Media Report

*DVD: Punch Drunk Love-- I didn't like it.

*DVD: The Bridge (documentary)-- I may write a longer post about this later, but for now, I'll say that I'd recommend it with reservations. This is a documentary about people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. (More people commit suicide at the GG than any other place in the world. A person jumps about once every 15 days.) Anyway, for this documentary, they set up cameras on the beaches nearby and filmed for a year, using zoom lenses...so many actual jumps are caught on tape. While I was watching, I became rather upset-- well, for more than the obvious reasons-- because I thought that they should do something besides just film the suicides. But...after watching the "making of" featurette, it turns out that they did. Anytime they saw "suspicious" activity, they called Bridge Patrol, and by doing so, were able to save quite a few people. Those suicides caught on tape either happened too quickly for Bridge Patrol to respond, or the camera people did not regard the behavior as "suspicious" prior to the jump. So...anyway, it's interesting and compelling, and the interviews with friends and family round out the stories (though the structure of the clips is a bit confusing)... but it is very disturbing and probably should be. One bright spot is Kevin Hines, who is about 27 now, and is one of only a couple dozen to survive a suicide attempt from the bridge. He has bipolar disorder, and when he was 19, he jumped. He says that the second he was in the air, he regretted it and wanted to live. He was able to turn himself so that he landed feet first (though most people who land this way still die), swim up to the surface and stay afloat. (Actually, he says that when he got to the surface, he felt something brush his leg and thought it was just his luck to survive a jump from the bridge and be eaten by a shark... but it was a seal or sea lion that circled him until he was picked up by the Coast Guard.) Even after all that, it was still 50/50 that he would survive the night since parts of his spine had shattered and pierced organs. But...eventually, he recovered physically and is now a suicide prevention advocate and lobbies for a suicide barrier on the bridge. Kevin says that part of the reason he tells his story is because people think it will be an easy, painless death... but he can testify that it is terrifying and painful... and that he is glad he got another chance.

*DVD: Prime Suspect, Season 1-- A friend loaned me this British crime drama, and it's really good. I feel that "season" is a bit overstating because there are only 4 episodes...but it is complete. It's more like a miniseries. It's about a female detective and chauvinism, and balancing work and family and a serial killer. I'm definitely going to watch "season" 2.

*Books-- I am "reading" so many books right now. I'll write about them when I'm done. Here's what I have:
-Fowl Weather (memoir sequel to Enslaved by Ducks about Bob Tarte's neuroses and pets)
-How Good Do We Have to Be (loaned to me)
-Grace Eventually (and I'll finish it eventually)
-Journey of Desire (what we're reading for Lifegroup)
-HP and the Deathly Hallows (round 2)
-Stranger at the Gate

*TV-- There is almost nothing worth watching on tv, and I haven't heard of anything too compelling for the fall. Michael Vartan (Vaughn!) and Dylan McDermott are going to be on a show together on ABC, and I'll probably give it a try just for them. It's being called the guy version of Desperate Housewives, though, and I hate that show. There's another one about 4 female friends who solve murders, and that looks pretty good. However, it's going to be on Fridays so it will be canceled within a month or so. I'll try the Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice, but I don't have high hopes. If you've heard of something promising, tell me! (No reality shows!)