I’m saddened but unsurprised by the chilly reception given to P.T. Anderson’s new film Punch Drunk Love. This was a beautiful and fantastic film, full of emotion and chaos and the raging insanity that fills you when you are rescued from loneliness by that one special person.

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p>I’ve been poring over what will likely remain for some time the best DVD set ever, the Extended Special Edition of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. The 4-DVD juggernaut has 4 separate commentary tracks, 6 hours of documentaries, additional hours of video material, thousands of images in photo galleries, and more. This doesn’t even include the fact that the Extended Edition is a complete re-edited 3-1/2 hour version of the film which, believe it or not, improves on the original by adding not just scenes, but narrative complexity and emotional layers. All that totals (by my estimate) around 25 hours of material — enough to keep you busy for weeks in your spare time. No DVD will touch this — until the eventual Extended Special Edition of The Two Towers in November 2003 (and in its theatrical form next month!).

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p>Leah brought out a fantastic new song on Saturday at rehearsal which we promptly set to massacring. Honestly, though, we had a great time playing it. I’m still waiting for a song from her that I don’t like….

Yesterday I took the whole family and my dad and his S.O. to Monticello for the day. With the leaves all turned and not yet off the trees, it was gorgeous rural vistas for miles around. The Blue Ridge is simply beautiful this time of year, and our drive down Route 20, through Orange and Barboursville, was lovely. Evie liked shouting “Cows!” every time we passed a field that had some around. If you ever go see Monticello, stop at the Visitor’s Center first for a great walking exhibit of Thomas Jefferson’s life and achievements. The exhibit centers around his personal habits, hobbies, and writings rather than his political life, which is refreshing and informative. It’s also fascinating to see how much one man can achieve in his lifetime. Even if you won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Pulitzer, and the Super Bowl last year, you will still feel lazy after you finish the exhibit, compared to this giant among men.

It looks like I have a great gig lined up with a fantastic new singer-songwriter in our area. Her name is Leah Morgan, and my drummer buddy Rich Nagel has gotten us together with one of the area’s top bass players, Brian Goddard, to work on her original music. Our initial “trial run” on Sunday night went beautifully and everyone had a good time. I’ll be playing guitar (and maybe Stick if I can find a place to sneak it in somewhere), so it’s back to the woodshed for me.

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p>Visit Leah’s web site to find out a little more about her and hear a few clips of her songs. (I like “Square Plate Song,” because it reminds me of early Tori.)

It’s our seventh wedding anniversary today!

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p>Eleya and I saw a great movie last night on DVD, Donnie Darko. I didn’t know anything about this movie, only that it was supposed to be surprisingly good. I expected because of a young cast that it was a teen-angst movie, and in a way I guess it was, but that doesn’t nearly touch the tip of this film. It’s a really creepy thriller, with a pitch-perfect cast and an amazing script. I don’t want to say anything about the plot… go into it cold and with an open mind and I think you’ll enjoy it. I loved just about everything about this movie and would highly recommend it.

Evie was a cutie-pie little bellydancer last night for Halloween, and made out like a bandit with the candy. (Not that she’ll be eating much of it.) Pictures will be forthcoming shortly; we went with my sister and her daughter, who went as Alice (in Wonderland).

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p>Eleya brought home Spider-Man today so I’ll finally get to take that in tonight. I also have to say that Count of Monte Cristo (the 2002 film by Kevin Reynolds, with Guy Pearce) was actually quite good. I had expected it to be (like many American-made literary updates) very anachronistic, with silly dialogue and overwrought action scenes, but it really surprised me by having neither. The acting was solid and I would recommend it.