Like The Stars In The Sky...

Anyone remember Dances With Wolves ?
Yeah. Dances With Wolves.
These days, I think most critics look back on this film, not necessarily with disdain but with indifference. Sure it was a Best Picture winner, was a box office hit, made the Western popular (at least for awhile) but the films place in history is marred by two things : early 90's political correctness and...Kevin Costner.
Remember, once upon a time, Costner was a superstar. If memory serves, he made this right after Robin Hood, which was a smash hit, and for this follow up, Costner not only took top billing, but directed and produced. And it was his first movie. And it was a smash hit. And it won Best Picture. And Costner was knighted an Honorary Native American. Not too shabby.
And then he made WaterWorld.
And that, as they say, was that.

So anyhoo, this isn't a retrospective on Dances With Wolves, but an observation of a scene from the film that ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF in a recent viewing. It was a scene I had seen many times before, hadn't thought about in any particular way. But catching the film recently on tv, I couldn't help but be blown away by this moment.
The Buffalo Hunt
This sequence in the film is pure bona fide bravura film making. Y'know the saying "They don't make em like they used to". That was coined for stuff like The Buffalo Hunt.
Go rent the movie, borrow it, whatever and when you watch that sequence, remember this:
No CG
Actual freakin' buffalo, folks riding real horses, and cameras and camera trucks right in the deadly middle.
A-frakkin-mazing

Get going, you have homework

I'll Be Home for Christmas ? or Welcome to the New World, Capt Ramius

Well, as some may know, I had a pretty funky holiday to the cap off the year.
I was SUPPOSED to fly out to Indiana to visit with the fam but a monster snow storm blanketed the Puget Sound area and kiboshed my trip home. Not only that, it effectively shutdown the city, since A.) Seattle-ites have NO idea how to drive or deal with winter weather (well, mostly) and B.) the city of Seattle REALLY has no idea how to deal with severe winter weather. Put it to ya this way, there are TWENTY SEVEN snow plows in ALL of Western Washington (I think). The end result, of course, is that nature was tasked with "clearing" the roads. Sigh. So not only did I miss my flight, but I was effectively sealed in my home along with most of the city. However, all was not lost. For one, I had my good buddy Bo to keep me company. And it may have been kismet that I missed the trip back to Indiana, since little Bo developed a nasty infection on one of his paws and had to be taken to the vet. Dont worry, he's perfectly fine and back in top, furry, shape but....I wonder what would've happen had I not picked him up early from the sitter. Hrmmm. Three legged dog much ?
Anyway, the setback caused me to miss only the second Xmas away from my family, ever. We're a pretty tight knit group, the Nattam clan, and holidays are ususally held in pretty strong regard. So missing Christmas can feel pretty odd. However I made do. My good friend Gautam was kind enough to have me over for Christmas dinner, got some snowboarding in with my c0-workers Niles and Alex (more to come, interesting activity snowboarding), and capped it all off with what ended up being a really fun New Years, probably the most fun New Years I've had in...ages ? Nice dinner with friends, watch the ball drop at a rowdy Irish pub, and then run off to meet another group of friends at another bar. Everybody's happy :) Doesnt sound like much, sure, but there was more to it, and it's always nice to be able to ring in the new year with good friends.

All in all, looking back at 2008, I'd say I had a heckuva year. Not to brag on myself or anything, but I made some interesting (profound ?) progress over the past twelve months. Bought a house, got a dog, got back into the social mix (yeah), had a ton of fun at work and was able to develop my skills furthur (I think and hope), got into oil painting more, pursued personal art projects at home. And I was able to end the year in such a way as to at least allow for some intrigue going into 2009. That's how I'll leave thatfor now :P

How did 2008 treat y'all ?