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My Favorite Movies

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There is something wrong with me.  My most recent realization of this came courtesy of the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once .  I sought it out after hearing all the buzz about how great it was.  It started OK but started to lose me about halfway through.  I gave up and turned it off before finishing, something I very, very rarely do.  It had lost my interest.  I don't get why everyone was raving about it.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  Other notable examples of movies that didn't live up to their hype for me are The Matrix , Pulp Fiction (and every other Tarantino movie) and even universally acclaimed classics like The Godfather .  Now I didn't turn any of those movies off in the middle, but I don't think they were as good as the consensus of the masses.  In some cases, I think the movies are watchable or maybe even good, just not deserving of the gushing praise being heaped on them. I typically agree with about half of the selections that ma
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Enough with the Shaky Camera Work

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It's time for a rant.  Today's target for my ire is movies and TV shows with intentionally shaky camera work.  At best, it is annoying and at worst it makes a movie unwatchable (think the Bourne Supremacy and the Bourne Ultimatum) I take my movie watching seriously.  I want to be immersed in the film and have little patience for interruptions and distractions.  Much like in a movie theater, a BIG screen and powerful surround sound system play a key role in achieving this effect in my home theater.  The downside of a big screen is a movie with excessive camera shake (and I'll lump fast cuts in with this) ends up being physically uncomfortable to watch.   I've seen some excuses from directors for this technique.  Some say it is to create a sense of speed and action.  Or chaos.  Some say it is to make a scene more realistic.  If that's what they are going for, they are failing badly.  Very few shaky cam scenes have ever achieved this effect for me.  The only one I can
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What does a post-growth society look like?

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  A recent article in The Morning newsletter from the New York Times rekindled a smoldering ember of thought that resides in a corner of my mind.  It has never burned hot enough to inspire me to serious study on the subject, but this time it has at least motivated me enough to write about it.  The topic is growth; how our society and economy are dependent on it, why I think that is problematic, and how it can change.  My thoughts on this subject are not well formed at this time and, unusually for Wisdumb, I offer no answers, only more questions. The Times article covered the aging population of Japan and showed the chart below projecting other major economies and the world as a whole being on the brink of a rapidly aging populous. The article primarily focused on the social impacts of this aging population, in particular that Japan is running out of workers.  It posits the only solution is to bring in more immigrants.  This is what bothers me and stokes that ember in the back of my min
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Dolphin S200 Pool Cleaning Robot Drive Motor Repair

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 I've spent the past two weeks doing battle with my pool cleaning robot and want to share what I've learned so others can fix their own if they run into the same problem. My robot is a Maytronics Dolphin S200.  The internals are probably very similar or identical to other models, and I think there are even rebranded versions, so the details below likely apply to a fair amount of the population.  These robots are pretty expensive to buy, but they are, in my opinion, the best way to clean my pool.  My pool is surrounded by pine trees and they are always dropping stuff in the water, so I keep my robot in the pool and it runs daily on its timer with little intervention from me and uses much, much less electricity than my previous pressure-side pool cleaner. Rant on Robot Manufacturer Greed There is a lot of markup on these robots.  The S200 I got for $600 in 2017 (and its equivalents) now sell for more than $1000.  The exact same design.  No new technology in it.  No new R&D to
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Car Shopping in 2023: The Exciting Conclusion!

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  If you recall my August post on starting a car search, I presented a list of requirements that I wanted my new car to meet.  If you don't recall, go ahead and reread it.  I'll wait.  I had to do that to remember what I wrote as I can't remember what happened yesterday, much less four months ago! As expected, I had to compromise on some of my requirements.  After test driving most of the cars on my list of options, I ended up buying a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum, shown here after hauling a bunch of scouts up to Vermont for a backpacking trip just hours after I drove it off the lot.   Incidentally, this photo has an easter egg for a future backpacking product review. Now that I have had the car for a month or so, let's check out the score card and see how I did: Good Highway Gas Mileage (7 out of 10) Reliability (7 out of 10) Good towing capacity (10 out of 10) Cargo Capacity  >40 preferred. (10 out of 10) Wireless Android Auto (3 out of 10) Heated and Ventilate
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