Many stories has a moment where the main character has no real clue exactly where he will go or what he will do next, but he has trust that everything will work out. I feel like that a lot in real life. And this song is always a reminder that there’s always God or someone who knows the way, even when I have no clue what I’m doing.
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Every once in a while, a TV show pilot comes along that completely blows all the others out of the water. Awake’s pilot is a perfect example of this. If you don’t believe me (or don’t want to spoil anything for yourself), go watch it for free on Hulu or iTunes and see for yourself.
Awake is one of the few shows that not only introduces the characters in the pilot, but makes you care about them. Then, on top of that, it manages to walk you through it’s mind-bending premise in a way that you can follow. It has great acting- indluding but not limited to Jasoon Isaacs (Draco Malfoy’s dad). It has a hypnotizing soundtrack. And furthermore, the emotional part of the story is so good that even if the dream/reality plotline was confusing, it would still be one of my favorite shows. It captures the feeling of love and loss between a man and his son and his wife so well that its hard to turn away.
So, you should really give this show a chance. And if you do, comment on what you think.
I don’t claim to understand economics. Most of my knowledge in that area comes from reading Freakonomics, and I’m still not sure that book was even talking about economics. But, every time I spend money on movies, I think of a disturbing cycle:
1-2) Hundreds of millions of dollars go from investors to movie studios.
2-3) Those hundreds of millions go to buying useless props and special effects, and essentially disappear from the economy.
3-4) Hundreds of millions from normal people’s hard work go back to the movie in admission prices.
4-1) Hundreds of millions go back to the investors.
I kind of have a problem with process 2-3. You may argue that there are people making the props and special effects that need to put food on the table. But then I would respond that they could also put food on the table by getting a real job that actually benefits the world. Then if they had extra time, they could do the other stuff for free. If process 2-3 never happened, then prrocess 1-2 would never happen and movies would start to happen because people wanted to share something meaningful with the world, instead of take money away from it.
But still, this thought doesn’t stop me from buying a movie ticket every few weeks and enjoying a few hours of escapism . . . even if I usually leave complaining or wishing the movie would have been better.
When a home-schooled (or otherwise sheltered) young man enters the heathen world outside for perfectly noble purposes, he will come to a point at which he finds himself lost in conversations. A word or phrase will be said that make an entire group explode in laughter. And, if this noble young man dares to ask the meaning of the word, he will be meet with mocking glances. A close friend might pat him on the back and say “It’s a good thing you don’t know what that means.”
Not knowing what that means is a good thing. But it is the only good thing that is going on in the whole exchange. Here are the bad things:
1) The smirk on every other person’s face as they think of the perversion.
2) The fact that they feel superior for knowing how to express the perversion in words.
3) The fact that getting a momentary laugh from a dirty joke has replaced any attempt at a real conversation.
4) The fact that now the young man wants to know what everyone is talking about.
Unfortunately, there exists an Urban Dictionary to fill the young man’s mind with all the perversion he missed out on while growing up. And no matter how noble he is, he will have the urge to go to it in secret so he can understand what everyone says and slip out from the weight of ridicule. If he gives in to the urge, he will become just like everyone else around him.
Then, the noble young man will no longer be noble. Important converstations will never happen, and the young man’s group of companions will lose every battle they fight. The end.
Moral of the story: Don’t go to Urban Dictionary. It does more harm than good.
This year, many new shows centered around the idea that the manliness of men is going down the drain of our luxurious way of living. These shows depict men struggling with their manhood. They strive to be better and stronger, and think that if they somehow beaved more primitively, they would be acting the way they were intended to. However, none of these shows commit to showing what a real man actually looks like, so even if these new shows endure, the main characters will never become men.
This year, one old show in its final season has consistently shown what a man (or what the screenwriters’ idea of a man) looks like. And, if anyone were to describe him in a word, it would be “awesome.” That’s what everyone on the show calls him. During season one of Chuck, the character of Captain Awesome was written in as a sort of joke to make Chuck feel inferior. However, the actor cast as Captain Awesome brought such an strong, likeable presence to the show that 5 years later, he’s still a big part of the show.
Even if the shows creators didn’t take it seriously at first, Captain Awesome has become a great male role model. His life isn’t much different from the average American (though he does work out more), but he does every task in life with a certain authority and joy. By simply going to the store to get baby diapers, he inspires confidence in everyone he meets. Sometimes, he may be a charicature of what men wish they were, but he is still one of the best examples on TV.
When people line up for a ride, sometimes they forget about the things they have in their pockets. The rest of the time, they just don’t want to pay the high price of lockers. A few minutes later, this oversight results in lost cell phones, wallets, and keys. On most rollercoasters, this is not such a terrible issue. There are theme park protocols in place for dealing with such occurences- protocols which usually involve going to guest services and staying until after the park closes in order to retrieve you lost items.
However, the loose article issue has become much more hazardous at Islands of Adventure. On Dragon’s Challege (formerly Dueling Dragons), two inverted trains duel with each other as they traverse the course of the ride. This means that when a loose article flies out of one train, there is a good chance it will hit someone on the other train. This has been happening for years now, but there were never any serious injuries . . . until a few weeks ago when someone got hit with a high speed cell phone.
As a result, Dragons Challenge no longer duels, and one of the world’s best rollercoasters can no longer operate at its full potential. So next time you have loose articles, make sure they don’t travel on the ride with you (pockets with zippers also work).
After a few weeks of touring for the first time, a small band acquired their first devoted fan. He followed them across the Midwest, and stood front and center during every show. He clapped when they wanted him to clap. When the band begged the audience to shout the words of a chorus and no one responded, he was the only exception. The band’s music and lyrics touched his soul, and for that he consistently gave his undying gratitude. He didn’t care where they played. He followed them everywhere, even when they had to play at a venue in the middle of a drug infested park in the middle of the night with only a couple dozen people in attendance.
The fan grew to enjoy the smaller, more humbling venues. They hurt his soul because he loved the band so much, but they also lifted his spirits, because he knew that when there were less people, there would be less competition for the band’s attention when the concert was over. The fan was not very good looking or charismatic. But he was shy. So no matter how few people there were, he never had the chance to have a conversation with the band after the concert. It killed him inside, so one night he made up his mind to introduce himself to the band.
The conversation went something like this:
“Hi, my name’s Fred.”
“Nice to meet you man, I think I’ve seen you at a couple of our concerts.”
“All of them actually. . . I mean, I’ve been to all of them since the tour started.”
“Wow, really? That’s awesome!”
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. Hope to keep seeing you around. Bye.”
At the next concert, the lead singer gave Fred a shout out between songs. Fred’s heart filled with joy. Maybe the band would invite him backstage to talk after the concert. Maybe they would invite him for dinner. Their songs always spoke of reconnecting with friends and past loves. Fred let his dreams take hold of him, until the concert ended and everyone went home. Before he fell asleep in his car that night, Fred shook his head in disbelief.
I gave up everything to follow them. They weren’t even that big, and they still don’t care to spend time with me.
God is even bigger than this band. And has so many more fans, why would he even spend time with me?
Fred fell asleep. He knew that God wasn’t like that but he felt that way anyway.
When movie studios are adapting certain stories, they can face the danger of losing the rights to what they are doing it. For this reason, a new Spider-man movie will be made every few years, whether or not it is good. If Sony doesn’t constantly make new Spider-man movies, they will lose the Spider-man rights. Similarly, if too much time passes, Walden Media will lose the rights to Narnia and no more Narnia movies will be made . . .
. . . oh wait.
That just happened.
Due to extremely long negotiations surrounding the next Narnia movie, Walden Media actually lost the rights to the movies. This means that the C. S. Lewis estate has the sole rights to the stories again, and no one else will be able to movie-ize them for at least another 4 years. Some people are saddened by this news. Others see it as a chance for the series to reboot in a more emotionally resonant way.
In other movie rights news, the years of waiting just ended for Cloud 10 Pictures. Just like Walden Media, they lost the rights to a book series when they were only three movies in. Only this book series was Left Behind. But now that they have the rights back, they hope to reboot the series soon. They are currently looking for partners in making the new movies in hopes that they will be of much higher quality than before. Walden Media is most likely hoping for a similar positive ending to this situation, but it will take at least 4 years for anyone to find out.
Sea World San Diego is getting a new rollercoaster next year. It also just got a new admission fee to go with it. A one day ticket to Sea Worl will now cost $73 ($65 if you’re under 9). Similarly, Legoland tickets now cost $69, and Disneyland tickets cost $80. And by the time this blog post is published, there is a good chance these prices will be outdated. It is understandable that the prices would be that high, given the cost of power and maintenance. But since none of those prices were over $50 ten years ago, it is easy to cringe at the new numbers and think that there must be a much more productive way to spend money.
Years ago, there were lots of little kids who loved going to amusement parks and bringing their friends along with them. Today, most kids don’t have that opportunity anymore. For most people, crazy, week-long theme park trips will now cost more money than they are worth. So, unless someone finds some way of making a non-profit, government-funded theme park for the less fortunate, the tradition of going to a theme park will become a recreational activity for the wealthy.
All hope is not lost, though. There are quite a few loop holes to these addmission fees (and they are all legal).
Here are some ways for the young rollercoaster enthusiast to bypass these fees:
1) Get a season pass. They are usually only 2-3 times the price of an admission ticket, and in the case of theme park chains, a pass to one park in the chain =a pass to all the parks in the chain
2) Go to theme parks on military day with all your friends who are in the military. If you do not have a friend who is in the military, find one. They are awesome… and it has nothing to do with admission tickets.
3) Join a club like the American Coaster Enthusiasts or TPR.
4) Buy the Cokes with the discount coupon on the back.
