Columns, Knicks and meditation

The Washington Post chopped down my Chuck Schumer column and ran it as a letter. I’m going to send out the piece about cultivated pork fat next. If you’d like to submit your own writing to newspapers, give this a gander: https://slaughterfreeamerica.substack.com/p/how-to-write-letters-to-newspapers-6eb

Anyway, let’s do (Cell) Culture Talk. Here’s what I’ve been watching, playing and reading lately.

Movie — Watcher. Maika Monroe stars as a woman who fears she is being stalked by a serial killer, after moving to Romania with her husband, played by Karl Glusman. Chloe Okuno directed the intense psychological thriller. I’m mostly familiar with Monroe from It Follows, though I think I saw The Guest as well.

Game — Ocarina of Time Randomizer. Somehow, I never knew about the fifth-floor room in the Fire Temple, which is only accessible with the Scarecrow Song. The crystal grotto in the Sacred Forest Meadow was a relatively new discovery for me as well. It’s pretty cool that, after all these years, the 1998 title can still surprise me.

Overall, though, this seed was a lot easier than the first. I think part of it was I found a bunch of important items early, which helped. But I also just had a better sense of all the locations I needed to check, so there wasn’t as much wandering around in frustration. I’ll probably fiddle with the settings more when I next play.

Sports — Knicks lose to Spurs, 120-105. That was an embarrassing performance against what is likely a lottery team. I continue to believe the front office fundamentally altered New York’s identity with its off-season moves. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 32 points. Jalen Brunson can’t come back from injury soon enough.

Sports — Knicks lose to Hornets, 115-98. It was another rough outing for New York. Charlotte, like San Antonio, is a tanking organization. I know serious basketball analysts look down on non-quantifiable metrics like toughness, but it definitely feels like an issue here. Last year’s Knicks wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

Sports — Knicks beat Wizards, 122-103. New York took their foot off the gas, permitting Washington to cut a 33-point lead to four, however the Knicks ultimately took care of business. Tyler Kolek had rare minutes outside of garbage time, as Jalen Brunson and Deuce McBride weren’t available. Towns notched 31 points.

Meditation passage — The Central Truth by Swami Ramdas. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with anxiety about the American political situation. People have said participating in energetic group protest really helps. Unfortunately, with my current responsibilities, I can’t do that. So I’m adding a new text to my repertoire.