Twisted

Once again, it has been forever since I have updated. As usual, I will begin with an apology. Sorry.

Okay, that's done. So, is it just me or has this been a pathetic excuse for a summer movie season? There just hasn't been much that has compelled me to go to the theater. Thankfully, Christopher Nolan makes up for such a dire summer.

Inception is hard to describe. You don't want to give away anything, but you want to talk about the movie once you have seen it. Nolan has essentially become the leader in non-linear storytelling in film. Most of his movies, especially those that he and or his brother have written/created, explore psychological themes and issues. Inception is no different. The basic premise revolves around Leonardo DiCaprio's character working as a sort of corporate spy. He goes into a person's dream state and collects information to be sold to a competitor. All sorts of mental tricks are played in the dream state to pull forth that info. Leo has people who go into the dream state with him. Someone is technically the dreamer, someone is the architect who creates the "reality" within the dream, etc. The idea that moves the plot is literally an idea...or the idea that you can plant an idea in someone's head and they will believe that this idea actually originated in their own mind (hence, inception).

Visually, this is a stunning movie. Usually when you see environments that are CGI you can always see something that is off; something that gives it all away that it isn't real. I don't know how they did what they did, but everything is soooo smooth and realistic. You can easily get caught up in each of the environments and loose track of what is a dream and what is reality.

Keeping track is not impossible though. You can follow this movie. You have to work a little bit and pay attention, but for as much of a mind f*** that it is, it is still a thrilling story. It may fall just a bit short on a couple of emotional moments. None the less, you get connected to the characters. Even the small roles feel fleshed out.

The acting is all top notch. I'm a big Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan and I really enjoyed his performance. And, he kicked butt in his big action sequence while working a vest and tie. Sweet. I'm appreciating DiCaprio more and more as he gets older. He seems very comfortable portraying characters around his age and doesn't seem afraid of not always being the boyish-ly attractive lead. Which isn't to say he doesn't look good in an all black suit...

Just go see the movie and enjoy the ride.

Not much else to report. Project Runway started up again and as usual, I can't remember any of the designers names when there are 16 of them. The only one I do recall was Casanova, who sent out a model dressed in what essentially looked like a belly dancer's outfit. I think he'll be around for a couple of episodes. He is like this season's Ping. A little out there and a little hard to understand.

Work is work. Disney seems to have recovered from the raccoon incident, but apparently there is some other new issue. One day last week she went outside twice to talk on her cell phone. Once for about 20 min. and once for about 40. In between those phone calls, she was in her office with the door closed for between 1 and 1 1/2 hrs. That's what I call a productive day! Of course, she still left at 4:30 and I believe took at least a half hour lunch.

Now, you may be wondering how I know about all this activity. Let's just say it helps to be friendly with people in different parts of the building who feel free to comment on when they saw Tara walking past their window with her phone to her ear. It also helps to be in the breakroom when she snuck out the back with her phone and then be up front waiting to talk to a sales rep when she wanders back inside (that was the 40 min. call). Our owners are paranoid enough that they have been tossing around the idea of installing security cameras. Part of me really wants them to do so in the hopes that she gets caught. Sort of evil, I know. I just want people to do their jobs.

Next weekend is the big Mad Dash for Generation United. It's a fund raiser set up as an Amazing Race style competition. I'll try and take my camera to get some photos.

Finally, a friend of mine brought this video to my attention. She is also a big Jane Austen fan. Enjoy!

Things that go bump

It's been a weird week at work. Everyone was trying to recover from the holiday weekend. You know the drill...even though everyone knows you have a day off they send you an email anyway. On Wed., I can hear Disney's princess-ey (and not in a good way, but in a breathy, annoying way) voice down the hall from my office. I can't quite make out what she is saying, but it's DRAMATIC and VERY IMPORTANT. At one point I hear her exclaim, "That must be it! I bet that's what did it!"

Next thing I know, she and our boss are walking outside. I ask our office manager what is going on. What follows is a prime example of why some people should not be allowed to procreate.

Seems Disney was driving along, at high speed, minding her own business. At some point along the way, her car starts over heating. I'm not sure if she pulled off the road a few times or not, but she described it as over heating repeatedly. Because she's on her phone all the time at work and left her charger at the office, her cell phone was dead so she couldn't call anyone for assistance. She gets to work late and immediately starts telling her tale to our boss. Because, being a guy, he automatically knows everything about cars.

She just can't figure out why her car would be overheating. Our boss asks her if her radiator was leaking. This path of inquiry assumes Disney actually took the time to look over her own vehicle before coming in to share her tale of woe. She didn't know. Our boss asks if there had been any recent damage to the car. You know, like accidentally pulling up too close to one of those cement parking lot block thingies. You know what I'm talking about. I have scrapped my front bumper on those things on more than one occasion.

Disney thinks about it and then says something along the lines of..."I hit a big raccoon on my way to work this morning. It made a big thump. That must be it!"

And now, a brief interruption for an editor's comment.

ARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to our story...

Disney was clipping along, probably way over the speed limit. She readily admits to driving fast most of the time. She was probably trying to figure out why her cell phone wasn't working too. She sees a raccoon in the road. SHE ASSUMES IT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE WAY WHEN IT SEES HER COMING.

Editor comment: WTF?! She thinks raccoons have the agility to out run a speeding car? More importantly, she thinks they have the mental ability to comprehend what is about to happen and dodge her?

She saw the raccoon people. She had enough time to recognize the animal and think "oh, it'll move." She could have slowed down and let it scamper on its way.

Nope. She just kept going, was surprised that it couldn't dodge her car (or maybe it had a death wish and it was staying in the road on purpose), and more importantly, she was still unable to put 2 and 2 together and consider the possibility that hitting a medium size creature hard enough to hear a thud UNDER your car as you kill it could maybe, just maybe, do some damage.

Our boss looked at the underside of her car as best he could and he was able to tell that 1) something, probably the radiator was leaking and 2) it looked pretty ripped up under there.

The rest of the day was spent on the phone with her husband and with the car repair place. Our office manager had to follow her to the car repair place and give her a ride back to work. Disney had to call several people through out the day and recant her story. And she still left half an hour early like usual. Then, yesterday, she forgot to bring her lunch. Instead of considering the option of walking a few blocks to a couple of possible locations, or nicely asking someone to pick up something for her if they were already going somewhere, she goes back to talk to the owner's son (who runs the parts department) and he sends his kid out to pick something up for her. The enabling must stop people...otherwise, how will folks ever change...?

And people wonder why I want to ram my head into a wall when I hear the sound of her voice...