Why I've been gone (a/k/a the fire)

Been a while, I admit, since an update on either this or the 3D, but this has been a chaotic few days, in more than a few ways. Let's start with the fire.

Coming home from a movie on Monday night, I got a call from both my mom and my brother telling me that my Grandma's barn was on fire. I got home to find a line of police cars blocking the road, and I had to come the long way around to get to the folks' house, where I found Grandma and Mom waiting. By the time I got there, the barn was already pretty much gone, with only the wooden framework left standing. (No official word yet on how it happened, BTW.)

Grandma was shaken and occasionally in tears, understandably, but everyone is fine, thank goodness. The barn had been left largely unused since my grandfather's retirement from farming a decade ago, only sporadically used to house his old pickup truck (which had recently been moved to the smaller secondary barn, which was relatively undamaged) and my old Buick Century (which was also moved out for unknown reasons). Recently the barn had been housing the motorcycles and ATVs of a few family friends, which were in the barn at the time of the fire and thus were lost. I also had a few boxes of things in the barn left over from moving out of the apartment a few years back, but nothing that was very important, to the best of my foggy recollection. But, again, no one was injured, the fire was put out before it spread to the house or anything else, so ultimately, it coulda been a lot worse.

Weirdest part of the whole thing: the fire happened on December 20th, which is the second anniversary of my Grandfather's passing.

Beyond that, work gets more hectic as we get bigger movies in, and I'm trying to get out to see friends before the holidays. Saw "Series of Unfortunate Events" with the lovely and talented Heather Waterfield, and the equally lovely and talented Amanda Myers, as well as Amanda's sister Katie. Overall, it's hard for me to say I "enjoyed" it, as it's such a downer of a flick that it's hard to really say that it was entertaining. This is a movie that lives up to its title. Visually the movie is stunning, but on a plot level I just didn't connect with it. Doesn't help that everyone in the flick that wasn't either under the age of 15 or played by Jim Carrey was written to be as dense as a plank of wood - no doubt about it, we're on the verge of the Idiot Plot, here. On the whole, as good as some elements of the film are, I just can't recommend seeing this family flick in a season where "The Incredibles" and "Polar Express" are still out there.

Also got out to see the Shannons for the first time in forever, and exchange gifts. Thanks again for season 3 of 24, guys!

Meantime, tonight is the big Christmas party at the theatre, though with the weather reports I'm not certain I'm going. Might try to hit BG, though, to see a few more friends...we'll see. Meantime, I'll update sooner next time. Promise!