Quick Running Update

Hi all,

I just wanted to write a note here that my running continues to improve! Last week I was able to up my distance to 10 km distance without any discomfort, and then after a couple of rest days, I was able to run a half-marathon distance!

My leg did start to feel weak at about the 9 mile mark, so I walked for a minute and did some light stretching before continuing on. The pain didn’t increase and actually went away and I was able to up the pace for the last few miles. It was a pleasant surprise!

Anyways, I am pretty stoked so I wanted to make a post about it. 😃 Injuries suck, but helps put things into perspective.

またね〜

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017) – Review

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/3.6, 1/120 sec, ISO320
“Huang Rong” Cedar Park, 2022

I finally watched all 52 episodes of the 2017 Chinese television series “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”. I enjoyed it quite a bit!

After reading the books (which I loved), I was curious to see how this latest re-telling of the Condor Heroes story would be. I was pleasantly surprised that the first episodes’ characters, plot, and overall feeling matched with what I had imagined in my mind when I read the books.

The kung fu moves were excellent and they spent a lot of effort in the flying effects, the spinning moves, and the choreography in general. It was interesting to me that in the books and also the live-action series, most of the kung fu is not meant to deal lethal blows. Even when fighting with weapons, the conflict was to show superiority, and trying to kill someone is a serious line that only the villains were willing to cross.

Speaking of the kung-fu, many of the moves has specific names, and in the tv show, they flashed subtitles when the person used the move. Pretty cool!

One criticism of the TV series I have is that the special effects were sometimes horrible. Laughably so! In fact, they were so bad, didn’t mind it so much after a while. They did their best! And the fighting was awesome, after all.

This adaptation stuck close to the book’s plot, but at the end I think they skipped over a lot. For instance, when Viper Ouyang was harassing our heroes in Mongolia, he suffered some hilarious indignities, however the TV show only showed one of them, and even that was toned down.

Overall, though, I thought the 2017 series was excellent. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of the legendary wuxia series.

Dinner Party Goodies

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
“Burrata” Cedar Park, 2022

こんにちは。How’s it going?

We had a guest come over for dinner so we made a variety of dishes to enjoy. Mariko made burrata and tomato over toasted baguette, I grilled a skirt steak, Bay made deep fried mashed potatoes, and our guest brought over a kale and pine nut salad. Mmmmm!

I hope you had a nice day! またね〜

Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/60 sec, ISO100
“Fried Mashed Potatoes” Cedar Park, 2022
Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/60 sec, ISO320
“Skirt Steak” Cedar Park, 2022
Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/40 sec, ISO400
“Kale Salad” Cedar Park, 2022