Blessed Rain

The rain has finally come to California. In the last week or so, we've gotten a nice downpour that's both cleared out the shitty, ash-laden, air and helped get the ground properly damp. I'll admit I'm damn happy to see water coming out of the sky.

I've got a crap-ton of N95 filter masks on backorder. This crappy air bullshit is going to happen again next year. I plan to be prepared. In the meantime, I'm enjoying being able to breathe properly.

Apocalyptic Air Quality

For the last week and change, the greater San Francisco Bay Area has been socked in with smoke from the "Camp Fire" (a series of fires in Northern California that destroyed the town of Paradise and has claimed dozens of lives).

The air outside is considered some of the worst in the world, beating out New Delhi and Beijing.

Fucking hell.

It feels to me like I have a small child sitting on my chest every time I go outside. The sun looks like the Eye of Sauron staring balefully down. The moon looks wrong. I can't see mountains, or in some cases, buildings from certain vantage points.

This is the new normal.

And we're lucky compared to the poor people whose homes were destroyed. Fucking hell.

Review: The Tainto (redux) by Zombie Tools

Yes, I already own a Tainto. I know.

The brilliant weapons-crafters of Zombie Tooks re-did their faux-Japanese offerings of a katana and wakizashi some time back. Recently, they upgraded their version of the tanto to match.

So I had to have one.

The revised Tainto has a shorter, more solid-feeling hilt. The blade itself is about the same length as the previous Tainto, but with a more sweeping curve to it than the more angular, tanto-like cut of the previous offering. It also has the round cross-guard that the revised Apokatana and Zakisushi blades offer. Overall, it's a solid, brutal little monster that comes with a kydex sheath and an aura of vague menace. It's a welcome addition to my little arsenal of sharp objects with which to cut myself as I behave like a fool.

Review: "Ant Man and the Wasp"

Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm late. I finally saw it.

Great caper movie. Funny. Quirky. It felt a bit rushed in parts and not as solid as the first one, but a decent sequel. I couldn't quite figure out what to make of Michelle Pfieffer's Janet Van Dyne/Pym, but Michelle Pfieffer rocks, so whatever works. Fucked ending, though. Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

Funny

A motto that will always be true. Love it.

More Traffic Musings

So now I'm really popular with the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine. That... is unexpected. I cannot fathom for the life of me why anyone from either of those countries would read my blog.

Obligatory September Post

Wow, I really let this blog go, don't I?

Let's see... what's happened in the last month?

Books!
Got and read "Bloody Rose" by Nicholas Eames. The sequel to "Kings of the Wyld", "Bloody Rose" was an intense and fun read. Darker than "Kings of the Wyld", it had a few moments where the story genuinely angered me and kinda left me in shock, but I have to say, I really enjoyed the book.
Also got and read "King of Ashes" by Raymond Feist. Feist's first non-Riftwar work in an eon was an entertaining read, though I cannot tell where he's going with this story. It was a bit rougher than I would have expected from such an experienced writer, truth be told.

Random crap!
I got a drone. I've learned not to fly said drone indoors. 'Nuff said.

It's Dreamforce in San Francisco this week. As a result, I am staying the hell away from San Francisco (save for one night in which I have a social engagement).

Zombie Tools now has a revised Tainto in their catalog. That's my early Xmas gift to myself, as it's going to take about that long for them to finish it and ship it to me.