One thing I can say about this film which I found intriguing is that it seemed to have in mind - or be directed at - a demographic that doesn't exist and this truth is actually mirrored in the pairings of actors who played the couples.
I'm still not sure what to make of it but I'm going to take some time to observe the trend first.
6.9/10
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009
great.
Great - a close friend of mine very recently became engaged to be married. This is hugely exciting. I'm pumped.
Great - last night my three-year-old cousin infomed his mom that the spot between your nose and upper lip is called your "fuddle bone".
Great - today at Starbucks a man asked me, as he was leaving the table we'd shared, "¿habla español?" and I looked up apologetically and said, "no." And then in the next moments, as he confirms ("You don't speak...?") and says he's almost never wrong about this, noting that I have a Spanish face, I think, It would have been more convincing if I didn't understand a Spanish phrase asking whether I spoke the language. I found it fascinating that my brain just translated and delivered an answer without noticing the irony or whatever else.
Great - I was asked to stand up, during church today, welcomed home. It's....always nice to be remembered and enjoyed and corporately befriended.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
et moi, Bruté?
I feel like I've betrayed myself in actually truly liking that song about Fireflies. (I don't feel like looking up the info.)
Minor betrayal: In the last few days I've gotten really into The Moffats (just through their debut album). Wow...I don't think I saw this day coming.
I was watching a video called "The Man who Studies Murder" today as part of the course I'm taking and a lot of it has stuck with me. I kinda don't want to write about it because that is like saying I know where to begin with processing stuff like this.
I don't.
I know that I found the dramatic explanation of the first murder by Jack the Ripper riveting and it made me miss living in Edinburgh a bit. I also know that it's the first time I've had his crimes/story explained to me. It's one of those things that "everybody" "already" knows. We don't explain...so I'm grateful. I think it's also one of those things that gets brutally abbreviated (it's been about 120 years, hasn't it?) which would explain why the people listening to the man speaking also looked like they were having it explained for the first time. Ah. I'm fascinated. (I hope not too much.)
Are we all doing the same thing when we're looking at the grainy, black-and-white photographs of convicted killers (particularly with multiple murders)? Are we all looking for that something which would make us conclude, "Yep, you can see it in their face - born killer." I think we can see that something in someone's eyes or facial muscles which tells us they have killed before. And then I'm sure we profile subconsciously in our everyday life. I can't...I can't agree that this is legit. I think that our photographs have been displayed in the same way long enough that we've been trained to see something that isn't there. I donno.
I gotta pray more when I'm dealing with this material because there is a lot of evil in it, I must say. I was getting really heavy, especially when I came across the story of Mary Bell.
I never realized until just now that it makes sense to take drugs or to drink to obliterate pain you're in. I had never thought through it or entered in until just now, hearing Theoren Fleury on The Hour talking about his experiences. He says that coke and booze will take care of "any kind of pain" And then I tried to unravel what he was saying, from a kind of logical point of view. It seems that if your pain is emotional (i.e. not physical), a psychologist or biologist or other -ist would tell you that resides in your brain (I don't know technical jargon). We all know the needle and the bottle mess with your head. It makes total sense. I had this moment where I thought (for example), "What would happen if I found a narcotic to take away my pain?" My very next throught was, "well I wouldn't want to STOP taking that narcotic." How could you ever go back to regular life with a regular brain and regular cognition and lucidity? How to you ever come down and say, "OK now I can deal with my life and my issues without help"? I see how the addiction begins.
I feel like I understand it all so much better now. I have often wondered how generation after generation has started taking drugs after generation after generation have died or led otherwise horrible lives because of drugs. How do we not learn? (I have the same question for cigarettes but far less insight.) Well...I guess there's more to it than I realized. I guess it's more than something to do, more than an aspect of the way your circle of friends interacts, more than what's taboo, more than what got cut into your weed and now you're hooked without realizing it...I don't know. I don't know anything. My point is only that I am now seeing a facet I'd never seen before.
Minor betrayal: In the last few days I've gotten really into The Moffats (just through their debut album). Wow...I don't think I saw this day coming.
I was watching a video called "The Man who Studies Murder" today as part of the course I'm taking and a lot of it has stuck with me. I kinda don't want to write about it because that is like saying I know where to begin with processing stuff like this.
I don't.
I know that I found the dramatic explanation of the first murder by Jack the Ripper riveting and it made me miss living in Edinburgh a bit. I also know that it's the first time I've had his crimes/story explained to me. It's one of those things that "everybody" "already" knows. We don't explain...so I'm grateful. I think it's also one of those things that gets brutally abbreviated (it's been about 120 years, hasn't it?) which would explain why the people listening to the man speaking also looked like they were having it explained for the first time. Ah. I'm fascinated. (I hope not too much.)
Are we all doing the same thing when we're looking at the grainy, black-and-white photographs of convicted killers (particularly with multiple murders)? Are we all looking for that something which would make us conclude, "Yep, you can see it in their face - born killer." I think we can see that something in someone's eyes or facial muscles which tells us they have killed before. And then I'm sure we profile subconsciously in our everyday life. I can't...I can't agree that this is legit. I think that our photographs have been displayed in the same way long enough that we've been trained to see something that isn't there. I donno.
I gotta pray more when I'm dealing with this material because there is a lot of evil in it, I must say. I was getting really heavy, especially when I came across the story of Mary Bell.
I never realized until just now that it makes sense to take drugs or to drink to obliterate pain you're in. I had never thought through it or entered in until just now, hearing Theoren Fleury on The Hour talking about his experiences. He says that coke and booze will take care of "any kind of pain" And then I tried to unravel what he was saying, from a kind of logical point of view. It seems that if your pain is emotional (i.e. not physical), a psychologist or biologist or other -ist would tell you that resides in your brain (I don't know technical jargon). We all know the needle and the bottle mess with your head. It makes total sense. I had this moment where I thought (for example), "What would happen if I found a narcotic to take away my pain?" My very next throught was, "well I wouldn't want to STOP taking that narcotic." How could you ever go back to regular life with a regular brain and regular cognition and lucidity? How to you ever come down and say, "OK now I can deal with my life and my issues without help"? I see how the addiction begins.
I feel like I understand it all so much better now. I have often wondered how generation after generation has started taking drugs after generation after generation have died or led otherwise horrible lives because of drugs. How do we not learn? (I have the same question for cigarettes but far less insight.) Well...I guess there's more to it than I realized. I guess it's more than something to do, more than an aspect of the way your circle of friends interacts, more than what's taboo, more than what got cut into your weed and now you're hooked without realizing it...I don't know. I don't know anything. My point is only that I am now seeing a facet I'd never seen before.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Offshoots of the Wonderful Counselor
Galtians 5
- It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (1a)
- don't make the Sacrifice and the new life a waste (1b, 2)
- you will be hung by the covenant you choose to live under (3); we cannot have our hands in two cookie jars (4)
- But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope." (5)
Look at me being all selfish & lazy thinking that the pursuit of righteousness is my choice - something optional even. Look at me forgetting that my unrighteousness takes away from Christ's glory. Oh... that I would change. I am so tired and this is really hard. It's a never ending battle. Test me and know.
- the covenant (either one) does not save you and has no value (6a); however there is value in faith and accompanying deeds (6b)
- You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? (7)
This one pegged me mercilessly and I don't have many words for it.
- That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. (8)
This directly speaks to my previous confession, "I feel like You've abandoned me to this stage." Who moved?
- It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (1a)
- don't make the Sacrifice and the new life a waste (1b, 2)
- you will be hung by the covenant you choose to live under (3); we cannot have our hands in two cookie jars (4)
- But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope." (5)
Look at me being all selfish & lazy thinking that the pursuit of righteousness is my choice - something optional even. Look at me forgetting that my unrighteousness takes away from Christ's glory. Oh... that I would change. I am so tired and this is really hard. It's a never ending battle. Test me and know.
- the covenant (either one) does not save you and has no value (6a); however there is value in faith and accompanying deeds (6b)
- You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? (7)
This one pegged me mercilessly and I don't have many words for it.
- That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. (8)
This directly speaks to my previous confession, "I feel like You've abandoned me to this stage." Who moved?
Thursday, 8 October 2009
new.
I have been hoping to start this series for the better part of two years and only now do I feel equipped to do it. I enjoyed the last completed series (Mosaic Tablets from October of 2007) so much that I wanted to start another immediately on the heels of the first but experience has shown me that a rushed or forced writing assignment is a poorly done writing assignment.
I wanted to do a series based on the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5 but my initial thought on that (like two years ago) was not very good. There was a general distaste for the Sunday-school taint that's on it. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people snobbily rattle off the list because it's important to memorize these things. I accidentally memorized it because of a song I heard with an unfortunately catchy melody in the summer of 2004.
Once I decided I could ignore the churchiness, the other problem was not knowing what the words meant. In general I thought the because I've never really heard an expository teaching down the roster, I'm not very well equipped to do a commentary. And then when I dismissed this, insisting that I was able enough, I got hung up on the idea that kindness, goodness and gentleness (particularly kindness and gentleness) overlapped too much. [This secretly made me doubt/dislike the translation and wonder if the author was gettin' rhetorical.] But at some point, not too long ago, the three untangled themselves and I grasped the nuances as the final barrier.
All of this transpired over months and months, in the back of my mind, in the I Wish I Could Write box. A few days ago I decided to jump into the passage and see what I could make of it and - imagine my surprize - I got my face rebuked off. It was nice to connect with the Bible after weeks of being unable to. Because I had read Exodus (and Genesis) twice before and because certain OT things have marinated in my head for a few years anyways, I felt like I had more than adequate context in which to tackle the ten commandments.
Looking at verses 22 and 23 only, I didn't have enough context to do what I wanted to do. I looked back and back and decided that yeah, including 24 and 25 would have to be the bare minimum. Then I thought it would be fine to include 19 through 21 to provide a kind of contrasting context. Then I figured going from verse 16 where the section "Life by the Spirit" begins would be prime. But, even though I was in the middle of a moment where everything in me was childish temper-tantrum-y screaming to STOP and close the book - to cut as many corners as possible -, I thought I should study all of Galatians 5. It would be ideal to take those two verses in the context of those four I just listed plus in the context of other Pauline letters, the New Testament and the entire Bible.
I look forward to the day when I have a good enough handle on OT, NT and the complete Scriptures that I CAN do close readings/writing assignments in the context on allodat.
The desire in me to write under challenge overpowered the desire to go back to whatever else was doing. Haha - ironically I think I was actually writing at the time but it was stream-of-conscious which doesn't count cos I do it constantly....and I happened to be in the middle of some very self-centred "prayers".
I dug in. The plan was to paraphrase point-by-point to basically get the cheap man's version of a sturdy framework. Despite my large detour on account of the things the Holy Spirit was throwing in my face, I made great headway. I finished it up yesterday which was also a treat and now I am just rearin' to go. I'm excited.
My final note: it was a bit disheartening, to realize how many boxes I could check in terms of traits manifesting in my life these days. I was beginning the smally stages of what I would ACTUALLY write about; lookin' for fertile ground and tuned the abstract/conceptual part of my brain to listen: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Nothing. I got nothing. I could write some very negative posts about where I've fallen short but I'd rather not. I'd rather take this opportunity to look long and hard in the mirror and change something BEFORE I walk away. (This is the part where I lean over to wink at and nudge James. "Finally got it, bro.")
I wanted to do a series based on the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5 but my initial thought on that (like two years ago) was not very good. There was a general distaste for the Sunday-school taint that's on it. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people snobbily rattle off the list because it's important to memorize these things. I accidentally memorized it because of a song I heard with an unfortunately catchy melody in the summer of 2004.
Once I decided I could ignore the churchiness, the other problem was not knowing what the words meant. In general I thought the because I've never really heard an expository teaching down the roster, I'm not very well equipped to do a commentary. And then when I dismissed this, insisting that I was able enough, I got hung up on the idea that kindness, goodness and gentleness (particularly kindness and gentleness) overlapped too much. [This secretly made me doubt/dislike the translation and wonder if the author was gettin' rhetorical.] But at some point, not too long ago, the three untangled themselves and I grasped the nuances as the final barrier.
All of this transpired over months and months, in the back of my mind, in the I Wish I Could Write box. A few days ago I decided to jump into the passage and see what I could make of it and - imagine my surprize - I got my face rebuked off. It was nice to connect with the Bible after weeks of being unable to. Because I had read Exodus (and Genesis) twice before and because certain OT things have marinated in my head for a few years anyways, I felt like I had more than adequate context in which to tackle the ten commandments.
Looking at verses 22 and 23 only, I didn't have enough context to do what I wanted to do. I looked back and back and decided that yeah, including 24 and 25 would have to be the bare minimum. Then I thought it would be fine to include 19 through 21 to provide a kind of contrasting context. Then I figured going from verse 16 where the section "Life by the Spirit" begins would be prime. But, even though I was in the middle of a moment where everything in me was childish temper-tantrum-y screaming to STOP and close the book - to cut as many corners as possible -, I thought I should study all of Galatians 5. It would be ideal to take those two verses in the context of those four I just listed plus in the context of other Pauline letters, the New Testament and the entire Bible.
I look forward to the day when I have a good enough handle on OT, NT and the complete Scriptures that I CAN do close readings/writing assignments in the context on allodat.
The desire in me to write under challenge overpowered the desire to go back to whatever else was doing. Haha - ironically I think I was actually writing at the time but it was stream-of-conscious which doesn't count cos I do it constantly....and I happened to be in the middle of some very self-centred "prayers".
I dug in. The plan was to paraphrase point-by-point to basically get the cheap man's version of a sturdy framework. Despite my large detour on account of the things the Holy Spirit was throwing in my face, I made great headway. I finished it up yesterday which was also a treat and now I am just rearin' to go. I'm excited.
My final note: it was a bit disheartening, to realize how many boxes I could check in terms of traits manifesting in my life these days. I was beginning the smally stages of what I would ACTUALLY write about; lookin' for fertile ground and tuned the abstract/conceptual part of my brain to listen: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Nothing. I got nothing. I could write some very negative posts about where I've fallen short but I'd rather not. I'd rather take this opportunity to look long and hard in the mirror and change something BEFORE I walk away. (This is the part where I lean over to wink at and nudge James. "Finally got it, bro.")
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
only in Guelph
"Hi,
I am currently looking for someone who is interested in subletting my room ASAP to April 30th/2010. It is a completely furnished room, with desk, bed, dresser, armoire. Currently living there also are a student couple who are quite neat and very friendly. They also have 2 parrots and a dog, so it is important that you are animal friendly. Also please ensure that you are 420 friendly before replying to this ad ;)."
Monday, 5 October 2009
sheesh.
I watched bits and pieces of the TOR @ WSH game on Saturday and it was weird. Not even just that but watching the Sportsnet updates after the baseball game (last televised Jays one of 2009...) I felt something familiar coursing through me. I remembered why I liked hockey (that's been suppressed for a while) and I'm ascared that it's coming back. Man if you could see the amounts of literature I have in a box and facts, names and numbers I have in my head... it can really take over. That's why I liked it at first.
Then there was that period where I realized it's not as much HOCKEY for the sport that it is, it's a lot of things surrounding it. First off, I don't have the cajones to play it and I think this makes me a poser on a very distinct level. Secondly, I CAN play baseball (...I don't mean softball). I don't know.
The point is, I kinda enjoyed the feeling because at least it means my enjoyment is not completely dead. I'll stay around the water cooler.
In other news, as I was trying to go to sleep (I made the mistake of getting up to go to my bed from the couch after I'd had an hour of pre-sleep because I was WICKED tired but found myself rudely awake again) I was determining what sleeping activity I'd take up. I can't sleep less'n there's nothing left in me. So I read or write or watch something or puzzle or sometimes I can just deal with things in my head that I put on hold from earlier in the day (brainstorming, problem solving, pondering, reliving). Lately I just want to watch. Unfortunately, my friends here have MANY DVDs and many of them are from syndicated television programs that I like. :(
I demanded a frank answer: why do you always prefer TV over reading these days? (I love reading and I'm very behind in some of it.) The answer came quicker and more honest than expected: Because reading doesn't take me far enough or soon enough away. Next thought (from the interrogator's side - the surprised part of me): I'm an escapist...!
Never wanted to be that person. Escapism is lame. It's weak and dumb and ...well... I'm guilty of it now. I never thought it was taking the same form. I was pretty sure I was different. But no. Turns out that in this season (these seasons) of my life, I'm more likely to throw on something that will block out a certain portion of brain activity, which I think I was previously calling a desire to focus more. Sheesh. I think I will have to continue on this subject later.
Then there was that period where I realized it's not as much HOCKEY for the sport that it is, it's a lot of things surrounding it. First off, I don't have the cajones to play it and I think this makes me a poser on a very distinct level. Secondly, I CAN play baseball (...I don't mean softball). I don't know.
The point is, I kinda enjoyed the feeling because at least it means my enjoyment is not completely dead. I'll stay around the water cooler.
In other news, as I was trying to go to sleep (I made the mistake of getting up to go to my bed from the couch after I'd had an hour of pre-sleep because I was WICKED tired but found myself rudely awake again) I was determining what sleeping activity I'd take up. I can't sleep less'n there's nothing left in me. So I read or write or watch something or puzzle or sometimes I can just deal with things in my head that I put on hold from earlier in the day (brainstorming, problem solving, pondering, reliving). Lately I just want to watch. Unfortunately, my friends here have MANY DVDs and many of them are from syndicated television programs that I like. :(
I demanded a frank answer: why do you always prefer TV over reading these days? (I love reading and I'm very behind in some of it.) The answer came quicker and more honest than expected: Because reading doesn't take me far enough or soon enough away. Next thought (from the interrogator's side - the surprised part of me): I'm an escapist...!
Never wanted to be that person. Escapism is lame. It's weak and dumb and ...well... I'm guilty of it now. I never thought it was taking the same form. I was pretty sure I was different. But no. Turns out that in this season (these seasons) of my life, I'm more likely to throw on something that will block out a certain portion of brain activity, which I think I was previously calling a desire to focus more. Sheesh. I think I will have to continue on this subject later.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
preach it!
I missed the introduction to the mini pre-game interview some Sportsnet commentators were having with Cito Gaston. I could only guess that some mild scandal was afoot. And then even after the game and during the rain delay there were more interviews and uncannily I missed critical information due to other sound interference.
Then after the game I finally got as close to the full story as I could. (I knew right away that I had caught it too late to be allowed the privilege of hearing the story from the top because now "everybody knows". Kinda like...when people talk about, "that think with Kanye." If you don't already know, you are DEFINITELY not going to ask.)
Anyways, around the third time that a Sportsnet anchor used the word "mutiny" quite unfairly making this into a bigger deal than is helpful -- especially when then admittedly don't know much and haven't spoken to more than a handful of involved parties -- I concluded, "why didn't they just talk about this stuff in-house?"
Of course, being a certified counselor, professional coach and all-around experienced person, my opinion is pretty educated and important.
I don't know the half of it and I don't need to. It's really their business. I would be....sad if something terrible befell a team that I happen to like but at the end of the day, that's OK. However, if I were allowed to give an opinion, I would say that this [whatever] issue should have been dealt with head-on and promptly by parties who are directly involved. It shouldn't have spread further because of intimidation or gossip (and yes, I know this is easy to say when you're not in the midst of it).
Listening to Gaston after I understood the gist of everything, I unfortunately thought I would end up siding with the players if push came to shove. The way he talks - I know that way. I've heard those people - I've had conflict with those people. When they talk like they "don't understand what the big deal is" and give you the impression that a) they know exactly what the surface problem is and b) they have no clue what the actual problem is or how deeply it runs... then you know it will be a long and dirty fight to even get to the point of seeing eye-to-eye, nevermind the point of resolution.
It's the talk of a bully... a sort of demanding person who is very aware of their position above yours and how little they have to do to keep you happy.
Well...I say this in the wake of one interview. And, I admit that it is opposite to all my previous observations about him. So I will just say now that I'm fully prepared to eat my words.
The following, however, is the reason I posted. From an article quoting the Jays' catcher, Rod Barajas.
"You can't sit there and let problems linger," Barajas said. "A small problem starts growing into a bigger problem, and all of a sudden, if you let this go for another four months, who knows what could happen? So if there are some issues, then absolutely you'd want to be able to talk to whoever you need to talk to to try to resolve them.
Bastian, Jordan. "Barajas hoping to return to Jays in 2010." _MLB.com_. 2001-2009. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. 03 October, 2009. [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091002&content_id=7295626&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor]
Then after the game I finally got as close to the full story as I could. (I knew right away that I had caught it too late to be allowed the privilege of hearing the story from the top because now "everybody knows". Kinda like...when people talk about, "that think with Kanye." If you don't already know, you are DEFINITELY not going to ask.)
Anyways, around the third time that a Sportsnet anchor used the word "mutiny" quite unfairly making this into a bigger deal than is helpful -- especially when then admittedly don't know much and haven't spoken to more than a handful of involved parties -- I concluded, "why didn't they just talk about this stuff in-house?"
Of course, being a certified counselor, professional coach and all-around experienced person, my opinion is pretty educated and important.
I don't know the half of it and I don't need to. It's really their business. I would be....sad if something terrible befell a team that I happen to like but at the end of the day, that's OK. However, if I were allowed to give an opinion, I would say that this [whatever] issue should have been dealt with head-on and promptly by parties who are directly involved. It shouldn't have spread further because of intimidation or gossip (and yes, I know this is easy to say when you're not in the midst of it).
Listening to Gaston after I understood the gist of everything, I unfortunately thought I would end up siding with the players if push came to shove. The way he talks - I know that way. I've heard those people - I've had conflict with those people. When they talk like they "don't understand what the big deal is" and give you the impression that a) they know exactly what the surface problem is and b) they have no clue what the actual problem is or how deeply it runs... then you know it will be a long and dirty fight to even get to the point of seeing eye-to-eye, nevermind the point of resolution.
It's the talk of a bully... a sort of demanding person who is very aware of their position above yours and how little they have to do to keep you happy.
Well...I say this in the wake of one interview. And, I admit that it is opposite to all my previous observations about him. So I will just say now that I'm fully prepared to eat my words.
The following, however, is the reason I posted. From an article quoting the Jays' catcher, Rod Barajas.
"You can't sit there and let problems linger," Barajas said. "A small problem starts growing into a bigger problem, and all of a sudden, if you let this go for another four months, who knows what could happen? So if there are some issues, then absolutely you'd want to be able to talk to whoever you need to talk to to try to resolve them.
"You don't want to go into a brand new season with a whole set of issues. It's going to make for an unhappy season."
Bastian, Jordan. "Barajas hoping to return to Jays in 2010." _MLB.com_. 2001-2009. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. 03 October, 2009. [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091002&content_id=7295626&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
