True Grit

My favourite minor character. Bear Man.

I just saw the new True Grit. I enjoyed the movie, and would recommend anyone to see it. It left me feeling thoughtful. The crunch of the snow, the blowing wind, and my long black cloak seemed very fitting as I left the theatre. I just needed boots, gun and cowboy hat. My cousin, who I saw it with, and  I  parted ways after the show. I had the car ride home to ponder. I didn't listen to the radio or podcasts. There are many little things I enjoyed about the movie. The hymns playing throughout were beautiful, gave one a sense of gravitas, and old time religion. The language of the characters could at the same time seem uneducated and well spoken. It was an language stripped of diplomacy, but direct and functional. There was a lot of quick little bits of humour in the script for those paying attention. There was an honesty and a bluntness to the film I appreciated. It gave you the feeling of a way of living that was hard, matter of fact and not so comfortable. The movie seemed to say, 'that's the way life is, people die, shit happens, you deal with it as you can'. It was not gruesomely violent and what violence there was seemed to make a point rather than be violent for it's own sake. There were many little moments that I enjoyed. When a man didn't stand for a women and she insulted him for it made me smile. The portrayal of abuse, sexism and casual racism was felt subtly, rather than shouted at you. From start to finish I was engrossed. There are other things I could say, but I think I'll leave it at that. I'm not a professional when it comes to reviewing movies, but it was entertaining, thoughtful, and enjoyable. That's all I can ask.
Cheers.
Scott
PS - The fact that John Wayne and his acting had no part in this movie helped. I know he's an American icon and all, but the man could not act.
PPS -  The other recent theatre film I have seen is The King's Speech. Great film, go see it if you feel True Grit would not be your cup of tea.

A Belated Happy New Year.

We're not that far from February, but happy new year all the same. What's the protocol on that? How long do I have to say it before I get shunned? I was just wondering, what sort of resolutions people have made? Mine is to call a friend that I have not talked to for over a month, at least once a week. Facebook sucks for actually staying close with friends, so this is my solution. I trust everyone is well, and look forward to chatting with some good friends.
If anyone's resolution is to buy me stuff, I found that I can order all the discworld novels, signed by the author. The internet is truly a wonderful thing.
My favourite quote from the latest discworld novels is what I'll end this little entry with.
"The Patrician took a sip of his beer. "I have told this to few people, gentlemen, and I suspect I never will again, but one day when I was a young boy on holiday in Uberwald I was walking along the bank of a stream when I saw a mother otter with her cubs. A very endearing sight, I'm sure you will agree, and even as I watched, the mother otter dived into the water and came up with a plump salmon, which she subdued and dragged onto a half-submerged log. As she ate it, while of course it was still alive, the body split and I remember to its day the sweet pinkness of its roes as they spilled out, much to the delight of the baby otters who scrambled over themselves to feed on the delicacy. One of nature's wonders, gentlemen: mother and children dining upon mother and children. And that's when I first learned about evil. It is built in to the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior."
-- Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals
Cheers.

It's almost Hogswatch!

I just finished watching The Hogfather movie last night, which was enjoyable. If I ever had a nanny, I would want it to be Susan of Sto Helit. Wish Death could have been more like I imagined though, but that's the problem with movies from books is it not. As always, Mr Pratchett has some great lines in amongst the humour. My favourite would be the following, which was taken from the book:
Susan: "Thank you. Now ... tell me ..."
Death: What would have happened if you hadn't saved him"
"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"
No.
"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."
The sun would not have risen.
She turned on him.
"It's been a long night, Grandfather! I'm tired and I need a bath! I don't need silliness!"
The sun would not have risen.
"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"
A mere ball of flaming gas would have illuminated the world.
They walked in silence for a moment.
"Ah," said Susan dully. "Trickery with words. I would have thought you'd have been more literal-minded than that."
I am nothing if not literal-minded. Trickery with words is where humans live.
"All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying that humans need ... fantasies to make life bearable."
Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little ---"
Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing.
"They're not the same at all!"
You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet --- Death waved a hand. And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some ... rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point ---"
My point exactly.
She tried to assemble her thoughts.
There is a place where two galaxies have been colliding for a million years, said Death, apropos of nothing. Don't try to tell me that's right.
"Yes, but people don't think about that," said Susan. Somewhere there was a bed ...
Correct. Stars explode, worlds collide, there's hardly anywhere in the universe where humans can live without being frozen or fried, and yet you believe that a ... a bed is a normal thing. It is the most amazing talent.
"Talent?"
Oh, yes. A very special kind of stupidity. You think that the whole universe is inside your heads.
"You make us sound mad," said Susan. A nice warm bed ...
No. You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become? said Death, helping her up onto Binky.
"These mountains," said Susan, as the horse rose. "Are they real mountains, or some sort of shadows?"
Yes.
Susan knew that was all she was going to get.

The line about human being where the fallen angel meets the rising ape, that's what I'm celebrating. Happy Hogswatch everyone, and Merry Christmas.
Scott

PS And other things ending in 'olly

Winter Solstice & Lunar Eclipse

It's all over the interwebs, but just in case you didn't know, a full Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice fall on the same day this year. Get out there and look at that moon. If you're like me and on MST, then total eclipse will begin at 0:41 MST on Tuesday. Here's a link to NASA's page. I sure hope we have clear skies for it. "Good night, and keep watching the skis."
Cheers,
Scott
This picture can be found here.

Happy Saturnalia!

Today is the traditional first day of Saturnalia, Dec 17. I love the Christmas season, so much history, across so many cultures. Living in the north, with cold, dark and snow a constant, celebrating seems like a proper reaction. In a different time of my life, I used to feel offended when people would take away from a Christian focused Christmas time, now I know how silly that was. James McGrath has a good entry on that topic. With that in mind, I very much appreciate the Wikipedia entry on Winter Solstice observances. It has a list of a lot of other celebrations during this time of year. So many good excuses to party and be with the ones you love. It seems like there are also many good excuses to scare small children.
Music is an integral part of the Christmas season, and my favourite modern Christmas song is by Tim Minchin. It have some very good lines that sum up how I feel about Christmas. If you choose to buy it on itunes, all the proceeds go to charity. Go buy it. I really like this song.



For an older Christmas carol, I love the Roger Miller classic "Old Toy Trains".

Changing ones mind

It's been several months since I've had time to do any entries. That does not mean the thinking has stopped. If it had, then maybe I would have stopped? Lately something I've been pondering is changing your mind or deconversion from previous beliefs. Many of the people who know me know I've changed my beliefs a lot in the last decade. I feel it very keenly sometimes. I think the video below explains how ones belief slowly can be eroded away. He's specifically talking about belief in g0d, but I think it can apply to anything. I know it's sort of how it worked for me. Enough points get countered strongly enough, you just end up waking up one day believing something different. On a slightly related note, I asked a friend a few months back what started him on his road to deconversion. To paraphrase my memory of what he said, he said that instead of just reading the quotes that apologists would use, he went to the source material. Finding that Christian apologists tend to distort and 'lie for Jesus' makes it hard to buy into their arguments. That's a specific reason not to believe, but as the video shows, it takes more than just one specific reason.

WNYC - Radiolab Is Awesome

I know I'm probably one of the last people to have started listening to Radiolab. I've listened to the oldest three episodes that itunes has, each from 2007. All three have left me feeling excited and wishing my vocabulary was bigger. Not that the show is hard to understand. I just wish my brain would not keep saying, "This is such a "expletive of your choice" amazing podcast."
The most memorable phrase from the Who Am I episode was that you are one head injury away from being a completely different person. The ramifications of that have me a little dumbfounded. The Placebo episode also has me seriously pondering the amazing ability our bodies have to heal ourselves. Something that does not exist can cure you. Well, at least 25% of the time, but you'll have to listen to get the whole story.
Anyways, if anyone has room for one more podcast to fit into their play list, I would strongly, energetically, beseechingly, heartily, and vigorously encourage everyone to listen to Radiolab! I'm looking forward to a road trip soon, just so I can listen to 30+ hours of it.  Though my lovely wife might not be so keen. Who am I kidding. She's intelligent and beautiful, and intelligent beautiful people love Radiolab.
Cheers,
Scott