All things Grim(m)

1. We saw The Brothers Grimm on Friday evening. Hmmm. Not Gilliam's best work. What really irked me is that somewhere inside that film there was a Great Idea (TM) that never made it to the screen. Throughout the movie there were little "AHA!" moments where I thought, "Here's where it gets better!" but it didn't. There were also a few genuinely disturbing moments -- attempts at black humour that failed miserably. I don't think there is anyone I would recommend see the movie, and that can't be good.

2. Over the last few days hubby and I have been watching the final season of Six Feet Under and we watched the final episode last night. Considering how uneven the rest of the season was (and don't get me started about the last season), the final few episodes were an emotional wringer. I liked the way they wrapped it up... and now I can finally read all the articles and interviews I've been avoiding in fear of spoilers.

3. While I was still weepy-eyed from watching the series finale of Six Feet Under, I grabbed a magazine (Maisonneuve) and flipped it open at random and ended up reading "Lower Me Slowly, Sadly and Properly: Burying your own in the Crownsnest Pass," by Chris Koentges. It's an interesting article in an interesting magazine; parts of it echoed Six Feet Under, parts of it brought back memories of driving through Crowsnest Pass when I was fairly young. I remember feeling a real sense of foreboding and loss when I learned about the Frank Slide (we probably also drove by the Hope Slide earlier in the same roadtrip).

I don't know when I started really thinking about death as it could happen to me -- horrible, accidental, headline-making death -- but I do think about it all the time. It's what appeals to me about Six Feet Under, Dead Like Me, CSI, and all the other shows that showcase unexpected deaths. Few days go by that I don't imagine my own death and the aftermath -- will this be the day I trip down the stairs and land very wrong? Will some asshat run a red light and smash into the side of my van? Will I literally be hit by that bus? Will the elevator suddenly plummet into the shaft? As unlikely as these deaths might be, I still consider them. I used to be much more narcissistic about it, imagining headlines to go along with my death "Promising artist crushed in bizarre shopping mall incident"; "Local teacher mauled by cougar" and so on. Now I just worry about whether my will would hold up even though I haven't had it notarised yet (oh you know, I keep meaning to....) or whether my life insurance would be enough to cover everything....