To be clear: there’s plenty of blame to go around. Apple probably* could have avoided this if they loosened up, but it seems like the DOJ case is trying to prosecute something other than what was stated.
*I say probably because politics is weird and tech is clearly in politicians' sights
My hot take on US v Apple: the accusations in this case may feel right, but the legal case here is tenuous at best. If Congress would like to pass some laws to codify feelings, go for it.
As of now, we live in a nation governed by laws. Pretty tough to prosecute an entity that doesn’t violate them
My hot take on US v Apple: the accusations in this case may feel right, but the legal case here is tenuous at best. If Congress would like to pass some laws to codify feelings, go for it.
As of now, we live in a nation governed by laws. Pretty tough to prosecute an entity that doesn’t violate them
Make sure to plan a vacation from planning your vacation (aka Disney Cruise Check-in Logistics)
As I alluded to in a few earlier micro posts, there’s a lot to consider when planning a trip to Disney. It all makes sense once you understand it, it just takes a lot to understand it.
I like logistics. Planning this stuff is morbid fun for me, but I really feel for people who don’t want to watch a ton of YouTube videos and read a bunch of blog posts. I’m not going to go into all the details here, but below is a quick break down of completing check-in for a Disney Cruise. I’m hoping this may help someone navigate this better in the future.
Off the top…
- There are three check-in periods: Selecting Cruise Activities, Selecting Port Arrival Time, and Port Arrival
- Each of the three check-in periods have different things you’re registering for
- Each of the three open at a different time that’s determined on how many Disney cruises you’ve been on or if you’re in a Concierge-level room
Let’s take each of the three check-in periods separately.
Selecting Cruise Activities: opens up 90-123 days before your cruise. I believe it always opens at midnight Eastern no matter where you are. This is where you select things like special dinners on the cruise, paid character interactions, spa appointments, port excursions. Basically anything paid.
Selecting Port Arrival Time: opens up 30-40 days before your cruise. Also (I believe) at midnight Eastern. This is when you’ll complete registration and choose the time your arrive at the port. Here’s a great rundown of everything you’ll do at this time. Also weirdly enough, it’s when you can register for free character interactions.
Port Arrival: this is the time you selected in the previous step to show up the day of the cruise to complete all the paperwork, get your room key, etc.
To be clear, nailing the timing of this is not 100% required. You do need to complete all of these at some point before your cruise, but you only need to do it right when it opens if you care about certain cruise activities or your port arrival time. But think ahead. There’s a wide swath of things that aren’t not possible unless you check in within minutes of opening.
The logistics of this Disney Cruise are next level. There’s three separate registration periods whose opening depends on five distinct tiers based on how many Disney cruises you’ve been on and/or your room type. As you would expect with Disney, it’s all very well organized, it’s just…a lot
I’ve learned more about logistics by planning trips to Disney than I have from any class I’ve ever taken
Dune: Part Two, 2024
Sometimes movies transport us to places that just aren’t possible. Other times they shine a light on us that we couldn’t normally see. And then there are times they do both and they transcend
Dune, 2021
Rewatched before our showing of Part 2 on Friday-- there was a LOT of this movie that I'd forgotten in the haze of COVID.
As he did with Arrival, Villeneuve does a superb job of tying grand epics to the personal.
I liked all the best picture nominees this year, but there were three tiers for me:
Tier 1: Oppen, Anatomy/Fall, Zone/Interest, Killers
Tier 2: Past Lives, Poor Things, Barbie
Tier 3: A/Fiction, Holdov, Maes
It was only nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but I’d put May December in Tier 1
The Holdovers, 2023
There are periods of the year where time gets a little hazy. We need those times to find meaning
Like to be clear, Britt’s speech was written by a bunch of old white dudes. She’s doing her best to deliver it, but…yeah. Old white dudes
I’ve seen enough college forensics to know that Katie Britt will probably get there one day. But today is not that day
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched cable news but CNN is on in this waiting room and I’m realizing I’m not ready for this election
Killers of the Flower Moon, 2023
…it’s the inevitability of it all. There were people to be exploited, so they were.
Current Things: March 2024
Currently Reading
- One of these days I’m going to start reading again. But today is not that day.
Currently Watching
- Constellation, Season 1
- Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 12
Currently In Queue
Currently Listening
- Apple Music recently released a new daily Mix– Heavy Rotation– that captures what you recently have been listening to. Sounds like a perfect addition to Current Things! I’ll be interested to see if this web embed automatically updates as the mix is updated.
- I continued listening to Paolo Nutini’s Last Night in the Bittersweet, but as you can see I’ve also been revisiting Maggie Roger’s Surrender, Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, and Geese’s 3D Country.
- I also bet you can tell what songs are on my running playlist!
- Maggie Rogers has a new album out in April! I heard a few at her Atlantis show and couldn’t be more excited for it!
Currently Planning
- April: Disney cruise for Julie’s mom’s 75th birthday
- July: Kentucky to visit family and drop off kids for two weeks
- August: West Coast: Portland, Bay Area, Los Angeles, Disneyland (and maybe Yosemite!)
- December: post-Christmas trip to Kentucky
- TBD Late 2024/early 2025: Joshua Tree area for Julie’s brother’s wedding (maybe Vegas on the front end?)
Concurrently
- I’m going to try and do a better job of posting about my past and future travels. I added a new dedicated Travel page and a new section in Current Things to help highlight this! Here’s a blog post introducing the new Travel page and a blog post on the logistics of it.
Finished in February:
May December: Haynes always does such a good job of contextualizing sexual power dynamics and its effects on everyone directly and indirectly involved. We think of power asymmetries as straightforward and bad, but they’re often complex (but still bad!)
Also loved the 1990s made-for-TV style this was shot in– especially the score and the graininess of video.
Shout out to these two diametrically opposite, but equally impactful lines:
I don’t think we have enough hot dogs
This is just what grownups do
The Zone of Interest: The movie is in the margins.
We think of these people as monsters. And they were. But they were also humans. Humans did this.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Season 1: I’m a sucker for marriage as war allegories, so I think I liked this more than most. But this was done 10x better and more natural by The Americans
Rick and Morty, Season 7: It’s tough to review entire seasons of shows that aren’t really serialized (thematically or plotwise). Season 7 continues to be successful at what it’s trying to do. Its presentation isn’t my favorite, but it’s inventiveness and just plain weirdness more than make up for it
True Detective, Season 4: While previous seasons have been about masculinity, this one adds motherhood, femininity, and community to the mix with spectacular results. It centralizes on the idea of these concepts as “protectors” in their various forms. This is–by far– the best season of this show.
Maestro: This was fine. I like the ideas of how identity is complex and who owns it isn’t always straightforward. But ultimately I didn’t gain anything more than a surface-level understanding of how this duality affected Bernstein.
Past Lives: We’re not fated for things that are obvious. The allure for the other side of things will always be there.
Anatomy of a Fall: Even the truth is contextual
(The real moral of Anatomy of a Fall is to not find yourself on trial in France)
Previously, in Current Things…
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
May December: Haynes always does such a good job of contextualizing sexual power dynamics and its effects on everyone directly and indirectly involved. We think of power asymmetries as straightforward and bad, but they’re often complex (but still bad!)
Also loved the 1990s made-for-TV style this was shot in– especially the score and the graininess of video.
Shout out to these two diametrically opposite, but equally impactful lines:
I don’t think we have enough hot dogs
This is just what grownups do
May December, 2023
Haynes always does such a good job of contextualizing sexual power dynamics and its effects on everyone directly and indirectly involved. We think of power asymmetries as straightforward and bad, but often they're complex (but still bad!)
Also loved the 1990s made-for-TV style this was shot in-- especially the score and the graininess of video.
Shout out to these two diametrically opposite, but equally impactful lines:
> I don't think we have enough hot dogs
> This is just what grownups do
My first thought when I heard about Richard Lewis: I wonder if he ever did put Larry David in his will.
(I feel like he would have appreciated this joke)
Ten years ago today I left for my most ambitious trip: eleven countries spanning six continents in five weeks. I blogged my way through that trip and will get the archives posted soon enough. But today I launched a new travel blog with the post The Window. I’m excited to write about travel again!