I listened to This is Your Brain on Parasites as an audible audio book because it was on sale. The book obviously covers parasites and their impact on society, but somehow also meanders into gut microbes (which I'm not sure would fall into the category), and digresses into that strange parasite that turns rats into cat loving creatures so that the microbe can complete its life-cycle in the cat's digestive system.
There's a ton of talk (literal in the audio book version) about similar behavioral modification on human beings by microbes or parasites, but unfortunately, it's only statistical evidence, not indicative of major behavioral change. The kind of behavioral change seen by certain victims of decompression illness, for instance, would be much more distinctive and severe than most of the parasites she talks about.
The book is long, meandering, but ultimately didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about. Pass on it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Review: It's Better Than It Looks
I'm a natural pessimist and contrarian at heart. It's Better Than It Looks is a very optimistic book, using the long arch of history to provide evidence for optimism about the world we're in today. Easterbrook points out that compared to 50 years ago, the world has become a much better place, with pollution cleaned up in many areas (including the restoration of the ozone layer), world-wide poverty reduction, and world-wide reduction in inequality.
All of the above come with a large number of caveats of course. For instance, poverty reduction was mostly accomplished by reduction of poverty in China and India. Small comfort if you're an American working class (or even middle-class) voter. Inequality reduction was accomplished by reducing the difference between the middle class in the first world and the middle class in the developing countries. I'm sure that's going to make the Trump voters happy.
So it turns out that if you want to be an optimist, you have to take the global view of things instead of the national view. Of course, that ignores the problem that by making that focus, the elites of our society have left the majority of voters out, and then spend their time wondering why they're so angry and want to bring down the system.
The coverage of the climate problem was definitely tinted with rose colored glasses. It is conceivable that a technological breakthrough to solve our problems, and ongoing efficiency improvements have been dramatic over the last 50 years, but even Easterbrook had to acknowledge that the internal combustion engine improvements have largely gone towards bigger cars and more horsepower per liter, rather than the dramatic improvements in fuel efficiency that would have been possible.
Nevertheless, it's a good book to read if you're in the mood for a pick-me-up after browsing the news. Mildly recommended.
All of the above come with a large number of caveats of course. For instance, poverty reduction was mostly accomplished by reduction of poverty in China and India. Small comfort if you're an American working class (or even middle-class) voter. Inequality reduction was accomplished by reducing the difference between the middle class in the first world and the middle class in the developing countries. I'm sure that's going to make the Trump voters happy.
So it turns out that if you want to be an optimist, you have to take the global view of things instead of the national view. Of course, that ignores the problem that by making that focus, the elites of our society have left the majority of voters out, and then spend their time wondering why they're so angry and want to bring down the system.
The coverage of the climate problem was definitely tinted with rose colored glasses. It is conceivable that a technological breakthrough to solve our problems, and ongoing efficiency improvements have been dramatic over the last 50 years, but even Easterbrook had to acknowledge that the internal combustion engine improvements have largely gone towards bigger cars and more horsepower per liter, rather than the dramatic improvements in fuel efficiency that would have been possible.
Nevertheless, it's a good book to read if you're in the mood for a pick-me-up after browsing the news. Mildly recommended.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Review: Pletscher Double Leg Kickstand
Our triplet/tandem/quad came from the shop with a Pletscher Double Leg Kickstand. It finally gave up the ghost after 3 and a half years of service. The biggest benefit of a kickstand is that you can park the bike anywhere, without looking for a prop. The disadvantages are the weight, and the failure mode.
This particular kickstand has a maximum weight limit of 25kg. That sounds like a lot, but the triplet empty is 65 pounds, and then we have the habit of putting Boen on the bike while it's on the stand, which loads another 15kg on it. So clearly we've abused the heck out of the kickstand.
The failure mode is nasty. The legs splay out and never quite come back together. As a result while you're riding one of the legs will touch the spokes making an annoying noise. I imagine that as the kickstand gets even more worn it'll eventually enter the spokes and cause a severe crash.
This summer on our tour, I ditched the kickstand when packing the bike. It wasn't just because of the weight, but it was also because of this annoying klick-click sound. I've decided since then that the kickstand, like all others I've ever encountered, simply isn't worth the trouble, and the risk of it destroying my precious wheels and causing a crash just isn't worth the minor convenience of not looking for a parking spot whenever I have to stop the bike.
Not recommended. Good bicycles shouldn't have kickstands, no matter what Grant Petersen says.
This particular kickstand has a maximum weight limit of 25kg. That sounds like a lot, but the triplet empty is 65 pounds, and then we have the habit of putting Boen on the bike while it's on the stand, which loads another 15kg on it. So clearly we've abused the heck out of the kickstand.
The failure mode is nasty. The legs splay out and never quite come back together. As a result while you're riding one of the legs will touch the spokes making an annoying noise. I imagine that as the kickstand gets even more worn it'll eventually enter the spokes and cause a severe crash.
This summer on our tour, I ditched the kickstand when packing the bike. It wasn't just because of the weight, but it was also because of this annoying klick-click sound. I've decided since then that the kickstand, like all others I've ever encountered, simply isn't worth the trouble, and the risk of it destroying my precious wheels and causing a crash just isn't worth the minor convenience of not looking for a parking spot whenever I have to stop the bike.
Not recommended. Good bicycles shouldn't have kickstands, no matter what Grant Petersen says.
Friday, October 26, 2018
First Impressions: Garmin RTL-510
My brother gave me a RTL-510 for my birthday. It's a safety accessory that I've been seeing more and more on bikes around here, and while it may not be a sexy piece of equipment, I felt that it would be the one thing that would bring me back to Garmin.
The device comes with a single Quarter Turn mount. One would think that for a $200 device, including a few more rubber bands and pieces of plastic wouldn't kill Garmin, but I suppose shelling out $20 each is better than buying a whole new unit each.
The only head-unit that I have which was new enough to pair with the RTL-510 was Bowen's Garmin Edge 25. The unit paired easily with the 510, and automatically recognized it as a light so it would turn on the tail light every time the computer was turned on. After a few rides, my Vivoactive HR automatically paired with the RTL-510 as well (without me prompting it to do so or anything), so that was great! The Vivoactive HR will only pair with the RTL-510 as a radar unit, not as a light, so no automatically turning on the light when you start a ride, but for now that's enough to stave off any desire for me to buy a new head unit.
When mounting the unit on the tandem, I discovered that the wheel would block the radar, since Bowen's seat post was so low. Fortunately, the quarter turn mount also lets you flip the unit upside down, and that seemed to do the trick. Of course, what this means is that I can no longer use a trunk bag with this bike and still have the radar working, which sucks. As with all bicycle accessories, the most important part of the accessory is the mounting, and Garmin clearly has a ton more work to do. Cateye/PlanetBike have all done a great job there for their lights with a wide range of rack-mounts, etc., and I don't understand why Garmin which is vastly better funded can't do the same.
One of the problems I'm encountering is that the triplet is long enough that on a fast descent I can't hear the chirp when the Edge 25 (mounted at Bowen's position) signals that a car is coming up. Obviously, that means that I'll need to get a head unit or watch that's compatible with the RTL-510. On a busy road (say, Foothill Expressway), the chirping is almost constant, but on a country road without much traffic, the occasional chirp served as a good warning. Fortunately, with the Vivoactive HR, the unit would send a vibration to my wrist whenever it detected a new car. This wouldn't do much good if you're on a bumpy descent, but on a smooth road at high speed it's a great warning and a glance at the unit would tell me how far away the car was!
When mounted on my single bike right side up, the radar appears to have a little more range (since it's higher), and would could detect and display multiple cars coming at me. The vibration alert would only activate for the first car, so if you're on a busy road, you wouldn't get a constant buzzing on the wrist annoying you.
The device is not magic. On a twisty descent or climb, a car can round the corner and be almost immediately on your tail. The radar will pick it up, but probably too late to do you any good. Then again, on a twisty descent I'm going to take the lane and the visual warning that something's behind me is a good idea as I won't be able to hear it.
All in all, this is a device that does what the advertising says it does, and does it without drama. I appreciate that. Recommended.
The device comes with a single Quarter Turn mount. One would think that for a $200 device, including a few more rubber bands and pieces of plastic wouldn't kill Garmin, but I suppose shelling out $20 each is better than buying a whole new unit each.
The only head-unit that I have which was new enough to pair with the RTL-510 was Bowen's Garmin Edge 25. The unit paired easily with the 510, and automatically recognized it as a light so it would turn on the tail light every time the computer was turned on. After a few rides, my Vivoactive HR automatically paired with the RTL-510 as well (without me prompting it to do so or anything), so that was great! The Vivoactive HR will only pair with the RTL-510 as a radar unit, not as a light, so no automatically turning on the light when you start a ride, but for now that's enough to stave off any desire for me to buy a new head unit.
When mounting the unit on the tandem, I discovered that the wheel would block the radar, since Bowen's seat post was so low. Fortunately, the quarter turn mount also lets you flip the unit upside down, and that seemed to do the trick. Of course, what this means is that I can no longer use a trunk bag with this bike and still have the radar working, which sucks. As with all bicycle accessories, the most important part of the accessory is the mounting, and Garmin clearly has a ton more work to do. Cateye/PlanetBike have all done a great job there for their lights with a wide range of rack-mounts, etc., and I don't understand why Garmin which is vastly better funded can't do the same.
When mounted on my single bike right side up, the radar appears to have a little more range (since it's higher), and would could detect and display multiple cars coming at me. The vibration alert would only activate for the first car, so if you're on a busy road, you wouldn't get a constant buzzing on the wrist annoying you.
The device is not magic. On a twisty descent or climb, a car can round the corner and be almost immediately on your tail. The radar will pick it up, but probably too late to do you any good. Then again, on a twisty descent I'm going to take the lane and the visual warning that something's behind me is a good idea as I won't be able to hear it.
All in all, this is a device that does what the advertising says it does, and does it without drama. I appreciate that. Recommended.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Review: Waterfi Swimcast
The Waterfi Swimcast is a chromecast audio device stitched together with a battery and then wrapped in a waterproof'd housing and then bundled with a set of waterfi short-cord headphones. Despite my relative happiness with the Diver MP3 player, I'd discovered that I was very bad at changing the playlist downloaded to the music player, and hoped that the ability to pick say, an Audible audiobook for the duration of the swim would give me much needed variety during my swim session. The kickstarter version of the unit at $99 was cheap enough that I decided to give it a shot.
The first version of the device arrived, charged up, promptly overheated and died. I sent e-mail to Waterfi, and they immediately shipped me a replacement unit while I shipped the defective unit back. Great customer service!
The best part of the Swimcast is the bundled short-cord headphones, which you can acquire separately from Amazon at $30 per set. These are simply speaking the best headphones I'd ever used while swimming. Because they're short, they don't get tangled up when you put them away. Nor do they ever add resistance to your swim, and despite appearances, they're tough enough that when the Diver MP3 player falls off the goggles they stay in my ear!
Unfortunately, the Swimcast itself is a big bust. This isn't a problem with the unit: at home, it charges up great, and streams music and audio just fine. It's just that public swimming pools have overloaded WiFi, and the private swimming pool I use occasionally has the WiFi router setup so that my phone can't reach the Swimcast, even when both are paired to the same WiFi access point. The net result is that it's not actually practical to use this unless you're in the population with great WiFi in a swimming pool. Oops!
All in all, I'd say the short cord headphones are the best part of the package, but you can buy those for $30 each, so there's no need to pay $150 for the Swimcast. I don't think I'll ever get to use this. If you live near me and have access to a swimming pool with great WiFi, you can come by and borrow the unit.
The first version of the device arrived, charged up, promptly overheated and died. I sent e-mail to Waterfi, and they immediately shipped me a replacement unit while I shipped the defective unit back. Great customer service!
The best part of the Swimcast is the bundled short-cord headphones, which you can acquire separately from Amazon at $30 per set. These are simply speaking the best headphones I'd ever used while swimming. Because they're short, they don't get tangled up when you put them away. Nor do they ever add resistance to your swim, and despite appearances, they're tough enough that when the Diver MP3 player falls off the goggles they stay in my ear!
Unfortunately, the Swimcast itself is a big bust. This isn't a problem with the unit: at home, it charges up great, and streams music and audio just fine. It's just that public swimming pools have overloaded WiFi, and the private swimming pool I use occasionally has the WiFi router setup so that my phone can't reach the Swimcast, even when both are paired to the same WiFi access point. The net result is that it's not actually practical to use this unless you're in the population with great WiFi in a swimming pool. Oops!
All in all, I'd say the short cord headphones are the best part of the package, but you can buy those for $30 each, so there's no need to pay $150 for the Swimcast. I don't think I'll ever get to use this. If you live near me and have access to a swimming pool with great WiFi, you can come by and borrow the unit.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Review: Vizio Smartcast M70-E3
The renter wanted a TV in the rental unit, and was willing to pay for it, so we gave them our old TV, and went shopping for a new one. Costco had a highly reviewed Vizio M70-E3 for under $1000 with a 5 year warranty, so I bought it and brought it home with help from Costco's employees loading into the tiny car.
Replacing our older 60" TV, the newer device had feet spread further apart, so it barely fit on the TV stand. Unlike the older TV unit, the smart TV features built into this one is actually worth using! It happily streamed Amazon Prime video, YouTube, and Netflix without breaking a sweat, and the latency was relatively low. This meant that there was no need to get a streaming TV unit like the Roku or FireTV to go with it.
To my disappointment, there doesn't seem to be a lot of HDR content available from my favorite streaming service, which is Amazon Prime Video. And of course, even 4K streaming probably won't hold a candle to the higher bandwidth of BluRay or Ultra BluRay HD. I did watch Blue Planet II on it, and the picture quality is impeccable even without paying for the Ultra HD version, indicating that the 4K upscaling is very well done.
When I decided on a HDR source, the obvious two choices were the XBox One X or the Playstation 4 Pro. If I didn't already own a PS4, I would probably have gone with the XBox One X, since that came with a UHD Blu Ray player built in. But with several years of PS4 content (much of which is actually HDR compatible), and the availability of the Spider-man PS4 Pro edition at a reasonable price (i.e., not the $550 that it's going for on the open market now), I went for the PS4 Pro. This turned out to be a good move, as the game that's bundled in with that unit was astonishingly good, and it's very useful to have cloud save enabled portability for the game to move between living room and bedroom.
HDR + 4K is a very subtle change from 1080p. I played the game both on the Vizio M70 and on an ancient 1080p LG TV hooked up to a PS4 (non-pro). Since the two TVs were in separate rooms, it was impossible to make side-by-side comparisons of picture quality. The Vizio unit driven by the PS4 Pro was subtly better, but I'd be hard pressed to point out the exact places in the picture where HDR was making a difference. Insomniac Studios did such a great job making the two versions equivalent that I could detect no frame-rate or gameplay difference between the two systems, despite the viewing distance I used for the 1080p TV being much less than the viewing distance I used for the 4K HDR TV. Both units were equally immersive and beautiful, but if you spend a lot of time playing on the 4K unit, you'll go back to the 1080p TV and realize that it's quite a bit dimmer, and the sunsets just don't look as nice. The picture is also not as sharp. But it's nowhere as big a jump in quality as the introduction of DVD players was, for instance.
Because of limitations of the human eye (which by the way, is not universally applicable, since my brothers and I all have better than 20/20 vision when corrected with glasses), the general consensus is that for most American living rooms, any screen less than 70" is a waste of time for 4K. But HDR is a significant improvement and does make for a gorgeous display with content that drives it. My hope is in the future we'll get more content with HDR and it will make a significant improvement in the viewing experience. In the mean time, I'm not convinced that even in 2018, it would be worth upgrading a 1080p unit to 4K. Since the prices are now comparable to equivalent 1080p screens however, if you're buying new you might as well get a 4K HDR unit, and this one is a good one, especially if you can find a good deal.
Recommended.
Replacing our older 60" TV, the newer device had feet spread further apart, so it barely fit on the TV stand. Unlike the older TV unit, the smart TV features built into this one is actually worth using! It happily streamed Amazon Prime video, YouTube, and Netflix without breaking a sweat, and the latency was relatively low. This meant that there was no need to get a streaming TV unit like the Roku or FireTV to go with it.
To my disappointment, there doesn't seem to be a lot of HDR content available from my favorite streaming service, which is Amazon Prime Video. And of course, even 4K streaming probably won't hold a candle to the higher bandwidth of BluRay or Ultra BluRay HD. I did watch Blue Planet II on it, and the picture quality is impeccable even without paying for the Ultra HD version, indicating that the 4K upscaling is very well done.
When I decided on a HDR source, the obvious two choices were the XBox One X or the Playstation 4 Pro. If I didn't already own a PS4, I would probably have gone with the XBox One X, since that came with a UHD Blu Ray player built in. But with several years of PS4 content (much of which is actually HDR compatible), and the availability of the Spider-man PS4 Pro edition at a reasonable price (i.e., not the $550 that it's going for on the open market now), I went for the PS4 Pro. This turned out to be a good move, as the game that's bundled in with that unit was astonishingly good, and it's very useful to have cloud save enabled portability for the game to move between living room and bedroom.
HDR + 4K is a very subtle change from 1080p. I played the game both on the Vizio M70 and on an ancient 1080p LG TV hooked up to a PS4 (non-pro). Since the two TVs were in separate rooms, it was impossible to make side-by-side comparisons of picture quality. The Vizio unit driven by the PS4 Pro was subtly better, but I'd be hard pressed to point out the exact places in the picture where HDR was making a difference. Insomniac Studios did such a great job making the two versions equivalent that I could detect no frame-rate or gameplay difference between the two systems, despite the viewing distance I used for the 1080p TV being much less than the viewing distance I used for the 4K HDR TV. Both units were equally immersive and beautiful, but if you spend a lot of time playing on the 4K unit, you'll go back to the 1080p TV and realize that it's quite a bit dimmer, and the sunsets just don't look as nice. The picture is also not as sharp. But it's nowhere as big a jump in quality as the introduction of DVD players was, for instance.
Because of limitations of the human eye (which by the way, is not universally applicable, since my brothers and I all have better than 20/20 vision when corrected with glasses), the general consensus is that for most American living rooms, any screen less than 70" is a waste of time for 4K. But HDR is a significant improvement and does make for a gorgeous display with content that drives it. My hope is in the future we'll get more content with HDR and it will make a significant improvement in the viewing experience. In the mean time, I'm not convinced that even in 2018, it would be worth upgrading a 1080p unit to 4K. Since the prices are now comparable to equivalent 1080p screens however, if you're buying new you might as well get a 4K HDR unit, and this one is a good one, especially if you can find a good deal.
Recommended.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Review: Whiskerella
Bowen is now reading so well that he's able to finish books by himself, including Whiskerella, and the previous book in the hamster princess series, Giant Trouble. Right now, I can still keep up with his reading, but I can see a time in the near future when I won't be able to keep up with what he's reading.
Whiskerella is the send-up of Cinderella, and involves a poor girl hamster who's forced by an evil fairy godmother to attend balls she doesn't want to go to in order to entice a prince into marrying her. The send up of the familiar fairy-tale tropes is hilarious, and quite a bit better than some the previous books in the series. And of course, it's always fun to read about a fairy-tale princess who'd rather beat things up than wear a nice dress, no doubt a great role model for kids.
The book is fast paced, mixing up prose with comic book balloon dialogues, and therefore suitable for any kids transiting into books with more text and less pictures. (Not a problem with Bowen,who seems to prefer text-heavy books to comics, much to his comic-book-loving father's chagrin)
Recommended.
Whiskerella is the send-up of Cinderella, and involves a poor girl hamster who's forced by an evil fairy godmother to attend balls she doesn't want to go to in order to entice a prince into marrying her. The send up of the familiar fairy-tale tropes is hilarious, and quite a bit better than some the previous books in the series. And of course, it's always fun to read about a fairy-tale princess who'd rather beat things up than wear a nice dress, no doubt a great role model for kids.
The book is fast paced, mixing up prose with comic book balloon dialogues, and therefore suitable for any kids transiting into books with more text and less pictures. (Not a problem with Bowen,who seems to prefer text-heavy books to comics, much to his comic-book-loving father's chagrin)
Recommended.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Review: China Rich Girlfriend
China Rich Girlfriend is the second book in Kevin Kwan's rich people trilogy that started with Crazy Rich Asians. As the title implies, this one is about the wealthy Chinese rather than wealthy Singaporeans.
With more mandarin and less Hokkien, the book is chocked full of footnotes, which are at least as much fun as the main text. What I didn't notice the first time (but my old ACS pal Terence Chua pointed out) is that some of the names in the book are funny in-jokes that are only available to those who speak Hokkien. Some of them are as funny as Neal Stephenson's "Hiro Protagonist."
The first half of the book is a made-for-Hollywood extravaganza worshiping the gods of wealth and conspicuous consumption. Not being a fan of fashion or luxury brands, most of it went by for me in a blur that's only peripherally related to the plot. When the plot gets going in earnest, it turns out to be shallow, but at least Kwan doesn't get lazy and we get a new villain instead of a rehashed version of what the first novel was.
The book's a breezy easy read, and a great airplane novel. I've already placed a hold on the next book in the series.
With more mandarin and less Hokkien, the book is chocked full of footnotes, which are at least as much fun as the main text. What I didn't notice the first time (but my old ACS pal Terence Chua pointed out) is that some of the names in the book are funny in-jokes that are only available to those who speak Hokkien. Some of them are as funny as Neal Stephenson's "Hiro Protagonist."
The first half of the book is a made-for-Hollywood extravaganza worshiping the gods of wealth and conspicuous consumption. Not being a fan of fashion or luxury brands, most of it went by for me in a blur that's only peripherally related to the plot. When the plot gets going in earnest, it turns out to be shallow, but at least Kwan doesn't get lazy and we get a new villain instead of a rehashed version of what the first novel was.
The book's a breezy easy read, and a great airplane novel. I've already placed a hold on the next book in the series.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Review: Free Food for Millionaires
After reading Pachinko, I saw that Min Jin Lee had another book called Free Food for Millionaires. I checked out the book and instead of a foreword or preface, the book had a long essay about how she wrote the book under trying circumstances and struggled to complete it. I felt obliged to read the book after that.
Unfortunately, the book is horrid. The main protagonist, Casey Han, a Korean American who graduated from Princeton with a full scholarship, makes one incredibly bad decision after another. She continually spends money she doesn't have, goes into debt, ignores offers of help from friends, takes up relationships she shouldn't have, has affairs she shouldn't have, and does crazy messed up things. If this was one of your friends you would shake her or just stop dealing with her because being that kind of messed up would eventually screw you over too.
I kept reading in the hope that the book has some redemptive value. But it doesn't. The book ends with the protagonist making even worse decisions and I wanted to scream. I want the hours I spent reading the massive 577 page tome back. Go read something else. Or play a video game. Or watch a movie. This book has no redeeming value and is not worth your time.
Unfortunately, the book is horrid. The main protagonist, Casey Han, a Korean American who graduated from Princeton with a full scholarship, makes one incredibly bad decision after another. She continually spends money she doesn't have, goes into debt, ignores offers of help from friends, takes up relationships she shouldn't have, has affairs she shouldn't have, and does crazy messed up things. If this was one of your friends you would shake her or just stop dealing with her because being that kind of messed up would eventually screw you over too.
I kept reading in the hope that the book has some redemptive value. But it doesn't. The book ends with the protagonist making even worse decisions and I wanted to scream. I want the hours I spent reading the massive 577 page tome back. Go read something else. Or play a video game. Or watch a movie. This book has no redeeming value and is not worth your time.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Review: Hamster Princess - Ratpunzel
Ratpunzel is book 3 of the Hamster Princess series. Each book in the series takes a familiar fairy tale and plays with it, though some fairy tales are more obscure than others.
Ratpunzel, of course, is a variant on Rapunzel. This one is less interesting than the previous one, as Ratpunzel doesn't actually let down her hair, but lets down her tail. There are some fun little jokes here and there for parents who are reading it to their kids, but mostly I'm having Bowen read it because it's at a level that's perfect to him. (Yes, Amazon lists it as a grade 3 book, but I'm not letting Bowen see that --- it's fine for your kid to read a couple of grades ahead and ask you questions, though apparently Bowen doesn't have any trouble understanding it)
I can't recommend the book otherwise. Read it if your child is interested. It doesn't contain anything objectionable whatsoever.
Ratpunzel, of course, is a variant on Rapunzel. This one is less interesting than the previous one, as Ratpunzel doesn't actually let down her hair, but lets down her tail. There are some fun little jokes here and there for parents who are reading it to their kids, but mostly I'm having Bowen read it because it's at a level that's perfect to him. (Yes, Amazon lists it as a grade 3 book, but I'm not letting Bowen see that --- it's fine for your kid to read a couple of grades ahead and ask you questions, though apparently Bowen doesn't have any trouble understanding it)
I can't recommend the book otherwise. Read it if your child is interested. It doesn't contain anything objectionable whatsoever.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Labor Day Lassen Volcanic National Park Trip
My complaint about last year's backpacking trip was that I continually heard jet plane noises all day and all night. So this year, Arturo suggested Lassen Volanic National Park. The big concern was the smoke from the recent fires, but a check on the webcam seemed to show crystal clear views. On Friday August 31st, Arturo drove all of us up to Red Bluff, where the smoke filled the air and Bowen started coughing. We quickly checked into our hotel room and turned on the AC, whereupon his cough went away.
The next day, we went into the National Park and at the visitor center, Arturo got a backcountry permit just before the mad rush landed upon our volunteer ranger. The ranger told him that the area we'd planned to visit, the cluster lakes had been burnt 2 years ago and might not make a good trip. He suggested a longer loop. We visited the mud pots and Lake Helen before heading over to the trailhead by Summit Lake.
It was 11:00am by the time we got going, so the first thing on the agenda was lunch. Since there was a steep climb following the lake, we just ate lunch at the summit lake.
We had dinner and discussed what to do next. Doing the rainbow lake loop that the volunteer ranger had suggested was clearly too ambitious, so we had to choose between staying at Twin Lakes and doing a day hike, or going through the burnt area based on the original plan that Arturo had. We stared at the map and I noted that the ranger had mentioned that the burnt area was around Cluster lake. "Did he say anything about Big Bear or Little Bear lakes?" "No, so there's a chance it could be unburnt." We didn't have any information, but at least there was an alternative. "Besides," I said, "If it turned out to be horrible, it's only 3.5 miles away from the car and we can have a long day and find a National Forest service campground to camp at." "Let's wait till tomorrow morning and see how Bowen feels."
Bowen got tired of carrying his backpack again and once again Arturo packed it into his bag. Upon reaching Big Bear Lake, we spotted what could be a nice campground on the other side of the lake from the trail, and voted to check it out. "That way we won't have to share Little Bear lake with the father/son pair that passed us earlier." comment Arturo.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Review: Granite Gear Crown X60
Massdrop had a Granite Gear Crown X60 for $120. The Amazon price appears to be $200, so this is a significant discount. My old Lowe Alpine Contour IV was a 6.5 pound pack, though it carried a lot more, while this one was 40 oz or 2.5 pounds. The pack comes in Regular or Long, and if you're 5' 10", you're as tall as you can be before you must switch to the long, which weighs just an once more.
The pack is a single compartment with no separation, which means you can efficiently pack clothing, etc. around irregularly shaped items. The hip belt (removable and adjustable) has 2 zippered pockets, which are big enough to swallow the G7X Mk II)The lid has 2 slim pockets which are just the right size for cycling gels or little packets of peanut butter, and can be detached easily.
On our backpacking trip I carried 2 sleeping pads, 2 sleeping bags, both our clothing, lunches, pillows, and all assorted camping gear for a 3 day trip. It's an effective carrying system and had external straps for tying sandals, tent, and quite possibly a bear canister or sleeping bag. Compared to my old backpack all the buckles are a lot smaller, as are the straps. The main weight savings must come from the frame: it's now a plastic stiffener rather than metal. Nevertheless, the item comes with a limited lifetime warranty, which means that the smaller size didn't mean that the items were more fragile.
After carrying for 3 days, I was quite impressed. I think if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone for the longer version of the pack, but the pack itself was cheap and light and I'd buy it over again with no regrets.
Recommended
Monday, October 15, 2018
Review: Klymit Static V2 sleeping pad and pillow
Costco had the Klymit Static V2 sleeping pad with pillow at an astounding price of $80 for 2, so I picked it up for our annual backpacking trip. It's much more compact than the thermarest, which meant that 2 of them would fit in my Granite Gear Crown 60 backpack easily, along with the pillows. These pads are rated R1.3, which means that they're astoundingly low insulation, but since the intention is only to use them during the summer, it's OK.
The marketing literature claims 15 puffs to blow them up. I counted 20 puffs. There's an air escape valve so you can't over pump the pad. My advice is to pump it up to the limit, because that adds to the comfort. At night, if it gets cold enough, the air inside the pad will shrink in volume and your Bowen will wake you up and tell you to add more air to the mattress.
The shape of the mattress is great, and the texture keeps you from sliding off the pad. The pillow is also surprisingly good, and didn't leave me regretting the weight it took to bring them along. The kit also comes with a repair kit, and if you're carrying 2 of these you can save some weight by bringing only one repair kit but I didn't bother.
All in all, for the price, it's an astonishingly good deal. Recommended.
The marketing literature claims 15 puffs to blow them up. I counted 20 puffs. There's an air escape valve so you can't over pump the pad. My advice is to pump it up to the limit, because that adds to the comfort. At night, if it gets cold enough, the air inside the pad will shrink in volume and your Bowen will wake you up and tell you to add more air to the mattress.
The shape of the mattress is great, and the texture keeps you from sliding off the pad. The pillow is also surprisingly good, and didn't leave me regretting the weight it took to bring them along. The kit also comes with a repair kit, and if you're carrying 2 of these you can save some weight by bringing only one repair kit but I didn't bother.
All in all, for the price, it's an astonishingly good deal. Recommended.
Friday, October 12, 2018
Long Term Review: Rivendell Silver Shifters
I've had the Rivendell Silver shifters on my custom road bike(s) since 2009, and on the tandem since 2017. The internal ratchet mechanism is the old-style suntour power-ratchet style, and that makes shifts reliable and also compatible with any speed deraileur and cassette. By the way, people have contended that it's impossible to friction-shift 9 speed and 10 speeds, but I've never had any problems and rarely miss a shift. One of the nicest features of these shifters is that as the cable frays, you can feel it when you shift, and that tells you you need to buy new cables and install them. Brifters just break with no warning whatsoever, and many once broken are impossible to repair. In recent years, my friends have all switched to brifters, but I'll note that none of them has kept a bike for as many miles as I have.
The plastic washer on the outside of the shifter is a bit fragile, cracking and breaking at the drop of a hat. But it doesn't seem to affect performance: I just turn the screw a bit tighter and what's left of the washer keeps working. I do keep a set on hand just in case things go really wrong, but given how much abuse I give my bikes these show no signs of ever wearing out.
You can buy them as part of the Bar-End kit which includes the Shimano pods, or if you're replacing the indexing shifters on a Shimano bike you can just buy the downtube kit for a lot less. These don't ever seem to go on sale but I'm happy to pay full price for them, because they're so very good.
Highly recommended.
The plastic washer on the outside of the shifter is a bit fragile, cracking and breaking at the drop of a hat. But it doesn't seem to affect performance: I just turn the screw a bit tighter and what's left of the washer keeps working. I do keep a set on hand just in case things go really wrong, but given how much abuse I give my bikes these show no signs of ever wearing out.
You can buy them as part of the Bar-End kit which includes the Shimano pods, or if you're replacing the indexing shifters on a Shimano bike you can just buy the downtube kit for a lot less. These don't ever seem to go on sale but I'm happy to pay full price for them, because they're so very good.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Review: Samsara
Baraka is the only BluRay in my collection I ever wore out from watching it too much. (It also got loaned out quite a bit, so it wasn't just me) But somehow I missed Samsara when it came out in 2011! Well, it made it into the Amazon Prime Video free selection so I watched it.
As with Baraka, it's a movie without words, so you can take your non English-speaking parents to watch it, for instance. It's full of beautiful images from the natural world, as well as images from the not-very-natural world, all juxta position. The movie was filmed in 70mm, so the quality of the image is nothing short of amazing.
For me, it didn't have the same impact as Baraka. The opening sequence, while haunting, hardly has the same impact that the snow monkey scenes in Baraka did. The time lapse photography, which was rarely seen when Baraka came out, is now a common staple in many documentaries, so as a viewer I no longer found it fresh.
Still, if you watched Baraka and enjoyed it, you should watch Samsara at least once. It might not be as impactful as Baraka, but it's still very different from the other stuff out there. Recommended.
As with Baraka, it's a movie without words, so you can take your non English-speaking parents to watch it, for instance. It's full of beautiful images from the natural world, as well as images from the not-very-natural world, all juxta position. The movie was filmed in 70mm, so the quality of the image is nothing short of amazing.
For me, it didn't have the same impact as Baraka. The opening sequence, while haunting, hardly has the same impact that the snow monkey scenes in Baraka did. The time lapse photography, which was rarely seen when Baraka came out, is now a common staple in many documentaries, so as a viewer I no longer found it fresh.
Still, if you watched Baraka and enjoyed it, you should watch Samsara at least once. It might not be as impactful as Baraka, but it's still very different from the other stuff out there. Recommended.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Review: Words of Radiance
Words of Radiance is the second book in the Storm Light Archive series. The first book was The Way of Kings, which I reviewed 2 years ago. Each book in the series is 1,000 pages, so it's a giant book to read.
If The Way of Kings was Kaladin's story, this book is mostly Shallan Davar's story, told also partly in flashback. Unlike many other multi-book series, things do happen in this novel, and reveals come fairly fast and furious, especially towards the end. The plot exposition never stops, and the character development for Shallan Davar is much more interesting than that of Kaladin, mostly because she's a much more optimistic character, and witty to boot.
As with The Way of Kings, the magic system in the novel is consistent, interesting, and a character in and of itself and tied to spirits in the world.
As an adult, I no longer have time to waste on books that drag on without point, but I placed a hold on the next book in the series immediately after finishing this one, indicating that I liked Words of Radiance enough to recommend it.
If The Way of Kings was Kaladin's story, this book is mostly Shallan Davar's story, told also partly in flashback. Unlike many other multi-book series, things do happen in this novel, and reveals come fairly fast and furious, especially towards the end. The plot exposition never stops, and the character development for Shallan Davar is much more interesting than that of Kaladin, mostly because she's a much more optimistic character, and witty to boot.
As with The Way of Kings, the magic system in the novel is consistent, interesting, and a character in and of itself and tied to spirits in the world.
As an adult, I no longer have time to waste on books that drag on without point, but I placed a hold on the next book in the series immediately after finishing this one, indicating that I liked Words of Radiance enough to recommend it.
Tuesday, October 09, 2018
Review: Blue Planet II
BBC's Natural History unit has a well deserved reputation for being the best in the business. I'd go so far as to say that their documentaries look better than most of the multi-million dollar fictional TV series you can find, which is surprising because those TV series have the benefit of controlled studio lighting and don't have to spend multiple years hunting down footage in the wild.
Blue Planet II is part of this tradition, and is the most amazing TV series I've ever seen. When Amazon had a $10 sale on it and I had a few slow shipping credits to use, I jumped on it, and it was worth every penny. The image quality is nothing less than superb, even over streaming video, and the details are amazing, both on a 70" 4K TV and on a 42" 1080p screen.
The sequences are amazing, ranging from the grouper spawning scene to the one where the film unit caught a cuttlefish pretending to be female to sneak into a dominant alpha male's lair, and cuckolded him right before his eyes. My jaw dropped in scene after scene, which made me watch even the "making of" video that came as part of the set.
There, I continued to be blown away. For instance, the first time they tried to shoot the grouper spawning scene they failed, missing the spawning by a few hours. So they returned a year later with a big enough scuba team to get 24 hour coverage of the grouper in order to get the shot. For the "boiling seas" sequence, they first tried Australia but got unlucky to start filming at the start of El Nino. They waited 18 months before approaching the shoot by using chase helicopters and following a pod of dolphins. The TV show took 4 years to make and the results more than speak for itself.
There are several sequences where the camera got so close to the action that I thought to myself: "This must have been shot by an underwater drone. There's no way the fish let them get that close." Then you see the "making of" video and in some cases not only was it a person shooting it, in some cases the guy was free diving, not even wearing scuba gear! The skill and dedication of the unit is nothing short of amazing.
Needless to say, this TV series comes highly recommended. If you watch nothing else this year, watch this one.
Monday, October 08, 2018
Review: Of Mice and Magic
Of Mice and Magic is the second book in the Hamster Princess series. While Harriet the Invincible was based on Sleeping Beauty, this one is based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I'd never heard of that story before this book, so unfortunately, any nuance in the adaptation is lost on me.
This one wasn't as funny as the first book, but Bowen still liked it and we went to the library to ge the third one.
This one wasn't as funny as the first book, but Bowen still liked it and we went to the library to ge the third one.
Friday, October 05, 2018
Review: How Music Works
I bought the audio book version of How Music Works without knowing who David Byrne was, or even being a fan of the Talking Heads band. a testimony to what having a ton of good reviews coupled with a good sale would do.
I started listening to the first chapter and it blew me away. This was clearly a guy who'd thought hard and deeply about music, with a beautiful statement on how the music venue (ranging from the jungles ans savannah in Africa to the club venues like CBGB) affected the music that's produced. I was impressed and immediately looked up who David Byrne was and listened to a few songs by the Talking Heads.
Part of the book is strongly autobiographical, detailing how he was inspired by Japanese kabuki and other Asian performing traditions to stage his famous Stop Making Sense concert, where stage sets would get moved in during songs, starting from a bare empty stage to a full on band. I even watched the concert for myself, and even though many of the songs didn't move me, it was quite clear that every move had been thought through and rehearsed.
One shock I had was when listening to the Talking Heads David Byrne didn't sound anything like the audio book's narrator. I shouldn't have been surprised, but maybe you would be too.
Many of David Byrne's sympathies are exactly where mine lie, so I'm afraid you're going to consider my review of this book biased. He rails, for instance, against the dominance of classical music in music education. He notes that the faults of music notation mean that nuances of non-classical music such as groove just don't make it into notation, and hence many classical musicians just cannot "rock". Not only can't they perform like a practiced musician of the genre, they literally cannot hear the difference. Despite that, children get educated classically because that's "harder." He points out that music education should be redirected towards self-expression and composition, rather than an over-emphasis of technical expertise and replaying older pieces. He thinks that rich people donating to operas, symphonies, or ballets as a balm for their guilty conscience is pathetic, and expresses sarcastic surprise that real criminals and mobsters didn't get into that act, since it's obviously been so successful for the billionaire CEOs who would donate to the opera house while laying off rank-and-file workers.
I could go on and on about the great stuff I learned in this book. But it's best if you just discover it for yourself. If I had any stereotypes in my head about "dumb rock musicians who can only write repetitive lyrics but can't hold complex thoughts", David Byrne wiped those caricatures clear off my brain by the second chapter and proceeded a complete re-education campaign. He even has a chapter on how to grow a musical ecosystem which sounds like it would be much more effective than the frequent prescriptions in business magazines about "how to grow the next Silicon Valley".
That's not to say that he doesn't have his flaws (in doing research for this review I learned that he broke up with the rest of his band during an interview with a newspaper, hardly the act of a non-self-centered rock star), but I feel like I learned even more from this book than from the well respected (though classically-oriented) Great Courses entry. That makes this book highly recommended and a no-regret purchase.
I started listening to the first chapter and it blew me away. This was clearly a guy who'd thought hard and deeply about music, with a beautiful statement on how the music venue (ranging from the jungles ans savannah in Africa to the club venues like CBGB) affected the music that's produced. I was impressed and immediately looked up who David Byrne was and listened to a few songs by the Talking Heads.
Part of the book is strongly autobiographical, detailing how he was inspired by Japanese kabuki and other Asian performing traditions to stage his famous Stop Making Sense concert, where stage sets would get moved in during songs, starting from a bare empty stage to a full on band. I even watched the concert for myself, and even though many of the songs didn't move me, it was quite clear that every move had been thought through and rehearsed.
One shock I had was when listening to the Talking Heads David Byrne didn't sound anything like the audio book's narrator. I shouldn't have been surprised, but maybe you would be too.
Many of David Byrne's sympathies are exactly where mine lie, so I'm afraid you're going to consider my review of this book biased. He rails, for instance, against the dominance of classical music in music education. He notes that the faults of music notation mean that nuances of non-classical music such as groove just don't make it into notation, and hence many classical musicians just cannot "rock". Not only can't they perform like a practiced musician of the genre, they literally cannot hear the difference. Despite that, children get educated classically because that's "harder." He points out that music education should be redirected towards self-expression and composition, rather than an over-emphasis of technical expertise and replaying older pieces. He thinks that rich people donating to operas, symphonies, or ballets as a balm for their guilty conscience is pathetic, and expresses sarcastic surprise that real criminals and mobsters didn't get into that act, since it's obviously been so successful for the billionaire CEOs who would donate to the opera house while laying off rank-and-file workers.
I could go on and on about the great stuff I learned in this book. But it's best if you just discover it for yourself. If I had any stereotypes in my head about "dumb rock musicians who can only write repetitive lyrics but can't hold complex thoughts", David Byrne wiped those caricatures clear off my brain by the second chapter and proceeded a complete re-education campaign. He even has a chapter on how to grow a musical ecosystem which sounds like it would be much more effective than the frequent prescriptions in business magazines about "how to grow the next Silicon Valley".
That's not to say that he doesn't have his flaws (in doing research for this review I learned that he broke up with the rest of his band during an interview with a newspaper, hardly the act of a non-self-centered rock star), but I feel like I learned even more from this book than from the well respected (though classically-oriented) Great Courses entry. That makes this book highly recommended and a no-regret purchase.
Thursday, October 04, 2018
Review: Giro Jag gloves
I was packing for this year's tour of the alps and the gloves I'd been using all year were dead and clearly wouldn't survive the tour. It was too late to wait for Amazon to deliver a new pair, so I just biked over to the local bike shop. They didn't carry my favorite Specialized BG gloves, but they had Pearl Izumi and Giro.
Giro was now a verboten brand because of their association with the gun manufacturer, so I tried the Pearl Izumi first, but it was a poor fit. Plus, the gloves I had just discarded for poor durability were Pearl Izumi, so the Jag it was.
These were very comfortable, and about the only thing they're missing is a pull tab so you can pull them off your hands. They've stood up to all the touring abuse I put them through, and I missed them when I thought I lost one of them in the wash after getting back home. (I've since found the pair, but not before I bought a pair of Specialized BG gloves from the internet)
Recommended, but they're still owned by evil gun manufacturers, so buy other brands if you can.
Giro was now a verboten brand because of their association with the gun manufacturer, so I tried the Pearl Izumi first, but it was a poor fit. Plus, the gloves I had just discarded for poor durability were Pearl Izumi, so the Jag it was.
These were very comfortable, and about the only thing they're missing is a pull tab so you can pull them off your hands. They've stood up to all the touring abuse I put them through, and I missed them when I thought I lost one of them in the wash after getting back home. (I've since found the pair, but not before I bought a pair of Specialized BG gloves from the internet)
Recommended, but they're still owned by evil gun manufacturers, so buy other brands if you can.
Wednesday, October 03, 2018
Review: Fire TV Cube
For the living room, we had an echo dot hooked up to the sound system and the harmony hub. It's great to be able to turn on everything with voice, but I didn't have a good solution for the bedroom setup.
The Fire TV Cube, however, looked like it solved the problem. You hook it up to the TV, and it has IR blasters that would control the TV, soundbar, and also do smart things like say, "Switch to Playstation" and it would set the HDMI inputs on the TV to the appropriate thing. It's even smart enough not to use its built-in speakers for music, and would be smart enough to turn on the soundbar and use it.
There are interesting limitations that I wish it didn't have. For instance, it only has a HDMI output, and doesn't have sound output (either headphone jacks or RCA output), so it can't directly output to the soundbar, forcing the device to turn on the TV to stream music to the soundbar. It doesn't have a Bluetooth hub built in, so it can't turn on or control the Playstation. Of course, to solve these problems require additional hardware, and the integrated voice control has its own problems. For instance, to turn up the volume you have to talk, which interrupts any movie you're watching.
Nevertheless, the device works for what its intended for, and works well enough that I won't be returning it. Amazon has done a good job figuring out what people want, and how to make it good enough. Recommended.
The Fire TV Cube, however, looked like it solved the problem. You hook it up to the TV, and it has IR blasters that would control the TV, soundbar, and also do smart things like say, "Switch to Playstation" and it would set the HDMI inputs on the TV to the appropriate thing. It's even smart enough not to use its built-in speakers for music, and would be smart enough to turn on the soundbar and use it.
There are interesting limitations that I wish it didn't have. For instance, it only has a HDMI output, and doesn't have sound output (either headphone jacks or RCA output), so it can't directly output to the soundbar, forcing the device to turn on the TV to stream music to the soundbar. It doesn't have a Bluetooth hub built in, so it can't turn on or control the Playstation. Of course, to solve these problems require additional hardware, and the integrated voice control has its own problems. For instance, to turn up the volume you have to talk, which interrupts any movie you're watching.
Nevertheless, the device works for what its intended for, and works well enough that I won't be returning it. Amazon has done a good job figuring out what people want, and how to make it good enough. Recommended.
Tuesday, October 02, 2018
Review: Stress and Your Body
I listened to Stress and Your Body, and kept thinking about how familiar it all sounded. Turns out it was all a rehash of another audio lecture series by the same author. Being Human, and Biology and Human Behavior.
The content of the lecture series is fine you've never heard it before. For instance, why are symphony conductors so long lived? It's not just because being up there on stage and waving your baton is excellent aerobic exercise, it's also because they have a lot of control. Apparently, it's not uncommon for the musicians to have to ask the conductor for permission to go to the bathroom in the middle of a practice! Having that much power is apparently great for longevity. (And there you have it, the answer for why women live longer than men)
Anyway, the book's thesis is that the stress response is great. In the short term, it does a lot of good things for you, boosting your cognition and reaction time in those moments when you're running away from the tiger. It's chronic stress that's bad for you, because the human brain has the ability to turn on that stress response for things where raising heart rate and reducing digestion won't help you for, such as the need to pay a mortgage.
The book does provide some solutions for managing stress, but some of it is not as good as you might imagine. For instance, there's an experiment where they got students training to be social workers to visit people in nursing homes to see if that additional human interaction was good for them. And indeed it was great. But then when the experiment is over and the students stopped coming, the folks in the nursing home deteriorated to a much worse baseline than the controls who never got that additional interaction. So it's not like you can do this as a temporary thing, it has to be ongoing.
The lecture series is fine, just don't be me and buy the other books Sapolsky has done: he's pretty much been mining the same material over and over again, so you're bound to start thinking: "Hm... I've heard this before, even in the same voice!" Otherwise, if you've never heard any Sapolsky before, it's recommended.
The content of the lecture series is fine you've never heard it before. For instance, why are symphony conductors so long lived? It's not just because being up there on stage and waving your baton is excellent aerobic exercise, it's also because they have a lot of control. Apparently, it's not uncommon for the musicians to have to ask the conductor for permission to go to the bathroom in the middle of a practice! Having that much power is apparently great for longevity. (And there you have it, the answer for why women live longer than men)
Anyway, the book's thesis is that the stress response is great. In the short term, it does a lot of good things for you, boosting your cognition and reaction time in those moments when you're running away from the tiger. It's chronic stress that's bad for you, because the human brain has the ability to turn on that stress response for things where raising heart rate and reducing digestion won't help you for, such as the need to pay a mortgage.
The book does provide some solutions for managing stress, but some of it is not as good as you might imagine. For instance, there's an experiment where they got students training to be social workers to visit people in nursing homes to see if that additional human interaction was good for them. And indeed it was great. But then when the experiment is over and the students stopped coming, the folks in the nursing home deteriorated to a much worse baseline than the controls who never got that additional interaction. So it's not like you can do this as a temporary thing, it has to be ongoing.
The lecture series is fine, just don't be me and buy the other books Sapolsky has done: he's pretty much been mining the same material over and over again, so you're bound to start thinking: "Hm... I've heard this before, even in the same voice!" Otherwise, if you've never heard any Sapolsky before, it's recommended.
Monday, October 01, 2018
Review: The Magicians Season 1
The Magicians was a fair-to-mediocre novel by Lev Grossman billed as "Harry Potter for Adults". That actually meant that the TV series had potential, because it's quite possible for the TV series to be better than the book.
Indeed, I appreciate almost all the changes in the TV series, except the selection of Jason Ralph as the actor for Quentin Coldwater. Ralph appears to have no emotional range, and just walks through the entire 13 episode series with a surly look on his face. He never quite sells any of the relationships Quentin has with other characters in the show. The TV series brings in many elements of the second book, The Magician King as well, which is great, because as in the book, Julia's story is far more interesting than Quentin's. She's also a much more interesting character.
The big reveals in the series are well done, and the rest of the setup (Fillory as Narnia, the visit to Antarctica) was a lot of fun. The boring part of the book was also eliminated, which is a wise decision --- alcoholism is too mundane for a TV series about fantasy.
If you've read the books, I think you'll like the TV series better. If you haven't, this is actually a fairly good TV series and worth your time.
Indeed, I appreciate almost all the changes in the TV series, except the selection of Jason Ralph as the actor for Quentin Coldwater. Ralph appears to have no emotional range, and just walks through the entire 13 episode series with a surly look on his face. He never quite sells any of the relationships Quentin has with other characters in the show. The TV series brings in many elements of the second book, The Magician King as well, which is great, because as in the book, Julia's story is far more interesting than Quentin's. She's also a much more interesting character.
The big reveals in the series are well done, and the rest of the setup (Fillory as Narnia, the visit to Antarctica) was a lot of fun. The boring part of the book was also eliminated, which is a wise decision --- alcoholism is too mundane for a TV series about fantasy.
If you've read the books, I think you'll like the TV series better. If you haven't, this is actually a fairly good TV series and worth your time.
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