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Job Update

It’s been about six weeks since I started the new job, and I have to say I’m really loving it there. The first week was kinda iffy because despite the hiring and onboarding process having taken six weeks in and of itself, they still weren’t ready for me to do what I was hired to and along with one other contractor were reduced to doing mindless grunt work—deploying monitors at a couple different facilities. It was very physical work, and for the most part not having been off my ass for the previous six months, I came home exhausted the first few days.

The second week my network account was in place and all my permissions working, so I was assigned to the department where I am now, and it’s been a joy. Everyone has been friendly and more than welcoming (I was even invited to the department’s holiday lunch/gift exchange) and I’ve been treated with an unexpected amount respect by my peers. I was so used to the “he’s just a contractor so he doesn’t know anything” attitude I got at my last job it threw me for a loop until I remembered this is how it’s supposed to be, and in fact has been most of the other places I’ve worked. More than anything, this department reminds me of my team at the hospital, and that’s a very good thing indeed.

I think my supervisor recognized my talent immediately, because after proving myself by solving a few ongoing issues they were having with imaging machines as well as performing a few flawless PC deployments (i.e. customers not complaining that stuff was missing on their new machines), they cut me loose to run on my own with only very minimal supervision.

I genuinely like everyone in the department and both my supervisor and the two colleagues I work with have already made it clear that when a permanent position opens up this summer, they want me on board. I’m totally cool with that. This may be where that arrow drawn back at DISH finally hit its target.

And as of at least right now, I haven’t even been getting the Sunday evening “icks.” That’s got to count for something, right?

I know I’m going to be moved around to several other departments before this project is over, but at least I know I have a welcoming “home” waiting when the time comes.

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Also Just Because

Eurythmics: Don’t Ask Me Why (1989)

Yeah, I’ve been on kind of an Annie Lennox/Eurythmics thing lately. Sometimes I think I could listen to her forever.

This song comes from the We Too Are One album, which became my personal soundtrack in the days following the 1989 Loma-Prieta earthquake, lugging it around in my Sony Discman as I made my way around the City, still reeling from what had happened. I remember not being especially enamored of the rest of the album when it first came out, but it’s definitely grown on me over the years.

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Just Because

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983)

I still wonder how the 80s produced such a bumper crop of incredible music and the 90s were such a wasteland…

Or maybe that’s just my perspective.

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Lady Gaga Calls Out Trump, Government Shutdown During Vegas Show

From Billboard:

The singer paused during her performance of “Million Reasons,” saying, “If the fucking president of the United States could please put our government back…there are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money.”

She then took aim at Pence, whose wife Karen is under fire for accepting a job at a school that excludes LGBT children, adding, “And to Mike Pence, who thinks it’s acceptable that his wife works at a school that bans LGBTQ: you’re wrong. You say we should not discriminate against Christianity. You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and you can look yourself in the mirror and you’ll find it right there.”

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It Looks Like It’s Happening

There have been rumors of a rebooted/reimaged Dune movie in the works for years now. But it looks like it’s finally happening.

As I may have written before, when the original Dune came out in 1984 I was ecstatic. The Dune series remain my favorite books of all time, and while it was a difficult, convoluted story, I knew the first time I read it that it was deserving of a proper screen adaptation.

That being said, when I saw David Lynch’s version, I walked away sorely disappointed. Visually stunning, what I saw on screen matched almost exactly what I had visualized while reading the novel. But halfway through the story had been changed to such a degree that it was almost unrecognizable. And Paul making it rain at the end? Water is poison to the sandworms, so he would’ve effectively destroyed all spice production then and there.

I had my hopes dashed once again with the Dune and Children of Dune miniseries that appeared on the SyFy Channel in the early 2000s. This time the story matched the books almost perfectly, but the visuals were off. They looked cheap and I not-so-affectionately refer to the production as “Planet of the Hats.” Still, it was better than nothing, and better than Lynch because at least it followed the original storyline.

That’s why when I heard that Dennis Villeneuve (most recently known for Blade Runner 2049) would be taking the helm this time around, I had my hopes rekindled that we’d finally see a Dune worthy of its beloved status.

This production will star Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) as Paul Atreides. The cast will also include Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible) as Lady Jessica, Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Beast Rabban, Charlotte Rampling (Broadchurch) as The Reverend Mother Helen Mohiam (perfect!), and Stellan Skarsgård (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) as Baron Harkonnen. The other major roles have yet to be cast, but I’m optimistic because of who has already signed on.

The film is expected to begin filming in Budapest and Jordan this spring.

Precious few details have leaked out, but today I found these enigmatic photos on a Dune fan taken in Jordan that were simply labeled, “Arrakis, Jordan. Wadi Rum. Our New Home of Dune.”




Squee!

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A Rapidly Spreading Cancer

They’re popping up like toadstools after a rainstorm, or more accurately, a rapidly-spreading cancer: multi-story apartment/condo complexes in central Phoenix that are destroying historic (although not protected) landmarks in their wake.*

It is a trend that started several years ago and shows absolutely no sign of abating—at least until the next housing crash mercifully puts it out of our misery.

Phoenix used to limit their multi-family developments to at most three stories in height. This saved the developer money because no elevators were required, and the complexes fit in nicely with the surrounding neighborhoods. But no more! Now 4, 5, or 6 stories are commonplace, and from the looks of it, all of these developments were designed by architects who have never set foot in a desert.

Dark charcoal gray—or black—or deeply colored exterior walls. Yup. Makes perfect sense in an environment where the sun beats down 90% of the time, fading everything (something I immediately noticed upon moving back from Denver) and whose heat will simply be absorbed to re-radiate at night, further increasing the heat bubble hovering over the city in summer and diverting any incoming thunderstorms.

Along those same clueless-designer lines, walls of glass. I’d hate to think of what the cooling bills will be for the units, even if the windows are double-paned. This actually started in the early aughts with a complex I actually lived in (although my particular unit was a more traditional design). Arioso boasted two story units with huge walls of glass

But hey, they all have granite countertops and laminate flooring so it’s all cool. Never mind that the vast majority of these units have no storage whatsoever. Years ago you’d get at least a coat/linen closet and a small outside store room on your patio/balcony. But I guess all that square footage adds up and could easily be allocated to even more units to rent out! And it seems their target demographic doesn’t own stuff anyway; these apartments/condos look to be more collegiate fuck pads than actual homes. And WTF is up with these “studios” with “bedrooms” with no windows or second means of egress? How does this meet code?!

And don’t even get me started on the ridiculous amount of rent they’re charging for these shoeboxes…

*Not actually destroying. They’re keeping the most architecturally iconic parts of the buildings to quiet the public outcry…and turning them into leasing/sales offices.