The version that I saw didn't just have parts cut out, but it had an additional scene that was not included in the original american theatrical release. Upon Vincent first meeting Mia she comes out with a video camera and does a "Hollywood interview" in which Mia proceeds to grill him on a variety of subjects. We learn that Vincent is indeed related to Susanne Vega (They are cousins) but he really doesn't know much about her music. Mia goes on to explain that everyone can be described as either a "Beatles man or an Elvis man" but not both (Vincent, she says, is obviously an Elvis man (and this justifies an "Elvis man" remark that she makes later)).

I was prepared to be disappointed by the movie, but Disney really pulled of something of a modern masterpiece with Fantasia 2000. The only thing I might have done without were the various commentaries by famous people between each musical number, but even that wasn't that bad. I was actually kind of pleased to see Steve Martin appear after the first song, Mozart's No. 5 and suddenly break the magical spell which had been cast over me by the awesome animation sequence which accompanied an equally awesome piece of music. E_B_A will be pleased to hear that the famous Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence, the only sequence from in Fantasia 2000 from the original movie, was introduced by fellow libertarian trouble-makers Penn and Teller, which caught be rather off guard at the time. I must also give kudos to Disney for managing a Noah's Ark sequence featuring Donald Duck and using Pomp and Circumstance. I imagine that the decision to use Pomp and Circumstance in a piece that had nothing to do with graduation was a tough one, but they pulled it off wonderfully and I have a feeling that from now on whenever I hear that piece I will no longer think of graduations, rather I will think of Noah's Ark.

Anyways: Go out and get your copy. I don't buy many movies, but this is for sure one that I would get my hands on.

I went bar-hopping this last Sunday evening, and it was an interesting experience. I went with Jenn (Josh's Eskimo wife) and her friend. We started at the Board of Trade Saloon (Nome's oldest drinking establishment) and ended up at the Polaris. Nome obviously had some very smart city planners in that they decided that all the bars in Nome should be placed on the south side of Front Street, thus facilitating an easier bar-hopping experience. By the time we had made it to the Polaris I had visited all the bars on Front Street, which is about five or six. I even managed to beat Jenn at two games of pool (although I won more on a technicality due to her fumbling the 8-ball).

Anyways... So I was drunk on Front Street, and it was, overall, a pretty fun experience (what I can remember of it.) Another thing I have noticed already, is the strange and ever-present role race plays in Nome. Even compared to the deep-south, like Augusta, race seems so much more up here. Nome is about half white, and about half native and the races do not mix as much as one would expect (or hope?). I went to a community production of "Bye-Bye Birdie" and saw only two native-faces in the whole cast, and in bit parts to boot. It is the opposite at the bars on Sunday night though. I saw only a handful of whites occupying the bars, but Sunday nights are wierd anyway.

Nome is one of the wierdest places on the planet, I am convinced of this. The wierdness is exagerated all the more since I am employed by the only newspaper in town.

Well that's about it for now, I'm proud to hear the interview went well, E_B_A... And I am glad you though better about going to Canada. Don't worry about the election, either way it turns out, it will be A Very Bad Thing. It is exciting though, because no one knows what to do about it.