a moment to love
I meant to mention this yesterday, but somehow I completely spaced it. I guess I'll write just a little about it now.
While walking from my bus stop downtown to work yesterday morning, I noticed a cruise ship anchored across Elliott Bay, not docked but quite close to West Seattle. It was still dark, and there were multicolored lights all over the ship, making it quite pretty. So, once I got to the footbridge that crosses from Elliott Way over to Pier 66 across Alaskan Way, I went over there to get a photo. The city skyline under mostly cloudy skies but a bit of sunrise peeking through was also quite lovely in the opposite direction, so I got a photo of that too. I remain very happy with the job my phone does now at taking photos at night, and has since I upgraded it over a year and a half ago.
The thing that struck me most about the few minutes I was over there, though, was not the views so much as the state of the rooftop park at Pier 66. They actually have a metal gate up there, often closing the entire park to the public, leaving only the footbridge and the stairs down to Alaskan Way open. I was honestly surprised to see it open when I approached, and then found myself wondering how many homeless people in tents I might find within the park itself, given how bad the homelessness situation is in Seattle right now.
Instead, I found the park not only pristine, but completely empty. I was entirely alone out there, in a fully public space, which honestly struck me as odd, albeit at a rather early time of morning (the photos were taken at 7:07 a.m.). In retrospect, I should have taken a photo of the park itself, but I didn't think to. I've taken a few photos of the spectacular views from the Pier 66 rooftop park, but never took a shot of the park itself. I should keep that in mind for the future. (Just like I am keeping a running list of specific things I want to get photos of when we are in Las Vegas.) I went through other people's photos on Flickr looking for one, and this one does give a pretty good sense of what the park itself looks like, even though it oddly focuses (literally) on one of the viewfinders. It gives no sense of the emptiness of it in yesterday's early morning darkness, however.
I was probably there for fewer than five minutes, but sometimes a moment is all it takes. It was a moment I really loved.
As for last night, the entire evening was dedicated to the new movie Dune, either watching it or writing my B+ review (of course!) of it. Ivan had wanted to see it with me, but he's in Portland this weekend and did not have time to join us last night, as, per usual for a huge release with a published opening date on Friday, the earliest showings were actually the night before, but no earlier than 6 p.m. And the 6 p.m. showing was what Shobhit, Tracy and I went to.
I had not seen Tracy since the last movie the three of us went to see, No Time To Die, exactly two weeks prior. Tracy has not even bothered coming into the office since that week, and what little she has revealed as to why are both complicated and personal, and not something I fully understand but I don't necessarily need to understand. She did tell me she was to be coming in to work today because she had to have a meeting with Justine before Justine goes on a trip to France (I believe, to visit Terry, the HBC Merchandiser who retired last year and moved with her French partner to France).
There wasn't a whole lot of time for discussion, because Shobhit never wants to get somewhere with time to spare, which mean we walked downtown (after I bussed home rather than walking, to save time and give some time to eat dinner before leaving again) and arrived literally right at 6:00. Amazingly, my Bladder Strategy worked: no liquids after about 3:30; peed before I left work, and again once I was home, and again in the middle of the trailers. Dune is two hours and 35 minutes long, and I made it the whole movie without being forced to leave and use the restroom! I did still have to pee after it was over though, and the Men's room was so crowded I had to leave the theater and go outside to use the Pacific Place fourth-floor bathroom (which, as it happened, was totally empty).
Speaking of the crowd, before now, the fullest any theater has been since I started seeing movies in theaters again in May was unquestionably Black Widow, which Shobhit and I saw back in July. I would estimate the house was maybe 30% full at that. No Time to Die came closer than any other movie I've gone to see since, but still did not overtake Black Widow—probably because in early July, the Pacific Northwest was still not yet under the grip of the Delta Variant.
Well, Dune seems to have changed all that. This is one of the most hotly anticipated movies in ages, and based on the numbers we saw last night, I am convinced the house would have been sold out if not for the pandemic. Shobhit thinks the house was 75% full, but I think he's overestimating. I would think maybe closer to 60-65%. But still, it was a lot. And it was enough that, when the movie ended and we were all leaving, the crowd going down the exit pathway and out the doors was packed—enough to trigger anyone still reticent about being in crowds.
Still, a lot of mask wearing. I took mine off long enough to eat some of the popcorn Tracy shared with me, but that's it. Shobhit kept taking his off and then back on at random intervals throughout the movie, even though he wasn't eating anything, seemingly depending on when someone else was nearby. It's making me wonder how vigilant he's going to be in Las Vegas. I'll ride on him about it if I have to. I'm a lot less concerned about this in Seattle, where 80.4% of residents over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated and 85.5% have had at least one dose, than I am about Las Vegas, where their Clark County data—itself far worse than that of the Seattle area (52% fully vaccinated)—won't even be directly relevant to the Strip, which is full of people from across the country. So we really need to be vigilant about mask wearing in indoor public spaces. It will be interesting, though, to be in another part of the country for the first time since the pandemic began, and see how strict places are about people adhering to guidelines, and how much variability there will be (if any) depending on the establishment.
Anyway. Back to Dune. When we all gathered outside the theater, Shobhit held up his phone to laugh about the fact that it's also streaming on HBO Max. But, I was like, "I already knew that." This movie was not designed to be watched at home, at least not its first watch—quite intently the opposite. Denis Villenueve has even spoken about this. He was pissed it's even available to stream, as it potentially threatens the viability of his being able to make a Part Two as planned (this movie only covers half the book on which it's based). I still fervently hope he's able to make the sequel. It would be irritating for it to remain unresolved in perpetuity of this movie just ended in the middle of the story and the next installment were just never made.
Shobhit and I then walked home in the rain. I deliberately didn't bring my umbrella because I had on my new North Face rain jacket, and had a chance to test it with the hood up. It worked quite well. I then spent about an hour writing the review and was up too late to get it finished. But it was worth it!
[posted 12:21 pm]