For the past several weeks, I've heard chatter among the employee pool about people's files being stuffed with various violations they were never told about. This made me paranoid.
Yesterday, I asked the Human Resource Manager if I can see my file. It is my right as an employee that I have access to it for any reason. I found that I have had both my 90-Day and Yearly Performance Review. Both documents I never saw before that day. I was told that HR Managers in the past were lazy in getting employees in the office to see these reviews.
Today, I talked to my General Manager about my 90-day and Yearly Pay Raise. Long story short, I pissed him off when I attempted to ask him if I can have photocopies of those unsigned reviews. I never got the question out. He offered me a choice: a $0.50 raise starting on my next paycheck because I should be getting paid that now for being such a good employee OR talk it out with the HR Manager. I know for a fact that the HR Manager will tell me to bring it up with the GM.
It starts today. My personal investigation into if they really denied me fair compensation for my labor, thereby violating labor laws. The only date I have to go on is with my 90-Day Review: Aug. 3, 2006. From there, I will have to determine on my own how much money I was denied since that date and since my Yearly Review. Which, conveniently, was not dated by the HR Manager at the time that drew it up.
To say that I'm on a mission would be an understatement. But for now, I need to get a level head before I do anything brash.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Passing Comments
It didn't take long for my second celebrity encounter. And this time, I got to share the excitement of the moment.
I called my sister up to see what she was doing, but she was deep into her Date Night with her boyfriend. I made the passing comment about how I was just wondering if they wanted to see WALL-E on me tonight, but apologized for interrupting them and said I would call home to get a ride. A few moments later, I got a text message saying they would like to see the movie.
To make up for potentially ruining their night, I was able to sneak them out some promotional watches we give to anyone that buys a kids ticket on Opening Weekend of WALL-E. And, yes, the fact they got to see a movie for free wasn't enough at the time.
While we were waiting for the movie to start, my sister made the passing comment that she was hungry. A co-worker of mine was working the crowd trying to get people to buy ice cream. I waved her down, but ultimately didn't buy anything from her because nobody had cash. She playfully scolded me for being a bad friend and a bad co-worker...
...and then made the passing comment that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were in the theatre. She pointed in a vague direction, and my sister and her boyfriend began to scan the crowd. I spotted Nicole rather quickly and, unimpressed, said "Oh, there she is." Five minutes later, she rested her head on Keith's shoulder and I saw his mop-top hiding in the shadows.
Needless to say, the excitement was very contagious between the three of us.
Being who she is, she left immediately once the movie ended. When we left, I made the passing comment "She forgot her water." My sister told me to move along as her boyfriend smiled and laughed at me. Apparently, they knew what I was thinking.
I called my sister up to see what she was doing, but she was deep into her Date Night with her boyfriend. I made the passing comment about how I was just wondering if they wanted to see WALL-E on me tonight, but apologized for interrupting them and said I would call home to get a ride. A few moments later, I got a text message saying they would like to see the movie.
To make up for potentially ruining their night, I was able to sneak them out some promotional watches we give to anyone that buys a kids ticket on Opening Weekend of WALL-E. And, yes, the fact they got to see a movie for free wasn't enough at the time.
While we were waiting for the movie to start, my sister made the passing comment that she was hungry. A co-worker of mine was working the crowd trying to get people to buy ice cream. I waved her down, but ultimately didn't buy anything from her because nobody had cash. She playfully scolded me for being a bad friend and a bad co-worker...
...and then made the passing comment that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were in the theatre. She pointed in a vague direction, and my sister and her boyfriend began to scan the crowd. I spotted Nicole rather quickly and, unimpressed, said "Oh, there she is." Five minutes later, she rested her head on Keith's shoulder and I saw his mop-top hiding in the shadows.
Needless to say, the excitement was very contagious between the three of us.
Being who she is, she left immediately once the movie ended. When we left, I made the passing comment "She forgot her water." My sister told me to move along as her boyfriend smiled and laughed at me. Apparently, they knew what I was thinking.
Friday, June 27, 2008
WALL-E & Me
As Fate and Destiny would have it, the stars aligned and an old friend from the past contacted me because he thought it would be cool to hang out with me again. The reason was because he went to go see a movie today and I was working Box Office. He wanted to get to my line but couldn't due to time and customer traffic. So I got a text message from him.
Frustrated with my day at work, I ran out of the break room after clocking out of my ten-hour long shift to watch WALL-E. I'm not going to right a review about it, though I will say that I find it odd how I was in a theatre full of families and nobody had any big reactions to the movie during any of the emotional scenes. What I am going to talk about is the film's use of the idea of extending a hand out to someone in greeting.
Just a while ago, when I got the text message from my old friend, I called him up and talked to him for a good while. Our conversation went from happy to hear each other's voice to being very honest with each other on a level that neither one of us was comfortable with. We made plans to meet this Thursday afternoon to hang out for a few hours.
Sitting here, reflecting on both the movie and my phone call, I cannot help but feel a bit like the little lonely robot. A hopeless romantic who, for lack of a better word, yearns for something that cannot be given to him but in a fairy tale. But the silver lining with this pessimistic view is that you can often get that happy ending once the conditions play into your favor.
To say that I'm hopeful something will come out of this would be a lie. I doubt anything will other than being able to hang out again with an old friend whose company I enjoy. I've already fantasied about the most simple and heart-warming possibility that could happen if we are going to watch WALL-E, which means that scenario won't happen. No, instead, the two of us are going to just hang out as friends.
I mean, I'm already making a conscious effort to not be so candid about my personal life in places and with people where it clearly isn't appropriate for that kind of subject matter to come up. That's the kind of thing I should be posting on the blog, and not some Spore creature's booty dance that I couldn't stop laughing at for a good half hour after watching it.
Frustrated with my day at work, I ran out of the break room after clocking out of my ten-hour long shift to watch WALL-E. I'm not going to right a review about it, though I will say that I find it odd how I was in a theatre full of families and nobody had any big reactions to the movie during any of the emotional scenes. What I am going to talk about is the film's use of the idea of extending a hand out to someone in greeting.
Just a while ago, when I got the text message from my old friend, I called him up and talked to him for a good while. Our conversation went from happy to hear each other's voice to being very honest with each other on a level that neither one of us was comfortable with. We made plans to meet this Thursday afternoon to hang out for a few hours.
Sitting here, reflecting on both the movie and my phone call, I cannot help but feel a bit like the little lonely robot. A hopeless romantic who, for lack of a better word, yearns for something that cannot be given to him but in a fairy tale. But the silver lining with this pessimistic view is that you can often get that happy ending once the conditions play into your favor.
To say that I'm hopeful something will come out of this would be a lie. I doubt anything will other than being able to hang out again with an old friend whose company I enjoy. I've already fantasied about the most simple and heart-warming possibility that could happen if we are going to watch WALL-E, which means that scenario won't happen. No, instead, the two of us are going to just hang out as friends.
I mean, I'm already making a conscious effort to not be so candid about my personal life in places and with people where it clearly isn't appropriate for that kind of subject matter to come up. That's the kind of thing I should be posting on the blog, and not some Spore creature's booty dance that I couldn't stop laughing at for a good half hour after watching it.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Star-Struck
Very few things cause me to act like a fool. Today was one of those days.
It is no secret that Nicole Kidman likes to go to the movies, particular at the theatre I work at. However, every time she is in the building, I'm always off doing something else or I'm not in a position where I can interact with her.
Not was the case today. Being the only person in Box Office, it was pretty much destiny that I would be giving her and her party movie tickets for the afternoon.
I was so star-struck by this that I had to call my sister and tell her before I popped from excitement.
I later found out that my managers are planning to create a wall of celebrities who have donated to our Stars of Hope charity program. Foolish me didn't ask her the mandatory question due to the fact that I was just dumbfounded by the fact that she was on the other side of the glass window and occupying the same physical space as I was... you know, instead of being 20 feet tall and on a movie screen.
By the way, she looks good for being pregnant. You really cannot tell that she is carrying a baby in that body of hers.
It is no secret that Nicole Kidman likes to go to the movies, particular at the theatre I work at. However, every time she is in the building, I'm always off doing something else or I'm not in a position where I can interact with her.
Not was the case today. Being the only person in Box Office, it was pretty much destiny that I would be giving her and her party movie tickets for the afternoon.
I was so star-struck by this that I had to call my sister and tell her before I popped from excitement.
I later found out that my managers are planning to create a wall of celebrities who have donated to our Stars of Hope charity program. Foolish me didn't ask her the mandatory question due to the fact that I was just dumbfounded by the fact that she was on the other side of the glass window and occupying the same physical space as I was... you know, instead of being 20 feet tall and on a movie screen.
By the way, she looks good for being pregnant. You really cannot tell that she is carrying a baby in that body of hers.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Spore vs. Pixar
So I created, recorded a video, and uploaded this monster version of Luxo from the Pixar Short Films. Spore was able to figure out based on the physical make up of the creature how it would walk, and very surprisingly it walks exactly as it does in the 1986 short film.
Just an example of how powerful my latest video game obsession is. Did I mention I did all that 10 minutes after my last post?
Vignette of Thoughts
Silence Obsession
It's been a few weeks now--or at least feels like it--since I moved out of my studio space, and I haven't touched my puppet. The reason? My timing of this artistic break fell with the release of Spore's Creature Creator. Since then, I've been unleashing my inner character designer on the program pushing it to the point where I almost broke it this morning when I made a pig with no neck that stood approximately 7 ft. tall (and is probably just as wide). Much to my surprise, the tool is rather powerful, and was able to even second guess a few of the animation quirks I have such as how a two-headed creature I made will look in opposite directions when scanning an area during its idle animation.
Needless to say, this tool has not only satisfied the character designer side of me, but has made me more relax in my creativity. I can literally take a blob, shape it how I feel, and then add parts to create a creature of professional design. If I happen to like the design, I can save it and share it with the rest of the players out there through Spore's official site. The game still has its glitches, but they are very few and mostly concentrated on the website side.
Film Economics
For the last few weekends, the movie house has been really slow. We are hoping that when WALL-E and The Dark Knight come out, business will pick up. With the slow business, however, comes an increase in money talk from the guests who haven't been to the movies in well over a year. Some people wondering why we stop our morning prices after 15:00 when it used to be at 17:00. The most surprising increase in economic worries is the fact that so many people want to use their free passes on movies they cannot use them on.
Naturally, when it is this slow, people are let home early. The first to go are the people popping the popcorn, as there's really no need to have that many people behind the counter when only one of them can handle the day's traffic and still prepare food. Second to go are the ushers, as there's a trickle-down effect with the lack of popcorn being produced. Which means, if you haven't guessed, less messes to clean up. Being in Box Office most of the time, I am the last person to be let go early if possible. More than likely, I will pull a full shift since you can apparently run the Box Office with one person one slow days. Once the night/closing shift employee comes in, I'm cut loose. This doesn't happen often, but for the last few days, I've been let out almost three hours before my shift was scheduled to end because of the night/closing crew showing up.
I guess The President's little talk about how people should continue going to the movies isn't doing anyone any good. Either that or the original theory is right and we just have a lot of movies nobody is interested in seeing.
It's been a few weeks now--or at least feels like it--since I moved out of my studio space, and I haven't touched my puppet. The reason? My timing of this artistic break fell with the release of Spore's Creature Creator. Since then, I've been unleashing my inner character designer on the program pushing it to the point where I almost broke it this morning when I made a pig with no neck that stood approximately 7 ft. tall (and is probably just as wide). Much to my surprise, the tool is rather powerful, and was able to even second guess a few of the animation quirks I have such as how a two-headed creature I made will look in opposite directions when scanning an area during its idle animation.
Needless to say, this tool has not only satisfied the character designer side of me, but has made me more relax in my creativity. I can literally take a blob, shape it how I feel, and then add parts to create a creature of professional design. If I happen to like the design, I can save it and share it with the rest of the players out there through Spore's official site. The game still has its glitches, but they are very few and mostly concentrated on the website side.
Film Economics
For the last few weekends, the movie house has been really slow. We are hoping that when WALL-E and The Dark Knight come out, business will pick up. With the slow business, however, comes an increase in money talk from the guests who haven't been to the movies in well over a year. Some people wondering why we stop our morning prices after 15:00 when it used to be at 17:00. The most surprising increase in economic worries is the fact that so many people want to use their free passes on movies they cannot use them on.
Naturally, when it is this slow, people are let home early. The first to go are the people popping the popcorn, as there's really no need to have that many people behind the counter when only one of them can handle the day's traffic and still prepare food. Second to go are the ushers, as there's a trickle-down effect with the lack of popcorn being produced. Which means, if you haven't guessed, less messes to clean up. Being in Box Office most of the time, I am the last person to be let go early if possible. More than likely, I will pull a full shift since you can apparently run the Box Office with one person one slow days. Once the night/closing shift employee comes in, I'm cut loose. This doesn't happen often, but for the last few days, I've been let out almost three hours before my shift was scheduled to end because of the night/closing crew showing up.
I guess The President's little talk about how people should continue going to the movies isn't doing anyone any good. Either that or the original theory is right and we just have a lot of movies nobody is interested in seeing.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
From Paranoid to Pissed
For the past several days, I've been slightly paranoid at work.
I caught wind of a rumor that one of the managers is using security camera footage to write people up behind their backs for various violation. This made me very concern given the last event I reported about work where I had to sign documentation. Documentation I never saw.
According to my GM, they must have fixed the error by one way or another, which is why I didn't have to sign documentation of the event. However, they are going through security camera footage due to the fact that, once again, someone or a bunch of someones is stealing food from the concession.
As calming as this would be to me, I'm extremely pissed right now. We are expecting guests tonight, my sister's friends, and they will be watching TV. Since my room doubles as the guest room, my mom decided to clean it and make it presentable. While logical and completely sensible in every intent, I don't like it when she cleans any area that I tend to frequent that have personal belongings. Why? Because I will NEVER FIND THEM AGAIN. Thankfully, I came in at the tail end of this and pretty much demanded the location of every misplaced object of importance.
I have a system, people. It may look like a mess to you, but it's organized to me. And as OCD as I am about it, the last thing anyone should do is mess with my system!
I caught wind of a rumor that one of the managers is using security camera footage to write people up behind their backs for various violation. This made me very concern given the last event I reported about work where I had to sign documentation. Documentation I never saw.
According to my GM, they must have fixed the error by one way or another, which is why I didn't have to sign documentation of the event. However, they are going through security camera footage due to the fact that, once again, someone or a bunch of someones is stealing food from the concession.
As calming as this would be to me, I'm extremely pissed right now. We are expecting guests tonight, my sister's friends, and they will be watching TV. Since my room doubles as the guest room, my mom decided to clean it and make it presentable. While logical and completely sensible in every intent, I don't like it when she cleans any area that I tend to frequent that have personal belongings. Why? Because I will NEVER FIND THEM AGAIN. Thankfully, I came in at the tail end of this and pretty much demanded the location of every misplaced object of importance.
I have a system, people. It may look like a mess to you, but it's organized to me. And as OCD as I am about it, the last thing anyone should do is mess with my system!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I was wrong.
Karma has a nasty was of biting me in the ass.
It was the first day as manager for one of the recent employee promotions, and I couldn't help but internally criticise the kid for his lack of professionalism as a manager. Karma took this as a prideful action, as it was viewed as if I was this flawless person. To get back at me, Karma teamed up with Fate and Circumstance to cause a failure in judgement involving a pair of individually purchased tickets needing to be changed to the correct show times.
In the end, he was perfect and I was in the wrong. Tomorrow I will have to sign a document explaining the situation, which is so complicated I had to print out a bullet-point breakdown of the event just for it to make sense to me in the morning.
I would post it here, but admitting that I'm in the wrong is probably the best thing I could do as a person. I mean, everyday I observe behavior from both my family and other people where they blame "the other person" for something that was their own mistake. This isn't a pride thing; I just think more people should learn how to admit they are wrong when they are wrong.
It was the first day as manager for one of the recent employee promotions, and I couldn't help but internally criticise the kid for his lack of professionalism as a manager. Karma took this as a prideful action, as it was viewed as if I was this flawless person. To get back at me, Karma teamed up with Fate and Circumstance to cause a failure in judgement involving a pair of individually purchased tickets needing to be changed to the correct show times.
In the end, he was perfect and I was in the wrong. Tomorrow I will have to sign a document explaining the situation, which is so complicated I had to print out a bullet-point breakdown of the event just for it to make sense to me in the morning.
I would post it here, but admitting that I'm in the wrong is probably the best thing I could do as a person. I mean, everyday I observe behavior from both my family and other people where they blame "the other person" for something that was their own mistake. This isn't a pride thing; I just think more people should learn how to admit they are wrong when they are wrong.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Marvel's Universe - Spoiler Warning!!
It was hinted before Ironman's release that from this point on, Marvel Studios was going to show hints that each of their individual franchises are actually part of a bigger universe. Little did we know what was actually meant by that.
If you stayed past the credits in Ironman, you were given a hint of what was to come. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. was introduce to Tony Stark, who was given a talk about something known as The Avenger Initiative. Bam! End scene. Fans were left both excited and wanting more, specifically if they were actually going to go through with what was done in the comics.
I just watched Hulk tonight, after figuring out the employee loop hole in order to see movies for free on Opening Weekend, and this trend continues in Hulk. Even though this is Bruce Banner's story, Tony Stark is everywhere to be found. Nearly every military-grade equipment that has some kind of close-up shot has the Stark Industry logo on it.
To make it even more clear that the Marvel Universe is solidifying all their movies into one from here on out, another Avengers stinger is added to Hulk. One I called after Ironman, but this stinger wasn't one I expected. It continues the talk with certain people about The Avenger Initiative, but it does it in a way that gets you excited even more than the first teaser at the end of Ironman.
Now, to add another layer to this, as well as set up a Captain America movie, the plot of Hulk revolves around not only what happened to Bruce Banner but the reason for his experimentation to begin with. They make reference to a pre-WWII project where the intent was to make a super soldier. Banner was on the bio-engineering side of the project when it got picked back up and wasn't told a damn thing about its intent until about the time where the film picks up. When that bomb is dropped, you find out that this formula has been kept on ice (thanks to Stark Industries). They use it in order to level out the playing field with Hulk, but it has some side effects.
This has me wondering about how Captain America will be introduced now. The evidence is all there; they are going to make a Captain America movie. But if the super solider formula has nasty side effects, and the fact that a good amount of it has been kept on ice, then what is going to happen to the actual guy that ends up being Captain America? That's the real draw now. It isn't so much the "Is Marvel Studios going to pull an Ultimate Alliance Movie?" teaser for me anymore. It's how big and inner-connected is Captain America going to be with all these links between franchises?
There are no other Marvel Studio movies coming out this year to my knowledge, so we will just have to wait and see what comes down the tubes. One thing is for certain, those that pay attention will be watching those coming attractions like a hawk.
If you stayed past the credits in Ironman, you were given a hint of what was to come. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. was introduce to Tony Stark, who was given a talk about something known as The Avenger Initiative. Bam! End scene. Fans were left both excited and wanting more, specifically if they were actually going to go through with what was done in the comics.
I just watched Hulk tonight, after figuring out the employee loop hole in order to see movies for free on Opening Weekend, and this trend continues in Hulk. Even though this is Bruce Banner's story, Tony Stark is everywhere to be found. Nearly every military-grade equipment that has some kind of close-up shot has the Stark Industry logo on it.
To make it even more clear that the Marvel Universe is solidifying all their movies into one from here on out, another Avengers stinger is added to Hulk. One I called after Ironman, but this stinger wasn't one I expected. It continues the talk with certain people about The Avenger Initiative, but it does it in a way that gets you excited even more than the first teaser at the end of Ironman.
Now, to add another layer to this, as well as set up a Captain America movie, the plot of Hulk revolves around not only what happened to Bruce Banner but the reason for his experimentation to begin with. They make reference to a pre-WWII project where the intent was to make a super soldier. Banner was on the bio-engineering side of the project when it got picked back up and wasn't told a damn thing about its intent until about the time where the film picks up. When that bomb is dropped, you find out that this formula has been kept on ice (thanks to Stark Industries). They use it in order to level out the playing field with Hulk, but it has some side effects.
This has me wondering about how Captain America will be introduced now. The evidence is all there; they are going to make a Captain America movie. But if the super solider formula has nasty side effects, and the fact that a good amount of it has been kept on ice, then what is going to happen to the actual guy that ends up being Captain America? That's the real draw now. It isn't so much the "Is Marvel Studios going to pull an Ultimate Alliance Movie?" teaser for me anymore. It's how big and inner-connected is Captain America going to be with all these links between franchises?
There are no other Marvel Studio movies coming out this year to my knowledge, so we will just have to wait and see what comes down the tubes. One thing is for certain, those that pay attention will be watching those coming attractions like a hawk.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Moving Out or Dropping Out?
Kristi was floating in and out of her class and the studio. She saw all my stuff in boxes and asked me if I was dropping out of graduation. Probably the first time a teacher has expressed that kind of level of concern for me.
I assured her that what was going on was my willing departure from a studio space I was not using to its full advantages. I expressed that I felt burned out, but I was not going to be dropping out. I don't know if will continue working over the rest of the summer, but the intent is still to try again in the fall.
I left the conversation feeling like she didn't believe me and was still concerned about my future as an artist.
I assured her that what was going on was my willing departure from a studio space I was not using to its full advantages. I expressed that I felt burned out, but I was not going to be dropping out. I don't know if will continue working over the rest of the summer, but the intent is still to try again in the fall.
I left the conversation feeling like she didn't believe me and was still concerned about my future as an artist.
Deconstruction Depression
I don't know why, but while I was taking down my studio and shoved everything in boxes, I couldn't help but have a feeling of deep and utter sadness. It was as if I was symbolically saying to the building "I quit. You've won. I don't belong here."
Meanwhile, there is a major social scene happening behind me making me feel rather alienated in the social scene. I really need to get out more, but where to go and what to do and who to hang out with is very limiting now, especially given who I know and how I know them.
Meanwhile, there is a major social scene happening behind me making me feel rather alienated in the social scene. I really need to get out more, but where to go and what to do and who to hang out with is very limiting now, especially given who I know and how I know them.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Moving Out, Not Up
I learned today that several people got promoted to manager status. All of them pretty well deserving in my opinion, but I'm also slightly disappointed. One of the new managers was someone whom I had my eye on and was gambling on a chance of working with him. Due to the fraternization policy, that is now an impossibility. Oh, sure, I've been able to bend that rule with most of my managers, but where I want to go with him is anything but professional.
Work drama aside, I've also decided to move out of my studio space in Watkins. I'm officially burned out. There's nothing I can really do or want to do with this project. I know what needs to be done with the puppet, but bringing myself to actually DO it is another matter. On top of that, I've been wrecking my brain trying to figure out my thesis since the start of the summer and feel like I haven't made any progress at all. I need a break instead of using the summer time to produce and fine tune like I originally plan. If I do otherwise, I might not have a very successful second attempt since it all I would have done is produced yet another incoherent body of work that cannot support a thesis that makes sense only to me.
It's times like these I wish I could make art that expresses my honest feelings, but doing so in a successful manner is so far above my skill level at this point that any idea I think is a good idea will be read in a different way.
Work drama aside, I've also decided to move out of my studio space in Watkins. I'm officially burned out. There's nothing I can really do or want to do with this project. I know what needs to be done with the puppet, but bringing myself to actually DO it is another matter. On top of that, I've been wrecking my brain trying to figure out my thesis since the start of the summer and feel like I haven't made any progress at all. I need a break instead of using the summer time to produce and fine tune like I originally plan. If I do otherwise, I might not have a very successful second attempt since it all I would have done is produced yet another incoherent body of work that cannot support a thesis that makes sense only to me.
It's times like these I wish I could make art that expresses my honest feelings, but doing so in a successful manner is so far above my skill level at this point that any idea I think is a good idea will be read in a different way.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Idiotic Parenting
I see a lot stupid things when I work the Box Office. They range from the senior moments that we all get to the just plain dumb-founding. During the opening day of Sex & The City, for example, I had to explain to little old ladies who were using Fandango for the first time how it worked and why I needed their credit card to call their ticket purchase. I've also had to deal with normally competent people wondering why ticket prices changed on them when there is a sign right there in front of their faces explaining it for them.
But today, something happened in Box Office that never happened to me before. I had to get up and leave my position for 15 minutes because of our guests' behavior. It wasn't the fact that some treat me like I'm their Cabana Boy freshly imported from some third-world country. It was the fact that there was wave after wave of parents who clearly don't know how to act in front of their kids in public.
The bulk of this group consisted of parents growing more and more impatient with me. With every question I am required to ask by management, with every person that was in front of them in line, they wanted faster service. "Give me the ticket. Just give me the ticket." was something I heard over and over from them. And what made this worse was not only their childish tone they took with me, but the fact they did this in front of their kids. Kids who were clearly observing and learning from their parent's action while appearing to behave like good boys and girls.
Normally, I wouldn't have anything against this and would move on, but this happened in rapid succession. It was literally one family after another at my window that did this. I thought, how could this get any worse?
Apparently, much like in the movies, it can get worse. Not too long after the first wave of the Gimme parents I had a woman come up to my window who spanked her daughter in order to get her to move out of the way. Her daughter was just walking up to the window like every kid before her has done, but for some reason, this mother felt the need to spank her in order to reinforce that she was not the one ordering the tickets. Now, when this situation happens, more parents just talk over the head of their child and let them look into the window. Not was the case with this woman.
The straw that broke this camel's back? Oh, you'll want to sit down for this and make sure you have finished drinking your cup of tea before you start the next paragraph.
The parent that made me say to myself "That's it! I need to leave now!" was a father who kicked his son in order to move him out of the way of another patron making his way to my co-worker's window. You read that right; he kicked his own son. Even the mother said in shock, "Don't kick him!" The father didn't even flinch and continued to angrily order his tickets.
I had to get out of that situation. If I stayed, I would have said something I knew I was going to regret to the next family that did something like that. Probably even deny their tickets in simply because they were acting more childish than their kids, which would have gotten me fired on the spot.
Personally, I don't care how good a parent you think you are. You are in public with your kids. They are learning from you and your actions even if you don't know it. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior from the parents, even if the kids no more than an hour ago were screaming like banshees the phrase "Kung Fu Panda! Kung Fu Panda!! I wanna see Kung Fun Panda!" to the point where you gave in to them. And as a parent, if you did that, then you are only confirming one thing for me. The only reason the squeaky wheel gets the oil is so that the owner of the wagon doesn't have to listen to it anymore.
But today, something happened in Box Office that never happened to me before. I had to get up and leave my position for 15 minutes because of our guests' behavior. It wasn't the fact that some treat me like I'm their Cabana Boy freshly imported from some third-world country. It was the fact that there was wave after wave of parents who clearly don't know how to act in front of their kids in public.
The bulk of this group consisted of parents growing more and more impatient with me. With every question I am required to ask by management, with every person that was in front of them in line, they wanted faster service. "Give me the ticket. Just give me the ticket." was something I heard over and over from them. And what made this worse was not only their childish tone they took with me, but the fact they did this in front of their kids. Kids who were clearly observing and learning from their parent's action while appearing to behave like good boys and girls.
Normally, I wouldn't have anything against this and would move on, but this happened in rapid succession. It was literally one family after another at my window that did this. I thought, how could this get any worse?
Apparently, much like in the movies, it can get worse. Not too long after the first wave of the Gimme parents I had a woman come up to my window who spanked her daughter in order to get her to move out of the way. Her daughter was just walking up to the window like every kid before her has done, but for some reason, this mother felt the need to spank her in order to reinforce that she was not the one ordering the tickets. Now, when this situation happens, more parents just talk over the head of their child and let them look into the window. Not was the case with this woman.
The straw that broke this camel's back? Oh, you'll want to sit down for this and make sure you have finished drinking your cup of tea before you start the next paragraph.
The parent that made me say to myself "That's it! I need to leave now!" was a father who kicked his son in order to move him out of the way of another patron making his way to my co-worker's window. You read that right; he kicked his own son. Even the mother said in shock, "Don't kick him!" The father didn't even flinch and continued to angrily order his tickets.
I had to get out of that situation. If I stayed, I would have said something I knew I was going to regret to the next family that did something like that. Probably even deny their tickets in simply because they were acting more childish than their kids, which would have gotten me fired on the spot.
Personally, I don't care how good a parent you think you are. You are in public with your kids. They are learning from you and your actions even if you don't know it. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior from the parents, even if the kids no more than an hour ago were screaming like banshees the phrase "Kung Fu Panda! Kung Fu Panda!! I wanna see Kung Fun Panda!" to the point where you gave in to them. And as a parent, if you did that, then you are only confirming one thing for me. The only reason the squeaky wheel gets the oil is so that the owner of the wagon doesn't have to listen to it anymore.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Kung Fu Panda Review - A Surprise From Dreamworks
It was a slow morning and a moderate afternoon. I noticed that Kung Fu Panda was going to start once my shift ended. And the best part was that I could sneak in without it affecting the patron count because we only sold 31 tickets by that point in the day for that particular show. So, after I ran down the projection booth stair well and past the students from a local dojo who were there with their teachers to demo the martial arts, I took my seat just as the reel started.
Going into the movie, I will admit that my expectations were rather low. Dreamworks has only impressed me on a technical level. The first two Shrek movies were the only ones that I've seen that I appreciated the smart writing and even cared about the characters. Madagascar left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and the only thing that impressed me from their recent movie (Horton Hears a Who) was their use of the 2D animation technique known as "Stretch and Squash." The only interest in the film was in the fact they are using animals to represent some of the major styles of Kung Fu, such as a crane for Crane Style and a mantis bug for Mantis Style. What few still images I saw from promotion also caught my attention as there was a careful attention to the use of colors as symbols, obviously lifted from Disney's Mulan.
Like the title says, I was very surprised by what Dreamworks did with this film.
From the start of the film, the art direction is very high in both style and execution. The colors were consciously chosen to evoke and amplify the mood of the scene in ways I haven't seen Dreamworks use before. Dramatic scenes were very well punctuated with deep reds and glowing yellows. Relaxing and philosophical scenes were blanketed with blues the likes of which are, dare I say, zen like in their range of shade. Comedic scenes were bright and colorful. Serious scenes were muted and realistically shaded.
But what really got my attention and was a complete surprise to me was the use of 2D animation. While clearly done in the computer, the opening scene looked like something out of the Samurai Jack cartoon series. Quick action, fluid line, little to no outlines around the characters, and an epic scope in how every-little-thing was drawn. The closing credits is nothing but a giant panoramic featuring watercolor-like vignettes of the characters drawn in the same style. This is similar in tactic to what was done in Enchanted, only not advertised. As an animation geek and fan, I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.
The film itself is very well written. There is a lot of mirroring and foreshadowing, as events tend to double back on themselves over the course of the film. While predictable for the most part, they are also very rewarding as it keeps the story moving. It is also very well balanced, as dramatic scenes are closely followed by scenes of comedy and fight scenes are followed by scenes involving a lot of sight gags.
And to make the film wholesome, there are several messages littered throughout the film. Most of these are, ironically, found in a Fortune Cookie style delivery, but the important ones left me reanalyzing all the past events that have happened in my life.
The first of these messages is that "Nothing happens by accident." This is the only message delivered overtly from the start of the movie, and the one that most of the cast fight. But eventually, the idea of fate and destiny begins to sink in with a brilliant illustration using a peach tree.
The second message comes very late in the movie. There is all this emphasis on being "The Chosen One," but in the end, the only thing that makes something special is the fact that we think it is special. There is no special secret ingredient to the worlds best bowl of noodles any more than there's a secret to why people become famous. The power of this message doesn't really hit home in text. You have to watch the movie and take the journey with Po to understand the true depth of this.
With the technical stuff already impressing the hell out of me, Dreamworks finally did something that I've only experienced with Pixar films, which is make me care about the characters. While the formula of the movie is still the underdog Kung Fu movie, they do a great job of making sure the audience understands who these characters are and their personalities. They do this so well in fact that when a supporting character passes away (It's not an actual death, but a very artistic way in dealing with the idea of death using some of the best combination of Western and Eastern symbolization ever!), you actually miss them. As a viewer, I found myself attracted to the mystery that where the five characters based on the styles of kung fu I mentioned earlier. Each one has a different personality that I wouldn't normally assign to their roles in the movie. For example, Mantis is completely indifferent to the situation, claiming he has no real right to be judgemental due to his ability to be a living example of the old proverb "size doesn't matter." Viper is actually a kind and caring soul who actually apologizes to Po after literally throwing the panda on his head. I don't remember seeing this kind of depth in personality before from Dreamworks, even in the Shrek franchise.
Looking back, I think I've fallen into the same role as the five warriors when they first learned that Po was going to be the saviour of the universe. I never really gave this movie much of a chance to impress me, partly because of how it was marketed. But once I let myself see the movie for what it is, I began to appreciate it more and questioned what other things I may have missed out on simply because I didn't give them a chance due to my own judgements and impressions.
But like the character Oogway quoted from the old proverb, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."
If you are a fan of smart and well-executed movies, you won't be disappointed with what has been marketed as the family movie to go see before Wall-E comes out at the end of this month. If you are a fan of animation in general, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie until the last credits roll. I'm not saying that this movie is something special, especially after being told the big moral of the film, but it is definitely a film that you will find yourself wanting to see again.
Going into the movie, I will admit that my expectations were rather low. Dreamworks has only impressed me on a technical level. The first two Shrek movies were the only ones that I've seen that I appreciated the smart writing and even cared about the characters. Madagascar left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and the only thing that impressed me from their recent movie (Horton Hears a Who) was their use of the 2D animation technique known as "Stretch and Squash." The only interest in the film was in the fact they are using animals to represent some of the major styles of Kung Fu, such as a crane for Crane Style and a mantis bug for Mantis Style. What few still images I saw from promotion also caught my attention as there was a careful attention to the use of colors as symbols, obviously lifted from Disney's Mulan.
Like the title says, I was very surprised by what Dreamworks did with this film.
From the start of the film, the art direction is very high in both style and execution. The colors were consciously chosen to evoke and amplify the mood of the scene in ways I haven't seen Dreamworks use before. Dramatic scenes were very well punctuated with deep reds and glowing yellows. Relaxing and philosophical scenes were blanketed with blues the likes of which are, dare I say, zen like in their range of shade. Comedic scenes were bright and colorful. Serious scenes were muted and realistically shaded.
But what really got my attention and was a complete surprise to me was the use of 2D animation. While clearly done in the computer, the opening scene looked like something out of the Samurai Jack cartoon series. Quick action, fluid line, little to no outlines around the characters, and an epic scope in how every-little-thing was drawn. The closing credits is nothing but a giant panoramic featuring watercolor-like vignettes of the characters drawn in the same style. This is similar in tactic to what was done in Enchanted, only not advertised. As an animation geek and fan, I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.
The film itself is very well written. There is a lot of mirroring and foreshadowing, as events tend to double back on themselves over the course of the film. While predictable for the most part, they are also very rewarding as it keeps the story moving. It is also very well balanced, as dramatic scenes are closely followed by scenes of comedy and fight scenes are followed by scenes involving a lot of sight gags.
And to make the film wholesome, there are several messages littered throughout the film. Most of these are, ironically, found in a Fortune Cookie style delivery, but the important ones left me reanalyzing all the past events that have happened in my life.
The first of these messages is that "Nothing happens by accident." This is the only message delivered overtly from the start of the movie, and the one that most of the cast fight. But eventually, the idea of fate and destiny begins to sink in with a brilliant illustration using a peach tree.
The second message comes very late in the movie. There is all this emphasis on being "The Chosen One," but in the end, the only thing that makes something special is the fact that we think it is special. There is no special secret ingredient to the worlds best bowl of noodles any more than there's a secret to why people become famous. The power of this message doesn't really hit home in text. You have to watch the movie and take the journey with Po to understand the true depth of this.
With the technical stuff already impressing the hell out of me, Dreamworks finally did something that I've only experienced with Pixar films, which is make me care about the characters. While the formula of the movie is still the underdog Kung Fu movie, they do a great job of making sure the audience understands who these characters are and their personalities. They do this so well in fact that when a supporting character passes away (It's not an actual death, but a very artistic way in dealing with the idea of death using some of the best combination of Western and Eastern symbolization ever!), you actually miss them. As a viewer, I found myself attracted to the mystery that where the five characters based on the styles of kung fu I mentioned earlier. Each one has a different personality that I wouldn't normally assign to their roles in the movie. For example, Mantis is completely indifferent to the situation, claiming he has no real right to be judgemental due to his ability to be a living example of the old proverb "size doesn't matter." Viper is actually a kind and caring soul who actually apologizes to Po after literally throwing the panda on his head. I don't remember seeing this kind of depth in personality before from Dreamworks, even in the Shrek franchise.
Looking back, I think I've fallen into the same role as the five warriors when they first learned that Po was going to be the saviour of the universe. I never really gave this movie much of a chance to impress me, partly because of how it was marketed. But once I let myself see the movie for what it is, I began to appreciate it more and questioned what other things I may have missed out on simply because I didn't give them a chance due to my own judgements and impressions.
But like the character Oogway quoted from the old proverb, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."
If you are a fan of smart and well-executed movies, you won't be disappointed with what has been marketed as the family movie to go see before Wall-E comes out at the end of this month. If you are a fan of animation in general, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie until the last credits roll. I'm not saying that this movie is something special, especially after being told the big moral of the film, but it is definitely a film that you will find yourself wanting to see again.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Sex & The City Demographic Break-Down
In case you are curious, I've been keeping track of the demographic of women that have been coming to see Sex & The City for the theatre I work for. Keep in mind that this is strictly for my theatre, which is located in a rather high-brow area of town, and is in no way an indication of how the crowds were like nation wide.
Opening Night - While dominated by Fandango purchases, Opening Night for the movie saw the socialites in full force. What pictures I've seen of the night at our location was like watching a fashion show where every woman who had or was of money tried to out dress anyone would would have the nerve to try to be best dressed for the night. If I had to, I would assume that several women bought an outfit exclusively for that night. Every show after 17:00 was sold out, which means if you weren't part of the party, you were out of luck.
Saturday - After all the glitz and glamor, the working class women that knew how to dress to impress came out to see the movie. It was clearly a Lady's Night Out event, where office co-workers and circles of girlfriends came to enjoy the only movie that was released this past week that wasn't some action movie or aimed at the family.
Sunday - The "Women of the Night" decided to see the film today. Seriously, some of them were wearing tops so tight, they were about ready to pop out of them. Surprisingly, it was the local Gay Pride day and not once did I see a gay man come to the movie. Actually, I saw no member of the male gender go to the movie that day.
Monday - The college girls came out to see the film. While I wasn't working, I was told that they were from all walks of college life, though the vast majority of them were either blond or from a sorority. A few of my single managers commented that Monday saw some of the best looking women since Friday night.
Tuesday - Either someone wasn't doing their job or girls are starting to figure out where The Fountain of Youth is located, because my co-workers said all the "barely legal" girls came out. Unfortunately, they were said to have dressed kind of slutty. So much so that several were asked for their identification several times.
Wednesday - I came back from my day off and saw nothing but well-dressed senior citizens going to Sex & The City today... with their angry-looking husbands in tow. By this time, the crowds have died down, as we also saw a small number of the demographic that dominated today.
Today - The people that wanted to see the movie but didn't want to see it with a big crowd. So people like my mom. Nobody had to worry about not finding a seat. By this time in the week, nearly everyone and their mom has seen the film. The largest number of people that saw the show during my daytime shift was 20 people.
Tomorrow will see the release of Kung Fu Panda and Zohan. This means an increase in families and male patrons with the sense of humor of your stereotypical frat boy. Will Sex be able to sell out any shows during its second weekend? We'll find out come tomorrow, but I won't be keeping track since from this point out it's going to be very obvious (and boring) as to who will be coming to see the movies playing on their opening week.
Opening Night - While dominated by Fandango purchases, Opening Night for the movie saw the socialites in full force. What pictures I've seen of the night at our location was like watching a fashion show where every woman who had or was of money tried to out dress anyone would would have the nerve to try to be best dressed for the night. If I had to, I would assume that several women bought an outfit exclusively for that night. Every show after 17:00 was sold out, which means if you weren't part of the party, you were out of luck.
Saturday - After all the glitz and glamor, the working class women that knew how to dress to impress came out to see the movie. It was clearly a Lady's Night Out event, where office co-workers and circles of girlfriends came to enjoy the only movie that was released this past week that wasn't some action movie or aimed at the family.
Sunday - The "Women of the Night" decided to see the film today. Seriously, some of them were wearing tops so tight, they were about ready to pop out of them. Surprisingly, it was the local Gay Pride day and not once did I see a gay man come to the movie. Actually, I saw no member of the male gender go to the movie that day.
Monday - The college girls came out to see the film. While I wasn't working, I was told that they were from all walks of college life, though the vast majority of them were either blond or from a sorority. A few of my single managers commented that Monday saw some of the best looking women since Friday night.
Tuesday - Either someone wasn't doing their job or girls are starting to figure out where The Fountain of Youth is located, because my co-workers said all the "barely legal" girls came out. Unfortunately, they were said to have dressed kind of slutty. So much so that several were asked for their identification several times.
Wednesday - I came back from my day off and saw nothing but well-dressed senior citizens going to Sex & The City today... with their angry-looking husbands in tow. By this time, the crowds have died down, as we also saw a small number of the demographic that dominated today.
Today - The people that wanted to see the movie but didn't want to see it with a big crowd. So people like my mom. Nobody had to worry about not finding a seat. By this time in the week, nearly everyone and their mom has seen the film. The largest number of people that saw the show during my daytime shift was 20 people.
Tomorrow will see the release of Kung Fu Panda and Zohan. This means an increase in families and male patrons with the sense of humor of your stereotypical frat boy. Will Sex be able to sell out any shows during its second weekend? We'll find out come tomorrow, but I won't be keeping track since from this point out it's going to be very obvious (and boring) as to who will be coming to see the movies playing on their opening week.
New Wall-E Vignette
This one is the best out of the bunch so far. You not only get to see Wall-E's primary function, but his curiosity in new objects as well.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Concerns of a Tired Individual
Right now, I have a lot of things on my mind for one reason or another.
The most important one of these is with my puppet project. My main concern is if I have a studio space to work in over the summer. Because of how my schedule is worked out, I can only get to the studio once a week. And even then it is for less time than I have been working over the course of the semester. Not that it really matters since the teachers are pretty much unavailable.
This, unfortunately, leads me to a personal concern involving the direction of my thesis. The avatar idea is starting to focus on cute culture images. The puppet, once designed to look like a cross between my self portrait and Scooter from The Muppet Show, seems to now want to take a chibi form of my avatar similar to the print out I just framed from Kinko's. It only serves as ironic that the video idea I have for this puppet is to present a two-faced situation where the most honest and sometimes mean-spirited dialogue is being said by this cute puppet and everything else will be said from my real-life self. (If you got that, then congratulations, because right now I'm bordering on mental instability due to unknown factors.)
Thing is, yesterday saw a sudden meeting of faculty and students in a candidacy presentation for a new sculpture teacher who will be taking over Jack's position. Jack got a teaching gig in my aunt's old college of Oregon U. Jack also attended there at one point, but starting in the fall, he'll be part of the Ducks as a faculty member. The potential teacher to replace him has taught on both sides of the lower forty-eight, one school in particular I tried applying to but failed to get in due to a weak portfolio. While showing his work, his personal emphasis was to try and be sincere as he grew tired of artists being ironic in both the New York and Seattle art circles. His students' works also displayed this push of trying to be as sincere as possible visually with their conceptual ideas.
With the thought that he may be a teacher I'll have to face in the future, I looked at my finished works (all three of them) wondering if I was being sincere or playfully ironic. It got to the point where I wasn't sure what I was doing again, and that this drive to produce anything I could come up with was a "grasping at straws" attempt to get the hell out. A desperate measure for a desperate situation.
In the end, I left the studio not knowing what I was doing with the puppet as far as construction goes and questioning why I am doing it in the first place.
In an unrelated subject...
As of this entry, I'm approximately sixteen days away from owning a creative tool specifically made for character designing and avatar creations. It's a tool used in the up-coming video game Spore known as The Creature Creator.
I've had my eye on the game since its announcement three years ago with eager anticipation that I will have a computer by then strong enough to play it. It was and will be the last video game I will ever buy. The video game market as I see it now is too redundant in both product and game play. Innovations are few and far between, and nothing can keep my interest as strongly as Spore has with the emphasis of the game being player creativity.
But recently, I caught wind of news that there may or may not be a security measure in the CD/DVD which has been frowned upon by the PC Gaming community. With the intent of stopping software piracy, this program ultimately makes it impossible for honest people to do innocent acts like burning a school report onto a CD or making a DVD of their recent vacation videos. Why? It mistakenly thinks these acts are acts of piracy. From what I've been able to research, there is no way to remove the problem other than downloading programs designed by hackers (I would classify them as White Hat Hackers since they are helping rather than hurting in my book.) that compromise the piracy prevention. Other reports have stated that the program is very intrusive and will disable things like anti-virus software and third-party firewall programs. Among other problems is the fact that the game will become unplayable after three installations, be it on the same machine or on three different machines. This affectingly means the consumer is buying a digital product that would essentially become useless sooner or later.
With my order a mere sixteen days out before getting into my hand, this is the last thing I wanted to hear as a consumer. Most of the time, I'm not that educated on a product. I doubt anyone really is unless they specialize in what they are going to buy, like the video game community often does. I, on the other hand, am a casual gamer. I play for enjoyment and escape. Finding out this makes my consumer confidence drop like a rock in a pond. My concern now is not if my machine can run the game, but if the game will hurt my machine.
And I don't exactly have enough money on me to buy a laptop specifically designed for Spore and nothing else, which would be the safe route to take.
Finally...
My mother recently pointed out during my sister's boyfriend's third dinner with us that she's noticed an increase in how often I sleep. I've fallen asleep on the car rides home from school, on the car rides to and from work, and immediately after doing a pretty simple and non-labor intensive task like depositing my check or walking the dog. I've been spotted nodding off during breakfast at the store over my onion bagel. My eating habits have slowed down dramatically at the table, as I am now one of the last people to finish eating instead of one of the first. Even now, while I'm typing this, I'm fighting to stay awake just so I can be cognitive enough to complete this thought.
She wants to know if I am sick, but after one-and-a-half months of that mysterious flu bug, I am no longer sure what being healthy feels like these days. All I know is that I'm spending less time doing the things I want to do and more time sleeping.
By the way, this blog took thirty minutes to type, which is about average for this long of an entry. And now, after I spell check this, I'm going to bed.
The most important one of these is with my puppet project. My main concern is if I have a studio space to work in over the summer. Because of how my schedule is worked out, I can only get to the studio once a week. And even then it is for less time than I have been working over the course of the semester. Not that it really matters since the teachers are pretty much unavailable.
This, unfortunately, leads me to a personal concern involving the direction of my thesis. The avatar idea is starting to focus on cute culture images. The puppet, once designed to look like a cross between my self portrait and Scooter from The Muppet Show, seems to now want to take a chibi form of my avatar similar to the print out I just framed from Kinko's. It only serves as ironic that the video idea I have for this puppet is to present a two-faced situation where the most honest and sometimes mean-spirited dialogue is being said by this cute puppet and everything else will be said from my real-life self. (If you got that, then congratulations, because right now I'm bordering on mental instability due to unknown factors.)
Thing is, yesterday saw a sudden meeting of faculty and students in a candidacy presentation for a new sculpture teacher who will be taking over Jack's position. Jack got a teaching gig in my aunt's old college of Oregon U. Jack also attended there at one point, but starting in the fall, he'll be part of the Ducks as a faculty member. The potential teacher to replace him has taught on both sides of the lower forty-eight, one school in particular I tried applying to but failed to get in due to a weak portfolio. While showing his work, his personal emphasis was to try and be sincere as he grew tired of artists being ironic in both the New York and Seattle art circles. His students' works also displayed this push of trying to be as sincere as possible visually with their conceptual ideas.
With the thought that he may be a teacher I'll have to face in the future, I looked at my finished works (all three of them) wondering if I was being sincere or playfully ironic. It got to the point where I wasn't sure what I was doing again, and that this drive to produce anything I could come up with was a "grasping at straws" attempt to get the hell out. A desperate measure for a desperate situation.
In the end, I left the studio not knowing what I was doing with the puppet as far as construction goes and questioning why I am doing it in the first place.
In an unrelated subject...
As of this entry, I'm approximately sixteen days away from owning a creative tool specifically made for character designing and avatar creations. It's a tool used in the up-coming video game Spore known as The Creature Creator.
I've had my eye on the game since its announcement three years ago with eager anticipation that I will have a computer by then strong enough to play it. It was and will be the last video game I will ever buy. The video game market as I see it now is too redundant in both product and game play. Innovations are few and far between, and nothing can keep my interest as strongly as Spore has with the emphasis of the game being player creativity.
But recently, I caught wind of news that there may or may not be a security measure in the CD/DVD which has been frowned upon by the PC Gaming community. With the intent of stopping software piracy, this program ultimately makes it impossible for honest people to do innocent acts like burning a school report onto a CD or making a DVD of their recent vacation videos. Why? It mistakenly thinks these acts are acts of piracy. From what I've been able to research, there is no way to remove the problem other than downloading programs designed by hackers (I would classify them as White Hat Hackers since they are helping rather than hurting in my book.) that compromise the piracy prevention. Other reports have stated that the program is very intrusive and will disable things like anti-virus software and third-party firewall programs. Among other problems is the fact that the game will become unplayable after three installations, be it on the same machine or on three different machines. This affectingly means the consumer is buying a digital product that would essentially become useless sooner or later.
With my order a mere sixteen days out before getting into my hand, this is the last thing I wanted to hear as a consumer. Most of the time, I'm not that educated on a product. I doubt anyone really is unless they specialize in what they are going to buy, like the video game community often does. I, on the other hand, am a casual gamer. I play for enjoyment and escape. Finding out this makes my consumer confidence drop like a rock in a pond. My concern now is not if my machine can run the game, but if the game will hurt my machine.
And I don't exactly have enough money on me to buy a laptop specifically designed for Spore and nothing else, which would be the safe route to take.
Finally...
My mother recently pointed out during my sister's boyfriend's third dinner with us that she's noticed an increase in how often I sleep. I've fallen asleep on the car rides home from school, on the car rides to and from work, and immediately after doing a pretty simple and non-labor intensive task like depositing my check or walking the dog. I've been spotted nodding off during breakfast at the store over my onion bagel. My eating habits have slowed down dramatically at the table, as I am now one of the last people to finish eating instead of one of the first. Even now, while I'm typing this, I'm fighting to stay awake just so I can be cognitive enough to complete this thought.
She wants to know if I am sick, but after one-and-a-half months of that mysterious flu bug, I am no longer sure what being healthy feels like these days. All I know is that I'm spending less time doing the things I want to do and more time sleeping.
By the way, this blog took thirty minutes to type, which is about average for this long of an entry. And now, after I spell check this, I'm going to bed.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Ripped Off by a Gay Guy
There are several things in Box Office that I as an employee must do in order to keep both my customers and my boss happy. Because of the amount of money that is physically and digitally transacted every hour, one must pay very close attention to what is going on at all times.
For example, one girl bought her tickets in dimes. Dimes! And these were not bank-rolled dimes either. They were hand rolled. As such, I am obligated to count out each and every dollar if she had no other way to pay for her tickets. Which took about a grand total of 10 minutes.
The title example for this entry happened yesterday. A lot of people come to the box office and try to rip off the company by claiming we have shorted them in change. Some get away with it, but most of the time they come back too late in the line (normally by about a few minutes) to where our computer has forgotten about their transaction and is no longer displayed on the screen.
There was this one customer that got lucky. After buying his ticket, he came back and claimed I gave him the wrong about of change, showing me the bills he was handed back. Between his transaction and when this event occurred, no other purchases were made. The span of the wait was about 3 minutes. His total as well as his change were still on display on my computer, and as such I gave him the proper change. Still, the fact that he didn't notice this in front of me raised a red flag and I took a note of it.
When my shift ended and I was being counted out of my drawer, I turned out to be short by the amount that the customer before said I shorted him. I told my boss knowing that I was ripped off but didn't want to believe I was. He too was disappointed in the guest's action, but said nothing about how the event will affect my position.
Normally, we would try to identify the customer and look on the security cameras to see what the eagle eyes can see. But the only thing I remember about the man was that he was wearing a Gay Pride necklace.
And every gay guy I've ever met up until yesterday have always been so nice and honest...
For example, one girl bought her tickets in dimes. Dimes! And these were not bank-rolled dimes either. They were hand rolled. As such, I am obligated to count out each and every dollar if she had no other way to pay for her tickets. Which took about a grand total of 10 minutes.
The title example for this entry happened yesterday. A lot of people come to the box office and try to rip off the company by claiming we have shorted them in change. Some get away with it, but most of the time they come back too late in the line (normally by about a few minutes) to where our computer has forgotten about their transaction and is no longer displayed on the screen.
There was this one customer that got lucky. After buying his ticket, he came back and claimed I gave him the wrong about of change, showing me the bills he was handed back. Between his transaction and when this event occurred, no other purchases were made. The span of the wait was about 3 minutes. His total as well as his change were still on display on my computer, and as such I gave him the proper change. Still, the fact that he didn't notice this in front of me raised a red flag and I took a note of it.
When my shift ended and I was being counted out of my drawer, I turned out to be short by the amount that the customer before said I shorted him. I told my boss knowing that I was ripped off but didn't want to believe I was. He too was disappointed in the guest's action, but said nothing about how the event will affect my position.
Normally, we would try to identify the customer and look on the security cameras to see what the eagle eyes can see. But the only thing I remember about the man was that he was wearing a Gay Pride necklace.
And every gay guy I've ever met up until yesterday have always been so nice and honest...
