mrbillgeorge

[mrbillgeorge]

WW84 - Rewritten

The movie is a fucking trainwreck. It’s honestly a nightmare. If anything in this movie works whatsoever, it’s a credit to the performers. 

This is the role Gadot was born to play and Pine is always great and their chemistry remains palpable. And Wiig is great addition. 

But the movie is a mess. The running time is nonsense. The pacing is criminal. Most of the movie you’re just sitting there going, ‘what the fuck is even happening right now?’ There’s no consistency of story or conveyance from scene to scene or character motivations. It’s really, really bad. 

But there are elements that work! Gadot! Pine! Wiig! 

You could use the bones that are here to make a really touching, incredible movie. This is that movie:

You open similarly. Flashback as setup is fine and expected for movies like this which have big mythologies. You use the opening to establish that there is an artifact from the gods that grants wishes but ‘at a cost.’ Sure, we get it, fine. 

You go to 1984. Establish what Diana has been doing. Here’s an action set piece moment. Do the mall thing. Whatever. Continue to push her loneliness. She misses Trevor. She hasn’t made connections with anyone else. She’s not of this world so to speak, so she’s a man without a country. Let Gadot really chew on it. 

Introduce Barbara. Give her more backstory. Her not fitting in. Her being awkward. She runs into Diana the same way. She sees how effortless it is for her and is envious but they’re both lonely in their own way and are kindred spirits. They become friends. 

*This* should be ALL of act one. Building their relationship. Maybe even add an action set piece where Diana has to save Barbara and she figures out Diana is the mysterious woman on the news that’s saving people. It makes their bond even stronger. Diana’s first REAL friend! 

Then, end of act 1, the artifact shows up. At their office. Diana realizes it may bring back Trevor. She is torn but decides it’s worth the risk. Secretly, Barbara wishes to be like Diana. Pull that from the existing movie. 

Act 2! Wishes come true, slowly. Trevor shows up as Trevor, no need for the shenanigans. We get a beautiful shift in the fish out of water comedy. First movie he was showing her around, now she shows him. They fall back in love all over again. 

Meanwhile, Wiig becomes more confident. More powerful. More popular. Let Wiig dig into this. She’s a gifted comedian and actress. She can have a field day. Tons of great comedy potential, as already shown within this movie. 

Throughout this, Diana still needs to fight crime, but she realizes she’s slowing down a step. Getting sloppier. Weaker. Not sure what’s going on. Then realizes it’s due to the wish. 

End of act 2, transformations complete. Diana has essentially lost her powers. And if you want to make it dark, maybe she can’t save someone she normally would be able to and some innocent person dies or is paralyzed or hospitalized or whatever. (Maybe this occurs in a fight against Harley Quinn or something. Pull in other DC stuff to placate the fan base.)

So she is overcome with guilt. Because, we know from the first movie, her driving force is saving and protecting others. She crossed no man’s land for it in WW1. That is who she is. And now she can’t do that. 

Wiig loses that warmth. Loses her humanity. As hinted at in this movie. Diana notices and because they’re friends, confronts her about it. A fight ensues. Small action beat to keep pace up. 

This story creates a consistent theme for the film, which is: what are you willing to sacrifice of yourself for your aspirations and desires? 

Now decisions have to be made that our characters can’t come back from, AKA Act 3. 

Diana needs to give up Trevor, but it will only work if Wiig also gives up her wish. Has to be both. But Wiig won’t go that easily. And thus we have the final showdown between former friends. Maybe she’s Cheeth by then, or maybe she just wears animal prints and you leave it at that. (She doesn’t *have* to be CG cheetah.)

They fight and eventually Diana triggers a memory or something, whatever, that gets Wiig to see the light and they go through the pain of the wish renouncement together.

It could have been a fun, poignant movie at two hours, max. Instead of what we got. Which was outlandish and garish. 

Make sure to follow Should I Go See It? on Instagram for all your movie review needs! 

[mrbillgeorge]

Me calling Zipcar:

A Play in One Act

'Hi Mr. George. I see you're calling from Auburndale. How can I help you?' 'Actually, I'm calling from Seattle. I--' 'Oh, then make sure you to go to your account online and update your records.' 'Uhhh, okay. Well, I'm *visiting* Seattle and I need a car for a day but I forgot my card at home, is there anyway I can get one?' 'Our Seattle office has closed down. I can mail you one and it will get to you in 5-7 days.' 'I'm only here a few days. There's no other place to pick one up? It's mail only?' 'Only through the mail.' 'What about unlocking the car with my phone? I read on your help page that's an option in some cases.' 'I'm sorry, that's not an option on your account.' '...Can I add it as an option to my account?' 'No, it's only for new members.' 'Theeeeen, can I create a new account to get that option?' 'No. When you put in your license info it will see your previous account and just reactive that. The only way to drive will be with your card.' 'Whiiich I have no way of getting in time. So basically I just can't use zipcar this weekend for my needs?' 'Unfortunately, no. Would you like me to process that replacement card?' 'Goodbye.' [Goes to Enterprise, sets up rental that is actually cheaper] THE END

[mrbillgeorge]

The Worst Day of My Life

The worst day of my life actually begins the night before. I’m leaving the next morning for a vacation in Punta Cana. The flight I’m booked for has a bit of a tight connection. It’s about 45 minutes. So my second plane is set to begin boarding at basically the same time as I’m landing.

So I reach out to Delta on Twitter to get their thoughts.

Hey, they do this stuff every day. So I trust ‘em. 

Like all travel days, I get to Logan early. I eat breakfast right across from my Gate and I wait…

Everything is going well, and then the board updates about a half hour before my boarding time. Ding! My flight is delayed 7 minutes. So I go to the gate attendant and tell her, with this schedule change, I’m even more nervous about my connection.

She says it’ll be fine. The plane is in the air. The gates are near each other, ‘you’ll be okay.’ She says the other option is to rebook me, connect through ATL and be in PUJ around 8pm (instead of the currently anticipated 3pm). But again, she says I’ll be fine, so I stick.

This moment right now is the turning point in the story. 

What I should have said was, “I don’t trust you. I want to play it safe. Rebook me through Georgia. I’d rather be there at 8 than risk not being there at all.” But I didn’t, and thus, the dominoes begin to fall.

So the flight goes from 7 minutes delayed, to 12, to 21…

I finally get a notification on my phone saying, hey, this delay may affect your connection, wanna rebook through Georgia? ... Of course, I get this notification on the goddamn jetway to the plane so it’s a liiiittle late for that.

What follows is the most stressful flight of my life (for now (that’s what we call a ‘tease’)). I think I can still make it. We begin to taxi before takeoff. And taxi. And taxi. We stay on the ground fooooorever. Finally we take off and my heart is going.

Halfway through the flight, I’m in full-on panic mode. I hit the flight attendant button like an asshole and she comes over and stares at me. I tell her I have a tight connection and I was wondering if she could radio down to the gate and tell them to hang tight for me.

She says now that we’re in the air she can’t contact anyone. … Which, the pilots are talking to the tower right? Like, we have the technology. Am I wrong?

So the flight lands and I dart to the front. I’m waiting for them to open the door. They open the door and the jetway starts to move in. I beg them to let me loose. She does and I jump to the jetway and go into a full on sprint. I checked the terminal Map so I know where I’m going and I just RUN.

Now, keep in mind, I’m an indoor kid. Usain Bolt I am *not.* So after about three gates my calves are on FIRE. I finally get to the gate and, sure enough, door is closed.

I head to the Delta rep and this is where things get reaaaal interesting.

They say they don’t have another flight until the next morning. Which means I miss a day+ of my stay at the resort. Which is unacceptable. I tell them there has to be a way for me to get there. Even if it’s another airline.

She says there’s an American flight in two hours that has a stop in Miami and gets there a bit after 8. But I’d have to pay out of pocket for it. I say fine. Just hook me up. She say she’s not supposed to do that. I beg her to help me and she says fine. She books me on American.

So I’m waiting for her to print my boarding pass or whatever and she says, ‘check your phone.’ I pull it up and there’s an email with my confirmation from *priceline.com*

Are you kidding me? She basically minimized the Delta system, pulled up Internet Explorer and just booked me through Priceline!

Okay, breath, whatever. At least I’m getting there. So now I ask about my bag, which is still *in* the plane from Boston. She says they don’t have a deal with American anymore (that ended two years ago apparently) so they can’t hand the luggage over to them. [Eye roll.]

She says my bag will end up at the Delta baggage service center. I can grab it there and then book it for my next flight. I ask if that’s outside security. She says yes: I’ll have to go to baggage claim, hope my bag arrives in the next half hour or so, grab it, take the air train to change terminals, go back through security and check my bag with American.

I ask why they can’t just put the bag on the flight that I *would* have been on the next morning. Then I can have the resort get it from the airport for me. They say for security reasons, if you don’t check in for an international flight, your luggage won’t get put on the plane.

So the clock is ticking, and I head to baggage.

I’m at baggage… no sign of the bag. The woman is not helpful whatsoever. I ask if it might arrive in, ya know, the next hour or so. And she says she has no idea. At this point, I’m freaking. I call my parents. I need someone else in the decision making process at this point.

My dad, always wise, says forget the bag. ‘You may never see that bag again.’ Fair point.

So I head to security to get on the American flight.

At this point, I’m in a better place. I know I’m getting there. I’ve come to terms with losing my luggage. I’ll still be there for 8pm-ish. I’ll only be losing 5 hours... and my stuff. Not *terrible.*

I get on the phone to call the resort to tell them I’ll be later, because they are my ground transportation from the airport. No one picks up at the number I was provided. So I call the website I booked through. They say no big deal and they ask what flight I’m on and they’ll adjust ground transportation. Great.

Then… TWIST!

The woman says, ‘wait, you booked a different flight?’ I say, ‘yes… why?’ She says, in a panicked voice, that if you don’t check in for an international Delta flight, they automatically cancel the return trip.

Whaaaaat?! 

[Loudspeaker] “Now boarding group 7 on American flight to Miami.”

I start to board and I’m losing my mind. If I don’t have a flight home, I cannot go. I’m not getting trapped in a foreign country with no way back. I’ve seen how that movie ends.

I start texting furiously with my mom. I’m sending her all my flight info and see if she can have my dad call as if he’s me to confirm I have a return trip. She says she’ll do her best and ends with:

I begin the flight to Miami, which has *now* taken the top spot as the most stressful flight of my life. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’ve narrowed it down to three options: 1. I land and I have a return flight and I make my connection to PUJ. 

2. I don’t have a return flight and I decide to spend a few days in Miami to salvage the trip, then go home. 

3. I don’t have a return flight and I book the next direct flight to Boston and I pull the plug on this entire catastrophe.

As we begin our initial descent into Miami, the pilot comes on. There’s a weather issue that we need to travel around and it will add 20 minutes to the flight. 

So now, I may not even make the connection to Punta Cana that I don’t even know if I want to make!

We finally land in Miami and my phone goes off. It’s my mom. She says dad talked to Delta and I’m all set and confirmed for my return from PUJ.

At this point: tears. I and holding back tears. The raw emotion of something *finally* going right and for my folks coming through for me, I could barely contain it. I’d also been up since 4am and eaten next to nothing and my entire body was tense from stress. And this was the thing that put me over the top.

So I get off the plane and start running to my PUJ connection. And, guess what, that flight’s delayed an hour and a half! 

I wait for that flight and take it to Punta Cana. Fast forward to when I finally get ground transportation sorted out.

I’m in a van and we’re dropping people off at various hotels and I’m waiting for mine. It had also just rained heavily and the streets are *flooded*. We are driving through small lakes on almost every street.

I ask the people next to me if they’re staying at the ‘Grand Hotel Bavaro’ and they say yes. And I say, ‘great, so am I.; And they say it’s their second time and it’s wonderful. So I decide to stick with them.

They’re from South Dakota. Some town, forget the name, Chasing Water, or something. Anyway, we get to the hotel and they say here we are. So I go to the desk. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t have a reservation under that name.”

I pull out my phone and point to it. They look at the reservation and say I’m at the *Iberostar* Grand Hotel Bavaro. This is the *Palladia* Grant Hotel Bavaro…

Meanwhile, the South Dakotans that fucked me are checking in next to me. So I say I’m at the wrong hotel. And the fella says, ‘ohhh yea. Well I mean they’re *all* called the Grand Hotel Bavaro. It’s that first part that’s really important.’

Gee thanks Cleetus. Next time consider a follow up question, will ya?

Meanwhile, ground transportation is gone, so now I need to take a taxi to the my hotel. Which is a real ‘there but by the grace of God go I’ situation. I’m just putting my life in their hands here.

I start to get in the taxi, and then someone starts flashing their lights and waves me out of the cab. It’s the van from the airport! The guy got to my hotel and I wasn’t in the van anymore so he came back for me! Humanitarian of the year status.

I thank him so much. ‘Gracias! Gracias!’ He asks if I speak Spanish, I say ‘un poco’ (a little). He then says something that I don’t understand so I nod and say, ‘si.’

I stagger into the hotel at 11:30pm. I tell the guy at the desk I don’t have any of my stuff and I ask for help with some toiletries etc. They say they’ll hook me up, thankfully. So I stumble into my room and start to sett--

BOOM!

Power goes out. 

Pitch black. No night lights. Nothing. I don’t even know the layout of the room yet so I’m just walking into walls and pin balling all over the place. 

Finally power comes back. I decide, forget everything, I just wanna crash in bed and watch the game. 

I go to turn on the TV. Grab the remote. Start hitting the power button. Nothing happening. I notice it feels light aaaannnddd...

And THAT, dear reader, was the worst day of my life. Thank you and good night!

[mrbillgeorge]

My mom found this essay I wrote in fifth grade. What can I say? I've always been a wordsmith. Hey KFC! Put me in a commercial reading this!

[mrbillgeorge]

Last thing I saw on the trip. I couldn't be in the area and not check it out. (Sadly, the safety measures at the top made good photos tough to come by. Tons of horizontal steel cables etc.)

[mrbillgeorge]

Four days in a car to get here. Six hours in a plane to get home. The world we live in, I tell ya.

[mrbillgeorge]

One last photo...

I've already posted almost everything worth posting. But I had this one lingering that I needed to share.

While driving in Iowa during sunrise, Rob and I pulled over to check out a farm.

For whatever reason, this picture resonates with me and transports me more than anything else I took.

Hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks!

[mrbillgeorge]

Final Thoughts, Thank You's, and More

So this probably isn’t the end end of this. I’m sure more random thoughts will come to me and if anything of incident occurs during my flight back I may use this space to discuss it.

But I have to say, this was an incredible experience. I could see myself doing it again but only at a more leisurely pace. Being able to spend an entire day in Chicago, or a couple days in the Black Hills etc.

But it was neat to be able to do it like this because I was able to have multiple vacations in one vacation. I wouldn’t normally plan an entire vacation around Mt. Rushmore, but I was able to get an abbreviated version of that experience. And to think I was at Niagara Falls a couple mornings ago is just crazy. 

A lot of what kept all that driving bearable was my constant creation of content for all of you. I loved keeping everyone informed and writing in my head as I drove, thinking of what spin I was going to put on each of the day’s events. 

I hope you all enjoyed following along and please let me know if you’d be interested if I did more things like this in the future. (Not everyday obviously, you’d probably (read: absolutely) want to kill me. But big events etc)

What I learned on this trip is that, as amazing as this country is, it’s the people in it that make it special. The amount of folks that reached out to offer a hand or show support or cheer us on was truly inspirational. Thank you all.

Also, big ups to the technology that made this possible. All photos were taken with my iPhone 5s. All of the navigation was done with the same. And all of these posts were made through the Tumblr app. Super easy. It really was an outstanding workflow for this project. 

And thanks to my work for accommodating this once in a lifetime opportunity.

If you enjoyed this and would like to hear / see more from me, check out my Instagram and Twitter feeds. (@mrbillgeorge for both.)

I only use this site on occasion, but after this I may ramp up its use.

My usual writing occurs at Should I Go See It? 

Please bookmark it, follow the RSS, click the links I post to Twitter when I write new reviews. Whatever your system is, use it to visit. It’s my pride and joy and there’s nothing I enjoy more than when people tell me they check it regularly. 

Alright, that’s all I got. I am tapped out! If I think of more, I’ll keep posting.

But for now… I’m just glad to be out of the goddamn car.

[mrbillgeorge]

Road Trip By The Numbers

Miles Traveled: 3223

Time Taken: 4 days, ~16 hours of driving per day (with regular stops)

States Visited: 15 (!)

Data Plan Used: 2.3 gigs (streamed music pretty much the entire trip)

Sunglasses: None (I wanted to see this country the same way Lewis & Clark did goddamit! ... And I left them in my car at home.)

Bugs Killed: All of them

[mrbillgeorge]

Stray Observations

- Our roads are in rough shape. I had read multiple articles about highway funding and the issues we are having, but now I've seen it first hand. We have got to get this under control. 

- This country has a whole lot of Halls of Fame. We drove by a multitude of them. Including the R/V and Mobile Home Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Hall of Fame. (The latter, I must assume, celebrates all the great South Dakotas in history.)

- Courtyard Marriott > Super 8 > Howard Johnson > Red Roof Inn. Every subsequent night we spent more and more on our hotel... and it was worth it. I'll *never* cheap out again. It's a vacation dammit. Splurge!

[mrbillgeorge]

Day 4: Complete!

Billings, Montana to Lynnwood, Washington

We did it folks! We made it across America in just four days.

We crashed at a Courtyard Marriott in Lynnwood, near Rob's soon to be apartment. 

Now I have three days to help move him in and then fly home.

(I'm sure there will be plenty of crazy stuff to document during that process but before I do that I'd have to clear it with him. Seeing as it's his, you know, life, and everything.)

I used the fitness center at the hotel tonight to try to gain back what muscle was lost during the atrophy brought on by four days in a car. 

So now, after four days of driving 16 hours a day and a super sweaty workout, I'm going to get some sleep.

I'll be back with some final thoughts and stray observations before I let you go and we put a bow on this thing.

[mrbillgeorge]

State Your Case: Washington

I usually spend my entire time driving through a state thinking about what I’ll say about it.

Unfortunately, in Washington, I couldn’t *hear myself think* because of all the goddamn road noise. Seriously, this needs to be rectified.

Mountains, vistas, Seattle, yada, yada, yada. Bottom line, driving was arduous.

Overall: Errrr

Addendum: I do award some points for their signage. They use little silhouettes of George Washington’s head. It’s cute.

[mrbillgeorge]

Always time for a quick pano. A gorge in Washington.

[mrbillgeorge]

Day 4 Update

Okay, we made it to Washington! Still have a few hours to Seattle but we'll be there tonight. ...Not in time to move in. But we'll be able to get a hotel and dinner and settle in. Then sign paperwork first thing and begin the move in. Later tonight I'll get some numbers together and write up a full recap and then I'll probably write a 'Final Thoughts' post. Those will be good. Keep an eye out for them. I also may have more pictures soon of Washington once we get into the evergreen part.

[mrbillgeorge]

A Note on the Weather

I'm guessing you could tell from the pictures, but we have been *incredibly* lucky this weekend. Four straight days of sunny skies. We hit a patch of rain in Montana and went through a storm in Ohio for a minute. Other than that, it has be perfect. And it's very likely that that is biasing my opinion of all these locations. (Because I'm guessing the Black Hills during overcast or rain may not be as life-changing.) But hey, this is a record of my experience and I'm thankful it has been such a good one in this regard.

[mrbillgeorge]

Okay, I poked fun at Idaho earlier but I’d be remiss not to mention this lake.

We drove past it and it was absolutely stunning.

I felt an immediate urge to stop and spend the day. It’s that type of place.

[mrbillgeorge]

How many more have to die?!