Cooperative Capers

Black Friday this year was special because The Glass Onion, the new Knives Out  mystery, was playing in theatres for 1 week only! We braved the crowds and went to see it at the Irvine Spectrum Center, which features a Regal movie theatre. This was renovated relatively recently, but unfortunately it is not our favorite theater for a few reasons. One problem is cleanliness. The bathrooms are generally trashed, and it is hard to find soap (it took me 5 sinks before I found a pump that both worked and had soap left in it). The other is the uncomfortable seating. The seats recline, but they only stay that way if you brace against something. I knew this from previous experiences and did not even try, and the seats were still pretty uncomfortable. The cushions are very firm and full, which pushed my head out forward in relation to my neck. On the plus side, the theatre has a Lavazza, so if you need to buy coffee for your show, you won't run into the perennial problem of the teenager behin...

It's been a little over a week since the Pokémon company released their newest set of games, Scarlet and Violet, for the Nintendo Switch. For those who don't know, the story of both games is the same, but if you want to catch all of the 400ish pokémon in the pokedex, you'll need a friend with the other version of the game to catch the exclusive ones. Shannon is playing Scarlet, and I am playing Violet, so that is what I am looking at today. Now, this game is addictive. In contrast to previous games (disclaimer: I have only played Sword prior to this), this generation takes place in an open world format. That means there are things EVERYWHERE. Once you get off of tutorial island, you can complete the main story in any order you choose, meaning that all of the main quests are given to you at once. You can freely walk anywhere on the map, which means you can explore, get lost, find things on the ground (useful items, pokémon, etc)...you get the idea. I don't normally like ...

  Rakkan Ramen has been on our to-try list for a long time. Ramen is one of Shannon's favorite foods, so he tends to keep a running list of local places that are opening. Add this to the fact that this location has been tantalizingly setting up to open in the Tustin District for months with their menu on full display, teasing us every time we go to see a movie there, and you get a recipe for two trips in one weekend! That's right. We didn't have anything else going on, so we decided to hop on over to The District and finally try Rakkan Ramen last Saturday. I had the hot green tea ($2, free refills, 5 calories), which was a strong, bitter matcha. The cup was hot but the tea was drinkable immediately. We each ordered the Spicy Garnet Vegan ($15.50, 580 calories), which uses their miso sauce and which the menu describes as "Vegetable broth, sesame paste, spicy miso, grilled pork, black pepper, green onion, bamboo shoots, seasoned egg, fried garlic with RAKKAN noodles...Ma...

  I was going to make dinner last night but realized I didn't have a large enough saucepan, so we decided to make an evening of it and go to the Irvine Spectrum Mall instead. After a lovely dinner at the Bristol Farms Newfound Market hot bar and dessert at Chocolate Bash, it was off to Target we went. In addition to picking up some other essentials like magnesium, Aleve, the Bodum Brazil French press, and a 10.5-qt stockpot, we of course swung by the toy section. Normally I am the LEGO connoisseur of the family, as Shannon never has great interest in activities that involve following a lengthy set of instructions, but you should have seen the delight in his eyes when he found the Botanical Collection. Our Target had a bonsai tree, an orchid, and a bouquet of flowers in stock, but the LEGO website also sells a bird of paradise and a succulent kit. He was suddenly struck by visions of finally decorating our home with the plants I had wished for, but in a much lower-maintenance versio...

Boop. "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" is a speculative fiction short story by P. Djèlí Clark, available to read for free here:  https://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/a-dead-djinn-in-cairo/ A few thoughts: Vivid world-building; even without knowing the genre you can figure it out quickly and get your bearings Good job setting up some realistic main characters through dialogue rather than excessive exposition Does a good job introducing some fantasy elements without taking time out of the story Good pacing Overall it's what I would expect from a short story, interesting and whetted my appetite for more of the same world. It is on the longer side for what I would normally read on my phone; I had to take a screenshot to bookmark and come back for more later. Probably took on the order of an hour to read? After finishing this, I am interested in reading his other works ( A Master of Djinn, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, and The Black God's Drums ), which are set in the same world. I am to...