This will hurt me...

I see that Lars von Trier has stepped away from making films for the time being. Thank god for that, for me, his films somehow manage to combine the worst excesses of ‘arthouse’ pretentiousness, wankiness of theatre and reductive nonsense that is just so mind numbingly dull of so much ‘European’ mediation on ‘America’ lately. A quick rundown of the movies that I've seen: Dogville , Manderlay and Dancer in the Dark fit the rant below, in my eyes. I’ll be honest though and admit that I couldn’t finish watching the first two of that list (life is too short). The Idiots was just dire. A bad film school experiment, European middle class-guilt nonsense. Zentropa / Europa was a more interesting visual experiment, but again, more ‘art’ than ‘cinema’ (in the bad way). Breaking the Waves I liked. The main character was annoying, but as a bit of melodrama wrapped up in art, it was easy to sit through and have a think about. I’ve seen bits of The Kingdom , but it never really got me (alth...

Quite. Gee they're ordinary.

ANZAC Day is a frustrating time of year for me, these days. I want to know, exactly when did people stop stressing the importance of remembering the futility of war ? All I hear these days is giving thanks to sacrifice, and valuing the freedoms we hold. Fair thoughts, no doubt, but it seems insulting to me that we've forgotten the importance of reminding ourselves of the complete and utter waste and tragedy of war. I could be wrong, but my memory tells me that was present in past ANZAC and Remembrance Days. One didn’t have to look far to find veterans more than happy to emphasise this. My own grandfather is a good example. He served with some distinction (unspoken, of course, until after his death) in WWII, and his own father was killed on the Western Front before he was even born. I’d like to think that such a man might have some perspective on the costs of war. He would curse down very quickly any self congratulatory tone on either ANZAC Day or Remembrance Day. It was a day of...

Here's a picture of Henry in his cot with a stuffed dog. He looks pretty happy here. I hadn't posted a pic of him, and thought I'd best, otherwise he'll be pissed off, and we don't want that!.

Watch the first Barrera vs Morales fight yesterday, whilst trying to keep Henry quiet (it worked!) By god that's a fight! In particular, Round 5 is right up there with the entire Hagler vs Hearns fight. The entire fight is fantastic, but the ebb and flow of round 5 never fails to get the hairs standing up on the back of my neck (which, I might add, Hagler/Hearns still does). If you haven't seen them already, check out the entire MAB vs EM trilogy (although fight 2 is a bit of a letdown, the other two deserve their legendary status). Also electrifying is the destruction of Roberto Duran at the hands of Hearns. Given the calibre of the guy, the power of Hearns is amazing, and sets up the proper context for the Hagler fight.

I've been thinking about the extensive coverage given to the Virginia Tech killer's home movie. I appreciate the line that if you've got the video, why not show it and demonstrate what sort of character could perform such acts. However, I think that the continuing loops of this guy's ranting and posing seem gratuitous and unnecessary. I'm not sure how much it really contributes to understanding the story in greater depth. Really, it would have been enough to perhaps describe the content of the video, and establish that the man was in an obvious state of mental illness. To broadcast it merely publicises the killer, and sends very much the wrong message to other sad, deluded individuals who seek to achieve fame or publicise their (however confused) message. It also has the potential to prolong the grieving of the families of victims.

So Lara is gone. I'll always rate him above Tendulkar and Ponting as the best of his era. He generally raised his game to new levels against Australia, and in this period that has meant the best. It's a shame that the only test that I was lucky enough to see him in the flesh (November 2005, Hobart), he got two dud umpiring decisions and had both innings cut short. However, I was lucky enough to cheer loudly as he became Test Cricket's second-highest run scorer (passing Steve Waugh), yet he looked out of touch, with his timing off for most of the game. It seemed the end was nigh for Brian, and people were lining up to write him off. Of course, Lara being Lara, he came out in dreadful overcast conditions in Adelaide next test and hammered 226. That innings was a exhibition of stroke play, as he showed the world how to combine traditional shots with brilliant innovation against the world class legspin of Warne and MacGill. Tendulkar could only dream of such an innings in hosti...