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Before we get on to what seem like less pressing issues, since in the long run the Matrix Reloaded will probably be unremembered as a forgettable action flick or the mediocre part 2 to a trilogy, I'd like to uncover a discovery I made during my time here. The Pillows are huge fucking Pixies fans. Observe the evidence. At the end of "Backseat Dog", they start singing "Here comes your man"; after that (on the same album), there is a song "Kim Deal", which is the name of the bassist from the Pixies. After THAT, there's "Beautiful Morning With You", which has chords eerily similar to "Where is my mind". That's 3 in a row (baby), on the same album.

So back to the fore mentioned track. The Matrix Reloaded was not a good movie in the same way that The Matrix was a good movie; Reloaded was a good movie in that it had plenty of Bad ass Bombs and Bitches, and the special affects were incredible. The entire freeway scene; you don't think that they could possibly end it more spectacularly than it already is; and then they do, just to fuck with you. Which is all well and good. But what is missing is the layered, carefully structured story telling technique.

Room 101. Neo == One. 303 == Trinity. Coppertop. Follow the white rabbit. The whole god damned first scene. The way that "The Matrix" tells its story is through a careful release of facts to the viewer; having already laid a thick carpet of intelligent foreshadowing to land on. It's the kind of movie you say "Oh shit!" watching the second time, because it was obvious; and yet it wasn't. Using mythology and literature made the first movies plot what it was; parallels were everywhere, from Nebuchadnezzar to Alice in Wonder Land. The plot was unraveled with a green-tinted modern day mixture of demonic techno retro style, with shiny black latex form fitting ass huggers and big black trench coats. Style, Innovation, a well laid plot and well constructed story telling made the first Matrix good.

What about "Reloaded"? Most of this is absent; any techno only exists due to the first one. The matrix is treated like a video game; to be entered into and out of at ones whim.. go in, beat a few levels, etc. There's no real concept of saving peoples lives in the matrix. What about the tone? At first I felt that there was too much humor in "Reloaded" that belied the first one's tone: Then, I received the finger, but didn't get my phone call. Its not that theres too much, is that its misplaced. There's no reason for humor in most situations. When the new operator goes "YES!" And thrusts his hands in the air; that's good. When the french baddie swears nervously and flusters at his ill fated battle with the one in the grand concourse of some large ornate palace situated conveniently in a building with an elevator: that's, well, not so good.

So what was missing? Lots of things; I think the most disturbing thing was a lack of reference. In "The Matrix", we start off inside some underground dark hacker culture filled with all kinds of cute goth chicks, drugs, and techno clubs. It sets the tone for MUCH of the movies style; and much of the style within "The Matrix". But the second one doesn't have this advantage. Instead of introducing Zion and focusing on the style of Zion (which, while impressively rendered, is really nothing new), they keep bouncing back and forth to the Matrix to do "Neat Things". We get no point of reference to stand on; no reasons why dialog cleverly fits the film or characters are dressed like they are. They no longer dress to fit into the neo hacker culture; they do it to look cool; after all, they're there to save Zion now, not the people stuck in the matrix.

So enough about that matrix; on to more beneficial and personal matrices; my new active matrix display. Its bright, clear, and has a good viewing angle. 18" for $360 (refurb), $2.95 shipping. Now I got a 17 inch and an 18.1 inch LCD sitting next to eachother on this desk with the beautiful view. Jerumu and Firu are planting the devious seeds of evil deeds, and watering them in form of a tree in order to supplant me and remove me from my sovereign lands.

Maybe with the new Monitor I'll be able to get PyORBit, PyGTK, and gnome-python to all install and work together in harmony. Or maybe I'm fucked. Only time will tell. I can tell you one thing though; even though my purpose on this earth might really be to think about and ogle at hot Asian chicks, I wont follow up on Amit's discovery. That blind mofo is not to be trusted.