We begin the new year with a movie that takes place on new year's eve with Four Rooms from 1995. Written and directed by four direcors - Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

IMDb
Letterboxd
Wikipedia

How was the movie as a whole? Were there any of the four segments that you particularly liked - or hated?

Rest of schedule for January is:

• 8th: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
• 15th: City Lights
• 22nd: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
• 29th: The Iron Giant

I wanted to be a SWE ever since I was a young kid, and now after a undergrad + masters degree I was one of the first people in my batch to get a job. I just moved to a new country for my first job and I love it here already, it just feels sad imagining if I do get laid off and I'd have to go back to where I was doing my Masters (and even that would be limited time visa before I have to go back to my very under-developed home country). I do want to just mentally let go of the anxiety and just focus on performing good at my job but with all the recent layoffs it feels hard, my own company laid off a lot of people last year and because of that their glassdoor rating is kindof bad. I've been spiralling a bit just reading the glassdoor reviews of people blaming the management of uprooting their lives. Other people who changed cities or countries and were left jobless and were trying to navigate in a extremely bureucratic environment.

I have a 6 month probation in which I can be laid off pretty quickly, I just need to learn to not worry about the stuff I can't control.

Hey y'all, I was wondering if anyone had any advice/warnings/comments/thoughts/etc. about an anniversary trip (10 years!) my partner and I are planning for late May. For context, I have been to the UK before a few years back but my partner has not. Also, I'm American and I've never driven anywhere but the US. This is the rough and very basic itinerary:

Day 0: Edinburgh

• Land in Edinburgh
• Check in to hotel
• Wander around the city

Day 1: Edinburgh

• Rent car
• Drive to St. Andrews
• Drive around in the Scottish Highlands

Day 2: Edinburgh > Redmire

• Drive south to a bed and breakfast in Redmire
• Check out the English countryside

Day 3: Redmire > Manchester

• Drive to Manchester
• Turn in car
• Check in to hotel

Day 4: Manchester > Bath

• Take a train to Bath
• Wander around Bath
• Stay at bed and breakfast

Day 5: Bath > London

• Take train to London
• Check in to hotel
• Do touristy things
• Eat a lot of food

Day 6: London

• Anniversary dinner

Day 7: London

• Wander around
• Eat a lot of food

Day 8: London

• Depart from Heathrow

I fully intend to add plan out the details and activities as we get closer, though I would be grateful for any recommendations for things to do or places to see. It's my partner's real first time out of the country and given it's an anniversary trip I wanted it to be mostly relaxed.

The first half or so of the trip is predicated on me, an American who drives on the right, driving good distances in the UK. I've plenty of experience doing long distance driving in the US, it's mostly the driving on the opposite side that concerns me. Is this recommended? Would it be better to just use rideshares or transit in the cities and take trains over the longer stretches between instead of a mini-roadtrip? Thanks y'all!

EDIT:
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses! I will try to get to as many as I can as soon as I can!

After reading The Body Snatchers and The Puppet Masters, I am almost finishing Blood Music and I am not yet done with that theme.

These are all stories about human possession or replacement with copies by other entities, extraterrestrial or otherwise. As I finish Blood Music, I find myself craving for more. It doesn't matter if it is about invasion or something else that takes over our bodies and minds. Stories that question and entice our attachment to our identities, as well as our desire to conform and dissolve into the collective.

I wish for stories that are not about just one person undergoing a transformation, but rather a group or a community (family, town, country, the world).

Ideally, they should be some kind of science fiction (even if science's role is not immediately obvious and overt), but I am open to suggestions if you believe something in other genres deserves my attention.

References:

• The Body Snatchers
• The Puppet Masters
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
• Blood Music
• Body Snatchers - TV Tropes

This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers

Year of Release: 2003
Genre(s): Dream Pop
Country: Denmark
Length: 48 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from Drowned In Sound:

On the cherub face of it this album is a soaring, triangle tapping, kitten cuddling, debut; Mew have playground innocence down - lunchbox in hand, toothpaste on tie and scabby knees, all set for a day of holding hands with the pigtailed girl. Mew could market this to my 6-year old cousin to dance around to whilst munching her Sugar Puffs, and they'd sell a billion. Pop is Universal... aaaaaaah, that's the cookie, that's what everyone has forgotten!

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you.

It could be one quirky video that you feel deserves some eyeballs on it, or perhaps you've got a curated list of videos that you'd love to talk us through...

Share some of the best video content you've watched this past week/fortnight with us!

Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.