🎞 The Circle (2017)

Watched The Circle (2017) from STX Entertainment
Directed by James Ponsoldt. With Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Ellar Coltrane.
A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity.
Even more interesting to watch this after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal. It was sad to see the simplistic surface level only analysis of ideas in the film though.

Watched via Amazon Prime on big screen television through Amazon Fire Stick.

Rating: 

🎞 The Wizard of Oz (1939) – ★★★★

Watched The Wizard of Oz (1939) from MGM
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy. With Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr.

Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home in Kansas and help her friends as well.
Haven’t seen this in years. Much more surreal than I remember, especially in HD on a big screen instead of an old TV set. I don’t think I’ve seen this since college sometime, and before that when CBS ran it annually before Turner bought it.

Watched via Amazon Prime (recently released there) on 40″ large screen television streamed through Amazon Fire Stick

Rating:

📺 Malcolm Gladwell Explains Where His Ideas Come From | The New Yorker | YouTube

Watched Malcolm Gladwell Explains Where His Ideas Come From from The New Yorker | YouTube

David Remnick speaks with Malcolm Gladwell about how he arrived at his particular approach to storytelling.

I appreciate how Gladwell makes the attempt to reach out to his readers between books and has thought about how podcasting is a useful way to do that. Some of this is the idea behind the why and how of what a good author platform is and how it should work. Podcasting is just a tool for doing a piece of that better.

There are some interesting references in here that I’ll have to read up on as well as taking a look at Gladwell’s podcast. I’m curious how he translates his storytelling approach in the audio medium compared to how he writes.

h/t Aaron Davis

RSVP to Friday Morning Coffee Meetup: 13 Questions to Help You Cut Out Small Talk and Build Genuine Connections

RSVPed Attending Friday Morning Coffee Meetup: 13 Questions to Help You Cut Out Small Talk and Build Genuine Connections

Tom Amestoy, Founder & CEO of Focus Out, talks about the missed opportunities to genuinely connect with others when we engage in “small talk.” Scientific studies have revealed that the types of conversations we have truly impact our wellbeing. These findings show that the good life is social and conversationally deep rather than isolated and superficial. Tom will tell us about groups that have banned small talk to great effect. He will offer tips on how to host such an event and will share 13 questions to start great conversations that lead to deep and genuine connections.

Friday, April 27, 2018
8:15 AM to 9:30 AM

Cross Campus
85 N. Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA

Venue is located on the 2nd floor. Free street parking until 11:00 am; except where valet signs are posted. 90 minutes free parking is also available at nearby parking lots.

Earlier in the week I noticed how well reading.am dovetailed with Huffduffer. Now I’m noticing that my listen posts (aka my faux-cast) also now translate to micro.blog’s podcast discovery page. The secret to this seems to be having an .mp3 file in a post that feeds across. I do notice at least one post without an .mp3, but which includes the word “podcast.” Are there any other criterion for this @manton?

I wonder if there’s a way for more posts to display the inline audio player without being hosted directly by micro.blog?

micro.blog’s podcast discovery page
Today I finally ran into a particular IndieWeb problem I knew would eventually come. Uploading so much of my content that I’d eventually need to bump up the storage capacity of the server for my online presence. The 12GB cap I ran into does bring into much sharper focus the amount of content I post online.

While Facebook and Twitter may be proverbially endless buckets, even with small inconveniences, I still prefer doing it my way.

Maybe I wouldn’t hate spam calls so much if people weren’t spoofing telephone numbers, pretending that they knew me based on two data points, or they didn’t so obviously sound like they were calling from the noisiest boiler rooms on the planet. If you’re going to try to waste my time you could also be a bit quicker about it.

On the other hand it is nice to get old school in person phone spam instead of the auto-dialed, pre-recorded nonsense I have been getting.

In addition to being dead simple to use to track my reading, I love that Reading.am is able to add things I’m currently listening to and watching. Even better, some sites like Huffduffer.com dovetail with it incredibly well and provide in-line audio files without needing to click through to the original. What a lovely win for UI!

Huffduffer post on Reading.am

📺 "Bosch" Book of the Unclaimed Dead | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" Book of the Unclaimed Dead S4 E10 from Amazon
Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

Bosch and Sgt. Amy Snyder uncover a key piece of evidence that could compromise the entire Elias investigation. Edgar and Robertson are rocked by personal disappointment. Irving exposes his enemies. Bosch stalks the suspected Elias killer on his own, and comes face to face with his past.
Great episode, but there should have been at least another 30 minutes of after-the-fact wrap up. This just felt so unsatisfying after 9 episodes of great build up.

It was a great season, within the larger canon, but an unsatisfying ending altogether.

📺 "Bosch" Rojo Profundo S4 E9 | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" Rojo Profundo S4 E9 from Amazon
Directed by Neema Barnette. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

The protest looming, Billets strikes a deal with the activists. Irving realizes that old friends are new enemies. Crate and Barrel solve the case of their careers. As the Task Force scrambles to salvage their investigation, Bosch finds himself in the depths of underground Los Angeles.
The noose is tightening, but I feel like there should be at least two episodes after this.

📺 “Bosch” Dark Sky | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" Dark Sky S4 E8 from Amazon
Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

Hollywood Station goes on TAC Alert. Irving plots his next moves. With new evidence, the Elias case takes an unexpected turn. Maddie tries to connect with her past. Bosch harbors doubts about his Task Force and interviews a new suspect.

📺 “Bosch” Missed Connections | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" Missed Connections S4 E7 from Amazon
Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

Two off-duty patrol officers cause Billets more trouble than she needs while the protests heat up outside Hollywood Station. With a suspect in custody, the Task Force begins to wrap up the case, but Bosch remains unconvinced. Irving learns he's being played and Honey Chandler makes a surprising discovery.
I expected more out of the B plot with the two drunk officers.

📺 “Bosch” The Wine of Youth | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" The Wine of Youth S4 E6 from Amazon
Directed by Zetna Fuentes. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

The search for Sheehan intensifies, as pressure mounts to solve the Elias murder. The Task Force waits for ballistics to confirm their suspicions. Edgar and Bosch pursue an unofficial 'side project' in the San Gabriel Valley. Billets and Dets. Crate and Barrel respond to a suspicious hit and run in Hollywood.
Crate and Barrel didn’t get enough story line out of the KTK after they’d built that character up over the span of several seasons. I would have preferred a bit more development and fanfare on this part of the plotline throughout this season.

📺 “Bosch” The Coping | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" The Coping S4 E5 from Amazon
Directed by Alex Zakrzewski. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintz.

Bosch struggles to manage all the things he's lost and to keep the darkness at bay, from himself, and from Maddie. The Task Force bears down on two suspects. Acting Captain Grace Billets gets tangled in station politics and petty opposition, no longer everyone's best friend.
The underwater imagery was a bit wonky, but eventually tied in with Maddie’s description and her scenes near water later on.

📺 “Bosch” Past Lives | Amazon

Watched "Bosch" Past Lives S4, E4 from Amazon
Directed by Tim Hunter. With Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Sarah Clarke.

Det. Francis Sheehan comes clean to Bosch, Robertson suspects a leak in the investigation, and Edgar joins the Task Force. Social unrest surrounding the Elias murder grows and Irving is pressured to intervene. Eleanor asks Bosch for parenting advice and confesses the truth about her marriage to Reggie Woo.
Nice gut punch here.