Rabbit 2024

I got one on Thanksgiving over at the in-laws. I used the Fox Model B again. I like that old double-barrel, though it lacks the accuracy and range of my 870. Still, it’s a lot easier to carry and maneuver. Tradeoffs.

–Simon

The Tenants of Cinematic Selection (rev. 122024-1)

The Tenants have once again expanded. This time, the Holiday Provision has been added, which defines a separate selection process during holiday periods.


αPWN

The Tenants of Cinematic Selection (rev. 122024-1)


Given:

  • αPWN consists of 4 parties and are all present.
  • A singular movie candidate, when part of a series, consists of its full installment regardless of how many independent files or discs it constitutes.
  • A movie may not necessarily be completed in one session.

Procedure:

  1. If the prior session’s movie was not completed, then it must be completed before the next movie may be selected. Finish this move if applicable, then – time permitting – proceed to step 2.
  2. Roll a D4 to determine The Shuffler.
  3. Roll a D3 to determine The Selector from the remaining members of αPWN (The Selector cannot also be The Shuffler). If a D3 is not available, a D4 may be used with #4 reserved for a re-roll.
  4. The Shuffler deposits the movie option tokens from The Jar of Eligibility into a bowl and randomizes them.
  5. The Selector chooses a movie option token, with eyes closed, at random from the bowl. This choice becomes Candidate-1.
  6. αPWN may decide to veto Candidate-1 with a ¾ majority. Any token marked with a “V” cannot be vetoed. Any token marked with a “P” must undergo approval as outlined below (see Termination Provision for Minors). If Candidate-1 is part of a series, this marking only applies to its designated numbering in the sequence (the number to which it is adjacent).
    1. If veto fails then the Candidate-1 becomes The Chosen One.
    2. If veto passes then The Selector chooses a second movie option token. This choice becomes Candidate-2. Candidate-2 may not be vetoed.
      1. αPWN votes between Candidate-1 and Candidate-2. The majority vote becomes The Chosen One. Everyone must vote. The loser’s token is marked with a “V” and returned to The Jar of Eligibility. If the loser is part of a series, the “V” must be preceded with its corresponding number in the series’ sequence (e.g. “2 V”).
        1. If the vote is a tie, then a D4 is rolled to determine The Flipper. All are eligible to become The Flipper.
        2. The Flipper tosses a coin to choose between Candidate-1 and Candidate-2. The winner becomes The Chosen One. The loser’s token is marked with a “V” and returned to The Jar of Eligibility. If the loser is part of a series, the “V” must be preceded with its corresponding number in the series’ sequence (e.g. “2 V”).
  7. The Chosen One is watched and its token discarded into eternal damnation.
    1. If the Chosen One is part of a series (when its name implies such) and the last of the series has not yet been watched, then its token is marked with its numerical position in the sequence and returned to The Jar of Eligibility and the next in the series not yet watched is watched.
  8. All remaining movie option tokens not banished into eternal damnation are returned to The Jar of Eligibility by The Shuffler.

Termination Provision for Minors:

  • At any point in a movie’s viewing it may be stopped if two adult members of αPWN determine that it is not appropriate to continue in the presence of a minor. Similarly, the selection may undergo this review upon selection prior to starting the movie. The token is marked with a “P” (if not already so marked) and returned to The Jar of Eligibility. Time permitting, αPWN may then decide with full consensus to repeat the selection process.

Candidate Additions:

  • Any member of αPWN may add a new movie option token to The Jar of Eligibility.
  • Additions to The Jar of Eligibility must be done so in good faith (a movie that the majority of αPWN would want to watch).
  • Additions to The Jar of Eligibility may only be done so with all members of αPWN present.

Holiday Provision:

  • The standard selection procedure may be overridden with unanimous αPWN consent during times of holidays. This period is defined as the 7 day span prior to the holiday, the holiday itself, and the 7 day span following. The Christmas period, however, is defined as the day following Thanksgiving until and including Christmas day itself. Any movie relevant to the holiday may be chosen. αPWN must unanimously agree that:
  1. The holiday is an eligible holiday under which this provision can be invoked (Christmas is automatically eligible), and
  2. The movie in question is themed to the holiday, and
  3. All αPWN members want to watch the movie.
  • The Holiday Provision is not exempt from the Termination Provision for Minors (see above).

Tenant Modifications:

  • Any changes to these tenants may only be done so with unanimous αPWN consent.

–Simon

It’s All 4K with the A4A

Many moons ago I was gifted a Yamaha RX-V667 by my indulging lady, to replace a prior AV receiver that lacked HDMI support. Predating the kid’s existence, it has stood the test of time.

But then I acquired an AppleTV 4K, then an Xbox Series X, then a 4K Sony TV. The V667 lacked 4K support, and was the last component to be upgraded. So I finally did, with the RX-A4A:

Mmmm, delicious tech.

In the Yamaha AV line, the V models are their more consumer budget-friendly series. The V667 was at the time the top-tier of their V models. The A models are their AV nutjob series. The A4A is their 3rd out of 4, so I’ve upgraded myself by 2 models when comparing to their top of the line V models. The prices start to get ridiculous when going higher than that.

I’m fond of the Yamaha AV brand. People seem to gush nerd juice over Denon and Onkyo, but I think that’s just entrenched brand awareness. And just as the community is also quick to dismiss Bose speakers, I find their sound profile quite agreeable for the price point, provided they’re only speakers and not full systems (which do indeed suck). (Also, why won’t Bose make a standalone subwoofer?)

I suppose I’m somewhere in the middle, as I don’t know anyone else who will trade the wireless soundbar simplicity for wiring 6-11 individual speakers throughout a room, but also myself I’m not willing to go $20K in on a home theater sound setup. No, my perfectly adequate sound system is around $2.5K in value now, but I guess it’s what one’s familiar with and how far a budget can go.

I also scoff at people who put TV size and visual resolution as their top priority, but I was also guilty of being more interested in the 4K visual upgrade on a receiver, as I thought my 5.2+2 Presence Dolby Digital setup was about the best there was. It turns out that there have been some technological advancements I hadn’t experienced. Dolby Atmos is just…holy crap. I also thought that this priority of visual over auditory was the reason I had observed a declining focus on sound mixes and discrete channels, when in fact the now matrix-based approach for more subtle sound immersion had just moved beyond what my V667 could process correctly.

And combined with Dolby Vision – HDR 4K! Just, wow.

Anyway, thus concludes my tech nerd post. I am an audiophile hypocrite. Who knows what the future will bring me next.

–Simon

Coquina and Misinformation

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

I was watching No Reservations recently and noticed that Anthony was eating some kind of mollusk in a long straight shell. He described it as a razor clam. This is an unremarkable observation in and of itself.

However, the shell was very familiar to me, and I eventually pieced together why.

I was in an especially anti-Boomer mood for some reason (easy to do when the internal monologue digs up resentment towards American economics, and Anthony Bourdain was doing one of his self-gratification episodes). And so my thoughts had turned towards my wife’s aunt, who is in many ways the personification of Boomerism. While quite kind in her own way, she has a predilection for Boomer opinion stereotypes, such as taking hearsay at face value, and maintaining a preference for mediocre chain restaurants that serve needlessly large portions.

I’ll chalk that last one up to simple generational preferences, and the fact that she doesn’t enjoy cooking. You can’t really blame someone who doesn’t like to cook for their pre-prepared food preferences. But it’s that first observation that’s the theme of this post.

The other reason she came to mind was that she is a resident of St. Augustine, FL – and the place where I first saw these clam shells. She also told me that it was illegal to pick up rocks off the beach and take them home when we last visited. I refer specifically to coquina – those cool rocks of compressed shells that the Spanish used to build forts out of.

But back to the clam. The shells of these creatures were all over the Atlantic Florida beaches. Not knowing them for what they were, I was informed by said aunt that they were the hardened outer skins of mangroves. I did not question this, probably because I was on vacation and intentionally trying to avoid thinking too much.

A brief internet search revealed that the Atlantic Jackknife Clam (a type of razor clam, which I already linked to above), is indeed a very common shell to find on the Atlantic beaches, and there were no apparent references to petrified mangroves.

I then attempted to determine definitively if picking up coquina from the beaches of St. Augustine was in fact illegal. I found two references to the topic that said yes it is: 1) A personal blog by a resident, and 2) A private local newspaper that didn’t cite any legal statutes. The examples given in both were extreme, claiming that tourists go out to the beaches and chip lots of coquina away from major outcroppings. A somewhat different situation than some guy who picked up a rock sitting on the sand.

I also found out that commercial licenses are issued for the wholesale harvesting of coquina for the purpose of selling it to tourists. This leads me to believe that there are no environmental or archaeological concerns involved, and that it’s simply control of local economics. So locals don’t like tourists, but have no problem with taking their money. I’d hazard to say that this is common sentiment amongst small communities in desirable locations.

She had tricked me into not keeping a cool clam shell I found because I falsely believed that it was an unremarkable sliver of wood that would just dry out and rot away. But I didn’t believe taking a rock was illegal, so when she wasn’t looking I pilfered a sizeable chunk.

Contraband!?

And here it sits on my deck now.

I’m still not convinced that taking it was illegal, both because of the misinformation I already received and that the only internet references I can find to this mysterious rule exist on non-credible websites. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was just messing with me, but I’d equally believe she took these fallacies herself to be truth.

Boomers, right?

–Simon

22° Halo

Red at night, sailors’ delight.

Red in the morning, sailors take warning.

Bird on the wing, it’s time for spring?

Swings in temperature? It’s an Al Gore lecture.

Blood moon – werewolves soon.

Okay, I’m getting silly now and making some of these up. But weather encourages superstition, with all its violence and unpredictability. And Al Roker. Fuck that guy. There’s no way he’s human. Humans don’t smile like that. Humans aren’t that ecstatic to look at a Doppler map first thing in the morning.

Anyway, so one of these portents of climactic evil is the Moon Ring. I remember these well from the Lubbock years, probably because the sky was very open and clear, and as such these events were dramatic. Also since they indicate fronts, it always meant tornadoes.

Ohio isn’t quite as tornado-y (although it’s certainly getting there). But nevertheless these are still cool. Here’s a picture from a few days ago:

November 13, 2024

And it did indeed rain for a day following that. So there’s some potential truth in the old adages. But really, it’s just the coolness factor.

And if you want to read way too much about their formation, they’re called 22° halos, because that’s the geometric alignment at which they form, via suspended hexagonal ice crystals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22%C2%B0_halo

And here’s one from last year that I apparently never posted:

November 24, 2023

As both of these were in the month of November, I think their appearance indicates something much simpler – it’s getting colder.

But still cool.

–Simon