Slinky Cat

And by that I mean “it’s a wonderful toy” and not “sleek and sinuous in movement or outline.”

You know, if anyone had drawn a cat in this position I would’ve sneered and scoffed. But she’ll stay like this for hours, fall asleep even.

Such a weird little cat.

For the love of story

So, Kip and I threw caution and personal commitments to the wind briefly and went to see Kill Bill this past Friday. It was just one of the many movies we’ve been meaning to see and the one we could catch right after our respective works downtown.

Somewhere during the first fight scene, waiting for the killing blow I thought to myself “Okay, why am I here?” As I’ve explained in a previous post, I can have a problem with the pain and suffering that accompanies extreme violence. And, let’s face it, this is the premise of Kill Bill in a nutshell—pain, suffering and extreme violence. Which I knew from the get-go. So why did I go?

Because Taratino is an exceptional storyteller. Because pain and suffering and violence are part of being human. And Taratino is very good at humanizing his psychopaths, even in this over-the-top samurai slice ‘em up flick. I felt wretched for everyone involved.

Some reviewers have complained how Kill Bill glamorizes violence. I didn’t see that at all. I think Chad Orzel at Uncertain Principles actually summed it up best in his post on Kill Bill, with a comparison between Kill Bill and the Matrix: Reloaded:

The Matrix: Reloaded is a movie makes you want to put on a leather trench coat and take a katana to a high-end SUV. Kill Bill is a movie that makes you want to stay very, very far away from people with swords. That’s the difference between a movie that glorifies violence, and a glorious movie that happens to be violent.

I think the most puzzling complaint was from a The New Yorker review on how Tarantino made you not care that a child witnessed the murder of her mother. Excuse me? First, that’s not how I took it it, and second, you didn’t care? Have audiences been spoon-fed their stories for so long in this genre of film that one has to be explicitly told how to feel about something, or is it just the critics? Because, wow, I would have thought that was a no-brainer.

Tarantino says he was inspired in part by Japanese cinema, and it shows, not only by all the katanas and certain special effects and choreographing of battle sequences but in the type of story it is. This is a tale of honor and revenge where everyone is essentially doomed. It’s more about how one comports oneself than whether one survives victorious. Uma Thurman’s character is essentially dead already, along with her loved ones. I think the expectations you take into a Tarantino flick can affect your appreciation. Many people bitch about Pulp Fiction and actually spend some effort in taking it apart from a logistical standpoint. Uh, Pulp Fiction is a fairy tale, guys. I think the title gives it away.

But even though I’m pretty sure I know how Kill Bill will end, hell, yes I’m going to see part two. Not for the violence, which by and large wasn’t too bad to watch, meaning I could stand certain scenes by studying my kneecaps. Certainly not as overwhelming as Reservoir Dogs, which I am very pleased to have seen, I think it’s an important movie, and one I have no intention of seeing again in this lifetime or any other. But I can certainly say the same about Welcome to the Dollhouse, a movie I left feeling even iller than than Reservoir Dogs—and I find it difficult to recommend either movie to people, as powerful as they are.

Anyway, I’m going back for the fine storytelling trickery Taratino loves so well, and does so well. I don’t feel like giving spoilers, so just trust me that he pulls off some nice and effect storytelling sequences. And whereas i don’t think he necessarily makes violence cool, he’s pretty good at bathing his characters in cool. Especially in processions, I mean, Elle Driver’s stroll down the corridor, let me me tell you, to say nothing of O-Ren Ishii strutting with her posse. If only we could do away with that pesky maiming…

Haus-frau report*

My computer is home safe and sound and better than ever. Not only a more copious hard drive, but a faster one as well. Having all the room is odd. Even after putting everything I had back on, plus all the Dicebox pages done so far, plus all the music files I ripped in order to make mix CDs, and larger partitions dedicated to scratch and cache space, I still have about 19 Gigs to play with. Makes the time I spent cleaning and stripping my old hard drive this last Saturday before the melt down on Sunday seem even more futile. At this rate I can do the other comics I want to do and five more chapters of Dicebox before I have to seriously think about clearing anything off—as opposed to backing up my work which I do every other day, thank god.

So big applause to Patrick and the rest of the PowerMacPac. They are my Computer Repair Shop. Hmm. I also have a Stereo Repair Guy. Actually, I was thinking about this the other day and I have gone from just needing a Doctor and a Dentist to needing a whole array of professionals that I can depend on. I mean, needing a Female Doctor, a Vet and a Car Mechanic came pretty early on. But now that I am a home owner I have a Realtor, a Home Inspector, a House Painter, a Floor Guy, an Electrician, a Heating Service, a Contractor, a Contract Plumber and a All-purpose Plumber. I have a line on Tree Guy and a Chimney Service as well.

Actually, the professional I’m most pleased to have acquired recently is my Gutter Guy. Boy, was that a damn struggle to find, which makes me more appreciative, I guess. Good lord, I must’ve contacted over 16 gutter companies before getting this guy. And I should explain that my trouble with the first 16 was simple to get them to return my calls. “Hello, I want to pay you money to do what you advertise you do” just wasn’t good enough. It was a relatively small job, true, but they could have had the courtesy to call and say “sorry, we are only interested in coming up with rain drainage solutions for multi plexes of 10 units and up.” Actually, one of the first 16 attempts (I’m really not exaggerating here) I did actually talk to a person, outlined all the things I wanted done and she promised to have an estimator out to look at it. When I didn’t hear anything after a week, I called again she said I was still on the schedule, that they should have an estimate for me any day now. I still haven’t heard from them.

Anyway, the one that is now my Gutter Guy got the job by simply calling me back. He did all the repairs I wanted, added a new downspout plus cleaned the gutters for one reasonable price and did it all with in a week of my contacting me. And I am pleased to report after a few days of heavy rain, the Gutter Guy did an excellent job.

It’s the little victories, I tell ya.

*boring stuff that I don’t expect many to care about.

And so it goes

Well, my computer needs a whole new hard drive it seems. Luckily, I’ve actually been in need of a larger hard drive as I push the limit with an average sized chapter of Dicebox. So considering that this current chapter will be about ten pages longer than usual, plus my wanting to get cracking on other projects, this is probably as good a time as any. Though I was hoping to put this off until after the holidays when I’d have more money. Ah well. Good-bye 14 Gig drive, hello 40 Gig!

Good thing I had already made arrangements for a fill-in for Dicebox. Trip on over to Girlamatic and feast your eyes on the gorgeous pin-up by Bill Mudron accompanied by some amusing flavor text that Kip created from a vague free floating concept of mine. Of course this was supposed to buy me time to work on other things, but, hey, what can you do?

Congratulations Kim and Matt!

And welcome Sydney Quinn Schlotte, their new daughter!

Barry has more details plus a terribly amusing anecdote which I think should go in Baby’s Memory Book.