April 2, 2005
Cleaned off one of my tables in the garage and found a ton of stuff I have been looking for. Pulled up three loads of rocks off my neighbors land. Dug down the driveway and placed them. Saw Bev on the road and her hand is healed. Going to get a haircut on Monday.

Usually Kathy and I trade movies. I pick one, then she picks one. Sometimes there are movies that we both know she is going to hate, so I don't even ask. So today I met Mike Melrose at Desert Ridge to see the new Robert Rodriquez flick Sin City. My initial reaction to the opening was a yawn, but the Arizona Republic gave it four-and-a-half stars and raved about how it broke all the rules of movie making (black and white, Mickey Spillane narrative throughout, out of sequence stories, etc.), so I got hooked by the hype and decided I had to see it.

Got to Desert Ridge early. Parking was oppressive. Found a space over by Aaron Bros., took advantage of that and went in and bought some art supplies (sketch pad, Higgins ink, watercolor paper, $29, Sue biz account), met Mike at 1:10 for the 1:30 showing. Expected big crowd, but there wasn’t one ($6.50 for ticket, $7 for medium popcorn and water, plus a quarter tip, which mystified the kid clerk).

Stadium seating. Sat right in the middle. Melrose sat one seat away (homophobe). Watched at least a half hour of ads and then twenty minutes of trailers, which doesn’t put one in a good mood. It's quite oppressive. I really dislike it and made a vow to go less and less to theatres because of it.

Movie was all style, no story. Just flat-out, stupid comic book writing and plotting. The ad in the paper said it was "Visually arresting!" but that should have been "Arrested development." Yes, it was very cool in a graphic sense, and yes, Mickey Rourke was amazing, but other than that it was a continuation of Robert Rogriquez's Once Upon A Time in Mexico. All flash, no compelling narrative (and I loved El Mariachi and Desperado!). I’d give it a four.

After the movie I met Kathy in front of Albertson's and we drove down to the Bacons for dinner and the final four games on TV. Fun. Drank four beers and pouted about Illinois, knowing full well Arizona should have beaten them, and would easily beat Louisville. Bitter? Oh, yeh.

Got home at nine, feeling cocky (I can do at least as good as Frank Miller, the creator of the graphic novel Sin City)

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the universe."
—John Muir