My wife and I have a continuing problem of not finding a niche in a church. We don't have kids. We're both homebodies of a sort.
Meeting people is not a huge problem (though it is an obstacle), but what does it take to have other church members take a genuine interest in you? We've always lacked any sort of Christian mentorship or couple-to-couple friendship from church members. (We have some of that from great college friends, but I'm not talking about them.) It does not matter if we are participating in church activities or ministering to others or just warming pews, there just seems to be a lack of personal interest from surrounding people.
Everyone has their own lives. But I wonder how many other people feel as I do. I wonder how many of them I sit next to in church.
I'm capable of skipping church frequently because I know that nobody will miss me when I'm gone and those who would miss me don't go to my church.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Halo 3--Educational?
I am bored at work (and for the first time in a long time I'm bored and have no work!), so I'm reading articles and catching up on my daydreaming. For those who don't know, one of my favorite video games is the entire Halo series, a First-Person Shooter (FPS) game where you run around and kill aliens and save the world. I'm pretty good at FPS games, but I'm also very critical of them. This game quickly rises to the forefront of it's cohorts for many reasons, which I won't list.
Check out this cool article I discovered:
Why Halo 3 is more educational that “intellectual” games.
by Mike Caulfield
I always *felt* like I should be a gamer. After all, I built educational games for a good portion of my career — first for children (reading readiness software), then for Columbia University and Cable & Wireless, where the name of the game was social simulations — choose-your-own-adventure style scenarios where you interacted with professional environments — and if you made the wrong decision you could bring your team/company/state/country down with you.
So I tried to play recreational computer games. I really tried. Since I like to solve puzzles I kept buying PC based “adventure” games. And since I’m not a violent sort I steered away from the gore.
But every game I played seemed like the same game. And that game was “Try to figure out what the game designer thought an appropriate action would be in this context.”
I’m sure you know this game. It starts with you watching a film intro, and then some objective is voiced. Maybe you have to get to Room 306 or something. Maybe you have to find the crystal ionizer.
So you walk around a room, and the first steps come easy. Wow, there’s a note there! What does it say?
But then you try to exit the room for 30 minutes without success. Why won’t that door open? Am I at the wrong door?
And then the answer, stupid me, would be that the card under the coffee cup was actually a key card for the door. It goes (don’t you know) in the slot you saw on the floor on the other side of the room.
That’s thirty minutes of my life I’m not going to get back. And it’s thirty minutes of trying to guess what an “appropriate” solution is.
Worse, it’s thirty minutes of trying to figure out what an “appropriately creative” solution is. And that’s just maddening.
So I gave up on games for a while. Until one week I decided to borrow my brother’s XBox and see what the hullaballoo about Halo 3 was. And from the moment I started playing it, I realized I had it backwards on games.
Whatever your feeling about the subject matter, the battle games are the educational games. Why? Because as you run through scenarios dying repeatedly, you are forced to look at the thing, not from the perspective of WWGDD (What would game designers do?) but from the perspective of systems analysis. Have you chosen the correct weapons to make it through the hall? Would a short range weapon with a bigger kick be more appropriate? Are you dying because you are trying to take out too many of the enemy before proceeding — or do maybe you need to dash through *more* quickly? Is the risk of making the dash to the weapons cabinet worth the pay off here? What’s the optimum route through the level?
You have resources and potential paths. You can combine them in ways the game designer might not expect. There are multiple working paths to any achievement. You play co-op mode with others, and you develop team strategies (”You go this way with the gravity hammer and I’ll snipe with the 50 cal…”). And every time you die (which if you are me, is a *lot*), you evaluate that crucial question Seth Godin refers to as the question of “The Dip”: Is my set of tactics sound, but requiring more polish in execution? Or is my approach fundamentally flawed?
And, again, you do this all by studying the way the system operates instead of playing a senseless game of WWGDD.
You may find the content disturbing. Personally, as silly as it may sound, I can’t play games where I’m shooting realistic humans in a current war. I have to shoot aliens, or people so far back in history that I’m removed from the geopolitical implications.
It’s an odd line, but somehow it works for me.
But strip away concerns about the violence and the process of playing Halo or Gears of War is more educational, and will teach you more about analyzing problems than any “intellectual” game on the market. There’s an honesty to these games, and within tight constraints, an emergent element. No, it’s not Spore, or Civilization IV. And you can’t build your own weapons or design your own level (it turns out you can design your own level, see comments). You can’t mashup elements from other games into Halo.
But you can study a system that operates in a discoverable way, and develop an approach that makes the best use of tools and available cover. You can develop a strategy that it’s just possible no one has discovered before. That beats trying to figure out what cleverly hidden object you need to open a door any day of the week.
http://mikecaulfield.com/2008/05/23/why-halo-3-is-more-educational-than-intellectual-games/
Of course! That's why I've always liked it! In all seriousness, the Halo games really do rise above most of the competition in what they allow you to do.
Check out this cool article I discovered:
Why Halo 3 is more educational that “intellectual” games.
by Mike Caulfield
I always *felt* like I should be a gamer. After all, I built educational games for a good portion of my career — first for children (reading readiness software), then for Columbia University and Cable & Wireless, where the name of the game was social simulations — choose-your-own-adventure style scenarios where you interacted with professional environments — and if you made the wrong decision you could bring your team/company/state/country down with you.
So I tried to play recreational computer games. I really tried. Since I like to solve puzzles I kept buying PC based “adventure” games. And since I’m not a violent sort I steered away from the gore.
But every game I played seemed like the same game. And that game was “Try to figure out what the game designer thought an appropriate action would be in this context.”
I’m sure you know this game. It starts with you watching a film intro, and then some objective is voiced. Maybe you have to get to Room 306 or something. Maybe you have to find the crystal ionizer.
So you walk around a room, and the first steps come easy. Wow, there’s a note there! What does it say?
But then you try to exit the room for 30 minutes without success. Why won’t that door open? Am I at the wrong door?
And then the answer, stupid me, would be that the card under the coffee cup was actually a key card for the door. It goes (don’t you know) in the slot you saw on the floor on the other side of the room.
That’s thirty minutes of my life I’m not going to get back. And it’s thirty minutes of trying to guess what an “appropriate” solution is.
Worse, it’s thirty minutes of trying to figure out what an “appropriately creative” solution is. And that’s just maddening.
So I gave up on games for a while. Until one week I decided to borrow my brother’s XBox and see what the hullaballoo about Halo 3 was. And from the moment I started playing it, I realized I had it backwards on games.
Whatever your feeling about the subject matter, the battle games are the educational games. Why? Because as you run through scenarios dying repeatedly, you are forced to look at the thing, not from the perspective of WWGDD (What would game designers do?) but from the perspective of systems analysis. Have you chosen the correct weapons to make it through the hall? Would a short range weapon with a bigger kick be more appropriate? Are you dying because you are trying to take out too many of the enemy before proceeding — or do maybe you need to dash through *more* quickly? Is the risk of making the dash to the weapons cabinet worth the pay off here? What’s the optimum route through the level?
You have resources and potential paths. You can combine them in ways the game designer might not expect. There are multiple working paths to any achievement. You play co-op mode with others, and you develop team strategies (”You go this way with the gravity hammer and I’ll snipe with the 50 cal…”). And every time you die (which if you are me, is a *lot*), you evaluate that crucial question Seth Godin refers to as the question of “The Dip”: Is my set of tactics sound, but requiring more polish in execution? Or is my approach fundamentally flawed?
And, again, you do this all by studying the way the system operates instead of playing a senseless game of WWGDD.
You may find the content disturbing. Personally, as silly as it may sound, I can’t play games where I’m shooting realistic humans in a current war. I have to shoot aliens, or people so far back in history that I’m removed from the geopolitical implications.
It’s an odd line, but somehow it works for me.
But strip away concerns about the violence and the process of playing Halo or Gears of War is more educational, and will teach you more about analyzing problems than any “intellectual” game on the market. There’s an honesty to these games, and within tight constraints, an emergent element. No, it’s not Spore, or Civilization IV. And you can’t build your own weapons or design your own level (it turns out you can design your own level, see comments). You can’t mashup elements from other games into Halo.
But you can study a system that operates in a discoverable way, and develop an approach that makes the best use of tools and available cover. You can develop a strategy that it’s just possible no one has discovered before. That beats trying to figure out what cleverly hidden object you need to open a door any day of the week.
http://mikecaulfield.com/2008/05/23/why-halo-3-is-more-educational-than-intellectual-games/
Of course! That's why I've always liked it! In all seriousness, the Halo games really do rise above most of the competition in what they allow you to do.
Out of Gas Planet
I've been pondering a couple incidental pieces of information I have heard recently. (Truth is I haven't researched it very much, though I plan to. I just like the mental exercise that the following thoughts provide.)
The first piece of information I heard is that Saudi Arabia is beginning to pump ocean water across overland and then deep into the ground into their underground oil wells. They are using a certain technology or mechanism to put the water there to raise the oil to where they can reach it. This was taken to mean that they may be running low on, and may soon run out of, oil.
April 22, 2008, 1:59 pm
Peak Oil? Saudis Squeeze the Stone Even Harder
Posted by Keith Johnson
As oil reserves get harder and more expensive to suck out of the ground, one big question looms: Is Saudi Arabia facing “practical peak oil” or the real thing?
Saudi Arabian officials made waves last week with an announcement that the kingdom would voluntarily limit future oil production, in order to leave oil wealth “for future generations.” Last weekend, Saudi officials said that the world’s biggest oil producer won’t be diving into new exploration projects after next year, citing sluggish Western demand and the search for alternative fuels to petroleum.
So are the Saudis smartly shepherding their oil resources? Or are they obliquely acknowledging that getting them out of the ground will be increasingly difficult and expensive?
Neil King in the WSJ reports today (sub reqd.) on the challenges facing Saudi Aramco as it launches its last big project before taking an upstream hiatus: The tricky development of the big Khurais field, which could pump more than 1 million barrels of oil per day. The paper says:
Even in Saudi Arabia, home to more than a quarter of the world’s known recoverable reserves, the age of cheap and easily pumped oil is over. To tap Khurais, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, has embarked on the most complex earth- and water-moving project in its history. It is spending up to $15 billion on a vast network of pipes, oil-treatment facilities, deep horizontal wells and water-injection systems that it calls “one of the largest industrial projects being executed in the world today.”
With crude oil approaching $120 despite sluggish demand growth in the U.S., the idea of “peak oil”—that the world’s oil glass is already half-empty—is increasingly gaining currency. Other once-formidable oil producers like Russia, the U.K., and Mexico are all seeing production decline as fields age. While Aramco has been very good at squeezing the maximum amount of oil out of each reservoir, even the world’s biggest oil producer is finding that it’s no longer shooting fish in a barrel:
“Khurais and [offshore field] Manifa are the last two giants in Saudi Arabia,” says Sadad al-Husseini, a former Aramco vice president for oil exploration. “Sure, we will discover dozens of other smaller fields, but after these, we are chasing after smaller and smaller fish.”
Unlike previous mammoth fields, Khurais needs a push while it’s still young—in the form of sea-water injection to get wells pumping. And that’s tricky business: Aramco seismologists spent years poring over rock formations to build their gameplan.
It’s costly, too: The paper reports that Saudi costs for adding new oil production have quadrupled in recent years, from $4,000 for each new barrel per day of capacity to about $16,000 for each additional barrel.
As Western leaders implore OPEC to boost production, and the OPEC producers with the most play coy, the question remains: How much play is really left in the global spigot?
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/22/peak-oil-saudis-squeeze-the-stone-even-harder/trackback/
The second bit was something I read. It was predicted that if China continues over the next 20 years to experience the same rate of growth it has had over the past 20 years, then they would require per day the entire amount of oil currently produced per day in the world.
So, I've been thinking about the possibility that maybe the Earth's supply is finite and what that would mean in escatological terms. I may read Revelations again just to see if it's hinted.
PS. I don't necessarily want to turn this into a Velikovsky discussion, but I thought it would be worth mentioning. If Velikovsky's research is to be believed and oil and/or natural gas was introduced to Earth by the passing comet, now planet, Venus, then it would make sense that we have a finite amount left in the earth.
The first piece of information I heard is that Saudi Arabia is beginning to pump ocean water across overland and then deep into the ground into their underground oil wells. They are using a certain technology or mechanism to put the water there to raise the oil to where they can reach it. This was taken to mean that they may be running low on, and may soon run out of, oil.
April 22, 2008, 1:59 pm
Peak Oil? Saudis Squeeze the Stone Even Harder
Posted by Keith Johnson
As oil reserves get harder and more expensive to suck out of the ground, one big question looms: Is Saudi Arabia facing “practical peak oil” or the real thing?
Saudi Arabian officials made waves last week with an announcement that the kingdom would voluntarily limit future oil production, in order to leave oil wealth “for future generations.” Last weekend, Saudi officials said that the world’s biggest oil producer won’t be diving into new exploration projects after next year, citing sluggish Western demand and the search for alternative fuels to petroleum.
So are the Saudis smartly shepherding their oil resources? Or are they obliquely acknowledging that getting them out of the ground will be increasingly difficult and expensive?
Neil King in the WSJ reports today (sub reqd.) on the challenges facing Saudi Aramco as it launches its last big project before taking an upstream hiatus: The tricky development of the big Khurais field, which could pump more than 1 million barrels of oil per day. The paper says:
Even in Saudi Arabia, home to more than a quarter of the world’s known recoverable reserves, the age of cheap and easily pumped oil is over. To tap Khurais, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, has embarked on the most complex earth- and water-moving project in its history. It is spending up to $15 billion on a vast network of pipes, oil-treatment facilities, deep horizontal wells and water-injection systems that it calls “one of the largest industrial projects being executed in the world today.”
With crude oil approaching $120 despite sluggish demand growth in the U.S., the idea of “peak oil”—that the world’s oil glass is already half-empty—is increasingly gaining currency. Other once-formidable oil producers like Russia, the U.K., and Mexico are all seeing production decline as fields age. While Aramco has been very good at squeezing the maximum amount of oil out of each reservoir, even the world’s biggest oil producer is finding that it’s no longer shooting fish in a barrel:
“Khurais and [offshore field] Manifa are the last two giants in Saudi Arabia,” says Sadad al-Husseini, a former Aramco vice president for oil exploration. “Sure, we will discover dozens of other smaller fields, but after these, we are chasing after smaller and smaller fish.”
Unlike previous mammoth fields, Khurais needs a push while it’s still young—in the form of sea-water injection to get wells pumping. And that’s tricky business: Aramco seismologists spent years poring over rock formations to build their gameplan.
It’s costly, too: The paper reports that Saudi costs for adding new oil production have quadrupled in recent years, from $4,000 for each new barrel per day of capacity to about $16,000 for each additional barrel.
As Western leaders implore OPEC to boost production, and the OPEC producers with the most play coy, the question remains: How much play is really left in the global spigot?
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/22/peak-oil-saudis-squeeze-the-stone-even-harder/trackback/
The second bit was something I read. It was predicted that if China continues over the next 20 years to experience the same rate of growth it has had over the past 20 years, then they would require per day the entire amount of oil currently produced per day in the world.
So, I've been thinking about the possibility that maybe the Earth's supply is finite and what that would mean in escatological terms. I may read Revelations again just to see if it's hinted.
PS. I don't necessarily want to turn this into a Velikovsky discussion, but I thought it would be worth mentioning. If Velikovsky's research is to be believed and oil and/or natural gas was introduced to Earth by the passing comet, now planet, Venus, then it would make sense that we have a finite amount left in the earth.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Movie Review: Prince Caspian
This remake to one of my favorite children's book series books was not a children's movie. You can write about battles all you want, but actual killing is never as noble or cool as when you write about it. Even movie killing, though still fake, is more horrific and "adult" than children should see.
Gains: +7
This movie, though violent, showed little blood and toned down the horror of battle about as much as is possible without showing an empty screen. The acting was great, from the children to the dwarves to the adults and even the CGI characters. CGI characters usually seem to act according to what the animators think is cool. This gives them an element of unusualness that really shatters my normal, easily-held suspension of disbelief. I think the reason for this movie's success was the contributions of WETA in making actual costumes for the fantastical creatures. The CGI animators then focused on making the animated versions similar to the costuming. It worked flawlessly. The mouse was the only one who was fully animated, and they didn't focus too much on his acting ability.
The story was rewritten and deviated quite a bit from the book. Normally, I hate when Hollywood does this, but that is because they change themes, plot, and characters in such a way that the story is diminished. Prince Caspian, in my opinion, expounded on these story qualities and succeeded in their rewrite. The dialogue was hilarious. The movie took it's time setting up and built to a great battle scene at the end.
Losses: -2
The wrap up at the end was a little melodramatic and felt stitched on. Also, I really hate Aslan's voice. Liam Neeson just doesn't have a deep enough tone to his voice, and Aslan's voice has no growl to it. It just sounds like Liam Neeson talking, which makes me cringe - the king of lions with light, smoothe, Irish-accented English words.
Final Judgement: +5
Loved this movie. It had all the elements I could really enjoy and kept up the suspension of disbelief. You could definitely tell that Lewis and Tolkien were influenced by each other and other similar elements. I hope I never hear ignorant people saying how this movie was just copying LOTR. Anyway, great movie. I will maybe even see it again before it hits the video stands.
Gains: +7
This movie, though violent, showed little blood and toned down the horror of battle about as much as is possible without showing an empty screen. The acting was great, from the children to the dwarves to the adults and even the CGI characters. CGI characters usually seem to act according to what the animators think is cool. This gives them an element of unusualness that really shatters my normal, easily-held suspension of disbelief. I think the reason for this movie's success was the contributions of WETA in making actual costumes for the fantastical creatures. The CGI animators then focused on making the animated versions similar to the costuming. It worked flawlessly. The mouse was the only one who was fully animated, and they didn't focus too much on his acting ability.
The story was rewritten and deviated quite a bit from the book. Normally, I hate when Hollywood does this, but that is because they change themes, plot, and characters in such a way that the story is diminished. Prince Caspian, in my opinion, expounded on these story qualities and succeeded in their rewrite. The dialogue was hilarious. The movie took it's time setting up and built to a great battle scene at the end.
Losses: -2
The wrap up at the end was a little melodramatic and felt stitched on. Also, I really hate Aslan's voice. Liam Neeson just doesn't have a deep enough tone to his voice, and Aslan's voice has no growl to it. It just sounds like Liam Neeson talking, which makes me cringe - the king of lions with light, smoothe, Irish-accented English words.
Final Judgement: +5
Loved this movie. It had all the elements I could really enjoy and kept up the suspension of disbelief. You could definitely tell that Lewis and Tolkien were influenced by each other and other similar elements. I hope I never hear ignorant people saying how this movie was just copying LOTR. Anyway, great movie. I will maybe even see it again before it hits the video stands.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Aged Pianist
Chapel services at my workplace are usually boring affairs. I usually close my eyes and try not to nod embarrassingly when I fall asleep. I have nothing against the speakers - they usually seem to have put a lot of effort into their messages. However, chapel is every single Tuesday, at 8:00 in the morning. I'm not an early morning person, and the consistent Tuesdays have bred into me a general complacency.
Hilton Griswold changed that for me, at least for today. He was introduced as an 86-year-old gospel singer who toured with a group of 6 guys.
Hilton walked slowly to the piano. His back was hunched and his head hung forward. Arthritically he sat down and made an old-person joke. His age showed right up until the moment when he played the first chord on the piano.
His hands began to dance along the keys, bringing forth a spritely gospel tune. Then Hilton began to sing. By the end of the song, he had sung each part of a 6-person male gospel chorus singing group. Hilton's range stretched from the deepest bariton to a high tenor and alternated repeatedly. Though his age was apparent in his voice, it lent a richness that can only come from years of singing.
When he finished, he rotated slowly on the piano bench, then placed both gnarly hands on both wobbly knees and pushed himself into his feet. With his back still hunched over, he made his way slowly to his seat behind the piano, an old man once again.
Hilton Griswold's performance has changed my mind about Tuesday morning chapels, at least until next week.
Hilton Griswold changed that for me, at least for today. He was introduced as an 86-year-old gospel singer who toured with a group of 6 guys.
Hilton walked slowly to the piano. His back was hunched and his head hung forward. Arthritically he sat down and made an old-person joke. His age showed right up until the moment when he played the first chord on the piano.
His hands began to dance along the keys, bringing forth a spritely gospel tune. Then Hilton began to sing. By the end of the song, he had sung each part of a 6-person male gospel chorus singing group. Hilton's range stretched from the deepest bariton to a high tenor and alternated repeatedly. Though his age was apparent in his voice, it lent a richness that can only come from years of singing.
When he finished, he rotated slowly on the piano bench, then placed both gnarly hands on both wobbly knees and pushed himself into his feet. With his back still hunched over, he made his way slowly to his seat behind the piano, an old man once again.
Hilton Griswold's performance has changed my mind about Tuesday morning chapels, at least until next week.
The Wasp
I was sitting in my study playing my favorite video game, when a wasp landed on my window screen. This screen has a three-inch long slit that is less than a half-inch wide. The wasp landed right on the bottom lip of the gap and stuck it's head in to look around.
I reached over to flick it on the head, but before I could, it stepped into the house as if the slit was an open invitation.
Not wanting to take my eyes off it, I yelled for Hanna to "grab the flyswatter...and the RAID." Then when she didn't show up within 5 seconds, I yelled for her to hurry. The wasp buzzed angrily in my general direction, no doubt planning what patch of skin would be the best place to holster it's stinger.
Hanna came rushing in like an angel of death or, more accurately, the assistant to the angel of death who carries the angel's scythe for him. She handed me the death implements. I turned and fired the RAID spray at point-blank range at the wasp. It began to buzz in ever increasing panic as the poison set in. Still, I was not satisfied because I have seen wasps shake off the spray and fly off. So I hit it hard with the swatter, cracking it against the screen. It fluttered to the windowsill but amazingly was still walking around. So I doused it with more of the spray, thinking that the poison now had a chance to penetrate through the cracks in the fiend's armor. Then I gave it one last clubbing for good measure.
As I stood there, basking in my victorious achievement, I thought about the movie Grosse Pointe Blank and how similar my situation was to when Martin Blank shot a guy (who was trying to kill him) and clubbed him with a frying pan, then shot him again and clubbed him again just to make sure - except that my gun was a can of RAID and my frying pan was a flyswatter.
I reached over to flick it on the head, but before I could, it stepped into the house as if the slit was an open invitation.
Not wanting to take my eyes off it, I yelled for Hanna to "grab the flyswatter...and the RAID." Then when she didn't show up within 5 seconds, I yelled for her to hurry. The wasp buzzed angrily in my general direction, no doubt planning what patch of skin would be the best place to holster it's stinger.
Hanna came rushing in like an angel of death or, more accurately, the assistant to the angel of death who carries the angel's scythe for him. She handed me the death implements. I turned and fired the RAID spray at point-blank range at the wasp. It began to buzz in ever increasing panic as the poison set in. Still, I was not satisfied because I have seen wasps shake off the spray and fly off. So I hit it hard with the swatter, cracking it against the screen. It fluttered to the windowsill but amazingly was still walking around. So I doused it with more of the spray, thinking that the poison now had a chance to penetrate through the cracks in the fiend's armor. Then I gave it one last clubbing for good measure.
As I stood there, basking in my victorious achievement, I thought about the movie Grosse Pointe Blank and how similar my situation was to when Martin Blank shot a guy (who was trying to kill him) and clubbed him with a frying pan, then shot him again and clubbed him again just to make sure - except that my gun was a can of RAID and my frying pan was a flyswatter.
Friday, May 16, 2008
3 new posts and say hello to a college student
This is just a note to tell you that I just reviewed 3 movies in a row. My life has been pretty boring other than that, so I've not had much to post.
I also wanted to tell you that I've been accepted into Evangel's Degree Completion Program, where I will seek to obtain a second bachelor's degree, this one in the field of communication. Pray for me. I begin September 18 and go solid for 22 months.
I also wanted to tell you that I've been accepted into Evangel's Degree Completion Program, where I will seek to obtain a second bachelor's degree, this one in the field of communication. Pray for me. I begin September 18 and go solid for 22 months.
Movie Review: Atonement
Gains: +3
I have to talk about the musical score of this movie. Un-freaking-believable. The composer wove sounds from the story, like a typewriter or someone beating on the hood of a car, into his music. For example, check it out here [Update: Embed failed, so here's a link.]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoFtTZTJAw
The young actress Saoirse Ronan, who played the equally young Briony Tallis, was great. She really outshined James McAvoy and Keira Knightly in her portion of the movie. I really got into the first half of this movie, though Hanna didn't. It was fast paced and different from most movies in its conceptual filming style.
Losses: -4
Then the young Briony Tallis character grows up and the movie grows stale. World War 2 never looked so boring. The characters were disjointed and never really connected to each other again. By the end of the movie, when I anticipate at least the feelings of "Great! At least it's over!" there was a surprise twist ending. A movie that was sinking fast found one last way to inspire contempt.
Aside from that, there was one extended annoying sex scene in the first half of the movie. Now, I'm more okay with these kind of scenes if they are plot-based ("more okay" like "hey, at least this disgusting black licorice at least has a satisfying chewable quality"), this scene would have been much more palpable if, as I expected, the movie turned out to be pretty good. Nope. It was lame. The scene turned out to be nothing more than irresponsible junk.
Final Judgement: -1
This movie would have flopped horribly if not for the awesome soundtrack. The first half was great, so if you want to watch just that part, I will clue you in to how it ends - badly. This movie further solidified my view that from here on out, I will mostly only watch movies that have been recommended to me in some form or fashion. On a different topic, it makes me sad to see how skinny and curveless Keira Knightly has gotten.
I have to talk about the musical score of this movie. Un-freaking-believable. The composer wove sounds from the story, like a typewriter or someone beating on the hood of a car, into his music. For example, check it out here [Update: Embed failed, so here's a link.]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoFtTZTJAw
The young actress Saoirse Ronan, who played the equally young Briony Tallis, was great. She really outshined James McAvoy and Keira Knightly in her portion of the movie. I really got into the first half of this movie, though Hanna didn't. It was fast paced and different from most movies in its conceptual filming style.
Losses: -4
Then the young Briony Tallis character grows up and the movie grows stale. World War 2 never looked so boring. The characters were disjointed and never really connected to each other again. By the end of the movie, when I anticipate at least the feelings of "Great! At least it's over!" there was a surprise twist ending. A movie that was sinking fast found one last way to inspire contempt.
Aside from that, there was one extended annoying sex scene in the first half of the movie. Now, I'm more okay with these kind of scenes if they are plot-based ("more okay" like "hey, at least this disgusting black licorice at least has a satisfying chewable quality"), this scene would have been much more palpable if, as I expected, the movie turned out to be pretty good. Nope. It was lame. The scene turned out to be nothing more than irresponsible junk.
Final Judgement: -1
This movie would have flopped horribly if not for the awesome soundtrack. The first half was great, so if you want to watch just that part, I will clue you in to how it ends - badly. This movie further solidified my view that from here on out, I will mostly only watch movies that have been recommended to me in some form or fashion. On a different topic, it makes me sad to see how skinny and curveless Keira Knightly has gotten.
Movie Review: Expelled
This movie was more of a documentary of Ben Stein's journey into the world of socialist academia than a real movie. Since it's a different sort of movie, I will just say this: I would recommend it to everyone.
We've had lots of "documentaries" recently that seem politically based, but more in the sense of shutting the opposition up, or closing the door on communication, or making fun of a situation. This did not feel like any of those. The idea of opening the doors of discussion and debate for all sides to be heard is repeated often throughout the movie.
I found it entertaining and informative and well done.
Movie Review: Michael Clayton
Gains: +2
This movie was great in the middle. Suspense and politics carried the day during the middle. Two conversations, in particular, in the middle (and one at the end) were worthy of note. They carried the movie incredibly. I always enjoy watching George Clooney. He even makes bad movies into tolerable ones.
Losses: -4
I cannot understand what is to like about a bunch of morally bankrupt people. Let me list them (spoilers alert): a lawyer realizes all the horrible things he had done, tries to do something good-ish, and gets killed for it; a lady lawyer works for a reprehensible company and sells her (apparently worthless) soul to save her company what is due it; a main character has a gambling addiction and sells out a man he respects to get money to cover his debt, then after an attempt on his life because he knows too much, he gets even by turning his evidence over to the police in a sting operation. Please note that his character never changes, just his tactics, thus rendering the movie morally vacant. The beginning was slow and the end was - meh - two thumbs horizontal. There were a couple of other moments of things I did not want to witness or hear or even repeat here.
Final Judgement: -2
A good movie to watch if you are captured by terrorists and have nothing better to do. They may even decide to work it into your torture regimen. This movie made me start thinking that I may begin only watching movies that come with some kind of recommendation. I am curbing my list to, with a few exceptions, this new guideline.
This movie was great in the middle. Suspense and politics carried the day during the middle. Two conversations, in particular, in the middle (and one at the end) were worthy of note. They carried the movie incredibly. I always enjoy watching George Clooney. He even makes bad movies into tolerable ones.
Losses: -4I cannot understand what is to like about a bunch of morally bankrupt people. Let me list them (spoilers alert): a lawyer realizes all the horrible things he had done, tries to do something good-ish, and gets killed for it; a lady lawyer works for a reprehensible company and sells her (apparently worthless) soul to save her company what is due it; a main character has a gambling addiction and sells out a man he respects to get money to cover his debt, then after an attempt on his life because he knows too much, he gets even by turning his evidence over to the police in a sting operation. Please note that his character never changes, just his tactics, thus rendering the movie morally vacant. The beginning was slow and the end was - meh - two thumbs horizontal. There were a couple of other moments of things I did not want to witness or hear or even repeat here.
Final Judgement: -2
A good movie to watch if you are captured by terrorists and have nothing better to do. They may even decide to work it into your torture regimen. This movie made me start thinking that I may begin only watching movies that come with some kind of recommendation. I am curbing my list to, with a few exceptions, this new guideline.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
A Bird in the Hand
Monday, I was walking past my workplace building, picking up something for my boss, when I heard a loud thump above me. Glancing to my right, my eyes caught movement as a bird landed in the middle of Campbell Street with a splat. Traffic was nonexistent for the moment, so I made my way over to the poor bird. It looked dead. It's eyes were open and it was not moving. I thought it's neck was broken from hitting a window several stories up. The fall could have also killed it. As I reached for it, however, the bird fluttered about a foot away and landed on it's chest. I lunged and captured it as gently as I could.
The bird decided I was not causing it pain, so it ceased to struggle and sat calmly in my open palm. It was less than half the size of my open hand, so I could easily carry it and hide it with both hands, if need be. I took a close look at it. The iridescent feathers were dark blue around the head, becoming lighter blue down toward the tail. The bird is known as an Indigo Bunting.
I showed this bird off to the ladies, who were where I picked up what I was sent to get. I showed it off to an employee on my floor who was arriving late. The entire time, the bird sat comfortably and calmly in my open hand. Then I thought my office would enjoy seeing it. Only my boss and one other were in, so no pictures were taken (usually documented by a particular person who was at the dentist on Monday). I made sure to keep the bird secured, just in case it suddenly got flighty.
After a minute of showing off, I took the bird back downstairs and outside. It struggled a bit on the ride down the elevator, so I thought it had recovered from it's shock. Once outside, I removed my covering hand and it perched gently on one of my fingers, grasping it like a tree branch. It stood there for a minute, not minding me a bit. However, when I reached for it again with my empty hand, it startled (as only birds can do) and sprang off my finger and into the air. I watched it fly far away.
The End.
PS. I did take note of several coincidences. First, I just happened to be walking there at the right moment. Second, Campbell had been busy only a minute before the bird hit the road, but it was strangely devoid of cars afterward. Third, I was wearing a deep blue shirt. Surely the bird thought I was the mythical Indigo Bunting god, sent to save it from being squished. I imagine tales of me are being sung even now in Bunting lore.
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