Sometimes I wonder if social media was a mistake. I say this with my tongue firmly in cheek. Over the years, it’s allowed me to keep up with old friends scattered across the world, sharing pictures and life updates. When Facebook was ascendent, it was a hub where everyone was (for better and worse) that… Continue reading Social Stranding
Author: Joshua Tong
Hiking Game
When I was in Arches National Park a couple years ago I hiked a trail without a path. Figuring out the route meant keeping an eye out for cairns and following the footsteps of those who’d gone before — which was easier on the dirt than it was when scrambling along rock formations. The hike… Continue reading Hiking Game
Box People
In what feels like a pretty transparent attempt to rile up controversy, the New York Times ran an article yesterday about Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani identifying as 'African American' in an application to Columbia University (archive link). There’s a lot to unpack with this article, from the question of the motivation behind running a… Continue reading Box People
Of Ballerina
Ballerina, the new John Wick movie, came out on my birthday and it feels like a movie made just for me. It is, as in the tradition of all the John Wicks, a slick-as-anything action movie with a strong emphasis on cool stunts, staging, and fight choreography. Ballerina also strips away a lot of the… Continue reading Of Ballerina
Unapologetically Itself
One of the reasons I stopped rating movies on those movie-rating sites is because I kinda stopped caring about the difference between a good movie and a good movie. I don’t know if Commando is a good movie, especially if you compare it to contemporary action movies like Die Hard or The Terminator. But Commando… Continue reading Unapologetically Itself
Remember This: Try
No post today due to being busy today with Other Things. If you're in the mood to read something then, for no reason at all, I suggest checking out this post on Andor and revolutionaries. Just seems the sort of day for it.
But The Story
I finally checked out Hotline Miami (and its sequel) after buying it on Steam nine years ago. And, who’d have guessed, the game that came highly recommended to me way back when is really good! It’s a hyper-violent, top-down twin-stick shooter that rewards bold strategies and improvisation as the player shoots, punches, and clobbers their… Continue reading But The Story
What’s Next?
Ever since the second season of Andor wrapped up a couple weeks ago the show has been stuck in my head; every now and then I think about it and how just so very good it is. Andor feels like a singular work in the movies and TV of Star Wars. It zeroes in on… Continue reading What’s Next?
Yosemite
I’m spending the long weekend in Yosemite National Park. Since half the fun of living in Southern California is being able to drive out to National Parks on weekends like these. Nothing pithy or meditative to say, just that the park is gorgeous and that the National Park Service is easily in my top-two US… Continue reading Yosemite
Flavors of Star Wars
The original Star Wars is a weird movie. You’ve got a pair of silly robots bumbling about a desert and a young man finding the charred remains of his caretakers. An old man and a half-robot man fight with laser swords until the old man disappears. A farmboy flying a fighter jet uses space-magic to… Continue reading Flavors of Star Wars
Essays, Not Rants! 