Evil Jim

02:00 am: Superman is a dick!
Here's proof.

Yes, I did see the new Superman movie & yes, I did enjoy it. I'm quite satisfied with it as another installment of the franchise & I can only hope if there are further sequels that they can be equally as good. They manage to keep the same balance of humour & action/drama that I remember from the originals while raising the production values above & beyond what they could do in the 80's.

The only thing I can really complain about (aside from the two kids running back & forth in the aisles until one of them tripped) is that Superman & Lois appeared too young for the story to be believed. As the title suggests Superman Returns to Earth after five years searching for the remains of his home planet Krypton. Presumably we are already familiar enough with the characters to know that they've met, became friends, saved each other a few times & had one of those awkward superhero semi-relationships before he left. But from they way it looks, five years ago they would still have been in high school. Even in the comics he appeared more mature than that. But regardless of how old Brandon Routh is (26) he still gave a fine performance as both Superman & Clark Kent. I still miss Christopher Reeve, but if they can't get Bruce Campbell for the part, he'll do.

Earlier today I went out to do some more job searching. One place still wasn't hiring for the position I'm interested in but postings are changed Fridays, I began filling out an application at the next place but need to go back with more information & the last place couldn't tell me if my application had been reviewed yet. More waiting, but as long as I go back tomorrow to finish that one & my temp agency doesn't call to offer another job that's too far away or has abominable hours I can still get unemployment insurance. Maybe.

I may be in trouble with the Department of Workforce Development. I received a letter yesterday informing me that there was an eligibility issue with the first week I filed & that I will be telephoned tomorrow morning for a "fact-finding interview." [shudder] The simple fact is, when I filed I told them I didn't refuse any offers of work that week when I actually did (from my temp agency.) I don't deny it, but at the time I was confused & underinformed, especially about how temp agencies work in this situation. Hopefully we can get it sorted out without losing me any benefits or getting in serious legal trouble. [shudder]

Which brings me to another important decision. Do I stay with the temp agency & risk having to refuse offers & lose the benefit checks that are greater than what I have made (in the past) working with them, or have them put my account into a limbo, limiting potential job possibilities but helping guarantee insurance while working on my own job searches?

Needless to say, after today's unsuccess I needed a distraction & decided to see The Devil Wears Prada (don't ask) since I was already in the area. There were no current showtimes but the posters reminded me that the new Superman was playing & I caught a matinee. Unfortunately, I had already made plans with toastmastertom for this afternoon & the movie wiped them out. Somehow it had got into my head that our doin's were for later this evening & that I would be just in time when I arrived home. Unfortunately by then Tom had no time left, disappointing us both. I'm sorry Tom. I promise not to see any movies Sunday unless it's with you.

The unfortunate news revealed in seanorange's last post did quite the opposite of improving my mood so I decided to get out of the house & go for that bike ride I've been avoiding since my unfortunate collapse last week. I began by heading out to look for the bungie cord lost when the couple were kind enough to haul my bike & my exhausted self back home. I made it to the spot surprisingly fast (about 20 minutes) but found no such missing cord. I saw the sun was setting over the lake & sped back in hopes that I could make it to the public boat landing before it fell beneath the tree line. I was a couple minutes late but stopped anyway to enjoy the after colours while listening to Shine on You Crazy Diamond. It was a beautiful moment I won't soon forget, but it was soon crushed when I broke my glasses. I'd set them upside down on the pier to wipe the sweat from my eyes & fog from their lenses, but when I adjusted my feet one such foot bent the frames straight back on their bows popping out the lenses. I rode back through the fuzzy twilight to my fuzzy home where I showered & donned an old prescription. This is why I don't throw things like this away.

Desiring more escape I called laviorli & renny1780, inviting them to watch my free rental of Ultraviolet with me. The former was ready to sleep & the latter was still too ill to do much more than recuperate. I watched it alone & ate some leftovers. It was good enough.

Ultraviolet is a decent popcorn movie if nothing else. They don't let you know enough about the world to become attached to it so it never becomes more than eye-candy. Æeon Flux was another futuristic fast-paced action film but there was a little more effort put into why the world was the way it was. Still, in films like this I'm more interested in the story behind how the world changed & not so much what happened after it did. It was worth what I paid for it, & if I don't rent anything for another month I might get another freebie, just to entice me to come in again.

Last night phil_bond came over to do some more recording, this time music from hand-held systems. But before we could start we had to make a trip to Best Buy so I could get the proper male-to-male stereo cable as the only one Phil had on him was mono. We talked about games & music & resources for recording mini-documentaries, & he made his now-infamous phone posts. On our way back we stopped at the mall for food & Mario Kartness, & made it back to the Evilmobevil just before the storm hit. It hit hard & I could barely see the glass in front of my face for most of the way home. But as we neared town it stopped almost as abruptly as it started & I didn't even need the wipers by the time I pulled into the drive. Normally I very much dislike driving in the rain at night but this time I found it strangely exciting. The storm had such fury that I was glad to be out in it, yet throughout it all I touched barely a drop.

Back inside we recorded a number of tracks from DS games before he left and after, I finally got all of the music from Virtual Boy's Red Alarm. The tracks are a little more than a half hour all together, but somehow took over two hours to capture & edit.

By then the next storm was coming & my attention kept straying from Elvira to the window beside me. The lightning was fantastic. I lost Internet access & I assumed the power would flicker soon so I powered down & turned off all the lights to watch. I remained entranced for many minutes, watching the tremendous flashes & listening to the rain pelt itself on the window, blurring everything outside like a heat-shimmer. The power never went out but I did, taking my huge umbrella which did absolutely nothing to shield me from the fury of the wind, rain & lightning storm. It was beautiful & I regretted that I couldn't stay out longer. I went to bed, wanting to leave the curtains open so I could enjoy the lightning, but I knew that I'd be asleep soon & see nothing anyway.

I have a busy day tomorrow & much to do in preparation before I even leave the house. At least I know I won't oversleep with the DWD calling so early. [shudder]

If you downloaded Союз 32 please let me know what you think. It's knowing there is interest that will keep me working on projects like this. Otherwise...

- E V I L O U T -

Tags: movies, video games, work