Pixar’s Up

Pixar, AKA “The Studio Who Can Do No Wrong,” has hit the bulls-eye once again with their newest animated feature, Up.

The story follows Carl Fredrickson, a crotchety old man grieving the death of his wife, and setting out to fulfil the dream they had shared to travel to a place in South America called Paridise Falls. He loads his house with helium balloons, and soars into the sky, unexpectedly joined by a bouncy, rambunctious little boy named Russell.

Hilarious and poigniant, this film is filled with the sweetness, humor, and philosophical depth that have made Pixar’s other movies into instant classics. Even as he struggles to fulfil his dream of travel and to memorialize his wife by bringing his house to Paradise Falls, he becomes swept into a new adventure, being forced to choose between chasing old dreams and embracing new ones. The character depth and levels of symbolism in this movie alone will make it worth repeated viewings.

Add to this Pixar’s always-top-notch computer animation. Beautiful on its own, Up is even more stunning in 3D, with vast sweeping panoramas that pull the viewer into the movie.

Up just may end up being my favorite movie this summer. We’ll see.

Parachute Musical

Here I am to introduce you to another great band you’ve never heard of, but should.

I saw these guys open for one of my all-time favorite indie rock bands, Baumer, when they played their farewell show. (Wait… you’ve never heard of Baumer either? Oh, but you must. They won’t be coming out with any more music, but you can still check them out here. http://www.myspace.com/baumer)

Anyway, when I saw Parachute Musical play, I was impressed enough that I picked up their CD. Since then they have rapidly climbed to the position of one of my favorite current bands– their CD becoming an almost permanent fixture in my car.

Parachute Musical is an indie band from Columbia, SC. Playing soulful, funky, piano-and-vocal driven rock and roll, they have a unique sound that is simultaneously relaxing and full of energy. They have a free EP available for download, with several songs that are on their studio-released CD, and a couple new songs that you won’t hear anywhere else. I recommend giving them a listen. You won’t be disappointed. Trust me.

http://www.parachutemusicalfreeep.com/

Book Vs Blog– Book Wins!

Working on Pantheon instead of writing here today. I gotta choose my battles.

Still More Editing

I just finished an edit of Pantheon based on Mr. Gale’s hand-written fixes and notes, focusing on fixing basic grammatical errors (surprisingly not too bad on that front), and minor logic issues. I’m now going back to the beginning to make another pass, fleshing out my characters and the setting with more description, hoping to draw the reader deeper into the story faster. Hopefully this’ll help boost my word count too, as right now it’s a bit on the short side.

I’m planning to make this my last full edit before I begin sending the thing out to agents and editors. I wonder if I’ll ever be completely satisfied with it– At the rate I’m going I can imagine myself perpetually editing and changing it for all eternity. There just comes a point, I think, where one needs to call the thing finished and begin taking the next step. Otherwise, it’ll not go anywhere.

I like Pantheon, quirky as it is, (Greek mythology and the wild west make a strange but fun combonation) and I think others will enjoy reading it too– Im excited to share it with the world. I hope that by adding some better, deeper descriptions (one suggestion I’ve received from several different people) it’ll become an even more entertaining read. I hope to make a lot of progress on it in the days to come.

Gaining Perspective

Yesterday I finished the second half of Lifeguard training, so now I am recertified to perform CPR, First Aid, and water rescues. Ever since, I’ve had the words to that song by The Fray stuck in my head. I know how to save a life.

And so an insane and busy week comes to a close with another busy day. Today my friends Chadd and Caity are getting married, so I’m down in Columbia to attend their wedding. I ended up coming down last night, driven by my mom since my car is currently not street-legal. (Funny story– perhaps for another time.) After a hard week punctuated by illness, stress, and the sudden inability to drive myself places, it’s good to be in the company of some old friends.

I’ve been feeling pretty down on myself lately– frustrated with my job, my town, and my life in general. It’s not worth spilling all the garbage out here, but suffice it to say that I’ve felt… stale. Like I’m not going anywhere. Like I’m in a perpetual state of arrested development. Like nothing changes and nothing will change.

Riding down to South Carolina yesterday evening, I talked through a lot of that with my mom, and I think it was good for me to just get some of it off my chest. Like a good mother, she gave me a lot of advice I’m not sure I’m interested in taking, such as “You should start dating such-and-such-girl. I like her,” but in the midst of our conversation, she gave me one very important gem. It’s something I’ve known, of course, in the back of my mind, but every now and then it’s good to have a reminder.

It’s not all about me.

I have a tendancy to get into a moody, introspective artist mode, where I think a lot about myself. This quickly and easily can degenerate into selfishness, which is probably why I’ve been feeling so gloomy lately. Focused on my own crappy situation, I’ve not been reaching out to those around me in any meaningful way, thus perpetuating my cycle of lonliness and driving me further into the dumps. I need to gain some perspective on my life and begin to see beyond myself again. I’m trying.

So, relaxing with good friends? Check. Getting a fresh perspective on my life? Check.

Sounds like a good start. Let the healing begin.

The Surrogates

I’m a big fan of interesting science fiction. I also enjoy thought-provoking literature, filled with social commentary.

The Surrogates, a graphic novel I recently had the pleasure to read, is both. In a similar vein as 1984 and Brave New World, this prophetic drama has much more to say about our current culture than it does about any possible future.

The story takes place in a world where people no longer leave their homes, but instead control robots in their place, via virtual-reality. This keeps them safe from danger and provides them with a perfect cosmetic facade to hide behind, but also keeps them from actually going out and living. When one man challenges this system and robots begin being destroyed, an aging cop is put on the case, and is forced to examine his life and the world he lives in.

The rough-sketched lines and muted colors of the art style didn’t grip me when I first flipped through the pages, but as I read the story the pictures grew on me as a terrific way to lead the reader into this gritty, too-perfect universe. Not content to merely entertain readers, though, The Surrogates  raises many questions about the consequences of an appearance-obsessed, consumerist culture, the lack of real human contact in a world filled with communication technology, and what it means to truly live. Brimming with compelling ideas that beg discussion, this is a book I highly recommend.

Missing Link

Evolutionary scientists claim to have finally discovered one of the many missing links which proves their theory. They say that this new find shows that apes (and therefore humans) descended from… lemurs.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090519-missing-link-found.html

Oh, brother.

So a new (the term “new” used VERY loosely, seeing as the animal is extinct)species was discovered. Cool. So it had opposible thumbs like apes do. Also cool.  But it doesn’t prove anything.

Rather than let the evidence speak for itself, Evolutionists jump to conclusions based on their preconceived ideas. Rather than finding these bones and saying ,”There once was an animal that looked like this,” they say, “there once was an animal that looked like this, and it evolved into something else.” The problem is that they don’t have the evidence to back that statement up.

Now, evolution happens. I know enough about science and genetics to agree with that. In the strictest sense of the word, evolution means nothing more than slight changes taking place over a long time. Adaptations have been discovered and proven many times. I’m even willing to take this thinking a step further and accept the idea that all apes could have descended genetically from one or two original species of ape. (I’m not sure we have enough proof to say even that– I’m just saying it’s possible.)

But to say that a lemur turns into an ape turns into a man just goes against common sense and logic. There is no real proof out there for such a thing (no– this new finding isn’t proof). Dogs have puppies. Cats have kittens. Lemur things with opposible thumbs have more lemur things with opposible thumbs. There might be genetic changes, but the animal itself doesn’t become anything else.

This becomes especially important when it comes to humanity, of course. Humans are more than merely animals. We are something else. We did not evolve from lemurs or apes or space aliens. We were created in the image of God– but that’s another argument for another day.

I’m Still Here…

I know I haven’t been actively posting the past few days, but I’m far from gone. I’ve just been busy with other stuff… you know, real life. I’ve been quite sick with a fever (and got better), I’ve been working, and I’ve been hanging out with people.

Even this isn’t a real post. This is just a promise that some more are coming… soon. This evening, I’m just too tired/not in the mood to do any real writing.

Star Trek

I am not a Trekkie. I have never watched more than 2 or 3 episodes of the show, have never greeted my friends with the Vulcan hand-sign, and cannot utter even one word in Klingon. Nonetheless, when I went to see the new Star Trek movie, I found it a pleasantly entertaining– a good blend of creative storytelling, compelling characters, and cool action.

Although a basic understanding of the Star Trek universe is helpful, it’s not necessary, as this story is a restart of the Star-Trek story. This movie is not a reboot, in the normal sense, but an alternate-reality, time-traveling story that provides a new, fresh beginning point for familiar characters. Speaking of the new beginnings, all of the new actors fall into their roles perfectly, filling the shoes of these classic characters.

The action and effects are great and fun, but the characters take the center stage, never lost in the cool whiz-bang of computer-generated effects and animation. There is enough humor and drama there to keep the audience’s attention. 

The best word to describe this film is “fun.” That seems to be the goal behind it, and one it hits dead on.

An Evening With Mr. Gale

Last night I went to hang out with Mr. Gale. I finally gave him his copy of the Tell-Tale Heart poster and the “improved soundtrack” version of the film which had sat on my desk for the past few months. He presented me with his edit of Pantheon (and some really good critiques). Then we went out to grab some dinner and see Star Trek. (I’ll be reviewing the movie later.) He’s a Star Trek fan from back in the 60’s, having seen the pilot before it aired when it was presented at the World Science Fiction Convention. So he was a fun person to see that kind of movie with.

Afterward we headed back to his house– I ended up staying much later than I had initially intended, talking books and politics and life in general. It was great to visit with him like that– I consider myself blessed to have a friend like him.

Now I’m off to try to get some sleep this afternoon, since I’m going to be pulling another 12-hour shift tonight.