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October 22, 2004
The Grudge
Tonight we went to see The Grudge with Samwise, Erin, Brian and Jenn. Jenn was a nice addition to the group, and it was very nice to see her outside of work!
Mike and I thought we were going to show up later than normal (Mike was actually expecting to miss some previews), but we managed to get there with plenty of time. Enough time in fact, that we were able to catch up to everyone, and then go grab some snacks.
Previews ... let's see. We saw one for Saw, Ring 2 and some comedies. I hate when they mix genres! Okay, maybe not hate, but honestly, if I'm going to see a horror movie, especially close to Halloween, I would appreciate seeing horror previews. Or at least good action previews. Suffice it to say, Saw and Ring 2 were the only ones I rememb-- Ah ha! After the Sunset, which stars Pierce Brosnan, who I ordinarily don't like, but the movie looks very interesting.
Looking on IMDb the other day, I accidently read at least the beginning of a negative review for The Grudge. I honestly don't remember anything it said, but it held on that there was a negative review (I do recall that the person liked The Ring). Now, The Ring and The Grudge are not by the same person, but they both work on the method of psychologial terror, rather than good ol' American hack-and-slash blood and gore. Don't get me wrong, blood and gore are fabulous when presented appropriately, but horror movies that tend to remain on my mind are the psychological ones. Blair Witch Project, The Ring, and now The Grudge. Hell, I'm reading The Ring now (which reminds me, that I need to get The Spiral when it hits QP).
I'm bird-walking. My apologies.
The Grudge had one 'standard' that every American horror flick needs: a repition that leaves the audience wondering, 'What in the name of fuck were you thinking?' in this case toward Sarah Michelle Gellar's character, Karen. "I have almost died X-number of times in this house... Let's go back in!" Mind you, there is no sociopathic mass murderer standing behind the door to the bedroom, but she herself said, "When I was first in the house, something felt wrong." That right there, was enough for all of to be like 'Huh?!' when it came to her re-entering.
The scares in the movie are well-done. Most of them focus either around the scary little boy in the commericals (the one crying like a cat), or a dead woman. The noise the woman made is horrific, and sadly ... Mike can make a lower-volumed, but equally "icky" version of that sound with his throat. He'll die if he happens to do that in bed tonight.
The only problem I really had with the movie was that it would go back and piece together the story, but when it first occurs I was lost. It took a moment before I realized that it was a flashback, because there was no clear indicator of what it was. The segments did work together well with the remainder of the movie, because it gave everyone the opportunity to piece it together on their own (like Sixth Sense).
Overall, the movie was great. It was a touch scarier than The Ring, and would have me less likely to watch on a dark night (like when Mike and I originally watched The Ring; laying in bed, watching it on DVD with the lights out and an oval mirror at the foot of the bed). Listening to Sarah Michelle speak in Japanese was cute. Her boyfriend, eh ... Jason Behr, who starred in Roswell, as well as had a role in an episode of Buffy (fitting). Thankfully, in this movie he looks grown-up and not so lanky. LOL
I can't wait to see Ring 2 next year. LOL And I'm hoping that a sequel for The Grudge is planned for stateside, as there is a Japanese sequel.
Posted by Coyote at 9:06 PM
October 21, 2004
So Very Close
Woohoo! Only one day remaining before Mike and I are officially on vacation. Very excited here, can'tcha tell?
Work's been going fairly well; could be better, could be worse. I cannot imagine it being too plesant when we return, however.
I had gone into the breakroom yesterday to check the calendar, but no one had written in paydays. Mike came in a moment after me, asked what I was checking for, and reminded me that we got paid last week. That means that we'll come home, pick up our paycheck and then get paid a few days later. Very nice. Then he said that the paycheck for us being gone is going to be miserably low. I didn't think so personally, so I asked Erin to check our vacation hours. We have 72 hours. The funny part of this is, I was thinking, "Fuck, that's only 3 days." ^_^
After realizing that 72 hours was actually 9 days, I smiled. Plus Erin said that we'll actually have 76, as you get four hours a month, and the month will rollover while we're away.
I should check tempatures in Chicago, to know what kind of weather we're dealing with. In fact, I'm going to call Mom to check on LA weather. If Khris was on, I'd just ask him about Chi-town, but he's not. Bastard.
Calling Mom...
Eesh! Big Bear got 12 (or was it 20?) inches of rain the other day. But other than that, the weather looks fine for Cali. Chicago looks a touch cold, but not as cold as it is out here. Everything should be just fine.
I keep saying we're leaving on Tuesday, and I'm so wrong about that. We leave on Monday. >_<
Tomorrow evening we're seeing The Grudge with Sam, Jenn, Erin and Brian. I hope that the movie ranks up there with The Ring, but I saw a bad review (and tried not to read too much of it) and the reviewer said they loved The Ring. I hate reviews anyway.
Only one day of work left! Huzzah!
Posted by Coyote at 7:08 PM
October 14, 2004
Shareholders
Mike and I stopped at the bank after work tonight, to deposit our paychecks. Well, there was this guy ahead of us, who was unable to do something because of something being wrong. Apparently something was hand-written, and they weren't allowing him to cash/deposit it. Whatever. The teller and manager were obviously trying to protect a customer.
The guy gets really upset about it. He wants the teller's name, and the manager's name. The teller gladly hands him her business card, and then goes to get the manager's for him also. Both women were being exceptionally kind about the situation (though the teller was trying not to laugh at the man). By now he's spouting about how he's a shareholder, and how he's going to write some letters. And then how his whole family are shareholders, and they have a "very large share" of the bank. -_-
I told Mike, that it reminded me of Santa Monica. We worked at the Borders on the Promanade. Well, outside the store is a small patio, with about seven tables; if I remember correctly. Well, people will camp out there, with chess boards and play for hours on end. It finally got to the point where there were no seats for actual customers, and the chess players were getting rude. We started cracking down on them. If they were not actual customers, they couldn't sit out there. So someone would buy a soda. We made it so that only two games could occur at anytime; and had fancy laminated cards that they had to keep on the table, so that we knew they were legit. They actually had to sign up for the cards, and only had a hour. One time, a card vanished. They were then limited to one chess game at a time, until the card returned. I think it took a week, but they got it back.
We inevitably had some sap, who insisted that he was a large shareholder in the company, and that he was going to complain to HQ and get our chess regulations shut down. Yeah, large shareholder ... which is why he never bought a single thing at the store. Asswipe.
LOL Horror stories of working in a book store. Oi. Especially on the Promanade. It was terrible there. The only bright sides were that we had a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf around the corner, and a La Salsa (I think that was the name) right on the corner. Not to mention Puzzle Zoo next door, and one of the employees gave Mike and I discounts, even though they knew we couldn't do the same for them.
I'm going to try and get some writing done. Hasta!
Posted by Coyote at 6:14 PM
October 11, 2004
4g
I forgot to mention, that I moved up to 4g in my ear lobes (first set of holes) on Friday. I put them in at work in the morning, and the right one slid right on in. Once again, I was thinking that perhaps moving up just the next step wasn't enough (I thought at much when I bought my 8g and realized I should have bought 6g instead). But they are so damned heavy!! They're horseshoe, which match what I have in the second set (10g). Third set is captive bead (12g) and fourth are like freaking 20g piercing studs. Sadly, they're the 'new generation' of piercing studs, very much unlike what I had been originally pierced with (which would have been like 16g). I honestly don't know if I'll even guage up on those!
Work was alright, at least for me. Mike was pissed off, due to a variety of things, as was Sam. Which made me sad. :(
I'm so freaking hungry. Gotta bug Mike to go get us food. Maybe McDonald's again. Yum yum! Speaking of which, he bought me a Hello Kitty toy from McD's on Friday before we left for up north. His dad actually sent him to McD for some food before we left. So now I have this absolutely adorable Hello Kitty 'clock' sitting on my monitor. The date? 30 October, of course!
I miscalculated! We have two weeks of work left, not just one. Le'sigh! Aw well.
Speaking of which, I need to get bills ready to be paid. Oi. Plus, I owe Mike's Mom 110$ for my dress (she said she would split the cost with me, thankfully!) So I'm going to figure out my bills, and then read for the night. Hasta!
Posted by Coyote at 6:03 PM
October 10, 2004
Congratulations, Dana and Panos!
This weekend Mike and I were away, to attend his cousin Dana's wedding. We left work at Noon on Friday, so that we could finish packing (yeah, so we never started). We left around ... hmm, I believe it was after 2, though we had been trying to get out of here before that.
The ride up there wasn't too terrible. I couldn't get quite comfortable enough, since the back bench of the van sucks, and Ashley was back there with me (she sleeps on long car-treks, and takes up more than her share of the bench! LOL). But I managed to get a good start on the book I am now reading (The Hidden Warrior, the sequel to Bone Doll Twin, which I was exceedingly upset about, as I had read it unaware that it was part of a pair of novels, and the first ends like someone ripped out the last few pages). Since it had been years since I read Bone Doll Twin (2001, I do believe), I had somewhat of a difficult time trying to make some connections.
We checked into the Hilton (yes, we made Paris a little bit richer this weekend--actually, since almost everyone from the wedding ended up staying there... even those who lived in the area...). They screwed up our rooms, as we were supposed to get a single King size bed in each. Both rooms had a pair of doubles. Marty went back down, and got them to change the rooms. Too bad he hadn't thought about Tommy and Deborah, as the same ended up happening to them the next day, but by then they were too filled to make the change (not that it mattered really, as Tommy simply did some rearranging!!) We change rooms, and Mike's parents ... man ... in the first room, they had a mini-fridge (unstocked, but a mini-fridge regardless!), and there wasn't one in the replacement room (nor was there one in either room that Mike and I had). They actually lugged it across the hall to the new room!
The rehearsal was brief. Partially because Dana was a hour late, partially because the lady doing the rehearsal was late, and also because we had a dinner date to make. I met a great number of people in Mike's family there, which was fun. The dinner was fabulous, though our psuedo-table crowded. The only time people had elbow room was when others got up to head to the bar; which happened frequently.
Saturday we got up at a nice hour (I think it was around 10) and had breakfast with Mike's parents. Tommy met up with us then, and we sat around in the bar/lounge until they allowed him to check in (check in time was at 3, but since that was when the wedding was starting, they were allowing for early check-in).
The wedding started rather close to 3 (which amazed us all). Dana looked absolutely beautiful, which was to be expected! Let me tell you, Greek weddings are considerably longer than we were led to believe! At one point the (priest?) mentioned us being there for 45 minutes, and I think we stayed almost that much longer! Plus, while it was dual-language, it was difficult to follow, as most of it was sung and I couldn't tell when he switched languages! Add to that, the fact we stood for a considerable amount of the time... whew! It was beautiful, and amazing, but I don't think I could bare to go to another Greek wedding again!
The reception was a blast. Deborah got absolutely ripped, which was very funny (especially the next morning when we had breakfast together). Plus, they were trying to set up Ashley's friend with their cousin, Chris. Kristin actually dove over people to catch Dana's bouquet. Oi.
We had taken a shuttle to the reception, and supposedly it was supposed to make trips between our reception, another reception and the Hilton, in case people needed to head back for some reason, or they wanted to leave early. Well, Mike and I decided to leave at 10, as they had done everything at that point, and it was strictly party then. Neither of us were drinking, nor dancing, and one of the speakers was directly behind us and giving us a headache (or it was to me at least). So we go outside and sit down. About 40 minutes later, it still hasn't shown up. Both Mike and Marty have spoken to Dana, who said she was told by the Hilton that the shuttle would be a continuous thing. By then, Deborah and Tommy have joined us (Tommy told Deborah it was time to leave; LOL). The guy in charge of the valet parking mentioned the shuttle wouldn't come around until 11, but we told him that's not what any of us had been informed about. So he started talking to some woman, who confirmed the 11 PM time. Thankfully, Billy and Bev came out. They had actually driven there, and were willing to give us a ride back to the Hilton.
A couple months back (maybe almost a year ago), Billy bought a very nice Escalade. Beautiful truck, and the best part ... GPS navigation system. Problem was, he still had the directions for the church entered into it! LOL Thankfully, Deborah in her drunken state knew the address to the hotel, and we were able to get back on track.
Sleep. Much needed sleep. After a nice hot bath. :D
At 7:45 Tommy called us, and mentioned breakfast. Mike went to wake me up, I peek at the clock and I'm like, "Its not even 8!" I honestly thought that those two would be out for a good amount of time, boy ... was I wrong! Poor Deborah though ... we had bottled water in our rooms, and they didn't. So she hadn't gotten anything really to drink before sleeping. Breakfast was great, because we could remind Deborah of things she was forgetting. Like ...
We're sitting outside, waiting for the shuttle. Mike had just talked to Dana who said that while she didn't have the number of the Hilton, to just call 411 and then call the hotel to find out what's going on. Mike repeats this to Deborah and I. Immediately, "Give me the phone," she says. Mike reluctantly hands her the phone. She dials 411. Meanwhile, the head valet is talking to Mike, and explaining that he was aware of the shuttle not coming around until 11.
Deborah: ::Dials 411.:: Hasbrook(sp) Heights. ::Pause.:: Yeah, we're suppose to have a shuttle here, taking us between the wedding reception and the Hilton!
If you notice that she never asked for the number of the Hilton, or got transferred to it ... gold star for you! LOL! Mike's trying to get her to stop, as the valet is confirming info for us. It was hysterical. This scene was followed a minute or two later with Deborah getting a look on her face, snapping the phone shut and handing it to me, saying, "The bitch hung up on me!"
As was said this morning ... thank God she didn't accidently call 911.
Oh. And she broke her toe last night. She doesn't know how, we're assuming it was while she was barefoot on the dance floor, with Ashley, Dana and all the other girls. She realized it happened too, but I was under the impression that it had occurred much earlier in the day ... like while she was sober!
Oi.
We got a ride home with Deborah and Tommy, since they were leaving as soon as we ate breakfast, whereas Mike's parents were still basically in bed at that time. Mike slept almost the whole way home, and I think Deborah at least tried to.
The weekend was a blast. Mike bitched about not being able to play Mortal Kombat, but otherwise everything was great.
Posted by Coyote at 7:27 PM