Carmageddon Is Over

That's right - this Saturday all northbound lanes of I-5 are open! The news folks need another excuse now for not reporting real news.

On that note, I should write about something more noteworthy, too. We just got back from a little camping trip out near Westport (outside of Aberdeen), on the coast, so maybe I'll write about that. After we rest up and get some grub, that is.

Things That We All Need And Want, If 11PM Television Commercials Are A Good Indicator

• Cars
• Brand-name pharmaceuticals
• Makeup
• More cars
  
• DVDs of television shows
• Fruity shampoo
• Trucks
• Fast food
• Oprah
  

Carmageddon, Day 9

So now that section of I-5 is down to two lanes. And the result? Some slowing, of course. But no "backups to Tacoma" that we heard on the news for several days leading up to the construction.

Do you know what really makes traffic slow in this region?

1. Take a fender bender between two or three cars.
2. Set that on the side of a busy road.
3. Watch as every single driver slows down to 20% of normal speed as they take their time watching people write down insurance information for each other.
   

Grr...

Carmageddon, Day 5

Today, on the WSDOT traffic map, I actually saw two little red squares right under the I-5 construction area, indicating heavy traffic.



Two! That's like, what, a half mile of slower than normal traffic? Gasp!

Yeah, it's been a pretty normal commuting week. By the looks of it, it will stay that way throughout this project.

Carmageddon, Day 3

And the verdict on the first weekday commute during I-5 construction and lane closures? Awesome.

No, seriously - it was one of the best weekday commutes in weeks, maybe even months.

This evening's commute may fare differently, as there's a Mariners home game. If it goes smoothly, I'll probably just stop posting these daily updates since they'll sound like a broken record.

Carmageddon, Day 2

Despite the apparently high risk of traffic jams and the angst and pain that it could cause, we did venture out of the house yesterday in a car. And you know what? I-5 was moving great. There was actually less traffic on the roads than on usual weekends. Southbound coming into the city was the clearest I'd seen it on a Saturday in months!

Our crying-wolf media partners, King 5, admit that it's been smooth so far as well.

I guess the real test will be tomorrow's commute. I still think this has all been over-hyped, and it'll be OK. I may eat my words.

Aww, Shucks

OK everyone, put down those shucking knives. Looks like the great State of Washington has produced oysters contaminated with poisonous bacteria. From the report:

How does V. parahaemolyticus cause illness?

If you become infected you will most likely have watery diarrhea, accompanied with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, a high temperature and chills.

Mmmm, that's a great thing to look forward to after a half dozen on the half-shell..

Carmageddon, Day 1

Oh no, it's begun!


Interestingly, 9AM and the roads seem to be nice and clear. It is still early, though.

Interstate Armageddon!

For weeks now, local TV and radio reports have raised the flags and rung the alarm bells about the impending commuter doom that is about to befall Puget Sound. According to King 5, the gridlock begins at 10PM! That's right, I-5 will undergo some construction, which will restrict the number of northbound lanes. This will carry on for 19 days, and is predicted to snarl traffic, cause people to inconsolably weep as they're stuck in traffic, and turn our fair region into an imitation of a parking lot.

With so much hooplah about this closure, I have to think: is this more bark than bite? Perhaps it will be, given the attention it's been given. After all, if lots of people hear about it, get scared, and figure out alternate ways to get around, total demand on the road falls, hopefully within acceptable ranges. To put it another way, if the throughput is reduced by half on the road, but then half the normal commuters take alternate routes or don't drive at all (because they've been driven to that out of fear of being stuck for days out on the interstate), it may not be as bad as predicted.

I'm sure that's part of the plan, namely getting fewer people to use the narrower road. The rest is just predictions and assumptions. I'm sure there'll be times when traffic is worse. But I also think it's been way too hyped up. Chalk it up to another thing that the news media can easily report on, that affects everyone, but ultimately may not be that big of a deal.

Review: Signal (SIFF 2007)

Some horror and thriller movies like to give you a back story before the real story begins. You know, the story line before the plot really gets going, that somehow is supposed to give you insight into the characters' psyches, before things start going bump in the night? I have to say I'm not a big fan of them. It's not because I don't like back stories. It's just that most of these movies don't do a very good job with this prelim stuff. The Signal doesn't go down this route. The story is told from three characters' perspective, but the timeline is continuous, and the weirdness starts right from the beginning.

The plot revolves around a mysterious transmission which pervades cell phones, radios, and televisions. It causes people to turn psychotic; they start seeing things and acting upon urges that the signal is seemingly telling them to do. Chaos soon reigns, and we witness some key characters trying to make sense of things as they try to escape people who are bent on doing very bad things to them. And, the thing that keeps one of the key characters going through it all is love.

Too touchy-feely? Nah, don't worry, there's plenty of gore, cat-and-mouse, and dark corners to keep you interested.

The movie does have a few touches of dark humor, with some scenes expertly juxtaposing quaint, normal city life with the weird, chaotic things that are going horribly wrong. These are mere dabs of color, though, as in the end The Signal is a true horror movie.

Throughout the movie, I kept noticing things that looked somewhat familiar. Near the end, it was confirmed: a good portion (if not all) of the movie was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia! That gives The Signal an extra point (I'm a sucker for familiarity).

Overall rating: 8.0/10.0

Details:
Runtime: 99m
Countries: USA
Languages: English