Friday 5 for July 23: Eyes on the prize

 

The following questions are taken from its usual source. You can view them here.

1. What gadget did you most recently obtain, and which gadget do you have your eyes on?

Recently bought: Google Pixel 4a smartphone. I am mostly pleased with it, especially the camera and the fact it did not come with carrier installed bloatware that you can't remove. It's not an iPhone and it will never be. But for a mid range Google phone, I think it is excellent. Plus it is way more affordable than an iPhone and many other so called "flagship" phones in the Android universe that most people buy just to make a fashion statement or be trendy. I expect this Pixel 4a phone to last at least 5 years and hopefully push on to 10. The one thing I hate is the built in battery that has made this phone and all devices with built in batteries that users cannot easily replace, doomed to failure. Sad.

I always have my eyes on various gadgets, most of which I can't afford. I could probably use a new MacOS desktop computer (looking mostly at the Mac Mini) and a newer Chromebook. 

2. What business establishment did you most recently visit for the first time, and which do you have your eyes on?

I rarely venture out to "visit" new businesses unless I have a pressing need to do so. But for the most part, in my set routine world of searching for the cheapest bargains and avoiding any exposure to the public in general (thanks COVID-19), there is no incentive for me to "explore". 

I am contently happy to shop at the same places, for routine stuff that I usually buy... which means Don Quijote store for groceries, Target, Walmart, Longs Drug and occasionally Foodland Farms, Times Supermarket and Safeway. Most of my purchases revolve around eating and replenishing household items like soap and toilet paper.

I stopped eating out at any restaurant and I rarely get take out from them either. Thanks COVID-19. 

So in that department, I haven't been to anyplace "new". I bought my previously mentioned Pixel phone from Amazon. That is where I go lately to get those once in a while things that I want.

I used to love to go to record and book stores to browse and often purchase (especially records and CDs)... However with the advent of COVID-19 and some record stores (we only have 2 that I know of) placing restrictions on entry, it is safe to say I haven't been record shopping since the last sidewalk sale at Ideas Books & Music since February 2020.

The good thing about that is I have spent way less money on physical music media, though I miss browsing through stacks of used records or CDs and finding a stupidly priced album that I know should be selling for more. It's cool to find some kind of radio promo or compilation album for only a dollar.

That all said, for some reason I look forward to visiting both Hungry Ear and Ideas Books and Music sometime in the future. Granted these are not new businesses, but they are around.

Oh yeah, I did hear the Friends of the Library are operating a temporary music store somewhere in the Ward area too, though it could be closed if and when I get around to going into that area.

3. What movie did you most recently see, and which do you you have your eyes on?

I watch all my movies streaming on one of the following services:

• a. Amazon Prime 
• b. Hulu (I have their year-long $2 deal until November)
• c. Tubi TV

Movies at the theater are totally out for me, due to high ticket prices and COVID-19. The last movie I saw at the theater was the Star Wars movie The Rise of Skywalker.

The last "new" movie I saw was on Amazon Prime: Sound of Metal - a tale of a hard rock metal band drummer who goes deaf. It was nominated for an Oscar this past year.

I also completed watching The Beatles Eight Days A Week on Hulu, a 2014 documentary by director Ron Howard that chronicled the band's touring years and the rooftop concert of 1968.

I haven't yet made time to watch Amazon Prime's The Tomorrow War. It is on my list of hundreds of movies that I bookmarked on that service to watch at some later time. I don't know when, but I will get around to it. 

I am also looking forward to watching the latest incarnation of Dune, though I am not too optimistic that I will watch that anytime close to its October 2021 release date. I'd either have to pay big bucks to watch it in a movie theater or fork over one month worth of big bucks to HBO Max to get it online in its first run. Since other productions of Dune never measured up to the book, I think I may be able to wait this release out until a much later date on a cheaper streaming platform.

At the current time I watch more TV series on streaming services, the long form ones with many episodes that all tell a larger story. Just finished Fringe at Amazon Prime/IMDB-TV and am in progress on the following:

The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu, trying to slowly binge through this before my subscription expires at the $2 price. Last episode was Season 2 Episode 5. This is a leftist dystopian sci-fi story. If something like this happened in real life, it will be the extreme left, communists, or Islamic fanatics that will ruin our country.

The Expanse - Slowly going through this one, currently on Season 2 - Amazon Prime.

321 McCartney - Hulu, six part interview series with Sir Paul and record producer Rick Rubin. Last viewed Episode 3.

Debris - Peacock or Hulu: NBC sci-fi TV series that was new this year and also cancelled this year. I'm at episode 6 and I think it has either 10 or 13 episodes.

4. What reading material did you most recently consume, and which do you have your eyes on?

I probably need a definition for "reading material". 

I read a lot of "stuff", mostly online at various websites and blogs ranging in subjects from tech to politics and a whole lot more. Just this morning I read this article: I Repeat - AM Radio is Dead, which to me is a sad commentary on the cheapest form of free entertainment we can get... the radio. AM radio is in decline sad to note, but FM is still around. I regularly listen to both AM & FM radio.

Books: I guess on a higher level you probably mean books. OK, lately I haven't read many "books", though I have and am listening to several audio books. Most recent book I completed was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It's a good science fiction novel. You must like spiders. 😀

Currently still listening to the ever sprawling Dune by Frank Herbert, a book that I read in paperback form in the late 1970s. It is so much fun to catch up with the world Arrakis once more and all the kingdom building going on there. All hail to Muad'Dib. All hopes for a good movie adaptation of this book later this year.

Just acquired: American Marxism by talk radio show host Mark Levin. I will probably plow through this one before I finish Dune. 😄

5. Which current event has been of greatest interest to you this week, and which do you think will grab your attention next week?

Current event? I'm keeping up with local news surrounding the horribly expensive Honolulu Rail project that is billions of dollars over budget, the ongoing Michael Miske organized crime case and the on and off again criminal case surrounding Honolulu's former police chief and former deputy prosecutor wife Louis and Katherine Kealoha.

Future event? Next year's congressional elections, local elections, rail... probably not next week, though rail seems to come up every week here since the $12.4 billion shortfall continues to grow and the whole mess continues to be mismanaged and costing all of us more money. Ugh!