Pouring myself a cup of ambition.

Werner Herzog, the filmmaker who brought you Grizzly Man and numerous other German films I have not seen, went to Antarctica to make a movie. From the start it clearly was not to be a fluffy penguin movie. (There are penguins, and a couple of seals, but the fluff factor in these few brief scenes is negatory.)

Herzog's escapades around the continent feature gloom-and-doom interviews with renowned sci-fi-loving scientists who are not exactly convinced that we'll be around much longer; autobiographical accounts of random people who live and work in Antarctica (hint: they're a special breed); and absolutely breathtaking underwater photography.

This is not your typical BBC multi-million dollar endeavor. The footage is shaky and raw, the story goes all over the place, and the cast of "characters" (including a penguin) may very well all have psychological disorders. And Herzog's narrative is at times bitingly sarcastic, at times insightful, but always morose.

I loved it.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately - sure, the heat hasn't helped, but overall I'm just not sure what I'm doing here (Portland, the world, the universe, etc.) or why, and every day I utterly despise this whole "working for a living" concept more and more. I think this film was just what I needed yesterday. There was something comforting about watching people get excited about their work, even though the results of their work kinda proved that the planet was screwed.

It did make me question my overall plans a bit though. I'm starting to lean away from "house-buying plan A" and more toward "selling everything and following Arcade Fire around the world plan B"... Life's too damn short.