DanThornton

Tech, Geekery, Pop Culture, Miscellaneous

What I read, heard, watched and played: March 2024

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It’s been a bit of a strange month. My home entertainment consumption has been significantly reduced due to work and family commitments. But days out did increase a little, especially as the weather has finally started to improve in the UK.

Mostly we’ve been walking more around the local area, but there were two motorsport-related events. A long time ago, I was lucky enough to get a BMW M4 Master driving experience as a birthday present, but hadn’t been able to redeem it for various reasons. With the expiry date fast approaching, I quickly got it booked, but couldn’t grab any photos as I had to do the trip to Donington Park on my own. But I can confirm it was an awesome way to spend an evening, and I learned a lot.

But it also included two free tickets to a Category D event at any Motorsport Vision circuit, so before that, my son and I visited Snetterton for the No Limits Racing season opening club race. It’s one of the few UK tracks I’ve never visited for some reason, and I only occasionaly get along to any club races now, but it’s a great way to not only see enthusiastic racing for much less than big series would cost, but you also get to wander through the paddock and chat to everyone, and the queue for the burger van is a lot shorter (although a decent number of people were certainly in attendance).

What I read, heard, watched and played: March 2024
What I read, heard, watched and played: March 2024

And because it wasn’t a massive stressful event, and each class raced multiple times, there was no pressure to grab the best viewing spot for a specific race. So we could just wander round and have a nice relaxing day out, which was great.

Books

I’ve really enjoyed the Slow Horses series on Apple TV, so I picked up the first book from a charity shop. And it was surprisingly to see how much appeared to have been directly translated onto the screen, although there are a couple of significant plot differences.

I suspect this is now another series of books I’ll continue to accumulate over time. Even if it’s impossible to read anything regarding Jackson Lamb without picturing Gary Oldman.

And having finished that, I’ve now started Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which is rooted in 1990s tech and gaming culture, so immediately brought back my own memories of the time.

So far it’s been a really enjoyable story of two people living through the period, and the tech backdrop does remind me a little of the excellent Halt and Catch Fire series fictionalising the computer boom of the 1980s.

TV and Film

A fairly quiet month as I tried to keep up with the new motorsport season in F1, MotoGP and World Superbikes. And while I have an enduring fascination with American professional wrestling, from the athleticism and fandom of pre-determined sports entertainment, to the promo techniques and storyline development, I’ve been finding it harder to make time to keep up with AEW.

I did finally watch The Terminal List, a serious drama series starring Chris Pratt as a Navy SEAL caught up in a conspiracy.

It was decent enough, although the constant dry seriousness did make it harder to connect with the characters. There’s an interesting comparison to be had with the Jack Ryan series on Amazon starring John Krasinski, given that both leads originally ‘broke out’ in hugely popular TV comedies.

Personally, I preferred Jack Ryan and Reacher as the main cast were much more fleshed out, even just in the first series of each show.

And as my son has long been fascinated by Japan, martial arts, and other cultural references, I thought it was finally ready to experience Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

Directed by Jim Jarmusch, mixing Japanese samurai philosophy with Italian-American gangsters and featuring a hip-hop soundtrack as a homage to the 1967 French film Le Samourai, it’s one of my favourite films of all time.

I thought it might be obvious to my son, but I still had to point out that there’s a copy of the Hagakure near his bed, and the name of my early-2000s blog, and now my business, is The Way of the Web.

I also started watching Shogun this month, based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, which itself is loosely set around the real history of Will Adams, who was born in Gillingham, part of the Medway Towns where I grew up (like many families in the area, my own ancestry is tied into the dockyard, seafaring and exploration, including local fishermen, a member of Franklin’s lost expedition (HMS Erebus and Terror), and two members of Stanley’s central African expedition).

Music

I haven’t had time to check out much in the way of new music, or to really delve into any back catalogues of note. Which is disapointing, and will hopefully change in April.

Videogames

With limited time, I’ve had to restrict myself to playing existing titles. My main interest has been World War 2 mil-sim light Hell Let Loose, despite a frustrating amount of random game crashes. But I have slowly embraced more regularly taking on the roles of squad leader and commander, leading up to 50 players to victory or defeat.

I have also been spending more time improving my sim racing, and some time before and after my real-life BMW experience highlighted how close iRacing comes in replicating the BMW M4 and Donington Park. While it can’t simulate the physical weight transfer of a real car on a track when braking and cornering unless I spend a lot of motion on a motion rig, everything else was pretty much identical. To the point where it almost felt like I was driving the sim at times.

What I read, heard, watched and played: February 2024

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A big change for me this month has been upgrading my mobile phone. For a tech nerd, I’m remarkably disinterested in most smartphone features, using mine purely for calls, texts, casual photos and videos, and a small number of core apps. And running it all on a low level Pay As You Go sim from GiffGaff.

Without a long commute to my home office in the mornings, I’d rather play games on PC or console. And I’ve been moving towards DLSRs and pocket digital cameras to finally learn photography. Having had a Motorola Moto G4 for about 6 or 7 years, an upgrade was finally required by both a failing battery and the requirement for a newer OS by some essential applications (mainly related to health monitoring).

So my new phone is a Moto G53 ordered through GiffGaff, and aside from the shock of missing apparently 49 phone models, the transfer process was painless and accomplished in under an hour, with my number, apps, and even alarm settings all migrated across wirelessly. The G4 is worthless as a trade-in apparently, so I’ll try and think of any uses it could still serve before I consign it to a responsible recycling service. And the G53 seems OK so far, with fairly little bloatware, and anything uncessary already uninstalled.

Books

What I read, heard, watched and played: February 2024
What I read, heard, watched and played: February 2024

Having said that Exhalation was one of my books of the year last month, just a few days later Project Hail Mary joined it. Chosen from my wishlist by my son for Christmas, it’s got a great mix of hard science, funny moments, and some interesting moments which I don’t want to spoil for anyone. Essentially it’s just a great science fiction novel from the author of The Martian, and I found myself racing through it.

I also finally got around to reading Band of Brothers many years after watching the fantastic television series. And if you’re interested in World War 2 history and the exploits of Easy Company, then it’s obviously essential reading, and provides a bit more depth behind the events shown in the TV production.

TV and Film

Reading Band of Brothers at the same time as watching Masters of the Air has been interesting, comparing and constrasting what life was like for American infantry and airmen. I wonder how many differences between the two television series has been down to years between limiting the direct involvement of those who served in both groups.

Continuing the theme, my son is now old enough to watch and appreciate war films, and he’s also studying the period, so we’ve sat and watched Enemy at the Gates, and Saving Private Ryan, which is one of those films seemingly absent from most streaming TV services. But it’s easily found in charity shops for a £1 or so.

I try to remind him that any film is a dramatisation which which have factual and historial inaccuracies for various reasons, whether intentional or not. And we’ve had some very interesting conversations discussing which bits were left out or altered for dramatic effect, and what they do manage to convey. It’s interesting drawing comparisons between first-person accounts, books, films and video games. For example, reading about the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, watching them in Saving Private Ryan, and playing as the American forces in Hell Let Loose.

With my partner, we finally got around to watching the stylish and much discussed Saltburn. And I also finally got around to watching Ingrid Goes West from 2017 with Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen. Which was an enjoyable film looking at social media obsessions, but could have probably gone deeper and further.

Music

It’s been a quiet month for new discoveries, but I have continued to delve deeper into bands that I never really paid enough attention to in the past. Last time it was Ghost and Alter Bridge, and this month I’ve decided on Opeth. The Swedish metal band has been around since 1990, and I know friends are big fans, but for some reason I’ve never gone beyond a passing familiarity with them.

Games

The latest season of Apex Legends has drawn me back into grinding through the season pass, especially as there are some 5th Anniversary rewards to earn. And for less action and more frustration, there’s the grind of taking Dover Athletic from the Vanarama South to the Champions League in Football Manager 2024 (So far I’ve got them into League Two with back to back promotions).

But after taking a conscious break from sim racing to relax after the pressure of competing in organised leagues, it’s time to return as Automobilista 2 has made lots of improvements to their AI and vintage racing experience, iRacing is introducing new cars and rain to their service, and there are lots of other things I want to finally try out. One of my favourite gaming experiences recently has been to jump into the low-powered vintage Formula Junior cars in AMS 2 on classic circuit layouts, especially since adding a manual Thrustmaster TH8S shifter to my set up (which is one of the cheapest and best upgrades I’ve made for immersion and enjoyment).

Along with already finishing 5 of the 18 books I’ve set myself as a reading target for 2024, future plans involve some trips inspired by a variety of history programs have featured places I know around East Anglia and my childhood home in Kent. And it gives me another justification to finally invest in some camera gear.

Fathers Day 2020 In Lockdown

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Everything has been a bit weird this year. And Fathers Day was no exception.

But I’m choosing to focus on the positives

By showing gratitude to my dad for everything he’s done for me over the years. Even though I couldn’t see him in-person, I could buy him some sweets and a book he’ll enjoy (and that I fully intend to borrow).

In taking pride in the wonderful young man my son has become. Smart, funny, and seemingly growing to appreciate how hard work makes things achievable.

And by remembering it marked the anniversary of my last cigarette 3 years ago.

It’s been a while since my last vaping-related update, so I figured I’d add some new totals, in the spirit of my first 12 months.

3 Years of Vaping – Saving and Stats:

  • 1096 days without a cigarette (including 1 leap year)
  • 16,425 cigarettes not smoked.
  • At £10 per pack for easy maths, that would be £8,212.50 not spent.
  • I’ve lost track slightly of my vaping costs, but the Aspire and iLeaf I started out with have both finally expired after 2.5 years of constant use. So I’m now using a donated Aspire NX75, and a new OBS Cube X , both with Nautilus tanks, and mainly Zeus Juice liquid. Average costs are around £40 per month still.
  • At an estimated 10 minutes of better life expectancy per cigarette, that’s 164,250 minutes, 2,737.5 hours, or 114 days. Or 16 weeks.

People often reply to anything I post about vaping asking why I don’t just quit that too? And it’s something I’ve thought about (especially knowing several smokers who switched to vaping, and then quit entirely).

But honestly, I don’t see much benefit beyond the financial saving. I don’t buy home-made liquid to get high with, so there’s no immediate risk. There’s no measurable passive risk to those around me. And it’s an enjoyable coping mechanism for the stresses of everyday life.

My only real vices are drinking too much cola and vaping. I don’t drink regularly, or much any more. I don’t smoke, gamble, or spend money on myself aside from the occasional sim racing related purchase…

My beloved Thrustmaster TMX wheel and pedals - bought in a sale...
My beloved Thrustmaster TMX wheel and pedals – bought in a sale…

Oh, and books. But they’re a good thing, right?

Latest Lockdown Entertainment

I might have treated myself to a few secondhand books as part of buying gifts for other people.

Fathers Day 2020 In Lockdown - and my survival kit along with food and drink...
Everything I need for lockdown survival (along with cola and snacks)

I’m currently reading “Inside the Nudge Unit” by David Halpern, which is a fascinating view inside the former Government Behavourial Insights Team.

Definitely worth reading if you’re interested in how small changes to documents or processes can result in big differences in response. And how that’s been increasingly used over recent years.

Next up will be “The Atrocity Archives” by Charles Stross, which I’ve hoped to get around to reading for ages. I’m a big fan of everything I’ve read, and always planned to get around starting The Laundry Files series, so I’m finally getting to it (along with also getting around to Halting State as well)

And after all that, there’s The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser, which is quite old in internet terms, having been originally published in 2011. But I think it’s worthwhile both to look at how algorithms and filters have evolved since then, and also to have a solid grounding in internet and technology history.

It’s easy to dismiss anything older than 6 months when you’re working or studying the internet, and lose some age old lessons in the process. As I was reminded by re-reading through The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling recently. A lot of the topics and points raised in the context of electronic crimes and the responses in the 1990s still seem relevant and important to note in the modern era.

Speaking of which, I also finally got around to watching Snowden, via Amazon Prime, which prompted some interesting discussions in my household about the widespread implications of tracking. Given the timing of track and trace, it’s weird to think about how much, and how little, has changed with regards to online privacy.

Other film view included the fascinatingly bizarre The Lobster, which is one of the odder films I’ve seen recently. I’m not sure I’d want to see it again, but I’m glad I watched it, as the premise, and cast, are both brilliant.

And Liz, my partner, has involved me in her obsession with both the cheesiest examples of horror (e.g. 500 MPH Storm – which we’ve watched so you never have to), and some actually good horror comedies. I can certainly recommend both Cabin in the Woods and Happy Death Day. Both of which contain plenty of bloodshed, but aren’t as gory or unsettling as unconventional love story of The Lobster…

Videogames have been limited recently, despite lockdown. It’s pretty much been all about the iRacing, aside from The Stanley Parable which was available for free recently. And counteracted any feelings of nostalgia for office cubicles…

Finally, there’s my constant audio background to work, which often features a classical playlist I put together with Max Richter, Dustin O’Halloran, Olafur Arnalds, Hania Rani and more… It’s much better for me than the ambient coffee shop noises I know that other people prefer.

So that’s my Fathers Day 2020 In Lockdown round-up… And do share any book, comic, film, videogame or musical recommendations I might enjoy – every suggestion is appreciated!