Kage Baker was well aware that any given day can turn into a useless mess.
Or that any one of us can turn into a useless mess on any given day. Whichever has happened, it’s happened to me today.
Couldn’t sleep – sat up and watched a movie called The Fountain, which was a vast disappointment. It implied a fantasy with Hugh Jackman in Spanish court dress, and delivered 90 minutes of visionary confusion and survivor’s guilt. Also, a weird take on The Little Prince, if said Prince were in love with his baobab tree and drifting through the Universe trying to light a supernova in the Mayan Underworld. Also, a nice lady dies of brain cancer, which I really could have done without.
I was so depressed I stayed up the rest of the night reading about cephalopods. Which is fine – I quite like squids – but since the sun came up I have been fighting narcolepsy and falling asleep constantly. Dreaming about superconductors in nice, bright colours like aluminum tumblers from the 1950’s, which could be bought in rolls at Ace Hardware …
So. Useless Mess Day. Today would have been a Monday in its heart of hearts even if it had not fallen on a Monday anyway. Going back to bed to estivate. Advice, Dear Readers: Don’t watch The Fountain. Kage would have raved furiously over the disappointment …
Kathleen, Kage and the Company 
I sort of remember watching that movie…not impressed…had higher hopes for Hugh Jackman…
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I have mixed feelings about The Fountain. When it was finished, I loudly and angrily told the movie what it could do with itself (except movies can’t do that). Then I went online and read a few different interpretations about the story. And doing so has kinda made me change my mind about The Fountain.
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Mervius – it was a beautifully made film, well-acted; under other circumstances, I can see liking it tremendously. Unfortunately, the viewer brings their own expectations to a film – and what I brought was the expectation a handsome man in pretty clothes. Which is my own fault – except for the parts we can blame on the marketing department. Nonetheless, it was a poor choice for entertainment on a sleepless night!
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Completely unrelated, sorry, but couldn’t find a working email address for you… You’ve mentioned previously that Kage saw rediscoveries of animals thought to be extinct as examples of Company work. Well, the Company has been busy in South American recently: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-spectacular-mammal-rediscovered-years-.html
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Laura – yes, I added him happily to the list I keep a few days ago. And he’s unabashedly cute, too. The rufous hair-do, the striped coat, the furry tail – quite a handsome little guy. I hope his breeding population can be verified and kept safe. And in all seriousness, this makes a nice point for the effectiveness of eco-resorts as well. Not only do they make money so third-world countries don’t have to commit slash-and-burn agriculture, they thereby provide places for the endangered species to live. As a matter of fact, Kage felt most eco-resorts were probably Company projects anyway.
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Kate – Thanks for the movie comments. I’d vaguely had The Fountain on my maybe-see list, as the initial publicity made it sound as if we were going to have Hugh Jackman as some sort of alternative Conquistador. Now it can just fall right off the list. I hope your Tuesday behaves itself better.
Laura – Thanks for the red-crested tree rat info. The same info is also on some site called aliens-ufos, so perhaps we’re not the only ones who see the Company’s hand in this. The beast him(or her)-self looks like an interesting combination of fluffy and beady-eyed. Probably an escaped pet from New World One, don’t you think?
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Useless mess days. So true. And thank you for the warning about the movie, it has jumped around the lower reaches of my Netflix queue for some time. I think I can shed it now. There! My day feels less messy already.
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The Fountain is the perfect accompaniment to a useless mess of a day, given that it is a useless mess of a movie. Even the presence of Hugh Jackman in a wifebeater could do nothing to save it. Apparently the original casting was to have been Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Still would’ve been a stinker.
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Several years ago, when I was suicidal, the nurses told me to get someone to look after the kids for a couple of days and just get out, get out of my own head. We went to the movies and watched Million Dollar Baby. So: I feel your pain somewhat on that whole wish-someone-had-told-me-about-THAT-part-of-the-story thing. Blech.
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