The Last Days of Summer
Seconds later, lunch was served.September 15, 2006
The dying days of summer, autumn being ushered in next week. The ninety to a hundred degree weather, though, is probably sticking around for a while. Last year, the temperatures stayed pretty warm through Thanksgiving and just one day we experienced like a thirty degree drop and suddenly ice started to from on your cars. We do not really get deciduous trees here, so the lovely orange foliage shall be another thing for me to miss until such time I can walk and crunch fallen leaves.
In the meanwhile, I just found out that VNV Nation’s rarest records (Advance & Follow and the Burning Empires limited edition version) are now available, but only as digital downloads. Well, thanks but not everyone has an awesome MP3 player or a computer with an up to date operating system or even a fast connection (I am happy I even have a computer). Oh, well. I guess it is a step in the right direction.
Anyway.
I currently work on the tenth floor of a building in downtown Austin. I never thought I would work downtown anywhere, but then again, Austin is a pretty small compared to Los Angeles or even San Antonio. Now, take in mind by small I mean if you squeeze everything together, you could walk from one side of the city to the other. In reality, everything is pretty spread apart, giving the illusion the city is bigger that it is. That and the roads tend to take you around via the scenic route (except there is nothing really to see).
Downtown is also expanding. Every now and then I take a small break and head to the conference room if no one is there and look out (I have a thing for looking out of tall places- trees fear me and I fear planes because I like to sit by the window and I have a teeny tiny bladder so beware the people who sit in the middle or on the aisles- I use the lavatories quite a bit on long flights). From the conference windows you can see a building go up, and it is awesome to see the big cranes do their stuff. I also realized that all the workers remind me of the doozers from that Fraggle Rock show.
So that kid who shot some people in Canada is a Goth kid. Like the Columbine kids. Do not believe that, by the way. At best they are posers.
And the plug of the week for this week is the new graphic novel from writer Brian K. Vaughn, Pride of Baghdad. I have sped read it about twice this week and plan a good long slow read of it this weekend. It is a fictionalized account of one of the more interesting facets that occurred during the beginning of the current Iraq War. As the city was bombed, its zoo was abandoned and the animals were left to their own devices. I ma not sure what ever happened to the most of the animals, presumably killed by bullets and bombs, but what is known is that four lions wandered the city streets for who knows how long until US troops encountered them and [SPOILER] ate them. No, just kidding, the troops shot them up due to thinking they were about to charge at them. Although the book portrays charging as sitting and watching the sunset. In reality, the troops probably were surprised to see wildlife and fired on instinct (the book also showcases the fact that a bear also roamed Baghdad- which, although not touched upon here, was documented to have attacked and ate several citizens of the city).
Despite the downer ending (which to it credit is not sappy although if you do not know the story it comes out of the blue), the book is amazing. It reminds me of a more mature version of the nature movies that Disney used to make or even, not an adult but a late teen/young adult version of the Milo & Otis stories. It reminds me of a Lion King in name only sequel. I would actually like to see Disney adapt this accurately into one of their animated movies, but that is never going to happen. The art is bright and effective, the animals not being too humanized and even the expressive faces are not drawn to be too unnatural. A good book at all ends, and perfect in a week memorializing the anniversary of something that happened five years ago in Manhattan.
________________________________________________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/catterpillarboy
http://catterpillarboy.blogspot.com/
The dying days of summer, autumn being ushered in next week. The ninety to a hundred degree weather, though, is probably sticking around for a while. Last year, the temperatures stayed pretty warm through Thanksgiving and just one day we experienced like a thirty degree drop and suddenly ice started to from on your cars. We do not really get deciduous trees here, so the lovely orange foliage shall be another thing for me to miss until such time I can walk and crunch fallen leaves.
In the meanwhile, I just found out that VNV Nation’s rarest records (Advance & Follow and the Burning Empires limited edition version) are now available, but only as digital downloads. Well, thanks but not everyone has an awesome MP3 player or a computer with an up to date operating system or even a fast connection (I am happy I even have a computer). Oh, well. I guess it is a step in the right direction.
Anyway.
I currently work on the tenth floor of a building in downtown Austin. I never thought I would work downtown anywhere, but then again, Austin is a pretty small compared to Los Angeles or even San Antonio. Now, take in mind by small I mean if you squeeze everything together, you could walk from one side of the city to the other. In reality, everything is pretty spread apart, giving the illusion the city is bigger that it is. That and the roads tend to take you around via the scenic route (except there is nothing really to see).
Downtown is also expanding. Every now and then I take a small break and head to the conference room if no one is there and look out (I have a thing for looking out of tall places- trees fear me and I fear planes because I like to sit by the window and I have a teeny tiny bladder so beware the people who sit in the middle or on the aisles- I use the lavatories quite a bit on long flights). From the conference windows you can see a building go up, and it is awesome to see the big cranes do their stuff. I also realized that all the workers remind me of the doozers from that Fraggle Rock show.
So that kid who shot some people in Canada is a Goth kid. Like the Columbine kids. Do not believe that, by the way. At best they are posers.
And the plug of the week for this week is the new graphic novel from writer Brian K. Vaughn, Pride of Baghdad. I have sped read it about twice this week and plan a good long slow read of it this weekend. It is a fictionalized account of one of the more interesting facets that occurred during the beginning of the current Iraq War. As the city was bombed, its zoo was abandoned and the animals were left to their own devices. I ma not sure what ever happened to the most of the animals, presumably killed by bullets and bombs, but what is known is that four lions wandered the city streets for who knows how long until US troops encountered them and [SPOILER] ate them. No, just kidding, the troops shot them up due to thinking they were about to charge at them. Although the book portrays charging as sitting and watching the sunset. In reality, the troops probably were surprised to see wildlife and fired on instinct (the book also showcases the fact that a bear also roamed Baghdad- which, although not touched upon here, was documented to have attacked and ate several citizens of the city).
Despite the downer ending (which to it credit is not sappy although if you do not know the story it comes out of the blue), the book is amazing. It reminds me of a more mature version of the nature movies that Disney used to make or even, not an adult but a late teen/young adult version of the Milo & Otis stories. It reminds me of a Lion King in name only sequel. I would actually like to see Disney adapt this accurately into one of their animated movies, but that is never going to happen. The art is bright and effective, the animals not being too humanized and even the expressive faces are not drawn to be too unnatural. A good book at all ends, and perfect in a week memorializing the anniversary of something that happened five years ago in Manhattan.
________________________________________________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/catterpillarboy
http://catterpillarboy.blogspot.com/
posted by Catterpillarboy at 9:58 AM
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