Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

All right.

We visited UNC and NC State. UNC was just blegh. I hated it. It just didn't "click" with me. NC State was cooler than I thought it would be...maybe I'll apply there, since I should probably apply to a few state schools. UNC did have a Pirate Club though, where people just sit around and talk like pirates, which would be fun.

Yarg! Ahoy me mateys! Set sail fer dat wee lil' island yonder on the starboard side! Yarg!

Fifteen men on a deadman's chest,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Anyways, now we're in Poquosen, Virginia at my great-aunt's house. We went to the college of William and Mary yesterday, since my brother was interested in it, and it turned out better than I thought it would be. We just got back from visiting our friends the Diakuns, which was fun. I hadn't seen them in probably 4-7 years. We played Ping Pong and basketball and listened to William Hung murder "I Believe I Can Fly". What better way to spend an evening?

Tomorrow I'm off to Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park with Christa and Nathan Diakun. It should be lots of fun; we used to go there all the time when I was a kid. My brother didn't want to go on anything fast, but I was the opposite. Every time we went, I would make my parents stop and check my height to see if I was tall enough to go on the roller coasters yet. I guess I'm a daredevil at heart...either that or just insane. Probably the latter. Which reminds me, here are a few of the things still on my list of Things To Do Before I Die:

• Acupuncture (completed)
• Bungee jumping
• Discover what it's like to wear a thong, preferably leopard-skin or glow-in-the-dark
• Go to China
• The Running of the Bulls (yeehaw!)

That's all I've got to say to ye now, ye slimy landlubbers!

Yarg!

We visited Davidson, which was pretty cool, then went to Asheville to visit our old friends the Coombs.  At 2 in the morning my brother and I went with Sarah to Taco Bell, then she let us drive home.  It was dark and I didn't have my contacts in, so I was pretty bad.

We came back to High Point, I bought a ton of stuff, then we headed up to Boone.  We relaxed, at one point I drove a long way up to the house (I was much better when I could see), then we came back yesterday.  Now I'm at my aunt's house.  Tomorrow we being our 10-day journey up to New York, visiting colleges on the way.

In other news, the title of Episode III was recently revealed: Revenge of the Sith.  I hate it.  It's not as bad as "Attack of the Clones", but it still sucks.  Now 50% of the saga has a title with the format "blank of the blank".  My optimism for Episode 3 just went down a significant amount.  Can Lucas not even think of an original title?  It's supposed to pay homage to the original title Episode 6 which was "Revenge of the Jedi".  I don't care.  It's still a bad title.

That's all for now.

Oh, and this is (supposedly) my 50th post, but I think Blogger didn't count one or two at the beginning.  Either way, yay!

The conversation went like this:

"Hey!  I know you guys!"
"Um...yeah...what's up...?"
"I'm great.  Say, what are you girls doing tonight?"
"We're going to a cookout, so..."
"No problem, no problem.  Afterwards, how about you stop by my house and we'll talk some.  Have a few drinks, you know.  Nothing big.  Do you remember where I live?"

It was at this point in the conversation that the light changed, and one of the leaders just screamed "WALK!"  We never saw Javier again.

On Friday, we finished up with the kids.  A few of them cried when we left.  They gave us a few souvenirs, and then we were off.  We stopped in Detroit to go a Tigers game against the Yankees.  It cost $11.50 for a meal, which I thought was ridiculous.  The Tigers creamed the Yankees 8-0...at one point during the game the entire crowd started changing: "Yankees suck!  Yankees suck!"  There was one guy in front of us who kept cheering and standing whenever the Yankees made a decent play, which was kinda funny.

We then drove to Ohio and stayed in the Comfort Inn for the night.  I stayed up until 3 AM talking...then in the morning we were off again.  We watched 5 more movies, and finally we were home.

Whew.

Since then, I've been staying at my aunt's, and yesterday we visited Wake Forest.  Wake Forest was pretty cool except it's not diverse enough for my tastes.  We stayed in Fort Mill with the Shorts, old friends, and that was fun.  I met a cool guy who used to be in my dad's youth group who now teaches a course in analyzing films.  We went to his house and he had a huuuuge DVD collection.  He gave us a few extra books he had on film, and then we went back to the Shorts and watched Annie Hall, which was funny.  I don't think it deserved to beat Star Wars for Best Picture though, hehe.

Today we visited Duke.  It was awesome.  It's definitely the best of the schools I've seen so far. 

If God lived in a building, he would live in the Duke chapel.

Now we're back.  The End. 

Yesterday I typed up a detailed report on what happened Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of my trip.  Unfortunately, I mis-clicked something and Blogger messed it up, so now I guess I'll just give a brief overview.
 
On Friday, we rode on the bus for four to five hours.  We camped out in West Virginia, which was not a lot of fun.  I didn't get a lot of sleep.  On Saturday, we traveled for another 9-12 hours and watched Forrest Gump, Hoosiers, Dumb and Dumber, Iron Will and A Knight's Tale.  When we arrived at our hotel, we checked in and met the missionary couple that had invited us there.  They showed us around the St. Jamestown area, which is the most multi-cultural place in the world.  I heard many different languages and we passed many people in turbans, veils, etc.  I saw a flyer for a Marxist-Leninist party.  It was really cool.
 
On Sunday I went to Blythewood Road Baptist Church, where my group would be doing the Vacation Bible School activities.  After the service, we went to Planet Hollywood and then to the CN Tower.  I ran out onto the glass floor and started jumping on it, which really scared the people with acrophobia.  I still don't understand what the big deal is...I mean, there's like 2 feet of glass separating us from a 1200 foot freefall.  After that we went back to the hotel.
 
On Monday the work began.  Our kids arrived, and things went fairly well.  However, it was kind of hard to get hyper seven-year-olds to settle down.  Plus, there was this kid named John that got on our nerves for the entire week.  He was the oldest (I'm guessing 11-12), and he wouldn't go 10 minutes without disobeying or saying stuff like, "This sucks" or "This is so stupid".  By Friday he was #1 on the List of People We'd Most Like to Strangle.  The schedule was as follows:
 
1.  Sing and Play Bay - have the kids watch a video of other kids singing songs.  Our kids sing along and do the motions.  And yes, I had to do them as well.  The songs were so annoying, at times it took me 45 minutes to get to sleep at night because they kept running through my head. 
 
2.  Survivor Sal - A puppet show.  I never saw it, since I went upstairs with Jennifer and Aaron (the other people in my group) to get ready for Hot Bible Adventures.
 
3.  Hot Bible Adventures - the main Bible point of the day.  On Monday, Jennifer led it but Aaron and I had to dress up as shepherds and perform a short skit.
 
4.  Crater Crafts - the name says it all.
 
5.  Snack.
 
6.  Jungle Gym Games - the kids go downstairs to the gym and engage in recreational activities.
 
7.  Chadder's Island Adventure - the kids watch a DVD about a chipmunk puppet on a reality tv gameshow-thing.  I couldn't stand it, but the kids were mesmerized.  After that, there would be a brief discussion and related activities.
 
8.  Lunch.
 
9.  Whatever major activity had been planned for the day.  On Monday, we went to a park that had a wading pool.  I didn't have my swimsuit, and my intention was to stay along the outside and watch the kids from there.  Unfortuately, kids+ball+water = wet, and pretty soon I was soaked.  It was fun though.
 
After that, the kids left and we went back to the hotel to eat.
 
On Tuesday, I led Hot Bible Adventures; it went pretty well for the most part.  We went to the Science Museum, and Jennifer and I were in charge of watching over the kids named Matt, Jacob and Jonathan.  For some reason, Jonathan had decided I was his favorite leader, which was pretty cool.  He gave me hugs every day and kept dragging me around the Science Museum to all of his favorite spots.  We had a pretty good time, though our group almost got left by the bus.
 
On Wednesday, we went to a place called Pioneer Village, which is supposedly similar to Salem in the US.  The kids had a great time going into old-fashioned houses and learning about how things were done generations ago.  After witnessing their enthusiasm about that and the Science Museum, I have come to the conclusion that the next generation of American kids is going to be, to be blunt, just plain stupid.  I can't remember the last time I saw a group of kids interesting in actually learning stuff.  Also, I'm guessing people would do a lot better in physics if they spent more time at Science Museums studying.  They have examples of practically every single high school physics topic in action. 
 
On Wednesday night, we went to a huge mall and were given around 2.5 hours to just hang out.  I spent $40 on DVDs (Reservoir Dogs, The Godfather, Zulu), and had a good time.
 
On Thursday, I dressed up like a Roman guard in a rather small plastic suit of armor, as part of a skit to illustrate the lesson.  After VBS, we set up a carnival in the gym for the kids to attend.  The church we were at is freakin' rich, and they rented a popcorn machine, a candy floss (that's Canadian for cotton candy) machine, and one of those big bouncy castles for the kids to jump in.  This girl named Mary and I were in charge of the "Fishing Booth".  Basically, the kids cast a fishing line over a table that had been turned on its side (which I was hiding behind), and I placed tickets on the paper-clip "hook" and threw out candy.  Fun fun fun.  There was also some face painting, a ball-throwing booth, this game where the kids had to catch small butterflies, and a bowling activity where they had to knock over huge pins.  During the breaks, I was bored, so I went and placed fake tattoos all over my arms and had people paint my face.  Then I went to the bathroom, where I proceeded to paint the rest of my face blood red.  I looked like a demon.  I also drew a smiley-face on my chest (nipples make good eyes), but I didn't go around lifting my shirt for people to see.  I wasn't feeling that extroverted.
 
We left the carnival early in order to go shopping down Bloor Street, which was next to the hotel.  There was a rather boring department school called Roots that the girls loved, but Aaron and I didn't care for much.  Aaron was going nuts.  While we were walking down the sidewalk, a car passed by playing loud rap music and for no reason he started dancing along.  Then again...that's Aaron.  We also checked out an awesome 3-story book store.  However, I'd say my favorite place (though we were only there for about 2 minutes), was a place called...fcuk.  That's f-c-u-k.  I was very tempted to buy a t-shirt, but they were $35.  They had slogans such as:

• fcuk
• fcuk you
• fcuk it
• fcuk toronto
• too busy to fcuk

I think I spent the entire 2 minutes walking around and just laughing.  I'm surprised people didn't stare at me.

Speaking of strange stores, we also passed places with names like The Groundhog Pub and The Spotted Dick.  Though I think everyone's favorite place (we didn't go inside) was a small shop simply entitled The Condom Shop.  The entire youth group laughed so hard we almost cried.  Toronto is an awesome place, but it sure is liberal.  I had heard that a few of the girls had been hit on by this guy on the street, and as we were stopped at a street corner on our way back to the hotel, guess who decided to show up?  This Latin guy named Javier suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!  I know you!" and began a conversation with a few of the girls...

...though the details of that conversation will have to wait.  I need to go pick up my mom at the airport.

I just got back.  The trip was a lot of fun. 
 
I'll do my best to explain the trip in full detail later.  But for now, I have 38 emails to read.
 
Also:  Go to Google and search for "arjcandyman".  I rule!

I rented and watched a few movies last night. These are films that were praised by critics when they came out but no one went to see. Also, they might have only had a limited release. The chances of these ever arriving in El Salvador are slim to none, which is why I rented them.

Shattered Glass:

This one follows the real-life story of Stephen Glass, a writer for The New Republic magazine that partially or completely fabricated 27 of his 41 published articles and how he was discovered. Glass is played magnificently by Hayden Christensen, who proves, as he did in Life As A House, that when he's not in front of a blue screen he is an excellent actor. The acting is top-notch by everyone, and I was completely drawn into the story. Also, from what I saw of the documentary about the events (with interviews from the real Steve Glass), it stays very close to what actually happened.

The script is excellent. It deserves great praise because not only does it chronicle Glass's attempts to dupe his editors, but it actually duped me. He is more comfortable telling lies than he is telling the truth. I kept expecting to see Glass faking his articles...but that moment never arrives. You'll have to see what I mean to understand. It doesn't the follow the typical here's-a-guy-and-this-is-how-he-changed formula.

8/10. Great movie.

American Splendor:

Another true story, this one is about Harvey Pekar, who wrote about himself and every-day life in the comic book, American Splendor. This one has elements in common with Adaptation (though it's not quite that layered), with the real-life Harvey Pekar narrating for the actor playing Harvey Pekar ("Maybe this movie will bring me a chunk of change") who wrote about Harvey Pekar in a comic book. It follows his discovery of his comic-writing abilities, his marriage to his third wife, his rise to a sort of semi-celebrity status, and his battle with cancer. Real-life interviews with David Letterman are shown, along with frequent interruptions by the real Harvey Pekar, to add even more layers to the whole thing.

It paints quite a bleak picture of what typical, poor American-life is like today. All of the characters in this movie are divorced. Harvey is a slob, and has a problem with his temper. One scene indicates the perception of Christianity shared by many people today (I can't remember any quotes), when one character prays and considers himself "spiritual" without mentioning anything about Christ.

I didn't like it quite as much as Shattered Glass, but it's still excellent. I can see why critics felt Paul Giotti (or whatever his last name is) should have been nominated for an Oscar. 8/10.

In a few hours, I'm off to Toronto on the mission trip. This will be the last post for about 8 days. Bye.

Movie review time! I don't want to post reviews on my site (though I do eventually need to find time to update it) of these, so I'll just post my thoughts here.

The Apostle:

I had high expectations for this movie after reading How Movies Saved My Soul. I was expecting a really profound, spiritual movie. Unfortunately, I was let down. Robert Duvall deserved the Oscar nomination, but this movie just didn't connect with me. Perhaps it was his style of preaching (this guy is definitely not Baptist), I don't know, but I just wasn't involved in the character as I should have been. You either love it or you hate it. I'd give it a 5/10.

However, it does bring up some interesting points about formal religion. Robert Duvall should also be applauded for creating a protagonist, the preacher/apostle Sonny, who is flawed but portrayed compassionately at the same time. He is the definition of many Christians today: his heart is in the right place, and at his core he really loves the Lord, but at times he can be a real hypocrite. The movie is about how he kills a man in a flash of anger and runs away, refusing to take responsibility for his actions. Only when he starts his own church can he truly find himself and be forgiven. It's an interesting premise, but one I think could have been handled better (though many people disagree with me).

Some interesting points about religion:

1. Too much "religious speak". Sonny has been so brainwashed by the church he is unable to talk in a more normal way. Newsflash: Simply saying the name "Jesus" over and over does not make you a Christian, or serve any real purpose, which many of these characters seem to believe.

2. There is a difference in talking and talk and walking the walk. Sonny is excellent at the former but struggles with the latter. He kills a guy and comes extremely close to committing adultery. Then again, he's only human, and I'm sure many people can relate to this.

3. The commercialization of Christianity. I'm sorry, but preaching like that over a radio kind of freaks me out. I don't see how it could do anybody any good. Sonny's sermons are full of style but most of the time they lack substance.

4. Grace and forgiveness. One good thing this film portrays is how grace abounds among a fellowship of believers. There are more than a few conversions, and the congregation is more than willing to forgive all past sins.

There are many other aspects to discuss as well (read the previously mentioned book), though those are the ones that come predominantly to mind.

Overall, it's not bad. Who knows, maybe you'll love it.

King Arthur:

It came out today, and I was there to see it. The theater was nowhere close to being full, so unless this picks up on the weekend I doubt its box-office take will be very high. Which is a shame, since it's better than I thought it would be.

Any movie claiming to be "the real story behind the legend" sounds stupid. And it's true, the old legend of King Arthur has some really cool aspects that would have been good to see in this movie. As its own story however, it's not bad. It does bring up some interesting points of view about faith and Christianity - I can't recall Arthur ever being portrayed as such a religious guy. And, unlike Sonny, he walks the walk. He's the geniune hero, helping others when all of his men tell him to walk away.

The action scenes are pretty standard for a PG-13 movie. I, for one, would have appreciated at least a tad more blood. As it is, some parts feel too staged and unreal. Also, those expecting an all-out action fest should be warned: there actually aren't that many action scenes. The film deals mainly with Arthur and his internal struggle to decide whether or not Rome is worth fighting for (Camelot doesn't exist in this version, and Arthur is a soldier not a king). However, the battle on the ice was a great idea that was carried out perfectly. I loved it. I'm surprised something like this hasn't been put in a movie before...if it has, I don't remember seeing the movie.

Things I Liked:

1. The Knights. These are just normal guys who sit around talking about freedom and women. Some of the jokes are pretty funny.

2. Keira Knightley. She's hot. And when she's painted blue she looks really demonic, but still hot.

3. The religious/faith aspects mentioned earlier. Though I'm not really sure if the movie is portraying Christianity in a positive or negative light (you'll see what I mean). At least it takes it seriously though, which is more than most films these days.

4. Clive Owen. Surprisingly good. He's not a buff hero like Brad Pitt or Eric Bana. Just an average soldier with his heart in the right place. There are probably people out there who could have done a better job with the role, but he gets the job done.

Things I Did Not Like:

1. The sex scene. Completely gratuitous, and not in character. Stupid Keira.

2. The narrator. How could the people making this movie not realize what a major continuity error this is?

3. Excalibur. There's nothing about why it's more special than any other sword. Plus, it doesn't even look that cool.

Overall though, not bad. In comparison to Troy, it might actually be better. Especially when you consider that Troy had a budget of $200 million. 7/10.

Okay. So, we hung out at the campground for a while. Then, we left at 7 to go see fireworks. Everyone parked by the side of the road and we hung out until about 9:30. I basically just played Game Boy for all of that time. The fireworks were some of the best I've seen; red-white-and-blue, hearts, smiley faces...they were pretty cool.

Speaking of which, Happy Belated Birthday USA! Woohoo!

Terri's pal Natalie came. She went with us back to the campground. She does acupuncture - in other words, she gets paid to stick needles in people. Seeing as how Acupuncture is on my "List of Things To Do Before I Die", it was only natural for me to say, "Acupuncture?! I wanna do it, I wanna do it!" She was quite happy to oblige.

We went back into a tent, and I laid down (this was after she checked my pulse and stuff...I don't know what the point of that was, since a needle's a needle no matter how fast my heart beats). She told me all this stuff about how the body has different energy patterns, and sticking needles in people somehow magically helps to put things back into "balance". I don't know if I buy in to all that weird energy stuff, but anyway, she felt around my body for an energy path or something, then started sticking the needles in.

The majority didn't hurt at all - at most it was like a mosquito bite. She stuck two in each hand, one in each leg, two in my stomach and two in my forehead. Ten in total. I could look up and see needles sticking out of my head. At first it was like: "Whoa...I've got needles stuck in me." Then it was like: "AAGGHH! I'VE GOT FREAKIN' NEEDLES STUCK IN ME!" Once your brain overcomes the whole idea, it's not so bad. Kinda relaxing, though I guess that's the point. After a while I realized I could barely move my fingers. They felt really heavy. I guess that's what it's like being high. But after they were pulled out, things were fine.

I'm at my Aunt Brenda's house now. About 10 minutes ago I received my order from www.allposters.com. I bought 3, and my brother bought 4 in their sale about 2 weeks ago, when some items were only two bucks. Now my room won't be so boring. I got one from The Matrix Revolutions and Return of the King...plus, my personal favorite, the Donnie Darko theatrical poster. The one with the huge, evil-looking bunny rabbit face on it. All right!

That's all for now. Karen and Souwa, have a safe flight to California. Say hi to William Hung for me.

Da Man of Da Week for last week is whoever that guy is who played Frank the Bunny. He's cool.

Da Man of Da Week for this week is Tobey Maguire, because he's Spider-Man, and Spider-Man is awesome.

Well, I'm in Boone now. I slept most of the way here, and then kept sleeping once we arrived. I'm exhausted, but having fun. Tonight I'm not going to the campground (I'm not a fan of humid tent-life in the rain), but I'll be there tomorrow when the weather has cleared up.

And since the house here has DSL, in a room other than my grandparents', I can stay online all night long if I want to. Plus, there's satellite TV. Yippee.

I'm starting to think about what to buy now that I'm in the USA. Only 2 things come to mind:

1) A portable DVD player for those long trips to different universities.
2) DVDs to watch on it.

Hopefully I'll have enough money to buy those - portable DVD players have really lowered in price since a few years ago ($1200 then to as low as $100 now). Plus, there are some great, cheap video games I could always buy if I get bored.

Hm...Mission Impossible 3 is due to be released on June 29, 2005. Now that I know it's definitely being made, I can only hope it will be better than the last one. If they keep making these, eventually Tom Cruise is going to get too old. I can just imagine Mission Impossible 4: Nursing Home Invasion...

That's all I can think to write about.

Went to Gardner-Webb University today.

It was very similar to Campbell, though I think I like Campbell slightly more. The campus was nice, but not as nice. The dorms were basically the same, though they did have a few extra drawers and desk space. No closet though, just a bar to hang clothes from. And the bathroom is down the hall and shared by the entire hall. That scared me, especially after seeing Campbell's one bathroom per 4 people.

We stopped by a huge mall on the way back. I picked up a copy of James Joyce's Dubliners since I might be needing it for my 4000-word Extended Essay. I'm tired, and I've eaten so much I feel like I've gained 20 pounds. I bet I haven't gained any at all. Stupid metabolism.

I'm sad. Marlon Brando died. Let us all have a moment of silence for Don Corleone, and one of cinema's finest actors.

...

I'm leaving tomorrow to go camping in Boone, and I don't know if I'll have access to a computer there to update. We come back Tuesday. Then on Friday I'm off to Toronto.

*yawn*

Okay, time to finish talking about the Spider-Man 2 "experience". By that I mean what occurred at the screening. Though I forgot to mention before that there is some very cool Christ-imagery (you'll have to be blind not to notice it), but I can't really see much point for it. Then again, Jesus is the coolest super hero ever.

Moving on...

Everything was fine before the movie started, until my aunt leaned over and whispered to me that she thought the two girls behind us were making out. Now, I am not homophobic (unless "homophobia" means "considering homosexuality a sin"), and that should be established before I say anything more. Since homosexuals are so rarely encountered (scratch that, change it to "almost never") in Latin America, I couldn't help but be interested. I was seated at such an angle so I could safely sneak glances at them before the movie started, but I didn't catch them doing anything more than sitting next to each other. However, after the movie, they walked out holding hands and holding onto each other in a very "more than friends" way. I know this is the US, and girls can do things like hold hands and not be considered homosexual, but this was definitely more than that. There were two guys with them, but I'm not sure what they were there for. Were they trying to disguise themselves as straight couples, or were the guys there merely to watch?

The other interesting part of the movie was during Spidey's final confrontation with Doc Ock. They're fighting, and Mary Jane decides to help out. So she picks up this wooden board, raises it above her head, and--

The screen goes blank.

This was quite possibly the best part of the movie, though, since the entire audience immediately reacted with such exclamations as, "Hey!", "Aaaawwww!", "What's going on?", "I want my f****** money back!" My brother leaned over and said something to the effect of, "I guess that's it until Spider-Man 3." It was hilarious. 30 seconds to a minute and a half later, it was back on. The battle was over, and I still have no idea what Mary Jane did or how Doc Ock ended up on the ground. The lights were left on for the remainder of the show.

My guesses as to what could have happened during that critical moment in the film:

1) Mary Jane hits Doc Ock (or gets swatted away), and this gives Spider-Man time to beat him up and throw him to the ground.

2) The three characters break out into a song-and-dance version of the Spider-Man theme song, until Doc Ock trips and falls, ending the fun.

3) Kirsten Dunst just holds up that board and poses with it so she can earn her salary. Spidey and Doc Ock engage in a staring contest, and Doc Ock loses.

4) Spider-Man does stand-up comedy, and Doc Ock nearly laughs himself to death.

I'm having trouble deciding which is the most likely.

Now I am going to talk about my thoughts for the upcoming sequel. If you have not seen Spider-Man 2, stop reading, since there will be references to major plot spoilers.

Ehm.

What I Definitely DO Want To See in Spider-Man 3:

Mary Jane's husband saying something to the effect of, "Crap! She left me at the alter for Spider-Man! I am going to kill him!" Then he gets exposed to radioactive space dust and mutates into the film's second villain. Venom would be awesome! Though I guess a guy named Eddie Brock has to fill that post.

Harry Osbourne gives the Green Goblin costume a much-needed makeover. Pleeeeeeeeeease!

What I Definitely DO NOT Want To See in Spider-Man 3:

A shot of Mary Jane exclaiming, "Bye, honey!" as Spidey swings out the window, off for another night of stopping crime.

The same Green Goblin costume as before. At least change that stupid mask.

Events similar to the Aunt-May-dangling-from-the-building parts of Spider-Man 2. That's not good filmmaking, it's audience manipulation.

A Spider-Man/Mary Jane sex scene with all kinds of twisted spider stuff. Ew.

What WOULD BE COOL To See in Spider-Man 3 But Might Possibly Have Absolutely Nothing To Do With That Movie:

Aunt May kicking the crud out of the Green Goblin.

Spider-Man actually not being able to save an innocent bystander. More guilt = more internal conflict = potential for great development = angry Spidey on a rampage of destruction. Oh yeah!

Spider-Man fights evil clones of himself or Green Goblin which turns into a blantant Matrix rip-off (but a cool one).

Doc Ock's not really dead. He joins Green Goblin and a new guy for some awesome 3 vs. 1 fight scenes.

Spider-Man is played by Jake Gyllenhaal, or however you spell that (Donnie Darko). Frank the Bunny comes up and torments Harry. There's some really confusing time travel stuff, Mary Jane dies, and Harry goes back in time to fix things and make it so his dad doesn't die.

The spoilers are over now, people.

On to other things. Last night I went to the meeting at Ardmore and found out what I'll be doing in Toronto. Here's the deal. I'm working as part of the Vacation Bible School group (which unfortunately means I can't count it as CAS credit). We'll be doing activities with a group of kids, the oldest of which are fifth graders. The theme is Hawaii, and there will be appropriate decorations (including a volcano), and I have some new Hawaii-themed shirts and sandals to wear. Part of my job will include dressing up in costumes (a shepherd and a prison guard). Plus, I have to lead the activities 2 days. As in, follow the manual, teach the lesson, say what I'm supposed to say. That's going to take a lot of memorization. I have 8 days to practice being extroverted, otherwise these kids are going to be really bored.

That's all I feel like mentioning about that. Tomorrow I go to Gardner-Webb. Saturday I'm off to the mountains and camping in Boone. My account will also finally have money in it, so I can buy stuff (movies, portable DVD player, movies, video games, movies, etc.).

It's preaching time again. It's been a while since I went off on a post-modern/theological/religious/whatever-you'd-call-it rant, but here goes.

Firstly: I finished reading How Movies Saved My Soul again - fascinating look at movies, and it has some very good things to say about the state of the church today. One of my favorite lines, taken from the chapter on brokenness (paraphrased): "Jesus is not Prozac." Amen to that. Too often do people assume that becoming a Christian (which they also mistakenly think only involves saying a prayer mentally and ignoring the love-your-neighbor-as-yourself-clothe-the-naked-feed-the-poor-and-walk-like-a-follower-of-Christ part. And yes, I'll admit to sometimes falling into that trap) means that all their problems will be solved and they will be happy for the rest of eternity.

WRONG!

Christians get depressed too, and anyone who says they don't is probably lying. The major difference is that strong Christians are more able to deal with their problems. They've got Christ on their side. If the Lord is for us, who can stand against us? Brokenness is a major part of being human. It helps us stop taking life for granted and develop character. It is one of the keys to spiritual growth. If life is always happy and care-free, how can we ever grow? On a side note, why is it we only draw close to God when times are tough and not when they're good? This needs to stop. Also, as Gareth Higgins pointed out in the previously mentioned book, if anything our lives should be even harder as Christians. We're called to "take up the cross", and I'm pretty certain that doesn't mean a walk in the park. We need to wake up, and realize that being sad is not a sin but actually a vital part of being a Christian and indeed, being human.

I can't remember much about the movie, but I'm pretty sure Shadowlands conveys this point pretty well. Watch it.

Secondly: time to talk about profanity. I've been meaning to put down my thoughts on this for a while, but never felt the moment was right. What is going to follow is going to be an outpour of all my thoughts on the matter. I apologize if this is poorly structured, or doesn't make sense. Also, be warned that this might offend people. If I feel the need to type a swear word while typing this, I'm not going to use the dash marks or asterisks that I used previously in this post (that came before this warning). The full word will be typed, and if you don't like it, tough. You all knew what I meant anyway.

I'll begin with a quote from Tony Campolo. I don't know a lot about this guy or his views, but this is one statement he uses a lot that I agree with:

"You want to know about what is profane? I will tell you. Right now there are 500,000 children dying of starvation in Africa each and every day and you don't give a DAMN/SHIT/FUCK about it! And the most profane thing I can think of is that right now you are more concerned with the fact that I said a cuss word than the fact that I just told you about the death of 500,000 innocent children."

Christians need to stop freaking out so much about swear words. To put it simply: This is the way people, especially non-Christians, talk nowadays. You don't have to agree with it, but deal with it. Regarding profanity in film or other forms of pop culture: because of my former statement, it is needed most of the time. These words have been integrated into part of the English language, and are now more commonly used than their "less offensive" substitutes. Most of the people using these words are not Christians, so what do you expect? The one thing I do have a problem with is when films use more than is realistically called for (though admittedly I'm not sure how much is "realistic" these days). In movies such as Good Will Hunting, where the characters are non-Christian, average every-day people (perhaps un-educated as well), don't be surprised to hear such a plethora of profanity. It is necessary for the script, and I don't think it diminishes the quality of the movie in any way. I'll refrain from commenting on Pulp Fiction, since I haven't seen it, but it's possible that its 260 f-words are warranted as well.

Focus on what's more important. To get upset over mere words when there are bigger things at hand is hypocritical. As Marlon Brando stated in Apocalypse Now: "They train our young men to drop fire on children, but they won't let them write 'fuck' on their bombs because they say it's obscene."

Also, I'm wondering what the basis is for Christians not to use these words. What is the standard for a word to become "profane"? I don't recall any verse in the Bible that says "Thou shalt not say 'fuck'/'ass'/'shit'/'bitch', etc." There is a verse that mentions we should not let "foul language" emerge from our mouth. But what is the definition of "foul language"? In my mind, "foul language" could be referring to any word or phrase that degrades God or another human being. But I don't see Christians getting upset when people are called "idiots". By this definition, words used as exclamations such as "Damn! Shit! Fuck!" are not foul. How come some words are seen as stronger than others? There's a double standard going on here...

My basic point is that we should stop placing so much emphasis on it. Christians refuse to go to movies that have "too much" profanity in them, but there's less debate over films that portray liars and thieves. If you consider some words a sin, why are some sins acceptable viewing material and others are not? The world is sinful. Things will be done, seen, and said that you don't like and disagree with. Accept it. Don't ignore it to the point that you become de-sensitized to it (Paul calls for us all to keep our minds and hearts "pure of Spirit"), but realize that sin exists, and things as simple as mere words should not receive more attention as actually helping the people who say them. The only phrases I personally consider to actually be "profane" are "God-damn" and other words that violate the third commandment (why does "fuck" receive so much attention, anyway?). And honestly, I would be tempted to use swear words myself since I can't see what's so sinful about them, except for:

1) I was raised not to say them, so it seems unnatural for me to say them.
2) The Bible says we shouldn't do anything that might "offend" other people or cause them to sin. Since I'm still slightly undecided on what words are "sinful" and don't want to offend people, it's better just not to say them.

And so ends my rant. Those of you who chose not to read it due to the swear words (I will refrain from saying what I think of that) are now free to continue reading.

Though there isn't much to read. Time for me to leave. If you agree or disagree, leave a comment (that leaves no excuse for you not to).

On another note: My last post received a comment by someone named Isabel. Isabel, I don't know if you are:

1) Someone I met but can't remember.
2) A friend disguising themselves as a stranger.
3) An actual stranger who managed to find this blog.

If you are reading this and fit criteria #3, I'd be interested in knowing that, since it means my blog is (possibly) being read by a wider audience.

That goes to the rest of you people I don't know.

Whoa, that's a long post.