Hiatus starts in another week and I can't wait. Working in the office has really cramped my sleep-in-and-work-in-my-pajamas style. I have work to do on a short film over the break but at least I'll get to do the work on my own schedule, and hopefully have some time to get out and snowboard and such. Madeline and I hit the mountain for the first time this season yesterday morning. We went up to Mountain High with the expectation that it would be really crowded and the coverage would be really crappy (it was), but at least we got our passes so we don't have to wait in line for the rest of the season. We made a few good runs before the mountain got ridiculously crowded and we headed home early. It's supposed to be snowing most of the week up at Bear Mountain, and Charles and I are hoping to get up there the first Monday of hiatus to ride in some real snow. By then, hopefully the whole mountain will be open.

We went and saw Australia last night. Once I got past the fact that it was narrated by an aboriginal kid in dialect, I liked the movie well enough. It's certainly epic, and a good story, although a very LONG story at almost 3 hours. On the up side, there was a nice shot of Hugh Jackman shirtless, pouring water over his body, which made the price of the ticket well worth it. For you girls who haven't seen it yet, Hugh definitely bulked up for this film. Holy cow! The best part of seeing this movie in the theater was getting to see the longer trailer for Marley & Me, which opens on Christmas day. When I read this book, I was constantly struck by how much Marley, the Labrador in the book, reminded me of Wally when he was a puppy. I don't think I've ever seen a funnier trailer and I look forward to seeing the movie when it comes out.



We got home and watched Milk on DVD. (***SPOILER ALERT***) Somehow, I got a screener of it even though I'm not part of the Academy and have no way to vote one way or the other. In 10 years in the union, this is only the second screener I've ever received. The movie tells the story of Harvey Milk, a political activist for gay rights in San Francisco in the 70s who ended up being the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. I enjoyed the movie and thought Sean Penn did a good job, but I've never been a terribly big fan of Gus Van Sandt's directing style. I did find it horrendous that Dan White, the man who very deliberately shot and killed Harvey Milk (and then San Francisco Mayor George Moscone), was only found guilty of manslauter and sentenced to 7 years. He served only 5 before being released.