Dinky's Docket

I stumbled onto The Dullest Blog in the World a couple of days ago and laugh every time I read it. But it has me worried: Could THIS blog inspire something like that? I hope I'm not just boring the hell out of the 3 people who have read it once or twice.

I had lunch today with a sound designer friend of mine. He has worked on many IMAX films and a couple of the Star Trek movies. Long ago, he and Ray Bradbury produced several radio plays from Bradbury's books. They've kept in touch since then and through my friend I've even been able to correspond with him a little. He was my favorite author as a child and I have almost everything he's written. My friend says he hasn't talked to Ray for a couple of years. I'm concerned about his health. He had a stroke a few years ago and now walks with a cane. It would be sad to lose him.

The other thing we talked about was The Matrix. My friend hated it. I was sorry to hear that because I value his opinion and I want it to be good. The first Matrix is in my top ten. My friend saw that one when it won an Oscar for best sound. He liked it instantly and so did his wife. But he says this one is a lot of great action scenes strung together with poorly crafted storylines and stiff dialogue.

I watched the first Matrix again last night. My seven-year-old watched it with me. He was full of questions. I think he asked 2705 questions. It's a hard movie to follow for a little kid. But he was excited about it. When Mrs. Chickenshorts came home Jr. blurted out, "We watched the Matrix!" I tried not to meet her gaze knowing she didn't approve. It was probably the wrong thing to do, letting him watch it. His little brother hid upstairs until it was done because it scared him so badly.