I Watched Naruto and Posted Below About It.

Then I neglected to post what I did over the brief trip in Montreal this Sunday until Tuesday. I guess that would be more interesting to those of you who don't really give a crap about anime anyway. Oh well.

So I went to Montreal on Sunday. The casting agency had called on Friday to say they had a movie extra job on Monday, so I went. Apparently it's called "Christmas Without Ornaments" by CBS, and they were filming in Verdun. Obviously it's snowing right now, so it's a perfect time to film a Christmas movie in Montreal, right?

The worst of my fears were confirmed when I got to the holding area at the Auditorium Verdun. I didn't have my own winter jacket in Montreal, so the costumers gave me two different woolen ones. And we were to film outside on Wellington avenue, from about 9 am to 7 pm. Fortunately for us it was sunny and probably 27+ degrees out.

I liked the parts where we walked around in the same fashion down the street and the director kept trying to remind us it was cold outside. "COLD! BRR!!" Also, while they filmed, they didn't close off traffic to vehicles. So we saw all these guys in tank tops with their arms dangling out the window and playing boom boom music during the filming.

My favourite drive-by was an SUV that stopped directly in front of the camera while we were in the middle of filming the scene, and a woman got out of the vehicle on the camera side and went into the bank, once again directly in front of the camera. The director then said, "Cut. Okay. Great extra work. Don't worry, I had it all planned."

And my absolute favourite memory of filming this thing was at about noon. After a take, I was walking back to the first position area, and directly on that part of the sidewalk, a woman and her child were standing. The kid had his head down, and immediately we all saw it coming...

"HUUUURRRRKKK!!!"

We stood at a distance, and turned around. The mother was gently encouraging the kid.

"HEEEEUUUUURRRRRKKKK!!!"

They walked away, but we extras were completely agitated. Not only was it sickening to listen, to watch, to *smell*... but it was also there, on the exact spot we were supposed to be standing to wait for our cues. And it was radioactive green...

No one hosed it down either.

I was sunburnt on my arms due to our sitting outside in the street/waiting area. I managed to mistake guacamole with dijon during lunch. Ah, and I got into too many shots in the scenes as an extra so I doubt the casting director will call me back for another stint in this movie.

Thus endeth the account of X-mas w/o Orn. by this extra.

Narutooooo!

My main interest at the moment in hobby and entertainment is anime, as you may probably already know. As with many different genres of art and entertainment, there are those creations which will be total, utter, utter, crap. (DBZ anyone?)

And there are those which will be so stupendously popular that everyone will think it's either genius or crap. (Akira happens to fall in this category.)

And there are the underrated ones that should become stupendously popular so that everyone will think it's genius, with the danger of it being considered utter crap. (Kodomo no Omocha, to name one.)

Anyway, you get the picture.

Naruto is somewhere in the second category, although I don't know if the casual viewer would realize its popularity in the anime scene at the moment. Its main appeal is the ninja themes and comedic tools (and yes, sometimes even sexual in nature). So it's understandable that young boys will be drawn to this more than other demographics, on an overview. [I wouldn't have given this anime a second thought if I wasn't so curious about the popularity of the series, and its availability through bittorrent and fanatic fansubbing.]

But good anime is not so cut and dry in themes. This anime series is about a bratty, loud, and brash boy growing up, developing his skills and fulfilling his desire to become the most badass ninja in his village. But it's also about the struggle of making friends, discovering the real meaning of many untangible qualities, like courage and teamwork... and a lot about human emotions.

Growing up in a village that shuns him for a past that is none of his own fault, the orphan Naruto constantly acts out in bad ways, in order to gain the recognition he yearns from the villagers. Given already this tragic background, the viewer instantly becomes hooked on the character. Then the series presents a cornucopia of mysterious characters who become more rounded and many-dimensional at once.

So already by the second episode, I was itching in my seat to get as many episodes of this series as I could. Since I'm in Quebec with this damnable Sympatico connection, I had to suffer with one episode per week on average. (Hey, just like a regular television series...)

But this last episode I just saw (#19) made me cry a waterfall. (What, haven't you ever been moved by anything, you heartless freak?) The episode ends a long arc that started somewhere in episode #6 or so, involving two villains who are not quite as they seem. Even villains in the series are no longer one-dimensional beings out to destroy the heroes' dreams. One can say truthfully that any character on Naruto will have some sort of back story that will make your gut wrench and question the nature of justice and human decency...

Anyway, I wrote all this just to say I watched almost all my episodes of Naruto that I burned so far, and I'm probably going to run out by tomorrow. ;_;

Sum it Up Already

So what I hate the most about working at a buffet? Safety hazards. And skinny people stuffing their faces with deep fried blobs of fat. And bastard coworkers.

Yesterday night I had the misfortune of slipping on the wet floor and smacking the back of my hand on a table corner. It immediately grew into a giant purple bubble that hurt like mad. The traditional chinese method of tending these kinds of injuries, no matter how painful, is to RUB IT HARD UNTIL IT TURNS RED.

Which is what I did.

Then this morning my thumb was no longer swollen in a single bump. No, it was swollen ALL OVER. It's stiff but not too painful. I can't seem to do much with it though. But it doesn't matter. I already broke a small bowl today from my stiff thumb-ness.

Anyway, good news. I get to say I may not be working there much longer because I have applied for a job offer that the Emploi Quebec office finally got around to telling me about. Apparently it's 3 months of office work at downtown Montreal, but I guess I can make do with it because anything would be better than getting smacked around like yesterday... well, maybe not ANYthing (thinking about my bad 3 days of telemarketing.... *shivers*) ... All I need now is to wait for a possible interview.

Buffeteer by Night... Superhero by Day!

Julie suggested it would be a good cover job, bufeteering I mean, for a superhero. Unfortunately, it's mostly night work for me, since I finish at around midnight after cleaning the damn tables.

So here's a list of potentially fatal injuries (to your job) if you are a buffeteer.

Scrapes

• Downfall: Sure they're innocent bleeding scratches, but if your arms are secreting the red stuff, it's no longer so tasty for the clients to eat anymore. This is probably just hazardous to the clients though. UNTIL IT GETS INFECTED!!! (Which it did, yes.)


• Counter: Bandage. Baby stuff, really. Unless there are no plastic adhesive bandages lying around, which can happen even in a restaurant.


• Prevention: Suck it up.

Blisters

• Downfall: Your little bobo on your pinky toe can actually make your work a living hell. Just by walking back and forth may bring about a GIGANTIC PUS BUBBLE OF PAIN-BRINGING AGONY!!! (Which it did, yet again.)


• Counter: Bandage.


• Prevention: Thick socks. Good shoes. No running to work because of a stupid late bus.

Burns

• Downfall: Steam is a nasty, unsuspicious HELLBRINGER OF PAIN!!! You don't think of it as a burn hazard until you have to work with it every day at the tables. Even some hot metal surfaces don't burn as much as steam, since the only direct thing that is being heated up is the water in the tables. As you can probably guess, two of my fingers got burned today from escaping steam. Thereby, one of the burns evoled into a blister, and the other evolved into a swollen mess.


• Counter: Bandage. Buffet ice cubes. Chinese ointment would have been useful if they had any at the time.


• Prevention: Avoid touching anything ever again.

Bruised and Bloody Fists

• Downfall: You keep telling yourself it isn't a good idea. No matter how many times the bitchy coworker oversteps herself, or how much the untouchable coworker slacks off, you knew in your good sense it was never a good idea. But you had to do it anyway. And now both your fists are sore from the X-TREME!!! POUNDING!!! you submitted to the unfortunate coworkers. Now you're screwed.


• Counter: Bandages. Lots of them.


• Prevention: Meditation classes.

Free Comic Book Day... my ass!

I have been looking forward to going to a comic book store on July 3 (today) to pick up copies of free comic books. I went last year in NDG around May, and I enjoyed many of the publications immensely. (Possibly gearing towards purchasing my own comic books but I hadn't had an income at the time.)

But this year, I'm in Quebec City working my ass off this summer at this wretched buffet. I was looking forward to going to the comic book store this year in Montreal, where they would have the same 20-odd comics for the taking.

I even convinced my mum to drive to the mall (Place Laurier) to go pick them up. (Now if that doesn't sound like a 30-year-old basement geek, then I don't know what does.)

I even woke up at 9 am, despite not sleeping until 4 am this morning after work. (Holy crap am I tired.) And I have to go to work later at 4 pm.

And I had a crappy last two days at work. (I won't even start on *that* one.)

Anyway, we went to the store, and it was full of people outside (smaller boys and 30 year old guys) playing Magic cards or something like that. Inside, there was one table set up, with a guy signing comic books. He apparently inked a few comic books that they were giving away at the table. In fact, there were exactly 4 comic books they were giving away at the table.

I went all that way to get 4 comic books??? And at least one of them I already had from *last* freaking year!

Anyway, the trip wasn't a total loss, really. We went to the Bay afterwards and picked up a couple of 5 dollar slip cover sheet and duvet cover. Woo hoo.

I'sa gonna take a nap now.