Love is… getting up at 6am to stalk garbage trucks
This is kind of a second part to last week’s post, but today (Wednesday) I was up from 6am driving around Yellowwood Park with Paul, counting garbage bags and then following a garbage truck around the suburb, to check out vehicle speed and routes for Paul’s Simulation Honours Project.
At least this time, it wasn’t boring like last week. The whole experience, particularly the search for the garbage truck, was weirdly Grand Theft Auto-like. Anyone who has ever done the “Collect unusual vehicles” missions, they’ll know what I’m talking about. The other funny moment was when the garbage truck men came to pick up bags guarded by a nasty little runt of a dog (think Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbell). The one man simply picked the dog up like one of the bags and dumped it back on the pavement.
Anyway, in other news, my Media assignment has been postponed for a week so that means I get to have a weekend after all, as opposed to stressing over a Monday deadline. So I’m going for a train ride on the Umgeni Steam Engine on Saturday up to Nottingham Road for the day.
Otherwise, last night Paul and I continued our run of horror movie watching, going to see George Romero’s Land of the Dead. Although not as genuinely unnerving as last year’s Dawn of the Dead remake (the zombie baby scene especially), or 28 Days Later (both of which gave me nightmares), Land of the Dead is still pretty solid B-grade horror.
For one thing, the cast (including Simon Baker, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper), play things straight in a tale that is seems to say more about class difference and exploitation of the poor than anything else. For another, the gore factor is especially high. And while the film’s zombies are more placid than the rabid creatures in Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later, they actually have some character. The diversity includes clown zombies, petrol pump attendant zombies, butcher zombies and cheerleader zombies.
The only problems, ultimately, with Land of the Dead is that the ending is pretty flat, and although a large cast is introduced, many characters seem to be forgotten in the course of the story. It’s very hard to feel anything for characters when they aren’t developed. But then again, when has that ever been a concern of zombie flicks?
At least this time, it wasn’t boring like last week. The whole experience, particularly the search for the garbage truck, was weirdly Grand Theft Auto-like. Anyone who has ever done the “Collect unusual vehicles” missions, they’ll know what I’m talking about. The other funny moment was when the garbage truck men came to pick up bags guarded by a nasty little runt of a dog (think Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbell). The one man simply picked the dog up like one of the bags and dumped it back on the pavement.
Anyway, in other news, my Media assignment has been postponed for a week so that means I get to have a weekend after all, as opposed to stressing over a Monday deadline. So I’m going for a train ride on the Umgeni Steam Engine on Saturday up to Nottingham Road for the day.
Otherwise, last night Paul and I continued our run of horror movie watching, going to see George Romero’s Land of the Dead. Although not as genuinely unnerving as last year’s Dawn of the Dead remake (the zombie baby scene especially), or 28 Days Later (both of which gave me nightmares), Land of the Dead is still pretty solid B-grade horror.
For one thing, the cast (including Simon Baker, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper), play things straight in a tale that is seems to say more about class difference and exploitation of the poor than anything else. For another, the gore factor is especially high. And while the film’s zombies are more placid than the rabid creatures in Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later, they actually have some character. The diversity includes clown zombies, petrol pump attendant zombies, butcher zombies and cheerleader zombies.
The only problems, ultimately, with Land of the Dead is that the ending is pretty flat, and although a large cast is introduced, many characters seem to be forgotten in the course of the story. It’s very hard to feel anything for characters when they aren’t developed. But then again, when has that ever been a concern of zombie flicks?
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