elijah.run - What's Good: 2025

What's Good #15 (December 2025)

2025-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

Between the holidays and some personal struggles this month I wasn't able to finish</em> as many things as I would like, so I don't have as much to share as I would have liked. Next month though I should check off a few half-finished projects so we'll start the year off with a bang.</p>

Priestdaddy</h1>
</p>
I read this on the repeated recomendation of Jacob Geller, one of my favorite creators on the internet who I gladly support on Patreon. A beautiful narrative autobiography written by a poet, meaning the pros are so goddamn vivid and imaginative I had to stop and take a breather every few pages just to process what I had read. I laughed, I cried, a had a think. Good book.</p>
Godzillas</h1>
This is it! We're done watching all of the Godzilla movies!</p>
I am so happy to have done this project and to have shared it with some friends. I have enjoyed watching not just Godzilla evolve over 70+ years but seeing movies</em> evolve over that time too.</p>
I'll write a dedicated post about Godzilla before too long, so let's wrap this up.</p>
Godzilla: King of the Monsters</h2>
</p>
Continuing where Godzilla (2014) this movie rocks. It's got tons</em> of monsters even digging deep for kaiju like Rodan!? What a legend.</p>
The writing isn't perfect, but as far as CGI spectacle movies go this is incredible.</p>
Note: I think this gets a bad reputation because American audiences don't like the story structure -- but my hot-take is that this perfectly</em> updates the classic</em> Godzilla formula for a 201X audience and the old movies just also kinda sucked. In a lovable way of course.</p>
Godzilla vs Kong</h2>
</p>
I'm not entirely sure why Godzilla gets top billing in this movie because it is clearly</em> a Kong film. He's the main character and most of the story beats follow him. Which is fine, but you know... my boy is GZ, let's give him equal screen-time.</p>
Godzilla Minus One</h2>
</p>
A wonderful modern echo of the classic 60's era Godzillas, calling back to many tropes like:</p>

A scientist has a long-shot idea for how to kill Godzilla that is only taken seriously after literally nothing else works.</li>
Godzilla is finally defeated when Japan builds some crazy long-shot industrial thing.</li>
There is a "boat guy".</li> </ul>
If I were to re-watch the pantheon of Godzilla movies I would probably watch this after watching some of the 50's/60's era films before they got too silly. That seems to be the era most of the references/echos are from, but I watched them so long ago at this point most of it went over my head.</p>
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire</h2>
</p>
I really</em> wished we had ended with Minus One, but I guess we gotta end it with the actual latest entry, not just the one I wish</em> was the latest.</p>
Godzilla x Kong really is Godzilla vs Kong 2. A very similar cast of (human) characters with a bunch of new monsters that to my knowledge are not</em> in any prior/older Godzilla flicks.</p>
Similar to the current (?) run of American Godzilla films, it's a totally passable spectacle film but doesn't hold a candle to what Japan is doing with it.</p>

What's Good #14 (November 2025)

2025-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

Peak, Jusant, and Sky the Scraper</h1>
</p>
I played these three games that all kinda float around the theme of "climbing".</p>
Peak is a wonderful co-op climber where you help your buddies get up to the top of a mountain that really is trying to kill you. My highlight is the wacky physics and the proximity chat which never fails to entertain; hearing your best friend's yells "Oh no oh no oh noooooooo" get rapidly quieter as he falls off a ledge is just the funniest shit.</p>
Jusant is a beautiful, dense, and interesting world. Climbing this giant pillar mesa thing is really fun and has some genuinely interesting climbing puzzles. It also tells a beautiful story with, as far as I can remember, zero spoken words.</p>
Sky the Scraper is two games in one: an arcade window cleaning game and a very stressful life management simulator. You spend like a minute cleaning windows and it's really fun and challenging, then you spend like five minutes responding to texts from your mom about how sad she is that you haven't visited in a while, then you go for a walk. The arcade minigame is really fun though so it's worth it.</p>
Elechead and Öoo</h1>
</p>
Elechead is a cute platformer puzzle game with a strong core mechanic explored in ~2 hours. The core mechanic is that you are a little battery-headed robot that turns surfaces on and off by touching them. Believe it or not there's a good number of puzzles that fall out of that mechanic and this game has most of them!</p>
Öoo is a cute platformer puzzle game with a strong core mechanic explored in ~2 hours... wait we just did this. Anyway the mechanic is that you place and blow up bombs to get around! Öoo is very cute and the puzzles are challenging. I did feel Öoo was a bit more polished, so it's cool to Takahashi's skills getting even better.</p>
I love that these two games are short and sweet, but not so short that they leave ideas on the table. They explore the mechanic they set out to do and do it well.</p>
I had never heard of the creator of these two games, Nama Takahashi, but I am a fan of their work and will keep tabs on them going forward. I could play "Cute character has this one weird trick you won't believe!" forever.</p>
Mission Impossible: Dead & Final Reckoning</h1>
</p>
I am still rowing with Tom Cruise</a> and finished the Mission Impossible series this month. The AI enemy was a little on the nose and honestly it would have been such a good twist if there was no real AI and it was just classic espionage double cross something something -- but alas Mission Impossible played it straight to the end.</p>
That'll do Tom. That'll do.</p>
(Defunctland) Disney's Living Characters: A Broken Promise</h1>
</p>
The final part of Defunctland's two-part series on Disney's Animatronics/Living Creatures was really spectacular. A four+ hour</em> documentary about animatronics, digital puppets, and a ton of really cool stuff!</p>
Defunctland is one of the artists I support on Patreon and I think you should do the same. They publish like two big videos per year, a podcast, some miscellaneous goodies. It's not a lot</em> of content, it's certainly not _consistent_c content, but goddamn it is good.</p>
Two Sleepy People</h1>
</p>
I'm not on TikTok anymore, but when I was I followed Baron Ryan. I liked his style and appreciated that he stuck to it, sharpened his craft, and perfected it in little bites.</p>
I was skeptical that he could deliver on a full length project but he (and a really good team) delivered! I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed the twists and turns.</p>
This is a genuinely good movie and if you get a chance to see it you should.</p>
Support indies.</p>
Zootopia 2</h1>
</p>
Uhh... and then go see Zootopia 2 because it's fun.</p>
I was a huge</em> fan of Zootopia. I'm not a furry or anything, but I am whatever you would call a furry for buddy-cop movies and Zootopia delivers on the genre.</p>
I admit the sequel didn't have the same spark as the first one, but I suspect it'll grow on me with repeat viewing (legally required when you have two small children). Honestly there are many worse fates than watching Zootopia a couple dozen times.</p>
Godzillas</h1>
Shin Godzilla</h2>
</p>
Oh my god yes yes yes yes yes. Dude this is so good. Like I can tell you how and why but I promise it's just good</em>. Go watch it right now. I don't care if you already watched it today</em>, go watch it again!</p>
Ok now that you're back, let's review:</p>

Got pacing on lock</em>. It's like West Wing meets... Godzilla.</li>
The CGI looks incredible</em>. They really sell the scale in some of these shots.</li>
The ENDING SHOT. No spoilers, go watch it again.</li> </ul>
The Anime Trilogy</h2>
</p>
The Anime... were not as good as Shin. Which makes sense, nothing is as good as Shin (for now), but they did do some interesting stuff!</p>
The trilogy follows humans who were forced to leave Earth because the Kaiju took over or something. They leave, come back, and fight Godzilla. You... you probably could have figured that second part out from the premise.</p>
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters</h3>
Planet of Monsters was the weakest of the three for me. The Animation style was hard to adjust to, but by the end I was enjoying it. They're able to do things visually that they simply could not get away with in a live-action Godzilla on a reasonable budget like explosion simulations and good looking space ships.</p>
Also the twist after they defat Godzilla was... classic.</p>
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle</h3>
City on the Edge of Battle actually worked for me. The characters has time to grow and develop, it almost felt more like Aliens. The final scene was super epic and the movie's take on Mecha-Godzilla was trippy.</p>
Godzilla: The Planet Eater</h3>
The Planet Eater was the most psychedelic of the bunch, almost leaning into cosmic horror stuff. Battling inner daemons manifested as uhh... Kaiju destroying the real world. Cool stuff!</p>
Over all I would say the Anime trilogy is fun but not great. Get baked and enjoy the pretty visuals and you'll have a good time.</p>

What's Good #13 (October 2025)

2025-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

No Kings Part II</h1>
</p>

It was really difficult to capture the scale of the protests, so I chose this pretty picture instead.</p> </blockquote>
My sisters and step-mother visited from Chicago for a weekend and while in Portland we went to the No Kings protest. We grew up going to protests during the George W. Bush era so this felt like a totally appropriate family activity.</p>
The crowd felt massive, stretching tens of blocks around the city. People were in inflatable costumes, I saw some good signs, and felt politically energized. I also wish I had brought the kids. I was worried about safety, but in practice it was totally civil.</p>
Proximate, Dead Letter Dept., Without a Dawn</h1>
</p>
Jacob Geller came out with a great video about these three games</a> which I highly suggest you watch. The bit that these were such short games hooked me and inspired me to play them before</em> watching the essay to sort of "do my homework before class".</p>
This was a neat exercise that I don't usually have the opportunity to do. Most videogame essays I watch are about sprawling series that require hundreds of hours and a crazy high skill level</a> to even see</em> the stuff the author is talking about, fair enough have interesting thoughts about the topic. I'm in my dad mode phase, I don't have time to play every Dragon Age game -- I barely have enough time to watch your 6 hour 40 minute video on the series Noah</a>!</p>
So I was happy to have a (roughly) 3 hour block of games to get through and be "caught up" before watching this latest Geller essay. And it was totally worth it! All three games were appropriately spooky for, you know for October, and I even had thoughts about the games before</em> hearing a smart man talk about them.</p>
Proximate was the first one I played and my favorite of the bunch. The mechanic of interacting with the world through a layer of abstraction felt very "meta"; you interact with this game world through a keyboard and mouse and screen, so adding another layer of abstraction builds on that. Also the sound design made me pee my pants a lil.</p>
Without a Dawn was the next one I played. I didn't really connect with the story and felt frustrated with the lack of choice present in the game. I know that's sorta the bit and there's narrative meaning there but like... it wasn't for me. The shader effect was very cool though.</p>
Dead Letter Department was the last one I played and at first I didn't "get it". I followed instructions, chose the edgy dialog options, and got a bonkers ending after ~2 and a half hours of gameplay. It was weird and spooky but then I watched the essay and realized there are lots</em> of endings and lots</em> of ways to try to break the game! Sending yourself letters, different choices, lots of room for player creativity that I was so on auto-pilot I didn't realize were there. It almost felt like the environmental choices in Spec Ops: The Line, but in a spooky glitch grunge package.</p>
Godzillas</h1>
This month we hit the 2004 - 2014 hiatus which is huge! We're finally in what I would call the "modern era" of Godzilla.</p>
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla</h2>
</p>
Main takeaway: lots of explicit death in this one. Never really addressed, but you definitely notice the change in mood.</p>
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.</h2>
</p>
This is just a mech film with Godzilla. Also lots of people explicitly dying, weird theme.</p>
Godzilla: Final Wars</h2>
</p>
You probably haven't seen this one yet, but you should!</p>
This is the first Godzilla movie in a very long time</em> that I am suggesting to friends and family.</p>
It's like The Matrix + Power Rangers + Godzilla in one whacky package!</p>
Godzilla (2014)</h2>
</p>
I liked this one!</p>
The camera work was grounded which really sold the scale of Godzilla in ways never seen before -- I can say that because I've seen all the other ones!</p>
It's like Cloverfield + 2010's era disaster movies + Godzilla in one exciting package!</p>

What's Good #12 (September 2025)

2025-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

Getting 3rd in a Dragon Boats Race</h1>
</p>
My main social/physical activity is Dragon Boats. Two or three times a week I bike to the Portland water front and meet up with ~20 other paddlers, stretch, get on a boat, and paddle a big boat around and it's super fun!</p>
Flappy Bird (with rewind)</h1>
I released a game very</em> early in the month called Flappy Bird (with rewind)</a>. It's free to play and runs in your browser so check it out!</p>
Blue Prince</h1>
</p>
Blue Prince is a really interesting rogue-like(-ish) mansion builder. This is maybe the first game Lucy and I have played together because she was really interested and for some reason it's not on Switch (!?!?) so she had</em> to play with me on the Steam Deck!</p>
We played for ~15 hours together, which is impressive given that this is the first time we've played a videogame together. The puzzles are really interesting and I genuinely felt like I got something new out of every run, unlocking new info every iteration.</p>
Now for the less good parts... I had to quit well before we were done. My stamina for long games has never been strong and when every run is 30-60 minutes and only produces maybe</em> one piece of information in a game that has no clear path to completion... I start to existentially question if this is the best use of my time. On top of that a lot of the game presents what are, in my opinion, red herrings; dates that aren't the solution to a puzzle, props that are just for decoration, a third thing. A good puzzle game has very little on top of the mechanics of the puzzle, and those things that are "just set dressing" should be clearly messaged as such, but in this game everything</em> feels like it's saying "Look at me! I'm a clue!" and it's exhausting.</p>
Over all, if you like puzzle games you will probably enjoy Blue Prince. It's especially good for couples who want to play together as there is a lot of room to brainstorm and discuss strategy! The randomness can be frustrating, but if you are used to rogue-like elements it won't be that</em> bad. If you've had a bad run in Balatro it's no worse than that.</p>
Everything Must Go</h1>
</p>
I listened to the audiobook version of Everything Must Go</a> by Dorian Lynskey this month and enjoyed it! He does a good job of covering a lot of the breadth and history of "end of the world" stories without you know... being a massive bummer.</p>
Gotham City: Year One</h1>
</p>
Gotham City: Year One</a> is a straight up good noir story that happens</em> to be a prequel to Batman. If you like the Noir genre you'll enjoy this read.</p>
Batman: Hush</h1>
</p>
Batman: Hush</a> reminds me a lot of Batman: The Long Halloween</a>. It spans over 12 issues, hits on most of the star villains, and has some twist at the end that it's building up to. I prefer Long Halloween, but Hush was a solid story with an interesting romance plot and taught me a bit more about the character(s) of Robin than I expected to learn.</p>
Godzillas</h1>
Godzilla T-Shirt</h2>
</p>
I commissioned a t-shirt! I had the idea for a shirt with a kickass Godzilla collage on the front and a "band tour" list of all Godzilla movies on the back. Coincidentally Blake Hester, of Something Rotten Podcast</a> Fame -- among other things, designs t-shirts and announced on Bluesky that he was accepting commissions. I slid into his dm's and he accepted the project! A few weeks later I had the designs, found a local printer (willing to print copyright material) and got a small order! I'm sending this to folks participating in the Godzilla weekly movie thing, but I have a few extra so if you're interested email me at godzilla@elijah.run (yes that is a real email that goes to my inbox).</p>
Godzilla 1998</h2>
</p>
Here's a controversial statement: Godzilla 1998 is pretty good. It's not a good Godzilla</em> movie, it's more of a Jurassic Park/Aliens knock-off, but it's a really good knock-off! The jokes land, it's not distractingly 90's in it's you know misogyny, and the practical effects hold up really well.</p>
Godzilla 2000 Millennium</h2>
</p>
Godzilla 2000 Millennium felt... off. Like Toho was going through the motions on this one. The story was uninspired re-using a surprising number of elements from previous films like space ships that turn into Kaiju and the Defense Force trying yet again to kill Godzilla even though that has literally never come close to working since the first movie.</p>
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus</h2>
</p>
My only takeaway from this is that using a BLACK HOLE to kill Godzilla is the most metal weapon used in these movies to date.</p>
Also the camera work is generally closer to the action which is a nice change from previous titles. The fights feel more intimate as a result.</p>
GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack</h2>
</p>
I liked that there were a lot of little vignettes in this movie.</p>
Also a weird theme of people dying. Not like... maybe off-screen dying, there's a lot of people standing around, then a giant tail swiping or foot stomping them. Not dark, and rarely addressed explicitly, but definitely notable.</p>
The Backlog</h1>
I also started a project called The Backlog</a>. It's the public version of a private backlog I've kept in Obsidian for a few months now, but I figure to build the habit of writing I would start publishing the little notes I jot down after I finish something.</p>
I am already overwhelmed at the number of games and tv shows I want to watch...</p>

What's Good #11 (August 2025)

2025-08-31T00:00:00+00:00

Hmm.</p>
This looks different... did the website get a haircut?</p>
Lucy's fancy film digitizing thing</h1>
Lucy bought a scanlight</a> for digitizing film negatives. At first I thought this was a waste of $150 since we had a totally fine LED lightboard that cost like $20 from Amazon.</p>
Boy was I wrong. The scanlight webpage (linked above) is very thorough about how</em> it works, so I won't go into that -- something something a good light mixture and no LED lines.</p>
So I'll just just show you</em> a side-by-side of the same picture digitized using the scanlight vs a cheap LED lightboard:</p>
</p>

left: scanlight. right: cheap lightboard. Note the reds on my ear come through a lot better on the scanlight.</p> </blockquote>
And here is a zoomed in version:</p>
</p>

left: scanlight. right: cheap lightboard. Note the lack of vertical lines where the LEDs are on the lightboard.</p> </blockquote>
I definitely thought these scan lines were just an artifact of like... how the chemicals were put on the film -- nope! That was totally just an artifact of the lightboard and there are better options.</p>
Braid Anniversary Edition</h1>
</p>
I really wish more people played this game.</p>
At ~2 hours Braid is a nice indie title with some really good puzzles. Braid respects the player's time by having no filler</em>; each level explores a new idea and teaches the player something new.</p>
At ~17 hours Braid: Anniversary Edition is the most comprehensive videogame commentary every created</em>. I'm serious this goes into every level, every little decision, explores ideas they didn't</em> do and even makes those into little interactive levels. It also includes ~25 NEW LEVELS that are hard as fuck. It's also beautifully crafted with amazing painted moving backgrounds!</p>
If you like puzzles games, you should play Braid. If you are interested in how games get made, you should play the Anniversary Edition.</p>
Comics</h1>
Superior Spider-Man (2014)</h2>
</p>
Doctor Octopus body-swaps with Spider-Man, then Doc-Oc's body (with Peter Parker inside) dies! It is also a good reflection on having empathy for your enemies.</p>
But right before he dies, Peter Parker (as Doc-Oc) instills the "With great power..." speech to Doc Oc (in Peter Parker's body) and it works! Doc Oc/Superior Spider-Man tries to be a good guy and honestly in many ways succeeds. Crime is going down, he's got time for friends and family, things are great. But of course Doc Oc's criminal tendencies start to seep through and by the end Spider-Man is kind of a super villain with henchmen and everything!</p>
Superior Spider-Man is a big</em> comic book. Like the compendium I have is thick</em> with ~40 issues wrapped up into one book.</p>
Superior is not an objectively good story, but for a main-line Spider-Man it's exceptional. The current run of Amazing Spider-Man is still</em> referencing things that happened in this run over a decade ago. And honestly the bar is so low for Marvel stories, I was blown away at the complexity of this run.</p>
Kaiju Score</h2>
</p>
What can I say, I like Kaiju. This is a heist that takes place during a Kaiju invasion/attack. It's a very sugary heist story, meaning it stretches that itch but doesn't do much else. Which is ok!</p>
The Nice House on the Lake</h2>
</p>
Wow this was a sleeper for me. This is such well executed mystery horror and I am here for it. It's the kind of story that begs you to pay attention to details, flip back between pages, and put clues together. That said if you just blast through it like I did you'll still enjoy the twists and turns.</p>
Not All Robots</h2>
</p>
Not All Robots is a good reflection not only on the obvious themes of automation, but also how a post-scarcity society can be bad</em> if the means of production is owned by an elite few.</p>
I'm not sure why, but it also felt a bit like Alan Moore's "Top 10" comic... take that with a grain of salt though. I really have no idea why I got that vibe.</p>
Movies</h1>
17 Pages</h2>
</p>
17 pages is the best demonstration of bias I have ever seen in media. You are told one side of a story, then surprise there is a part 2! You start that second part thinking "Well there is no way I'm going to be convinced of... hmm... that's actually a compelling point..."</p>
I have been subscribed to Nebula for a few years because I'm not nerd video essay YouTube. It really depends on what you're interested in if Nebula "pays for itself" especially since most</em> of the videos are on YouTube, so if you have YouTube Premium, or you use an ad-blocker, it's a similar experience. That said, if you are interested in seeing this, subscribe for a month and watch it. On top of being a well constructed documentary (Bobby Broccoli always does good stuff) this had improved visuals and production value. I'm excited to see what BB does next!</p>
Weapons (2025)</h2>
</p>
Weapons is on par with Get Out in instant modern horror classics. I gasped in appropriately loud a few times in the theater and I felt uneasy most of the movie -- in a good way!</p>
The story telling device of each chapter focusing on a different character was really good at setting up mysteries and then paying them off.</p>
Bullet Train</h2>
</p>
This was one of the movies I've been watched while rowing and it is so fun</em>. The action is really well executed, the characters are fun and quippy, and the intensity is well paced.</p>
Similar to "Fall Guy", I love original action movies like this that are little action capsules.</p>
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah</h2>
</p>
This is the first and possibly only Godzilla movie to use time travel, and for that I have to put it near the top of Godzilla movies. Definitely not S or A tier but solid B or C+ tier.</p>
They do a time travel, get rid of Godzilla, but then -- say it with me: Aliens Mind Control a Kaiju. Well not Aliens, this time it's humans from the future, but same diff. So to fight this new kaiju threat we have to bring Godzilla back by nuking a dinosaur.</p>
This is a very silly one. Worth the watch.</p>
Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)</h2>
</p>
The real monster is Climate Change. And the REAL monster is us for making Climate Change.</p>
The special effects with the... Fairies(?) is much improved! I love watching the history of budget special effects evolve throughout these movies.</p>
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)</h2>
</p>
I'm just going to share my stream of consiounce notes I took during this film:</p>

So there's an giant Kaiju egg in a hillside that gets discovered when a storm does some erosion. Unlike previous eggs this does not get turned into an amusement park attraction but is instead studied for science. During said science they piece together that the egg glows red when it is scared, and it is not scared when a specific female scientist is around. Yes this is a Mecha Godzilla movie.</p>
Anyway Mecha Godzilla and Godzilla fight. Mecha loses. The egg hatches and apparently this is a baby Godzilla -- but this is not Manilla, this is a different vegan</em> baby Godzilla.</p>
The anti Godzilla airplane is brought back after being shelved previously, both decisions being pretty haphazard. They study baby Godzilla and find a second brain in it's butt, and extrapolate that Godzilla also has a butt brain. So they decide to fight Godzilla again with Super Mecha (Mechagodzilla + the airplane) but this time aim at Godzilla's butt.</p>
They almost win, but then Rodan -- did I mention Rodan is also here? -- flies in, dies on Godzilla, turns into energy glitter, causing Godzilla to go super sayan totally destroying Super Mecha but conveniently not the crew because screen cast doesn't die.</p> </blockquote>
So yeah... not perfect but pretty fun.</p>
Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994)</h2>
</p>
Growing up I played an awesome fighting game where you played as different Godzilla Kaiju. It may have been "Godzilla: Save the Earth" or one of the other games in that series.</p>
</p>
I distinctly remember playing as Mechagodzilla, Godzilla (classic), and my favorite character: SpaceGodzilla! The Kaiju felt so distinct in their fighting styles and it was (to a 9 year old's sensibilities) a kickass fighting game.</p>
Anyway Space Godzilla was a total snooze fest for me save for one awesome mech scene at the end. My notes include:</p>

Everybody is super chill around baby Godzilla.</li>
Baby Godzilla is way better designed than Minilla (Son of Godzilla).</li>
If the entire Japanese Defense Force can't take down Godzilla why does one man on an island think he can...</li>
SpaceGodzilla's origin is from way back in Biollante??</li>
OK the mechs combining is awesome and very Power Rangers.</li> </ul>
Next month:</p>

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)</li>
Godzilla (1998)</li>
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)</li>
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)</li>
GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)</li> </ul>

What's Good #10 (July 2025)

2025-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

2 Year Birthday Party</h1>
This month one of my boys turned two and it was fun!</p>
We threw a block party -- which is apparently just a thing you can do!? Fill out a form, pay a fee, print some signs that say "Road Closed" and you're set!</p>
Apparently we also know somebody that knows somebody that got us a friggen FIRE TRUCK WITH REAL FIRE FIGHTERS</em> to show up. I will never love anything as much as a group of little boys love fire trucks. I spent nearly an entire roll of film just capturing the excitement.</p>
Despite being brutally hot at over 95F -- it was a blast. We had pizza, gelato, and a splash pad. The kids didn't mind it was so hot, and a bunch of people showed up!</p>
Books</h1>
When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025)</h2>
</p>
Another very fun Scalzi romp in which the moon turns to cheese and the world goes through an existential crisis.</p>
My favorite part was two short stories toward the end:</p>

The first is about losing somebody you love and saying final goodbyes.</li>
The second is about the pain of creating/writing/etc but the regret of not doing so.</li> </ol>
These both stand up on their own for me as solid stand-alone short stories and touch very little on the whimsical premise of the novel.</p>
Fun characters, solid premise, quick read.</p>
How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen (2017, Audiobook)</h2>
</p>
As mentioned above, I am responsible for a two year old boy which is... challenging. Thankfully I have read this book and now I have TONS to tools to help! I recommend this to anybody with, or about to come in long term contact with, a very young person.</p>
The book prioritized recognizing, acknowledging, and leading with feelings which so far has been really effective! Kids are having a tough time, just making sure they feel like you know where they're coming from leads to a lot of good communication.</p>
I have started using this script and it is shockingly effective</em>:</p>

(Kid having tantrum) Dang. You really want to do X. X is really fun and you love doing it! I also want you to do X! The problem is, we need to do Y because of Z. (Kid magically gets better)</p> </blockquote>
Try it out!</p>
Games</h1>
Kentucky Route Zero (2020)</h2>
</p>
After years</em> I have finally finished KRZ and like... wow. I love it.</p>
It's an amazing game in so many ways, but also challenging like a dense novel. The world is rich and imaginative and full of mystical realism. It's clearly crafted with love and feels like a work of art in a way that so few games achieve.</p>
If haven't yet, you should take a trip to The Zero. You won't regret it.</p>
Split Fiction (2025)</h2>
</p>
On the totally different end of the spectrum we have Split Fiction!</p>
My friend and I played this as part of our co-op games we play every week. If you've ever played a Hazelight game (It Takes Two, A Way Out, Brothers) you know what you're in for: Solid game design, interesting co-op puzzles, and just one or two infuriating platforming levels that I JUST CAN'T GET RIGHT DANGIT!</p>
My favorite part: they saved the best for last. That's right you're going to play an entire amazing game and then they're going to BLOW YOUR MIND in the last 20 minutes. ... not to hype it up too much.</p>
Movies</h1>
Superman (2025)</h2>
</p>
It's solid! Superman fights bad guys, struggles, is superman. Also he's pro-Palestine -- hell yeah!</p>
Godzillas</h2>
This month we experienced a HUGE</em> jump in Godzilla between the 70s and 80s Godzilla took almost a 10 year hiatus! But he's back and although the movies feel slightly</em> more modern it's the same Kaiju we love at it again.</p>
Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)</h3>
</p>
The hi-light of Megalon was the introduction of Jet Jaguar! A character I knew and who felt very familiar</em> thanks to my upbringing on Power Rangers</a> and Beatleborgs</a>. This was a welcome surprise.</p>
Honestly I don't remember much about the Kaiju.</p>
Besides that this movie had bitchin' car chases, a crazy house, and continued the running theme of scientists using million-dollar equipment in their personal time. Science was just different in the 50's, 60's, and 70's I guess.</p>
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974)</h3>
</p>
Mechagodzilla is a classic</em>. When I mention Godzilla folks usually say "Oh yeah like Gidorah and Mechagodzilla". That said... this entry was... mid if for no other reason than THE ALIENS ARE MIND CONTROLLING THE KAIJU AGAIN!!! WHEN WILL THEY LEARN!</p>
That said it in the final fight scene Godzilla becomes magnetic and I love that because power creep rocks.</p>
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)</h3>
</p>
This is a totally forgettable entry BECAUSE THE ALIENS CONTROL THE KAIJU -- AGAIN!!</p>
The movie does start</em> with a recap of the ending fight scene from the last movie which I did like. It's a nice way to catch you up on where the story is and makes the movies feel more connected and less like a Kaiju sitcom.</p>
... and then Godzilla (the series) fucked off for 9 years...</p>
Return of Godzilla (1984)</h3>
</p>
This movie was more confusing than anything for me:</p>

Godzilla is the bad guy? I thought kids loved him! And he fought off the other bad Kaiju!</li>
Wait where are the other Kaiju? Were the last 15 movies even canon??</li>
There is a nuclear threat that just... resolves 20 minutes before the end of the movie.</li>
The magic solution machine made Godzilla sleepy -- wait didn't they already do that?</li>
Godzilla still destroys Tokyo.</li> </ul>
It feels like a reboot which I guess it sort of is. The characters mention the original</em> Godzilla movies in the 50s (as events in their world, not movies -- they're not THAT</em> meta) but none of the other stories after that which is fair... it's a lot.</p>
Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)</h3>
</p>
We're back baby. This is a classic Godzilla story if I've ever seen one.</p>
Godzilla fights a genetic clone if himself -- but plant!</p>
Honestly it just rocks visually:</p>
</p>
</p>
</p>
And then ends with this very on the nose</em> message to the viewer...</p>
</p>
</p>
Next month's Godzillas</a>:</p>

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991)</li>
Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)</li>
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)</li>
Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994)</li> </ul>

What's Good #9 (June 2025)

2025-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

This month I took full advantage of paternity leave, reading and playing some books and games I wouldn't normally find the time for.</p>
Books</h1>
Polostan (2024)</h2>
</p>
I listened to Neal Stephenson's Polostan</a> at the start of the month. At merely</em> 12 hours feels suspiciously like the first 1/3rd of a "normal" Neal Stephenson novel, which I honestly didn't hate. It's easier for me to listen to three 12 hour books than even a single 24 hour novel.</p>
I would not have picked up Polostan if I knew it was a pre-WWII historical spy fiction but once I was in deep enough to realize there wouldn't be a sci-fi twist I was hooked and enjoying the ride, so it was for the best!</p>
If you like Neal Stephenson you'll like this book. If you don't know</em> if you like Neal Stephenson I would recommend a book he co-authored (and nobody talks about) The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O</a>.</p>
The Lost Cause (2023)</h2>
</p>
The Lost Cause</a> is a recent Cory Doctrow novel about how my kid's generation might deal with the climate catastrophe, MAGA extremists, and refugee crisis all at the same time. In some ways it is an optimistic read of the 2050s, in others it is pessimistic, and it weirdly made me want to visit Burbank.</p>
Sci-fi tends to either be in the "great ideas" or "great characters" bucket and Cory Doctrow definitely leans more toward ideas and less toward characters. As with most of his books this had great ideas like:</p>

carbon-neutral concrete factories that run during excess solar production.</li>
pre-fab housing that can be constructed in a week</li>
banning all guns</li> </ul>
The characters aren't the most</em> complex, but it did get me to empathize with refugees in a way that no other piece of media has done before.</p>
The Sluts (2004)</h2>
</p>
This might be the most interesting book I have ever read. I picked up Dennis Cooper's The Sluts</a> on a whim after it was mentioned on the Something Rotten podcast. I am really happy that</em> I read it even if I did gasp, cringe, and laugh all within a single page while I sheepishly read this at my local coffee shop.</p>
Interesting</em> feels too diplomatic, like "-- no no I didn't hate</strong> it -- it was just... interesting!" I am really happy that I read it as it played with themes and story telling devices I haven't been exposed to before. Buuut can also be a brutal</em> book for anybody not numb to horror themes and imagery. The pain serves a purpose</em> to be sure, but it's still uncomfortable as hell getting through those paragraphs.</p>
Fun fact, this is an Epistolary novel</a> (a new word for me!) told through early 2000's forum post and escort reviews. It plays with un-trustworthy narrators because on the internet nobody know's you're a dog</a>.</p> </blockquote>
Ultimately I'm happy I read it and the ending was thought provoking in a "raises a mirror to the reader" sort of way without bashing you over the head with it.</p>
Neverender Vol 1 (2023)</h2>
</p>
Neverender</a> is a very fun comic. I would describe it as Gladiator in Space -- which looking at my shelf is not a sparse sub-genre</a>.</p>
If you enjoy anime fights, political intrigue, and big space stations you should check this graphic novel out.</p>
Games</h1>
SCHiM (2024)</h2>
</p>
SCHiM</a> is an a e s t h e t i c platformer where you play as a little shadow frog thing (I guess it's called a SCHiM) jumping from shadow to shadow. I'm including it here because it was a fun take on platforming, making it both mechanically interesting while still feeling like a familiar platformer.</p>
... that said I did not finish</em> SCHiM; the game is just too damn long. I got about half way through and felt like (a) I wasn't getting new mechanics at a regular clip and (b) I wasn't enjoying the Platforming (a genre I am especially bad at).</p>
It's a pretty game with tight but repetitive mechanics. Honestly if I had more time on my hands I would have loved to turn my brain off and play the whole thing out.</p>
NORCO (2022)</h2>
</p>
NORCO</a> was a gift from my best friend and occasional collaborator</a>, Sam Hall</a>. I don't usually play point-and-click-adventures but this was really fun!</p>
I pitch NORCO as "Blade Runner in the Bayou". It's also got a dad-schedule-compatible playtime of just 6 hours. Yippee!</p>
Movies</h1>
Civil War (2024)</h2>
</p>
After finishing Devs</a> and watching Men</a>, I figured I should continue on my Alex Garland's directorial journey with Civil War</a>. I don't think I have anything interesting to say that hasn't already been said a few thousand times on the web, but I enjoyed the movie. It's got that Alex Garland cinematography a e s t h e t i c and some fun acting -- and did a good job of helping me empathize with civilians that have to live through a civil war.</p>
Here's hoping it's not too</em> prophetic.</p>
Godzillas</h2>
This month's Godzillas had some duds but also had my (current) favorite Godzilla -- a true S-Tier entry!Let's get into it.</p>
Destroy All Monsters (1968)</h3>
</p>
I don't remember much about this one, but I remember that Ghidorah is a tool that sucks. Also this continues a trend of 60s Godzillas that are obsessed</em> with space travel, aliens, and aliens mind controlling kaiju.</p>
All Monsters Attack (1969)</h3>
</p>
Despite the very similar title</em>, All Monsters Attack rocks</em>. This is easily my favorite Godzilla flick thus far because is breaks the formula in so many ways</em>:</p>

It all takes place in a little boy's imagination. Minilla (a.k.a. Son of Godzilla) teaches the boy a lesson. Great start.</li>
The stakes are [in kaiju adjusted terms] very small, but still real! You are rooting for a boy to get out of a tough situation, not rooting for one guy in a rubber costume to beat up another one in a WWE match.</li>
The whole movie has a more grounded 70's film-making style without leaning into the cringe 70s stuff like disco and bell-bottoms (I'm looking at you Gigan)</li>
The fight at the end is between kids and not Kaiju! Breaking! The! Formula!</li> </ol>
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)</h3>
</p>
This has the most on the nose "pollution is bad" story and that's fine</em> except they fumble it at the end! Instead of the solution to defeating the monster being like... going green and stopping polluting they just get Godzilla to electrocute the dang thing.</p>
That said, there are some quirky animated sequences that felt vaguely Monty Python.</p>
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)</h3>
</p>
Again with the aliens mind-controlling Kaiju? Guys I have to dock you points just for unoriginality. It was fine the first three times but now this feels like a cry for help.</p>
Most Godzilla movies end with a fight and this is no exception, but this one feels especially</em> like a WWE match. I half expected them to jump into the ring and start doing pile drivers.</p>
Next month's Godzillas</a>:</p>

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973): June 30</li>
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974): July 7</li>
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975): July 14</li>
The Return of Godzilla (1984):July 21</li> </ul>

What's Good #8 (May 2025)

2025-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hey I had a second kid!</p>
Having a second kid is good</h1>
In mid May my wife and I had our second kid -- a healthy baby boy! He was ~1 week ahead of his due date, just like his older brother.</p>
He had a bit of jaundice at first, so he had to wear this dope "blue-light blanket" that made him look like a pre-cog from Minority Report.</p>
</p>
Post-jaundice the new baby has been great! Happy, healthy, and [in newborn adjusted terms] very easy!</p>
I get to enjoy a few weeks off work which is a nice bonus~</p>
Rowing with Tom Cruise</h1>
</p>
The rowing machine I have to exercise at home has a little attachment to stick your phone for movies, shows, videos, maybe workout routines I guess.</p>
Finding good content for rowing isn't hard per-se, but you do have to put some thought into it:</p>

Devs</a>? Too slow.</li>
Godzillas</a>? Subtitles are hard to read.</li>
Missions: Impossible</a>? Perfect.</li> </ol>
It needs to be exciting, there needs to be be lots of it, and the excitement should re-up every ~5 minutes to keep you PUMPED -- but not too</em> pumped or you'll gass out. Some TV would be ideal, but the ~~7</del> 8 Mission: Impossible flicks out are good for ~24 workout sessions (30-minutes a piece) which should last me a few weeks.</p>~~
Godzillas (part 2 of 8)</h1>
This month we kept the Godzilla train going with 5</strong> Godzilla flicks!</p>
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)</h2>
</p>
The visual effects for the two ummm... fairies? -- you know what I'm talking about -- were on point. Not to say it holds up</em> but the VFX department did great with what they had and it totally works.</p>
The Mothra theme song is... haunting.</p>
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)</h2>
</p>
This is really a kaiju team-up film which is fun. Everybody hates Ghidorah which makes sense, he's flashey and think's he's better than everybody because he has three heads. What a tool.</p>
Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)</h2>
</p>
Ok this is just another Ghidorah film, with a dash of "How to Serve Man".</p>
Also the dubbing on the one white guy, whose name I could not be bothered to remember, did not</em> hold up. I think his name was Glenn?</p>
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)</h2>
</p>
Ebirah has been the weakest movie so far. The main baddy felt disconnected from the rest of the film and didn't really do anything special-effects-wise that blew me away.</p>
Also my subtitles were borked for this film which... may have made me feel a bit less connected to the movie. That's a skill isuse on my part.</p>
Son of Godzilla (1967)</h2>
</p>
Son of Godzilla is both the best an worst Godzilla flick so far.</p>
Worst</strong> because Son of Godzilla looks, and is musically accompanied by, the worst shit ever. Seriously every second he's on screen I want to punch this little dragon. He's not cute or vulnerable, he's just awful.</p>
Best</strong> becuase all that said... I do feel like I got to learn more about Godzilla's personality which is neat. Godzilla isn't just a flat destruction machine, he's a flat desturction machine that also hits his kid.</p>
The people story in this one, while scientifically dubious, was enjoyable.</p>

What's Good #7 (April 2025)

2025-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Hey I turned 30! That's good!</p>
Boyhood</h1>
To celebrate I finally</em> threw myself a birthday party!</p>
</p>
Usually I forgo the birthday party</em> in favor of like... a nice dinner or something. A little treat instead of a big thing. I lean introverted so why stress myself out?</p>
But I figure 30 is the new 50 or something so I should go big. I rented out a local second-run movie theater for 3 hours and screened Boyhood (2014)</a> with ~40 of my friends.</p>
Boyhood (Lucy's idea) was a great choice. It's a movie shot over ~12 years and the main character is basically my (and many of my friend's) age, so we all got to experience a nostalgia trip with ipods, hit 2000's songs, and Ethan Hawke. If you haven't seen it you should!</p>
The Comics Backlog</h1>
Since ~November 2024 I have been working through my comics backlog of ~200 (probably closer to 300 by now) single issue comic books.</p>
</p>
I have been collecting new release comics since ~2018 and while I read some</em> of them I never had the habit of reading all</em> of them, so over the years the "unread" pile stacked up. In November I decided to slay the dragon and finally vanquish the beast that was my comics backlog...</p>
</p>
... and 6 months later I finall did!</p>
I read a lot of great comics -- I will write a tier list at some point -- and I am very</em> glad to be caught up. A weight is lifted off my shoulders now that I have reached Comic Book Inbox Zero</em></p>
</p>

Just ignore my trade paper backs backlog which is like... even more daunting than singles were.</p> </blockquote>
I want to call out my two favorite characters across all 200-300-ish issues...</p>
Jeff (Deadpool, Marvel):</p>
</p>
and Sploot (Saga, Image):</p>
</p>
I would die for Sploot.</p>

I just realized Jeff and Sploot are both dog-like aquatic animals. I wonder if that's a coincidence...</p> </blockquote>
Godzillas (part 1 of 8)</h1>
So it turns out there are 38 Godzilla flicks, most of which are in the Criterion Collection! A friend of mine decided to watch 1 Godzilla movie every week for the remainder of the year -- and hey there are (err were) 38 weeks left in the year. There's a spreadsheet and everything.</p>
I watched a handful of the old Godzilla films with my grandparents growing up, but haven't done a comprehensive study of the series, so I was more than happy to tag along!</p>
Anyway here's what I think of this month's Godzillas...</p>
Godzilla (1954)</h2>
</p>
Godzilla is a classic. Black and white, dramatic, the guy in the rubber suit is only on camera a bit more than the shark in Jaws was, it's fun. Totally holds up if you go in expecting a 71 year old movie with accompanying special effects.</p>
Funny enough Godzilla pretty conclusively dies in this one, so all other Godzillas are just like... cousins? They were clearly not</strong> in the franchise building mindset at this point.</p>
Godzilla Raids Again (1956)</h2>
</p>
I have no idea why it's called "Raids Again" -- Godzilla does not raid anything. It fights a big ol' dino, fucks some shit up, then gets buried in an avalanche.</p>
The characters are better, the visual effects are better, it does feel like an general improvement on the original. It's sort of half way between the original one-off story and the later "monster of the week" chapters.</p>
This one at least leaves Godzilla's death bit more ambiguous leaving room for...</p>
King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)</h2>
</p>
This is the first Godzilla in COLOR and it pops! Some "Natives" in one scene have vibrant costumes that really put that color film to work. The joy of an industry adopting a novel tech and really showing it off -- reminds me of the early days of CGI when each polygon was placed by hand and you felt every vertex</em>.</p>
Now it's two guys in rubber suits and they punch and it's awesome! Also they defeat King Kong by giving him some melatonin which is hilarious.</p>
This film pretty solidly sets up the next 30 years of franchise which is fun in retrospect. The formula being "X vs Godzilla" with a new X every year or two, print money, repeat.</p>
-- also if Godzilla is a metaphor for the atomic bomb, and King Kong is a metaphor for slavery... I have no idea what this movie is saying. Probably just "monsters fight hell yeah brother".</p>
Of course it ends with a very</em> ambiguous death to leave room for... another one.</p>

What's Good #6 (Mar 2025)

2025-03-31T00:00:00+00:00

For starters: I wasn't sick for the whole month so it was easily</em> better than February.</p>
Film Photography</h1>
In February I picked up a film camera that Lucy inherited from her grandpa. I took some amazing pictures of the snowfall we got, my toddler sledding, I got really into it! I finished a roll, wound back the film, opened the camera and... it was empty! Doh! I didn't even think to check if it was loaded!</p>
I recovered from this devastating self-prank, loaded the camera, and shot a roll.</p>
</p>
The inherited camera was... kinda jank.</p>
</p>
Don't get me wrong, it's an aesthetic... but I also only got like 3-4 useful pictures out of a roll of 37 which is a bad ratio</em>.</p>
</p>
Most of the picutres were not this cool dream vibe -- they were just blown our or totally blank.</p>
</p>
As I got more into it, I acquired two cameras that worked more reliably:</p>
A cheap Ilford Reusable Disposable camera</a>.</li>
Lucy got me a refurbished Olympus OM-1</a>!</li> </ol>
</p>
The "Reusable Disposable" sounds like an oxymoron but it's exactly what you'd expect:</p>

Basic plastic shell</li>
Static lens</li>
Static exposure settings</li>
Flash</li>
Rewind so you can load and unload your own film</li> </ul>
I shot my first successful</em> roll of Color film on the Illford and it was great!</p>
</p>
The OM-1 is a really</em> nice manual film camera and lens -- a "camera system". Lucy got it refurbished for ~$60 which feels like a steal given the build quality!</p>
</p>
I love this camera.</p>
</p>
I've also been developing</em> the film at home which for me has been half the fun!</p>
For black and white film</a> I do "Stand Development" where you dilute your developer 1:100 so the process takes ~1 hour but you can't over-develop.</li>
For color film development</a> I'm just doing C41 development, which required me to buy a Sous Vide!</li> </ul>
</p>
Yay kitchen sink science!</p>
I have zero interest in film printing</em> so I've recruited Lucy to digitize the photos by taking pictures with her DSLR (also an Olympus camera -- we're an Olympus family I guess) and inverting + editing them in Gimp. The results are great!</p>
Here's some more pictures!</p>
</p>
Note: I have a lot</em> of photos of my toddler but I am avoiding publishing those too widely for his privacy. I also want them to be fresh when he inevitably uses them as dating profile fodder.</p>

Besides photography I've started</em> some stuff this month but nothing I can say was especially good</em> yet, so I'll leave it there.</p>

What's Good #5 (Feb 2025)

2025-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Similar to January, February was a tough month for finding "Good Stuff". I got sick with a cold, then sick again with a longer cold.</p>
So it goes -- there were still some highlights!</p>
Lazer Tag</h1>
For Lucy's 30th birthday we did a "13 going on 30" themed party at a uhh... whatever you call an "arcade + bowling + lazer tag + bar" establishment. Much like a tween's birthday party, we payed for 22 of our friends to come play 2 games of lazer tag, and got some arcade credit and pizza! Honestly it was a blast and I thought it was the perfect amount of whimsy for a 30th birthday.</p>
Seven Games (Audiobook)</h1>
</p>
"Seven Games: A Human Story" focuses on -- you guessed it -- seven games that progress in complexity:</p>
I liked that this took seriously the history and best-in-class for these important games. I also love that the author just like... entered major competitions for all of these games. Very good reporting on his part.</p>
Perfect information games</p>

Checkers: relatively simple, solved.</li>
Chess: More complex, not solved but computers easily beat humans.</li>
Go: Far more complex, only recently did computers surpass humans.</li>
Backgammon: Not more complex, but introduces randomness into the mix.</li>
Poker: Introduces hidden information.</li>
Scrabble: A word game.</li>
Bridge: Introduces teams and coordination.</li> </ol>
Some hi-lights in no particular order:</p>

Checkers is solved?! And basically through brute force which is wild.</li>
The format of each chapter is basically "History of game, who the best human players are, how the best computer was developed"</li>
Backgammon was so new -- popularized in the mid 20th century -- and was so closely associated with playboy rich guys!</li>
Something to the effect of "Every word in the Scrabble dictionary is part of the rules of Scrabble. If you don't know all the words you don't know the rules."</li>
For Bridge I feel like using discards as coded messages is kind of bullshit, but then I found out there's only at most</em> 15 unique messages you can convey and I was a little more forgiving. Still kinda smells bad, but nobody plays Bridge anyway.</li> </ul>
Why Congress (Audiobook)</h1>
</p>
Taking a break from political news</em> to learn some political history</em>.</p>
"Why Congress" is an in depth historical overview of the institution of Congress, it's intended function, it's practiced (dis)function, and some hypothetical outcomes about how it might change/what might happen if it does not change.</p>
I'm not going to gaslight you and say that "Actually Congress is functioning exactly as it should be" because it's definitely not. Congress has sucked my entire life. That said this book was a really interesting perspective on how the institution ought</em> to function, when it has functioned well in the past, and why we should want it to function better.</p>
The author focuses on the Civil Rights Act as the pinnacle of Congress functioning well, mostly because it was a large and long battle to get bi-partisan support for an important change in American law. That contrasted with executive actions, judicial decisions, and even rushed Congressional laws that lacked sufficient buy-in which were eventually overturned or weakened, like the Affordable Care Act, COVID-19 response, and Row v Wade.</p>
This was the first time I thought it would be interesting</em> to run to be a state representative, although I don't think all of the worlds good intentions would actually</em> do anything without an act of god.</p>

What's Good #4 (Jan 2025)

2025-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

This was a tough month for "What's Good".</p>
A goal of the series is to encourage me to focus</em> and mono-tasking</em>. Instead of reading 5 books half-heartedly, read 1 book all the way though; that sort of thing. This month though I struggled to reach that focus and kept picking things up for a day and putting them down.</p>
Oh well. There's always next month!</p>
Stand-Up Comedy</h1>
</p>
My theme</a> for January was to do stand-up comedy at least once</em>. And I did! ... exactly once</em>!</p>
I did a 3 minute set, a joke about my allergic reaction to Amoxicillin, which got a few chuckles. Watching other people try out very new</em> material, and getting targeted a concerning amount</em> during during crowd work, was a blast! It went from 7pm - 11pm, which was a stretch for my almost-30-something ass, but worth it to tell and hear some funny jokes!</p>
My excuses for not doing more sets were:</p>

Due to scheduling I could only really do this on Tuesday nights.</li>
The first week I thought all the open mics were still on holiday hiatus -- I was wrong but only found that out Wednesday morning.</li>
The second Tuesday I signed up for the Helium open mic... and didn't make the list.</li>
The third Tuesday I went to the Montavilla open mic and did</em> perform! Woohoo!</li>
The fourth Tuesday I was sick with a cold.</li> </ol>
The Montavilla open mic was so fun</em> I plan on going regularly!</p>
OMSI Science Playground (ages 0-6)</h1> With the new year we bought an annual pass to OMSI just</em> so we could go to the Science Playground</a>. It's an amazing room (for kids) with:</p>

a huge secure climbing structure</li>
"like school" lessons room</li>
mock grocery store</li>
foam block pit</li>
water area</li> </ul>
If you told me two years ago that this loud, chaotic, germ infested room would be my happy place I would not have believed you. But knowing that my kid will be safe and</em> entertained, with only one way in and out, it's almost euphoric. #dadMode</p>
Starter Villain</h1>
</p>
I'm a big fan of John Scalzi, the author of Old Mans War, Kaiju Preservation Society, and Fuzzy Nation (among others).</p>
Starter Villain was a Christmas present I gave my mom in 2023 which has since circulated through our family back to me.</p>
It's a solid short novel.</p>

If you like</em> Scalzi's other work you should check it out.</li>
If you don't know</em> if you like Scalzi yet... you should check it out!</li>
If you don't like</em> Scalzi... ok.</li> </ul> Game Makers Toolkit/Mind over Magnet</h1>
</p>
Game Makers Toolkit</a> is one of the many</em> gaming/game design Youtubers I follow. While not my favorite in content or voice, the channel did something wild</em> over the last three years: they made a game!</p>
Mind Over Magnet</a> is a short game about a robot helping machines ~~eat the rich</del> escape a factory. While on it's own merits Mind Over Magnet is... meh... when paired with "~~Developing</a>" -- the video essay series made in parallel with the game -- it is a unique view into what it takes to create an indie title! He has episodes about prototyping, scoping, play-testing, burnout/motivation, hiring talent for music and art, and eventually shipping!</p>
Pools</h1>
</p>
Pools</a> is the best horror game I have played in a while.</p>

Well... that's probably not true. I guess I don't play much horror in the first place. I mean I played Exit8 but -- whatever let's move on</p> </blockquote>
Pools is the most suspenseful horror game I have every played.</p>

Yeah that's accurate.</p> </blockquote>
Pools has you walking around a dreamlike MC Escher world of pools, and pool-adjacent environments, until eventually you reach the end of a chapter. You do this for 6 chapters, about 30 minutes each in playtime. All the while your palms are sweaty and you are pretty sure somebody is breathing down your neck. But no, nobody is breathing down your neck. No monsters... just pools.</p>
The "hook" for me is that it never releases the tension</em> inherit in that concept. There are no other people. There are no monsters. There is one</em> jump scare that I only found because I was going out of my way</em> to look</em> for scares -- and honestly that was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it event.</p>
There's a demo on Steam. Check it out if that sounds interesting.</p>

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla</h2>
</p>
Main takeaway: lots of explicit death in this one. Never really addressed, but you definitely notice the change in mood.</p>

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.</h2>
</p>
This is just a mech film with Godzilla. Also lots of people explicitly dying, weird theme.</p>

Godzilla: Final Wars</h2>
</p>
You probably haven't seen this one yet, but you should!</p>
This is the first Godzilla movie in a very long time</em> that I am suggesting to friends and family.</p>
It's like The Matrix + Power Rangers + Godzilla in one whacky package!</p>

Godzilla (2014)</h2>
</p>
I liked this one!</p>
The camera work was grounded which really sold the scale of Godzilla in ways never seen before -- I can say that because I've seen all the other ones!</p>
It's like Cloverfield + 2010's era disaster movies + Godzilla in one exciting package!</p>

Flappy Bird (with rewind)</h1>
I released a game very</em> early in the month called Flappy Bird (with rewind)</a>. It's free to play and runs in your browser so check it out!</p>

Gotham City: Year One</h1>
</p>
Gotham City: Year One</a> is a straight up good noir story that happens</em> to be a prequel to Batman. If you like the Noir genre you'll enjoy this read.</p>

Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)</h2>
</p>
The real monster is Climate Change. And the REAL monster is us for making Climate Change.</p>
The special effects with the... Fairies(?) is much improved! I love watching the history of budget special effects evolve throughout these movies.</p>

Games</h1>

Movies</h1>

Superman (2025)</h2>
</p>
It's solid! Superman fights bad guys, struggles, is superman. Also he's pro-Palestine -- hell yeah!</p>

Godzillas</h2>
This month we experienced a HUGE</em> jump in Godzilla between the 70s and 80s Godzilla took almost a 10 year hiatus! But he's back and although the movies feel slightly</em> more modern it's the same Kaiju we love at it again.</p>

Neverender Vol 1 (2023)</h2>
</p>
Neverender</a> is a very fun comic. I would describe it as Gladiator in Space -- which looking at my shelf is not a sparse sub-genre</a>.</p>
If you enjoy anime fights, political intrigue, and big space stations you should check this graphic novel out.</p>

Destroy All Monsters (1968)</h3>
</p>
I don't remember much about this one, but I remember that Ghidorah is a tool that sucks. Also this continues a trend of 60s Godzillas that are obsessed</em> with space travel, aliens, and aliens mind controlling kaiju.</p>

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)</h2>
</p>
Ok this is just another Ghidorah film, with a dash of "How to Serve Man".</p>
Also the dubbing on the one white guy, whose name I could not be bothered to remember, did not</em> hold up. I think his name was Glenn?</p>

elijah.run - What's Good: 2025

What's Good #15 (December 2025)

What's Good #14 (November 2025)

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle</h3>
City on the Edge of Battle actually worked for me. The characters has time to grow and develop, it almost felt more like Aliens. The final scene was super epic and the movie's take on Mecha-Godzilla was trippy.</p>

What's Good #13 (October 2025)

What's Good #12 (September 2025)

Getting 3rd in a Dragon Boats Race</h1>
</p>
My main social/physical activity is Dragon Boats. Two or three times a week I bike to the Portland water front and meet up with ~20 other paddlers, stretch, get on a boat, and paddle a big boat around and it's super fun!</p>

What's Good #11 (August 2025)

What's Good #10 (July 2025)

What's Good #9 (June 2025)

Books</h1>

What's Good #8 (May 2025)

What's Good #7 (April 2025)

What's Good #6 (Mar 2025)

What's Good #5 (Feb 2025)

What's Good #4 (Jan 2025)

elijah.run - What's Good: 2025

What's Good #15 (December 2025)

What's Good #14 (November 2025)

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle</h3> City on the Edge of Battle actually worked for me. The characters has time to grow and develop, it almost felt more like Aliens. The final scene was super epic and the movie's take on Mecha-Godzilla was trippy.</p>

What's Good #13 (October 2025)

No Kings Part II</h1> </p>

Proximate, Dead Letter Dept., Without a Dawn</h1> </p>

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla</h2> </p> Main takeaway: lots of explicit death in this one. Never really addressed, but you definitely notice the change in mood.</p>

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.</h2> </p> This is just a mech film with Godzilla. Also lots of people explicitly dying, weird theme.</p>

Godzilla: Final Wars</h2> </p> You probably haven't seen this one yet, but you should!</p> This is the first Godzilla movie in a very long time</em> that I am suggesting to friends and family.</p> It's like The Matrix + Power Rangers + Godzilla in one whacky package!</p>

Godzilla (2014)</h2> </p> I liked this one!</p> The camera work was grounded which really sold the scale of Godzilla in ways never seen before -- I can say that because I've seen all the other ones!</p> It's like Cloverfield + 2010's era disaster movies + Godzilla in one exciting package!</p>

What's Good #12 (September 2025)

Getting 3rd in a Dragon Boats Race</h1> </p> My main social/physical activity is Dragon Boats. Two or three times a week I bike to the Portland water front and meet up with ~20 other paddlers, stretch, get on a boat, and paddle a big boat around and it's super fun!</p>

Godzilla T-Shirt</h2> </p>

What's Good #11 (August 2025)

Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)</h2> </p> The real monster is Climate Change. And the REAL monster is us for making Climate Change.</p> The special effects with the... Fairies(?) is much improved! I love watching the history of budget special effects evolve throughout these movies.</p>

What's Good #10 (July 2025)

Books</h1> When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025)</h2> </p> Another very fun Scalzi romp in which the moon turns to cheese and the world goes through an existential crisis.</p> My favorite part was two short stories toward the end:</p>

When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025)</h2> </p> Another very fun Scalzi romp in which the moon turns to cheese and the world goes through an existential crisis.</p> My favorite part was two short stories toward the end:</p>

Games</h1>

Movies</h1>

Superman (2025)</h2> </p> It's solid! Superman fights bad guys, struggles, is superman. Also he's pro-Palestine -- hell yeah!</p>

Godzillas</h2> This month we experienced a HUGE</em> jump in Godzilla between the 70s and 80s Godzilla took almost a 10 year hiatus! But he's back and although the movies feel slightly</em> more modern it's the same Kaiju we love at it again.</p>

What's Good #9 (June 2025)

Books</h1>

Polostan (2024)</h2> </p>

SCHiM (2024)</h2> </p>

Civil War (2024)</h2> </p>

Destroy All Monsters (1968)</h3> </p> I don't remember much about this one, but I remember that Ghidorah is a tool that sucks. Also this continues a trend of 60s Godzillas that are obsessed</em> with space travel, aliens, and aliens mind controlling kaiju.</p>

What's Good #8 (May 2025)

Rowing with Tom Cruise</h1> </p> The rowing machine I have to exercise at home has a little attachment to stick your phone for movies, shows, videos, maybe workout routines I guess.</p> Finding good content for rowing isn't hard per-se, but you do have to put some thought into it:</p>

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)</h2> </p> Ok this is just another Ghidorah film, with a dash of "How to Serve Man".</p> Also the dubbing on the one white guy, whose name I could not be bothered to remember, did not</em> hold up. I think his name was Glenn?</p>

What's Good #7 (April 2025)

Boyhood</h1> To celebrate I finally</em> threw myself a birthday party!</p> </p> Usually I forgo the birthday party</em> in favor of like... a nice dinner or something. A little treat instead of a big thing. I lean introverted so why stress myself out?</p>

What's Good #6 (Mar 2025)

What's Good #5 (Feb 2025)

What's Good #4 (Jan 2025)

Game Makers Toolkit/Mind over Magnet</h1> </p>

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle</h3>
City on the Edge of Battle actually worked for me. The characters has time to grow and develop, it almost felt more like Aliens. The final scene was super epic and the movie's take on Mecha-Godzilla was trippy.</p>

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla</h2>
</p>
Main takeaway: lots of explicit death in this one. Never really addressed, but you definitely notice the change in mood.</p>

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.</h2>
</p>
This is just a mech film with Godzilla. Also lots of people explicitly dying, weird theme.</p>

Godzilla: Final Wars</h2>
</p>
You probably haven't seen this one yet, but you should!</p>
This is the first Godzilla movie in a very long time</em> that I am suggesting to friends and family.</p>
It's like The Matrix + Power Rangers + Godzilla in one whacky package!</p>

Godzilla (2014)</h2>
</p>
I liked this one!</p>
The camera work was grounded which really sold the scale of Godzilla in ways never seen before -- I can say that because I've seen all the other ones!</p>
It's like Cloverfield + 2010's era disaster movies + Godzilla in one exciting package!</p>

Getting 3rd in a Dragon Boats Race</h1>
</p>
My main social/physical activity is Dragon Boats. Two or three times a week I bike to the Portland water front and meet up with ~20 other paddlers, stretch, get on a boat, and paddle a big boat around and it's super fun!</p>

Godzilla vs Mothra (1992)</h2>
</p>
The real monster is Climate Change. And the REAL monster is us for making Climate Change.</p>
The special effects with the... Fairies(?) is much improved! I love watching the history of budget special effects evolve throughout these movies.</p>

Superman (2025)</h2>
</p>
It's solid! Superman fights bad guys, struggles, is superman. Also he's pro-Palestine -- hell yeah!</p>

Godzillas</h2>
This month we experienced a HUGE</em> jump in Godzilla between the 70s and 80s Godzilla took almost a 10 year hiatus! But he's back and although the movies feel slightly</em> more modern it's the same Kaiju we love at it again.</p>

Destroy All Monsters (1968)</h3>
</p>
I don't remember much about this one, but I remember that Ghidorah is a tool that sucks. Also this continues a trend of 60s Godzillas that are obsessed</em> with space travel, aliens, and aliens mind controlling kaiju.</p>

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)</h2>
</p>
Ok this is just another Ghidorah film, with a dash of "How to Serve Man".</p>
Also the dubbing on the one white guy, whose name I could not be bothered to remember, did not</em> hold up. I think his name was Glenn?</p>