An appropriate icon in two ways

Thundersnowstorm, you guys! I'm so pleased DC is finally getting some accumulation after a season of being passed over while the south and north get slammed. (Although it won't be as much fun if we lose power; the wind is picking up across snow-laden branches and wires, and the light in here keeps flickering.)

Meanwhile, in Festivids, I got up to the letter "H" on Sunday, and I have a new favorite: Serpent Charmer. I've never seen the source (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), but I can't stop watching this vid. It's about young man's (Ford's) obsession with his role model (James) and James toying with him, pushing him—who seemed already vulnerable to it—into this frenzy of desire/envy/hatred that results (off-screen) in what the title says. There's beautiful, haunting imagery, and a fantastic bit in the middle with Ford likened to a snake in James' hands. It's got the sort of magic that happens when you come upon a vid that's edited in a certain way and set to certain music. It's personal—the vidder's technique has to be something that works for your vid-watching brain, and you have to love the song—but there's objective skill to it; it has to be exquisitely edited to work. I've watched it probably 10 times and downloaded the song (Iron & Wine's "Serpent Charmer," which is angling to replace "Boy with a Coin" as my favorite by him; you may recall my formula). Anyway, big rec for this, and I do also recommend the vidder's summary and Isis' comment if, like me, you don't know the movie.

And still not even halfway through the alphabet! There could be more vids as entrancing as this one. I'll be a lucky person if that's true.

...Yep, there go the traffic lights. *keeps flashlight close, just in case*