Watching and Listening

WATCHING: It was the right weekend for a horror movie, so the good folks at Mass. Ave. Video hooked us up with "The Descent" and "Dog Soldiers," both by director Neil Marshall.  Both were very well-crafted, but watching them as a double feature signaled to me that they were based on the same plot structure:

1. Protagonist undergoes some sort of traumatic, life-changing event.
2. Protagonist is then swept into the middle of nowhere.
3. Protagonist encounters unknown, evil forces in the middle of nowhere that have adapted perfectly to that environment.
4. Protagonist has to get the hell out.

The endings differ quite a bit, but the similarities are quite striking.  Therefore, I'd recommend watching both of them at different times, and let them stand for themselves individually.

LISTENING: Georgia Anne Muldrow.  Some time away from her recordings did these well - they really open up on second and third listenings.  She's worked with Sa-Ra and Stone's Throw quite a bit, and she's got a new project called G&D.  Pick up anything by her - great stuff.  Kind of like a younger, funkier Martina Topley- Bird.

ANTICIPATING: Halloween in Fountain Square.  We didn't get a lot of trick-or-treaters last year, mostly because we were new in the neighborhood and I don't think a lot of the people knew the house was even occupied (it had been vacant for a year, I think).  Even though the multitude of parties make the actual day kind of anti-climactic (as does pushing back the Simpson's "Treehouse of Horror" to the coming weekend), I'm looking forward to it.