National Election Day, November 8th, 2016 (And Dr. Strange Review)
Decided to take it a bit slower today. Got breakfast, and spent a leisurely hour reading the voter guide and making circles over the "yes" or "No" portions of the page for each candidate and initiative. I then walked to the polling place, and found it packed. After standing for 40 minutes in line, I was able to vote, and since I had marked everything down in the guide before then I was in and out of the booth in under 5 minutes. 12 initiatives, 4 measures, several councilmen and judges, plus the replacement for the execrable Barbara Boxer, as well as the top of the ticket, it was a full ballot. I put the ballot in the machine got my "I Voted" sticker from the poll worker, and left to get a little lunch.I passed the Polling place on the way to the movie theater about an hour or so later. It waws 90 degrees in Los Angles and I wanted to avoid the news, so a Movie felt like a good idea. The line at the polling place seemed to be about 10 - 15 minutes, when I passed.
I went to see Dr. Strange at my local theater, a Korean owned Cineplex that has great matinee prices, digital projection and also shows many top Korean film, which I also enjoy. Dr. Strange was a competent, well paced Marvel Movie that served as a good, solid introduction to the character, and having top shelf acting talent working on a marvel film, gave it a much greater sense of weight. Visually, before out former neurosurgeon discovers his powers, the film is photographed slickly, like a perfume or car commercial. After his enlightenment, the visuals get hallucinatory, with stylistic nods to Inception, 2001, and the old "Minds Eye" videos from the dawn of CG< except, everything was drenched in the Video Co-Pilot Color Vibrance plugin, which brought psychedelia back to cinema, and reflected the Steve Ditko era of comics as well. The movie then settled down and like most Marvel Movies had a nice supply of witty dialogue and good fight scenes. It ended satisfactorily, with two end sequences, so stay for the full credits.
After the film, I walked again past the polling place and the line was still around 10- 12 minutes by length, and that was around 4 pm. I expect the lines to enlarge once people get off work until the polls close at 8 pm. IT has been said there has not been a turnout like this since 2008. As to how I voted. I am not going to go into specifics, but I am a small government conservative, hostile to progressive causes, and an NRA member, so you can probably figure most of it out.
Scott