The Stand-up Philosopher

When Thinking Ruins TV

Sometimes I wonder if I think too much. In many cases, my enjoyment of entertainment is ruined by my thinking.

Star Trek

For instance, last week, I finally got to see the new Star Trek movie. After the final Star Trek: TNG movie, Nemesis, I wasn’t planning to see another Star Trek movie. I figured the franchise should remain in my past where I enjoyed it more. But, I’d heard good things about the new movie, which sort of departed from the present by visiting the past. I saw it, and loved it.

However, as a former Navy man, and as an engineer, my thinking in some ways ruined the experience for me. OK, what would a sci-fi action movie be without some epic fight scene in some vast space with small platforms suspended in mid-air? But still, during the final fight scene between young James T. Kirk and that Romulan miner-turned vengeance guy, I spent the whole scene wondering “what freaking idiot would design a ship with that much space, populated by tiny platforms? It’s not like you’d design a mining ship just so Kirk could fight a bad guy at the end of a movie.

I also had some minor issues with the whole “3 year cadet becomes Captain of a starship after 1 mission, no matter how successful”. The military can certainly violate its own rules, but career paths are there for a reason. In the Navy, line officers must do so much time in each department. I had several division officers who transferred from or to engineering after a brief stint in my division. It’s only the specialized officers (chaplains, supply, medical, dental, etc) who only do one thing for their entire careers. If you want to be a captain of a Naval ship, you have to do time in engineering, deck, operations, combat systems, etc. Sometimes, you go back. The first captain I served on the U.S.S. Oldendorf under was promoted to O-6 and left to be the Chief Engineer on an aircraft carrier. From CO to department head.

Stargate Universe:

I enjoy SGU. But, especially in the 2nd season, I agonize over one annoying detail: only 1 member of the crew has managed to find the pilot house. I know, the show centers around Air Force personnel. It may not naturally occur to them that ships have a central point from which they’re operated or navigated. But still, had I been a member of the crew, the first thing I would have done is locate the pilot house (bridge). Also, I would have looked for something like a CIC. But they spend the entire 1st season using some “control interface room”, then in the 2nd season, Dr. Rush “accidentally” stumbles across the pilot house and decides not to tell anybody he found it. And since the concept never occurs to the other members of the cast, he is able to keep it hidden for a while.

I would have found it long before that. But again, I only grew up in the Air Force. I didn’t serve in it.

Dexter

When I first heard about the show “Dexter”, I wrote it off. It was an interesting concept, but I had preconceived notions.

For one thing, it’s on Showtime. My impression of most Showtime and HBO “original” series is that they follow this pattern of development:

1) How much soft-porn can we cram into 60 minutes?

2) How many cuss words can we work into the dialogue around the 60 minutes of soft porn?

3) OK, now that we have our soft porn and cussing quota, what kind of story can we write around it?

The first 2 episode of True Blood were enough to validate my opinion.

So when I first heard about this show about a serial killer who was raised by a cop father to only kill bad guys, I wrote it off.

Then I ended up watching it. I was visiting some friends, who had a disk from Season 4 from Netflix. They asked if I wanted to watch. I didn’t want to be rude. I was hooked quickly. The disk ended with the episode “Hello, Dexter Morgan”, where John Lithgow’s character found Dexter in the police station. I’m still feeling anxiety from the cliff-hanger. I need closure on the story.

I’ve since gone out of my way to watch as much Dexter as I can. I actually enjoy it, and I’m intrigued by the concept. It’s sort of how, as “gay” and emo as Twilight is, I was intrigued by the concept of a “vegetarian vampire”, or a monster that consciously decided not to be evil. I don’t mean gay as in homo, but as in “stupid” or “cheesy”. Basically, consider that I’m using the word in the same context that it is used on South Park, like when Stan says “Dude, this is totally gay”. On the subject of Twilight, I know it’s written for tween girls, but seriously, not a single male shows a sign of testorerone. They all lack hair in any place other than their heads. And, as I’m fond of teasing my wife, who likes Twilight, a vampire lacks a beating heart, which means no blood pressure, which means he is physiologically incapable of achieving an erection.

OK, I’m rambling. I like Dexter. I’m a fan now.

I had a similar idea. I came up with an idea for a story about a sociopath who believed and decided to obey the Gospel. But I’m not a fiction writer, so the idea is languishing in the “Writing Ideas” tag in my Evernote account. I had that idea long before I’d heard of Dexter.

“ Raising Awareness ” vs. Getting Results

I really don’t want to write this post. I probably shouldn’t. I guess I can take solace in the fact that nobody reads my blog, so I can write whatever I want. But I also don’t want somebody to stumble by and misunderstand me. Some people can be incredibly irrational, and from the depths of misguided emotion, will draw conclusions that were never intended.

For instance, I once wrote a post that did little more than make my reader(s) aware of a humorous post Tim Challies wrote comparing Joel Osteen’s (ghostwritten) sayings to fortune cookies. Somebody stumbled across my post and somehow drew the conclusion that because he had a fortune cookie with a proverb in it, we should stop reading the book of Proverbs.

And so, as this post continues, I want you to know up front: I HAVE ABSLOTELY NOTHING AGAINST BREAST CANCER OR CHARITIY. I will only be discussing and ranting about methods and terminology associated with them.

The other day, a friend of mine opened up a fecal storm with a post on Facebook. It got nasty fast. I was going to jump in and attempt to help him out, but the hits were coming fast and furious and I realized that nobody involved would listen to reason. So I caught him later and we discussed it free from the irrationality of the others involved.

Apparently, there was a campaign that was supposed to somehow “raise awareness” of breast cancer by asking women to post where they like to put their purses in the form of a sexual innuendo “I like it on…” How posting “I like it on the coat rack” or “I like it in the back seat of the car” “I like it in the trunk” or whatever else is supposed to “raise awareness” for breast cancer is beyond me.

I’m also curious as to the point. “Raising awareness for breast cancer”. Is there anybody who is not “aware” of breast cancer? Especially on Facebook? What exactly does that mean anyway? I’m “aware” of breast cancer. Therefore, your objective has been met and you can leave me alone and stop annoying me

This is what I think: this is little more than a way to make people feel better about themselves while requiring no risk or effort. You post a Facebook status. Good job, little girl! I’m sure by posting “I like it on the floor next to the coat rack” is going to cure breast cancer! Why didn’t we start this 40 years ago?

I’m not a fan of doing things that make you feel good but not accomplishing anything. Drink some booze or take a hot bath if that’s all you’re after.

The same goes for those stupid “If you love Jesus, then post this as your Facebook status”. No. I’m not doing it. I’ve never done it, and I don’t plan to start now. Or ever. Copying and pasting a status message about Jesus does absolutely nothing for Him. If anything, it cheapens His name. Go do something productive for Him. Go help the poor. Donate some non-expired food to a church pantry.

Seriously, my wife has run the food pantries for 2 churches. At our last church, we’d get up to 7 bags at a time of expired food. In 2009, we were getting food that had expired in the 90’s as donations. Most of the food that came in had to be thrown away.

All I’m saying is, if you really believe in a cause, then go do something productive for it. If your life’s mission is to eradicate breast cancer, then go to places where people might not be aware of it, or the dangers of it, or their responsibilities regarding it. But I’ll give you a hint: your efforts will not produce any results by copying a status message on Facebook.

TAPS and Hellboy

I’d never seen this before. Hellboy is one of my favorites.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3CjSVRqmKQ?fs=1&hl=en_US]

What Is The Difference Between Joel Osteen and a Fortune Cookie?

I'm not trying to be mean-spirited with this post. I'm linking somebody else's work. Tim Challies ate Thai food and read the fortune cookie. From Tim:

 I thought "This fortune sounds like something Joel Osteen would say." And then it struck me--there is very little difference between Joel and those fortune cookies (except that the cookies are delicious, of course).

Tim then sampled some of Joel Osteen's work, and created a 12 question quiz to compare the two. You can take the quiz on his blog. Let me know how you do in the comments. 

Why Do People Waste So Much Energy Worrying Their (fill in the blank) Makes Them Dumber?

I'm starting to think there is something wrong with me. Am I missing something?

I don't spend any time worrying that my (iPhone, Dell, netbook, nook, TV, DVR, refrigerator, washing machine, GPS, reading lamp, stand-up shower, power mirrors, RSS Reader, or whatever the heck else) is making me dumb.

None. I don't waste any energy worrying about it.

Yet I read tons of content from other people worrying that such and such is killing their brains. Consider this from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW): Is My iPhone Making Me Dumber?

I don't get it. But I see these things as very useful tools. I enjoy them while I have them. If they all disappeared some day, I'd find a way to get by. I'd really miss my broadband Internet and air conditioning though.

Do you worry about these things making you dumb? Destroying your ability to think? Why? Do you have any objective evidence for this, or are you just following "conventional wisdom"?

Cracked: Lotteries

Looks like somebody wrote a topic page for Cracked about lotteries. I figure I'm better off linking to it. This is almost exactly what I would write about the lottery if I were capable of the kind of biting satire Cracked is known for.

From the page:

Even the Wikipedia article says that "buying a lottery ticket reduces the buyer's expected net worth," and when someone writing Wikipedia articles on lottery systems starts to call you worthless, you should probably be returned as defective by organ farmers.

I've made it sort of a hobby to study the lottery. Or, more specifically, lottery winners. I've written many times that I don't "play" the lottery. I've found more constructive ways to waste my money.

I once found a very insightful quote in 1984 about the lottery. I should rewrite that post. Even I can't stand my writing in it. 

The last bit of text on that topic page contains a very saddening development:

Make Me A Millionaire

In final proof that He Who Is Satan has not only come to Earth but set up a business, California is combining reality TV and scratch cards in "Make Me A Millionaire" - a game* where contestants pay for scratch cards for the chance of winning an appearance on TV. The moment people stopped dreaming of being millionaires, and instead dreamed of maybe having the chance to be on reality TV, is recorded as the exact date hope died.

*God awful moron experience

Statistically, I'd say you stand a better chance of winning a spot on a reality TV show than you do of winning the lottery. Maybe it's not that sad.

V Is The Best Sci-Fi Miniseries EVER!

A new V series starts tonight. I LOVED the original. My dad was stationed in Germany from 1980-1985. Somebody taped it and sent all 10 hours to us, and I watched it over and over and over again (give me a break, we only had 1 channel). Of course, even after we moved to San Antonio and had more channels, I still would watch all 10 hours of V when I got a chance.

I remember one day in 1996 when I was stationed on the U.S.S. Oldendorf (DD-972) in San Diego. I had an apartment with a couple of my friends from the ship (I’m still really good friends with one of them). My dad, who worked for the Air Force as a civilian by that point, was TDY to San Diego for some reason or other. The Air Force goes TDY. In the Navy, we get to go TAD (Travelling Around Drunk). There actually happened to be a Star Trek convention in San Diego at the time. For some reason, while I was in San Diego, there weren’t any Star Trek conventions except for that one. I’d been to a few in San Antonio so I figured it would be fun to go with my dad. I haven’t been to once since.

The point of this post isn’t actually about the Star Trek convention. It’s about one idiot at the convention. I was walking through the booths and saw V- The Original Miniseries. It was on 2 VHS cassettes. I asked the vendor if he had The Final Battle. He said no, it hadn’t been released yet. I walked away, dejected.

Well, irony of all ironies: the next day, I was at the Navy Exchange, and saw a 5 VHS Cassette set of V The Original and V The Final Battle. I don’t remember what it cost me, but I bought it that day.

Later that year, I had to take a Typhoid shot. Typhoid always messed me up for 2 or 3 days, but for a short duration, I was working in Supply away from the ship and I was given the afternoon off. I settled down with my 10 hours of V and watched it just like I did all those summer vacations ago.

I don’t think I’ve had time to watch it since, but I still have it, safe on the shelf in my computer room. At some point, I should probably look for the DVD set.

Anyway, I hope this new V series maintains some of the splendor of the original. I know that 25 years and a new crew and a new generation and changes in society can change some things. Star Trek The Next Generation NEVER would have flown in the 60’s, but it worked well for the late 80’s. I hope the new crew is able to incorporate some new technology and cultural idiosyncrasies, while remaining true to The Original V. And I don’t mean that butt-awful attempt at a TV series where that alien hybrid girl shed her skin and aged 13 years every commercial break. After they kicked the Visitors off the planet, bringing them back for a TV series just didn’t make much sense. I tried to like it, I really did, but in reflection, it sucked.

This Is Hilarious: Acronym Change

The site Probably Bad News provides me with a lot of entertainment. Today it posted a clip about how the Wisconsin Tourism Federation had to change it's name. Why? Well, it turns out that Wisconsin Tourism Federation breaks down into the acronym "WTF". Years ago it meant nothing, but today it means quite a bit. I won't repeat what it means here since this is a "family blog", but it shouldn't be too hard to find the definition.

I Can Haz Cheezeburger: Hand Wash

One of the many sites I scoop through RSS into my Google Reader feeds is I Can Haz Cheezeburger. They post pictures of “LOL Cats”, or cats doing funny things with captions. The captions are usually written in poor English; sort of like how a small child would talk.

Today’s picture should produce an “aww!” moment in just about anyone. I’m sure there will be exceptions, but most of us should have a hard time resisting this. “Hand Wash With Like Colors Only”.

Apple Thoughts: Average iPhone User Downloads 9 Games

Apple Thoughts has an interesting discussion about how the average iPhone user downloads 9 games.

Are you an average iPhone user? Above average? ...below average?

I probably have more than 9 games. All were free. Mostly, I put the games on for my kids, but I don't let them play with my iPhone much anyway. They do all kinds of kooky things to my wife's iPhone. I let them play with my iPod Touch, with the wireless disabled. Somehow they deleted one of their favorite games. Occasionally I'll get a call from my wife to find only background noise, leading me to assume that the kids butt-dialed me.

The story Apple Thoughts links to says that games are the cheapest apps, most of which are free.

Web Worker Daily: Twitter Expectations

Web Worker Daily had a post about Twitter Expectations the other day. I figured it would give me a good chance to post a rant about Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter here.

Julian Smith posted a video called 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

I find Twitter to be a useful service. All kinds of API's (Application Programming Interfaces) have popped up on Twitter and Facebook and other social networks, so things are starting to integrate nicely. My Twitter feed also goes to Facebook (you can follow me in Facebook here). I think that works out nicely. I can post to Twitter and then discuss my tweets on Facebook. I have several friends on Facebook who are not on Twitter, so it works out nicely.

That said, there are a few things about Twitter that annoy me.

iTunes 9.0.1 Is Out, Supposedly Fixes Podcast Playlist Issue

I woke up this morning, went through the usual routine, took my iPhone upstairs to sync, and saw that iTunes 9.0.1 was ready to download. I didn't have time to download and install it before I left, so I told the prompt "Not right now" and synced my iPhone.

According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, iTunes 9.0.1 contains the following fixes. The ones I have experienced and thus care about are in bold:

• Resolves issues browsing the iTunes Store.
• Addresses a performance issue where iTunes may become unresponsive.
• Fixes a problem where iTunes may unexpectedly quit.
• Fixes a problem syncing Podcasts in playlists to iPod or iPhone.
• Fixes a problem sorting albums with multiple discs.
• Addresses an issue with the Zoom button not switching to Mini Player.
• Improves application syncing for iPod touch and iPhone.
• Genius is now automatically updated to show Genius Mixes.

After I synced my iPhone, I tried to install the update, but I got a message that iTunes had an invalid signature and would not be installed. I'll have to download it from Apple.com later today.

Hopefully I can get back the several minutes a morning I have to spend creating on-the-go playlists for my podcasts. I like it when things work like they're supposed to.

Dealing With An Introverted Nature

I'll be transparent about something: I'm not very comfortable in crowds of people that I don't know. I don't mind being in groups of people that I've known and am comfortable with, but I'm really uncomfortable around people I don't know.

I can't help but wonder why. I really can't name many times when being around a group of strangers resulted in a bad experience. Normally, once somebody breaks the ice, I get along fine with everybody.

I had just such an experience today. This was the first day of our vacation. My wife likes to take the kids to the pools in hotels. I don't like hotel pools. They're usually crowded, and I don't know anybody, so of course I'm uncomfortable and awkward. When we first got to the pool, it was crowded. Two kids were throwing a ball around, which took up a lot of room. I just hid in the corner.

Sooner or later, the ball started going out of bounds, so I hit it back in. Suddenly, I was having fun. The woman who was the mother of the boys throwing the ball started talking to us, and suddenly I was comfortable.

I need to remember, if I want to live a successful life with all of my roles in balance, that I'm going to have to trust strangers more. I'm going to have to be more outgoing in these situations.

What about you? Are you the classic extrovert, who will talk to anybody? Or are you like me, an introvert who wants to be more extroverted, but has to remain true to his (or her) nature?

Microsoft Has No Clue About Digital Media

Apparently, Microsoft is now running commercials claiming that it would cost $30,000 to fill an iPod, but that a Zune Pass only costs $14.99 a month. If you’re not familiar with the Zune Pass, it’s a subscription model for music. Essentially, you pay for a subscription and can listen to any music that you want. That model is in ways better than the “buy a song, keep a song” model, which is better than the “buy a CD with 12 songs, 11 of which totally suck, in order to get one good song” model we followed previously. Of course, that model is bad in the way that once you stop your subscription, it all goes away. Supposedly you can keep 10 songs per month.

Microsoft created it's own competitor to the iPod, known as the Microsoft Zune. I think it came out in 2007. At one point, I briefly considered it but then I got an iPod Touch. From what I hear, the Zune does have better battery life than a video iPod. After the frustrations that led me to dump Windows Mobile for the iPhone, I'm not going to consider a mobile device with Microsoft's name on it any time soon. The Zune is made mostly in-house though. I'm sure the hardware is made with communist child slave labor like the iPod, but the software integration is done at Microsoft.

Arlen Specter is a Demonican: Who Cares?

This isn’t a political blog. It’s not because I’m not interested in politics, but because I’m not interested FIGHTING about politics. When you step outside of a two-party system be selecting some option other than “C”, you tend to be at odds with everyone.

So Arlen Specter is going to run as a Demoncrat. It’s taking up a lot of headlines. I was having lunch with a program manager yesterday when that news came up. I kept my mouth shut as tight as possible, other than saying ‘Well, he’s always tended to vote with them anyway.” That’s as non-confrontational as you can get.

I think Vox Day nails it: He came out of the closet.Although, I’m not sure that’s quite as accurate. Seriously, no matter which of the two mainstream parties is in office, does anything  but the rhetoric change? Replublicrats had both the White House, the Congress, and even the Supreme Court for several years, but didn’t do anything with them than expand government.

Anyway, Arlen Specter is going to be a Demonican in 2010. It’s not likely to change anything, other than to give news and political pundits a way to sell advertising for a few weeks.

This is why I rarely do politics on my blog. I don’t care about the party lines.

Happy Day After April Fool’s Day

It’s April 2nd. April Fools is over. I never really cared for April Fools jokes that involved things being done to me, although I do remember in grade school, we’d bring pieces of cloth to school, and whenever a teacher bent over, we’d take one out and rip it. The looks on teachers’ faces were priceless.

In a weird fluke of scheduling, my sister in law and I have birthdays that sandwich April Fool’s Day. Mine is March 31 and hers is Apr 2. Happy birthday, Faith. If either of us had been a day off…

I think my favorite April Fool’s joke was Gmail Autopilot. It has to be a joke. The link is still at the top of my gmail page, but since there’s no way to sign up, or no indication that it’s in labs, it has to be a joke. Also, Ramit Sethi rolled out “I Will Teach You To Be Frugal”. That was a good one.

Every single April Fool’s joke I fell for involved Windows Mobile, amazingly enough. I first fell for this one. I guess it’s because the joke sounds like something Microsoft would actually do.

What was your favorite April Fool’s joke?

FaceBook Applications

I'm sitting on the couch with my wife "discussing" FaceBook applications. Honestly, I've never gotten the point to these things. It takes more time to accept the requests than it seems worth to me. She just sent me a "coffee". Actually, it's a picture of a Starbucks beverage. I said it would have meant more to me if she'd brewed a pot and poured me a cup of the real stuff. She asked what kind of wine I'd like, and I said whatever we have in the house. She asked what kind of desert I'd like, and I said whatever we have in the house again.

At least it's giving us some time together. I took my Redfly out to write this blog post.

Honestly, I don't get the point to most of these FaceBook requests. I like FaceBook for the most part. I've seen several bloggers shut down their FaceBook and Twitter profiles. I keep mine up so people can find me, and so I can interact with other people. I've recently enjoyed trading comments back and forth with a Navy buddy from my first ship. I like leaving comments on other people's statuses, and I like when people leave comments on mine. All (or most) of my Twitter posts go to FaceBook. I sometimes forget that. But for the life of me, I can't understand the point to trading coffees, San Antonio Spurs waves (some of my high school friends are on FaceBook), and giving plants and deserts and KFC and Krispy Crème donuts. I don't get it. It seems to take longer to deal with this stuff than it's worth.

My wife logged onto my account and she's going through 40 some requests and "gifts". That's a relief for me. Maybe I'll let her handle it for me.

If none of this makes sense, it's almost 11 PM EST. I'm almost never up this late.

Things That Don’t Suck About New Jersey

When I met my wife, she had The Bloodhound Gang’s CD. It listed a track as something like “10 Things That Don’t Suck About New Jersey”. I’m not sure about the exact wording, but when you sequence the CD to the track, it’s about 10 seconds of silence.

I can be very hard on New Jersey in my talking and writing. I got out of the Navy in 1998 in San Diego and started working as an alarm installer, which was the first job I managed to get after 2 weeks of not having an income. It was fun while it lasted, and I appreciate the time I had on that job and the men I worked with. In 1999, I got a job offer to move to New Jersey to work at a development site. This job was to be more inline with my training and experience from my time in the Navy.

Some Interesting Developments in eBooks Today

Today brought some very interesting developments in the world of eBooks. The information also came to me in interesting ways. My wife was sick, so I stayed home from work to take care of the boys. I was using my mobile devices heavily. First, because the iPhone and iPod Touch have Exchange server support, I was able to keep up with a few things at work because of my Touch, which is set up for my company's Exchange server. I have a work issued BlackBerry, but I was carrying my Touch around with me anyway to listen to my podcasts rather than let a bunch build up. I was also using my Samsung Epix heavily today. I'd let a bunch of email pile up lately, so I was bouncing back and forth between the two devices to get through my personal account. I like the larger screen on the iPod Touch, but some of my html mail reads better in FlexMail 4 on the Epix. Also, the Epix's keyboard is slightly easier to use than the touch keypad on the iPod Touch.

I was catching up on some Twitter traffic on my Epix in Twobile when I saw that Michael Hyatt had downloaded something called "Kindle for iPhone". I switched over to my Touch, brought up the App Store, and searched for Kindle. I found it and downloaded it. From what I've read so far, using this application, I can purchase Kindle formatted books WITHOUT having to buy the $359 Kindle, but if I buy the Kindle, my books will sync between the devices.

One of the Happiest Days of Christina’s Life

I’ve had people ask me to put up pictures for some time now. I’m afraid to put them on Facebook because they claim to own your content. I doubt silly pictures of my kids could be commercialized by Facebook, but still, just because the possibility exists I’m hesitant to take the chance. I know FaceBook just reverted to an older Terms of Service, but still…

In October, I went to the Food and Wine show in Atlantic City with my wife and my father-in-law. My mother-in-law stayed behind to watch the boys. My sister-in-law had tickets that she never got to use, so we went back on Sunday (we used our tickets on Saturday) with the boys.

Social Network Annoyances

Don’t get me wrong, I like social networks. At the very least, I like the social networks that I’ve already joined and still use, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. Needless to say, each has it’s own unique annoyances that drive me nuts. Here are some of the biggest:

• Facebook- 3rd party application requests. I like the fact that Facebook has 3rd party APIs, that is, Application Programming Interfaces. It’s easy for somebody with a great idea to write a program that can then be integrated into Facebook. However, every single one of these programs feeds on constantly asking your friends to join (separate annoyance). Some of these programs are games which I don’t have time for, but I have one friend who does and every time I log onto Facebook I get tons of requests to participate. When I ignore them all, I get a text from my friend asking me to “join my tribe, man” from whatever game he’s playing now.

Click: The Ultimate Lifeplanning Flick

When I was in high school, my friend Pat and I saw the Jim Belushi movie “Mr.. Destiny”. We both decided it was our favorite movie. It’s main character, Larry Burrows, blew a baseball game when he was a teen. That baseball game became the pivotal moment of his life, which set the stage for everything that followed. A car breakdown landed him in a bar where he is given the chance to see what his life would have been like if he’d hit that baseball and won the game. He marries the boss’s daughter and has children, but realizes that he liked his old life better.

I finally saw Click last night. I saw it at the library when I went to pick up “The 4 Hour Work Week” and decided it had been out long enough without me watching it. I wonder if there’s any coincidence that Jim Belushi and Adam Sandler are two of my favorite actors. I really enjoy their work. I see Adam Sandler is going to be in a Disney movie coming out soon. That’s about as big a shock as when Eddie Murphy starred in Dr. Doolittle and didn’t cuss the entire time. I heard Adam Sandler wants to be in a movie that his children can watch. I always wondered how he would explain Happy Gilmore to little children. Better than that, what’s he going to say when they find his “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You!” CD? I still have that somewhere, by the way. I like the “Buffoon” clips for some reason.

Can’t Wait ‘till April for your Deadliest Catch Fix? The Cornelia Marie has you Covered

The Opilio crab season is currently on, and the Deadliest Catch film crews are on the boats gathering footage. Then they’ll had back home for the post production work. In the meantime, the Cornelia Marie has posted a video at their Captain’s Blog to keep you going until April.

My Review of Lynne Spears’ Through the Storm

With their publication of Stephen Mansfield’s “The Faith of Barack Obama”, Thomas Nelson instituted a program that I hope continues, offering the first 200 bloggers to respond the chance to get a free copy of a book in exchange for a 200 word review, positive or negative. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to read and review “The Faith of Barack Obama” and I was thrilled to see the offer repeated for Lynne Spears' new book, “Through the Storm”. At first I wasn’t going to ask for a copy of “Through the Storm”, as the only real time I have to read is in the evenings and since we’ve been busy at work lately my evenings are often cut short, depriving me of time with my family. My wife told me I could request the copy, and I did. It arrived about a week later.

I should point out right now that I am not a professional reviewer. I should learn how to better review books because I enjoy reading and writing. Having done this for two books I’m finding it to be fun, and it would be nice to either get free books or possibly earn a little money for this. Anyone know where to go to learn how to write a professional book review?

“Through the Storm” apparently generated a lot of controversy. Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, had to delete some comments regarding this book off of his blog. I’m not sure what those comments contained. Many were supportive, but some were very negative. One accused either Mr. Hyatt or Thomas Nelson of publishing the book for M.O.N.E.Y. I have no idea where that came from. A publisher publishing books to earn money? Where does the problem enter into the equation? How can a business meet payroll or other expenses without performing those tasks for which the business was created to perform?

My Comments on Fireproof

This is the post the just will not, well, post. I originally wrote it the day I saw Fireproof as a pre-screening at the NJ Firefighter’s Convention. I edited it several times, including after having a fight with my wife which caused me to re-write some parts of it. Now that Fireproof has been out for more than a week, and I have a few hours at home by myself, I’m trying to get it finished and posted in the hopes of posting before Fireproof was released, but that just didn’t happen. I have no idea why, other than I just got too busy with work and family and other interests to polish this blog post to the point where I felt comfortable putting it out for “the world”, which consists of anybody who haplessly stumbles by my blog. I’m not sure if I have any regular readers or not at this point.

Since originally writing this entry, several weeks have passed. I even read Kirk Cameron’s autobiography, “Still Growing”, which my wife pointed out to me at the library. I actually finished reading it this morning, and I can’t get the darn “Growing Pains” theme out of my head even though it’s been close to 2 decades since I last heard it. The autobiography does mention his role in Fireproof right at the end. In any case, with minor editing included today, here follows my original post, dated from Sep 13 & 14, 2008. I will make minor edits, but will not spend the time cleaning up the “today” and “yesterday” references.

_____________________________________________

Best Batman Ever!

I'm not a movie reviewer, but I need to comment on Batman Begins, which I finally got to see last night. I know, I'm a little bit behind the curve. I hate movie theaters (I guess they wouldn't be so bad if they were priced better and nobody else was there) and with some of the things I've been doing the last several years, I got way behind on movies. I finally got to see Transformers on Thursday night, for instance.

I have to say that this is by far my favorite rendition of Batman. Batman was originally a comic book character, of course, but has appeared in several cartoons and movies since. To this date, my pick for worst Batman franchise were the movies in the 90's. The first two Batman movies featured Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the third had Val Kilmer, who fit the part pretty well. I didn't really like those movies though. Gotham City, while I realize is supposed to be somewhat Gothic hence the name, was a little too dark for my tastes, and the characters and situations were a little too caricatured for my tastes. I know the movies were based on comic book characters, but they seemed to "comic booky" for my tastes. They seemed to make a lot of money, so we can see just where my opinion fits into the grand scheme of things.

I know a forth Batman movie was made as part of that franchise featuring George Cloony as Batman. I didn't bother to see it. The previews made the movie and the characters look a little too much like "Pee Wee's Playhouse." I've been wrong about many movies based on the previews before, but sometimes the previews kill my desire to see a movie.

When I heard that a new Batman movie was coming out, I ignored it, figuring that it was part of the last franchise. Then, a few weeks ago, I was watching Batman Tech on the History Channel. I saw some scenes from the movie, and heard about some aspects of the story. I heard that it was an entirely different franchise; a new attempt to render the Batman story for the big screen. When my wife signed us up for a trial of Blockbuster Total Access, I picked Batman Begins as my first movie.

All I can say is, Wow! This movie did a really good job of telling the Batman story, from scratch. I liked it a lot. The acting was decent, the characters were true without going overboard, the tech was believable yet slightly out of existence, and of course Gotham City wasn't too Gothic. The Chinese martial arts (league of Shadows) was an interesting twist.

I can't wait for The Dark Night to be available to rent.

Technorati Tags: Batman,Blockbuster

Do I Look Like a Celebrity?

I got my hair cut for the first time in what seems like forever Saturday morning. My hair is very thick and uncontrollably wavy, and because it’s summer, I decided to just get buzzed. My wife informed me that I actually look like somebody. Guess who? She thinks I look like Chef Robert Irvine from the Food Network’s Dinner Impossible. What do you think? Below are the chef and me. Guess which picture is him, and which is me. Hint, I’m the one taken in a dark computer room with a 1.3 megapixel Pocket PC Phone camera. I just wish I had the chef’s trunk-like arms.

Kitchen Nightmares

I’m really knocking out the posts tonight. I guess since I haven’t had a chance to blog lately, I have a lot of pent up posts. Over the weekend, I was scrolling through the DirectTV program guide at my in-laws’ house. I came across the last couple minutes of the UK edition of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. I always wanted to see that one. I enjoyed the US version last year. I hope it comes back. In any case, the few minutes of the UK edition didn’t really do much for me. I guess I’m used to the US edition. There is just something about American pride and arrogance that makes for better TV. You know, the kind of “OK, chef Ramsay, who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do in my restaurant, despite the fact that I’m failing and you’re like a world class chef and owner of 3000 successful restaurants and a celebrity and a respected authority and all that? Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?” Really, it does make for good television. It’s almost like listening to people call Dave Ramsey to tell him that they have a better idea for paying off debt and want to buy a new car and buy a house on an interest-only mortgage. Dave always asks something along the lines of “How many millions of dollars do you have on that system?”

I’m looking forward to the finale of Hell’s Kitchen tomorrow. For some reason, I like that show too.

The Next Food Network Star

I’ve been watching the Next Food Network Star. I watched Season 3, and I’ve been watching Season 4. I’ve said before that in the beginning, I hated reality TV, but I’ve since developed a taste for some of it. I don’t give a ripped fart for American Idol or America’s Got Talent, nor do I watch Survivor. I really did get into The Apprentice, even the Martha Stewart season. Of course, I love Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers. For some reason, I enjoy The Next Food Network Star.

When I think about it, this has got to be really hard. For one thing, the contestants are supposed to have some kind of culinary skill. I don’t think they have to have attended culinary school or worked professionally as a chef, but they certainly need to have some talent. Of course, that’s not enough. They have to be able to work well under pressure. They have to be able to, as my favorite movie line goes, “Improvise, adapt, overcome” (Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge.) But even if they can pull that much off, they have to go on camera and be believable. They have to be able to teach, to explain, to communicate, and to show some authority. It’s interesting watching people try to do all of this. For some reason I find some perverse enjoyment.

I did get to meet two of the Season 3 candidates. My wife, her parents and I went to the Food and Wine festival in Atlantic City last year. Tommy and Adrian were there. They held the camera so we could have our picture taken with Guy Fieri. They seemed like really good guys.

Deadliest Catch Websites & MySpace

I haven’t thought about MySpace in a long time. I rarely think of it, except for those rare moments anymore when I get a friend request that I need to log in and check out. I had a slow day a while ago, and started reading Wikipedia. I drifted through various topics, and came across Deadliest Catch, a show I have enjoyed watching for several years. For some reason, the show didn’t resonate with me the first season, but by the second season, I was hooked. For some reason, I’ve always considered the Northwestern my favorite boat, although I’ve come to enjoy all of the boats, captains, and crew members involved. I guess like watching Ice Road Truckers, Deadliest Catch portrays one of those jobs we would love to be able to do, but can’t or won’t for whatever reason. Having been in the Navy, and seen some seriously bad seas (I can remember taking a 36 degree roll and looking straight down at the ocean) I can appreciate the Bering Sea storms from the safety of New Jersey.

When I started reading about Deadliest Catch on Wikipedia, I learned that most of the boats involved have websites, like the Northwestern, Cornelia Marie, and the Wizard. The Cornelia Marie and Wizard have blogs, which I subscribed to. Most of them now have stores selling merchandise. I have to admit, these guys have done a great job of capitalizing on the success of the show and building bridges to their fans.

Back to the subject, I even found myself this morning before work searching for sites on MySpace. I sent friend requests to a couple of them.

When reality TV first came out with Survivor, I hated the entire concept, but I have definitely found some reality shows I enjoy. The only one I should enjoy, but don’t for a funny reason, is Tougher in Alaska. I’m sorry, but the first time I watched the show and it cut to a commercial break and I heard “Tougher in Alaska is brought to you by… Viagra,” I have been unable to even think of the show without laughing. I seriously wonder why the History Channel seems to think it’s main demographic is men with erectile dysfunction (otherwise referred to as ED.) It’s starting to make me ashamed of watching the History Channel. I don’t want to be lumped in with guys who have a problem that I wish would have remained unmentionable in the company of other men. Why can’t we just go back to the good old days when if a man’s “stuff” didn’t work, other men didn’t have to hear about it? Oh, that’s right, pharmaceutical companies. Doh! I’m getting tired of hearing politicians bitching about “big oil.” Seriously, why not go after “big drugs?” Starbucks coffee costs like $54 a gallon. Go after big coffee.

Revelation 20 Fulfilled?

I couldn’t resist this one. When I first saw the title in my RSS feeds, I got a little apprehensive. When I started reading, I thought “Surely, this is going to frustrate me.” Then I crossed the line in the post when I realized it had to be as far from “serious” as possible, and I was able to sit back and enjoy the read, even though it is on a topic that I frankly couldn’t care less about.

From the blog:

Nearly 2000 years ago the Apostle John wrote the apocalyptic writing we know as the book of Revelation. This book has been the center of theological controversy for nearly two millennia. The interpretive difficulty of this writing has spawned a plethora of biblical doctrines to unfold. Perhaps the most controversial section of these writings has been chapter 20.

Well, I'm delighted to say that after all this time it has finally become clear as to what the meaning of part of this chapter really is. Let us observe together by evaluating a few verses, namely 7-10.
In chapter 7 we read, And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison. The thousand years here is clearly metaphorical. What John is saying here is not a literal thousand years, but rather only a few years. To be more specific, he is really only speaking of a period of 4 years, bare with me on this. As far as who Satan represents, well, because John is speaking in metaphors, he is not speaking about the spiritual nemesis of God. Rather he is speaking of the long awaited entity knows as the Los Angeles Lakers. The four years represents the period of time from 2004 to the present, 2008.

I will merely say that I endeavor to take the book of Revelation seriously. Sure, there’s some symbology, but every single sign is explained elsewhere in the Bible. I fail to see how God could make things so clear, then release a book into circulation that we’re not meant to understand in any possible way. I know a lot of Christians who stay away from Revelation. Some are afraid of it. Personally, I’m not afraid of the book, nor am I afraid of the conclusions that one can be drawn to by taking the book seriously. I’m far more afraid of the fights and contention this can cause with Christians who have other views of Revelation than I am the conclusions I have been drawn to by it, in it’s proper context.

In any case, I enjoyed the “conclusions” the blog I linked came to regarding Chapter 20.

How Did TAPS Keep Their Cool?

Lately, I've really taken to enjoying the Sci-Fi Channel's show Ghost Hunters. I started getting into the show earlier this year after a chain of events. C. Michael Patton wrote about the show on his Parchment and Pen blog about the same time my church was going through Joe Beam's book, Seeing the Unseen. That sort of opened up my mind to the possibility of there being some logical explanation for paranormal activity besides general demonology. I started watching the show on Wednesday nights not too long after that.
Last night's show featured the Moss Beach Distillery, which has had paranormal activity reported over the years. According to Wikipedia, the place was featured on Unsolved Mysteries at one point. Jason and Grant quickly found that most of the paranormal activity was caused by gadgets installed by the owners. I have no idea how they remained as calm as they did during the debrief with the executive chef. I assume they receive some kind of payment for their time for the show, and of course a scene with them grabbing the guy by the throat, lifting him off the ground Darth Vader style, and asking him why he wasted their time could easily have been edited out in post-production. Still, I think they were far too composed in that situation. I would say that TAPS gains credibility for quickly finding the hoax.

Mike Rowe gets down & dirty with the HP tx2000z notebook

This is interesting. I do remember Mike Rowe, during the first season of Dirty Jobs, using a Mac. I assumed it was a white MacBook, but it could have been an older iBook. In any case, it looks like he's using an HP now.

Maybe this should be my wife's next laptop. She doesn't like Dirty Jobs. When I fall asleep with Discovery Channel on, she usually ends up laying awake listening to Mike Rowe say such witty  phrases as "I got poo in my mouth." She says the mere thought of Dirty Jobs makes her want to throw up.

If we had the money, I'd get this for her.

Mike Rowe gets down & dirty with the HP tx2000z notebook.

Technorati Tags: Mike Rowe,Laptop,HP

Chances of a Man Winning an Argument

I was trying to keep my kids busy by going through some picture archives on my computer, and I came across this. I wish I knew who to attribute for creating it, or even for sending it to me. Although I'm sure there is no scientific evidence backing it up, there sure is enough circumstantial evidence.

Technorati Tags: Humor,arguments,marriage

Stories: Do You Like the Destination, or the Journey?

I can't remember the name of the movie, but around 1999 I saw a Robert DeNiro movie with some friends. The premise of the movie is that DeNiro was a former special agent of some agency or other, and he was hired along with other former agents in Paris by an unknown employer for a mission. About all I remember about the movie is some car chases in those small European cars and at the end DeNiro and company retrieved a briefcase. Part of the suspense of the movie is that we never did find out what was actually in the briefcase. I also remember the sound quality being very poor. Here's how you can tell: if a character smokes, pay attention when he or she lights up. If a Zippo lighter is pulled out, remember that a Zippo has a very distinctive click. If the Zippo doesn't make a sound, that means poor sound quality. It also means a lack of attention to detail as professionals typically add those sounds in later. DeNiro's Zippo was silent, and for some reason I remember that to this day rather than the title of the movie. Back to the original point to this post, the next day I told my roommates about the movie. The asked what I thought of it. I said "I didn't think it was that great. I just wish I knew what was in that damn briefcase." My roommate's fiance (now wife) suddenly became very angry with me. It turns out that they were on their way out to see that movie and I just "spoiled the ending" for her.

I have honestly never had a problem with knowing how a story ends before I begin it. I don't mind movie spoilers, and with the exception of the Bible I don't read the last chapter of a book out of sequence yet still don't mind hearing discussion of the end before I begin. I have always been like this. I believe it is because I focus a lot on details, so knowing how the story ends frees my mind up to focus on how the story actually gets there. In the case of a good story for me knowing the ending does not ruin the outcome. Some TV shows are a case in point. Take for example the show House. How often has House been on the verge of a firing or serving time in jail? We know that unless Hugh Laurie is leaving the show or the show is being canceled, the likelihood of House being fired or thrown in jail is about zero, but the stories are constructed well and we still feel the suspense even though we know the ultimate outcome.

Also consider the Star Wars prequels. We all know how the story was to end with Episodes 4, 5, and 6. We all know that Luke Skywalker wins, and Darth Vader dies. But, we watched Episodes 1, 2, and 3 and endured the idiocy of Jar-Jar Binks because we wanted the gaps in the story filled in. We all knew how the story was to ultimately end, but we were along for the ride.

For me, for whatever reason, the "journey" through a story has always been more fun than actually getting to the end.

My approach to life is similar. My wife and I have been trying to sell our house for about a year. We started working on it a year ago, although we didn't get on the market until the end of June 2007. I wish I knew how this would eventually work out, so I could concentrate on the finer details in the middle.

What about you? Do you prefer not to have the ending spoiled, or like me, does it free your mind to pay attention to the path the plot of a story takes in getting to the end?

Technorati Tags: Stories,Movies,Endings,Spoilers

Food and Wine Festival

This prospective blog post has been sitting on my Pocket PC for months. I figured it's time to publish it. That's why I've been testing One Note publishing. I can't get MS Word to publish with pictures, so I'll have to compose on the go with Pocket One Note, then transfer to Windows Live Writer when I get the time.

Last October, my wife and I went to the food and wine festival in Atlantic City. We met some food celebrities like Tommy and Adrien from last season's Food Network Star, and we had our picture taken with Guy Fiere. We sampled some good food and wine and beer. I found a new restaurant to go to the next time we're in Lancaster County.

The celebrity chef was Chef Morimoto. I felt very bad for him. For whatever reason, nothing worked. Here was a world class chef who did not have a properly set up kitchen or a microphone, his sound crew was horrible, and his cameraman did a slightly less professional job than a fifth grade audio/visual club could have done.



The picture was taken by my iPaq 6945 Pocket PC. I'm was just trying to show how bad the quality of the camera work was. You'd think a competent cameraman would have centered the picture on what Morimoto was doing with his hands, but this guy did not.

I wish I had put together this post sooner, while the experience was fresh in my memory. When we watched Morimoto, I had just finished my classes at the University of Phoenix, so I was especially sensitive to the unprofessional work of the camera and sound crew. I'm sure a world class chef like Morimoto would be used to showing up and finding nothing working, and he did a good job of working around it.

Technorati Tags: Food and Wine Festival,Food Network

Does Watching TV Really Cause Short Attention Spans?

On the news, in the media, on commentary pages, and among friends, many of us hear the same mantras repeated. Call them conventional wisdom, call them common knowledge, call them what you will. But can you call them true? In November 2006, Steve Olson posted a blog entry titled "10 Things I wish I had Never Believed". In this post, he touched on such common beliefs as "money is the root of all evil" (the actual Bible verse says the love of money is the root of all evil; huge difference), "a job is the best way to earn money", and "school is the best place for kids to learn". That last one is particularly anchored into public belief. When my wife and I tell people that we plan on home schooling our children, even people who are highly educated often gasp in fear and shock.

In any case, the other night I was watching an episode of Cranky Geeks. John C. Dvorak had a panel on specifically to talk about video podcasting. While they talked about the appropriate length of a video podcast, the discussion inevitably came around to attention spans. Sure, most video podcasts or YouTube videos do best when under 10 minutes (Cranky Geeks runs about 30). The comment came up that television and computers have shortened our attention spans. I suddenly found myself wondering if this is really true. Although most people would automatically agree with the statement without any thought, I suddenly wondered how this conclusion was arrived at. Did a group of scientists take a group of latchkey children and a control group of Amish and observe them growing up in a controlled scientific study? Or is this statement merely conventional wisdom arrived at by societal observation with a little bit of wishful thinking because the blame for a perceived problem has to fall somewhere?

I've recently begun to study philosophy. Philosophy is a subject that I have always avoided primarily due to stereotypes. Seriously, how many of you, if I invited you to my church, would refuse because you have a stereotypical image of evangelical Christians? I had the same thing about philosophers. When I thought about philosophy, I always saw an aging hippy professor sitting in the lotus position going "It's like we're totally not really here, man. Am I a man dreaming I'm a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I'm a man?" I also had the image of the 18 year old wasting daddy's money on philosophy classes rather than a more "practical" subject. I've found those stereotypes to be exactly what a stereotype is: mostly wrong. I'm finding philosophy to be a vibrant and fascinating study applicable to all areas of life. I'm also learning that a philosopher is a professional thinker. A philosopher asks questions, often with child-like wonder. We often lose our wonder as we grow up. Philosophers often don't have the answers, but their exploration of the questions can make for an interesting study. That's all I will say for now as I have a long way to go in reading about philosophy, not to mention reading some of the "great" philosophers.

With this interest in philosophy, I would like to ask the question: does watching TV really cause short attention spans? Obviously, I have not been successful in getting a grant, much less a group of latchkey children and another group of Amish children set aside from birth (by the way, I love the Amish and Lancaster County, PA is one of my favorite places on Earth). All I have to go on is my own observation. Before I continue, let me lay one last bit of foundation.

In October, Newsweek ran a story titled Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness. One statement from that article which really stood out to me is about choice. The statement is below:

The trouble is, choice is not all it's cracked up to be. Studies show that people like selecting from among maybe half a dozen kinds of pasta at the grocery store but find 27 choices overwhelming, leaving them chronically on edge that they could have chosen a better one than they did. And wants, which are nice to be able to afford, have a bad habit of becoming needs (iPod, anyone?), of which an advertising- and media-saturated culture create endless numbers. Satisfying needs brings less emotional well-being than satisfying wants.

OK, from my own experience and observation will come the rest of this post/essay. I was born in 1974. I'm a product of the original MTV generation. I can remember watching about 5 or 6 hours of TV on a school night as early as the age of 11 or 12. We lived in Germany from 1980 to 1985 and had only one English channel, AFRTS, and one radio station, but people in "the states" would send us video tapes which my brother and I watched endlessly. In 1986 and 1987, I would come home from school to watch GI Joe and Transformers, followed by Star Trek and shows like the Facts of Life in syndication on the Fox affiliate (Fox was brand new at the time). Prime time brought programming like the A-Team and MacGuyver among others. By high school I often had better things to do than watch TV, but I still made sure to catch my favorite shows like Star Trek, The Next Generation. In the Navy, my television watching dropped off dramatically, but picked up after I got married in 2001. Currently, my family does watch a lot of TV. My wife keeps PBS and Nickelodian on for the kids all day. We'll often put on The Wiggles or Thomas the Tank Engine to keep the kids happy while we get things done. When I go to bed, I usually watch the History Channel, or Discovery Channel, or shows like Law and Order, or House. Lately, thanks to TV on DVD, and of course my WinTV and video iPod and programs like iPodifier, I can watch TV anytime and anywhere that I want. I'm just trying to establish that I have paid my dues in front of the television, and keep my membership active. I never really watched MTV though.

I do not believe, from my own experience and observation, that watching television decreases my attention span, nor the attention span of my children, whatever an acceptable attention span for two and three year old boys should be.

Apparently there is an attention span problem in our country, but if that attention span problem is not caused by TV, then what could be causing it? I'm obviously not a scientist or sociologist or psychologist, but I do have a blog, so that alone qualifies me to put forth a few observations on this subject. Here are some of the reasons that I suspect cause a short attention span:

• Expectations set too high- seriously, to say that the attention span today is short we must have some kind of quantifiable data from times past. Did school children in ancient Babylon sit for eight hours on end (boys especially) through such exciting subjects as poetry and pottery? Honestly, I think a lot of complaints about attention spans are because we have our expectations set too high for ourselves and our nation's school children. We're trying to expect and force ourselves and our children to sit for long periods of time doing tasks that frankly aren't all that interesting or exciting, or in many cases, meaningful. I used to think that I had a short attention span until I realized that like many other computer geeks, I had the ability to hyper-focus on some tedious tasks like playing video games or straightening out file system issues. I can't tell you how many blog posts I was able to crank out while I was supposed to be working on a paper for one of my University of Phoenix classes.
• One word: sugar. We can't deny that the American diet consists of way too much sugar. I notice when I'm not eating very well that I can't focus for anything. When I'm eating better, I have an easier time at work because my blood sugar levels aren't crashing.
• Another word: choices. There is a reason why web videos are short: because when we're sitting at our computers, there are a lot of other things we could be doing so we're not going to sit still for one thing. I listen to a lot of podcasts on my iPod. In fact, right now as I'm typing this I'm listening to Cyberspeak. I wouldn't be willing to stop what I'm doing for an hour while I finish this podcast. Frankly, it's not all that exciting, so I pick up a little bit here and there while I'm doing something else. I notice when I'm laying in bed late at night and I have no other choices I can sit through an hour long TV show. When I transcode that show to my iPod and I'm trying to watch it sitting at my computer, I tend to want to do other things. I have email to sort through and Google Reader feeds to read. When I have too many choices, I often can't settle on just one or two and I float because no matter what I'm doing, I'm constantly afraid that I could be doing something "better". When I have fewer choices, I am able to sit still and focus better. This goes back to the blockquote earlier from Newsweek about how happiness doesn't necessarily come from having too many choices.

I could probably keep going, but these are only observations. Critical thinking involves never taking anything you read or hear for granted. I'm sure I could turn on CNN or FoxNews and hear commentators say at least 10 times today that TV causes shorter attention spans. Rather than accepting that I'm asking questions, because my own experience doesn't seem to match up to conventional wisdom. What about you, reader? Does TV shorten your attention span? If you believe it does, are you willing to cut down or cut out TV in order to regain an attention span?

Technorati tags: TV, attention spans

 

Labels: Family, Health, Internet, Media, Socio/Political

Hell's Kitchen

I think I might have heard of the reality show "Hell's Kitchen" before, but I'd never watched it. I used to hate all reality TV, but I have come to enjoy shows like "The Apprentice" where the contestants at least have to do something productive to win, rather than sit around a house and stab each other in the back for money. This show was similar in that the cast had to work, but talk about being 180 degrees out. The chef made me look back on my boot camp days with fondness. Compared to him, my company commanders were teddy bears. Actually, R. Lee Ermy (Gunnery Sargent Hartman in Full Metal Jacket) would probably have told him to watch his mouth. That show had more bleeped out words than "South Park".

From what I gather, it is a lot harder to own a restaurant than I could have imagined. Apparently the winner will get to own a restaurant in a very high class resort. The chef is doing a pretty good job of weeding out the candidates with his drill instructor language and references to their skills or lack thereof. I might have to look up more about this show on the internet.

All in all I did enjoy it, and I will probably watch again.

Labels: Misc comments

My Thoughts on The DaVinci Code

I've largely stayed out of commenting on The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown's popular book that has not yet outsold the Bible. As a Christian, I do frequent some Christian sites. I also notice that Dan Brown has caught a lot of people's attention with his story, which I have not read. I don't know if I ever will, but right now I just have other priorities.

I was reading a commentary the other day about the book, and the writer claimed that people keep asking him if there is any truth to The DaVinci Code. I will repeat and slightly paraphrase his response to that question, with appropriate emphasis, in a moment.

I find it almost humorous that many Christian websites and ministries have a feature that in one way or another resembles the following title: "The DaVinci Code: Seperating Fact From Fiction". You can't go anywhere these days without seeing it. Entire volumes of books and study guides have been written in an effort to debunk The DaVinci Code, which is going to be released as a movie this year, I believe.

OK, here is my public comment on The DaVinci Code and whether or not there is any truth at all to it whatsoever:

IT'S ON THE NEW YORK TIMES' FICTION BESTSELLER LIST! Doesn't that make it, by nature, fiction? If there were truth to it or if the book were intended as a serious theological treatise, would it not be on the NON-FICTION LIST?

Seriously, if you're going to base your views on Jesus Christ from a fictional bestseller, you have much larger problem than whether or not there is any truth to The DaVinci Code.

Labels: Bible, Misc comments

Homer Simpson's Email Address?

I was watching a rerun of The Simpsons last night where Lisa got infuriated with Homer over not knowing anything about her. Isn't Homer a great role model for Dads? Uhmmmmmm, beeeeeeeeeer..... Homer, desperate to get his daughter's love back, hired a private detective to learn everything there was to know about her. While working out the details with the private dick, Homer gave his email address. The address that he gave was "[email protected]". Somehow I figured Homer Simson for an AOL user, that is, if fictional animated characters could choose an ISP. I got to wondering, first of all, is anyone really dumb enough to send an email to that address and of course, where does it actually go? Did the producers purchase a dead email address? Another thought I had was about how Hollywood would govern email addresses. Traditionally when a character has to give away a phone number, they'll use the 555 prefix, such as 555-1234. It's supposed to be a dead end, but some people actually dial these numbers and they turn out to be real. I wonder what industry rules will or have been set in place to govern the email addresses of fictional characters? Will they all be on AOL? Will someone make up a fake ISP similar to the old 555 prefix?

Maybe I should devote some time to thinking about things that matter. If anyone has bothered to email Homer, let me know what happened.

Labels: Misc comments

The Notebook- a definite chick flick

After finally giving up asking my wife if she'd like to join Netflix, she finally decided on her own to do it with her sister. The first movie that she got was The Notebook. As an information technology student at the University of Phoenix who is struggling with problems related to an antiquated notebook computer, every time I hear the name of that movie I think of a laptop. My wife asked if I'd watch it with her, and I agreed. It's been a very long time since we've been able to watch a movie together with two small children.

I will say that the movie was pretty good. As a chick flick, I would rate it much higher than Sleepless in Seattle, which I have no intention of ever watching again. I won't give away too much, but it is obviously a story apparently written by women for women about a love that starts during a summer and continues over the years even as both characters think that it is over. The story is something that as I said is for women. Maybe some men would like it. When I was younger, I actually did like chick flicks, but come to think of it Robin Hood and Titanic had story elements and action that males can enjoy. In fact, after several scenes in The Notebook supposedly telling the story of new love, I told my wife "OK, I get the point; they're 17 and in love. This story needs a car chase or a bar fight to break up the monotony."

I would say that the plot remained consistent and the story was well written and well thought out. The acting was believable for the most part, at least, in a woman's world. I find it hard to believe, for instance, that a couple argues all the time and yet makes out right away. My wife and I fight all the time, and we've never done that. Yet women somehow must find story ideas like that romantic. I thought I had the story figured out early on, but the movie was more than halfway through before it was confirmed that I was right. I thought that the ending was well done.

If my opinion matters for anything, I give it five stars and no, I'm not planning to sit through it ever again.

Labels: Media, Misc comments

The Producers of "The Office" Need To Get A Job

I don't know how many people read my blog. I did start it with the intention to post Christian oriented entries, yet it often has not worked out that way. I am on the staff at http://www.tribulationforces.com and post my Bible studies there, as well as a few other discussion forums that I am a member at.

This blog entry will be more of a social commentary. I am hardly skilled at writing movie and TV reviews, so this is my opinion, however unskilled it may be. Last night, after "The Apprentice", which I actually enjoy, NBC introduced a new "comedy" called "The Office". I wish I had a thesaurus because I am having trouble finding a way to describe the show besides "It sucked".

The show is about a regional office of a paper company in Scranton, PA. It is done in a format like a reality show, in that after every thing that happens a character is shown in front of the camera giving a "digital diary" of their thoughts and feelings of what just happened. The main characters are a regional manager who considers himself a friend first, although he is incredibly goofy, a young receptionist, and two quirky men with poorly defined jobs who appear to be comic relief. The one is very anal retentive and the other molds other office members' office supplies into Jello.

I think one gag actually made me chuckle, but I think it was more in spite of the story than because of it. I wasn't amused in the least, and I felt cheated out of a half hour of my life that could have been better spent watching "Forensic Files" on Court TV. The previews for this show did absolutely nothing to draw me in, so the only reason I actually watched it is because they sandwiched it between "The Apprentice" and "ER", two shows I actually watch. "ER" I mostly watch because I've been watching it for so long and can't seem to stop, although I realize that I shouldn't be watching it for several reasons.

I should point out one positive aspect of the show: there was no real sexual appeal that I could discern, although the language and gags I would not recommend for children.

Throughout the whole half hour show, I couldn't shake the feeling that none of the people involved have EVER worked in an office environment, or if they have it wasn't blue collar. It almost seemed as if they were making fun of those of us who do anything besides entertainment for a living, and I will not be watching this show again.

Labels: Media