Well, my meeting yesterday went really well, and it looks like I may be able to continue with my current job for a while, at least for the near future. However, I will be leaving the spacious isolation of my current digs and will be heading over to the Pinnacle building by NBC in Burbank. Of course, this is already turning out to be quite the process, as the fact that I am moving away from the Universal Lot presents the inevitable issues with upgrading my security clearances, getting parking, moving my computer and other stuff, changing my work phone number, and all that oh-so-fun corporate stuff.
It's almost like moving into new offices is my full-time job or something ...
Anyways, hopefully this move goes down smoothly and all of these headaches will soon be over and done with.
But as for my job itself, these last few days have been nuts. And here I was hoping that this week would be laid back. I am getting tons of calls and emails from people about all things I-Tunes related, as everyone is wondering what's going on with their particular projects as we make the personell transition.
So basically, I'm the man.
And to be the man, you've gotta beat the man. So who wants some?
I digress ...
But yeah, I just hope that the Pinnacle is a good work environment, because as much as being on a floor pretty much all by yourself has its perks, it can also be pretty maddening. Not to say that being in an Office-style office filled with annoying personalities is any better, but hopefully, that will not be the case.
In any case ...
NBA FINALS:
Man, what a game last night! It was funny, because I was really rooting for Miami to make a come back just for the sake of it becoming a good game. Then, once it became close, I once again began rooting for Dallas to pull it out. I've been a mild fan of both Dallas and Miami, but some of the personalities on Miami, mostly Gary Payton and Antoine Walker, really annoy me lately. Gary Payton has been playing terribly of late, making poor decisions and halting play with his ineffectual attempts at posting up his defender. But of course, the guy is so full of himself that you know that ONE shot at the end of the game last night more than restored any loss of confidence he had been suffering. Same goes for Walker. Whenever he makes ONE shot, he reassures himself that he can shoot. I'm curious what his three-point percentage is though, because he seems to take and miss dozens of ill-advised three pointers per game. The guy has talent but he kills his team in the clutch by making so many bad decisions. Luckily for Miami, Dwayne Wade had a Jordan-esque performance last night and negated all of Miami's mistakes with his amazing play. As for Dallas, they had better stay strong or they'll be in trouble. They have a tendency to go soft at the worst times, and I hope that they come out on Thursday with some good D and lots of firepower.
- MOVIES: Okay, so I have a standing bet with my friend (and bigtime Hollywood playa) Abby, concerning this weekend's release of NACHO LIBRE. I say it will make over $40 million opening weekend, she says it won't. I really hope this movie does do well, and I think it will. I hope it succeeds because it looks to be a quirky but heart-filled comedy in the vein of Napoleon Dynamite, which I would love to see more of. How many more mean-spirited frat-pack comedies starring obnoxious guys trying to get laid do we really need? Bring on the Mighty Winds, the Napoleon Dynamites, the Waynes Worlds, and yes, the NACHO LIBRES of the film world - the comedies that will truly be considered classics in years to come. I think Nacho will be huge - everywhere I go I see the T-shirts and paraphanalia, and I think that pretty much every kid and teen is going to want to see this, as well as anyone who has a shred of childlike sense of humor in them. It's the modern day Theater of the Absurd, and I can't wait. Nachooooooooooo!
- And, dammit, I still haven't seen CARS. Why won't anyone freaking go with me to see it?!?! Any takers?!?!
ART: I'd like to take a second to say RIP to one half of the great art duos, Tim Hildebrandt, who passed away this week. The Brothers Hildebrandt created some of the most awe-inspiring pieces of pop cultural art of the 20th Century. Famed for their striking depictions of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings characters, brothers Greg and Tim dabbled in calendars, comics, and more. But it was their movie posters that really stand out in my mind. One in particular that is probably one of the coolest images ever created. Close your eyes. Think STAR WARS. What do you see? I don't know about you, but I see this:
Man, that has got to be one of the all-time iconic sci-fi images right there - the original movie poster to Star Wars: A New Hope. Just the pure imagination and iconography that that image inspires is simply amazing. Like Alex Toth, who passed away not too long ago, the bold, elegant work of the Hildebrandts has influenced generations of young dreamers, this one included.
- Speaking of Dreamers, I recently finished up Volume 2 of Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN series, which I am onnly now reading for the first time (I can feel my geek cred dropping as I type this). Pretty good stuff, and one chapter in volume 2 in particular, about a convention of outwardly unremarkable serial killers, was one of the most profoundly disturbing things I've ever read or seen, definitely the highlight of my Sandman reading thus far. I hear that volume 3 is excellent though, so I'll withhold my initial reaction that, while pretty good, I'm not yet quite sure what all hype about Sandman is about.
- Oh yeah, I think I mentioned it in my deleted blog post from last week, but a while back my work with I-Tunes finally yielded what in the back of my mind I had long hoped for: a free I-POD! So I am now the semi-proud owner of an I-pod Nano. Semi-proud because man, as nifty as the thing is, I can't see myself selling out $200 bucks for what is basically a glorified Walkman. The best part about the I-pod is it's tiny size, making it a great incentive for me to do some excercise while listening to some tunes. But the pricepoint is still ridiculous for what you're getting, in my book, and Apple is totally coasting on the perception that the I-POD is a must-have item. I mean, for only $120, I bought a Nintendo DS which is a dedicated games player that has Mario and Zelda! For $200, I could buy a Sony PSP that plays movies, music, and exclusive games. How then is an IPOD Nano worth $200? And how are so many people affording these? But anyways, since my home computer is a relic from my freshman year of college and still runs (gasp!) Windows 98, I am unable to run I-Tunes or the I-POD software from home. So I took the drastic step of burning all of my 4,000 or so ( I thought that was a lot, until my old boss Lloyd informed me that he had 50,000 downloaded songs!!!) mp3's to CD in data form, and then bringing those CD's into work and, from there, selecting a few hundred songs to go on the ol' IPOD. Pretty hardcore, eh?
- Ann Coulter debates George Carlin on Leno tonight. Could be interesting, but my guess is Coulter will eat Carlin alive in a debate. Sure, George is an impassioned individual, but that won't do him any good in a debate against Coulter, who has mastered the art of ignoring all opposing viewpoints in order to continually spew her unique brand of ridulousness. I am increasingly convinced that Coulter's whole persona is mostly a well-honed act used to sell books. But even if it is an act, it doesn't make her any less despicable or borderline-psychotic. To accuse 911 widows of enjoying their husbands' deaths? What?!?! Quite a generalization, wouldn't you say? In a way, it's not even worth talking about Coulter, because she obviously wants the publicity. On the other hand, her words are often so filled with misguided venom that one can't help but fall into the trap of playing Coulter's game.
- And that's about it for now. My work-related insanity continues throughout the week and into the next, so I guess all I can do is sit back, relax, and see what happens. Keep reading ...
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