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Monday, April 12, 2004
Well, it's hard to imagine a much better weekend than that one. A Friday night relaxing at home, an ideal Spring Saturday spent hiking through the Blue Hills and the Arnold Arboretum, followed by dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. A Sunday that started at the Breakfast Club, then off to a movie, and even more at-home chillaxin'. Throw in a Red Sox extra-inning win on the tube, some intense online multiplayer action, and several chapters of a good book... it nears perfection.
 Speaking of near perfection... Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was damn near the perfect film. It's images & words are still bouncing around my brain, and I hope I don't shake 'em loose for awhile. I was completely lost in it, fairly deeply affected. I saw it alone (Amie had seen it while I was in London), and in an almost-empty theater, which only added to its impact. It was simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful, melancholy and joyful. Just a beautiful work of art. There's this scene where Clementine says "Well, this is it, Joel. The last of it. It will all be gone soon." and he asks "So what do we do now?". She simply responds "Enjoy it." And they do. It was just one of those brilliant moments that will stick with me. I can't imagine myself enjoying any other film more this year. Actually, I finally got to see the preview for Garden State up on the big screen, and if it lives up to it's promise, I might take that statement back. It looks downright magical. On the other end of the movie spectrum... out of a sheer sense of obligation, we netflixed the last Matrix film. Bleh. Well, it wasn't nearly as terrible as the second one, but that certainly isn't saying much. Again, it felt like a video game. Action, cutscene ("go here next"), more action, cutscene, action. Left me cold. They could have tried throwing a little emotion in there, considering it was man vs. machine. Would have made the fight seem a little more clear. We need more than earth-toned knitwear to tell our humans and programs apart. Ok, so the entire final battle was semi-thrilling... even I can't dismiss some of those special effects. Still, it was hard to overcome the tedium of the previous scenes (and, um, the entire second film). Before it started, I said "Please, no rave scene... and please, no shirtless Morpheus." Thankfully, Mr. Fishburne stayed fully clothed, but when they descended into the Frenchman's club, and the slow-motion dancing (and, um, nipple squeezing!?) started... my meager hopes were dashed. Our super-cute dog Nina turned 1 year old on Saturday, and we took her on her first hike up into the Blue Hills, just south of Boston. Suffice it to say, it was one of the best times ever. We went further into the woods than we had before, on some pretty great trails. Since it's so early in the season, the place was relatively deserted, so we were able to take Nina off leash... for a few minutes. She was in pure sniffing heaven, but her nose was leading her a little too far away for comfort. The last time we were in the hills, Amie said "I'd love to come here someday when we have a dog... I dream of that." And so we did. So here's to Nina, a puppy no-longer. Hard to believe she was once this tiny ...  
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 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac... on the nightstand boston-area music bloggers
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