I have to believe that Extreme Makeover is one of the most disturbing "reality" shows to come out yet. Here is what ABC says in their blurb about the show:

"These men and women are given a truly Cinderella-like experience: A real life fairy tale in which their wishes come true, not just to change their looks, but their lives and destinies.

This magic is conjured through the skills of an "Extreme Team," including the nation's top plastic surgeons, eye surgeons and cosmetic dentists, along with a talented team of hair and makeup artists, stylists and personal trainers, led by an on-camera Extreme Makeover expert. This season will feature more "news you can use" tips about fashion, hair and makeup for the home viewers. "

Every third or fourth commercial during the show is about plastic surgery, dental whitening or some other. It is right out of Nazi Germany or some kind of futureworld. They do about fifteen surgical procedures on the male and female of a couple, seclude them away from each other until the "reveal" on their wedding day.

As I sit here apalled by the insane nature of the show and Brian just told me that Fox is doing a show called "The Swan" in which they find the ugliest trailer-trash women they can and through surgery etc. turn them into beauty queens. I can't really explain why, but the entire thing seems wrong. What message does it send to young people? It is crazy.

The Passion of the Dollar

I see that ABC is also capitalizing on the cash cow that is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. They will be showing The Ten Commandments. Gosh its good that they are such a spiritual network. haha
- posted by Chris @ 8:25 PM

 


Personal news

Good news! Brian got a real job. He is on his way to pee in a cup. (He assures me that he will pass.) He is going to be doing car sales, which is a good fit for him as he has a ton of automotive knowledge and is a great people person. A few pointers on closing and handling objections and he can be a superstar there.

In the bad news department, it looks like Pennie and I are split up. We both seem to want different things. Not much to say really - I am not living up to what she wants and its probably a huge mistake on my part, but I gotta remain true to the things I want and need. This sure seemed like a "foverer" type deal - but "into each life a little rain must fall," "it is better to have loved and lost..." yada yada yada... pick the appropriate saying. They are all just ways to justify the fact that its over and that sucks.

I do have to say for the record however, that it is all on me. I am the the one that wasn't delivering.



I have had The Fighting Tempations on while working and managed to catch most of it, well I heard most of it anyway. The movie is a silly little feel-good flick and in my opinion downright decent. It goes over-the-top at times trying to be funny, but at its root this is a good story. Yeah, it is an old story that has been told many times, but it is not hard to watch in this incarnation. The previews promise more than it delivers, but it isn't that bad. (Probably because I was doing billing and just listening and not watching that close.)

RATING 6 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 11:29 AM

 


I watched Intolerable Cruelty finally tonight. It didn't really look that good in the previews and I have heard mixed things about it from friends. I gave it a shot and lasted about half way through. It goes over the top in terms of campiness and is downright silly. It is a waste of George Clooney's comic skills. The Coen brothers should be ashamed for this dribble. Everyone is allowed a stinker and despite a cache of great films that are wonderful to watch over and over again, this one will be relegated to the "never to be seen again" pile.

RATING 5 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 12:50 AM

 


Friday Night Lights

Brian and I spent all day yesterday at the Astrodome working on the set of the motion picture, Friday Night Lights. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw and chronicles the story of the Odessa Permian Panthers of the late 1980's. It is based on the book of the same name. IMDB has it listed in post-production, but clearly it is still shooting.

Are we being told everything?

A couple weeks ago, reports came out that terrorists intended to attack the I95 corrider between Connecticut and New York and then the next week a truck laden with jet fuel crashes and explodes nearly melting the bridge on I95. The route is shut down and the explanation is that the driver fell asleep. Okay, maybe it was a coincidence.

Fast forward to a week ago, terrorists again threaten American targets - this time they mention "an oil refinery in Texas." Have you heard the news tonight? A series of at least four explosions rocked Texas City at the BP Amoco plant. Another terrorist threat fulfilled a week after being made and no tie in on any news channels. Instead, all you hear about it how British troops seized bomb ingredients, thus stopping a terrorist attack. Is it just me or are we possibly not being given all the information. I don't mind that nobody is jumping to conclusions as that would be irresponsible journalism - but at least mention that the threats were made and do a little reporting. Interview someone in charge and ask the tough questions.

Business Update

Things are still a bit slow in the computer business. We shifted focus to collections a bit more as we are wont to do in slow times. The bright side of this cloudy period is that we bring our receivables up-to-date when we have slack like this.

The production business is extremely slow as well. This just a couple weeks after having more work than ever before. When it rains it pours and well - you know what happens in a drought.

The USANA business is my personal saving grace right now as the checks still show up like clockwork. Sure, my USANA business is not to the level where I can cover all my expenses with it alone, but it sure has come in handy as other things have slowed.

I have let some of my side sources of income slide in an effort to streamline and focus on the more important ones - now it turns out that those other sources were coming in rather handy. It is really just a short term affect of business slowing, cutting out some streams of income and waiting for the renewed focus to kick in with the main ventures. I have no doubt that things will come back stronger than ever.

Added blog dated 03-27-04 20th year class reunion
- posted by Chris @ 11:09 PM

 


Well, I just got back into town.. Friday, I went to Victoria to see Tony and Allison. Saturday, I went to my high school 20th year reunion in Inez and then the chicken supper in Vanderbilt. Sunday, I went to a play in Victoria with my mom. Pretty busy weekend - I have some pictures from the reunion that I will post once I get caught up on things around the house.

I got in too late to see the Sopranos and while surfing around, I found the Britney Spears Live From Miami concert on Showtime. Don't get me wrong - she is not at all hard to look at, but she is turning into quite the tramp. Everything I saw was downright slutty and in poor taste. In addition, the sound is terrible as when they try to do something like a guitar solo etc., they lose her vocals. Speaking of her vocals - she sounds terrible, I have seen concerts of hers on HBO before and they sounded good - either her voice is really screwed up or it is just more poor production by the Showtime team. She sounds like she can barely carry a note.

Despite the visual eye candy - it was too lame to listen to.
- posted by Chris @ 9:12 PM

 


There it is! The 20th year reunion of the Industrial High School class of 1983! I am in the middle of the back row. (I left out all the last names because some have changed and I have no clue what they all are now.

Shown here are:
First row: Gilbert, Debra, Starla, Donna Second row: Judy, Patty, Deanna, Francene, Augustine, Kim, Third row: Weide, Gaylynn, Patti, Sherri, Jo Ellen, Tammy, Mike Back row: Stephen, Tony, Me, Donald. My apologies to anyone whose name I mispelled.

We had 22 of our 53 show up which is a little under half. There were several people absent that I would have liked to have seen. I guess their lives got in the way of things. Kelly was there, but must have slipped out before the group photo.

We had a great time here finding out about how everyones lives have developed and then on to the school for a tour, the chicken supper and the band performance. I kinda thought the tour would be dorky, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. Despite an almost entirely new facility, those halls brought back a flood of memories. Almost instantly, we fell back into our high school roles and at least for me - it was a fun role.

I was voted Most Changed - think not? take a look. :)



CLASS of '83

MOTTO: Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.

SONG: Some changes are for good.

COLORS: Blue and silver

FLOWER: Carnation

- posted by Chris @ 11:15 PM

 


I have decided that I am a philosopher. Pretty ostentatious, right? Not really when you look at the the true meaning of the word.

Philosophy = phil or philos(meaning love) + sofus or sofia (meaning wisdom)

Simply put - philosophy is the love of wisdom, hence a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. I can think of no title that fits me better. (I know, I know - goofball, headcase, weirdo and others come to mind - but this is my blog so keep it down) haha

The search for wisdom can be found at the root of just about everything I do. Whether I am researching motivational techniques or skills or learning at the (audial or visual) feet of masters in just about any discipline, I am constantly searching for wisdom. Questions such as "can virtue be taught?" and the arguments for nurture vs. nature are intriguing to me. I have always been of the bent when something intrigues me to research it. Questioning folklore and wive's tales are simple examples of choosing the philisophical route over accepting tradition.

I rail against the medical industry that has become nothing more than a hypothecary. In the front of the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) the 'types' of drug categories are listed... isn't it telling that most of those types begin with the prefix "ANTI?" (antidepressant, antiinflamatory, antihistamine, etc. etc.) Doesn't that scream out to be understood? If the majority of the drugs prescriped are anti-this or anti-that, doesn't it follow that our medical community is NOT in the business of healing, but in the business of killing specific things? Of course it does.

In summation, information is power and freedom. Philosopher or slave to what you are told? I choose to be a philosopher.

(As if on cue - just after I finished this deep and meaningful post... a bug flew up my nose causing me to sniff and snort while jumping around like a lunatic, there must me some deep meaning in that too.)
- posted by Chris @ 4:55 PM

 


I just completed My Favorite Universe, a course taught by Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., is Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer at Princeton University. His lecture ranged from black holes to the search for life on other planets. It was another of the exceptional college courses available from The Teaching Company.

I am about halfway through Great Ideas in Philosophy. It is one of the longer courses available as it is made up of 50 lectures. (Most have about 12-20)



In other news, life has been serving up a lot of lemons lately and rather than sit around with a sour look on my face, I am choosing to make lemonade. We are taking some hits in the computer business right now, but we realize it is a direct result of our inaction previously so we went out and made things happen. Funny how it works that way. In doing cold calls yesterday, we got a few new clients and already have appointments set up for today.

This weekend is my 20th year high school class reunion. I didn't lose the weight I had planned on - but oh well. Some of these people I have not seen in 20 years. It will be interesting to hear how their lives have developed as well as laugh together at how we have let our bodies go during the two decades.



A little bit of everything in this post. I watched School of Rock last night and was pleasantly surprised. I like Jack Black, but for some reason, the previews made this look like a typical sell-out, take the money film. Turns out it was a cute little film ala every rebel against the system movie ever made - Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Revenge of the Nerds, Meatballs etc. A formula, for sure, but one that works.

RATING 7 out of 10

I also watched Gods and Generals the other day and just now remembered to blog about it. It was the prequel to the film Gettysburg - which was one of my favorite war movies and certainly the best set in the Civil War era. This film (G&G) focuses on the life of Stonewall Jackson and is just a bit too preachy, a bit to sappy, a bit to politically correct and a bit too boring. The portion of the film that focuses on the war itself, the strategies, attacks, defenses and fighting is brilliant. The portion that focuses on the tortured soul of General Jackson is like a poorly written soap opera. (How's that for a redundancy?) Cut the length in half and you have a damn fine war movie. Robert Duvall's General Robert E. Lee is far superior to the Martin Sheen one of Gettysburg. It was nice to see the tie-in of Jeff Daniels and C. Thomas Howell reprising their roles as brothers Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Sgt/Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain. Heck, it is good to see Howell in anything... contrary to the sighting of Ted Turner as a good ol' boy soldier at the party (he has had a cameo in both films.)

RATING 7 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 8:05 AM

 




Goodbye and good riddance to Vin Diesel. Hello to the next big action hero - The Rock! I saw The Rundown tonight and it was a really good action flick. Seann William Scott was entertaining as always. It doesn't matter that he plays the same character over and over - it is a fun character.



Peter Berg (Chicago Hope, Copland as an actor) is turning into a really good director. He directed Very Bad Things and is currently in post-production on Friday Night Lights (starring Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw) shot in Texas about the Odessa/Permian football team. It looks to be pretty good too.

RATING 8 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 10:46 PM

 


Alright, sometimes I have been chided because my blog doesn't contain enough stuff about me. Well, I am fixing that right now! I went to the eye doctor today because my left eye has been a little blurry and I seem to remember that it has been a long while since I had my eyes checked. Turns out it has been four years since my last checkup... my how time flies - haha.

Anyway, my left eye has been blurry because when I lost a contact a while back, I put an old one in. Turns out not only was it an old prescription (like 10 years) but it was for the other eye and thus didn't fit real well. I have rigid gas-permeable lenses which are created to match the shape of my cornea so that they don't slide out. Well, this one not fitting real well has caused some scratching of the cornea, and the blur has been a pain in the backside. Dr. Soli informed me that the cornea will repair itself once I start using a better-fitting lense.

Part of the new test that is performed (well, new to me anyway) is a photo of the retina where they check for things like macular degeneration, diabetic degeneration etc. The good news is that he gave my eyes a clean bill of health and in fact, says they were in exceptional shape. Attached is a picture of one of them - cool, huh?



The white spot in the upper right is the optic nerve. An unhealthy eye would show blotches of white in the center, lesions or irregular blood vessels. There, no one can say this blog wasn't about me! It even included a picture from INSIDE!

In other news, BigDog Radio is back on the air. Right now, I am doing a Tuesday night show (8PM CST) that focuses on USANA. Hopefully, someday I can get more caught up on things and do more frequent shows, but I wanted to make sure I didn't commit to more than I could deliver. One show a week for now. (By the way, that link is to the show itself and will NOT work unless I am broadcasting.)
- posted by Chris @ 4:45 PM

 


21 Grams is a film I have been wanting to see. The previews made it out to be really good. No, its not a case of the best scenes being in the trailer. This is more a case of the trailer being the only congruent part of that film. It is a well-written, engrossing film with some great acting - Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro. and Naomi Watts.



The film jumps around way too much. The technique they are using is clear. They want to give you a jigsaw puzzle and slowly reveal bits of information as you piece together the storyline from things given out of context and in a jumble of timeline. The filmmakers are going for a "clever and sexy mystery" but end up with a a film that screams constantly to pay attention or you will not get it. In retrospect, the film might not work at all without the non-linear editing, but what does that say about the story. A story that cannot stand by itself? Without the jumps, it is a documentary with some good acting mixed in and perhaps a decent story - but the jumpiness really takes away from it.

The sheer misery of the film leaves you feeling like heading to a confessional to atone for sins you never committed. A downer.

RATING 6 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 3:42 PM

 


I am taking a lunch break and watching a history of the Knights Templar and thought it would be a good time to post some of the films I have seen in the past week or so...

Miller's Crossing by the Coen brothers was a very good film. Gabriel Byrne(Usual Suspects, Stigmata), Albert Finney(Annie, Big Fish), Marcia Gay Harden(Mystic River, Pollock), John Turturro(Oh Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski) and others added great acting to a clever plot. It reminded me a lot of a film that I really liked called Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis. Turns out that LMS came out six years after MC and probably borrowed from the Coens instead of the other way around. Oh well, I liked them both. Interestingly, William Sanderson played the weasley little bartender in Last Man and sorta started a franchise playing that character. He played almost the identical character in last night's premiere of Deadwood.

RATING 8 out of 10

I finally got around to seeing About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson. At first, I thought it was going to be a really good film. I can relate the the feeling of "is that all there is," and was interested in seeing what I thought would be a film about a retired widower travelling around the country in his RV having odd experiences along the way. It turned out to be some strange little trip inside the head of a sad person. The whole story arced on him sending money to a child outreach program oversees and writing letters to his sponsored child. It was a cheap and campy attempt at narrative through letter writing and when it ended with a reply letter from Ndugu validating his sad life, I was left wondering why the hell I invested an hour and a half into watching it. It missed the mark and by not delivering some reward to the audience for having to sit through the writer's mindless dribble.

Jack has always had a tendency to take just about any role, but I thought with his maturity he would be a bit more selective as he transistioned from making a buck to making a statement. He did a good job of acting in the role, but it was a film that never should have been made.

RATING 6 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 11:45 AM

 


Well, the Sopranos was again pretty darn lame. I think I may be close to ending that chapter unless they get a good episode soon. I watched the first few minutes of Deadwood, HBO's newest series and it looked pretty darn lame too. Oh well, looks like HBO needs some new blood in the creativity department.

Pennie and I went to Ray and Aida's house today for a barbeque and had a really good time. We spent all day yesterday at Pennie's house doing taxes in the morning and then we had a little barbeque and birthday party for Carlos. Dave and Laura were there for the morning and into early afternoon, but had to leave because of an ill friend. It would have been nice if they could have stayed around for more than taxes. Tatiana, Carlos, Pennie and I played Trivial Pursuit all night long and just sat around having a good time. We always enjoy hanging out with them as they have fun no matter where they are.
- posted by Chris @ 10:06 PM

 


Well, after a bummer of a movie in Star Trek: Nemesis, I thought it was time for some comedy. Duplex flopped in the theaters, but I like just about everything Ben Still does so I figured it was safe. It was Home Alone with a mean old lady instead of a mean little kid. Straightforward slapstick is what they seemed to go for at times, but it lost that by pretending to have too much of storyline. Why put the "not so clever" reveal at the end? What is wrong with straight slapstick? It worked like a charm for The Three Stooges. This was almost as bad as Zoolander (which was a blatant ripoff of Austin Powers,) and I guess it goes to teach me the lesson that there are no actors that I can absolutely count on anymore.

Jimmy Stewart was the last one.

RATING 6 out of 10

But wait.... today's blog is not over... there is more!



I finished the Great Religions: A History of Buddhism college course today. I discovered about half way through the course that I was definitely not cut out to practice Buddhism. There is too much "all is nothing and nothing is all," and a too much "there is no time and all time is universal" gibberish for me to get too excited.

I feel better for having learned the tenents of the religion as well as having a working knowledge of the development of the religion, but I am just not interested in heading to Tibet, shaving my head and contemplating my navel for the rest of my life.

Next up is Great Ideas of Philosophy.
- posted by Chris @ 12:15 AM

 


I watched Star Trek: Nemesis today. I have been wanting to see it for quite some time but never got around to it. In a nutshell... yada, yada, yada.

It is a case of going to the well one too many times. They pulled up muddy water this time. While watching it, I couldn't help but think "these greedy bastards just wanted the big movie bucks. This is nothing more than a glorified episode of the TV show.."

It was entertaining from the standpoint of seeing characters that you know and like as well as the usual nerdy stuff about the new ships etc., but overall it was downright campy and silly.

RATING 7 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:48 PM

 


On Pennie's recommendation, I watched Under the Tuscan Sun starring Diane Lane. I have always loved Diane Lane who is one of the finest actresses in the business but either is picky about roles or just doesn't get offered enough.

SPOILER ALERT: If you intend to watch this film, do NOT read on until you have done so. I do not want to ruin a really great moment.

Sure, Tuscan Sun is a chick-flick. Sure it has romance novel oozing from every frame. Sure, it features GQ Italian men saying all the right things and causing women to swoon. Hidden in the film however, is a great message. It is a message that is dear to my heart - optimism. The script is filled with great prose and wonderful quips about optimism. "Keep working and don't worry about things." "If you are hunting for ladybugs, relax and go to sleep, the ladybugs will be there when you wake up," and Fellini's "Do not lose your childish innocence."

The beautiful vistas and boundless optimism are worth the watching, even if the foo-foo women's stuff is a little much at times. Secretly you will be touched by this woman's journey to recover from divorce and realize that no matter how many "the next guys" are thrown in front of the audience to lure us into thinking her next white knight has arrived, it is herself that she needed to find. When she relaxes and really discovers herself, she indeed wakes up and finds a ladybug.

The best part however was the most simple of motions when an old man simply tips his hat to her. Nothing can stop you after seeing that.

RATING 8 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:59 PM

 
The Sopranos has been rather disappointing so far. (I knew there was a reason that I didn't watch television.) I know that at some point they have to set up the storylines etc. but come on. The first season was flawless, storylines were developed amidst non-stop drama, action and excitement. Season two held to form and the third season even managed quality in half of the episodes. The fourth season was a real boring waste of time. I figured after a nearly two year wait for season five, perhaps they took their time and went back to the earlier quality - but thus far is has fallen way short.

I am getting really tired of this method they used throughout season four of introducing a character in one episode only to knock him/her off in the very next one. I just hope it improves fast.
- posted by Chris @ 11:02 PM

 
Had a great USANA day today. Our annual Super Saturday was held today and it was a very good outing. We listened to some excellent speakers talk about how they grew their organizations. We listened to motivational talks by the likes of Joe Heller (international speaker and member of the BigDogs of USANA.) We learned valuable tips on tax deductions and product information. We met some great guests investigating USANA as well as some fellow distributors from other areas of the state. We shared ideas, stories, and assistance.

I had the honor of giving a talk on Team Building and received a very warm reception. Overall, it was a great outing.
- posted by Chris @ 9:05 PM

 


I just finished another college course on CD in my travels. Theory of Evolution: A History of Controversy is an historical tour of the theory from before Darwin's trip aboard the Beagle through to modern interpretations and confrontation on the subject. I recommend this course highly as it is a very interesting look at a very interesting subject.

I started Great Religions: A History of Buddhism today and I am already learning quite a bit about the life of the Buddha and the religion he started.

I can't say enough about the incredible opportunity we are afforded to learn at times which are normally wasted - transit.
- posted by Chris @ 10:02 PM

 


Why can't we get John McCain to run for President? This incumbent stuff really stinks. I heard a rumour today that John Kerry (Democratic candidate for President) may pick John McCain (Republican Senator) as his Vice Presidential running mate. That just might do it. That could be enough to get me to vote Democratic for the first time in my life.

McCain is the ONLY person in all of D.C. who seems to have any common sense.

Check out his response to the Fiscal Year '04 Omnibus Bill asked for by the President. These appropriations are pure pork and despite the constant cries that there is a liberal media bias - nobody is talking about all the pork. It seems to me to be a case of "see the silly monkey." While we are busy watching the 'fight' between Democrats and Republicans, they are gang-raping us while laughing arm-in-arm all the while.
- posted by Chris @ 3:09 PM

 


Well, I just finished the course Great Masters: Mozart — His Life and Music from the Great Courses series created by The Teaching Company. TTC puts the top college courses on audio CD and DVD allowing active minds to continue to grow from these courses by some of the top scholars at the best universities in the world. Robert Greenberg, who holds degrees from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in music composition in 1984, is the professor in this great course.

Mozart is my favorite composer so I thoroughly enjoyed this historical look at his life. Sure, it is impressive that at age 5 he was touring Europe and sure it is impressive that he wrote his first full symphony at age 8, but armed with the rest of his history, Mozart become even more amazing.

Think it is silly to (attend) class when you don't have to any more? I think it is downright silly to stop learning just because you graduated from high school or even college. Consider how much you could learn from these enlightening courses if you listened to or viewed just one 30- or 45-minute lectures each weekday:

• In twelve months, you could finish a superbly rounded selection of thoughtful liberal arts courses, including The Great Ideas of Philosophy (50 lectures), Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition (80 lectures), Great World Religions (50 lectures), and The History of the United States (70 lectures).

• In six months, you could learn to get the most out of your music listening by taking in not only the 48 lectures of How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, but also our popular 32-lecture courses on The Symphonies of Beethoven, Bach and the High Baroque, Concert Masterworks, and How to Listen to and Understand Opera.

• In just a few weeks, you could complete any one of the illuminating, mind-broadening courses, even the largest and most comprehensive. This list includes Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (84 lectures) and Classics of American Literature (84 lectures), to name just two.

• And if you’ve always wanted to know more about science, you’d benefit tremendously from Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution (24 lectures), Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy (40 lectures), and The Joy of Science (60 lectures).

• In just a short time, a wealth of knowledge and insight would become yours as you join our world-class professors in exploring great music, great books, and great ideas. You can make the learning lifestyle part of the fabric of your own life and all in less than an hour per day.

• What would you have to give up for all this? A daily drive to work filled with radio blah-blah? Half an hour of junk TV? It’s a "no-brainer"—especially when you could be spending this "dead time" with the greatest minds of all time. And don’t forget—you’d still have your weekends free.

I firmly believe in the power of what I call Auto U. (Automobile University.) I have taken (listened to) the following courses in the last year from The Teaching Company. (Most of these I checked out from my local library.)

The American Civil War
Ethics of Aristotle
Famous Greeks
Famous Romans
Great Ideas of Psychology
Great Masters: Mozart — His Life and Music
Great Presidents
History of Hitler's Empire, 2nd Edition
Life and Work of Mark Twain
Thomas Jefferson: American Visionary


That is quite a little education on the side. Right now I am listening to, Theory of Evolution: A History of Controversy

- posted by Chris @ 11:25 PM

 




I watched The Passion of the Christ with Pennie tonight and was underwhelmed. Now, before people send me hatemail about my take on the film - I am reviewing it as a film. This is not a condemnation of Christianity. If you cannot separate the two - do not read on. First off, I thought the blood was WAAAAAAY overdone. I know, I know - Mel had to show the gravity of the situation and he had to stress the inhuman suffering that Christ endured.... but come on, Jason Voorhees couldn't have made it through that bloodletting. As a film, I thought it was way too simple. I know, I know - Mel had to follow the book - right? Yeah, but he could have done it with a little more skill. It was one series of biblical sound bite after another. Do you really have to show the soldiers casting lots? Could it not have been done with more skill and intelligence by making it occur in the background? Did he have to dumb the thing down so much?

Two disturbing things about the film: 1 - several times throughout the film there was a screen wipe accomplished by a cloth or robe moving in front of the camera. During wipe, a series of dots was on the screen flashing by almost subliminally.

* *
* *
* *

or

**
*

it was hard to catch exactly. What is that? Some sort of hidden message? Is it a masonic symbol? I will search the net, but I am intrigued by this.

2 - I forgot the other one

RATING 6 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 1:28 AM

 

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!!!



The Sopranos is BACK!! It seems like years since the last season and despite the rather boring finale to the rather boring season, I am super excited about this season!!!

Steve Buscemi will be joining the cast as Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto - this is awesome as I love Buscemi. You may also remember that he directed the episode "Pine Barrens" - which is one my my favorite episodes.

I have also heard that after Gandolfini and HBO settled their respective lawsuits, they agreed to a sixth season to be shown THIS FALL!
- posted by Chris @ 2:13 PM