September 26, 2007 Bonus Bonus Blog
Thanks to a forward from Steve Lodge I read another strong review for The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. I especially agreed with the following comments from the review:

"The Western wasn’t killed by an indifferent audience but rather at the hands of political correctness. Straight-forward stories like Tombstone, 3:10 to Yuma, and Open Range, still put as many butts in seats as any zombie film. It’s only when stricken with the modernism of a Silverado, the grating feminism of Bad Girls, and the hand-wringing self-loathing of Geronimo that they die well-deserved premature deaths. Other than touching on the fascination of celebrity — something as old as mankind – Jesse James is about the universal themes we all relate to. How refreshing not to once hear about the plight of the Indian."
—LIBERTAS Review: The Assassination Of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Meanwhile, Here Is A Report From Peru
"Hey guys. We came into Arequipa city for the weekend and oohh man does it feel good. I feel like a bull in a china shop...I mean a kid in a candy store. Not to sound white trash either but we all went and had Burger King for dinner, you know, a little comfort food. It was delicious. I honestly wasn't really excited about our trip here either untill we got here and I realized what I was missing in the city. On a less excited note, things are going fine in the canyon and I'm sure you're right mom, in two years all probabley be really sad to leave.

"My weeks are already filling up. Starting next week on Tuesdays I'll be helping out with English at the Institute in Yanque. Wednesdays Im teaching an English class for the whole town. It's an 8 week course, one hour a week. Pretty demanding. And then Thursdays I'll go into C----, and work from 8 to 8 with the psychologists there. Thursdays are market day so everyone comes from around the canyon and gets medical needs taken care of while their there. That should be interesting. I already sat in on a session with a 15 year old girl who just found out she was 3 months pregnant and wanted to kill herself because of how her mom would react. It was sad. This girl was really poor and lives with her mom on the ranch and just goes to school and back everyday. The guy was 30 and had told her he was sterile."
—Thomas Charles

"P.S. I was just playing basketball at the institute in Y------ and I as I went to the bathroom to wash my hands I noticed a golden retriever barking on the court. On my way to the main office from the bathroom this retriever comes bull charging me full speed and barking like crazy. At first I panicked and started running but soon remembered that I wasnt supposed to run and as I turned to face him I realized he was right on me anyway. At this point ladies are screaming and running over. I dont know why, instinct maybe, but I jumped up in the air and as he came in to bite me I gave him a jump kick in the mouth. The bastard kept on running after that."

Classic Onion Headline de Jour
I'm Very Interested In Hearing Some Half-Baked Theories

"People want a comfortable preconception about what they're seeing. It's a bit like 20 years of Westerns and , now, 45 years of cop movies. People are comfortable with the roles."
—Ridley Scott, in Wired magazine