I just realized that my last few blog posts have been about bullshit work crap with Mr. BlackWife and nonsense drama. Well, Mr. BW has moved on to greener pastures with nary a look back to little old me, the BCA hasn't called (on a positive they didn't call the other chick either so maybe they're still trying to hash some stuff out and there's still a chance), and I alternate between hating my coworkers and tolerating them.
Outside of that, my life has been amazingly uneventful. There were occasional highlights (this year's evening of Hanukkah with the Moskows was particularly thrilling), but mostly, it's been working my little heinie off trying to pay down stupid credits cards (I see a very dim light at the end of the tunnel, but I could be hallucinating) and watching TV.
I find myself wishing I had my fancy cable back just about every other day. Recently, Comcast added what I call a semi-fancy cable pack which would cost me an additional $15. If I get it, I'd get my beloved TruTV (CRIME SHOWS!!!) back, along with A&E (The First 48) and the History Channel. There's a bunch of crap that comes with that as well (fucking Fox News), but it might be worth it because basic cable blows that mighty wad, but then I remember thinking that about fancy cable a lot of the time too. Don't know what you got until it's gone, heh?
I thought I could make up for basic cables failings with Netflix instant-watch & Hulu selections. To some extent I've done that, but my personal form of ADD makes it tough for me to get into a show when I'm watching it on the internet and I don't have the same patience to sit through some of the crap that Netflix makes available to instant watch. I have issues. Leave me alone.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Quit your whining
You know what I'm tired of? I'm tired of people bitching and moaning about Twilight and Twitards (a term I despise!) and Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and blahblahblah. It's really amazing how invested some people are in complaining about something they claim to want nothing to do with. If you have no plans on seeing it or reading the books, then how the heck is it hurting you? Some say that it has a negative impact on the horror genre. I say it affects the horror genre as much as Once Bitten. I think more horror fans are calling these films horror than are fans of the films. One can argue all day and night about whether these books and films would even be considered horror. I could argue the same thing about a lot of films. Let the Right One In (a film constant used as a counterpoint to Twilight) comes to mind as it isn't so focused on the horror. It's pretty much a love story (in the movie, at least. I honestly could not get through the book.) There are genres within the genre. Romantic horror or tween horror horror porn.
If one is gonna get all riled up about the romanticization (not a real word, but go with it), then folks should be tearing Francis Ford Coppolla (sp?) a brand new asshole. He actually slapped Bram Stoker's name on his film purporting to be telling the story as Stoker wrote it. Apparently Francis doesn't know that some of us actually, you know, READ Bram Stoker's Dracula. But somehow, it is ALL Stephanie Myers fault that vampires are being neutered and watered down for teenaged girls. Meanwhile, people act like teenaged girls who read these books/watch these films are brain-damaged and delusional. Educated people I know who are feminists seem to think that the Twilight series has the ability all by itself to make girls dumb and unable to think for themselves. It is amazing. I know many people just hate ANYTHING marketed to your women. It is rarely, if ever, good enough. But it gets to a point where all the complaining seems to be an attack on girls and young women and that infuriates me.
If one is gonna get all riled up about the romanticization (not a real word, but go with it), then folks should be tearing Francis Ford Coppolla (sp?) a brand new asshole. He actually slapped Bram Stoker's name on his film purporting to be telling the story as Stoker wrote it. Apparently Francis doesn't know that some of us actually, you know, READ Bram Stoker's Dracula. But somehow, it is ALL Stephanie Myers fault that vampires are being neutered and watered down for teenaged girls. Meanwhile, people act like teenaged girls who read these books/watch these films are brain-damaged and delusional. Educated people I know who are feminists seem to think that the Twilight series has the ability all by itself to make girls dumb and unable to think for themselves. It is amazing. I know many people just hate ANYTHING marketed to your women. It is rarely, if ever, good enough. But it gets to a point where all the complaining seems to be an attack on girls and young women and that infuriates me.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Very interesting
So I learned who Mr. BlackWife's replacement is today. When we got the email announcement the other day, my coworkers were bemoaning her as a total bitch and saying how much it would suck to work in DEV. Well, I had someone in Communications come to me with a request because reporters are sweating them about the bus accident last night. Communications Lady was looking for someone to explain this guy's driving record to a reporter. While I am perfectly capable of doing that, I didn't want to do that nor do I believe I am allowed to as a lowly CSSI (that sounds so cool, right? Just means customer service person). Anyhow, I suggested she get someone from DEV to speak with the reporter and walked her over there. When I walked to Mr. BlackWife's former office, the new boss was there and Communications Lady joked (sorta) about how I was being so helpful letting my lunch get cold while I helped her figured this out. Mrs. NotMrBlackWife said, "I remember you. You helped me with something a while back ago and you were so helpful I had you written up in [the department newsletter]." And yes, I remember that happening and not having a clue who the heck it praising me was but being pretty happy about it at the time. In fact, it had shown up shortly after my former supervisor had one of those "someone doesn't like your attitude" discussions, so I remember feeling pretty fucking smug about it. Honestly, I am pretty awesome to a lot of customers and fellow employees around here. I only ever hear about the assholes who pout when I don't say hello or dance a goddamn jig when they loll by my cubicle.
Anyway, so knowing that she and I have had one (two if you count today) positive experience makes me feel good about maybe approaching her about the cross-training thing if the BCA job doesn't come through.
Another thing on that, I wasn't quite sure how to handle the "thank you" letter (partly because I couldn't for the life of me remember the names of all three women I interviewed with). Most of my pre-interview communications were via email with one woman, so I sent a "thank you" email to her today. Not sure if that was the right thing to do especially since it's one of my cookie cutter Thank You letters which talk about how confident I am that I'd be a good fit. In retrospect, the note comes off a little arrogant. Hope that doesn't count against me. I'm feeling a little high on myself this week. I'd feel bad about it if I hadn't spent all of last week sick and feeling like crap on a stick and the week before that broke and depressed and cranky. I'm still broke, still coughing (stupid post nasal drip), and this job is sucking some this week, but for some reason I'm just not giving a hot fuck. I feel good, dammit!
I hope I hear something back (positive or negative) about the BCA before we head into Turkey Break next week. I'd love to go into a long weekend with some good news.
Anyway, so knowing that she and I have had one (two if you count today) positive experience makes me feel good about maybe approaching her about the cross-training thing if the BCA job doesn't come through.
Another thing on that, I wasn't quite sure how to handle the "thank you" letter (partly because I couldn't for the life of me remember the names of all three women I interviewed with). Most of my pre-interview communications were via email with one woman, so I sent a "thank you" email to her today. Not sure if that was the right thing to do especially since it's one of my cookie cutter Thank You letters which talk about how confident I am that I'd be a good fit. In retrospect, the note comes off a little arrogant. Hope that doesn't count against me. I'm feeling a little high on myself this week. I'd feel bad about it if I hadn't spent all of last week sick and feeling like crap on a stick and the week before that broke and depressed and cranky. I'm still broke, still coughing (stupid post nasal drip), and this job is sucking some this week, but for some reason I'm just not giving a hot fuck. I feel good, dammit!
I hope I hear something back (positive or negative) about the BCA before we head into Turkey Break next week. I'd love to go into a long weekend with some good news.
Monday, November 16, 2009
You're a lying liar of lies!!!
So I emailed Mr. Blackwife TWO WEEKS AGO regarding starting my training in DEV. I had to ask him a question about something else that same day, and when I walked into his office he quickly informed me that he'd gotten my email. Well, apparently, he didn't' read it or he doesn't think I rate a response because I STILL haven't gotten a response. Granted, I was out ill all of last week, but he didn't necessarily know that and that wouldn't have stopped him from emailing me. So I can only assume at this point that Mr. BlackWife was full of shit when he talked to me about being glad to help me move and grow within this organization. Frankly, even if he did respond at this point, I don't know if I would want to work with him. I recall during the back and forth with my boss her stating he wanted me to "show" that I wanted something more from this place. I flat-out told her I would not be begging him for shit. I can't help but wonder if this is part of why I'm not getting anything from him. Maybe he wants to see just how many emails I will send to him. Well, the answer to that is ONE. I won't count my chickens before they hatch, but I hope my interview with the BCA goes well. I would rather ride an extra 1/2 hour on the bus to work than deal with this bullshit. If he thought this Sista had an attitude before, he ain't seen nothing yet. Now I AM bitter and pissed off and now I WILL be giving him the stink-eye when I see his sorry ass in the hall. Either he was lying when we talked or he doesn't have the balls to tell me it isn't gonna happen for whatever reason. Either way, I don't appreciate being left hanging.
Update 4:20 PM
Well, well, well. Guess who just dropped by my cube to say he hadn't forgotten about me? Why, Mr. BlackWife. That's swell and all, but I still have my fingers crossed for my interview on Wednesday. It's creepy because not only did I post this rant today and he happens to show up, but I was just about to log into Facebook to say how happy I was to be back at work after being out last week.
Update 4:20 PM
Well, well, well. Guess who just dropped by my cube to say he hadn't forgotten about me? Why, Mr. BlackWife. That's swell and all, but I still have my fingers crossed for my interview on Wednesday. It's creepy because not only did I post this rant today and he happens to show up, but I was just about to log into Facebook to say how happy I was to be back at work after being out last week.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Mad bullshit!
Some things are pissing me off lately and I'm calling mad bullshit on them.
I call mad bullshit on my boss whining about how our unit doesn't "communicate" with each other, then not bothering to inform ALL OF US about things going on in our unit. One has to lead by example, see? If I have to send a unit-wide email out when I'm gonna miss a day, she maybe should do the same. Changes to the way we do mail, answer phones, or assign tasks is something we ALL need to hear about from THE BOSS, not a fellow co-worker.
I call mad bullshit on my boss acting like we're kindergartners and "punishing" all of us for the actions of one. Fine. Jeans at the front counter don't look professional. Okay. Any of us could be called on to go to the front counter at any time for a variety of reasons. Deal. I will keep a pair of pants (or a skirt) at my desk in case I need to work at the counter on a non-scheduled day. Only ONE PERSON seems to conveniently never have a change of clothes, but does she deal with THAT PERSON? No, she decides to implement a no-jeans policy for everyone. Make like a boss, and BOSS!
On the same tip, I call mad bullshit on my boss throwing up her hands and deciding to let the prisoners run the prison (for lack of a better analogy). She came up with a scheduling plan and some of us were fine with it. Occasionally, people shifted things around, but rarely was it inconvenient to anyone. A handful of people got their whine on, so she decided (without informing all of us) to let each of us do the schedule. Yeah, guess how well that's working out. Someone actually scheduled herself at the counter on a day when she's at a class in the am and leaving early in the pm. Call me crazy for thinking it's either boss or our team leader who should be telling us what to do and when. Perhaps if either of them COMMUNICATED with us by informing us that the schedule was about to be prepared and ASKING us if we had any time off scheduled or classes, some of the scheduling debacle could be eliminated.
I call mad bullshit on my boss telling everybody what she thinks they want to hear. I know people think I "have the boss's ear" (heck, I believe it, to a certain degree). It's great that she feels it's important to listen to everyone's concerns, complaints, and suggestions, but it isn't always useful to say whatever is necessary to appease that person and not share what may be similar issues with EVERYONE.
I call mad bullshit on our unit getting the short-end of the stick. Why is it someone from our unit has to cover the reception desk? Why do we have to sit out at the counter all day while other units lounge at their desks, often not checking their queue so our unit's counter person has to run back and let them know when they have a customer out front? Why can one of our workers go over and cover phones and their counter while they have a department meeting, but our unit has to schedule our meeting an hour before start time rather than have someone from another unit cover for us?
I call mad bullshit on Mr. BlackWife not responding to my email. I emailed him yesterday asking when my cross-training might begin and if there were any problems to let me know. Later, I had to go to him with a customer-related issue. He kindly informed me when I walked in that he'd received my email. Because I had some dude holding on the phone, I didn't dwell on the issue at that moment. I then didn't hear anything else about it and still have not gotten a response.
I was feeling a little guilty about bidding for that BCA job since I was finally seeing potential with a boss I like and possible advancement opportunity. Right now, I'm so annoyed and sick of so much of this bullshit I'm will to suffer through the hour-long bus trip to the sketchier side of St. Paul for what I hope would be a change of scenery.
I call mad bullshit on my boss whining about how our unit doesn't "communicate" with each other, then not bothering to inform ALL OF US about things going on in our unit. One has to lead by example, see? If I have to send a unit-wide email out when I'm gonna miss a day, she maybe should do the same. Changes to the way we do mail, answer phones, or assign tasks is something we ALL need to hear about from THE BOSS, not a fellow co-worker.
I call mad bullshit on my boss acting like we're kindergartners and "punishing" all of us for the actions of one. Fine. Jeans at the front counter don't look professional. Okay. Any of us could be called on to go to the front counter at any time for a variety of reasons. Deal. I will keep a pair of pants (or a skirt) at my desk in case I need to work at the counter on a non-scheduled day. Only ONE PERSON seems to conveniently never have a change of clothes, but does she deal with THAT PERSON? No, she decides to implement a no-jeans policy for everyone. Make like a boss, and BOSS!
On the same tip, I call mad bullshit on my boss throwing up her hands and deciding to let the prisoners run the prison (for lack of a better analogy). She came up with a scheduling plan and some of us were fine with it. Occasionally, people shifted things around, but rarely was it inconvenient to anyone. A handful of people got their whine on, so she decided (without informing all of us) to let each of us do the schedule. Yeah, guess how well that's working out. Someone actually scheduled herself at the counter on a day when she's at a class in the am and leaving early in the pm. Call me crazy for thinking it's either boss or our team leader who should be telling us what to do and when. Perhaps if either of them COMMUNICATED with us by informing us that the schedule was about to be prepared and ASKING us if we had any time off scheduled or classes, some of the scheduling debacle could be eliminated.
I call mad bullshit on my boss telling everybody what she thinks they want to hear. I know people think I "have the boss's ear" (heck, I believe it, to a certain degree). It's great that she feels it's important to listen to everyone's concerns, complaints, and suggestions, but it isn't always useful to say whatever is necessary to appease that person and not share what may be similar issues with EVERYONE.
I call mad bullshit on our unit getting the short-end of the stick. Why is it someone from our unit has to cover the reception desk? Why do we have to sit out at the counter all day while other units lounge at their desks, often not checking their queue so our unit's counter person has to run back and let them know when they have a customer out front? Why can one of our workers go over and cover phones and their counter while they have a department meeting, but our unit has to schedule our meeting an hour before start time rather than have someone from another unit cover for us?
I call mad bullshit on Mr. BlackWife not responding to my email. I emailed him yesterday asking when my cross-training might begin and if there were any problems to let me know. Later, I had to go to him with a customer-related issue. He kindly informed me when I walked in that he'd received my email. Because I had some dude holding on the phone, I didn't dwell on the issue at that moment. I then didn't hear anything else about it and still have not gotten a response.
I was feeling a little guilty about bidding for that BCA job since I was finally seeing potential with a boss I like and possible advancement opportunity. Right now, I'm so annoyed and sick of so much of this bullshit I'm will to suffer through the hour-long bus trip to the sketchier side of St. Paul for what I hope would be a change of scenery.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Gnews
It's been a while, but that's just cause my life is not that exciting. Since the episode with Mr. BlackWife there hasn't been much going on. We made loose plans for my 'training' to start and so far, nothing has happened. I'm starting to wonder if that was all a bunch of Who-Shot-John on the part of my boss. I don't know. I just know I'm extremely burned-out at this place. Maybe I'm just having a bad day...or week, but it's taken a lot of energy to drag my ass in here the last few weeks.
There was a post for position similar to mine at the BCA and because of my talk with Mr. BlackWife, I initially wasn't gonna apply for it but decided to post a bid for it today (the deadline). Working in DEV is much more along the lines of what I want to do because it would allow me to use my criminal justice education and my psychology course work at the same time. Maybe something like that is available at the BCA, but not likely. Still, I liked working there before (even though it's so far away and it felk less bullshitty than working downtown). I think I'm gonna email Mr. BlackWife (AGAIN) and see if this training thing is gonna happen. If so, I can maybe rescind my bid. If not, well I'll cross my fingers that the BCA hires me and I get through the probation period without cussing out a criminal.
Otherwise, things have been pretty boring. I haven't gone to the movies since Pandorum despite vowing to every other weekend. No Paranormal Activity or Zombieland or District 9. Money's too tight for traipsing off to the theater anyway. I did a good bit of satisfying my horror itch though and now I have no idea what to do with my Netflix queue. I'd love to FINALLY finish season 3 of Dexter, but disc 2 has been a "long wait" since it was released in August. I was gonna see if my local Hollywood Video had it last Wednesday, but um, I missed the memo that told me they were packing up and moving out. If I get desperate maybe I'll check with Blockbuster. Maybe.
My lunch break is almost over and I still haven't gotten any lunch yet, so I'm gonna end this abruptly right here.
This might have been my most boring post ever.
There was a post for position similar to mine at the BCA and because of my talk with Mr. BlackWife, I initially wasn't gonna apply for it but decided to post a bid for it today (the deadline). Working in DEV is much more along the lines of what I want to do because it would allow me to use my criminal justice education and my psychology course work at the same time. Maybe something like that is available at the BCA, but not likely. Still, I liked working there before (even though it's so far away and it felk less bullshitty than working downtown). I think I'm gonna email Mr. BlackWife (AGAIN) and see if this training thing is gonna happen. If so, I can maybe rescind my bid. If not, well I'll cross my fingers that the BCA hires me and I get through the probation period without cussing out a criminal.
Otherwise, things have been pretty boring. I haven't gone to the movies since Pandorum despite vowing to every other weekend. No Paranormal Activity or Zombieland or District 9. Money's too tight for traipsing off to the theater anyway. I did a good bit of satisfying my horror itch though and now I have no idea what to do with my Netflix queue. I'd love to FINALLY finish season 3 of Dexter, but disc 2 has been a "long wait" since it was released in August. I was gonna see if my local Hollywood Video had it last Wednesday, but um, I missed the memo that told me they were packing up and moving out. If I get desperate maybe I'll check with Blockbuster. Maybe.
My lunch break is almost over and I still haven't gotten any lunch yet, so I'm gonna end this abruptly right here.
This might have been my most boring post ever.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Getting this over with
I'm meeting with Mr. BlackWife at 11 today.
Update: So I had my meeting with Mr. BlackWife and he seems like a nice enough, sincere guy. We talked for about 30 minutes about what I hope to do here and in the future career-wise. He was very helpful in explaining what they do in DEV and what I could learn there. He also told me how my experiences there could help me make a move to another area (say the courts or the BCA).
Overall, it was a good discussion and it looks like I'll be cross-training beginning in the near future here. I'm really looking forward to it. This job might not be so dead-end after all.
Update: So I had my meeting with Mr. BlackWife and he seems like a nice enough, sincere guy. We talked for about 30 minutes about what I hope to do here and in the future career-wise. He was very helpful in explaining what they do in DEV and what I could learn there. He also told me how my experiences there could help me make a move to another area (say the courts or the BCA).
Overall, it was a good discussion and it looks like I'll be cross-training beginning in the near future here. I'm really looking forward to it. This job might not be so dead-end after all.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Um, not letting it go
So I just left yet ANOTHER meeting with my boss. She was on the verge of tears and asking me if I want her to resign because she feels so badly about what happened. Egads! This is getting fucking ridiculous.
The good thing is that I got some clarification about what the heck is going on. For example, she let me know that she never told him everything about our conversation. On Friday, she went and told him we had a conversation about my "attitude". That's when he said she shouldn't have told me that. None of the wife stuff was brought up apparently (since he's actually above my boss and she certainly isn't looking to get fired). The conversation they had was just two supervisors discussing advancement potential of an another employee.
It's good to know that he doesn't know about all this. I can kinda go in with a clean slate, but I still need to hold off a day or two to make sure my head is in the right place. Perhaps tomorrow or Thursday I'll try for the sitdown with him.
I have now made it CLEAR to my boss that I have heard the last of her apologies. I told her frankly, it wasn't my place to make her feel better about all this and that I really need to give some time and space to sort this out for myself. She agreed, but encouraged me to go speak to him and utilize him as a valuable resources into other criminal justice opportunities.
I really hope this is the last of this. I feel a little bad because she feels so bad, but I can't deal with her checking on me every 2 or 3 hours giving me the puppy dog eyes of how sorry she is.
Perhaps I will use all this as leverage so we can wear jeans again. And I might just leave a wee bit early today too.
The good thing is that I got some clarification about what the heck is going on. For example, she let me know that she never told him everything about our conversation. On Friday, she went and told him we had a conversation about my "attitude". That's when he said she shouldn't have told me that. None of the wife stuff was brought up apparently (since he's actually above my boss and she certainly isn't looking to get fired). The conversation they had was just two supervisors discussing advancement potential of an another employee.
It's good to know that he doesn't know about all this. I can kinda go in with a clean slate, but I still need to hold off a day or two to make sure my head is in the right place. Perhaps tomorrow or Thursday I'll try for the sitdown with him.
I have now made it CLEAR to my boss that I have heard the last of her apologies. I told her frankly, it wasn't my place to make her feel better about all this and that I really need to give some time and space to sort this out for myself. She agreed, but encouraged me to go speak to him and utilize him as a valuable resources into other criminal justice opportunities.
I really hope this is the last of this. I feel a little bad because she feels so bad, but I can't deal with her checking on me every 2 or 3 hours giving me the puppy dog eyes of how sorry she is.
Perhaps I will use all this as leverage so we can wear jeans again. And I might just leave a wee bit early today too.
Monday, October 05, 2009
I KNOW Black people pt. 2...It's complicated
So remember my little work dilemma from the other day? Well, my boss tried to fix things on Friday and she kinda has made what was a kinda awkward, mildly humorous situation into something extremely uncomfortable.
She came to me on Friday and said I should disregard everything that she said because she shouldn't have told me in the first place. She was referring in particular to that bit about his wife which she explained was personal information she told her in confidence. She said she might have made implications about what he meant by that that weren't his intention. I acknowledged that the information I received was second-hand and therefore, not as reliable. However, I also let her know that she could not unring that bell and that the impression I got (and clearly, she did as well) was that the personal information was given to her as a way to explain why he had a particular impression of me. So frankly, I think it was relevant in our conversation. (AmIright?) And mind you, she did confirm that he did indeed make the statement about his wife. I told her she didn't really need to keep apologizing to me, but I also told her that the situation was now strained and that I wasn't so sure about working with him.
Well, this only made her feel worse, so what does she do? She goes and tells him about the conversations she and I had on Thursday. According to her, he told her that she had no business telling me that bit of personal information and that I should come speak to him. She brought this bit of info to me and that's about when I nearly went off. I was working the counter and biding my time until lunch, so I certainly wasn't about to rush off to have a sit-down with this guy over this. I told I would not be going over to speak to him (that day) because I certainly would have an "attitude", so I planned to take some time and hash this out.
Well, guess who stopped by my cube today? That's right. Mr. BlackWife! He says, "[Your boss] said you were gonna come by to talk to me about a school project." Uh, no, but perhaps someone is confused. I told him I wasn't coming over today, and he gives me a why not look and I'm like, "It's complicated." He just says, "Whenever you're ready," and walks away.
Before I was mostly a little annoyed, dumbstruck, and mildly amused. Now that I think about it I'm pissed. And the anger has definitely shifted from Mr. BlackWife to my supervisor who just keeps digging this trench for all of us to sink into. As much as I'd like to believe I could, there is no way I can meet with this guy without bringing all of this up and getting pissed again. This is now an advancement opportunity that has kinda been fucked FOR me. I didn't even get a chance to screw this up. After Thursday, I figured I'd give myself a week or two to mull everything over and let myself simmer down. Now, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage if I go see him sooner and yet, I feel like the longer I wait, the worse the situation. Like I'll look like I'm holding a grudge.
I don't like it when I feel someone else has sabotaged an opportunity for me. Granted, this isn't something that was guaranteed, but now I just don't know if this is a reparable situation because it's all wonky.
This is like that episode of Seinfeld when that couple asks Elaine to be a reference for them to adopt a baby and she's all "Oh, sure. I'd love to," but she then totally tanks it for them by talking about the guy's bad side. Yeah, it's a little kinda like that, but slightly less funny.
She came to me on Friday and said I should disregard everything that she said because she shouldn't have told me in the first place. She was referring in particular to that bit about his wife which she explained was personal information she told her in confidence. She said she might have made implications about what he meant by that that weren't his intention. I acknowledged that the information I received was second-hand and therefore, not as reliable. However, I also let her know that she could not unring that bell and that the impression I got (and clearly, she did as well) was that the personal information was given to her as a way to explain why he had a particular impression of me. So frankly, I think it was relevant in our conversation. (AmIright?) And mind you, she did confirm that he did indeed make the statement about his wife. I told her she didn't really need to keep apologizing to me, but I also told her that the situation was now strained and that I wasn't so sure about working with him.
Well, this only made her feel worse, so what does she do? She goes and tells him about the conversations she and I had on Thursday. According to her, he told her that she had no business telling me that bit of personal information and that I should come speak to him. She brought this bit of info to me and that's about when I nearly went off. I was working the counter and biding my time until lunch, so I certainly wasn't about to rush off to have a sit-down with this guy over this. I told I would not be going over to speak to him (that day) because I certainly would have an "attitude", so I planned to take some time and hash this out.
Well, guess who stopped by my cube today? That's right. Mr. BlackWife! He says, "[Your boss] said you were gonna come by to talk to me about a school project." Uh, no, but perhaps someone is confused. I told him I wasn't coming over today, and he gives me a why not look and I'm like, "It's complicated." He just says, "Whenever you're ready," and walks away.
Before I was mostly a little annoyed, dumbstruck, and mildly amused. Now that I think about it I'm pissed. And the anger has definitely shifted from Mr. BlackWife to my supervisor who just keeps digging this trench for all of us to sink into. As much as I'd like to believe I could, there is no way I can meet with this guy without bringing all of this up and getting pissed again. This is now an advancement opportunity that has kinda been fucked FOR me. I didn't even get a chance to screw this up. After Thursday, I figured I'd give myself a week or two to mull everything over and let myself simmer down. Now, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage if I go see him sooner and yet, I feel like the longer I wait, the worse the situation. Like I'll look like I'm holding a grudge.
I don't like it when I feel someone else has sabotaged an opportunity for me. Granted, this isn't something that was guaranteed, but now I just don't know if this is a reparable situation because it's all wonky.
This is like that episode of Seinfeld when that couple asks Elaine to be a reference for them to adopt a baby and she's all "Oh, sure. I'd love to," but she then totally tanks it for them by talking about the guy's bad side. Yeah, it's a little kinda like that, but slightly less funny.
2009 Year in Review...so far
I have seen A LOT of movies this year. I’ve probably seen more movies in the theater this year than in the last two years combined! And I LIKE IT! I have to give credit to a lot of podcasts which have helped refresh my love and appreciation of the horror genre. Having seen so many flicks this year, I feel the need to take a look back and review the year 2009 so far.
I started the year off all atwitter for the release of My Bloody Valentine 3D in January. While I do like the original, I’m not a giant fan of it, so I wasn’t too annoyed by it being remade. As it turned out, I really liked this movie. Unlike a lot of the recent movies, it’s is not a name-only remake. By taking the film out of small town 80s Canada, they modernized it and added a different element. Many seemed to think this was a fault, but I tend to hate modern remakes which try to recreate the time period of the original film more than ones which go with a current theme and setting. The acting in this one is a bit stiff, particularly from Jaime King and Jensen Ackles. Having seen the latter in Supernatural, I think that’s just his thing, but it’s still kinda lame. The kills were good, serviced by the awesome 3D. In general, it was actually fun to watch. And yeah, I did buy the DVD with its blue/red 3D. It doesn’t look nearly as good, the movie still holds up for me.
The Unborn also came out in January, but I certainly wasn’t gonna see that trash in the theater. I ended up Netflixing it back in August and it was so incredibly forgettable that I’ve pretty much forgotten it. I seem to recall a spooky-eyed kid, but that’s every movie nowadays.
Having enjoyed MBV so much, I was super-excited to go to the theater again (something I have lost interest in as I grow older and more crotchety) to check out the remake of Friday the 13th. This was bolstered when I saw the teaser trailer. But then I saw the theater trailer and my enthusiasm waned a bit. Thumbs up for the nod to the original movie’s trailer, thumbs down for showing off too many jump scares. And then I saw the movie and lordhavemercy was it awful. Convoluted attempts to cover events in the original movie series, bad acting, hateful characters, and “clever Boy Scout” Jason were some of the problems I had with this movie. A lot of reviews claimed this one harkened back to ole skool Friday the 13ths, but not for me. I happen to love the early films in that series, particularly the first 4 (I’d venture to call them the pre-zombie Jason films) and I didn’t find any of those characters as vile or obnoxious as in the remake and Jason had much menace than in this movie. Modern filmmakers seem to think a killer can only be frightening if he’s a hulking mass of muscle. I’d advise these filmmakers to peruse a few true crime blogs to see just what sort of damage average-sized citizens can do.
My wait for DVD choice in February was The Uninvited starring Elizabeth Banks. I rented this one a few months ago and found it surprisingly decent. The plot started out pretty standard, so much so it was almost irritating at points, but then the TWIST happened (and no, I didn’t see that coming) and some of the irritating character ticks made sense. I am sick of twist-within-a-twist movies, but at least it keeps me on my toes.
I stayed away from the Cineplex in March, forgoing hanging out with a bunch of strangers to see young girls get raped. I only recently Netflixed The Last House on the Left and my expectations were kinda low, not just because I hated that trailer with that “Sweet Child o’ Mine” remake, but because I actually do not like the original AND because I was sooooo disappointed by F13. About the original, I must say perhaps I’m just jaded or perhaps it’s the bits of camp thrown in, but it just didn’t have the impact on me that others speak about. I can see where it might have been a bit shocking at the time, but mostly it was just boring and a little over-the-top. This one I found more brutal, but also more relatable. Not only did I feel more of a connection to the girls (and later her parents), but I felt more of an understanding of the criminals in this one. I will admit that the survival of two of the characters was a bit of a cop-out and the end scene was…well, it was random stupid, however, everything prior to that made those fairly minor flaws.
Still feeling some of that F13 dejection (and yes, even now at the end of September I’m STILL bitter about what that film did to me), I hopped on the bandwagon for The Haunting in Connecticut. This did not make me feel better about paying $6 (matinee) for a ticket and almost $10 for soda and popcorn (both small, mind you). I pretty much hated this movie. I have a real issue with movies that are allegedly based on real events that then do some ridiculous stuff that in no way happened in real life. I mean, did the cancer kid in real life (SPOILER!!!) really find dead bodies behind the walls? I doubt it. Also, I guess I never really felt like anyone was actually in danger since this is based on the family’s own account which shouldn’t matter since The Amityville Horror (the original) managed to scare me with a very similar premise. Of course, I was about 8-years-old and studying the Bible with demon-believer Jehovah’s Witnesses when I saw The Amityville Horror. Also, one word: JodyThePigFacedDemon.
I pretty much spent the next few weeks getting caught up on DVD releases. I finally watched Let the Right One In and while I really enjoyed the movie, I certainly didn’t think it was as amazing as the hype made it seem. I’d even argue whether this is even a horror movie, if I were better suited to get into that type of argument. I’m not, so I won’t, but that might affect how I feel about the reverence this film gets in horror circles. Again, it’s good, but it’s not all that.
May brought us Sam Raimi’s “return to horror” Drag Me to Hell. LeSigh. I did not like this movie. As I noted in my post on the movie, I was in Hell at the theater with a quite talky audience. What I might not have mentioned is that I am not as big a fan of the Evil Dead series as others. I liked the first movie and the second is a-ight, but the hijinks of Army of Darkness turn me off. (Not that that stopped me from buying it.) There! I said it. Sue me. Or move on with your life because this really doesn’t affect you.
I’m pretty sure it was during this time that I ramped up my Netflix streaming activities. I managed to watch some gems, including Splinter, Severance, Shiver, and The Signal (lots of S-titles there). I don’t believe I watched all of those in April/May, but whatever! I watched those and I liked ‘em! Also streamed and liked so far this year: Red (not really horror, but it’s based on a Jack Ketchum story and it has Kyle Gallner who is becoming a bit of a horror staple so go with it), Shrooms, Spiral (again with the S’s), Right At Your Door, Grindhouse: Double Feature (FINALLY!), Prom Night (the remake which I *gasp* didn’t hate, although I also *meh* didn’t love it), Blackout, The Host, and The Alphabet Killer. Streamed and not liked: Deadgirl. Not all of these are NEW, but they’re new to me so let it go, mmkay.
And I wasn’t just streaming movies! I also got some stuff in the mails too! I have been a movie-watching fool, yo. I think it’s the lack of fancy cable and my inability to get into any TV shows. So, Things What I Liked: Midnight Meat Train, Donkey Punch, Cold Prey (See it! See it now!), End of the Line, Shuttle, Eden Lake, Rogue, Black Water, Frontiers (ah, the French), and My Name is Bruce. Some of these might have been streamed, but I can barely remember what I did last week, let alone months ago. Besides, does it matter if it streamed or if I got the disc? I didn’t think so. I do know that some, like the awesome Cold Prey, are streaming now so get thee to Netflix.
Now we’ve reached the halfway point in the year. My movie-going activities heat up starting with checking out Orphan in late June/early July (?). This was another surprisingly good flick with a twist I didn’t totally see coming. I mean, I got half the twist, but not the whole twist. I hope we see the young actress who played Esther in more stuff in the future because she really rocked in this. My only complaint it that this suffered from a similar problem I had with The Uninvited: Dolty Dad. Dudes, get a freakin’ clue.
The end of summer saw me at the theater a 5 whole times. I started August with The Perfect Getaway, sort-of who’s the real bad guy vehicle. I came away initially not all that pleased with this one, but in retrospect, I think I really liked it. At least, I’d watch it again, which is a good measure of a film in my book.
As you may recall, in late August I created my own double feature by seeing Rob Zombie’s H2 and The Final Destination (in 3D) on the same day…at two different theaters. The Final Destination (viewed at MOA) was only okay. The 3D was weak and the story and acting were terrible. And then there was H2. Even now, one month later the overwhelming reaction I have to this movie is disappointment. Rob really missed the boat on this. As I stated before, somewhere in the hot mess that was shat on screen was a good movie (or maybe two). Rob just didn’t know how to execute it.
Finally, we have reached September with the remakening Sorority Row. This movie was a big vat of meh. I kinda just didn’t care. Also, last weekend I checked out Pandorum and I didn’t really like it. However, I think I have to see it again because I might have not gotten it upon first viewing. I might see it again in a cheap theater (which wouldn’t be too painful since it starts the luscious Ben Foster…purrrrrrrr).
So that’s what I’ve been up to movie-wise for the past 9 months…and there’s more to come. This weekend brought the opening of Zombieland which I’m mildly-excited about (only mildly because I’m just not crazy about horror comedy). And there’s a couple of more genre flicks before we reach the Oscar-bait Only part of the movies season. So I’m looking forward to check out more stuff. I haven’t lurved everything, but I’ve been happy seeing flicks on the big screen again. So yeah, there's that.
I started the year off all atwitter for the release of My Bloody Valentine 3D in January. While I do like the original, I’m not a giant fan of it, so I wasn’t too annoyed by it being remade. As it turned out, I really liked this movie. Unlike a lot of the recent movies, it’s is not a name-only remake. By taking the film out of small town 80s Canada, they modernized it and added a different element. Many seemed to think this was a fault, but I tend to hate modern remakes which try to recreate the time period of the original film more than ones which go with a current theme and setting. The acting in this one is a bit stiff, particularly from Jaime King and Jensen Ackles. Having seen the latter in Supernatural, I think that’s just his thing, but it’s still kinda lame. The kills were good, serviced by the awesome 3D. In general, it was actually fun to watch. And yeah, I did buy the DVD with its blue/red 3D. It doesn’t look nearly as good, the movie still holds up for me.
The Unborn also came out in January, but I certainly wasn’t gonna see that trash in the theater. I ended up Netflixing it back in August and it was so incredibly forgettable that I’ve pretty much forgotten it. I seem to recall a spooky-eyed kid, but that’s every movie nowadays.
Having enjoyed MBV so much, I was super-excited to go to the theater again (something I have lost interest in as I grow older and more crotchety) to check out the remake of Friday the 13th. This was bolstered when I saw the teaser trailer. But then I saw the theater trailer and my enthusiasm waned a bit. Thumbs up for the nod to the original movie’s trailer, thumbs down for showing off too many jump scares. And then I saw the movie and lordhavemercy was it awful. Convoluted attempts to cover events in the original movie series, bad acting, hateful characters, and “clever Boy Scout” Jason were some of the problems I had with this movie. A lot of reviews claimed this one harkened back to ole skool Friday the 13ths, but not for me. I happen to love the early films in that series, particularly the first 4 (I’d venture to call them the pre-zombie Jason films) and I didn’t find any of those characters as vile or obnoxious as in the remake and Jason had much menace than in this movie. Modern filmmakers seem to think a killer can only be frightening if he’s a hulking mass of muscle. I’d advise these filmmakers to peruse a few true crime blogs to see just what sort of damage average-sized citizens can do.
My wait for DVD choice in February was The Uninvited starring Elizabeth Banks. I rented this one a few months ago and found it surprisingly decent. The plot started out pretty standard, so much so it was almost irritating at points, but then the TWIST happened (and no, I didn’t see that coming) and some of the irritating character ticks made sense. I am sick of twist-within-a-twist movies, but at least it keeps me on my toes.
I stayed away from the Cineplex in March, forgoing hanging out with a bunch of strangers to see young girls get raped. I only recently Netflixed The Last House on the Left and my expectations were kinda low, not just because I hated that trailer with that “Sweet Child o’ Mine” remake, but because I actually do not like the original AND because I was sooooo disappointed by F13. About the original, I must say perhaps I’m just jaded or perhaps it’s the bits of camp thrown in, but it just didn’t have the impact on me that others speak about. I can see where it might have been a bit shocking at the time, but mostly it was just boring and a little over-the-top. This one I found more brutal, but also more relatable. Not only did I feel more of a connection to the girls (and later her parents), but I felt more of an understanding of the criminals in this one. I will admit that the survival of two of the characters was a bit of a cop-out and the end scene was…well, it was random stupid, however, everything prior to that made those fairly minor flaws.
Still feeling some of that F13 dejection (and yes, even now at the end of September I’m STILL bitter about what that film did to me), I hopped on the bandwagon for The Haunting in Connecticut. This did not make me feel better about paying $6 (matinee) for a ticket and almost $10 for soda and popcorn (both small, mind you). I pretty much hated this movie. I have a real issue with movies that are allegedly based on real events that then do some ridiculous stuff that in no way happened in real life. I mean, did the cancer kid in real life (SPOILER!!!) really find dead bodies behind the walls? I doubt it. Also, I guess I never really felt like anyone was actually in danger since this is based on the family’s own account which shouldn’t matter since The Amityville Horror (the original) managed to scare me with a very similar premise. Of course, I was about 8-years-old and studying the Bible with demon-believer Jehovah’s Witnesses when I saw The Amityville Horror. Also, one word: JodyThePigFacedDemon.
I pretty much spent the next few weeks getting caught up on DVD releases. I finally watched Let the Right One In and while I really enjoyed the movie, I certainly didn’t think it was as amazing as the hype made it seem. I’d even argue whether this is even a horror movie, if I were better suited to get into that type of argument. I’m not, so I won’t, but that might affect how I feel about the reverence this film gets in horror circles. Again, it’s good, but it’s not all that.
May brought us Sam Raimi’s “return to horror” Drag Me to Hell. LeSigh. I did not like this movie. As I noted in my post on the movie, I was in Hell at the theater with a quite talky audience. What I might not have mentioned is that I am not as big a fan of the Evil Dead series as others. I liked the first movie and the second is a-ight, but the hijinks of Army of Darkness turn me off. (Not that that stopped me from buying it.) There! I said it. Sue me. Or move on with your life because this really doesn’t affect you.
I’m pretty sure it was during this time that I ramped up my Netflix streaming activities. I managed to watch some gems, including Splinter, Severance, Shiver, and The Signal (lots of S-titles there). I don’t believe I watched all of those in April/May, but whatever! I watched those and I liked ‘em! Also streamed and liked so far this year: Red (not really horror, but it’s based on a Jack Ketchum story and it has Kyle Gallner who is becoming a bit of a horror staple so go with it), Shrooms, Spiral (again with the S’s), Right At Your Door, Grindhouse: Double Feature (FINALLY!), Prom Night (the remake which I *gasp* didn’t hate, although I also *meh* didn’t love it), Blackout, The Host, and The Alphabet Killer. Streamed and not liked: Deadgirl. Not all of these are NEW, but they’re new to me so let it go, mmkay.
And I wasn’t just streaming movies! I also got some stuff in the mails too! I have been a movie-watching fool, yo. I think it’s the lack of fancy cable and my inability to get into any TV shows. So, Things What I Liked: Midnight Meat Train, Donkey Punch, Cold Prey (See it! See it now!), End of the Line, Shuttle, Eden Lake, Rogue, Black Water, Frontiers (ah, the French), and My Name is Bruce. Some of these might have been streamed, but I can barely remember what I did last week, let alone months ago. Besides, does it matter if it streamed or if I got the disc? I didn’t think so. I do know that some, like the awesome Cold Prey, are streaming now so get thee to Netflix.
Now we’ve reached the halfway point in the year. My movie-going activities heat up starting with checking out Orphan in late June/early July (?). This was another surprisingly good flick with a twist I didn’t totally see coming. I mean, I got half the twist, but not the whole twist. I hope we see the young actress who played Esther in more stuff in the future because she really rocked in this. My only complaint it that this suffered from a similar problem I had with The Uninvited: Dolty Dad. Dudes, get a freakin’ clue.
The end of summer saw me at the theater a 5 whole times. I started August with The Perfect Getaway, sort-of who’s the real bad guy vehicle. I came away initially not all that pleased with this one, but in retrospect, I think I really liked it. At least, I’d watch it again, which is a good measure of a film in my book.
As you may recall, in late August I created my own double feature by seeing Rob Zombie’s H2 and The Final Destination (in 3D) on the same day…at two different theaters. The Final Destination (viewed at MOA) was only okay. The 3D was weak and the story and acting were terrible. And then there was H2. Even now, one month later the overwhelming reaction I have to this movie is disappointment. Rob really missed the boat on this. As I stated before, somewhere in the hot mess that was shat on screen was a good movie (or maybe two). Rob just didn’t know how to execute it.
Finally, we have reached September with the remakening Sorority Row. This movie was a big vat of meh. I kinda just didn’t care. Also, last weekend I checked out Pandorum and I didn’t really like it. However, I think I have to see it again because I might have not gotten it upon first viewing. I might see it again in a cheap theater (which wouldn’t be too painful since it starts the luscious Ben Foster…purrrrrrrr).
So that’s what I’ve been up to movie-wise for the past 9 months…and there’s more to come. This weekend brought the opening of Zombieland which I’m mildly-excited about (only mildly because I’m just not crazy about horror comedy). And there’s a couple of more genre flicks before we reach the Oscar-bait Only part of the movies season. So I’m looking forward to check out more stuff. I haven’t lurved everything, but I’ve been happy seeing flicks on the big screen again. So yeah, there's that.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
I KNOW Black people
So this happened.
This afternoon my supervisor pulled me into a meeting. Backing up, a few weeks ago I had my annual review (1 1/2 months late, but whatevs...pay-freeze means no raise, so I wasn't missing out on anything except her telling me how awesome I am). In that review, she explained that she can see that while I'm good at my job, it isn't very challenging for me and she can sense that I am getting bored. She clarified that she doesn't want to lose me in our unit, but that she also sees potential for me to grow. Knowing my interest in criminal justice, she suggested that over the next year I might do some cross-training with our Driver Evaluations unit which deals with the more criminal aspects of Driver and Vehicle Services (suspensions, revocations, DUIs, and the like). She told me that she would speak to that unit's manager about me and see what he thinks of the idea.
Flashforward to today. In our meeting she told me that she spoke to him about me and the cross-training thing. She said she sang my praises and told him about my educational pursuits. Apparently, this guy also got his education through Metro studying criminal justice and psychology, so his interest was peaked. Except for one thing: he thinks---wait for it---I have an ATTITUDE problem! My super explained that I am a take-no-guff no-time-to-stop-and-chitchat sorta person, but I'm also very funny, very friendly (when you get to know me), and most important, very good at my job and with dealing with customers. His response was that he is married to a Black woman so he knows about attitude and he thinks there's "something else going on". He used examples such as I barely acknowledge him when I pass him in the hallways or I don't make eye contact with him when I see him. He told her that he is intrigued and to tell me if I really am interested I need to show it by approaching him. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled at the end of our meeting (but I love my boss, so we walked out laughing), but I told her I would definitely think about it. I also told her I was totally gonna tell my friends about his "I have a Black wife" comment because that's how I roll.
Well, I've been mulling this over since walking out of that meeting room. I've been trying to decide if I'm crazy to be a little offended by this. This isn't me mulling over a potential lawsuit or anything, but I'm just really pissed. What the hell does his marriage have to do with anything? He knows a Black woman so he can make stereotypical generalizations about all of us? Oh, you know Black women and their attitudes. I've been dealing with this shit all of my life and it gets really tiring. I know I can be a frosty bitch some days and I do have a tough time hiding it, but so often the complaints are things that I suspect are an issue BECAUSE people hold this stereotype about Black women. People have bad days, dammit. It's not a Black thing; it's a freakin' human thing. I walk by plenty of people everyday at work who don't make eye contact or attempt to say hello. I don't assume they're all racist. And that's a lie by the way because I've totally given this dude the 'how's it going' headnod. Am I supposed to do a fucking cartwheel when I see him? (My boss jokingly suggested I grab his balls and bark hello inches from his face. You see why I love her?)
I expressed this to my boss who became worried that she maybe shouldn't have told me that part, but as I see it, she had every reason/right to tell me as his assessment of me as a person (who happens to be a Black woman) are based on the "knowledge" he's gained about Black people through his marriage. HE TOLD HER AS MUCH! So she's not in the wrong.
Now, the opportunity to work in DEV would be great. Boredom isn't the only reason I spent much of the morning reading DUI statutes. This is something I would like to examine more. As remarkable as it may sound, I really like dealing with customers. Hell, I spent almost an hour on the phone explaining records to a customer earlier today. More than a few times I've gone out of my job's way to Google a statute to explain something a customer didn't quite understand. I've even calmed down irate customers a few times. ME!!! Ms. Attitude.
However, I don't know how comfortable I feel about approaching him. This is further bolstered by comments my boss attributed to him which make it sound like he wants to study me like a lab rat. She used words like "fascinated" and "intrigued" and "interested". Since this was her recounting her conversation with him I can't really put them into context, but it kinda skeeves me out to think someone (a potential boss) is looking at me like "I want to get to the root of her being." The way I explained it to my boss, it isn't in his fucking job description to analyze me (and this was an informal meeting and my boss pretty much adores me, so I actually did drop that f-bomb on her which just made her laugh). Assess me to see if I'm suited to the job, yes. Play Oprah and get to the root of my "attitude problem', not so much.
So I think I'm gonna go to my supervisor again and ask her how much of what I learned about their conversatio I am free to bring up to him IF I decide to pursue this opportunity. But help me out here, friends. Am I being overly-sensitive here? If I meet with him, should I bring this up? I'd really just like to hear him clarify what he meant by that statement and how (the hell) he feels that has anything to do with whether I should cross-train with DEV. So I'm asking for feedback. Honesty is appreciated, so tell me what you really think.
This afternoon my supervisor pulled me into a meeting. Backing up, a few weeks ago I had my annual review (1 1/2 months late, but whatevs...pay-freeze means no raise, so I wasn't missing out on anything except her telling me how awesome I am). In that review, she explained that she can see that while I'm good at my job, it isn't very challenging for me and she can sense that I am getting bored. She clarified that she doesn't want to lose me in our unit, but that she also sees potential for me to grow. Knowing my interest in criminal justice, she suggested that over the next year I might do some cross-training with our Driver Evaluations unit which deals with the more criminal aspects of Driver and Vehicle Services (suspensions, revocations, DUIs, and the like). She told me that she would speak to that unit's manager about me and see what he thinks of the idea.
Flashforward to today. In our meeting she told me that she spoke to him about me and the cross-training thing. She said she sang my praises and told him about my educational pursuits. Apparently, this guy also got his education through Metro studying criminal justice and psychology, so his interest was peaked. Except for one thing: he thinks---wait for it---I have an ATTITUDE problem! My super explained that I am a take-no-guff no-time-to-stop-and-chitchat sorta person, but I'm also very funny, very friendly (when you get to know me), and most important, very good at my job and with dealing with customers. His response was that he is married to a Black woman so he knows about attitude and he thinks there's "something else going on". He used examples such as I barely acknowledge him when I pass him in the hallways or I don't make eye contact with him when I see him. He told her that he is intrigued and to tell me if I really am interested I need to show it by approaching him. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled at the end of our meeting (but I love my boss, so we walked out laughing), but I told her I would definitely think about it. I also told her I was totally gonna tell my friends about his "I have a Black wife" comment because that's how I roll.
Well, I've been mulling this over since walking out of that meeting room. I've been trying to decide if I'm crazy to be a little offended by this. This isn't me mulling over a potential lawsuit or anything, but I'm just really pissed. What the hell does his marriage have to do with anything? He knows a Black woman so he can make stereotypical generalizations about all of us? Oh, you know Black women and their attitudes. I've been dealing with this shit all of my life and it gets really tiring. I know I can be a frosty bitch some days and I do have a tough time hiding it, but so often the complaints are things that I suspect are an issue BECAUSE people hold this stereotype about Black women. People have bad days, dammit. It's not a Black thing; it's a freakin' human thing. I walk by plenty of people everyday at work who don't make eye contact or attempt to say hello. I don't assume they're all racist. And that's a lie by the way because I've totally given this dude the 'how's it going' headnod. Am I supposed to do a fucking cartwheel when I see him? (My boss jokingly suggested I grab his balls and bark hello inches from his face. You see why I love her?)
I expressed this to my boss who became worried that she maybe shouldn't have told me that part, but as I see it, she had every reason/right to tell me as his assessment of me as a person (who happens to be a Black woman) are based on the "knowledge" he's gained about Black people through his marriage. HE TOLD HER AS MUCH! So she's not in the wrong.
Now, the opportunity to work in DEV would be great. Boredom isn't the only reason I spent much of the morning reading DUI statutes. This is something I would like to examine more. As remarkable as it may sound, I really like dealing with customers. Hell, I spent almost an hour on the phone explaining records to a customer earlier today. More than a few times I've gone out of my job's way to Google a statute to explain something a customer didn't quite understand. I've even calmed down irate customers a few times. ME!!! Ms. Attitude.
However, I don't know how comfortable I feel about approaching him. This is further bolstered by comments my boss attributed to him which make it sound like he wants to study me like a lab rat. She used words like "fascinated" and "intrigued" and "interested". Since this was her recounting her conversation with him I can't really put them into context, but it kinda skeeves me out to think someone (a potential boss) is looking at me like "I want to get to the root of her being." The way I explained it to my boss, it isn't in his fucking job description to analyze me (and this was an informal meeting and my boss pretty much adores me, so I actually did drop that f-bomb on her which just made her laugh). Assess me to see if I'm suited to the job, yes. Play Oprah and get to the root of my "attitude problem', not so much.
So I think I'm gonna go to my supervisor again and ask her how much of what I learned about their conversatio I am free to bring up to him IF I decide to pursue this opportunity. But help me out here, friends. Am I being overly-sensitive here? If I meet with him, should I bring this up? I'd really just like to hear him clarify what he meant by that statement and how (the hell) he feels that has anything to do with whether I should cross-train with DEV. So I'm asking for feedback. Honesty is appreciated, so tell me what you really think.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Things what I hated about H2 : Spoiler-y edition
Yeah, I know I said I'd wait a few days, but I've changed my mind. Deal with it. There are some mad spoilers in this, so fair warning and all that.
Okay I've already detailed how looong the opening sequence was. So let's get to the other stuff.
Like New Laurie. This chick is ir-ri-ta-ting! I couldn't relate or sympathize with her at all. I get that the trauma of the incident is suppose to have caused this big personality change, but her so-called rebel came off as a freakin' BRAT. Apparently, one concept for the original Halloween II was for Michael to come after Laurie 3 years later as she's started to move on and put her life back together. I always thought that would have been interesting (and sorta ended up happening with H20), but I liked the continuation of events through the night. I feel Zombie's story might have benefited from a wider time span between the previous movies events and this movies (and in reality the movies are 2 years apart, so why not).
Here, Zombie tries to remedy some of what he screwed up in part one by giving more depth to his characters. Unfortunately, he clearly doesn't know any real people. Laurie and her new friends are just obnoxious. They say 'fuck' a lot and make sexy comments because that's what wild women do. Annie is about the only character I really felt was broadened in this film. You did get a sense that she just wasn't over nearly being killed a year ago. The credit for that might just go to Danielle Harris more than Zombie. Once again, he fails to really flesh out his characters, at least the ones you're supposed to be scared for.
I also didn't like the random kills just thrown in. What was the point of him stopping at the Rabbit in Red except for the reference to the first movie? Yeah, okay. He comes across the trash guy during his travels (another WTF thing about this movie...I kept thinking of Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" when those scenes came up), but why bother going into the bar to kill people? I'll allow the people in the truck, but it still seemed thrown in to up the kill count. While I get that Michael stalks and kills Laurie's friends, the killing of the girl in the van was so random (and perhaps to a similar kill in Prom Night, hmm?), especially since he freakin' teleported to the house moments later. (Another sign of the Jasonifying of Michael Myers by Mr. Zombie.) A lot of the kills in this movie seemed to be there as an attempt to keep people from falling asleep.
I know some people find Giant Michael more frightening than Carpenter's Michael, but his massive size takes a lot of the suspense out of the movie for me. Michael's "normalcy" in the original film is one of the things that makes him so terrifying. Yeah, big guys are scary, but it's that quiet guy you THINK can't harm you that you really need to look out for most of the time. Frankly, I was amazed at the number of people who thought screaming obscenities and threatening a guy who's 7 feet tall was a good idea. Not so surprising when he stomps your face in, dude.
And then there was the Loomis stuff. On the one hand, that was really interesting. I'm into true crime books & shows, so I know that there are a few opportunists out there. (If you ask me, Vincent Bugliosi is one of them. Yeah, I said it! Seriously, read his egomaniacal book Outrage about the O.J. case. THAT should have been called If I Did It as in If I Had Been the One Who Prosecuted the Case). I can get behind Zombie's portrayal of him as someone who would attempt to turn Michael's rampage into a money-making ego stroke. However, it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. I know it was important to Laurie's finding out about her parentage, but a lot of it seemed wasted in this film.
I will give him this: he managed to sneak in a lot of nods to films in the original series which was actually enjoyable. I remember specifically the referral to Michael as a shark. (You may recall Busta's character in Resurrection saying Michael is a "killer shark", that is if you haven't blocked that abomination from your memory.) And the ending definitely harkens back to the ending of Pt. 4 when Jamie has "become" Michael. Also, Laurie sharing visions with Michael is a callback to Pt. 5. And of course, there's the hospital stuff. Here, Zombie managed to "remake" the original Halloween II without it feeling like a rushed obligation the way his "remake" portion of Halloween felt in the first film. Those subtle cues worked way better than stuff like the Rabbit in Red thing.
And one other thing, while I wasn't feeling the love for the new Michael (poor Daeg), that kid and Taylor Scout whatshername look a LOT alike, especially that end scene. Nice casting in that one area.
Lastly for the good stuff, the scene when Laurie walks out with that mask on was genuinely freakin' creepy.
Hey, I can give credit where credit is due.
Simply put, I thought it was a poor follow-up even to his own film. Somewhere in there was some potential, but it got lost in translation somehow. Disappointing.
Okay I've already detailed how looong the opening sequence was. So let's get to the other stuff.
Like New Laurie. This chick is ir-ri-ta-ting! I couldn't relate or sympathize with her at all. I get that the trauma of the incident is suppose to have caused this big personality change, but her so-called rebel came off as a freakin' BRAT. Apparently, one concept for the original Halloween II was for Michael to come after Laurie 3 years later as she's started to move on and put her life back together. I always thought that would have been interesting (and sorta ended up happening with H20), but I liked the continuation of events through the night. I feel Zombie's story might have benefited from a wider time span between the previous movies events and this movies (and in reality the movies are 2 years apart, so why not).
Here, Zombie tries to remedy some of what he screwed up in part one by giving more depth to his characters. Unfortunately, he clearly doesn't know any real people. Laurie and her new friends are just obnoxious. They say 'fuck' a lot and make sexy comments because that's what wild women do. Annie is about the only character I really felt was broadened in this film. You did get a sense that she just wasn't over nearly being killed a year ago. The credit for that might just go to Danielle Harris more than Zombie. Once again, he fails to really flesh out his characters, at least the ones you're supposed to be scared for.
I also didn't like the random kills just thrown in. What was the point of him stopping at the Rabbit in Red except for the reference to the first movie? Yeah, okay. He comes across the trash guy during his travels (another WTF thing about this movie...I kept thinking of Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" when those scenes came up), but why bother going into the bar to kill people? I'll allow the people in the truck, but it still seemed thrown in to up the kill count. While I get that Michael stalks and kills Laurie's friends, the killing of the girl in the van was so random (and perhaps to a similar kill in Prom Night, hmm?), especially since he freakin' teleported to the house moments later. (Another sign of the Jasonifying of Michael Myers by Mr. Zombie.) A lot of the kills in this movie seemed to be there as an attempt to keep people from falling asleep.
I know some people find Giant Michael more frightening than Carpenter's Michael, but his massive size takes a lot of the suspense out of the movie for me. Michael's "normalcy" in the original film is one of the things that makes him so terrifying. Yeah, big guys are scary, but it's that quiet guy you THINK can't harm you that you really need to look out for most of the time. Frankly, I was amazed at the number of people who thought screaming obscenities and threatening a guy who's 7 feet tall was a good idea. Not so surprising when he stomps your face in, dude.
And then there was the Loomis stuff. On the one hand, that was really interesting. I'm into true crime books & shows, so I know that there are a few opportunists out there. (If you ask me, Vincent Bugliosi is one of them. Yeah, I said it! Seriously, read his egomaniacal book Outrage about the O.J. case. THAT should have been called If I Did It as in If I Had Been the One Who Prosecuted the Case). I can get behind Zombie's portrayal of him as someone who would attempt to turn Michael's rampage into a money-making ego stroke. However, it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. I know it was important to Laurie's finding out about her parentage, but a lot of it seemed wasted in this film.
I will give him this: he managed to sneak in a lot of nods to films in the original series which was actually enjoyable. I remember specifically the referral to Michael as a shark. (You may recall Busta's character in Resurrection saying Michael is a "killer shark", that is if you haven't blocked that abomination from your memory.) And the ending definitely harkens back to the ending of Pt. 4 when Jamie has "become" Michael. Also, Laurie sharing visions with Michael is a callback to Pt. 5. And of course, there's the hospital stuff. Here, Zombie managed to "remake" the original Halloween II without it feeling like a rushed obligation the way his "remake" portion of Halloween felt in the first film. Those subtle cues worked way better than stuff like the Rabbit in Red thing.
And one other thing, while I wasn't feeling the love for the new Michael (poor Daeg), that kid and Taylor Scout whatshername look a LOT alike, especially that end scene. Nice casting in that one area.
Lastly for the good stuff, the scene when Laurie walks out with that mask on was genuinely freakin' creepy.
Hey, I can give credit where credit is due.
Simply put, I thought it was a poor follow-up even to his own film. Somewhere in there was some potential, but it got lost in translation somehow. Disappointing.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Plan to see H2? This spoiler warning if for you.
I am about to spoil the shit out of the opening sequence of the movie, so if you haven't seen it and plan to STOP READING NOW!!!
Okay. So yeah, I saw this movie. Despite hating his reimagining of my favorite horror movie EVER, I tried to go in with an open mind. Honest I did! No, for real. I DID! After seeing the trailers (particularly the one withOUT ghostly Sheri Moon), I was intrigued. I went in wanting to be surprised, but came away disappointed. The movie was a convoluted mess.
The movie starts with Laurie wandering in shock through the rainy, deserted streets of Haddonfield after the events of the first movie. She is found by Sheriff Brackett and transported to the hospital where we get loving close-ups of the docs treating her many injuries interspersed with shots of the bodies, including Michael's, being removed from the Myers house. Now the ambulance van is transporting him along a lonely stretch of road. One of the paramedics is talking about how hot he thought dead naked Linda was and how he'd love to fuck her. The other guy is hunched over the steering wheel like your grandma telling the guy how gross he is. Then he decides to get in on the fun and tells a disgusting joke about fucking corpses. Then they slam into a cow in the middle of the road, as you do. Dirty Joke Paramedic is dead and Corpse Fucker Paramedic is pinned and coughing up blood (that happens a lot in this movie). Suddenly, Michael kicks his way out of the van, comes around front, grabs a shard of glass, and stabs Corpse Fucker to death.
Cut back to Laurie now convalescing in the hospital (Haddonfield General here). She has a boot cast on one leg and one arm is bandaged with pins in it (if there's a name for that I don't know because I've fortunately never broken any bones). A nurse is sleeping in the room, but doesn't hear her struggle out of bed and wander off to Annie's room. Annie's in a coma and Laurie cries and begs her not to die on her. A different nurse comes in and starts helping her back to her room. As they are moving down the hall, the nurse is called away to an emergency. Laurie gets dizzy and hobbles back to the nurses station begging for drugs. The nurse returns with a cut on her face and then starts coughing up blood (surprise). Laurie takes off, but not before seeing Michael come in and chop the nurse up but good.
Laurie gimps it down the stairs and runs out of the building. The gate is locked (which is kinda weird because it's only a hospital, not a military base) and hides out in a guard shack which is empty. Michael comes out just as the guard drives back up. Because of the torrential rain storm he doesn't see the mass of seething flesh with an axe off in the distance. He hustles into the shack and finds Laurie hiding under the desk. She's hysterical and can't really express her concerns. He offers to get his car and drive her back. He locks her in and heads to his car. We wait a couple minutes before he returns and is about to unlock the door when Michael whacks him in the back with that axe he procured. Laurie goes back under the desk and Michael literally smashes his way in, and kills her.
Or does he? DundunDUUUUUUUUN! Yeah, since that's only 20 minutes of movie, you probably know that was all a dream. A fucking 20 minute long dream sequence. Frankly, it only goes downhill from there. We get Michael the Hippie Wanderer walking the fields(?) of Haddonfield & killing random people for no fucking reason. We get visions of fucking Sheri Moon channeling Mrs. Voorhees and little Michael and a white horse urging Michael to kill (but not specifically). We get a new little kid playing little Michael. We get egomaniac Dr. Loomis on a book tour with his sassy assistant. New Laurie is no longer a goody-two-shoes baby sitter type. Dude, she has a tramp stamp and she doesn't comb her hair so she has 2 dredlocks and she wears jeans with holes in the knees and says 'fuck' to just about everything and she has even MORE irritating, skanky friends than in the first film. She's badass.
The one thing I will say I found enjoyable were the nods to films in the original series. He manages to reference just about all of the prior flicks, mostly in subtle fashion that I thought was a nice touch. There! I said something good about the movie. I'm not a total hater. Just mostly.
I might post a more detailed explanation about specifically what I hated about this movie in a few days or weeks after those who are gonna see it have seen it and everyone else has thoroughly spoiled it everywhere else.
Overall, I thought the movie was a hot convoluted mess. The completist in me is glad I've seen it, but I can honestly say that if there is another film in the series (god help us), I won't be rushing out to the theater on opening weekend to line Rob's pockets.
And in related news, I saw The Final Destination (TFD, as I call it) today. This movie is far from great, but I had a better time at it than I did at H2. The 3D bothered me more in this one than it did in MBV, but most of the effects worked. Hey, I'll admit it. I flinched a time or two. This is strictly for the theaters. Certainly not worth seeing on DVD.
Okay. So yeah, I saw this movie. Despite hating his reimagining of my favorite horror movie EVER, I tried to go in with an open mind. Honest I did! No, for real. I DID! After seeing the trailers (particularly the one withOUT ghostly Sheri Moon), I was intrigued. I went in wanting to be surprised, but came away disappointed. The movie was a convoluted mess.
The movie starts with Laurie wandering in shock through the rainy, deserted streets of Haddonfield after the events of the first movie. She is found by Sheriff Brackett and transported to the hospital where we get loving close-ups of the docs treating her many injuries interspersed with shots of the bodies, including Michael's, being removed from the Myers house. Now the ambulance van is transporting him along a lonely stretch of road. One of the paramedics is talking about how hot he thought dead naked Linda was and how he'd love to fuck her. The other guy is hunched over the steering wheel like your grandma telling the guy how gross he is. Then he decides to get in on the fun and tells a disgusting joke about fucking corpses. Then they slam into a cow in the middle of the road, as you do. Dirty Joke Paramedic is dead and Corpse Fucker Paramedic is pinned and coughing up blood (that happens a lot in this movie). Suddenly, Michael kicks his way out of the van, comes around front, grabs a shard of glass, and stabs Corpse Fucker to death.
Cut back to Laurie now convalescing in the hospital (Haddonfield General here). She has a boot cast on one leg and one arm is bandaged with pins in it (if there's a name for that I don't know because I've fortunately never broken any bones). A nurse is sleeping in the room, but doesn't hear her struggle out of bed and wander off to Annie's room. Annie's in a coma and Laurie cries and begs her not to die on her. A different nurse comes in and starts helping her back to her room. As they are moving down the hall, the nurse is called away to an emergency. Laurie gets dizzy and hobbles back to the nurses station begging for drugs. The nurse returns with a cut on her face and then starts coughing up blood (surprise). Laurie takes off, but not before seeing Michael come in and chop the nurse up but good.
Laurie gimps it down the stairs and runs out of the building. The gate is locked (which is kinda weird because it's only a hospital, not a military base) and hides out in a guard shack which is empty. Michael comes out just as the guard drives back up. Because of the torrential rain storm he doesn't see the mass of seething flesh with an axe off in the distance. He hustles into the shack and finds Laurie hiding under the desk. She's hysterical and can't really express her concerns. He offers to get his car and drive her back. He locks her in and heads to his car. We wait a couple minutes before he returns and is about to unlock the door when Michael whacks him in the back with that axe he procured. Laurie goes back under the desk and Michael literally smashes his way in, and kills her.
Or does he? DundunDUUUUUUUUN! Yeah, since that's only 20 minutes of movie, you probably know that was all a dream. A fucking 20 minute long dream sequence. Frankly, it only goes downhill from there. We get Michael the Hippie Wanderer walking the fields(?) of Haddonfield & killing random people for no fucking reason. We get visions of fucking Sheri Moon channeling Mrs. Voorhees and little Michael and a white horse urging Michael to kill (but not specifically). We get a new little kid playing little Michael. We get egomaniac Dr. Loomis on a book tour with his sassy assistant. New Laurie is no longer a goody-two-shoes baby sitter type. Dude, she has a tramp stamp and she doesn't comb her hair so she has 2 dredlocks and she wears jeans with holes in the knees and says 'fuck' to just about everything and she has even MORE irritating, skanky friends than in the first film. She's badass.
The one thing I will say I found enjoyable were the nods to films in the original series. He manages to reference just about all of the prior flicks, mostly in subtle fashion that I thought was a nice touch. There! I said something good about the movie. I'm not a total hater. Just mostly.
I might post a more detailed explanation about specifically what I hated about this movie in a few days or weeks after those who are gonna see it have seen it and everyone else has thoroughly spoiled it everywhere else.
Overall, I thought the movie was a hot convoluted mess. The completist in me is glad I've seen it, but I can honestly say that if there is another film in the series (god help us), I won't be rushing out to the theater on opening weekend to line Rob's pockets.
And in related news, I saw The Final Destination (TFD, as I call it) today. This movie is far from great, but I had a better time at it than I did at H2. The 3D bothered me more in this one than it did in MBV, but most of the effects worked. Hey, I'll admit it. I flinched a time or two. This is strictly for the theaters. Certainly not worth seeing on DVD.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I need a vacation
CoWorker I Hate has barely shut her mouth all fucking day. That is made worse because she is talking to CoWorker Who Sits Next to Me by shouting over the cubes like motherfuckas aren't answering phone calls and trying to get work done. This same stupid bitch has actually whined about my use of headphones. Do you see, people? Do you see why I fucking Hate her?
I wish I could make you understand. She's loud and abrasive and smug and acts like she like she wrote the fucking DMV statutes, and gets all pissy when you blow her off or prove her wrong. Her voice is this annoying mixture of nasally Minnesotan, braying hyena, and side-of-the-teeth lisp. I'd rather have to listen to nails on a chalkboard on my iPhone.
And I know she hates me because I'm not afraid to tell her she's wrong or to blow her off or to not kiss her ass. I remember when I fiiiiiirst started, she was sitting with me at the counter and I was trying to explain something to a customer. Granted, I was knew, but she actually shouted over me three times. The customer actually said, "Would you let her talk?" She got real snappy with him basically saying, "Well, she's new and I know what I'm talking about." How rude, right? I left and wouldn't go back out to the counter with her after that.
I wish I could make you understand. She's loud and abrasive and smug and acts like she like she wrote the fucking DMV statutes, and gets all pissy when you blow her off or prove her wrong. Her voice is this annoying mixture of nasally Minnesotan, braying hyena, and side-of-the-teeth lisp. I'd rather have to listen to nails on a chalkboard on my iPhone.
And I know she hates me because I'm not afraid to tell her she's wrong or to blow her off or to not kiss her ass. I remember when I fiiiiiirst started, she was sitting with me at the counter and I was trying to explain something to a customer. Granted, I was knew, but she actually shouted over me three times. The customer actually said, "Would you let her talk?" She got real snappy with him basically saying, "Well, she's new and I know what I'm talking about." How rude, right? I left and wouldn't go back out to the counter with her after that.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
H2: The Rationalizing
So I just read (most of) an interview some dude did with Rob Zombie about H2. As I've said a few times before, I'm intrigued by the idea of this movie. I'm not gonna be one of those people who just will not see a remake on some kind of principle because occasionally, I might be surprised (MBV 3D, TCM). That isn't always the case (F13), but at least my hatred is based on something.
While I'm still not a fan of the first film or Rob Zombie in general for that matter, I really am gonna try to be open minded. The key for me is just ignoring the fact that it's a follow-up to his crappy remake. The interview makes it sound like Rob is trying to move his films away from the original series as much as possible. He isn't even using the classic theme (not that he used it very much or very effectively in the first movie). I don't have a problem with that. If he could change the characters' names, I'd be down with that too. But I think taking that theme which is SOOOOO associated with the original might help those JC diehards (like, say, ME!) deal with the fact that their beloved series has moved on to a whole new ball game.
For me the only chink in the armor now is Rob himself. I'm just not crazy about the man's work. It's a bit too stylized and referential. He says in the article that even though he uses folks who are popular within the genre he isn't really doing it on purpose because only genre fans would even notice. Umm, bullshit? That's the thing I dislike about him. He tries to come off so casually oblivious to his obvious pandering.
Anyway, I can't say I was thrilled with the soundtrack discussion either. Have any of the previous Halloween films even had a soundtrack? Egads! Soundtracks are a hit or miss thing with me. Too often the songs are just the latest claptrap put out by bands you won't hear from in a year or they're chockful of "cool" songs from the 60s & 70s that are supposed to tell you what to think/feel (or simply so you'll know what time period the movie is taking place in since you can't tell by the mutton chops and bell bottoms alone sometimes) because the filmmaker can't figure out how to do it her/himself.
Final thoughts:
Woohoo! Betsy Rue naked...again. I can't wait. (sarcasm, BTW)
The Internets didn't make me hate your reimagining, Rob. You made me hate it. (Although I'll agree there are some people who are predisposed to diss on it without seeing it simply because it's not JC's movie. And I'll admit to being one of those people dissing it before it came out back in '07. HOWEVER, seeing is believing and that movie sucked balls when I saw it in the theatre and it STILL was lappin' at them when I rented the director's cut DVD version a few months later.)
Who the fuck mixes up Clint Howard and Billy Bob Thornton?
While I'm still not a fan of the first film or Rob Zombie in general for that matter, I really am gonna try to be open minded. The key for me is just ignoring the fact that it's a follow-up to his crappy remake. The interview makes it sound like Rob is trying to move his films away from the original series as much as possible. He isn't even using the classic theme (not that he used it very much or very effectively in the first movie). I don't have a problem with that. If he could change the characters' names, I'd be down with that too. But I think taking that theme which is SOOOOO associated with the original might help those JC diehards (like, say, ME!) deal with the fact that their beloved series has moved on to a whole new ball game.
For me the only chink in the armor now is Rob himself. I'm just not crazy about the man's work. It's a bit too stylized and referential. He says in the article that even though he uses folks who are popular within the genre he isn't really doing it on purpose because only genre fans would even notice. Umm, bullshit? That's the thing I dislike about him. He tries to come off so casually oblivious to his obvious pandering.
Anyway, I can't say I was thrilled with the soundtrack discussion either. Have any of the previous Halloween films even had a soundtrack? Egads! Soundtracks are a hit or miss thing with me. Too often the songs are just the latest claptrap put out by bands you won't hear from in a year or they're chockful of "cool" songs from the 60s & 70s that are supposed to tell you what to think/feel (or simply so you'll know what time period the movie is taking place in since you can't tell by the mutton chops and bell bottoms alone sometimes) because the filmmaker can't figure out how to do it her/himself.
Final thoughts:
Woohoo! Betsy Rue naked...again. I can't wait. (sarcasm, BTW)
The Internets didn't make me hate your reimagining, Rob. You made me hate it. (Although I'll agree there are some people who are predisposed to diss on it without seeing it simply because it's not JC's movie. And I'll admit to being one of those people dissing it before it came out back in '07. HOWEVER, seeing is believing and that movie sucked balls when I saw it in the theatre and it STILL was lappin' at them when I rented the director's cut DVD version a few months later.)
Who the fuck mixes up Clint Howard and Billy Bob Thornton?
Saturday, August 15, 2009
How to cure a hangover...not really
Today is D's birthday, but because those Lovesacs aren't gonna sell themselves on a Saturday, they had a bbq at their house for him last night. I brought my usual spinach dip and a 6 pack of Fat Tire arriving at 7:45 and expecting drink half of my beers and leave at about 11. All sorts of fun was had by ME because the Trickers were there with Lila and the Armstrongs were there with Cooper and of course, the Jorgensons themselves have Dominic and Lav. I do love the babies. Also got to see Scott & Jen and Miss Jackie which is always awesome. Anyway, my spinach dip never got eaten, I had all of those 6 beers, and I ended up walking home with the bar-closers.
Needless to say, I woke up feeling a little on the crappy side. That wasn't helped by the fact that I woke up at 6:45. I only managed to get one more hour of sleep before dragging my ass outta bed. It helps that I'm a morning person and I had a kitty to feed. I decided that the best medicine was a trip to the library, a bloody mary/benedict breakfast, and a movie.
Picked up a few true crime books at the library and was confused by a new bartender at Pizza Luce. A cute and earnest fellow, but not as awesome as my usual girl. I took the train to MOA, making it there with 15 minutes to spare before my movie started. Got my popcorn, found a comfy spot in the middle of the theater and crossed my fingers that no one would sit near me.
As luck would have it...well, I don't have any luck. A whole row of stupid talking heifers sat a couple of rows behind. I seriously would like to know why people act like they are in a private goddamn screening.
The movie, A Perfect Getaway, was o-kay. I can't decide if I really liked it. The twist was...o-kay, but I found a lot of the characters unlikeable and hard to route for. It wasn't much of a horror movie and I'm not so sure why it was rated R. The bloodshed is minimal and I don't even recall a lot of swearing. Overall I think I liked it. If asked, I recommend it as a rental.
So now I'm home plucking songs at random out of my head and listening to them through blip.fm. My head and tummy still ache a little bit and I could sure use a nap. For now I'm gonna have some leftover shrimp fried rice and rumaki and contemplate watching Mirrors.
Other things that happened this week: I got my property tax refund. I made a payment arrangement with a couple of my credit card debtors to get those paid off in the next year. I re-fell in love with Old Navy. (I just love them for fall/winter clothes.) I found out there is a yarn store just a hop/skip/jump away from me at work. (It's a Borealis Too.) That last could be trouble.
Needless to say, I woke up feeling a little on the crappy side. That wasn't helped by the fact that I woke up at 6:45. I only managed to get one more hour of sleep before dragging my ass outta bed. It helps that I'm a morning person and I had a kitty to feed. I decided that the best medicine was a trip to the library, a bloody mary/benedict breakfast, and a movie.
Picked up a few true crime books at the library and was confused by a new bartender at Pizza Luce. A cute and earnest fellow, but not as awesome as my usual girl. I took the train to MOA, making it there with 15 minutes to spare before my movie started. Got my popcorn, found a comfy spot in the middle of the theater and crossed my fingers that no one would sit near me.
As luck would have it...well, I don't have any luck. A whole row of stupid talking heifers sat a couple of rows behind. I seriously would like to know why people act like they are in a private goddamn screening.
The movie, A Perfect Getaway, was o-kay. I can't decide if I really liked it. The twist was...o-kay, but I found a lot of the characters unlikeable and hard to route for. It wasn't much of a horror movie and I'm not so sure why it was rated R. The bloodshed is minimal and I don't even recall a lot of swearing. Overall I think I liked it. If asked, I recommend it as a rental.
So now I'm home plucking songs at random out of my head and listening to them through blip.fm. My head and tummy still ache a little bit and I could sure use a nap. For now I'm gonna have some leftover shrimp fried rice and rumaki and contemplate watching Mirrors.
Other things that happened this week: I got my property tax refund. I made a payment arrangement with a couple of my credit card debtors to get those paid off in the next year. I re-fell in love with Old Navy. (I just love them for fall/winter clothes.) I found out there is a yarn store just a hop/skip/jump away from me at work. (It's a Borealis Too.) That last could be trouble.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Top o' the morning
I left my wallet on the bus this morning. The bus company says it hasn't been turned in and the driver didn't see it around the seat I was in. Only mildly freaked out since I am po' making the ATM cards useless. Luckily I just happened to have a paycheck from my other job (and it was too big to fit in my wallet so it was just at the bottom of my purse). It also doesn't hurt to work at the DMV and be able to quickly apply for a duplicate license. Still, I don't have my Metro Pass (I have to pay cash to get home!) or my library card (I can't renew books online) or my Best Buy Reward Zone card (I had to be close to a discount certificate). I hope some honest soul found it and quickly dropped it in a mailbox and that the post office people don't rifle through and take what little valuable stuff is in there. But I think everyone is a dishonest asshole, so I'm chalking it all up as a loss.
You know what's funny? I actually had forgotten my wallet at my first bus stop, so I had to rush home to get it before the next bus came which I was worried I had missed which would make me miss the connection but it turned out it was a bit early and the connection ended up being late.
You know what's funny? I actually had forgotten my wallet at my first bus stop, so I had to rush home to get it before the next bus came which I was worried I had missed which would make me miss the connection but it turned out it was a bit early and the connection ended up being late.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Stuck in the 80s
I think I'm stuck in the 80s when it comes to judging horror movies. I am super-critical when it comes to modern horror films. I see some of this new stuff and I get all, "Back in my day..." when it comes to deciding whether they're good or not. It must be a sign of my encroaching Old Lady-dom. It kinda sucks. I've whined about this before, but I miss the time when I would go see anything horror not matter how awful it looked. And I would generally have fun no matter what. Granted, I was a teenager then and going with a friend who loved the movies as much as I did. Somewhere in the 90s (I'd say around the time Scream came out). I lost that loving feeling. I couldn't get past the fact that everybody on Party of Five or Dawson's Creek was showing up in a horror flick. I also wasn't (and still am not) a big fan of the increasing amount of comedy being thrown into my horror movies. And it didn't help that movie prices were going up along with my hatred of people. Society is becoming increasingly ruder with the cellphones and the assholes who think everyone paid to hear their screaming kid. And the PG-13 thing isn't great either.
Recently, I've gotten some of my love back. Listening to a bunch of awesome podcasts helps. It's nice to listen to people who love horror they way I used to (especially since most of my friends just don't dig on them the way I do, if they like them at all). And there have been a few recent movies that I actually liked (see my post on My Bloody Valentine 3D). I didn't like a number of the movies I saw recently (Friday the 13th and The Haunting in Connecticut), but I won't give up hope. I have bitched and complained but I am going to see H2 in the theatre. I will see The Orphan next week. I am excited for both The Final Destination and Piranha 3D (the latter of which people keep calling "the next Snakes on a Plane" like that's a bad thing). I'm not gonna let my love of horror die. I refuse.
Recently, I've gotten some of my love back. Listening to a bunch of awesome podcasts helps. It's nice to listen to people who love horror they way I used to (especially since most of my friends just don't dig on them the way I do, if they like them at all). And there have been a few recent movies that I actually liked (see my post on My Bloody Valentine 3D). I didn't like a number of the movies I saw recently (Friday the 13th and The Haunting in Connecticut), but I won't give up hope. I have bitched and complained but I am going to see H2 in the theatre. I will see The Orphan next week. I am excited for both The Final Destination and Piranha 3D (the latter of which people keep calling "the next Snakes on a Plane" like that's a bad thing). I'm not gonna let my love of horror die. I refuse.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Commenter hell
I'm probably about to get pounced on over at Gawker, but I couldn't help but open my big mouth again. You see, someone when commenting on Paris Jackson speaking at her father's memorial felt the need to talk about her 'straight hair' and their lack of comprehension, like it makes any fucking different. This child is barely holding it together and you're speculating about her parentage? Clearly, class is not in session. I'm sure I'll be accused of being a bitch and not having a sense of humor and I confess I have made jokes in the past about the same topic, but seriously when referencing her speaking at his fargin memorial? Man, that's just shitty.
Now, I agree that the likelihood that Jackson is the biological parent of those children is low. (I mean that one boy [Blanket?] looks straight out of Village of the Damned with that peroxide blond hair). However, I also acknowledge that babies of biracial parents can come out a variety of shades. Heck, kids in general can come out with all sorts of baffling attributes. A couple of friends of mine have a daughter with ocean blue eyes. Mom's are green and dad's are brown. It took another friend three tries to get a kid with the same super-curly hair and brown eyes as hers (all still blond though, heehee). So while I appreciate people's curiousity, this need to put these kids' DNA in a box is disturbing, and unless you have a stake in the estate, ir-fucking-relevant.
Oh, and then their was the person who decided that Paris' speak was 'rehearsed' and came off as 'choreographed'. Um, maybe she did practice what she planned to say at the memorial service for her dad that was being simulcast/livestreamed practically all over the world. The comment "real kids blubber when their upset" just knocked me out. I'm glad my heart is bigger than that.
Later: I got ripped for accusing someone of 'viciously criticizing' a child. I was also told that asking "Who are those kids' biological parents?" is a valid question since it's rumored they were sired by his plastic surgeon. Not sure how that makes it anyone else's business, but okay.
Now, I agree that the likelihood that Jackson is the biological parent of those children is low. (I mean that one boy [Blanket?] looks straight out of Village of the Damned with that peroxide blond hair). However, I also acknowledge that babies of biracial parents can come out a variety of shades. Heck, kids in general can come out with all sorts of baffling attributes. A couple of friends of mine have a daughter with ocean blue eyes. Mom's are green and dad's are brown. It took another friend three tries to get a kid with the same super-curly hair and brown eyes as hers (all still blond though, heehee). So while I appreciate people's curiousity, this need to put these kids' DNA in a box is disturbing, and unless you have a stake in the estate, ir-fucking-relevant.
Oh, and then their was the person who decided that Paris' speak was 'rehearsed' and came off as 'choreographed'. Um, maybe she did practice what she planned to say at the memorial service for her dad that was being simulcast/livestreamed practically all over the world. The comment "real kids blubber when their upset" just knocked me out. I'm glad my heart is bigger than that.
Later: I got ripped for accusing someone of 'viciously criticizing' a child. I was also told that asking "Who are those kids' biological parents?" is a valid question since it's rumored they were sired by his plastic surgeon. Not sure how that makes it anyone else's business, but okay.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Playing ketchup
It's almost the end of the day and I don't feel like working anymore, so I figure I'll get all caught up with my blogging. I feel like I've been quite active and busy lately, and yet I can barely remember a lot of what I've done. I know I've been alot of time with my Friends with Babies lately. I got to hang with Heide at the Hostages show a couple of weeks ago which was cool. Last weekend, I went to a barbecue at D's where I got to oogle Baby D who is growing super-fast and already teething. Yikes! It was good to see him because I rarely ever do socially anymore. I had been seeing a lot of him because I was back and forth to the Mall with iPod issues and buying new phones. (Did I tell you I got an iPhone...'cause I did.) Anyway, there were babies, an cute teenagers forcing us to play kickball, and bbq. Yay!
I got to oogle even more babies yesterday as Jim and Sharriah had a bbq to introduce little Cooper to everyone. He is so tiny and adorable all curled up and wrinkly. Aww! Also there were Meghan, Hultman, and Azalea; Matt, Megan, Will, and Jack; and Andy, Nicole, and my new best friend Lila and her kickass pigtails and pink glasses. Babies! Yay!!!!
In other news, um, like, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both died on the same day and the world turned upside freakin' down. I'm still stunned by the death of Jacko. Needless to say, I have been a fan since I was a weeeeeee tyke. It was quite the blow to get that news from a tweet while on the bus home. The blow was not healed by some of the assiness that came out of people upon his death. Yeah, yeah. Skin bleaching, chimp-carrying, peodophile freak, right? Not when I was 12 he wasn't and that's the Michael Jackson that I loved and whose death I mourn. Also, he was acquitted which people seem to forget. What's the point of having a legal system wherein people are said to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law if upon a verdict of not guilty people will continue to assume one's guilt? Then again, I'm still bitter about that shit that went down in Simi Valley, so who am I to judge?
So that's been rough. I think I'm about Michael Jackson-ed out, not that it means anything because all the legal battles and shit that are about to go down are gonna keep this story in the news probably for months to come. I'll just try to ignore it all and listen to Thriller when the mood to remember Michael strikes.
I swear I've done other stuff. A few weeks ago I got it in my head to watch just about all of my John Carpenter movie collection with commentary again. It wasn't intentional. I just felt like listening to the Halloween commentary one day and then I felt like listening to The Fog and then The Thing and then Christine and it just went on. Meanwhile, I've been doing some major slackin' on my Netflix. I've had this one movie, The Cottage for almost 2 weeks and that ain't right. I'm gonna try to watch that tomorrow and get it in the mail on Wednesday so that I can hopefully get a new movie by Friday for our long 4th of July weekend.
For which I have no big plans. I was invited to a bbq at the Trickers which would be lovely because more babies. There is also that convention thing that OtherScott does every year for geeks like me who love horror & sci-fi movies (okay, I'm not as much a fan of the latter unless it's sci-fi horror). Mostly, I hope to get more laundry done and that it won't be so godawful hot.
That's it. You're caught up. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I can't think straight at this very moment as I feel like a ate a whole Thanksgiving dinner by myself. Sooooo sleepy all of a sudden. Ah, but only 10 minutes left here. Sweet.
I got to oogle even more babies yesterday as Jim and Sharriah had a bbq to introduce little Cooper to everyone. He is so tiny and adorable all curled up and wrinkly. Aww! Also there were Meghan, Hultman, and Azalea; Matt, Megan, Will, and Jack; and Andy, Nicole, and my new best friend Lila and her kickass pigtails and pink glasses. Babies! Yay!!!!
In other news, um, like, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both died on the same day and the world turned upside freakin' down. I'm still stunned by the death of Jacko. Needless to say, I have been a fan since I was a weeeeeee tyke. It was quite the blow to get that news from a tweet while on the bus home. The blow was not healed by some of the assiness that came out of people upon his death. Yeah, yeah. Skin bleaching, chimp-carrying, peodophile freak, right? Not when I was 12 he wasn't and that's the Michael Jackson that I loved and whose death I mourn. Also, he was acquitted which people seem to forget. What's the point of having a legal system wherein people are said to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law if upon a verdict of not guilty people will continue to assume one's guilt? Then again, I'm still bitter about that shit that went down in Simi Valley, so who am I to judge?
So that's been rough. I think I'm about Michael Jackson-ed out, not that it means anything because all the legal battles and shit that are about to go down are gonna keep this story in the news probably for months to come. I'll just try to ignore it all and listen to Thriller when the mood to remember Michael strikes.
I swear I've done other stuff. A few weeks ago I got it in my head to watch just about all of my John Carpenter movie collection with commentary again. It wasn't intentional. I just felt like listening to the Halloween commentary one day and then I felt like listening to The Fog and then The Thing and then Christine and it just went on. Meanwhile, I've been doing some major slackin' on my Netflix. I've had this one movie, The Cottage for almost 2 weeks and that ain't right. I'm gonna try to watch that tomorrow and get it in the mail on Wednesday so that I can hopefully get a new movie by Friday for our long 4th of July weekend.
For which I have no big plans. I was invited to a bbq at the Trickers which would be lovely because more babies. There is also that convention thing that OtherScott does every year for geeks like me who love horror & sci-fi movies (okay, I'm not as much a fan of the latter unless it's sci-fi horror). Mostly, I hope to get more laundry done and that it won't be so godawful hot.
That's it. You're caught up. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I can't think straight at this very moment as I feel like a ate a whole Thanksgiving dinner by myself. Sooooo sleepy all of a sudden. Ah, but only 10 minutes left here. Sweet.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Regime Change
Things have been a wee bit tense over here at the DMV of late. Some time ago there was a shifting of supervisors to go along with our new carpet and (old) new cubes. This change involves a lot of piddly-ass shit that no one really gives a damn about, but the People Upstairs make a big ole stink about it anyway.
For example, someone decided that it isn't right for employees working the front counter to have beverages out front since we tell customers they aren't allowed beverages. You'll forgive me if I find that completely retarded. Some asshat who will be here for 15 minutes versus someone stuck out there TALKING to people for 7 1/2 hours? Not the same.
Then yesterday we get an email informing us that we aren't allowed to be in our cube spaces more than 15 minutes before our scheduled start time. Because heavenforfend a person should be approached and have to answer a work-related question then demand to be paid overtime for that.
But what really burns my hide is that so much attention is being focused on silly shit like who's in their cube too early or who's wearing denim, is that information that actually affects our job and our contact with customers isn't passed on. As many of you probably know, all sorts of shenanigans are going down with Denny Hecker and KARE-11 did a story about it and said "[DMV]" about 30 times during it. Do you think we were warned ahead of time about this news report and that we would be swamped with calls? Heck no!
Last week, the Strib ran a story about a diversion program for drivers with high fines and too many driving afters on their records. I saw it in the paper, but totally forgot about it...until I got a call from a customer inquiring about it yesterday. I kindly forwarded the Strib story to my coworkers since they likely weren't gonna get the information any other way.
I get that they want to improve the image of the DMV, but what they fail to understand is that customer interactions can turn from good to bad based on how much information we provide them and how quickly and accurately we provide it. Someone might not be impressed by my denim skirt, but they're less likely to care if I can get them in and out of here with the information they need with very little hassle.
Meanwhile, things that actually might improve our image just linger. Like our crappy phone system which sends people through a thousand loops and asks them for information that they will have to repeat once they finally get a human on the line. Or documents that fail to explain requirements properly. Or useless statutes designed to scare people even though they aren't enforced.
My mom always told me my mouth would get me in trouble and it has on an occasion, but that's because I'm just not a fan of suck it up and taking it from people, especially when I find something stupid. So my supervisor has heard a lot from me about the bullshit that's been going down. Luckily, she likes me (and largely agrees with my--our--complaints), but I should maybe try to hold my tongue. You never know when budget cuts might warrant laying off a few workers.
For example, someone decided that it isn't right for employees working the front counter to have beverages out front since we tell customers they aren't allowed beverages. You'll forgive me if I find that completely retarded. Some asshat who will be here for 15 minutes versus someone stuck out there TALKING to people for 7 1/2 hours? Not the same.
Then yesterday we get an email informing us that we aren't allowed to be in our cube spaces more than 15 minutes before our scheduled start time. Because heavenforfend a person should be approached and have to answer a work-related question then demand to be paid overtime for that.
But what really burns my hide is that so much attention is being focused on silly shit like who's in their cube too early or who's wearing denim, is that information that actually affects our job and our contact with customers isn't passed on. As many of you probably know, all sorts of shenanigans are going down with Denny Hecker and KARE-11 did a story about it and said "[DMV]" about 30 times during it. Do you think we were warned ahead of time about this news report and that we would be swamped with calls? Heck no!
Last week, the Strib ran a story about a diversion program for drivers with high fines and too many driving afters on their records. I saw it in the paper, but totally forgot about it...until I got a call from a customer inquiring about it yesterday. I kindly forwarded the Strib story to my coworkers since they likely weren't gonna get the information any other way.
I get that they want to improve the image of the DMV, but what they fail to understand is that customer interactions can turn from good to bad based on how much information we provide them and how quickly and accurately we provide it. Someone might not be impressed by my denim skirt, but they're less likely to care if I can get them in and out of here with the information they need with very little hassle.
Meanwhile, things that actually might improve our image just linger. Like our crappy phone system which sends people through a thousand loops and asks them for information that they will have to repeat once they finally get a human on the line. Or documents that fail to explain requirements properly. Or useless statutes designed to scare people even though they aren't enforced.
My mom always told me my mouth would get me in trouble and it has on an occasion, but that's because I'm just not a fan of suck it up and taking it from people, especially when I find something stupid. So my supervisor has heard a lot from me about the bullshit that's been going down. Luckily, she likes me (and largely agrees with my--our--complaints), but I should maybe try to hold my tongue. You never know when budget cuts might warrant laying off a few workers.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Drag Me to Hell
You know, with all my bitching about the audience at the movie on Saturday, I never really said anything about how I felt about the movie.
In retrospect, I am not so sure I liked it. Time for yet another horror fan confession: I'm not a huge Sam Raimi horror fan. I thought Evil Dead was cool and Evil Dead II is a-ight, and I'm glad to have the Boomstick edition of Army of Darkness, but those movies don't get regular replay for me. I'm more likely to watch all of them with the commentary track on than without and that's mostly to hear the lovely voice of Bruce Campbell. His dramatic stuff (A Simple Plan; The Gift) is more to my liking. I think I've said before I don't like a whole lot of comedy in my horror. I can appreciate a degree of goofiness, but once you hit Looney Tunes levels I'm annoyed. And gross-out gags get really boring really quick.
DMtH has A LOT of Looney Tunes/gross-out horror. There are about 5 or more scenes with stuff going into our heroine's (?) mouth. Plus there are loogies (sp.) and maggots and skanky false teeth and a geyser nosebleed. I did jump once or twice and a particular fight scene was fun to watch, but overall it just kind of really didn't do much for me. Maybe when it comes out on DVD, I will see it again to determine just how much that shitty audience affected my viewing pleasure.
I tell what is good though. NOTLP did an episode on Session 9 a few weeks ago, so I rewatched that last night. Man, that movie is so goddamn creepy. That's my kind of horror. I'd rather have a (fairly) bloodless atmospheric movie than some grossfest with a lame story. And by the way, every thing about Justin Long oozed 'douchebag'. As if those smug Mac vs. PC commercials didn't make me hate him enough, he just bugs me. Plus I recall that he was in Jeepers Creepers and I hated that movie. Also. the Mac product placements were really fucking irritating. Stuff your little Apple up your ass.
So, if I were to rate DMtH right now after seeing it this weekend, I'd give it maybe a two (out of five). However, it might actually be a 3, but my theatre-mates just sucked so much of the fun from the whole experience. And it can't be blamed on it being PG-13 because there were plenty of stupid grown-folks in my screening. (Also PG-13 does not mean 'bring your 6-year-old).
I really need to win the Powerball so I can build a house in the middle of a field with no surrround neighbors and a private theatre in the basement (like you used to see on Cribs). I just really don't like other human beings.
In retrospect, I am not so sure I liked it. Time for yet another horror fan confession: I'm not a huge Sam Raimi horror fan. I thought Evil Dead was cool and Evil Dead II is a-ight, and I'm glad to have the Boomstick edition of Army of Darkness, but those movies don't get regular replay for me. I'm more likely to watch all of them with the commentary track on than without and that's mostly to hear the lovely voice of Bruce Campbell. His dramatic stuff (A Simple Plan; The Gift) is more to my liking. I think I've said before I don't like a whole lot of comedy in my horror. I can appreciate a degree of goofiness, but once you hit Looney Tunes levels I'm annoyed. And gross-out gags get really boring really quick.
DMtH has A LOT of Looney Tunes/gross-out horror. There are about 5 or more scenes with stuff going into our heroine's (?) mouth. Plus there are loogies (sp.) and maggots and skanky false teeth and a geyser nosebleed. I did jump once or twice and a particular fight scene was fun to watch, but overall it just kind of really didn't do much for me. Maybe when it comes out on DVD, I will see it again to determine just how much that shitty audience affected my viewing pleasure.
I tell what is good though. NOTLP did an episode on Session 9 a few weeks ago, so I rewatched that last night. Man, that movie is so goddamn creepy. That's my kind of horror. I'd rather have a (fairly) bloodless atmospheric movie than some grossfest with a lame story. And by the way, every thing about Justin Long oozed 'douchebag'. As if those smug Mac vs. PC commercials didn't make me hate him enough, he just bugs me. Plus I recall that he was in Jeepers Creepers and I hated that movie. Also. the Mac product placements were really fucking irritating. Stuff your little Apple up your ass.
So, if I were to rate DMtH right now after seeing it this weekend, I'd give it maybe a two (out of five). However, it might actually be a 3, but my theatre-mates just sucked so much of the fun from the whole experience. And it can't be blamed on it being PG-13 because there were plenty of stupid grown-folks in my screening. (Also PG-13 does not mean 'bring your 6-year-old).
I really need to win the Powerball so I can build a house in the middle of a field with no surrround neighbors and a private theatre in the basement (like you used to see on Cribs). I just really don't like other human beings.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
This is what I do when I'm hungover
To decompress after a semi-hectic day at work yesterday, I spent some quality time with my good friend PBR down to the Local Watering Hole last evening. I ended up closing the bar which I rarely ever do, but I hung with cool peeps so it was worth it.
The weather was quite lovely earlier, so I felt I had to leave the house. I dragged my ass out of bed at about 10:45 and plotted my day's activities. I would go to the library, eat at my regular Sketchy Panda, boogie on over to MOA to drop off my comatose iPod, pop in to say hi to D, then go see the 2:25 screening of Drag Me TO Hell.
I managed to leave my apartment at 12:30 (I get so caught up on the Internets sometimes) and get to the library at about 1:00 and not find most of the books I'd hoped to check out this weekend. I did find a couple of (hopefully) good true crime books. I got my panda on then made my way to MOA which was surprisingly (blessedly) dead. Geek Squad cutie basically told me my iPod situation might be hopeless, but he added the silver lining that if that is the case, I can get a brand-spanking new one. Sadly, the most compatible one to my current 30Gb iPod video would be a 120Gb iPod video. Or I could get an iPod touch or iPhone if I pay a little extra. Sad, right? Yeah, not at all. I'm totes hoping they can't fix it.
Got to see D briefly which was good. He thinks his schedule will be a bit less hectic soon since S will be done with work for the summer in about a week. Maybe I'll be able to drag him out for some pool someday here.
Speaking of "dragging", I totally missed the 2:25 show many moons ago (I didn't even get to the mall until about 3), but thought I might catch the next screening. That wasn't until 5 and I wasn't really feeling like hanging around the mall with no shopping money, so I called Moviefone to check other times. That is when I learned about the 5:30 show (which also happens to be the cheap show) at Block E.
So I headed down to grab the train only to discover that the trains aren't running to and from the mall because of construction or something. I had to shuttle over to the airport and catch the train there which wouldn't have been a biggy except the shuttle (actually an accordian bus) was fucking crowded and I had to sit with some dude's ass in my face. Boo.
I made it to the theatre with about 5 minutes to spare. I should have known things weren't going to be good when a chick with two smallish children walked up and decided that since they had missed their screening of Dance Flick, they should check out DMtH. I soldiered on, got my popcorn and headed in (behind a giggly teen couple). The place wasn't packed but it was fairly well-occupied leaving me few options in the 'no people next to, in front of, or behind me' department. I found a seat in a corner in the second to last row, but the teens sat behind me, so I moved into the center section, but then some other younguns came in a sat in the row in front of me. They were a few seats over, so I decided to stick it out. Just as the previews start (nothing good really), a couple comes and sits right behind me. More people were coming in and filling any other empty spots so I just stayed put. It wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Maybe it's because I go to movies alone that I don't understand why people can't STFU during a film. It's like everyone came to the theatre with a blind friend because it seemed everyone was explaining the scene we had ALL just watched right after. At a horror movie, I expect a few 'oh snap!' moments that will get people talking for a bit, but then you shut up so you can keep up with the next scene. Not this crowd. Jabberjabberjabberjabber. Ugh!
I was so annoyed. I can't just blow off that sort of thing, so it totally dampened my enjoyment of the movie. I might have felt better if I had just stood up and shouted, "All of you, SHUT YOUR GODDAMN TRAPS!" But this is Block E and it's not like people haven't been assaulted there for less, so I just stewed. I will say, it's probably gonna be a long time before I go see anything at Block E again and never again on opening weekend. Their popcorn sucks anyway.
I treated myself to a present at Target, then took a long, windy walk home. Now, I'm toying around with my present and trying to decide if I want to get a plain old new iPod (what the heck am I gonna do with 120Gb (I hadn't really done much with the 30Gb) or upgrade to the fanciness that is the iPod Touch. And well, it is about time for me to get a new celly, so maybe an iPhone isn't totally out of the question. I'm such a consumer.
The weather was quite lovely earlier, so I felt I had to leave the house. I dragged my ass out of bed at about 10:45 and plotted my day's activities. I would go to the library, eat at my regular Sketchy Panda, boogie on over to MOA to drop off my comatose iPod, pop in to say hi to D, then go see the 2:25 screening of Drag Me TO Hell.
I managed to leave my apartment at 12:30 (I get so caught up on the Internets sometimes) and get to the library at about 1:00 and not find most of the books I'd hoped to check out this weekend. I did find a couple of (hopefully) good true crime books. I got my panda on then made my way to MOA which was surprisingly (blessedly) dead. Geek Squad cutie basically told me my iPod situation might be hopeless, but he added the silver lining that if that is the case, I can get a brand-spanking new one. Sadly, the most compatible one to my current 30Gb iPod video would be a 120Gb iPod video. Or I could get an iPod touch or iPhone if I pay a little extra. Sad, right? Yeah, not at all. I'm totes hoping they can't fix it.
Got to see D briefly which was good. He thinks his schedule will be a bit less hectic soon since S will be done with work for the summer in about a week. Maybe I'll be able to drag him out for some pool someday here.
Speaking of "dragging", I totally missed the 2:25 show many moons ago (I didn't even get to the mall until about 3), but thought I might catch the next screening. That wasn't until 5 and I wasn't really feeling like hanging around the mall with no shopping money, so I called Moviefone to check other times. That is when I learned about the 5:30 show (which also happens to be the cheap show) at Block E.
So I headed down to grab the train only to discover that the trains aren't running to and from the mall because of construction or something. I had to shuttle over to the airport and catch the train there which wouldn't have been a biggy except the shuttle (actually an accordian bus) was fucking crowded and I had to sit with some dude's ass in my face. Boo.
I made it to the theatre with about 5 minutes to spare. I should have known things weren't going to be good when a chick with two smallish children walked up and decided that since they had missed their screening of Dance Flick, they should check out DMtH. I soldiered on, got my popcorn and headed in (behind a giggly teen couple). The place wasn't packed but it was fairly well-occupied leaving me few options in the 'no people next to, in front of, or behind me' department. I found a seat in a corner in the second to last row, but the teens sat behind me, so I moved into the center section, but then some other younguns came in a sat in the row in front of me. They were a few seats over, so I decided to stick it out. Just as the previews start (nothing good really), a couple comes and sits right behind me. More people were coming in and filling any other empty spots so I just stayed put. It wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Maybe it's because I go to movies alone that I don't understand why people can't STFU during a film. It's like everyone came to the theatre with a blind friend because it seemed everyone was explaining the scene we had ALL just watched right after. At a horror movie, I expect a few 'oh snap!' moments that will get people talking for a bit, but then you shut up so you can keep up with the next scene. Not this crowd. Jabberjabberjabberjabber. Ugh!
I was so annoyed. I can't just blow off that sort of thing, so it totally dampened my enjoyment of the movie. I might have felt better if I had just stood up and shouted, "All of you, SHUT YOUR GODDAMN TRAPS!" But this is Block E and it's not like people haven't been assaulted there for less, so I just stewed. I will say, it's probably gonna be a long time before I go see anything at Block E again and never again on opening weekend. Their popcorn sucks anyway.
I treated myself to a present at Target, then took a long, windy walk home. Now, I'm toying around with my present and trying to decide if I want to get a plain old new iPod (what the heck am I gonna do with 120Gb (I hadn't really done much with the 30Gb) or upgrade to the fanciness that is the iPod Touch. And well, it is about time for me to get a new celly, so maybe an iPhone isn't totally out of the question. I'm such a consumer.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
More Jezebel comment insanity
Jez does this thing where they post random pictures of people now and then. Used to be they were always celebrity photos, too often they were clearly paparazzi pics snapped of celebs with their children. Anyway, one of the Snap Judgments posted today shows a woman at a protest against Obama for not releasing the new prisoner abuse photos. These photos, it is now claimed, feature images of rape of men, women, and children. Are we so desperate to make our own soldiers look bad that we would demand that photos which (allegedly) depict violent, sexual humiliation of others be made available for anyone to see? If people are really that concerned about these prisoners they will realize that sending out pixellated images of their violation to the world is probably not in their best interest. Just as I didn't think people "needed to see" the image of Rhianna's beaten face to understand what (allegedly) happened between her and Chris Brown, I don't think a photo spread is going to convince everyone that torture really did happen at Abu Ghraib.
But that's not even my beef.
My beef is that a bunch of the photo's commenters are complaining because they say the image used in the photo looks too much like a black Klansman. Even when others point out that the image is actually a silloutte of a prisoner from one of the previously-released photos and that it is kind of a nod to the old iPod ads, some say it is still "bad choice". One person claims that if people (Jezzie readers) "kind of invested in knowing about this stuff" are confused by the image, then it must be bad.
I'm sorry, but IF these people are really that "invested in knowing about this stuff" then they (like me) probably would have immediately recognized the image. It says something to me about the commenters that their first thoughts were "KKK". It says they are looking for reasons to be offended. Let it go, ladies.
But that's not even my beef.
My beef is that a bunch of the photo's commenters are complaining because they say the image used in the photo looks too much like a black Klansman. Even when others point out that the image is actually a silloutte of a prisoner from one of the previously-released photos and that it is kind of a nod to the old iPod ads, some say it is still "bad choice". One person claims that if people (Jezzie readers) "kind of invested in knowing about this stuff" are confused by the image, then it must be bad.
I'm sorry, but IF these people are really that "invested in knowing about this stuff" then they (like me) probably would have immediately recognized the image. It says something to me about the commenters that their first thoughts were "KKK". It says they are looking for reasons to be offended. Let it go, ladies.
More movie talk (less clever blog titles)
My newest favorite site to reference and go on about, Heartless Doll, did a funny post about the evils of Nancy Grace. She's so much fun to hate on.
You know what I just realized? I toooooootally forgot to mention in my previous post about my Memorial Day weekend that I FINALLY watched Saw. I have owned that movie for at least 2 years now and had never watched. Since I was largely bed-ridden Saturday and the mailperson didn't bring my Netflix until after 2, I decided to watch that one. Surprisingly, I really liked it. Even though I knew a little bit about Jigsaw and even the basic premise, I managed to be surprised in a few spots and occasionally creeped out. Afterwards, I even took the plastic wrap off my copy of Saw II which I bought last year. I'll try to watch that one sometime in the next 6 months, so I can take my copy of Saw III out of the Target bag it's in. (Kidding on that last, although I do own Saw III and am just waiting for Saw IV to drop below $10 to buy it.)
You know what else I never told you about? I bought My Bloody Valentine 3D and watched it last Tuesday. Naturally, the disc isn't in the fancy RealD that was featured in the theater; it's the green/red stuff instead. However, it still looks pretty good. I heaping helping better than my Friday the 13th 3D disc looks. And you know what else, I still love this movie. Yeah, LOVE IT! It's no Let the Right One In, but it's a lot of fun. (BTW, LtROI might be a wee bit overrated in the horror community. Just a bit.)
You know what I just realized? I toooooootally forgot to mention in my previous post about my Memorial Day weekend that I FINALLY watched Saw. I have owned that movie for at least 2 years now and had never watched. Since I was largely bed-ridden Saturday and the mailperson didn't bring my Netflix until after 2, I decided to watch that one. Surprisingly, I really liked it. Even though I knew a little bit about Jigsaw and even the basic premise, I managed to be surprised in a few spots and occasionally creeped out. Afterwards, I even took the plastic wrap off my copy of Saw II which I bought last year. I'll try to watch that one sometime in the next 6 months, so I can take my copy of Saw III out of the Target bag it's in. (Kidding on that last, although I do own Saw III and am just waiting for Saw IV to drop below $10 to buy it.)
You know what else I never told you about? I bought My Bloody Valentine 3D and watched it last Tuesday. Naturally, the disc isn't in the fancy RealD that was featured in the theater; it's the green/red stuff instead. However, it still looks pretty good. I heaping helping better than my Friday the 13th 3D disc looks. And you know what else, I still love this movie. Yeah, LOVE IT! It's no Let the Right One In, but it's a lot of fun. (BTW, LtROI might be a wee bit overrated in the horror community. Just a bit.)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Blink! Oh, look! It's Tuesday already.
A long weekend (made slightly longer because I left early on Friday) and what did I accomplish? A whole heaping pile of nothing. The laundry is still dirty, there are still dirty dishes in the sink (although this is a new batch after I washed the previous batch on Saturday), the yarn is still an explody pile in the corner, and I still have phone books from two years ago.
I had planned to go to Ari's graduation party on Saturday, but failed to plan my bus trip properly. I will admit I was a little crabby too for various reasons. I missed the 6 to go downtown which would have made me miss the 3 which only runs every hour. I was hot and moody and getting bitchier by the minute so I just went home and went back to bed and watched movies for the rest of the day.
That's about the only thing I really accomplished this weekend - movie watching. After listening to NOTLP go over "American Psycho", I watched that again this weekend. I must admit to not being nearly as enamored of that movie as many horror fans. It's a good movie. Funny in it's way, but it's not all that brilliant. Plus Christian Bale skeeves me out. Yes, he has hot-ish things about him, but there is something "wrong" with him. I say this without having even heard the rant because I have thought this for many moons. His mouth is weird (I have a thing about mouths and teeth.) It's like he could easily open his lower jaw like the creature in Alien and swallow a person whole. I've said too much.
I also watched a really good movie based on a Jack Ketchum book. After my experience with The Girl Next Door, I wasn't sure those existed. The movie is called Red, and it stars Brian Cox as an old widower who runs a general store in a small town. One day while fishing near the local lake, some punk ass kids come along to rob him and they shoot his dog for no reason. From there, the old man tries to get justice from the police and/or the kids' families. A good flick. Currently streaming on Netflix (which now can be viewed using Firefox...hurray!)
Another good movie watched was a Spanish horror movie called Shiver. It's about high school kid who is allergic to the sun, so he and his mom move to a small town where it's less sunny. Turns out the place has a little problem with a vampire or something in the mist. That's a bad summary, but I can't really tell much about it without spoiling it and it's good, so go stream it.
And there there was Calvaire (The Ordeal), a French-language vehicle about a lounge singer-type dude who breaks down in some small town and is basically kidnapped by a total nut. Once again, the French (although this might be Belgian) prove that they are really fucked in the head. The movie is a disturbing trip. Very bizarre. I still am not sure how I felt about it or even if I totally understood what the hell was going on, but honestly, I was a bit too freaked out to watch again. I would recommend it for those of you who like you flicks on the wacked-out side.
I did manage to leave the house and have some fun this weekend. Yesterday, the gang and I went to Bean's for a bbq. There were HeideBabies (but sadly, no Bree) and steak and edamame hummus which was mucho delicioso. I rocked out on the deviled eggs even more than usual. Things I like: the recipe in the Joy of Cooking (with a few tweaks of my own).
So today it's back to work where I forgot when I got dressed this morning that I was back-up at the front counter so I had to change from my comfy jeans to a wrinkled skirt I had stashed for just such an occasion since jeans are now verboten no matter how skanky the rest of one's attire is. Denim is the mark of a lazy State employee. My legs were not prepared for this.
I'm off all this week at the office because Dana's up north. Hurts my pocket book (next Monday's check will be a whopping $17.50 before taxes), but I can't say I'm too upset about not having to rush home and scarf down a Lean Cuisine in 45 minutes. I just have to figure out what to do with myself. Most of my shows have already had their season finales and I won't get new Netflix until Thursday. I still have Quarantine at home, but I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that yet. I might be moving out of my current horror phase. Time to catch up on all that dramatic fair I missed over the Oscar-grab season. I watched Milk and Doubt last weekend, both very good. The former was really good and my bias is gonna show here, but Sean Penn really did earn his Oscar this time. And not just because he played a gay guy which people seem to think was so BRAVE. God, because that's not fucking condescending. It's like when people said Charlize Theron was BRAVE for playing an ugly chick when she was in Monster or Christian Bale was BRAVE when he lost all that weight for The Machinist. That's not brave. That's just part of the gig (and in Mr. Bale's case just another check mark in the "freak" list). Anyway.
I suppose, I should do some work now that I've been here for an hour and a half. Not that I've been typing this for that long and not that I have done no work for that long either. I did some stuff (mostly cleaning my desk for our move next week), but there is actual, like, work to do now so I'm on it.
I had planned to go to Ari's graduation party on Saturday, but failed to plan my bus trip properly. I will admit I was a little crabby too for various reasons. I missed the 6 to go downtown which would have made me miss the 3 which only runs every hour. I was hot and moody and getting bitchier by the minute so I just went home and went back to bed and watched movies for the rest of the day.
That's about the only thing I really accomplished this weekend - movie watching. After listening to NOTLP go over "American Psycho", I watched that again this weekend. I must admit to not being nearly as enamored of that movie as many horror fans. It's a good movie. Funny in it's way, but it's not all that brilliant. Plus Christian Bale skeeves me out. Yes, he has hot-ish things about him, but there is something "wrong" with him. I say this without having even heard the rant because I have thought this for many moons. His mouth is weird (I have a thing about mouths and teeth.) It's like he could easily open his lower jaw like the creature in Alien and swallow a person whole. I've said too much.
I also watched a really good movie based on a Jack Ketchum book. After my experience with The Girl Next Door, I wasn't sure those existed. The movie is called Red, and it stars Brian Cox as an old widower who runs a general store in a small town. One day while fishing near the local lake, some punk ass kids come along to rob him and they shoot his dog for no reason. From there, the old man tries to get justice from the police and/or the kids' families. A good flick. Currently streaming on Netflix (which now can be viewed using Firefox...hurray!)
Another good movie watched was a Spanish horror movie called Shiver. It's about high school kid who is allergic to the sun, so he and his mom move to a small town where it's less sunny. Turns out the place has a little problem with a vampire or something in the mist. That's a bad summary, but I can't really tell much about it without spoiling it and it's good, so go stream it.
And there there was Calvaire (The Ordeal), a French-language vehicle about a lounge singer-type dude who breaks down in some small town and is basically kidnapped by a total nut. Once again, the French (although this might be Belgian) prove that they are really fucked in the head. The movie is a disturbing trip. Very bizarre. I still am not sure how I felt about it or even if I totally understood what the hell was going on, but honestly, I was a bit too freaked out to watch again. I would recommend it for those of you who like you flicks on the wacked-out side.
I did manage to leave the house and have some fun this weekend. Yesterday, the gang and I went to Bean's for a bbq. There were HeideBabies (but sadly, no Bree) and steak and edamame hummus which was mucho delicioso. I rocked out on the deviled eggs even more than usual. Things I like: the recipe in the Joy of Cooking (with a few tweaks of my own).
So today it's back to work where I forgot when I got dressed this morning that I was back-up at the front counter so I had to change from my comfy jeans to a wrinkled skirt I had stashed for just such an occasion since jeans are now verboten no matter how skanky the rest of one's attire is. Denim is the mark of a lazy State employee. My legs were not prepared for this.
I'm off all this week at the office because Dana's up north. Hurts my pocket book (next Monday's check will be a whopping $17.50 before taxes), but I can't say I'm too upset about not having to rush home and scarf down a Lean Cuisine in 45 minutes. I just have to figure out what to do with myself. Most of my shows have already had their season finales and I won't get new Netflix until Thursday. I still have Quarantine at home, but I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that yet. I might be moving out of my current horror phase. Time to catch up on all that dramatic fair I missed over the Oscar-grab season. I watched Milk and Doubt last weekend, both very good. The former was really good and my bias is gonna show here, but Sean Penn really did earn his Oscar this time. And not just because he played a gay guy which people seem to think was so BRAVE. God, because that's not fucking condescending. It's like when people said Charlize Theron was BRAVE for playing an ugly chick when she was in Monster or Christian Bale was BRAVE when he lost all that weight for The Machinist. That's not brave. That's just part of the gig (and in Mr. Bale's case just another check mark in the "freak" list). Anyway.
I suppose, I should do some work now that I've been here for an hour and a half. Not that I've been typing this for that long and not that I have done no work for that long either. I did some stuff (mostly cleaning my desk for our move next week), but there is actual, like, work to do now so I'm on it.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Just some stuff to keep those two of you who read this occupied temporarily
Heehee! I love this Heartless Doll post on some of the more common Law & Order tropes. I am really missing my fancy cable more and more, but I won't give in. It's not really necessary since so many of the original recipe episodes are on DVD and just about all the seasons of SVU & CI are streaming on Netflix.
So my weekend. Yeah, it was good. I went to Miss Jackie's birthday BBQ at D & S's on Saturday. Of course that was happy times because I got to see the baby who is getting really big and is super-cute. It was fun to see D too even though he wasn't there for most of the day because of his work at the LoveSac. He might have sold one just by having it in his house because Peckerwood's wife did not want to get off the big bean bag-gy one in their living room. It's is comfortable.
I spent Mom's Day shopping with Bean per usual. Had to get a new fan as one of mine had died. I know I used to rant about the evils of Wal-Mart, but dang they're cheap ($14.50 for my fan versus Target's $17.99) and they have bubble bath (and YARN!) and the one in St. Anthony isn't skanky like the one in Fridley (where Bean got a scatological surprise in the restroom once).
Shopping takes a lot out of you, so I was happy to get home just in time to watch Victor and Tammy trounce annoying Luke and his mom and that crabby cheerleader and her partner on the Amazing Race. The 2nd part of the Cold Case season finale was really crappy, but an exciting episode of The Unit made up for it. I can't believe I'm into the latter show and not even because of the hot dudes! Maybe this is some lingering effect from my brief time in the Corps (Ooh rah!).
This is some rambly blogging here, but I gots no exciting news. I was just handed a pile of work and my lunch break was over about 10 minutes ago, so I suppose I'll get to that.
So my weekend. Yeah, it was good. I went to Miss Jackie's birthday BBQ at D & S's on Saturday. Of course that was happy times because I got to see the baby who is getting really big and is super-cute. It was fun to see D too even though he wasn't there for most of the day because of his work at the LoveSac. He might have sold one just by having it in his house because Peckerwood's wife did not want to get off the big bean bag-gy one in their living room. It's is comfortable.
I spent Mom's Day shopping with Bean per usual. Had to get a new fan as one of mine had died. I know I used to rant about the evils of Wal-Mart, but dang they're cheap ($14.50 for my fan versus Target's $17.99) and they have bubble bath (and YARN!) and the one in St. Anthony isn't skanky like the one in Fridley (where Bean got a scatological surprise in the restroom once).
Shopping takes a lot out of you, so I was happy to get home just in time to watch Victor and Tammy trounce annoying Luke and his mom and that crabby cheerleader and her partner on the Amazing Race. The 2nd part of the Cold Case season finale was really crappy, but an exciting episode of The Unit made up for it. I can't believe I'm into the latter show and not even because of the hot dudes! Maybe this is some lingering effect from my brief time in the Corps (Ooh rah!).
This is some rambly blogging here, but I gots no exciting news. I was just handed a pile of work and my lunch break was over about 10 minutes ago, so I suppose I'll get to that.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
What did you say against a woman?
Okay, earlier today Jezebel posted a story about a guy who murdered a woman on the Wesleyan campus. The headline read(s): Women’s Rights Advocate Murdered at Wesleyan. Now, anyone looking at that might assume that this woman was killed because of her activities in advocating for women’s rights. Turns out, that is simply a descriptor for the victim. No biggy. The post then goes on to discuss how this guy is still (as of this post) on the loose and to print newspaper speculations about why this man killed her as well as reflections from friends of the victim. No problem’s really so far (except that semi-inflammatory headline, but I’ll get to that).
The problems start with a post asked the “Men of the World” not to pick up a gun and kill when a break-up happens. I mentioned that after seeing Dear Zachary (and knowing about other violent acts committed by women the name of love), the commenter might want to broaden that to the “People of the World”. Whoops! What was I thinking? Suddenly I (and another commenter who also pointed out that violence isn’t merely the domain of men) were under attack for belittling domestic violence and violence against women; victim blaming, and hating women. Statistics were thrown at us and sarcastic comments “thanking” us for pointing out that women commit violent acts too.
Okay, here’s my issue. Jezebel commentors were quick to make this an issue about domestic violence. Granted, a NYDN article gave that impression, but even after it was pointed out that this was not the issue, some still insisted on arguing about whether or not it’s appropriate to talk about women’s violent actions when men hurt women. For me, the original comment implied that all men have the potential for this kind of violence and that men are the only ones who do. Someone actually said that bringing up women’s acts of domestic abuse is used by people who “hate women” and that it’s a form of “victim blaming”.
And then I got completely baffled because Jezebel later posted an article about a woman who thought she’d teach her misbehaving daughters a lesson by leaving them on the side of the road for a bit. Depending on which account you believe one of the kids was able to run to the car and hop back in while the other was left there and later found by a stranger who called police; or Mom drove around the block and came back to find the kids gone. She found one, but had to call the cops to help find the other.
The number of commentors saying “This is no big deal” and “Cut this woman some slack” is astounding. I’m avoiding even posting my own feelings because I don’t want to be accused of trolling or flaming or whatever it is people who disagree with Jezebel posters are generally accused of so I'll say it here. Would these same people feel the same if this had been done by the father? When others say, “They could have been hit by a car or taken by a stranger” the response is “Well, they weren’t so whatever”. Others talk about how kids catch buses by themselves and claim the kids are old enough to know not to talk to strangers. I missed the part where the mother dropped the kids off at a bus stop with fare and said “Find your own way home” and again, depending on which account you believe, one kid DID talk to a stranger who luckily was one of the good guys. Others say we are too protective now. I’m not of the “that’ll learn ‘im” school of raising children. Yeah, many lessons are learned after the fact, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to teach a kid why smoking’s bad by making her/him smoke a whole pack and I don’t believe that a kid learns to behave by being dumped in the middle of town.
And no I don’t have kids and haven’t had to raise kids and I know that they can be a real pain in the ass and that parents can barely discipline their child without SOME busybody saying they are doing things wrong. I think my ultimate gripe here is the implication that MOTHERS shouldn’t be criticized for “losing it” a little and “making bad decisions” because “kids are tough”. Women can make shitty parenting decisions just like men can. You get no slack from me just because you were the one to carry around or because it is assumed that you are the primary caregiver. And one crazy broad who kills her ex-boyfriends will get no slack just because 10 crazy dudes killed their ex-girlfriends.
The problems start with a post asked the “Men of the World” not to pick up a gun and kill when a break-up happens. I mentioned that after seeing Dear Zachary (and knowing about other violent acts committed by women the name of love), the commenter might want to broaden that to the “People of the World”. Whoops! What was I thinking? Suddenly I (and another commenter who also pointed out that violence isn’t merely the domain of men) were under attack for belittling domestic violence and violence against women; victim blaming, and hating women. Statistics were thrown at us and sarcastic comments “thanking” us for pointing out that women commit violent acts too.
Okay, here’s my issue. Jezebel commentors were quick to make this an issue about domestic violence. Granted, a NYDN article gave that impression, but even after it was pointed out that this was not the issue, some still insisted on arguing about whether or not it’s appropriate to talk about women’s violent actions when men hurt women. For me, the original comment implied that all men have the potential for this kind of violence and that men are the only ones who do. Someone actually said that bringing up women’s acts of domestic abuse is used by people who “hate women” and that it’s a form of “victim blaming”.
And then I got completely baffled because Jezebel later posted an article about a woman who thought she’d teach her misbehaving daughters a lesson by leaving them on the side of the road for a bit. Depending on which account you believe one of the kids was able to run to the car and hop back in while the other was left there and later found by a stranger who called police; or Mom drove around the block and came back to find the kids gone. She found one, but had to call the cops to help find the other.
The number of commentors saying “This is no big deal” and “Cut this woman some slack” is astounding. I’m avoiding even posting my own feelings because I don’t want to be accused of trolling or flaming or whatever it is people who disagree with Jezebel posters are generally accused of so I'll say it here. Would these same people feel the same if this had been done by the father? When others say, “They could have been hit by a car or taken by a stranger” the response is “Well, they weren’t so whatever”. Others talk about how kids catch buses by themselves and claim the kids are old enough to know not to talk to strangers. I missed the part where the mother dropped the kids off at a bus stop with fare and said “Find your own way home” and again, depending on which account you believe, one kid DID talk to a stranger who luckily was one of the good guys. Others say we are too protective now. I’m not of the “that’ll learn ‘im” school of raising children. Yeah, many lessons are learned after the fact, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to teach a kid why smoking’s bad by making her/him smoke a whole pack and I don’t believe that a kid learns to behave by being dumped in the middle of town.
And no I don’t have kids and haven’t had to raise kids and I know that they can be a real pain in the ass and that parents can barely discipline their child without SOME busybody saying they are doing things wrong. I think my ultimate gripe here is the implication that MOTHERS shouldn’t be criticized for “losing it” a little and “making bad decisions” because “kids are tough”. Women can make shitty parenting decisions just like men can. You get no slack from me just because you were the one to carry around or because it is assumed that you are the primary caregiver. And one crazy broad who kills her ex-boyfriends will get no slack just because 10 crazy dudes killed their ex-girlfriends.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Shows I can't wait to fall in love with and rave about
Apparently, the folks behind HBO's best show EVER, The Wire, are making a new show set in New Orleans called Treme. How awesome is that? Jezebel wants to know which folks from The Wire would people like to see on the new show. Any excuse to cast Michael K. Williams (Omar) and Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) in something sounds good to me. Frankly, I heart Mr. Elba so much I almost contemplated seeing Obsessed last weekend. Then I picked up those marbles I almost lost and just watched Iron Chef on YouTube some more. Back to Treme. Khandi Alexander will be on the show which is pretty boss in and of itself. So nice to see that she has left that asstastic CSI: Miami. Also, Wendell "The Bunk" Pierce is also on board. Everyone loves The Bunk. It's news like this that makes me want to get super-duper fancy cable again. Frankly, I still miss my fancy cable. But I learned that without the cable box connected I can watch Turner Classic Movies. It's fuzzy as hell, but it doesn't matter. Even watching a grainy Elvis get punched in the throat is still better than yet another episode of That 70s Show. By the way, I am following Ashton Kutcher now on Twitter. Don't ask me why, I just am. He links to some interesting stories like this one about a 13-year-old possibly going to prison for 21 to 45 years for armed robbery...because that'll learn 'im. And that story isn't even out of Florida! Not that Illinois hasn't had its share of justice system shenanigans.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Captain Trips
It's a sign that I watch too many horror movies that I am admittedly a little freaked out by all this "swine" flu business. On the one hand, I want to take the "we'll be fine" attitude, but on the other, I have to wonder, "what if this is the next Black Plague"? We are so goddamn complacent and arrogant sometimes that the idea that something like this could actually come in and do some very serious damage doesn't even come to most people's minds. My own paranoia isn't being helped much by whatever the fuck is going on with me right now. I think it's some nasty allergies, but it feels like it could be a head-cold. Whatever it is, I want it gone.
Other things freaking me out is that the rains have come and with the rains come the worms. I about had a heart attack when I nearly stepped on one yesterday on my way from work. It probably took me an extra 5 minutes to get home trying to avoid them. And what's the first thing I hear when I wake up this morning? Dave Ryan talking about how the streets and sidewalks are covered with worms. I only saw a few when I left for work (surprisingly no where near dirt), but that's too many. Worms are my kryptonite (sp).
Other things freaking me out is that the rains have come and with the rains come the worms. I about had a heart attack when I nearly stepped on one yesterday on my way from work. It probably took me an extra 5 minutes to get home trying to avoid them. And what's the first thing I hear when I wake up this morning? Dave Ryan talking about how the streets and sidewalks are covered with worms. I only saw a few when I left for work (surprisingly no where near dirt), but that's too many. Worms are my kryptonite (sp).
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
H2 Trailer
This is gonna shock and amaze people who know how I felt about Rob Zombie's "reimagining" of Halloween, but having watched the teaser trailer, I'm kinda interested in seeing where he's going with this. I'm mostly wondering how so many people whom I'm pretty sure DIED in the original (or at least the version that I saw) are going to return again. I guess we knew Annie didn't die which was just dumb, but was I just dreaming that he crushed Dr. Loomis head? And Laurie shot Michael in the face, right? Remember how in Scream, Sydney shoots the killer again to make sure there would be no surprises? I kinda like the idea of someone actually just killing the damn killer and letting it all go. Granted, Scream decided to traipse out all new killers later to continue the franchise, but I am sick and tired of killers being revived in movies. While I liked the remake of My Bloody Valentine, I'm not at all disappointed that there won't be a sequel. Sure, the remake left us with a big old question about what would happen to the killer now, but so did the original. I said before (maybe only in one of my ICFTB emails and not in this blog), I think part of the nostalgic appeal of the original MBV is that we didn't have a bunch of lame sequels later that turned Harry Warden into yet another Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
So it would have been great if Rob had just left his ending as it was. Then again, apparently, the DVD has a totally different ending than the theatrical release. I couldn't make it through the DVD as you may recall because I thought that movie was diarrhea. Anyway, clearly, Rob isn't going completely away from the John Carpenter's film's sequel because a portion of it doesn't take place in a hospital but it appears to involve ten million other things. In fact, for a "teaser" trailer, it sure shows a heck of a lot. Unfortunately, one of the things it shows is a ghostly Sheri Moon Zombie, I assume reprising her role as Michael's mom. I don't want to be one of those people who jumps the gun and claims this is a Mrs. Voorhees rip, but that footage sure reeks of F13 a bit.
I don't know. Maybe I'm softening in my old age. Maybe I'm less angry about this than I was about the first "reimagining" because it's clear this is a sequel to his assy remake and not an attempt to remake the original film's sequel. If I could just go in and pretend this movie isn't using character names like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis, I might be able to muddle through. Then again, if Rob wasn't trying to get people into theatres by co-opting the name Halloween, I would go to see his movie anyway because I tend to think his movies suck.
So it would have been great if Rob had just left his ending as it was. Then again, apparently, the DVD has a totally different ending than the theatrical release. I couldn't make it through the DVD as you may recall because I thought that movie was diarrhea. Anyway, clearly, Rob isn't going completely away from the John Carpenter's film's sequel because a portion of it doesn't take place in a hospital but it appears to involve ten million other things. In fact, for a "teaser" trailer, it sure shows a heck of a lot. Unfortunately, one of the things it shows is a ghostly Sheri Moon Zombie, I assume reprising her role as Michael's mom. I don't want to be one of those people who jumps the gun and claims this is a Mrs. Voorhees rip, but that footage sure reeks of F13 a bit.
I don't know. Maybe I'm softening in my old age. Maybe I'm less angry about this than I was about the first "reimagining" because it's clear this is a sequel to his assy remake and not an attempt to remake the original film's sequel. If I could just go in and pretend this movie isn't using character names like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis, I might be able to muddle through. Then again, if Rob wasn't trying to get people into theatres by co-opting the name Halloween, I would go to see his movie anyway because I tend to think his movies suck.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Polar Bear Express(ion of Anger)
I have been weening myself of Jezebel lately. While I appreciate a lot of the stories, the comments in some of the posts just drive me batty. I'm all for feminism and equality for everyone, but that includes holding women RESPONSIBLE for their own bad behavior and decisions.
For example, they posted a story about some dumbass women who jumped into the polar bear den at some zoo and got mauled. The thing that bugs me about their post is at the end of it, the writer starts whining about how if society didn't act like polar bears as cute and adorable, this lady might have thought twice about trying to go up and hug this bear. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
While it is true that animals are "marketed" as all cuddles and cuteness, a 32-year-old woman should know at least to be cautious around them. Zoos have cages and fences for a reason. Now maybe this lady has some sort of mental deficiency in which case whomever she was at the zoo with should have their head examined for not paying attention.
This reminds me of that case where the little girl was bitten by a meerkat at the local zoo and because her inattentive, dumbass parents didn't want her to go through the trauma of rabies shots, a whole family of meerkats had to be put down to make sure the child was okay. Yeah, Meerkat Manor probably does make kids think they are the cutest little things and petting them would be cool, but GROWN-UPS should be there making sure the kids realizes that they are actually wild animals and people should be very careful around them.
Jezzies, quit acting like women can't make bad decisions. I hope this woman will recover too, but I also hold her responsible for putting herself in danger. It cuts both ways.
I just had to get that morning rant off my chest.
For example, they posted a story about some dumbass women who jumped into the polar bear den at some zoo and got mauled. The thing that bugs me about their post is at the end of it, the writer starts whining about how if society didn't act like polar bears as cute and adorable, this lady might have thought twice about trying to go up and hug this bear. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
While it is true that animals are "marketed" as all cuddles and cuteness, a 32-year-old woman should know at least to be cautious around them. Zoos have cages and fences for a reason. Now maybe this lady has some sort of mental deficiency in which case whomever she was at the zoo with should have their head examined for not paying attention.
This reminds me of that case where the little girl was bitten by a meerkat at the local zoo and because her inattentive, dumbass parents didn't want her to go through the trauma of rabies shots, a whole family of meerkats had to be put down to make sure the child was okay. Yeah, Meerkat Manor probably does make kids think they are the cutest little things and petting them would be cool, but GROWN-UPS should be there making sure the kids realizes that they are actually wild animals and people should be very careful around them.
Jezzies, quit acting like women can't make bad decisions. I hope this woman will recover too, but I also hold her responsible for putting herself in danger. It cuts both ways.
I just had to get that morning rant off my chest.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
TV Guide
I've been slackin', but I haven't had much to write about. Lately, I'm just exploring network television. I've picked out a couple of shows that I plan to make part of my regular viewing. I am still a fan of Medium and now that I only work 2 hours per night 3 nights a week at the office, I get home in time on Mondays to watch it. The show isn't as strong as it was in Seasons 1 & 3 (the best to me so far), but it is still engaging. Plus I can admit to having a crush on Patricia Arquette since she was in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors. She's quirky (she married Nicholas Cage), but also awesome.
Tuesday are a night off, so I've been watching Reaper. It's okay, but isn't one of my favorites. Next, I flip to CBS for The Mentalist which I follow with Without a Trace. (Aside: CBS really has a thing for actors from Down Under. Simon Baker is The Mentalist, Poppy Montgomery and Anthony Lapaglia are both on Without a Trace, and Anthony's brother Jonathan is now a semi-regular on Cold Case.)
I work Wednesday and will usually half-watch Law & Order when I gt home, but I'm not a huge fan of the show anymore. I don't like the new executive ADA nor do I care for Kevin Anderson's character. I think he took a bit too much from his time on The Shield.
Thursdays are also a work night, but I have had quite a few off of late so I got to watch Supernatural. Another not great show, but both Jensen Ackles (who was in MBV 3-D and Jared Padelecki (the feathery-haired brother in the new F13) are hot. Sometimes I'll watch Eleventh Hour, but I'm not invested in it or anything.
Fridays just suck so I try to sneak in a movie or something on Hulu (watch a couple episodes of the old Perry Mason last week) that night if I'm not out with the Chicks.
Saturdays are a crapshoot, but I try not to even go out before watching 48 Hours (aka 48 Hours Mysteries). I remember when that show was all about Dan Rather screaming about the perils of crack and how the world would be full of crackbabies in a decade. I will also try to sneak in a movie on this night as well.
I was all happy to have football season over and done with pre-empting my Sunday shows and then March Madness came along. Boo. The Amazing Race is the only reality show I will watch now (and I am happy to report this season does not include ANY hateful teams...I mean, NONE...I can't decide who to root for), then I follow that up with Cold Case and I've even watch The Unit the last couple of weeks (it's actually not bad).
Oh, look my lunch 1/2 hour is over. Gotta go.
Tuesday are a night off, so I've been watching Reaper. It's okay, but isn't one of my favorites. Next, I flip to CBS for The Mentalist which I follow with Without a Trace. (Aside: CBS really has a thing for actors from Down Under. Simon Baker is The Mentalist, Poppy Montgomery and Anthony Lapaglia are both on Without a Trace, and Anthony's brother Jonathan is now a semi-regular on Cold Case.)
I work Wednesday and will usually half-watch Law & Order when I gt home, but I'm not a huge fan of the show anymore. I don't like the new executive ADA nor do I care for Kevin Anderson's character. I think he took a bit too much from his time on The Shield.
Thursdays are also a work night, but I have had quite a few off of late so I got to watch Supernatural. Another not great show, but both Jensen Ackles (who was in MBV 3-D and Jared Padelecki (the feathery-haired brother in the new F13) are hot. Sometimes I'll watch Eleventh Hour, but I'm not invested in it or anything.
Fridays just suck so I try to sneak in a movie or something on Hulu (watch a couple episodes of the old Perry Mason last week) that night if I'm not out with the Chicks.
Saturdays are a crapshoot, but I try not to even go out before watching 48 Hours (aka 48 Hours Mysteries). I remember when that show was all about Dan Rather screaming about the perils of crack and how the world would be full of crackbabies in a decade. I will also try to sneak in a movie on this night as well.
I was all happy to have football season over and done with pre-empting my Sunday shows and then March Madness came along. Boo. The Amazing Race is the only reality show I will watch now (and I am happy to report this season does not include ANY hateful teams...I mean, NONE...I can't decide who to root for), then I follow that up with Cold Case and I've even watch The Unit the last couple of weeks (it's actually not bad).
Oh, look my lunch 1/2 hour is over. Gotta go.
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