The End of the Matrix

It was still bright and sunny when I got up this morning, but not nearly as humid as it has been. It was a good time for some cleaning after breakfast. I finally got to vacuuming and washing the windows. I'll see if I can dust really fast tomorrow.

Ran a couple of episodes of The Backyardigans while I did my chores. "Samurai Pie" is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. You won't see a moose teach his purple kangaroo assistant how to make The Great Pie for a hippo Empress using moves of warriors of ancient Japan, scored to spaghetti western music, anywhere else. 

"Whodunnit?" is less creative but still pretty cute. Sherlock Pablo has to find out who stole Lady Tasha's jewels at Mystery Manor. Was it Tyrone the Butler? Austin Frothingslosh, who leaves suddenly for what seems like no reason? Or Uniqua Underhood, who knows about the robbery before it happens?

Headed out to run today's errands around 10:30. Started at the Oaklyn Library. Not surprisingly, given the nice day, it was just the librarians and me for the entire half-hour I was there. I looked over the DVDs, but mostly reorganized the picture books. Took out Batman Begins and The Matrix Revolutions (which I had out last week, but didn't get to watch before the DVD recorder died). 

Went home, put the DVDs upstairs, grabbed my iPod and coupons, and rested briefly before heading back out again. I picked up the bus at the White Horse Pike across from Merryfields Bar and Grill. It was touch and go around some road repairs in Westmont. Otherwise, there was no traffic and no problems. I was at the Market Place in Cherry Hill by 12:30. 

Pei Wei is the first restaurant you see when you get off a block from the Holiday Inn. I just went right in and was grateful that, despite the busy main room, the line wasn't too long. Had crab wontons in sweet chili sauce. The chili sauce was a little spicy, but not too horrible. The crab wontons were filled with an odd cream cheese-crab mixture. I did taste the crab, but not too much else. Washed them down with chai (lukewarm) tea.

First stop was Bed Bath and Beyond. I wanted to finally put a dent in that stack of coupons for them I've had laying around for over a year. It wasn't too hard to find a nice, plump brick red cushion for my dining area chair. (I like the kind that tie - the ones that stick on are harder to get off and make a mess when you try.) It took me a little while longer to dig up the magnetic curtain rod (which were on a rack near the back of the curtain area) or a curtain that would work and wasn't too expensive. Found a simple light brown weave on clearance that'll do for now. I noticed Miss Willa uses a suction cup hanger for her wreath; thought I'd try that.  Also grabbed conditioner. With the coupons, all of this cost $35.

Had no luck anywhere else. The only tire the had at Dick's that was close to the right size was way too expensive. I checked twice and didn't see anything. Couldn't find a box to plug in my Wii and my VCR with my TV at Best Buy, either. I may order both online. Saw a few interesting Mercedes Lackey novels at Barnes and Noble that the library doesn't have, but held off on buying them. Christmas is coming (and so's a lot of used book sales). (And they didn't have anything new on the Star Wars front besides some toys.) I did get rolls at a busy Wegman's for dinner, along with flavored water and money for the bus. Browsed briefly through Hallmark's just to kill time (and check out their Star Wars Itty Bittys). 

The bus showed up literally a second after I stepped up to the bus stop sign. Once again, there were no problems, not even around the road repair. I got to the White Horse Pike 15 minutes later, then rode straight home.

Hung the curtain and tied the pillow on the chair as soon as I got home. The curtain's a little long, but not as much as I expected. I can always crochet a rope to tie it back. Maybe I could buy lengths of fabric to make some seasonal curtains from yard sales and craft stores, or even crochet them.

Spent the next few hours writing. Leia awakens with a fuzzy head and the realization that she was drugged the night before. The maids put her shoes on and do her hair. They try to get her into frilly teddies before she vetoes that idea. When Jasper arrives, he insists on dressing her and choosing her clothes and accessories like his own private Barbie doll, including a gold and diamond choker as proof of "ownership." 

Arturro is among the waiters serving breakfast. After catching Jasper drugging her tea this time, she manages to hand it to Arturro to get rid of and hands off a note for Luke and Lance to him.

I got so into writing, it was 7:30 before I broke for dinner! The rolls became turkey meatball sandwiches. Ate them with Ratatouille made from the last of a lot of vegetables that were starting to get too soft in the fridge. 

Did The Matrix Revolutions while I ate, and later as I went online. We pick up where we left off, with Neo (Keanu Reeves) stuck in The Matrix. Or, more specifically, he's at a train station that's some kind of limbo, chatting with a strange Indian family and The Oracle (Mary Alice). The others, including his lady friend Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss), rescue him and bring him back to their ship. But Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is making clones of himself right and left, including one of the rebels. Neo and Trinity have to get back to the Machine City and stop Smith before he completely takes over both the Matrix and the "real world." Meanwhile, Morpheous and his crew hold back the metal squids in an attempt to save their own ships and bring peace to the Matrix for good.

And I...had no idea what was going on here. What the heck was this? The first half, with the Indian family and the others trying to get Neo back, was odd but not too far off from the other films. In the second half, all bets are off. Neo's barely in the second half of the movie! Did they want to make a movie about a war, or the journey of a god-like character, or what? The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever and was both anticlimactic and boring.

I wouldn't come within a hundred miles of this one unless you've seen the other movies and/or are a huge fan of this series. 

(And now that we've come to the end of this series, I can safely say that, even more than Pirates of the Caribbean, this should not have been a series. The first movie is so much of its time, there's no way they could have replicated it in subsequent films. The original film is highly recommended for action fans, kung fu nuts, sci-fi enthusiasts, and those who just want to know what was cool in the late 90's. The other two are only if you really, really loved the first movie and can't live without more.)

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.

Dolls In the Matrix

Thankfully, by the time I got up this morning, the rain was long gone and the sun was shining. I enjoyed breakfast while listening to one of my 80's music collections. To give you an idea of how long I've had this two-CD set, I found it at Super Fresh in Westmont (now the closed Thriftway) shortly after I first moved here.

Continued the disc while I dressed my American Girl dolls. It's now a bit too cool for bathing suits. Time to put them in clothes appropriate for school and late summer/early fall. Samantha wears her blue and white windowpane check Play Dress with the ruffly white pinafore, white Springfield Collection socks, and the black Mary Janes that came with her current meet outfit. Josefina is in her red and orange Summer Outfit. Whitney gets the yellow floral Queen's Treasures dress with the red Mary Janes from Sam's green spring dress. Put Molly in Kit's original blue School Outfit and brown Oxfords. Jessa went with the gray shorts and neon yellow ankle socks from the previous modern Hiking Outfit, the magenta t-shirt from the original 1995 mix-and-match meet outfit, and blue "denim" Springfield Collection sneakers. Left Felicity in her lavender Traveling Gown. I really don't have much to change her into.

Headed out around noon to hit the Oaklyn Library. Despite the nice day, they were relatively busy, with several people using the computers. They just moved the kids' DVDs into the children's area, so they weren't in bad shape, but the adult titles were a mess. The kids' books were almost as bad. I shelved and organized the kids' area for almost an hour.

When I got home, I had a quick lunch, then decided I'd try something. It was cool enough to turn on the crock pot. I threw mushrooms, scallions, white cooking wine, water, and the last of the home-made chicken stock together with a pack of drumsticks for a fast dinner.

Ran the an episode from the third season of Wonder Woman while I ate.  After witnessing his kidnapping, a young girl becomes convinced that "My Teenage Idol Is Missing." Diana's not convinced at first, especially after she sees what she believes to be the boy in his own room. Turns out the kid is the singer's twin...and when he proves to be every bit as talented as his brother, the kidnappers think the other is expendable. Wonder Woman has to spring into action to rescue the boy and make sure his sleazy manager doesn't further cooperate with the criminals.

Headed to the laundromat after the show ended. I picked the right day. Everyone must have been out enjoying the weather. They were the quietest I've seen them in weeks, if not months. I saw maybe two college girls the entire time I was there. Washed a fair-sized load while working on story notes and half-listening to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Right This Minute, and General Hospital.

As soon as I got home, I put everything away, then went into writing. Hank and Leia have just finished making out under the boardwalk. Leia says she's had a great time, but she's still worried about the Cottages, her uncle, and being late for school. Hank says he'll take her back the next day, but then Leia points out that he'll be leaving. He's not sure if that's still true...

They finally return to Lance's condo, where they dress in good clothes for a date. Charlie shows up first with a battered and unconscious Chip. While they try to revive him, Lance appears. He invites them to the Cloud City Club for dancing and dinner in the VIP Lounge. Charlie says he'll catch up later. He has to take a shower and attend to poor Chip.

Broke at quarter after 6 to enjoy my savory chicken legs with the last of the Cucumber-Tomato Salad. Ran another third season Wonder Woman episode while I ate. A telekinetic con artist is a "Disco Devil" who steals top secret information from the minds of government officials in a Washington DC dance club. Diana digs up the only other telekinetic who can help her, a shy little man whose discomfort with his powers has lead to a series of jobs and low self-esteem. His powers, however, may also have lead him to inadvertently discover Diana's secret...

Went for a short walk after dinner. It was too nice to be inside all night! The weather was gorgeous today, sunny, warm, and in the upper 70's. Strolled past gardens awash in rainbow colors and green trees rustling slightly in the soft breeze. Ended up trying blueberry cheesecake ice cream at Phillies Yummies and watching young teens chatter and squeal over cute guys on their phones. (The ice cream wasn't bad, creamy but slightly gritty, with nice, big graham cracker pieces and a sweet, thin blueberry swirl.)

Finished out the night with The Matrix. Thomas "Neo" Anderson (Keanu Reevs) is a normal computer programmer by day, hacker by night. His life takes a turn for the seriously weird when a young woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) leads him to a man named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) who offers him a pill that will show him the truth. The "truth" is he's living in the Matrix, a reality created by machines who want to keep humans trapped. Morpheus and his rebels hack into the system and "unplug" certain humans, giving them superhuman abilities. Neo's so good at his training, the others now believe he's "The One" who could lead the humans against their machine captors. But Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and his two goons have been programmed to make sure there's no more rebels hacking into the Matrix, and one of the rebels (Joe Pantoliano) is willing to sacrifice the others to return to his own life. Will Neo remain a rebel, or will he return to his old, orderly life?

I probably should have seen this when it came out in 1999, but I was caught up with college and other interests. This is so late 90's. It was revolutionary on release. Everyone was talking about it. People were amazed by the deep philosophy and mix of computer and practical effects, by the green-neon look, by the slow-mo fight choreography. No one had seen anything like it...until the imitators started to roll in. Now, the hardware looks clunky, the aesthetics are more drab than cool, and the CGI fights aren't anything you haven't seen in a hundred action movies made since then.

On the other hand, I can understand why it was such a big deal. The plot really is interesting, if occasionally confusing, with its sometimes heavy discussions of religious philosophy and the role of technology in our lives. Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fisheburne in particular are good as hero and mentor, but Hugo Weaving steals the show as the totally unflappable program.

If there was every a movie of and made for its time, this one is it. If you want to understand the changes going on in the world as the calendar flipped from the 20th to the 21st centuries, this is a good place to start, with its stylized violence, neon green world, and obsession with technology. Heavy violence and the general adult themes makes this not for young kids. For young teens on up, if you love sci-fi, the dark martial-arts-influenced anime that inspired this, or Reeves or Fishburne, you may be ready to escape the Matrix as well.