16-Jul-2005 Uncategorized

on board

So, I’m sitting on the plane and typing in four point font so the guy sitting next to me cannot see anything that I’m typing.
Pain in the ass. He hasn’t been so bad, but I am constantly aware of the violations he makes into My Personal Space.
Right now it’s not so bad, but when we were sitting on the tarmac and waiting for the control towers to get it together,
he was skeeving me out. Oh, yeah, the delay. Last time I went to Houston there was a huge two hour delay where we
had to wait forever to take off. Bad weather was to blame. Fine. Today I scheduled a flight two hours earlier and, guess
what? Two hour delay. I need to work in a two hour advance so that I won’t have to wait for the two hour delay.


As I’m typing this I’m thinking that aforementioned dude to my left (sitting in the middle seat) is aware that I’m skeeved
and is crossing his arms and keeping away from me. II likes me some personal space. Supposedly I’m gonna hit
up some dinner then see CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. They had some interviews with Gene
Wilder on NPR and I really felt sad that the original may possibly get lost and foreshadowed by this big budget
rendition. I’m willing to bet that the songs aren’t half as good as the ones from the first film. They played a snippet
of the Oompa Loompa song about Augustus Gloop and, instead of implying that his lifestyle wasn’t a great idea (like in
the original), they outright tell you it isn’t. I liked the clever way they presented half truths and half lies in that original
film. Gene Wilder revealed that the whole opening sequence where he’s walking out for the first time and using a
cane was his whole idea. The thought was that everyone would see this decrepit old man and would hush and
feel sorry for him. Wonka would get his cane stuck in the ground, then do a forward somersault and leave the cane
behind. Wilder felt that the screenplay needed that introduction to get you into the idea that Wonka is constantly
skimming the line of truths and the half-truths. ”My dreams become reality…. and my reality becomes dreams.”
I need to revisit my top ten movies list and make sure Wonka is on there. It’s that good.


There is some deal about my rental car in Philly and how I have to give it up in lieu of public transportation. I’m not
looking forward to that. It will probably give me the chance to blog on the train, but I doubt I’ll be that prolific given that
I have to head out early and will be groggy. Compounding the issue is the fact that I will have my dog here starting
Monday and getting him around is not as easy as it sounds. I think he’s good to walk for one mile and then he’s
useless. I can probably get him all the way down to South Street where the vet is, but from there I have to walk all
the way back to Market to hit the train. I know, wah wah. People are starving in Africa and I’m bitching about a
rental car. Maybe if I had a nice bike with a giant basket for the poochie. Hmmm.


I’m watching MISS CONGENIALITY 2 on the airplane, although I’m not listening to it. I took a pass. The movie has
the appearance of sorta funny, but I’ll wait until it’s on cable. Sandra Bullock is still TEH HOT. Between Madonna
winking at me and Jules Asner rubbing up against me to walk past, I could handle another celebrity brush if
Miss Bullock was involved. Maybe something like she could sneeze on me or maybe she could lose her balance
and use me to get it back. I know — I’m sick.


This little 7 year old boy sitting across from me on the aisle is the most car obsessed child I have ever met.
”Dad, is the Porsche fast?” ”Yes, son.” ”Dad, does the Lamborghini have three models?” ”I don’t know,
son.” Crikey. If this kid knew what I was holing up at the storage place he’d flip his lid. I’m not sayin’ nothing.
He is occasionally squinting and trying to read my 4pt text, but to no avail. Heh.


Coming back to the movie at hand, they are portraying the FBI as this place that has giant LCD walls that
have blue lattices on them when they aren’t doubling as Dr. Evil viewscreens. Clever. I suspect the FBI is a lot
like where I work. Beige. Lots of beige. This morning I noticed they were painting one of the walls a dark
mustard color. Guess they ran out of beige paint?


Reminder to self — send Richard Noble his copy of the Mardi Gras videos we made. Them were some good times.
The superbowl party was quite memorable. Oh, and girls are pretty. Of course. Duh.