Hmmm... The point at which this appears on the public page is indeterminate at this time. It would seem I am not the only one who, just when everything is working nicely, gets these stranges urge to upgrade stuff, causing breakages left and right, and... well, more fun for the whole family. Heh. If we're lucky, and I decide I feel like spending some time this evening in the world of ugly hacks, we might just see it back to normal before the end of the night. If.

Well, today at work was... like a really crappy Monday, but worse. The sad fact about long weekends is that -- while they have the advantage of allowing us to temporarily revert to a more natural sleep schedule -- they have the disadvantage of allowing us to revert to a more natural sleep schedule. Oh, the pain of it.

The sky was also totally devoid of blue, reminding me all too much of a certain movie I have been spending way to much time watching in recent days. (Yes, again last night. I'm pathetic, huh?) At least I didn't have dreams of strange encounters at S&M clubs (not ones that I can remember, at any rate), only to wake up and arrive at work several hours late. :)

Last night, I delved into the X Files pilot. (Did I mention here that I bought the season 1 DVD set? No, I don't suppose I did. Well, I did.) How's that for confusing sentence structure? Brilliant stuff, I say. Lol at the scenes with Scully's boyfriend. Aren't we all glad those got removed before the final cut? :)

I mean, it's not that I couldn't see Scully as having a boyfriend. It's just that the way they were done was so clichéd and dumb. So out of character. An obvious ploy to pit him against Mulder in some sort of million-times-rehashed jealousy plot. Not X Files material. And why was I not surprised when Chris Carter said the only reason they were ever filmed in the first place was because some pointy haired network exec thought that should be there? Some things never change. :)

Now my timing couldn't have been better, given that the heavy references from the Season 7 finale were still fresh in my head. Now I can remember what they were talking about, and who Theresa was, and all those other people too. :)

But I must say this: Going back to watching anything via broadcast is going to be painful after this. I just know it. DVD's are spoilin' us rotten, folks. The perfect picture quality, the lack of commercials, the ability to jump to any section, advance key scenes frame by frame (which you can also do with a good VCR, but it just looks so much better with the DVD). Watching tv is gonna feel like getting demoted from a T1 to a modem. I guess that's why some people I know (who also happen to own DVD players) have just given it up. Spoiled rotten. :)

I've decided I'm going to employ the philosophy of "take your time" when it comes to these episodes. Watch an episode or two a week (or maybe more, depending on whether I feel so inclined). By "watch", I don't just mean play each through once, and move on. No, the idea here is to revel in the experience.

First viewing, go straight through. No pauses, stops, or repeating of scenes. Second viewing, do it similar, but spend time absorbing more of the details. Maybe go back and repeat a scene in slowmo if there's something of interest. Third viewing, skip around... back... forward. If there's something that you think relates to something else in this or another episode, jump to the point of relevance and examine. Leave no stone uncovered. Let the search for truth be paramount. Kind of like I did last night. :) Then, if it's an episode that really stands above, watch it straight through again. But wait a few days before that. Go back to it after things have had a bit of time to sink in. Yeah.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a freak. Thank you.

(Just wait till they start releasing Xena eps on DVD. Ya ain't seen nothin yet. };> And yes, I know the Hercules Warrior Princess trilogy is already out. It's on my "to buy" list. The rest can't be too far behind. Let's just hope they do as good a job with mythology as Fox so far appears to have done with the X Files.)

Hmmm... Maybe this would be a good time to see about getting that wreck of a database kludged back to a working state so somebody will actually be able to view what I'm typing sometime this century. Maybe getting a little actual nutrition wouldn't hurt either. God, I swear that at least 80% of my food consumption over the three day weekend consisted of various forms of chips combined with various forms of dips. I am NOT exaggerating either. Ask any of the people who were with me. It's true.

Funny thing at lunch today (ref: "I used to eat there. Good noodles."), I was talking about MI2 with someone who had seen it. They asked if I had, and I replied with a negative. This individual then asked me if it was on of my boycott list. lol. I mean, it was a good question, really. Obviously, this person had been reading this page earlier. I replied that my boycott has basically gone to hell. Which it has. One of these days, I'm gonna have to post a rambling explaining my reasoning. If any exists, that is. lol.

Well, hopefully somebody will see this before the next Millennium comes out on DVD, at which time I'll have to go off on another Chris Carter-gasm. Until then, peace all.