I know that I've mentioned this before, I even know that I complain about it at length every summer, but I'd like to make one thing really clear--if you are ever shopping for a house and you see a place right next door to a Little League diamond, the question that you should ask is not, "Is there much problem with baseballs breaking windows?" but, "What time in the morning do they start, and does that loudspeaker work?"

I used to play Little League, and I don't remember them feeling the need to narrate every single moment over the loudspeaker, apparently so that everyone in town not fortunate enough to be at the game, will not miss a single golden moment.

This morning it didn't start until after 10a, but even if it isn't 8a like it has been in previous years, it's still a fairly horrifying way to be flung from sleep. I slammed my window shut, but it was still plenty loud. The worst part was when Loudspeaker Guy announced the name of every single player on both teams, along, apparently, with all of their friends and relations. Or possibly everyone in the stands. It was a long list, is what I'm trying to convey, here!

I ended up hammering myself back into sleep and managing to stay asleep until 1.15p, but it was rough going. And not very satisfying as far as sleep goes. This really is about the most annoying thing about summer. That and the flies.

Yesterday I went to the darkroom to finish the secret prints that I am doing for the secret person whom I cannot mention. He or she probably doesn't even read this journal anymore, but just in case, I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The work turned out good, and I watched Ordinary People on DVD, and it was a reasonably useful day. Well, this would be much more interesting if I could talk about the pictures, but there you go.

After the darkroom, I went to Ann's apartment to rehearse Sister Mary.

She is going to be so good in that role, she really is just going to kick all kinds of butt. I just had to chivvy her into being tougher, and, since she is the only non-Catholic in the cast, explain to her the mindset of the character.

"You see, there are Catholics, and then there's everyone else. Protestants are as bad as atheists, basically, and they are all going straight to hell, so when you explain about Jesus, if suddenly someone piped up and said, "Well, I know about Jesus, I'm Lutheran!" you'd just brush them aside and carry on explaining, because Protestants don't really know anything about Our Lord Jesus Christ!"

I think she understood. Even if she is a Protestant.

Afterwards, I went to the movies for the first time in weeks. I haven't seen Altar Boys yet, which shocks and ashames me, but I actually ended up seeing a different movie instead, because it had the next starting time. Which was Insomnia.

Now, I loved the original absolutely, I think it is a powerful, moving, wonderful film built around a lead so unlikable, and I did not think that it would be possible to re-make it without cutting its balls off.

Here's what I said about it in a recent Rate-a-Trailer™:

"2. Insomnia

Okay, I don't know about this one. Perhaps if I hadn't seen the original recently, I might be more hopeful about this, and I'll bet it you haven't seen the original, it's really good. But I somehow don't believe that it is possible that any American film could possibly have such harsh lead.

Al Pacino is a great actor, and I'll bet he could play the basic unlikability of the man as well as Stellan Skarsgård did, but I'll lay you odds that it's not in the script, because they won't trust that the audience will sympathize with the character's pain anyway.

The fact that the man was so unable to connect with people that the only person he could relate to was the murderer he was hunting was, of course, the entire point of the film and the reason it is so great, but I don't believe that Al Pacino will be rejecting any kittens."

And I was right, they could not have done the film with an actual star and had it be like the original, but it was good, I thought that they were able to make an American movie out of the original, a movie that was fully itself without just being a pale copy of a better film. Pacino was excellent, so were Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, and I particularly liked Martin Donovan as Pacino's partner.

But the character was indeed much softer than Stellan Skarsgård's version, he shot a dead dog rather than a living one, and he neither sexually assaulted anyone nor rejected any kittens. He wasn't playing a man so lost and empty inside.

Happy birthday, Big V!

I hope the next 43 years are as good as the first 43, only, you know, maybe I could be in the next 43, huh? It would improve them, trust me! I am very entertaining and charming. Also, cute, did you see that cute picture of me the other day in the braids? That's how cute I am, really! That other picture? The blotchy, sleepy one? That's not me, seriously it's not.

Today's horoscope:
Today is a day to be more on your own, or with people who encourage your feeling free. Do something just for YOU.

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