Spot Reviews 07/10/26
Jul 10 2026
For All Mankind s5 (2026) [/] The series moves ahead about 18 years and at this point they finish off a couple of characters that are very old in the timeline and introduce four high school graduates to show the changing demographics of the Mars colony. Mars independence is in the air and a bloody confrontation to climax the season. And in the background the search for life on Titan. There will be one more season of this series.
Super Monsters Ate My Condo+ (2024) Cartoony arcade game. You have a condo building where each small floor is a colored apartment. Two or three monsters want to eat. Slide an apartment that matches the colored monster and they're happy. When you get 3+ apartments of the same color they morph and I think you can morph three morphs into a higher morph. Keep the monsters happy while combining apartments for more points. The monsters also have special powers to activate. Seems like a fairly original idea and implementation is very polished.
Viki Plus [-] I tried Viki's Plus Pass for a month ($12 per month or $120 per year). Compared to Standard you get 1080p instead of 720p, can play on up to 4 devices at a time, and can download and watch offline. 1080p I can tell is a bit sharper but I don't think enough to justify unless I'm using a full monitor (which I don't). Play on multiple devices is less than useful because Viki doesn't support multiple profiles -- you could slightly simulate with each user having a separate collection though it would throw off recommendations and following actors. Watching offline is a feature I just don't use. So will be going back to Viki Standard ($8/$80).
Tai Er Sichuan Cuisine, San Mateo [/] A bit of a nicer restaurant. Everything has bit of sauerkraut flown in from China. Sauerkraut Fish is delicious, the fish especially. We ordered with no spice so the rest didn't taste that great (like eating hot and sour soup without any spicyness). Other than the fish itself and rice the rest of the meal was not to my taste though seemed fine enough if you like sour/pickled taste.
Super Monsters Ate My Condo+ (2024) Cartoony arcade game. You have a condo building where each small floor is a colored apartment. Two or three monsters want to eat. Slide an apartment that matches the colored monster and they're happy. When you get 3+ apartments of the same color they morph and I think you can morph three morphs into a higher morph. Keep the monsters happy while combining apartments for more points. The monsters also have special powers to activate. Seems like a fairly original idea and implementation is very polished.
Viki Plus [-] I tried Viki's Plus Pass for a month ($12 per month or $120 per year). Compared to Standard you get 1080p instead of 720p, can play on up to 4 devices at a time, and can download and watch offline. 1080p I can tell is a bit sharper but I don't think enough to justify unless I'm using a full monitor (which I don't). Play on multiple devices is less than useful because Viki doesn't support multiple profiles -- you could slightly simulate with each user having a separate collection though it would throw off recommendations and following actors. Watching offline is a feature I just don't use. So will be going back to Viki Standard ($8/$80).
Tai Er Sichuan Cuisine, San Mateo [/] A bit of a nicer restaurant. Everything has bit of sauerkraut flown in from China. Sauerkraut Fish is delicious, the fish especially. We ordered with no spice so the rest didn't taste that great (like eating hot and sour soup without any spicyness). Other than the fish itself and rice the rest of the meal was not to my taste though seemed fine enough if you like sour/pickled taste.