Booyeah!

Ooh, I've been made privy to a righteous smack down of a very, very, very x1000 annoying student. The student already has 2 personal notes from me on her record saying not to bend any rules for her, but that pales in comparison to what another part of the library has done.

What did they do? They slapped her with a $1000 fine. That figure does have the correct number of zeroes. And get this, they're actually being lenient.

What did the student do? She lost a very nice, very new, and very expensive digital video recorder. How she'd lose it? She left it in a university common area, tucked behind a sofa for the night. Why she'd do that? Because she didn't want to lug it around. What happened? Someone took home a very nice, very new, very expensive digital video recorder. The student filed a police report and posted reward fliers for the return of the DVR, but it has not been returned.

Fast forward a year, the library has fined the student $1000, and she's whining that the fine isn't fair. She's been penalized enough for not being able to check out any media equipment for a year. Can't we forgive the fine? Too which the boss on high says, "Hell, no. You're lucky we didn't charge you the full amount which is closer to $3500. You're going to pay the fine, or you won't graduate." To which, I cry, "Booyeah!"

I Am Legend

I'm gonna do movie reviews more because they're easy for me. I hope you all don't mind. Oh, and they're going to be for stuff that's already on DVD because going to the movies is expensive, and I am cheap.

I read the book some time ago, but didn't feel the need to reread it for the film because this is a Will Smith movie. All you need to know is that the title is shared with a good book. The two have no other connection between them. In truth, reading the book will only confuse you.

Will Smith plays a messianic, military scientist. Trying to say that and trying to swallow it are equally difficult. But it's Will Smith! He's so likable. We'll accept anything.

The cure for cancer has killed almost everyone. (I KNEW IT! It's the carcinogens that will save humanity.) Will Smith is the lone survivor of the deadly plague in New York City. He's gone a little nutty in his isolation. He chats with mannequins and watches old news shows to keep in touch with humanity. His only real companion is his dog Sam. They go out daily to do a little hunting, golfing, scavenging, and the aforementioned chatting with mannequins. I'm surprised the dog hasn't left his crazy ass yet. But this is just the mundane stuff. The real work happens downstairs in Smith's high tech basement laboratory. Now this is one of those little details that irked me. He has to have had this set-up in his basement before the plague. How the hell did he get a laboratory? His name isn't Dexter. The military wouldn't have approved this. His wife wouldn't have approved it. So it shouldn't exist.

But it's why he has stayed in New York. He's searching for the cure for the cure for cancer. He thinks he's found it. Now he needs to do some human testing. Interspersed all this are recollections of the night New York was quarantined. Will Smith is trying to get his family out. He gets special privileges due to being Will Smith. These inter cut scenes really slowed the movie down which is ironic because they're supposed to be so taunt and dramatic, but we already know something is going to go bad because Will Smith is alone and crazy and not seeking any survivors.

I much preferred observing the aftermath. The empty, overgrown streets of New York were amazing to see. The running herds of deer were cool to watch as they darted in and out among the empty cars. Why Will had such a hard-on to kill one is beyond me, especially since he sucked at it, and there's always SPAM. Will Smith's melt down at one of the mannequins was pretty powerful as well as his quiet conversation with another. Smith is nothing if not watchable. He's someone you instinctively root for and watching him in an apocalyptic landscape, destitute and unhinged made the tragedy seem all the more awful. But that's only if you're a Will Smith fan. If you couldn't care less about him, then this film will seem pretty silly to you.

Overall, it was an okay popcorn movie, but not one I'd regularly rewatch. What do I regularly rewatch? 28 Days Later, for when I need a pick me up.

30 Days of Night

From the Library X movie vault, I checked out 30 Days of Night. I thought, "Ooh, a vampire movie with no sexy vampires. How refreshing." Thank goodness I didn't spend any money on this movie because it is straight up meh. It's the story of a small town in Alaska called Barrow. It has no roads in or out and basically shuts down for a month long night. Some vampires decide that it would be great to trek through the snow to Barrow when the long night sets in and kill everybody. Why? Because they're bored, and they think they can get away with it.

Only one man stands in their way: Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett). He gathers a small band of survivors, and they bravely hide. You read that right. They're big heroic feat is hiding. Let me tell you, watching people cower and wait for the sun to come up (which remember is in a month) is not riveting movie watching. I want flamethrowers, home-made bombs, how about some holy water icicle stakes? Come on, they're in Alaska, they could've totally gotten away with it. But no, instead they shiver and peek out a window for two hours.

I didn't learn any of the humans names and didn't really care to. (Had to go to IMDB to figure out Hartnett's) Didn't learn any of the vamps names either. All character development is replaced by shivering. I get it. It's cold in Alaska. Why aren't the vamps affected? Oh, am I not supposed to ask that question? (Dear me, I poked around a little more on IMDB, and there's so much inaccuracy that it's mind boggling. Alaska doesn't even have sheriffs.)

At the forty minute mark, I was ready for the vamps to find'em, kill'em, and move on, but no, we all had to wait 113 minutes for it to end. Don't bother with the wait, pass on this flick.

Um, hi

So yeah...I've been working days now for a few weeks. I've been crazy busy with the new job.

I have an office now with walls and a door. It's nice. I'm still settling in and making it my space.

My last official duty as the evening supervisor was calling the cops on a little old lady who wouldn't leave when we closed to the public at midnight. It was lovely. She wailed as the cop (who I'm told is one of the nicest cops in the UPD) talked to her, and some bleeding heart students asked why she couldn't stay in the library for one night. I now wash my hands entirely of these types of situations. Kyle is my replacement, which is funny. He was also my replacement for the overnight.

I got my sunglasses on, and am grinning like a fool. I'm days, bitches!