Bad Weather and Good Times

Well folks, its one of those days just after the snow storm when every thing out side is covered in slush (snow’s retarded cousin). The kind of slush that you look out the window at and just feel wet up to your knees and the overwhelming distaste for the outdoors sets in and walking from place to place seems the biggest chore. The only practical solution, sitting inside and reading with a warm cup of tea, is the only one that is not do-able.

There is a lot of material to cover so let’s get started shall we. I think school first:

Lab for PS & E II- the actual labs are finished up. There is a make up that I will be attending next week. Not because I have to mind you, just so I can replace a bad score that I got. Just a little bit to help my grade.

Calculus III- this class situation is interesting. The quiz scores that I have are pretty good, although we had one today that leaves a little to be desired but the rest are satisfactory. The mid-term grades are all fine and acceptable. The only thing that is left is the final, and that has me a little nervous. Every thing else here is just tedious typing that you may just glaze over.

Modern Optics I & II- this class has been whooping me from side to side and front to back. Fortunately I think that I have been doing a good job of whooping back. The test results still have yet to come back, but I feel fairly confident in them. The final grade should be good, final exam permitting. The labs for this course have finally ended. That puts me in an indescribable state of glee. The last one has been turned into a lecture/demo, so it will be an easy full credit. There is also a make up section for this one as well which I also plan on attending, just to boost my scores. This one will be nicer (having done the lab itself already) and significantly less painful.

Other things- they have been going well. From Russia with Love is doing fine, just working and off on her little adventures in between her two jobs and time with me (which she does not get much of, and when it’s there its mostly just eating and sleeping. This will be improving as well in the coming weeks sans-school).

Thanksgiving was fantastic. We went to my Aunt M’s place in Heber and relaxed and enjoyed the company of family and friends. It was good to see all of my cousins again, hear the crazy stories they have, of a life more exciting that mine. The up side to that is when I am done with school that will improve. Well, I can’t say more exciting because I like my shoes, and would not want to walk in theirs. I just find other peoples lives fascinating at times.

We also went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last night. From Russia with Love and I got to the restaurant very early to hold a table for the rest of the party that was all arriving from work, and within about an hour the all finally trickled in. then after dinner we went to the show. The light show was spectacular. So many bright colors. The music was good as well. It brings to mind a question that I have pondered many times: what could make classical music better? The answer is a thundering base and flames. The stuff they had at first I was a little un-impressed with, but over all the show was good.

And now movies. I have been to a couple since I last updated, so here we go:

Beowulf: the movie was entertaining. The only complaint that I have is with the CGI. The entire movie was animated, but not in the usual way. What they did is put the actors in blue suits and had them act the movie, then they went through and filled in every thing with the computerized cartoons, or computertoons as a have come to call it (the actual process is called motion capture). The draw backs are that a lot of the acting they did through the facial expressions is a little lost, and the eyes seem to be staring off into no space like they are blind (a bit more distracting in 3D, because I wanted to peek over my shoulder a couple of times to see what they were looking at). That is a little detracting, but the 3D is cool, especially with the dragon at the end. That was awesome. Apperantly the story line was changed up a bit, but knowing the changes they made, it was for a better movie. To leave it unchanged and true to the book (as I understand the story to be, I have not read it yet) would drag the movie out for another hour or so, with more cast to deal with, and a lot more history of the current characters. If nothing else, it had Angelina Jolie’s ass in 3D. I smell an Oscar for that alone.

Hitman: the trend of making video games into movies is one that I am liking. The lack of originality in movies lately is staggering almost. With the video games there is an over-the-top weirdness that comes with them, specifically a more in depth (and tacky at times) storyline. This can make for a good movie. This one had lots of good action with a vary stylized type of film making that brought the video game feel to screen very nicely. Definitely not a thinker type of movie, but lots of shoot’em up spy caper fun.

That will do it for me this evening folks. Work is a harsh mistress, and now she beckons.

T