Hannibal: Season 3

Kim and I just watched Hannibal: Season 3.

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I found Seasons 1 and 2 to be intelligent, intricate and interesting. Season 3 started off like a 60s French Film student’s semester project. From the images of snails after every commercial break to the kaleidoscopic lesbian sex scene between American Mary [Katharine Isabelle] and Canadian Caroline [Dhavernas] it reeked of French art films. It was all style, very little substance. The plot was submerged beneath waves of surrealist/erotic imagery and unfortunately further diluted by dialogue out of a 17 year old Morrissey fan’s notebook. The characters tossed barely related pop-philosophical and pop-psychological aphorisms back and forth amid swirling digital psychedelic backdrops. 

By the fourth episode, we were ready to abandon the whole thing. Then Kim suggested that maybe those episodes were being experienced from the POV of Gillian Anderson’s character. That made sense.

Bedelia [Gillian Anderson] has joined Hannibal in his exile. Where her character has seemed numb for the first two seasons, she is so completely disaffected in season 3 that when her ‘habit’ is finally revealed, it comes as no great surprise and actually makes the first four episodes make a sort of convoluted sense.

There are two other things that confuse and annoy me about season 3. Chiyon makes no sense. I know there was a brief explanation of her association with the Lecter family, but her apparent age makes the explanation unwieldy. And who created the Dragonfly-man? Was it Will or Chiyon? It doesn’t make sense for Chiyon to do it. And if it was Will, then, honestly, WTF?

The second half of the season was back to the wonderful style of writing that graced the first two seasons. The retelling of ‘Red Dragon’ was very well done. And for the first time this season there is actually a sympathetic character. Of course, since the show is about a serial killer, the sympathetic character is one. I actually felt bad for Francis Dolarhyde. He was fighting his own mind and just trying to be a guy in love. I only had two issues with him: 1) He ate a William Blake original [the bastard!], and 2) He always killed the family dog first [for this he will never have my complete sympathy, anyone who murders a dog deserves to be devoured by their own brain!].

I enjoyed watching Season 3. Definitely not as much as I enjoyed Seasons 1 & 2, but I don’t regret it. You just have to hang on through the first 4 or 5 episodes which are very lush and sensual, but unlike seasons 1 & 2, to get to the good stuff as ‘Red Dragon’ plays out. If the decision to cancel this show was made during the first four episodes I can understand it, but since it ends right before ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ I think it was a perfect place to stop.

A socially relevant post (possibly)

It has been a long time since I posted anything here but today I feel inspired. I have spent the morning reading about school shootings and domestic terrorism. I am about to mix the personal and the political.

I was a loner and an outsider for most of my school days due to the fact that my parents moved a lot and I was always the new kid (not to mention my innate pudginess). I listened to Heavy Metal and Punk. I was fascinated with fantasy and military themed books. I had access to guns and used them regularly. I always carried a pocketknife with me. I dressed in black t-shirts and blue jeans. I read Nietzsche. My favorite movie was Apocalypse Now. I went on exactly two dates during high school. I made pipe bombs and blew up debris on the farm with them. I read The Anarchist's Cookbook cover to cover a couple times. I wrote a 16 page story for my creative writing class about a school shooting.

The list I just wrote would mark me as 'trenchcoat mafia' in the modern media. All of those facts could be pointed to as causes for my flipping out and killing people. But I never did. Why?

Because I am not batshit crazy and I had parents that cared.

The problem isn't violent video games or movies. It isn't bullying. It isn't any source external to the home. A big part of it has to be horrible parenting.

My dad taught me how to handle weapons safely. He showed me how to make the pipe bombs I used on the farm. He was an Army sergeant and ran the house like one. There were rules and you followed them or faced the belt. He was never physically abusive. He didn't enjoy punishing me when I screwed up, but he didn't flinch from it or make excuses either. I knew the rules and I followed them. He instilled a sense of right and wrong in me by being part of my life.

My mother was a guiding influence as well. She was the yin to my father's yang. She provided the balance to his gruff military style. And yes, she spanked me too. But she was also there for me when I need her. As a parent should be.

I was not driven to excel by my parents. They expected me to do well and, honestly, I did just enough to keep them happy. I also enjoyed learning as much as I could for my own benefit. So it benefited me and them. I got A's and B's and I studied what I wanted in addition to what was assigned. A love of books was instilled in me at an early age and I have never stopped reading. This also helped me define right and wrong.

So many kids today are born to be social accessories or to provide validation for the parent's existence. Kids are pressured to do things in which they have no interest just so the parent can say "look what my kid did." The parents live their school days over vicariously through their offspring. 

This is no reason to have a child. 

Children should be loved and nurtured to be the best person they can be. But they have to find their own way. A parent is there to instill basic values and guide and support them as they make their way in the world. This is not a teacher's job. IT IS THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY!

I will not discount the influence of the media and the culture of pimps and whores, gangsters and vigilantes, and corrupt religious and secular officials that the media promotes. Nor will I discount the fact that our schools have declined in both educational values and critical thinking skills. But it all begins at home with the people that spawned them in the first place.

End of soapbox rant. Discuss :)

Money Money Money

No. This is not an ABBA review.

This is a rant about money.

It annoys me that we need money just to survive in the modern world. We have lost touch with the land. We have lost touch with each other. I find it ironic that in this age of instant communication people cannot hold a simple conversation without a cell phone/text message interruption. God forbid you should try to eat a meal or watch a movie.

About money though. I don't mind working. Hell, I take pride in my work. I don't particularly enjoy the company of the people who request it, but the job itself I truly enjoy. Do I wish I made more money? Yes.

And that is part of what bothers me. I realize we are in the middle of a recession and times are hard for everybody but that is exactly my point. I have a customer that is trying to start a community farming project in a poor neighborhood. He is trying to establish a co-op that will train kids how to grow their own food and hopefully a surplus to sell at the local farmer's market. He has been trying to raise the initial investment for the better part of the last seven years. He has met with at least two mayors, tons of city councilpersons, several local corporations and many philanthropic organizations to no avail.

Now, anybody who knows me or who has read any of my rants know that I am far from what anyone would call a 'people person,' but I admire the Hell out of this guy! He's trying to get people to do for themselves. He's trying to put people to work and he's trying to get some land that the state has claimed for back taxes and put it to work. He wants to turn vacant lots into gardens and farms. He's trying to train malnourished and under-educated adults and kids into a situation where they can at least provide food for themselves. I am all about self-sufficiency so I think this guy rocks!

Now, as you might expect in Hellabama, his command of the English language is not exactly stellar. I polish his letters. I don't claim to be a master, but I can definitely clean up the five to seven pages of scribbling he brings in to the store into something coherent and (hopefully) persuasive. He actually asked me to "dumb it down" on one letter I wrote for him. He was afraid that if it sounded too smooth they would think he was a con man.

Now I ask you: Why has he been fighting this fight for almost seven years? The land he wants is sitting vacant and has been for years. It's centrally located in a very downtrodden part of town. The city doesn't want it. The state doesn't want it. Nobody wants to buy it. Someone owes back taxes on it and they obviously don't want it either. Why not put it to use? It would generate jobs for the neighborhood. It would help people put food on their tables. And more importantly it would give people in a neighborhood with little hope, beyond athletic scholarships, something to be proud of.

I learned a bit about gardening when I lived on my grandparent's farm. Maintaining a garden of the size he imagines is time-consuming, hard work. But he has people willing to learn and willing to work. I guess Hellabama politicians, who are more than willing to set aside a special fund so they can go to a six week long conference in Alaska, are also willing to let the poor and dependent stay poor and dependent.

Hmmm...I seemed to have veered wildly off-topic again. Oh well, it all needed to be said.

Have a great day and never let the bastards get you down!

25th Reunion

Last weekend I went to my 25th High School reunion. I had a great time while I was there. I saw lots of people that I hadn't seen in a quite a while. Renewed some lapsed friendships (Cory,Todd and Earle) and made some new friends (Sorry Mike, the only thing I remember about you from back then is your tinted glasses. I do like who you are now though).

The most important thing about the trip for me though was having my wife with me.

Five years ago we went to the reunion together after we had only known each other for about six weeks. I was already in love with her and apparently I was proud of the fact (thank for reminding me of that Glenda). Kim handled being submerged in my past for a weekend very well and it was the happiest weekend of my life because I was in a place I loved with people I loved with the woman I loved. I proposed to her. She said yes.

We didn't really know each other very well and there were some misunderstandings about events of that weekend that put a division between us that I was unaware of for quite some time. Over time we got everything straightened out and we remain happily married. I am happier than I have been since High School or my time in Virginia. Even stuck in Hellabama, I can be happy.

Then the specter of the reunion rose again. I wanted Kim to come with me to renew the memory of all the wonderful things that happened and try to erase the bad memories. Kim was reluctant, but she went.

We had a wonderful time!

I thank all my friends for making her feel welcome. Any of you who brought spouses or have attended a spouse's reunion probably know how uncomfortable it can be to be in that situation. You were all great. I'm tearing up right now just thinking of how special my friends are.

After spending my whole youth moving from school to school every year, I made the right choice to go to Clinton High School. The people I knew there are, to this day, some of the best I have ever known. I love and miss you all.

Kim is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm glad she found me. I'm glad she married me. And I'm ecstatic that she still loves me even though I'm a grump, a blowhard and a burgeoning curmudgeon.

Kim, I love you. I love Sarah Kirstin, my stepdaughter. I love our dogs. I love our house.

I'll always be a grump. But my family and friends are exempt from my misanthropy.

Just sayin'.

Marvel movies of 2011

I was never really a Captain America fan until the last couple of years. When I tried to read Cap in the 70s and 80s he always seemed kind of whiny and the Bucky drama recanted in every issue was annoying. Lately his comics have taken a turn into a dark place that I really enjoy. Plus Bucky's back, so no more whining about that (Yay!).

When the Ultimate Universe started it annoyed me a bit that yet once again, Marvel was tampering with the established storyline of almost everyone. They didn't really change Cap's story though, which was cool.

The movie was good. The changes to the story were acceptable (to me) for conversion to the big screen. Chris Evans did a remarkable job of capturing the essence of both Steve Rogers and Captain America. Tommy Lee Jones stole the show. He was hilarious. He really needs to stick to comedy (or being a villain. The movie where he was Steven Seagal's nemesis is the only Seagal movie I can stand to watch). Stan Lee's cameo was funny as usual. He's looking really old though. It will be a very sad day when Stan the Man dies. I hope he makes it through the Avengers movie. If it's done right, it should be one of the happiest days of his life when it comes out. Excelsior Stan!

The Howling Commandos were in the movie!!! Casting the guy who played Buck Compton (Neal McDonough) in Band of Brothers as Dum Dum Dugan was inspired. Plus it was great seeing the Howlers in action. Although I'm still having trouble with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. It's hard to erase nearly 30 years of comic book memories of Nick Fury as a grizzled World War II sergeant, or a secret agent, greying at the temples with an eyepatch. Not to mention being a white guy. Sam Jackson is much better as Nick Fury than The Hoff was in the 80s though.

Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull was also inspired casting. He is so deliciously sinister. The guy playing Arnim Zola was also very cool. It was a take on Zola's personality that I had never really thought of. I always knew he was focused on his research to the exclusion of caring about anything else, but his android bodies in the comics always seemed to make him seem silly to me. This more human interpretation of his character made him a much more interesting villain than he ever appeared in the comics.

Enough about Cap for the moment. I will return to that movie for a moment after I tell you about Thor.

Thor ROCKED! The special effects were incredible. The casting was almost excellent. Kenneth Branagh did an amazing job directing. I'm glad they got someone with a Shakespearian background involved. They nailed the storyline from the Ultimate comics Thor.

There was only one thing missing that, I admit, would have made the movie longer. But it was the most compelling thing about the comic version of Thor. Everyone thought he was crazy. He had conversations with people no one else could see. And he started to wonder whether he was actually crazy. The movie brushed up against that theme, but it just made him seem silly.

The other problem I had with Thor was Natalie Portman. She is such an awful actress. She showed so much potential in Leon:The Professional. I just don't understand what happened. She was a large contribution to the SUCK factor of Star Wars - episodes 1-3. She continues that trend in Thor. I don't have any suggestions for an alternate Jane but she has to go!

*********************************Spoiler's below**********************************

This brings me back to Cap. In the comics Peggy Carter was from Virginia. When she showed up on screen with a British accent, I was a bit confused. It worked though. So did losing Bucky while fighting the Red Skull. There wasn't enough time to introduce yet another Nazi villain. Especially that idiot Baron Zemo. I'm sorry but so many of Cap's villains are ridiculous. This guy is a bad guy by virtue of being a Nazi who accidentally glued a carpet to his face. ooooo I'm scared. But I digress.

******************************Spoiler ends --- Rant resumes**************************

I've never really paid attention to the significant others of Marvel's heroes. They were basically there to be held hostage, threatened or provide non-hero interaction for the main characters. The new interpretations try to make them stronger and more independent than their comic book predecessors. However Kirsten Dunst, Gwyneth Patrow, Natalie Portman, Hayley Atwell and, yes, even Jennifer Garner don't exactly radiate self-confidence. At least two of them make me think of Tommy Lee Jones' line "Somebody give that kid a sandwich!" when he first sees Steve Rogers without a shirt on.

I am glad I saw these movies on the big screen (and without the stupid 3D glasses). I would go see them both again and I can't wait til they come out on DVD. I also think I might need to get a PS3 so I can play the Cap video game :)

Enough for today. See the movies. They're good.

Review of Sammy Hagar's Autobiography - Red

This was a pretty good read. I've been a Sammy fan since Standing Hampton came out. I saw him on a midwest tour when I was in 8th Grade and he put on an amazing show. The only person I've seen put on as energetic a show was Lenny Kravitz when he opened for the Cult at Hampton Coliseum.

This book managed to capture his energy. It's not always a coherent account, but it flows well.

I read it in one sitting and it was like spending a night sitting there listening to him tell the story of his life.

If it was anybody but Sammy, it might come across as a little bitchy and gossipy. His reputation as a straight shooter lends a credibility to the narrative that appealed to me. He manages to avoid sounding bitter about situations where he was treated poorly. His attitude is amazing. He wanted to be a rock star and he made it happen. I like the guy even more after reading Red.

The two high points of the book for me personally were when he mentioned jamming with Lemmy from Motorhead and Lemmy wanted to play "Rock Candy" with him. Pretty freaking cool! The other was when he described meeting his second wife. This was cool to me because I was at that Van Halen show at Hampton Coliseum when she came to see him. Alice in Chains opened and they were pretty good, but no one can match Sammy's energy on stage.

There are two reasons I couldn't give it 5 stars. It's very conversational in tone, like it was a transcription of a conversation. It rambles a bit, which both adds to the feeling that he's telling the story, and detracts from the narrative flow. The other reason is that it just wasn't as good as Alice Cooper: Golf Monster which I did give 5 stars.

If you like Sammy or are curious about the Van Halen/Hagar split you should read this book.

Rest In Peace Ronnie James Dio

Now this was a shock. My wife called and told me that Dio was dead of stomach cancer.

Ronnie James Dio was a musical giant. His instantly recognizable voice has been part of my musical landscape since around 1983. 'Holy Diver' and 'Rainbow in the Dark' caught my interest and 'The Last in Line' made me a fan. I started digging deeper and found out that he sang for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. I found the three studio albums he sang on and WOW! 'The Man on the Silver Mountain' made me a fan for life.

In 1985, a friend (well, actually he was a Navy recruiter, so I'm not sure how much I would consider him a friend in retrospect) introduced me to Elf, Dio's first band. Elf was very cool blues rock and is still on my 'play often' list. Check out 'Carolina County Ball' and 'L.A. 59.' They are both wonderful songs showing a young Dio developing the trademark voice.

After finding all of this wonderful music, the most startling revelation of all occurred. Dio sang for Black Sabbath. I did not even know that. After Ozzy left, I pretty much ignored Sabbath. My mistake. They may not have had the instantly recognizable Black Sabbath tunes with Dio, but they are very solid albums.

A few months ago I watched 'Metal: A Headbanger's Journey' which is a very good documentary on the heavy metal subculture. Dio was interviewed twice during the documentary and came across as a very pleasant and friendly guy. I also recently watched a concert video that had an interview with him in the special features. He came across as an intelligent, articulate man with a great sense of humor.

Although I only saw him in concert once in the late 80s, Ronnie James Dio's music has been a constant source of pleasure for me and it always will be.

Rest in peace Ronnie, you will be missed.