Writers have to be good observers, don’t they? We have to note behaviors in people and animals and recognize the color, texture and shape of our surroundings in order to recall them for just about any kind of writing assignment. How can a writer write real dialogue, if he’s never paid attention to the nuances of the spoken language he/she is writing in?
It is in the realm of observations that I would like to dwell today. I’ve taken to jotting down some of the more interesting scrutinizations I’ve made as I adjust to this new, very youthful college setting.
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In cold-ish weather: I’ve always found it odd that some people choose to wear heavy coats with flip flops, or heavy coats with 
shorts. I saw both yesterday. It seems to me to be an awful conflict of interest.
Smoking and going to college. Not investing in the future, while investing in the future. Contradictory?
Fully 1/3 of the people asked in my US Government class admitted they got their news from the Colbert Report or The Jon Stewart Show. Ah, the future of America!
I saw a young, nondescript dude walk up to the front of class yesterday to get something from the professor, and he had his pants belted fully below his rear end. How is this comfortable? Why wear the pants at all? Can someone explain this phenomenon to me? I know it’s nothing new, but I haven’t really seen it done in a while.
Same class. Saw a young, sort of preppy-dressed fellow sporting the eraser. The eraser! Remember Kid from Kid ‘n Play? I guess the styles of the 80’s are now old hat, and we are turning to the 90’s for fashion guidance. We should turn back now. Now, I say!
And finally a movie related observation. My Anthro professor showed us a video from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, which I’d seen before, and it was very interesting even the second time around. Sagan is an intense fellow and worthy of comment all on his own, but I was astounded at how much his mannerisms reminded me of Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith from The Matrix trilogy. See for yourself.
Sagan begins speaking on camera about 1 minute into the first video, if you want to get to the pertinent bits. But, by all means, watch the whole video. It’s interesting in its own right.
And now Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith. Excuse the subtitles. This was the only embeddable one I could find.
So, what did you think? I think the footage speaks for itself. Weaving must have used Sagan as a model for his characterization of Agent Smith. The similarities, to me, are uncanny.
That’s all I have today, folks. I’m still mulling over my thoughts on the Oscar nominations that were announced earlier this week, but I should have some thoughts up about those soon. Expect some ranting.
Kirk out.
