Having just heard the news of bouncing's newly unemployed status, I feel like it's time to write something about it all, but I'm not sure exactly what. I was going to do a nice full movielog entry, but now, my mind just isn't into it, so a single paragraph will have to do.

It begins with the scream of a woman awaking from a nightmare, and goes from there. Set in a fog-enshrouded house in England after World War 2, Grace (played by Nicole Kidman, in her second surprisingly great movie this year) and her children grapple with terror, madness, and what might lie beyond. Excellent visual work, mood build up, and stage / lighting work. This is classic style horror, very well done. The creeps continue to tingle after the end credits have finished.

I have recently been informed, and witnessed for myself, that Grumpus, the resident parakeet of the Louisville Compound, died sometime during the night last night, presumably due to natural causes. Grumpus lived a long and loud life, and was a great hero in the eyes of many. Although the tv series in which he set was to star never quite made it to the screen, the memory of his sounds will live on through the ages. The Louisville Compound is now in mourning.

Thursday, Sept 27, 20:35. Consciousness gradually overtook the brain, inaudible tones still engulfing the mind -- an overpowering undercurrent of haunting melodies which echoed the essence of the empty soul beneath. A state of awakeness only made the patterns stronger. Look at the clock. 8:37.

What would life be like without some Star Trek series on the air every season? The world hasn't known such an existence since 1986. Now, chances are that this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

After spending most of his weekend playing Kohan, sleeping, and watching psychotic DVD movies, Bitscape wasn't feeling very tired Sunday night circa midnight. So what did he do? Popped in the Basic Instinct disc again, and watched the Director / Director of Photography commentary track, in which Verhoeven and De Bont discuss all issues related to the film's plot and its making. At 0230, went down for four hours of odd dreams which featured medieval soldiers conquering cities, treacherous mansions next to the ocean, and ice picks, all mushed together in a bizarre weave.

(Note: This was a viewing of the Director's Cut, which Artisan kind enough to release on DVD not very long ago.)

Memento is simply a great movie. Anyone who hasn't seen it should watch it. Anyone who has seen it should watch it again, because they probably forgot it all anyway. I should know. I speak from experience.

A classic. I'm not generally a huge Schwarzenegger fan, but this is my favorite of all the films he has starred in. Yes, I think it even beats T2. Of course, my perspective could be somewhat colored by the memory of a ski trip long ago. (<reference only xenites will fully appreciate>Was it "10 winters ago?" Oh god, I think it might have been.</reference only xenites will fully appreciate>) A ski trip during which myself and several other naughty church school boys went out and rented an R rated movie. (The appropriate reaction at this time is a shocked gasp, followed by "Tsk tsk tsk")

"Scully, open your eyes. Don't you see? It wasn't Arab terrorists who boarded those airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. That was all a setup. Those flight manuals, the supposed 'passengers' who hijacked the planes. A ruse, to fool you and the American people into thinking this was an attack by some disgruntled nut from Afghanistan. Look beyond it!"

What events of the past few days might I regurgitate?

I've sometimes thought that if another major anti-war movement reminiscent of the Vietnam era were to sweep the nation, Boulder, Colorado would be the hatching grounds. Anyone who has lived in or around the area ought to appreciate that.

Today was an unusual Friday. The company provided a yummy lunch of hot dogs and bratwurst (the only "charge" being that people were asked to put some money in a box to be sent to the Red Cross). Company movie day went ahead as previously planned. We watched Office Space via DVD and a projector, which was as absolutely hilarious as it was when I saw it long ago, perhaps even moreso due to the awareness that it was being watched by a room full of office workers. Heehee. (Yes, this is proof positive that I work in a cool company.)

I've been asked to pass this on. I was going to do it earlier, but I just now remembered.

I'm now going to do what I only do once in a blue moon, and quote a Metallica song in its entirity. This time, I'm also making the ogg available. Lars can sue me. As for the rest of you, please be kind to my dsl line. (And if you're reading this rambling 5 years in the future, chances are it won't be there anymore.)

I was going to go to BLUG with Zan Lynx tonight, but found out that it had been cancelled, and access to the NIST building closed off to the public. So much for that theory.

I am deathly tired. I was planning to come straight home into my bed and sleep, but then I got caught up in the Collective for a while, and now I feel like I need to put something here too.

I woke up and opened my eyes. Still there. It was still there. The buildings falling. The million tales of horror, death, unfathomable. This had happened. This had actually happened.

Another rambling. More thoughts, updates, regurgitations. Reactions.

The nightmarish saga doesn't stop. It can't. It won't.

This morning, Argo gradually nudged my brain into grudging consciousness, slowly fading in the music as she always does. I ignored it as long as I could, unwilling to emerge from my dreamland. This was everyday. This was expected. This was the usual, ordinary routine. I finally dragged myself out of bed, checked email, and hopped in the shower. While I was waking up, the world outside was being plunged into unprecedented, unthinkable events two timezones away.

As everyone knows, I virtually never post ramblings from work, but not much work is getting done right now anyway.

I just returned from the Boulder Compound, where Jaeger's 21st birthday party was held (although his actual birthday occurred 3 days go). A bunch of folk gathered 'round, ate lasagna, shared many laughs, and watched Jaeger open his presents.

I hereby dub the fest that occurred in Lincoln over the past weekend as "The Phest Fest". In keeping with the tradition from The Wallpaper Fest, others may assign it additional names if desired. (Just like multiple pointers can reference the same variable.)

Somewhat. More or less. If you want to call it that. Well we held an opening ceremony at least.

Yesterday, after I got all my little errands done, and a false start during which I discovered halfway out of Lafayette that I had forgotten to bring the printed page with Neelix's instructions to his house, Tobias and I finally got on the road for real at 1045 MDT.

[Bitscape awakened at roughly the same time he does on a typical work day, and also decided to type a little tidbit of web gibberish at an unheard of time of day -- the morning!]

3rd time's a charm. With all participants in the coming weekend fest in attendance (plus several others who dropped in), we finally have all the critical questions planned out.

For the second night in a row, those who will attend the next weekend's gathering in Linoln met in irc to discuss plans. For a second night in a row, all but one of them were there. Tomorrow! Tomorrow, we will get everybody together. Truly!

After a long weekend of doing... very little, when I actually think about it (involved lots of gaming and some reading though), tonight was the official irc meeting, attended by Neelix, Humblik, and Anya. We discussed, among other things, next weekend's big advanture!