Is there something in the air that causes us to be unproductive? If so, the air today has been rich with anti-productivity particles. Not that I mind. I too dream of an apocalypse.

Last night, I watched the extended cut of Underworld. I did notice a few added or slightly longer scenes than the theatrical version, but it was not significantly different; certainly not to the same degree as the Lord of the Rings extended versions. The terms "Extended", "Director's Cut", or "Unrated" have become nothing more than empty marketing jargon.

That's not to say I'm disappointed, because I liked the movie in the first place. It is amoral to the degree that the most disgusting and macabre scenes become the most fun. We revel in the blood, rather than mourning it, because all the characters (yes, even Selene) are such vile things that watching the Vampires and Lycans rip, bite, tear, and chop each other to shreds is a spectacle to enjoy. Yet at the same time, the movie generates a sort of empathy with both clans as their history is revealed.

That, and the visual style.

Rygel is bugging me. Slow as ever. One of his fans seems to be turning off and on at random intervals. Or at least that what it sounds like. I haven't yet investigated to see if it is the power supply, the chip fan, or something else. But the noise goes off, and the comes on again a few seconds later.

At least he seems to be stable. Maybe I should count my blessings.

I would go ahead and buy new parts to resurrect Argo, except that scottgalvin.com has been talking for months about having the company purchase new PC's for x13 people. So I've been holding off. Since he's been mentioning it with increasing frequency in recent weeks, it looks like there's a strong possibility that it will actually happen.

However, I've decided that on the contingency that the month becomes July, and I'm still using Rygel by then, I'll go ahead and buy a new motherboard, processor, and some memory for myself anyway. It's so damn cheap these days, and I've been relying on this dilapidated celeron far longer than I had expected to.

24 hours from now, I'll be one of the people at BLUG giving a brief software demo. I hope to see lots of people there. (But hopefully not so many that I faint at the thought of speaking publicly in front of them, as it felt like might happen at somebody's wedding.)

But seriously, we all know it will be the same usual crowd that always shows up to Hacking Society, plus a few other stragglers. Given that, it barely even qualifies as "public speaking". Maybe that's why I volunteered.

I'll be borrowing Kiesa's laptop tomorrow afternoon so I can get everything ready. Here's hoping that all goes well...

Now, I shall go outside to breathe in some of the fresh post-rain air. I love Colorado.