Singin' in the Rain is my all-time favorite movie so its thorough deconstruction was a joy to watch, listen, and read. 🎥

(Found via Dan Cohen’s blog, which I have just rediscovered. I look forward to finding other hidden treasures in my RSS back catalog!)

Is it too early to start with end-of-year lists? Because I would like to share my disappointments of the year. Or, more precisely, disappointment (singular), as there has been only one: LG in general, and their HU810PW laser projector in particular.

It broke just a few months out of warranty (strike 1), they have no local authorized service shops (strike 2), and a week after speaking to someone from their call center I am yet to get instructions on how to send it to them for a $600 $100 shiping and $60 insurance not included. repair (strike 3). I do, however, receive half a dozen spam emails per day from LG now that they have my email address (not a strike, just completely shameless).

To be clear, it is a gorgeous projector with crystal clear picture even in daylight. LG’s WebOS is the best smart TV software out there. Yes, it is a low bar. Still… It has generous horizontal shift that saved me from having to drill holes in the ceiling. The remote control isn’t the sleek piece of aluminium Apple TV has, but unlike Apple TV’s it is comfortable to hold, glows in the dark, and actually works! ⊕ And to be clear from a different perspective — that this is my biggest disappointment of 2022 is a good indicator that the year was pretty decent for the Miljković household, all things considered.

Which makes its breaking just out of warranty and LG’s lack of customer service all the more grating.

Never apologize, never explain.

Those who care don’t matter,

Those who matter don’t care.

I thought I saw this mashup of two sayings in a Neil Gaiman book (American Gods?), but for the life of me I can’t find it phrased quite like that anywhere online. Did I imagine it?

Want to read: On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt 📚

Planning to re-read in light of the impending AI-driven explosion of BS, or AIDEBS. Certain areas of human activity have always more prone to BS generation, but it has slowly seeped everywhere. Time to fight it.

Found on Twitter: this photograph of the late, great architect Zaha Hadid. She is notable for squeezing some beauty out of brutalism. The photo is notable for the Iskra ETA 85 telephone resting on the coffee table — part of most Yugoslav households last century, including my childhood home.

If you have seen and enjoyed Bodyguard, make sure to watch Slow Horses. How good is it? First time I stayed up until 4am for a TV show since the early 2000s good. 📺

Finished reading: The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis 📚

Anecdotes about federal employee life which don’t amount to much data, but do paint a bleak picture of figthing the buearacracy within and the doubters without for little to no recognition.

British Film Institute’s once-per-decade survey of Top 100 movies of all time is out, and it is great. Any list that has both Singing in the Rain and Mulholland Drive in the Top 10 is my kind of list! 🍿