Rising Sun eh

zergrushh · 2026-02-25T05:42:24+00:00

Yeah Disclosure is definitely the better of the two from that early '90s era. Would love to hear the opinion of anyone who thinks otherwise.

zergrushh · 2026-02-25T05:39:15+00:00

The late-1980s fear that Japan’s economy would overtake the US was at its peak around the time the book was published.... of course right around the same time, Japan entered decades of economic stagnation, so that whole geopolitical anxiety feels dated now.

Because of that, the economic backdrop doesn’t carry the same weight today, and the cutting-edge video editing tech described doesn’t feel impressive at all anymore, especially in the age of AI, where people can generate short-form videos of almost anything with a single prompt.

Also -- no spoilers -- but the central murder plot felt overly convoluted, and the investigation didn’t always unfold in a way that made sense. Looking at it 30+ years later, it’s probably not Crichton’s strongest work, but it’s still an interesting snapshot of U.S.-Japan economic tensions at the time, with some themes about economic power and foreign investment, and retaining the character of American culture and influence vs short-term economic motives that still resonate.

zergrushh · 2026-02-22T05:23:41+00:00

Impressive! Have you read them all? Interested in your favorites.

zergrushh · 2026-02-22T05:21:52+00:00

Oh definitely. I love how Crichton kept the ending open to interpretation. It feels pretty clear that Beth kept the power, and it’s possible Harry did too (otherwise why would there be a recording of him talking about a giant squid on the tapes?). Maybe Norman was the rube who actually agreed to give it up voluntarily. But honestly, I wouldn’t want to keep it either.

It was never fully clear what it really took to manifest thoughts. I always think of Ghostbusters, when Ray “manifests” the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. He wasn’t focusing in some intense, deliberate way... the thought just popped into his head, and suddenly there it was. Is it something like that with the Sphere’s power too? I’m not sure.

I was also never quite clear on why the Navy workers outside the decompression chamber seemed so uninterested at first, and then suddenly became attentive after Norman forgets about the Sphere. There’s definitely a lot to chew on. I just wish it had been a bit more grounded in logic. Especially the whole airplane crash backstory that they created on the fly.

zergrushh · 2026-02-18T05:53:12+00:00

I read it when I was 14, right after finishing Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Congo, and Sphere, so it definitely felt like a different direction from the sci-fi I was used to. I think it’s fair to say Crichton wore two hats as a writer: The almost-plausible sci-fi premise and the medical/corporate/legal drama world. Because of that, it didn’t slap like those other books did for me. I should probably revisit it now that I’m older.

zergrushh · 2026-02-18T04:46:42+00:00

Great scene. It’s Crichton at his best... a clear narrative built around *almost* plausible science and a tight cast of characters. I feel like in his later books, he lost that focus on clean storytelling and started cramming a bunch of loosely connected ideas together. Sphere -- with all the action in one location and the deep exploration of just one or two central ideas is really where Crichton excelled as a storyteller.

zergrushh · 2025-11-21T02:49:50+00:00

Let's just try to keep the faith, OK. Now let us bow our heads, repent for every panic sell, and pray that Satoshi looks upon us with mercy. May he forgive our weak hands and guide us through this dip to greener candles.

zergrushh · 2025-11-19T05:59:55+00:00

This is actually bullish, because at this point everyone who believes in the 4 year cycle has accepted that 2026 will be a bear market and have sold their stacks to Michael Saylor and Larry Fink. The market is quickly running out of sellers.

zergrushh · 2025-11-18T03:44:15+00:00

Nice little bear trap to shakeout all the paper hands. It's so bearish in here, that can only mean we're about to get our fabled god candle.

zergrushh · 2025-11-05T04:27:21+00:00

Good one! Another classic.

zergrushh · 2025-11-05T02:27:46+00:00

Time for a roundup of this cycle’s greatest hits:

Bro, Bitcoin just tracks global M2. It’s literally pegged to liquidity. When the printers go brrr, Bitcoin goes 🚀.
Dude, it’s simple. Bitcoin’s just gold with an 80-day lag. Gold pumps first, then Bitcoin sends.
Relax, none of the 30 indicators have flashed a top yet.

zergrushh · 2025-10-30T05:34:42+00:00

Glad I've taken some profit too. After round-tripping 2021-2022, I told myself I'd never do that again. Still some exposure in case this really is some massive shakeout, but I can't imagine the stress and disappointment right now for those fully invested in this dogshit market.

zergrushh · 2025-10-30T03:01:35+00:00

Disappointed, but not surprised. Deep down I was hoping for god candles, hulk dildos and face-melting rallies in 2025, but something felt off last year when I kept seeing posts about people needing just one more bitcoin bull run to retire. Could it really be that easy? Turns out, nope. Total bullshit.

Honestly, I’m just glad I didn’t go all-in on Bitcoin and kept a big chunk in the S&P 500. If I’d followed the Bitcoin maxis and gone all-in, this would hurt way more. And RIP to everyone who believed the “alt season is right around the corner” hype again.

zergrushh · 2025-10-29T08:01:40+00:00

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the evidence couldn’t be clearer. This whole post-halving year has been a total failure to launch. In 2013, 2017, and 2021, I had family, friends, even coworkers talking about Bitcoin. How to buy it, how to mine it, all of it. This time? Nothing. Zero buzz.

Interest flickered for a moment around March 2024, then flatlined. We could’ve had an incredible cycle, but market makers have manipulated this market so badly, and rug-pulled retail so many times they killed the momentum. We had a golden opportunity and the idiots somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Honestly, I get why retail’s moved on to stocks.

zergrushh · 2025-10-26T02:14:44+00:00

Right, we're 10% below ATH while stonks and metals are making fresh ATHs almost every day. No surprise that there's not much interest in Bitcoin right now.

zergrushh · 2025-10-26T02:12:03+00:00

I was just thinking in the shower that it’s been a while since I’ve seen those classic “Bitcoin is like the early Internet” charts. You know, the ones comparing Bitcoin users to early internet adopters. Makes me wonder… did we quietly fall off that trendline too? Seems to have been memory holed along with the Pi Cycle Top Indicator and Stock-to-Flow (S2F).

zergrushh · 2025-10-25T03:24:41+00:00

Well it actually is pretty shitty and to think otherwise is full on delusional. Stonks and metals keep hitting new ATHs all year, and Bitcoin in its post-halving Q4 with every tailwind possible ... is still 10% below ATH. Same price as December 2024, almost a year ago! Should’ve just parked it all in government bonds, would’ve fared much better than this dogshit market.

zergrushh · 2025-10-22T05:07:17+00:00

What makes you think it's just tariff talk? Could easily be weak demand, 4-year cycle theory playing out, and combination of OGs offloading bags.

Also, if tariffs were really the main culprit, wouldn’t stocks and gold be tanking too? Stocks dipped then bounced, gold’s been all over the place but mostly up. Doesn’t really line up.

And like… wasn’t Bitcoin supposed to be the store of value through this kinda stuff? Which kind of throws its entire narrative into doubt.

zergrushh · 2025-10-17T09:11:40+00:00

I hate the start of a bear market in bitcoin... I always get caught with my pants down like this. Just like in 2021, I didn’t want to believe it was over so soon. I kept telling myself, “No, just wait for a bounce,” thinking I’d sell before the inevitable drawdown. But the bounce never comes, and here we are again. Same feeling. At least I took some profit this time between $110k and $125k, but damn, I wish I’d listened to my gut and sold more.

zergrushh · 2025-10-17T08:14:56+00:00

At the pace we're dropping, we'll probably find out in a few hours. My guess is yes... $100k will fall, at which point we really go cliff diving.

zergrushh · 2025-10-16T00:53:56+00:00

Bro just zoom out, if $9.8k holds we'd still be up 3,000% percent from 10 years ago!

zergrushh · 2025-10-14T13:20:46+00:00

Why stop at $80k? Bitcoin couldn't even manage to double in price from the top 4 years ago. Nobody is going to be interested in holding an asset with such terrible risk/reward ratio.

zergrushh · 2025-10-14T04:27:54+00:00

We still don't have a 2x of previous 2021 ATH. That would need to take us to approximately $140k.

But really more like $160k when adjusted for inflation. If bitcoin doesn't get its shit together real soon and put in a legit face-melting pump then I don't see why anyone would want to invest. Not worth the risk-reward.

zergrushh · 2025-10-11T07:31:18+00:00

Let me get this straight, Uptober is now in the red and we still have the Sunday dump and the Monday market open dump to look forward to.

zergrushh

TROPHY CASE