Movies - Mandolorian & Mortal Kombat II, The Boys finale, more MBA

The Mandolorian and Grogu - fun but forgettable.  Really enjoyed with kids, but talked to folks and got interesting feedback.

- Not a 'Star Wars' style movie.  This seems true, but missed the question - were 'Star Wars' stle movies actually good?  (I forced myself to appreciate all the movies, but wasnt always easy.)

- Like 4x or 8x TV show episodes.  Actually, the shows were better in many ways, with more Mandolorian lore and storyline, more character arcs.  None of that in the movie except Rada the Hutt.  New blue pilot CG guy noticeably got no background.

I liked it as a sci-fi movie, but was missing the heart of the show, was light on message, & didn't expand on the story in any meaningful way.

Mortal Kombat II - saw with 13 yr old son.  We laughed our butts off (me louder than him).  Decent writing, acting, story, jokes -- overall a great surprise.  Plus Karl Urban and extra unnecessary cursing.  A great B-movie for guys, and there were strong female leads so maybe women/girls might like also?  (Dunno bc I havent found any women/girls who have seen it yet.)

Also a great movie adaptation of a video game.

The Boys finale - while I loved the comics, the show lost it's edge.  Still, it was quite a journey - 5 seasons Homelander, Butcher, Hughie.

In the end, I really didnt like Jack Quaid's single dimensional acting, but his finale scene had great payoff.  What stood out most on the show was Starlight's face surgeries & that controversy. It almost parallels the show.  Good (bad) fun, had more social commentary than was expected I think.  Def kept the irreverent tone of the comics.

MBA continues - finished Accounting & Org Mgmt, semester 2 = Corporate Finance & Strategic Marketing.

- Accounting - was challenging, but I liked the knowledge.  I discussed with therapist that I used to hate money bc my parents didn't have any financial skills or knowledge and were primarily fear-based, taught me to be afraid.  I hope to teach my kids financial literacy.

- Org Mgmt - a lot of incredible insights into different ways to do businesses, structure business, handle change and workplace politics.  My fav teacher so far, Prof Rizova, has Bulgarian sense of humor and is also teaching AI, which she says is terrifying.

I tried presenting Marketing ideas for my work.  Boss, "No".  Product Team, "No." So I decided to pivot to Sneaky Pickle 🥒, my VC Startup concept that *requires* good values along w/profit.  Now going deep into the pickle!!!  I confided in folks that it makes me scared, but also super excited. So far, everyone says to continue...

Onwards!!

Good Luck Have Fun Dont Die - movie review

When I saw the preview, wasn't sure I would be seeing.  But I love Sam Rockwell, so I gave it a shot.  Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die may be my fav scifi movie of 2020's.

GLHFDD has some vibes of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', but this movie feels more relevant because the world is at a critical point.

So for a timestamp, IRL we have Trump attacking Iran unprovoked (in sync with Israel), along with kidnapping the leader of Venezuela.  Those events, along with Greenland threat,  has made the world destabilized and on the edge of world war.  Besides these enormous problems, we can add

- Israel genocide of Palestinians

- Trump's ICE acting like a lawless military inside USA 

- AI sucking up job market (ie destroying labor)

- Trump dodging Epstein files guilt

- rampant corruption and theft in govt

So with these phenomenena in mind, this movie boldly tackles [SPOILERS]

- coming AI singularity

- videogames

- 'BTL' addiction (aka 'better than life')

- children and phones

- the impacts of phone addiction

- cloning

While there is obviously a lot of other relevant material to discuss in current times, the movie addressed the subject matter in a way that challenged the rational mind with intention.

The giant cat monster / sparkle dick was unnecessary, but it made the point of being in an AI game more clear.

So then the question is about the meta plot:

Is Sam's character really time travelling, or is he just replaying a scene in an AI videogame?  Despite the fact that his mother is there and he guards her so as to not negate his birth, the whole movie could be just another VR videogame.

Something to ponder.

So I loved the zombie phones, and Sam, and his willingness to have people die.  While it was painful in the game, it aligned with a videogame -- has anyone cried when a videogame grunt dies???

His bizarre movements in Norms at the beginning also reminded me of a videogame player's spamming moves.

I really enjoyed, now I'm looking forward to my first rewatch.  (& I dont plan on doing 100+, but I could imagine 3-5+ rewatches.)

MBA-P, Quiet Radicals, 2 great podcasts, and NotebookLM

Started part-time ‘MBA for Professionals’ program in January 2026 in Portland OR at satellite location.  My brain is stimulated!  Not 100% sure what to do with all the info yet, but I did Vision Board with VisionBloom workshop and Sneaky Pickle was born. Currently Sneaky Pickle is 'on hold' as passion project, first need to network with VC's / Incubators / Founders and get to know folks.

In my Organization Management class, we read Radical Change, the Quiet Way - by Meyerson.  I submitted an extended paper to rant about the misuse of the word radical, but that if we swap the word with revolutionary I was ok with it, and the 4 tools covered are excellent & I hope to use them all: disruptive self-expression, verbal jujitsu, variable-term opportunism, and strategic alliance building.

Random 'quiet radical' (aka Stealthy Revolutionary) disruptive self-expression update -

• This Ralph Nader Hour podcast was really interesting about dangers of unregulated AI - https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/ai-accountability . Was also interesting part about 'overusing AI in academia & side effects on students'. Wow! AI use has side effects!

We mentioned using NotebookLM (mobile app) for listening to school weekly reading materials. NotebookLM pretty amazing AI tech. I'm no expert, but I did tutorial videos & it can generate interesting material off the source code you give it. Free version offers a lot.

For non-school stuff, you can upload PDF's to a notebook & it becomes 'subject matter expert' on that content, so good for rules & regulations, manuals for all your home tech (good to incl SN's and warranties), etc.

**BEWARE - Don't give NotebookLM 'internal only' work docs or you could be breaking a work NDA / security policy.**

Also really glad to have heard about 9Pfeffer on Power podcasts and book(s).   Podcast episodes are short (20 mins each) and straightforward.  Some are more on professionalism and networking than 'power' per se, but they all hover around the subject.

• I liked Andrew Yang episode a lot (Ep #19 - Apr 25, 2025)