6:23pm: Review: Super 8

          ( The review of the movie is here. Please note that I don't believe in non-spoiler reviews. I can't talk about a movie and not tell you what happened in it. If you want to be surprised in theaters, don't click on this link til you've seen it. )

11:24am: Dang, I Keep Forgetting I Have This Journal

          I've considered just deleting it, but I'd lose some of my reviews. Plus, I keep thinking I'd do something new with it. But I haven't yet.
          I don't use my Twitter much either. I guess I'm just not a social networker.

4:21pm: Ponyo, Ponyo, Tiny Fishie in the Sea...

          Since today was the first day of a three-day weekend for me, I decided I had time to see a movie. I picked Ponyo On a Cliff by the Sea, since that's the only one currently in theaters I really really want to see. Getting there was a pain in the ass. Waiting in a line that stretched down the mall hallway, and kept waiting until 5 minutes before showtime, was a HUGE pain in the ass. Note to Kahala Theaters: if you want people to buy your overpriced concessions, it might be an idea to let us in early enough that we have time to wait in line at the counter. I'm not going to even be tempted to buy a $5.00 cup of soda if it's a choice between that and finding a seat in the back before they're all taken.
          I went to see a matinee, and I was regretting that choice almost as soon as I joined the line. The audience was at least 50% kids, with numerous infants and toddlers in attendance. You get that many kids together at once, the odds are high you're going to get the kids who constantly asking questions at the top of their lungs instead of watching the film.
          However, we didn't have that today. Amazingly enough, I didn't hear a single child whining, begging, or asking an endless series of "Why-what-happened-who's-that" questions. Except for the one infant who started screaming (and who was quickly quieted or taken out of the theater by a responsible parent), the kids were enthralled. They shrieked with laughter at all the funny parts (many of which were purely visual), and oooohhhhed and ahhhhhed at the scenes of prehistoric dinosaur-era fish swimming along flooded roads.
          This is, first and foremost, a kids' movie. (Something the critics I read seemed to have not realized.) The plotline is very light and simple. Don't go in expecting Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle. It's a cute little story about a little girl goldfish who falls in love with a little human boy. The movie is adorable and funny, and that's all it needs to be. The beautiful scenery and magic is a bonus.
          Among the trailers shown were one for Disney's next princess movie, The Princess and the Frog. I wouldn't have cared for another one of their "retell a fairy tale and make it a Disney merchandising giant" films, but they've gone one step further this time. The prince, the princess, the bad guy, the good guys, all the characters...are black. The setting appears to be a fairy-tale version of Louisiana. Now this, this is a good idea. If they do it right, it could be really amazing. Especially with the plot twist the trailer showed. (Princess kisses Frog, Frog remains a Frog, Princess is transformed into a Frog instead.) I think I could watch this without rolling my eyes down the aisle and out the door.
          Starting to take bets; how many people in the media (and in your neighborhood, for that matter) do you think are going to be all offended and trash this movie whilst desperately trying to pretend that the reason they hate it isn't because there are no white people in it? I'm thinking a fair bit are at least going to be all put out, and use the word "pandering" repeatedly, and completely ignore the fact that we've got tons and tons of movies that only have white people in 'em that are perfectly okay.
          The little kids won't care, of course. Most kids don't really give a shit about "color issues" until their parents tell them they should. So long as the characters aren't twits, and the movie not full of offensive stereotypes, good on Disney. Maybe someday they'll get past the whole princess mentality too, and have heroines who aren't and don't become one.

4:45pm: Hellsing VI is Here!

          Yeah. So, since most of my contacts are on LJ, but I want to keep my IJ, I figured I'd try to do most of my fan blithering here. So.
          And yes, I'd have to say I'm a HellFreak. Who else would actually fork out not only for an overpriced Japanese DVD, but the Limited Edition super-overpriced Japanese DVD? Yeah, you can download the basic content online. And yeah, when my DVDs take a little long to arrive, I sometimes do just to pass the time. But I'm also one of those boring people who prefer to buy my stuff legall(ish)ly when possible.
( Click here for rambling review )

4:35pm: Well, Hell.

          A while back, Deep Discount had a sale on some of their box sets. As in, $12 each. Included in this sale were a lot of things I didn't care for, plus The Outer Limits. I already had a box set called The Outer Limits the Original Series volume 1, so I got volumes 2 and 3, plus season 1 of the new series.
          Turns out I could have skipped volume 2. You see, apparently I have an earlier edition of volume one, a 4-disc set containing all 32 episodes of season one. In this newer release, they split that in half. Season one, volume 1 and season one, volume 2. Volume 3 being season 2. Way to confuse the issue, guys.
          Anyway, it means I now have two copies of the second half of the first season. *headdesk* Times like this, I really wish certain companies would stop screwing around with the repackaging of series. Or at least clearly label things, so you can figure out if you already have a certain set or not. I've already opened the damn thing, sending it back for a refund would be problematic, if not impossible, now.
          So, if anyone has an unwanted DVD they'd like to trade for this, let me know. Region codes/PAL vs NTSC are no issue on my end. Otherwise, I'll probably sell it to Suncoast/Sam Goody for their used bins.
          Hell, while we're at it, I've also got a few I couldn't sell to the FYE stores: A.I., Spider-Man, Trekkies, and Trekkies 2. Also a couple of anime discs without their packaging: Zone of the Enders disc 1 and RahXephon disc 2. Act now and I'll throw in a professional bootleg of the Cowboy Bebop movie sold to me under false pretenses (they said it was the legal one) for free.
          Any takers can comment here, or in my LJ.

8:53pm: Whoops.

          You know, I'd forgotten all about this. Took a notice from IJ that they were going to delete the blog to remind me that, oh yeah, I have an IJ too. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it...most of my contacts are on LJ, since the censorship hammers failed to fall and drive everyone away.
          I'll keep it for now, just in case. But I expect I may delete it myself if I can't find a compelling reason to stay. The main reason I didn't just let them delete me is because I neglected to back up the icons I made. Poor excuse, I know.
          Maybe I'll just split the types of posting between them. Dedicate this to stuff I normally don't post about on LJ. Or something.

6:12pm: Happy Yule!

          Well, it's the 24th of December, the day when my family traditionally celebrates Christmas. (It's a German custom, as my coworker confirms; we both took the day off because of that.) First, we have a nice dinner. Then, we all gather around and take turns opening presents. We'll be using the speakerphone function on Dad's cell to include my sister this year. (It worked brilliantly last year.) This is another family tradition. It extends the exchange of gifts, and it offers a real pleasure for everyone: you get to see the reaction as the gift is opened. This is doubly important if you're doing prank wrapping. The box inside a box inside a box inside a box inside ect is always fun. The duct-taped wrapped box can also be good, except everyone in my family has sharp knives these days. ;)
          You may wonder how my parents included Santa when we were growing up, since Santa is supposed to come overnight on the 24th. Well, that was easily worked with. Santa, you understand, can only not be seen by children, a restriction that does not apply to adults. Your parents are actually your contact with Santa. They tell him how you've behaved over the year, tell him what's on your list, and schedule when he should arrive. Just before the kids are taken out of the house by an adult, to pick up any extended family not already there, or just to go see the lights. Santa then arrives, has a few refreshments with the adults (provided in part by the kids - their gift to Santa), presents the children's gifts and wishes all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Then he departs, leaving the family to welcome the children back home and celebrate.
          One of the greatest disappointments of my childhood was realizing, when I learned the Truth About Santa, was that I wasn't going to get to meet him when I grew up and had kids of my own. Though by then I'd had some experience with the joys of making people happy with what I give them, so I could look forward to being Santa.
          In case you're wondering, he didn't conflict with the religious part of the holiday. We grew up with the legend of Saint Nicolas too; my childhood understanding was that, because of the man's good work, God made him Santa, and decreed that he would do his thing to celebrate the birth of the Savior, to best remind people of Christ's message of giving, kindness, and charity.
          You can thank my mother for this wonderful view of the world, and this way of making the holidays extra-special. My mom was also the woman who explained that different religions were merely God explaining himself to people with different languages and different customs, so they could understand Him better. Because, you know, not everyone speaks the same language or sees the world in the same way, or has the same childhood growing up. So whenever I see some fundamentalist jerk scream and bitch and moan about how "Christmas is under attack" whenever a little inclusion of other holidays is suggested, or does the Santa versus Jesus rant, I roll my eyes and regret once more that my mother did not become Czarina of the World as she wanted. We wouldn't be seeing this Xmas Xonflict if she had.
          So Happy Holidays to all of you this fine December, and if you're the sort of person who decries a well-wish that isn't directed to your specific holiday, I offer you the words of Aryren Sun of Farscape: "Well, Merry Frelling Christmas!"

6:08pm: Uh...But What's Wrong With Actually Exercising?

          Exercise Pill Hope For Depression
          I'd say, "are they kidding?" But I know they aren't. You realize if they actually develop this, it won't just be used to treat the worst of the worst, the people so lost to depression they can't even make themselves get out of bed. Anybody who's "feeling a little blue" will want it, so they don't have to actually get out of their chairs.
          Of course, I have the feeling hitting the brain with the right hormone won't really work the same way, or as well, as getting the hormone naturally from running around or doing jumping jacks.
          So honestly, wouldn't it be cheaper to fund a program where any depression patient unwilling to do an exercise program is handcuffed to a treadmill for 20 minutes a day? I can tell you from experience that simply going for a walk will strike a blow at the mental clawing vampire monster from hell.

7:19pm: Bus Thoughts

          Some time ago, the city got new buses. They're a completely different design. The seat arrangement seems random, the backs are oddly contoured, and there's a raised section in back. I really, really hate these buses. The seats are uncomfortable, I always trip on those stairs in back, and it seems particularly hard to find a seat that is both open and accessible. Most annoying are two of the seats in back, that have some strip running against the sides of the bus that make it impossible to sit there without banging my knee. Please note that I'm pretty damn short compared to a lot of people riding TheBus; I can't imagine what it's like for the 6-foot tall guys who end up in those chairs.
          The current design strikes me as something someone came up with to be dynamic, ergonomic, and efficient. The result is a butt-ugly box-shaped bus on the outside, and an inside that is narrower and requires more people to stand. I was pretty sure there were fewer seats even before I managed to count and compare. See, the bus I usually catch in the morning is one of the older designs (they're still in service, thankfully.) On these older buses, with the non-ergonomic chairs and wider aisles, there are 45 seats. 6 of them are reserved for the elderly and handicapped, next to those are 6 others that will fold up, allowing two wheelchairs to be loaded.
          On the new, "better" buses, there are 37 seats. 5 of these are reserved for the elderly and handicapped. Depending on the bus, 1 or 2 wheelchairs can be loaded...by folding up the reserved chairs. If the elderly are lucky, there'll only be one wheelchair slot, leaving them with 3 seats to fight over. On buses with two slots, those three seats and two of the standard seats are folded up to provide access. And as I said, the center aisle is narrower. Manuvering a wheelchair on a bus is tricky to begin with; on these buses it can become a nightmare.
          I mentioned the "ergonomic" seating. I've heard comments that they're pretty comfy. I find them back-breaking myself, same as with the ergonomic chairs at work. In my experience, "ergonomic" has always translated to: stuff designed for people who sit and work wrong who have already twisted themselves into bad shapes, meaning the person who has a straight spine or correct typing stance will soon experience the same pain, unless they find an older chair or straight keyboard. I'm not a fan. That might change someday if I wreck my back or wrists, but for now, they're torture devices.
          But back to the buses. The final complaint (for now): the windows are tinted so dark that you can barely see through them at night. Try figuring out if your bus stop is coming up when you can't see any details unless you lean over and try to peer through the windshield at the front. The annoying GPS announcement of every damn stop is generally turned off at night, at least on the Windward route, possibly because there are fewer lost tourists being catered to then. And even if it's on, it's usually off by an unnerving degree, announcing the stop as the bus passes it, meaning it's too late to pull the cord in time for it.
          I would like someone who actually rides the bus regularly to design them, thank you. And I would like to beat the ever-lovin' snot out of the idiot(s) who designed the current fleet.

6:24pm: Ick

          Bad enough to be working on a Saturday; having to work on a Saturday while suffering from a cold that has stuck a big wad of mucus right at that point where the nasal passages meet the top of the mouth really bites the big one. Could have been worse, but I'm still gonna whine, 'kay?
          In happier news, deepdiscount.com landed another early DVD on my doorstep. Death Note volume 1, with limited edition Ryuk figure. He is properly creepy. However, I cannot look at him with a straight face right now. You see, this is one of those plastic statues where you have to stick the figure on a base. And this figure is in the character's typical floating in the air pose, so it has to be mounted on one of those clear plastic rods.
          In this case, due to the pose and the balance of the figure...you basically mount the figure on the stand by literally putting a stick up his butt.

( Photo behind the cut to protect virgin eyes. )

          Suddenly, I understand why Ryuk has that look on his face.

5:32pm: I Am Such a Geek.

          I had the house to myself today, so I turned on the TV for a little background. Imagine my joy to discover the Cartoon Network plugging a crossover event. Of all their original shows, the two I like most of all are The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Codename: Kids Next Door. The first appeals to my twisted nature. The second is probably the best-written kids' show in production today. (Really. You haven't lived until you've seen a kid toon do a complete take-off of the Animatrix, right down to the narration, and make it completely cool in its own right.)
          Today they premiered The Grim Adventures of the KND. Which I absolutely had to record, because I am a total geek and I had to see how those two shows would merge. Grim is more of a fart-farce, the continuity-light stories of the twisted things that happen when the Grim Reaper becomes the property of an evil, future evil overlord little girl and her sidekick, the dumbest boy in existence. KND meanwhile, plays out its farce in a continuity-heavy saga of a secret kid organization dedicated to fighting adult tyranny. Both shows have been running for years, and both make me feel slightly better about the intelligence of the next generation of animation geeks.
          The crossover was only a half-hour, which I think was too short. They could have made a movie with it. But it might have only been a throwaway idea, a "wouldn't it be funny if?" It was a fine opportunity to see a little fun poked at the foibles of both shows.
          It also meant they ran a marathon of both shows today. I caught a KND I'd never seen before, full of that series continuity that helps to make the show what it is. Revealing the true identity of the master villain, and his relationship to the founder of the KND (as well as the identity of the founder of the KND) was a bold move, and it tied in perfectly with all the little pieces they'd showed before. More, so much of the episode referred to things in past episodes...it was just wonderful. A payoff episode, a reward for anyone who paid attention to the past storylines. I do wish I'd taped it. Where the hell are the season box sets for these shows, huh?
          Yeah yeah, kids' shows. I'm supposed to be too old. But hey, I never said the animation had to be anime to thrill me.

5:09pm: Windy Sunday

          Really windy. The trees are in constant motion. And every 5 minutes or so, there is this thrumming roar, and a big gust will roll through, causing the door to slam or swing open, depending on the direction and crosswinds. It's also extremely dark because of the rain and overcast. As in, I forgot to take my glasses when I went downtown, and didn't need them anyway. Even in the afternoon, I only had to squint a bit. Please note that actual daylight tends to be physically painful for me, meaning after 8:30 AM, I need my blue blockers to open my eyes outdoors. Now that's overcast.
          This is unusual for Hawaii, where "heavy rain" often means a deluge that lasts for 5-10 minutes, and takes place while the sun is still shining , due to the rainclouds being individual, fast-moving bits that don't hang around for very long. It makes a nice change, though we could do without the flash flooding. The stream that runs through bellows was almost to the bank when I passed by this afternoon. It gets much higher, Waimanalo will be cut off. Which doesn't exactly break my heart if I'm home and don't have to run errands, but is damned annoying if I'm at work and wondering if the bus will actually be allowed through at 5:45 PM.
          At least I didn't get stranded downtown today. Had to make a visit to the Shrine of the Almighty Dollar, so I could pony up my half of the rent, and decided to visit one near Borders so I could use my birthday coupon. Borders shocked me by having Cat Soup on the shelf. I'd never seen it in a store, and I'd gotten the impression it was out of print, being a Central Park Media release. (98% of their catalog is out of print, and don't ask me how they've stayed in business this long with keeping so much of their stuff off the shelf. Haven't a clue.) So I now have one of anime's favorite acid trips in my collection.
          A quick trip to Sam Goody in Ala Moana turned up another CPM out of print treasure: Dominion Tank Police. Not one of their used discs (of late they've been doing a huge resale business), but an actual, factory-sealed new DVD. Is October everyone's "clean out the stockroom" month or something? I'm not complaining, of course, I'm just surprised. I even got Tank Police for half off the sticker price. Either a sale sticker came off, or someone missed a digit when they programmed that barcode. Again, ain't complaining.
          So it was a worthwhile trip, if a bit cold and damp. If I'm lucky the power will stay on long enough to watch one of them after the Simpsons tonight.

6:19pm: Holy Crap!

          Now here's a headline I didn't expect to see. Not after all these years.

X-FILES 2 Hits Theaters Next Summer

          Okay, it's only been what, 5, 6 years since the X-Files went off the air? So perhaps it's not that big of a shock. But I honestly didn't expect to ever see anything new for X-Files. Perhaps this is a sign that conspiracy is coming back from the ridicule ghetto. Finally, we can see some more fictional distrust of authority!

4:51pm: Three Minutes of Utter Terror

          I often go for a walk to Bellows and back on my days off. It's about a quarter of a mile away, making a nice half-mile round trip. Good for 15 minutes of light exercise, at any rate. When I left this morning, Kolohe and Yokai were sitting next to The Rock (the cats' favorite communal toy, don't ask me why.) Yokai grabbed my shoe before I left, insisting that I should stay and pet her, a common request of hers. I went for my walk.
          On the way back, I saw a dead cat in the highway. This is sadly not uncommon. It was very close to home, and as always, I thought "I hope that was nobody I knew."
          When I got close enough to see the markings, two things made me stop in my tracks. The first was that it was a very large, grey tiger cat, with broad markings on the legs, identical to Yokai's.
          The second was the realization that this had just happened; the cat had not been there when I passed by going out. The cat was dead but still warm, and I risked traffic to pull it to the side.
          I'm sure you knew what went through my mind. I touched the back and leg stripes, and checked the intact ear, trying to remember the exact nicks and markings. There was no reason this should be my cat; she has never followed me so far. But I couldn't make myself believe it. I was horrified. I rushed the rest of the way home, constantly thinking, "it's not her, she wouldn't go so far, it's not her!" I could not make myself believe it. And I could not stop the litany; I was saying it out loud as I turned the corner of my street.
          There was no cat to be seen in the driveway. No cat hovering over The Rock, waiting for me as I said her name.
          But a very large grey tiger came loping out of the bushes as I passed, with a single "rowr."
          I carried her back to the house and cried for the next 5 minutes. She reveled in the attention, though I doubt she knew what the hell the fuss was about. As I type, she's here at my side, queen of all she surveys. Taking the casual scritchings after every line typed as her royal due.
          Today someone lost a beautiful feline, cut down as he or she attempted to cross a busy highway on some unknown errand. But thank all the gods of heaven and hell: she was not mine. Yokai will be knocking over action figures, upending my garbage can so she can burrow in it for a nap, and draping her legs over my keyboard as is her custom in the future.
          For three horrible minutes, I thought she would never do any of those things again.

6:07pm: I Have Too Many Books

          There is a law of the universe that states it doesn't matter how many bookcases and drawers I manage to squeeze into my living quarters; they will run out of space within a month at the most. Because I love books, and comics, and DVDs. When given a choice between a $100 pair of jeans guaranteed to make my butt look three sizes smaller than it actually is, or a package of the latest bestselling novels...well, I'll opt to take the $100 and run to the nearest used bookstore to blow it on titles the bestseller lists have never heard of, because my liking something on the bestseller list does happen, but not often. At any rate, I'll mend the old jeans, and buy the books. Because I'm a re-reader, and I'll be picking those books up years after the jeans have been turned into cleaning rags.
( cut for rambling )
          This is my rambling way of saying I need someone to build me a dimensionally transcendent bookcase that will hold an infinite number of books within the small confines of my house. Preferably before I have to resort to making my furniture out of stacks of books. Because I just know the book I'll want at any given time will be the main structural support of the couch or something.

7:06pm: Review: 1408. Spoilers Ahead.

          Steven King Movies usually disappoint me.
          It's not that they're all bad. Some of them are, sure. But some of them are good, and one or two have been damn good movies. But they never match the original stories. They especially don't match the level of horror. The movies always promise a fright-fest, a disturbing ride of pure terror. They almost never deliver. The only exception was Pet Sematary, which while not as horrifying as the book, still managed to deliver a goodly wallop of the original's disturbing tale. It was certainly the only horror movie where I saw white -faced people leaving the theater, honestly unnerved by the experience.
          Sadly, 1408, while not a bad movie, falls squarely in the disappointing catagory. One would think that a two-hour movie could encompass a short story with only minor changes to the original narrative. Of course, that's not how Hollywood works. After seeing the film (both the theatrical and the director's cut ending), I have to assume they said "neat, a haunted hotel room! Let's throw in a bunch of CGI and invent some characters and plot twists that have been done before, and we have a blockbuster!"
          Honestly, they could have changed all the names and picked another room number, and just done a movie that wasn't 1408. I understand changing scenes so they have more visual impact. I understand changing a narrative to fit into the time allotted. But I have never understood how you can "adapt" a story so much that the central theme or main point is completely changed, and think you've done it right.
          "Because there are no ghosts in room 1408 and never have been." That line was not in the movie. Possibly because the movie put a number of ghosts in the room, overt and horrifying. In the movie, Olin simply says the room is evil. True enough in either version, but the movie completely bypasses the point. In the original story, there is nothing human in 1408. The force that occupies it is completely inhuman. It consumes people. People in it for brief times, such as the cleaning staff, tend to develop severe health problems. Mike Enslin's stay lasted 70 minutes. He saw no ghosts during that time. The room toyed with him, though in subtler fashion than the movie.
          In the movie, when faced with the prospect of reliving the same hour over and over through eternity or killing himself, he sets the room on fire. In the short story, eternity wasn't a consideration at all. The room's changes were bad enough; what was worse was that the force haunting it was rapidly approaching, coming to eat him alive. Had it succeeded, he would have been another "natural death" in the room. To avoid it, he set himself on fire. Doing that broke the hold on him the room had, and let him open the door.
          "It was as if the thing behind the bulging wall had no use for a burning man; did not, perhaps, relish cooked meat."
          And that was what I missed the most. The sense of the inhuman, the alien. The sheer horror of a haunting that had nothing to do with human ghosts, subject to human reason. There was the room as an inexplicable evil, but that was as far as it went. And of course, there was the inevitable Hollywood Changing of the Ending, wherein good triumphs and the room is destroyed. Even in the director's cut, the only thing that really changed was that Enslin died destroying the room, vs the theatrical version where the firefighters pull him out just in time. But in both cases, the EEEEVvvill is vanquished! Hallelujia!
          And they wonder why audiences aren't scared of horror movies anymore. Well, if good always triumphs, and evil can always be thwarted, what is there to be scared of? It's not like anyone pictures themselves as the expendable extras in a movie. You can animate the most vile boogey with CGI; I'm still going to be more scared of the unseen thing scratching outside or within the walls of the house at 2am.
          Go ahead and watch the movie if you haven't already. As I said, it wasn't bad. But don't expect anything really scary or different.
          PS: the Director's Cut ending made a bit more sense thematically than the Theatrical did. The impact was better.

9:59pm: In the Midst of a Day of Crap...

          ...something rather wonderful happened. I was helping out at checkout, because it was pretty busy. There's always one more person in line, no matter how fast you check them out on days like this. But it was tapering off a bit when a mom and two small kids walked by. And the little girl pointed at me and said,
          "Mommy, mommy, it's the lady who was so nice to us! I want to get in her line!"
          Color me tickled pink. The little girl did indeed insist on checking out her DVD with me, which I was happy to do. I was extra nice, of course. What a gosh-wow moment.
          Kiddo, you made my day. In fact, you may have made my week.

4:24pm: Paging Foghorn Leghorn

          When taking my morning walk, I decided to stop by McDonald's for some artery-clogging grease (aka a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit). It's a way of celebrating a free day for me.
          The first thing I noticed was the chicken by the front door. Now, this is Waimanalo, and I'd guess at minimum a fourth of the residents raise chickens in their yards. And since most of them aren't penned up, wandering and feral chickens are a common sight. We have a hen who wanders through our street constantly, usually followed by 3-20 offspring, depending on how many are removed from the gene pool due to dogs or people. So a chicken in front of McDonald's wouldn't be much to remark on.
          Except this fellow was at least 2 feet tall when he stood up straight. His eyes were on a level with my knees. All white, with a bright red comb (the comb was covered with black speckles.) Huge yellow legs, and a gait like a dinosaur's. This rooster had to be at least 20 pounds, maybe 30 or more. He was calmly standing by the glass windows (the whole wall, floor to ceiling, is glass,) peering in at the customers with his one good eye when he wasn't pecking at the concrete and grass verge.
          The customers and staff were both amused. One crewcut guy was sitting right next to the rooster's post, and asked if this happened often. I told him it was the biggest damn chicken I'd ever seen in my life, but yeah, this wasn't too unusual.
          "Awesome," he replied.
          I should note it was also the mellowest chicken I've encountered. No running around and squawking, no aggressive moves towards people. I walked right by him and said hello. He just regarded me for a moment, then went back to looking in the window.
          I love this town.

6:06pm: Friday

          Today was the first chance I had to bus down to the new Borders in Kaneohe. Verdict: It's less of a full Borders, more of a large Borders Express/Waldenbooks. Still, the stock was much better than the Express store it replaced. I picked up a copy of Dave Barry's new book, the Blood: the Last Vampire novel, and the blank Hellsing Ultimate journal I had my eye on. I don't know what I'm going to write inside of that. Probably vampire stuff, considering the anime.
          I also made the mistake of walking into Kaybee Toys. Just a quick check to see if they had any different Godzilla mini-figures (nope). But there were Samurai Champloo figures right next to them. On sale. So Mugen, Jin, and Fuu are currently posed on my desk. I really wasn't going to buy anything there...honest! Stop sneering at me, Mugen. And yes, they'll be going upstairs soon, before the cats reenact the last Godzilla movie and stomp all over them.
          The rest of the day involved me sitting on my ass, a book in hand, and Night of the Living Dead on the DVD player. Hey, you gotta take advantage when you have the house to yourself for a few hours, right? The only other thing I did today was take my MP3 player apart. It wouldn't turn on yesterday, and something was rattling around inside. The turn-on problem appears to have simply been the battery running out of charge. The rattling was a broken-off chip. I have no clue where the chip goes or what it's supposed to do. The player seems to work exactly as it did before. Granted, that means it still takes upwards of 90 seconds to finish turning on, and the back button doesn't work. (Maybe that's what that chip is for, the back button. Must have broken loose a while ago, if that's the case.) I definitely won't be buying another RAVE MP. There are better cheap players out there.
          Not much else to blither about today. I have a desk to clean up, a bookcase to reorganize, and a floor to sweep up. Also a brain that could stand to be defragmented, but that's nothing new. I'll chatter later.

          BTW, does anyone know how I get the userpics to show up by the entries on the front page here? There doesn't seem to be an option for that. Thanks in advance.

4:35pm: It's Been a Week Since I Saw the Ladybugs on the Tree

          ...and the mealybugs are gone. Seriously. There are no more little white crud-bugs trundling up the tree trunk, no more congregation at the base of the tree. The leaves still have gunk on the bottoms, but nothing seems to be moving, and the gunk is far less than it was. Now that's efficiency. Even better, it's been raining today. Hope that keeps up as well.

          Bloodrayne is currently playing on the SciFi channel. Dear gods, what a horrible movie. I might excuse the "we raided a ren faire for the costumes without any knowledge about what time period which garb belonged to," in a made for TV movie. But this thing was in theaters, attempting for blockbuster. No wonder it tanked. It watches like one of the cheap 80s fantasy movies, but with worse acting. The title heroine doesn't seem to have any expression at all. If she's supposed to be playing the cold and efficient stoic she's doing it wrong. She comes off as someone with no acting ability and no desire to try to get into the movie reality she inhabits. She certainly doesn't know how to hold the weapons she's used so far. The way she holds and swings them about, it looks like the only thing keeping her from accidentally hacking a limb off is the fact that all the weapons in the film are even faker than the display swords on my rack. Granted, no sane director has untrained actors swinging blades with real edges on the set, but you can get edgeless blades that look sharp and deadly. These things...they look like toys. The blades are so obviously blunt and flimsy that I think I could take them all out with my $25 katana. I've seen at least one actor absentmindedly holding his sword by the blade. And the scuffed shine is identical to certain plastic Halloween swords I've owned. This movie should be played for laughs, hyping up the goofy aspects and going for the full insanely impossible fight scenes. But they're utterly serious, aiming for action-horror. But without the right acting skills, or even the proper mood setting. What I'm trying to say is that this isn't a movie. It isn't even a big block of cheese. It's a piece of rotting wood someone tried to carve. This film would only be watchable with Mike and the Bots.
          Gods, I miss MST3K. That was the best part of my Saturdays until they pulled it off the air. I need to dig out my old tapes rather than watch bad movies without the bots.

5:13pm: Two Ladybugs Spotted on the Tree

          Two black ladybugs, who are sometimes called mealybug destroyers. Much cheering commenced when I spotted them. I hope they're followed by all their brothers and sisters and make many many offspring. I want a tree swarming with little black ladybugs, eating their way through those disgusting white-crud encrusted pests.
          The sun, on the other hand, is brutal. The heat isn't a problem, as I do very well in it. It's the intensity. 10 minutes of normal sunlight is enough to burn me. Stepping outside into direct sunlight now is instantly painful. I feel like I should be smoldering like a TV vampire right before combustion. My reverse-raccoon look may become permanent at this rate. I wear powerful blue-blocking sunglasses; I can't really open my eyes enough to see in direct sunlight without them. They block UV rays exceedingly well, because the skin around my eyes remains white and unburned/untanned no matter what sun exposure I get. The downside is any time I get sun exposure, I have a white raccoon mask on my face.
          When are they going to give equal rights to the nocturnal humans and have enough businesses open at night so we don't have to fry in the sun? Where's Monty Burns and his sun-blocker when we need him?

5:37pm: Random Stuff

          The "new" monitor (someone's cast-off) is wonderful, except when it first powers up. It spends anywhere from half an hour to three hours with a pink/lavender cast, apparently due to the green not working. Once it clears up it stays clear and beautiful. To solve the issue, I just have a dark screensaver activated. I can leave the monitor on for the most part. For the times I have to turn it off...well, I'll just have to be patient. I'll either fix the issue, or replace it. Eventually. I'm looking forward to dropping the old monitor into the garbage bin, as it was bugging me for the last few weeks. The brightness controls don't really work, you see. At top brightness, it's so dark that watching a dark video (such as a horror movie) means lots of staring at random shadows and trying to figure out what the smeg is going on.
          The discussion of the new monitor with dad revealed that he now wants to hook his laptop up to one, as the screen is getting harder for him to read. I'm not surprised. I have 20/20 vision, and I can't make out what's on that laptop half the time. But considering its age, it's remarkable that it works at all anymore. Since I had a spare 15-inch monitor upstairs, I said he could have it. As a bonus, the table he uses for the laptop is being completely cleared off for this.
          The bimonthly buying of the pads was today. As always, a crapshoot. I can never seem to find the same brand/size twice. If I do, it's usually the ones that turned out to be the wrong size. Reading the little charts on the packages doesn't help, half the time. Take today. In stock: Carefree extra-longs. Okay, pretty much what I need. So I get them home, open them up, and discover that extra-long translates into "much smaller than the regular pads I just used up." Who the hell is the target market for these little things, Santa's elves? I'm used to using multiples in a case like this, but it annoys me when I have to because of a frickin' misleading size chart.
          I mopped some of the gunk off the floor. Finally. It was getting pretty filthy.
          The plant that had mealybugs (it was kept under the infested tree) seems to be clean now. I wiped all the leaves off, but couldn't do anything about all the white crawlies in the soil. So I let the house ants do it for me. Seriously. There's this one nest next to a bookcase that no amount of poison seems to stop. Any plant I put there results in them raiding the soil and arranging it in piles. So this time I let them do it. And there are no more little white things in the pot. There are also very few ants, and only one small pile of dirt with no ants working it. I couldn't possibly have killed both infestations off by pitting them against each other, could I? If that's the case, I'm going to pour syrup from the next nest I find right to the infested tree, and see what happens.

7:15pm: Since a Number of My Friends Are Moving Out Here...

          ...I thought I'd sign up too. I don't really have any worries about LJ whacking my blog, since I've got so few readers and not much in the way of serious content, but what the hell, eh? IJ has a much more generous icon offer for the free blogs, so there was added incentive.
          I'm not leaving LJ in the immediate future, so you can still catch me there. Not that I have a ton of readers, but any audience is a good audience.