World News Wednesday

I thought about doing something on the Olympics, but I think it's been well covered throughout the media. Instead, I thought we would read on about the problem with social networking and student-teacher relationships. Click here for your article.

Now, this article (like our previous discussion on Marijuana) isn't really all that clear cut. Sure, a vast majority of these teachers who keep a facebook or MySpace site are just on it for their own stuff, and when kids find it, all they want to do is seem cool by being friends with their teacher. The problem (as is quite obvious), lies within that percentage of teachers who either don't understand boundaries correctly or those that are just predatory and took to the job "because of the easy availability of kids." Should we err on the side of caution and ensure that kids can't have this out of school contact with their teachers? Let's look at each side.

The first side is that allowing teachers and students to have these relationships through social networking sites allows them the chance to build more trust between the two parties and could even help with student's grades and their willingness to learn. It also could help with cases of abuse (not between the student and teacher, although it would provide evidence for court cases - that's a good thing) because as the teacher gains the student's trust, they can become more open to things that are happening outside of the walls of the school. Aside from this little trust thing, it gives the students that one more way to feel like they are part of the community. By being "friends" with other students and teachers, the networking provides them this opportunity to see that they belong.

On the other side of the coin comes the abuses of all of the points mentioned above. Teacher's sites and comments can be taken out of context and used to destroy careers and lives. Relationships can become much more than they were originally intended, leading to legal troubles (we won't get into the ethics of love between a 30 year old teacher and a 15 year old student, because I don't really know the answer to that). There is also the point that relationships need to be fostered in person, and not through stupid online "networking."

Basically, I think that although there are ways to look at each side of the issue, but I really don't think that a complete ban of networking between the students and teachers to be a real solution to the problem. Truth be told, even if we take these steps, predators will find their way through. The real solution comes from us being a tightnit community with not only our own children, but those in our churches and neighborhoods. This way, odd behavior and trouble can be spotted and stopped before things get out of hand.

Until tomorrow, wherein we shall discover the amazingness of button mashing in Soul Calibur 4.

Bookish Tuesday

Quick, name two things that are awesome. Zombies you say? I think I heard comics from somewhere in the back. Zombies and comics actually make the perfect match. First up, because I have to make a throwaway mention to the fantastic cover art, the Marvel Zombies comics are decent. The plot is funny and the art is really good, but there is really no substance beyond that. The zombie comic I'm here to takl about is one that I've been behind for about 2 or 3 years now: The Walking Dead.

All of the best zombie stories aren't just about zombies. The zombies are just a backdrop for the artist to build a canvas to tell the story of humans and the way they respond to fear or catastrophe, and The Walking Dead is extremely good at this. Yeah, there are some really great scenes of zombies getting their heads chopped off and people getting all eaten up, but the true strength of the series is the characters.

The story revolves around Rick, who was a police officer in a small Georgia town (yay) when he was shot and fell into a coma. When Rick wakes up, the dead have risen and his hospital and town have been overrun by zombies. Rick then leaves to head to Atlanta to (hopefully) find his wife and son. What follows is a fantastically well written survival story, not just of Rick, but of the people he encounters. They are constantly facing trouble within the pages, but this rarely comes from the zombies (at least later on). The survivors are forced to learn how to create their own society in a post-apocalyptic world, and the author (Robert Kirkman) does a great job in pulling all the difficulties together. Also, seeing as this is a comic, I cannot neglect the wonderful art style. The entire series is done in beautiful black and white that perfectly matches the mood of the writing.

Since I don't have a comic shop around here, I've been getting the series as it comes out in collected trade form and I'm up through Volume 8, so that's what I'm currently talking about. The series does a great job of changing everything each few issues (I don't want to spoil everything, since I think it would be a good idea for everyone who likes zombies to go ahead and pick this up). Pretty much all I'm trying to say here is that if you like zombies, this is some of the best stuff out there (outside of the two Max Brooks books - which will be discussed at some point soon, I should think), and you should be reading it.

Movie Monday

So, after a number of failed attempts, I finally got to see Pineapple Express on Sunday evening. I was quite excited before I even saw the movie, and I'll say that it did live up to expectations, although not much more. The comedy was great, it was well written, and the action was actually really good. My only issue with the movie was how straightforward it was. There were a couple points in the movie that looked like something different was going to happen and I got really excited, only to have my hopes dashed when they took the same old route. Not that this detracted from the film in any way, it just knocked it down from being that much better. Also, the humor in the movie isn't as raunchy as the other movies in the "Apatow library," which was surprising, and made the movie easier for Katie to enjoy as well. Basically, the movie was really really good, and it makes me all the more excited for Tropic Thunder this week, which is allegedly funnier.

Aside from Pineapple Express, I've been re-watching the Harry Potter movies with Matt, and I must say that the first movie really isn't that good. It's not bad either, but when you get to Prisoner of Azkaban, you look back at the first two and see how bland and almost lifeless they were. A lot of it comes from the kids growing up and becoming better actors, but it also comes from the change in directors and themes. It happened in the books as well. As the series continues, the books become darker and the plots get deeper and more interesting (as do the movies). We've only watched through Prisoner, so I'll be sure to update more thoughts as we continue through.

Religion Friday

This may seem like a cop out, but I had a long day. Read this article. The article is very well written and does a great job discussing a (at times) difficult topic. I will try to give more of my own thoughts on this later tonight or tomorrow, but no guarantees.

Gaming Thursday

So, I was planning on doing a new game today, but since it won't come in until tomorrow, I'll be doing Soul Calibur 4 next week. Now, instead of being able to discuss a hardcore fighting game, I decided that I would do a little discussion of the awesomeness of co-op (particularly online co-op) in video games.

You see, I never really got into the whole Halo thing, or really the online FPS gaming in general all that much. There is something annoying to me about playing a game and just dying over and over again because you are either really good at the game and spend hours playing (other people) or just like to play a little bit here and there and be a waste of game space (me). On a similar note however, I really do love playing games with other people (see Rock Band), and it makes game time all the more fun when you get to run through Liberty City on the back of a motorcycle driven by someone else yelling "Crazy Dogggz for life!" without having to worry about that one camping sniper hitting you in the back of the head just when you feel good.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, this wonderful thing of online co-op has allowed my brother and I to finally get back to playing games like we used to back in our room at home. We recently finished playing through Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which really isn't that amazing of a game, but when you get to play it through with someone else and make up stupid stories about your characters and what they would really be saying in the game, makes it priceless. For this reason, he and I have now aligned our schedules of game buying to ensure that we both get the same games at the same time to be able to play through together. If a game doesn't have an online component, it automatically goes back a notch on my list.

Not to say there aren't some fantastic single player experiences (I loved Half-Life 2 and the Zelda series), but as I said before there is just something about being able to play through a game with someone else that makes it infinitely more enjoyable.

World News Wednesday

Here is your story for this week.

So, I found this one to be quite a bit more interesting than our story from last week (although last week's was admittedly pretty good). Anyway, I find there to be some huge implications that can come from this story.

I mean, think about it, scientists were thinking that there were only 50,000 of these gorillas left, and then all of a sudden someone walks into the middle of a swamp and finds over double the number of what is thought to be left... in just one location. We already know that there are millions of things in the deep ocean that we've never seen, and now this discovery opens up the possibility of how much we could be missing on land.

To me, the biggest prospect of all this is that maybe we'll find all the dragons that are left in the world (although most were probably killed during the Middle Ages, when it was fashionable to slay big beasties). I know, this almost feeds into the "Creation Science" idea (which is complete bunk, in my opinion), but I find it fascinating that there is so much out there that we don't know about. This could lead into a whole God discussion, but I will steer away from that for the moment, since we have a full day on that subject each week.

Before I ramble too much on about things that don't relate, I'll let this stay a short post since I'm getting distracted and not making too much sense. Until tomorrow!

Bookish Tuesday

I was having a bit of a time figuring out what book to talk about. I just finished a couple of graphic novels and am in the middle of two books right now. One of those books, I have discussed at some length before (H2G2), but I can always talk about how much I love Douglas Adams. But, rather than me going on about my love for Hitchhiker's Guide, I'll go ahead and gush about my other book.

To preface this, I really don't much like all that many nonfiction books (at least that I've seen/read). However, there is something I really like about Bill Bryson's writing style that really sucks me in and keeps me interested in things, even if I don't really understand. The first Bryson book I read is titled A Walk in the Woods and is one of the big inspirations for a book that a friend and I are currently working on (which in turn is one of the main reasons I've been updating this blog). Anyway, I've been currently reading Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, and while it hasn't yet inspired a book idea, it's still a fine read.

The book (so far) is about hte history of scientific discoveries and achievements in the world, from paleontology to the splitting of the atom. Perhaps I really like Bryson so much because he likes to go off on tangents easily, and I know how that is (I do it all the time, in case you haven't noticed). Also, the book makes me feel smarter (at least while I'm reading, I forget everything about 20 minutes after putting the book down). He does a great job of taking some really complex scientific theories and notions and dumbing them down just enough for me to understand. I'm sure someone who really understands physics and such might argue that he may be butchering things, but since I don't know the difference, I don't really care all that much.

All in all, I must say (if you couldn't tell) that I am highly enjoying Bryson's work and will be looking up more of his library to read as soon as I get the chance. Stay tuned tomorrow for some ape talk in World News (yeah, I cheated a little and found a story today).

P.S. In case you didn't know, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is amazing (I couldn't resist).

Movie Monday: Mummy and More

For my group's weekly movie, we went and saw the new Mummy flick, and it's exactly what you think it would be: cheezy, predictable, and fun. I have to admit that I really like Brendan Fraser, so no matter what, I knew I'd have to at least like the movie. The plot isn't anything to write home about and neither are the effects really, but I wasn't expecting anything but a simple summer popcorn movie and I got exactly what I expected. Basically, it's worth your time if you want to see it, but if you have any doubts, just wait for DVD.

Wait, don't go away yet. I'm not done. I also watched the always fantastic Toy Story yesterday afternoon (just for kicks), and it is still a fantastic movie. Fun side note: Joss Whedon (of the amazing Firefly and Buffy fame) worked on the screen play. Also, the movie is actually even better than I remembered, and I knew it was great.

Last week, I watched Southland Tales... that's all I will say about that. I also got Katie to watch The Departed with me, and I was quite surprised that she liked it, even with all the violence.

And finally, I went with a couple of friends to see Hellboy 2 again (they missed the first time I went). As one told me during the movie: this would make a great TV series. The movie is a blast to watch, but I found myself agreeing. Rather than having to fit all their plots and development into 2 hour blocks, Hellboy would be a really fun show on the telly. Also, for those who have seen the wonderful Princess Mononoke (mentioned in this blog nearly 2 years ago), the big forest elemental is definitely a nod to the big forest god there. I must recommend Mononoke over Hellboy, but Hellboy was definitely a fun ride (much better than Mummy). Either way, I'd better wrap up here before I get into every little thing I watched last week. See you tomorrow for the lovely book talk (I don't know what it will be about yet, so it will be a surprise to me too).

P.S. I just have to say that I've been watching Spaced again, since I got it on DVD, and it's one of my favorite shows! Go watch!

Religion Friday

I was trying to find the article up on Yahoo! News' Opinion page from Wednesday, but I can't find the link. Anyway, the piece was about the American flag within the church and the separation of church and state. I don't remember the details, but the writer was making a lot of points that I completely agree with, although I don't think she ever said what I wanted, so I decided I should.

First of all, the American (or any country's flag) really has no reason being inside of the church. I know that sounds harsh, but as the church's body, we are supposed to be a worldwide family that is connected through our belief and when you add in patriotism, you automatically put yourself aside from people outside of your specific country. It seems to be particularly a problem here in the U.S., where religion is placed into the spotlight within the public as a kind of spectacle. I mean, you have arguments about Barack Obama's religion, James Dobson's reluctant (not quite) approval of John McCain, Televangelists, Megachurches, and so on. These big religion "talking points" do a great job of dividing the Christian faith over stupid trivial issues that really have no meaning. Sure, politics and our next president is important, but it really should do nothing to change the church or our worship.

I got a little off subject there, but when an object, such as the flag is placed into the church, it (whether subconciously or not) gives it a place in our worship that people begin to connect with their faith, no matter how little it truly does add in. It also brings to mind a wonderful experience that my wife and I had in a church. You see, neither of us are exactly patriotic and even less so when it comes to interrupting my worship of God, so when we were at a church that was saying the Pledge of Allegiance (yeah, to the flag, not to God) we were a little upset. Instead of standing with my hand over my heart and facing the flag, I kind of remained seated and read my bible (yes, I know in retrospect, I should have at least stood so we didn't get caught). Anyway what happened was that we "upset some of the members of the congregation" and were (in so many words) kind of kicked out of the church (it was quite a bit more political than that, but suffice to say, we don't really feel welcome there anymore.

Again, that is a little beside the point, but you can see how bringing patriotism into the church can bring more than you would really want. I know that we all bring some sort of baggage into our worship, but what is the point in adding more to that? Why add something that could needlessly hurt others in the middle of what is supposed to be something focused completely on God? I'm not sure, but I do know that I really don't think that a country's flag belongs within our sanctuary.

Have a great weekend, drop me a line to let me know what you thought. I'm going to see The Mummy tonight and will probably have impressions up for my Movie Monday post. Thanks to all who are leaving comments. Oh, Tim... the Wii version of Rock Band is just the same, but if you have a 360 or PS3, I highly recommend those, if only for the fact that Downloadable Content is so important for this game (also, if you are ever in the LaGrange Area you -or anyone else- is more than welcome to come play with me).

Gaming Thursday - Rock Band

We bought Rock Band back in the beginning of January of this year, and while it technically may not be a new game, I find it new nearly every week, since Harmonix has been so wonderful about releasing so many new songs. Since I bought the game, I have probably spent another 50 bucks or so expanding my setlist and it truly gives the game some serious staying power.

For those not in the know, Rock Band 2 is coming out this September, and there is a huge upside for this. Not only will I be able to create a band that can do the World Tour mode online, but you will be able to take all of your downloaded content and (nearly) all of the songs from the first disc and play them on Rock Band 2! For a game that I have already invested over $200 in, I'm not ashamed to say that I'll be ready for more as it comes.

Aside from all these little things, there has also been a cultural upside to me playing this game. It's sad to hear, but yes, I never really knew The Who, Boston, or Sabbath before getting into this game, and it has really expanded my horizons. Quite depressing, I know, but there is something about playing along on a fake plastic guitar that really gets you into music that you previously ignored or just wrote off as dumb.

Sadly, I was too busy today to really work out a thesis for this post, so I know it is rambling, but I just wanted to give my love to the one game on 360 that I play practically every day since I bought it.

World News Wednesdays

I thought the Religion days were going to be my hardest day. I have written up three separate posts before I started this one. Unlike Religion where I feel as though I have some idea of what I want to say, but don't know how to put it down, here I have no idea what exactly to do. So, since I'm pretty good at giving my opinion and thoughts, no matter how valid they are or whether you agree or not, I've decided I'll go to a news website and pick a story and then just discuss.

Today's item comes to us courtesy of Cnn.com: New Pot Penalties.

To be perfectly honest, I am neither for nor against the legalization of marijuana. Yes, I've heard the argument made for both sides, but neither really has a truly engaging point for me. However, as this story talks about, knocking out penalties for people in possession of small amounts of marijuana is actually not a bad idea. I read Police reports every single day (it's part of my job), and you would be surprised at how many people are arrested for "Possession of Marijuana - less than one ounce."

It already sounds like I'm taking the side of legal pot, but I'm not (quite). Like it is being said in the article, Marijuana use should be under the same sort of regulations as alcohol and therefore use (and abuse) of the substance should be monitored. Also, by not focusing on small count arrests that rarely lead to anything but a small fine or community service, agents can focus more on finding where the drugs come from and putting a stop to it. Or, if it is made legal, they can not even worry about finding it and focus on finding the 900 million meth labs in my area that (as far as my knowledge goes) does quite a bit more damage than the green leaf.

So, on further thought, maybe I am a little more on the side of legalization of marijuana. Heck, if it's legal, they can tax the mess out of it and maybe put some money towards finding alternative fuels so that we aren't all dependant on fossil fuels (that is a whole other discussion that I'm sure we shall get to at some point, but it's discussed to death everywhere, so I'm steering clear).

And, there is our first World News Wednesday. Although it wasn't really World News, it worked. See you tomorrow for some gameage.

Bookish Tuesday - Ender's Game

Yeah, I know I'm incredibly late to the game here, but I finally read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game a couple weeks back, and I will admit it is quite good. As a piece of science fiction that looks at an incredibly accurate vision of the future of technology (I must say, I was astounded at how much Card was able to predict 30 years ago), this book is amazing. The story itself is also quite good also, telling the story of Ender as he progresses from a 6 year old child sent to a military training installation in space all the way to the war itself.

Without revealing too much, the book does a good job of questioning the ethics of war and space colonization, although at times it almost feels like its being beaten into the ground (not often, but there were times). The only major gripe I had with the book is that the end was a little to hokey. It does a great job wrapping things up and answering questions, but I didn't quite feel that they happened naturally as if they were almost tacked on to make sure that when the sequel was ready all the information was set. Speaking of the sequel, it is sitting on my dresser, but I doubt I will read it for quite a while. It's not that I don't want to read more about Card's universe he created, but... how do I put this.... it wasn't written by Douglas Adams. That about explains it.

As part of proof that we have all run out of new ideas, Ender's Game is now being repackaged as a comic book, a new video game, and (although in production hell, as far as I know) a movie. With that, I'm moving on to a subject that I don't have time to talk about at length right here, but will definitely be a recurring theme, I have to say that while I do like some adaptations and such, books are normally created to be books (same with movies, games, comics, tv shows, etc.). When Douglas Adams adapted H2G2 from the radio drama to the books, he knew that it had to be different. He knew that things that worked in radio weren't meant to work in books and vice versa. Same with his adaptation to the small screen and (although I'm not exactly sure how much of his script was used) to the big screen.

It's not that I think books can't be adapted to film, but they always seem to lose some magic in the transition. Your imagination and mental pictures are replaced by whatever the directer/screenwriter chose to see. It's now hard to think about Harry Potter without picturing Daniel Radcliffe or Gandalf without seeing Ian McKellan. They both have done wonderful jobs portraying the characters, but it still holds your mind back from seeing something different.

That little bit is just chapter one of what I'm sure will be an ongoing saga about transitions between media. To return to the original point of the post, Ender's Game is great, really great. The only problem with it is that it wasn't Douglas Adams.

Movie Monday: Step Brothers

Saturday night I was able to trick Katie and a couple of friends into seeing Step Brothers. I say "trick" because none of them claimed to know that it was rated R and were surprised by the fact that we were all carded going into the theater. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting that much over it either. Of the reviews I had read, yeah, it was supposed to be raunchy, but I haven't had my ticket stub checked going into a theater since Star Wars Episode 3.

To put it simply, Step Brothers is funny. Very funny. Of course, this completely depends on your sense of humor, and I'm pretty sure that if you've seen the previews you know whether you are interested or not. That said, unlike other movies, the best parts are nowhere near the previews. Sure, those parts are silly, but the best parts of the movie are when they are able to take an idea and completely let loose. There is also something to say about the writing, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are exactly like two 9/10-year-old boys, and that is what makes the movie so funny. They throw temper tantrums, have tree houses, practice karate in the garage, and are completely dumb.

Let's face facts here. As I've said before, you know whether or not you want to see this movie, and I'm almost positive that my little review here isn't going to change any minds, so if you've seen it, let me know what you thought. And if you haven't, let's hear why you aren't seeing it. Are you against it? Do you think it looks dumb? Can't afford another movie ticket and would rather see Tropic Thunder? All good reasons, but I just want to know (I know I would have rather seen X-Files, but I got shot down).

And that's that. See you on the morrow.

Religion Friday!

This has been the hardest post for me to get started. I don't really know how I want to do these Friday posts. You see, for me, thinking and pondering God and Faith are easy. There are limitless ideas and philosophies about this God character that my mind can easily hop into that. However, when it comes to expressing these particular thoughts as words (whether through writing or verbally), I never know what to say and wind up just being frustrated and mostly saying nothing (just ask my wife).
So, when I was discussing my ideas for the five blog days, my brother suggested God for a day. I balked immediately at the subject, trying to take movies and tv and put them into two separate days or take comics and make them separate from books. Really I was just turning my fears of being able to do justice to the subject of faith into complaints, so I tried to say that I didn't want to alienate people; but, my brother made a great point. He said that if God was a large part of my life (moreso than fleeting dumb things like movies and games), and I'm not afraid to give semi-controversial statements there (Transformers sucks, btw) then why can't I just give my thoughts on something a bit more important to me. Now, I must confess, I just paraphrased a bit there, it may not be exactly what he said, but it's what I got out of it, and that's what really matters here.
What is it that makes it so hard for me to write about God (now anyway, if you look through old posts, I'm pretty sure I had no problem)? Is it because I get so upset about people trying to confine God into a catchphrases and bumper sticker theology that I'm worried that I'll wind up doing the same? Definitely. Or, is it the fact that I don't like to be wrong and want to spend my time searching for answers rather than taking time to discuss things I've already found? Well, that too.
Basically, what it comes down to is the fact that I don't know, and because I don't know, I'm hesitant to say anything for fear that I am wrong. But, you see, the thing about the subject of God is that (aside from a few key basic things I think we can all agree on), no one really knows the exact answer. Sure, we can theorize and conject our ideas about what this means or what someone was saying here in the Bible or whatever, but no one actually knows.
For that reason, I shall do my best to put my actual thoughts down here. Not just what I think people want to read, but what I truly think and believe. I mean, if I can gush about video games and movies that other people think are dumb without a second thought. I should be able to do that here.
I know that this wasn't really as much about Religion or God as it is about my own dealings therein, but then again, isn't that exactly what our Faith winds up being?

Gaming Thursday - Final Fantasy 4 or Why Paladins Rock My World

So, I was working on this post earlier today and had a good page and a half of notes down in my little journal, however I left that journal at work and am now going on pure memory! Anyway, today is the first Video Game Thursday, and in an effort to stay with this weeks mega release,( I've decided to talk about Final Fantasy 4. Now, just to let you know, this isn't a review in any way (I actually haven't played it in years, and although I'd like to pick up this DS iteration, I probably won't be able to for a little while). Also, these will more than likely not remain current with games as they come out, since I can't afford to buy new games each week, but I'll do my best to have it a mixture between reminiscing about past games, reviews of current games, and news about upcoming games. For an awesome, non-personal look at the Final Fantasy games, I highly recommend you check out this series of videos. I will embed their look at Final Fantasy 4 at the end for your enjoyment.

So, in all my Super Nintendo days, my RPG focus tended towards Earthbound and Final Fantasy 6, so I don't really remember playing FF4 until my college years when I got hooked on emulation. I must confess, I don't think I've ever finished playing through Final Fantasy 4, but it has left quite an impression on me in one way. You see, you begin the game as Cecil the Dark Knight. He's all cool and moody and really powerful, but conflicted about his role.

There comes a point in the game where you are guided to a temple where Cecil must confront himself in order to find the light within. After a particularly difficult battle with yourself(at least as far as I remember), you come out a changed man - transformed from a Dark Knight to.... a Paladin! As anyone who has played World of Warcraft, Diablo, D&D, or any similar sort of game with me knows, Paladins are pretty much my favorite all around class, and I think it comes back to this game. Even though Cecil isn't exactly all that powerful as a Paladin, something about playing through the first few hours of the game as a semi-bad guy, only to come to a point where you make this change into good really stuck with me. I've come to really like the idea of the holy warrior character (particularly because I like to be able to keep my health up... I'm kind of OCD about that). So, Cecil receives a cheer from me for inspiring my love of Paladins!

The game plays pretty much like a regular SNES Final Fantasy (which isn't a bad thing at all), so I don't remember much else aside from the twin magicians Polum and Palum (I think), and the fact that I'd love to get the 3d remake for DS here as soon as I can. I had other points that I had meant to hit in this post, but I completely forgot them along with my journal at work. Next week's gaming post will likely be better, if only because it will be about a game that I know a lot better than Final Fantasy 4. And since I couldn't do the game justice, here is the GameTrailers Retrospective on FF4 for your enjoyment:



Until tomorrow!

The New (and Hopefully Improved) Blog

First of all, for those of you who are shocked (and delighted) that I have made two posts in two days, I have decided to give this blog some good attention in order to help me with my writing skills and to hopefully keep you entertained. What I am hoping to do is to update the blog 4-5 days a week, with each day taking a theme. Right now I have Mondays for Movies/TV, Tuesdays for Books, Wednesdays for World/News, Thursdays for Games, and Fridays for God. So, if this were real, you would be tuning in today to see my thoughts/opinions on what's going on in the world.

Not every post will be the epic that yesterday's was (that was seriously draining, and required hours of Rock Band therapy), but I do hope to craft each post to be both thoughtful and thought provoking. I doubt that I will be able to do it each time, but I would like you to join with me to help make it better by submitting thoughts, praises, and criticisms. I would really like this to be something that helps me to become a better writer and be able to transfer these skills into writing other things.

I have briefly considered adding Google AdSense so that I might be able to take in some revenue off of the site, but until I get going at a good clip and trust myself enough to do this regularly, I'll hold off.

So, spread the word!!! Get people to read for me, I would love to be able to get comments from a wide variety of ages and peoples, so let a friend or two know. Give them a sample of a previous entry you liked and get 'em hooked.

Tomorrow, the gig shall begin for real with the first Game Thursday, in which I will talk about Square Enix... particularly Final Fantasy 4, which came out on DS this Tuesday (although, I'm warning you now, it will more than likely devolve into me talking about Final Fantasy 6, because I can't help it). See you then!

A Different Sort of Review

Before I go into my special Dark Knight review, I must request that, if you don't know what Psychonauts is, to click here. Did you read it? I hope so, because for my take on Dark Knight, I shall present it as a build of Psychonauts, as in separated into different levels so that it is not just a rehash of every other review of Dark Knight that is out there, but instead we shall examine the minds of the characters and see where their flaws lie (one of the great themes of the film) and also how awesome it would be to see it presented in one of my favorite games ever (yeah, I know its a last generation game, but wouldn't it be so awesome if Double Fine made DLC with extra levels to play through?) One more thing before we begin... there will be spoilers ahead, so if you are just here for a recommendation, I say go see Dark Knight, but if you want to go a little further with me, read on (quick note, these levels aren't in any particular order, they are just coming as I think of them)...

Bruce Wayne/Batman's Level - Yeah, I know they could be two separate levels, but for the sake of time, I'll do it as one.
As Razz enters into this level, it becomes apparent that Bruce's mind is a reproduction of Wayne Manor, large and sprawling. Of course, when you enter into the main foyer, it's beautiful and expansive, and everything is decorated with pictures of Gotham City... and bats, because these are things that are constantly parts of Bruce's mind, they permanently etched into places all throughout the mansion.
The first wing that you are granted entry to is one of Bruce's playboy personality. The colors are bright, and the figments (little collectibles within the game) are represented by champagne glasses, expensive cars, tuxedos and such. The main issue in this wing of the manor is the fact that it is a huge piece of the manor, and yet you can tell that it is neglected, Bruce dislikes this part of his mind, and although it is clearly in use quite often, the rest of the mansion does it's best to shut this part out and keep it there just for show. As you work your way through that wing, you encounter Bruce's representation of himself within and must convince him that although this part of him may seem to be a waste, it is in fact a very important part that he must learn to use more to fight justice, rather than relying on his alter-ego.
Speaking of that alter-ego, once you can convince Bruce of the importance and neccessity of actually being Bruce, you can move on to the Batman wing of the Mansion. Here, things are dark, and the figments are represented by Bat gadgets, weapons, and the occasional criminal. Within this wing, you learn of Bruce's obsessions. He hinges his entire being on this "hero" that he has created. So much so that the only way to pull Bruce out of this part of his mind before it can be sucked into the massive vortex of obsession in the middle (yeah, I forgot to mention it earlier, because I just made it up) is by finding Rachel in the mansion. For some reason, it's not the promise of a safer Gotham, or even a happy life that can make him willing to give up the mask, the only thing that he finds bright is Rachel. His cravings for her attention and approval are represented by secret rooms that are easy to find because the doors are constantly left partially open with rays of light coming from the cracks. Inside these rooms, the walls are covered with memories of Bruce and Rachel throughout their times together, both as adults and as children.
Once you beat the level, you think that somehow Bruce's mind will be changed and guided to something of a balance between his desire for justice as Batman, and his ability to help bring justice as Bruce Wayne as well. However, as in the movie, Bruce is unable to separate this desire from his very being, and as you leave his mind, everything that you had changed to help him, slowly begins to revert back to the state that it once was.

Rachel's Level -
Rachel's level is similarly divided as Bruce's. However as much as her love for Bruce is represented in her mind, it is clear that while it was once at the forefront, it has been taken over by Harvey. Figments are represented here by posters for Harvey's campaign, lawyer accessories, and the occasional bat. Unlike Bruce's mind, which is closed off into the (albeit large) mansion, Rachel's psyche is represented as the grounds around the mansion, where holes that were once wells and trees prohibit too much wandering. Her mind is fixated (like that of Bruce's and later Harvey's) on justice and peace. Although, her's is brightly lit with hope from the future (hey, I don't know how to represent it in the game, I'm just writing it, not making it). Her level will have the feel of a 2D platformer... very linear and lots of jumping, with you travelling through the grounds of the Wayne Manor, with flashes of Harvey and Bruces' faces appearing randomly throughout. As you reach the end of the level, you catch up to Rachel who is standing in front of a fork in the path with Bruce on one side and Harvey on the other, and although I'd like to say you get a choice between them, you don't. Rachel smiles at Bruce and tells him something sweet before she walks off with Harvey. As you stand next to Bruce and watch the other two walk off into a beautiful forest, you see a bolt of lightning strike the forest, and are ejected from her mind as it begins to erupt into flames.

Harvey's Level -
Yeah, I know I wasn't going to do these in order, but when you arrive at Harvey and enter into his mind, it is while he is in the hospital after Rachel's death and his rebirth as Two-Face. Razz will be confronted here again by duality (see, there's a theme), this time it is completely obvious. As you enter into Harvey's mind, you find it represented as a huge courthouse. The level alternates between darkness and light at complete random, and the level structure is completely frustrating, because everything is guided by chance. Places that are safe will randomly be turned against you, but not at any particular point in the level, just whenever it feels like it - it's like the level in Psychonauts where you can adjust the play to good or bad, except here you have no control, again, it is random (kind of like his flipping a coin). The problem with the level is that although you feel the animosity in the darkness, it is completely sane. The level is well structured, with nothing out of the ordinary, figments here are represented by coins (that's all, just lots of coins). The goal of the level is to bring both parts of Harvey together, one represented as a whole Harvey in a white suit and, the other a fully burned Harvey in a charred suit (yeah, I know its obvious, but sometimes you just have to go with the easy answer). Anyway, the level ends when the Harveys come together and find that the balance between his light and dark is able to be brought together by the random element found in chance. When the Harveys are brought together, they turn to you and flip a coin, if it comes up good, you finish the level, and if it comes up on the charred side, you die and are forced to do the entire level over again (told you it was frustrating).

Jim Gordon's Level -
Jim's level is represented as the Gotham Police Department. Like all the others within the movie/game Jim's duality is between his job and his love for his family, which is represented in part by his figments, which are his wife and two kids shown at different stages in their lives that he could potentially be missing. Your goal here is to clear out the Department so that Jim can finally find his way home and be with the people he loves. You begin the level on the roof next to the Bat-signal and Jim's representation is covered by the shadows and as you clear different stages of the Department, you can come back to see Jim and find the shadows receding. It's a fairly straightforward level, with criminals and crooked cops haunting the entire place. The hook to the level (and also a sometimes frustrating piece of gameplay) is that Jim is never safe or satisfied. Each time you leave him to clear out different places, you will find him to have wandered off from the last place you left him in order to get more done or to help clear another area on his own. When the level ends, you exit the Police Department and guide Jim home to be with his wife and children, only to hear his phone ring, as you are floating out of his mind.

Finally, The Joker's Level -
Unlike every other level where there is some semblance of structure (and even that theme of duality), the Joker's level is complete chaos. It is represented by the whole of Gotham City in all its urban glory (in fact, now that I think of it, it might even be the hub world of the game). However, it is also structured kind of like The Milkman Conspiracy level in Psychonauts or parts of Super Mario Galaxy, where your perspective is constantly shifting as you walk vertically up walls as they turn into the floor beneath you. The figments here are represented by different knives and cutting tools, as well as various guns and weaponry, and as you "progress" through the city, the Joker's mind will constantly test your choices and humanity's choices, forcing you at points to choose who is more important to save. Also, unlike in the movie, within the Joker's mind humanity is not as kind and forgiving as they turn out in the movie and as people are given the choice as to save themselves or to keep others alive, they will consistently choose themselves, and you will be sidetracked as often as possible in order to try to help those who have been elected to die by others. As you make it to the Joker's representation of himself, you find that he has no issues within his mind and that this chaos is exactly what he desires it to be. Something that he finds exciting because it is unable to be predicted or controlled (just like Harvey's chance). After you get a chance to talk with him wherein he tells you all of this, the level ends as you are pulled from his mind to his maniacal laughter and explosions ringing throughout the city.

That is about all I can think of for the moment, I know I skipped over Alfred and Lucius, but it would be kind of repetetive to go over their own themes of duality through the movie. Basically, the movie is a great representation of this theme (and also of lies and hope -odd matches, huh?). So, I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I shall be back (hopefully soon), with some more stuff.

P.S. Psychonauts is awesome, and you should play it.

Hancock and such

So, we (my constant summer movie group of 08) went to see Hancock last night and I've got to tell you, it was a great ride.... for about the first hour.

Not that the movie was bad at all. Will Smith did a great job portraying Hancock as this huge jackass of a superhero, Jason Bateman was also quite good as the PR rep, but the problem lies with the story. For the first hour of the movie, we focus on Hancock and his complete inability to relate to the people he's around, and that's exactly how I wanted the movie to stay. It was engaging to watch him turn from a self-centered prick of a superhero into a decent kind of guy but right when they have a chance to take this story to the next level, the writers decide to turn it into something completely different (although not in anyway unexpected). Without giving anything away (because unlike The Happening, I still think it was worth seeing), the movie turns from a really great character study into just another regular superhero movie. Not that it's a bad thing, but when you are setting up a really great premise for the first hour of the movie, only to take that away for the climax and resolution, it really seems cheap.

To sum it all up, it's a good movie that had serious potential to be great, but just got pulled back by its dumb script choices.

On the other hand, the next two weeks are going to have some (hopefully) reallly awesome comic/superhero movies with Hellboy2 dropping next Friday and The Dark Knight a week later.

And by the way, I saw both Wanted and Wall-E last weekend and both were very good, but for completely different reasons. If you really like violent, sometimes vulgar awesomeness, definitely check out Wall-E and if you need a sweet and cute family movie, Wanted is the one for you.

And on the subject of Wanted, the director is a Russian guy who has made 2 really cool movies (with the third part of the trilogy coming soon to America from what I've heard) called Night Watch and Day Watch. They are really slick vampire-type movies that I really recommend people check out.

Peace out.

For the podcast

http://conniedarko.blogspot.com/2007/09/bringing-back-memories.html

Here is the post from last year that I mention in this week's Afterburners

The Happening

So, as part of my summer movie binging, over the past two weeks, I saw Iron Man for my 3rd time, You Don't Mess with the Zohan (which just barely deserves to be mentioned), The Happening, and The Incredible Hulk. For the moment, let's dive into The Happening, and hopefully we'll return to the Hulk on a day sometime in the near future. By necessity, this discussion will include spoilers for the movie, so if you feel like you still want to see it and don't want anything ruined (which, before you get started, I would recommend you read this, just because the main spoiler can change your mind about paying 8 bucks to see this).

The movie starts out quite intriguingly, with people all over Central Park randomly committing suicide. It's a great start to the movie and gets you really excited about finding out what is happening to everyone. The problem is that from there, everything starts to go downhill and never really picks itself back up.

You see, when faced with an unknown attacker that can kill people without you ever seeing, it can be genuinely freaky. This allows the first 30 minutes of the movie to be quite good (aside from the characters/writing, but more on that later). However, after those 30 minutes, you hear the "theory" as to what is causing this. Now, it would have been fine if there were multiple theories proposed to bring in a sort of guessing game as to what is happening, but M. Night doesn't do that. He gives you a crazy guy who puts forth a theory that is never really argued with and winds up being true (which makes sense, since nothing is ever brought up to the contrary).

The problem with this, is that "the happening" is caused by... are you ready? Plants. Yes, plants. The plants are mad at humans for being so evil and they decide to release toxins into the air to protect them from us, and these toxins force humans to kill themselves. So, what I was hoping to be an initial alien invasion (that was my hope from the previews and such), turns out to be a big political statement about us treating the environment better so that it doesn't get pissed off and kill us all off using airborne toxins.

This leaves the suspense in the movie to our main characters running from.... the wind. There is seriously a scene in the movie that focuses on the wind rustling through tree branches and tall grass, while ominous music plays loudly and the characters are forced to run ahead of the wind. Yeah, it's dumb.

But, the problems don't really end with the plot. I could have forgiven the plot if the characters were good, but they were all wooden, one-dimensional pieces. Marky Mark is a good actor, Zooey Deschanel is a good actor, John Leguizamo is a good actor.... but when they aren't given a good script, every time they talk on screen is annoying. Zooey's character in particular bothered the crap out of me, because there really was no point for her and Marky Mark to be fighting, and yet their marriage is "on the rocks," without any real explanation, and what we do wind up seeing, could have been written by a middle schooler with dating problems. Sorry, that sentence wasn't structured very well. Anyway, it leaves the whole movie feeling very empty character-wise and since I found no true depth or real emotion to any of the main characters, it made it all that much harder to empathize and try to pay attention to their problems.

My final gripe with the movie lies with the "R" rating. The commercials all hype up the fact that this is M. Night's first "R" film, and yes this cut should be rated "R" for the violence that is shown, but I honestly think they should have stayed at PG-13 because after the initial death scenes, the later gore in the movie is just violence for the sake of violence. In my opinion, I found the deaths that happened off screen to be far more chilling than the random deaths that get shown. There is a point in the movie where you just hear gunshots, and you know that all of the members of a group are picking up a gun and committing suicide, but you never have to see any of it, and the silence followed by a loud pop followed again by silence, actually gave me goosebumps. Whereas, another part of the movie, a guy walks up to a riding lawnmower and then lays in front of it in order to kill himself nearly made me laugh out loud. I can understand that they were trying to go for a more hardcore suspense/horror audience, but when the script just puts in these moments so that they can show off violence and gore, it just doesn't do it for me.

So, to put all of this together, The Happening was a huge disappointment for me. I went in hoping for M. Night to climb back into good graces after the problems of Lady in the Water, but he just didn't make it. Although, I'll give him credit... there was no huge twist in the movie.