@Alon

2.9K Followers
357 Following
13.5K Posts
I write about public transport and do research for NYU's Marron Institute. I've previously lived in Tel Aviv, Singapore, the Riviera, New York, Providence, Vancouver, Stockholm, Paris.
LocationBerlin
Websitehttp://pedestrianobservations.com
PronounsThey/them
Email[email protected]
Show threadAlon5h ago
@wesley Rey refuses the call multiple times and this leads to her capture. Luke is immature, but actually committed after his uncle and aunt are killed; Rey really isn't and spends multiple films moping about the parents that left her, and if the series had had the wisdom to leave it at "you came from nothing, you are nothing" it would have been perfect.
Show threadAlon12h ago
Honestly, my main objection to the film is that in plot and aesthetics the First Order is the new Empire (and this makes sense on screen, with Kylo Ren very explicitly a Vader wannabe), but then the film shows us the New Republic exists and Coruscant is under its control, so why is it a resistance vs. empire plot and not a symmetric total war?
Alon12h ago
Finally watching the Star Wars sequel trilogy with Cid. The Force Awakens is just a woke remake of A New Hope. Rey is the new Luke (more Mary Sue-ish with the Force, less so with ace piloting), and Kylo Ren is Temu Darth Vader and all the other First Order characters are Temu Empire too.
Show threadAlon1d ago
@Colinvparker *2018, fixed.
Alon1d ago
Why is Harry Dempsey writing that Shinkansen passenger numbers are "dwindling"? They are at their peak, on a par with the pre-corona peak. Wikipedia has numbers by line, but its "sum" column is unlinked for 2018 and linked for 2024, creating a fictional decline. https://www.ft.com/content/aaac943e-34ee-4b05-9ef4-ff112341cc52?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Japan’s bullet trains shift to cargo as seats go unfilled

High-speed rail freight services aim to offset truck driver shortages and dwindling passenger numbers

Financial Times
Show threadAlon2d ago
@reiddragon Israel is the same. In general the ID card isn't free, but it is cheap and universally available, and is indeed used for voter ID among other things.
Alon4d ago
I'm watching Star Wars with @cidney, one day, one film. Today, the Phantom Menace. It's a lot worse than I remember. Anakin acts like a middle-class American boy, Jar-Jar is a generic ethnic stereotype, Watto is a greedy Jewish stereotype, Panaka is forgettable...
Alon5d ago
Live now, talking about what the EU can do to build an EU-wide HSR network. https://www.twitch.tv/alon_levy
Alon_Levy - Twitch

I study and write about trains, especially how they compare in different places. I live in Berlin, but have lived in a bunch of other cities (Tel Aviv, Singapore, French Riviera, New York, Providence, Vancouver, Stockholm, Paris), so I have eye level experience of a bunch of different systems.

Twitch
Alon5d ago
I'm back on Twitch stream today! 19:00 as usual (in 5.5 hours), talking about EU high-speed rail, what it would cost, and how the EU could help build it.
Show threadAlonMar 15
@skinnylatte I enjoy the performance of hyphenated identity - suing like Americans, but having the spice tolerance of a German.