Banks are Parasites

Oh, banks.

We recently paid off our house. This triggers the lender — Chase — sending us the balance of our escrow account, which they sent me by check.

This is weird, because I also bank at Chase. I can see my accounts and my (former) mortgage in the same web UI.

I darkly thought, upon opening the envelope, that the whole reason it came as a check was to allow Chase to hold the money longer. Surely not, right?

Yeah, turns out? I deposited the check yesterday, and Chase is now telling me the funds are “on hold” until the 20th.

A check drawn from their own accounts, at the same bank.

Banks are parasites.

Anderson Evaluation Redux (2025 Edition)

In 2023, after being disappointed by ASTEROID CITY, I wrote this post wherein I ranked Andersons’ films.

Last night we saw THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, which is a reasonable time to publish an amended list; n.b. the only edit is the insertion of the new film between Dogs and Rocket:

  1. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
  2. Rushmore (1998)
  3. The French Dispatch (2021)
  4. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
  5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
  6. Isle of Dogs (2018)
  7. The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
  8. Bottle Rocket (1996)
  9. Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
  10. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
  11. Asteroid City (2023)
  12. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Mostly, the last two outings have just made me want to watch other films of his again (e.g., anything in the top half of the list).