Come on, let's go blow up stuff!
Jul. 6th, 2003 05:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteI tried to go to bed early on Thursday night, honestly, but I couldn't do it. Why is it that class wears me out so much, but then all of a sudden I'm parked online downloading stuff and then awake until 6am!? o.o Kathleen and I hadn't really established a time when she'd pick me up (saving me the trouble of taking GGT, thank god), so I just slept (around 8am ^^;) until I got a call. I asked her to pick me up around 2pm, giving me 1 hour to be awake and do the dishes, clean up, whatever.
I vaguely recall watching TV and getting real bored, real fast-- not much to do. I might have been online a while, can't remember. All I know is I was napping on the couch when Kathleen came, and we headed out to Petaluma. Blah blah, day goes on. I finally meet Elise, Kathleen's daughter, who's supposedly younger than me, but already drinking and smoking. And her mom has no problem with it whatsoever. -.- Not that it's any of my business or anything, but euch, that just strikes me as bad parenting. Social drinking is one thing, but she was smoking at least 4 cigarettes in the few hours we were there. =P Even around the horses. And despite her smelling like cigarette smoke and cow, she still got more affection from the horses than I did. Feh.
Elise had to go home after that, so Kathleen drove her home-- but Kathleen had been nice enough to bring an air bed and comforter for me, since the only other option was a sleeping bag (I brought a pillow just for that reason). =D It didn't come with a pump, so Kathleen filled it up with her hair dryer! She's so innovative! She also was going to give me a box of sample lipsticks and such, but when we had to clear the table, Elise put them all back in the box (and I'd gone and meticulously sorted them out, too!) and I dunno what happened to it after that. Blah.
Dad and I left to go to see the fireworks at Luchessi Park after dinner (yummy chicken! But I'm not a fan of peas or macaroni salad, so...) but it turned out that they'd been the night before, and Dad plumb forgot. -.- Why were they the night before? Apparently the dumbass contractor had been booked for both Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and they didn't have enough resources or whatever to do both on the same night. It was awfully disappointing, but Dad and I just went to one of the many fireworks booths. I used the $20 mom gave me (and thank god for that... she was under the delusion that my Dad makes more money than her. *laughs* 1) he's a teacher (that should say it all, you know), 2) he's always paying back one debt or another; 3) he lives on a friggin' horseranch with RICH people. Suffice it to say, rent is HIGH!) and got a small pack of fireworks. Damn the fact that they were so small-- the best sets were around $80. No discounts either, even though it was the night of the celebration. Probably because the organization selling them (Extreme Faith Ministry...?) had TONS left.
Lots of people were at Luchessi Park "blowing up stuff." So we drove around a while and watched some families and their fireworks. I thought a few of them were pretty stupid for blowing fireworks up right next to their cars (paint damage, you know?) but whatever, they were pretty to watch. Dad and I set up camp not far from the lake, watching other people, and in the distance, someone OBVIOUSLY had illegal fireworks, like the kind the pyrotechnics actually use for big displays. So it was even better than watching simple fireworks put on by a contractor, because there were more fireworks, more variety, and less time to wait. ^_^ The fireworks we got, unfortunately, weren't that great. In a laughable twist, most of them were "white" fireworks. I figured it had something to do with us having purchased them from the "Extreme Faith" ministry. Hehe. They were still pretty cool though, lots of sparkly, snapping ones.
I wish we'd gotten more Ground Blooms, the ones that spin around on the ground at 25MPH or something, like neon balls of fire outta hell. =D A family near us had a bunch of them, and sometimes they threw them into the water (dumb!) and sometimes they spun INTO the water and spun ON TOP of the surface before going out entirely. Quite a spectacle. I lit a few of the fireworks (come to think of it, we never used the pinwheel, which you have to nail to something) using the "punk" (looks like an incense stick), and one time the fuse wouldn't light, so I kept getting closer to the explosive. When it finally lit, I was so surprised I practically fell on my butt backing out of there, and Dad asked if I was trying to kiss the fuse, or maybe get its DNA? Hehe. =D
We watched a few other families as we left-- one group had these LITTLE kids running around with sparklers, acting like ravers. Another firework looked like a strobe light, and it looked pretty cool reflecting off the weeping willow trees hanging off the lake. It was pretty fun. Hmm, after that we headed home-- since the place is 4 miles outside of town, it seemed like a bit of a drive. Lots of deer on the road at night, for some reason. Why don't they ever learn that road = dangerous, and the grass doesn't taste any better closer to being roadkill?!
At home, Dad and I were pleasantly surprised to find the air bed all set up and comfy-looking for me. Kathleen also brought out the VHS/TV (I'd watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" on the DVD/TV earlier, and I kept comparing it to 2F2F... let's just say I liked the latter much better) since there's no TV signal in those parts. And the fastest Internet connection my Dad can get is 32.1KBps. ;_; It was slow, even for me!
We watched this Pierce Brosnan movie "Dante's Peak" for a while. I kept asking Dad questions about volcanos, so I had to keep pausing it. At some point, Dad fell asleep in his chair, so when I woke him up, he went to bed and shut off the lights while I continued to watch the movie. It was pretty good, and even scary at parts. Still, a slice bit unrealistic. But still, did you know we have an active volcano here in CA? Hehe. BEWARE!
Tried to fall asleep after the movie, but I woke up around 3am, thinking it was much earlier. I peeked out the window (ah, the sounds of wildlife...) and almost got paranoid-- I kept on closing my eyes and seeing this demonic-sunflower thing. After watching a volcano movie. Yep, I'm weird. Tried to fall asleep to no avail, so I sat up reading "Wired" magazine. Pretty cool stuff. >) I read all about how they made "The Burly Man" fight scene between the many Agent Smiths and Neo. They hyped it up a lot more than it should have been; when I saw the movie, I could immediately tell when it wasn't the actors anymore, and it was CG. I couldn't pinpoint the EXACT moment when this happened (which I guess it what they were bragging about) but I could tell they weren't real. Still, the effort they made is pretty commendable. I mean daaamn, they invented a whole lot of new things just to bring the "Matrix" trilogy to life.
Ooh, read about Doom III, too. The monsters are pretty scary looking, but I dunno, I guess I really just liked the old designs. The game sounds pretty challenging-- it's not just your run of the mill first-person-shooter with various cheats (you HAVE to use cheats in Final Doom, you'll die without them). You can accidentally shoot out the lights, and everything you see is based on an actual first-person perspective, instead of a generated screen of what's right in front of you. You ever notice errors in games like Doom, when you "clip" and walk through walls-- and everything turns blurry and multiplies itself? Oh, and guess what? The monsters can jump through grates in the floor. The game will scare the shiza out of people, but the new graphics engine is made for the best of the best computers... so unless I get myself an XBox when it comes out, chances are I won't get a chance to play it. *whine* Doom is the best!!
I finally managed to go to sleep (dreaming and scheming of new chapters of "Dream a Dream," which I worked on earlier, revised some, and am going to continue working on soon). Next morning, I wake up, and it's almost noon. I was still feeling tired though, but I wasn't sore. The air bed was fun to roll on, even if it wasn't totally filled up. Hehe. Dad made me some scrambled eggs and toast (YUM! I miss Dad's good 'home cookin') and we made plans for the day.
Went to Fandango to get tix for T3, and we were both surprised that it wasn't sold out or anything. Maybe it was because it was Rowland Blvd. Cinemas, or maybe because it was 4th of July weekend, and most everyone saw it when it came out on the 2nd, or on the 4th? Or heck, maybe it just wasn't that popular (poppycock)! Dad and I went into town and went into Reade Moore Books-- Ruth, the bookstore owner, remembered me, and she still had that huffy cat of hers, Lily. But Lily didn't seem to hate me that day, so I wandered over to the teen section with the cat and looked at books. I wanted to get a couple, but figured it'd be best to save my cash for snacks or games at the theater, since Dad didn't have any cash.
Went to Copperfield's, too, and I sat down reading KareKano (have I mentioned how friggin' COOL Copperfield's is?!) but I got cut off midway through volume 3. I still need to get my hands on those! Downstairs in the used section, they had a collection of some REALLY old manga, from the 1960s or something. It was adult manga, not like shoujo or shounen, aimed at kids or teens. Something to do with war back in the feudal ages. It was mostly in kanji, so I couldn't read it. =P
After that, we headed to the library. Saw Kio, the nice Japanese librarian again, and I wandered around aimlessly for some time. The main window in the kid's section was PLASTERED with those paper flowers and stuff that they put up every year for the summer reading "competition." I remember I was crazy about that, and one year I volunteered at the library and got to work behind the scenes! That was fun. Kio suggested I try and work for one of the libraries here in SF, which is an amazingly good idea. Not only could I really get stuff done, but I'd be in one of my favorite places in the world! =D Ooh, especially if I could get hired at the Main Library. But we'll see how this whole AuctionRoad eBay reseller thing goes. Who knows, I might make a few grand in a week with that. =D
I was parked in the Metaphysics section when Dad found me (he said he KNEW he'd find me there-- the only part of the library that isn't part of the Dewey Decimal System, because it's all modern topics). He said he'd promised Baba to tell me about something, so he sat me down in the reference section, in front of all these grant books and told me I HAVE TO (HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO!) look for grants, because I will most definitelty need the money. So that's something I'm going to start doing, and maybe this week I'll reserve a day to go to the Main Library and just sit down and do some research.
Did you know Bill and Melinda Gates have to give away $6,000,000 A DAY to maintain their non-profit status? Hehe, neither did I, but I'd sure like a piece of that! =D There's also possibilities for other things I might minor in (Creative Writing, Japanese, etc.) other than the obvious, which is Journalism.
After that, we headed to the movie theater-- it looked pretty different from how I remember it, seeing as how Century Theaters took it over (I think it used to be United Artists?). Not much of an arcade (shucks, no DDR!) but I did play Bust a Move. It ate my token (yes, TOKEN!) at first, so I got one of the guys to fix it for me-- and he gave me 4 tokens worth! I played for as long as I could, using up all my continues. I didn't want to spend my $5 on tokens, when I knew I'd want a snack or a drink later on. So I only spent the $1, giving Dad 75 cents so he could play Beach Head. He sounded like he was having fun! ^_^
The movie wasn't due to start for another 20 minutes, but we sat down in the theater anyway. Not crowded AT ALL. Got an overpriced Cherry Coke from an apathetic concession stand worker (they're more expensive in Novato than here, if you believe it. $3.15 for a SMALL!). Some of the previews looked pretty cool (I want to see "Cradle of Life." Lara Croft is starting to grow on me. Or maybe it's Angelina Jolie, she's hot!) and others ("The Whole Ten Yards," a sequel to the pretty funny "The Whole Nine Yards") looked pretty stupid. =P
Ah, and when the movie finally started-- let me say that I don't like Voiceovers. If you can't tell the story with action, then you're telling it wrong. The point of a movie (as per my definition) isn't to recite something that's been written down, but to bring viewers INTO the action, even if it's set 200 years in the future, or somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. ^.~ Besides, it wasn't consistent with the rest of the movie, which wasn't entirely in our hero's POV.
Ah, okay, so before seeing T3, it's sort of like the "Matrix," you should see the previous movies, or it won't make a whole lot of sense. Now, I didn't do this, so I was basing everything I saw off what I remembered. I remember seeing T2 when I was about 8 years old, and being scared out of my mind; I saw T1 on video or something, but I don't remember it too well. T3 STILL managed to scare me in parts (especially when the Terminator turned and LOOKS RIGHT AT YOU!) but overall-- it was "meh" compared to T2 (which was friggin' awesome!~) The big destructo-scene seemed to wear on, but it was pretty cool.
Okay, so here's how it all breaks down:
TERMINATOR (1984): A inhuman, invincible cyborg from the future year 2029, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is sent back to the present - Los Angeles 1984 - to eliminate the woman, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who will one day be the mother of a son (an off-screen John Connor) who will lead a rebellion against the evil cyborg leaders of Earth's future. At first, the killing machine mistakes other 'Sarah Connors' located in a Los Angeles telephone book for the real one and eliminates them. Another time traveler to 1984 is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a nuclear holocaust survivor who has been sent by Connor on an opposite quest to save innocent Sarah's life and ensure the conception and delivery of a son (who becomes a resistance leader and his future boss!).
This synopsis (which I grabbed from http://www.filmsite.org/term.html) doesn't take into consideration the rest of the movies just yet. There wasn't a real denoument (tying up of loose ends) in T3, so we can assume there'll be a T4. In that movie, we'll be introduced to the Kyle Reese that will go back to save Sarah Connor (John's birth mother), and we'll see what becomes of Katherine "Kate" Brewster, Connor's second in command... and his wife. She's also the one that reprogrammed the T-101 (Schwarzenegger) when an unspecified incident (something to do with the T-101 killing him!?) got John Connor killed. The first Terminator movie sets the stage for the rest of them, because this is the movie where T-101 is actually the BAD GUY sent back in time to axe Connor. Sometime in the future (between 2029 and 2032), T-101 gets reprogrammed to protect Connor, instead of kill him. That's why he's the only machine on the "good guy" side.
Reese (in T1) and Arnold (in T2) both refer to the Terminator as a "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101". Reese adds "the 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted
them easy. But these are new." Obviously there is more than one variation on the Model 101. In T2SE, after the chip-toggle scene, the Terminator reboots
and the startup data is shown from his point of view. In the top left corner of the screen it says "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4". Presumably, the metal endoskeleton is Model 101; the flesh-covered units are Series 800. Arnold is an 800-series terminator, Model 101. This means that the infamous endoskeleton covered in living tissue is a T-800. The fact that the aforementioned living tissue looks like Arnold makes it Model 101. Therefore, all 800-series Model 101s look like Arnold. An 800-series Model 102 would look like somebody else, but would be essentially the same underneath, since it's a T-800.
Is there a real Cyberdyne Systems and Skynet?
--------------------------------------------------
Astonishingly, the answer to this question is a simple "yes!" A net.search for "Cyberdyne," will turn up over 8,000 hits! For example, the following is a
multimedia company: http://www.cyberdynesystems.com
A net.search for "Skynet" will produce over 14,000 references! For example, the following is an ISP: http://www.sky.net
Another example is the following article, which was carried by Reuters on June 20, 1994:
** VSAT CUSTOMER--AT&T said Allied Van Lines has agreed to become the first customer of its new [VSAT] satellite hub service. AT&T said under Allied's five-year, multimillion-dollar contract, Allied will connect its agents' local area networks to AT&T's SKYNET hub service for shipment registration, scheduling and dispatch and to process bills of lading. **
Before anyone starts stocking up on plasma rifles and planning to be wearing 2 million sunblock on August 29, 1997, realize that the results of the above
net.searches typically refer to the names of servers or ISPs. And the other example is clearly not a automated defense network, but rather a simple communications net. (Or is it...?)
HAHAH! =D
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991): A decade after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) destroyed the original Terminator, a second unstoppable killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) arrives from the post-apocalyptic year 2029. But this time his mission is to stop an even deadlier Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), made entirely of shape-shifting liquid metal and determined to kill young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the human resistance. Sarah, John, and the Terminator counter by going after the scientist responsible for developing Skynet, the computer system fated to destroy humanity, leading to an explosive and spectacular clash with the fate of humanity in the balance.
From The Terminator FAQList - http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/terminator-faq/
Some dates are made explicit:
- The Future War sequence takes place in 2029.
- Skynet becomes self-aware at 2:14am EDT August 29, 1997 (this is a Friday).
- John Connor's DOB is February 28, 1985, and he is 10 years old in the movie
(these facts are stated in the T2 script).
- According to The Terminator script, Sarah was 19. Sarah is 29 in T2.
Therefore, most of T2 must take place in the summer of 1995. There are some problems with this conclusion, however.
The Terminator says, "In three years Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems." Thus we conclude that in *three* years, Skynet starts the war. But if T2 takes place in 1995, 1995 + 3 = 1998, not 1997. One explanation is that mid-1995 to August, 1997 is more than two years, so the Terminator might have just rounded it to three years.
The Terminator also says, "Thirty years from now you reprogrammed me to be your protector here, in this time." 2029 - 30 = 1999. T2 takes place before
1997, so the Terminator may just be doing more rounding.
On the way to Dyson's house, John muses to the Terminator that he will send Kyle into the past "35 years from now." 2029 - 35 = 1994, which is plausible.
Ah, with any movie involving time travel and the change of the future, things always get muddled. The whole thing behind Judgment Day was that in the future, John Connor (or someone affiliated with him) helped him capture a T-800 model, nickanmed T-101 (or maybe T-100, considering the first T-800 from T2 was destroyed...) and reprogrammed him to protect his past self. Since JD was "postponed" (not stopped completely, like JC hoped in the 3rd movie) the dates got all muddled again. JD's date changed, T-101 came BACK (again?) and the future they knew was messed around with. You know the rule about not knowing too much about your own future? Terminator doesn't give a crap, he spoils everything. ^_^
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES: A decade has passed since John Connor (Stahl) helped prevent Judgment Day and save mankind from mass destruction. Now 25, Connor lives "off the grid" - no home, no credit cards, no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can be traced by Skynet - the highly developed network of machines that once tried to kill him and wage war on humanity. Until... out of the shadows of the future steps the T-X (Loken), Skynet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet. Sent back through time to complete the job left unfinished by her predecessor, the T-1000, this machine is as relentless as her human guise is beautiful. Now Connor's only hope for survival is the Terminator (Schwarzenegger), his mysterious former assassin. Together, they must triumph over the technologically superior T-X and forestall the looming threat of Judgment Day...or face the apocalypse and the fall of civilization as we know it.
Sarah Connor, the original kick-ass heroine, supposedly died of leukemia. She toughed it out for 3 years, instead of the predicted 6 months doctors gave her. I wonder why they had her die of leukemia-- could they not get Linda Hamilton to star in T3? Or was she originally meant to die off, and never see her son become the leader of the resistance?
This was originally scheduled for 1998 production, with a 1999 release. James Cameron got sidetracked with "Titanic," and did not participate in the creation of T3. A loss, or a gain? Schwarzenegger was signed on for the movie as early as October 1996! So he knew he'd "be back." =D I wonder if they upped his original pay of $45,000,000.
Apparently a fan-screenwriter wrote his own T3 script a while back, entitled "Terminator 3: Armageddon." If you saw T3 and didn't like it, or are like me, and are busy analyzing the quantum physic aspects of the trilogy, then check out his screenplay here, and see if it would have made more sense...
(I came up with this after the movie finished-- when T-101 (Schwarzenegger) said that TX was an anti-cybernetic organism capable of turning other machines to "her" side, and Connor (Stahl) said "So she's an Anti-Terminator... terminator?" -- that's what her name means-- Terminator Xterminator! Haha... >_>)
Hey, someone help me out here-- I'm trying to find a 275 x 375 (roughly) image of Kristanna Loken, the girl who played TX in T3. But I need it to be an image of her WHILE she's TX, not one of her many modeling pictures, or shots of her from Mortal Kombat. =P You know, the slicked-back hair, tight red suit-- anyone help me out? o_O I don't know of any image search engines besides Google.
Today... I wish you a day of ordinary miracles...
A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.
An unexpected phone call from an old friend.
Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.
I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in...
The fastest line at the grocery store.
A good sing along song on the radio.
Your keys right where you look.
I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-- little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Universe is smiling on you, because you are someone special and rare.
I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
^_^ How sweet (and that's not a pun). To all my friends, and from Crystal, another cool friend of mine.
*cough* Okay, I've babbled long enough, don't you think? This entry has been hours in the making, so maybe you've appreciated some of my endeavors. -.- Damn Terminator site keeps taking forever to load. AAAUGH! At least I'm getting inspired for "Dream a Dream" by the repetitiveness of my 23-item playlist. *snore* My knees, ears, and stomach are starting to hurt. I think I need something to eat other than brownies and cereal. *wanders off*
I vaguely recall watching TV and getting real bored, real fast-- not much to do. I might have been online a while, can't remember. All I know is I was napping on the couch when Kathleen came, and we headed out to Petaluma. Blah blah, day goes on. I finally meet Elise, Kathleen's daughter, who's supposedly younger than me, but already drinking and smoking. And her mom has no problem with it whatsoever. -.- Not that it's any of my business or anything, but euch, that just strikes me as bad parenting. Social drinking is one thing, but she was smoking at least 4 cigarettes in the few hours we were there. =P Even around the horses. And despite her smelling like cigarette smoke and cow, she still got more affection from the horses than I did. Feh.
Elise had to go home after that, so Kathleen drove her home-- but Kathleen had been nice enough to bring an air bed and comforter for me, since the only other option was a sleeping bag (I brought a pillow just for that reason). =D It didn't come with a pump, so Kathleen filled it up with her hair dryer! She's so innovative! She also was going to give me a box of sample lipsticks and such, but when we had to clear the table, Elise put them all back in the box (and I'd gone and meticulously sorted them out, too!) and I dunno what happened to it after that. Blah.
Dad and I left to go to see the fireworks at Luchessi Park after dinner (yummy chicken! But I'm not a fan of peas or macaroni salad, so...) but it turned out that they'd been the night before, and Dad plumb forgot. -.- Why were they the night before? Apparently the dumbass contractor had been booked for both Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and they didn't have enough resources or whatever to do both on the same night. It was awfully disappointing, but Dad and I just went to one of the many fireworks booths. I used the $20 mom gave me (and thank god for that... she was under the delusion that my Dad makes more money than her. *laughs* 1) he's a teacher (that should say it all, you know), 2) he's always paying back one debt or another; 3) he lives on a friggin' horseranch with RICH people. Suffice it to say, rent is HIGH!) and got a small pack of fireworks. Damn the fact that they were so small-- the best sets were around $80. No discounts either, even though it was the night of the celebration. Probably because the organization selling them (Extreme Faith Ministry...?) had TONS left.
Lots of people were at Luchessi Park "blowing up stuff." So we drove around a while and watched some families and their fireworks. I thought a few of them were pretty stupid for blowing fireworks up right next to their cars (paint damage, you know?) but whatever, they were pretty to watch. Dad and I set up camp not far from the lake, watching other people, and in the distance, someone OBVIOUSLY had illegal fireworks, like the kind the pyrotechnics actually use for big displays. So it was even better than watching simple fireworks put on by a contractor, because there were more fireworks, more variety, and less time to wait. ^_^ The fireworks we got, unfortunately, weren't that great. In a laughable twist, most of them were "white" fireworks. I figured it had something to do with us having purchased them from the "Extreme Faith" ministry. Hehe. They were still pretty cool though, lots of sparkly, snapping ones.
I wish we'd gotten more Ground Blooms, the ones that spin around on the ground at 25MPH or something, like neon balls of fire outta hell. =D A family near us had a bunch of them, and sometimes they threw them into the water (dumb!) and sometimes they spun INTO the water and spun ON TOP of the surface before going out entirely. Quite a spectacle. I lit a few of the fireworks (come to think of it, we never used the pinwheel, which you have to nail to something) using the "punk" (looks like an incense stick), and one time the fuse wouldn't light, so I kept getting closer to the explosive. When it finally lit, I was so surprised I practically fell on my butt backing out of there, and Dad asked if I was trying to kiss the fuse, or maybe get its DNA? Hehe. =D
We watched a few other families as we left-- one group had these LITTLE kids running around with sparklers, acting like ravers. Another firework looked like a strobe light, and it looked pretty cool reflecting off the weeping willow trees hanging off the lake. It was pretty fun. Hmm, after that we headed home-- since the place is 4 miles outside of town, it seemed like a bit of a drive. Lots of deer on the road at night, for some reason. Why don't they ever learn that road = dangerous, and the grass doesn't taste any better closer to being roadkill?!
At home, Dad and I were pleasantly surprised to find the air bed all set up and comfy-looking for me. Kathleen also brought out the VHS/TV (I'd watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" on the DVD/TV earlier, and I kept comparing it to 2F2F... let's just say I liked the latter much better) since there's no TV signal in those parts. And the fastest Internet connection my Dad can get is 32.1KBps. ;_; It was slow, even for me!
We watched this Pierce Brosnan movie "Dante's Peak" for a while. I kept asking Dad questions about volcanos, so I had to keep pausing it. At some point, Dad fell asleep in his chair, so when I woke him up, he went to bed and shut off the lights while I continued to watch the movie. It was pretty good, and even scary at parts. Still, a slice bit unrealistic. But still, did you know we have an active volcano here in CA? Hehe. BEWARE!
Tried to fall asleep after the movie, but I woke up around 3am, thinking it was much earlier. I peeked out the window (ah, the sounds of wildlife...) and almost got paranoid-- I kept on closing my eyes and seeing this demonic-sunflower thing. After watching a volcano movie. Yep, I'm weird. Tried to fall asleep to no avail, so I sat up reading "Wired" magazine. Pretty cool stuff. >) I read all about how they made "The Burly Man" fight scene between the many Agent Smiths and Neo. They hyped it up a lot more than it should have been; when I saw the movie, I could immediately tell when it wasn't the actors anymore, and it was CG. I couldn't pinpoint the EXACT moment when this happened (which I guess it what they were bragging about) but I could tell they weren't real. Still, the effort they made is pretty commendable. I mean daaamn, they invented a whole lot of new things just to bring the "Matrix" trilogy to life.
Ooh, read about Doom III, too. The monsters are pretty scary looking, but I dunno, I guess I really just liked the old designs. The game sounds pretty challenging-- it's not just your run of the mill first-person-shooter with various cheats (you HAVE to use cheats in Final Doom, you'll die without them). You can accidentally shoot out the lights, and everything you see is based on an actual first-person perspective, instead of a generated screen of what's right in front of you. You ever notice errors in games like Doom, when you "clip" and walk through walls-- and everything turns blurry and multiplies itself? Oh, and guess what? The monsters can jump through grates in the floor. The game will scare the shiza out of people, but the new graphics engine is made for the best of the best computers... so unless I get myself an XBox when it comes out, chances are I won't get a chance to play it. *whine* Doom is the best!!
I finally managed to go to sleep (dreaming and scheming of new chapters of "Dream a Dream," which I worked on earlier, revised some, and am going to continue working on soon). Next morning, I wake up, and it's almost noon. I was still feeling tired though, but I wasn't sore. The air bed was fun to roll on, even if it wasn't totally filled up. Hehe. Dad made me some scrambled eggs and toast (YUM! I miss Dad's good 'home cookin') and we made plans for the day.
Went to Fandango to get tix for T3, and we were both surprised that it wasn't sold out or anything. Maybe it was because it was Rowland Blvd. Cinemas, or maybe because it was 4th of July weekend, and most everyone saw it when it came out on the 2nd, or on the 4th? Or heck, maybe it just wasn't that popular (poppycock)! Dad and I went into town and went into Reade Moore Books-- Ruth, the bookstore owner, remembered me, and she still had that huffy cat of hers, Lily. But Lily didn't seem to hate me that day, so I wandered over to the teen section with the cat and looked at books. I wanted to get a couple, but figured it'd be best to save my cash for snacks or games at the theater, since Dad didn't have any cash.
Went to Copperfield's, too, and I sat down reading KareKano (have I mentioned how friggin' COOL Copperfield's is?!) but I got cut off midway through volume 3. I still need to get my hands on those! Downstairs in the used section, they had a collection of some REALLY old manga, from the 1960s or something. It was adult manga, not like shoujo or shounen, aimed at kids or teens. Something to do with war back in the feudal ages. It was mostly in kanji, so I couldn't read it. =P
After that, we headed to the library. Saw Kio, the nice Japanese librarian again, and I wandered around aimlessly for some time. The main window in the kid's section was PLASTERED with those paper flowers and stuff that they put up every year for the summer reading "competition." I remember I was crazy about that, and one year I volunteered at the library and got to work behind the scenes! That was fun. Kio suggested I try and work for one of the libraries here in SF, which is an amazingly good idea. Not only could I really get stuff done, but I'd be in one of my favorite places in the world! =D Ooh, especially if I could get hired at the Main Library. But we'll see how this whole AuctionRoad eBay reseller thing goes. Who knows, I might make a few grand in a week with that. =D
I was parked in the Metaphysics section when Dad found me (he said he KNEW he'd find me there-- the only part of the library that isn't part of the Dewey Decimal System, because it's all modern topics). He said he'd promised Baba to tell me about something, so he sat me down in the reference section, in front of all these grant books and told me I HAVE TO (HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO!) look for grants, because I will most definitelty need the money. So that's something I'm going to start doing, and maybe this week I'll reserve a day to go to the Main Library and just sit down and do some research.
Did you know Bill and Melinda Gates have to give away $6,000,000 A DAY to maintain their non-profit status? Hehe, neither did I, but I'd sure like a piece of that! =D There's also possibilities for other things I might minor in (Creative Writing, Japanese, etc.) other than the obvious, which is Journalism.
After that, we headed to the movie theater-- it looked pretty different from how I remember it, seeing as how Century Theaters took it over (I think it used to be United Artists?). Not much of an arcade (shucks, no DDR!) but I did play Bust a Move. It ate my token (yes, TOKEN!) at first, so I got one of the guys to fix it for me-- and he gave me 4 tokens worth! I played for as long as I could, using up all my continues. I didn't want to spend my $5 on tokens, when I knew I'd want a snack or a drink later on. So I only spent the $1, giving Dad 75 cents so he could play Beach Head. He sounded like he was having fun! ^_^
The movie wasn't due to start for another 20 minutes, but we sat down in the theater anyway. Not crowded AT ALL. Got an overpriced Cherry Coke from an apathetic concession stand worker (they're more expensive in Novato than here, if you believe it. $3.15 for a SMALL!). Some of the previews looked pretty cool (I want to see "Cradle of Life." Lara Croft is starting to grow on me. Or maybe it's Angelina Jolie, she's hot!) and others ("The Whole Ten Yards," a sequel to the pretty funny "The Whole Nine Yards") looked pretty stupid. =P
Ah, and when the movie finally started-- let me say that I don't like Voiceovers. If you can't tell the story with action, then you're telling it wrong. The point of a movie (as per my definition) isn't to recite something that's been written down, but to bring viewers INTO the action, even if it's set 200 years in the future, or somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. ^.~ Besides, it wasn't consistent with the rest of the movie, which wasn't entirely in our hero's POV.
Ah, okay, so before seeing T3, it's sort of like the "Matrix," you should see the previous movies, or it won't make a whole lot of sense. Now, I didn't do this, so I was basing everything I saw off what I remembered. I remember seeing T2 when I was about 8 years old, and being scared out of my mind; I saw T1 on video or something, but I don't remember it too well. T3 STILL managed to scare me in parts (especially when the Terminator turned and LOOKS RIGHT AT YOU!) but overall-- it was "meh" compared to T2 (which was friggin' awesome!~) The big destructo-scene seemed to wear on, but it was pretty cool.
Okay, so here's how it all breaks down:
TERMINATOR (1984): A inhuman, invincible cyborg from the future year 2029, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is sent back to the present - Los Angeles 1984 - to eliminate the woman, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who will one day be the mother of a son (an off-screen John Connor) who will lead a rebellion against the evil cyborg leaders of Earth's future. At first, the killing machine mistakes other 'Sarah Connors' located in a Los Angeles telephone book for the real one and eliminates them. Another time traveler to 1984 is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a nuclear holocaust survivor who has been sent by Connor on an opposite quest to save innocent Sarah's life and ensure the conception and delivery of a son (who becomes a resistance leader and his future boss!).
This synopsis (which I grabbed from http://www.filmsite.org/term.html) doesn't take into consideration the rest of the movies just yet. There wasn't a real denoument (tying up of loose ends) in T3, so we can assume there'll be a T4. In that movie, we'll be introduced to the Kyle Reese that will go back to save Sarah Connor (John's birth mother), and we'll see what becomes of Katherine "Kate" Brewster, Connor's second in command... and his wife. She's also the one that reprogrammed the T-101 (Schwarzenegger) when an unspecified incident (something to do with the T-101 killing him!?) got John Connor killed. The first Terminator movie sets the stage for the rest of them, because this is the movie where T-101 is actually the BAD GUY sent back in time to axe Connor. Sometime in the future (between 2029 and 2032), T-101 gets reprogrammed to protect Connor, instead of kill him. That's why he's the only machine on the "good guy" side.
Reese (in T1) and Arnold (in T2) both refer to the Terminator as a "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101". Reese adds "the 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted
them easy. But these are new." Obviously there is more than one variation on the Model 101. In T2SE, after the chip-toggle scene, the Terminator reboots
and the startup data is shown from his point of view. In the top left corner of the screen it says "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4". Presumably, the metal endoskeleton is Model 101; the flesh-covered units are Series 800. Arnold is an 800-series terminator, Model 101. This means that the infamous endoskeleton covered in living tissue is a T-800. The fact that the aforementioned living tissue looks like Arnold makes it Model 101. Therefore, all 800-series Model 101s look like Arnold. An 800-series Model 102 would look like somebody else, but would be essentially the same underneath, since it's a T-800.
Is there a real Cyberdyne Systems and Skynet?
--------------------------------------------------
Astonishingly, the answer to this question is a simple "yes!" A net.search for "Cyberdyne," will turn up over 8,000 hits! For example, the following is a
multimedia company: http://www.cyberdynesystems.com
A net.search for "Skynet" will produce over 14,000 references! For example, the following is an ISP: http://www.sky.net
Another example is the following article, which was carried by Reuters on June 20, 1994:
** VSAT CUSTOMER--AT&T said Allied Van Lines has agreed to become the first customer of its new [VSAT] satellite hub service. AT&T said under Allied's five-year, multimillion-dollar contract, Allied will connect its agents' local area networks to AT&T's SKYNET hub service for shipment registration, scheduling and dispatch and to process bills of lading. **
Before anyone starts stocking up on plasma rifles and planning to be wearing 2 million sunblock on August 29, 1997, realize that the results of the above
net.searches typically refer to the names of servers or ISPs. And the other example is clearly not a automated defense network, but rather a simple communications net. (Or is it...?)
HAHAH! =D
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991): A decade after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) destroyed the original Terminator, a second unstoppable killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) arrives from the post-apocalyptic year 2029. But this time his mission is to stop an even deadlier Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), made entirely of shape-shifting liquid metal and determined to kill young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the human resistance. Sarah, John, and the Terminator counter by going after the scientist responsible for developing Skynet, the computer system fated to destroy humanity, leading to an explosive and spectacular clash with the fate of humanity in the balance.
From The Terminator FAQList - http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/terminator-faq/
Some dates are made explicit:
- The Future War sequence takes place in 2029.
- Skynet becomes self-aware at 2:14am EDT August 29, 1997 (this is a Friday).
- John Connor's DOB is February 28, 1985, and he is 10 years old in the movie
(these facts are stated in the T2 script).
- According to The Terminator script, Sarah was 19. Sarah is 29 in T2.
Therefore, most of T2 must take place in the summer of 1995. There are some problems with this conclusion, however.
The Terminator says, "In three years Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems." Thus we conclude that in *three* years, Skynet starts the war. But if T2 takes place in 1995, 1995 + 3 = 1998, not 1997. One explanation is that mid-1995 to August, 1997 is more than two years, so the Terminator might have just rounded it to three years.
The Terminator also says, "Thirty years from now you reprogrammed me to be your protector here, in this time." 2029 - 30 = 1999. T2 takes place before
1997, so the Terminator may just be doing more rounding.
On the way to Dyson's house, John muses to the Terminator that he will send Kyle into the past "35 years from now." 2029 - 35 = 1994, which is plausible.
Ah, with any movie involving time travel and the change of the future, things always get muddled. The whole thing behind Judgment Day was that in the future, John Connor (or someone affiliated with him) helped him capture a T-800 model, nickanmed T-101 (or maybe T-100, considering the first T-800 from T2 was destroyed...) and reprogrammed him to protect his past self. Since JD was "postponed" (not stopped completely, like JC hoped in the 3rd movie) the dates got all muddled again. JD's date changed, T-101 came BACK (again?) and the future they knew was messed around with. You know the rule about not knowing too much about your own future? Terminator doesn't give a crap, he spoils everything. ^_^
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES: A decade has passed since John Connor (Stahl) helped prevent Judgment Day and save mankind from mass destruction. Now 25, Connor lives "off the grid" - no home, no credit cards, no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can be traced by Skynet - the highly developed network of machines that once tried to kill him and wage war on humanity. Until... out of the shadows of the future steps the T-X (Loken), Skynet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet. Sent back through time to complete the job left unfinished by her predecessor, the T-1000, this machine is as relentless as her human guise is beautiful. Now Connor's only hope for survival is the Terminator (Schwarzenegger), his mysterious former assassin. Together, they must triumph over the technologically superior T-X and forestall the looming threat of Judgment Day...or face the apocalypse and the fall of civilization as we know it.
Sarah Connor, the original kick-ass heroine, supposedly died of leukemia. She toughed it out for 3 years, instead of the predicted 6 months doctors gave her. I wonder why they had her die of leukemia-- could they not get Linda Hamilton to star in T3? Or was she originally meant to die off, and never see her son become the leader of the resistance?
This was originally scheduled for 1998 production, with a 1999 release. James Cameron got sidetracked with "Titanic," and did not participate in the creation of T3. A loss, or a gain? Schwarzenegger was signed on for the movie as early as October 1996! So he knew he'd "be back." =D I wonder if they upped his original pay of $45,000,000.
Apparently a fan-screenwriter wrote his own T3 script a while back, entitled "Terminator 3: Armageddon." If you saw T3 and didn't like it, or are like me, and are busy analyzing the quantum physic aspects of the trilogy, then check out his screenplay here, and see if it would have made more sense...
(I came up with this after the movie finished-- when T-101 (Schwarzenegger) said that TX was an anti-cybernetic organism capable of turning other machines to "her" side, and Connor (Stahl) said "So she's an Anti-Terminator... terminator?" -- that's what her name means-- Terminator Xterminator! Haha... >_>)
Hey, someone help me out here-- I'm trying to find a 275 x 375 (roughly) image of Kristanna Loken, the girl who played TX in T3. But I need it to be an image of her WHILE she's TX, not one of her many modeling pictures, or shots of her from Mortal Kombat. =P You know, the slicked-back hair, tight red suit-- anyone help me out? o_O I don't know of any image search engines besides Google.
Today... I wish you a day of ordinary miracles...
A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.
An unexpected phone call from an old friend.
Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.
I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in...
The fastest line at the grocery store.
A good sing along song on the radio.
Your keys right where you look.
I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-- little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Universe is smiling on you, because you are someone special and rare.
I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
^_^ How sweet (and that's not a pun). To all my friends, and from Crystal, another cool friend of mine.
*cough* Okay, I've babbled long enough, don't you think? This entry has been hours in the making, so maybe you've appreciated some of my endeavors. -.- Damn Terminator site keeps taking forever to load. AAAUGH! At least I'm getting inspired for "Dream a Dream" by the repetitiveness of my 23-item playlist. *snore* My knees, ears, and stomach are starting to hurt. I think I need something to eat other than brownies and cereal. *wanders off*
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Date: 2003-07-06 09:19 pm (UTC)