Shameless Promotions (that no one will read...)

This post was going to be an anti-flaky diatribe (one in which I would make everyone, including myself, feel horribly guilty about not being dependable about anything). Instead, I want to enjoy what I write.

First off, I finally watched Pan's Labyrinth last night. Here's my short review:

The film was brutally beautiful. I put off seeing it for quite a while because of its rating (I don't often watch R-rated movies), waiting to find out if it was worth an exception. After enough research, I decided that it was. I'm glad I did. Let me first make clear that this film well-deserved its rating. I read about its content on KidsinMind.com (which is a great site for careful Mormons such as myself), and was not overly concerned about what I read. Nothing could have prepared me for the way that content was presented, however. It's a relatively bloody film, to be sure, but nothing worse than you'd see in a lot of other movies. What was difficult about this film was how emotionally jarring some of these scenes were. Rather than making me sick, the brutality displayed by some of the characters, one in particular, brought me close to tears. And in the center of all this ugliness--caused in the main by a select few--were characters of such profound goodness and depth that not once could I look away from the stark reality they had to face. The basic idea of transcendence in art is that light is best perceived when surrounded by darkness. Labyrinth is quintessential transcendentalism. We are dragged through the mud (literally, at one point) so that we may see with perfect clarity the beauty of life. This one's going to be with me for a long, long time.

This won't be news to anyone who knows me, but...Thrice is my favorite band. The 3rd and 4rd volumes of "The Alchemy Index" came out yesterday, and I, of course, bought them without a second thought. I've been listening to the first two volumes, Fire and Water, for about six months, waiting in focused anticipation for the other two, Air and Earth, to finally be released. Was it worth the wait? Yes. Let me just say that Dustin Kensrue is one of the most talented singer/songwriters of this generation, and Thrice might turn out to be one of the most important bands of this decade. I won't go into a detailed review of their complex and overwhelming project, but I will say....

Actually, I don't even know what to say. It is such a profound musical accomplishment that I am left speechless. OK, I know what to tell you: No matter who you are, at least one part of the Index will appeal to you. This is, to my knowledge, the most diverse record ever produced. So. Buy it.

That is all.