Film Recommendation

An offhand (but enthusiastic) comment from Maya -

By the way, have I told you to see There Will Be Blood yet? If not, Go see There Will Be Blood. It's absolutely fucking amazing. Daniel Day-Lewis expands my conception of what a human being can be and do. It's as though he has discovered a new way to exist. If I were to found a religion, I would base it on this performance. He's... I saw it a month ago and I still can't figure out the words to describe his performance. You know how every year there's some performance that people sort of casually say, "It ranks among the greats," etc.? Well, Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't rank among the greats - he is better than Brando or De Niro or whoever. He makes them look silly. I cannot overstate this: He kicks the greats' asses in this movie. Go see it.

A taste of Maya

I was working late and had the TV on in the background, when on came the Actor's Workshop or whatever James Lipton's show is called. He had John Cusack on, whom I liked in Grosse Pointe Blank and Being John Malkovich. But I had never heard of Say Anything or High Fidelity. So I asked the family expert. This is a small taste of what you get when you ask Maya.

Where have you been? You had three kids -- they were watching these movies.

If you see Say Anything, you will be witnessing the precise romantic and emotional conditioning of the women my generation (and the previous generation). John Cusack's character grew to become the absolute, secret ideal of every woman I knew from high school to college. Songs were written about it in the 90s. Most of these women have since grown somewhat -- but I can't overstate the influence of this character.

The movie itself is a pretty good small movie directed by Cameron Crowe -- Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, etc. -- before he "sold out." That is, it has the feel of an independent film before they sold out too. The characters are human and funny, the acting interesting, etc. Incidentally, I think you've seen this: I have a vague memory of watching it in the theater with you and Cadyn when I was maybe... nine?

High Fidelity has a similar relationship to music obsessives. I still hear them making references to the movie to explain aspects of their life or taste -- privately, though, because since the movie became widely popular, they're too cool to admit to liking it.

It has a before-he-got-big Jack Black, it's about neurotic, self-obsessed, selfish, and pretentious men who simply cannot understand women. But they have really, really good taste in music. There used to be theories that this is who Lloyd Dobbler (the character from Say Anything) may have become after having his heart broken too many times.

Anyway -- between these two movies and a couple of other random ones, John Cusack's recent decline takes on tragic dimensions. He was for a while - and had the chance to be forever - the cultural ideal of the men and women of an entire generation. Then he made Must Like Dogs and America's Sweethearts. Tragic.

Give her a try.

New Addition

I know I didn't tell everyone, but Brandon's girlfriend, Tiffany, was pregnant. She had her baby in early December. (I found out yesterday.) She had a boy, Tristan Michael Harrison. That's all the details I have. I'll let you know if I get any more information.

For those who missed the snow...

This is out the front door. Remember when we could walk out with ease?

Here is the garage roof Sunday morning.

This is the top floor balcony

A wonderful reunion!

Thanks to everyone who made Gary's birthday evening the best, yet! He was touched and will never forget it.

We heard from Michael today (1/6/08) and were glad to hear that everyone made it down the mountain and to their destinations. We spent yesterday on the road. We left at 3:00 AM to get Justin to Reno for his plane - we knew the original flight had been canceled, but had him on one later (7:00) - We woke up to snow, wind and no power. The trip was slow going, but we made it safely to Reno, and Justin got on his plane. He waited two hours to takie off and just made his connection in Atlanta. He called us last night and was home safe and sound!

We hope that Karen is happy with her snow! We are glad to have it in the mountains, and will take it here also, to help ease draught issues.

Tomorrow, it's back to reality. Jobs - etc. I guess the good times can't last for every.

Happy New Year to everyone! We love you all. Terri and Gary