If you survive, please come again.

Kevin Smith has thrown his support behind the new Star Wars film, a thought that would be comforting if it weren’t for his rousing endorsement of Episode II. Nevertheless, the date draws nearer and my enthusiasm continues unabated. This will be the second time I have attended a midnight showing (the first being for Spider-man 2*).

As you might expect, going to see Episode III presents a bit of a conundrum. Reports have come in that arriving two hours early for Episode II was wholly insufficient. The seat I settled into for the Spider-man 2 release nearly compromised the integrity of my spine. Now I despise people who look down on dorks more than anything (which explains why I hate pretty much everyone), but my desire to procreate draws me to appease to group. It’s not an unfamiliar scenario, but not one I’d like to revisit.

On another note, Batman Begins has its final trailer available for download as well. My reaction to it is pretty much the same as it was for the Serenity trailer: It looks good, but I’m not wetting myself with anticipation.

* I like footnotes.

If you had told us the truth, we would've told you to shove that red pill up your ass!

Well, I'm back. I have a lot to share today so let's get right to it. First of all, kudos to my pal Stephen on an intriguing and unconventional play. I'm quickly discovering that plays are an entirely different creature from films, not reliant on your customary concept of plots and stories to convey their central themes. That's not to say that plays are somehow inferior to films however, just merely that it requires a mind free to new ideas. Our budding thespian played is part exceptionally (perhaps even disturbingly) well I might add, effectively portraying characters whose own beliefs and mannerisms are very different from his own.

At work things have been going well as far as I can guess. I recently learned that my current (and temporary) boss is not entirely normal, as I have suspected for some time. My co-workers summed it up pretty well Friday when they described him as "creepy", a term that couldn't quite pin to him that he nonetheless proved quite accurate. One of the guys who left the company seemed generally interested in my future, something I found surprising in that implies that I succeeded in being interesting and *gasp* likable. This is as good of a point as any to admit that one day several years ago I actually listened to an mp3 with tips on how to make friends. For those of you who are curious, just remember that people love to talk about themselves and their hobbies. So ask someone about things they like, show genuine interest, and you're in.

I downloaded the season premiere of Family Guy and let me assure that show has lost none of its edge. If anything, it pushes the envelop harder than ever, so don't expect safe, politically correct humor. Now if only Fox could get Futurama back on the air...

I went home to see the family again for my grandmother's birthday. Even now when I think about the love I felt, I can only hope that I will show a fraction of that love to my descendants. A lot of times I feel cynical about my childhood and where I come from, but it's important to remember that no matter what my family loves me. And I love them. :)

To lighten the mood after that incredibly sappy moment, I present you with this image:

Just so you know...

My life is an endless vaccuum of monotony and tedium. That having been said, I am still infinitely superior to you in virtually every way.

I don't like sand.

In my enthusiasm for Episode III, I decided to revisit Episode I, hoping that it might be better than I remembered it. It is worse. Much, much worse. This movie is a failure on many levels and I say that having skipped some parts featuring Jar Jar prominently. The actors' performances are at best "adequate". Jake Lloyd grates on my nerves more than ever, Liam Neeson and Ewan MacGregor don't really have much to work with, Natalie Portman is stiff and uninspiring, and that floppy-eared son of a bitch is killing any weight any scene carries. I don't even want to think about midi-chlorians. The special effects haven't aged well either, and the many glaring flaws are even more obvious to me. Of course, that wouldn't matter to me if I liked or related to the characters, which, in case you weren't paying attention, I didn't.

That having been said, I have preordered my tickets to the midnight showing of Episode III nonetheless. The sad fact about the Star Wars saga is that its fans, even the jaded ones, HAVE to see all the films regardless of the quality of each one. The few previews I have seen leave me with some hope, but the "cautious optimism" I once held has degenerated into "hopeful pessimism". Or maybe "realism" is more accurate.

I'm back bitches.

Wow, another person put in his two weeks notice today at work. That’s three people in my division that have left the company in the last month. I hope that so many people seem to be leaving because we just celebrated a new software release and not because of some eminent collapse of the company. From what I understand, our area of business is making money, so I shouldn’t worry too much.

The guy who will take over my old boss’ position started yesterday. Situations like these always make me uncomfortable. At the moment, I know quite a bit more about our projects than the new guy, but eventually he will be telling me what to do. How should I go about establishing a good working relationship? Everything just seems kind of awkward right now.

Now on to this “Pirate Captain” business. For those of you that don’t know what the heck I’m talking about check here.

The short version is basically that a student is running for Student Body President under the alias “The Pirate Captain” at NC State University. As ridiculous as it sounds, the guy pretty much has the election in the bag. His many vocal proponents insist that Student Government is a pointless and inconsequential organization and electing “The Pirate Captain” for president would make a bold statement about the uselessness of the office. While the latter is undoubtedly true, everybody better hope the former is true as well. If things go to shit next year and the entire student body is left wondering what the heck went wrong, this joke won’t be nearly as funny or effective as everyone thinks it is.

Now that I’ve finished God of War, I can concentrate on Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. For those of you that don’t know, DKJB requires you to beat a special drum controller to move the monkey around the screen. Despite certain people’s teasing, the experience has been both refreshing and invigorating. Hammering away on those drums feels cathartic after a boring, tedious day at work. The spastic nature of the gameplay can be further enhanced by intoxicating chemicals at which point the experience becomes euphoric.

Someone else at my job just celebrated the birth of his third child. This wouldn’t hold much significance until you consider he’s only five months older than me.* The thought of raising one child at this age boggles my mind, much less three children. I regard talking to children much in the same way I do old people: I have a vague recollection of the social conventions such an event entails, but avoidance of the situation altogether is the optimal route.

* I was going to say he's the same age as me, but he turned 25 last month. I spent several minutes trying to decide how to say it accurately. And that's why I won't become a writer.

I am a golden god!

Mmmm, tax refunds. It’s nice to take money of out of your bank account and see a sweet grand added to your balance.

God of War absorbed some of the extra flow of cash and it was more than worth it. Nudity abounds in this game. It’s not just a cheap prostitute, virtually all the women have been topless so far. Even the Medusa chicks have little, sagging breasts reminiscent of that traumatic granny porn I saw that one time. Now let’s never speak of that again. Anyway, the game satisfies a level of bloodlust I never knew I had. When you find yourself relishing the fear in someone’s eyes before you forcibly stab them in the mouth and twist the blade, you know you’ve sunk a little bit lower. And tribute must be paid to the soundtrack. It pushes the game to a whole new level.

Continuing with the bloodthirsty trend, Sin City redefines ultra-violence while still managing to be a pretty kick-ass movie. Mickey Rourke steals the spotlight in this film, pulling off a tough-as-nails character that’d wipe the floor with a Navy SEAL. It doesn’t fall short on the gratuitous nudity front either, although that’d be pretty hard when the story involves a gang of prostitutes. I still can’t decide if it’s more violent than Kill Bill or not. Whereas Bill’s cartoony violence lessened the horror of the crimes displayed, Sin City’s cartoony violence is consistence with the overall style of the film, so gruesomeness of each act sinks in more. Overall, I’d recommend the film if you’re a dude, especially if you want to check out Rosario Dawson and that chick with the blue eyes. I mean, damn!

Sleep is the cousin of death.

Man, what a week. It's not exactly the best transition to lose the manager of a department and then hand down a hefty assignment to his replacement and his cohorts. Yet that's exactly the situation my new boss faced as he took over the reigns of testing software. Incidentally, I've concluded that he probably doesn't like me that much and is kind of a jackass. Of course, I'm not that greatest person when it comes to human interaction, and the most effort I usually put into getting people to like me is smiling at their bad jokes.

In any case, work took a jarring leap from "incredibly boring and monotonous" to "incredibly hectic and monotonous". In addition to the pressures of work, I also had the pleasure of entertaining my younger brother this week. During this time, Zelda: Four Sword Adventures finally came into my possession and much enjoyment ensued. "Enjoyment" is a little inaccurate however, as I very nearly went mad over the course of the game. You see, the game requires players to work together as they traverse dungeons and landscapes, but it also forces them to compete via the collection of "force gems". The little trinkets would seem trivial, and in truth they have very little bearing on the outcome of each level or the entire game. However, like any Nintendo game, this obssession slowly envelops you until you find yourself absolutely irate when someone steals your key to collect the reward before you. Ultimately, I found the game somewhat tedious once the novelty wore off, but I highly recommend it nonetheless, if the required hardware (one GBA per person) and at least two friends can be gathered.

Stephen's recent decision to pass on Metal Gear Solid 3 disappoints me, as the last 5-6 hours of that game were the most engrossing time I spent in front of the TV all last year. His plight is not something I am unfamiliar with. A sad reality is that there are many great games that I will play never due to a lack of time. I can only hope he'll take the time to revisit it's exquisite, detailed world sometime in the future during the inevitable software droughts of the game industry.

I have more thoughts to share but that'll have to wait for another night.