You hear that, Mr Andersen?

Oo, what a nasty job...

I'm not sure whether it's a guild requirement, or some sort of karmic law, but the way that the tradesperson previous to the one you're currently dealing with has always done a terrible, sloppy, half-arsed job is somewhat disturbing. I mean, perhaps it's merely a reflection of the ongoing trend towards perfection of the world, so that work that was good enough a week ago is slip-shod by today's higher standards. I mean, I wasn't paying the guy connecting up my telephone (or rather, what he said to me had no influence on what he was paid), so it can't be an attempt to pad the eventual bill. My only guess is that evil Trade Ninja come along and mess with the pristine workmanship of tradespeople as soon as it's confirmed by Trade Ninja HQ that they won't be returning to the worksite.

Okay, maybe not my only guess.

One of the interesting claims made by the TelstraClear tradesperson is that the reason that their service is so shocking is because there's a severe staff shortage. Now, I can believe that this might be true for the installation part of the equation; but I have twice rung Contact power, and been connected to a real human near-instantly, rather than having to wait for quarter of an hour or more. Given this experience, and even though I'm given to understand that unemployment is at a very low ebb, I find it hard to believe that Telstra is unable to find enough bodies to man their call centers adequately. I mean, I don't expect Contact's spooky prescience, but I don't understand why Telstra are so slow, even at offpeak times.

Anyway - I now have a phone number. It is different from the one I was told I was going to get, but that neither bothers nor astounds me. I have also got cable television - though I can't watch it yet, since I'm still at work, making up time for the five hours I wasted on Wednesday. (I'm currently waiting for a long-running process to finish, so I can get on to the next stage of my task - hence the blogging.)

I will send out an email to Likely Interested Parties with my new phone number in the near future.

***

People are already talking about the Oscars next year, and speculating about what our competition will be - the smart money seems to be on The War of the Worlds and Revenge of the Sith. Given that we've seen little or no footage from either (and there's not been much coming out from us), it all seems a little premature. Of course, you could legitimately ask if the Oscars were important - to which I would answer, in my best Sir Humphrey Appleby voice, "No... but in some sense, yes, Minister." I don't think it's a particularly safe guide to quality; but it is important when it comes to getting more work, and Weta's continued productivity is what's paying for my house.

***

To answer Jenni's question, the Studio Ghibli movies playing at the World Cinema Showcase are Only Yesterday, My Neighbors The Yamadas, Pom Poko and Whisper of the Heart. Weirdly, I can't find a website - they're usually pretty good at that sort of thing. The best I can do is a list of the films at this arts news site.

***

Okay, all of that was written between 7pm and 9pm yesterday; I've since gone home, and watched my first movie on cable. Unfortunately, it was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I know I've read about how a perfectly good screenplay can be ruined, but... goodness. This just wasn't very good. I mean, I have no particular problems with the effects, for example. But how did such a hodgepoge get made? What was most annoying was that they'd occasionally have small gems of dialogue, and then bury it under nonsense and illogic. Bah!

Anyway, off to a meeting. Bah again! :)

Posted by svend at March 3, 2005 9:05 PM