As my list of Hitchcock movies I haven't seen gets smaller and smaller, I finally had a chance to see one of his more popular pieces, The Birds. As you probably know, the story is about a small town on the coast of California that gets unexplainably attacked by birds.

What a thriller! I loved every second of it and found myself so wrapped up in the story that Ric asked me a question while I watching and I didn't even hear him.

I love how this film progresses. It begins on such a light note, with the two main characters flirting with each other. In fact, it's over half an hour into the film when the first bird takes a dive and hits Tippi Hedren in the head. There's a wonderful sense of humor that lasts up until this moment, the best moment of which is a shot of two lovebirds in a cage in Hedren's car, tilting back and forth as she drives around the curves. Perfect!

The movie slowly increases in intensity scene by scene, the most simple moments sometimes being the most effective, such as the moment when Hedren's character sits on a bench outside the school and doesn't notice the crows gathering on the jungle gym behind her, only to turn around and see a mass of them sitting ominously close to where she is.

I had no idea how intense the movie got, and was surprised how devastating the damage of the birds was. The scene outside the diner and the scene inside the boarded house were incredible.

I found myself on edge and into the entire movie, from its laughter to its frightening moments, and I really appreciated the power of simplicity and character development in this one too. Glad I finally saw it!

They look kind of similar. It's hard to find a good picture of each to compare, but while watching the movie, I kept thinking about it. Obviously, I prefer Hedren.

We're back from Califonia. You can see photos in the 2006 California Vacation gallery.

A History of Violence by John Wagner, art by Vince Locke

Wow, it's been a busy week of visiting with folks. I've had no time for the blog. Sorry guys. But here's a Random Ten for you all to enjoy!

1. Certain People I Know from World of Morrissey by Morrissey
2. Pure from Cloudcuckooland by The Lightning Seeds
3. The Good Times Are Killing Me from Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse
4. Show Me from Lexicon of Live by ABC
5. Wake Me Up When September Ends from American Idiot by Green Day
6. Devil in the Details from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes
7. We Are Rock from The White Songbook, Legacy Volume One by Joy Electric
8. Section 16 (One Man Show) from Together We Re Heavy by The Polyphonic Spree
9. Shrinking Universe from Hullabaloo Soundtrack by Muse
10. Jimmy Jazz from London Calling by The Clash

There you go, folks. This week has been pretty cool. I got hang out with Danny and Sara and Peter and Stephanie a bunch. Yesterday I got to go to Disneyland with a bunch of my friends and some folks who were visiting from out of town. So I'm a little tired, a little sunburned, but that's all right. One more week and then I'm on my real vacation. Woot indeed.