Fines Doubled....

While driving on I-95 through Connecticut I realized a truth about life. During the last four years I have seen a lot of construction on that highway. I have seen crew with bright orange vests, signs with bright orange trim, cones with bright orange stripes, and angry drivers with bright red faces. It seems that as soon as one strip of road is dredged up and repaired another strip immediately falls into ruins and needs repairing, non stop for four years. It has reached the point where I intensely fear the drive through the state. For years I thought it was simply because of flawed work that leaves the road defenseless to the high daily traffic that rips up the road in record speed, but maybe it’s done for some other purpose.

What if there are people like that, always under construction. I have seen those people. They are constantly changing, reinventing, and dredging. Uncomfortable in their own selves they must continually exfoliate it off and rebuild new skin. The people around them always have to deal with this and for the most part just move on.

I must confess, I think I may be one of these people but, is it because I do such a shitty job of fixing my problems I’m bound to fall into disrepair or maybe I really believe I can be a better person? Or perhaps I just like the attention. Although I’d like to think it wasn’t true I could just like the attention because they always say negative attention is attention none the less, but for certain reasons I think this is the weaker of the three. It is quite possible I constantly fall into disrepair because I don’t think I truly know how to fix any of my own problems but, I think the best answer is that I really believe I can be better than I am. I guess the majority of people think this way, but it must be true that, for some people, there just cannot be a better version no matter how positive or negative they are right now.

So, I’m really banking on the fact that I am not one of those people and there is, somewhere, a better version of me that someday somebody will meet. In the mean time I apologize for anyone who has had to put up with this first hand and I applaud those few that stick it out, because, like the Connecticut highway, I will probably always be under construction.

historical cunts

A movie review: The Da Vinci Code

For a second I hesitate in writing a movie review for a title that is down to two showings in the theater, but I waited that long to see it so I’m sure there are others as well. I did not read the book, nor do I plan on it. If you want to stop reading now, let me tell you i would recommend you see it and the movie was not bad. It was also not great. I was hoping this would be Ron Howard’s next awesome 10 year movie - Cocoon in 1985, Apollo 13 in 1995, and since the only movie he made in 2005 was Cinderella Man it had to be The Da Vinci Code. I don’t think it is.

The story kept me interested throughout the movie even during flashbacks that allowed the audience to understand the vague Christian mythology that was the backdrop of the story. Some ideas were explained over and over again so anyone could understand the plot and not feel like an un-cultured POS and other major plot development points were breezed over as if no one would notice. Throughout the whole movie it seemed as though the director was speeding things up to make up for all the mythology he needed to go over which basically gave the movie a forced action feel when it should be anything but. The fact is that the two main characters are running for their lives and trying to figure out this ancient religious code in an ancient European city while every other major character is out to kill them…. Why should there be forced action there?

Tom Hanks, seemed to fit at first but, as the movie dragged on he appeared to be more and more uncomfortable in his role. Tautou did an OK job but, just like the film itself, was not great. The best acting by far came from Jean Reno, the French trained actor who played Captain Fache, the bad-but not really bad guy. The English actor, Ian McKellen (I know what you’re thinking, the guy who played death in Last Action Hero?) Ok that was a joke I know I’m the only one who saw that movie… so it’s the old guy from X-Men and Lord of the Rings. McKellen is an extremely diverse and talented actor who was a crucial part in this movie’s non-suckage (yes I went there.) Paul Bettany also did a good job but, mostly because he was type casted as the freaky but evil albino guy. It takes no acting talent to make albino’s look evil or freaky.

A few things that really caused some subtraction of points were the fact that the movie was based in France but there really wasn’t that much French (also thanks to the American's inability to read subtitles) and the clues left to by the old dudes were all in English. Attention America: Please Learn How to Read.

Summation:

So, Ron gets some props for the international cast, keeping the pace, and pissing off some Catholics. However, he did ignore the possibility of making this movie really interesting for countless reasons. If nothing else, Ron Howard now has the street cred to sit around with Mel Gibson and talk about what religions people think they hate.

The movie does confirm two things i have known for a long time. Catholics are dumb and albinos scare the shit out of me.

Californication

Attention Red Hot Chili Peppers:

Everyone is tired of hearing about California.

We get it, if California was a person you would hump the shit out of him/her.

Now you can start writing songs about other unhealthy obsessions, like drugs, you guys do drugs, right?

Let's hear more songs about some crazy drug use.

Thanks.