Last Man On Earth Review

I eagerly awaited and eventually watched episodes 1-3 of the Last Man on Earth.

I expected it to be funny, and it had some funny parts. But overall, I am totally disappointed.

I had hoped that this would be a show about ingenuity, perseverence, failures and triumphs. Instead, after three episodes, it's more like a romantic comedy. Who would have guessed that the Last Man on Earth would find himself in a love triangle?

At any rate, here is what I hoped the show would look like. The last man on earth is a regular dude with no special skills. He finds himself alone but surrounded by modern technology around him. Unfortunately, without someone maintaining things, he can't just depend on anything just working. So, he has to learn how all of the infrastructure of modern day civilization works. Hijinks can still ensue as he burns down a power plant or blows out an entire city grid. But with all of these defeats, his eventual technological triumphs will be even sweeter.

Is that a boring show? I don't know. I do know that if the show were more Survivorman and less Friends, then I'd definitely be tuning in for episode 4.

Hiking the JMT

I watched the movie Mile ... Mile & A Half last night.

It's a documentary about a few artists who hike the John Muir Trail. This is a 200 mile journey that takes about a month to complete.

The film captures a lot of beautiful scenes. My wife especially loved the views where you looked through a canopy of beautiful trees to see a sky full of stars.

Similar to other movies I have recently seen, this movie is about people going through a hard journey for a great pay-off. The obvious pay-off is the ability to experience amazing natural scenery. A secondary pay-off was the ability to interact and get to know some friends.

The film also highlighted that the painful journey helped accentuate the payoffs. Near the end of the journey, a few friends joined the team and hiked the last bit of the trail together. These newcomers expressed some regret that they hadn't paid their dues by doing the whole trail. They said that since they hadn't gone through all of the pains, they couldn't seem to enjoy the trail as much as their more worn out friends.

I'm a person who seeks to minimize pains as much as possible. The purpose of a lot of my programs is to remove the pain of manually doing something.

Yet, watching this movie makes me feel like pain isn't something we should actively avoid. In fact, hiking the John Muir Trail is something I would love to do some day. Pain and all. 

Tiny versus Somm

I saw two movies over the weekend. Tiny - a movie about living small and Somm - a movie about sommeliers trying to pass the Master Sommelier exam. I like watching people putting forth great efforts, so I liked both movies.

Each movie explains the journey of people trying to achieve something. In Tiny, a couple attempts to build a house from scratch. In Somm, several sommeliers are trying to pass an extremely difficult exam.

Each adventure has clear rewards. Becoming a Master Sommelier opens career doors and subsequent financial gains. Building a tiny functional house gives you an economical place to live. 

The perception of being a Master Sommelier is different from building and living in a tiny house. A Master Sommelier is held in high regard. Owners of tiny houses are often met with ridicule and have to defend and explain their living choices to others.

Another difference in the two adventures was the way the participants viewed the journey. Tiny house builders seemed to appreciate the journey of building their houses. Whereas the Master Sommelier candidates viewed studying for the exam as a painful means to an end. In the Tiny House movie, a couple who was thinking of going separate ways was brought closer together by the process of building the house. But the journey of becoming a Master Sommelier put huge strains on the personal relationships of each candidate. 

I'm one of those people who think the journey is as important as the ending. I also prefer beer to wine, and my smelling and test sensitivity is unrefined. So, the story of the tiny house resonated with me a bit more than the one about sommeliers. But that's just my opinion. Go and watch and decide for yourself!

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http://programmerdays.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-programmers-review-of-jiro-dreams-of.html

A programmer's review of Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Last night, I saw Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It is a beautiful documentary about Jiro, possibly the best sushi chef in the world. I'd recommend this movie to anyone, especially if you are looking to be inspired.

Naturally, I compared Jiro's life as a chef with my life as a programmer. Here are some of my takeaway thoughts.

What's love got to do with it? More than love, I think effort, practice and reflection are the important inputs to Jiro's success. Some people may hear this line from Jiro, "You have to fall in love with your work", and think he is talking about the cliche, "You should find a job that you love". It may be a bad translation, but I think these are vastly different statements.

Finding (and looking for) a job that you love is nearly impossible. Love takes time to develop. How can you love being a chef or a programmer after one day or one hour? It takes a long time to understand something to know it enough to fall in love with it. The effort and associated pain of learning then mastering a skill creates a love.

Natural talent is very important, but you can still succeed with hard work. Jiro talks about another famous chef who has a better sense of smell and taste than he has. With better natural skills, Jiro believes that he might have been a better chef. Nonetheless, because of his incredible work ethic, he is still the greatest sushi chef in the world.

I know there are blogs and studies about people who can program and those who simply cannot. Maybe it is a case of Impostor Syndrome, but I often feel like I am one of those who cannot. And yet, somehow, I am a professional programmer. If you work hard, you can accomplish something.

Think about the client. There is a scene where Jiro is serving sushi. A food critic notes that Jiro watches his clients eat. If a diner is left handed, Jiro will place the next piece of sushi on the left side of the plate to make it slightly easier to eat. Does the client notice or care? Probably not. The important bit is that Jiro is always trying to improve the dining experience.

Practice, practice and practice. There are many more gems that you can take away from this movie, but this is my favorite. Whatever you do, practice it. You should improve, and that improvement is very rewarding. Of course, you need to practice smartly. Every night, Jiro reflects on the day and thinks about ways to improve. What a great lesson. Even the best chef in the world, at over 80 years old, is trying to improve.

Thoughts on the 2013 NBA Season and Finals

The team I was rooting for, the Spurs, lost to the team almost everyone was rooting against, the Heat, in a 7 game series.  I imagine that history will glorify the Heat and will more or less forget this year's Spurs.

I set my DVR to record the games.  Since the games were on late, I expected to watch the start of games and then finish the rest the next day.  However, I ended up watching most of it live.  I guess I was really into this series.

During the breaks in action, I checked twitter to read live instant updates.  I think twitter could replace or at least supplement sports announcing.  I'd like to tell the television who I'd like to follow and then their tweets would appear on the screen.  I'd also like to chat (maybe through twitter) with friends while the game is going on.  This would all appear on the television screen so that I don't have to constantly check my laptop or phone.

As much as I like Jeff Van Gundy, there are other broadcasters that I don't like as much.  If I don't like a broadcaster, it would be great if I can switch to another.  For big games, there are usually at least two sets of announcers (the local and the national).  For huge games, there are international broadcasts as well.  I'm sure some people would prefer to watch the game with the broadcast in a non-English language.

I have devoted way too much time to following basketball this season.  Zach Lowe, you have raised the bar for basketball analysis, hopefully other writers keep up.  I am now always commenting on the angle in which the Spurs bigs set picks (something that only diehards could get excited about).  48MinutesOfHell, your writing is always thoughtful and exceptional.  Well done.  The basketball Jones, you guys always crack me up.  It's gotten to the point where I feel like I understand some of your private jokes.

Now that the season is over, I'm happy to get back the time used watching, reading and listening about basketball, but it was fun while it lasted.

(Actually, after I post this, I'm going to listen to the final TBJ podcast, which I haven't had a chance to listen to yet).

The Office Ends

For as far back as I can remember, there has always been a television show that has been targeted to my age group.

Over the years, I remember watching Full House, Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210, and Friends.  Each of these shows seemed to be made for me.  Most recently, The Office coincided with me getting my first real office job.  A few weeks ago, the series finale aired, which I watched today.

Here are some notes on how I felt watching the show

• I felt a strong sense of sad nostalgia.  Unlike school, where there is a new beginning after graduation, the end of office life seems depressing.  Most of my youth was spent studying for a career, and when that career is over, I don't know what I will do or how I will feel.  
• I wonder what show will capture the mood of my next stages in life.  Maybe (if I have kids) it will be Modern Family.  I wonder if shows will continue to target my age group anymore.  For example, MTV seems to target the teen audience.  
• I always thought Michael was the star of the show, and then maybe Jim or Dwight.  But now I think it was Pam.  She had the most to learn, the most to overcome and the greatest lessons to impart.

What happened to the sports section

When I was a kid, sports was a treat.  My earliest memory of knowing about sports was the 1986 Mets world series.  For some reason, everyone was happy.  Everyone in the city was celebrating together, and I joined in, without really understanding why.  My second earliest memory was watching the Giants win the superbowl in 1990.  By this time, I knew what sports was, watched the whole game, and truly appreciated the win.

From then on, I would watch whatever games (baseball, basketball, or football) that I could.  If you missed the game, since we didn't have 24 hour coverage with ESPN, your only hope was to catch a few highlights at the end of an hour long news broadcast or read a recap of it in tomorrow's paper.  I loved those little morsels of sports.

Why did I like sports?  Mostly, because it was fun to play.  Sports was also an escape into an idealized life.  There were heroes trying to overcome obstacles ending in either heartbreaking defeat or jubilant triumph.  Things were clear and lacked ambiguity.

In the past few decades, sports has evolved for me.  Coverage of sports has gotten intense.  ESPN runs sports games and analysis all day, every day.  With the power DVR, these days I've been able to watch a lot of playoff basketball.  Since I don't care about watching games live, I can watch a 3 hour broadcast of a game in less than an hour whenever I have time.  This is achieved by fast forwarding through commercials, free throws, time outs, and time used for instant replay reviews.  This is awesome.

Analysis of sports is pretty great now too.  After I watch a game, I typically look through twitter for reactions.  As a fan, it's fun to hear others celebrating with me.  It's similar to the experience of watching a game with other fans, without the pain of paying for tickets or going through traffic to get to the game.  The day after a game, I could get a newspaper for a recap, but I also have a few sports blogs which will write a few articles on a game or nba podcasts to listen to.

Sports has gotten a lot more subtle and complicated.  A player used to be judged on merit and beloved for effort.  Nowadays, a fan cannot simply like a player anymore.  A fan must know the player's history, the player's stats and be able to argue why that player has a better salary structure than another.  Advanced stats has convinced us that we cannot even tell who the best players are just by watching.  We need experts to analyze the game and tell us who we should cheer for.

Even if you ignore stats, choosing a player to root for is still complicated.  Every athlete now has a narrative.  We no longer judge them solely on their performance.  We must delve into their hypothetical emotions, motivations, and psyche to conclude whether this player deserves praise or not.

The other day, a new story line emerged when an NBA player, Jason Collins, announced that he is gay.  I suppose that is news, and I hope that it reduces bias and discrimination.  But as a kid, it's not really the sports story I craved for.  As an adult sports fan, I couldn't care less that he's gay.  I'd rather hear about his defensive footwork than what he likes to do outside of the game.

How has sports evolved?  It was a treat.  It was an ice-breaker where anybody could ask anyone else, "Did you see the game last night?"  Now it's as complicated as picking stocks.  It is as emotional as any soap opera.  Its rules are as complicated as our judicial system.  It's players have gotten to be so physically superior to the average person that they scarcely resemble anyone I know.

So is sports better than it was?  I think it oddly takes more effort than it used to.  In the past, I watched every game or highlight I could and read every newspaper article I could find.  This often left me wanting for more.  Now, there's too much.  I don't have time to watch every game I have access to, read every newspaper or blog, and listen to every podcast.  I think the challenge is getting as much sports as I want, but not any more than that.

Sports has changed a lot in my life time.  I wonder where it will go in the future.

Ping Pong Playa

I was browsing through Netflix last night, and I came across Ping Pong Playain the Feel Good section and decided to give it a try.

The premise of the film is about an immature Chinese American, who is wasting away his life playing video games, but finally does good when he trains to win a ping pong tournament for his family.

It is similar to a movie like Napoleon Dynamite, because its protagonist is incredibly awkward.  It is similar to any sports movie as it has an initial defeat, a training video montage and a final battle.

I think it does a good job of showing the immigrant family experience.  The parents of the protaganist alternate between English and Chinese in a way that felt very authentic to me.

There is definitely a racial component to this movie, but there's not much to comment on.  It is just one of the drivers of the movie. Much like Chris Farley's weight was used for comedic purposes, so were the racial factors in the movie.

Should you watch this movie?  Maybe, if you are looking to kill some time and don't want to think.

Contrived emotions

I'm watching American Idol with my wife.  More accurately, my wife is watching American Idol and preventing me from watching basketball.  For my wife's sake and ultimately mine as well, I'll voice my complaints with the show in this blog post, instead of to her. 

Today is the Thanksgiving episode, so each singer or group is dedicating their performance to someone they are thankful towards.  And boy oh boy, are they laying it on thick.  We've had dedications to a single mom, a dad who gave up his dream of music, a long-lost sister, youth mentors, and the big cheese himself - GOD. 

I know that giving these singers a back story is important for viewers to feel connected, but I wish they would just focus on the product of the show - singing performances, instead of forcing these contrived stories onto us.

But, if others like the show the way it is, as evidenced by the millions of viewers (including my significant other), I guess I'm better off complaining in relative silence on this blog.

Batman: Dark Knight Rises

This movie was the third one with Christian Bale as Batman and Christopher Nolan as the director.  It was a high-paced, entertaining, action movie, whose plot-line was somewhat difficult to follow (mostly because the lead villian was impossible to understand).  As I reflect now, I know there are many details that I can hardly remember, even though I watched it today.

So, I am going to reflect on the general feeling I have as I left this movie: it was about legacies.  Bruce Wayne understood that his body was aging and thus he couldn't fight the good fight for much longer.  Would Batman be remembered as an evil vigilante or a selfless hero?  In the real world, Christopher Nolan presented his final piece of his Batman trilogy.  Would the movie live up to the past two?  My feeling is that the legacies of both are intact.  Both the character and the director delivered.

With that said, there are few things about the movie that I'm unsure about.

1. When Bruce Wayne is in the jail/hole/dungeon why can't he use the rope to climb out?  If he could, why can't all the prisoners use the rope?
My answer: Although it wasn't clear to me, there must be a prison warden and guards.  They need to give the prisoners food, and they must regulate usage of the rope as a safety tool only and not an escape tool.

2. Why doesn't the clan of evil-doers kill all of the cops that they've trapped in the tunnel system?
My answer: The cops must be hiding within the tunnel system, and it's too large for the bad-guys to find (even though the bad-guys were living in the tunnel system and seemed to know it well).

Hangover II

This is the sequel film to the similarly titled Hangover.

It uses the same characters, the same general plot line, the same twists, turns and climax as the first.  Everything that was spontaneous and fun about the original is repeated in the second film, and becomes dull, tired and painful.

The most superficial parts of the first movie are used to create a shell of a movie.  Then, the details of the movie are filled in with whatever is needed to make the plot line somewhat coherent.

A great sequel will take advantage of the viewers knowledge of and connection with the characters and can spend time developing a greater appreciation for these characters.  In this movie, the characters go through the same experience that we've seen them go through before, and they react in a completely identical fashion.  This diminishes the richness of the characters and the original movie.