Nous Parlons Francais

Don't really have anything new to say. So, here's a poem I like:

Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there − I did not die.

I Am Legend

WARNING: Contains some spoilers of the movie

So on January 4 I went with a couple friends to see 'I Am Legend' starring Will Smith. Initially I expected it to be the generic human vs. creature movie ... good guy finds creatures, they fight, good guy wins in the end and everything gets better. While I won't give away too much from the movie (in case you decide to buy or pirate it), but it definately did not follow that typical path.

We're introduced to Smith's character, who is living alone with his dog Sam in NYC. Through flashbacks at various points in the movie, we learn about his family and find out what happened to them. We also find out how he came into posession of the only surviving normal canine in NYC. He behaves in many ways how most people might. He drives really nice vehicles around, he goes and gets CDs and DVDs from a local store to play on his TV (which he probably didn't buy), and just tries to get through his life, to find a cure for a disease that has left him one of the sole survivors of a genetic holocaust.

Basically it's broken down this way: there were 6 billion people on the earth, and about 3/4 instantly died from the disease. Then out of those remaining, more than 500 million became these nighttime creatures that fed off of many of the remaining 12 million normal humans. In the end we discover that some of these statistics are flawed, but I won't give away too much.

Overall I would give it an 8 out of 10. I thought the storyline was unique and interesting, but the script was weak. At only an hour and forty minutes, it sort of seems like they feared going too long. I would have sat through a two hour movie of the same storyline if was a little more interesting. Also, if you don't like "crappy" endings, you probably won't like this movie's ending. Despite this, I say the film as a whole was good.

Happy New Year

This blog will be short.

I just wanted to say happy new year to ... well actually, no one reads this anymore. but still. happy new year.

Also, since it's the last day of 2007, this might be my last blog entry. I haven't decided yet, but since no one's reading this (save for someone i don't know informing me about Saint Nicholas), I see no reason further writing entries.

Once again, happy new year.

Correction

I'm bound to make mistakes occasionally, especially when you use information you hear in movies. I heard on a movie that the Catholic church downgraded the feast day of Saint Nicholas, so I believed it true. But thanks to an unknown reader who commented, I now know that it is sitll celebrated by Catholics. I guess we born-again Christians need to get all of our facts straight. We don't have saints so it's easy for us to make a mistake about them.

So, that's my correction. No reason to apologize for ignorance.

Am I Getting Tired of Blogging?

Yes, I am.

But I'll still post a new one from time to time.

So, this Christmas was good. I opened my gifts, spent time with my family, and went to bed very late on Christmas Eve. Today is the day after Christmas, so that's good.

I like getting gifts, but to be truthful, I feel Christmas is getting away from its purpose. While Christmas is not the most sacred holiday in Christianity, it is high on the list. As such, its main purpose should be to honor the birth of Christ, pray, and go to church. Now, we should give gifts, of course, but I'm saying lets not make that the most significant part of the holiday.

I also think the image of Santa Clause takes away from the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, Saint Nicholas used to be an important Saint in Catholicism with his own feast day and everything. But, Catholicism discontinued the feast day and Saint Nicholas is known more for his commercial influence than religious influence. We all know Santa doesn't exist, and therefore I say it's time we stop using him as a symbol of Christmas. Everyone makes this great big deal about Christmas, but yet Easter is basically ignored. Now, candy companies will deny this fact, which goes back to the point:

Christian holidays are turned into sources of profit while Islamic and Jewish holidays are left for their sacred, historical significance. I've never heard of a special character for Yom Kippur or Eid Al-Fitr, and I doubt the candy and card sales go through the roof for these holidays.

Is it because the United States is a predominately Christian nation? Well, obviously so. But why are we as Christians more likely to profit from our sacred holidays than others? Are we naturally more greedy and capitalistic? I can't really offer a solid opinion on this, so I will not answer the question.

Well, that's all for this blog. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and I hope you all have a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2008 will be a better year than others in the past. One sour note for me, however, is that the 2008 Presidential election is on Nov. 4, 2008, exactly one day before my 18th birthday. Talk about irony.

Something New I Learned

Muslims believe that Jesus will come back at the End of Days, defeat the Dajjal, kill the wicked, and call all humanity to convert to Islam.

Christians believe that Jesus will come back at the End of Days, defeat the Anti-Christ, kill the wicked, and call all humanity to convert to Christianity.

NOTE: Dajjal and Anti-Christ are similar, but are somewhat different in order to fit with their respective religion.

It's sort of interesting how similar our beliefs are. The difference, of course, is that most Christians (especially Evangelicals such as myself) believe in the RAPTURE. In simplest terms, before the Anti-Christ rises to power, all faithful followers of Christ will vanish in the blink of an eye and be saved from the tortures and horrors of his 7-year reign.

Like Muslims, we believe the End of Days is imminent, and that it can happen at any second. Rev. Jerry Fallwell predicted that it would happen between 1999 and 2009, but he is just one of many who have said it would happen, starting back in the 1700s. Whenever it happens, many of us are ready.


This will be my last blog until Christmas Day. I will discuss what I got and share my opinions of Christmas. I'm sure my reader(s) will find it interesting.

Who'da thunk it?

On a 60 minutes story today (12/2/07), a bishop from England was talking about how badly Christians are persecuted in Iraq. That didn't surprise me, but apparantly it was better before the US-led invasion. In fact, Sadam had Christians in his cabinet and they were also some of his closest advisors. Christians were free to worship and build churches, and were given the same rights as Islam.

Then we (america) stormed in, took him out of power for bullshit reasons, and the militants rose to power. Good going, Bushy. Now, an alleged threat is replaced with an imminent threat. Christians have fled to Syria, Iraq is only somewhat quieter thanks to the surge, and you can't walk down the street without the threat of a suicide bomber.

I would say that the Iraqi "War" has not exactly improved the region. If anything, Bush has helped spawn a rapid increase in the numbers of Islamic, anti-American extremists. For those 12% of Americans who support the President, I ask simply: why? Then again, MadTV said it best:

"You can't help but love him, he's like a retarded baby."

-Michael McDonald as John Kerry, 2004