Blogs

Been home for a few weeks, but my eye is still on Japan. I continued to follow the Kyushu Basho, Fukuoka’s sumo tournament, and watched as Aonishiki, the man we affectionately referred to as Jerry Cowlings from Indianapolis, won the tournament. He is in fact a Ukrainian and a rising…

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Our last morning in Japan was met with a sadness that the trip was over but a sincere appreciation for what Dave and I have done together on this trip. We did everything we wanted to do at our own pace, never felt rushed. Our schedule was packed but efficient.…

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Too many drinks last night. We woke up rough, with Samurai Dave feering particurarly rousy. We took it easy this morning, skipping a bit of sightseeing to recover in bed. With the time, I researched the sumo tournament to prepare myself for some of the matches we were going to…

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Same Mission: Impossible formula: intrigue and deception, characters outsmart each other with ingenuity and outcool each other with dialogue, all of the high-stakes global drama wrapped with flashy effects and action set pieces. The formula is definitely getting tired, but this installment pulls it off. Just enough story to build…

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Another DC reboot? Why? Like so many films in the DC universe, this one is spectacle over substance. It’s big, loud, and visual, more Roland Emmerich than Richard Donner. Corenswet manages to pull it off, barely. The character is retooled for modern audiences with sarcastic quips and self-aware smirks, but…

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A love letter to John Candy. Dan Aykroyd’s opening eulogy is beautifully written and full of genuine affection. From there, the film assembles an impressive lineup of family, friends, collaborators, and admirers, all sharing deeply personal stories and memories. It’s a portrait built on love and admiration, and the sheer…

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My daughter, who’s been getting curious about how evolution shaped all the animals on Earth, including us, recently asked me if humans are still evolving. I thought the answer was no. For most of life’s history, organisms with traits that reduced the likelihood of successful reproduction were less likely to […]

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While having a discussion with friends about the accelerating advance of technology, I was asked what I think will happen in society in the next 10 years. I came up with three big things I believe will shape the next decade more than anything else: AI, population collapse, and climate […]

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Several times a week, I get calls from scammers. The calls usually appear to come from random places around the US. If you answer, and they confirm that you are in fact a human gullible enough to answer a call from an unknown number, the scammer follows a standard script. […]

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The Card The 1991 Topps set was an attempt to be a little bit more minimalist and refined with its design, which was the trend in the early 90’s. An anniversary emblem adorned the front and back of every card, but other than that, it was just another very mediocre…

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The Card Donruss used the Leaf brand from 1985 to 1988 for cards distributed in Canada. Despite their relative rarity and the fact they were almost visually identical, Leaf cards were even less desirable (if that’s even possible) than the standard Donruss offering. In 1990, Leaf was rebranded as an…

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The Card The 1990 Topps set was a hideous abortion of secondary colors, halftone gradients, and squares. Topps tried real hard to cram the trendiest design elements into a single layout and succeeded in making one of the ugliest sets of the decade. It didn’t help that most of the…

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