Sara cut off the little curly long bit from my chin so its all even now.

My copy of Dracula has a misprinted spine. It says, printed in fancy gold leaf, “PRIDE AND PREJUDICE • JANE AUSTIN.” When I bought the book it had a dust jacket that stated Dracula on the side. The book is definitely Dracula. Unless I was reading the wrong version of Pride and Prejudice where they didn’t eat babies and spiders. I wonder if the guy responsible for the press that day was fired.

Beard Log. Blog. Get it. Haha. I’ll be growing my beard out as far as I can in the next year. This is something that I have attempted in the past and had varied levels of success. My goal is at least nipple length, a new record. More importantly is Amazing Larry – my dear friend and loyal moustache. He’s on the rebound and heading for a strong recovery. In a few weeks there will be curls and wax and handlebars abound. I should post a photo journal to accurately track my rate of growth. Got to quantify this stuff with proof.

Dracula had a moustache by the way. After reading 100 pages into my little pocket classics version that is the best thing so far. The second best thing is imagining someone trying to sell Dracula some London real estate and going over papers with him and all that malarkey. How silly can you get? Hopefully I can get through this book before new years. Still have about 900 pages of Sherlock Holmes to get through and at least half of Lovecraft’s major works to get through. From there, who knows? Maybe I’ll finally read Moby Dick. Might have to get a larger print version of it from the library though, the print in these pocket versions is too small and makes my eyes tired after only a half an hour or so. Never going to finish reading anything if I fall asleep all the time.

I was in Borders over the weekend looking for books on Tesla without much success (which surprised me, you’d think one of the most famous scientists of the early 20th century would have plenty of material.  Plenty on Edison though, that fat son of a bitch.)  Bored trying to find real books – something Borders doesnt seem to carry anymore – I headed over to the comic books to see what kind of hardbacks they had.  Again, not finding anything worth looking at I was turning to leave when two guys around my age came up and started talking about Uncanny X-Men.  Only he pronounced it with a long U.  You-ncany X-men.  How does someone not know how to pronounce that word?  I mean its used in movies and on TV and stuff, so they must have heard it spoken before.  How did they get this far in life mispronouncing such common words?

(Thats an open ended question, but Im going to go ahead and blame the comic books.)

John Adams. He was one of our more important founding fathers and helped form the building blocks that this nation is built on. HBO’s new mini-series is based on his life immediately following the Boston Massacre and ending with his death stars Paul Giamatti as Adams. This may very well be Mr. Giamatti’s greatest role to date. Its amazing how he can assume these characters so that you forget you are watching him play a person and begin to believe he is the person. The man is one of the best and most talented actors of the last 15 years and this is rock solid proof of that.

What I have seen so far in the first two episodes – covering up to the Second Continental Congress – has been riveting. I still find it amazing that this group came together and asserted their rights as men against what seemed at the time an unstoppable military force. Things as simple as taxes were enough to start a war and create a new nation. Apathy and cynicism seem to have destroyed the last real rebellious spirit left in the American people recently. What would a man such as Adams think about the suspension of Habeus Corpus and the increasing loss of the civil rights that he fought so hard to protect. This series has come at a pivotal moment in our history and I believe that this spirit needs desperately to be revived in the American people. Idle dissent is killing this country. A republic cannot function if the people it governs are not involved in its workings.

Well acted and produced this series should be show wherever possible. On network television, in classrooms of all ages, everywhere that there is an audience. I feel that it is vitally important. “But its just a TV show” the cynics may say. The ideas behind it and the principles that shaped John Adams the Patriot run through the blood of us all but we are afraid to shed any of it for the cause of liberty and freedom.

Episode 6 – Unnecessary War – airs April 13, 2008 on HBO
Episode 7 – Peacefield – airs April 20, 2008 on HBO

I got to see an advanced screening of Michel Gondry’s latest film Be Kind Rewind last night. Once again, Gondry impresses me with his ability to turn the incredibly dire situations in his movies into moments of mixed triumph and quiet understanding that things really will turn out OK – and even if they don’t, that’s fine too. This time is ours to enjoy.

All of the characters in this movie come off as real and sincere. Mos Def is a great actor that really shines here. Even Jack Black with is over the top acting style seems more real in this setting. Danny Glover, like other aging actors, seems to be getting better with age.

What I really like about what this movie accomplishes is that it is funny and heartwarming without wandering into becoming a spoof. It doesn’t even reference these movies for cheap throw away jokes (See just about any Kevin Smith movie.) The funny moments that come aren’t jokes about these films, they are jokes about making movies and having fun in the process.

Gondry has worked in some very impressive visuals that might slip by many viewers, but they add to a framework that keeps the film light hearted without being slapstick. The final master work of the community in Be Kind Rewind is a beautiful piece of cinema that we only catch a glimpse of, but each short scene brings with it a glimpse of the surreal.

Be Kind Rewind is a much more accessible film than The Science of Sleep, but it doesnt lack the heart and emotional strength. It is not without social commentary on the state of copyright law, either.

In short, “Heres to movies with heart.”