January 13th, 2025

Week in Review (January 12th, 2025)

👽 Personal

Well, after having a great week last week, this week decided to give me some troubles. First, there was a job opening at the division that my wife works at that sounded perfect for me. Not the most exciting, but it seemed like stable work and has sort of been my backup plan. Well, they changed up some requirements, and suddenly I'm not eligible and well... fuck. On the flip side, I applied to a TON of jobs and I know one application got some movement.
That same day, little Jupiter continued having stomach issues, so I took her to the vet. $750 later, we had blood work, fluids, and an x-ray. They processed the blood at the office, but they processed it as a dog. So the values were all off. One particular value was super off, so they took additional blood and for no charge sent it off to a proper lab for interpretation. I got left the office with some tears in my eyes, as the diagnosis was as simple as some hypersensitivity to her food to possibly a mass in her intestines. Then I got to wait till the next day for results.
Those results didn't come despite my wife calling the vet, and Jupiter wasn't feeling great still. The following evening, my wife finally got a hold of the vet, and she was happier with the results, but Jupiter still wasn't using the bathroom. I spent all week stressing over her, but finally on Friday she went to the bathroom and she's been good.
I'm feeling creative, but I'm not sure how to channel this energy.
I started a Letterboxd this week, and I posted all of my old horror reviews on it. I figured that was a good way to archive them, and it helps encourage me to start dabbling with Letterboxd. I'll probably start leaving off the movies I watch from my these posts and just mention TV shows since I can post on Letterboxd.
A couple of years ago, I bought the domain SmallvilleGazette.com based on the newspaper from Superman. I had intended on creating a site to chronicle my exploration into The Man of Steel, but ultimately I decided that wasn't the best use of my time. So, I decided to slap it on this site.

🏋️Healthy Living

I stayed under my calories every day this week.
I didn't work out this week. I spent so much time watching Jupiter and it just wasn't a priority.

📺 Watched (A Glimpse at Some of the Stuff I Watched)

Grimm (S1 Episodes 1-3) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This week it was announced that NBC was working on a movie tied into this franchise. I've actually never seen an episode, so I gave it a watch, and it's not too bad.
Masterminds ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Yet another film I used to watch as a teenager on HBO all the time. This family friendly take on die hard features a young Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell from Mad Men) facing off against Patrick Stewart. It's 90's hacker vs. a prep school terrorist takeover and it's full of bad one-liners and pure goofiness. I enjoyed revisiting this film after all these years. Definitely one additional ⭐️ for nostalgia.
Creature Commandos (Episode 7) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Amazing episode, possibly the best of the series.

What passes as teenagers in Wishcraft (2002)
Wishcraft ⭐️⭐️ - This early 2000's slasher film is one I never heard of but stumble upon on Tubi. It was unique in that it mixes a sort of genie's wish into the plot, but the pacing is a mess and for the first time ever, the age of the actors really bothered me. These were supposed to be high schoolers and they all looked over thirty. Oddly enough, it was directed by Richard Wenk who directed Vamp in the 80s and is now known for writing all kinds of action movies like The Equalizer series, 16 Blocks, The Mechanic, The Expendables 2, and the second Jack Reacher film.
The Slums of Beverly Hills ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Continuing the thread of rewatching films I saw in my teenager years and haven't revisited, The Slums of Beverly Hills was a quirky movie I caught on the Independent Film Channel, back when they actually showed independent films and not sitcoms. I didn't remember much about it, but I really enjoyed this movie a lot more than I expected. It's a strange slice of life film set in the 70s.
The 4:30 Movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This is the latest Kevin Smith, and I've been holding off on watching it until the right moment. I wanted my expectations to be low, and this week was perfect for it. This gentle film is sweet. It's nothing special, but it kinda reminds me of indie films from the 90s, which is always a good thing in my book.
The Chill Factor (1993) DNF - This 1993 horror film was released on a budget label on VHS and then remastered in 2019 on blu-ray. I decided to give it a shot because I love a good winter horror film, especially a 90's film. Well, sadly, this was one boring film. I fast-forwarded through it, and it had some WTF moments, but was not for my liking.
Comic Book Men (Season 4-5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I'm a fan of the Tell Em Steve Dave Podcast, and the podcast is a million times better than Comic Book Men, but CBM is an easy, innocent watch that is good for nostalgia and the occasional laugh. I've been trying to get through the series so I can finish listening to Behind the Fake Counter podcast.
Batman 66 (S1, E1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - January 12th was the 59th anniversary of the debut of Adam West's Batman. I decided to celebrate it by watching the first episode. It's cheesy, corny, but it was my first Batman and I can appreciate it for how goofy and fun it is. Also, the remastering is damn impressive.

🎮 Played

Starship Troopers Extermination (Xbox Series X)
Madden 24 (Xbox Series X)
NHL 24 (Xbox Series X)

🎧 Listened To

Tell Em Steve Dave podcast

📖 Read

Conan and the Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking
Robert E Howard Changed My Life by Multiple Authors

💻 My Other Writings

🆕 Blogs You Should Check Out

🔗 Interesting Links