Snoskred - Life in the Country

Did I mention I have an addiction to all things Dexter? Yes, I did, but I did not mention this fantastic website - Michael C. Hall Online. They have a fabulous photo gallery with all kinds of Michael C. Hall goodness. Today there’s some shots up from the TCA panels held recently as well as a couple of new promos for Season 3. Here’s a couple of my favourites.

Looks like Deb will be rocking the short hair in Season 3. That really suits her!

I’m loving that green shirt - and those shoes! But perhaps this is not a very practical outfit to wear to a crime scene. This would be more casual Dexter chilling out at a bar with his new friend played by Jimmy Smits, methinks.

One of my favourite sections is the candid shots because looking at them I wonder if I would even recognize Michael C Hall if I saw him on the street. He has one of those faces that changes when he becomes a character, in particular when he becomes Dexter because a big part of the character is wearing the mask and in a couple of the candid shots he looks years younger and somewhat different. Maybe I’m not putting that into words very well.

My addiction may have been fairly obvious from the amount of posts I have written about the show but perhaps you do not realise the full extent of my addiction.

1. I have google alerts set for Dexter and Michael C Hall, they arrive daily in my inbox.

2. I generally watch between 3-8 episodes of Dexter a week. And hello, there’s not any new ones arriving so how am I doing that? I watch the repeats on Showcase which is currently double Dexter and I might catch that 2-3 times during the week, I watch season one on 10 and I usually pre-watch the episode which is airing on 10 and write the stuff I post in the Aussie Bloggers thread.

3. I recently lent the box set to my Mother and while the box set was not in the house I felt very strange - I couldn’t just go watch an episode from Season 1 anytime I liked and I didn’t like that feeling. I got it back a few days ago and now all is well. And before you ask, yes she loves the show. She was secretly watching it on Showcase out of order, which is why I had to lend her the box set.

So I was thinking, maybe Michael C. Hall also has google alerts set for his name and if he does this post is sure to set off an alert.  What would I type here if I knew he would be reading this? Love your work. I sincerely hope you are having as much fun working on the show as we fans are having watching the show - something Julie Benz said about you being very serious on set has me a bit worried that you might not be. I wish there was a outtakes roll somewhere so we could be sure you guys are having a blast. And probably about a billion questions about the show in general. It annoys me that the press who are interviewing you are not asking the questions that I would ask.

Anyway, I just had to admit that to you guys because I know the first step is admitting you have a problem. And I do, but I am not sure I want a cure because Dexter is a great show to watch.

Hey, I wrote about Dexter over on Aussie Bloggers - it is finally being shown on channel 10 this weekend so if you’re in Australia and you haven’t seen the show make sure to tune in. We’re going to be discussing the show on the Aussie Bloggers forums too.

Thursday used to be my favourite night of the week because Dexter was on. Since the show is currently filming season 3 it isn’t appearing on Thursday nights at the moment and frankly I am bored on Thursdays now. So much so that this recent Thursday I got out my Desperate Housewives box set, and I’m reviewing season one. That is also a great show in a slightly different way.

They are repeating Dexter on other days and I am making sure to catch as many of the episodes as I can. This Sunday at 5:30 Season Two begins again on Showcase. I had recorded most of season 2 so that I could watch it anytime but I missed the first few eps, so I am looking forward to getting these recorded.

Oh, this is *SO* exciting!

Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winner Jimmy Smits will wade into the murky world of Miami’s most notorious serial killer as he joins the cast of SHOWTIME’s top-rated drama series DEXTER.  Smits will be featured in ten of the third season’s 12 episodes which are scheduled to premiere this fall on SHOWTIME.

Out of all the actors in the world, I do not think I could name anyone else I would rather see on the show. ;)  I am looking forward to the third season and I am extremely hopeful that it will be shown to us on Showcase at the same time as it is shown to the US.

Something very odd is going on with me.

Last Monday (the 5th of May) I was sitting in a meeting and I noticed that my right leg was feeling very warm.  Not the whole leg, just the “shin” part of the lower leg. I thought it might have been the heating in the place I was sitting, and thought no more about it.

Since then, the “warm” feeling has appeared several times a day, always in exactly the same spot. I’ve tried feeling the actual leg and it isn’t any different in temperature to any other place. I don’t think it is actually warm.

So I “scroogle” (cos I don’t Google anymore since the slap a long while back) the search term warm leg and I find this thread on some health forum. A lack of Vitamin B due to stress seems like it could be what is going on, especially as it began right in the middle of a very stressful meeting after a few stressful days. I’ll up my vitamin intake and see if that solves it.

I recently saw the Heath Ledger film “Candy” which is the story of two heroin junkies. I’m so glad I never did drugs myself after watching it. That kind of crazy I can do without. Heath was amazing in the film, a truly incredible performance. It’s an Aussie film so you might not have had a chance to catch it.

Speaking of Aussie Films, why do they have to be outright insane(Candy), downright depressing (Jindabyne), or involve Abba in some way? (Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Muriel’s Wedding). Can we not have a normal type of film? A standard “RomCom” as they call them these days? Maybe it is just me - maybe I don’t see enough Aussie film.

And this most recent Thursday (8th of May) I mourned the passing of the second series of Dexter. The final episode of the second season aired here in Australia and wow, it was a stunner. If you have not seen Dexter at all, may I recommend you do see it, as soon as you can. Michael C Hall is just incredible. So now Thursday is just another day of the week instead of Dexter Day.

I’ll be back later this week with some special pics for ya’all. But for now, enjoy this clip of Michael C Hall which has been playing on Showcase for the last couple of months. I love this ad.

Here’s a moral dilemma for you but it requires a little imagination.

Let’s say that three weeks ago, you found a way to travel back in time.  Seriously. You were able to pick a date and go back to that date.

Over the years there have been many innocent people killed in many different ways, despite the arguments about history being accurate and events being denied etc. I guess one of the best examples would be Hitler - if you could be transported back in time to a room in which Hitler were fast asleep and you had a syringe full of something guaranteed to cause his instant death, what would you do? Would you kill him, or not?

And more importantly, how would those events change the world as we know it? Completely and utterly. It is almost impossible to consider the potential implications of deading Hitler well before he caused the events he did. How many lives would you save by taking that one life?

This one is difficult for me - I don’t know that I could give that injection, but on the other hand if I did not wouldn’t all those people who died haunt me forever? I think I would be morally obligated to do it.

What about Ted Bundy who killed so many young women?

The Columbine shooters?

The people who hijacked the planes on 9/11?

What would you do? What do you think? Is there a time when killing is justified?

Me personally I think the only time killing is justified is when you *know* for a fact it is going to save one or more other lives. On the other hand, I’m not keen on the state doing it. I’m not for the death penalty. This is a tricky one, I’d like to hear what you think.

I just finished reading the second book in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay and all I can say is.. WOW.

This is some amazing writing. I can’t even begin to describe it to you - all I can say is get the book and savor it for yourself. It is unlike anything I have ever read before. I don’t even know what “genre” one would place these books in. There’s a serial killer which would usually mean the crime fiction area.. but I have never read a crime fiction book that had me laughing out loud so regularly. Seriously laughing out loud.

The best part is that as far as I can see, the book only has one thing in common with season two of the TV show - Doakes is tailing Dexter. The book and the TV series do not collide and implode - they go their own way.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Dexter character and also the Dexter TV series, Dexter is a serial killer who only kills other serial killers. He has a “code” - a set of rules - that he follows when choosing a victim and one of those rules is that he must have actual proof that they are killing people.

But unlike our justice system, he does not follow the rules about how he collects that proof - he breaks into houses if necessary, he does what he needs to do in order to find out the truth to his satisfaction.

For me it raises a series of interesting moral questions that I’m asking myself - and I thought why just ask me, why not ask ya’all too? So every day this week I will be putting a question out there for thought and discussion.

The first question I have is -

What do you think about our justice system?

Here are my thoughts - I think that the justice system (both in Australia and from what I can see in the USA) is bloated, slow and unfair. I think that sentencing is too lenient. I think that unless we have decent mandatory minimum sentences you cannot expect the justice system to be a deterrent. I think that when you have such an abysmal juvenile justice system (where punishment tends to be a slap on the wrist even for unspeakable offences) you cannot expect the justice system to be a deterrent.

I think that judges do not take their responsibilities seriously. They are there to judge the offender for the crime they committed, not to lessen and minimise and try to make excuses for what they have done. They are NOT there to judge the victim - as often happens in rape cases.

As it stands now, kids who find themselves in the justice system early on in life find out that it is a game and they can play it without any real risk to their freedom. Until they are old enough to be sentenced as an Adult, they break the law as much as they want without being too concerned about the consequences. Then, when they are old enough to be sentenced as an adult, they are in the habit of breaking the law and usually not getting caught, so they just keep doing it.

I think you have to teach them the lessons early to avoid problems later. I think harsh sentencing when they are kids would be a better option - but the sentencing should be focused around providing them with role models and discipline and positives rather than negatives. Boot camp always seems to work fairly well but I would like to see some options that give kids a way to express their anger and frustration in other ways - what about art - drama - music camps? I think it is time to get creative in how we solve the problems instead of thinking locking people up is always the way to go.

If a kid has a teacher who believes in them, who inspires them, that can often be the ticket to getting themselves out of a bad situation. We need to provide those inspirational teachers to the kids who most need them.

What are your thoughts on the justice system?

The comments section is open, so let me know what you think.