"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so"

Whoa, man...that was a lunch. I can almost feel my belt shrinking around my waistline.

Today at work was a luncheon celebrating the local customer service department (which I'm training to join) placing first in one of the periods last year. Menu was breaded stuffed chicken breast, scallopped potatos, green beans, tossed salad, rolls, and various dessert items of which I only partook some sort of cherry bar. Wow! Exquisite cuisine, very good, and very filling. I'm amazed I was able to eat it all.

Just four more hours of work, then I get to go home and watch the next episode of 24, for which I've been waiting three weeks. It should be on my hard drive by now already—which is pretty good, since it won't air until 9 p.m. tonight.

In other media news, mechaman has introduced me to Kamen Rider Ryuki, one of the recent seasons in the long-running Kamen Rider series from Japan. I've seen the first four episodes, and he'll be sending more some more. After I have some disposable income again, I'll have to consider ordering some of the DVD sets that are selling on eBay. It's pretty neat stuff, and I strongly advise anyone who enjoys anime or live-action SF to give it a shot.

My work day, part two

Well, just got done watching the episode of 24 that will be broadcast in a few hours. ( Very general, totally non-spoiler comments, put behind an LJ-cut just in case )

As with any episode of 24, I advise not missing it.

Work events were decent today. After coming back from the lunch, I received a pleasant surprise in that I learned that one of the aforementioned trio of black girls—the most unpleasant and sullen one—was "no longer with the company." The instructor said that it was because of her habit of incessantly sleeping in class, that she'd been counselled twice for it. I was pleasantly surprised when the other two black girls came forward and mentioned that she had lately been trying to stir them up against the instructor, claiming they were being mistreated because they were the only black girls in the class, and even hinting about the possibility of legal action—but to their credit, the girls didn't agree with her; they knew that he'd been getting onto them because of their behavior instead of their color. I guess I should take back most of what I said about those two; without the dismissed one egging them on, they seem to be quite decent.

I have to wonder if there's not a certain sense of overweening entitlement present in some people like that...the feeling that, because their people were (and still are) legitimately victims of persecution, any time someone gets down on them personally for anything wrong they're doing it's not anything to do with their behavior—it's more "persecution." Major kudos to those other two girls for proving that it's not anywhere near universal.

In case people haven't heard, it's been confirmed—Spirited Away is getting a wider rerelease, starting this Friday. The figure of 800 screens (5 1/3 times its peak of 151 in its earlier run) has been bandied about, but that's vanished from this version of the page so I don't know whether they're keeping that number, raising it, or lowering it. I sure hope it plays here longer than it did before. I'd like the chance to see it theatrically.

In High Spirits—Spirited Away

Here's a quick heads up to all other residents of Springfield, Missouri who read me (such as artmomz): Spirited Away, the Oscar-winning animated feature by acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, is coming to the South Campbell 16 starting this Friday. I just called them and checked, and they said it was.

So grab any kids you can get your hands on and take them down to see it. Grab any adults you can get your hands on and take them down to see it. See it. It's one of the best movies you'll see this year. Or any other.