into play. Online, fans of the True Detective series are panning the series. Go check out the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is a paltry 61%. The True Detective subreddit is especially critical of the show. People are especially disappointed and confused given how critically hyped it was before its release.
But what has happened is that many critics, podcasters, even Issa Lopez, the director, are blaming the backlash on sexism and misogyny. They say that male fanboys of season 1 are brigading review sites and review bombing the show. They are saying that the viewers dislike the show because it features two women lead detectives and that viewers can’t stand the lack of masculinity that was so integral to season 1. Even the professional critics who have dared to post their negative opinions on Twitter are being called misogynistic.
The problem with this read is that…the show sucks. It’s just not good for all of the reasons I’ve listed above. It’s extremely frustrating to see people called misogynistic and “anti-woke” for criticizing a show with two women leads. I find it particularly unfair because other detective shows with women leads, such as Mare of Eastown or Sharp Objects, were fantastic. It didn’t receive the critical backlash because those shows were actually good. We now exist in a bizarre universe where a magazine like Rolling Stone overwhelmingly praises the show while a magazine like Forbes pans it.
I’m not one who normally gets involved in the culture war, but I found this discourse particularly egregious. I don’t know what the future of this series holds, but I’m hoping someone at HBO sees the light.
Update: Issa Lopez has been hired to write and direct season 5 of True Detective. Whoosh.
CanofWorms
2mo ago
Nice piece. Very DFW-esque.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
On number 1, I don't think less immigration will have anything to do with LA home prices. Illegal immigrants (and most legal immigrants for that matter) are not purchasing multimillion dollar homes in Los Angeles.
On number 2, I do think house prices are still adjusting to higher interest rates and that means prices still have further to fall. The problem is this doesn't apply to all geographies; California in particular is its own fucked-up brand of real estate. Rent control, the continuation of Prop 13, and horrendous inability to build new housing in CA skew the market so badly, higher or lower interest rates seem almost a non-factor. Now with that said, if you think a recession is likely in the next few years, which I think is a real possibility, I would expect mortgage rates to fall as the fed cuts rates. So while you may not see home prices fall, you can end up with a 4 or 5% mortgage rate instead of a 6 or 7% one.
My prediction: home prices in CA stay flat or fall very slightly. Buyers are priced out due to price leaving a smaller pool of buyers able to afford homes. However, the demand for LA real estate is so strong, even this limited pool of buyers will keep prices propped up. That, coupled with the low tax rates caused by Prop 13 (and the downstream effect of homeowner's not needing to sell due to low tax rates and thus limiting the supply) keeps prices steady. I do think tariffs and the chaos of the Trump admin may cause economic damage leading to rate cuts, so you may be able to snag a cheaper mortgage.
But who knows. California real estate is insane and we're living in a wild political time. If you have the money today, I wouldn't necessarily try to time the market. Just buy the house you can afford in the area you want to live in. Or rent. Renting in CA is an awesome deal compared to anywhere else in the US.
CanofWorms
6mo ago
I went to an in-person ACX meetup for the first time today. I didn't find it too awkward and actually really enjoyed the conversation. I was surprised that many of the attendees had either never heard of The Motte or only had a very passing familiarity with it.
CanofWorms
3mo ago
It's different. Kerrygold butter, to me, tastes like any normal butter. Trader Joe's carries two types of butter: their normal "typical" butter (for which Kerrygold would be a one-to-one replacement) and their specialty cultured butter. The Trader Joe's cultured salted butter (comes in blue packaging) is better than any butter I've ever had.
CanofWorms
6mo ago
Have you ever read A Supposedly Fun Thing I'd Never Do Again? It's vintage David Foster Wallace and is quite good.
https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf
CanofWorms
7mo ago
Seems like the polls were way off in Florida. Nate Silver had Republicans up by 5 - 6%, and it looks like they're going to win it by 13 points.
CanofWorms
7mo ago
It’s not reconcilable with what happened in 2020. And that is because there was no election fraud. Those who believe there was have been duped.
CanofWorms
4mo ago
Interesting way of looking at it. Now with that said, don’t you think the president of Haiti or some other third world country would be an even more lethal job?
CanofWorms
4mo ago
I wouldn't super worry about getting fat if you trend towards thin. I've also been off and on SSRIs for a decade and never had any weight gain.
CanofWorms
1yr ago
I don't recall that specific moment between Trump and Jeb, but wow does Trump come across as the winner there.
CanofWorms
4mo ago
I have read the Dark Tower series. The first four books of the Dark Tower are awesome. Book 4, Wizard and Glass is actually my favorite Stephen King book. After book 4 though, things really fell off a cliff. SK was seriously injured in a car collision in 1999 and it feels like him coming face to face with his own mortality caused him to race to finish the series. He pushed out books 5, 6, and 7 in the span of like three years after it took him 20 years to release the first 4.
I'll never not recommend Stephen King, regardless of the book, but I'm not the biggest fan of how The Dark Tower ended up. The good news is that you can plow through those books in a couple months or less.
CanofWorms
4mo ago
Different Seasons is one of King's best. If someone asked me which Stephen King book they should start with to get an idea of his style, I would recommend this one or Misery.
CanofWorms
1yr ago
I miss when our billionaires were fat, drank bourbon, and smoked big cigars. That was the real America.
Listening to Nickel Boys on audiobook and am reading The Fixer.
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