The Savior of the Universe

I know I shouldn't be posting so soon after my last one, and I know that I shouldn't just post a link and that's it, but I couldn't resist. Let me give you the setup: In what you are about to see, the man on the left is a foul-mouthed video game freak. The "Nintendo Revolution" is Nintendo's next video game system that no one knows anything about. And the man on the right is The Man, Jesus. Enjoy.


*Explicit Content

Television's Achievements, and My Own

TV is amazing these days. Well, ok, not the networks. And, most of cable is bad too. But, there is a lot of TV that is amazing to behold. Most of it is on HBO. And I'll help you.

I think HBO's business model is: "Let's put the most creative and innovative stuff on TV." First there's Entourage, produced by Mark Wahlberg and starring Adrian Grenier. It's about an up and coming movie star and his friends, and it's funny. Jeremy Piven is in it as an agent, and he is amazingly sleazy. Right after Entourage comes The Comeback, starring Lisa Kudrow. It's a mock reality show about a has-been actress who gets a new role on a hot new tv show. Kudrow is incredible at making you feel sorry for this sad woman who everyone regards as the annoying person they can't really get away from but can't be directy mean to either.

HBO also has some other shows that are hailed by critics, but I haven't seen them. They are: Deadwood, a western, The Wire, a cops and drugs show, and a brand new show called Rome, which takes place during the reign of Julius Caesar, a daunting undertaking.

Now, shows on normal tv that you should definitely check out are these: Harvey Birdman, on Cartoon Network; Over There, on FX; and Arrested Development, on Fox, which might be the most creatively funny show on tv right now. Check them out.

That was weird.

And here, my monument of laziness:

Behold, Strength in Vulnerability

I finally quit my job. My last day is this Friday. It feels good to know I'm leaving. But what's next?

I am going to try and be brutal now. Brutal about the state of things. Our generation, the people who read this blog, the people who have blogs at all, I think generally we are lost. Or, in limbo? We are transfixed between what was and what might be. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? It isn't just me. And, to be honest, it isn't just you. But maybe it isn't you at all. But if it is you, if you feel like you are moving in all directions and yet moving in no direction, then know that you are not alone.

I hear it in songs. John Mayer sings: "I wonder sometimes about the outcome of a still verdictless life. Am I living it right?" Snow Patrol sings: "With a name I've never chosen, I can make my first steps as a child of 25." And there's more I can't pull off the top of my head. I'm seeing it in movies now. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, while not an Oscar winner, is about two college graduates, not about two college seniors. There's a new movie called Waiting, about a bunch of people stuck in a TGIFridays type place, waiting to move on. We can all feel the shift, because it's tugging at our hearts. A mass migration of the young sliding around on the ice, trying to find solid ground.

But look, we've got to help each other. We've got to shout down the naysayer inside us and realize that those dreams we keep under a bushel are possible. More than that, they are within our grasp. We need to plunge. I envy the people who have a track they're following. I envy those who have jobs they love and are already independent, married, satisfied. But that's not me. I'm stuck on the ice, I'm sliding around.

But no one is going to help us. We have to help ourselves. We have to help each other. I have some of the wisest, funniest, and coolest people I've ever met within a phone call or an email. We want to stop AIDS, we want to end poverty, we want to shine justice in the darkness, we want to make magazines, and movies, and write books, and draw art, and teach, and protect the unprotected, and love the unloved. We want to make people listen. Alone, we are a breath in the wind. But together we are a hurricane of force. This dream is real.

Can I tell you my secret? I will trust you. I am telling you now. This is my deeper heart: I want a website that can be a center for short films and skits, both by myself and submitted by people I know and people I don't know. I want a website where ideas can be shared and developed and people can respond. I want to make my own short skits that are funny or ridiculous, or, if I ever find the audacity, skits that are dramatic. I want this because I want to find out if I'm funny enough, and creative enough. And if I'm not... well, I guess we'll see. But if I am, then how much better to have touched what I wasn't sure was there to begin with. I even have an idea for a name and a logo. Isn't that insane? It has been brewing for quite a while, but I am afraid to let things out.

That was hard. Ok, I'll make a deal with you guys. If I ask, will you help me? And I'll do the same for you. If any of my skills can help realize your dream, then they are yours. If you need someone to give a 10 minute review of the history of French Revolutions, I can do that. If you need someone to advise you on which mutant power to have if given the choice, I have studied. And I can do a pretty mean T-Rex.

We'll Make a Man Out of You Yet

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:

Two weeks ago, my father and I felled a tree. Felled a tree. Truth be told, a chainsaw and gravity did most of the work. Well, technically all the work, but it was still exhilarating. Then we had to chop the tree up. At first I thought, I want to be manly and use an axe. None of this motorized blade stuff. Let me tell you something, using an axe is really freaking hard. Back-breaking work. So after a few branches were hacked off, I switched to the chainsaw and watched the dust fly (the sawdust). And if I thought taking the branches off a fallen tree was hard, it's nothing compared to chopping wood. When that axe is driven into that log and you see it split down the middle, it is a satisfying achievement that we have lost in this age of machinations and steam power. Now I know what it was like for Abe Lincoln, growing up in a Midwest without pavement or cars or hydraulic log splitters. If you want to know what living is about, try chopping logs into quarters.

It felt good.

exhibit B:
There are two movies that I am especially excited about this fall, not including The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rent (I'm not sorry), and The Constant Gardener. Wow. Anyway, you should really look at Serenity, which is a sci-fi movie from Joss Whedon, who is important to lots of people (the man wrote Toy Story!). The most intriguing part: the government is called the Alliance, the Sino-American Alliance, also known as, in the future China and the US have united to rule the world. Is he right? He just might be.

The other movie you should really really look at, I can't imagine that it won't be good, is Jarhead directed by Sam Mendes and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx, among others.

Don't Grind Your Teeth Tonight

It is much harder to finish a happy book than a sad movie.
It is much harder to finish a sad book than a happy one.

I have just finished a sad book.

Are we allowed to feel the pain of other people's experiences? Or is that cheating them?

The book was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, which is a weird name if you try to speak it outloud.

Which, I just found out, Bob is also reading (Red Hand). Let me say this: I don't think I gave anything away by saying I finished a sad book. The setting itself is sad, and I think will always be sad, because it is real and tragic. I am sorry if I gave something away. Please come to discuss this book at the Front Room Book Club meeting, Tuesday 16 Aug, 7pm in the Bunch of Grapes room. There is free coffee, and I'd love to see you there.

Eventually We All Resort to Murder

I've been wanting to comment on my brother's post regarding Zimbabwe and its requests for aid. But, I don't really know what to say on the issue. No one really likes Robert Mugabe, not even other African heads of state. But what have they done about it? Not much, because he's still in power. 25 years of power. But, when the opposition leader is asking for international help, then things have to be pretty bad.

I'm trying to understand the difference economically between giving money and not giving money. Giving money definitely helps Mugabe stay in power, but it also has to help some people, right? We are hoping for a revolution. But in Accelerated World History, we learned that peasants aren't the people who start revolutions. Revolutions are started by the middle class.

Imagine three people. One is in a hole as deep as he is tall. The second is in a hole to his waste. And the third is standing on even ground, eating lots of food. The first person (lower class) can't even see what he's missing out on. He is so beaten down and forgotten that there is no way for him to get out of his hole and challenge the system. No, the second person (middle class) will see what he doesn't have and clamor out of the hole to get it. But what middle class is there in a society where freedoms are repressed?

I don't think that said anything. I guess what I'm saying is that I wish Mr. Mugabe would give up his post or correct his policies. Even though it might be more equal to give blacks a share of land equal to their percentage of the population, it doesn't mean they have ever worked on a farm and will suddenly understand how to grow food and sustain a business model. Just like, if you decided that I could be a surgeon tomorrow, it in no way means that I can safely remove your damaged spleen.

What we really need to do is give real rewards to good governments. $15 Billion sounds like a huge number, until you actually have to use it to improve the lot of millions of people. What if, when a country made democratic reforms, we dedicated $50 Billion to it? That would get some feet moving. And that's less than 1/8 what we spend on the military every year. Is it too much? Or has the formula for the past 50 years been successful? The answer is no.

I'm trying to find a way out of my own hole right now. It's a rut called easy street. I'd like to quit my job and run around until I tire myself out. But a real tired. Not the one that you have when you don't do anything all day. We are getting closer though. I promise. You will see me, and I will have promised.

Don't be alamed when the wound starts to bleed