I took some time to drive and shop around the local mall and shops in Merritt Island, Florida. The mall isn’t anything all that. I prefer the one in Annapolis, hell even Arundel Mills is better than the one here. That isn’t to say that it was horrible. It’s nice. It has some stores that I actually do like going to. It’s just not that big, and doesn’t have ALL the stores I like.

I walked around, sat and did some people watching. Florida people don’t seem that different than Annapolis people. Lots of shorts and flip flops. Not that many young people though. I guess people my age are located closer to Miami.

I had bought some dvds to watch and as I was walking towards the exit, I decided to check what movies were playing. I had already watched Michael Clayton and We Own the Night there this past week with my parents, so I thought I’d see what else was showing… and if it was going to start within a few minutes I’d go see it. It’s nice to just do whatever the hell I want to without having to worry about anything.

30 Days of Night was what I ended up seeing. I bought a ticket and proceeded to the theater in no rush. I skipped snacks, since I wasn’t hungry at all (although this particular movie place happens to sell funnel cakes). The place was empty (not unexpected on a Thursday early afternoon) save for a few couples spread out here and there. That’s what I usually hate about going to the movies by myself, and that’s why I hardly ever do it. Going to the movies, to me, is a social thing. Something to share with someone(s). I love to watch a movie and then talk about it and discuss reactions with whomever I saw it with. I really wanted to see this movie though (since it’s based on a graphic novel, aka comic book), and I didn’t really have anything else to do. So I took a seat and did my best to ignore the young couple sitting a couple rows in front of me as they leaned their heads in together.

My impressions of 30 Days of Night? Be careful, spoilers ahead. I thought it was actually pretty decent for a vampire movie. The last vampire movie I’ve seen was, I think, Underworld, and really to me vampire films should be more scary than action-y. I hadn’t read the graphic novel yet, so I can’t make comparisons. And for a comic book movie, I thought it was really well done. Although I think the concept of trying to stay alive for 30 days of constant night time could have been better handled. I mean the people trying to survive… how the hell did they do that? The vampires had THIRTY goddamn days to just tear up every building in that podunk town. And then they waited until the last day to burn the place? LAME.

At times though, I tried to make comparisons of vampires to zombies. I love zombie movies. They’re always awesome to watch: the gore, the violence, the human stories. Vampries are, of course, different than zombies. That isn’t to say that there aren’t any similarities. Vampires can turn people into vampires. And they feast on blood (rather than flesh). But then I thought, vampires can definitely be more vicious than zombies. They have intelligence (most zombies in movies run just on instinct). They actually left people alive to use as bait to draw out those in hiding. They also have concepts of self preservation and hunting. Therefore, on those points, I think there should definitely be more vampire movies made along these concepts. Most vampire movies are about the vampires, but I liked 30 Days of Night for the fact that it’s about the humans trying to survive. I think the only hitch is that vampires can come out only during the night. Zombies are 24 hours, 7 days-a-week creatures. This film worked for building tension since the vampires were free to hunt the prey constantly during the long absence of daylight.

And an update on the job front: I’ve gotten responses now from the two companies I interviewed with before I left. Both want to bring me back in to meet with more people, but one actually told me that they intend to make me a job offer. I actually had a good impression of the people I met with there and would definitely love working with them. I guess it depends on the compensation and specific job responsibilities. But all in all, it’s looking good. I told both employers that I’m unavailable for the time being and they are willing to wait for me. So… yeah, I’m excited.

Tags: Florida, Movies