§ As the sun sets at 4:57pm I commute home from work under the ghostly light of a particularly bright full moon on Thursday. I later read that it was a ‘supermoon.’ I’m ready for longer days to begin.
§ At work I built another quick prototype tesla valve exhibit. This time simply using gravity to move lightweight beads. This version might be too simple but it effectively illuminates the underlying mechanism, at least.
§ Switching gears a bit, I also started a side project that uses an MFRC522 RFID reader module connected to a RaspberryPi. It has been a while since I’ve done an extended electronics and programming project and it feels good to stretch those muscles a bit.
§ Apple Music launched their 2025 ‘Replay’ feature this week.
Compared to this time last year I’ve listened to a lot less music this year. A few insights:
- Caroline Polachek is once again in the top spot for the second year in a row
- Molly Nilsson jumped to the number two spot after seeing her in concert back in September
- The Decemberists all the way up in third says a lot about a weird nostalgic period I had earlier this summer
§ Speaking of music, I haven’t listened to Macintosh Plus in years yet somehow I got the opening track on Floral Shoppe stuck in my head though an unusually-vivid dream the other night. I guess that says something about the soundtrack to my dreams.
§ Well The Chair Company was quite a ride, huh?
Quality varied a lot throughout the eight-episode season and took a bit of a dive in the middle. Overall, I think it is definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of Tim Robinson’s strange brand of surreal, absurd, chaotic humor. I honestly have no idea how this show would read to someone who has never seen I Think You Should Leave.
It was renewed for a second season which I’m excited to eventually watch.
§ When I started playing Hollow Night: Silksong last week I wasn’t sure how long I would stick with it. Well, I’ve continued playing it quite a bit this week and I’m still having lots of fun. The brutal difficulty that felt pointlessly punitive in the original Hollow Night game finally clicked with me here. I think it helped that I played a lot of Cuphead in the intervening years.
Overall, I think the biggest help this time around is that I’ve been playing it with my wife who excels at the exploration and way-finding aspects that I struggled with in the first game while I’ve been focusing on the platforming challenges and combat.
