bloggie blog

That’s the end. The final episode of Big Love aired on March 20, and I watched every episode. Thank you for Big Love. Thank you to creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer, thank you to HBO, thank you to the writers and cast and crew, thank you one and all.

Watching BL, I frequently gaped, laughed or sighed. More than once, I bawled heavily. There were some missteps, as with most every TV show, and there were some mistakes central to the topic at hand. One minor character who was very active in her LDS faith would have said “Oh my gosh,” there. One major character mispronounced “Melchizedek” and “temple recommend” both. And, as I said, a few times it wandered in ways had nothing to do with its unique topic and drifted into unfortunate cheesy melodrama. But not very often. More significantly, it was well-made, gripping and pretty damn good. I will miss it.

Some Mormons are opposed to Big Love, whether they’ve seen it or not. I hope there aren’t too many like this, but I know of more than one who, because they’ve been told to be offended by it, by golly they are. Perhaps they imagine every episode over there on HBO is filled with nudity, cursing and wanton mockery of things Mormons hold dear. Nope. There’s a very small amount of that spread over 53 episodes. You could cut 2 entire scenes and 2 seconds of 2 other scenes and all that would be gone, so that’s not really much to get up in arms about now, is it? If it’s not for you, it’s not for you, that’s cool, but if you’re opposed to the message of this show, it seems to me you are opposed to good drama and opposed to a strong message of family, of faith, of being different, of love. Consider the irony.

Back to the motivation to write this post — which is that I will miss it. I’m going to miss seeing things on TV you don’t see on TV all that much. Multiple wives, yes, but also sayings like, “It’s good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out” (Nicki was always my crazy favorite), and references to “those GD protesters.” Sigh, sigh and sigh. With big gratitude, I bid you a big, fond farewell, Big Love!

After several days away, I am back in Los Angeles and happy to be here. I am refreshed. I am enjoying the weather. I have some good things here for which I am grateful, including lovely visits with 2 lovely friends. And I did not spend years of my life on Lost. All good.

“If you want to see a movie about a douchebag, you should probably see Douchebag.” So ends a great little promotional interview with Drake Doremus for his movie.

I would love to see this film — and I will some day, I am sure, though I will not be in Park City on Friday when it premieres. I will see this movie because of an intrigue based on the clip where we hear of an extended, impractical movie-making process, similar to one I’ve been working on, and that clip also shows crazy-good acting. The film is all character-driven, my favorite. Also, one of the actresses in this movie is a new friend, and an amazingly generous and open person. Finally, it’s called Douchebag. Four good reasons! Find this clip and a little more here.

Douchebag, I’m rooting for you!

Here is the Official Obselidia Trailer.
It intrigues me. I think I would very much enjoy watching this movie, especially in an arthouse or smaller theater. I think I would enjoy the philosophical wonderings that this movie would elicit in me. I’m hoping it’s well received at Sundance, and that it enjoys a wider release.

They’ve got a Twitter account for this film. Smart people.

Recently, the Sundance Film Festival announced their lineup of competition films for the 2010 version of the annual Utah event. I have decided to follow 3 of them closely. My decision was based on a few, loose criteria: Scripted (fictional) films where the actors and directors are non-famous and the budget is pretty small, and they were filmed or based largely in southern California. Only three films met those criteria:

Douchebag, directed by Drake Doremus, with a cast that includes one actress I’ve recently met, Amy Ferguson. (This isn’t even her first appearance on a Sundance screen. Sheesh.)

Lovers of Hate, by Bryan Poyser.

Obselidia, by Diane Bell.

I’ve established Google alerts for these people, I’m asking around and doing online research, and I’m rooting for them. Go Team 3!

A few items from my Thanksgiving in Utah:

When I landed, my brother Nathan was about 20 minutes late in picking me up, so I bought the Salt Lake Tribune and learned that Donny Osmond and Real Salt Lake were big winners locally. Nice. (BYU beat Utah just minutes before my return flight, but either way there, there was going to be a big local winner.)

My sister Julia bought a great old house this year. She’s put a lot of work into it, and on Black Friday she rounded us up to do the same, without even resorting to Tom Sawyer reverse psychology. I swore not to participate in Black Friday, but we forgot and went to The Home Depot for some lighting supplies. It was quiet.

I was cold. Inside. My parents and my sister keep it cool.

Used Windows 7. Okay, I guess.

The Farming Game has stupid rules regarding “a” winner vs. “the” winner.

AT&T’s network in Los Angeles is the real problem. Works great in Utah.

Downloaded very fun iPhone app called iCaroler. Great way to start the Christmas season! You play with carolers, or even better, multiple people play with carolers … which I haven’t quite tested yet.

Received random, unexpected email from GOGII: “Dear _____, Your password has been reset.” Should I be worried?

As I flew back to Los Angeles last December, Delta bumped me and gave me a $400 voucher. Which I Tweeted. Which I told myself I wasn’t going to forget. Which I forgot completely, of course, as I bought a ticket several weeks ago.

Well whaddyaknow, late last night I was cleaning — minor miracle — and saw the voucher as I reached the bottom of a pile. Couldn’t believe it! And since it’s about to expire, I quickly schemed to buy a ticket for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t going to travel for Thanksgiving, you see, in order to save some $$$, but my crappy memory ended up serving me well inasmuch I’ll be home for T-day! I am thankful for forgotten vouchers. I am thankful to be losing my edge.

A bit of silly computerizing today. My dock spells out the word “SEXY!” and I agree, my desktop is sexy!

The photo is from my recent trip to Arches National Park, where we were mesmerized by this iridescent cloud as we stood under one of the “windows.” The icons are from Quicken, Entourage, Excel and Yahoo Mail! as a Fluid app. The only trouble with this lovely setup: the dock is too huge, but I had to magnify it for the screenshot. Enjoy! Now back to our regular dock size.

New hiking shoes: check. Swimwear: check. Flashlight: check. Sunglasses: check. Recipes for my turn to cook: check. Lotions, potions and pills that make up the general walking pharmacopoeia we all are these days: check.

I’m off to Moab! Stay turned for pictures of the wonders of the world: Natural Bridges National Monument, Delicate Arch, nieces, nephews, my farmer’s tan.

This coming weekend, I will be in Moab with my family.

I am learning that nobody that I know in LA has ever heard of Moab. This is surprising to me. I always figure that outdoorsy stuff is widely known, but even when I follow “Moab” up with “Arches National Park” I get lots of “huh”s and blank stares of incomprehension. People, just search the word moab on Google images, and you will behold nature’s wonder.

Bought some new shoes in preparation for the trip. My local Runyon Canyon hikes will also benefit from these lightweight hiking shoes, as the old shoes are, well, old. Let’s be honest, they’re just brown cross-trainers … but oh so comfy!

P.S. If I were buying a boot, not a shoe, and were anticipating cooler weather, I would be in love with this fine, fine piece of footwear.