The Village Idiots

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed more negative and cynical thoughts towards church. This became apparent when I visited a church last weekend, and I wanted to write about this–specifically, my negative reaction while visiting a new church. In the process I hope to better understand my reaction as well as find a solution. I would also love to hear feedback from others, too.

The Bad Attitude

Articulating the actual feelings and thoughts are not easy, but maybe describing specific situations and my accompanying thoughts and impressions are the best way to approach this. Here’s an example–the scene: (more…)

I thought the Atlantic blog post How Language is Like Fashion, the Case for Hopefully” by Edward Tenner would interest Mitchell, while also leading to an interesting discussion. Tenner describes the debate between “professional linguists, who study how language is actually used and language mavens, who establish rules of good usage.”

Actually, Tenner’s point isn’t so clear–I’m not sure if he’s primarily talking about grammatical rules or “rules of good usage,” which isn’t exactly the same thing, in my opinion. One can use language in a grammatically correct way, while breaking rules of good usage, and I would assume if that if one adheres to rules of good usage then one’s language would also be grammatically correct. So is Tenner saying that grammatical rules or rules of good usage are like fashion?

My sense is that Tenner’s point is that centralized authorities no longer dictate rules of good usage (and, maybe a lesser extent, strict rules of grammar). I agree here. Whether this is a good thing or not, I’m not sure, but we can discuss that here.

This is a thread for discussing Rep. Paul Ryan’s federal budget. The Worst Part of Paul Ryan’s Budget is one of the first write-ups I read about the plan. There several aspects about the plan that I want to explore:

1. Will the budget essentially drastically cut all federal programs/expenditures except for entitlements, military and paying down the debt? (This is what the article above claims.)
2. If so, can we defend this budget by arguing that states, cities and community organizations are better able to address these problems? Or is this essentially a lie to justify drastically shrinking the government on ideological grounds?

Dir. Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, etc.
54/100

I’d probably recommend this to Jill. Next, I’d recommend this to Don. I’m not sure about Marc or Tony, but they would come next. Mitchell had a similar reaction to me, while Penny liked it. I think Larri wouldn’t care for this–maybe a little less than OK. Kevin or Chris could like this, but I’d be a little surprised if they loved it. Still, I think Kevin should see this.

**
I think many of you know this is based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, a local girl. The story centers around Matt King (Clooney), a descendent of Kamehameha and missionaries. His wife is in a coma, and in addition to dealing with this, he has some personal issues to deal with–involving his wife and a parcel of crown lands. King also has two daugthers, Alex (Woodley) and Scottie (Miller)–who seem to be a bit on the wild side.

***
First some good things about the film. The film does an excellent job of presenting Hawai’i as seen by someone who has lived here, if not all of his/her life, a long time. I should qualify that by saying that the Hawai’i we see is largely the Hawai’i of some from the upper-middle to upper class. Payne should be commended for his effort at capturing Hawai’i–at least in terms of place. He really gets the costumes, buildings (many on location versus sets) and music (lost of Gabby Pahinui) right.

I also thought Payne did a good job with the actors. I thought all the scenes involving crying or intense emotions were excellent. Payne also seems to manage the actors well in terms of the extent he should use local actors (he doesn’t use very many), and Amara Miller (who is an amateur). The remark about local actors may sting, but given the one of the more prominent moments for a local actor, I think it’s the right decision as the acting wasn’t very good (I’m sad to say).

OK, so what didn’t work for me? In a nutshell, I don’t think there’s much of a story or character. Both are fairly predictable and well-worn, I think. Payne seems to not want to flesh out the characters and their relationships–in order to avoid sentimentality and predictability–but, for me, this made the characters seem superficial.

The events in the story also don’t tie in well with the character arc. Matt’s reckoning with his relationship with his wife and his family inheritance seems to come together, but the way it does isn’t very clear or fleshed out, imo.

Finally, I think there is an absence of non-white characters that make the film feel slightly less authentic. (This is a minor point, though. But some examples: the white doctor, the fact that the family seems entirely white–no interracial marriages.)

This is really a thread about the NCAA tournament. I just paid $4 to have access to all the games. What’s cool is that I can watch the games at my own convenience. (The quality isn’t that great, though.) So here are some of my thoughts on the games I’ve seen so far: (more…)

I recently watched the Frontline episodes on Jesus. (You can watch the program here, but it’s not short.) I want to talk about some of the problems I had with the scholars and historians featured on the show. Before I go into these problems, I hope John, Chris, Gregg and Tony can help me out here. Of course, I welcome the input of Don, Mitchell and any other idiots as well. (more…)

Which of 2012′s new releases have you picked up, and how is it?

The Secret Document That Transformed China is an NPR Planet Money podcast about a document that supposedly helped transform the Chinese economy. It’s an interesting and compelling podcast, but something brought up struck me–not about the economy, but my job.

Introduction

Yen Jingchang was one of the farmers involved in this document, and his comments about the nature of work on the Commnist farm, strangely enough, resonated with me. On a Communist farm, everyone works for the common good and no one owns anything (Interestingly, at one meeting, a farmer asked the Communist official if he owned his own teeth, and the official said, “No, that belongs to the collective.”) In the morning a whistle would blow and workers would go to work. They would get points for going to work, but it didn’t matter what they did at work. Here’s Jingchang:

Work hard. Don’t work hard. Everyone gets the same. So people don’t want to work.

That was the remark that struck me–because it seemed to succinctly capture my government work experience. Let me translate the above as I understand it. (more…)

I’m posting my reaction to the film, which doesn’t really contain spoilers for the most part. In this thread, we can discuss specifics about the film, although I some of the issues raised by the film can easily be discussed by those who haven’t seen the film yet. Here are my comment: (more…)

On NPR’s Fresh Air Terry Gross interviewed Nathan Englander, a secular Jewish writer, about his short stories and his translation of the Haggadah, which is the prayer book used in the Passover seder. After reading part of the translation, Gross asked a good question that caught my attention. Here’s the passage she reads, followed by her question:

‘You are blessed, Lord God of us, King of the Cosmos, God, our Father, our King, our Majesty, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Shepherd, Shepherd of Israel, the good king who makes good for all…’ When I read something like that, part of me wonders, ‘Does God need to be praised that much? Why is there so much praise for God? Is it a thanksgiving for life, thanksgiving for whatever animating force that we call God, or is God like this egotist, and we need to say, ‘Hey man, you are great; you are number 1…,” do you know what I mean?

Englander offers an explanation, basically saying that these words are appropriate and sincere because of what God had done for the Jews–taking them out of Eygpt (freedom from slavery), taking care of them and eventually giving them land that he promised. I don’t disagree with this answer, but I also know that the Bible is filled with passages like this, not necessarily specifically referring to the exodus. I’m interested a response from others about this–both your personal answer as well as the “correct” one.

Off the top of my head, here’s one response: (more…)

I’ve been watching highlights of the past three games that Jeremy Lin started for the New York Knicks–and they were nice games. I was uncertain about his ability to pull up off the dribble, create his own shots and take it to the hoop and make tough shots. Well, after tonight’s 38 point performance (shooting 58% from the field), he’s answering some of these questions. The next test is to see him play against either a really quick, big defensive player. If he can play well against a player like that, this guy is the real deal (as in maybe one of the best point guards in the league–at least playing in this system; and I would consider putting a big and quick two or three on him, because the Knick offense runs through him.)

Check out the highlights:

(more…)

I was going to post this in the “Hey, Check This Out” thread, but I thought the article was so interesting, it warranted a separate thread. What the NFL Won’t Show You is a really interesting post at the Atlantic Monthly post about “All 22″ and the reason the NFL won’t release this. All 22 is the footage of films that shows all twenty-two players during a play at the same time. The author, Dave Zweig, offers a few reasons, but finally chooses one: (more…)

I’m going to suggest a way that we could achieve a utopian society. First, let me say that I don’t really believe a utopian society is possible. Next, let me explain what I mean by “utopian” society. I’m mainly thinking about society where poverty, war and injustice are all but eliminated. Everyone is not left wanting–in terms of health care, food, employment, education, etc. (OK, that’s not exatly a precise definition, but hopefully that will do.)

Now, even though I don’t believe such a society is possible (besides when we get to heaven), I’d like to suggest a way that I wouldn’t rule out. (more…)

That’s the title of this Atlantic article. I basically agree with everything the author wrote. What do you think?

Here’s to another year of great books, magazine articles, blog posts, and whatever!

Here’s to another year of great films AND whatever Reid’s watching.

I’ve got a few more to add later, but I thought I’d share this now. These aren’t necessarily my best shots (some of them are pretty bad, actually), but for one reason or another they all make my list of the year’s favorites.

Here’s the list:

1. Jerry Rice
2. Jim Brown
3. Lawrence Taylor
4. Joe Montana
5. Walter Payton
6. Johnny Unitas
7. Reggie White
8. Peyton Manning
9. Don Hutson
10. Dick Butkus
11. Ronnie Lott
12. Anthony Munoz
13. Joe Greene
14. Sammy Baugh
15. Deacon Jones
16. Otto Graham
17. Barry Sanders
18. Ray Lewis
19. Bronko Nagurski
20. Brett Favre
21. Tom Brady
22. Gale Sayers
23. John Elway
24. John Hannah
25. Dan Marino
26. Bob Lilly
27. Merlin Olsen
28. Emmitt Smith
29. Jack Lambert
30. Dick “Night Train” Lane
31. Bruce Smith
32. Jim Parker
33. Sid Luckman
34. Deion Sanders
35. Chuck Bednarik
36. Raymond Berry
37. Jim Thorpe
38. Lance Alworth
39. Gino Marchetti
40. O.J. Simpson
41. Rod Woodson
42. John Mackey
43. Alan Page
44. Mel Blount
45. Tony Gonzalez
46. Roger Staubach
47. Ray Nitschke
48. Red Grange
49. Mike Haynes
50. Terry Bradshaw
51. Bart Starr
52. Eric Dickerson
53. Willie Lanier
54. Forrest Gregg
55. Earl Campbell
56. Gene Upshaw
57. Mike Singletary
58. Steve Van Buren
59. Mike Ditka
60. Jack Ham
61. LaDainian Tomlinson
62. Randy White
63. Jim Otto
64. Herb Adderley
65. Randy Moss
66. Willie Brown
67. Kellen Winslow
68. Mike Webster
69. Bobby Bell
70. Marshall Faulk
71. Paul Warfield
72. Jonathan Ogden
73. Ozzie Newsome
74. Marion Motley
75. Darrell Green
76. Art Shell
77. Tony Dorsett
78. Bruce Matthews
79. Emlen Tunnell
80. Troy Aikman
81. Steve Young
82. Ted Hendricks
83. Norm Van Brocklin
84. Joe Schmidt
85. Marcus Allen
86. Willie Davis
87. Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch
88. Ed Reed
89. Ernie Nevers
90. Kurt Warner
91. Fran Tarkenton
92. Michael Irvin
93. Sam Huff
94. Lenny Moore
95. Larry Allen
96. Mel Hein
97. Derrick Brooks
98. Lee Roy Selmon
99. Michael Strahan
100. Joe Namath

I’ve been watching some youtube videos of Tim Tebow highlights, and I must say that the feelings that rise up while watching this make me think of Rocky. I mean, most experts–and I agree with them–have been saying that he can’t succeed by playing this way; that he’ll have to develop into a pocket passer. Most of you guys know that I’m a firm believer in that–that I don’t really care for running QBs, unless they’re good pocket-passers, first. But there’s something different about Tebow. Let me go into that. (more…)

Barnes and Noble email book recommendations to me, and Julie Otsuka’s Buddha in the Attic, a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award, caught my eye. But when I learned that book follows several Japanese picture brides in “eight incantory sections,” I felt deflated–and then annoyed. Basically, the book sounds like another Joy Luck Club, which isn’t necessarily terrible. However, what annoys me is the feeling that writers/filmmakers and their readers/viewers can’t seem to get beyond these Oriental immigrant stories–especially portrayed in an exotic, bordering on the mythic. (The “incantory” makes me suspect that’s what’s going to happen in this book.)I admit the fable-like quality can be appealing to some degree, but it also feels a little false–i.e., only in the movies.

More importantly, I don’t feel like I can relate to these stories–especially not depicted in these ways. I suspect my grandparents can relate to these stories (although I’m not sure their experience was “incantory”), but hasn’t this story been told enough times? That’s not to say that we can’t have any more Asian-American immigrant stories, but I’m feeling dismayed that Asian-American artists don’t seem to be moving beyond this–or the audience is not interested in moving beyond this.

There’s another issue that I associate with stories like Joy Luck Club, namely, the self-conscious treatment of culture. The stories seem to be as much about Asian culture–specifically educating readers about it–as they are about the characters and story. Personally, I’m tired of that, and I’m more interested in good stories and good characters that happen to be Asian-American. (Btw, this is what I loved about Charlotte Sometimes.)