Labor Day Matrix

Opted to celebrate a gorgeous Labor Day by sleeping in. When I got up, I read an essay on Samuel Gumpters, spearhead of the worker's union movement in the US in the late 1800's, in Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Also did a few poems related to working, including I Heard America Singing by Camden poet Walt Whitman.

Two American Girl books that take place in the early 1900's involve working and labor. Samantha Parkington's best friend Nellie, who once worked in a factory, teaches her that "progress" frequently isn't painless for those doing the work in Samantha Learns a Lesson. Rebecca Rubin speaks out in favor of unions during a Labor Day picnic in Changes for Rebecca.

Ran a Three Stooges short about school and working while eating breakfast. "Violent Is the Word For Curly" when the Stooges are mistaken for professors by the heads of a girl's school. To the principal's shock, their idea of teaching involves "Swinging the Alphabet."

Worked on a little bit of writing after breakfast. Luke and Arturro arrive at the Cloud City Club, both worried about their friends and the meeting. They're admiring the mural when he hears commotion coming from the back room. Several of Vader's men are dragging Leia, Charlie, and Chip out to the parking lot. Luke follows them, but Arturro is lost in the crush of bodies.

Did more Stooges as I broke for lunch and to make Blueberry Muffins. "Tassels In the Air" has them as a trio of maintenance men. They're repairing the office of Omay, an interior decorator. When Moe tries to teach Curly Pig Latin, a woman accidentally thinks he's Omay and hires them to redecorate her house. She definitely regrets it when she sees what their idea of "decorating" entails. In "Termites of 1938," they're exterminators who are mistaken for escorts by society ladies. They try showing off their musical skills, but when mice are found in the bass, they really go to work. Shemp joins in for "All Gummed Up." When their landlord tries to force them out of their drug store, then dumps his wife because she's aged, they try to create a potion to reverse aging. It works beautifully on the wife...but too well on their landlord!

Work was very busy when I arrived, though not quite as bad as it was last Labor Day. I was mainly outside for the first half of my shift gathering carts. I also did some trash and got stuck in the register a few times. Thankfully, the customers were mostly in good moods, including a family with a large WIC Check order. It died quickly around 4-4:30. Everyone must have either gone home to get the kids ready for school or to Labor Day barbecues. The evening was so quiet, I spent almost the entire time shelving items customers didn't want.

Went straight into the bath when I got home. I'm glad I discovered that body wash doubles very well as bubble bath. The mountains of coconut-scented bubbles felt so luxurious! I looked over more Christmas craft books and listened to the Naughty Marietta/Rose Marie/Student Prince disc of my Treasury of Great Operettas CD set.

Finished the night with The Matrix Reloaded. Even as Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) become a couple, they learn that tentacled bomb creatures are on their way to destroy their group. Neo contacts The Oracle (Gloria Foster) for help. She sends him to rescue the kindly old Keymaster (Randall Duk Kim) from a gangster (Lambert Wilson).  Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who can "program" anyone into a copy of him, has taken over one of the rebels and managed to escape the Matrix. He tries to clone Neo, but he's too darn fast and super heroic for his stuff. Trinity and Morpheus escape in a high-speed chase. While Neo, the Keymaker, and Morpheus make their way to the door to the Source of the Matrix, Trinity takes the place of a crew of rebels who were killed in shutting down the power system to the Matrix. Even after Neo finds the Source, he still has to use his powers to save the other rebels...but in the process, he may have sacrificed himself...

To my surprise, this was...not bad, actually. "Complicated" is probably the best word to describe it. They tried a little too hard to pick up the religious threads from the last movie and turn this into a deep discussion on religion, creation, and technology. It really just makes things even more confusing. There were some nice action sequences, though, including the fight with the ghostly "twins" flunkies and that amazing car chase.

While this isn't too horrible, one movie was probably enough for this franchise. I wouldn't come anywhere near here unless you're a really big fan of the cast or the first film.

And I hope all of you had a wonderful Labor Day, whether you had to labor or not.