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The Matrix Reloaded

[doug]Note: I have tried to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. In the first 15 minutes of the film, I wasn’t actually sure I was going to like it. Although the opening featured quite a good look at the long-mysterious city of Zion, it was mixed with a somewhat drawn-out combination of scenes of a mass dance ritual in the “Temple,” (a bit reminiscent of some parts of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy) intermixed with an uncomfortably erotic scene with Neo and Trinity. After that, though, things really took off.

Reloaded is significantly more complex than The Matrix. Obviously, the war against The System is not over, the machines have improved themselves somewhat, and much is revealed about how various programs operate within the system, and about the world of the Matrix in general. We are also given a much better understanding of how Morpheus and his crew fit in (or fail to fit in) against the backdrop of Zion’s culture and its military and political leaders. The origins or reasons for existence of some key charactes and “programs” are explained, but without the horribly unfitting and disappointing treatment Lucas gave to the Force with his Midichlorian explanation in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

There were a few disappointments, but not many: One of my favorite characters is not there—although his absence is explained. The background music is not as fitting (or as good) in several places, and sound effects were not quite as good as before, although I have been spoiled by viewing The Matrix in Dolby 5.1 surround at home where every bullet shell casing hitting the ground can be heard, and my son John [john inline] complains that the bass rattles stuff off his desk upstairs. To a certain extent, mostly due to the film’s larger scope and greater number of both protagonists and antagonists, the film, at times, feels to have been run by a different director.

The combat scenes (and we’ve all been jaded by knock-offs in everything from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Shrek) were astonishingly well done, intense, and wonderfully choreographed—truly beyond anything I’ve seen on film. It was not the “same old, same old.” The depth of plot and concept far exceed the first film, and overall it requires far more thought cycles to process. Ultimately, this is an amazing film.

Coming in November, The Matrix Revolutions (and if you are patient enough to sit through the credits and music that reminds me of Erci’s cube at MediVation, you’ll be treated to a preview of what is to come).

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Stinkin’ Clouds!

Last night we were all psyched up to watch the full lunar eclipse. An hour before it would have begun, the sky was relatively clear. An hour later, completely obscured. I was disappointed, but not as much as my friend Phil, who’s never seen one.

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Clean Up America, Anyone?

Tonight I pulled into Wal*Mart to grab a few essentials, and watched the woman in the opposite space power down her window, and dump trash into the parking lot.

It really made me angry, although I didn’t say anything to her. (I can envision being less restrained as I age.) What I should have done (but didn’t think of at the time) is grab a spare bag from my car, and go over and pick up the trash. Of course, someone who isn’t ashamed to dump trash out of her car might not be shamed by having to watch a volunteer pick it up, but it would have been worth a try. Next time â€¦

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David Gets me In Trouble (Again)

Our 4-year-old son [david]David has always been a “people person,” even when only 2 or 3 years old. He is typically the one to notice when Nichelle has a new dress or hair style. I get in trouble for failing to notice such things like the house being cleaned (to me it always appears clean).

So, Nichelle has been doing some finish work on our upstairs bathroom, as part of getting the house ready to go on the market again. When I got home from work, I was ordered to go take a look at the bathroom. It looked good, and I said so. I pointed out that a lighter color, perhaps a floral pattern, would improve the darker sponge-painted border Nichelle had created. David, of course, trumped me. “Oh, Mom, it’s beautiful!” That little weasel.

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In Memory of Elizabeth Camplese

Note: I’ve created a second site now as a living memorial for Beth. It’s at http://camplese.wilcoxfamily.net/.

We received a phone call today from Christy-Sue Olson, a classmate I haven’t seen since junior high school, with some sad news. Beth Camplese, who lived just about across the street from where I grew up in Easton, passed away at Mass. General Hospital on May 1, succumbing to a battle with lymphoma, complicated by pneumonia and infections. (I think we all expected her to outlive us, if by nothing else than sheer stubborness.)

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 7, 2003, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the Copeland Funeral Home, 38 Center Street, North Easton, Ma.

In respect for Beth’s wishes (and in lieu of flowers), a scholarship fund in honor of Beth’s lifelong devotion to teaching has been set up. Donations may be made to the Elizabeth Camplese Scholarship Fund, c/o Washington Irving School, 105 Cummings Hwy., Roslindale, MA 02131 (617-635-8072).

Beth was a teacher at the Washington Irving Middle School in Boston. She was a fascinating person, with a fiercely independent spirit, a wide range of talents, a love for books, a willingness to share what she had, and a complete lack of prejudice of any kind.

She enjoyed taking care of animals, including, among the years, sheep, goats, a retried race horse, dogs, and geese. (The meter readers used to hate going to her house.)

Following are a few (of many) memories I have of her.

  • Her house was full of books. In fact, she started a book store at the Washington Irving School, and I would sometimes buy some titles of interest from her to aid the bookstore, called “The WISE Place.” One book she refused to sell to me was a copy of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, in Spanish, published in Barcelona—I kept haggling, but she never relented.
  • When I was in elementary school, I remember repeated run-ins with her sheep, especially one particularly ornery one named Saffy—Sheep can kick, and this one seemed to enjoy kicking me repeatedly.
  • My brother, Aaron, when he was only 2 or 3, had one of her geese grab his coat through the fence, and it just wouldn’t let go. (Maybe the coat was goose down?) Better his coat than his fingers, I suppose.
  • When I left for college, my parents moved to Florida. Beth let me store my things in a room at her place. I made 17 trips over, but her kindness let me hang on to many things that otherwise would have been lost.
  • One time someone snatched her purse on the subway, and she chased him down. I don’t think she caught him, and remember her friends were mortified. “What if he’d had a gun?” I doubt that would have impeded her retribution. It might have been better to ask, “What if she’d caught up with him?”
  • My favorite story regards her long-standing problem with dozens of pigeons taking up roost in her eaves and gutters. They made a terrible mess of her house for years. My wife, Nichelle, and I, when our son, Isaac, was an infant, were visiting her, when I asked, “What happened to the pigeons?” She replied with a wicked gleam and a laugh, “I shot them all.” She had done exactly that, over a period of weeks.

The world is a poorer place without her.

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Nightmares About Dinosaurs—An Unusual Solution

Most children are fascinated with dinosaurs, and our boys are no exception. However, when David was three years old, he kept having recurring nightmares, from which he would awake screaming and generally require staying in bed with us, about dinosaurs.

To complicate matters, he kept begging to watch Jurassic Park, having seen the dinosaur pictured on the DVD case. Of course, given his nightmares (and having some negative leanings toward showing somewhat-violent programming to small children), we did not grant his request.

But the nightmares continued for weeks. Finally, I reasoned, he was already having nightmares about the dinosaurs, what harm could there be in letting him watch Jurassic Park? As I recall, we did skip over the scene where the T-Rex attacks the jeep with the kids in it.

After watching the film (actually, after watching all three JP films), his nightmares went away. Go figure.

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24

[tv]Nichelle here: I noticed my husband has failed to mention the rather noisy incident that happened the other night. Well, I'll be nice and fill you all in. Well, Doug and I were recently introduced to a fairly new show, which is now in the second season, called 24 w/ Keiffer Sutherland. Well, the show is very addicting and extremely intense. We love it.
Well, back to the noise, which made me heave myself off the couch and bolt upstairs to find Isaac on the floor crying. He fell out of his top bunk. Well, Doug eventually made it upstairs to see what happened. I was later informed that he was trying to figure out what to do. He could only see himself needing to take a child to the hospital and missing the last half of the episode. The funny thing is we have the whole first season on DVD!!!! He only needed to pause for a moment, but I did mention that the show is really intense…LOL Well, Isaac did hurt himself, but nothing to take him to the hospital. He's fine now. Oh, we haven't yet finished the episode, but we did get another friend hooked on the show, by showing him the first two episodes.