Monthnotes 27 Jul 2024
Other than some hiking this month, I've stayed around home while we've been finishing up plans for the new home construction we will be starting soon.
Plans just got sent out for final review and permits. I'll be posting month-to-month updates once it starts in September. Could take as long as 18 months, partially because a bit of excavation work needs to be done to level things where they need leveled.
Arcosanti
Arcosanti is a neat place we pass by going and coming from Sedona to Phoenix. We only stop occasionally. It's definitely worth a visit, but not something you probably need to see more than once unless you're attending a special event there.
In our case, it was to see what they had new in the gift shop and my wife wanted to check out some hangers for a few of the chimes we have from there.
While they do produce clay and bronze wind chimes and a few other things, the main interest is the location itself.
It's an experimental living area, started in 1970, for hundreds of people to live and work, based on the visions of late architect Paolo Soleri. To me, it feels like I'm stepping into a location on Tatooine in the Star Wars universe.
Movies
- Despicable Me 4. Between the storyline with the former schoolmate of Gru's and the girl neighbor who wants to be a villain, the film didn't know which story this movie was about. Minion hijinx galore.
- A Quiet Place: Day One was decent. Best cat acting in any film I've ever seen. I even saw a film with another cat the following day and, yep, this cat should win an Oscar. Fun flick otherwise. If you liked the other Quiet Place films, you'll like this one.
- Fly Me the the Moon was a lot more enjoyable than I was expecting.
- Twisters was also quite good. Really thought the script was great in this one. Some great payoffs of a few things by the end of the film.
- Longlegs had a lot of hype and I don't feel it lived up to any of it. A bit disappointed with it overall. I was liking it up until halfway in, then it just feels like they wanted to skip to the end as fast as possible. Stuff is introduced which seems pointless in retrospect like they cut a lot out of the film to get a short runtime. Nicolas Cage was incredible. Hoping a longer cut comes out some day.
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was out a while back, but I caught up with it on Netflix. I enjoyed the last film. This one, I found myself rolling my eyes a few times. A fire master rather than a key master? Couldn't someone be more original?
Reelhouse Foundation didn't have any online screenings for me to attend this past month, so I'm hoping they have something soon. Everyone seems to be taking summer holidays this year.
Also, The Alamo Drafthouse theaters in Dallas, were bought up by Alamo corporate (now owned by Sony) and plan to start re-opening in a few weeks. Still no idea what kind of changes Sony's going to creep in, but I'm excited that the Alamo will still be there the next time I'm able to visit.