WALL-E: not just Pixar’s best movie to date.

So Jamie and I have a general rule that we won’t buy any movie on DVD that we don’t like, even if it is for the kids. Watching a movie 20 times in a row is far more tolerable when it is say, Transformers, Star Wars or My Neighbor Totoro than if it were say Dora, Bob the Builder or Barney.

That being said, we have all of the Pixar movies. They aren’t all brilliant, but they are all good. In fact they are all better than most animated films out there.

So Jamie’s dad and stepmom took us and the kids to see it over the summer. We have of course since purchased it and watched it a few times with the kids.

Now I think that this movie is not only Pixar’s best movie to date, but it’s also the best sci-fi movie made in the last few years and the best anti-consumerism movie made since Fight Club.

It stays in line with what is starting to become somewhat formulaic for many pixar movies. The what if we made a movie about (ants, toys, cars, monsters etc). That they use this formula for different sorts of things still gives you somewhat of a fresh perspective though.

First, just from the standpoint of it being an animated film in general, it is wonderful artistically. It’s so well produced and written. The animation is fantastic. The fact that the first hour of the movie with no dialogue is so compelling is a testament to the brilliant writing and directing that they had behind this movie.

Like most Sci-Fi, this is derivative of a several different sources. I would say it probably most closely borrows from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World as well as Fahrenheit 451 and of course the homage to 2001. Living in a future where everything is decided for you at infancy right down to social class and total saturation of people in media to where they are doing nothing more than sustaining their bodies and continuing humankind as a matter of programming.

The fat people are of course disturbing and it is of course a not-too-subtle metaphor for our penchant for consumerism and laziness. But it goes much further than just saying we are fat and lazy. It makes many points about how we are as a culture. That we find so much value in the things we fill our lives with as stimulation. So much so that we shut out the world around us. Technology is making face to face human contact less and less valuable to us. While it was sort of a chuckle joke, the part where the two humans are floating next to each other talking on their computers rather than turning their head to talk is not unlike using an IM in your work to send a message to someone who is less than 15 feet from you.

It’s also a commentary on the loss of personal creativity and how as technology increases, it does make our lives easier but it also makes us less useful as people. We gradually become less and less creative, active and knowledgeable as a result of having everything we need at our fingertips. So much so, that this movie implies that we would be completely dependent on our inventions to the extent which they control our destiny completely.

It’s also a great commentary on consumerism in general and the consolidation of corporations and companies into one single all powerful corporation. It’s actually very timely in light of our current economic problems as one of the main issues with our current financial crisis is the idea of a company that is “too large to fail”. As companies consolidate and get larger, it breeds anti-competitiveness. The free market, if left completely free eventually comes to this logical conclusion, that one major corporation would come to dominate the entire economy. Which of course, is then the end of free markets, ironically.

And the last very interesting commentary that is almost a blink-and-you-miss-it line is during one of the scenes when it’s showing the vast sea of obesity, you hear the voiceover computer say, “your debt is important to us!”. I think this line in particular is especially interesting.

Our economy over the last few decades has become more and more increasingly based on borrowing and credit. So much so that in the 70’s the average person saved somewhere between 3-4% of their total income each year. Last year, as a country, we saved -.4% of our income. This has been happening over the last couple of years. To think about the idea of generational debt being piled on obviously brings up how our economy has been run over the last 8 years and the now generational debt and financial problems that have come as a result of Dubya’s governance.

There is of course the obvious environmental message involved here, but the overall reason put forward in this movie is that the destruction of life on earth was a direct result of consumerism. So it was only one of the symptoms of the actual sickness put forth.

I’m probably reading a lot more into this movie than necessary, but besides being a beautifully animated film and wonderfully told story I think it speaks to many things that are happening currently in our culture.

Add a comment December 19, 2008

I work with famous people!

So for those of you who don’t know, I work about 3-4 different jobs right now, since real estate and mortgages have become a zero income career.

One of these jobs that I work at is working for an entertainment company that puts on casino nights.  So I deal blackjack for corporate parties.

I’ve only done this two nights so far and so far it’s been a great time.  Mostly it’s just BSing with people and having fun.

The funny thing is, that one of the dealers that I work with is this guy:

For those of you who don’t know who he is, he was on American Idol the year that they came to Seattle for auditions and became one of the famous bad contestants.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video of his audition, where he sings and dances.

Add a comment December 7, 2008

Higher taxes make businesses grow?

Very interesting article I found a day or two ago:

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/106979/why_the_economy_grows_like_crazy_amid_high_taxes?page=entire

I think this is an interesting theory.  I’ve often thought about how two of the best economic times we’ve had as a country were post WWII, in which taxes were very high and in the 90′s during Clinton where he raised taxes up some from Reagan.

One of the things that I think is one of the main reasons we’re in our current economic crisis is because corporate leadership over the last 10 years has led in such a way that they cashed in good long term safe economic viability for their companies for short term high risk profits.

Pretty interesting idea though.

Add a comment November 19, 2008

Obama to do “youtube fireside chats”

Here’s an interesting article from the Washington Post:

The YouTube Presidency

By Jose Antonio Vargas
The White House has gone YouTube.

Today, President-elect Obama will record the weekly Democratic address not just on radio but also on video — a first. The address, typically four minutes long, will be turned into a YouTube video and posted on Obama’s transition site, Change.gov, once the radio address is made public on Saturday morning.

The address will be taped at the transition office in Chicago today.

“This is just one of many ways that he will communicate directly with the American people and make the White House and the political process more transparent,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki told us last night.

In addition to regularly videotaping the radio address, officials at the transition office say the Obama White House will also conduct online Q&As and video interviews. The goal, officials say, is to put a face on government. In the following weeks, for example, senior members of the transition team, various policy experts and choices for the Cabinet, among others, will record videos for Change.gov.

Yesterday, transition co-chairman Valerie Jarrett recorded a two-minute video that summarized the goings-on in the past week. “President-elect Obama adopted the most sweeping and strict ethics rules that have ever been in place in the course of a transition,” said a bespectacled Jarrett, looking directly at the camera in a video that’s yet to be posted.

President Bush, too, has updated WhiteHouse.gov, which offers RSS feeds, podcasts and videos of press briefings. The site’s Ask the White House page has featured regular online chats dating back to 2003, and President Bush hosted one in January after a Middle Eastern trip.

But online political observers say President-elect Obama’s innovative, online-fueled campaign will likely evolve into a new level of online communication between the public and the White House–the Internet-era version of President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous “fireside chats” between 1933 and 1944,

“The Obama team has written the playbook on how to use YouTube for political campaigns. Not only have they achieved impressive mass — uploading over 1800 videos that have been viewed over 110 million times total — but they’ve also used video to cultivate a sense of community amongst supporters,” said Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube. “Obama told us in a YouTube interview last year that he plans to have ‘fireside chats’ on video, and we expect his administration will launch a White House YouTube channel very soon after taking office.”

Added Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for government transparency: “We’re living, after all, in the Internet era. This is an individualized version of the ‘fireside chats.’ It’s not delivered between 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. but whenever anyone wants to see it. I don’t know if it necessarily creates transparency — it’s still a controlled, one-way message. But it creates the aura of a much more accessible presidency.”

So what’s next from the Obama White House?

A behind-the-scenes online video exclusive of the State of the Union Address? A text message reminding us to turn in our taxes? Who knows…

I’ve been thinking during our economic issues that our next President will have to seriously channel FDR to get us thru this.  During the depression, the fireside chats that FDR did were really a way for him to connect with the country and to help people know that someone was doing something about it and that he also understood what people were going thru.

While it’s just one little thing, I think this is a good idea.  Having a President who tries to connect with people will be great I think.  And I also enjoy the idea of a President who is being frank about what he is trying to accomplish and do to make things better for us.  Especially in tough times. 

I like how one of his main goals is greater transparency in government and in what he’s doing as President.  I think it’s terribly important for the government to be in dialogue with its citizens and be open in all issues not related to National Security.  I think given the secrecy and disdain for the citizens over the last 8 years, this will be a refreshing change.  Maybe we’ll have a president who actually does press conferences again?  That would be a great thing as well. 

A democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people as Lincoln said.  They work for us and should work in our best interests as a country.  Not for special interests.  Government won’t ever give us salvation or fix our problems.  But, it is a tool that we should all be able to use and that we should work with to make things better for ourselves and for everyone.  It’s our country.  The people should not fear it’s government, the government should fear it’s people.

Add a comment November 14, 2008

Bush has two regrets; We provide the other 37.

Wish I’d been a little more awesome.

In an interview on Veterans Day, President Bush was asked to reflect on his regrets over his two terms in office. Bush said he regrets, “saying some things I shouldn’t have said, like “dead or alive” and “bring em on.” Bush also said he wishes he hadn’t spoken in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner to declare an end to major combat operations in Iraq in 2003.

Okay, that’s two! Looks like he needs help with the others, so we threw together a brief list of some (thirty-seven) of the things Bush should probably be regretting right about now.

1. His existence
2. His decision to go into politics
3. Not learning how to better run oil companies so he wouldn’t have to go into politics
4. His decision to run for president
5. His decision to run for a second term as president
6. Every word spoken into a microphone since January 20th, 2001
7. That time in 2001 when he shouted at Dick Cheney, “You know what, screw it. You run the country if you’re so smart!”
8. Ignoring the way Alberto Gonzales was always saying, “Geneva Convention, Schmeneva Schmonvention!”
9. Those times when he let Donald Rumsfeld make decisions
10. Revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative. Not cool!
11. That time when he said “Osama, Saddam. What’s the damn difference?”
12. Letting the country fall into economic ruin
13. Not getting Scooter Libby to take the fall for some more stuff
14. That “wait for this to blow over” position on Katrina
15. Not learning how to keep from smirking while addressing the nation about certain issues, such as Katrina
16. Not figuring out how to control the weather to keep Katrina from happening
17. Not giving more people hilarious nicknames, like “Turd Blossom”
18. That “Iraq” kerfluffle
19. Not giving more speeches in front of banners that read, “Danger: Under Construction” or “Not Finished” or “This Mission is going to take at least six or seven years, if we’re lucky!”
20. Saying, “all right Harriet, you’ve talked me into it.”
21. Never really savoring the good moments.
22. Giving up alcohol
23. Giving up coke
24. Going back on coke
25. Giving it up again
26. Betting Cheney $1,000 they’d lose in 2004
27. Not getting to know Terri Schiavo better
28. Not constantly losing wars
29. Beating Dad’s “years in office” record.
30. Thinking, what the heck, it’s just a pretzel
31. Not flipping the bird more often at Cindy Sheehan from behind the tinted windows of his passing limo
32. Not taking it as a bad sign that Karl Rove has a forked tongue
33. Responding to a report titled “Osama Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside The United States” by repeating the title in a mocking, high-pitched voice that made Cheney laugh real hard
34. Not saying, “Brownie, we should sit down for a performance review in the next week or so”
35. Not calling it, “No Super-Gifted Child Left Behind”
36. Those twenty or twenty-five times when he should have offered his resignation but decided to “wait it out”
37. Not doing more to avoid the inevitable indictments sure to come next February once they start finding out about “the real bad stuff”

re-printed without permission from www.236.com

2 comments November 14, 2008

BACON. Perhaps God’s greatest gift to man.

There are few things in life that are better than bacon.  One of those things is of course, more bacon.

breaded and deep fried bacon with gravy?

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/1259952,FOO-News-det05.article

Candied bacon ice cream!

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/03/candied_bacon_i_1.html#more

Perhaps the only way to tolerate tofu is to wrap it in bacon:

Bacon will heal your wounds too:

Possibly the best way to eat a salad:

Mmmmmm bacon!

Add a comment November 13, 2008

Everyone’s a blogger.

So during this election cycle I had a great time talking, discussing, debating, encouraging, getting yelled at, accusations of heresy, agreeing with and being told of my need for repentance. 

I also had a few people tell me that I should start a blog about the things that I have written about, because some enjoyed what I have to say.

I realized that I do really enjoy writing and exchanging ideas with others and thought that I would start doing just that. 

Now I know that blogging is “soooooooooo 2003″.  I guess I’ve never been one to be cool.  My wife can attest to this. 

Of course two things that I am most passionate about in talking with people are my belief and relationship with Jesus and my left-of-center political views.  This of course tends to bring out the best and worst in some people.  Many of my Christian friends can’t understand how I could not have conservative political views and still believe in Jesus.  Many of my liberal non-Christian friends cannot understand how I could hold those political beliefs and still be a Christian.  It always makes for great conversation.

So my goal here is to not offend, but to offer up my thoughts on many subjects.  I welcome and encourage discussion on here.  Either in the notes or directly to me.  A lack of good honest discussion without fighting is very difficult to come by. 

I’ll be talking about all kinds of things on here, so you should be able to find something here that is somewhat entertaining.  I’m sure I’ll talk real estate, video games, movies, music etc. some as well. 

Anyway, I hope you’ll all enjoy what I have to say.  cheers!

Add a comment November 12, 2008