Sandpaper or Silk? A Review of Low and Clear
After months almost 2 years of waiting, my copy of the "Low and Clear" DVD finally arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago.
For those not familiar with this documentary, it was featured in the Fly Fishing Film Tour, and uses fly fishing as the canvas against which a long friendship is painted.
The two characters in the film (JT Van Zandt and Alex "Xenie" Hall) share a passion for fly fishing.
However, their approach to fishing, and indeed life in general, are diametrically opposed. JT is the introspective spiritual type who values methods and explores motivations for fly fishing. Xenie is the hair-on-fire, profanity spewing fishing machine who espouses the philosophy that fishing is simply about catching fish, big numbers and big fish are best. The film chronicles a fishing trip to British Columbia, and examines how time and choices have impacted their friendship over the last two decades.
At one point JT comments that being around Xenie makes him a better fisherman, even though it can also be a pain because of their different approaches to fishing.
That made me consider my own friendships. Do I prefer fishing (or hunting, etc.) with someone who irritates me but pushes me to be better at that endeavor, or someone who simply enjoys the same activity and is easy to be around?
What about you? Do you prefer companions that are drive you to be better at the cost of comfort? Does your answer change over time?
Kinda reminds me of a couple other guys...
For those not familiar with this documentary, it was featured in the Fly Fishing Film Tour, and uses fly fishing as the canvas against which a long friendship is painted.
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| Austin's Paramount Theater |
The two characters in the film (JT Van Zandt and Alex "Xenie" Hall) share a passion for fly fishing.
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| One of several awkward moments |
However, their approach to fishing, and indeed life in general, are diametrically opposed. JT is the introspective spiritual type who values methods and explores motivations for fly fishing. Xenie is the hair-on-fire, profanity spewing fishing machine who espouses the philosophy that fishing is simply about catching fish, big numbers and big fish are best. The film chronicles a fishing trip to British Columbia, and examines how time and choices have impacted their friendship over the last two decades.
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| There - one boiled way over there! |
At one point JT comments that being around Xenie makes him a better fisherman, even though it can also be a pain because of their different approaches to fishing.
That made me consider my own friendships. Do I prefer fishing (or hunting, etc.) with someone who irritates me but pushes me to be better at that endeavor, or someone who simply enjoys the same activity and is easy to be around?
What about you? Do you prefer companions that are drive you to be better at the cost of comfort? Does your answer change over time?
Kinda reminds me of a couple other guys...
Comments
I prefer companions that enjoy the same activity for the same reasons I do. Flyfishing because the fish live in beautiful places, for example.
One of the things I recall is I have gone on fishing trips with a number of people who fly fish, but our personalities and reasons for fishing didn't mesh well. I still had a good time, and they were great people, but my times in field and stream are few and precious. As a result, I tend to prefer the like-minded and personable people to fish and hunt with.