Picture this.... it is a particularly cold winter in a desert land. The weather is the coldest it has been in the history of the country... dust storms kick up throughout the day and the sky becomes hazy. You choose to rent a movie you've been wanting to see for a long time - in this case it turned out to be '30 Days of Night'.
You are thousands of miles from home without any company in the long cold night. That night was unforgettable -- I shuffled and shivered slightly as I walked out the office door -- it looked like I was the last to leave. 'Darn it. I needed to get stuff done'. I slightly regretted the decision as an icy wind struck my face. I hurried into the street and there was not a soul in sight. Eerie... I thought and went on my way -- the night turned out to be one of the coldest yet and my thin jacket proved woefully insufficient. Luckily, my destination was not too far. I shivered some more as the wind kicked up again.
Being a desert country, fireplaces are unheard of.... rushed past gloomily lit streetlamps too scared to look around and rushed into my building. I hurry into my room and collapse into a chair... 'Man, it's freezing', I say to myself. But the night is just beginning -- the DVD needs to go back to the rental shop. So began '30 Days of Night' -- as the characters froze through the Alaskan nights, So did I. The chilly walls added an atmosphere to the film I had never felt before. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped myself as I watched vampires rip people apart.
As they breathed quicker, so did I. The frights became more genuine somehow as though I was able to feel more than I should have. Fear seeped through the screen as the chill descended around me. The deathly silence only broken by dogs howling somewhere not so far away. It was one of those single most unique movie experiences in my life. I guess you won't really understand unless you feel it too.

I'm not a guy who is a big celebrity follower but I am a huge film and TV buff, so it kinda entails following as much as I can. It saddens me greatly to hear about Heath Ledger's demise -- he was one of the best actors of his generation and he was taken away from us all too soon.
I guess what turned out to be his very last film - 'The Dark Knight' will be even more poignant now. It very well could be his best performance to date. As a person who isnt really affected by happenings like this, I found myself getting teary-eyed on hearing the news. I guess some people connect with you a lot more than others do.
And in the same week, Brad Renfro passes on too. Strange indeed.... but Heath is a much bigger loss by far. I think his career was only going to get better as time passed. Unfortunately, now he will always be remembered for 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'The Dark Knight'.
Who can forget when we first saw him in '10 Things I Hate About You'? Goodbye Heath, my thoughts and prayers are with your daughter and your family.

In that somnambulistic state before sleep came to me last night I found myself thinking back to my very first impressions of Tele--Vision. It occured to me that TV has never been an idle pastime even in the early days when I had fooled myself into thinking so. There was something deeper - a deeper thread that links one to the other that we cannot quite explain. Not so much subliminal message as an empathic connection that ties you to what is going on or airing in that cuboid box. It is like a glimpse into another reality, which I guess it is - no matter how much fantasy we think resides there - the fact is that there is no singular reality. The vision that one connects with the tele is one that reaches deep within to stir hearts and minds. The redundant viewer sadly will never get to appreciate that. People find their self-realisation in various ways but not enough find that truth that resides in laying bare all you are to tele-vision. Tears will be spilt, lives will be shaken and it will be living, believe me. Only as far as we seek can we go, only as far as we dream can we be.