The Death Star makes no sense. This super-advanced military installation built to obliterate entire planets has absolutely baffling design choices. There are bottomless pits aplenty. There are walkways without guardrails (some of which can retract without a failsafe to make sure anyone on said walkway is safe). The controls for a tractor beam are only… Continue reading The Death Star Makes No Sense
Author: Joshua Tong
That Quadrennial Occasion
We’re at that once-every-four-years occasion when I get really into sports, an occasion so predictable my friends can set their clocks to it. And man, I love the World Cup. As someone who does’t typically follow sport much at all, it’s hard for me to explain why the World Cup captivates me so, and why… Continue reading That Quadrennial Occasion
Voices
Ever late to the party, I finally watched KPop Demon Hunters. But this is not really a post about KPop Demon Hunters. This is mostly a post about Kubo and The Two Strings. I really, really enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings when I saw it ten years ago. I’ve always loved stop-motion (some of… Continue reading Voices
With New Eyes
I’m reading Meet Me By The Fountain by Alexandra Lange, a book that traces the architecture and cultural history of shopping malls in the United States. It’s been a fascinating read; malls are something so very common place but also one that is taken for granted by the popular imagination. In her foreword, Lange describes… Continue reading With New Eyes
A James Bond Game
I started playing the new James Bond video game, 007: First Light over the last week, my interest piqued by it being described as Hitman meets Uncharted (and Hitman being a cousin of sorts to the stealth action of Metal Gear Solid1). A few hours into the game, I’m glad to say that in addition… Continue reading A James Bond Game
Encyclical
A couple weeks ago, the Pope issued the first encyclical of his term. An encyclical, as I’ve found out, is something in between a dissertation and an epistle from the New Testament where the Pope elucidates the Catholic Church’s stance on a topic. Now, I am not Catholic; an encyclical does not affect me (aside… Continue reading Encyclical
Sunsetting
Last week news broke that June’s update would be the video game Destiny 2’s final update. After nine years of Destiny 2 (in addition to three years of the first Destiny), the game’s wrapping up. On the one hand, a game 'ending' shouldn’t be anything new. Game’s end all the time — usually on release.… Continue reading Sunsetting
Pigeons
I usually claim the day I fully became a New Yorker as the day I swore at a pigeon that flew way too close to my head. My swearing wasn’t at the incident but instead a futile string of profanity directly targeted at the dumb pigeon. I don’t think the bird registered it. Pigeons are… Continue reading Pigeons
Forest For The Trees
There’s an article on the AV Club right now about how Andy Serkis didn’t know who Snoke was while making the Star Wars sequels. Which doesn’t really feel like as much of a revelation as it sounds like — sometimes the cast and crew know more than what’s revealed in the piece/on the script, sometimes… Continue reading Forest For The Trees
Scroll On
I cracked open Instagram the other day for my once-a-day-if-I-remember foray into social media. I flicked through the photos on a friend’s post, seeing what she was up to, and then scrolled down only to be greeted by an ominous question: I was, initially, confused. This is the sort of thing I would see on… Continue reading Scroll On
Essays, Not Rants! 