Sunday, October 16, 2005
Weekend Snooze
I'm going to try and make this a quick post, since I'm tired. Tomorrow (or rather today, since technically it's already Sunday) I plan on sleeping late for the first time in a week. Then I'm going to get up and have my own personal Bible/theological book study time, since I really need to sit down and focus on that. George MacDonald and Witness Lee are cool.
On Friday afternoon I went with two girls to their high school in order to film for a Spanish presentation. Why did we go to their high school? Because it's freakin' awesome! They had a teleprompter, lights, microphones, and the kind of camera I would get if I had a few thousand dollars burning a hole in my pocket (Canon XL1 and XL2, baby!). It was sweet. We filmed it and did a bit of editing. They use Avid, which supposedly what they use in the actual television industry. I'm not surprised; it looked really advanced. I could tell the learning curve was probably pretty steep, even though it did have some slight similarities to Premiere. Anyways, my group's portion of the Spanish presentation is going to make the other ones look like crap. Yay.
This evening I went to the Grains of Time concert. They're the best a cappella group on campus. Cherry is one of the new members, so not only did I get to hear some great music, but I supported my roommate as well. How sweet. The concert was awesome - 2.5 of instrumentless goodness. They had two guest groups perform during the first half from UNC Greensboro and UNC Charlotte, respectively, but Grains stole the show. It was great. And afterwards, they had some great deals on their CDs. I ended up getting 6 CDs for $10. Now that's a deal.
My mom is in the USA and she came to visit me today, so that was cool. We got to go out to eat and did a bit of shopping. I bought Jerry Maguire and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for less than $20, which is awesome.
Speaking of movies: I saw Bulworth. Great movie, very funny, I recommend it. Warren Beatty is great, and it has a lot of interesting things to say about politics. It's basically about a senator who goes kinda crazy. He decides to actually fight for stuff that really matters, which makes a lot of people mad. He also acts like a gangster, flirts with Halle Barry, and raps his campaign speeches. I loved it.
I also just finished watching A Clockwork Orange. Bizarre movie, but good. See, unlike Lolita, I can see why this one was rated X when it was first released. It has tons of sex/nudity/violence. After seeing The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and now this, I have come to the conclusion that Kubrick was the master of movie nudity. The guy knew how to use it effectively and improve his films. I thought this movie was extremely intelligent - it brings up a lot of interesting concepts about morality and free will, and asks the question: would it be better to limit free will if it stopped crime? It reminds me of the whole theological web surrounding creationism and how God created man with free will. Would it have been better if he hadn't, in order to stop us from sinning? This film suggests no, and I applaud it for tackling such a difficult topic. It basically says: yes, people are sick and do terrible things, but this ability to choose is the very essence of what makes us human. We may not like it, but that's how things are. It is up to us to choose how to use the gift of free will. That's how it was meant to be.
Quote of Da Moment:
"All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction."
--Bulworth
-"Choice! The boy has not a real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. The insincerity was clear to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice."
-"Padre, there are subtleties! We are not concerned with motives, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime and with relieving the ghastly congestion in our prisons. He will be your true Christian, ready to turn the other cheek, ready to be crucified rather than crucify, sick to the heart at the thought of killing a fly. Reclamation! Joy before the angels of God! The point is that it works."
--A Clockwork Orange
On Friday afternoon I went with two girls to their high school in order to film for a Spanish presentation. Why did we go to their high school? Because it's freakin' awesome! They had a teleprompter, lights, microphones, and the kind of camera I would get if I had a few thousand dollars burning a hole in my pocket (Canon XL1 and XL2, baby!). It was sweet. We filmed it and did a bit of editing. They use Avid, which supposedly what they use in the actual television industry. I'm not surprised; it looked really advanced. I could tell the learning curve was probably pretty steep, even though it did have some slight similarities to Premiere. Anyways, my group's portion of the Spanish presentation is going to make the other ones look like crap. Yay.
This evening I went to the Grains of Time concert. They're the best a cappella group on campus. Cherry is one of the new members, so not only did I get to hear some great music, but I supported my roommate as well. How sweet. The concert was awesome - 2.5 of instrumentless goodness. They had two guest groups perform during the first half from UNC Greensboro and UNC Charlotte, respectively, but Grains stole the show. It was great. And afterwards, they had some great deals on their CDs. I ended up getting 6 CDs for $10. Now that's a deal.
My mom is in the USA and she came to visit me today, so that was cool. We got to go out to eat and did a bit of shopping. I bought Jerry Maguire and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for less than $20, which is awesome.
Speaking of movies: I saw Bulworth. Great movie, very funny, I recommend it. Warren Beatty is great, and it has a lot of interesting things to say about politics. It's basically about a senator who goes kinda crazy. He decides to actually fight for stuff that really matters, which makes a lot of people mad. He also acts like a gangster, flirts with Halle Barry, and raps his campaign speeches. I loved it.
I also just finished watching A Clockwork Orange. Bizarre movie, but good. See, unlike Lolita, I can see why this one was rated X when it was first released. It has tons of sex/nudity/violence. After seeing The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and now this, I have come to the conclusion that Kubrick was the master of movie nudity. The guy knew how to use it effectively and improve his films. I thought this movie was extremely intelligent - it brings up a lot of interesting concepts about morality and free will, and asks the question: would it be better to limit free will if it stopped crime? It reminds me of the whole theological web surrounding creationism and how God created man with free will. Would it have been better if he hadn't, in order to stop us from sinning? This film suggests no, and I applaud it for tackling such a difficult topic. It basically says: yes, people are sick and do terrible things, but this ability to choose is the very essence of what makes us human. We may not like it, but that's how things are. It is up to us to choose how to use the gift of free will. That's how it was meant to be.
Quote of Da Moment:
"All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction."
--Bulworth
-"Choice! The boy has not a real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. The insincerity was clear to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice."
-"Padre, there are subtleties! We are not concerned with motives, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime and with relieving the ghastly congestion in our prisons. He will be your true Christian, ready to turn the other cheek, ready to be crucified rather than crucify, sick to the heart at the thought of killing a fly. Reclamation! Joy before the angels of God! The point is that it works."
--A Clockwork Orange
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 10/16/2005 01:46:00 AM 
