TV Review: True Detective, Season Two.

So this is a long time coming, True Detective's second season has been over for several months now. A bit of background is in order. The first season of the show was airing just as I moved to STL and I watched the first few episodes in that weird limbo of finishing packing just as the movers took everything away and living out of a duffle bag for a week before actually flying out here for good. Even with just a few episodes I was hooked and once I got cable here my bundle included a free year of HBO so it was presented to me on a silver platter. And I LOVE that first season. It's filled with Lovecraft Mythos styled mysteries, like the Yellow King and Carcosa. The script and cast are amazing. It's full of tension and dread.

So what the fuck happened in the second season to make it so disappointing? I can't blame the cast directly, they all turned in some solid performances with what they had to work with. Colin Farrell is great and despicable, but with just a glimmer of possible redemption. Vince Vaughn's "reformed" gangster slowly sliding back into the world he struggles to leave behind. And Rachel McAdams's turn as a haunted police detective to round it out.

The big problem is the script. The big story, the main mystery, is just unengaging. By halfway through the season I'd forgotten what it even was, but I kept watching for the personal drama of the main cast. And then it just runs out of steam just past halfway through the season even though it tries to stoke the fires and bring it back. At least the ending was satisfying, even if the last third of the seasons wasn't.

Should you watch it? Well, there's much worse ways to spend 8 hour-long episodes, but I wouldn't run out to see it. Instead, watch the first season again. Because time is a flat circle.

The Martian

About a year ago one of the guys in my office stopped by my cube while I was working late to tell me about this great new audiobook he's listening to. Turns out it got made into a feature film.

Last week I powered through the audiobook myself while at my desk. In fact, I finished it on Friday just in time for the movie to hit theatres that day.

How was the book? Pretty damn good although it does fall into a couple of traps. First, at times it derails into a lot of science talk. I'm perfectly good with that; I'm an engineer. But that's a double edged sword - while I an appreciate the science talk I know a good chunk of it already and don't want to sit through it again.

The second fault is one of the problems with a story like this. So Mark Whatney is trapped on Mars all by himself and his daily existence is fighting to survive, It's essential to the story. This type of narrative needs adversity, in this case Man vs Nature. Well, Man vs Mars. But there gets to a point where one most thing goes wrong for Whatney and I reach a fatigue where I become numb to Mars just shitting on Whatney again and again.

Otherwise it's a great story, one worth reading. The science is (mostly) sound, the writing snappy, and Whatney is full of great monologue in the form of his mission logs, which are the bulk of the book. He's funny, nerdy, and full of pop culture. In short, he's super relatable for the target audience.

So how's the movie? Matt Damon is perfect for the role of Whatney. The cinematography is fantastic and does an amazing job of showing the fantastic Martian landscapes while evoking Whatney's loneliness. He is the only man on the planet, after all.

But the biggest thing here is Ridley Scott. When he's on, he's on and here HE IS ON. This film actually makes up for PROMETHEUS (but only just). THE MARTIAN really showcases Scott's  ability as a director and his ability to share his vision.

Sadly, the movie's not entirely perfect, especially compared to the book. Most of the book is on the screen. All the major beats and incidents are there except one, which would have ruined the pacing and made the movie way too long. The other big difference is the ending. I don't want to go into details, but I liked the book ending much better even if the movie's ending works better as a film.

Overall the biggest praise I can give this film is that it's in the league of 2001 for really showcasing hard science fiction and media like STAR TREK for being inspirational. Not just that, but somewhere this is a 12 year old girl that will see this movie and decide she wants to go to Mars. And she will.

Movie Review: Terminator Genisys

One of the neat things about my new home is that I live near a second run theatre. That's right, the "dollar cinema" where movies that aren't on the bigger screens are only a dollar. It's a bit run down but IT'S A DOLLAR. I remember going to the dollar show as a kid and getting to watch two or three movies.

Anyway, I got to see TERMINATOR GENISYS and only paid a dollar. I got my money's worth.

TERMINATOR GENISYS feels like a couple of movie executives were in a dim room doing a ton of blow and one says to the other, "Dude, what if Kyle Reese goes back in time and Sarah Connor tell him 'Come with me if you want to live'!"*

If you haven't seen the trailer that spoils the movie's big reveal, don't worry, I'm not going to mention it. Instead, here's a brief summary of this movie's attempt at a plot/

This time around a terminator is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor when she was young, so she winds up growing up to be a warrior by the time of the first TERMINATOR movie. And she keeps her terminator around like a pet, calling him Pops. This is such a horrible, radical shift in characterization for Sarah. Her original arc is from a scared, helpless girl to a capable, tough as nails woman, training her son to be a leader. Now she's just supposed to be a badass out of the gate and to be honest it doesn't play well.

Kyle shows up and pretty much  it's T2, only this time around Kyle is Sarah, Sarah is John, and the terminator is still a terminator. Kyle doesn't trust it, Sarah does and it's programmed to obey her, oh and there's a T-1000 around here somewhere hunting them. It's like Hollywood has decided that every franchise needs the same reboot framework as STAR TREK. The original timeline is gone, welcome to the future, baby! Or past. Or...whatever.

And then they time travel to 2017 to stop Skynet from coming on line at the last minute. That's fucking stupid. YOU HAVE A TIME MACHINE WHY ARE YOU JUMPING TO JUST BEFORE IT COMES ONLINE? Or just not time travel and take care of things in the passing years. You know, like the "Sarah Connor Chronicles" was doing a great job of. But that Sarah is gone, shit.

However, if you turn off your brain and remember that you only paid a dollar it's a spectacle of lights and noise. And a little fun, in that summer blockbuster way. Now I'm not recommending you rush out and see it. Or even watch it on purpose. But if it's raining outside and it's GENISYS or some Z-Grade Mockbuster knock-off on Netflix, try GENISYS.

But don't pay more than $1.


* Yes, Birth.Movies.Death. came to the same conclusion I did, but I promise I didn't rip them off. This time.

Movie review: Dracula Untold

Ever wanted to see a movie that takes a classic, iconic monster and makes him a noble hero fighting for his people? No, me neither.

The best thing I can say about DRACULA UNTOLD is that it's better than I, FRANKENSTEIN. While I actually liked THE WOLFMAN redux, if this how Universal is going to try to update their classic monsters I'm really, really disappointed. I guess it wouldn't be as bad if Dracula as still an anti-hero but he's a straight up hero now, even as a murdering, blood sucking vampire.

Speaking of vampires, I really want to cry seeing Charles Dance reduced to this. I mean, a paycheck might be a paycheck but I'd expect he'd be rolling in that Game of Thrones money. Throw in some really weird makeup choices and I'm not sure what's up with him.

I'd like to go into the plot a little but it's completely forgettable. Like I should have taken notes on this. So many reviews compare this to MALEFICIENT, but I managed to avoid that one. I wish I had avoided this one. Since it's horribly unimaginative I'll just leave some great pull quotes from reviews.

"Might be worth seeing solely for the moment when Dracula says, "I'm worth 1,000 boys and you know it." - Scott Weinberg, TheHorrorShow

"It's just a bunch of nonexistent people getting knocked over by nonexistent bats." - Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Pebble Time Steel

I love gadgets. If I had the budget I'd be an early adopter for almost anything. I love having new tech, even with bugs and getting to experience it before it hits that critical mass and possibly changes how we interact with the world. Is a smart watch that kind of gadget? I think it just might be.

I missed the original Kickstarter for Pebble, an early smart watch the big advantage for Pebble was a long battery life (measured in days, not hours) from using an e-ink display instead of LCD. Pebble was followed by Pebble Steel, a version with a metal body. Pebble isn't the only smart watch in the game, others like Samsung and LG have their versions...and there's Apple, of course.

Back in March there was a Kickstarter for Pebble Time, the next generation of Pebble watches. How could I resist? Not only that, but they also opened up the pledges for Pebble Time Steel, in three colors (black, gold, and silver), complete with matching metal bands. I eagerly pledged for a black Pebble Time Steel in March and thus began the waiting game.

Come late August my shiny new smart watch had arrived although due to trouble with the supplier the metal band would be delayed. No problem, it's part of the things that happen when you deal with Kickstarter. Besides, I got a slick matching leather band. For reference, the Pebble Time Steel comes with the leather band in retail and the official metal band is extra. I decided to purchase an aftermarket metal band from Truffol, which works because Pebble Time (and Steel) use any standard 28mm watch band.

So, is it worth the money? YES.

I quickly found myself playing with programmable watch faces and apps. There's an entire store interface for finding them and Pebble Time supports all the old Pebble software as well although it's black and white. The alerts that appear on my phone also appear on my watch, although that's entirely selectable which ones you want to see. In a noisy place where you'll probably miss the buzz and bleep of a text message on your phone in your pocket? Now it's on your wrist with a gentle buzz.

The apps allow my watch to become an activity and sleep tracker as well. It measures my steps and my sleep patterns. It has smart alarms that wake me when I'm stirring around my wake up time. Oh yeah, that's a big benefit. I don't need the audible, loud alarm on my phone any more so my sweetheart next to me can stay asleep a few more hours before she has to get up. Instead the alarm is a vibration on my wrist, and yes it's capable of waking you up.

Is having a smart watch supremely life changing? No, but it is pretty damn cool. I could go on for pages on the tricks it can do and we'll all get what we want out of it which differs from person to person. If you rely on your phone for everything (and who doesn't?) you may want to give a smart watch a try and you can do a lot worse than Pebble Time.

The Civil Life

St. Louis has a fantastic beer culture, including tons of small breweries and tap rooms. One of those is The Civil Life.

It's small, about the size I usually expect from a microbrewery although STL has some with big facilities that have spoiled me (Urban Chestnut, I'm looking at you). Basically a small building with a bar and a couple of tables along with maybe two dozen bench tables on a patio outside. Nothing fancy, just a relaxed environment to drink some good beer. They also have a small kitchen with a rotating menu of typical brewery items: pretzels, sandwiches, a charcuterie plate, etc. The food I had (a charcuterie) was fantastic, including fresh meats and killer house picked veg.

But the reason to visit is the beer. And the beer is good. Particularly I like their English IPA, the Scottish "Wee Heavy", and the Angel and the Sword. All of the beers I've sampled were great examples of their styles. Like most breweries I've visited in the area a tasting flight was not offered, which is disappointing, but they do offer a taste of whatever you want and pours come in pints and half pints.

The only drawback to The Civil Life is that it's cash only. I really don't see any legitimate reason these days to not take a credit card. Of course, there's an ATM in the building but that means the dreaded processing fees that will quickly pile up when all you want is another $10 for a pint or two. It's a small annoyance, not enough to stop me from visiting again.

"K10", or Yes, I know it's been ten years since Hurricane Katrina

Earlier this week I marked 18 months living here in St. Charles as well as the first time I've actually been glad that I'm not in Nola. Why would I ever think such a thing? Because I don't think I can handle the media bombardment of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

For many people Hurricane Katrina is still a wound, even ten years later, and we don't want to pick at it. I was incredibly fortunate, I left Nola early for evacuation and my house was barely touched, although my office was destroyed and my job gone. But in the first days and weeks, when those of us who had evacuated were watching the incredible destruction and following havoc, before anyone was allowed to go back and see what was left...those days and nights were agony as I watched my hometown turn into a wasteland, not knowing what was left of everything I knew.

Even with all that I can't imagine what it was like for those that stayed, those that huddled in shelters of last resort or worse, dealt with the rising water in their homes. I can't imagine what it was like to see water rise an inch every hour once the storm had passed and see it slowly consume whatever was spared nature's fury. And now to have media bombard residents with articles praising recovery and reminding us of the destruction or the insult of the disaster tours that took tourists through destroyed neighborhoods.

People seem to think that the private pain of everyone who lived through Katrina is public property.

Yes, I got off easy this time. I didn't lose my possessions, my home, my family, or my life. What I did lose, what so many of us lost, can be intangible. Our memories of places that were will fade with time. Lives are now divided into two parts, before the storm and after. Even ten years later we qualify things with such and such business did it this way or some place used to be open until x time "before the storm".  Evidence of entire childhoods wiped away, from having mementos and pictures lost to the flooding to places and things that have never returned or recovered.

And there's the rapid change to New Orleans culture. The recovery brought new people from all over. Before I moved I found myself in an interesting place socially where I was almost always the only native at the table when out with friends. That's not a bad thing, mind you. Cultures change and grow over time. The thing here is seeing it happen so fast, so compressed. The entire dialect of New Orleans is changing. Cultural aspect that took generations to change now seem to mutate in just a few years. Gentrification has always been an issue, but now is even more important for people that fear to lose their heritage to this fast moving tide.

I will admit not everything about Katrina was wailing and rending of garments. If that storm hadn't hit there are people I never would have met in Houston. I probably wouldn't have gone back to school full time, certainly not when I did, so I'd miss out on all the classmates with whom I went through the program. So many more friendships never would have happened because they wouldn't have moved here, drawn by the recovery. Ten years is a lot of time to think about what would have been, but that's not as satisfying as what is, warts and all.

So, do I want or need to hear about all this K10 media coverage? No, I'm good. I feel for all those dealing with their demons that have been stirred up by the reminder. I'll probably pour myself a Sazerac.

Game Review: Exploding Kittens

I think anyone reading this is probably familiar with The Oatmeal (note: that website is surprisingly not blocked at my office). Well there was a Kickstarter campaign for a game called Exploding Kittens with artwork done by Matthew Inman. To say it was successful is an understatement. The campaign raised $8.8M and broke records. About two weeks ago my copy finally arrived, actually on schedule which is a Herculean task for most Kickstarters. So how does it play?

It's actually pretty fun, although with only two or three players it can get very one-sided. Play works like this: each turn you can play as many cars as you want, then you end your turn by drawing a card from the deck. If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you're out unless you can play a Defuse card. There are a number of Exploding Kittens in the deck equal to the number of players minus one. If you Defuse the kitten you discard the Defuse and put the Exploding Kitten back into the deck wherever you want.

There's other cards, like Skip which ends your turn without drawing a card; See the Future, which lets you look at, but not change the order of, the top three cards in the deck; Favor which makes a player give you a card of their choice from their hand; Attack which ends your turn without drawing a card but the next player takes TWO turns; and Nope which cancels any card except and Exploding Kitten or Defuse.

There's a little more to the rules, but you get the idea. You can watch a video here. The game plays pretty quick one you know what the cards do and games last about 20 minutes usually. The art and card flavor text is hilarious, so first time players will take more time as they read their cards and laugh. If you share my sense of humor (and if you're reading this you probably do) there's a deck full of NSFW cards. Same game, same function, just more dick and fart jokes.

I picked up the game via Kickstarter. I got the combo deal which came with both the regular and NSFW deck. I haven't used the regular deck a single time. The Kickstarter bonus included a high quality box with a magnetic lid and a special surprise. the box is also big enough to hold both decks.

Overall I'm really happy with this one. Great bonuses from Kickstarter without making it feel like you need them to really play the game. If you can find it in a store, I highly recommend it.

The Augusta wine trail

I really wish I had taken pictures during my trip. I had my camera but that siren song of wine was too much.


Did you know that the St. Louis area includes wine country? Not only that but their varietals are pretty damn tasty. This past Sunday I had the pleasure of exploring some wineries in Augusta, an area near St. Louis. Pretty much every place has their version of a Norton, Vignole, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Chardonel.


Our first stop was Chandler Hill Vineyards. We didn't actually go into the vineyards of any of the wineries we visited although they were almost all a short walk away, some so close you could reach out and touch the grapes. However, Chandler Hill had the best indoor facility by far. There's a big bar to get your wine and twenty or thirty tables (in air conditioning) to sit and drink. There's also a big patio with a decent view. We also got a pleasant surprise or a small artisan market (I got some killer salsa. I love salsa) of four or five tables of goods. Sampling here was $5 for five pours of any non-reserve vintages on their menu. Our bartender was even cool enough to give me a sample of an exclusive beer they had, Schlafly's Lazy Ballerina.

Second stop: Sugar Creek Winery. When I go back to do a wine trail again I will skip this one. Three bucks gets you a small wine glass to take home and three tiny pours, less than an ounce each, of wines from their small list. Honestly, I wasn't impressed by their varietals or their prices per bottle.

Third stop, one of the better ones: Noboleis Vineyards. Samples here are free and they are well known for their Dry Vignoles. The staff was very welcoming and had some great recommendations based on what I told them I like (dry and oak, please). Like most places, the Norton here was the start of the show for me. Also nice was the big floral notes of their Traminette. Their patio area looked very nice but there was a wedding that day so we were left with just the inside. And the air conditioning. And the wine samples. I didn't mind too much.

Next stop was Augusta Winery, which I really liked. Another place with free samples and the bottle prices are fantastic, cheaper than some of the glass prices I'd seen at other wineries. Augusta is small, really just a front end counter and some shelves of wine accoutrements. I grabbed a bottle of their Norton 2012 and one of their 2014 Estate Bottled Traminette, which had a fantastic floral nose and tasted of lychee.

Just up the hill and a couple blocks away was stop number five: Mountt Pleasant Winery. Tastings here will cost you $10, and for that you get a glass to keep and two ounce pours of five wines from their selection. If you join their wine club, which does quarterly deliveries (or you can pick it up at the winery) then the tasting is free for you and three guests. I joined the Wine Club, saved us $20, and will enjoy two bottles of their wine some time in November. The space itself was nice, with a great selection of shelves for perusal. I didn't go out to check their patio or outdoor facilities, I stayed at the rather nice bar.

Last stop: Montelle Winery. If you're going to sit down, have a bite, listen to some music, and have a glass of wine this is the place to do it. The patio is HUGE and has an amazing view. I didn't take a photo of my own so I'll just point you to this one. That's a good example of the expanse of the vineyard you can see from the patio/balcony area. Tastings here are free and you get six selections although if you're nice the staff will give you one or two more. Food here is solid, mostly panini and sandwiches, but also small pizzas, baked brie and other appetizers.


Next time I'd rather do five instead of six wineries. by the time we hit Montelle we were all pretty wined out and it's the perfect end location to get a bottle and share while you have a cheese platter or charcuterie.

It's K-Day,or my undying love for PACIFIC RIM

The Summer of 2013 saw some big movie releases. IRON MAN 3, MAN OF STEEL, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS come to mind immediately. But each of those had a dark tone, something I'm not looking for in my big popcorn summer action (although I love IRON MAN 3, which is a story for another time). I thought MAN OF STEEL and STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS to be particularly disappointing in their re-writing of long standing characters and mythology. And then we got PACIFIC RIM.

The story of PACIFIC RIM is basically that a dimensional rift has opened deep in the Pacific Ocean and unleashed kaiju. Think Godzilla. The first kaiju wrought destruction for days (K-Day being the first encounter) before it was finally brought down by our conventional weapons. Then a second one showed up. It wasn't a single occurrence and the world leaders decided the best way to fight these giant monsters was with giant robots. Just roll with it, it's more fun that way. Enter the Jaegers, giant robotic warriors piloted by neurally linked pairs of pilots that share memories to move and fight as one. But funding Jaegers is expensive and politicians think we'd be better defended by a giant wall to keep the kaiju at bay. The last remaining Jaegers and their teams are brought to a base called the Shatterdome (I love the name) to act as the last line of defense.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro. I have all of the movies he's directed in my collection and I can find something great about all of them, even MIMIC. Ok, MIMIC can be a bit of a stretch, but still. With PACIFIC RIM GdT gave us his love letter to kaiju movies, especially ones with giant robots. PACIFIC RIM gave me the summer action I wanted without trying to make it overly dark, a trend I lay squarely at the feet of Christopher Nolan's Batman films.

Let's start with the Jaegers, those giant robots made to battle monsters from another dimension. We're introduced to four Jaegers, each with unique design reflecting their pilots and country of origin. CHERNO ALPHA is Russian and basically the tank of the party. CRIMSON TYPHOON is Chinese and agile, with three arms and a triplet set of pilots. STRIKER EUREKA is from the Aussies and finally there's GIPSY DANGER, the hero of the story. Well, GIPSY's pilots are the heros, but you get the idea.

And we can't have giant robots without kaiju to fight. The rift in the ocean unleashes a series of uniquely designed monsters, each more powerful than the last. The design on these is fantastic and each one instantly recognizable. Both the kaiju and the Jaegers are beautifully detailed.

It's not enough to have those effects heavy robots and monsters we have to have good actors behind them. Three roles really stand out to me. First there's Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost, the head of the Shatterdome and what remains of the Jaeger project. Idris is his usual charismatic self, really driving his scenes including the big "Canceling the Apocalypse!" speech featured in every commercial and trailer. Then there's the two scientists doing kaiju research, played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. It's the typical odd couple matchup but constantly entertaining although I do wish Day was a little less like his role in It's Always Sunny. Let's see some variety. The third role (and I could the scientists as one) is a personal favorite, Ron Perlman as Hannibal Chau, a trader in black market kaiju goods.

I'll end my little love letter with mentioning the sound work. There's a great, high energy score with some awesome guitar work and great for putting on headphones and going for a run, especially the GIPSY DANGER theme. But the real gem is the computer voice in the control room for the Jaegers, at least for GIPSY DANGER - none other than GLaDOS from Portal.

Straight up I love this movie. It covered with GdT's amazing visual style and brings his vision to the screen.

This thing on?

So....where to start?

If you don't know me, here's a bit about me.

• I was born in the New Orleans area
• I lived there for 33 years
• I am an Electrical Engineer
• I watch way too many movies (or at least I used to)
• In March of 2014 I moved to the St Louis area to start a new job
• I love craft beer and craft cocktails.

After almost a year and a half of living in the Midwest I decided to start chronicling my adventures.