On Second Thought

I want to go see the new Tron Legacy movie - Michelle has never seen the first one, and I thought it would be good to give her the backstory. I borrowed a copy of the original 1982 Tron from a friend.

(Why is the original so impossible to find, buy, rent right now? I have a theory.)

Michelle was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping last night, so I watched the original on my own.

Wow. Bad movie. For its time, the environments and animations were amazing, but the story, the action, the costuming, the dialogue and anything else you care to mention were stiff and ponderous. Why did I remember the movie so fondly? I guess it was because I was 11 when it came out.

I don't recall seeing it in the theater, though it's possible. I probably saw it on TV a few years after it came out, so I was still pretty young. I think I remembered the arcade game more than the movie itself. I'll bet it's so hard to find the original right now because the movie studio doesn't want to turn people off.

A couple of easter-eggish things struck me - the poster in Alan's cube and a Pac Man on one of the MCP displays.

I've heard good things about Tron Legacy - I'll be going to see it in the next week no matter what.

What's your 're-enjoy' level?

I've seen a lot of references recently on Twitter to "rewatch" - where you view from start to finish a great classic tv series - such as Farscape, Firefly, Star Trek: TOS, and so on.

I'm conflicted about rewatching. I've probably seen every episode of the first ten years of The Simpsons at least ten or twenty times. At a certain point, I decided that I was 'done' with The Simpsons, and watch it very rarely now. I'd rather move on to something new, something that might have a different perspective, teach me something different or at the very least doesn't contain dialogue I can quote verbatim throughout an episode.

There's a certain safe-at-homeness to rewatching. We're in our comfort zone, and we know we're not going to be disappointed. There can be a certain nostalgia to rewatching as well - I can appreciate that.

During a rewatch, we know what's going to happen, and we don't really need to pay much attention to what's going on. We can miss five or ten minutes and we still understand the plot - at this point, whatever you're watching has become background noise and part of me wonders what's the point?

Wouldn't music be better background noise? At least I could do some writing or something else creative to music. If I have a TV show playing, it's so I can watch it. I was not one of those teenagers who could do homework with MTV running in the background - I'm sure many people can be very productive while they watch TV, but I'm not one of them.

The same thing goes for re-reads of books. I love the Harry Potter books, and have read them all, but the idea of re-reading the whole series doesn't really appeal. It's a huge time commitment, and while yes the books are great... I could be reading something new.

That's not to say I don't re-read books, I do. Waiting a year and re-reading a book I really enjoyed is fun on multiple levels - I've forgotten just enough to enjoy the little details, and maybe I'll discover something new I missed the first time.

It feels as if we gain very little from re-enjoying the same book/TV show/movie over and over - a smart balance seems to be 80% new 20% re-enjoy. Currently, my level is probably 20% new, 80% old, which is depressing - most of what I'm watching isn't necessarily good, it's just a re-run or re-watch. And with Hulu and Netflix streaming, free books from the library - there's really no excuse.

Just think about all the great stuff you could be first-enjoying during your ninth rewatch of something. Maybe something you love even more than Harry Potter.

A morning chuckle

Each picture below links to a different funny video - check them out!

Iron Man rocks! Err... Ores!

I had to work on Saturday (grrr) and what with Cindy working late into the night every night until next Thursday, and since I was out of the house anyway, I took it upon myself to see Iron Man all alone (yes, I took one for the team, I'm a great guy, what can I say?).

It was a nearly full theater - I had strangers to either side of me for the whole film, despite my carefully orchestrated early arrival and sitting down in an empty row.

A woman was sitting to my left - I never did see her face. She was light haired, was wearing very pretty flip flops (I'm sure they're called Designer Sandals when you buy them at Nordstrom's) and seemed generally a nice sort. She chatted very softly with her man on and off throughout the film, but since they whispered so softly it didn't trouble me (so it must have been very softly indeed).

The endearing thing about this woman was how much empathy she had. When Tony Stark stubbed a toe, she gasped and cringed - she could feel it in the pit of her stomach. When Tony kicked ass and took names, she was right there for him, woo!ing and yeah!ing right along with the rest of us.

I think it would be fair to say I enjoyed the movie more because she was sitting next to me - her immersion and suspension of disbelief was infectious - I was drawn in deeper thanks to her. "Thanks, Lady in Pretty Flip Flops" I thought.

(I've always considered movie-watching to be a solitary thing - you might attend a movie together, but you're essentially sitting alone in the dark for 2 hours. Iron Man makes me rethink this theory.)

Then, as we waited as the credits rolled for Samuel L. Jackson to make his post-credits cameo, she was chatting it up with her man, and I realized what an OMG LOL As-If Talk to the Hand type-girl she was. Ah well. Still, her contribution to my experience remains.

TMI?

Cate Blanchett can do no wrong. She's fascinating to watch, whatever she does.

Most recently, she's sharing her talents in I'm Not There - a film about the life of Bob Dylan, and she's uncannily compelling. I don't give a damn about Bob Dylan, but watching Cate's clips in the trailer makes me want to see the film.

Good thing she doesn't (seem to) have aspirations to be a cult leader - I would be unable to resist her (let's surmise...) maniacal machinations to control the world's soybeans.

You've heard the old saying "I'd listen to so-and-so read the phone book"? I'd pay to see the three hour documentary Cate Blanchett - Flossing and Tweezing.

Keen!

Well that's neat - work is ending early today to take us to see 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. I have plans with Ed to see it tonight, but how can I pass up the chance to see it for free?

The day has been pretty slow, yet again... Lots of hurrying and waiting. Hopefully next week will be all about writing bugs on 2 Player mode.

Liz is applying for a lead position at Universal. She'd be a great lead, I hope she gets it.

Blech Gaarf Ack!

Friday fun! After a week of 'hurry up and wait' at work, we finally have a new task - a play through of the single player mode. At least that will take up some time.

I need fruit for the work fridge, and will be going to the grocery store at lunch time to get resupplied. Note to self - get a hair cut next week.

Going to see 'Sky Captain' with Ed tonight - Hope it's good. Cindy has elected to stay home and work on schedules and whatnot. It needs done, but ugh, all that paperwork must get old. I think I'd be spreading the paperwork between myself and my two assistant managers, if I were the boss...

I cleaned up the clutter in the guest room this morning - it was a mess after I threw everything from the living room into it. I threw some stuff away, shoved some crap into the closet, and tried to clear up the floorspace so Cindy could have access to the window, where she hangs her clothes.

After cleaning, I was in a disgruntled mood and sat down in front of the computer anyway. I couldn't muster the oomph to work on the web site today. That's fine, I'll have this weekend to look at it. Never design disgruntled.

I'd worked on the front page for Fiction Interactive last night, and it came out pretty fugly. The main logo is just too busy to use in a large size, I think. I may to go to the small version at the top left, and then find some attractive way of laying out the genre selections.

Right now the genres are: Mystery, Horror, Romance, Espionage, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, and Erotica. Only 'Mystery' will be active intially, with the other choices greyed out. I'm going to put in a survey/voting feature that lets users vote on which genre will be the next to be active.

Crisp and Clean with No Caffeine

Wow! I had two days off in a row. I can't remember the last time that happened. It was a nice, lazy weekend. Went to see Resident Evil Apocalypse, which was really cheesy, but had lots of cute little moments from the games.

Cindy had to work all weekend, so I had the apartment to myself. It finally has started to cool off over the last couple of days. I went to have lunch with Cindy on Sunday - we went to Johnny Rockets, and it was good.

I didn't get any work done on the web site, but I needed some rest. I watched lots of 'Band of Brothers' on the History Channel. I think they were running the whole thing from beginning to end over the weekend. Very well done, lots of great actors.

We're waiting for Alias Season 3 Disc 1 from Netflix. Right now the indicator says "Very Long Wait", so there's no tellin when it will arrive.