blessingx

The Worst Air Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of Captain, that was a lilly dilly! https://magazine.atavist.com/2025/american-hindenberg-zeppelin-disaster?src=longreads

Magnetar reveals new UDP900MKII and UDP800MKII 4K players https://www.techradar.com/televisions/blu-ray/4k-blu-ray-fans-rejoice-magnetar-reveals-two-new-4k-blu-ray-players-at-cedia-expo-2025

Speaking of fixing...

More Eagly. More James Gunn. Season two (HBO Max).

Went to the San Jose Lowrider Day downtown today. Quick visit, but some snaps from Hassy 907x 50c with XCD 45p (4x3) and Nikon Df with CV 40mm f/2 (3x2). Funny enough I liked more Nikon shots.

Hilarious three part The Dollop podcast on Bo Gritz who after serving in the Vietnam War, used a cheerleading camp, psychics, sex workers and Clint Eastwood's donations to "lead" various failed attempts to rescue MIA POWs that didn't exist (and that's just the first episode). Failing up as they say, he was a "hero" and was supposedly the inspiration for an A-Team character and several Chuck Norris films. Later he showed up at Ruby Ridge and ran for president with the slogan "God, guns, and Gritz". Ahead of your time there Bo. If only you waited until 2016. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dollop-with-dave-anthony-and-gareth-reynolds/id643055307?i=1000721616765 Spotify: 'Merica, it's older than you think

Haboob arrived (in plastic wrap)! 🙃

^

Well, exists for two films because George Miller "nudged" the $tudio . In Furiosa there is selective color when it's important, like flare signals or a red apple. Normally a no-no, but I think it works here.

The Development of the Rangefinder

^

Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Kind of seems like it should be called Lawman: Bass Reeves, but I'll take it. Based on the true story of an escaped slave who became a peace officer for over 30 years, with 3,000 arrests, including his son. You may also recognize the name from the Tulsa/"Black Wall Street" open of Watchmen.

Done.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Black & Chrome edition is available for purchase on Apple TV for $4.99 for anyone interested. It's a little dark, but I think it looks better than the Fury Road Black & Chrome version. May help those with CGI issues with the color.

Also Terence Stamp at 87 https://www.salon.com/2025/08/17/terence-stamp-general-zod-and-film-icon-dead-at-87/

Increasingly speciality releases are probably where Blurays are headed. Especially ones with sand. https://viavision.com.au/shop/dune-1984-limited-edition-sandbox-4k-uhd-3-disc-blu-ray-imprint-collection-426/?srsltid=AfmBOoqKuPw9nvK8XEuyf92EvTV1yyFFEKfXZ_M_OAP-yIg4vJ2Y7Zaf# https://diabolikdvd.com/product/dune-limited-sandbox-edition-imprint-4k-uhd-blu-ray-all-region-preorder/

Trying the pilot of Naked and Afraid Apocalypse (Discovery & Max) over lunch. For fans of Naked and Afraid, Naked and Afraid XL, Naked and Afraid: Alone, Naked and Afraid: Solo, Naked and Afraid of Love, Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing, and Naked and Afraid: Castaways. 1500% authentic.

When one of my favorite, faaarrr from perfect, quirky, no one should buy in 2025, cameras shows up in a new article... https://petapixel.com/2025/08/14/the-retro-styled-nikon-df-dslr-was-both-behind-and-ahead-of-the-times/ Mine, unfortunately, didn't come with a pocket watch.

I’m not much of a sports guy, so probably behind the times, but there’s sperm racing now? https://www.spermracing.com/races (“race video”) “how the race works: we've designed a microscopic racetrack that mimics the reproductive system—chemical signals, fluid dynamics, synchronized starts. high-resolution cameras track every microscopic move. it's all live-streamed, complete with stats, leaderboards, and instant replays. the winner? the sperm that crosses the finish line first, verified by advanced imaging. the stakes have never been smaller—or bigger.”

As I referenced in the film thread awhile back, I haven’t been reading much the last few years, generally bored in and out of work, and live silly close to Stanford, so Continuing Studies it is. Took classes on (internal v. external) Meaning (Julia Sweeney, on topic, was another student ) and Middle East history. Reading about split between primary and auxiliary texts, but if you’re looking for non-summery end of summer reading... Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, Nietzsche’s The Gay Science (aka The Joyous Science) & Beyond Good and Evil, Cleveland & Bunton’s History of the Modern Middle East, and Gelvin’s The New Middle East. Yeah, stuff I should have read 30 years ago. Two classes are too much with work, so cutting down to one, but standby for Mesopotamian archaeology recommendations next.

Also for anyone interested, Magnum is running a 20% off Summer Course sale right now with some heavyweights. Just picked up... Mark Power: Picturing Place Cristina de Middel: Stranger than Reality Gregory Halpern: Documentary Sur/Realism Matt Black: The Documentary Commitment Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice Bieke Depoorter: Chance Encounters Alec Soth: Photographic Storytelling

Speaking of VW charm https://www.autoevolution.com/news/artful-canadian-engineer-spits-out-the-vw-frankencopter-a-different-kind-of-luftwaffe-255331.html

Because everyone's summer should have a little counterbalance with Nietzsche. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gay-science-1-preface-i-1-i-9/id1573808070?i=1000661659055