A Fritschie Home Companion

Just got home from seeing A Prairie Home Companion at the Circle Cinema. Damn good flick. There's a strange thing I have about Robert Altman films. Every film of his I see I like, but cannot for the life of me explain why.

His style is very unique, as if you're a fly on the wall for the story. Actor's lines are delivered on top of one another, with background conversations in the mix as well. Not like other movies, where anything in the background is played way down so your focus is solely on the foreground. It's strange how an altman film feels so different for showing action and dialogue as they would actually happen would feel so different. It really deepens the performances of the actors as well. They get lost in their characters and so does the audience.

Another strange effect of Altmans films, and I say this as a pop culture freak, is that they are the hardest films to make references to. First of all, not many people see these movies, so the reference is always lost. Secondly, the dialogue is written and performed in a way that nothing really sticks out in your memory. There is never a build-up or a pause that winks at the audience that allows for a catchphrase to be born. Given my usual taste in movies, that would be frustrating as hell, but it's not.

Like I said, I don't know why I like Altman...I just do.

Friday night I went and hung out with a couple friends I haven't seen in years. It was so much fun to catch up with them. By the end of the night, they asked my help getting past this one point in God of War, which is a game I have never played. They were having trouble jumping over this one fire pit. I gave it a shot and got past it within five munutes. It was enough for me to regret selling my Gamecube.

Saturday morning, I got up early and decided that it was a nice morning for a bike ride. I got up, got dressed, walked out my back door and found my bike had been stolen. No biggie. It was a cheap display model from Target that only cost me about thirty bucks or so. The theives left behind the lock, which was the same padlock I used on my locker in high school. That lock combination is the only thing I fully remember from high school. The rest is either a blur or delightfully repressed.

So, I went back inside, punched up From Russia With Love on the DVR and relaxed on the couch. A lazy day at long last. That night I went over to my friends Gene and Heather's house for a party. Strange, I had more alcohol than Thursday night, with even emptier stomach and I barely got buzzed. I had a great time just hanging out until three and went home.

Today I got some writing done, which I haven't done in several months. There's a certain clarity I find in just ignoring the outside world and getting lost in my own little world. It felt really good. Then I tried to trim my hair on the sides and back, and wound up cutting all my hair off again. Oh well, it's now summer, so this will feel a lot better letting it grow out from here. I figure I could go a couple months before the next trim, which I will leave to the professionals frome here on out.

I feel the inertia of the past couple months starting to subside. I'm not feeling fully comfortable in my new headspace, but I'm at least getting stuff a little more sorted out and feeling a lot less stressed.