Blue Like Jazz: The Movie

I don't agree with Donald Miller on 100% of every issue, but I am a big fan of the way he approaches almost every thought, his unflinching yet humble honesty, and his damn good prose. That's why when I heard money was being raised to turn his book Blue Like Jazz into a movie, I didn't have to think long about giving money to the cause.

Tonight, I had a casual Asian fusion dinner date with my lovely wife, and then had myself blown away by the very movie I helped (in a very small way) to create. When we walked into the theater 2 minutes before the previews started, I was somewhat anxious that we would turn the corner to see a sparsely populated room, but that wasn't the case--we were relegated to the lower, end-of-the-row seats because of the number of people in attendance. And I can honestly say I have never sat in an audience so engrossed a movie.

The last ten minutes or so of the movie is just a simple conversation between two of the man characters--Don and 'The Pope'--during which the entire audience was absolutely silent. The (what I believe to be exemplary) 1 hr 40 min build up to that scene firmly merited our attention in those closing minutes. The conflict is real, it doesn't occur overnight--it doesn't fully resolve (just like jazz) but it speaks one of the most poignant and honest professions of faith I have ever seen in film (and possibly in real life).

Even though the setting of the--shall we say--eccentric campus of Reed may cause some to deem this film to be "unrealistic," I think for most it provides a more solid justification for such catalytic change in Don's life, and allows for an entertaining little petri dish for him to experience and ascertain in one year what many don't until their forties.

The film is not flawless. But neither is life. It takes seriously the serious issues it wants to wrestle with, and has fun with what should be fun. Let me leave you with this, if you pay the 7, 10, or 15 dollars to see this movie you will:

1) Not be distracted by a famous actor, but by believe characters

2) Honestly feel like you are attending Reed for a year

3) Genuinely care about Don's struggle with faith

4) Think about the movie for days--whether you loved it or hated it

and

5) Not regret the price of admission.

So go see it. Wrestle with why the stars are swirling in the blue, like jazz.

Are Pennies Useful?

What follows is an incredibly insightful yet entertaining rant against the penny (and the nickel). He makes a compelling argument against the production of pennies and nickels, and also points out that it is a non-political issue, which could help facilitate bi-partisan communication:



As I see it, pennies are all but useless. The only thing I use them for are putting in the "give a penny, take a penny" plate at registers, the Salvation Army red buckets during the Christmas season, and for throwing at people.

So I ask: Do you think the penny is a good thing to keep around? What are some reasons for keeping it?

Oh Potter, You Rotter

I have been prompted to write this because of the literal threat of a slow and painful death by a friend of mine. I was quite terrified. Almost as terrified as the time that basilisk attacked me at the urging of the memory of a dark lord who was contained in a diary.

Speaking of dark-lord-memory-induced-basilisk-attacks, I just finished the second book of the Harry Potter series: The Chamber of Secrets. You must understand: I am someone who all but swore to never read them, or in the very least decided to put every other book ever written in

front of Harry Potter on the "list of books to read." That's right, that includes Twilight and Joel Osteen's Become a Better You.

And yet, I took The Sorcerer's Stone with me to Summer Conference and then followed it up with The Chamber of Secrets, which I finished last night. I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed both of them. As a writer, I can appreciate the overall storyline, the epic and destiny-driven plot that does not overshadow the everyday experiences of Potter and his friends. The one bit of criticism I do have is that it is reminiscent of the TV show 24 in that there is a single major conflict each and every book. It may get repetitive. It hasn't yet, just the prospect of it is not great.

Other than that, I have highly enjoyed a thorough romp through Ms. Rowling's created world. I am not and have never been opposed to the concept of magic, wizards and witchcraft. At least, that was never my reason for not reading them...because it is fiction, after all. About 45% of the reason I never desired to read them was the fans. They tended to annoy me on a Twilight and Jonas Brothers level. Oh, yeah. The other 55% was that I had always disliked the prospect of witnessing the plight of an angsty teenager and his magical world. I wasn't wrong, per sé, but we'll just leave it at this: that which kept me away has drawn me in.

Unconventional Advertising

Due to unforeseen and difficult, stressful circumstances my posting may be spotty for a while. Here's one I dragged from the depths:

This video is way old, as in, I've had the draft for this post in my posts list for at least four to five months. So long, in fact, that I don't really remember the justification behind it, but perhaps those of you in advertising will enjoy this?

I know I would be cuss well more inclined to buying something if this advertisement flew by.



Is this an effective advertising technique?

[Tip O' the Hat to Brad Ruggles]

The Second Coming

I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't just put that comic there because I thought it was hilarious, and it's only tangentially related to the substance of this post. Now, on to the post.

What's this? "OhmyfreakinggoshT.J.isthebiggesthypocriteever." Why, you may ask? Actually, you're probably not. Either because

A) You know why.

B) You don't care whether or not I am on Facebook.

That's right, after all of my ranting and raving about how evil this social networking entity is, and how if you use it you probably hate everything that is good and pure in this life (I'm pretty sure I said something like that), I'm coming back.

You see, the thing is, it's been one year since I deactivated my account, and it has therefore not been a waste of my time and "just something to do"--the two main reasons I got off in the first place. Plus there are some things that are appealing to me on Facebook:

1. The sheer number of friends I can connect to on Facebook greatly exceeds the number I can connect to just about anywhere else, especially over long distances.
2. I can't tell you how annoying it is when someone says "Did you see that picture on Faceboo---oh, no you didn't." No, I didn't. So, seeing pictures is a plus.
3. Seeing upcoming birthdays and events, instead of hearing about them the day of is a definite plus.
4. Hopefully I will be able to direct people from my Facebook to this blog, and increase the readership. Maybe. Probably not, but it's worth a shot.

So, to review, I am coming back for people, photos, events, and blog. Just singular blog. I am going to start calling this blog "Blog" now. I will ask people "Did you read Blog today? Blog was funny. I worked hard on Blog." That is all.

Do you think I am hypocritical, or an idiot, or both? Or some other combination of negative monikers?

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

While the controversy is over, and Conan is leaving, and we'll have to wait 8 months to see him again (it's a stipulation in the departure contract), you can at least enjoy this little bit with comedian Louis CK:



I must say I wholeheartedly agree. Even though I get caught up in things like this sometimes, I think it would be awesome if we could shock ourselves out of this type of attitude.

Top 25 Pop Songs of 2009: Mash-Up

I'm pretty sure I've said it before--if it's well done, it will at least get a hat tip from me. Such is this video. I am not a big fan of a lot of the songs in this mash up, and as a concessions there's a few parts of the video itself I would prefer to go without seeing. But it is well done. And I think it's a good way to round out this music video week. Enjoy:

Something That Lasts Forever, Like A Greeting Card

The other night I caught the tail end of (500) Days of Summer, a film, you may recall, that I quite liked. It takes a special class of movie to blow your mind each time you see it. I spent the last half hour leaning murmuring "So good!" over and over again as each new scene came.

I think part of the reason I loved it so much was, as someone pointed out, it is one of a rare class of movies: a romantic comedy, surrounding a breakup, from the man's point of view, where he feels utterly screwed over. And it was well done along the way.

Plus the things it has to say about love and fate are pretty cussin' fantastic. I like it because of it's plentiful points yet lack of singular resolution. Good stuff, good stuff indeed.

I am not even joking when I say that it may be one of my favorite films ever. And it's a romantic comedy? Who'da thunk it? If you have not seen this film, then that is an error in your judgment that needs to be fixed.

Covenant Theology. Ish.

I don't really find this irreverent. (Please tell me if you disagree). Maybe a little racist? But everyone's a little bit racist. Stereotypes are a real time saver.

Moving on--I do appreciate the irony of the covenant coming up for renewal:



Once, again, the Onion delivers comedic gold.

On a more serious note, though, I find it interesting that most people in modern culture find it difficult to grasp the concept of an everlasting covenant, or a bond of the sort. Just look out how the word covenantal has fallen out of use. My spellchecker is even telling me it isn't a word as I type this.

Why do you think people don't take the idea of a covenant seriously?

The Tonight Show Controversy

In case you were wondering, or you were preparing to amass the battle lines. As Paste Magazine pointed out, I don't think there really is an "I'm with NBC crowd."

I do understand how NBC probably invest a good bit of money in Leno, but that doesn't make canning Conan a smart move.

Personally, from what I've seen, more entertainers and more people are leaning for the O'Brien side of things. He just seems more collected about the whole ordeal, more tactful, and, what really counts when it comes to entertainment, funnier.

Avatar vs. Pocahontas

Now, I really enjoyed Avatar, but this is hilarious. Just the fact that they could only change proper nouns and cross out the word "nearly" to get the exact same storyline cracks me up, and reinforces my conclusion that the plot was a tad cliché.

[Click to Enlarge]

Brit Hume--The Next Christian Hero?

After witnessing the blind, idiotic support that many Christians lent Carrie Prejean after her same-sex marriage answer to a Miss USA pageant question, I wonder if what Brit Hume had to say about Tiger Woods need for redemption will cause him to be exalted to quasi-martyrdom status? He and Bill O'Reilly discuss:



He seems much more calculated and level headed about the whole comment and idea than Ms. Prejean was (and probably still is) about her statement. I do think he said the right thing, I just hope that Christians don't make him a modern day Stephen.

Another interesting thing to think about is why all the negative feedback? There is the reason he gives, which is Biblical, but does that really make sense in a society that expounds the rights of free speech? I think not. But do you think so? Or think not?

Why I Hate Thanksgiving

Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but it got you here and reading this, didn't it?

First I would like to say that my dislike of this particular holiday has nothing to do with the fact that I spent all of last week, Thanksgiving break, laying on a couch trying to conquer the Swine Flu. Fortunately, my campaign was successful, but it was an altogether NOT enjoyable experience. I don't suggest getting it, if anyone was still up in the air about it.

Now, why do I dislike Thanksgiving? There are a number of different reasons.

1. It takes away from Christmas.

I don't care if it's not your favorite holiday, or if you're disgusted by the way it's become commercialized and a big greed-fest, you better listen to the daggum song--it IS the most wonderful time of the year. And people getting angry at Christmas music starting early because "Oh, what about Thanksgiving?" is getting me pretty torqued myself. What about Thanksgiving? What about it? It's like a warm-up for the real holiday season.

2. Original meaning of Thanksgiving = Sketch.

Not you-shouldn't-have-made-that-innuendo sketch, but more of let's-think-about-what-really-went-down sketch. Pilgrims hate Church of England. Church of England say "F-off!" Pilgrims flee to create isolated moralistic society. Pilgrims barely survive in New World, except for the help of the Indians. Pilgrims are Thankful, yay! Pilgrims later unwittingly or willfully assist in extermination of a large portion of North America's indigenous people. Yay! Thanks Church of England!

3. Most people aren't really Thankful.

Okay, except for you. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Mr. Person-Who-Posted-A-"Things I'm Thankful For"-List on their blog. Or that guy in that one Thanksgiving Hallmark special. Or everyone for that five minutes before you cut into the Turkey when Mom makes everyone say one thing they are thankful for. But really, the week has never contained a "spirit of gratitude" in my experience. Am I wrong? Now, I'm not saying we should just through it out, and I think we could strive for it, but right now, that's just simply no the case.

4. It's at the wrong time.

This sort of coincides with point #1, but honestly, shouldn't the thankful season come after the "season of greed?" Wouldn't that at least be a little more honest? I mean, who arranged the holidays anyway, because I have a big problem with not getting St. Patrick's Day off from school. That, and it's what, four or five days to celebrate gratitude? Like we couldn't use more of it the rest of the year?

Conclusion:

I understand this is not a perfectly reasonable view to hold, but I really do think we are into consolidating good things to certain time periods: Gratitude at Thanksgiving. Cheer, Joy, and Generosity at Christmas. Appreciation of our parents on the respective Mothers and Fathers Days. (In some cases) Love on St. Valentine's Day.

I nominate the rest of the year to celebrate these much-needed qualities.

The Fun Theory

What if we could change behavior for the better by making things fun to do?

That is the essential question that The Fun Theory, "an initiative of Volkswagen," asks.

And my response is: why didn't I think of this first!?! This could have major repercussions, if these things were actually implemented, and if Volkswagen follows up instead of just using it as some dumb publicity stunt.

I'll share one of the ideas they tried out, and let you check out the others for yourself:

A Glass Recycling Bank that doubles as a game where you can get a score--



How fun is that? I would be trying to find stuff to recycle all the live-long day if that was in my neighborhood or on Winthrop's campus!

Other ideas include Piano Stairs, the "World's Deepest" Trashcan, and I saw one person's suggestion for a sink that made colors flash across the screen as you washed your hands.

Do you think that fun can change people behavior?

What do you think we could get people to do by making it fun?

Facebook Farmville Fail

I am currently sitting in the computer lab in the library working on a paper. Upon glancing up from my work, I look across the room to a girl sitting in the computer lab, headphones in, playing Farmville on Facebook. Sometimes I have no difficulty at all remembering why I left that crap.

Culture Diet

In this article, Charlie Brooker talks about the superfluity of literature and entertainment he possesses. And I agree:

"I'm fairly certain I recently passed a rather pathetic tipping point, and now own more unread books and unwatched DVDs than my remaining lifespan will be able to sustain. I can't possibly read all these pages, watch all these movies, before the grim reaper comes knocking. The bastard things are going to outlive me. It's not fair. They can't even breathe."

I have bought 8 new books since the beginning of summer, and I've only read three. And two of them weren't one of the books that I bought.

Summer and Fall Conferences for RUF are a struggle for me: they've got a table of a whole dang lot of literature that I'd like to pick up, and poor little me with the knowledge I have a growing heap of unread-ness on my shelf at home.

About Crime & Punishment, Brooker says, after buying it, "I never read it. A few months ago, having forgotten I already owned a copy, I bought it again. This means I haven't read it twice." While I have yet to do that, it's only a matter of time. I have had someone tell me that I could borrow a book of theirs that I want to read, but instead I go and buy my own copy to not read.

Brooker's idea of the perfect solution for said problem is to obtain a fantastical sort of environment furbished with the technology available around the 1970s. "And every time I think about complaining," he writes "I want a minotaur to punch me in the kidneys and remind me how it was before."

While I cannot deny the comedy in that last statement, I don't know if that is the solution I would prefer. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times when I wish we just lived in a period where life was...simpler.

Unfortunately, culture is such that once you've had a taste, you will only with great difficulty be able to refrain again forever.

Take the illegal downloading of music: if it had not become so readily available and widespread so quickly, then it would have been fairly easily to implement a system to prevent it.

Now, however, because the world has experienced it, there's no way in hell they're going to let it go. The same could be said for social networking, for iPods, modern art, pornography, et cetera.

That's what I think, but what do you think?

[from The Guardian via Curator]

Blackmail by Creed Bratton

As a good many of you may be aware of, I am a fairly big fan of The Office. I'll admit, I'm a little perturbed by its "trendiness" in the past year or so, but it still makes me laugh, so I'm committed for the foreseeable future.

I stumbled upon the Blackmail Webisode, featuring Creed Bratton. It's pretty funny, although Creed's acting is a little off. One of my favorite things was Andy's statement: "Creed, you are gratuitously creepy." So true.

Watch it and tell me what you think.

Oh, Kanye

Just for the record, I'm not a fan of Kanye West as an artist or a person. I don't hate the guy, but I'm not inviting him to any Office/Community/It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Thursdays at the Testosterhome anytime soon. To say the least, I agree with President Obama's analysis of Kanye and his actions at the award ceremony I couldn't care less about.

That being said, the Kanye jokes that have surfaced since his idiotic interjection onstage are pretty dang hilarious. A friend sent me this one, from the quite hilarious site Halolz:


Comedic gold. Plus, it induces reminiscent memories of That Glorious Gaming System that was my first real committed interaction with video games. I still have it, it's at the Testosterhome. I'm thinking some old school Vectorman and Sonic is in order.

Of Dr. Horrible

If you have not already seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, you should. I say this for your benefit. It is a very vital piece of you entertainment, I assure you.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was an alternative musical written, directed and produced by Joss Whedon during the writer's strike. It contains a plentiful amount of witty lines such as "It's not about making money, it's about taking money! Destroying the status quo, because the status is NOT quo."

In addition to the hilarity of a musical about an aspiring evil scientist who want to join the Evil League of Evil and get up the courage to talk to the girls of his dreams/co-laundromat user, the three-act musical speaks sincerely and pointedly to a number of profound topics. Many of the songs consist of intense and direct dialogue about everything from the real nature of evil to social change to a time-stopping freeze-ray.

Honestly, you should go watch it. Now.


Neil Patrick Harris is making that face at you. Because you have not seen it yet.

There. I gave you two different ways to watch it. Now go.

Of A Collaborative Exodus

Not that I am trying to force or drive anyone to quit Facebook, as I have done, but I found this interesting article about the recent Facebook exodus. It says that "while people are still joining Facebook and compulsively visiting the site, a small but noticeable group are fleeing — some of them ostentatiously."

I guess you could define my leaving as ostentatious; I created this blog a few months before I did it to maintain some sort of "online voice," although the need for that is somewhat questionable. I wrote a note, made event, the whole shebang. It is a little vindicating to see that some people are of a like mind and are considering or acting in the same manner that I have.

I have even been considering returning recently, so you made consider this post to be mildly irrelevant and hypocritical. But that is your prerogative.

Oh, and I dislike coffee.