I've been thinking a lot about addiction this week, and I've come to the conclusion that we are all addicted to something, something that medicates and numbs us toward life--either in part or in full. Listening to "Lua" by Bright Eyes really made sense of it.

"And I'm not sure what the trouble was that started all of this
The reasons all have run away, but the feeling never did
It's not something I would recommend, but it is one way to live
Cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is"

I'm posting this from the Pasadena Apple store...just for Brendan. I'm also playing on the huge Mac G5...and yea, it is pretty. The monitor that I am looking at is bigger than my TV.

From the time I heard that Robert Rodriguez was adapting Frank Miller's Sin City into a film, I was excited to see what kind of a job he would do with it. I'm a great admirer of Miller as a visual storyteller, and I thought it would be interesting to see his work represented on the screen. As the release date approached, however, I began to question whether the movie is truly worth watching. I knew that the comic book series contains extreme and excessive depictions of violence (albeit highly stylized). I will tolerate violence in movies so long as I feel that there is a point to it, or that the movie contains some redeeming qualities. My fear was that in Sin City, there would be no such positive points to the film, that the entire work would prove to be nothing more than excessive violence for entertainment, visually stunning though it may be. The reviews I read did nothing to relieve my apprehension. Most of them focused on the artistry of the filmmaking. The few that actually commented on the actual content of the stories revealed none of the positive qualities I was holding out for.

In the end, I decided to just watch the movie and judge it for myself. As plenty of reviewers have pointed out, the movie perfectly captures Frank Miller's visuals--every sick, twisted, blood-splattered one of them--which makes for a fascinating and disturbing film. After watching two hours of remorseless shootings, beheadings, and dismemberments, I couldn't help feel that it was all pointless. In Sin City there are no good characters. The heroes are rotten, and the villains are inhumanly cruel. Not even the victims are virtuous--all the women in Sin City are apparently either prostitutes, assassins, or both. How can we gain anything worthwhile from a world as repugnant as this? Even using the film to make observations on the darkness of human nature seems precluded by the extreme lack of realism in the movie. Or so I thought.

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Wow, I haven't posted to my blog in over a week. It's been extremely busy but I hope to be back in the saddle soon. Here's the link to the latest podcast. Please vote for a name so we can put this to rest once and for all.

We found 15 yesterday!!!!!!!
I found about 5 and Allison found 10, as usual. She's a lot better at finding them than I am. They were small and gray. Aubrie picked them for us and she ate most of them too. We fried them in flour and butter flavored Crisco. Next time, we'll probably roll them in crushed crackers and egg.