I am a commuter

broderic on February 26, 2009


The car was in the shop. Something about the catalytic converter. The other car is just plain past its useful life. Both left me with the only option of public transportation to get to work. Cram with the poor slobs who can’t afford a car. Those suckers. That’s me for the day, hopefully.

Packed my lunch — cup ramen and a coke. The lunch of true sad sacks everywhere. Took a jacket with me to keep the morning chill away. At the bus stop, the crazy lady with cats mumbles to herself about picking up more kitty litter. I scoot over just a smidge then decide to stand up and pace.

I light myself a smoke. Two inhales and the bus is there. Only a quarter hour until I get to the metro station. Joy!

I watch the blocks go by. There’s slightly less traffic on the bus route, and I can watch the people wake up. There’s a man at the back who’s got a hard hat on his lap and a daughter seated next to him. The cat lady mumbles at the well manicured gentleman who shifts slightly in his seat. He points his knees away. Two students asleep in the front. Another father and his daughter watch the cars go by the window. It’s just people figuring out when to get off.

Here’s my stop at the metro. I pay my ticket from the automated machine out front. Climb the escalator to the platform. The people are still milling about as the first train pulls in. Not mine.

I get on the next one and find a seat facing crazy cat lady. She’s now mumbling at her feet. She’s wearing galoshes on this sunny day. She may know something I don’t. Then I catch a glimpse of navy, and my day becomes perfect.

There’s no word in English to describe the feeling. There’s probably no word in myriads of languages perhaps the Inuits can. It’s the electric feeling you get as you come face to face with beauty. Even these words don’t do that justice.

And now I know why people cram into these confined spaces. It’s the people you can meet.

I don’t say a word as I get off at my stop. Another 10 minutes and I’m at my desk. Yet, I’m still in the metro.

Mini Driving

broderic on February 25, 2009

I think they give every owner a copy of this movie.

Then they say don’t drive like that!

Quote of the Day [2.25.09]

broderic on February 25, 2009

(Too much pressure)
This pressure got to stop
(Too much pressure)
It's getting to my head
(Too much pressure)
They're giving me hard times
(Too much pressure)The Selecter, "Too much pressure"

The Interanational

broderic on February 24, 2009

The International (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/) shows us how
evil banks are. We don't need a movie for that just look at the
headlines of newspapers. They want their cake and they want to eat it,
too. They also want your cake, and they'll eat it off your fork, too.
They feed off of us making use of our money for their own nefarious
ways. It's no wonder that in today's troubling economic times bankers
and financiers make for the perfect Dr. Evils. They are just that: pure
evil.The Interanational is a Tom Tykwer film. It has none of the pulse
pounding drive of his famous, Run, Lola, Run. It's as if he
deliberately meant to throttle down his style and make a mellow film.
Almost too mellow at times. The film's style follows the need to make
a thriller that harkens back to thrillers and intrigues from the 70s.
Those films were more focused in telling a gripping tale. The
International tries to be gripping, but in this day and age of flash and
movement, the thrills don't come across as much. You have to expect a slow boil until the plot is exposed. The film
takes too long to get the plot anywhere and, once exposed, the plot is
rather flimsy of a caper. I didn't understand what it was about. Just
go to the governments and get your bailout money. Forget about being
found out as plainly evil. Just pretend you're incompetent and you'll
get as much money as humanly possible thrown your way.The shootout in the Guggenhiem though blows this whole notion up. Slow
boil? BANG! BANG! BANG! I dug this too. Lately, most movies when
set in Europe have a look to them that screams Bourne Identity. Wasn't
Clive Owen in the Bourne Identity? Didn't he save the world in Children
of Men? Then let's make the film look Euro — modern archtecture,
cities, glass and steel. And the Gug is modern. One ramp up and down.
BANG! BANG! BANG! It was shot like a shootout from the Bourne films.
Loved it. Also, I love how Naomi Watts looked in this. All lawyerly. And those
sexy boots. And that grey scarf mixing in with her blonde hair. Mmmm.
She can be my international anyday.3 of 5 stars.

Quote of the Day [2.24.09]

broderic on February 24, 2009

Fuck it all and no regrets,
I hit the lights on these dark sets.
I need a voice to let myself
To let myself go free

Metallica, “St. Anger”

Link of the Day [2.24.09]

broderic on February 24, 2009

I had probably linked his predictions prior to our Oscar Pool, but Nate Silver does an analysis of where he went wrong. There’s a comment there that congratulates him on missing only two. I think we all did just as good and we were picking names out of a hat. When I think back, it would’ve been just as well to have gone with the front runners. You would’ve nailed all them. And no, Sean Penn, wasn’t a big surprise — see Eddie Murphy in best supporting actor.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/02/some-post-oscars-thoughts-on.html

Coraline

broderic on February 23, 2009

Coraline is a girl who finds out that life in a fantasy world where everything is better than her reality isn’t better at all. The pitfalls in the fantasy world are just as deadly, and the love isn’t love but smothering. So she grows up and accepts her reality, and that is just how things go.

I dug this animated film. I’m a little bit sick and tired of CG animation, because that’s what the animation industry for feature films will become. Coraline is stop-motion animation. It gave a tactile feel to the works — a little bit of 3D. The herky-jerky motion also was fun as it was a reminder that we’re watching a film. I wish for more diverse forms of animation from Hollywood, but know that I won’t get it the way I like it.

3 of 5 stars.