Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

If there's one bad thing about being in El Salvador, it's that everyone here goes to bed at 9:00. I'm used to staying up until no earlier than 12 or 1, and sometimes as late as 3 or 4. But oh well. Souwa's the same way, so we've been staying up chatting, watching movies, and reading for the past few days. But once she leaves, I have no choice except to keep reading, mess around on my Dad's computer, or sleep. Not fair.

Saw Friends With Money. It was okay. I like the fat guy.

Saw A Scanner Darkly. Was disappointed.

Saw Silence of the Lambs again. Great movie. Hannibal is one of the best movie villains ever. Even Souwa thought it was pretty good, and she doesn't usually like suspense/horror.

All right. Time to force myself to sleep so I can get up and go to church tomorrow.

Quote of Da Moment:
"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."
--The Silence of the Lambs

Well, the holiday season has arrived. After finishing up my exams (which went well as far as I can tell), and spending a few days in DC while Souwa got some medical tests done (read: fried her brain), I'm currently in El Salvador visiting my family. Everyone seems to be doing well. I haven't been doing much except sitting around the house, going with my dad to Osicala, and helping my family get caught up with Battlestar Galactica Season 1 & 2.

Speaking of which, I downloaded the mid-season finale for Season 3 off of iTunes since El Salvador doesn't get the Sci-Fi Channel. So far, this season hasn't been nearly as good as the previous two. It started out with a couple of the best episodes in the series so far, but then it seemed like the writers forgot that they had a lot of really interesting plot twists that needed attention, and didn't go back to them at all. Now it seems like they're finally starting to head in a specific direction after a lot of filler, so I'm hopeful the second half of the season will be better. They're starting to delve more into the history and mythology of the BSG universe, which I find fascinating. Like the show or not, you can't deny it juggles a lot of elements, from politics to action to romance to religion.

It's frustrating to use Blingo and discover that your search is 20 seconds too late to win.

My film blog has been more significantly updated than this one, if only because the past few weeks I've mainly just been sitting around watching movies.

The new Grindhouse trailer has been released, and it looks just as action-packed and graphic as you'd expect from a Rodriguez/Tarantino joint effort. I'm excited.

I finished reading the book The Prestige. I was inspired to read it after listening to an interview with Jonathan Nolan, screenwriter for the film adaptation. I enjoyed it, though about halfway through I realized that I was reading the Frankenstein of this century. Anyone familiar with that classic piece of Romantic literature will recognize the same framing structure and themes, right down to the use of letters and journal entries as a means of telling the story. It was a good book, and had a significantly different ending from the film - one that was definitely more Frankenstein-esque and mysterious.

I also read The Silence of the Lambs. Must. Read. Other books. With. Hannibal. He's definitely one of the best villains ever created, at least in film. Now I want to see the movie again.

I also bought and plowed my way through A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. It's supposedly one of his more controversial books, but I found myself on the whole seeing where he was coming from. There were a few cases where I don't fully agree with him (such as his views on the Bible), but he doesn't say anything particularly offensive or that directly contradict my own beliefs, particularly given the grayness a lot of these matters of faith contain. Right or wrong, I feel like he at least helped educate me on different points of view (as well as some Church history), and I feel more comfortable with a generous orthodoxy rather than a selfish one. It was a thought-provoking book, though I still feel like McLaren is somewhat unclear on various issues, at times intentionally so. Read more books of his I must.

Quote of Da Moment:
"I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts."
-—Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy

Or, more accurately, a semester.

Today was my last day of classes. Woohoo! This has probably been my worst semester yet. It wasn't a bad one, it was just kinda there. Not terrible, not fantastic. Just meh.

Anyways, the reason(s) I haven't been updating are:

1) I have Thanksgiving break.
2) I've been busy watching movies.
3) I'm lazy.

I'll go into the movie stuff on my other blog. Right now there isn't much to say except that you should all help me win prizes by signing up for Blingo. What is Blingo? It's basically Google, except if you search at certain random intervals throughout the day, you win prizes. And it's not a scam, either - I know people who have won iTunes certificates, movie tickets, etc. The only catch is that you have to be a US citizen. So anyways, sign up for it by using my invitation link, that way if you win, I win too.

Here ya go: Clickie.

Anyways, I'll see if I can post more this weekend. Nighty night.