Blog

  • OpenSauce 2025: Badge info

    The badges for OpenSauve each year have been cool.

    I am no soldering expert, but I did the ones we had the previous years. Once from part kits, and 1 time sourcing online. We got free kits this year, but I have yet to build the ones 2025 badges.

    I saw William’s video today and he discussed the updated software as well as the parts list and kits for sale.

    It has full assembly instructions and the site allows you to program your own image.

    Badge 25 here

  • Oct 12 and the weekend is over

    I was super sick after my second shingles vaccine booster. I got it Friday at 4pm and I was sick at about 2am and for the whole next day. My arm was even red and a bit of a knot where I got the injection. That is the worst reaction to a vaccine I have ever had. Makes me glad not to get actual shingles for sure! I had a friend who did once and she was really sick.

    After recovering from that 24+ hours of downtime, I was on a bit of an organizing kick at the moment after doing some work in the pantry after our cabinet cheap plastic clips that held the shelved cracked.

    Pantry cabinet organization

    Acloset

    I have been using a new wardrobe and outfit app called Acloset.

    I have all my hats and a small subsection of my t-shirts, a few sweaters, and a few pairs of pants in it so far. I wanted to just catalog all my 100+ t-shirts, but I dig the idea of adding everything. That, however, is going to take me some time to do.

    A place for everything

    As part of organizing, there have been some 3d prints to go along.

    Like this holder for Cirkul water flavor cartridges for my son so they have a place to be.

    I also am going to print holder for the Good 2 Grow bottle tops that my daughter has collected.

  • Time Masters (aka Les Maîtres du temps)


    Echoes Through Time: Revisiting 

    Time Masters

     in 4K

    Every so often a film comes along that’s fallen through the cracks of pop culture awareness, but still holds a quiet power that time can’t erode. Time Masters — originally Les Maîtres du temps (1982) — is one of those. And now, courtesy of a fresh 4K restoration, it’s getting a second-life in theaters (and for cinephiles) that it richly deserves.

    What Is Time Masters?

    Directed by René Laloux and visually guided by the legendary Jean “Mœbius” Giraud, Time Masters is the kind of animated science fiction dreamscape that blends poetic imagery, existential overtones, and wild-worldbuilding. 

    The film is based on Stefan Wul’s novel L’Orphelin de Perdide (The Orphan of Perdide).  The core setup: young Piel is stranded on the hostile planet Perdide after his parents are killed by giant hornets. He retains radio contact with Jaffar, a pilot carrying exiled royalty, and tries to survive while waiting for rescue. Along the way, the narrative spirals into encounters with psychic beings, time anomalies, and metaphysical reckonings. 

    It’s not just quirky sci-fi—it has weight. The film pushes ideas about identity, time, agency, and how fragile connection can be in strange environments. Some critics compare its sensibilities to a mix of Miyazaki’s emotional wonder and Jack Vance’s cosmic breadth. 

    Back in its day, Time Masters never quite became a household name in the U.S. Despite its pedigree, it remained a cult gem. (René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet tends to overshadow it.) 


    The 4K Restoration: Why It Matters

    Why bother with a 4K restoration now? Well, for one, the film’s visual ambitions — rendered via Mœbius design, surreal landscapes, alien creatures, odd geometry — deserve to be seen as crisply as possible. The flaws, effects, and odd corners all look more intentional when the image is clean. Janus Films spearheaded the restoration, aiming to present Time Masters closer to how its creators might have wanted it seen in a future era. 

    This fresh master will be shown in select U.S. theaters starting in July 2024, with an opening in New York and then a wider rollout to follow.  The restoration also paves the way for superior home media versions (bonded to newer Blu-Ray / UHD versions) with a sharper, more stable image and cleaner color fidelity. 

    In short: this is the version for cinephiles, the version to show off to new fans, the version that gives Time Masters a shot at being admired in its full spectral glory.


    U.S. Release & Dates

    • July 26, 2024: The 4K restoration debuts at New York’s IFC Center (NYC) in its original French with English subtitles. 
    • Late July 2024 onward: National expansion — the film moves to additional theaters across the U.S. 

    As for earlier release history: the original U.S. release was around 1984 (via dubbed or subtitled distribution). 

    I couldn’t find a published date yet for when the 4K version will hit home video (Blu-Ray/UHD) in the U.S. — but with the restoration announced and previewed, I’d keep an eye on Janus Films or Criterion (if they pick it up) for updates.


    Why You Should Care (And Why It Still Hits)

    • For the visuals: Even by today’s standards, the design feels bold. Mœbius’s hand in costumes, environments, and character aesthetics gives Time Masters a signature look you won’t confuse with anything else.
    • For the weirdness: It’s not a purely “kid’s adventure” movie. There are philosophical, metaphysical, and cosmic undercurrents that reward reflection.
    • For animation history: This is a piece of the lineage that links European arthouse animation, sci-fi, comics, and cross-medium visionaries.
    • For restoration buffs: It’s a case study in giving a cult film new life.

    If you’re into offbeat sci-fi animation (especially weird ones that aren’t Disney), or you want to see what the “other side” of 80s animation looked like outside the usual studio fare, this is your ticket.


  • West Coast Weekend KQED FM: April 8, 1989

    Radio show from 1989.

    Hosted by Sedge Thomson

    Best I can tell this is the station’s backup copy as it is really well labeled and sounds great.

    Captured using a USB cassette deck to PC.

    Edited in Audacity and then saved as WAV.

    WAV -> FLAC and MP3 using dbpoweramp macos

    I found this and another copy of the same cassette at Urban Ore in Berkeley, CA ~2024

    I uploaded the recording to Archive.org Oct 9, 2025

    Seems this show kind of became West Coast Live

  • Vinyl of the day: Thundercat The Beyond/ Where the Giants Roam

    Seen him live at the Greek and he is good. Seems like a nice person too.

  • Betty Davis was a badass

    Betty Davis was a badass

    Listening to my Betty Davis reissue the last few days.

     

    She was so rad.

    Betty Davis circa 1974 Photo by Mel Dixon 01 721x1024.

    This espisode of “Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour bus” about here is worth a watch.

    On DailyMotion

     

    You can watch the other episodes too.

     

    And listen to some of her albums too.

     

    Web archive from Cinemax

  • New record: You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown

    Made with plant based bio vinyl.

    I’m not familiar with this special but I love Vince Guaraldi!