"Sir, I found the copier. It was the one placed in storage." The copier in question was something I lost- a big deal when it's worth $50,000 and the federal government will want to know where the Hell their property is. "Good. Place it back in excess where it belongs," boss man says.

I had just gotten yelled at for a half hour about how I run my operation. This gets misplaced, that gets misplaced, this gets lost, that gets lost. The big problem? That copier. Can't blame him for getting mad about it. Still, I push my luck.

"Sir, that copier was in the right place. Both Arturo and Eric said you specifically said to remove it and have it placed in storage last week while I was in Boston. I didn't lose it." He scrunches his face to one side and shrugs.

Boss is right to get mad about mistakes, but they're not like spelling mistakes. 20-09-E instead of 21-09-E is a hard mistake to catch- both are real things. There's plenty for me to improve on and what he wouldn't like knowing is that I have been rebuilding the system, improving it all. Still, he takes a mistake, swoops in, points out little errors and decides to rebuild the whole system in a very, very stupid way. Borderline threatens my job at that.

If Rafael had wanted a perfect system, he could have tried to make one from the begining. Instead he handed me the reins of a broken system for me to learn it and rebuild it on my own and changes everything not for the better, but to make it all sound like a simple catch phrase.

Been a rough week. Got sorta shot down by a friend, work has been Hell, and man I've had some of the worst nightmares I've had in years. Too long to bother describing, but the "repeatedly seeing your still-living self thrown into a grinder to get recycled into other people" part wasn't pleasant. Thank you God for a three day weekend. And I just got back from a vacation!

My friends list obviously did not see the same Transformers I saw.

Mine was awesome.

Spoilers within, naturalish.

My favorite moment in the first Transformers movie was definitely Blackout's initial attack. Perhaps my favorite design of the Transformers, a fun entrance, and horrifically powerful. That power never finds its way back into the movies and that is a bloody shame. In a way, it was the second fight that was my second favorite moment- Scorponok versus the USAF. I really liked the way the whole scene was done and paced, honestly. Scorponok was obviously nowhere near as powerful as Dad, but was still shown himself as a creature that couldn't be properly stopped. If you'll recall, two A-10 Thunderbolts get sent in as backup. These planes, which have been in use for over forty years, are basically tank busters. Multiple maverick missles are launched which hold a 125 to 300 pound payload, and their avenger gatling funs are also each fired for at least two seconds. Do you know what the avenger is like? It's a gun that weighs over six hundred pounds, but that doesn't include the ammo drum or feeders. Total weight clocks in at over 4000 pounds. These things can fire at a rate of 3900 30 mm rounds per minute, if they could hold that sheer amount of ammo. The weapon, found in the nose of the ship, is off-center because the recoil is literally powerful enough to throw the ship's aim if it isn't compensated for. These things don't stop Scorponok- they mearly knock him over.

Gotta say, the new TF isn't that scary. Hell, the rest of the first TF wasn't that scary. On the plus side, they did make Optimus Prime that scary. I still recall endblink whining about Spider-man 2, saying "Spider-man would NEVER do that, ever ever!" I remember the specific instance was when he didn't even call police when he saw a man being beaten. Why wouldn't he? The Spider-man comics have always, ALWAYS, been about a young man who's trying to do the right thing and constantly making mistakes, constantly screwing up, constantly changing sides not because he has no conviction but BECAUSE he has conviction, BECAUSE he sees the errors of his ways. I remember also countering that Optimus Prime doesn't kill. His own death in the original movie came because he refused to follow his own words- Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost. He didn't follow that line and it resulted in his death. Optimus Prime to the very last.

Oh, here? Here, he shoots a downed Decepticon in the face at point blank (literally asking him if he had any last words). He rips one's Decepticon's face in half. Rips off another's face, only to follow it by punching his heart out, and then crushing it with his hand. Severs limbs pretty readily, and it's worth remembering.... he was dead most of the movie. I'm sure had he more screen time there would have been a great deal more decapitation.

One of the charming story elements of the first movie, the story of a boy and his car, is pretty much gone and the movie is weaker for it. Dracko linked to a review that was definitely spot-on about Sam's genericness which is, well, even worse this time around. Shia plays him well enough, it's just that it's almost disgusting how bland he is. Easier for the 5 year old kids to imagine themselves growing up to be him and the 25 year old kids imagining they didn't weigh 300 pounds and could have sex with Megan Fox, I suppose.

Otherwise... hm. Well, the story's a mess, but keeps itself going thanks to sheer energy. Jolt never says anything far as I know, the Arcee triplets don't get near enough screen time, it'd be nice to hear more than 2.5 lines from Ratchet, but... well, at least we get some fantastic bickering between Starscream and Megatron. Also, while the number of characters is boosted... it's depressing how they use multiple duplicates. There are two or three Long Hauls out there, and at least two of each other Constructicon.

They saw a lot of their flaws in the first- that the robots had no weight, and changed that this time. The robots now actually look like they're heavy. Maybe not heavy enough, but still like you'd feel the Earth shake when they fell down, so that's a plus.

Also, I gotta say it- there was one thing that was truly terrible. They made Devastator completely non-threatening. That is criminal.

And finally, I gotta ask- where the HELL is Barricade?

Proper reviews on inFamous and Transformers coming.

Otherwise, good week. Long week. Poorly planned week.

It was gray, rainy, and cold all week. I loved it. Kira spent the majority of the time with her family and friends and I sorta floated around. I spent time with Ace! who is, like last year, super awesome. I yelled a lot about how awesome America is thanks to guns and explained that my America requires lots of yelling. He explained a way to lessen traffic in the city that would have made my life infinitely easier.

I also FINALLY met the wonderful woman he's written little about but for so long. Suffice to say she is quite wonderful. I also met his other roommate who is one of the most stunningly beautiful women I've ever seen and a real peach with a great sense of humor. It would have been lovely to talk with her more while not being fat, having a full head of hair, and having a genuine sense of humor.

I did NOT see Soup or Lightbunny. I'm disappointed. Lightbunny was sick over the first weekend and then.... well, he vanished off the face of the Earth. We couldn't contact him. Don't ask me. Soup's grumpy nature got the better of him.

I also stayed with my sister and her boyfriend for a few days and got this weird vibe of being kinda unwelcome. I tried to be small and unobtrusive and went out a lot on my own. I saw the town of Hull (don't ask- nothing interesting), saw Plymouth, and drove out to Cape Cod. Cape Cod was awesome. Here I am, walking down the beach in steel-toed boots in the rain completely incapable of seeing a human being maybe a mile up or down the beach before the fog and mist covered the rest up. It was a strange creature, Cape Cod. I've heard it can be pretty bad, pretty frickin' awful about tourism. For me, the drive felt empty (the roads were packed but there was so little on the sides), and the beach itself was my own little patch of gray, dreary heaven.

On the way back Kira and I were dead tired and instead saved face and stopped in Philly. I had one of those famous cheesesteaks, walked for thirty minutes, ate one of those famous cheesesteaks from the other famous place right across the street from the first famous place, went back to hotel, drank two LITs and watched Wrath of Khan (Kira only had one cheesesteak, one LIT, and also watched Wrath of Khan). Those cheesesteaks? For the record, considering they're supposed to be world-famous, unbeatable creatures.... I was disappointed.

:(

Also, Wrath of Khan made me happy. Not as happy as Cape Cod, but happy.

I can't say the week was great. In a way I can't even say it was good. Still, I'm very happy I went. It was wonderful seeing everybody I saw and the things I saw are things I'll treasure. Thank you to everybody who made it possible.

People who suck:

Soup

People who rock:

everybody up in Boston having fun

Off to Boston in the morning. Soup, join. Be cranky if you want, but come.

When I was young, Nintendo was all that was good. How is it that they've grown to be just the most dishonest company possible?

I'm calling The Last Guardian the winner of E3.

Vacation from the 19th to the 29th.

Discuss.

In my old room, on my bookshelf are several Dragonlance novels. Man, I read two or three dozen of those things when I was in middle school. Some of them as I remember were actually pretty decent, and several I remember being not-so-decent. What I really loved and still do love is the world setting of Krynn. I still remember the cataclysm and the events that lead to it, Raistlin's revelation and sacrifice, the story of Lord Soth, pretty much everything to do with Tasslehoff (because everybody loves Tasslehoff and he is debatably Krynn's all-time greatest hero). It's FUN to know a history and a series of stories that are all interconnected. It's like a more fleshed out mythology, one where you don't have to be afraid of being wrong when making your own interpretations.

Way I see it, Star Wars is really different. Where does it take place? Galaxy far far away. When? Long, long time ago. I mean, do humans have a homeworld in Star Wars? Was there a year where they first made contact with aliens? I don't know, I don't care- I don't think anybody cares. Nobody cares because it takes the strongest and best tropes of fantasy and puts them together in a machine that somehow works. Throw in a story about a jedi three thousand years before Vader and nobody's going to worry about technology or politics. Republic's still in power? Okay, that's all we need.

Star Trek is different. Star Trek works because it's an established world and date meeting with an unknown. It's interesting to know what the politics are, what the history is, who and what the Klingons or the Romulans or the Pak-leds are (Pak-leds represent!) The new movie tries, in so many ways, to be Star Wars. It tries to basically just ignore what makes Star Trek what it is- a background, a history, and a story, and it turns it into a fantastical epic. Admittedly, it's a sci-fi epic and not a fantasy epic (thank you God), but it feels like a story completely without consequence. There's a villain who completely goes against what his people are (could just as easily have a break-dancing pope for a villain), and a devastating action in the destruction of Vulcan that feels like it is without any reasonable element. When it was sucked into a black hole, I gotta admit, I wanted the movie to stop right there and I wanted to see how the Romulans would react. Surely they're not so cold-hearted as to happily see the omnicide of their cousins and the attached culture and history. My God! Imagine the shifts and changes that could come with seeing a Romulus that is suddenly sympathetic and compassionate towards the Vulcans and the Federation. What would that mean?

The Onion parodied my viewpoint perfectly, but it's always worth remembering what makes something beloved in the first place. Star Trek is beloved because it's a fictional, fantastical, beautiful look at our very future. There's nothing wrong with wanting to read the history books of such a future.

Still, man, could you give John Cho a weaker part?

Anybody want a copy of Red Steel? It's not shrink wrapped or anything, but it's never even been opened. Like, who in God's name would think I'd want that?

I have six days of vacation I gotta take in May or June. Any thoughts? Might visit Boston again. Dunno.

Man, Sceptre just doesn't like the concept of me having free time.

Or peeing outside. She doesn't like that concept either.

Oh, happy birthday, by the way. Here's to many more!

I've started reading again. It's about time, honestly. Just finished a book of ye olde Japanese myths yesterday- traditional heavy-handed stuff where half the morals contradict the other half and people are look at as "Very wise" for figuring out that the bouncing pot killed the noble's daughter who came from the lake of the Grumpy Snake and stuff. Still, it was interesting and entertaining, most definitely. I picked up two books by Rand, the first being Anthem as recommended a year back by Urthona. Finished it in a morning and unfortunately the way Ace! remembered it is significantly more interesting than the book itself. Still, it's more ammo for my fury.

Also, I want to know what the Hell is up with her freakish subservience/rape fetish thing. I mean, if you're into that that's cool, it's just that it runs a bit contrary to, you know, her entire philosophy (the one that has her as God-Queen of Eternity, anyways).

I'm currently in Gulliver's Travels, which is a significantly better read.

Otherwise, ( Puppy! )

The National Review's Top 25 Conservative Movies of the Past 25 Years

It praises a movie "about martial honor, unflinching courage, and the oft-ignored truth that freedom isn’t free" in telling the story of the men of a nation that survived solely because of the massive slave population. It praises one movie that is a "cautionary tale about the progressive fantasy of a eugenically correct world" and simultaneously praises another movie where "a super-speedy runner, wants to try out for track. Mom claims it wouldn’t be fair." Yeah, a super-speedy superhero who has his powers by the grace of a superhero and a superheroine hooking up- the same movie that condemns the one person who has powers that are not an accident of birth but an achievement of the mind (having the necessary mind can easily be construed as an accident of birth, I'd argue) while they praise a movie about "an incredibly hard-working, ambitious, and smart man who wants to do better for himself and his son."

Morality is easy when it bends constantly. My mind exploded and I didn't even touch Red Dawn.

Last night I dreamed I saw three grisly murders at Six Flags. One in this dismal bathroom, another was run over by the log ride, and a third in a bakery. It turns out they were all famous people who did the killing and I had to give the Oscar for Most Best Murder At A Six Flags. The killer at the log ride was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the killer in the bathroom was Demi Moore, and the killer in the bakery was the guy who sang the Ghostbusters theme.

I never found out who actually won it.

When Mom heard the puppy's potential name, she wasn't that fond of it. She suggested instead that I call her Sophia.... I suppose I could call her SOPHIA the Third.

So, I'm curious. I'm not horrible/nerdy enough to actually name my girl Interceptor, though it was the name I heard a few times and I'm having a bit of trouble thinking of something better. I came up with the idea of shortening it to Ceptor, then just shifted the spelling around to just giving her the equivalent noun- Sceptre. Unique, actually sounds sorta pretty if you say it, I like it. Still time to change it. Any ideas?