Euan @ek@wobscale.social

TIL there's an observed pattern of Russia's state leaders alternating between bald(ing) and hairy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%E2%80%93hairy

So close but so far. Ty wolfram.

Hanlon's razor of companies
Never attribute to stupidity that which is adequately explained by capitalism.

Bezos Preston Huevos

It turns out "unlimited" data on Fi is still a limited resource. There will be a photo dump once I'm back from Japan tomorrow (or earlier this morning; timezones)

Even from far away, Mt Fuji is awe inspiring

(sorry for the bad lighting, the ambience in the place is good. Dim, Mexican flags everywhere, Mexican music... The vibe is well done)

It's elaborate looking. The sauce was nothing special (not far off from just being tomato sauce tbh).
The size is good this time.
Contents were: grilled onions, green peppers, potatoes, and broccoli, refried beans, and tomatoes. The bit on top is guac, sour cream, and tomatoes (orange tomatoes for looks was a nice touch).

Note: no rice or salsa.

Overall, 5.5/10. Leaps and bounds better than the last one, but lots of room to improve. The potatoes were good, but weren't enough to save it.

The horchata is pretty good too! It's a bit too smooth and slightly more watery than I prefer, but not bad

Try two to see if I can find a good burrito in Japan. This place has horchata, so things are looking optimistic

The most unusual thing I've seen someone holding while riding a bike is now a live hawk

There was a TV with Kizune Ai explaining what a bidet is at NRT.
What a world we live in.

I'm glad I paid extra for the 10 hour flight without wi-fi so I can be very ｏｆｆｌｉｎｅ

I like the fact that Kyary's new video is a single-shot with some decently complex / timing-heavy coordination.

I also like that there's not obvious post-processing CG, (unlike many of her other MVs) but still does a good job creating the same sort of unique and abstract vibe without it (e.g. with the blown up facial features and colorscheme).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWxrIblJHO0

The thing that actually carried it was that abstract plotline combined with just enough character development (aka Vin growing into her mary-sue-dom) and just enough world/history building to keep me hooked.

I'm also going to keep reading the series in no small part because I hope it touches more on how the world got to where it is; on the class divide and specific societal roles, in short, the final empire.

(now, with spoilers, you have been warned)

There really was a bit too much deus ex machina for me with the 'Marsh is an Inquisitor (and just in time)' bit. wtf.
Vin also had some mary sue traits (special-super-powered mistborn, desirable to a noble who is good, actually, etc etc).

Kelsier's martyr/Jesus plot felt a bit heavy in a few spots, and honestly Yeden's character arc in relation to him was just *bad* imo.

I like Kelsier's plotline in the abstract a lot though.
(cont)

Character development was also somewhat iffy, and there are loose ends (though most seem intentional).

The whole plot was neatly executed, but it was also very cliche, with only a few surprises.

Honestly, the politics bit may have been the weakest bit for me. I dig a book that does a good job of creating a political system and executing within it, and for a few hot seconds it seemed like it might happen in mistborn, but nope :(

Overall, still worth the read for me.

First mistborn book mini-review.

Overall, I think it wasn't bad.
The magic system and world felt well constructed with decent depth.

The story arc the book set up and executed also seemed well done, with a good number of subplots and a neat climax.

There were "guy-writing-girl" moments, some messy pacing here and there, poorly fleshed out politics, and some serious deus ex machina, but those didn't detract enough to stop me from reading it.
(cont)

The worst part about staying up before flights to try and pre-game jetlag is the very rational fear my sleep-deprived brain will forget something important