For Whom the Doug Tolls

I just found this video posted on Metallica's website, posted a few days ago. It has soviet propaganda, chemical warfare, zombies, it is fucking awesome! I wasn't even expecting them to come out with another video yet, so this was like an early X-Mas present from Metallica. Yay!

I just finished For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, and holy shit--I've never seen such a walking contradiction in an author! He can drag out one man dying over 5 pages, or say the same thing over and over about 20 times in a paragraph, rewording each sentence slightly different. Twenty pages will go by with absolutely nothing going on, pissing me off. Then another twenty pages go by with intense action. Another twenty pages, conversations and "obscenity in the milk of" or "obscenity of such and such", and then twenty pages of anticipating action that doesn't come. It was a good read overall, though, it taught me a bit about pre-WWII Spain and guerilla life in the hills. Oh, from a little side story in the book, I FINALLY get what the Metallica song of the same name is about!

Last Saturday Isabella had a dance recital at an old folks home, which went pretty well. Then on Tuesday she had another recital at the Empire, and she obviously loves being on stage, because she was all smiles and dancing good. There were older girls there who were part of a troupe, and Isabella watched them intently every time they came on to dance, so I'm guessing she's gonna want to keep going to class after the new year starts.

The banjo lessons are coming along. I'm trying to familarize myself with fingerpicking, but I need to pick up a couple metal picks to get a proper pluck. Also, I need to practice when a certain someone isn't trying to watch her stupid news.

On a last note, Betty Page died today. She had a heart attack a few days ago, I imagine it's got something to do with that. She was 85 years old.