PaulCutler.org

Moviebuff

Paul Cutler — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Moviebuff is a Django application originally written by retiolus that was released last August. I’m not sure how I originally came across it, but I remember it being demonstrated on Mastodon. Moviebuff allows you to track and rate the movies you watch and share them on the Fediverse.

I already have a music site and I’ve been tracking what I watch manually, so I was kind of excited for Moviebuff. I forked it right away, but there wasn’t any installation instructions and I’ve never used Django. I was able to reverse the first few things needed in the .env file, such as the Django secret key, an API key from The Movie Database, but I couldn’t figure out how to get Federation working. The code to add Federation didn’t appear to be in the original repository or any of its branches.

So there it sat. I debated a few times about opening an issue in the Moviebuff repository asking for help, but I didn’t want to bug the maintainer and I was just grateful that anything had been shared and open sourced.

After successfully using Claude Code to help create the circuitpython-bambulabs library, I pointed Claude at Moviebuff and away it went. It surprised me again when it was able to add Federation to the project based on the scaffolding that was already there, no database changes needed.

I’ve done a few projects in Pyramid and FastAPI, so Python based web frameworks weren’t totally new to me. Partnered with Claude, I went to work.

Things I’ve updated and changed:

Added dark mode and made it the default with a toggle to change light or dark mode on the home page
Added working Federation based on the buiding blocks present in the app
Changed Federation to only post when a movie is rated. Also added a Share to Fediverse button using HTMX that appears when a movie is added to the Watched Movies list
Added an environment variable and code to enable or disable registration (to avoid spammers)
Disabled the registration pages if the user is unauthenticated and registration is disabled
Updated the home page to show a legend, the five most recent movies rated, movie posters for the four most recent movies rated, and HTMX to page through the rated movies
In the Dashboard, added HTMX to page through all the Watched Movies
In each movie card, added the star ratings for the movie
Updated the datetime fields to be MON/DAY/YEAR and added commas to the movie's budget
Added a Font Awesome film icon in the upper left and made it and Moviebuff clickable to return to the home page
Added a custom footer that matches silversaucer.com
Added a CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
Added installation instructions in the README

You can see it in action at https://moviebuff.silversaucer.com. I’ve added most of the movies I watched in Feburary and March and I’m still debating about adding earlier movies.

The code lives at Codeberg and I’ve made a synchronized mirror on GitHub. If you like it, give it a star! And if you really want to know what I’ve watched, you can follow me on Mastodon at @prcutler@moviebuff.silversaucer.com.

I’m so grateful to retiolus for creating the app and releasing it under an open source license. I’m looking forward to rating, cataloging, and sharing the movies I watch.

What I'm Watching - Q1 2026

Paul Cutler — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It's a new year and I'm still tracking what I'm watching. I have a number of television shows still in progress. I don't write them down until the season I'm watching has finished.

Highlights include finally getting around to For All Mankind season 4 with season five having just started. I highly recommend this show if you haven't seen it. I also enjoyed Predator: Badlands, Have Fun, Don't Die, Good Luck, and The Rip. Whatever you do, don't watch Mercy. I still need to catch up on some of the Oscar nominees.

Legend

The Criterion Channel = *
4K UHD = +
AppleTV+ = ^
Netflix = ~

January

Predator: Badlands (2025)
Boogie Nights+ (1997)
The Rip~ (2026)
Dust Bunny (2025)
Landman S2
What Lies Beneath~ (2000)
For All Mankind S4^
If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You (2025)

February

Loot S3^
The Wrecking Crew (2026)
The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)
The Assessment (2025)
The Lazarus Project S2
Is This Thing On? (2026)
Mercy (2026)
The Housemaid (2025)
Eternity (2026)^
Industry S1
Honey Don’t (2025)~

March

Crazy Stupid Love (2011)~
Mission: Impossible 2 (2001)+
Dracula (2027)
A Man on the Inside S2~
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2027)
Pacific Rim (2013)+
Firefly (2001)
Serenity (2005)+
Send Help (2026)
How to Make a Killing (2026)

circuitpython-bambulabs Published!

Paul Cutler — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Following up on my blog post from yesterday, I spent Sunday preparing the circuitpython-bambulabs library to be published.

Unfortunately, I ran into an issue with the CI where it was failing to build. Thanks to some pointers from todbot, I was able to refactor the library and move the MQTT setup into the BambuPrinter class. This makes me happy as the user doesn't have to set up MQTT, assuming they've entered their printer settings in settings.toml, the library handles connecting for you.

I also heard from Brent Rubell at Adafruit who confirmed that the MQTT library for CircuitPython uses MQTT 3.1.1 - which is odd, because while MQTTX would connect locally using 3.1.1 (and not 5.0), CircuitPython would not connect locally. I'll investigate this more as I'm guessing some people would rather connect locally instead of through Bambu Cloud.

Other things I learned:

The Creating and sharing a CircuitPython library Learn Guide needs some updates. The process to create docs on ReadtheDocs has changed, libraries use ruff now for linting instead of Pylint and black, and sharing in the Library bundle needs some updates.
The Learn Guide doesn't cover publishing to PyPi, though the cookiecutter template does include the GitHub Actions to publish the library. It took me longer than it probably shoudl to figure out how to enter the secrets in GitHub to allow it to build and upload. This would be helpful to add to the Learn Guide.
The section in the Learn Guide on Sharing in a Bundle also needs an update. The section on verifying didn't work for me, though Updating the Library list did.

Lastly, a big thank you to Foamyguy who merged my pull request to add the library to the Community Libraries right away! You can find more about the library by:

Install via circup: circup install bambulabs to install on your microcontroller. (Just tested it and it's so cool to see that work!)
PyPi
ReadtheDocs
GitHub repository (And if you like it, give it a ⭐️)

Bambu Labs CircuitPython Library

Paul Cutler — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I follow a number of people on GitHub and one of them is my good friend todbot. I noticed in my feed he he had starred an Arduino program called Bambu Helper that displays information and statistics from your Bambu Labs printer, such as the percentage progress of the current print, nozzle temperature, fan speed, and more.

That got me thinking - if it can be done in Arduino, it can be done in CircuitPython. It's been a couple years since I had a good CircuitPython project, so away I went. I started researching the Bambu API and more GitHub repositories than I can count, mostly Python projects that connect to a Bambu Printer using MQTT.

I then used MQTTX to connect to my printer and test the various MQTT methods. I was able to successfully connect to my P1P printer both through Bambu Cloud and locally over my network.

And then I cheated - I used Claude to bootstrap the project by pointing it at the API Docs and the BambuHelper Arduino app to create a proof of concept in CircuitPython. (I know, I know... the AI skeptic just used AI) It got pretty close - it did get the MQTT command to request a full status update wrong, but that was an easy fix.

I had the proof of concept working on my S3 Qualia board and 4" display:

One thing I learned, though I'm waiting to confirm, is that CircuitPython only uses MQTT 5.0, and not 3.1.1. Connecting via Bambu Cloud will connect on both MQTT standards, but the local connection only will connect using 3.1.1, which CircuitPython doesn't appear to use that I could figure out. That means you have a few extra hoops to jump through to get a token and user ID, but it wasn't that hard and I've documented the process.

Unfortunately I appear to have fried both my S3 and S2 Reverse TFTs (thanks macOS) which I wanted to prototype with. Using a $50 worth of equipment is a bit much for a project like this. But that got me thinking - what if I could create a library so people could just get the info from the printer and then build their own UI on top of it to match their choice of microcontroller and screen?

So that's what I did next, by creating the CircuitPython_bambulabs library. This is the first time I've ever created a library and I'm following along with both the Learn Guide and the design reference. Parts of the Learn Guide are outdate (hello Ruff), but overall it hasn't been bad, though I loathe writing reStructured Text and much prefer Markdown. At least the cookiecutter setup makes it easy to edit.

Assuming you've got all the settings correct in settings.toml, the library handles the MQTT setup and querying the printer to get the JSON response and breaking down that response into individual methods.

It is also possible to send commands to your printer, for example to set the bed temperature or turn the light on or off. I purposefully did not include commands, this library is only for viewing the various status messages available from the printer.

I created a simpletest that connects to the printer and prints to serial a nicely formatted list of all the information returned from the printer and a raw dump of the JSON.

The GitHub Actions for the library are currently failing as it doesn't import the bambulabs library or the wifi module. I'm not sure why yet and have asked for some help. If you want to test it out, you can clone the repo and copy the bambulabs.py file to your /lib directory or the root directory of your CircuitPython microcontroller.

When the library is finally published and is available via circup, I'll post an update to the blog. And if you have any feedback, please let me know by dropping me an email or leaving an issue or comment in the repository.

What I'm Watching - Q4 2025

Paul Cutler — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Wrapping up the year, here's everything I watched in October, November, and December, excluding sports. Because there is a lot of football that isn't accounted for, which is why my total watchlist is down. Well, that and a bit of gaming took out a chunk in November and I was traveling half of December.

I plan on continuing to track my watchlist monthly, though I'm unsure if I'll keep blogging it. A small part of me is tempted to do what Steven Soderbergh does, and track everything. But I probably really don't want to know how much time I spend watching baseball and football.

Highlights include K-Pop Demon Hunters, Peacemaker S2, Task, Wake Up Dead Man, One Battle After Another, and Pluribus. I was disappointed with A House of Dynamite, The Roses, Relay, and Good Fortune.

Legend:

The Criterion Channel = *
4K UHD = +
AppleTV+ = ^
Netflix = ~

October

Peacemaker S2
K-Pop Demon Hunters~
Task
The Parallax View (1974)*
Punch Drunk Love (2002)*
Mission: Impossible (1996)+
A House of Dynamite (2025)~
Platonic S2
The Roses (2025)

November

The Toxic Avenger (2025)
Chad Powers S1
Panic Room (2002)*

December

Tron: Ares (2025)
A Man on the Inside (2024) S1~
Parish (2024)~
Fatman (2020)~
Good Fortune (2025)
One Battle After Another (2025)
Relay (2024)
Mayor of Kingstown S1
The Running Man (2025)
Wake Up, Dead Man (2025)~
F1
Pluribus (S1)
The Copenhagen Test S1
Dogma (2000)+

Favorite Albums of 2025

Paul Cutler — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Like 2022, 2023, and last year, here’s my favorite albums and releases of 2025 in no particular order:

Album of the year: Haim, I Quit: This album was released at the perfect time and became my go to album of the summer. Fantastic from start to finish.
Best reissue: Mother Love Bone's Shine and Apple. Not only are they newly remastered, they sounded great streaming and then the records came out and sounded just as good. If you don't know the history of Pearl Jam, look up Mother Love Bone and give them a listen.
Best Soundtrack: Nine Inch Nails, Tron: Ares. It was like peanut butter and chocolate - NIN and Tron go perfectly together and they nailed (no pun intended) the soundtrack.
Favorite Surprise: Craig Finn, Always Been. As much as I love, love, love The Hold Steady, I've never been able to get into Craig Finn's solo work. But this album - Craig's stories combined with The War on Drugs as his backing band was really something special.
Favorite throwback: Momma, Welcome To My Blue Sky. Every review you read of Momma's first album or this follow-up mentions their throwback sound to the 90s indie scene. And they're right - and it works.
Favorite local release: Poliça, Dreams Go. The band's seventh record, and final album with bassist Chris Bierden, who is unable to play with his brain cancer diagnosis, did not disappoint.

That's just a few of my favorite albums and releases of 2025. Here's to 2026.

My Own Steam Machine

Paul Cutler — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Valve announced the Steam Machine earlier this month, a sqaure console-like PC that’s meant to hook up to your TV to play all your games in your Steam Library. My gaming PC is a loaner from my best friend, whose hand me downs were still better than what I had at the time. He’s upgraded again, and I have his latest hand me down. So my youngest gets his gaming PC upgraded with my old PC and now I have his old PC as an extra PC. Still with me?

So I decided to make my own Steam Machine and hook it up to my home theater with this older, extra computer. SteamOS is Arch Linux based and is really meant for Valve’s hardware, not for everyday PC use.

But Bazzite is. Bazzite was co-create by Jorge Castro, whom I met many years ago at a conference and still follow on Mastodon. It’s been fun watching him build a Linux distro and the community around it.

Bazzite is a spinoff of Project Bluefin a next generation Linux desktop based on cloud native principles, with tools to run everything as a container. Both Bazzite and Project Bluefin are spins of Fedora, which just happens to be my favorite Linux distro. But it’s actually an atomic desktop. Atomic desktops remove a lot of the friction and pain of the Linux desktop you may think you know, and Bazzite and Bluefin take that to the next level. They utilize Homebrew and Flatpack for installing command line and graphical apps respectively - no more dealing with your distro’s package manager. (I'm over simplifying and I won't pretend I understand all of it myself, but I've been using Linux for over 20 years, and this is the best experience yet).

Bazzite is meant to run on handhelds, desktops or laptops, and home theater PCs.

But you don’t care how it works under the hood - you want to know does it work?

To install Bazzite, you must answer three questions:

What version of Bazzite? (Handheld, PC, or Home Theater PC)
What GPU? (AMD, Nvidia, etc.)
GNOME or KDE (GNOME is always the correct choice)

This older gaming PC is running an AMD 5700XT and after successfully installing Bazzite, SteamOS would error out with an obscure error about user namespaces needing to be enabled and would drop me to the GNOME desktop (which I forgot how much I’ve missed). It looks like this is related to having two SSDs in the box. So I did what you should never do and typed in a command I found on the internet and it worked! On my next reboot, I was presented with Steam running in Big Picture Mode.

When I was first researching doing this, Steam has a page that shows you which of your games should work in SteamOS. I thought I had about 20 games that were compatible as I missed the “Show More” button on that page. So imagine my surprise when I booted up Bazzite and saw that I had 127 out of 177 games available to be installed on SteamOS. A lot of these are indie platformers I used to buy on Humble Bundles, but I’ve got some good platformers in there to play like Hollow Knight, Braid, and more.

Kudos to the Bazzite developers - it was a breeze to install and even easier to use, all with a Bluetooth Xbox controller.

Next up is to carve out some time to play the games and see how performance is. And, of course, how comfortable it is playing from the couch.

The Zoom Podtrak P4Next

Paul Cutler — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This falls into the category of a want, definitely not a need, but I picked up a new audio interface for podcasting. I've been using a MOTU M2 audio interface since I started podcasting a few years ago. It features two MIDI inputs that also work as an XLR input, which higher quality microphones that aren't USB use. I've been keeping an eye out for a new audio interface as I've been slightly disappointed with the gain level of the MOTU M2 - when recording, I would often have to apologize for the low volume.

I had been keeping an eye out on Rode interfaces, but there was no way I'm paying that much for a hobby. Then I saw someone on Reddit share the Zoom Podtrak P4Next as it was up for pre-order. After some research, I decided to give it a try, especially as it was only $179 and I think I can re-sell my MOTU M2 for about $150, less eBay fees, so it's not a super expensive upgrade.

The Zoom Podtrak P4Next features four XLR inputs, four USB inputs, and four headphone outputs. Additionally, it includes a built-in preamp and phantom power, so it's compatible with both dynamic and condenser microphones. What really got me interested was that it has a built in EQ and compressor, as well as a new "AI" feature to help remove background noise. Last, but not least, it features a microSD card and can be powered off batteries for recording on the go without a computer. This will be perfect for my unrealized dream of someday recording an episode of The Bootloader in person with Todbot - I even have a second XLR microphone to use!

Zoom's site still shows an expected date of December 5th before it's available. I pre-ordered mine from B&H Photo, which says coming soon, and I was shocked when it showed up on November 6th. I'm guessing I'm one of the first people to have one and I hope there wasn't an embargo to get B&H in trouble!

Of course I haven't been recording many podcast episodes since I got it, but I did use it for some of my intros and outros for some upcoming episodes and next week's recording of The Bootloader will use it as well. My early opinion - to my untrained ears, my voice sounds slightly warmer. I have a lot more testing to do, especially with the AI noise reduction feature.

Overall I like it - it's slightly smaller than a current gen Mac Mini and feels well constructed. The menu system is intuitive and it includes some nice accessibility features. It has better gain as well, as I noticed I barely had to adjust my volume in my DAW after recording. I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.

Sponsor the Podcasts

Paul Cutler — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I've re-opened the podcast sponsorship page on GitHub and PayPal. The Sponsors page includes a list of current and past sponsors and the cost breakdown for running the podcast.

If you're curious, it costs about $400 / year for the podcast. From the Sponsors page:

Cost breakdowns - annual fees

Podcast hosting (Castopod.com): $120 / year
Video recording (Boomcaster.com): $240 / year (Referral link)
Calendar and scheduling for guests (Fantastical): $60 / year

Miscellaneous costs (one-time):

Reaper digital audio workstation: $60
Hush audio app: $90

Thanks for your support - and stay positive!

What I'm Watching - Q3 2025

Paul Cutler — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Continuing on my journey to catalog everything I'm watching, here's what I watched in the third quarter of 2025. Highlights included the first six James Bond movies on 4K UHD, Tron and its sequel Tron: Legacy in 4K UHD, and some great movies on Netflix including some Alfred Hitchcock films I had never seen, and on The Criterion Channel, 90s movies featuring great soundtracks including Pump Up The Volume (1990) and Grosse Point Blank (1997). I was disappointed in Materialists and 28 Years Later.

Legend:

The Criterion Channel = *
4K UHD = +
AppleTV+ = ^
Netflix = ~

July

Wild Things (1998)*
The Bear S4
Your Friends and Neighbors S1^
Heads of State (2025)
Thunderbolts* (2025)
Murderbot S1^
Ironheart
Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage S1
Duster
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)~
The Old Guard (2020)~
The Old Guard 2 (2025)~
Goldfinger (1964)+
Psycho (1960)~
Miami Vice (2006)*
Poker Face S2
The Long Goodbye (1973)*
Out of Sight (1998)*
Rear Window (1954)~
Copycat (1995)*~
Insomnia (2002)*
The Birds (1963)~
Black Doves S1~

August

Thunderball (1965)+
Freaky Tales (2025)
Pump Up the Volume (1990)*
Platonic S1^
Red-eye (2005)
You Only Live Twice (1967)+
Gross Pointe Blank (1997)*
Superman (2025)
Peacemaker S1
Diamonds are Forever (1971)+
Rick and Morty S8
Fringe S4
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)+
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025)
Materialists (2025)
The Graduate (1967)*
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1995)+

September

Nobody (2021)
Nobody 2 (2025)
Ballerina (2025)+
Weapons (2025)
Fringe S5
28 Years Later (2025)~
Tron (1982)+
Tron: Legacy (2010)+
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S3
Alien: Earth S1
The Naked Gun (2025)
Miami Blues (1990)*

Updating SongMatrix

Paul Cutler — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Updating SongMatrix

One of my favorite CircuitPython projects I've done is SongMatrix. Using a microphone on a Raspberry Pi, it records the song playing in the background, uploads a sample to shazamio, uploads the song and artist to AdafruitIO via MQTT, and an S3 MatrixPortal listens for the MQTT update and displays it on an LED matrix.

I don't run it all the time, but I do like to use it when I'm listening to a new album to learn the song names. I know a lot of music and can sometimes tell you the name of the artist or the album within seconds of a song starting, but not so much the song title.

I'm using a 2.5mm pitch LED Matrix and I have not found a lot of 3D printed cases for either one or two LED matrices. That is, until a few months ago when I came across the Transit Tracker project from EastsideUrbanism.

It uses two LED matrices in a beautiful 3D printed cases that hold both of them and the S3 MatrixPortal and screws together. I printed it out months ago but couldn't get SongMatrix to work with 2 matrices.

In theory, I should be able to update the MatrixPortal library by changing: matrix = Matrix(width=64, height=32, bit_depth=3) to matrix = Matrix(width=128, height=32, bit_depth=3) But no joy. I started over with some simple test programs, and I could get a 128x32 matrix to work without a problem, but as soon as I tried in my original program it did not work.

Next I tried to replace the MatrixPortal library by using the pins directly. Success! But now it doesn't scroll across the matrix, it's just a static display. It turns out that using ScrollingLabel only scrolls when the character count is larger than the max_character when setting the text:

title_scroll = ScrollingLabel(  terminalio.FONT,  text=song_title_scroll,  max_characters=20,  color=0xff0000,  animate_time=0.3 )

To get it scrolling, I just did a len on the string returned from AdafruitIO and added a string of spaces to get over the 20 character limit to scroll it.

But the weirdest part? The original program scrolled the text with less than 10 characters. I tried to recreate it with a basic ScrollingLabel example, and of course I couldn't get it to work. Don't believe me? You can see the original scrolling the band Metric which shouldn't be scrolling on the project's GitHub page.

What I'm Watching - Q2 2025

Paul Cutler — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Continuing on my journey to catalog everything I'm watching, here's what I watched in the second quarter of 2025. Highlights included kicking off April getting ready for Andor S2 by re-watching the Star Wars Prequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor S1. I celebrated the life of Gene Hackman with Night Moves, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Runaway Jury. Other movies I enjoyed included The Long Good Friday, Tombstone, and starting to watch the classic Sean Connery Bond films on 4K UHD.

Legend:

The Criterion Channel = *
4K UHD = +
AppleTV+ = ^
Netflix = ~

April

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999)+
Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (2002)+
Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005)+
White Lotus S3
The Cleaner (2024)
Obi-Wan Kenobi+
Vanilla Sky (2001)*
Fringe S2
Mickey 17 (2025)
Andor S1+
Sneakers (1992)+
SportsNight S1

May

A Working Man (2025)
Showgirls (1995)*
Tombstone (1993)+
Strange Days (1995)*
The Long Good Friday (1980)*
Shutter Island (2010)*
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)*
The Insider (1999)*
Blue Steel (1990)*+
Andor S2
Rogue One (2016)+
Fountain of Youth (2025)^
The Handmaid’s Tale S6
Shampoo (1975)*

June

The Righteous Gemstones S4
Fringe S3
Sinners (2025)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)*
The Accountant 2 (2025)
Coogan’s Bluff (1968)*
L.A. Confidential (1997)*
Night Moves (1975)*
Runaway Jury (2003)~
Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
The Last of Us S2
Dr. No (1962)+
Heathers (1988)*
Havoc (2025)~
The Studio S1^
The Fog (1980)*
Sports Night S2
Lethal Weapon (1987)+
Deep Cover (2025)
From Russia With Love (1963)+
Shrinking S2^
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Paper Moon (1973)*

What I'm Watching - Q1 2025

Paul Cutler — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Each year, the director Steven Soderbergh releases a list of all the movies and TV shows he's watching. It's a fascinating look at what he's interested in and can give a clue to future projects. I've also wanted to do something similar, and this year I'm finally keeping track of everything I'm watching. Mr. Soderbergh's list is a daily breakdown - I'm not going into that much detail, but with the exception of sports, I kept track of all the movies and TV shows I watched.

This past February was my birthday, and I treated myself to a subscription to The Criterion Channel. Criterion started as a home video company in 1984 that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". In 2019, Criterion launched a streaming service that offers a curated selection of Criterion's catalog. For only $99 a year, you get access to classic movies from the last one hundred years of cinema, including some modern classics, such as Minority Report or Down With Love. I'm really enjoying streaming the classics and broadening my knowledge of cinema history.

Even with the two podcasts and my electronics hobby, I watch a lot of TV and movies. TV Shows listed are the month I finished watching the season. Movies are in bold. This list includes physical releases, streaming, and re-watches.

January

Interstellar (2015)
The Thing (1982)
Se7en (1995)
The Day of the Jackal S1
Red One (2024)
Star Wars Skeleton Crew
Brilliant Minds
Marvel’s What If… S2
Better Off Dead (1985)
Dune: Prophecy S1
Juror #2 (2024)
Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)
Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)
Kill Bill Volume 2 (2204)
The Substance (2024)
The Departed (2006)
Gattaca (1997)

February

To Die For (1995)
Moonstruck (1987)
Vertigo (1958)
Down With Love (2003)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Gorge (2025)
Constantine (2005)
North by Northwest (1959)
Minority Report (2002)
Companion (2024)
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Conclave (2024)
Severance S1
High Potential S1
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Crimson Tide (1995)

March

Love Hurts (2025)
Demolition Man (1993)
Anora (2024)
Thief (1981)
Landman S1
It Could Happen to You (1996)
Manhunter (1986)
Glory (1989)
Heat (1995)
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Severance S2
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)
The Killers (1964)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
Mythic Quest S4
Reacher S4
Red River (1948)
Adolescents
An Affair to Remember (1957)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Ghost (1990)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Favorite Albums of 2024

Paul Cutler — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Like last year and the year before, here’s the list in no particular order:

The Staves - All Now: The trio of sisters returned as a duo on their latest album. The melodies are still sweet and the songs are catchy.
Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol: The duo return and it's exactly what you expect: loud and fast. It's their fourth and final album and I will miss them deeply.
Passage du Desir - Johnny Blue Skies: Sturgill Simpson returns under a new name and his fusion of rock, country, and bluegrass does not disappoint.
Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood: This alt-country gem is on a lot of end of year lists for good reason.

Favorite Find: Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis. I was floored when I received the weekly email newsletter from my local record store with this album in the restocks section. I had a different version in my wantlist on Discogs for years, and somehow missed this version, which seems to be fairly common. I rushed to Down in the Valley and picked it up right away.

The Return of The CircuitPython Show

Paul Cutler — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:00 +0000

When I blogged earlier this year that The CircuitPython Show was over, I really thought it was over. But with the talk of #CircuitPython2025 kicking off, I started to give the podcast some thought again. And while I thought I had talked to most of the community members I wanted to talk to, there were still a few I hadn't reached out to yet.

But where it really intrigued me, was what if it wasn't just an interview show and I sprinkled topic based episodes in as well? I quickly brainstormed half a dozen ideas and realized there was more to do yet. I reached out to a number of potential guests and the reponse was overwhelmingly positive.

I'm excited to share that The CircuitPython Show will return in mid-January. It will still feature interviews with community members as well as topics including: how to design a PCB, building CircuitPython from source, creating games for CircuitPython, a panel interview about CircuitPython's new audio effects and filters, and more, with guests both new and returning.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky and find the show wherever you get your podcasts or visit The CircuitPython Show.

The Bootloader LIVE on CircuitPython Day 2024

Paul Cutler — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 13:30:00 +0000

CircuitPython Day 2024 is next Friday, August 16th. I'll be participating for the third year in a row as Tod Kurt and I will be hosting a live episode of The Bootloader. We're streaming at 2 p.m. EDT / 11 a.m. PDT on the Adafruit YouTube channel.

Keep an eye on the schedule and I hope to see you there!

One Door Closes, Another One Opens

Paul Cutler — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 11:30:00 +0000

I realized this week that I never blogged the end of The CircuitPython Show. The show came to end at the end of January earlier this year after 36 episodes. It had a good run and I still had the itch to podcast, so Tod Kurt and I resurrected The Bootloader this past March. We're on a monthly schedule and have done four episodes so far this year with topics ranging from makers and their cool projects or products to 3D printing and more. It also includes a healthy dose of CircuitPython news if you're missing the podcast. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or visit The Bootloader.net.

Stay connected with The Bootloader and me - sign up for our newsletter launching next week here.

But don't take it from me. Here's LadyAda and pt from the July 3, 2024 episode of Ask an Engineer (fast forward to the 1:07 mark):

{{}}

Fifteen Years of Record Collecting

Paul Cutler — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 06:30:00 +0000

Fifteen years ago today on April 18th, 2009 I started my record collecting journey. It's an easy day for me to remember as it was the second annual Record Store Day. I still remember it like it was yesterday. That Saturday afternoon I'd pick up the turntable, so I headed out to the local record store, Down in the Valley, first. There I picked up Neko Case's Middle Cyclone on clear vinyl and a handful of used records, though I don't remember which ones I bought. I never imagined my collection would grow like it has.

I remember that people thought I was a bit crazy to get back into records. I wouldn't have imagined vinyl outselling CDs, but vinyl has for the last two years.

My records bring me great joy - I've built apps around them, cataloged them on Discogs, and I listen every day. There's nothing better than putting on a pair of quality headphones, closing your eyes, and spinning a record.

Favorite Albums of 2023

Paul Cutler — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 06:30:00 +0000

My favorite album of 2023 isn’t in the picture as I’m waiting for the deluxe box set that comes out in early March, 2024. Peter Gabriel’s i/o, his first album of new music in over 20 years, came out in early December and I have literally listened to nothing but this. So much so that Apple updated its 2023 Replay and the record became my most played streaming album of the year in under a month.

Like last year, here’s the rest of the list in no particular order:

Jenny Lewis - Joy Y’all: Jenny Lewis was back with a strong effort. At just over 30 minutes the record was short and sweet but full of catchy songs.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Weathervanes: Jason Isbell self-produced this album and cranked the electric guitars a bit more than in past albums.
The Hold Steady - The Price of Progress: You either love or hate Craig Finn’s voice. But there is no denying he is a master storyteller.
Alex Lahey - The Answer is Always Yes: Alex Lahey’s third album is just a rockin’ good time.
boygenius - The Record: I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t already been said on every Best of 2023 list already. The supergroup of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers followed up their debut EP with a wonderful album.
Angie McMahon - Light, Dark, Light Again: If it hadn’t been for Peter Gabriel, this would have been my album of the year. There was no sophomore slump for this singer / songwriter out of Australia. I really hope more people get to know her and her music.
Dessa - Bury the Lede: Minneapolis poet / author / singer / rapper Dessa was back with Bury the Lede and did not disappoint.
Favorite repress / reissue: Prince and the New Power Generation - Diamond and Pearls: I almost regret not buying the deluxe box set of this album. The quality and the mix of this album, originally released in 1991, is hands down the best mixed album I heard all year. I listened to the original a few times before picking this up and was blown away the first time I put it on the turntable.

White Whales

Paul Cutler — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

White whale (noun): The record you have spent a long time, sometimes years, searching for.

In the record community, each collector has a white whale, one or two records they’ve been searching for yet cannot find. Unlike Captain Ahab, our white whales didn’t take half our leg, though. (I have no idea if other collectible communities use this term, but wouldn’t be surprised.)

Thanks to Discogs, it’s not hard to find your white whale, so I would add “…at a reasonable cost” to the definition.

I started my record collection almost fifteen years ago, on Record Store Day #2. That was the day I bought a used turntable from Craigslist and the first records I bought as an adult at Down in the Valley. As my collection has grown, I’ve become much more pickier about the albums I buy. And in 2023, I got lucky and found both my white whales, from bands you probably haven’t heard of.

First up is Free Energy’s Stuck on Nothing. The debut album from this alternative power pop band from Philadelphia by way of Minneapolis that featured a few members from the defunct band, Hockey Night. Free Energy was signed to LCD Soundsystem’s record label, DFA, and Stuck On Nothing was produced by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.

Two or three copies were for sale, all around $65 - $75, which was way more than I wanted to pay for the record. But then one popped up for $30, but it had a two inch tear in the jacket. Right after that, another showed up for $40 from a new seller and I jumped on it. Being a new seller, they didn’t have any customer ratings, so I would be taking a chance on not getting scammed, which has been happening more frequently on Discogs.

I took the chance and the record showed up quickly and the jacket was in great shape. The record was filthy - I’ve never seen a record so dusty. A trip through the spin clean and it was good as new.

Whatever happened to Free Energy? They released a second album in 2013 and then broke up. I saw them play on their final tour and it was the last show I saw at the Triple Rock (RIP). One of the members went on to have a Kickstarter campaign to make vegan jerky from eggplant.

My second white whale is the record Under the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley, featuring Jenny Lewis, one of my favorite singers..

The band was active from 1998 to 2011, famously getting their start thanks to Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall. Under the Blacklight would be their major label debut after 3 records as an indie. Released in 2007, it would be their final album.

This time I got lucky. Each Black Friday, Record Store Day does a smaller version of itself with special editions, new releases, and represses released for Black Friday. This year, Rilo Kiley’s Under the Blacklight was repressed with 6000 copies made going to all the local record stores around the country.

But would my record store have it? I’ve skipped the last four or five Record Store Days and Black Fridays. But after missing out on the Dee Gees (the Foo Fighters EP of Bee Gees cover songs) a couple years ago, I wasn’t going to miss a shot at my white whale.

Down in the Valley opens at 9:00 a.m. for Black Friday and tt took most of my will power not to leave after I woke up shortly after 5 a.m. I got there about 7:45 a.m. and I estimate I was 30th in line, which would grow to over a 100 by the time the store opened. About a half hour before the doors would open, an employee was going down the line randomly asking people what they want, and usually give them the bad news that it wouldn’t be available by the time they got in the store.

But not me - when I asked his response was “Oh, we have plenty of those!”, which helped make the wait go by a little faster. Once in the store at about ten minutes after opening, I picked up my copy of Under the Blacklight (in translucent purple) and also picked up the recent re-issue of Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls.

Now that I’ve acquired two of my most sought after records, it’s time to think about what I might search for next... and that would be 1989’s March by Michael Penn.