Hello my Adoring public,

It is wonderful to see you all trying to find out all of my slightly-untidy little secrets. Unfortunately, this has recently become a "Friends-Only" journal... If by some strange and universally catastrophic twist of cosmic events you might actually want to READ my journal, just add a comment onto this entry and let me know how you found me or whatever, and I'll do my best to get you added.

Saw the new Hulk movie over the weekend!

( Possible spoilers, Definite geekiness ahead! )

Title: 'Nobody Does the Right Thing'
Author: Michael
Summary: Jason shows up for a scheduled rendezvous
Characters/Pairings: Jason and Nicky
Rating/Warnings: PG-13? Probably less... Haha
Ficathon Recipient/Prompt: yeswonderland/ I kind of combined two prompts into one. Prompt regarding Jason and Nicky: Fluff, something about the progress of their
relationship. (I don't think I ever really reached fluff, though) and prompt 2: Something character study-wise in genre. Basically how Jason feels about what he is/who he is/his future.
Spoilers: Bourne movie trilogy is pretty much spoiled...
Beta: A friend
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Jason Bourne or Nicky Parsons or their related properties. I did not get paid for writing this story.
Author's Notes: I'm not sure if this is a complete story or not. It's more like an introductory chapter... I tried to tie it up. But I'm slow, and I wanted to meet the deadline.


( Nobody Does the Right Thing )

I wonder how hard it would be to get General Mills to start shipping Spicy Chex Mix to my house. In crates.

Quick update... The concert was wonderful. We were incredibly close to Chris Martin's new afro. I was very pleased. Fiona Apple was very strange while she sang, but she performed marvelously. I drove home after the show. We didn't get off of the parking lot until midnight. I checked the clock as I got into bed and it was a few minutes after 4 AM. Not too shabby for what everybody was telling me was a five hour drive. I stayed awake by reading signs and billboards out loud, singing (and trying to learn the lyrics to Coldplay's new songs, which still eludes me), and staring into streetlights when we passed them. I also allowed the cold air to vent into the car, which is why I caught a sinus infection that I still can't seem to shake. Blah.

So, we basically laid around Friday through Sunday and did absolutely nothing. Glorious!

I just want to talk a little bit about our viewing habits of late... We've been watching a lot of these "concept" dating shows on the afternoon block of MTV: Date My Mom, Room Raiders, Parental Control. All of 'em. And, everytime we're watching them I can't help wonder why we bother. Practically everything about them are superficial (especially NEXT. That's definitely the worst as far as judging by looks), but what seems most abhorrent to me is how the people on these shows are almost invariably looking for some action, if you know what I mean.

The show that makes this fact absolutely disgusting is Date My Mom, in which mothers try to win dates for their daughters. The mothers are all nice, in some cases lying about their daughters' appearances or qualities or past experiences, just so they can win this date, and the whole time MTV is showing these asides where the date in question is making steamy remarks.

Does anybody else out there get weirded out by the fact that these mothers are prostituting their daughters??? For free???

So last night I bought this cheapo documentary about the people who stood in line for six weeks in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater to see Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones called "Star Wait." I had seen a segment of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog where he was making fun of the same people for standing outside the theater for Episode III (even though the movie didn't play there) and thought it might be interesting to watch and perhaps even good for a laugh.

It was okay, but I think I definitely got my money's worth. The camera work was shoddy to say the least, and the subjects were mighty crass in their vocabulary. I'm a fan of Star Wars. In fact, I'm considering attending a marathon showing of all six movies at a small movie theater in January (tickets go on sale Saturday... I'm still thinking about it.) But these guys definitely take the cake.

Why am I telling you this? Well, one of the gentlemen raised a somewhat interesting question, actually two, about this series of movies that I thought might be fun to debate... with myself.

The questions are: Which was the villian, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Darth Vader? It seems like a simple question, but when asked outright, Obi-Wan lied to Luke, while Darth Vader told him the truth. It's an idea worth considering, though I definitely know where I stand on this one.

Secondly, are Vader's actions in the last few minutes of Return of the Jedi enough to warrant the same reward as Yoda and Obi-Wan, becoming one with the Force? (as is signified by his standing next to them at the end of the movie all blue and shimmery-like.)

Firstly, was Obi-Wan a villian because he lied? Of course, Obi-Wan should not have lied. A lie is a fundamental breach of trust and is definitely something that would be associated more with the "dark side" than the "light." However, consider the alternative. Would Luke have even believed Obi-Wan if he told the young man outright that his father used to Darth Vader? It's highly unlikely. The only reason he accepted it when Anakin himself admitted it is because Luke was in-tune enough with the Force by then to feel it for himself. Also, what good would the knowledge that Vader was Anakin have done for Luke at the time Obi-Wan told him that Vader killed his father? The only possible outcomes I can think of would be contrary to the good of Luke and, in actuality, for the galaxy itself. As Obi-Wan later admitted, what he told Luke was truth, from a certain point of view. In the movie, considering the circumstances and Obi-Wan's knowledge and belief system, I believe he did the kind thing by not telling Luke his father was Darth Vader.

On the flipside, was Darth Vader less of a villian because he told Luke the truth? Again, in my opinion, the answer is no. It is a historical fact that evil men, liars and traitors in every way, will use a truth or a tidbit of factual information to lure their prey. Vader wanted something from Luke: slavery to the Emperor OR even to overturn the Emperor. By telling Luke that he was his son, Vader accomplished two things. He established a link between the two of them he felt could be exploited, and he discredited the fond memory that Luke had of Obi-Wan. That's the reason so many fans debated whether Vader was telling the truth; it would make a perfect lie.

So, to me the answer is simple. Obi-Wan was a kind man and a hero. This was not tainted by the fact that he twisted the truth when he told Luke his father was killed, or nonexistant. Similarly, Darth Vader wasn't any less a villian because he chose to tell Luke the truth. He was simply pursuing his own selfish interests.

The second question asked was regarding Anakin's redemption. Is it fair that a man responsible for the deaths of millions of people be redeemed mere moments before death because he suddenly saved the life of one man, his son?

Well, the first point in that argument I'd like to address is, did Vader just save one life? In the "expanded universe" of Star Wars, it is stated that the Emperor's vast powers in the dark side were used to guide the soldiers in his army as they fought the Rebels. That is why the battle turned so quickly when the Emperor died. The soldiers in the Empire's army had suddenly lost their chief source of guidance. Even if that weren't so, by ridding the galaxy of the Emperor, Vader was still saving countless lives the Emperor would have taken in the future if left unchecked (which he surely would have been as there were no Jedi left to challenge him.)

Looking at things from that standpoint, what Vader did when he destroyed the Emperor was quite heroic.

Another thing to consider is, how sentient is the Force? Is there an intelligence behind it? Is the fact that Vader was redeemed a reason to believe that he was actually forgiven for all his past deeds? Or simply a reflection of the state of his mind and heart when he actually died? At the time of his death, Vader had left the ways of the dark side and had embraced the light once more. Is the Force so easily tricked?

Well, I don't really have an answer for that. The true nature of the Force was never really explained. I suppose my point is that there are many, many things to consider when passing judgement. Who's to say that Vader's redemption was warranted or not? Who could really challenge that decision? I know I'm not wise enough to judge another man.

In other news, I don't have to work tomorrow. 8-D

I'm done.

This morning, as soon as I walked into work, one of the ladies came up and said, "I have a job for you." This is not unusual, so I followed, anticipating some kind of minor computer problem or perhaps a water bottle that needed changing. Instead she said, "The vacuum cleaner is broken. It's blowing instead of sucking."

Again, I anticipated an easy fix. I mean, everybody's seen the cartoons where they flick a switch on the vacuum cleaner and it starts blowing instead of sucking, right? I just flick the switch back, and voila! Fixed absence of matter.

Well, I searched the dang thing up and down... No such switch on this model. The problem had to be something else. So, I turned the thing on and tried running it. It seemed to pick up a few pieces of paper around the copier. (It must have been an illusion. It wasn't picking anything up.) I called in the lady, saying, "I don't see the problem." She spread out a large hunk of confetti-ed paper, and it just blew them around. It wasn't going to be THAT easy.

SO, I started investigating further... By removing the tube, I discovered that the vacuum was, in fact, sucking instead of blowing. That was a relief. Upon further examination, I discovered quite a blockage of paper in the short tunnel the runs from the spinny-brush thing on the bottom to the sucky tube thing on the side (that takes the trash into the bag). This is all very technical, now. I hope you all can follow.

I tried to use an ink pen to loosen the clog, but the pen was too short. I tried scissors. They loosed the papers a little bit, at least the ones I could reach, so I tried hooking the maching up again, to see if they'd been loosened enough. The head of vacuum cleaner "fell" and landed directly on the ink pen. There was an awful noise, and by the time I got the cleaner turned off, the pen had been destroyed and ink was thrown all over the place. It was awful. Thankfully I wasn't working on carpeted floor. Some Formula 409 and several paper towels later, the work continued. Now, in addition to the clog, there was a piece of pen to be removed from the aforementioned "tunnel."

The tube was too small for me to stick my fingers into, and was actually situated beneath the spinny-brush thing. I went to my office and got my tool kit, and began deconstructing the vacuum cleaner. I knew at this point that there was a very real possibility the machine would never function properly again... But the work continued.

Taking the bottom off of the cleaner actually only involved the removal of two screws. I then removed the spinny-brush thing and had clear access to the tunnel. Using some large tweezers that were in my tool set, I began pulling out chunks of paper. After removing a particularly large hunk of detritus, I dediced that there might be enough cleared out to allow the power of the vacuum cleaner to do the rest of the work. I put the spinny-brush thing back into place, replaced the bottom so as not to lose an eye when the spinny brush thing started spinning, replaced the bag (the other one was covered in ink), and flipped on the switch. There was noise, but nothing happened.

Perturbed, I repeated all of the deconstruction and again tried to clear the path, this time using a fork. This new tool worked fairly well, and I was able to get all but a tiny bit of the paper left in the "tunnel." Confident that the task was finally completed, I put the bottom of the cleaner back together, plugged it in, and hit the switch. I held my hand up to the spinny brush thing... I could feel the wind from the brush, but it definitely wasn't sucking. At this point, I was pretty confused. I removed the sucky tube thing from the side and held it up to my hand. It wasn't sucking at all!

It was only at this moment that I realized I'd removed the front cover of the vacuum cleaner to replace the bag, and I hadn't replaced the cover. Obviously, a vacuum cleaner cannot operate if it can not create a vacuum. Cursing my stupidity, I snapped the cover into place and hit the switch.

And there was GLORIOUS SUCKAGE.

Wiping my ink-stained hands, I walked away from another job done in the worst possible way.

I decided to do this, cause I saw it on Scarlett's LJ, and it looked fun. Take a look!

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