Everyone Chip InTuesday, March 31, 2009 Despite the Econocolypse, 2008 was a banner year for the film industry. Forget AIG or idiots who bit off way more debt than they could ever hope to chew, it's those I'll-stay-at-home-and-read-a-book people that are prolonging this recession. I know I did my part.
Greetings from Jefferson City! Today I sent a postcard to Puri1959 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Here's a little something about Puri:My passion is: photography, travel and letter. The photograph profession does training. Be in Mataró (Barcelona) Spain born. I am very ondernement and can I also very quiet be, am gladly only also between the mob move myself I good. Love many vegetables eat and have for manny years stopped with smoke…. On to a long friendship. loves, Puri Gosh I love non-native speakers. But still, not bad for a third language. Butterfly in the Sky / I Can Go Twice as High It's been far, far too long since I've sat down and actually read a book.
That's why I'm especially excited to get back in the groove of things, beginning with my fresh new copy of John Bunyan's classic allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress. As a method of forcing myself to follow through and keep on a regular schedule, I'm going to be blogging my notes; an online book club of sorts. Along with the intellectual stimulation and inherent entertainment value of a good book, hopefully there will be some spiritual benefit from the endeavor as well. I am the Pilgrim, and he is Me. Count yourself lucky I've let you in on the ground floor. Leslie is going to help too. The first installment this grand experiment (it's a sad day when consciously sitting down to read a book is such an irregular event as to be called an "experiment") is scheduled for Friday evening, which means you'll have to wait until then for my in-depth analysis and insights. until then, content yourself with this primer on Mr. Bunyan, courtesy of the Gutenberg Project: BUNYAN, JOHN (1628-1688). —B. at Elstow, near Bedford, the s. of a poor tinker, was ed. at a free school, after which he worked at his father's trade. At 17 he was drafted as a soldier in the Civil War, and served for two years at Newport Pagnell. That's the English Civil War, in case you were wondering. Wikipedia says the conflict was between supporters of King Charles and supporters of the Rump Parliament. Hehe... "Rump." At 19 he m. a pious young woman, whose only dowry appears to have been two books, the Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven and the Practice of Piety, by which he was influenced towards a religious life. I'd just as soon my fiance not be so poor as to own nothing but two books, but the romantic and recently reformed book lover in me says we should all be so lucky. In his autobiographical book, Grace Abounding, B. describes himself as having led an abandoned life in his youth; but there appears to be no evidence that he was, outwardly at any rate, worse than the average of his neighbours: the only serious fault which he specifies is profanity, others being dancing and bell-ringing. Oh dear God, no. Not bell-ringing. Anything, anything but bell-ringing. The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved. In particular he was harassed by a curiosity in regard to the "unpardonable sin," and a prepossession that he had already committed it. He continually heard voices urging him to "sell Christ," and was tortured by fearful visions. I'm not saying I would have done it, but I do wonder how much they were offering JB for Christ. Are we still talking about 30 pieces of silver or has inflation caught up with our Lord and Savior? That was borderline sacrilegious. Sorry. After severe spiritual conflicts he escaped from this condition, and became an enthusiastic and assured believer. In 1657 he joined the Baptist Church, Darn right he did. began to preach, and in 1660 was committed to Bedford Jail, at first for three months, but on his refusing to conform, or to desist from preaching, his confinement was extended with little interval for a period of nearly 12 years, not always, however, very rigorous. He supported his family (wife and four children, including a blind girl) by making tagged laces, I have no idea what tagged laces are. For our purposes here, let's pretend they are those springy shoelace thingies 3rd grade girls wear. and devoted all the time he could spare from this If you're not careful, tagged laces can consume your entire day. to studying his few books and writing. During this period he wrote among other things, The Holy City and Grace Abounding. Under the Declaration of Indulgence he was released in 1672, and became a licensed preacher. In 1675 the Declaration was canceled, and he was, under the Conventicle Act, again imprisoned for six months, during which he wrote the first part of The Pilgrim's Progress, which appeared in 1678, and to which considerable additions were made in subsequent editions. It was followed by the Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), The Holy War (1682), and the second part of The Pilgrim's Progress (1684). B. was now widely known as a popular preacher and author, and exercised a wide influence. Kind of like a 17th Century Rick Warren, only JB actually had biblical insight. Yeah. You heard me RW. In 1688 he set out on a journey to mediate between a father and son, The cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the Man in the Moon in which he was successful. I don't have much experinence in the area since I've never had much conflict with my father, but I have to think most successful father-son mediation revolve around watching Field of Dreams. On the return journey he was drenched with rain, caught a chill and d. in London on August 31. He is buried in Bunhill Fields. B. has the distinction of having written, in The Pilgrim's Progress, probably the most widely read book in the English language, and one which has been translated into more tongues than any book except the Bible. The charm of the work, which makes it the joy of old and young, learned and ignorant, and of readers of all possible schools of thought and theology, lies in the interest of a story in which the intense imagination of the writer makes characters, incidents, and scenes alike live in that of his readers as things actually known and remembered by themselves, in its touches of tenderness and quaint humour, its bursts of heart-moving eloquence, and its pure, nervous, idiomatic English, Macaulay has said, "Every reader knows the straight and narrow path as well as he knows a road on which he has been backwards and forwards a hundred times," and he adds that "In England during the latter half of the seventeenth century there were only two minds which possessed the imaginative faculty in a very eminent degree. By my count, that sentence has 140 words. $1 to the first person to diagram it. One of these minds produced the Paradise Lost, the other The Pilgrim's Progress." B. wrote about 60 books and tracts, of which The Holy War ranks next to The Pilgrim's Progress in popularity, while Grace Abounding is one of the most interesting pieces of biography in existence. With the possible exception of Let's Talk about Pep, Sandy "Pepa" Denton's seminal masterpice detaling the behind the scenes intrigue that was Salt and Pepa. (Other awesome autobiographies available here.) That was pretty rude, what I said about Rick. I'm sorry buddy. You keep selling your over-hyped books, praying for presidents and rocking that ridiculous beard. I don't have to read your books if I don't want to. When is Kevin Costner going to make another decent movie? Would I Buy Pizza from a Vending Machine?Sadly, yes. Yes I would. Lent FAILMonday, March 30, 2009 Sad Fish :-(I supposed it's my own fault. I've come to expect a lot from the Lenten Menu at The Towne Grill (improperly apostrophed motto: "Food at It's Best"), but their last offering left me with a bad taste in my mouth (pardon the pun). First, the service was slower than usual. TG's waitstaff are normally on the ball, but for this visit the service was on par with the meal, which is to say it was not so hot. It took longer than normal to take my order and much longer than normal to receive my meal. I ordered the Special: A fried catfish fillet, fries, cole slaw, green beans, hushpuppies and roll. The catfish, which in meals past was so flaky, hot and light was oily, chewy and tasted more than a little bit muddy. Instead of delicate hints of Creole and a suggestion of lemony goodness, all I tasted was the Missouri River. The fries were over done and the roll was of inferior quality. The green beans were merely average, and don't get me started on the hush puppies. Even the portions failed to live up to my expectations. It wouldn't surprise me if the cancer-fighting Omega-3 fatty acids had been genetically replaced with that foul tasting periodontal cement they use at the dentist. I've never been a cole slaw man, so I cannot comment on its merits. The same goes for the tartar sauce. So over the weekend, I arrived at a crisis of faith. The Towne Grill had destroyed my faith in the magic of the Lenten Fish Fry. Knights of Columbus, where were you when I need you? But thankfully the story doesn't end there. Wherever God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window, just like Julie Andrews promised! I hereby do place all my faith in the magical and mystical Catfish Gnome! All hail the Catfish Gnome! March (Meme) MadnessFriday, March 27, 2009 Fine. I'll do it. Three Things, here we go:Three Names I go by:
Three jobs I have had in my life:
Three Places I have lived: Three TV Shows that I watch: Three places I have been: Three people that IM/email me regularly:
Three memorable movies: Three people that text me regularly:
Three of my favorite foods:
Three of my favorite desserts:
Three favorite bands of all time:
祈禱中 Today in Chapel, some missionaries on furlough from Taiwan spoke to us. I won't regale you with the juicy details of the hour, but I would like to point out these awesome "prayer reminders" they gave us. You heard the chopsticks, 祈禱中! HuckMonday, March 23, 2009 Gov. Huckabee and my boss in "Cheyenne Room" at the lovely Capitol Plaza Hotel.Today was the second in my Republican Governors who Failed to Parlay Their Current/Former Office to a Job in Our Nation's Capital Lecture Series (see the first here). Our speaker today was former governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee. He gave the keynote address for the annual Vitae Foundation dinner. I don't have the in-depth analysis of policy and political discourse like last last time. Sorry. He was pretty good and a definitely politician. He was very quick to shake my hand, make eye contact, remember my name, etc. I don't agree with him on all the issues, but I would have gladly taken him over McCain (though I don't know if he could have done any better against Obama). He was pretty on-message (all things pro-life) and didn't stray much, although he did get in a Fair Tax plug when a guy from the local radio station asked him. In the "exclusive" interview with my boss, he made lots of Baptist jokes, which I always enjoy. So yeah. There's that. Here's the thing. Politics make me tired. I hope I'm still just burnt out from the circus that has been the last year. I'm a thinking human being, so I very much want to be informed and involved in the goings on in the world, but man it's just to exhausting. Give Huckabee credit. Today he communicated his beliefs and passions but didn't turn me off to politics. But I'm still tired. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Well? Do They??Friday, March 20, 2009Let's Hear What the Teleprompter has to Say...Thursday, March 19, 2009 What does Barack Obama's teleprompter think about the pressing issues of the day? I'm glad you asked, because now he's blogging.
They Seriously Had to do a Study to Figure This Out? And Yet I'm Jealous I'm not the One Who Wrote It. Darn you, A. Pawlowski! Darn You to Heck!Monday, March 9, 2009
By A. Pawlowski
And why not? When some of the funniest, most dramatic, romantic and poignant words are spoken on the big screen, it's no wonder they stick with us long after the movie is finished. It also turns out that using movie quotes in everyday conversation is akin to telling a joke and a way to form solidarity with others, according to a researcher who has actually studied why we like to cite films in social situations. Gee willikers, really? "People are doing it to feel good about themselves, to make others laugh, to make themselves laugh," said Richard Harris, a psychology professor at Kansas State University. Slow down, Professor Turbo, I'm not following you. So when I say, "I caught you this delicious bass," I'm... trying to make someone... laugh? What if I really caught them a delicious bass? What then, Dr. Genius?Harris decided to ask hundreds of young adults about their film-quoting habits after he and his graduate students realized it was a common behavior that no one had looked at closely before. Does it really take a team of graduate students to tackle this question? People like to appropriate some of the good will that peers might have with the film in question, and show off their pop culture prowess. Next you'll be telling my we need to study why English lit majors like to quote Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the practice. I, myself, like to fish that pond often. He found that all of the participants in his study had used movie quotes in conversation at one point or another. They overwhelmingly cited comedies, followed distantly by dramas and action adventure flicks. As for horror films, musicals and children's movies, "fuh-get about it." They were hardly ever cited, Harris said. Don't cite musical or children's movies? Last night alone I referenced "The Little Mermaid" at least two dozen times: "It's a dinglehopper!"When asked about their emotions while quoting films, most people reported feeling happy, the study found. If it made them feel sad/confused/depressed/angry/remorseful/fearful/exasperated do you think they'd do it? Side note: check out this fascinating (no, seriously) Wikipedia entry for "emotions."For those who can't get enough of movie quotes, there are countless lists and trivia dedicated to them online. Depending on your budget and taste, you can buy T-shirts, mugs, games and posters featuring your favorites. Web sites like MovieQuotes.com allow users to submit film lines to a growing quote bank and take quizzes. Some movies, like "The Godfather," "Casablanca" and "Gone With the Wind," seem infinitely quotable. It's called "classic." Next you'll be telling me the Bible seems "infinitely quotable."Others can produce a single unforgettable line that will define that film forever: "You can't handle the truth" from "A Few Good Men" and "I see dead people" from "The Sixth Sense." I've always thought "You can't handle the truth!" to be overrated. The actual most quotable line from that movie is by Cmd. Gibbs: "Captain West, this is Lt. Commander Galloway. Jo, you know Mike Lawrence."A number of Hollywood masterpieces can infuse a single word with meaning: Think "plastics" from "The Graduate" and "Rosebud" from "Citizen Kane." "Citizen Kane" = GREAT movie. Despite my love of Simon and Garfunkel, I'm not a huge fan of "The Graduate."Movie quotes can even be used to teach lessons in the unlikeliest places. A blog on JavaWorld.com recently took lines from movies such as "Jaws," "Jerry Maguire" and "The Princess Bride" and applied them to software development, of all things. "My precious," the words uttered by Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, for example, can teach programmers a valuable lesson, the blog said. "In software development, it is good to take ownership of things," JavaWorld's blogger Dustin Marx wrote in explaining the quote's significance. "However, we can take it too far to where we refuse to admit anything is wrong with what we've done or insist ours is the only way to go." Seriously? We're going here? Like a food connoisseur pairing wines with meals, one man's fascination with memorable film lines led him to self-publish a book that advises readers which quotes would be perfect to use in which situations. Jim Silverstein, author of "Movie Quotes to Get You Through Life," called the 14-year project a labor of love that grew out of his fondness for bantering in movie quotes with friends in college. Silverstein -- a self-described "computer guy" who lives in suburban Chicago, Illinois -- began compiling his book in the early 1990s, watching hundreds of films and gathering more than 2,000 quotes in the process. The constant search for good lines made it hard for Silverstein to relax while watching films at home and annoyed his wife because he would frequently pause the movies to write down the lines, he said. OK, this part is actually kind of cool. Silverstein, 39, categorized the quotes under topic headings such as compliments, excuses and marriage. Readers looking for zingers have an especially big selection of movie lines to choose from; the insults category has nine subgroups, including appearance, intelligence and sex. Everyone loves movies, so citing them is a way to break the ice, Silverstein explained. "I think it's a matter of lightening up conversation, maybe finding a better way to say it than you would have said yourself," Silverstein said. "It's meant to help you be clever. ... Sometimes, when you don't know what to say, why not say what James Caan said? Why not pull out a Marlon Brando: 'Make me an offer I can't refuse'? Everybody understands." Ahh... the trusty standby, "WWJD?" (What Would James (Caan) Do?) Silverstein's own favorite quotes include lines from movies such as "Roxanne" and "Spinal Tap." But with some of his friends looking for work in a tough economy, he has become fond of citing a line from "Raising Arizona" to cheer them up: "You're young, and you've got your health; what [would] you want with a job?" What? Not a single reference to Monty Python ("...then thou shalt count to three; no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four, shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.)? Have they never met a male college student? Also, my dad LOVES "Raising Arizona." I can take it or leave it. What is Nic Cage's appeal?
Top 100 movie quotes (according to the American Film Institute)I starred the ones I've seen. Because I know you were wondering. Wow, only 36. I have some work to do. Sadly, my personal favorite movie quote didn't make the list: "I was born a small black child" (Steve Martin, "The Jerk"). Wow. Lots of racial humor in the blog lately. Bad form, BK. Bad form.
Ice Ice BabyWhat has two thumbs and rode a Zamboni last night? This guy [points thumbs at himself]. Needless to say, it was - in the words of Barney Stinson - legend- wait for it... I hope you're not lactose intolerant... -dary! Notice how fleet-footed and nimble I am as I successfully jump astride the powerful and efficient Model 445, much as the noble cheetah that pounces on the cuddly baby gazelle. I'm also proud to report that I did NOT faceplant during the dismount. Say Hallo to my Leetle Friend! His name is Al (?) The Hockey Puck and he almost gave me a black eye and a bloody lip last night at the game. And no, I'm not just saying that because he's black. Sorry. That was offensive.
Best. Job. Ever.Wednesday, March 4, 2009 Seriously, how jealous does this make you? Stupid lucky Finns.
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