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neurotwitch

Saturday, August 02, 2003

Dead Like Me & Lara Crap Tomb Raider etc. etc. etc.

We managed to remember to watch the premier of Dead Like Me in June, and have been watching it ever since. A very odd show, but excellent. It's NOT a ripoff, in any way shape or form, of Six Feet Under [snore]. It's very funny, and develops characters carefully, featuring characters who are like people you actually know. It's not religious like that horrible Touched in the Head by an Angel -- not at all. Being a Grim Reaper is a job, like being a draftee in the Army, not a calling or a mission. As I said, a very odd show, but wicked funny.

And we went to see Lara Crap 2 yesterday. It was better than the first one, and fun, but about as substantive as a puddle. Less believable than James Bond's unbelievable stunts, but cool to watch, nevertheless, especially the jump off some ionospherescraper in TaiPei or Shanghai or maybe it was Hong Kong. That was cool. I like the Kenya segment the best--the scenery was spectacular and the characters were interesting. It would be just as interesting, I think, for Lara to go off tomb raiding and puzzle solving without having to have all that drekky bad guy crap going on. The subplot was weak. But then, I keep forgetting that this is based on a videogame designed for boys. So, given that, it was pretty good. At matine prices, though.

The Hoyts Cinema in Wilton WAS our favorite place to go. Not any more. It's been heading straight to the toilet lately, disorganized, dirty, stuff broken, no adults present. Ticket prices went up, which is bad enough. The commercials got longer, which is worse. But yesterday, I had to shout to get someone to actually show up and take my money.

Then, because I'm very deaf, I tried to get a set of headphones ("assisted listening devices"). The kid behind the counter said I had to give her my driver's license to get a set. Huh? I'm going to hand over my identity for two hours to some teenager? I don't think so. So I asked for the manager, who reiterated that a driver's license was required. The last time, mind you, my library card sufficed. Not any more -- I guess there's a hot market for those crappy headsets that don't even work half the time. All the other theaters around here just hand 'em to me, or ask for my name and phone number in case I forget to turn them in. Nobody requires a driver's license, except this place. So I didn't get them, and as a result, missed some dialog. For this movie, it didn't particularly matter. But for most, it does.

And yes, I will be filing complaints -- especially since the manager, or whatever she was, was pretty rude. I THINK Hoyts is owned by Regal now, but I'll have to call them to be sure. And I have to finish figuring out where I file a complaint about their lack of compliance for accommodating the handicapped. Since when does anyone need ID to go see a movie?
posted by lee on 08/02/03 at 10:24 AM

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Friday, August 01, 2003

ACME Catalog

The Illustrated Catalog of ACME Products. Absolutely essential stuff.

Thanks to Mark Hurst for mentioning this in his Good Experience newsletter. Check out Mark's new report, Managing Incoming E-mail. It's free, though a $10 donation is requested. I haven't donated yet--since his stuff is generally excellent, I'm sure I will since I ALWAYS contribute to stuff I use, such as evolt.org and Digital Web Magazine. Otherwise, they go away.
posted by lee on 08/01/03 at 10:20 AM

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Thursday, July 31, 2003

utterly beautiful day ...

The temperature was perfect, the humidity low, the dewpoint was low, not a cloud in the sky, a perfect breeze. One of those perfect summer days when it's a sin to be indoors.

I was perfectly willing to spend the entire day outside, working in the garden, or doing nada, playing with the dog. But ... the school that's right next door to us is getting a new roof. So the entire neighborhood is redolent of tar. Ah shit. So I worked instead.
posted by lee on 07/31/03 at 07:12 PM

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