Share your quotes

Recently AFI released a list of the "100 greatest quotes of all time". Now if you looked at it I am sure you had a similar response to the list as I did. Some you might agree with, some you might disagree with but could understand, and some just seemed silly.

In that light I thought it would be fun to open up a post where people could share the quotes they feel should have been on the top 100 list.

I'll start off with a couple (I'm sure I will add more):

"We've got both kinds of music - country and western" Blues Brothers

"You can call me dude, or el duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing" The Big Lebowski

"We are the knights who say, 'Ne!'" Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"Goooood Morning Vieeetnaaaam!" Good Morning Vietnam

"Snakes? I HATE snakes." Raiders of the Lost Ark

"The best trick the devil ever pulled was to convince people he didn't exist." The Usual Suspects

The Christian and Film Studies

While the specifics ellude me at the moment, I remember briefly coming across the subject of christianity and film studies.

Now, as a film studies student myself, this topic caught my eye.

Basically the question is can christians be involved in the study of film in academia?

Personally I think that generally the answer is no. Or more specifically it takes a unique christian to be able to effectively pursue film studies in the world of academia.

But I am curious to see what other people think.

Bush's Speech...

...or loosely resembling what a speech is.

I'm not going to go into the specifics of my personal feelings on the issue as I'll probably muck it up, but there have been several, well thought out articles on the matter:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0629-20.htm

http://www.juancole.com/ - You will have to scroll down a little bit. Look for the title "Arguing with Bush".

I believe I have come up with a new motto for the administration: If you repeat it they will eventually believe it.

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Falic Symbol

Not to be out done by the national spotlight on the recent ten commandments ruling by the Supreme Court, some local folk took things into their own hands.

Check out this link: http://toiletpaperonline.typepad.com/the_blog/

In the immortal words of a celebrity jeopardy Sean Connery moment, "The penis mightier than the sword."

Music: Brand New

The band Brand New is excellent. A friend turned me on to them and I can't say thank you enough. I ended up suggesting one of their songs "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" to a compiliation cd that was being put together at work. People thought I needed help. Who doesnt?

If you haven't checked out the album you should. Excellent stuff.

Dreams

Everyone has crazy dreams and I have had my fair share. I've dreamed that I was a secret operative in Cuba reporting to Danny Glover, that I was having a discussion with Billy Crystal, and that I was in a bus that went of a cliff into an ocean where dark figure floated up to me out of the darkness and said "Congratulations now you are a vampire".

This continued last night with a dream where I won $10,000 from a lottery ticket. Imagine my dismay when I woke up and quickly realised that it was just a dream.

Everyone has crazy dreams. Feel free to share.

Links

Thought I would make a semi-brief post about some of the links on my site.

Shadowmarch: The official website of the author Tad Williams. If you ask me he is the best current writer out there and if you haven't read any of his work you are doing yourself a disfavor. The site is mainly just a message board now. It is populated by rather intelligent folk and Tad himself is known to post regularly - check it out.

Holy-Holy: This is a website of a friend of mine. He is a graphic artist and also works on website design. Trust me, he is one of the best in the business.

Non-Prophet: A great site to catch what might be going on currently in the area of Colorado Springs.

Red Wolf: Admittedly I strongly disagree with her views, yet she always posts something to consider and she is a great person to hold discussions with.

Eve Online/Hadean Drive Yards: Links to the greatest online game out there right now and the greatest online community one could hope to be a part of . Eve-Online is second to none and Hadean Drive Yards is the corp everyone should aspire to be a part of...

Addicted to War

I read an interesting article over at commondreams.org today called Addicted to War: An Insider Examines the Seductive Myths of Militarism.

It broadly discusses America's current militaristic focus in regards to foreign policy but as a by-product it discusses the role of the evangelical christian community in helping perpetuating this philosophy.

As far as religion is concerned, Bacevich goes even farther than Howard Dean. A chapter titled “Onward” opens with the bold statement that the United States remains, “as it has always been, a deeply, even incorrigibly, Christian nation.” Noting that about 100 million people in this country define themselves as evangelicals, he states bluntly that they tend to be conservative and vote Republican.
Beyond that, evangelical Christians also celebrate the military as a bastion of the values needed to stop the current slide toward perdition and thus have provided religious sanction to militarization. This links up nicely with neoconservative logic, offering support for the idea of striking the first blow. Books like The Church and the Sword and One Nation Under God replace the “just war” idea with a “crusader theory of warfare.” As Hal Lindsey, author of The Late Great Planet Earth, argues, “The Bible supports building a powerful military force. And the Bible is telling the U.S. to be strong again.”
With evangelicals leading the way, both within the military chaplaincy and the GOP, “Conservative Christians have conferred a presumptive moral palatability on any occasion on which the United States resorts to force,” Bacevich concludes. “They have fostered among the legions of believing Americans a predisposition to see U.S. military power as inherently good, perhaps even a necessary adjunct to the accomplishment of Christ’s saving mission. In doing so, they have nurtured the preconditions that have enabled American infatuation with military power to flourish.”

It has always been disturbing to me that the christian community(as a generalization) is so keen on supporting violence in the name of God and Christ's will.

Is it just me or is the evangelical community as quick to approve violence as they are to denounce anything outside the realm of what is considered sexually moral?

Any way, I found it particularly interesting and something that refuses to slip into the partisan arguments that are so prominent in today's american landscape.

Take a look, the article is written by Greg Guma and should be sure to spark thought if nothing else.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0624-26.htm

Reality Hijinx

The overflow of reality television series has been well documented, however I can't escape the fact that the total absurdity that usually flows from these programs provides great writing material. Everyone wants to be a celebrity these days, although I wonder sometimes if that's the best wish someone could want. Either way combine that with the 32 variations of CSI on the air and you've just described ninety percent of what is on television at any given moment.

In that vein I thought it would be fun to post a quick 2-3 minute sketch that I wrote. Nothing serious really, just a something I could envision being a great commercial sketch along the lines of the ones that used to be used on SNL.

Celebrity CSI
Voice Over: Next week on Celebrity CSI.
Close up of an alarm clock. The red second hand ticks towards the 12. Alarm goes off. The sounds of someone awakening off camera can be heard.

Voice of Elton John: Ah hm- What!? Who are you? How did you get-

Muffled Voice: Shut up. I’m here to kill you.

EJ: And they say I have an anger problem.

Muffled Voice: I’m cursed by my creativity. It was either you or Gary Busey, and frankly he scares me.

Gun shots are heard. Alarm clock continues to ring until several bullets hit it.

Voice over: In a case only the crew of Celebrity CSI could handle, who silenced the voice of “Crocodile Rock”?

Regis Philbin can be seen sitting in a chair, paper in hand. Madonna is opposite of him, arms handcuffed together behind her back, bits of a bullet riddled alarm clock are sealed in a bag that slowly swings back and forth in front of her face. Behind her sits Ashlie Simpson, eating pretzels and reading a book entitled "The Actor's Guide to Acid Reflux".

RP: Come on Madonna. I’m not going anywhere. This isn’t hard JUST ANSWER the QUESTION!

Madonna: What was it again?

RP: How would you rate your distaste for Elton John? A)mild B)so/so C)strong D)extreme

Madonna: D

RP: Is that you final answer?

Madonna: C? No wait! Can I use my lifeline?

Voice Over: Follow the team as they uncover layers of hatred never before explored on Television, each twist more surprising than the next! The final surprise revealing a discovery so profound you’ll be left gasping for air!

Anna Nicole Smith is seen sitting on a chair surrounded by empty bags of pretzels, licking the last few crumbs out of her hair.

ANS: These pretzels ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY!!!
She notices the camera and quickly brushes pretzel bags away from her.
ANS: Eh eh hmm. (with a big smile) Trim Spa BABY!

Tune in next Thursday at 8:00.

An Introduction

Welcome to my brand new blog. I decided to create the blog for a couple of reasons. I am moving soon, so I thought this blog would be a great way for friends to check in, say hi, and see how I am doing. I also decided I should spend less time taking over other peoples forums/blogs and create a space of my own where I can rant, rave, and wax philosophical.

Beyond the myriad of random posts I am sure to make, I also hope to have a film and games section that I will keep updated regularly.

So stay tuned and please remember to keep all discussions civil.