![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Finally back...
Dec. 12th, 2002 11:38 pmIt has been one long day, and a good one.
Today's work involved support for a simulation, and it was a doozie. The scenario called for maneuvering to avoid orbital debris (one of the thousands of pieces of junk that flies around the planet... some outfit - perhaps at Cheyenne Mountain - keeps track of them for NASA). As it turned out, things got very, very interesting as various failures (instigated by the training team) forced the controllers who were on the receiving end of all the excitement to use their knowledge and resourcefulness to the maximum degree.
After work, I went to pick up Lee at her work and we then went out for my birthday dinner to a Brazilian place called Fogo de Chão. There really isn't a menu, per se, at this place, as the format is the same for all patrons.
You start by visiting the salad bar that has more than your usual shredded lettuce and kidney beans. I had some marinated mushrooms (shiitake, if I'm not mistaken), shallots, smoked salmon, sliced beets, sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, and asparagus spears. Afterward, the waiters clear away your salad plate and put down your dinner plate.
Next to each customer is a round cardboard token, colored green on one side and red on the other. A green token is a signal to the staff that you would like to be served, and what they serve is several different kinds of roast beef, pork, and lamb. I had some fine lamb chops, and some cuts of filet mignon, bottom round, and other cuts whose names escape me now. You turn the token over to the red side as a signal to the staff to pass you by. You continue flipping the token back and forth, according to your appetite, until you are stuffed (at least that's the way it worked for us).
After dinner, Lee and I drove a couple of minutes down the road to watch Die Another Day. I had some apprehensions about the film, since it has been panned by some critics, but I found it eminently watchable. In fact, some of the criticism leveled at the film I found pretty silly.
This is not to say it was the "perfect" Bond film. If anything, the character of Jinx (played by Halle Berre) seemed to reflect the spirit of the "old" Bond , qua Bond, better than the character of James Bond in this film. (In other words, Jinx acted much more "businesslike" than 007, a far cry from the Bond character in Dr. No, who shot a would-be assassin dead in a very calm, matter-of-fact manner.)
Besides her operational competence, Jinx also complied with all of the specifications for the classic "Bond girl." Watching Jinx emerge from the sea, for example, was very reminiscent of the audience's introduction to Ursula Andress in Dr. No (Andress' appearance was purely window dressing, put on display to attract the prepubescent crowd IMAO). Perhaps the resemblance was deliberate, I don't know. In any event, I found Jinx so very resourceful, I would support the idea of having her featured in a film of her own.
It is, as always, getting late. Tomorrow's gig will find me back supporting the folks I've been working with earlier in the week. It's been a good day.
Cheers...
Today's work involved support for a simulation, and it was a doozie. The scenario called for maneuvering to avoid orbital debris (one of the thousands of pieces of junk that flies around the planet... some outfit - perhaps at Cheyenne Mountain - keeps track of them for NASA). As it turned out, things got very, very interesting as various failures (instigated by the training team) forced the controllers who were on the receiving end of all the excitement to use their knowledge and resourcefulness to the maximum degree.
After work, I went to pick up Lee at her work and we then went out for my birthday dinner to a Brazilian place called Fogo de Chão. There really isn't a menu, per se, at this place, as the format is the same for all patrons.
You start by visiting the salad bar that has more than your usual shredded lettuce and kidney beans. I had some marinated mushrooms (shiitake, if I'm not mistaken), shallots, smoked salmon, sliced beets, sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, and asparagus spears. Afterward, the waiters clear away your salad plate and put down your dinner plate.
Next to each customer is a round cardboard token, colored green on one side and red on the other. A green token is a signal to the staff that you would like to be served, and what they serve is several different kinds of roast beef, pork, and lamb. I had some fine lamb chops, and some cuts of filet mignon, bottom round, and other cuts whose names escape me now. You turn the token over to the red side as a signal to the staff to pass you by. You continue flipping the token back and forth, according to your appetite, until you are stuffed (at least that's the way it worked for us).
After dinner, Lee and I drove a couple of minutes down the road to watch Die Another Day. I had some apprehensions about the film, since it has been panned by some critics, but I found it eminently watchable. In fact, some of the criticism leveled at the film I found pretty silly.
This is not to say it was the "perfect" Bond film. If anything, the character of Jinx (played by Halle Berre) seemed to reflect the spirit of the "old" Bond , qua Bond, better than the character of James Bond in this film. (In other words, Jinx acted much more "businesslike" than 007, a far cry from the Bond character in Dr. No, who shot a would-be assassin dead in a very calm, matter-of-fact manner.)
Besides her operational competence, Jinx also complied with all of the specifications for the classic "Bond girl." Watching Jinx emerge from the sea, for example, was very reminiscent of the audience's introduction to Ursula Andress in Dr. No (Andress' appearance was purely window dressing, put on display to attract the prepubescent crowd IMAO). Perhaps the resemblance was deliberate, I don't know. In any event, I found Jinx so very resourceful, I would support the idea of having her featured in a film of her own.
It is, as always, getting late. Tomorrow's gig will find me back supporting the folks I've been working with earlier in the week. It's been a good day.
Cheers...
