Chris Ullrich @ micro dot blog

Can you believe it’s September already? Yeah, me neither. This month is made especially important (at least to be ) by the fact that it’s the month of my son’s birth. That’s pretty great. He’s great too.

He opted out of having a party this year and instead asked for some VR goggles, the MetaQuest 3 in particular. We’ll see how that goes. He’s probably gonna get some books, underwear and socks just like I did at his age.

Some traditions should continue.

Plus, I’m not sold on the necessity of 11-year-olds needing $500.00 VR goggles. Sounds sus to me. My son would tell me I’m being cringe for saying “sus.” What can you do?

Putting that aside, let’s go on with the things I’m watching, reading, listening to and otherwise enjoying and consuming lately.

Watching

The Trap - Writer/Director M. Knight Shyamalan’s latest with Josh Hartnett is a pretty fun movie. I’m not always 100% sure if the director or his star know exactly what kind of movie they’re making, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. And no, the fact that the director’s daughter is in it and features prominently didn’t make me like it any less.

Although, there’s one point in the movie where I was sure Bruce Willis’s characters from Unbreakable was going to show up. But I’m not gonna spoil anything, so I’ll stop there.

Longlegs - Scary and moody. A film that definitely has a vibe. Also, I’m pretty good at figuring out movies but this one took longer than most and actually had a twist I didn’t see coming until almost the end. I liked it.

And, of course, Nick fucking Cage. Awesome. He is the only actor who could have played that character. I won’t be taking questions at this time.

Deadpool and Wolverine - Loved it. Loved all the insider MCU and comics stuff. Was it a “great” movie? No. Did it need to be? No. It did pretty much what it had to do and did it very well. It was fun and it was great to see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine again.

Plus, so many other great cameos I won’t spoil here. Let’s just say they were awesome and it was a delight to see some of those characters and actors again.

Homicide: Life On The Street - The classic TV series from the early 90s is back and on streaming for the first time. Sure, you gotta get Peacock to watch it . . . so I got Peacock. It’s a classic show for a reason with an amazing cast led by the superb Andre Braugher. He was a titan and is missed. If you’ve never seen it, you really should. It’s that good.

Andre Braugher conducts an acting masterclass every episode and the number off guest stars who appeared on the show is a who’s who of people who became famous. I won’t spoil who they are, just check it out. It’s worth the price of Peacock for a month or two.

Reading

I’m not reading a lot right now. Just two books.

A Little Hatred By Joe Abercrombie - I love sword and sorcery and fantasy and all the in-between so this one was a no-brainer for me. I’ve read several of his other books and this one is excellent too. Recommended.

Death Without Company By Craig Johnson  - The second Walt Longmire mystery novel. I enjoyed the first so now I’ve moved on to the second. I expect I’ll read them all.

Listening To

New Order (and more) - I’m a kid of the 80s/90s so part punk and part New Wave (and part Grunge too, if I’m being honest). I’ve been listening to a lot of The Cure and New Order lately as well as Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and even some Nirvana. Yes, I contain multituides.

Mozart - I always enjoy some Mozart and I’ve been listening to several of his operas lately, and in particular Don Giovanni. It doesn’t end particlarly well for Don. Let that be a lesson, kids. Don’t be a selfish prick all your life.

I’m also watching a ton of YouTube videos about how to use Final Cut Pro and make travel-related “content.” Some people have expressed, let’s call it dismay, over my choice of Final Cut. All I can say is I was one of the members of the Official Final Cut Pro users group in LA way back in the day and I continue to be a fan and user of it to this day.

I first used an Apple computer over 30 years ago and I haven’t looked back. Call me a fanboy or a simp or whatever, I don’t care. I will be an Apple user until the day I die. It just works.

Speaking of that, I decided to treat myself to a new computer. It’s a 14" M3 Pro MacBook Pro (say that three times fast) and I gotta say, it’s pretty great. I’m not sure why I waited this long to switch to Apple Silicon.

It’s that much of a difference from my previous 13" MacBook Pro with Intel i7.  It makes using FCP and Logic a real pleasure and it handles al my 4K footage with ease.

Well, that pretty much wraps it up for this one. Until next time, be kind to each other.

Photo: Joe Maidment / Walt Disney Co.