You Can Do Magic

Started today at work, which went far better than yesterday. Today was my early work day, 9:30 to 3:30. It was relatively cool when I headed over, but sunny and bright. Work was on-and-off busy, and unlike yesterday, there were no major problems. My relief was on-time.

I headed over to Wal-Mart after work (with a brief stop at FYE) to buy a present for my nephew Skylar's birthday this coming Friday. Mom said he loved the Transformers I bought him for Christmas, so I picked up another one. I also bought a card for my father Bruce's birthday on Tuesday and thank-you cards for Lauren and her parents for having me over next month.

By the time I got out of the Acme, the coolness of the morning had become a blazing hot afternoon. It was really too hot to do much of anything else. After I finished in Wal-Mart, I rode home, cranked the air-conditioning, and watched The Prestige. I loved that. It's a twisty mystery about two rival magicians in the late 19th century, one a charismatic showman (Hugh Jackman), the other a dedicated and gifted illusionist (Christian Bale), whose attempts to outdo each other with feats of magic eventually turn into revenge...and then into tragedy. Unlike the more melodramatic tale of magic that came out around the same time, The Illusionist, this one keeps you guessing right until the very end, thanks to excellent writing, some amazing camera work and editing, Christopher Nolan's taut direction, and the fabulous performances by Jackman, Bale, Scarlett Johanssen (as Jackman's assistant) and Michael Caine (as a master craftsman who creates many of Jackman's illusions).