Category: Hobbies
“the Kurosagi corpse delivery service”
I borrowed volume one of this from the library. I was hoping it would be a more complex manga with more mature (not pornographic) themes, but I was disappointed. The story just isn’t very complex or interesting and I have no interest in the characters after 200 pages. It just felt flat.
I’m going to try No.6 next. Hopefully that will be more entertaining. I’m also going to give One Piece a try, considering how entertaining the Netflix live adaptation was. It’s a long one, though!
Fun in the sun today, out riding
We parked on Riverside Drive and then rode up and down the Hudson River Greenway this afternoon. It was nice to get outside and feel the sun. The riverfront was packed with people, which was great because one of the best things about riding in New York City is people watching. It’s kind of weird when you pass someone else doing the same thing, though, because you both look at each other as you go by. It’s nice to see so many people out picnicking or just sitting in the shade and reading or talking. I wish I had more time to just sit and enjoy the day like that, so I’m glad we’re taking advantage of the time we have. Especially with this being New York City, where summers are way too short.
We saw one of the red tailed hawks sitting on a railing at Riverbank State Park. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the same ones that hatched in Washington Square Park that had that live video feed from NYU a few years ago. I’d seen one of them previously in a small park on Fort Washington Avenue called J. Hood Wright Park. It was eating a rat or a squirrel or something. Today, the hawk had a tuft of fur or cotton in its mouth when we first saw it. I moved in slowly to take a few pictures. I didn’t want to spook it, or get attacked by it. It got tired of being eyeballed, though and took off.
It was a beautiful day with beautiful weather. I’m sad the weekend is over.
Diablo IV updated impressions
This game is dark and the scenery is amazing. The characters are fairly well done, both in terms of complexity and voice acting. I’m enjoying it, but I feel like it doesn’t have the same impact as Diablo III, somehow. It doesn’t have the same grim feeling. Maybe I’ve just consumed too much media for it to have the same impact?
I hit level 51 now, so I’m getting Paragon points, and I’m working my way through the main story. I’m on Act III now. I want to finish the storyline and then move up to higher tiers of difficulty. I’d also like to get through the main storyline before Season 1 starts. I wonder if it’s going to be the same as seasons in Diablo III.
My main gripe with the game so far is that the cosmetic designs in the game Shop seem really uninspired and not worth the money, except for the Ranger, but I don’t play Ranger so I’m out of luck. Maybe that’s a good thing. I’m sure my wallet is thankful that the armor designers have no imagination.
Rediscovering cycling with folding bikes
Moving to the Bronx was the right move at the time, but it came with some costs. One of those costs was the inconvenience of having to go somewhere else to do anything and everything, because let’s face it, the Bronx isn’t really that fun or friendly a place, and that’s especially true for bike riding.
That wasn’t so much of an issue when we had a car with a bike rack, but thanks to someone who slammed into it while it was parked and totaled it, we have a new car with no hitch and no rack. Between that and the pandemic, our outings to go cycling basically came to an end for quite a while.
Then we discovered folding bikes that actually ride well. We can throw them in the trunk of the car, pull them out, unfold them and be riding in less time than it used to take me to strap up our full sized bikes onto the old Allen rack we had. Granted, folding bikes have different capabilities and limitations, but it’s opened the door for us to get outside and do something we both enjoy again.
We went out riding around in Edgewater, NJ on Sunday before having lunch and getting groceries
There are some great views of New York City from the waterfront there. I particularly enjoy seeing the old piers mixed in with the new ones. Some are only visible at low tide.
Solid start for Diablo IV
Man, I think I’m going to enjoy this one even more than Diablo III. The graphics look a lot better, the storytelling has been great so far, and I’m enjoying that they put in the effort to have so much voiced dialogue. I’ve tried all of the character types except the sorcerer, and so far my favorite is the necromancer.
The intro to the game was great too. It had some serious The Last of Us vibes in the first encounter with people.
I also like the MMO elements, where you run into random players while out in the world. That’s a nice touch.
You can keep Legend of Zelda. This is the game I’m going to be putting time into.
Looking at the books on shelves in comics and shows
This panel is from James Tynion’s comic “Nice House on the Lake”, which is great by the way, but I love looking for scenes like this in shows and movies, where book spines are visible and you can get further reading ideas.
I look at it like a reveal by the author or director of what they think are great books to read. In this case, it’s an awesome list and I see quite a few books that I’ve either already read or will definitely read in the near future.
Went out riding yesterday for the first time in a long time. Felt good.
At Pier 64 – Hudson River Park
In 2019, I was in pretty good shape but I kind of let that all go because of the pandemic. I’d like to get back to where I was, but my issue now is time. I have a long commute, so I have to figure out where to squeeze in the workouts. I’ll find a way to make it work.
Comics
Saga continues to delight and entertain. I really enjoy the author’s sense of humor and writing style and the art is excellent as well.
The art isn’t elaborate like in Monstress by Marjorie Liu, but it’s clean, bright, and engaging and fits the tone of the story. The story also makes sense. Unlike in Monstress, which is bizarrely hard to keep up with. I think I got up to date with this series late last year but I won’t be reading any more. I think the main issue is that there are too many characters and a lot of them look alike.
I feel like 8 Billion Genies could have been as good as Saga but they tried to do too much in too few issues. There’s still one issue left, but covering 8 decades in 1 issue felt way too rushed. It’s still a brilliant concept and is well worth reading. The author didn’t include a lot of cheesy tropes and even in just 7 issues I started to care about the characters. I’m looking forward to reading the last issue, which should be out today.
Bradley Farless 