October in Review
Books Acquired:
N/A
Books Read:
Akira, Vol. 3 by Katsuhiro Otomo
Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon
Normal by Warren Ellis
We began the month with a trip to Disneyland. We had some friends taking their children there for a week and decided to tag along, which we also did a few years ago. The beginning of October is a great time to go, actually, as they have the Halloween decorations and events out already but the Halloween crowds haven’t really arrived yet. We also used the Disneyland app this time, which is a complete game-changer. It felt like we barely spent any time in lines, at least relative to how it usually goes.
On our first day entering the park, a man in front of us was annoyed that security wouldn’t allow him to bring in his handgun. As a Canadian, this was so bizarre to see, although after spending some time playing Red Dead Redemption 2, I get it now – basic freedoms, man. You don’t want to run into rival gang members with only a giant turkey leg for defence.
When we got back, I was finally able to pick up my new motorcycle (a 2018 KTM 390 Duke) and start riding. This is also why I decided to pick up Jupiter’s Travels, Ted Simon’s classic motorcycle travelogue from the late 70s. A week later I passed my road test with no demerits (after auto-failing the test the first time around with a silly move), so I spent as much time out riding as I could this month. Luckily we’ve had amazing weather this autumn, with rain only starting this last week, so I was able to get out quite a bit.
Movies watched:
A Wrinkle in Time (2018) – I enjoyed this, although the plot did feel a bit all over the place. The booked was similar, but I think it worked better with the pace of reading and the separation of chapters. The actors did fine, but the script wasn’t amazing, unfortunately.
I.T (2016) – This was so bad. I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t know it would be this bad. It was the perfect airplane movie.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) – A story about a book club formed during wartime. Enjoyed this quite a bit, although I do wish it was a bit more bookish.
Deadpool 2 (2018) – Just as good as the first, I thought, but also pretty much just more of the same. A couple of particularly good scenes, though.
TV watched:
Chef’s Table: Volume 5 (2018) – I’m aways excited when a new season of this comes out. They chose some fascinating stories to tell this year.
BoJack Horseman: Season 5 (2018) – The individual episodes weren’t quite as creative and varied as previous seasons, but the overall story was a lot more cohesive, I think. And there were still a few episodes that took really fun chances that you just don’t see in other shows – an episode-long eulogy monologue, for example.
Salt Fat Acid Heat: Season 1 (2018) – I loved this! I’ve seen her cookbook often and thought of picking it up, and I think I probably will now after watching this. I hope Samin Nosrat does more food television in the future. She’s a natural host, clearly knowledgeable, and just a pleasure to watch.
Games played:
Spider-Man (2018) – I finally beat this. I was planning to 100% everything in the game, and I only had the crimes left to get through, but it was starting to turn into a bit of a grind. It would be an easy platinum trophy to get, but life is too short and there are too many games. Not sure yet if I’ll return for the DLC, but it was a fantastic game overall.
Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) – Yes, I picked this up, despite the fact that I’ve never really enjoyed a Rockstar game. The draw of the wild west was too strong. There are definitely a lot of unfortunate design choices in this game, but I’m still loving the world. They did a great job of making the setting feel alive, rather than a bunch of NPCs standing around waiting for you to interact with them.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018) – Sometimes I like to shoot people, and it had been a few years since I tried one of these. It’s fun, although quite expensive for just a multiplayer shooter. The Blackout mode is quite well done.
Come say hello:
What have you been reading/watching/playing this month?
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8 Comments
Bookstooge
Considering the amount of hoops jumped through, the money spent, the time wasted on bureaucracy and the training needed to be allowed to carry a handgun in CA I’m not one bit surprised the guy was annoyed. Especially by someone who actually has no legal right to do such a thing.
Glad to hear you passed, got the bike and got in some serious riding time. Winter is coming! 😉
Rob
If it’s private property, I assume they have the right to restrict what they want? Water guns are also restricted, heh.
And thanks! We can technically ride nearly year round here, but it gets quite rainy and cold over the winter, so I’m not sure how often I’ll actually get out.
Bookstooge
That is a good point and one I’d have to look into. I don’t think that it being private property gives the owners the right to negate another right or law given by the State. Otherwise you could legally have cannibal orgies and tell the authorities to eff off because it’s private property. Of course, I’m sure there are rulings and judgements from the law courts on this issue already. But I think that State trumps Personal just like Federal trumps State. Unless the lawyers get into it 🙂
So I guess that guy should have looked into what the law says exactly.
And riding in the wet and cold is the worst! It is one the few things I don’t miss about not riding anymore 🙂
Rob
I’ve only ridden in the rain a couple of times so far, and it’s certainly not ideal. You can dress for the weather, but there doesn’t seem to be a great solution for water on your visor unfortunately. Rainy rides will be only on special occasions, I think…
Ruthiella
As an American I would find it bizarre if someone tried to bring a hand gun in to Disneyland and got mad when they were turned away. I thought concealed carry permits were pretty hard to come by too.
Congrats on your motorcycle license. I like to imagine your “silly move” on your first go-round was poppin’ a wheelie. 😀
Rob
Thank you! I wish it was something as cool as a wheelie, hah. Unfortunately it was making an illegal turn.
Geoff W
As an American I’m perplexed by the handgun. So damn weird. I’m glad others have commented on it too.
I agree about A Wrinkle in Time. It was visually stunning, but the adaptation was just so scattered and I vaguely remember feeling that with the books, but nowhere near as much as with the film.
Rob
Yeah, I know a lot of Americans would react the same as we did, but I think just coming from outside it was like ‘oooh, here’s that side of America we keep hearing about’, heh. We’re over there quite a bit, but it’s not something we come across really. He had an American flag hat too.
A Wrinkle in Time was visually really interesting, for sure. It felt like that’s where the work went. Even just the outfits themselves.