Randomness of May 26

I've found that the iRiver H340 (the 40gig version of the iRiver I showed you several days ago) is only slightly more expensive than the H320 - about $40 more for double the capacity. I'm very impressed, and so instead of getting the H320, I think I'm going to go with the 340 ... when I finally have money that is.

At this point, though, I've put all my wishlist items on hold so that I can be sure I'll have the money I need to pay the rent in two weeks. As it stands, I might make it out of this month with an extra hundred or so dollars - which will be used to pay down my credit card debt.

It'd be nice to think that come next month, everything will be easier, but the fact of the matter is that, in addition to next month's rent, I'll soon have to purchase a new ink cartridge for my printer, I'm going to have to buy another two weeks worth of MTA fare in a few days, I desperately long for a new phone to replace the piece of shit I'm currently using, and I routinely spend $10 per day on sustenance while at Sony. That's like a quarter of my paycheck every week. Now, when I'm finally working my ass off, I'm making so little that I've really begun to detest the concept of New York in general.

There is no place in the world, anywhere, that should cost as much as New York - not even New York should cost this much! It's fucking ridiculous. If this is how it's going to be the entire time I live here, then fuck that. I'm moving into a warmer climate despite whatever protests anyone else can make - the minor benefits of living in this godawful city do not come close to outweighing the cost of actually having to be here to get the benefits. Kent wants to move out to LA after graduation, and I might just be game to follow suit.

Second Chances and the Concept of Exclusionary Filmmaking

BanjokerFilms: I might go see Star Wars again tonight
Numbnss4Sound: ha. Me too
BanjokerFilms: With Jamie?
Numbnss4Sound: ha, no
Numbnss4Sound: I doubt she'll see it
BanjokerFilms: She didn't seem too pleased with it
Numbnss4Sound: lol. Yeah, i notice the comments
BanjokerFilms: This seems to be the type of film where you have to see it a second time to appreciate it
Numbnss4Sound: Yeah, i have to give it another shot before i make my judgements
BanjokerFilms: It's really true. I sooo disliked so much of it the first time.
Numbnss4Sound: the first time around i was disappointed
BanjokerFilms: But the second time I loved it
Numbnss4Sound: hmm
Numbnss4Sound: I have a feeling ill still feel like so much was left out
BanjokerFilms: I wish there was more included
BanjokerFilms: I've always wished there was more included
BanjokerFilms: Star Wars is sooo engrossing a story that you want to feel completely immersed in the reality.
BanjokerFilms: Unfortunately, with a two and a half hour film, you're very restricted by what you can put in.
BanjokerFilms: Think of how much was left out of LotR
Numbnss4Sound: very true
BanjokerFilms: How much they could have included, how much they did include, and how much you wanted them to include.
BanjokerFilms: I mean, who didn't want to see the Tom Bombadil stuff?
BanjokerFilms: It wasn't too greatly related to the rest of the story, but it was added detail about how the Ring relates to the world
BanjokerFilms: But then you realize they could have included other things, like the scouring of the shire
BanjokerFilms: etc
BanjokerFilms: It's what makes film so difficult - while you have the freedom to show so much onscreen, you're also limited by time constraints and money. It takes a lot of patience for an audience member to sit through any more than 2 and a half hours of material - no matter how good it may be.
Numbnss4Sound: Very true. And i suppose ill have to keep that in mind when i see it the second time around.
BanjokerFilms: Do
Numbnss4Sound: itll be difficult to really appreciate but im sure ill enjoy it a bit more.
BanjokerFilms: Just remember what Yoda said, "If so powerful are you, why in such a hurry to leave are you?"
Numbnss4Sound: lol. DAve, dave, dave
Numbnss4Sound: only you
Numbnss4Sound: lol

Episode III Redux

I saw it again. Fantastic a second time around. All my grievances from the first viewing were silenced - though I still shudder at certain lines of dialogue. It was interesting ... it seems that lately I've begun to really like lots of things upon giving them a second chance - I suppose that's a good attitude to have, don't you?

Addendum: Whoo-Fucking-hoo!

Just so y'all know, STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH fucking RULED the box office!

This should serve notice to the industry that if studios put out films worth watching, people will get off their asses and go to the movie theatres and pay to watch them. And don't give me any of that "George Lucas can't direct cause he doesn't know how and his films are all bad and the acting is horrible and the writing sucks" bullshit, because y'all paid $50 million on the FIRST DAY to see the movie.

The next big earner this summer will be Batman Begins ... just wait.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

We were at the 12:01 screening of Star Wars Episode III last night. At one of only 100 digital projection theatres in the country. Oh God, did the image look beautiful. I am now 100% sold on digital as the new technology. It was stunning how beautiful and vibrant the images were.

As for the story ...

I've slept on my review. I watched the film, made my preliminary comments to friends - stated my disappointments, plucked out my favorite scenes and images, and quoted my favorite lines. My initial response, as with Stand Up, was one of disappointment. The film was not precisely what I expected, though I had a very good idea going into the screening of what I should expect. Upon resting for 3 1/2 hours, my attitude towards the film has changed.

I did not outright dislike the film as much as I initially felt a great disappointment at the fact that the film was not ... better. It wasn't bad so much as it wasn't great. And as I reflect upon what I saw, more and more do I realize that I got from the film much of what I wanted to get from the film. I was merely blinded by the things I added into that wishlist after the fact.

Perhaps, if the volume had been at the proper setting, I might have been more in touch with what was taking place on screen. I think that my biggest issue with the film was my disconnect from the characters. As I mentioned last night, the only character I empathized with at all throughout the film was Yoda. And he was digital - not even a fucking puppet! He didn't exist physically at all!

While I have that complaint, as I said, I am still growing more fond of what I saw with every recollection of a cool scene or awesome two-second lightsaber twirl. This film really was what I wanted, it just didn't play out how I had imagined. Overall, I rescind my scathing review of it from last night to put it refreshingly into the #3 spot in the series, behind "Return of the Jedi" (what can I say, I am enamoured with Anakin's redemption) and "The Empire Strikes Back".

I would like to see the film again several times, just to take in the imagery alone. And I probably will.

Interesting Choice of Ensemble

I suppose that this will give me sufficient cause in the future to wear red to any type of competition in which I might partake. Or perhaps if I wore red during the Film Festivals my film will enter ...

Frank Gorshin (1934 - 2005)

As a fan of the Adam West Batman series growing up (re-runs, of course), it saddens me to learn that Frank Gorshin has passed away. It's funny, despite the melodramatic acting and ridiculous capers the villains pulled off in that series, the 60's Batman villains are by far one of the most interesting Rogues Gallery of Batman villains ever portrayed. Gorshin added his own unique mannerisms to the Riddler to create an inimitable version of the well-known baddie.

Riddle me this, he will be missed ...

Edging Towards A Non-Milestone

Simply put, to turn 22 means exactly dick in the grand scheme of things. So next month, when I turn 22, I want an iRiver H320 player. Just putting that out there. I'm not going to have the money for it even if I continue to bust my hump for 50+ hours per week.

Also, the iRiver H10 20GB player is cool, too.

And the Day of Reckoning Arrives

The Universe must deal with the fiery wrath of Anakin Skywalker ... tonight, at 12:01.

And I can't wait. We're meeting Kent and the gang at the AMC on 42nd at 10PM tonight and we're going to be seeing the screening on a digital projection. This ought to be fucking amazing.

Corporate Inefficiency

It is with great pain that I am forced to write a post about this particular subject, as, if there is anyone thing I dislike most in a workplace, I dislike inefficiency. When people do things a certain way because "it's the way we do it," or because it's more convenient for them - despite all logic and actual efficiency - I get irritated.

Sony's inefficiency irritates me.

I decided yesterday to update the template for a particular report that we create to show where each film is playing in each particular market or branch. There are about ten different branches, meaning that in each Excel workbook, there are ten different worksheets with listings for every region in every branch. Within each region, we break it down further into city and state. So we subdivide the nation into market branches, regions and then cities.

Bear in mind, though, that this information is all accessible to anyone at SPC ... but we put it into Excel so that we can consolidate the pertinent information to make it easier to view and understand.

My beef is not with the fact that we spend all this time creating and maintaining these reports, but rather that the format we use for the report is really very ugly. And poorly designed. It's an excel spreadsheet with two column-boxes in a non-divided layout - each of the two column-boxes shares the same lines. So if I want to add a space between YORK, PA and DOYLESTOWN, PA, I'm adding another space between Union Station theatre and Visions theatre in WASHINGTON, DC, in the Washington, DC branch column-box.

Now this situation is easily rectifiable. I simply cut and paste the theatres that got bumped down a space (or several spaces, throughout the course of my update), and there we go ... problem solved. But the fact is that the entire thing is still rather ugly. And it has to be printed landscape-layout. And it will waste my time having to re-arrange the shifted theatres. And the films are already so scattered and out-of-order that it would just be beneficial to all involved if I just fixed the damned thing myself and used my own template for the workbook.

Of course, as an intern, my sage advice is easily ignored and my precious time is worth a fraction of a penny to my corporate masters.

As soon as I get home, I'm spending four hours writing a new draft of my Obscene Question script because I can't stand this shit and I need to make a really good movie NOW! I can't handle playing monkey to their organ grinder for the rest of my life - I won't dance to that tune.

The Difference Between Good and Ugly

Why is it that the San Andreas port to the X-Box looks so much better than the port to the PC? One would be led to believe that, at a point in time which graphics cards are getting nearer and nearer to photo-realism, the images shown on what should be a state-of-the-art graphics card should be look ten times better than the images shown on a limited console graphics engine. But alas, this is apparently not the case.

Perhaps Norton was running a virus scan in the background while the person taking the screenshots was playing San Andreas.

Isn't It Amazing ...

Isn't it just amazing to go from not working for two years, to working every day at two jobs and still wind up in continual debt? I don't know how the hell this is working out, but I haven't managed to make a damned dent in my credit card bill. I suppose it doesn't help that once I started working, my phone bill was due, I had to purchase $130 worth of groceries and my roommate demanded a check for $147 for electrical payments.

As it stands, if I simply continue to throw my money at my credit card bill, by the time I've eliminated all $1,200 of debt, it should be right around the beginning of June - when I will owe Liberty Towers $820 for rent.

Ain't that a bitch ...




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I think I'm going to begin checking out really nice restaurants in Manhattan so that once I finish school, I can at least start working full time at really nice places where I can make mad cash. This whole Chili's in the Ghetto thing isn't fucking working for me. $5 on a hundred dollar check is not a proper tip, dammit.

Useless Statistics About My Work Life

I did a breakdown of my week (starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday, though the weeks have begun to merge, as I haven't had a day off since my parents visited me) to figure out ... well, useless things that I might want to store in my head when I figure out why I am not making nearly as much money as I need to survive in the New York metropolitan area.

*Sony Pictures/Chili's*

Friday, May 6th - 6/6.5
Saturday, May 7th - 7.5
Sunday, May 8th - 9
Monday, May 9th - 8
Tuesday, May 10th - 6.5
Wednesday, May 11th - 8
Thursday, May 12th - 6
Friday, May 13th - 6/6.5
Saturday, May 14th - 7.5


57.5 - Sunday through Saturday ($422)
34.5 - Sony Pictures, Monday through Friday ($207)
23 - Chili's, Sunday, Friday Night, Saturday ($215)

8.21 - Avg. # of Hours Worked Per Day ($7.34/hr.)
6.9 - Avg. # of Hours Worked Per Day @ Sony Pictures ($6.00/hr.)
7.67 - Avg # of Hours Worked Per Day @ Chili's ($9.35/hr.)

So as you can see, I have no social life anymore. Though it would seem that I should have money to spend on a social life I don't actually have, one would be mistaken to expect that my bank account should be swelling. Until my credit swelling has reduced, the checking account will most likely remain under $100.

The Guy in the Glass

I thought it would be appropriate that, as I have quoted this poem before (though not this particular version), I should post the original version, having just found it on a website created by the author's family. To see the website, go here.

The Guy in the Glass
by Dale Wimbrow, (c) 1934

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

My Most Anticipated Film

This is the film I anticipate the most, this year: Batman Begins. The link is for the new international trailer which is, hands down, the coolest trailer for the film to date.

In selecting the Scarecrow as one of the villains for the film, they've made it apparent that one of the key elements of the story in this film will be fear - on both sides. The fear that the villains of Gotham create, and the fear that Batman creates in the villains. It is obvious that this film will be Batman's story and not simply another lengthy adaptation of a TV episode wherein we're simply watching Batman respond to another villain's zany evil plan to take over Gotham.

Batman Begins will be awesome.

Following Up On Yesterday's Post

I've become really irritated by the people who post in their reviews of Stand Up comments like "Bring back Steve Lillywhite," "He was the best thing that ever happened to the band," "The guys really need to go back to their jam music because that's what I like" and other assorted comments that imply that the Band should follow the rigid pattern of musical freedom tolerated by their faux-adoring throngs of keg-sucking frat boy idiots and BTCS snobs.

The Band can go in whatever direction they want to go from here, and I'll be more than happy to give their new works a chance to impress me or disappoint me - that's all an artist can ask, I think. And I think that as a fan of the Band, I have the right to be disappointed - everyone does. If your expectations are not met, then you feel genuinely disappointed. But never hold the Band accountable to meet your tastes, whatever they may be. When we forget that the product we are consuming is not simply a piece of throw-away retail plastic, but in fact someone's creative passion, we begin to slip away from the purity of being a listener and instead become a cold-hearted consumer with the ridiculous notion that we're owed something for shelling out our hard-earned dollars.

At any rate, I'll continue to listen and enjoy the music.

Hello Again

So JJ and I went out to get a copy of Stand Up last night. Let me tell you, I was very skittish coming off the first listen. I didn't know how exactly I should review it (privately or in discussion among friends). JJ was, and this is an understatement, very pleased with the album - in fact, he was extremely excited about the new direction the band has taken. I, on the other hand, conforming to my natural habit and instinct to cling desperately to the old ways I love so greatly, was bordering on disappointment at this new change of musical course.

It was to the point where I only really outright liked about three songs on the album - "Old Dirt Hill," "Hello Again," and "American Baby." There were one or two others that piqued my interest. However, as I strode out of my apartment building today, I was determined to, at the least, give the album another good solid listen on my way to work.

And I am so glad I did.

This is perhaps one of the best albums I have heard from any band in several years. It's unbelievably fresh, energetic and smooth ... and exceptionally timely considering that the band hasn't really put out any (truly) new material since 2001's Everyday, which was followed up within a month by the leaked release of the album the band had been working on before that, what DMB hardcore fans refer to as The Lillywhite Sessions.

I am midway through my third listening of the album, having put it on an infinite loop that just restarts the whole thing once the last song plays out. On the way to work, I discovered I really, really like "Smooth Rider" and "You Might Die Trying."

For those out there who were disappointed immediately upon the first listen, I say this: PLAY IT AGAIN. If you aren't attracted to it upon a second listening, I'd be inclined to suggest you probably aren't going to like it on a third - but play it a third time anyway. It really is a good album, nay, a great album.


I'm a smooth rider baby
You know I just keep moving on
I don't know why I like to carry on
The way I do,
It's just that I'm in love with you
- DMB, Smooth Rider

If It Weren't for My Horse ...

Soooooo, long story short, iTunes has begun to wrap its wretched fingers around my mouse hand and moved me forceably into click-mode thanks to Pepsi's new fucking promotion - "1 in 3 Wins a FREE Song on iTunes"!

It's not that I hate Apple and their software and the irritating degradation of interface customization ... well, actually I do. I don't want to use their simple silver iTunes interface. It looks just like everyone else's ... I want my own interface goddammit! And when I download a song for 99 cents, I want an MP3, not an M4P. You fucking assclowns ... a proprietary file format? I can only play my music in your shitty program? FUCK YOU, APPLE!

Damn it ... those are just a few of my issues. The biggest issue I have, by far, is the 99 cent matter. A two-minute song is 99 cents. An eight-minute song is ... 99 cents. All thirteen songs on an album are 99 cents each. How much does the entire album cost to download? $9.99. Less than 99 cents each. So ... is that like ... a bulk purchase program? WTF?

I thought about this for a long time, and then, just before I passed out, I thought, "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year at college."

Whew

Sorry that it's been so long since I posted, but damn ... the week has been sooooo long. I've been working at Sony during the weekdays and working at Chilis on Wed, Thurs and Fri nights. And I am fucking tired. Pardon my profanity.

I pretty much kicked myself in the balls tonight on my second shift back on the server floor after a two-year hiatus from work. I dropped the wrong check (a $46 check) at a table that bought nine bucks more worth of food and drinks, and thankfully at least covered the difference with the tip. I felt pretty upset with myself for the rest of the evening thanks to that. It didn't help that several of my tables left me tips of less than 10-12%. I can gladly report that after all that I made out well this evening.

Of course, the work day took its toll on me ... I went from Sony to Chilis with a brief layover at the apartment in between. My work day today lasted from 10A-12:30A: 14.5 hours. A long fucking day.