Moving Day

I have decided to move my blog to wordpress. You can still visit me here.

DaVinci's Transposed Code Broken!

Well Leo has done it again. "Hidden" inside an already highly scrutinized painting of his, "The Last Supper" is *gasp* someone with a baby and Templar knights! How can this be, ad sarcasm. I propose that we take all DaVinci's paintings and hide them from...everyone. Of course by doing this, I don't know where else we will find good suspence/thriller novel plots. Can't we all just give it a rest? Pick some other poor dead sap and pick on his sculptures or poems for a while. Can't we get any other good ORIGINAL fantasy topics?
Or better yet lets make up our own. Here is my entry for the world's most "look-at-it-long-enough-and-it-can-be-anything" picture:



Now, if you, like the DaVinci painting, put the mirror image superimposed to the orignal, being careful to line Homer Simpson's eyes, what the f@*! is that?!? It's a "Simpsonized" version of Spongebob Squarepants' Patrick's head. What is Matt Groening trying to tell us? Will we ever know? Something deeply spiritual is taking place here, stay tuned for further development in this history changing story!

An AMC Channel original drama, Mad Men, is growing on me. I watched out of curiousity based on it being produced by the same producers as The Sopranos and it being about advertising, of which is my profession, loosely speaking.
So far, I really like it. It is based on ad men in New York in the 60's. The characters are played very well and very believable. I like the way the era of time has been portrayed. Lots of cigarette smoking, early drinking of cocktails, cheating on wives, kids not wearing seat bealts, TV dinners. A really fascinating look into a quickly fading era of time. There has only been two episodes, but they have been really great. I am looking forward to Thursday nights again (I used to really enjoy NBC's Must See TV, Wings, Seinfeld, ER). If you haven't seen the episodes and don't want to pay for them on iTunes, you can read the synopsis on AMC's site. Main character Don Draper says, "What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons", and I am persuaded that he is right based on what I have seen.

The Crucible

I just watched the movie, The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. To be honest, I didn't know anything about the movie, or couldn't remember, but I didn't need any prior "setting up". After watching the movie, I can safely say that this was a great movie. A movie is great in my opinion when it not only gets me thinking but effects me physically. I can say that during the movie and even now, I feel anger towards the girls, led by Ryder's character, that caused the death of innocent people deemed practitioners of witchcraft. Really sad display of religious fervor. This would make a great discussion starter I think. This movie has made my favorites list.

Jim and Casper Go To Church

Well my idea of writing more often isn't panning out the way I'd hoped. I would however like to put an entry here about the book, Jim and Casper Go To Church. I picked it up from the library Wednesday and read cover to cover the same day. A really easy to read and sectioned book. I really appreciated Casper the Friendly Atheist's insights because they were coming from an "outsiders" POV. I really thought that if I could have gotten this book a few years ago that it would have helped me understand things maybe quicker. Jim, the pastor, I thought was a casual observer of Casper while Casper observed the church services. Interesting book idea but also an interesting, albeit for some risky, enterprise. I thought Jim's idea of sending church congregates out once a month to observe other church services, of the same and different denominations, was a good one. Really the only thing better than that would be to actually try to listen to those that don't go to church anywhere. Maybe do what Jim did and pay people to come to their church and fill out a survey. No strings attached. No whammy. Just fill out this survey, pick up your money. The only stipulation is you have to be thorough while filling out the survey. After all, you are being paid! That is the out-of-the-box thinking that needs to take place. There have been some strong critiques against this unlikely duo, but I guess you have to consider the source. All in all I really enjoyed this book. When I finished the book I felt like I wanted to have a round table discussion. This would make good church staff reading material.
The duo made statements like there may be another book. I hope there is one.

Twilight Zone

Monday and Tuesday of this week, the Sci-Fi channel ran a Twilight Zone marathon. Usually I watch a few episodes, but this time I DVR'd a bunch and have really been enjoying them. Granted, they are pretty corny at times, but some of them really make good points. Alot of the time, the moral is, "be careful what you wish for" or "nothing worth having is easy". Rod Serling was a brilliant writer who was before his time.
Not much else to say. I'm trying to force myself to make more entries in this blog. So...there went!

Star Wars Strikes....Again

I recently cancelled my Blockbuster online membership, so I have been low on movies to watch. I decided a few nights ago to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. I made it through the final episode this morning and in that episode was a great nugget of spiritual truth. You know, it seems to me that no matter how many times I watch certain shows, I find useful information along the way. Well...out with it!
Yoda has gone on to "join the force"(at least that is what I interpret he does when he vanishes before Luke) and Luke is struggling with going on to meet his destiny, which is to confront Lord Vader. Obi-Wan appears to Luke and they begin a conversation about Luke's recent discovery that Darth Vader is his father. Obi-Wan had told Luke that Vader betrayed and killed his father, and Luke is questioning this statement.
Obi-Wan:"...So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view."
Luke:"A certain point of view?"
Obi-Wan:"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

I have been down this road before, but somehow it seems more poignant this go 'round. Now I have literally watched Star Wars, both completely and in pieces, a hundred times, why didn't I see this truth...years ago? Why did it take so long to begin to understand the journey I was "destined" for? Who knows?
I guess the important thing is that I have now discovered a great truth. Next...use it.
The truths that I have clung to most of my life, adolescence to adulthood, have been from a "certain point of view". I have believed things, spiritually speaking, without question due to my rearing. I suppose that this is a good thing, no, scratch that, it is a good thing. My parents passed on to me what they believed to be the truth and for that I am grateful. Now, however, I am beginning a journey in a new direction and my point of view is...different. Knowing that my point of view is different doesn't take away the pain of uncertainty as new ideas and ideals are being "tried on". The struggle is there. The questions remain and even the point of view moves about. One day, one thing. Next day, different thing. Its really hard to find what it is that is unchanging. It has been suggested that which is unchanging is inside all of us. This may be true, but what does that mean?
Ahhh, the wonderful world of "Certain Point of View"! Is it something that can be shared with others? I guess so or else there wouldn't be a single congregation of folks anywhere. But do they really share a certain point of view? Or is it simply a lack of the majority to search out there own point of view? One certain point of view is offered by a few dominant people and others join in. Does this make it a true group of congregates? I don't know.
Well, here's to Lucas' legendary Star Wars dialogue, who would have known it to stir up so many questions?