What an interesting weekend. Okay, well it wasn't. Saw the Matrix again with my dad... Liked it a whole lot better the second time. Still not a big fan of the ending, though. (SPOILER: Just because, as Paul stated, the humans will restart the war in time and the cycle will begin anew. END SPOILER).

I'm very very tired lately. I don't know why. But I am. Anyway. Not a whole lot of news...

Okay I'm done now.

on thursday's comic
there were 2 parts to the hardware class i was in with ian, colin and susan (and brian, but he never made it into a strip): lecture and application. ian loved playing on the rolling spinning chairs.

i guess you had to be there.

on friday's comic
okay, so this one is a bit strange. at least it needs no explanation.

or does it?

on today's comic
in retrospect, the computer should be on a couch.

i am going to spoil you all, if you have not seen the matrix revolutions by now. and before i get emails about how "the matrix is just a movie, so calm down," let me say: i am very enthusiastic about anything i like, and i get into it. yes, i know it's fiction. but that does not preclude thought, discussion, and emotion. it's what makes us human. conversely, if you have some thoughts you'd like to share with me, please do. be it on the forums (follow the "waffle5" link on the left, then follow the "forums" link on the main page) or in email, i would love to discuss questions and answers.

duh, mr. anderson
my number one of two complaints with revolutions is the dialogue between neo and bane before neo realizes that bane is really smith. okay, i can understand that we, the audience, already know this, so it seems obvious to us. but come on! bane calls neo "mr. anderson" and he's got smith's inflection perfectly! (by the way, i loved the actor who played bane.. he was an awesome smith!)

you are my sunshine, my only sunshine
i loved the ending of revolutions with one exception. i didn't like the very last scene.. i understand its importance, but i see no purpose for it aside from setting things in order for the viewer. i am glad they clarified that the machines will not breach their side of the peace, and that they expect it from the humans. seems to me like the brothers understand human nature quite well.

an interesting side note: humans attacked first at the start of the first war too. gleaned from the second rennaissance in the animatrix.

and now for something different. my theories on why smith is afraid of neo/partially unwilling to continue after he speaks the oracle's words, fulfilling what he knew he would say, as well as why smith exploded.

smith afraid
1. smith saw that neo could not be killed. upon asking neo why he persisted - after all, he should have been dead countless times - he finds that neo, being the one, simply chooses to keep fighting. since neo cannot die in the matrix (being the one, his mind will not allow it), their fighting can/will go on forever. smith finally realizes that the only way to kill neo is to take him over (just as he tried from the start, in reloaded).

2. smith was confused. he knew what he knew; he had the eyes of the oracle, but did not completely know everything. we know this because he could not anticipate neo's every move, and while he did recognize that the crater was where neo was beaten, he did not know every detail accompanying it. he even had to ask neo-smith, "is it over?" smith did not know why he would call neo "neo," not "mr. anderson." the oracle foresaw it, but did she have control over smith? did she foresee it because she caused it, and thus merely predicted what would have already happened, or did the seeing it beforehand actually cause smith to say it? questions to ponder. this theory makes more sense to me.

smithy goes boom
1. mathematical equation. neo is the one; smith is his negative. to balance the equation, once smith and neo were one, they equaled zero, canceling both out, thus causing the eradication of every iteration of smith.

2. deus ex machina. once smith had taken over neo, deus ex machina (i'll call him d.e.m.), who had plugged neo in, possibly plugging in a bunch of little cables into his arms and legs, sent some extreme voltage through neo's body, effectively killing him and smith. some have said that if d.e.m. could do that, why would he not do that for any old person taken over? my answer is because neo is plugged directly into d.e.m. (and the source?)

3. the source. neo touched the source, seperating his mind from his body. if he retained the source in his code, then smith touched the source when he took over neo's body. every program slated for deletion went to the source to be deleted; once smith touched the source in neo (or in d.e.m.), he deleted. end of story. i like this theory best.

i'm such a sucker
if i was choked up upon neo's exchange with morpheus (and i was), i was near tears when trinity died. i went into a down cycle (i'm bipolar for those who don't know) when neo died. i think, though, that as far as words and chivalry are concerned, there is nothing better than this.

"It was an honor, sir."
"No. The honor is still mine."

i will miss having the matrix to look forward to. thank you, wachowski brothers, for an excellent trilogy, a great adventure in action, philosophy, anime, gaming, bravery, sacrifice, and heroism.

now for the negative.

what have they done??
some of you have heard of the new matrix game, the matrix online, which comes out next year. it is an mmorpg, which stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game. it takes place after revolutions ends, but we don't know (yet) how long/short a time after. there are no details (that i've found) as of this moment, but the brothers are (supposedly) writing a script of sorts to go with it. all i know is that this is going to ruin the trilogy (i should actually call it a five-agy or something.. its more complete story is told with etm and animatrix) for me, unless there is one heck of a good story to go with it. if it's just an excuse for gamers to orgasm over, people will pay.

revolutions ends with neo's ultimate sacrifice. having lost trinity, he sees now that as the one he is not just the savior, but that he must, at last, give his life to start a peace between man and machine. of course we know the machines will not break their side of this new peace unless man attacks them first. how long it will last we do not know. the oracle tells us, "as long as it can." i would hope, though, that man can remember neo's sacrifice for a long time. this is a happy ending, more or less; it only ruins it for me to find out that the war is here again. goodness knows zion deserves a break, and a chance for a peaceful life. not to mention repopulating the earth.