Half-Brother to TTAM #19: Letting your life and your likes be dictated by fads.
It started about a week ago. In my facebook and twitter feeds and on internet news sites I noticed that people were having buckets of ice water poured over their heads. At first, it was just athletes and celebrities. But in just a week it's spread to everyone. Random people are being nominated to have buckets of ice water poured over them. Everybody's doing it.
What is it? Something called the 'ALS ice bucket challenge'. I know...it's a fundraiser for ALS, and to raise 'awareness' of ALS. In the past day I've seen probably 25 people do variations on this theme, all because they support the cause. They care.
But here's the thing...what is ALS? Would half the people who have taken this challenge really try to figure out what ALS is? Has their knowledge of ALS increased because of this? What are some ways their ability to cope with ALS has increased in the last week? How many have chosen to take this cause up until at least Labor Day? I'm assuming (since nobody has really explained what ALS is as part of their challenge) that ALS refers to what is sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease...a nasty disease in which one's body wastes away, named after the famous Yankee first baseman. It's awful, and I wouldn't want to get it. I support wanting it eradicated.
But, beyond raising money (something I haven't really seen anybody really doing, though one friend of mine says they have raised $31 million...but this week? Month? For who?), how do you really care? How do you show your support for this? Again, I have learned nothing even as supposedly my awareness is supposed to be raised. How do I detect that I (or somebody I know) is coming down with this? How should I help somebody who has this? Where do I even give money to help researchers? What kind of treatment options are being explored? In all these posts, nobody has explicitly said anything about this. Instead, they've had buckets of ice water poured on them. And that does, what?
The reality is that this kind of 'caring' happens all the time. Click a button on facebook, and you show your support. That's it. Want to get rid of an African child slaver? Watch a Kony 2012 video! Want to show how much you hate breast cancer? Watch the NFL as they wear pink socks for a month! Want to hate some other kind of cancer? Buy a cheap plastic wristband!
Awhile back a friend got really interested in how Christians were being persecuted, particularly in North Korea. He printed out a form letter written to the North Korean dictator and wanted me to sign it. It contained allegations that I had not investigated. It pledged to 'do everything I can to let the world know' of his actions. I read the letter, not knowing much about what was going on, but had I signed it, it told Kim Jong Un that I meant business! I am certain that all these identical form letters has left Kim shaking in his boots.
I know...I'm a harsh, unfeeling bastard. I really am. I must not care because I am questioning the intentions of a lot of people who think themselves well-intentioned. I am asking whether people will actually do something substantive about things that they suddenly now have gotten interested in, or whether they are just being sheep that are trying to make themselves look good and supportive.
But maybe it's time that we start trying to do something real and genuine, rather than just do something that is full of empty symbolism. You really want to show that you care?
-Go and find somebody with ALS or Alzheimer's or dementia and meet their caregivers. They're probably exhausted, because those diseases (and many others) are brutal not just on the one who has it, but those who take of them. Why not give them a break? Agree to sit with the person for a few hours so they can go shopping or out to dinner with a friend. If you're really brave, agree to sit up with the person for an entire night so that their spouse can get a good night's sleep.
-Ticked off about African dictators who kidnap kids? Go an volunteer to be a soccer coach or a Big Brother or a Sunday school teacher at your church. Actually get to know and support kids where you are, especially those who don't have good parental figures in their life.
-Angry about how certain religious minorities are being treated in other parts of the world? Get to know a religious minority where you live. Show them that Christians here in mid-America don't hate them just because of the color of their skin or the way that they speak or the god that they worship. Show them genuine love, rather than sharing on facebook some article about how all Muslims are obviously terrorists.
It's time we did more than just be supportive.
It's time we did more than just tell people how much we care.
It's time we stopped with all this symbolic crap, and did something real.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Yo, Adrian!
The other day I was lounging around and one of the cable networks had a 'Rocky' marathon going on. Rocky is one of those iconic movie franchises that's always on TV, so I remember it in bits and pieces rather than as a whole. It's unlikely that I've ever seen most of the movies in their entirety, uncut, but I've seen some of the scenes a half-hundred times. How many times have I seen Rocky running to the top of the mountain somewhere in Siberia and think, yeah, I need to get outside more?
But the other day I caught the beginning of the first Rocky, when he's in the middle of the fight at Resurrection A.C. and after getting head butted he knocks the crap out of Spider Rico before going back to the locker room to get his $65 (minus the cost for the towel, locker, cutman, and taxes). Since I had little else to do (actually I did, but didn't want to) I tuned on in. A few thoughts on Rocky, 38 years later.
1)Adrian isn't nearly as much a wet blanket in this movie as she is in later years ("YOU CAN"T WIN!"); she's just a homely girl from the neighborhood who lives with her abusive and drunk brother. To me she's one of the more fascinating characters at this point. I fear that at some point she was molested by her brother or another relative. But what gets me about Adrian and Rocky's relationship in this movie is how at first he's really a bit of a stalker, and second, when she finally goes out on a date with him that he basically date-rapes her in the end. She walks him home (!?), then he practically forces her to come inside of his apartment. Then, when she keeps trying over and over again to leave, he won't let her go...and then they do the deed. Society had a much different perspective on power roles of men and women in those days. Today if that scene was re-made, there would be huge protests about how Rocky forced himself onto her, and rightly so. Hey Rock, NO MEANS NO. Creep.
2)During his training Rocky goes into a frozen meat locker and finds that he likes hitting a side of beef. Paulie says that his boss says it's OK...but is it really? And if it is, aren't there huge health code violations there? Where is the USDA? Yes, there's prime, choice, and select cuts of beef, and finally beef that has been used for a punching bag. And who, after the news report of what he's been doing, does any reputable restaurant or grocery in the area want to buy meat from Shamrock meats?
3)Apollo Creed didn't know it was a damn fight, he thought it was a damn show! That's why he allows himself to be knocked around for 15 rounds before winning in a split decision. Apollo, after a long period of being champion (had he beaten Smokin' Joe Frazier into retirement? And where was Foreman and Ali? Jerry Quarry, anybody?) really was focusing too much on the PR stuff and wasn't ready to fight. But then, what about Rocky 2? Was Apollo simply past it at that point? Had the first fight ("AIN'T GONNA BE NO REMATCH!") taken too much out of him? Not really...he really whipped up on Rocky most of that fight, and only lost because of a lucky punch at the end. The reality is this: Rocky was lucky to land in that period between the great heavyweights of the early 70s and the reality that was Larry Holmes. That's why in the first montage of Rocky 3 he was able to beat all those tomato cans that Mickey set up him up to beat. To sum up: Rocky wasn't a great fighter, just a really tough guy who a)got lucky to catch fat Apollo b)then got lucky to get Apollo at the end, be way behind on the cards and get a lucky punch in and c)finally got lucky to face tomato cans before Clubber Lang came along who, truth be told, was a much better fighter.
4)If Rocky was made today, he'd never get the chance. Two days after the announcement, Outside the Lines would report that that Rocky beat up deadbeats and broke their thumbs and hung around with the mob. Fight off. Either that, or the story would have to be that he had spent time in jail and was now trying to be reformed and put his life back together. The backstory would have to be totally different to fit in our times, and it would fundamentally change the story. Rocky was too much a bum as he was to survive today.
But the other day I caught the beginning of the first Rocky, when he's in the middle of the fight at Resurrection A.C. and after getting head butted he knocks the crap out of Spider Rico before going back to the locker room to get his $65 (minus the cost for the towel, locker, cutman, and taxes). Since I had little else to do (actually I did, but didn't want to) I tuned on in. A few thoughts on Rocky, 38 years later.
1)Adrian isn't nearly as much a wet blanket in this movie as she is in later years ("YOU CAN"T WIN!"); she's just a homely girl from the neighborhood who lives with her abusive and drunk brother. To me she's one of the more fascinating characters at this point. I fear that at some point she was molested by her brother or another relative. But what gets me about Adrian and Rocky's relationship in this movie is how at first he's really a bit of a stalker, and second, when she finally goes out on a date with him that he basically date-rapes her in the end. She walks him home (!?), then he practically forces her to come inside of his apartment. Then, when she keeps trying over and over again to leave, he won't let her go...and then they do the deed. Society had a much different perspective on power roles of men and women in those days. Today if that scene was re-made, there would be huge protests about how Rocky forced himself onto her, and rightly so. Hey Rock, NO MEANS NO. Creep.
2)During his training Rocky goes into a frozen meat locker and finds that he likes hitting a side of beef. Paulie says that his boss says it's OK...but is it really? And if it is, aren't there huge health code violations there? Where is the USDA? Yes, there's prime, choice, and select cuts of beef, and finally beef that has been used for a punching bag. And who, after the news report of what he's been doing, does any reputable restaurant or grocery in the area want to buy meat from Shamrock meats?
3)Apollo Creed didn't know it was a damn fight, he thought it was a damn show! That's why he allows himself to be knocked around for 15 rounds before winning in a split decision. Apollo, after a long period of being champion (had he beaten Smokin' Joe Frazier into retirement? And where was Foreman and Ali? Jerry Quarry, anybody?) really was focusing too much on the PR stuff and wasn't ready to fight. But then, what about Rocky 2? Was Apollo simply past it at that point? Had the first fight ("AIN'T GONNA BE NO REMATCH!") taken too much out of him? Not really...he really whipped up on Rocky most of that fight, and only lost because of a lucky punch at the end. The reality is this: Rocky was lucky to land in that period between the great heavyweights of the early 70s and the reality that was Larry Holmes. That's why in the first montage of Rocky 3 he was able to beat all those tomato cans that Mickey set up him up to beat. To sum up: Rocky wasn't a great fighter, just a really tough guy who a)got lucky to catch fat Apollo b)then got lucky to get Apollo at the end, be way behind on the cards and get a lucky punch in and c)finally got lucky to face tomato cans before Clubber Lang came along who, truth be told, was a much better fighter.
4)If Rocky was made today, he'd never get the chance. Two days after the announcement, Outside the Lines would report that that Rocky beat up deadbeats and broke their thumbs and hung around with the mob. Fight off. Either that, or the story would have to be that he had spent time in jail and was now trying to be reformed and put his life back together. The backstory would have to be totally different to fit in our times, and it would fundamentally change the story. Rocky was too much a bum as he was to survive today.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Thoughts on painting my house...
So this summer I decided to paint our house. It has been a combination of brick, yellow, and and faded brown trim...you can't do much about the brick, so the other two have needed work for awhile. Instead of getting a power sprayer, I am using only brushes. We are doing some other projects that we are having to pay people for, so I decided to do this myself. Here, about a third of a way through the project, are some thoughts about painting my house.
1)Brushes matter. Don't buy the cheap brushes, because they suck. Spend a few extra dollars for some good ones.
2)The concept of a trim color adds about another 50% time needed for a project. Do one color, and it doesn't matter when a misplaced brushstroke touches an edge. Do two colors, and that misplaced stoke makes me want to curse.
3)I've got about 4 hours of good painting in me a day, broken down into two segments of two hours. If I keep pushing on, my strokes get sloppy. Enough is enough.
4)The whole project is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.
5)Painting is not hard work, but it requires a lot of concentration. Having to watch the kids at the same time doesn't work.
6)Rough wood requires the most paint but needs less touch-up. Smooth surfaces paint easier, but usually need a second coat.
7)Finding the proper placement for ladders over shrubs and bushes is vital to not messing up your back and not having to strain to get that one little spot.
8)Why on earth would anybody have painted this house yellow? C'mon now.
9)I need a taller ladder, but thankfully I have friends who can loan me one.
10)It's the trim and the little areas around windows that take the most time. Big patches of wall are easy. It's the little things that take the most time.
1)Brushes matter. Don't buy the cheap brushes, because they suck. Spend a few extra dollars for some good ones.
2)The concept of a trim color adds about another 50% time needed for a project. Do one color, and it doesn't matter when a misplaced brushstroke touches an edge. Do two colors, and that misplaced stoke makes me want to curse.
3)I've got about 4 hours of good painting in me a day, broken down into two segments of two hours. If I keep pushing on, my strokes get sloppy. Enough is enough.
4)The whole project is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.
5)Painting is not hard work, but it requires a lot of concentration. Having to watch the kids at the same time doesn't work.
6)Rough wood requires the most paint but needs less touch-up. Smooth surfaces paint easier, but usually need a second coat.
7)Finding the proper placement for ladders over shrubs and bushes is vital to not messing up your back and not having to strain to get that one little spot.
8)Why on earth would anybody have painted this house yellow? C'mon now.
9)I need a taller ladder, but thankfully I have friends who can loan me one.
10)It's the trim and the little areas around windows that take the most time. Big patches of wall are easy. It's the little things that take the most time.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Background Jesus
I've noticed a strange thing in local businesses in recent weeks: contemporary Christian music being played as the slightly audible music playing in the background. My local grocery store has done it for awhile, and last week the same thing was at Wendy's. It's not just that one song has snuck onto a playlist, but I stopped and listened...the whole time I was in these businesses, I could hear the quiet sounds of this music filtering into the heads of those who shopped and ate at these places.
I'm not here to say this is a bad thing. I'd much rather have my children hear this kind of music than most of the stuff on country or pop radio these days. To hear about how God is awesome is much more preferable than hearing about tractors, dirty girls, and the grunts that make up most of the stuff one hears today. I'm grateful that management of these businesses are happy to play this kind of music.
But it got me to thinking how very American this kind of influence is. We really like having Jesus in our lives, we like talking about God's goodness...but we like it as background music. None of the times I have heard this music was it blasted...too loud, and probably there would be complaints. But keep it in the background? Great.
American culture wants there to be Christian influences today...but we want it in the background. Don't make it too loud, don't make it too noticable, and certainly don't make it something too real. Even those who decry the fading of Christianity from our national landscape probably don't want Loud Jesus in their lives. They want a Jesus who waves the flag, tells us our consumerism and militarism are great, and generally marches to the beat of our drummer.
No, background Jesus suits us just fine.
I'm not here to say this is a bad thing. I'd much rather have my children hear this kind of music than most of the stuff on country or pop radio these days. To hear about how God is awesome is much more preferable than hearing about tractors, dirty girls, and the grunts that make up most of the stuff one hears today. I'm grateful that management of these businesses are happy to play this kind of music.
But it got me to thinking how very American this kind of influence is. We really like having Jesus in our lives, we like talking about God's goodness...but we like it as background music. None of the times I have heard this music was it blasted...too loud, and probably there would be complaints. But keep it in the background? Great.
American culture wants there to be Christian influences today...but we want it in the background. Don't make it too loud, don't make it too noticable, and certainly don't make it something too real. Even those who decry the fading of Christianity from our national landscape probably don't want Loud Jesus in their lives. They want a Jesus who waves the flag, tells us our consumerism and militarism are great, and generally marches to the beat of our drummer.
No, background Jesus suits us just fine.
Monday, June 2, 2014
IMDB Ratings
I love IMDB, the 'Internet Movie Database'. I have loved this site ever since I first discovered it...it allows me to always answer that nagging question of 'Where did I see that person before?' I love that it lets me see parental guides about movies before seeing them with my kids (so I can stop them from watching them or at least know what's going on).
And I love the fact that, by its rating system, it allows me to know what I've seen before, or at least since I started rating movies and TV shows. Anytime I watch a movie now (or at least a few episodes of a TV show) I go on and give a rating, adding my stats to millions of others. I know my numbers don't affect the big picture, but it's becoming a more interesting part of community to me than seeing the silliness that is Facebook.
But how do I rate? That's what this post is about.
My median rate is, I suppose, a 7. A 7 is a score that says something is good. It means I enjoyed watching the show, but it wasn't the greatest thing I've ever seen, in fact, far from it. It was a movie or show that had some issues, but all in all it was still enjoyable. Here are some 7s: Mamma Mia! Anchorman 2. Oblivion. Flight. Heaven is For Real. Most of these will be movies that I forget about rather quickly...but now I can at least know I watched them.
An 8 is something that is very good, though not great. Many times I rate something an 8 when I really wanted to love something, but instead I just liked it. The other night I watched the Book Thief, and I wanted to think it was wonderful and life changing, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on anything higher than an 8. So it got an 8. 8s are also something that can be very surprising to me. Frankenweenie was an 8, as was 42. TV shows that I watch on a regular basis often get 8s: I Dream of Jeannie, Parks and Recreation, and Game of Thrones. Hard to put those three in the same sentence, but all get 8 for general excellence, but not brilliance.
A 9 is something inspired, something Oscar-worthy. Here we start getting into rarified air. Gravity was a solid 9. So was the old show Mr. Bean. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog also gets a nine. It's hard to punch any holes in a nine or to sit around and think, "If they had done _____, it could have been better." As it is, a 9 makes my Hall of Fame.
(I do feel compelled at this point to speak about Mad Men. Mad Men is a 9 unlike any other, because there are episodes of Mad Men I've been sorely confused about and wished it would go away. But then it sometimes reaches heights where individual episodes make me go back through and watch them 3-4 times just to soak in the brilliance. Maybe Mad Men should be an 8 with an asterisk, but I love it too much to let it be any less than a 9.)
I have given one 10: Schindler's List. It's not like I want to watch this movie all the time. But every few years I feel compelled to go back and watch it. It's a movie I want to share with my children when they get old enough to understand. I don't see a lot of other 10s out there and am afraid to dilute a 10 based on a few great memories. I have seen pieces of the TV version of The Shawshank Redemption a hundred times, but I can't remember the last time I saw the entire movie as it was meant to be seen. So I will wait and judge it if I ever watch it on DVD.
Going the other direction, the ratings start to slide rather quickly. A 6 is a show that is mediocre. It's not a bad thing that I spent some time watching it, but I can't imagine watching it again. The remake of Red Dawn, which surprisingly was not lower than this, qualifies as a 6. Looking at my list I see a lot of remakes and sequels: the remake of Footloose; Star Trek into Darkness; the 2012 remake of Total Recall; Muppets Most Wanted; Iron Man 2. Maybe a six can best be described as something that simply had no inspiration behind it. Maybe a six is a money grab.
A 5 is something where we start getting into 'not very good' territory. The 'Bean' movie sits here. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. This is where we watch a show and through most of it think, "you know, I really wish I was doing something else, but there's too much talent here to give up. How many more minutes does this last?" And then I keep hitting the 'Display' button on the remote and look back and forth at the clock. But you stick it out because you have nothing better to do.
By the time we get to a 4 we get to not a lot of movies, because a)I won't rate a movie or show I don't sit through completely and b)Some movies get turned off, especially if I only spent a buck at Redbox or got them free through the library. I did make it through Battleship and Tower Heist, though. Not sure how.
I only have two movies rated a 3: Cowboys & Aliens (wow, that sucked) and Mulholland Dr. (wow, that was a hot mess). By this point concepts like 'suckitude' and 'craptacular' come into the discussion.
And as you might have figured out by this point, I have never rated anything a 1 or 2. But why? Aren't there a lot of terrible movies out there that can be mocked in ratings perpetuity? Maybe it's just that I give three points for the very fact that a movie or TV show somehow came to my attention, so it at least deserves that, like an SAT student getting a few hundred points for spelling his name right.
More likely, though, I've seen a lot of movies in this category, and they are the movies used in Mystery Science Theater 3000. I went through IMDB's master list of the 'Bottom 100', which identify the worst movies ever made, to see what I have seen. I can be proud not to have seen Disaster Movie and The Hottie & the Nottie (that just sounds terrible)...but I have seen (via MST3K) Manos: The Hands of Fate, Final Justice, Track of the Moon Beast, Space Mutiny, and The Creeping Terror, among many others on that list. I'm not sure why I don't pour on the hate, but the MST3K versions make them all bearable. Maybe that's why I gave it a 9.
And I love the fact that, by its rating system, it allows me to know what I've seen before, or at least since I started rating movies and TV shows. Anytime I watch a movie now (or at least a few episodes of a TV show) I go on and give a rating, adding my stats to millions of others. I know my numbers don't affect the big picture, but it's becoming a more interesting part of community to me than seeing the silliness that is Facebook.
But how do I rate? That's what this post is about.
My median rate is, I suppose, a 7. A 7 is a score that says something is good. It means I enjoyed watching the show, but it wasn't the greatest thing I've ever seen, in fact, far from it. It was a movie or show that had some issues, but all in all it was still enjoyable. Here are some 7s: Mamma Mia! Anchorman 2. Oblivion. Flight. Heaven is For Real. Most of these will be movies that I forget about rather quickly...but now I can at least know I watched them.
An 8 is something that is very good, though not great. Many times I rate something an 8 when I really wanted to love something, but instead I just liked it. The other night I watched the Book Thief, and I wanted to think it was wonderful and life changing, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on anything higher than an 8. So it got an 8. 8s are also something that can be very surprising to me. Frankenweenie was an 8, as was 42. TV shows that I watch on a regular basis often get 8s: I Dream of Jeannie, Parks and Recreation, and Game of Thrones. Hard to put those three in the same sentence, but all get 8 for general excellence, but not brilliance.
A 9 is something inspired, something Oscar-worthy. Here we start getting into rarified air. Gravity was a solid 9. So was the old show Mr. Bean. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog also gets a nine. It's hard to punch any holes in a nine or to sit around and think, "If they had done _____, it could have been better." As it is, a 9 makes my Hall of Fame.
(I do feel compelled at this point to speak about Mad Men. Mad Men is a 9 unlike any other, because there are episodes of Mad Men I've been sorely confused about and wished it would go away. But then it sometimes reaches heights where individual episodes make me go back through and watch them 3-4 times just to soak in the brilliance. Maybe Mad Men should be an 8 with an asterisk, but I love it too much to let it be any less than a 9.)
I have given one 10: Schindler's List. It's not like I want to watch this movie all the time. But every few years I feel compelled to go back and watch it. It's a movie I want to share with my children when they get old enough to understand. I don't see a lot of other 10s out there and am afraid to dilute a 10 based on a few great memories. I have seen pieces of the TV version of The Shawshank Redemption a hundred times, but I can't remember the last time I saw the entire movie as it was meant to be seen. So I will wait and judge it if I ever watch it on DVD.
Going the other direction, the ratings start to slide rather quickly. A 6 is a show that is mediocre. It's not a bad thing that I spent some time watching it, but I can't imagine watching it again. The remake of Red Dawn, which surprisingly was not lower than this, qualifies as a 6. Looking at my list I see a lot of remakes and sequels: the remake of Footloose; Star Trek into Darkness; the 2012 remake of Total Recall; Muppets Most Wanted; Iron Man 2. Maybe a six can best be described as something that simply had no inspiration behind it. Maybe a six is a money grab.
A 5 is something where we start getting into 'not very good' territory. The 'Bean' movie sits here. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. This is where we watch a show and through most of it think, "you know, I really wish I was doing something else, but there's too much talent here to give up. How many more minutes does this last?" And then I keep hitting the 'Display' button on the remote and look back and forth at the clock. But you stick it out because you have nothing better to do.
By the time we get to a 4 we get to not a lot of movies, because a)I won't rate a movie or show I don't sit through completely and b)Some movies get turned off, especially if I only spent a buck at Redbox or got them free through the library. I did make it through Battleship and Tower Heist, though. Not sure how.
I only have two movies rated a 3: Cowboys & Aliens (wow, that sucked) and Mulholland Dr. (wow, that was a hot mess). By this point concepts like 'suckitude' and 'craptacular' come into the discussion.
And as you might have figured out by this point, I have never rated anything a 1 or 2. But why? Aren't there a lot of terrible movies out there that can be mocked in ratings perpetuity? Maybe it's just that I give three points for the very fact that a movie or TV show somehow came to my attention, so it at least deserves that, like an SAT student getting a few hundred points for spelling his name right.
More likely, though, I've seen a lot of movies in this category, and they are the movies used in Mystery Science Theater 3000. I went through IMDB's master list of the 'Bottom 100', which identify the worst movies ever made, to see what I have seen. I can be proud not to have seen Disaster Movie and The Hottie & the Nottie (that just sounds terrible)...but I have seen (via MST3K) Manos: The Hands of Fate, Final Justice, Track of the Moon Beast, Space Mutiny, and The Creeping Terror, among many others on that list. I'm not sure why I don't pour on the hate, but the MST3K versions make them all bearable. Maybe that's why I gave it a 9.
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