I enjoyed it just as much as the first one, though it does seem to have lost a little of that world building touch. No more mentats, lurid family pets and things of that ilk. Still a gorgeous spectacle to behold, and it runs on rails right from the get go, carrying on after the exploits of Part One. Timelines are changed to be very streamlined, and they have changed various plot points but it reads on screen coherently as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if it would qualify as a “Master-Piece” on its own merits, but certainly as a pair, and more likely as a trio with a more definite ending after one additional installment.
I’m not going to be controversial here but I feel as though Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken were used to great effect. I can tell that Florence will be a bigger player along with the as of yet unborn sister Alia in the third portion. I’m also glad that they thinned out the royal entourage and hangers on by using just Lady Fenring as a go between hinting at a broader court of intrigue. This movie could easily bloat up to twenty to thirty hours if you tried to stay too close to the source material. I for one am glad they trimmed, blurred, and shuffled characters and events into one another to simplify the story. I never liked the Barron’s propensity towards CSA, and eliminating the assassination attempts and subsequent murders of raped children was the correct call. The gladiatorial match hints at the behind the scenes scheming which the Harkonnens are prone to, so that left me satisfied with one aspect of the streamlined divergence from the source material.
Speaking of villains, Beast Raban plays a cowardly bully very well, and Feyd Rautha was a fantastic psychopath with a knife fetish, and a insatiable blood lust. Worth the price of admission.
Otherwise it was pretty good. I enjoyed it a great deal. I will buy it on bluray if it is offered as physical media come summer time. The CGI is of a high quality. The on location filming is really lovely. The depth of field would lend itself to 3D with no issues. I saw it in DBox Atmos AVX because that was the largest screen locally that I could see it on that doesn’t require more than an hour drive each way. I was going to aim for the late late show but opted for the six PM, and it was a touch fuller inside than I have grown accustomed to. Not a fan of crowds nowadays. Too many people coughing or sniffling for my comfort. Should have stuck to my guns, although had I of done so then today would be a wash. I can’t stay up until 2AM, then do the 8AM school drop off run, and be a fully functional human adult. I don’t have that in me anymore. But I digress.
Good movie, great sequel, better as a whole. Fingers crossed for a third and final installment from Denis Villeneuve. Have you been out to see Dune: Part Two yet? What was your assessment of the film? Ciao Bella.
Today is THE day. It’s here. We made it. Hurray! And it looks as though I am going to be busier than originally planned. So I will do a select few notes on the books I read, and enjoyed more than most.
Books on the tall left pile I read cover to cover, and those on the right were only partial reads as of this time.
***I’m still reading both System Collapse, and Lords of Uncreation at this time, I just haven’t finished yet due to travel, and a busier than expected work schedule.
I started the year off with Tom Segura’s book, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Short & sweet, I think I fi wished that in a day and a half. Not very thick, and reads like a funny conversation. The Fart Quest D&D books are always a pleasure to read. Childish and silly with lovely illustrations on many pages. A fun treat for me. Don Winslow’s books are cracker jack popped full of organized crime, murder, gangsters and Danny Ryan. Fast paced, exciting and I can’t wait to read the third and final installment. The Steel Remains was entertaining. I did at one point look into buying more of the series as I like Richard Morgan‘s work. I read two of his books this year, along with Mo Hayder, and Adrian Tchaikovsky too. I read an entire trilogy of a new to me author very early on this year, and it was decent. Had a lot of SA, and physical abuse of kids in it which I didn’t care for, but the writing was good. Those were written by N.K. Jemison.
All told I read 15 books cover to cover, and another 4 books were partial reads of 1/4 to 1/3 of the book in question. So I hit my 12 books in 12 months reading goal. I slowed right down as of September as I got busier with work, as I knew I would. I front end loaded the year pretty heavily to make up for my waning attention, and increased work schedule.
Also for this year in review I didn’t do anywhere near as much sculpting, wood working, or model building. I did one or two items in each category, but I don’t think I finished much. Perhaps next year. I did use my airbrush a fair bit this year to paint old sculpts, and board game pieces. That was a lot of repetition, but also fun to do.
No short stories were written that I can think of this year either. At least nothing comes to mind. I should check the website closer to New Year’s Eve for the official word count for the year. I do not believe that it will even come close to 100,000 words for the year. I just didn’t have that much jam this year. Also I don’t think I made any real progress on my illustrated children’s book either. Was just too busy during what is typically an 11 week long slow period. It was all go-go-go!
We had Covid in march of 2023 and that caused a 90 day reprieve on my exercise regimen to try and avoid long Covid symptoms. Also meant that my weight has remained in the 205-209lbs range for the majority of this year. I swam a lot, but did not ride my bike much, nor run, nor skateboard like I had hoped. I do need to sort something out on that front as I am unhappy with my current pear shape. I could do with being about 175lbs and reduce the belly by a wide margin. Eating and exercise. Simple solution, but oh so hard to implement. Ha. Habits to be build and enforced, just like the writing.
Big question looms. Do we go for a year three of the writing streak, or go until we forget or have more pressing matters to concern ourselves with? If I have another obsessive compulsive year of writing this blog then so be it. I’d blow a kazoo to celebrate if I could. Pfft! W00t-w00t!
Other things to reflect upon? Hmm. Great family vacation to Florida this year. Hadn’t gone anywhere since 2018 so we packed up and flew to Tampa, and then spent a week in Orlando/Kissimmee area. Did three theme parks for 11 of our 14 day trip. One beach day in Clearwater, and one visit to Disney Springs outdoor shopping centre. It was sweltering in Tampa, and rainy and 73°F in Orlando. Not too shabby. Warm enough to swim in the rain, or sit in the hot tub unbothered by it all. We essentially gave the month of November a miss by going away mid month. Strange, but very effective.
Great grandma is alive and kicking, heading towards her 96th birthday in January. Uncle Fred is still in the hospital trying to recoup enough to do another week of 3 Chemo treatments in a row. Otherwise we had the kids pick up a missed immunization that the Ministry notified us of, though they were way off with our youngest. Bit of a mix up there. I picked up a Tetanus shot as I have zero recollection of the last one I ever had. Was probably in high school, if not grade school before that. Good to have as I work with reclaimed wood and pull rusted nails every so often. Better safe than sorry.
I was busier with more work from fewer clients this year. The two micro breweries I usually get work from were very quiet this year. Perhaps in 2024? Maybe. My three biggest clients all did more work this year than usual. Well, two of three did lots more. Not going to complain about that! I lost one client to an acquisition to a large conglomerate that had it’s own in-house design team. No harm no foul there. Win some, lose some. Hard to complain when other clients pick up the slack and then some.
I’m sure more happened that I will remember in a couple of hours time. But that’s the gist of my year. Kids got bigger. Moved up in grades. Homework and extracurriculars abound. Taekwondo, dance, gymnastics, girl guides, and soon Ringette too. We’ve been busy if not over scheduled for children’s programming. Can’t say they didn’t get the chance to try lots of things.
New water softner, fixed water heater valve, and a fridge freezer we no longer use in order to keep the fridge running smoothly. Some how the AC unit has kept chugging along. We will see if that luck continues into 2024. I do see a new fridge in our futures if im being honest.
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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