March was a mixed bag. Some highs, mostly lows. Ironically, the most exciting event this month was my friends moving away. They’ve been planning to move overseas since 2019 and were delayed for obvious reasons. Suddenly, last month, they had an opportunity to begin part of the moving process. Somehow they managed to pack up, sell their house, and ship their car in a few weeks. It is a bummer to see them go. But I’m more excited that they get to begin this journey.
This month’s playlist:
Tampopo
Not one, but two friends told me I needed to see Tampopo. And I ignored them. Until my local theatre screened it. I’m glad saw it on the big screen with a packed audience. From its fourth wall breaking opening scene that welcomed us to the movies and threatened bodily harm for being too noisy, its obvious Tampopo was designed to be enjoyed collectively.
It was a beautiful night. A celebration of film, of food, of life. Silly, playful, and a little poignant.
Party Down
Another ubiquitous recommendation that I resisted. Party Down is one of the rare shows that somehow improves with each episode. It begins funny and ends hilarious. Amazing writers, amazing actors.
Ghostwire: Tokyo
I’ve only begun this adventure. But wandering the streets of contemporary Tokyo after a pagan rapture and fighting off malicious yokai and urban legends rules.
The Dark Forest
I don’t think I would have gotten through this without an audiobook. I’m not sure how I got through The Three-Body Problem reading it plain. Liu Cixin’s writing seems to meander — a lot. It’s tedious. Even though I see the purpose it serves. He’s taking us on a journey, attempting to bring humanity and emotion into the hard science of his sci-fi epics. And it hit home for me at one particular moment in the narrative. I guess that justifies the tedium.
If the first half to two-thirds of The Dark Forest were a slog, the back portion is not. The revelations and concepts being clicked into place come hard and fast and leave you awed at the implications. It left me hungry for more so I barreled right into Death’s End.
This month I also finally published a roll of film I’ve been trying to scan for months. And ran across a neat article about the first human-captured color photos of earth that convinced NASA to make photography a priority.