The Halloween Theme

For those who know me, my love for John Carpenter's work is no secret.  For those who are just getting to know me, well, what else can I say?  I'm a huge fan of Carpenter, and many of his films would surely rank among my favorites.  One of the most impressive aspects of Carpenter's legacy is his ability to score a picture, and most of his classics come with a classic theme attached.  That is certainly true of one of his finest films, the timeless Halloween, and that theme is a true masterpiece.

So, I'm sitting upstairs, perched behind the computer.  I'm writing, but you already knew that.  The blinds are open and I have a wonderful view of a meadow where horses roam.  It's a nice day, and to be completely honest there isn't much more that a writer could ask for.  I have my iTunes on, as always, and I have it set to shuffle.  All is well.  For whatever reason, iTunes seems to have a thing for funk today, and that's fine by me. 

Then iTunes throws a swerve my way.  That's right: Halloween hits.  Suddenly, I can't help but look out the window to see if Michael is crossing the meadow.  And I realize that I'm making a serious Dr. Loomis face that would make Donald Pleasance proud.  You could have shot that scene and printed it for the next Halloween picture.  Seriously.

I find it amusing that a piece of music is so potent that it could transform a beautiful view of a nice day into a tense portrait of unseen menace.  Yeah, a tense portrait of unseen menace.  That's positively absurd, but I'm pretty sure that John Saul would use it. 

Anyhow, sharing is caring, or so they say. 

The Walking Dead: Season 3, Episode 14 (Prey)

Just when you think this season of The Walking Dead may have peaked, it somehow manages to peak again.  It seems natural given the slow burn toward a pending conflict approach AMC has embraced, yet I guess the pessimist in me is just waiting for them to muck it up.  I'll give them credit, they're still building steam, and they're righting wrongs along the way. 

Yes, I'll be the first to admit it: The Governor is actually becoming the monster he should be.  I've questioned David Morrissey's role in the show on numerous occasions, and I was perplexed by both the actor's choices and the subdued version of the comic book titan the people with all the stroke over at AMC chose to depict.  Now I'm really starting to see why they made many of those decisions, and it looks like it's going to pay off.  I think they baited us with a softer version of the character, and now they've almost managed to transform that cat into The Governor that fans of the comic know and fear.

Additionally, Andrea finally pulled her head out of her ass and made some sensible decisions, though she made them just a little too late in the game.  I thought the makers of the show backed down when faced with some of The Governor's most despicable actions earlier in Season 3, but now I'm thinking that Laurie Holden may be subjected to the horror that both the show's loathsome villain's tainted legacy and his brand-spanking-new torture chamber promise to deliver.  Now that Andrea is thinking straight, I'm hoping she manages to endure, but I don't think there's any way that she's going to get out clean.

Anyone who follows my blog probably thinks I hate Andrea given all the flack I've directed at her character this year, but there's a reason for the rants.  I do favor the comics, where Andrea's a more integral part of the story, and Laurie certainly has the potential to make the character equally remarkable.  She's already one of the more popular characters on the show, or at least she was until this season teed off, but the role has the potential to rival any other role in The Walking Dead.  I don't think I'm overselling, and I think Kirkman's legions of followers would agree.  I like Andrea on the show, but Andrea is operating on an entirely different level in the comics. 

Now, in this week's episode, aptly titled "Prey", Andrea finally sought to defect from Woodbury.  Unfortunately, The Governor was all jacked-up after building his torture chamber, and he was hot on her heels.  This chase was at the very core of the episode, and it was a tense and highly-entertaining affair.  Both Morrissey and Holden were given ample opportunities to shine and dispatch walkers, and in an episode that rested almost entirely upon their shoulders, both delivered the goods to terrific effect.

Back in town, Milton behaved like a fool.  Seriously, dude is just smart enough to be incredibly dumb.  Why air your homeboy's dirty laundry if you're down with him?  Why tip Andrea off and then prevent her from doing what needed to be done about it?  Why tell The Governor his daughter's death didn't matter?  I mean, seriously, that was about the stupidest thing his character could have said in that situation.  Later, he all but confessed to burning the walkers.  I don't think we'll be seeing his character in Season 4, but I think he's dumb enough to be shocked by it when his number finally gets punched. 

I liked seeing Tyreese make a moral stand, but I could have done without the "Donna" soap opera he and that sucker that travels with him subjected to us to.  I think that guy's chances of making it to Season 4 are worse than Milton's, and I'm just not that interested in his back-story.  Tyreese on the other hand came off well here, and I definitely liked seeing his shooting prowess on full display.

Our only glimpse of the prison came when Andrea thought she had made it back only to be overcome by The Governor.  Rick was on watch, and he may have caught a glimpse of what was happening, but it was insignificant enough that he couldn't confirm it, and he promptly shrugged it off.  I liked that moment, though I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing what The Governor has in store for Andrea.  Yikes! 

And to think that she would have dropped him if not for Milton . . .

Yes, Season 3 is still firing on all cylinders, and now the stakes are truly high. 

Can AMC continue this epic run? 

Will the struggle to come warrant the hype? 

Who will live and who will die?

Just how far will The Walking Dead go?

The questions are many and the answers are coming.  Stay tuned, fright fans, I'm looking forward to discussing next week's episode with you in seven days.

Jungle Boogie or Jungle Jazz?

I think I'm going with the jazz.  And if you didn't know there was a Jungle Boogie and a Jungle Jazz, well, I guess you just found something to do.

Oh, and you're welcome.

The Fishing Waylands

My lovely little Alaina Rachel had to go the farm for 4-H this afternoon.  She loves Infinity Acres Ranch and I think the place is one of Ridgeway's unsung treasures.  Alaina loves working with all the animals and Laura and Rick have taught her so very much.  It's a wonderful opportunity to interact with wildlife and learn about life on the farm.  Check it out if you get the chance.

Alaina with Laura and Rick (and an alpaca) from Infinity Acres Ranch

Anyway, I decided to take Taryn Grace fishing while Alaina Rachel was at Infinity Acres.  We've been living in Ridgeway for a while, and I decided to see what the fishing was like up by Eggleston Falls.  I was actually checking the falls out a few days ago when an old-timer happened along and mentioned that he had greatly enjoyed fishing behind the falls as a boy.  So, today Taryn and I decided to see what it was all about.

First off, as with all of the wonderful Smith River Trails that are available to Henry County locals, the trail was great and the scenery was beautiful.  The falls themselves are nothing short of gorgeous.

Taryn had a blast!

I love this pic!

We fished for a shade under two hours, and we definitely had a lot of fun.  We hiked up above the falls, and this is the first spot we chose to fish from:

 

It was a nice spot, even if yesterday's rain made for a muddy river.  Better yet, the fish were biting.  I brought in a fish on my first cast.  Then Taryn joined the party.  They were small fish, mostly between six to ten inches, but we caught five fish at this spot.  Surprisingly, all but one was a catfish, and I'm used to pulling trout out of the Smith.  I landed the first catfish, and then Taryn went up on me, bringing in three fish in rapid succession.  Taryn is getting ready to turn 5, so she was rather fired up about the whole thing.  I hooked another fat little catfish before we decided to move closer to the falls.

Here are the fish Taryn reeled in:

1st catch = little catfish (7 inches)

2nd catch = fat catfish (9 inches)

3rd catch = small trout (7 inches)

 We only had a few minutes left before it was time to go pick up Alaina Rachel, but I wanted to see if anything was biting just above the falls, so we set up shop here:

I brought in another fat little catfish and we called it a day.  Taryn had a wonderful time, and she was excited.  She thought the falls were beautiful, and she was thrilled with our 3-3 tie.  She and her sister are having a pajama party at Girl Scouts now, and I'm sure she's still bragging about her fishing trip.  I bet her sister is jealous.  We went to the reservoir as a family on Sunday, but the fish weren't biting.  Thus, our Wayland leaderboard for the 2013 season is as follows:

Taryn: 3 (Tie for 1st)
Daddy: 3 (Tie for 1st)
Alaina: 0
Kristen: 0
Asher: 0

Yes, Asher fishes.  Kind of.

I know they don't exactly look thrilled, but like I said, the fish weren't biting.

I think it was probably just too windy Sunday, but my little troopers still managed to have fun.  Here's a look at the girls on the lake.

Anyway, the Waylands have been fishing this year, and we've been enjoying it.  I was definitely glad I shattered my egg and caught a few fish today, but that was no match for the sheer joy of watching little Taryn have so much fun.  In closing, if you're looking to have some fun with the family, you could surely do worse than heading out for a lake or a river and fishing.  If you're not down with that, you could always check out the falls or enjoy any of the Smith River trails located throughout Henry County.

Saturday's Epic Fishing Trip

 Yeah, it was epic, all right.  I don't want to think about it actually, but I promised pictures, and I'm not offering up the pictures without providing some type of explanation.  Call it an excuse, or a series of excuses, if you like, but I'm just trying to answer your questions.  For instance, you may wonder: why aren't you in the pictures?  I don't see you holding up any trout, Jimmy. 

Yes, you might just say that, and you would be correct.  Let me explain.

I struck out at the crack of dawn, and Master Gibbs and I froze our asses off for a couple of hours before it warmed up.  After a while, it was beautiful.  We fished all over the Smith River in Fieldale, hole-hopping repeatedly as we weren't getting any bites.  We kept encountering other fishermen who hadn't got any bites either, but most claimed to have heard from other fishermen that they had caught several trout.  Yet we never encountered those fishermen, only fishermen who said to have encountered them.  You follow?

Anyway, I only got one bite all day.  One.  And it was really more like a nibble.  I must have fished in twenty different spots, and I used a few different baits.  I used corn, nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, powerbait, and I sacrificed my best spinner to the river.  All for nothing. 

Late in the day, Philmo showed up, and he netted three small brown trout.  Not to be outdone, Master Gibbs landed a huge brown that has to be the biggest trout I've actually seen anyone pull out of the Smith. 

Me?  I just kept at it, enjoying a beautiful day on the river.  One bite.  No, I'm not bitter.  Not at all.  It was a beautiful day, and I spent it with friends.  It's not about catching fish anyway.  It's about having fun, and I had a great time.  And I'm not bitter at all. 

Here are your damn pictures:

The Walking Dead: Season 3, Episode 13 (Arrow on the Doorpost)

Warning: this is as much of a recap as it is a review, so here there be SPOILERS.  You have been warned.

The Walking Dead continued to build momentum with another stirring episode.  Yes, I felt the program stumbled upon its return from the midseason break with a couple of the weakest episodes to date.  Yet from that point on, we've been treated to nothing but pure winners, and AMC's big gun is gaining incredible momentum as it hurtles toward the season finale.

There are only three episodes left after "Arrow on the Doorpost", and the palaver between Rick and The Governor that served as the focus for this tense outing clearly signaled the beginning of the end.  This little stalemate is going to end soon, and it will end with either the town of Woodbury or the prison where our merry band of survivors has gathered being annihilated.

I liked the mood of this one, which was grim and yet somewhat subdued.  Subdued for The Walking Dead, at the very least.  There was some action, but for the most part we were studying a discussion between two men who know that there will be no peace between them.  Boundaries were discussed, as were terms, but Rick and The Governor know precisely where this is going.

The Governor is savoring the moment, eager for the looming confrontation, for he feels that his forces are superior enough to be all but invincible.  Rick is thinking more of his people's survival than victory, and the odds aren't in his favor.  Yet The Governor is foolish to believe the gap is so broad.  Most of his people seem like the type who would be more adept at struggling to put up a good fight in a friendly game of badminton.  Rick seems to have more in the way of killers, though the numbers are stacked against him.  Regardless, the way these two men interacted was priceless.  I kept thinking that if this was a televised debate, the polished villain might win in spite of his vicious nature and his eyepatch.  Yet we know who's right, and Rick knows just who he's dealing with.

In other news, Andrea is firmly in no man's land, seemingly electing to remain with a side that places little or no value upon her.  She is being used, she knows she's being used, and she knows she's being used by a deceptive madman.  I just can't explain her actions thus far, and I'm eager for her eventual return to her senses.  I'm assuming the show will do right by her at some point, and I'm not sure why this decision is supposed to be hard for her.  I think she knows precisely who The Governor is, and I think she has an equally sound understanding of Rick.  I have no idea why I'm supposed to see this as a hard choice for her to make.  This remains the biggest flaw of Season 3, and I hope Laurie Holden's agent raises enough hell for AMC to avoid abusing her character for no better reason than to advance the plot in Season 4.  Andrea deserves better.

I liked the man-off between Daryl and Martinez, and I thought the latter's home run strike was probably our zombie kill of the week.  In truth, I liked the macho shit going on between these two, but I liked their dialogue even more.  Imagine two soldiers like that fighting side by side.  Alas, . . .

I liked some of the stuff happening back at the prison, but the "Hey, my name's Merle and I'm 100% asshole 100% of the time" schtick is getting old.  Surely there are some other notes this character can hit.  Also, who decided to let Merle get so close to the guns and ammo?  I thought they were begging for trouble there.  I'm definitely tired of the Glenn and Maggie soap opera and I think we may be back to business as usual on that front.  Good, their little tiff was contrived and mostly meaningless.  The show is better without it.

I loved seeing Scott Wilson being given such an integral role in this episode.  It says a lot about his character's worth, with or without two working legs, and seeing Hershel jacked up and ready for a big shootout during the opening reel of "Arrow on the Doorpost" was extremely cool.  It reminded me a bit of his work for Walter Hill in Johnny Handsome, a vastly underrated noir picture.    I also liked seeing Rick open up to Hershel at the end of the show about The Governor's terms, namely that the group turn over Michonne in exchange for a truce.  Rick seems unsure of how to proceed in spite of his "We're going to war" speech and the fact that he knows The Governor will still try to kill them.  In the end, we know Rick is too good of a man to really hand over Michonne, and he's too shrewd to surrender one of his best pieces on the road to battle.  Make no mistake, fans of The Walking Dead, Rick got it right the first time.  We're going to war.

I can't wait.  The Walking Dead is firing on all cylinders as we enter the home stretch.  I'm expecting a furious finish and I look forward to discussing the next episode of television's bloodiest gem with you in seven days.  

Bonus: I positively loved the use of the music during the end, as both Rick and The Governor returned to their people.  The tone and atmosphere of this show are both remarkably unique, and yet something about the technique utilized here reminded me of Michael Mann at his best.  Much like his more striking efforts, the charged marriage of film and melody created quite a somber mood.  

It's that time again . . .

Today, I spent several hours checking out my fishing equipment.  I was trying to determine what I have, what I need, and what's working.  The verdict: well, it looks like everything is working, and I think it's entirely possible that I will never need to buy tackle again in this life.

Tomorrow, I will hit the Smith River in lovely Fieldale, Virginia with my good friends Master Gibbs and Philmo.  The weather forecast will hold true, and we will catch many, many trout.  I'll share pictures with you.

So it has been written, and so too shall it be done.

I hope you've got plans for the weekend, peeps.  You only live once.