A small group of us made a quick trip down Highway One this weekend to San Simeon. Liz, Jeff, Brenna, Brian and Ming on two wheels, me still on four. I quite enjoyed the ride though. One of my favorite things, still, is driving alone with the music way too loud. I am sure it helped out that I could fit a few extra supplies in my car for the camp site although for the most part they all hauled what they needed on their bikes. The drive was gorgeous as always. I didn't get to take many pics before my camera battery died but here are a few.

The trip really enforced the fact that I want to get a bike. One option would be to buy Liz's Ninja as my first "starter" bike so she could upgrade. I am not sure I really want a sport bike but then again I am not really sure what I want at all. I guess the biggest obstacle so far has been money and commitment. Two things I am short of right now.

I got to skip work today and go see Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Great cast, great performances and a cool soundtrack (what is it with Scorsese and the Stones? he even snuck an Exile on Main Street CD cover in the film). What I liked is that it's quite different from his other gangster films and the fact that the story was told in a unique way. It starts off with a quick progression of events that set up the story and then settles into a more familiar pace. I also appreciated the not so obvious ending.

I also saw a preview for Frank Miller's 300. The official site has some nice before and after production shots as well as some of the initial still frames used to develop the visual style. If the movie lives up to the preview it should be pretty cool. The visuals are very unique, almost painterly but not in a gimmicky way...like pages from a graphic novel come to life. The same could be said for Sin City but this film looks very different (as did the respective graphic novels). I watched the preview again online but the style and dramatic visuals didn't hold up as well. I am definitely going to try to catch this one in the theater.