The newest photo of the newest Liesik

We had the big ultrasound this morning and everything with baby No. 3 is OK. We are having a.....just kidding, we're not finding out the gender of the baby. The due date is still July 28, which happens to be Jack's birthday as well.

2007 Sledding Trip

A Great (But Troubling) Documentary

Photo by Rich Waters/Courtesy of First Stripe Productions

Last night I watched Eric Steel's documentary "The Bridge" on the Independent Film Channel (it's also available on DVD). It's a chilling look at suicide that focuses on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Steel and his crew spent 2004 training video cameras on the bridge and captured most of the 24 suicides that took place that year. The film is more though than a montage of desperate people committing a final, fatal act. It includes heart-wrenching and sometimes head-shaking interviews with the families and friends of the jumpers.

There is also an interview with an 18-year-old who survived his leap from the bridge and recounts his horror at realizing that he'd chosen to end his life just as the bridge fell from his view.

This film is not for everyone, but it is an unbelievable examination of one of society's most taboo topics. "The Bridge" was inspired by Tad Friend's article "Jumpers," which appeared in The New Yorker on Oct. 13, 2003. The article is also highly recommended.