+ 10% of New Yorkers have had H1N1 ... and there are now reports of a more severe strain spreading.
+ Calvin College debates homosexuality and academic freedom
+ Phyllis Tickle gives North American Christians 18-months... until the next question.
+ "My newborn is like a narcotic"
The New World:
+ Wind farms are good -- but they make it hard for doppler to spot tornadoes.
+ Learn the term: Augmented Reality (think Minority Report)... The Wall Has Fallen (Bing AR app due in the fall)
+ Nanobees in the brain and gold nanotech in the lungs
+ Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, heads up SpaceX and Tesla Motors, the next generations of the spaceflight and automotive industries, repectively.
On My Mind:
...personal finances...excercise...reteaching myself mathematics...taking piano/cello lessons again?...reapproaching foreign languages again...sports/athletics...The question: What are all the things I've hated/been challenged by/failed at--and how can I surpass my self-inflicted limitations? What would it be like to be the exact of opposite of everything I've told myself I am?
8.31.2009
8.25.2009
mari on mary
I love reading my friend Mari's blog every day -- but this post on Mary certainly takes the cake, very Vintage Mari. :) As a fellow low/free churcher turned anglo-catholic genuflector I love the way she captures the sheer amazement of being part of a tradition. And it's just wonderfully written, funny and smart. If only I could live so sensuously...
8.24.2009
8.20.2009
To enter this life
you must be born again
and again
to the same town,
same house
you growed up in.
So there I was back home. A sad, long month of July--a wedding of my best friend from high school. And now I've moved on to the same place I went to college. Since I've finished my MFA everything has been the same and different all at once. Maybe I will return to Chicago again soon?
Interesting Links:
+ Australian SETI picked up a possible laser signal from deep space back in December 2008. SETI folks are wonderfully skeptical about any sign of extra terrestrial life (see the 1977 Wow Signal) -- but it could be something! Wait and see...
+ Although the state of space exploration is depressing right now, we do have a lot of stuff up there.
+ We are in bubbles of solar wind surrounded by oceans of interstellar medium.
+ Where are the rural emergents?
Movies (out of 5 *s) :
- Funny People* - A long, bad movie.
- District 9***** - An awesome, amazing, stunning movie.
- Inglourious Basterds****
you must be born again
and again
to the same town,
same house
you growed up in.
So there I was back home. A sad, long month of July--a wedding of my best friend from high school. And now I've moved on to the same place I went to college. Since I've finished my MFA everything has been the same and different all at once. Maybe I will return to Chicago again soon?
Interesting Links:
+ Australian SETI picked up a possible laser signal from deep space back in December 2008. SETI folks are wonderfully skeptical about any sign of extra terrestrial life (see the 1977 Wow Signal) -- but it could be something! Wait and see...
+ Although the state of space exploration is depressing right now, we do have a lot of stuff up there.
+ We are in bubbles of solar wind surrounded by oceans of interstellar medium.
+ Where are the rural emergents?
Movies (out of 5 *s) :
- Funny People* - A long, bad movie.
- District 9***** - An awesome, amazing, stunning movie.
- Inglourious Basterds****
8.05.2009
pa shooter: the breaking of a bruised reed
This is the online diary of George Sodini, the attacker at the Pittsburg gym last night. (story here) A few things struck me while reading it:
- The need to make emotional statements into quantitative ones. I have had sex since... I have probably had sex x number of times in life. I have been rejected by 30 million women. Twice he uses the phrase "Do the math" -- which both times means a lot more than 'math.' The phrase 'Do the math' suggests the inevitable, the pre-determined... which is his reason for the shooting:
- His mundane journal seems to be a portrait of our times. His casual use of ganster speak and Spanish ('thanks for nada'), as well as the above mentioned quantification of personal emotion. Religious preachers and hypocrites, talk radio host. He doesn't want any friends but thinks he would like a "life coach." He obsessively thinks about returning to high school, and -- almost as the centerpiece of his life and death -- the daily gym workout, for seemingly no purpose other than to expend energy and make one's self desirable for no one:
There is always the need to distance ourselves from society's monsters (in fact, we make them monsters in order to distance ourselves from them). There is always a great fear that we are them or could so easily become them. We have such a strong reaction to these events because we, too, have had these thoughts before. Shows like 'To Catch A Predator" demonize and alienate other humans, make them inhuman, so that we can justify ourselves as righteous. George could do violence against those women because he made them inhuman, and we will, no doubt, as a society make him inhuman and never see ourselves in him, see him as ourselves.
- The need to make emotional statements into quantitative ones. I have had sex since... I have probably had sex x number of times in life. I have been rejected by 30 million women. Twice he uses the phrase "Do the math" -- which both times means a lot more than 'math.' The phrase 'Do the math' suggests the inevitable, the pre-determined... which is his reason for the shooting:
"I have no options because I cannot work toward and achieve even the smallest goals. That is, ABOVE ALL, what bothers me the most. Not to be able to work towards what I want in my life. I believe I am deserve that. I read recently it is called "self efficacy", but who knows. Is that more psychobable?"His final end notes, the final thoughts of his life are like Wikipedia facts: "Probably 99% of the people who know me well don't even think I was this crazy. Told by at least 100 girls/women over the years I was a "nice guy"...Net worth slightly more than $250K, (after all debt) as of end of 2008."
- His mundane journal seems to be a portrait of our times. His casual use of ganster speak and Spanish ('thanks for nada'), as well as the above mentioned quantification of personal emotion. Religious preachers and hypocrites, talk radio host. He doesn't want any friends but thinks he would like a "life coach." He obsessively thinks about returning to high school, and -- almost as the centerpiece of his life and death -- the daily gym workout, for seemingly no purpose other than to expend energy and make one's self desirable for no one:
"I always had hope that maybe things will improve especially if I make big attempts to change my life. I made many big changes in the past two years but everything is still the same. Life is over. Even though I look good, dress well, well groomed - nails, teeth, hair, etc"- The diary doesn't drip with our culturally defined 'evil' or 'mass murder' profile. But right underneath the surface is a lot of violence toward women. Early on he suggests the women at the gym "look so beautiful as to not be human, very edible" and he calls nearly everyone he hates pussies. He feels rejected by every woman in America. His final act of opening fire on an aerobics class has everything to do with his feelings of being rejected by all women as a group.
There is always the need to distance ourselves from society's monsters (in fact, we make them monsters in order to distance ourselves from them). There is always a great fear that we are them or could so easily become them. We have such a strong reaction to these events because we, too, have had these thoughts before. Shows like 'To Catch A Predator" demonize and alienate other humans, make them inhuman, so that we can justify ourselves as righteous. George could do violence against those women because he made them inhuman, and we will, no doubt, as a society make him inhuman and never see ourselves in him, see him as ourselves.
8.01.2009
summer movie run down (so far)
I love the summer movie season. Out of 5 stars (*****)...
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine* - Worst movie I've seen in a long, long time. Painful to watch. This would've been a good superhero movie in the 1990s, but the genre has changed so much since then.
- Star Trek***** - Smart, beautiful, funny, entertaining for non-fans. I saw this movie eagerly twice and would love to see it again. It is a fun summer adventure movie that doesn't tax the senses or mind.
- Up*** - I am once again surprised by the risks that Pixar takes. Deciding to make the first ten minutes of your movie about a couple having a miscarriage, growing old and a wife dying in the hospital--and the threat of going to a nursing home... not your typical kids film! I saw this film twice and cried a little bit both times at the part when the boy remembers eating ice cream with his absent dad and he says, "Sometimes it's the boring stuff I remember the most." What a message from a big studio movie company!
- Public Enemies*** - Read my review here. Was not particularly impressed, something was missing?
- Away We Go*** - I enjoyed this movie, it was entertaining for me--being a particular age, at a particular time. There was very little subtext to this film. The characters almost always say what is exactly on their minds, which made it feel like reading a children's book for twenty-somethings. It would have been preachy if the characters hadn't felt so lost.
I believe that the studio was attempting to capture the new 'indie' filmmaking trend of mumblecore and the New Sincerity--where the dialogue is deliberately plain and there is zero-tolerance for irony. There is no irony in this film. This would've been refreshing if it wasn't so obviously attempting to achieve that trend. (Part of the charm of mumblecore is that the creators are so genuine about not trying.) See also, Little Miss Sunshine - which was the beginning of the 'studio attempting to look like an indie film' genre--Juno. But then again, perhaps I instantly look for the irony in everything... even the very existence of an un-ironic film like Away We Go.
- Moon**** - This movie was a killer one-man show by Sam Rockwell. He truly shows his Oscar-eligible talent for this one; it's unfortunate that the film has such a small release. The movie was beautiful, the story touching... I did, however, find the twist unconvincing. Fortunately, it's more of a character study - and you might still love it anyway.
- Food, Inc.**(***) - As a film it is nominal, but I highly recommend it to everyone in America. The information is so important. If you think this is not a big deal, just try to find out the story of your food on your own. No one will return your calls, no one will talk to you, no one will tell you where your food comes from or how it gets processed.
- The Hurt Locker***** - This movie is about a bomb-diffusing team in Iraq. This film is amazing--entertaining, educational and very, very suspenseful. It refuses a lot of the 'tricks' of lesser war movies--lots of shouting, shaky camera work, over the top music score, intense gore and blood. It's so sharp and confident. It hits every right note without overplaying it.
The only distracting part of the film were two 'movie star' cameos that were likely part of the movie contract but only worked against the film's intense realism. It was very realistic in style and yet I couldn't help but think that the final mission was a kind of metaphor or a parable for the whole Iraq War itself--not a political statement about the war, but something about the humanity of it.
Movies I am looking forward to seeing: (500) Days of Summer, Adam, District 9
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine* - Worst movie I've seen in a long, long time. Painful to watch. This would've been a good superhero movie in the 1990s, but the genre has changed so much since then.
- Star Trek***** - Smart, beautiful, funny, entertaining for non-fans. I saw this movie eagerly twice and would love to see it again. It is a fun summer adventure movie that doesn't tax the senses or mind.
- Up*** - I am once again surprised by the risks that Pixar takes. Deciding to make the first ten minutes of your movie about a couple having a miscarriage, growing old and a wife dying in the hospital--and the threat of going to a nursing home... not your typical kids film! I saw this film twice and cried a little bit both times at the part when the boy remembers eating ice cream with his absent dad and he says, "Sometimes it's the boring stuff I remember the most." What a message from a big studio movie company!
- Public Enemies*** - Read my review here. Was not particularly impressed, something was missing?
- Away We Go*** - I enjoyed this movie, it was entertaining for me--being a particular age, at a particular time. There was very little subtext to this film. The characters almost always say what is exactly on their minds, which made it feel like reading a children's book for twenty-somethings. It would have been preachy if the characters hadn't felt so lost.
I believe that the studio was attempting to capture the new 'indie' filmmaking trend of mumblecore and the New Sincerity--where the dialogue is deliberately plain and there is zero-tolerance for irony. There is no irony in this film. This would've been refreshing if it wasn't so obviously attempting to achieve that trend. (Part of the charm of mumblecore is that the creators are so genuine about not trying.) See also, Little Miss Sunshine - which was the beginning of the 'studio attempting to look like an indie film' genre--Juno. But then again, perhaps I instantly look for the irony in everything... even the very existence of an un-ironic film like Away We Go.
- Moon**** - This movie was a killer one-man show by Sam Rockwell. He truly shows his Oscar-eligible talent for this one; it's unfortunate that the film has such a small release. The movie was beautiful, the story touching... I did, however, find the twist unconvincing. Fortunately, it's more of a character study - and you might still love it anyway.
- Food, Inc.**(***) - As a film it is nominal, but I highly recommend it to everyone in America. The information is so important. If you think this is not a big deal, just try to find out the story of your food on your own. No one will return your calls, no one will talk to you, no one will tell you where your food comes from or how it gets processed.
- The Hurt Locker***** - This movie is about a bomb-diffusing team in Iraq. This film is amazing--entertaining, educational and very, very suspenseful. It refuses a lot of the 'tricks' of lesser war movies--lots of shouting, shaky camera work, over the top music score, intense gore and blood. It's so sharp and confident. It hits every right note without overplaying it.
The only distracting part of the film were two 'movie star' cameos that were likely part of the movie contract but only worked against the film's intense realism. It was very realistic in style and yet I couldn't help but think that the final mission was a kind of metaphor or a parable for the whole Iraq War itself--not a political statement about the war, but something about the humanity of it.
Movies I am looking forward to seeing: (500) Days of Summer, Adam, District 9
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