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ANTZAs a thinker and planner the ant is the equal of any savage race of men; as a self-educated specialist in several arts she is the superior of any savage race of men; and in one or two high mental qualities she is above the reach of any man, savage or civilized! |
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Saturday, October 24, 1998
One year ago: Laboratory of Fun
I'm relieved that my cold hasn't turned into a long, drawn-out ordeal, like the illness I had this summer. I'm already feeling much better!
On Friday, the Swing Kids were having their big fall dance at the HUB on the UW campus. Unlike the big spring dance I enjoyed so much, there wasn't a guest list for this one. So I sent email on Thursday, asking if there were any way for us townies to weasel our way in. My friend Carla replied, and said she'd meet me in line and get me in on her ID. So I worked until six thirty or so, then stopped off at home to get my dance shoes.
When I found Carla, she'd just arrived, and we were in a rather long line! There was a big crowd, and we had to wait for a while, but we did get in after about fifteen minutes, which isn't too bad. Our old buddies, Monty Banks and the High Rollers, were performing.
The best part of the whole dance: even though the place was crowded, the novice dancers were interested in what we were doing, so they formed a large open area at the front, and the Lindy dancers cavorted there with perfect ease and freedom!
I found that I had to sit out about two-thirds of the dances. My poor lungs really reduced my stamina! I could dance one medium-to-fast dance, then I needed to rest. But I did enough that I was satisfied with the evening. I managed to ask a few new folks to dance, as well as dancing with familiar partners.
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Today I was at work, plugging away on converting a bunch of web pages from an old look to the new one. My problem: There are some pages where the automated tool I've been using may not work. Legacy material! There is no one left on the team who understands why these pages were done the way they were, and I know I don't understand it either.
In the evening I went over to Crossroads Mall and saw "ANTZ". They are under new ownership there, or else the old company has merged with some other, so now the chain is called "Regal." Better than Cineplex Odious, I guess! But they still do show a commercial (for Mountain Dew, currently) which I don't like.
But the funniest thing was a member of the theater management (or was he a marketing weasel? at any rate, a man in a suit jacket) who came to the front of the theater before the previews started. He greeted us -- insisting on a vocal response of "Hi!" -- and gave a little speech, welcoming us, asking us to let a staff member know of any problems, etc. I was amazed! I don't know if they do this for every show, or just the primetime Saturday night ones.
I really liked the movie. Lots of very clever visual puns, and technically it looked great! I had a little trouble accepting the very humanized ants, especially their faces. Perhaps I felt this more strongly because they are 3-D rendered, instead of being drawn with traditional animation. The "realistic" look works against my suspension of disbelief.
I'm glad they resisted the temptation to make the main character look like Woody Allen! I don't know if I'll ever feel really positively about him again.
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