more complaining

it was i who went to see sideways with yen. it was a movie i probably should not have gone to so close on the heels of the Thing, but i'm glad i did anyway.

the most frightening thing about the character of miles, i reckon, is that he is not an anti-hero through and through. he has qualities that ought to redeem him. he has his interests and dreams, some kind of a moral compass - but none of these things actually lead to his redemption (in the movie's language, some of us are pinot noir); nothing inside of him is intrinsically valuable. only others can save us, and therein lies the doom - nothing we have to offer (er...erudition and wit and obscure knowledge of tropical fruit?) is appreciated by the people we have to deal with day to day.

thus, there are three eventualities. we:
i) build walls (a fortress deep and mighty)
ii) get the hell out of here
iii) wither