Entry 29
I finished Red Mars this week, and WOW was I impressed. More than anything, it seriously surprised me with how tragic it turned towards the end.
This is a story about mankind’s first colonization of Mars, sending 100 of the most brilliant scientists and engineers across the solar system, funded collectively by the nations of the world. It starts as a beautiful future of achievement.
And within the span of 40-ish years, it all goes to shit. Transnational corporations sink their teeth into every inch of Mars' resources as they can, breaking international treaties left and right. They pump people into Mars as fast as they can to reap their profits, and this mass immigration coupled with panic and chaos in the failing Earth governments drives all sorts of wedges into the world being built on Mars. What was once one of the most brave and awe-inspiring things mankind ever did ends in revolution, targeted terrorism, and extrajudicial police forces destroying most of what was built on Mars.
This book ended up being WAY more political than I ever could’ve imagined, in the absolute best way possible. It would be irresponsible to not consider the socialogical prospects of such a blank slate on a new world, and boy does this book deliver. I have NO idea what’s next in the series and I seriously cannot wait.
I saw Licorice Pizza yesterday, and absolutely loved it. You have to accept that the premise is kind of weird going in (a 25 or 28 year old girl starts a very sweet relationship with a 15 year old boy), and there were a few unavoidably gross asian jokes, but I was in love with every frame.
Paul Thomas Anderson basically just feels like he’s riffing for a few hours, in a great way. Totally surprised by how fantastic Alana Haim was– and really all of the Haim family. Without a doubt one of his funniest movies.
I’m making my way through the advent of code for this year, and I’m doing my solutions in Rust. That’s really helping me learn the ins and outs of the language, but I’m still hitting a few road blocks every once in a while.
I’m also just… not doing great on my solutions lol. I haven’t been able to solve part 2 of one of the days this week (I swear my solution is correct), and the more math they introduce, the less equipped I feel to tackle them. I’m hoping I can keep the ball rolling; I’m definitely having a good time with it.