Letters, Black Doves, and more

My next letter is going to make the environmental case for increased public funding for cultivated-meat research. If you’d like to send your own, check out these state newspaper lists: https://slaughterfreeamerica.substack.com/p/how-to-write-letters-to-newspapers-6eb

Anyway, it’s time for (Cell) Culture Talk. Here’s what I’ve been watching and playing recently.

TV — Black Doves. It’s an exciting spy thriller set during the holiday season. Keira Knightley, who I’ve never seen on the small screen before, stars as an undercover operative seeking to avenge the killing of her lover. An old ally, played by Ben Wishaw, joins her as they search for answers.

Game — The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I just finished the Fire Temple. One of the biggest downsides of the Delta emulator for iOS is it will periodically make a terrible buzzing sound, which you can only get rid of by temporarily leaving the game. On the other hand, the save state feature is helpful.

Sports — Knicks beat Magic, 121-106. With the victory, New York advances to the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament. Karl-Anthony Towns notched 23 points in what was a fairly-balanced, whole-team effort. The match was much more of a blowout than the final score suggests.

Sports — Knicks beat Hornets, 125-101. I get the idea no lead is safe in the NBA, but I wish Tom Thibodeau would empty his bench a little earlier in the fourth quarter, when the outcome is all but assured. An injury to one of the starters in that situation would be pretty devastating. Otherwise, it was a great game.

Sports — Knicks lose to Pistons, 120-111. Towns was out. Still, given the expectations surrounding New York, they should have been able to beat Detroit. The Pistons led wire to wire. The Knicks nearly closed the gap a few times, but couldn’t quite manage to do it. Jalen Brunson scored 31 points.

Sports — Knicks beat Raptors, 113-108. That was too close for comfort against a struggling Toronto team. It was good to see former New York players RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, though. I miss those two. Barrett led all scorers with 30 points. Quickley was sidelined due to an elbow injury.