Last Blog....I guess I'll recap on Powerpoint

I could tell you about what I learned in class but I'd rather just beat this dead horse of presenting. My blog in no way was to say my presentation was better than anyone else's if they used power points. I mean I stuttered and jump around a bit more than I should have but hey thats where practice makes perfect. The reason I hate powerpoint so much isn't that its just such an awful tool, the reason I hate it is because people think it's a solve all. I can honestly say every time I make a powerpoint or watch one I learn absolutely nothing about my topic because like most of us when its so easy to copy and paste who cares if you know it or not. That is why I am such a big fan of  note cards to refer to and maybe some other sources. Because people learn so much better if they are having a conversation than if they get to read exactly what the person is saying. And yes I do stutter in my presenting and some of my thoughts didn't come out the way I had hoped but if I would have had a powerpoint I wouldn't have done half the work I did preparing and I can guarantee you know one would care what I was saying because they were to busy reading. So yeah I have a problem with power points because they limit the amount both the presenter and the listeners learn. I had to write out the note cards by hand which allowed me to think about what I was presenting ahead of time and than practicing even though I got nervous got me through the presentation when all a powerpoint would do is make me look stupid as I stand up their with cliche slides and watch people read, I like the human aspect of presenting because I think its much more personal and effective. I'd rather see a presenter know his subject and have poster made out of cardboard and markers than a  guy who makes  a powerpoint in 30 minutes to skip out on writing a paper.The first guy is gonna hold my attention better even if he does stumble a bit through his presentation because I can see he put more work into his poster and cards than the guy with a powerpoint and his thumb up his ass. Basically I think Power Point is a gateway drug to laziness.

"You Know What Really Grinds my Gears"

I absolutely hate with everything in me reality TV show... I would go to far lengths to get them all taken off the air and the directors sent to prison. I recently had a discussion with a girl who likes Dance Moms and I wanted to throw her out the window. She's like the girls are so cute and the moms are funny. Yeah...no its not like that at all its all bullshit drama put together so that fat america on its lazy but can be entertained by other fat crazy people living their pathetic lives through their daughters. Another one I hate is Honey Boo Boo, for one I have never actually seen it but from the commercials and people talking about it literally probably dropped my IQ a few points at least. It again is an awful show with (common theme) fat people who should hate their lives because of how stupid they actually are and how their ruining their children through their own parenting and than putting it on tv so that everyone can see how trashy they are. Other shows in the same category.... Toddlers in Tiaras, Anything dealing with Housewives, Pretty much all contest shows especially The Bachelor/bachelorette and any of those stupid wedding shows. Alright gonna take a breath and cool down, I just wish some people could grow up realize that watching all that stupid gossip, drama, and over eating on those  shows is rotting their brain. Go buy a cat already....oh wait you probably have twenty of them unfed sitting around your sofa because you won't get off of the freaking couch.

Video Games Double Standard

Well I have been devoting a good part of my time recently to the new zombies on black ops II and I must say it has been a good experience. Talking about video game addiction in one of my other classes I would like to talk a bit about the game and my opinion. The game in my opinion is poorly written, not overly creative and in saying that I love it. I mean call be a simpleton but a gamer where I get to run a round and blow the heads off of zombies is a pretty great game. What I think is funny is how much of a double standard I have with what I watch to what I play as a video game. The whole thing of watching great movies is very good and all and I have been trying to go on a moive diet from all those films that make me stupider but come on sometimes we all love to get a bit stupider. One example is that I think that the Hangover is a pretty freaking hilarious movie....still only because I dramatize it a bit in my mind. Back to video games though as far as I have seen their are not to many videogames today that are doing real well if they don't have a ton of action and gore in them. Yes I realize people are psyched for Journey but I think it looks stupid and I want games where I can kill people. I think the reason is because sports games and all those other ones aren't fun cuz if I want to go play a sport I can, but killing people is not something I can go out with my friends and do(easily). Therefore this guy is gonna indulge a bit in violent video games and try to watch more intelligent movies.

Dark Knight

Robin: Holy meter-maid Batman TJ is trying to talk about random stuff to get another blog credit.

Batman: What a douche

TJ: Awww you guys... yes I do want another blog credit and rightly so.

I am going to talk about the Dark Knight Rises since it came out today. I really enjoyed the movie the first time and the second time in theaters and I am probably going to front the cash to get it now that its out. The movie is really well done but it also had a 240 million dollars spent to make it. The thing that I don’t like about it is what most people go to the movies to see. I realize it’s batman and if he’s not kicking but every five seconds people are disappointed. The thing that made this movie fall a little bit short of what I wanted was to have the characters have more depth to their personalities instead just a way to take us to the next action scene. When talking about recent big budget movies I though Skyfall actually did an amazing job by using the characters as the main emphasis instead of the violence. I am of course excluding the scene at the end where they built up all this tension to have a major but kicking. The part of skyfall that I loved was that it also brought more of the old bond back and the shots looked beautiful. Comparing these recent action movies to the clips I showed in class there is no comparison between them because of the level of sophistication in psychological thrillers. I am at heart wanting very deep movies but I will admit I loved the simplicity of the first two movies mentioned because I am still a guy and guns, explosions and cars impress me and its relaxing not to have to put forth an effort. 

Presenting

As a general rule of thumb I really liked all the presentations that went on today and I felt as though they all had interesting information. My only problem is that I hate the idea of a powerpoint because I literally go to sleep after a few seconds, mainly after the title screen gets showed. I think I don't like it firstly because it is the most cliche way to present information and everybody does it. The second reason which I learned from that lady at the forester lecture is it is probably the worst way to teach people information. I personally don't learn through watching slides go by and most of the time people presenting might as well not talk because everything they have to say is being read off the screen behind them and their is no connection with what their saying and if they themselves actually understand it. I am by no means attacking people who presented today if you had a powerpoint I am just  saying that in a lot of my classes it seems to be the status quo of students to copy and paste a bunch of information without really knowing what it means. That and they usually don't have the effort to memorize whats on their powerpoint so I get to read along as they studded and say a bunch of ummms and casually look at the screen. Overall for are class though I enjoyed the presentations and I am looking forward to Henry's presentation on stunts.

Tree of Life

The tree of life I enjoyed surprisingly more than I though I would. The beginning started out a bit slow and I almost passed out after the first 30 minutes. Once the storyline taking place in the 60s started I really got into the film and enjoyed watching the family interactions. I can't imagine having a father like that but I can empathize with the son. The story blew my mind but I am not at liberty to say what I exactly think it means because to be honest I barely have a shot in the dark. I feel  like after a hundred times watching it I will have a more clear idea to what it means. What I did not like to much after the movie was the conversation after it. I guess for my first time watching it I wanted to reflect on what I watched in a more personal way. Having everyone and their dog say what they thought it meant eventually drove me to the point where I thought checking Facebook would be a better use of my time than listening to the conversation. I know we all love film but I guess since it was my first time watching it I really wanted to enjoy it for its entirety instead of analyzing all the small details and possible meaning of the film. I guess this is a film I will have to re-watch the movie either by myself or with a few close friends so we can have a discussion over what we think it might be. But overall I absolutely enjoyed the movie although necessary the scenes of nature did get a bit dragged out but they were still beautiful. Tree of Life is a definite must watch for any person who enjoys film although I would suggest having a good nights sleep before you watch.

Moonrise Kingdom

I enjoyed the movie more than a little bit ,enough to put it on my list of movies I need to add to my collection. Partially I think it was because I went into the movie with low expectations but honestly I thought the movie was very charming. It was charming because the children were acting like adults and that made me laugh quite a bit at the seriousness of the scenes and yet the lack of understanding. I also like how the director embraced this fact by not caring if he went a bit overboard with the effects and I think he knew it would come off a bit cheesy. Overall I really enjoyed it and the thing that I was taken back by after watching it was that it was quite similar to the movies I watched as a kid, with kids being smarter than the adults and outsmarting them in all different ways. My rating of the movie would have to be at 3 and a half stars because I liked it a lot but its not something I'd want to watch frequently because its more of a diamond in the rough, while the rough it the genre that this film would be in.

Sigur Ros

Partially in response to the post about the Sigur Ros video and partially because of my new musical interest I wanted to post on Sigur. After I heard them that day in Leeper's class for the first time I had a definite interest in the band and started listening to their albums. I will say that they are quickly becoming one of my favorite things to listen to no matter where I am, although I will say in the shower they sound very enjoyable but I guess thats because it's where all deep thought goes on. The value of Sigur Ros to me is a bit of a mystery because they do not sing in well really any language but definitely not one that I know or understand or can even interpret. What I can do when I'm listening is feel the music, the tone and mood and yes even the meaning. Although I realize that I will find different meaning in the songs as someone else I think thats why I like them so much. Their isn't anyone to tell me what the song is about and that level of mystery is what keeps me so interested in them. The songs allow me to project my own meaning behind the "words" and come out on the other end a bit wiser. The reason I say wiser is because at least for me these songs cause me to ask very deep theological and philosophical questions and limits distractions by not having any words to it. I have always like music and this music seems to make me ask questions about life that no other bands can seem to do for me.

For Glory

The movie world of glory took me back to a place where I didn't want to be. I have learned a lot over the semester and I am revisiting this piece with a little different outlook than what I came in with. The movie I really didn't enjoy very much, I guess I had been desensitized to the Holocaust so much that although the first scene with the gas truck bothered me I rationalized what happened to the fact that they were evil men and got on with life. It was easy to do this because in high school I took semester long class dedicated to only the Holocaust and their is a bit of a shield you put up so that you can enjoy your day. After re-watching it what happened was that it broke through my barrier and made me realize that these people who did these atrocious things were essentially just like me. Sure their culture was different but they had the same basic wants such as a nice car and things that were shown in the video. The part in the church was especially powerful the second time around because once I got past the initial shock of the scene I recognized and contemplated the significant symbolism and evaluated my life. I'm sure that none of us had taken part in the Holocaust at any level and we would never picture us doing something so horrible. The part that scares me about things like this is all it takes is a little ignorance and looking the other way that can cause horrible things to happen. Nough Said

Christ and Neo

Ok first off the class on tuesday made me laugh because at every opportunity someone was saying the word badass. It made me laugh cuz I thought the people in the class were mature enough to refrain from saying it because this class their "allowed to say it" not saying I have a huge issue with cussing but I also haven't heard kids been saying every film they see is badass...just an observation. Now onto the subject at hand, I would primarily agree with the author on some level but I will admit my first reaction was that I got pissed that this schmuck was saying so much bad stuff towards my savior. Then I ate a metaphorical banana got my hormones under control and re-read it to find it quite hilarious because of how seriously mad this guy was getting at Christians comparing Neo to Christ. The first thing I envisioned the second time reading it was some little kid who just discovered santa clause wasn't real. He's throwing a tantrum because other people say something different than he thinks. Then what came to mind was the Jesus's life, how can I expect this guy to get it when the people who were closest to him struggled with the fact that he wouldn't fight. I am not saying that I don't struggle with this because I probably have been hitting the Neeson films a bit harder than I should have. I don't understand fully why Jesus decided not to fight, but I can say that if he would have I don't think his message would have resonated as well as it did. He preached everything opposite of what humans thought, such as suffering was a good thing. After this article it almost reaffirmed my faith more in Jesus because it showed me through mildly offensive commentary that although God was like us he was completely different. The one man in history who had the confidence to say that he was the son of God, and yet let the lowest of the low capture and kill him speak a lot about the character of God, so before people think he's a wimp just remember the context in which you are speaking about because the world renowns those who sacrifice themselves for their friends and idolize those who sacrifice for strangers. The firefighters and workers who gave their lives have rightfully been built up because of their heroic acts, how much more than should we build up Christ for sacrificing everything and yet giving the credit to the father.

The Stain

My favorite film that has been shown this semester would have to be The Stain. Not because I particularly enjoyed it but because it challenged me more than the other films. It put me in a place that I   no nothing about and want absolutely want nothing to do with, which is exactly why I needed that film to open my eyes a bit. I do not remember the question exactly for the test but I just really got pushed when it came to the stain and I guess the power of that film just blew me away for just some cut outs and animations it broadened my opinions on a few issues such as family and let me see another side of this experience that we call life. My concluding thoughts on this piece is that it really showed me what amazing film making can do, it can do things that no conversation or lecture could do because it is both gentle but can be as harsh and cruel as you interpret it.

Stuff that Sticks Out

I saw Wreck it Ralph because I am a major kid on the inside and I love the concept that they were trying to do. The designs in the movie were absolutely amazing and the storyline intricasy blew me away. I mean yes it was a bit of classic Disney because make no doubt that it was aimed at kids as the primary target group. Their were plenty of bad name calling such as stinky brain and such which for me cheapened the experience a bit but from the amount of laughs from the kids I guess it worked pretty well. The entire experience of WR was to me a very well put together movie with drop dead gorgeous ascetics which completely amazed me. I feel like this related to the past week or so because we have been discussing the difference between the big fancy companies and the average animator who can't work three years on rigging a snake. The movies such as the balloon pirate short and whatever that short was that the cheerleaders blew up in made me laugh like crazy. They were't by any means extravagant like WR but none the less were by far just as entertaining. I take this lesson into my live action and am trying to make videos with in my means and time schedule. One shoot that I really look up to is the latest Taylor Swift shoot for a music video that was by no means cheap but the technique they used was so inventive that they cut so many corners to make it cheaper and so much more appealing to me as a film maker. If you haven't watched it or read about the shoot basically what they did was have the entire music video as one take. The amount of design and storyboarding that had to go into that let alone the actors was nothing less than absolute genius. This latest video inspires me that with a good idea and working the system to my advantage a bit can produce results that might rival the big boys like Peter Jackson or Christopher Nolan, not necessarily as pretty but just as entertaining like the balloon pirate clip was.

Women In Film

I realize I am a bit late to the party on discussing this topic but I am finally getting around to blogging and now I can share. The women in film section I originally thought was completely stupid and very much so uncalled for to have. I guess my original thought was "Maybe if women made some better films than they wouldn't need to have a special week dedicated to them and could fight for our attention like the rest of the directors." After the week though I kind of wish that we had spent more time watching films made by women. I really enjoyed the films that Leaf and Gillian Lacey's Workshop were absolutely fantastic. In addition to how much I enjoyed the films I will have to say that my favorite film from the entire semester would have to be "The Stain." Now before you jump on me and say how sick and twisted I am for loving a film about incest and suicide listen to my explanation. This along with the other films that were show put me in a huge place of vulnerability which I hadn't experienced until the women in film week. I felt the most vulnerable when we watched The Stain and I felt not exactly sad but just in a place that flipped my world view upside down. I mean yes i'm not naive and I know that stuff like that happens but it was weird how a few simple drawings could do more for me in changing my opinion than a thousand lectures on the dangers of rape and other topics. Another one of the films that took me down a few notches was the one where Leaf depicted herself as a chicken. The pain that she already had been through was unimaginable to me and I don't know how she had the courage to make that film. I also gained huge respect from her on how delicately she portrayed her horrific experience and how reserved she was when it came to not identifying the man. I guess the thing that I learned which I though was complete crap the first time I heard Leeper say it was that their is a definite need to add to the conversation of film. I'm not sexist I just thought that their wouldn't be that much of a difference between a film made by a woman or a man but I now completely admit to be wrong and that both genders bring a very special view on every subject. As a finishing note I really did like the animation of the woman who had the husband in her stomach because I had never thought of the other side of the story, that and it was so well done that even how serious is was it makes me laugh still thinking of a bullet bill style man protruding from the stomach of that girl.

It's Blogging Time-Music

My goal isn't to just write a ton of blogs to start catching up but alas that is what I plan on doing. I will just try to make sure that my quality doesn't suffer because of the quantity. I just have had a lot of ideas for a few weeks and now think I should blog em up. One of the ideas I have been wrestling with ever since Leeper started to emphasise on christian themes in films that were made by the most atheistic directors I started to apply the same measuring stick to other mediums, the one I particularly checked in on was the music that I love. To give you a bit of a back ground I have always complained about the worship music and about Christian artist who suck yet because they are christian they are somehow now "good." Speaking of which if you want to become a successful pop star, start in worship music and Christian crossover music which is basically secular just with a few less sales. To get back onto the subject I started with their are bands that I know are not Christians yet they sing about things without throwing a method. The academic term is called delivering an experimental truth, but it is completely obvious which bands (especially Christian bands) are just trying to force a message into your head. I do note however that it can be argued that every song is trying to give you a message but it seems to me that the messages christian bands are singing is sometimes cheap artistry.  This cheap artistry isn't fixed by saying Jesus's name a bunch of times but apparently thats what the Christian Culture is saying. I can find as many themes that relate to christianity and Jesus in bands such as Rise Against or Evanescence as I can in Family Force Five or other pop christian bands. I have been ranting a bit but to clarify what I'm saying is that Christian Artists may want to step it up a bit because they are being outdone by secular bands at their own game.

Donnie Darko: Movies with Re-watch Value

 Well this past weekend I watched the movie Donnie Darko which is a psychological thriller for those of you who haven't heard of it. I really enjoyed the movie and I thought I would blog about the re-watch value of one of my newer favorite movie genres Psych. thriller. I think movies like this have so much rewatch value to me is becasue the first time I see the movie I don't come close to understanding all the little things in the movie that won't be caught till the 5th time you watch the movie. Even if the movie isn't a psych thriller I think any movie that is sophisticated enough that the general audience won't exactly understand the movie than for me it has some rewatch value. Here are a few movies that I find have some rewatch value..but I wouldn't suggest watching any without researching what their about so you don't dig yourself into a moral hole.

Argo F!$@ Yourself

Well if you couldn't tell from the title or the giant picture I recently went to watch the movie Argo in theaters, oh and not because I got an email about. The movie was nothing real special on the way it was filmed or even in stunts or anything that usually attract viewers. The one thing that Ben got right was the story he chose to make a movie about was amazing. I knew about the Iranian Hostage crisis but had never heard the story of how they rescued the six Americans who escaped. The movie is one that I would recommend because it is truly an amazing story and whats more amazing is that its true, you talk about some film makers who God can use. These men to my knowledge weren't Christians at all and yet i'm sure the movie they are most proud of making was one that never was filmed and only a handful of people ever knew about. I think this is a great example of how God can use you where your at as long as your willing to be obedient. Ok now that the biblical tie is out of the way I thought the script and screenplay for this movie was absolutely brilliant. It didn't over romanticize the job of a CIA agent but showed it for what it was, a middle aged separated  man who probably lost his son and wife because of his job. He's not Bourne or Bond but just a regular guy who knows that he'll probably get fired trying to get the CIA to use his plan and he'll most likely die if its approved. The film was pretty darn good and after one line referring to the CIA agents as "Those old F@#!s off the Muppets" I knew it was going to be good. Whether you give a crap about my opinion or not doesn't bother me, but you should care about is Argo because those men Christian or not, risked their lives for people they hadn't even met and thats about as Christ-like as you can get.

Someone give that woman a shovel...

I would consider myself a moderate, just to give you a bit of where i'm coming from. I'm not sold by the right wing narrow agenda but i'm also not open to the "let everyone do what they want" mentallity of the left. Well tonight I was pretty unimpressed by both sides as I watched the debate between the two speakers. I shall start with the lady because ladies first of course, so the woman speaker tonight made me feel like I was in 1984 and was basically being forced to accept her point of view otherwise I am inhuman. I do admit that some of her points held some valid weight in the disscusion but it was burried beneath so much political B.S. that it turned me off to listening to anything she really said. Now onto the man speaking(or lack their of), I actually did enjoy some of the comments that the gentlemen on the right said but my enjoyment was not because of the sophistication of the comments but mainly because the way they were presented. As I watched him listen to the woman speaking I started to see him make faces when he disagreed and he would rudely interrupt her as she was trying to speak. I think the lady was almost intolerable with the amount of tangents she went off on when answering questions but still their is no excuse for acting rudely. The thing that I didn't like about the man as well was that he was the typical republican conservative who would shut off the moment someone disagreed with him. At one point while the woman was talking he actually pointed to his bible and I believe he said something to this accord "This is my guideline". I think that the woman speaking may have been a bit overbearing in her views but she still had enough respect to hear out her opponents rebuttles. I now have no wonder why Christian Republicans are demonized so much by the left. I think the "right" has a lot of good points to make and I might even fall to that side of the spectrum on a lot of issues, but how they conduct themselves is childish and it will only work in a theocracy.The bottom line is that pointing to a bible and yelling Jesus a few times is not going to win a debate.

_______________

Since we have been studying all these various artists that paint amazing art I decided to share an artist that speaks to me. Between the reading and class I would hope that everyone is pushing themselves in how they view art, if not its ok because at 7 tomorrow in front of Meadows the short bus leaves for an art museum. The work around this article is a work done by the Russian Artist Vladimir Kush, I have been to a show displaying his art and his works in person are breath taking. I remember well because my family was on vacation and I found a building displaying his work and after two hours looking at the pieces of art and talking to the manager I was dragged out so we could finish our vacation. The real draw for me to this artist goes back to our reading about finding art that questions you instead of just applauding you for understanding it. I have no doubt that others may disagree with his work but for me it speaks to me about the perspective of which I view things and than makes me rethink the possible, or at least take me out of the real world for a bit so that I can dream again. I think it captures me because I enter the world by something as simple here as a grand piano or a sunflower and it is transformed into something extraordinary. I do not claim to know what these works mean or why they were painted becasue it would be arrogant to think I could understand and interpret art for others, although I feel like I have a part in the art. The best way I can articulate my thought is by the example of Jesus(wow no ones ever tried using Jesus as a solve all explanation) that the Baptist churchs depicted as being black, they never claimed to know what Jesus looked like for fact but instead take joy in the connection they had with him. I don't really know what this art means for a fact but my interpretation reflects me and allows me to find enjoyment out of what I see. (oh to explain the title, I chose to not have a title because the title won't accurately reflect the article no matter what I name it and to be honest the title means nothing in this context)

"And Everything is Going Fine"...whoops I forgot a cliche play on words...

Well I enjoy monologues very much, more than I thought possible actually. I will admit that the double blog made me more enthusiastic to go to that signs and wonders but I enjoy it no matter what their showing. I thought that the documentary was very well done and I liked how they cut scenes together and how good the actual man was. The only thing I found wrong with it wasn't anything they could fix because I got disappointed that I never got to listen to an entire monologue. Therefore I am trying to get the DMA library to get the movie Swimming to Cambodia. It should prove to be a challenging film because of the topic that he discusses but I think it should prove beneficial to watch. I am a bit interested in the psyche of Spalding Gray because he seems more than a bit disturbed. In saying this I don't think he is a bad speaker just that I thought that although it is interesting to watch when I think of being in his shoes it is a bit sad. Not to judge him but I do think that if he found faith in Jesus he would have been happier, if not at least have a different perspective on his stories. Christian or not I think he is a beautiful speaker and it is a tragedy that he committed suicide because he was a brilliant man.

"Don't ask, Don't Tell"

We'll tonight I just got told to turn off a movie that I was watching because it is deemed inappropriate by the college. I think that what their trying to incorporate here is noble yet a bit naive, saying all R rated movies are bad is a general stereotype that is outdated. I can watch a pg-13 movie that shows nudity yet when I go into my room to watch a brilliant film with an amazing storyline and acting It is against the rules. I realize that their is not a very good way to regulate it but on the other hand I also think the rule is a bit extreme especially for someone going into film production. It goes against everything that the Liberal Arts has taught me so far; what I have learned in my first few weeks is to formulate my own opinions on what I observe, well what I am currently observing is a problem in the regulations of one of our school policy. Now it is easy to point out a problem of an imperfect system but finding a workable solution is very difficult and I don't think the current solution of shutting your door is good enough because it is basically "don't ask don't tell." A very brilliant man made this quote "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" most of you may recognize this from the bible and I think it has great application to this problem. This verse does not say to ignore the world but that you should not be conformed by it. The movie policy has a valid place in a Christian setting but I feel like were using a rocket launcher to kill flies, this effectively works to not allow the flies to remain but in the process you destroy the beauty that may surround the flies and currently I think HU is losing out in some of the beauty in films. Their are many movies that are rated R that have been some of the greatest films to this day, for a Christian example The Passion of the Christ is rated R yet it is shown in churches across the nation as a type of evangelism. Now I am not ignoring the fact that their are just as many if not more bad movies than good movies but it should be the responsibility of the student to differentiate between what they believe is appropriate and what is unacceptable. Until their is a policy that allows for the student to make a choice than the college atmosphere that administration is working for is only a fable. A fable in the sense that it only lasts for a semester and students go back to their regular habits in media consumption. I think though if the freedom is granted to them, students will take on the responsibility of regulating their media and actually grow from depending on the status quo of a college to feed them their morals.