Even though I was disappointed with The Matrix: Reloaded when I saw it in the theater, I still bought the 2-disc DVD yesterday at Circuit City for $15, the cheapest price anywhere around. After getting home from class last night, I popped in the second disc and watched the cool behind-the-scenes featurettes and the dissection of the freeway scene (which was much more complicated than I originally thought; I figured nearly all of it was CG). One thing that stuck out was when Joel Silver was talking about the inter-relatedness of Reloaded, the anime shorts in Animatrix, and the Enter the Matrix videogame. He said that no one has ever told a story across so many media at one time, and seemed proud of that. While I agree that it's remarkable, it's also unfortunate, in that if you want the whole story, you have to buy the anime DVD and play the video game in addition to watching the movie. Which is probably my main beef against the movie: they left too much out. Putting aside the pacing and the incredible defiance of the laws of physics and everything Will Shetterly had to say, they just left too much information out of the story of the movie. There are things that are unexplainable unless you watch "Kid's Story" or get to the fifth level of the game. It's unfair to the movie audience to expect them to buy these other media when they came to the theater to watch your film. There don't appear to be any of the same kind of tie-ins for The Matrix: Revolutions, so I hope the story will be more discrete unto itself.

***

A very cool story on NPR this morning. Today was the ribbon-cutting on the Brooklyn house owned by Louis Armstrong and his fourth wife Lucille. They've kept the house almost exactly like when Armstrong lived there, which was fairly easy since no one has ever lived in it since. They did something unbelievably cool with it as well: in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom are hidden speakers, playing tapes Armstrong recorded in those rooms. Apparently he was fascinated with gadgets, and recorded over a thousand hours of daily activities, dinner conversations, and ribald jokes. It wasn't because of any kind of egocentrism, but for his legacy as a famous African American. He wanted to make sure people knew what kind of guy he was, and I think it's bloody brilliant that they included those recordings in the forty-minute tour of the house.

***

I walked into work this afternoon after going to a job interview (actually, it was for an employment agency, and it went well) and decided to get a Coke out of the vending machine. My stomach was still grumbling a little because I hadn't eaten much for lunch, so I looked to see what snacks were there. And glowing golden behind a crinkling plastic wrapper were Twinkies. I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually had them, so I plunked in my 65 cents and down they dropped. At my desk, I bit into one, and it was like my childhood had been flash-baked into that creme-filled treat. Summers at the community pool, boy scout meetings, brown bag lunches at school. I also thought about how much of my childhood was experienced through candy-charged eyes. Cupcakes. Ho-Hos. Now or Laters. Jolly Ranchers. Nerds. Runts. I think I'm going to write more about this for Lost Pages, since Monsieur Claude seems urgent for non-fiction.

***

Got an email from my lady this morning, and she said the chapbooks are finished, printed, signed (in silver ink), boxed up, and sent on their way. The package with all the copies should get here in 7-10 days, though mail to the US has apparently been a lot slower after all the anthrax scares. So we're hoping hoping hoping that it'll arrive before October 30 when I leave on a train for DC. Everyone send your good vibes and karmic luck so that the package gets here in time for the con. Janet says the chapbook looks damn good, and coming from her, that's a good thing indeed. I can't wait to see how they came out.

She also said that she just sent a package with my birthday presents, including one from her parents, which was nice and unexpected to hear. Yay presents! It's very cool having relatives who care enough about you to want to celebrate your birthday. The future with the in-laws looks bright.

And wow, look at what my Clarion class has accomplished since last summer. Not shabby, huh? I'm proud to be associated with such talented folk.

---

Now Reading:
The Value of X by Poppy Z. Brite

Stories Out to Publishers:
4

Books Read This Year:
43

Zines/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
35