Carl

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Tropic Thunder

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:36:02 GMT

Tropic Thunder

I don't know what I was expecting from this movie. To be honest, I hadn't actually seen any trailers and had immediately dismissed the movie after seeing the promo posters and cardboard stand-ups in the theater lobby. However, I went to see it because I didn't have an active hatred for what little I knew about it, plus it was one last hurrah with several of the folks from school who'd be moving to seperate corners of the country for their new careers.

The movie is a surprisingly stellar cap to the summer season. It's quotable, surprising, and packs in so much Hollywood (style, studio politics, and unbilled roles). It's just fun. It's not stupid. Go see it. (And most definitely do not come in late.)

Hmm... My mini-review is shorter than my introductory aside...

Carl's vehicle is bigger in Texas

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:02:09 GMT

Hey friends, guess what? I'm in Austin, TX, right now for an interview with Midway. I'll be leaving Friday.

I caught up with Corey from school tonight who was flown out earlier for his interview; we were going to go catch Pineapple Express at the Alamo Drafthouse(s), (a movie theater chain w/ meal service) but the showings were already sold out. We wound up just getting some sandwiches at Potbelly's and catching a regular showing. I asked the girl if they had student discounts. No. Military discount? No. Oh...tickets were $7? Works for me. Odd, though, especially since we didn't buy a matinee showing, and it was eight minutes past 6pm.

To kill some more time, we (and by we, I mean I) went to Best Buy. They had clearance video game items, but not really get-rid-of-them-now prices. Halo 3 Legendary was only marked down $20 to $109. However, later in the night I had a craving to get some snack food for the rest of my stay, so we were directed to H.E.B., a supermarket that stays open until 1am. Okay, it's not 24 hours, but why not until at least 3am for all the drunks? They had some very enticing prices, including $2 boxes of Pebbles cereal w/ additional $1 off coupon. Sweet. Also, there's tons of Big Red soda everywhere.

So...They gave me a new Ford Escape to drive around. Yeah, I'm not really an SUV fan. Of course I have to return it to the airport with a full tank, so... However! It does have Microsoft Sync, so I've been enjoying my Zune music while driving around.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Dark Knight

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:55:19 GMT

The Dark Knight (IMAX)

Before the movie, I downed several glasses of sweet tea. While we were saving seats, I was cursing the tardy half of our group for being late, preventing me from taking a pre-movie piss. Surprisingly, *and thankfully) I didn't have to go during the course of the movie. I suppose it's because I was sweating standing in line, thus diverting the exit route of my endocrine system. (Is that the right one? Whatever.) It's sort of unbelieveable, but there are no A/C vents directly in front of entrance to the IMAX theater...where a couple hundred people are crowded together.

Summed up, the movie was tense and unpredictable. It was also a long movie. A sort of two-in-one. However, unlike many other films that overstay their welcome, things actually happen and get accomplished.

If I had a complaint, it would be that there were a few too many three-way dramatic tension scenes. Oh no, what's happening over here? And what about over there? Ooh, ooh, and over there?!

It's epic and worthy of the hype. And worthy of your movie-viewing dollar. Worthy of the number one-rated movie of all time on IMDB? We'll have to hose those fanboys down.

So what about the IMAX? It was utilized in a variety of types of scenes, but I only think it really paid off in the scenes flying through skyscrapers.

Simplicity is beautiful

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:16:32 GMT

Take a look at Cajun Dance Party's new music video. I can't wait for their album to hit.

Superstar

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:12:09 GMT

Hot. The video Ricky, AJ, and I did a year and a half ago is now over 10,000 views!

The real deal

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:22:43 GMT

I just topped 10,000 Xbox 360 achievement points tonight playing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

The game is the real deal and far from the half-assed stop-gap that GH Encore: Rocks the '80s was. Totally new arenas, cleaner art, new animation systems, tweaked gameplay, etc. The only major downside is that most of the songs are ridiculously long.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Wall-E

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:22:04 GMT

Wall-E
Unless you're heartless, action-junkie bastards like some of my classmates, you'll like the film. Otherwise you'll call it depressing. Not just because of the sad state of humanity in the future but also because the cute little robot keeps almost dying.

I thought the fairly dialogue-free gamble was worth it, leaving various visual techniques to carry the weight of storytelling successfully.

I have to see it some more times to see how it fits in the hierarchy of Pixar films, but my first impression is that its underlying message is not very timeless. That underlying message being that women are cold, heartless murder machines with raging emotions who won't let you get in a word edgewise. Hmm, wait, maybe that is a timeless message. Oh wait, right. The actual message is something like don't become a mindless slob living your life on auto-pilot, however that's wrapped heavy-handidly in a very modern way, with consumerism and reliance on technology are allowing for both our health and the health of the planet to deteriorate into a sad reflection of its former glory.

What some people may not pick up are the homages to Disney's roots, particularly the Merry Melodies way of using sound, song, and dance as simple entertaining pleasures and the blending of live-action actors into animation, which began with their Alice in Wonderland shorts. The closing titles is also a showcase of the evolution of artwork, from stone-age to computer-age.

The extreme cuteness of the robots will either endear or ruin the movie for you. Gladly, unlike Curious George--another animated film carried on the back of a cute face--there is some substance to make the rest of the experience worthwhile.

Aww, shyeah! Nobel Prize time!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:21:10 GMT

I think the impossible has happened. I've always doubted the existence of a reheatable french fry, but I think I've found one: the "Oviedo Fries" from Bill's Elbow South. It was kind of like mashed potatoes inside a flaky, crispy shell. I'm a believer.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Happening

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:36:18 GMT

The Happening

Weirdest movie about global warming, ever. Or about the repercussions of civic expansion. Or something.

The movie begins in Mark Wahlberg's character's classroom where he asks his class if they have any theories about why the bee population is rapidly declining. He posits that maybe there are just things in nature we will never understand.

Maybe we'll just never understand this movie.

Either Mark Wahlberg is playing an amateur actor in this movie, or it's played for laughs. There's plenty of other things in this thriller that ellicit hearty chuckles.

Personally, I rate this movie a big question mark. However, if you're not as open-minded or forgiving as me, I'd say you'd be better off avoiding it. Especially since Universal CityWalk only has a student discount on just one day a week... What's the deal with that?

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Incredible Hulk

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:09:24 GMT

The Incredible Hulk

Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room. What do you want? A thoughtful examination of a troubled character or a pretty picture? If the former, Ang Lee's Hulk is the better one. If the latter, Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a monstruous visual spectacular.

I won't really talk about the story in much depth, but my comic book fan friend absolutely hated it. (They had plenty of fan service, though, especially nods to the TV series.) What I can say is that they do a lot of weird things and go a lot of weird place with little in the way of logic or introduction. Of course, the other one had mutant poodles as enemies, so...

If there's one thing I have to give this movie props for, it is that--with the exception of a couple sequences in the climax--the CG is super-spectacular and further puts to shame's Sony's horrible treatment of Spider-Man. Cinematography is also top notch with the camerawork truly playing its own character. Especially impressive is the war-zone photographer framing and dynamic use of focus. Equally impressive is the restraint kept from quick cuts in the action sequences, allowing the audience to really drink in the visions put before them. There is truly a lot of money visible on the screen.

Is it a crowd pleaser? I'd say so. Is it better than Iron Man? Hell, no, and anyone that says so is retarded. Would I recommend it? Well, it is a very, very pretty picture.

I totally live on the wrong continent

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:05:33 GMT

I really should just live in the UK/Australia. For this particular arguement, let's focus just on my taste in music. Vocal groups, particularly female vocal groups: Girls Aloud. Post-punk rock: Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand. The continued existence of disco-dance: the Minogue sisters, Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Wait, who's that last one? See, I never heard of heard until I picked up her album from an MP3 blog, and now I'm hooked! In the car today while I was skipping past song after song on my Zune, Chuck said he normally just listens to one artist at a time. I'm grabbing her solo discography, and I think I might just put in the dedicated study time.

I recommend you start here and continue down the rabbit hole:

Video game Producer is the new rock star

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:02:43 GMT

We've not yet graduated to the industry-standard cocaine parties, but we're working our way up. Take a look at Naughty Dog's Jason Rubin, now playing the role of celebrity arm-candy and paparazzo target.

This lifestyle is getting expensive. I don't think I can spend $50-ish dollars every Friday night going out to bars and clubs and such.

We always start off the weekend at happy hour at Vintage Lounge, a rather swank bar downtown, followed by a quick dinner before heading out for the main event.

Tonight (after a whole lot of everybody being late in general and the associated waiting), we went out with a trio of front-office folk, including a pair of non-males (::gasp:: I know) to the Rising Star live-band karaoke club at Universal CityWalk. Fortunately one of the girl's brothers is a big shot at CityWalk, so he slipped our singing requests into rotation despite the otherwise full sets. Jason sang his staple, Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", and rocked it, and I apparently impressed with my rendition of Rob Thomas & Santana's "Smooth." It was much nicer singing here than at Bliss because 1.) they have monitors so that you can actually hear yourself and 2.) the lyrics are properly synched to the band. Though I had monitors, I couldn't hear myself perfectly, so I felt like I wasn't properly pitch-"perfect." Drunk girls don't lie, so I guess I really didn't do badly, but then again drunk girls have tainted perception. Oh well!

It was a night full of good company and good conversations. On no less than four occassions did Universal staff have to prod us to vacate, ultimately only having us walk some yards away to once again pause and continue talking. I think we have some new regulars for our outings.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I am having an absolute blast in this program, by all measures.

On a side note, I totally missed the uber-rare Inspection 12 show in Jax tonight. For one, gas is expensive, so it would have been about $50 in costs to see the show. Obviously I spent the money elsewhere having a good time. Unfortunately, I also had a busy schedule where I couldn't pack up my stuff and leave early enough to make it into town in time for the show and then spend the weekend at home. I really hope they do another summer show. This band's too good to only play twice a year. Tyler made it out to the show, and he texted me saying he wishes I was there. Me, too, pal.

"Ooh, pretty...," she said as she touched my hair.

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:53:48 GMT

And I don't think she was drunk yet; everyone was going into CityWalk. But my hair is just so irresistable to touch.

It's interesting working downtown. Friday afternoon my classmates and I went to happy hour at a bar called Vintage and wound up getting VIP passes to Hair-Star.com's launch party at the Red Coconut Club at Universal CityWalk. Unfortunately it was on Sunday night starting at 10pm, so many of our classmates didn't come out, and my friends all had work in the morning. Being "slacker Producers who don't actually do work" (+ our Lead Programmer), we went out to party anyway.

Interestingly, on the moving sidewalk coming into CityWalk, there were these grey-haired women in front of us. Except I use the term "grey-haired" figuratively--they had pink and violet hair. We were almost certain they were going to the same party that we were, but we never saw them there. And ultimately the Carl-hair-appreciating girl and her group that we walked past didn't come in either.

There was a wide range of people at the party and surprisingly little avant garde hair styles. We met the president of the company (a really young guy) and realized schmoozing would be so much greater if we already had business cards for our upcoming business venture. Many photos were taken, and I hope they get put up on a site somewhere I can find because my Facebook photo is in need of updating.

I got an influx of money from the stimulus check and student loans. It's incredibly tempting to spend some of that money on a new non-brick-sized camera, but I've earmarked all the leftover loan money to zero out my credit cards. (For what it's worth, I have my eye on a Canon Elph SD870IS. It's about 50%-100% thicker than many other compact cameras these days, but it's 1. a Canon and 2. has a wide-angle lense.)

I think I may have said it before, but this grad school program has been a totally awesome experience. Not only do I not get stressed about the workload and commitment requirements because it's something I'm truly passionate about, but I've met a great group of friends who I enjoy being around in school and out. And our fun times happen both in school and out; we're partners in crime, through and through.

Ham it up for the big pig

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:28:32 GMT

EA was casting for their next round of EA Sports games commercials, so several of us at school made audition tapes. You can see the resulting foolishness below. Note how my non-playing of sports games prevents me from directly referencing them. Earlier last week we did callbacks with the actual casting director. We'll see if anyone makes the cut from there.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: The Fall

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:40:37 GMT

The Fall
I filled up my car today, and regular unleaded is now $3.999. The Fall a limited-release indie film, so you may have to drive to find a screen showing it, but gas considered, it will be money well spent.

All I really heard about this film is that it's visually striking and from the guy who made The Cell. Now, that doesn't mean much to me because I never saw that movie, however, despite the bad ratings the movie got, people keep talking about its visuals.

The Fall sports incredibly lavish production for an indie. Cinematography is captivating, purposeful, and complemented by the sets used. However, instead of spending money and time crafting breath-takingly complicated sets from scratch, the production literally crossed all over the globe, showcasing real-life natural and architectural marvels.

The story is of an injured stuntman and a young Romanian girl who meet in a silent-picture-era Los Angeles hospital. The stuntman is not only physcially injured, but also emotionally injured and becomes suicidal when his girlfriend runs off with the leading man. When the young girl asks to be told a story, the man creates a fantasy, high-adventure allegory of his situation. The odd couple develop a tight chemistry that is both touching and comic and altogether enjoyable throughout the film. The girl's broken English and youthful ernestness lend great charm to events and storytelling between the two.

I'd be baffled if this movie doesn't at least get nominated for all kinds of awards in cinematography, costumes, and particularly even an acting award for the little girl. She's incredibly natural and genuinely believable, and not just artificially cute like most other child actresses.

Because of the self-aware corny high-fantasy comic adventure, bedtime story-within-a-story framework, I would have to say this is the best movie of its kind since The Princess Bride. However, there is real tragedy in the movie, expanding its depth beyond that benchmark. Simultaneously while being a story of having purpose in life, it's a love letter to the magic of the heyday of practical cinema, before computer-generated graphics, allowing an audience to see things and people that are larger than life but are the furthest thing from fake.

Highest recommendations! Find a screen that's showing it!

You're stubborn and will never learn

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:01:33 GMT

During last week's concert-outing, I wore some earplugs that my classmate so generously stole from work. They worked great! I would say it felt like it blocked out one half to two thirds of the volume, but I still could clearly hear the show.

Unfortunately, I forgot to wear earplugs tonight.

I went with my classmates to see Steve Aoki (famous LA DJ, record company owner, son of the founder of Benihana restaurants, and half-brother of wide-face model/actress Devon Aoki) spin a set. I must say it was disappointing. He's slow to transition between songs and not a very creative craftsman. The end of his set was a series of crowd-pleasing classic rock & roll songs, many of which without additional effects; a total cop out. However, he did headbang a lot and play with the crowd, so he's got a sense of showmanship. The house DJ's easily outclassed him in technical ability, though.

My other classmate runs a company that books shows at clubs and such, so he was using tonight to gauge whether or not it was worth it to spend the big money and book Steve for a show in LA. Steve's apparently not the best DJ (as I experienced), but he's a big name, so he should be a big draw. The club wasn't overflowing to capacity, and many people got in for free, or only $7 otherwise. With a "big name" and cheap price not bringing in the bodies, my friend says they'll most likely pass.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Iron Man

Mon, 26 May 2008 07:11:06 GMT

Iron Man
I guess I forgot to write something about this one. I'll keep it short and to the point.

Iron Man puts the comedy back into "comic book movie."

That's a really good thing. One of the greatest problems people have with the movie is that there's no challenge that needs to be overcome. I didn't mind. It's just so much fun to see Robert Downey Jr goof off and experiment.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Mon, 26 May 2008 06:58:27 GMT

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Um. I thought it was okay. If you're cool with the other Indy flicks, this is more of the same, more or less, for better or for worse. I'm sure you've heard it's about aliens, and that's not a spoiler. That subject matter also doesn't wind up being what might break your suspension of disbelief. Somehow, though, I feel that all the incredulous stuff that happened made sense in this universe.

There's plenty of action, of course, but not an incredible amount performed by old man Indy, but he gets in his smirks regardless. It's disappointing that there weren't more practical effects shots, but when George Lucas is operating, of course ILM is on the job.

It's been quite a while since I've seen the older movies, so I may just be imagining it, but this feels a lot more family-friendly than the others. This was definitely a cross-generational viewing, judging by the range of families we saw in the theater.

Your enjoyment of this movie hinges directly on your history with the franchise. As I said earlier, it's more of the same. However, if you're just jumping into this for the first time, the characters are already established outside this movie, and no effort, or time, thankfully, is taken to introduce them to a new audience. Also, this pulp kind of everyman superhero adventure could be too much for some people to swallow. My friends I saw it with were split between either being absolutely disgusted with it or just calling it so-so; I was with the latter.

Ernie Reyes Jr. is in it though. Good to see a fellow Filipino still getting gigs, but this one was pretty anonymous. Surprisingly it was a credited role and he wasn't just a name lumped in with the rest of the stunt people.

Sucks to be Sony

Thu, 22 May 2008 18:27:05 GMT

Look at these stats. As of May 22 (in Japan), in about six months' time [ Wii Fit ] has sold nearly as many copies as [ Playstation 3 ] has in its whole lifetime. Wii Fit 2.04m vs. PS3 2.10m. If you want to talk about worldwide sales, Wii Fit 3.38m vs. PS3 12.72m, so that's almost a quarter of the PS3 install base, and Wii Fit only just hit stores in the US, but it sold out everywhere before lunch!

We don't think Metal Gear will save Sony. Final Fantasy? Maybe, but Nintendo has Dragon Quest, and that absolutely trumps FF in the homeland.

Remember Dinosaucers?

Tue, 20 May 2008 21:44:53 GMT

They were anthropomorphic space dinosaurs and had a cartoon series. I don't recall a toy line, but the cartoon would have been pointless without one.

Anyway, so cool stuff has been happening in the Pleo world. For example, there's now a tool that taps into the dino's sensors that lets you see/hear and record what the little dino sees/hears.

There was also this video attached to the latest newsletter. Fast-forward about halfway and look at all the dolphins crowding around to look at the dino!

Carl, just how did you find a way to save money on a traffic school course?

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:24:19 GMT

Need to take a traffic school course? I used GoToTrafficSchool.com and after using a coupon code, only paid $13 for the online course. Use coupon code XM4-FBA-AF5 to shave $2 off your enrollment (prices vary by state, of course).

It's full of corny clip art and cheesy writing, but you do what you need to do. At least this is hella cheap.

Carl's Movie Mini-Review: Speed Racer

Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:53 GMT

Speed Racer
I swore that I wouldn't see the movie, but somehow spent the majority of today in Tourist Town, culminating with a late showing at the IMAX at Pointe Orlando. Earlier in the morning I went to Downtown Disney to escape from excessive Ticketmaster fees ($8!) and essentially got one ticket almost free through the savings from buying direct at the box office. Later this evening, I went with my roommate and one of our fellow Agents to Fuddruckers for burgers and wound up seeing Speed Racer: The IMAX Experience.

Unfortunately through a series of hesitations and botched...things, we walked in at the tail end of what looked to be the normal-looking part of movie. The rest of the film is unending kinetic frenzy. Despite a lot of jarring cuts and a lot of unfortunate jerky pans and crosswipes (due to the digital nature of the production), much of the action was subtley nuanced. Composition of the shots and transitions had great care in their crafting. Just like visual side, audio production is deliberate. Nothing "just happens" in this movie; there was plenty of planning involved for the littlest things. That said, there's a whole lot of everything and it may be potentially overwhelming to a fault.

Storywise, it's your standard hometown hero, David vs. Goliath sports/family movie. The melodrama is unavoidable for what it is, but Spritle/Chim-Chim scenes were strictly for the kiddies. All the big, bad talk about stock prices will certainly lose a lot of people. It makes sense in the context of the story, but c'mon! This is a popcorn flick!

If you're of the mind for a flashy movie that appeals to the little Hot Wheels-loving tyke inside you, I would recommend this. If you are into the visual arts, I strongly recommend using this as study materail. If you're doped up on some sort of drug, this will elevate your high. If none of these apply to you, please, move along.

List of things that didn't make sense today

Thu, 15 May 2008 04:42:31 GMT

Oh, I wish I had my camera with me.

1. A Lamborghini-orange Toyota Prius w/ color keyed rims in the parking lot of Downtown Disney. Also, it had a trailer hitch. Hauling things with your super-charged hybrid car?...

2. A motel on I-Drive with several luxury/exotic cars parked in front with signs inside that read "Rent Me." To be fair, it wasn't a run-down shanty motel, but still, it was far from the ritziest place on Tourist Town. Whatever foxy lady you pick up in that car while on the town needs to be super wasted to not notice the discrepency in quality between the ride and the crib.

3. A magical mystery door that leads to the same room it's in. It was in the parking garage in Pointe Orlando. No more than one yard to one side is a whole lot of nothing that would require you using the door to get to the other side of the wall. I'm sure it'a portal.

4. An Altima in my apartment's parking lot with a full set of keys till in the trunk keyhole. This brings up the question of just how did the owner get into his or her apartment.

ADDENDUM: I just remembered some things from GameStop today.

5. When we walked into the GameStop we always shop at, one of the clerks told me he saw me on TV. I'm surprised anyone caught that, let alone someone we see every week. If you missed the video, check out [ this post ].

6. Some girl walked in to the store, went straight up to the counter and said she wanted to trade "this" in. What "this" was was a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for Xbox, which, if you're not familiar, fetches quite a premium on the second-hand market. GameStop will resell it for $60 for a used copy. She elected for cash and was offered $16, which she readily agreed to, as in "yeah, whatever." I posited that she was a vengeful girlfriend who wanted to get rid of her beau's favorite game, but Chuck said her boyfriend was waiting in the car. He said they were probably hurtin' for crack money. I probably should've just offered her $20 or $30, but I didn't really want it that bad and really preferred to keep what cash I had.

Flash from the past

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:14:27 GMT

Anyone notice the resurgence of 60's style music of late? Not actual 60's acts, of course, but that certain surf rock or spy movie or big band sound. Maybe you noticed it, maybe you didn't; I don't know what they're promoting on the radio or MTV.

Several years back I went to see the Killers in concert. One of their opening acts was this band called the Zutons. They had this great classic rock sound that you didn't hear in pop music at the time, and I was so impressed that I bought their CD at the show. Of course, being the bonus-item whore that I am, it helped that buying the album allowed you to see them for a meet & greet. I congratulated them and wished them success and got my album autographed. They conducted the meet 'n greet directly after their set while the Killers were setting up.

Being at the tail end of the line of new fans, I re-entered the concert hall as the Killers had already taken the stage. That night my ears were opened to how lame Brandon Flowers is. His vocals are horrible, and the synthesizer does more damage than its worth. I could never really enjoy the Killers after that night. The Zutons totally "killed" the Killers.

The Zutons wrote a song called "Valerie," and that song was picked by producer Mark Ronson to re-work on his totally awesome cover album called "Versions." Teaming with Amy Winehouse, they turned the soft memorial tone of the original version into something kinetic and hip. As I said, I don't keep up with what's popular these days. I never realized they released the song as its own single, actually becoming Amy Winehouse's biggest chart-topper. I also didn't realize they made a music video for it.

That is, until tonight. Wow, the music video has tremendous care given to its production with a unique audio mix. The story has a band calling up some girls from the audience to sing the song. As the band tunes up, it's a "live" version of the song, and as each new girl takes the mic, the vocals smoothly transition to Winehouse's. So, ultimately, it's more than just the song played over some random video. Great stuff! Catch it on YouTube [ here ].

Moving Sucks - The "To the other side of the wall" Edition

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:16:04 GMT

Today's the start of the last semester of school (if you exclude the internship semester in Fall), and we had to relocate to the secondary cohort space in the rear of the building.

For some reason, rather than two shallow drawers and a deep one, all the desks in my new quad (hex? there were six seats) have two deep drawers. To make things more irritating, my top drawer kept falling off its track. It was close to class time, so I wound up just pulling it out and leaving it on the floor for a couple hours.

It's a good thing I gave up when I did because we're being time nazis, and I just made it through the door in time. We Producers only have one class this semester (excluding our game-specific status report meetings twice a week), but it's a doozy. We have to create a business plan that will be scrutinized and graded by a panel of professionals who will determine our grade and ultimately our ability to graduate. It'd be inconvenient, to put it lightly, to fail the class because to retake it would require waiting a whole year for the next round. Plus you'd have just waved goodbye to 30-grand.

Anyway, after returning and fiddling around with figuring out how to get the drawer back in, it dawned on me that I should make the most of this opportunity and just steal some shallow drawers and reconfigure my work space. Initially, I'd just taken one drawer, and it was not cooperating and not sliding onto the track. So I decided to steal the tracks from the other desk since I'd need to get another set anyway. Hmm... The back of the track mount wasn't latching into the back of the enclosure... I couldn't hold it well if I also bothered shining my flashlight into the dark cavern, so I just felt around. Uh... Then I pulled out the track and compared it to the one I'd removed. Well, dammit, not only is it shallow depthwise but also lengthwise. The damned thing was shorter! Unbelievably irritating.

Oh, did I mention we're trying to launch some sort of reality show with our team. Today Chuck had his camera rigged up to capture candid moments. But he wasn't rolling on this. This would've a great "Office" moment.