We Own This City

Most of We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption by Justin Fenton follows Sergeant Wayne Jenkins in the series of crimes he and his unit, the Gun Trace Task Force, commit. This includes selling drugs they stole, stealing money, and beating, framing, and even killing people, namely criminals that do about the same things they do.

In the last third of the book, Jenkins and all members of his unit are arrested and prosecuted. This part of the book engaged me the most. In particular, it describes the mysterious death of Sean Suiter, a fellow dirty cop who was shot in the head the day before he was scheduled to testify against Jenkins’ unit. Upon closer examination, his death appeared to be an elaborate suicide, but it is officially classified as an unsolved homicide, perhaps executed by someone Suiter had wronged or done business with in the midst of his dirty-cop dealings.

I admit I listened to this book mostly while I was feeding my cats, and the first two thirds had trouble competing against their persistent meows. It did benefit from a second listen in that I was able to match clues I picked up toward the end of the book with details about crimes committed in the beginning of the book, but it still felt like a collection of stories about dirty cops being dirty. I suppose it was never a mystery that Jenkins was dirty, and it wasn’t presented that way. In fact, it sounded at times like it was an open secret that Jenkins and everyone else in the department was dirty, and yet he was trusted to lead an elite task force anyway. The mystery of Suiter’s death was so interesting in contrast that I wonder if the whole thing would have benefited from being presented as more of a mystery. There are plenty of stories to support that Jenkins was dirty, but what did people who trusted him see?

I wonder what the HBO series is like.

Spring Baking Championship vs. Cake Wars

Spring Baking Championship has more dignity than Cake Wars. That I recall, Spring Baking Championship only tried to sell me A Minecraft Movie. Cake Wars tries to sell me something every episode.

Also, Cake Wars judges are jerks. They will always find something wrong, even a nitpick, and it will be highlighted as a major flaw. Perhaps their criticisms are emphasized to create more tension. “Everyone’s cake has flaws! Who will win?” But it also creates the impression that everyone’s cake sucks every episode. The bakers are making a cake for a big party to celebrate some major property (Trolls, Sesame Street, Kung Fu Panda, etc.), so in the end, the property, which probably sponsored a portion of the episode, wins the cake that sucked the least. Congratulations!

For a segment of each episode, the judges will also visit the bakers while they’re making their cakes to give them some feedback. Most of the time the theme of their feedback is, “This is a terrible idea. You will fail.” There’s rarely any helpful suggestions or other constructive feedback, and the segment seems to exist solely to make the bakers doubt themselves. It’s like watching my worst nightmare every episode: someone looking at my work when I’m halfway done with it and saying, “Well, that’s stupid.”

In contrast, Spring Baking Championship‘s approach to mid-baking segments is much more constructive with the judges or host giving the bakers tips, suggestions, optimism, and curiosity. During the actual judging, the judges will also say the dessert is perfect if they think it is perfect. So yes, Spring Baking Championship has more dignity and respect for the human spirit.

August AniMeals Adoption Follow Up

In August, I adopted a bonded pair of cats from AniMeals. Adopting from AniMeals was interesting in that they require adopters to sign a contract where if adopters can no longer care for the cat in the future, they must return the cat to AniMeals. It also takes a couple days for AniMeals to respond to adoption applications because they will do a background check, including calling personal references provided to them. I didn’t expect the friends I listed as references to actually receive phone calls, but they did! I don’t think even personal references I’ve listed on a job applications actually received phone calls, but AniMeals is thorough.

Anyway, since AniMeals is more involved in the lives of their adopted cats than the typical shelter is, they sent me an email to ask if I’d share an update about how the cats have adjusted. Below is the questionnaire I filled out for them, and a few of the pictures I sent.

1. Did you rename your kitty?

I adopted Stella and Bodie, now known as Night and Mr. Black.

Night and Mr. Black merging into one.

2. How did your kitty adjust to your home?

It took some time for them to adjust to the house, my other cat Luna, and me. They stayed in their safe room and didn’t like leaving it for about three weeks. Night can still be skittish outside her safe spaces, but she is slowly getting more comfortable with me and the house. Her latest favorite place is lounging on my desk while I’m working. Mr. Black, who has settled in with much greater ease, gives her confidence when she’s feeling shy. Both of them like pets, watching birds out the windows, and playing with toys. Black will throw himself on the floor to ask for full body pets. Night likes playing with cat wands, and Mr. Black can often be heard playing with stuffed mice and toy balls late into the night. They’ve always been polite to and tolerant of Luna, who is slowly accepting them into her house. While they aren’t friends yet, the three of them frequently lounge in their favorite spots on the couch together.

Luna, Mr. Black, and Night lounging on the couch.
Luna, Mr. Black, and Night lounging on the couch.

3. Have any behavior issues arisen since adopting?

No major behavior issues have arisen since adopting them. Mr. Black occasionally picks a fight with Night and has swatted at Luna, particularly around meal time, but nothing too concerning.

Night perched on my desk.

4. Is your kitty eating & using the litter box, okay?

Both of them eat and use their litter boxes fine. Mr. Black had some diarrhea initially that resulted in messes at the entrance to the litter box, but I’ve since identified that as a sensitivity to fish.
Mr. Black perched on the couch.

5. Have you been to the vet since adopting, and if so, did anything arise from the visit?

I’ve taken them to the vet and had bloodwork done for both of them. Night’s bloodwork was perfect, but Mr. Black had some abnormal kidney values. I’ve since put them both on an all-wet food diet (except for a few crunchy treats they enjoy). Mr. Black will have his kidney values tested again in a couple months.

Night and Mr. Black cleaning each other.

6. Would you adopt from us again in the future?

I would definitely adopt from AniMeals again!

Kaiju No. 8 (Seasons 1-2)

The first episode of Kaiju No. 8 hooked me first for it uniquely telling its story from the perspective of Kafka, a guy who cleans up the guts of giant, dead monsters. Telling the story through someone on the cleanup crew was refreshingly different. The twist at the end, where Kafka is suddenly transformed into a monster, was also surprising.

From episode 2 onward, however, the series quickly fell into familiar tropes. Kafka’s dream of joining the Japanese Defense Force to fight kaiju felt like well-worn anime territory. The pacing, which felt like five seasons crammed into two, didn’t help. Character development felt rushed, often delivered through flashbacks rather than meaningful character interactions. Each new kaiju appearance felt like another “It’s over 9000!!!” moment. The side characters faced their greatest challenges moments after they explained why it was important to them. Most of the time, they failed and were thoroughly defeated, but because the pacing was so rushed, I didn’t connect with their struggles. I found it difficult to care about anyone.

It’s curious that American bands like OneRepublic were used for many of the opening, closing, and background music tracks, rather than the usual Japanese pop. Why is that? Was this anime targeted at Western audiences?