More than meets the eye...

Seen any good movies lately? I've only seen a couple in about 6 months: Shrek 3 a few weeks ago (really disappointing, IMHO) and Transformers last weekend after work. It's such a guilty pleasure, but I really enjoyed Transformers: it's big and stupid as far as dialogue and story goes, but for anyone interested in digital effects and compositing, or sound design, it is simply a work of art. The first half was definitely better than the second half (the latter was mostly one loooonnnngg battle, whereas the first half actually introduced characters and began a few parallel plotlines - it was even pretty funny). Don't go for the intricacies of the plot, or the sparkling dialogue (it gets especially cheesy when the machines start talking - why can't they just shutup??), but the effects are outstanding. I have no problem enjoying a dumb film that knows it's a dumb film: it's films that think they're clever but which really are dumb that I can't stand! Transformers is a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay production - the same two people responsible for The Rock - and when I list my Top 10 favourite films, I do have to concede that The Rock is certainly near the top of that list (it's very, very low-brow to say that, but hey, it's true). Another reason for seeing Transformers was that MuteMath (my MuteMath) are featured on the soundtrack! (they have recorded a version of the old Transformers theme). I can't say I heard it anywhere in the movie though, so that's a shame. But they're still on the soundtrack CD, so that's gotta help them along: they deserve to be much bigger than they are, and I'm sure they will be soon. (speaking of bands that I like that seem to be getting some traction, Mat Kearney has been playing on Fox and MMM quite a few times recently. I even hear Brooke Fraser's "ShadowFeet" being used on the ads for 9's "Sea Patrol" or somesuch at the moment).

As a segue, I listen to the MuteMath CD every time I go to the gym - the first 5 tracks are great for the 10 minute run and 10 minute cycle that I always have to start with. I've managed to consistently go to the gym 3 times per week since I started 6 weeks ago - it's still not easy, but it is getting marginally easier. Haven't noticed much of a physical change yet, aside from the fact that I can get through the routines with less of a struggle and have steadily increased the weights on each of the machines: I guess that must mean that some invisible good is being accomplished. I've actually noticed a very fundamntal thing about myself in the last couple of years: I have no respect for small increments. Whether in financial terms or in weight loss/gain, or in most anything else, I have an unhealthy attitude toward small increments. For instance, intellectually I know that saving $5 per week would eventually lead to a worthwhile amount of money if I had the discipline to keep at it, but I don't have the patience for it. I know that losing 500g per week would eventually result in a really positive overall weight loss, but if I don't see at least 1kg being lost each week I lose all momentum and interest. Conversely, if I know that I'm not eating right, and see that I'm putting on a few hundred grams each week or so, I'm not likely to change anything until a few weeks later when I realise that I'm 5 kilos heavier than I was "yesterday". It's weird I know, and it's a personality flaw that I'd like to work on for myself and in turn, be mindful of when setting an example for Jessica. Money boxes will feature heavily!

Jessica is pretty well now, but we calculate that she hasn't been well for a full week in at least 2 months. It seems that she just gets over something, starts to perk up for a day or two, and then comes down with something else entirely. Hopefully she's just getting all of her sicknesses out of the way in one convenient block, and then she'll be a picture of health for the next 3 years straight. She's doing a lot of dancing these days - some of it we have managed to catch on film, but most of the time you can't get to the camera so you just get to sit and enjoy it while it last (LOTS of ballerina twirling). She's also stringing two or three words together ("There's my Daddy! Where's my Mummy? There she is! Cup please? Ta!"), and has become really proficient at recognising colours, people, objects in her books etc ("Where's Anthony? Can you see RED? Where's the boat? etc"). She often does things now which cause Mel & I to look at each other and say "she's too smart for us!" (we walked in to the lounge last night and she had inverted a heap of coloured, plastic cups and placed them in a row across her other toys - and the cups were all sorted into colour sequence!). She also loves watching herself on TV or on the computer (video clips we've made of her) and she'll giggle away at all the funny things that onscreen Jessica does - no matter how many times we replay it.

Mel is flat-out at the moment - getting to bed after midnight, getting up at 5am, working whenever she can find a moment during the day (eg. when J goes down to sleep). Her major client is very high maintenance, very volatile in terms of mood and expectation, and pretty unreliable when it comes to completing tasks that Mel depends upon to complete her own role. So after being told one week to cut her hours back (for the clients financial needs), they turn around overnight and demand weeks worth of new analysis to be completed and sent back to them almost immediately. It's very taxing on her when it happens (which is not every day or even every week, thankfully) and makes every aspect of her life very difficult. On top of that, they are getting her services for a fraction of what they would need to pay anyone else (and they know that she does a brilliant job), so hopefully the next time they try to push her around she'll not only say "sorry, that's an unreasonable expectation - I'll have it for you next week instead" but she'll also add, "and my fees have gone up by 150% too!".

Speaking of Mel, it is her birthday next Friday (August 3rd). Every year, I spend at least June & July contemplating the perfect gift for her, and yet I always reach the last week as confused and as anxious as ever. I've never managed the 'perfect' gift, and on a few occasions what I have carefully planned out as being a brilliant set of gifts, matched perfectly to her interests and passions (or so I thought), has fallen pretty flat. Most of the time I think I hit somewhere in the middle to upper-middle range. I have a list of about 15 things this year, though recent conversations have helped me rule out about half of those too. This may be the year that I ask Mel to pick something that she'd like: it sounds incredibly unromantic and even thoughtless (hence I haven't done it before), but if it leads to her 'perfect' present, maybe the end justifies the means? I don't know. It seems like such a phone-in. I think I'll persist with my self-directed endeavours, and hope for the best (it is still the thought that counts, right???)

Well I must go and get my things ready for work tomorrow. I was told today that I need to fly to Brisbane tomorrow, investigate a perceived problem, then fly back tomorrow night. I'm up at 3:15 to leave the house by 4:15 (my flight is at 6am), get into Brisbane at 8:30, to my destination at 9:30, investigate this so called problem (which really needs a week to properly investigate), then back to the airport at 6:30pm, onto a plane at 7:50pm which gets into Melbourne at 10:15pm, so I'll be home by about 11:30pm: that's a long day! But on top of that, I'm told that I have to submit the full report on my findings (with photos and powerpoint slides) no later than 10am on Friday, as they'll form the basis of an 11am meeting. Since I cant start that report until I leave Brisbane, I can't see that I'll be going to be tomorrow night! On the bright side, it sounds like Mel will be up most of the night working on her projects, so we'll at least give each other company. On that note, since it's 10:22pm and she's busily tapping away on her laptop in the study, I should go and get her a cup of coffee.

Goodnight,

Matt