So I finally got around to seeing “The Terminal” tonight.
As I suspected, it was sappy, sentimental, well made and romantic.
Note to the Rat Pack members who may read this site from time to time. The Terminal is a good date flick.
But here are some nits I have to pick. This movie is science fiction! Why? Well…
Hugo Boss suits at an airport store for US$199?
If that’s true, I’ll fly into JFK and buy several!
Quarter refund for SmarteCarts?
I thought they cut that out because bums were living in the airports harassing folks for their carts.
Asshole Gov’t Employees?
Well, that’s probably true for some of them.
Catherine Zeta Jones as a sweetheart UA flight attendant who’s 39 and unattached with issues and stillittos?
Hmmm. Can’t see it. Nope. And the issues part of that is the only thing that keeps this movie in the “Science Fiction” category and not in “Fantasy”.
But the way she deals with her issues, that part of the movie belongs to Jerry Springer…
So gist of the story is “good guy stays true to self, doesn’t get girl”. Kinda bittersweet, dont’cha think?
Bad day for Customer Service
I returned from LA tonight.
It was not without mishap though. Follow.
First, got to LAX an hour before my flight was to leave. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?
There was no one in the terminal except for the people who were on my flight. They filled up 1/3 of the plane when we finally got boarded.
This fact is important because it was a VERY unbusy day at LAX today. And despite that, my flight was STILL delayed.
Yes, the idiots who run UA have found another way to be late, even if there’s no reason to be.
“they’re bringing the plane from the hangar”.
That’s it. I mean, it’s not busy, it’s not crowded and the plane is not broken. Gotta love Union workers! They friggin’ suck. This is why UA is going down the toilet. That and the overpaid executive board. And since they’re “union owned”, this explains why they suck so badly.
Then, there’s more!
We finally get into SFO and to the Airport BART station (another Union racket, errr operation). We wait for 15 minutes for the train and get on board. Then we wait while the train’s doors open and close.
And open
and close
and open
and close.
This kept on for at least 5 minutes. Then the announcement that all San Francisco transit victims dread:
“This train is going out of service”.
Once we disembark, the muffled PA (who sounds like she’s making the announcement with a Midas muffler in her mouth) creaks that the replacement train is on the third track. So everyone who’s been waiting to get on the train hauls ass up and down the stairs to get to the train who makes the announcements SEVEN times that he’s closing the doors.
And then does it five more times.
Finally get to South City and my car. Hungry. Go to In n Out.
At In n Out, I’m rendered invisible as the girl who is supposed to be taking orders uses her laservision to look through me to acknowledge one of her “peeps” and takes my order only after I use the LAPD “growl of death” to inquire if she is taking orders for food.
Sheesh. A bad day for customer service…
Question of the day
Why is it that I can make an excellent Filet Mignon dinner for two (last Saturday) but yet botch making frozen pizza (last night)?
4th of July Weekend
So I’m off to Los Angeles again for the 4th of July weekend.
Why? Friend’s 30th birthday (he’s not happy about it, I’ll tell ya now!) and an excuse to go somewhere for the long weekend.
It’s also a good reason to go to Little Tokyo and have a lot of ramen and curry.
Mmmmm. Curry!
I got my gas bill from the road trip I took during Memorial Day. I have concluded that factoring the time spent on the road combined with the exorbitant price of gas, flying becomes more cost-effective.
So I’m flying down. Yea!
Ha ha HA!
Yes, I’m still here.
Not really going anywhere this summer. “Anywhere” meaning overseas.
Autumn is the time to go because I will have saved up some money and tickets are cheaper.
dot dot dot
So there’s a new movie coming out called “The Terminal“. It’s a story about a man whose country disappears while he is in route to JFK. Because of that his passport and travel documents are worthless once he lands. It’s a dramedy and Catherine Zeta-Jones is a UA flight attendant who befriends him while he’s in limbo. Disclaimer: UA was involved in the filming of this flick.
Now this is where the movie jumps to science fiction. Since WHEN did UA flight attendants look like Catherine Zeta-Jones?
Short answer: They don’t. They look more like Kathy Bates (with the same attitude) in Misery.
Which ironically is what most passengers are in when they’re on UA.
But despite this, I’ll probably check it out. Although it’s obviously a date flick, the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones is in it makes it worthy to see.
moan moan
Is it too early to rant about not being able to travel overseas because it’s high season and everyplace is hella expensive?
Nope? I thought not.
AArrrrrggh
Just got back into town last night from LA. Despite it being the end of Memorial Day weekend, the drive was pretty quick.
It wasn’t congested any more than usual on the 5, but approaching Casa De Fruita, BAM! Gridlocked traffic, took an hour to go 2 miles.
No shit.
There were a lot of tourists and holiday drivers on the road (both who need to be on buses). How can I tell? Well, regular drivers dun usually do this, which I saw in quantity.
Got home over an hour late. Annoying…
LA Farewell Tour (sort of)
So this weekend has turned into the “LA Farewell Tour”, sorta.
My friends who are still in LA tend to live on opposite ends of the LA area.
Friend 1 is in Diamond Bar.
Friend 2 is in Agoura Hills.
Friend 3 is in Seal Beach
Friend 4 is in South Pas.
This is just the order I visited them this time around. If you map it out, you’ll see that each of these cities is on the fringes of Los Angeles. Weird how that works.
3 out of 4 are LTR’d or married. That makes hanging out or visiting a bit awkward. That and the distance changes things. And time too.
But I know that this is the LAST time that I do a “road trip” like this one. Tiring.
On the plus side, there’s a wittle puppy here!
Why do I do these things?
Yesterday, a friend of mine called and said, “I’ve got a free place to crash in Las Vegas, what are you doing?”
And like a crazy person, I jumped on the road.
Crazy because it takes 8 hours to get to Las Vegas from my house (for those of you that are interested, the route from my house is I-280 S, SR85 S, US-101 S, SR152 E, I-5 S, SR58 E, I-15 N).
Crazy because gas is US$2.50+ a gallon.
Crazy because I got asked at 1100 and I was doing laundry and didn’t leave until 1500.
Well, the 20 or so hours I spent in Vegas was neat. It’s like an adult Disneyland with strippers, hookers, booze and gambling. And you can smoke cigars inside too!
What was absolutely nuts were the other drivers on the road on Thursday. The dual concepts of road courtesy and lane discipline are foreign to most drivers out there. Urban Assault Vehicles (AKA SUVs) driven quickly give the impression to other drivers of a 3 ton truck out of control. Did I mention the video screens?
I saw a lot of cars with video screens being used. Either laptops or portable DVD players. The drivers as well of the passengers were watching…or at least it seemed like it. Their cars were driving with the inattentiveness normally reserved for bad drivers who insist on talking on the phone while their road speed drops or increases, depending on the tempo of the conversation.
I saw three flipped cars in the past 24 hours, one on a Las Vegas street.
It’s dangerous out there…
Future Planning
Yes, I’m already planning for the next trip.
Thinking…Kyushu.
Southernmost island of the Japanese “mainland”.
They have a new Shinkansen, hot sands, onsen and tonkotsu ramen.
Hmmmmm. Wonder how Hakata is in late November?