What not to write

Over on Drunk Writer Talk, we've often discussed how much we've all learned as writers from watching certain well written (in our opinions) TV shows.

In contrast, I've had a few "what not to write" moments watching movies...

I blogged about the horrible Penelope when I saw it at the 2006 Film festival. They really blew that movie in so many ways. So sad since it starred the adorable James McAvoy.

And tonight I saw 27 Dresses. Didn't hate it... but was far from loving it and haven't completely analyzed why yet.

But one thing... And my take-away lesson from the movies tonight. Do not write a scene where one character expresses their undying love -- basically the most pivotal and emotional (should be) scene of your story -- with one character on stage in front of a crowd and using a microphone. Not unless you've got a really compelling and unquestionable reason for said character to do it this way rather than in private.

Crazy storytelling choice. Crazy. I think the movie had already lost me--zero chemistry between the leads--but that stuck several nails in the coffin. Okay, maybe I did hate it.

Anyone else see this movie? Was I just in a bad mood?

SAG Awards

Okay, tells you how much I've been paying attention to something I claim to care about that I didn't even realize that the SAG awards were being broadcast tonight. Luckily I noticed in time to set my digital recorder.

And it makes sense that they'd be the one show on the air this year... I mean why wouldn't a striking union let another supportive union televise their award show? Especially when they've blocked the televising of all the other competing awards shows. It's called solidarity...

And are the SAG awards even normally televised? I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever watched them before. Hmmmmm... Maybe this will permanently increase the popularity and importance of the SAG awards. Really, when you think about all these award shows, the public really only cares about the actor categories... and maybe the best movie ones.... but the SAG awards have the best ensemble categories which in a way is kind of similar to best movie... Okay, I'm certainly not trying to diminish the roles of the writer and director and cinematographer, and make-up artist, etc... but really, we all like to see the actors on these award shows. And more to the point... This year, the SAG awards seem to be the only ones recognizing my fav movie of the year, Into the Wild... So obviously they're smart. :-) Emile Hirsch... you probably don't have a chance in hell of winning best actor, (I'm writing this near the start of the show), but I hope you win. (I've already seen Javier Bardem beat Hal Holbrook... and I guess I can't really argue... but Hal Holbrook was so damned good in Into the Wild.)

Back slightly on track...

Wouldn't it be interesting if a side-effect of this strange award season were to be the elevation of the SAG awards to surpass the Oscars in popularity with the public? Okay, might not happen... but an interesting idea. To me, anyway.

Okay, back really on track... What made me pause the broadcast to pick up my laptop was Tina Fey... Who thanked Alec Baldwin in her acceptance speech, saying that in their scenes together it was like Fred Astaire dancing with a coat rack, and her winning was people saying, "Hey, that coat rack's not bad, either."

So modest. And, you know... I guess I have to agree with her that she's not that amazing as an actor. Not an incredible range of emotion. But she knows this. She recognizes that her real talent isn't as an actor. Her real talent lies in writing and humor and storytelling... and Alec, should he have shown up to accept his own SAG award (which he won just after) should have acknowledged in his speech (and might have) that he couldn't be Fred Astaire without music and choreography, and that Tina Fey is largely responsible for those two things on 30 Rock.

Again. Tina Rocks. See Molly's post on DWT if you haven't already about her conviction that Tina really wants to be Molly's best friend.

Update at 2:00 am...

Okay, so it's not just me who's never paid much attention to the SAG awards before this year... Here's a quote from the NYT.

"...in a year when a writers’ strike has all but shut down much of Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild Awards — as anonymous in most years as “Cop No. 3” in a summer blockbuster — took top billing Sunday and drew an inordinate amount of star wattage."

Too funny.

Oh, and Daniel Day Lewis dedicated his award to Heath Ledger, who he's never met... just been very moved (as have I) with the man's performances.

I miss Heath already

Okay, I meant to post something about Heath Ledger's death the day it happened, but I think part of me didn't really believe it yet.

It's sad when anyone dies, certainly devastating when someone we know and love dies, but with celebrities, some deaths hit me so much harder than others. And this was one.

I had the thrill of being in the same room as him a couple of times at the TIFF, first for The Four Feathers (which I wasn't crazy about)... and then for Brokeback Mountain (which I was crazy about) and most recently for Candy which was super dark and sad... but he was great in it. I blogged about that day, actually. I almost got roughed up by a security guard when I snapped his picture while he was introducing the film.

Yes, I was that close. No zoom. And as an aside... This year, 2007, they seemed to be fine with photos before and after the films again. Go figure. But they did have guards with night vision watching everyone during the films and the police actually came into one screening at the end... I think it was actually The Assassination of Jesse James... but I'm not 100% sure, anymore... to check out the camera of a guy who was sitting right behind me. I was hoping they were going to arrest him for talking to his girlfriend during the movie, but whatever.

Heath Ledger's death, however it happened, is so tragic. I think he was incredibly talented and I believe we would have been seeing interesting work from him for fifty years to come. Tragic.

Gotta love the entertainment press

Just had to pass this on... ET Canada covered Kiefer Sutherland's release from jail tonight. Okay, fine. I guess that's news. Canadian boy who's made good, does bad, goes to jail, gets released.

But turns out none of the photographers managed to get a snap of Mr. Sutherland coming out of the jail... so what do they use on all those annoying teaser bits leading up to the story? A shot of Kiefer as Jack Bauer coming off the Chinese plane, after however many years of torture it was, at the beginning of the last season of 24.

It was so sad and misleading I just couldn't stop laughing.

Piece of trivia for you non-Canadian readers. Kiefer's late grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was voted "Greatest Canadian" of all time on a TV show/internet voting thing a couple of years ago. He was the preacher turned politician who's largely responsible for Canada having a universal health care system.

Double tagged

Is that like being double dog dared?

The lovely and talented Louisa Edwards tagged me earlier in the week and then the equally lovely and talented Kwana did the same.

So, I guess I'd better get off my you know what and take the tag (before everyone we mutually know is already tagged. )

The rules of this MEME:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Leave a comment on their blog, so their readers can visit you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your blog.
Include links to their blogs and let each of them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay... so I feel like I may have revealed some of these things before... but here goes.

Random Facts about Maureen McGowan....

1. I played the lead in the musical Oliver in high school. Yes. Me as a 9 year old boy. Singing.
2. By the time I was 10, I'd moved 10 times.
3. I ruptured my achilles tendon playing volleyball about 15 years ago. I know. Me. Five feet tall. Playing volleyball. Crazy. ;-)
4. I've hiked in and out of the Grand Canyon. Twice.
5. I've been above the arctic circle -- on the ground, not just on a plane.
6. My nine year old niece is the same height as I am.
7. I can still do the splits. (But it hurts now. Never used to hurt, damn it.)

Okay, so I tag: Marilyn Brant, Christine D'Abo, Nadine Dajani, Michelle Rowen, Margaret Moore, Misty Simon, and Eileen Cook.

Booooring....

Boring... That's my summary for the Golden Globe awards this year. And I'm not even convinced it was the lack of a real show that was so disappointing, or the annoying inane play-by-play, I think it was the winners themselves.

Maybe it's because I still haven't seen a few of the major nominees and winners. I meant to go see There Will be Blood this weekend, but didn't get there. Damages hasn't been shown on TV in Canada yet. Nor has Mad Men to my knowledge. Although I think I can get AMC, so maybe it was there and I just didn't know. Damages starts up here on Feb 18 on either Bravo or Showcase and I expect we'll get Mad Men, too.

A few comments about some winners in films you might not have seen...

Best director for Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Great film. Loved it. And I do think he probably deserves this award. It's a pretty challenging idea. The main character has "locked in syndrome" so the only part of this entire body the main character is able to move is his left eyelid. And the movie is in his POV. And it's a true story. So to turn that into a gripping film... Kudos to the director. Kudos too to Canadian actor Marie Josee Croze who plays his speech therapist. Because we're in his POV and only one eye works.. We see a lot of her face and hear a lot of her reciting the alphabet. And still. Gripping. And not sappy at all. This isn't my original thought, but one reviewer said something like "it could've degenerated into My Left Eyelid, but didn't" And that about sums it up for me. A tear jerker idea, but not tear jerker execution. A really great film.

Julie Christie in Away from Her. Again. A great film. A quiet film to be sure. (A Canadian film.) But well worth seeing and so romantic and sad. And the directorial debut of Sarah Polley. This must be coming out on DVD soon. Rent it.

Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose. This film was showing on the tiny screen (theatre 7) at my local 12 screen cinema for ages and finally I decided to check it out. And wow. This actress truly deserved to win something. But one piece of inane banter I did agree with, is that the movie is so not either a musical or a comedy... But there was tons of music in it and I suppose the producers thought she'd have a better chance in this category, especially since it was for a bio pic in French... But really powerful performance. I knew nothing about Edith Piaf going in and I was almost sobbing at the end. Very tragic life that woman lead. And while she wasn't entirely sympathetic, the actress at least made her very interesting.

A quick word on the supporting actress in a drama category. Cate totally deserved this in my opinion. But so did Amy Ryan and so did little Saoirse Ronan who I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of soon. (I heard she was cast in The Lovely Bones and was in at least one other film I saw at the festival this year, playing not only a completely different character, but using a different accent, and she was great in both.)
Also, Tilda Swinton deserved this. I still haven't seen Charlie Wilson's War, so I can't really comment on Julia Roberts, but this was certainly a talent packed list of nominees this year.

Okay. Enough commentary on a snoresville poor excuse for an awards show. Everyone involved, please, please figure out a way to give us the Oscars. I totally support the strike and can understand why actors wouldn't want to cross picket lines... but the Oscars. Please!

(Oh, and talking about actors and writers in the same sentence reminded me of another nice surprise. Tina Fey. Go, Tina. You Rock. (Pun intended.))

Demon Barbers and all that jazz

Is there nothing Johnny Depp can't do???

I swear, after seeing the initial trailers (that made it look like they'd turned the musical into a non-musical) and then the ads where they show a few talking through a song bits from Depp, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Sweeny Todd.

I've seen the musical on stage a few times and it's my all time fav. Stephen Sondheim's challenging yet unforgettable music and lyrics. The dark, dark humour and the incredible irony of a broadway cast singing and dancing about murder and blood and canibalism. Love it.

And I really enjoyed the movie. Sure, it's super gory. I had to look away a few times even though Burton made the blood quite unrealistic looking. Kind of like water stained with fire engine red paint most of the time. Probably a smart move on Burton's point. People might have barfed otherwise.

And Johhny Depp can sing. Sure, he's not likely to have a career as a singer, but he was in tune, and had a nice clear tone and more to the point sang with true emotion -- which I guess you'd expect from a talented actor, but sometimes actors fall apart when they try to sing. (Helena Bonham Carter's voice, on the other hand, I found a bit shrill and thin... But it's a shrill character and very difficult music, so maybe I should give her more credit. She was good in the part. And it's a great part. Gotta love Mrs. Lovett. "Have a little Priest.")

If you like musicals at all (or at least don't hate them). And you don't mind a little blood (okay, quite a bit of blood). Go see this tragic story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Oh, and I saw Juno again. Held up on second viewing. Pretty sure that movie won't ever get old for me.

Some really fun holiday cheer

Golden Globes -- Comedies and Musicals

Over on Drunk Writer Talk, Sinead had a rant about some of the TV nominations. For me, the Golden Globe TV nominations are always strange. I mean TV, even more than films, is a very US centric thing and not all television shows shown in the US get shown in other countries and often shows that do well in other countries don't do well in the US and vice versa. So, the GG TV nominations can be strange. Sometimes smart... like recognizing shows like Arrested Development that bombed in the ratings state-side, but sometimes just odd -- Samantha Who? I watch a lot of TV. Okay, WAY TOO MUCH TV. And I've never heard of this show. And Sinead's right. Where the hell are the noms for BSG and FNL???

But back on topic. The foreign films and comedy nominations. The fact that the GG's, (I keep feeling strange using GG, because that's used in Canada for the Governor General -- basically our head of state, he/she (currently she) stands in for the Queen) Anyway. The fact that the GG's separate out comedies and musicals is sometimes great because it means some good movies get recognized that aren't so serious. I actually like it, because more actors can get nominated. The movies themselves on this list... Enh.

That's not to say I didn't love some of them and/or I'm not excited about the two that haven't been released yet.
Here's the list with a couple comments from the peanut gallery.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Absolutely loved this film. A magical experience.

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

I am excited about seeing this one. I think it's released on Dec 20. I'm curious to see how much they'll tie what happened then with what's going on now... That is, how this guy might have helped get the Soviets out of Afghanistan, but at the same time armed the Taliban. Given that it's Aaron Sorkin and Mike Nichols... well, I expect they won't shy away from that--even though the studio seems to have in the previews and ads.

HAIRSPRAY

Really? I mean, it was fun, but REALLY? (And don't even get me started about John Travolta's nomination. I found his performance unbelievably offensive. I not sure I can even explain why, although I tried to in this post. BTW I watched the original Hairspray on DVD last night. I stand by everything I said about the new one and Travolta and the changes they made to the script/plot making Tracy and her mom self-conscious about their weight, whereas in the original, no one except the "villains" even seemed to notice that Tracy and her mom were fat. Linc is instantly attracted to Tracy in the original as soon as he sees her dance. He doesn't need to get past the fact that she's fat. He doesn't seem to notice or care. Maybe that's not realistic, but to me it's what made the original story so great and made the weight issue a metaphor for the racial issues. It never seems odd to Tracy in the original that the most gorgeous guy on the show wants her. In her mind, she's fabulous. Who wouldn't want her. I love Ricki Lake's Tracy Turnblad. The new one? Just corny.)

JUNO

Okay, I loved this movie. It's sweet and quirky and has the most ridiculous but fun to listen to dialog I've heard in a movie in a long time. To me it proves that fun to listen to, but not realistic, dialog can work. Like in Pushing Daisies on TV. And arguably Elmore Leonard film adaptations, too. No one talks like that. But it's fun to listen to.

I'm not sure I'd put Juno in an overall best movie group... but since they have the comedy category in the GG's, I'm okay with this nod. (The foreign press collectively heave a sigh of relief.)

SWEENEY TODD

VERY excited about this one. Love Tim Burton. Love Johnny Depp. Love Sweeny Todd. It's funny to me that the first trailers I saw for this movie didn't feature any of the music. I'll bet viewers who didn't know it was a musical wouldn't have realized. In fact, at first, I was kind of shocked. How could Tim Burton take the music out of Sweeny Todd??? The most fun in that play is hearing a chorus of Broadway-style singers and dancers singing lyrics about slashing throats and eating human meat pies. But then I read an interview with Depp where he talked about the singing and I realized it was a musical... the ads were just trying to disguise it. (Kind of like I assume the ads for Charlie Wilson's War are hiding the real political message and making Wilson sound like he single handedly ended the cold war.)

Okay, I was going to talk about the foreign films today, too, but they deserve another post. Some GREAT films on that list this year. Really great.

And as for the animated films. Why do they have this category??? And The Bee Movie? Okay, I didn't see it, so it might not be fair for me to comment, but it was so badly reviewed and didn't do as well with the public as hoped either -- in spite of a year of over-the-top publicity. Why the hell is it getting this award recognition??
(A final aside... One of the FABULOUS foreign films this year, Persepolis, is animated. So, I'm not against animated films... but if they're great, they're great and can be nominated along with the musicals and comedies --or dramas--or foreign films-- if applicable. Hollywood Foreign Press take note. Academy, too.)

Golden Globes -- Best Films (Drama)

Yes, it's awards season again. The season where Maureen rants about who gets nominated and who doesn't and what idiots everyone who has the power to make such decisions are.

I've barely glanced at the nominations, but this year my biggest beef/disappointment is the total absence of INTO THE WILD in the nominations, except for an original song and score nomination for Eddie Vedder. At least there's that. If that doesn't win original score, I don't know... But actually, the other movie who's score I noticed (and also got a score nom) was ATONEMENT. You might remember I talked about how the film used a typewriter sound as a percussion instrument rather effectively when I blogged about ATONEMENT at the film festival.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

AMERICAN GANGSTER
Imagine Entertainment/Scott Free Productions; Universal Pictures
ATONEMENT
Working Title Productions; Focus Features

EASTERN PROMISES
Kudos Pictures – UK Serendipity Point Films – Canada A UK/Canada Co-Production; Focus Features
THE GREAT DEBATERS
Harpo Films; The Weinstein Company/MGM
MICHAEL CLAYTON
Clayton Productions LLC; Warner Bros. Pictures
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production; Miramax/Paramount Vantage
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
A Joanne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production; Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films

I've seen 5 of these 7 films. Well, all five that have been released to the theatres. And all 5 were good films. Although for me, MICHAEL CLAYTON was more about performances than great storytelling... so I'm not sure if I agree with that nom 100%. As for the two I haven't seen, I must say I am VERY excited about THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Daniel Day Lewis in a Western written and directed by PT Anderson???? WOW.
On the other hand... THE GREAT DEBATERS... Well, it has potential, I guess. But also has the potential to be a sappy, predictable feel-good piece of schlock. (Oprah's company is the producer? Maureen shudders.)

I am excited about EASTERN PROMISES getting nominated (it won't win) mostly because David Cronenberg deserves the recognition and it's nice to see a Canadian film on the list, even if there wasn't much Canadian about that film. (BTW. It says a UK/Canada co-production, but Serendipity Films is very Canadian, (Robert Lantos's company) even if it happens to have a UK subsidiary.)

Speaking of films being Canadian or not, and I will talk about the comedies and musicals tomorrow... But JUNO. GREAT film. Loved it. Will see it again when it opens for sure. This is a movie that's totally Canadian, but actually NOT officially Canadian. But the director is Canadian and the two main actors are Canadian, it was filmed in Canada, and it has a very Canadian film feel to it. Even the director said this when he introduced it at the festival this year. But it was financed in the US, so it's a US film. Go figure.

Which film do I hope wins? This may sound bizarre, but I'm hoping for the yet to be released THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Mostly because I want it to be amazing.

But INTO THE WILD should have been on the list.

Butter tart recipe

So, there was some discussion of Tenderflake lard over on The Debutante Ball yesterday. Okay, it wasn't really a discussion of lard, but author Meg Tilly was guest blogging and a number of people who commented there had read her post about making pies on her own blog. And the secret to her pie crust -- Tenderflake lard.

All my childhood pie memories involve crust made with this lard and the jingle from the 1970's era ad: "When I bake a pie, for the apple of my eye, I bake it with a crust, I know that I can trust. I bake it so good, he can smell it from the yaaard. I'll tell you what my secret it, the secret is my laaard." [I've probably just violated someone's copyright. Ooops.]

I defy any Canadian at least in their mid thirties or older to tell me they don't know that jingle.

So back to my point. I mentioned my grandmother's butter tart recipe and the imprecision of some of the measurements. I love recipes like that. Cooking, like writing, is an art. Sure you need a plan and some structure and to follow some basic rules or it will be a big ol mess. But a little extra of this or that, and tossing something extra into the mix in the heat of the moment, can create real magic.

Anyway, I promised I'd post the recipe here, today. (I also promised I'd double check the details with my mom... which I didn't manage to do. So I hope I haven't misremembered anything.)

For those of you who've never heard of a butter tart (my American friends) let's just say the absence of this delectable treat on grocery and bakery shelves when I moved to the US almost made me want to move home immediately.

Butter tarts could be more aptly named sugar tarts. I guess the closest thing in US baking would be pecan pie and in the UK treacle. But it's not exactly like either of those things.

My grandma's butter tarts (as I remember the recipe)

- Cream a piece of butter the size of a shelled walnut with one cup of tightly packed brown sugar. (NB. The brown sugar in the US and UK aren't the same as Canadian brown sugar, either... but I did successfully make this recipe when I was living in the States. Go for the more golden kind. The soft stuff.)
- Beat one egg and stir into the butter/sugar until well blended
- Add one half teaspoon of vanilla and some lemon juice to taste
- Add a big handful of raisins (I always eyeball this. Maybe half cup?)

Pour into unbaked tart shells to about 3/4 full and bake

Okay, so the temperature is probably 350 F and for how long? They should bubble and the crust should go golden brown. I can't really remember, so keep an eye on them. Must be at least 20 minutes, I'd think.

Let me know if anyone tries to make them!

The Speed thing

I did tackle the speed thing over on Drunk Writer Talk yesterday if you're interested and haven't visited us over there before. Stop on by for a drink!

Oh, and there's an amazing interview, by my friend and CP Danielle Young-Ullman, of Meg Tilly (yes, that Meg Tilly) over on The Debutante Ball today.

Nanofailure

Why do I even kid myself that I can do Nanowrimo???? Fast is just not how I write best. I need to think about my book, or type ideas for scenes instead of actual scenes, or go back and think about my overall character arc, in between those great days where everything is flowing like magic. If I just keep typing, it's often a waste of time and energy and simply crap.

I did less than 17K this Nanoseason. I guess that's nothing to sneeze at. But if I'm honest about it, at least 5K of that will be completely cut and the remaining 12K will need significant revision. If I hadn't been doing Nano the 5K I know is all wrong would have been gone already, but no way do you cut anything, even redundant words, when you're aiming for that 50K goal.

I wish I'd done better... Sigh.

How about you? Can you write fast? I promise I won't hold it against you. Much.

I am all powerful

Okay. That's a joke.

But I hadn't seen a forecast for a few days when I wrote that post on Wed lamenting the rain and saying I'd rather have snow...

By about 1:00 am that next morning, I was hearing sleet on the windows... and woke up Thurday morning to a light dusting of the white stuff.

And today, it's cold. Like middle of January cold.

I haven't even cleaned up my yard for winter yet!!! Now, I'm praying for a thaw so I can rake leaves, and so the eavestrough guys can do their thing. They're supposed to come the first week of Dec.

Since my asking for snow worked so well on the blog on Wed. I am now asking for a thaw. A big one. That lasts a few weeks. It can snow again right before Christmas. Okay? Order in.

Rain, rain, go away

November can be such a dreary month. The days are short and when it's rainy... Well, it just pretty much sucks.

I have been sitting at my computer all day today and haven't managed to get a word written on my new ms. So much for Nano. Damn.

I did get some stuff done re a contest I'm coordinating and have done some deep thinking about another completed manuscript... But no motivation to actually do anything.

When November gets this dreary, I'm almost looking forward to snow. At least it's pretty.

I don't get it

First, I don't get why many smokers don't seem to think their butts (the cigarette ones) aren't litter. Why someone who probably wouldn't toss their empty drink container, or kleenex, or whatever, on the ground feels it's all right to leave an ugly filter...

But, what I really don't get is why someone thinks it's okay to just toss a lit cigarette away with no regard to who's around them. (Or out of car windows for that matter.)

A very windy day last week, I was walking behind a young smoker just as we were approaching the entrance to the subway station. I was already not enjoying the smoke blowing from her cigarette and straight into my lungs... But as she reached the door, she just tossed her smoke away. Now, even on a non-windy day this would be annoying... But it was windy and the cigarette flew back and hit me.

Okay. It bounced off my jeans. No burn. No real damage. But boy was I angry. I chased her down and told her to be more careful when she disposed of her cigarettes. She was apologetic when I told her it had hit me, but seriously... Why did she think she could just toss it like that???

Morning or night?

Are you a morning person, or a night person?

I am decidedly a night one... Always have been, even as a little kid, according to my mom.

But this week I'm babysitting my sister's kids -- one of whom has to get up at 6:30 and eat a 5 course (I'm not kidding) breakfast and have his at least 5 course lunch packed all before 7:20.

I wonder... If I had to do this every day... Would I switch? Years of desperately trying to get to work on time would argue against this...

Are you a morning or a night person? Do you believe it's possible to switch?

I am so excited!

First, sorry for bailing on my trip description. I came down with the plague and am still getting over it.

But something just perked me up, big time. Twin Peaks. The entire series. Is about to be released on DVD.

For anyone who missed David Lynch's ground breaking TV series from the early 1990's you need to watch it. I can't wait. The pilot episode has never been available on DVD before because the rights were owned by someone else, or something. And it's a series where the pilot kind of matters.

It's not hard to see the influence of this show on many good (and bad) TV series and even movies in the 1990's and 2000's. David Lynch is a genius, if a bit insane and a very impressive group of directors did individual episodes.

I've been watching the first couple of seasons of Veronica Mars on DVD, because of recommendations from several people... (I like it... but not sure I LOVE it) but back to my point. I watched one of the extras and the show's creator, Rob Thomas, was talking about how much he was influenced by Twin Peaks. I do admit the whole starting out with a dead girl's body thing, not to mention the diary, and sex scandals, all seemed a teensy bit derivative of Twin Peaks. But Twin Peaks was twisted. Veronica Mars isn't twisted.

They did fall off the rails at some point on Twin Peaks. Great example of a series going on longer than it should have. Or what happens when you have an amazing idea but then don't know where to take it when you find out you can make more episodes than you ever imagined you'd be able to, or when you have to keep out doing yourself because there were so many shocks, so many firsts for TV at the outset that where do you go from there??? But it's well worth the ride, even if the ride goes into crazy land for the last few episodes. Buy or rent it if you're curious about who killed Laura Palmer. The question on everyone's minds back in 1990.

Day Four -- Into Havasupai

I finding it hard to describe how sore my legs were by this point. And I'm supposed to be a writer? Let's just say that tasks such as walking down a couple of stairs or -- gasp -- lowering oneself onto a toilet seat were excruciating. We had to stop at a drug store to replenish our ibuprophin supplies. Popping those babies like candy.

And yet... We had another 8 mile hike into another canyon ahead of us.

We actually spent the morning of this day in the van -- which kind of sucked. And the various pee stops needed by a group of 13 adults in a van (worse than kids) meant we didn't reach the trail head until 12:30 in spite of our 6:30 am breakfast.

And the task ahead was a hike into the village in the Havasupai Indian Reservation, where there's only one "restaurant", which stops serving food promptly at 5:00 pm.

So, that left 4 1/2 hours to go 8 miles. 2 miles down about a 2000 ft side canyon on a pretty rough trail it was hard to descend quickly without breaking something, and then another 6 miles of relative flat. (I realized when we came back out 2 days later, that we'd been going slightly downhill the whole day... but it was very gradual.)

And it was the flat that killed me. It was hot, dusty, and varied between sand and gravel for the surface -- lots of slipping and sliding and it was hard to keep a quick pace up. I wore a bandana over my head under my baseball cap, looking like someone out of the foreign legion. But it did wonders in keeping the sun off my neck and ears. (I'm sure someone got a photo of that... but I don't have one just yet.)

Also, the mule and horse trains on this trail in the reservation weren't the guide-lead-tourista-topped-slow-moving variety of the national park, either. They freakin' galloped with a cowboy (actually, more like an indian than a cowboy... but a cowboy none-the-less) driving them from behind. Crap they moved fast and if you didn't get out the way you'd be trampled. They went slower into the Canyon (laden with, well, everything available in the village store and cafe, than they went out. The outgoing horses really galloped. Most of them went out "empty" with just a few carrying outgoing mail and such. I sadly have no pictures of these mule or horse trains. It was too scary and too dusty to take out my camera.

The biggest challenge for me that day was that we had to walk faster on the flats than I was comfortable with. The speed disadvantage that comes from my height (or lack thereof) is more pronounced when walking on flats than inclines, because my stride is so short. I basically have to run to keep up to taller people... So, after climbing in and out of the Grand Canyon... on which day do I get a terrible pressure blister under the back ridge of my heel???? On the day we hike 6 miles on the flats. Go figure.

Painful. So painful.

Our entire group arrived in the village within 40 minutes of each other (we stragglers literally ran to keep up) and had to go straight into the cafe to grab supper.

And supper was, well, interesting... they do these "tacos" on fried bread. And burritos with the most tasteless beans I've ever had. But it was food. And there were cold drinks and the promise of a bed and shower at the "lodge" so I was happy if soaked in sweat and very dusty -- more like muddy with the combo of sweat and dust.

The lodge was actually quite adequate. The rooms were big and clean and had great showers. Think cheap motel, but cleaner.

Some members of our group found the village a little hard to take, comparing it to a third world country... But I don't think those people have ever been to a third world country. Sure, the streets were sand, there were corrals lining the village streets -- nothing like the constant smell of mule piss -- but I found the village interesting and quaint. The people living there seemed happy enough and the setting's pretty spectacular.

But the really spectacular sights of the Havasupai canyon, the reason we'd hiked down to stay in this tiny village, would await us in the morning on our "rest day".

Day Three -- And then we climb...

Yes, downhill was harder. I still maintain that. But I didn't get much sleep at Phantom Ranch. In fact, by Tuesday I'd had about 4 nights in a row with very little sleep, so that 4:30 am wake-up call on the day we hiked out of the canyon came pretty early.

My hands were tender, right at the base of my index fingers (from the new hiking poles) so the wonderful Kristi taped up my hands with duct tape while we all got ready to leave our dorm. Sure, the tape kept the blisters from getting worse, but I swear the main advantage of the taped hands was feeling like a boxer, ready to take on that 10 mile and 5000 ft assent. (Not that boxers hike... but do you get what I mean? Fierce.)

When we started out that morning, it was getting a bit light in the canyon -- the sky was turning from black to grey -- but we'd been hiking at least an hour before we started to see signs of the sun hitting the very tops of the canyon walls. (See photo above. Actually, in that photo, I'm pretty sure it was 8 or so and we're looking at sun hitting an inner bit of the canyon. No way is that high enough to be the main canyon. And the sides of the main canyon aren't nearly that close to the river.) The sights were pretty incredible. In fact, the first few miles of the hike -- actually almost everything about that day -- was incredible.

So sick of walking downhill, my legs were thrilled by the uphill thing, and my lungs were finally getting used to the altitude. (And, of course, the altitude's not so bad at the bottom of the canyon.)

The scenery down in the canyon is amazing, too. And I'd been too shaky to enjoy it the previous afternoon in the final few hours of the descent. Creeks with this odd red weed growing at the sides, Century and Prickly Pear cacti, and countless beautiful sights as the sun rose. A few hours in, Craig, one of our guides said something like, "Look at the grin on your face." And it was true. I couldn't stop smiling. Sure, my heart was beating a bit too fast as I walked uphill, but I couldn't help thinking: this is why I'm alive. This is the sort of thing I live for.

I decided about that time to pack some of the happy I was feeling away, in case I needed it later. Of course, I was half-way thinking I'd could save it until February when the sky would be gray and the days short... No way would I need it in the Canyon! I mean, I was feeling strong. My legs hurt but were glad to climb. My heart rate and breaths were fast but under control, and after the steep bits, stopping for a minute or two brought my heart rate back down. On top of all that, I had boxer tape on my hands. This climb was going to be great.

Little did I know at that point, that I'd be seriously needing my stored up happy later that same day.

Dinner that night was at the El Tovar. A fabulous restaurant at the South Rim. And our reservation was at 5:30 pm. By about 3:00 pm or so, the group I was hiking with started to realize making it out in time for dinner -- especially if we wanted to, oh, have a shower or even take off our dusty boots before going into the restaurant, was going to be a big challenge. (Did I mention the way the pink dust in the canyon sticks to everything including your legs so we all looked like we were wearing nylons? Everywhere? Those mules can kick up a lot of dust.) The last 2-3 miles of the assent, I think we were barely going a mile an hour and were stopping at the end of almost every switch back trying to catch our breath in the thinning air, or will our legs to keep moving, or our feet to take the pressure of another painful step.

About 3:30, Kristi -- already checked into the hotel, showered and way too perky -- walked back down the last half mile or so from the top to meet us. Did I mention I love Kristi? The best thing about Kristi -- there are many -- is that we stragglers finally did get to the top, she let us rest and have a beer in the bar while she ran to the hotel to pick up the van and our room keys. Then she drove us to the hotel, waited 20 minutes for us to grab a quick shower and then drove us to dinner. I tell you. Not having to walk that quarter mile to the hotel, or the half mile to dinner saved my life. (As did the happy I'd stored in little ziploc bags nearer the bottom. Used every one.)

The gang who'd made it out of the canyon earlier in the day were already drinking wine on the veranda of the El Tovar when we stragglers got dropped off in the van. But we all made it, had a fabulous dinner and got a ride back to our very welcome beds.