In spite of being burned by TNT’s last attempt at historical drama, I thought I’d give this one a go round. On first glance, it very pretty (and damm, is Chris Noth aging well!), but also very condensed. Rather like reading the condensed cliffs notes of the late roman republic. For the length of time that this thing is supposed to cover (Sulla through Ceasear’s death, I believe) it sould be about the length of I, Cladius.

After part one, I have no *major* gripes, but I am realizing that knowing the history it’s all based on spoils things a bit. (As soon as someone gives their name, I can tell you how they die. The fact that it all *actually happened* makes this a touch depressing.) As for historical accuracy… eh. They’re getting it close enough that I’m not going to quibble. (Well, not right now, at any rate.)

The soapbox - wherein we get the *real* lowdown on email. (Amusing. :) And then, there’s Orisinal - a collection of some of the neatest games/time wasters this side of solitare. Did I mention they’re all *pretty* too?

In spite of the fact that my WIP folder is getting far too big, I’ve been getting the urge to grab Bill’s digital camera and shoot some still lives. What’s the difference between twelve and twenty pieces waiting to be finished, eh? (Just the shreds of my sanity, I think)

On reflection, its a good thing I can’t find any batteries for the camera. Maybe I should just go bake some cookies. ::Shakes head:: Feeing creative and exausted at the same time can be confusing.

Sheesh. At the rate I’ve been bouncing through employers this year, you’d think I was flighty or something. :) With luck, this one will last. The whole first day jitters thing is so much like the first day of school… which I was never too fond of anyway. But, I think I like this place. Even if they seem to think that I can’t handle hearing profanity. (Heh. Wait ’till the see me on a no coffee morning.)

And I get to sit near a *window*. Been about five years (not counting working from home) since I could just look up during the day and know what was going on outside. Of course, today would be the first nice summery day in the last week of cold, gray, rainy, bleah weather…

And I was prepared to be critical. We’re talking about one of my very first comic book loves. (Not my fault the school library had a big hardbound collection of the early issues…) So lets get on to the good, not so good, and the super spiffy.

• The scene transitions were too self conscious and artsy. When *how* the story is being told is occuping more of my time than what the story is actually *telling*, there’s a problem.
• Cameos! (Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno no less… hee!) And, erm, Gavin. (For the Angel fen out there)
• Eric Bana’s performance wasn’t “wooden”. That’s the way the character was supposed to be. They even devoted exposition time to beating us over the head with that fact.
• And speaking of getting beaten over the head, Ang Lee needs to take lessons in subtle from Marti Noxon. Foreshadowing’s cool, but dude - restraint is your friend. You don’t have to light Bruce with green light every other scene. We’re already hip to The Big Secret.
• David Banner was a great baddie - very much in the vein of the early Marvel villans without being too comic book-ish. Though when his skin morphed all orange and scaley, I leaned over to Paulie and snarked “funny, he doesn’t look like Ben Grimm” - but it was just a fake out. And, I’d say, a nice -ne.
• I want a sequel, and I want fic, and I want them both very soon. :) I’d like to say I’ve got ideas for some spiffy manips, but I want to tie up at least some of the pieces I’m working on right now before starting anything else new. (My WIP folder is getting a wee bit bloated.)
• The emotive range they got out of the cgi Hulk was just *amazing*. He was a full character, not just a special effect.
• Jennifer Connelly and Sam Elliot are great to watch, and not just because they’re both of the pretty. I never identified with Betty prior to this, but I do now.
• Betty Ross and Lois Lane need to have a sit down bitch session about their emotionally distant, overbearing, military type fathers.
• The back story they gave for *why* the Hulk happened was a great improvement over cannon. (Which, originally, was little more than Bruce was in the wrong place at the wrong time.)
• Speaking of cannon, the bit with Bruce’s mind being “clouded” and non-lucid as Hulk - dead on. They did such a good job with it that I’m itching to see how they would handle a lucid Bruce!hulk, as opposed to angry!Hulk.

Am I planning on reading the next HP book? Of course. Am I planning on doing it this weekend? Hell no. Actually, I’m not going to go near a book store until sometime late next week. Possibly later, if the fuss hasn’t calmed down to manageable levels. I loathe fuss and hubub, and when you combine it with large crowds of harried parents and loud children, you get a very effective Julie-be-gone potion.

This is the same reason I try to avoid seeing (big) movies on opening weekend. Crowds and fuss and noise suck.

All that being said, I really want to read the damm thing. Yes, Chris, I’ve been converted. Happy? :)

Having had only limited success freelancing, and having not one but two bosses go flakey on me, I decided that it was time to find something a little more solid with which to pay the rent. I did find a job, but I also found some other things…

• For the three weeks I’m sending out my resume to all and sundry, no one will give me the time of day. As soon as I land a job and am off the market, *everyone* wants me to come in for an interview.
• Women tend to ask more personal questions during an interview than men.
• I have not figured out how to lie well on a moments notice, so I just answer those personal questions truthfully. Somehow, this surprises people.
• Men, on the other hand, are far more likely to make the assumption that because I look younger than I am, they can run me ragged like a college intern and I won’t get grouchy.
• Most places that ask one to fax a resume before they will even talk to you are black holes. You send them stuff and nothing ever comes back.
• Temp services suck.
• They more someone tries to “sell” me on a position, the more suspicious I become of them and it.
• Group interviews suck.
• I am no longer afraid of walking out of an interview if it turns out that it’s just not what I’m looking for.
• Any job listing that uses the words “wild and crazy” or “must love money” is complete BS.
• Summer is a sucky time to job hunt, ’cause employers are looking for easy to exploit college kids home on break.
• When in an interview, they’re not just interviewing me, I’m interviewing *them*.

But not like you think. The blog is titled Silflay Hraka (Translated from lapine to english, Eat Shit. It’s staffed by Bigwig, Kehaar, and Woundwort. I’m only just poking around it right now, but I had to make some mention of it. Hell, *anyone* who’s that into Watership Down can’t be all bad. (Post explaining exactly why they chose the name this way.)

Not wanting to spend $14 on Mr. Darcy’s Daughters (which is very tempting seeing as I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice, but I really want to try before I buy) I went looking for it at my hometown library. They didn’t have it. But I *did* find Crossfire by Nancy Kress and A Pawn for a Queen by Fiona Buckley, which more than made the trip worth it. (Two authors who I *know* will be worth the reading time.)

Let’s face it, there is a lot of crappy science fiction out there, and unless I really devote myself to the genre, it’s hard to just go into the book store and pick up something that isn’t going to be terribly lame. You can weed out all the books with large-chested women who are falling out of their uniforms on the cover (unless it’s written by Heinlein), but that can still leave you with entire rooms full of books to wade through. The science fiction section at my favorite used book store is bigger than the entire fiction and literature section. The fact that most of it is not classified as fiction or literature should tell you something. Let’s just say that I have been burned by quite a few terrible science fiction purchases. And this was back in high school, when I was still devouring Harlequin serial romance novels without blinking.
-Jessa Crispin

My god, that’s me. Right down to the reading of romance novels in high school (well, junior high) phase of literary development. Wow.