I watched a really neat movie last night.  It's called Night Watch, and it's Russian.  It's about an occult secrety society police force with two factions.  One faction is the Dark and the other  the Light.  The Dark are vampires, witches, sorcerers, etc.  You'd think the Light would be like guardian angels, but they're really more like Ghostbusters, shapechangers and Blade-wannabes (i.e., they try to act like vampires, but generally can't handle it).  There's a truce between Light and Dark, but every now and then one side or the other breaks the "law."   At that point, the police on the other side are free to go bust the violators.  

The special effects and the way the movie is filmed are awesome.  The SFX are super-high quality, but the overall feel is really gritty, almost Nadja-esque.  The Light guys drive around in a suped-up repair van (a la the Ghostbuster's ambulance) and are capable of Blues-Brothers driving feats like slamming on their brakes and making their truck to somersaults.  There are some interesting twists on western vampire mythology.  I especially like how the good/evil distinction between the Light and Dark is very blurry.  There is a Star Wars-esque theme related to a young chosen one having to decide between the Dark Side and the Light Side. 

I've read that this movie is the first part of a trilogy, which makes it even more like a re-telling of Star Wars.  An American film studio has purchased the rights to these films, so I suspect they will end up on the big screen.  I only hope they won't be dubbed.  In the meantime, you can find it at some of the better video stores.  If you're in the DFW area, it's at Premiere Video on Mockingbird.

When my boys were younger and smaller, so that I carried them more often, at night I would hold them up to the sky and point out Mars.  I don't know if they were able to follow the path from my finger to the reddish light, but I did it anyway.  The red planet is so romantic.  Its mystery is a vehicle for adventure, hope and progress.  No matter how many NASA photos I see of the vacant desert, I can't help but think ancient ruins lie just beyond the horizon. 

If we ever reach Mars, will the Asteroid Belt or Jupiter take its place?  Or will Alpha Centauri be the next frontier?

Just after Halloween two years ago I went running through my neighborhood.  Halloween is a HUGE deal in my part of town, and the refuse left over afterward takes days to clean up.  Anyway, a set of neon pink  vampire fangs lying on the lawn two blocks from home caught my eye.  In the following weeks, those fangs continued to appear more or less in the same vicinity.  Sometimes crushed on the sidewalk or laying in the gutter or next to a pile of bulky trash awaiting pickup.  Weeks turned into months and I couldn't believe someone never bothered to pick up such a garish piece of trash and put it in a freaking bag.  I run, walk or bike past that spot at least three times a week, and finally one day I stopped noticing them.
Last night I went running.  The smell of flowers and freshly mown grass is everywhere, now.  It was really hot.  As I was walking back, I noticed a fragment of something pink on the sidewalk.  The fangs, or part of them; victims of a lawnmower, but still clinging to their territory.  Weird how a loose piece of trash can be so persistent. 

The Ringing Darkness

    Blue Spider leaned back against the cold stone wall.  Holly stood in the forge entrance, shaking her head and wrapping her cloak closer around her.  The rest of the party could still be heard: faint sounds of arguing, indecision, clattering armor.  In fact, Blue thought he could make out someone reciting their spell list.  Holly backed up against the opposite wall.  She sheathed her sword and slid to the ground, knees tucked under her chin.  If Blue didn't know where she was, he wouldn't have noticed her.  Blue adopted a similar position, his spear across his lap, and relished the growing silence -- the first they'd had in days.
    A jolt of adrenalin jerked Blue awake to the noise of chains dragging on stone.  A pair of questioning green eyes stared at him from the rock wall on the other side of the corridor.  Blue leaned out of the portal just enough to look both ways down the main tunnel.  Someone (a woman?) was walking slowly toward them, from the direction they had been travelling on the train.  One hand was on her  head, as if she were bewildered.  The noise was definitely coming from this figure, though it didn't appear to be carrying anything.  Blue waved his hand low, signalling Holly to stay put.  Then, remembering the dark, he whispered, "Stay there."
    As the person approached, Blue could not help noticing a preternatural tone of deep, subconscious dread in the ringing chains.  But Yeenoghu steeled his heart and he suppressed the instinct to flee.  Instead, Blue ducked back into the corridor and waited.  After all, he thought, it is really dark.  They could very well walk right past and never notice us.

I rode my bicycle 100 miles in one day.  This happened about a month ago, during the MS150 bike ride from Dallas, Texas to Ardmore, Oklahoma.  The second day, I rode another 62 miles.  Up to that trip, the longest I had ever ridden was about 45 miles, so I was stoked that I made it.  I wouldn't have made it without the help of two people.  First, the Elven Princess, 'cause she motivated me with her stellar biking prowess.  Second, my brother (in-law) Sam Frost of 360 Cycleworks in Austin, who built a bike for me out of a blue Salsa road frame and Dura-Ace components.  My bike rawks.

BTW, I higly recommend that everyone read the Sharknife comic.