How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Posted on | June 7, 2004 at 3:09 pm | 1 Comment
Last day of vacation. My backyard thermometer says it’s 93 degrees, and my front one says 102. Good thing the humidity is so low around here. Tomorrow, it’s back to work. A mountain of work, I’m sure. At least I feel I’ve got a lot of things accomplished (mostly leisure things) during this time off…
I did end up going away for a couple of days to Glenwood Springs, which was about a 2.5 hour drive each way. Made it there and back on about 3/4 of a tank of gas, which is nice considering the gas prices these days. I gotta tell ya, the iPod on shuffle play, played through the car’s stereo system, is the best accompaniment for a road trip ever. I think it would make even a long trip bearable. I did a lot of swimming in the Hot Springs Pool. Got sunburned. The first day, I failed to take into account the effect the hardened and chemical-laden water in the pool would have on my eyes, as this was the first time I’ve been swimming post-LASIK. Swimming laps really did my eyes in, making them very red and cloudy. I could barely focus that first night. For the second day, I bought some swim goggles and that worked out a lot better. My buddy the Hu-man was up there the second night for his weekly mountain lumber delivery run, and he took me on a walking tour of the bars in Glenwood. Good thing it was a walking (stumbling?) tour.
One of the things I did when I got back was some repairs to my roof. This was late afternoon on Sunday, and the temperature was in the mid to high 80s. I failed to realize how hot those black shingles would get during the day and ended up burning my left hand. It’s much better now, but I sure was in pain yesterday, while still fighting off the various sunburns from the pool stay. Note to self: Next time you work on the roof, wear gloves. Before the trip, I replaced a blown sprinkler head in my sprinkler system. So, it hasn’t been all fun and games during this hiatus from work.
During the week, I read Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I mostly bought it because I had read a little bit about 19th century serial killer H.H. Holmes (whom half the book is devoted to) and was interested in learning more. However, the other half of the book, about Chicago architect and 1893 Chicago World’s Fair head honcho Daniel Burnham, ended up being the more interesting to me of the two plots. This is a book I could not have read 10 years ago, but it seems as I grow older, my interest in history grows greater. I had absolutely no prior knowledge of this World’s Fair (actually called the World’s Columbian Exhibition, because it was held on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America) and what it meant to the city of Chicago and to American history in general. There were a lot of surprises in it for me, such as the story of the invention of the Ferris Wheel, and how big that first wheel was. And there were lots of little interesting nuggets also, such as why Chicago is really called the Windy City. It almost makes me wish I could’ve lived during that time and seen the White City (as the fairground came to be called, since all the buildings were painted white). But I doubt they had DVD players and iPods then.
And today, I saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Abu Ghraib. I had just finished reading the book right before starting Devil in the White City, and it was interesting going into the movie with very fresh knowledge of the source material. I felt it was the best of the three HP movies so far, mostly due to the direction and the visual style. And the fact that the young actors are becoming more accomplished at their craft. Alfonso Cuar??n (as opposed to Chris Columbus) knew what to use from the book and what to take out, and how to skillfully shift things around to heighten the storytelling and dramatic tension. I really liked how he always had interesting visual things going on in the foreground and background, so that even exposition scenes weren’t boring. The cinematography seemed more “alive” somehow also, even though some scenes had almost a “lo-fi” digital handheld camera look to them. The only thing I missed from the book was the explanation of the Maruader’s Map and who made it. Without it, some of the ending parts would not have made sense to people who have not read the book (as if there are a lot of those who would go see the movie). I did like how the movie did not have a real traditional Hollywood-type action set piece climax – heck, it was almost low-key compared to most big budget movies. I was wondering how well that would translate from the book, and it seemed to work.
At least the theater wasn’t too cold this time, although I might’ve been able to put up with it, since it was in the mid-90s outside. However, there was definitely something wrong with the sound system in the theater. Dialog had a weird echoing effect on it, which was distracting and sometimes made it hard to make out what people were saying. Mostly it was only a problem in scenes where there was no background music or effects. I’m pretty sure it was a theater problem, though I may have to see the movie again in another theater just to make sure…
Okay, now it’s time to be depressed, thinking about going back to work tomorrow!
Latre.
Comments
One Response to “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”
June 8th, 2004 @ 7:31 pm
> (as if there are a lot of those who would go see the movie)
Me and the woyf, for two. Haven’t read ‘em, probably won’t either. She also saw and liked the LOTR trilogy without having read the books, though I have.
> Okay, now it’s time to be depressed,
That strikes me as an odd thing to block out time for on your to-do list…