Furiously Bad

 Well, yesterday began fine weatherwise, but then the clouds rolled in... again, as did the sporadic thunderstorms.  As I lay down to sleep last night, I could hear the patter of rain on my windows... again.  For now, I think the rain has passed.  We've got clouds scuttling across the sky, but the temps are mid Spring, down in the mid 50s (F).  According to Accuweather, the next 5 days should be dry.  I don't think anybody quite believes that will happen.

Most of yesterday morning and early afternoon was spent adjust the kbps on different chapters of the audiobook and more importantly the volume.  Translation:  I'm equalizing the decibel range.  ACX (read Audible) requires what they call a standardized volume and all chapters need to fall into specific number of decibels.  This can be done during recording, but unless you're in a sound studio it's rather difficult because, as humans, we tend to move our heads when we're speaking, we get a little closer to the microphone, or pull away the tiniest of bits.  The changes I have to make are small, 1 decibel up, or possibly .8 decibels down.  The only way to know how much to change is to upload the chapter, wait for ACX to analyze it, and then make that tiny correction before uploading it again.  I'm using an app called Audacity, which simplifies the process.  I should be finished either today, or tomorrow.

And I went to see the latest Mad Max movie last night.  Avoid it at all costs.  A very chiseled Chris Hemsworth is the villain and is Anya Taylor-Joy as the heroine. While they obviously go to the gym daily, no one else does, since the rest of the cast is overweight and either scared or missing body parts.  There are long action set pieces and a few, short bits of dialogue that are intended to move the story... possibly forward.  About 2 hours and 15 minutes into the two and a half hour long saga, you get a voiceover because someone, somewhere decided that the audience needed to know what was going on.  This movie is a prequel to Mad Max - Fury Road (that film won 6 Oscars), so during the credits you actually get to see clips of that earlier, much better movie.

And, of course, the jury is still out.  There seems to be a little confusion, he only needs to be found guilty on one of the 34 charges against him to be declared guilty.  This is how it works most often when there are multiple charges, which is why having a Hung Jury doesn't happen when there are so many multiple charges.  That doesn't mean there isn't one person who's going to vote not guilty on every charge, it's just that the odds of that happening are very slim.  One thing you can count on, his cultists will be furious if he's found guilty, and I don't doubt that many will be waiting for a voiceover to tell them what in hell is going on.

The Holiday is Over

 We have sunshine!  How wonderful.  Temps are predicted to be moderate this afternoon, hovering around in the mid 70s (F).  I can deal with that.  Humidity might be a little high, but I can deal with a little sticky, sweatiness.  We have a higher chance for thunderstorms tomorrow, but I can deal with that, too.  What we really need is the sunshine to dry things out.

And I did work yesterday.  We had customers in the morning and none in the afternoon, no doubt because of picnics and cookouts.  It was Monday and seemed like Sunday, and was mostly boring.  I do get holiday pay (4 hours since I'm part-time) which is nice.  I did explain to a few associates what Memorial Day was, and why it was a National Holiday, but only one person at work thanked me for my service.  Food, of sorts, was provided: burgers, chicken tenders, and hot dogs on the grill, but that's it, none of the fixin's.  No deserts or beverages were provided, I was told this was because they didn't have enough money.  The orange retailer is punishing us.  They used to provide Fun Funds for holidays, and they still do, only now those $$$ are limited.  You can increase those funds by winning credit card contests: the top store in the district to sign up new credit cards, or the top store to get leads or measures.  To do either of those you need customers.

It seems as though no one went to the movies this holiday weekend, usually one of the biggest of the year.  Perhaps that's because 2 niche films were released.  The fact that someone, somewhere thought Garfield was going to be a hit tells you a lot about the lack of rational thinking in Hollywood.  Going to the movies has become super expensive because of Corporate Greed.  People need a reason to plunk down all those buckos.  Mad Max and Garfield provide no reason what so ever.

Here's a view of the writing room from the staircase.  The updating of the floor should be finished by tomorrow.

With the Holiday over, politically things should get back to their chaotic normal.  For those who missed it, Trump was photographed walking around a parking lot at some Naas car race waving, and gesturing, and saluting no one in particular.  While he looked zany, his team was filming bits to edit into crowd reactions to make it seem like he is extremely popular, something he needs to do after so many media outlets reported on his getting booed badly.  Remember, everything he does is staged.  Everything he says is a lie.

A Damn good Fury Road

Well, I finally went to see "Mad Max - Fury Road" last evening.  If you're expecting a drama, with dialogue moving the story forward and peppered with moments of Saturday afternoon matinee CGI carnage, this is not the film for you.  Or if you're expecting massive amounts of CGI action akin to the Avenger's films, again, this is not the film for you.  Fury Road is an action film, however there is very little CGI, in fact there were about 110 stunt men and women used during the production.
There is also quite a lot of substance dealing with women and their reproductive rights, they are more than just breeders.  When an older woman shows a younger woman a purse full of seeds, the thought that went through my mind was, well, all women carry a purse full of seeds.
I thought Nicholas Hoult, as a young man dying of cancer (he's tattooed and named his tumors), was very effective as he learns there are many ways to get to Valhalla, some far more noble then others.  And Charlize Theron as a one armed woman trying to find redemption for her past sins is very, very good.

No CGI here, that's all real

As for George Miller, most people don't realize he's spent most of his life putting out message films.  They don't know he's already won 2 Oscars.  He won his first for writing the screenplay for "Babe," you know, the talking pig movie?  And his 2nd for "Happy Feet," the animated feature about the dancing penguin who just doesn't fit in to a conservative society.

During award season, I suspect we will be hearing "Mad Max - Fury Road" quite often and that will be just fine with me for it is definitely on my list of damn good movies.