wedding, christmas things, lecter

Finally snowing for reals here in Utah.  It makes things prettier, but also very cold.  Yes, even though Alaskan, I reserve the right to complain about the cold.  Also, it is December and Egg Nog is back on the shelf, so that is something to be very happy about.  I got all my Christmas shopping done before December even hit and in one week I will hit the Christmas Break.  So life is good.  This last week I had my Endocrine and Circulatory test and that all went well.  We celebrated by eating an enormous 5 guys burger and about 10 pounds of fries.  Oh yeah, and my sister Lori and kids is coming to visit next weekend for a few days.  Plus I just got started reading Telegraph Avenue and it is great so far.

We had a fun weekend spending time with the Eltons, some of Natalie's friends from Vancouver.  The youngest Elton, Byron, got married on Saturday in the Salt Lake temple, so they were all in town.  The reception and Friday night dinner were a lot of fun and Natalie was in heaven.  We also got to spend a lot of time hanging around in Salt Lake at Christmas time, which is always a plus.  The lights at temple square never fail to get you in the Christmas spirit.  

We also stopped by a record store where I found a good copy of "In the Wee Small Hours" and the reissue of Donnie and Joe Emerson's "Dreamin Wild".  Good finds.

Tomorrow we are having a little Christmas party here for my study group at school, and we are going to do a white elephant exchange.  Should be a blast.  I have some great ideas for my exchange items.

This week for the Criterion pick I watched "Silence of the Lambs", which remains the scariest movie I have ever watched.  I still find myself covering my eyes at the scariest parts, even knowing what will happen.  I have never seen any of the sequel/prequel nonsense, and will probably keep it that way so that I don't ruin my idea of Lecter being the scariest thing ever and not an exaggeration of the first film's character.  Here are some of the things that stuck out this time.

-The characters, especially Lecter, are often delivering their lines directly into the camera.  They aren't really breaking the 4th wall, but they definitely are staring right at you as the movie's suspense builds.  I've often tried to figure out why this movie scares me instead of coming off as just cheesy or too much, but maybe this has something to do with it.

-All the acting is pretty great...including Buffalo Bill.  I can hardly stand to think about him either.

-Hopkins always states that somehow Lecter has gained "Boogie Man" status.  He is a villain without any apparent weakness.  He doesn't lose, he never even really comes close.  And the whole movie they repeatedly they keep telling you how terrible and unpredictable he is.  In the end when he escapes, all that comes to a head.  And then he doesn't do anything!!!  It was enough to just leave him out in the universe, because you know he is capable of anything.  He somehow feels like more than a human being, he feels like some otherworldly menace.  It's frightening.  Still doesn't make me want to see any other Hannibal movies though.

Next week I will be watching the first part of the Samurai trilogy.

Calvin.