Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2002 > May 2002 Edition
The first part of this month coincided with my spring vacation. I visited Purdue University on the first; the campus was not all that busy because it was finals week and not many students were about. I did visit Von's, where I bought a Hello Kitty journal for my sister Vickie.
The third was the fiftieth birthday of my favorite actress, Caitlin Clarke. I am sure, that she is very happy with her life, especially as she returns to the stage (at least for summer theater).
Of her two early films, one is about to come out of obscurity (in America) on DVD: The Kid Brother, about the life of a legless but active boy and how it is affected by a French film crew. The other better known film, Dragonslayer, will not come out on DVD until next year, if ever.
I also passed the CompTIA Linux+ exam. This means I am competent to manage a Linux network. It does not mean I am a Linux wizard, but it is a first step.
The week following my vacation was relatively quiet. It was also wet; it's been raining for most of the week. It ended with me at work preparing a set of computers as replacements for those that have expired.
I bought a DVD called Metropolis. This is not the Fritz Lang film of that name; rather, it is an animé based on a manga by Tezuka Osamu (the father of modern Japanese comics) which, in turn, is based on Lang's film.
This fable of technology and power centers on Tima, a superrobot in the form of the late daughter of Duke Red, virtual master of Metropolis. Metropolis is a vast, multilevel city maintained by robots. These robots have largely displaced human workers, breeding a lot of hatred and resentment.
Duke Red has inaugurated the Ziggurath, a skyscraper secretly housing a sun-scaring energy beam. Tima was built to control the Ziggurath and its surrounding city. After an unintended tour of the city—pursued by Rock, the bitter robot-hating son of Duke Red—Tima had other ideas of what to do with the Ziggurath.
The producers and the director, Rin Taro, have crafted a very beautiful film patterned on the Art Deco style that harks to Lang's film.