Essence

Posted on April 11, 2019 by d4vid

Introversion aside, I’ve tried to be judicious with how much time I’ve spent around actors.  Which may be why I had never heard of Sam Christensen until Dan Harmon made a couple of passing references to Christensen’s concept of an actor’s “essence” which, as I have gleaned, is something about one’s core qualities—revealed by the compliments and insults one has gotten over their whole life—that are immediately apparent to other people (and which, presumably, can be leveraged for branding.)  Or something.  I’m sure Gene Cousineau could explain it better

Posted in Stamford | Tagged | Leave a comment

Passive

Posted on April 2, 2019 by d4vid

This essay by Anna Borges really resonated with me.  (No one freak out, please.  Like her, I’m trying to explain a feeling here, not express an intention.)

The notion of “passing driftwood” was something I particularly identified with.  Looking forward to the release of Kill Bill was one for me.  And then, bonus, when it was decided to split it into two films, looking forward to Kill Bill: Vol. 2 was another.

Posted in Greenwich | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Legacy

Posted on April 2, 2019 by d4vid


As I wade through two decades of legacy code at work, I’m constantly reminded of two things: The Homer quote above and the madness-inducing Book from Neal Stephenson‘s Anathem.

Posted in Greenwich | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Population III

Posted on April 1, 2019 by d4vid

I once made a list of the most populous cities in China here.

But way better is this amazing, animated chart of the most populous cities in the world from 1500 to 2018:

https://observablehq.com/@johnburnmurdoch/bar-chart-race-the-most-populous-cities-in-the-world

Posted in Stamford | Leave a comment

Megatall VI

Posted on March 30, 2019 by d4vid

Eric and I also went to the top of the Freedom Tower.  The walls of the elevator were floor-to-ceiling video displays showing a CG representation of the island of Manhattan from the 16th century to the present.

Despite the nauseating hypercapitalism of the whole thing (ticket price!  VIP upgrade!  AR tablet rental!  mandatory group photo!  garish souvenir shop!) the views from the top were impressive.
The black square below is the fountain of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum built on the footprint of the old Twin Towers.I discovered that the Freedom Tower is the tallest building in the Western hemisphere and then realized that I had been to the top of 4 of the tallest 11 buildings (currently) in the world.

Other posts about megatall buildings here, here, and here.

Posted in New York | Leave a comment

Carly

Posted on March 30, 2019 by d4vid


My oldest friend Eric was in NYC for work. One of the days we were hanging out, we took the Staten Island Ferry. Because free. Please note that neither of us sang Carly Simon.

Posted in New York | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Rhyme

Posted on March 21, 2019 by d4vid

These lines from Seamus Heaney‘s poem The Cure at Troy stir me:

“History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.”

Posted in Stamford | Tagged | Leave a comment

Counterproductive

Posted on March 21, 2019 by d4vid
Life in Early 21st Century Middle Class America Life on Earth
Nature Have my genes equipped me to survive in this culture? Have my genes equipped me to survive in ANY culture?
Nurture Has my upbringing equipped me to survive in this culture? Has my upbringing equipped me to survive in ANY culture?

Ever find yourself creating & populating a matrix only to realize that you’re probably better off not dwelling on the topic anyway?

Posted in Greenwich | Tagged | Leave a comment

Doctor

Posted on March 20, 2019 by d4vid


I stumbled on these strange but lovely Chinese Dr. Who posters.
Apparently, the Chinese title is 神秘博士 (Shénmì Bóshì) which translates to something like “Mysterious Doctor”!

Posted in Stamford | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Disneyfication

Posted on March 19, 2019 by d4vid

At the stroke of midnight, I shall magically transform into a Disney employee.

Posted in Greenwich | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Watching

Posted on March 19, 2019 by d4vid

Sometimes I feel like the only thing to do is stay on top of what’s happening in the world by watching a huge bank of video monitors like Ozymandias in Watchmen.

Posted in Stamford | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Homesick

Posted on March 17, 2019 by d4vid


Finally had a chance to see How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.  Like the first two, it’s pervaded with a sense of wondrous beauty and aching loss.  The villain, Grimmel the Grisly, is a dragon hunter.  As a boy, he killed a Night Fury in its sleep and was praised as a hero by his village.  Ever after, he has devoted his life to the extermination of all Night Furies.  He is aided by the Deathgrippers, a lethal breed of dragons he’s enslaved:

“They’re dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom.”

That line keeps echoing in my mind.  I’m already prone to melancholy, but the bittersweet climax followed and it’s joyous coda struck a chord .  Then I sat through the credits, of course, watching as the names of dozens and dozens and dozens scrolled by.  Dear friends, work friends, acquaintances, and people I only ever know by their login names.

Posted in Stamford | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mad

Posted on March 10, 2019 by d4vid

My friend Debbie & I went to see a stage adaptation of Network on Broadway starring Bryan Cranston (in the Peter Finch role) and Tony Goldwyn (in the William Holden role.)  Only afterward did I remember that those two had already worked together to play Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong in From the Earth to the Moon!

Written and set in the mid-1970s, it was unnerving how contemporary original screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky‘s work feels.  News as spectacle.  Corporate ownership of news outlets.  Arabian oil money.  The Russians.

“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore!”

But we did.  We did take more.  America took a lot more.

Posted in New York | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Numb

Posted on March 6, 2019 by d4vid

Ordered some doubanjiang so I could try my hand at making my Sichuan favorite, mapo doufu.

Hadn’t added quite enough ground Sichuan peppercorns yet, which cause both a numbness and a sensation of vibration (around 50 Hertz!)

Posted in Stamford | Tagged | Leave a comment

Holy

Posted on February 24, 2019 by d4vid

I used to refer to Academy Awards night as High Holy Day (although it’s lost most of its luster for me over the years.)  Thinking back to where I’ve watched the Oscars has been like a roadmap of the last five years:

  • 2015 – On the floor of a Beijing hotel room watching with Eli & Xiaohan.  (Birdman)
  • 2016 – At my desk at ODW, unable to find (even a pirated) stream of the telecast and instead just refreshing the winner’s page.  (Spotlight)
  • 2017 – In a rental house in Berkeley with Martin & Zoya, still jetlagged from having just flown back from Shanghai to move home. (La-La Land, no, oops, Moonlight)
  • 2018 – In a hotel room in Cedar City UT at the end of the very first day of my road trip around the country.  (The Shape of Water)
  • 2019 – In my penthouse apartment in Stamford CT.  (Green Book)

I wonder where I’ll watch it in 2020.

Posted in Stamford | Tagged , | 1 Comment