December 2020 post!

Haven’t posted in a while, so here’s a bunch of stuff all at once!

Received a letter (thanks F.), sent a letter (hopefully it arrives!). I like sending mail, maybe I should reactivate my postcrossing account (is postcrossing still a thing?).

Random links!

(BTW, you can follow my random links posts at the main RSS here)

• Super! Lonely Terminal - a bunch of disk images for PC98, the Japanese retro PC. It’s such a cute website that I recommend browsing it even if you’re not into PC98 at all. Like a puddle of retro-web aggregated together.
• @teeny tiny vinyl dollhouse vinyl miniatures on instagram (ahahahaha nonono, not usable, just very cute) (TW: instagram)
• Escape your literary echo chamber
• Bookwyrm, a decentralised/self-hosted goodreads alternative. Supports ActivityPub.
• 5 lines I put in a blank .vimrc. For posterity, it’s set hls ic is nu noswf (it’s five lines if you set things separately).

Books

• You Mean I’m not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?!, the grandfather of all ADHD books, or so I’ve heard. It’s a bit dated at times (yeah, I’ll be sure to keep a notebook near my landline phone to write down important calls…), and some advice is like “wait, it’s not how ALL the people cope with this life?”, and some other advice is scientifically disproven (like neurofeedback, doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.03.007), but it still made me feel a bit better and that’s what counts.
• Dementia 21 by Shintaro Kago. Another bizzare and psychedelic work by maestro himself, this time it’s about old people. As in, the main character works in geriatric care and solves (often inadvertently) weird cases. I’m still reading the first volume and still waiting for it to start deteriorating, if you know what I mean. Apparently, there’s also a second volume.
• The Bullet Journal Method. Might prove helpful. I’m currently trying it out, apparently you have to spend a few month on it for it to really click in. Although it already helps me at times.

Movies

I have watched some movies, most notably (hence, best remembered) 1971’s Vanishing Point and 1987’s The Running Man.

Vanishing Point (1971)

I believe it’s a cult muscle car movie. How would I know for sure? I think I first heard about it when I was watching the Roadkill show. So it would go to my “Roadkill” collection, if I had one. I probably should make one. I like making lists.

Anyway. A pumped-up (with drugs) dude, named Kowalski, makes a bet that he’d deliver a pumped-up (with supercharger and speed parts) Dodge Challenger across the US in less than 15 hours. I think there’s an actual route one may follow in their own 1970 dodge challenger, if one were so inclined. It’s basically a movie-long cop chase scene with brief breather moments, as one review said, and I agree.

Main character explodes in the end.

Naked Killer (1992)

It’s a Hong Kong “category III” movie (not really sure what it entails), but it’s definitely classier than its title. A girl witnesses a professional killer at work, and has to become a killer herself. Her policeman love interest searches for her. Some other stuff happens. They both explode in the end.

The Running Man (1987)

In a bleak dark dystopian future of 2017 (yeah) Arnie has to fight souped-up (with steroids) futuristic glatiators with his bare hands. It’s a typical Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, with lots of action and great one-liners. This one is straight up there in my “feel-good” list. Even though I don’t watch it that often. Maybe if I did I’d feel good more often…

The antagonist explodes in the end.

Music

• Møster! - Dust Breathing (2020) - excellent freejazzy stuff
• The Glitch Mob - Drink the Sea. I wish there was more music like that.
• ΠΟΛΙΣ by Subheim, €9 digitally. Cosy™ idm/ambient stuff, like his previous works.
• Advent by Randal Collier-Ford, $7 digitally. It’s a lovecraftian / dark scifi dark ambient kind of album, if “cryochamber” label wasn’t enough of a hint. I liked the cover (but stayed for the music).