Spot Reviews 10/17/25
Oct 17 2025
Let’s Talk About Chu (2024) [/] Taiwanese sexy rom-com of 8 episodes. Chu Ai (Chan Tzu-hsuan) is a wannabe sex talk YouTuber who espouses sex without emotional attachment while her good friend Chou Ping-ke (Kai Ko) secretly wants to be more than just friends with benefits. Ai's older sister Chu Wei (Kimi Hsia) is sexually frustrated because her older husband, a university professor, is neglecting her which also makes her think that maybe he's having an affair with one of the students. Their gay middle brother (I think) Chu Yu Sen (JC Lin) meanwhile is a poker whiz who becomes attracted to sketchy backroom poker manager Lee Yeh (Wu Chien Ho), who turns out to be an ok guy… Three equal plots plus another subplot with their parents makes for too much going on for me and really only Chu Ai's plot was interesting.
1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East (2005) [/] This is a big 600 page book written by Tom Segev and translated into English by Jessica Cohen. It's very detailed on how life and culture was in Israel and what the big figures thought (a lot of material pulled from news stories, diaries, auto-biographies, interviews, etc.). Chapters talking about the attitude in Israel and the government as war loomed and similar as the war goes on. But not really describes what happened militarily. It's a well-researched book but not in my wheelhouse — I'd rather read a book more military history based.
Getting Over It+ (2023) [/] Apple Arcade. A really tough climbing game that was fairly popular a few years ago with streamers. Side view. You are a guy in a kettle with a long hammer. You use the hammer to grab onto surfaces then swing yourself up. The controls are almost just a button to swing the hammer though you slide around to kind of aim where you swing. It's easy to fall and then you bounce down and maybe catch yourself with the hammer or you land on a flat spot. It's frustratingly hard and the controls don't help and that's the draw of the game. I didn't get far in this game.
Chess Universe+ (2023) [-] Apple Arcade. Fairly standard chess against computer or online opponents. Chess lessons are more like puzzles: pick the best move and keep playing until you win. You can collect pets and deploy five of them for XP bonuses (and you have to feed the pets). Collect gold and spend it on chess piece/board themes and clothing for your persona. I don't see anything that makes it stand out so I'd rather play on chess.com or Lichess where the player pool is much larger. (As an aside: would be cool if chess.com had an API so people can develop mobile games that can play on chess.com. Third parties can deliver better UIs while chess.com gets revenue through their premium subscription plans.)
Mediterranean Kitchen, Burlingame [+] Ordered DoorDash. Kreatopita ($13) — “Traditional phyllo dough filled with ground beef, onion, roasted pepper” — and Arugula Salad ($14) — “Mixed Greens, Wild Arugula, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Toasted Almonds, Dried Cranberries, Crispy Chickpeas, Grated Manchego & Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette”. Kreatopita is sort of like an empanada. Arugula salad was very good, tasty and crunchy.
1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East (2005) [/] This is a big 600 page book written by Tom Segev and translated into English by Jessica Cohen. It's very detailed on how life and culture was in Israel and what the big figures thought (a lot of material pulled from news stories, diaries, auto-biographies, interviews, etc.). Chapters talking about the attitude in Israel and the government as war loomed and similar as the war goes on. But not really describes what happened militarily. It's a well-researched book but not in my wheelhouse — I'd rather read a book more military history based.
Getting Over It+ (2023) [/] Apple Arcade. A really tough climbing game that was fairly popular a few years ago with streamers. Side view. You are a guy in a kettle with a long hammer. You use the hammer to grab onto surfaces then swing yourself up. The controls are almost just a button to swing the hammer though you slide around to kind of aim where you swing. It's easy to fall and then you bounce down and maybe catch yourself with the hammer or you land on a flat spot. It's frustratingly hard and the controls don't help and that's the draw of the game. I didn't get far in this game.
Chess Universe+ (2023) [-] Apple Arcade. Fairly standard chess against computer or online opponents. Chess lessons are more like puzzles: pick the best move and keep playing until you win. You can collect pets and deploy five of them for XP bonuses (and you have to feed the pets). Collect gold and spend it on chess piece/board themes and clothing for your persona. I don't see anything that makes it stand out so I'd rather play on chess.com or Lichess where the player pool is much larger. (As an aside: would be cool if chess.com had an API so people can develop mobile games that can play on chess.com. Third parties can deliver better UIs while chess.com gets revenue through their premium subscription plans.)
Mediterranean Kitchen, Burlingame [+] Ordered DoorDash. Kreatopita ($13) — “Traditional phyllo dough filled with ground beef, onion, roasted pepper” — and Arugula Salad ($14) — “Mixed Greens, Wild Arugula, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Toasted Almonds, Dried Cranberries, Crispy Chickpeas, Grated Manchego & Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette”. Kreatopita is sort of like an empanada. Arugula salad was very good, tasty and crunchy.