To be honest, and a bit shamefacedly, I haven't delved too deeply into the Gulf oil spill crisis outside of the initial news outbreak and then headlines since then. I suspect that there's some part of me inside that is in denial. Even though I play a part in the spill every day when I drive to work, when I use plastic, and probably other unconscious habits, I don't want to think about the ramifications of my actions and lifestyle and would rather live in blissful denial.
I read two articles today in response to President Obama's speech. In "Oil spill: Do we need another hero?", the writer tries to comment on the cultural and philosophical aspects of the crisis and its impact on the US. Some quotes:
"The trouble Obama faces now is that this becomes a crisis with no real heroes -- people America not only can but should fall in love with. That is depressing. And the spectacle of a presidency sold on the basis of America's self-love struggling in that oily morass would make for the biggest depression of all.
... This crisis needs a narrative, but is inherently resistant to it. It's got villains, but no heroes. It's useful to think about why that is. The reason is that this is apparently not a crisis that can be dealt with via heroic action -- either heroic intellectual effort (think Apollo 13) or heroic bravery and application of force. We seem to have met a crisis that cannot be "solved," only endured. This is very hard for us Americans to deal with. We are used to being able to flood the zone with know-how, with money, and/or with force, and getting the job done. The BP oil spill crisis resists that.
... This crisis is not at its heart about solving a technical problem. It's about: What's happening to us? How is it we're now to be? We look to the president to frame the crisis like this for us."
The barrels of oil still gushing into the Gulf act as a mirror to us as a nation, a people, a culture. How is it we're now to be?
Brian McLaren takes a stab at defining what we could be down the line in this article about a potential vision, requiring some bold commitments, that could ultimately lead to a more sustainable stewardship of the world.
The vision is outlined in the first 3 points, with some ideas for implementation in the last 3 - ideas that I am not at all equipped to evaluate as to how realistic or how good they are. But the vision is interesting:
"1. We have to envision a new and better way of life. We have to imagine that 30 years from now, virtually every roof of every home and building will be an energy-producing station. We have to imagine every window and every wall being replaced or upgraded for improved efficiency. We have to imagine new generations of transport, heating, air-conditioning, and lighting technologies. This will mean we will retool our manufacturing and home-building industries so they contribute to this new green economy. Doing so will stimulate the economy in the right way — creating needed jobs and making a lot of good money (as opposed to dirty money) for wise entrepreneurs and investors. I believe that it will prove more profitable in the long run (in the best sense of the word “profit” — not measured in dollars alone) to be the planet’s wise stewards than to continue on as its reckless, short-sighted, and greedy plunderers.
2. We need to divert creativity, entrepreneurial energy and money away from building new oil rigs and coal mines and from fighting wars in oil-producing areas. We need to decrease expenditures on weapons — which are non-productive assets. And why invest in nuclear plants — which take decades to build and are ripe for their own kinds of disasters — when that money could produce better and longer-term results when invested in the research and development of solar, wind, tidal, and biofuel (algae- and grass-based, not corn-based) technology?
3. We need to direct creativity and money and education toward a new solar-based economy. It will take an innovative government-business partnership (the kind the Japanese and Koreans pioneered in jump-starting their auto industries) to turn this thing around. We have to imagine a different America — a new American economy. To get us there, again, we need to make an unprecedented investment in research and development, and we need to open-source the most promising breakthroughs so as many companies as possible can work with them."
Found this thought-provoking. What does everyone else think?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Lakers-Celtics Game 6 Running Diary
Some running thoughts on game 6...
1st quarter
12:00 - Just realized that the Lakers gold/yellow and the Celtics green is the same color combination as at Sam/Sarah's wedding a few weeks ago.
10:38 - 2 possessions in and the Lakers' spacing is already worlds better than in game 5. Ball is zipping around and no one looks scared.
8:04 - The Celts are still taking advantage of the offensive sets that put Allen right underneath the hoop for a quick catch and layup. The Laker guards are too used to chasing Allen that they can't deal with him when he stops. Since Kobe isn't playing up on Rondo, it's an easy lob pass.
5:24 - Perkins is down with a knee injury - those are never good, especially for burly guys coming down on fragile ligaments.
2nd quarter, Lakers up 10
10:00 - Looks like Robinson learned the "run into the guard after a rebound and fall down" flop from Pierce to draw fouls.
8:03 - Nice hustle play by Farmar to dive for the loose ball, ironically from Rondo, who did the same thing against Orlando and became a folk hero in Boston
7:19 - Better off-the-ball movement by the Lakers already - maybe Kobe won't need to score 50.
7:16 - One of the problems with being a celebrity hangout is that Laker crowds are just not going to be as insane as at other arenas. The Boston crowd would have blown the roof off by now with this lead. All the good Laker fans are priced out of being at the game.
5:33 - Farmar just dunked on the break before KG could chase him down. The Laker bench plays superbly when the Lakers are ahead, not so much when they're down and scared. Lakers up 18.
3:55 - You know it's the Lakers' half when Artest does his "dribbling across the entire key and shoots a 23 foot jumper" routine, there are no gasps of horror from the crowd before the shot goes up, and it goes in.
1:43 - Rondo blows a baseline dunk - this team can't make anything. He makes up for it by forcing and winning the jump ball against odom though.
1:01 - Lakers doing a nice job of interior defense so far - Odom and Gasol are able to use their length, and the refs are letting them play.
Halftime
- The Celts are seriously missing Perkins. If he can't come back in the second half or in game 7, they'll be in serious trouble.
3rd quarter, Lakers up 20
8:47 - Big Baby just flew into a scrum going for an offensive rebound on a shot that actually went in. The way he throws his bulk around, I'm afraid he'll land on someone and snap their spine.
7:05 - Tough drive by Kobe for the and-1, absorbing the bump from KG. I was watching some youtube clips of Jordan in the finals against the Suns in 1993, and it struck me how most of his points were coming within 15 ft from drives, layups, jumpers, while Kobe can catch fire from outside but they all seem like harder shots. Kobe is really working the boards, though.
1:09 - Despite some solid shooting by KG, the Celtics can't cut into the lead. After Rondo hit Artest's forearm with his face, 3 by Vujacic to put them up 22 - this game might be over.
0:00 - 51 points by Boston through 3 quarters?
4th quarter, Lakers up by 25
10:46 - Starting the 4th quarter, all the Celts' Big 3 are out and Kobe/Pau are still in.
8:55 - Love how Gasol keeps the ball high on the offensive rebound and quick-dunks it back in. Nate Robinson was skying for a potential block there, which he may have gotten on someone like Dwight Howard who likes bringing the ball all the way down before going back up again.
6:31 - Lead down to 21 after Allen's free throw on Kobe's technical. Big 3 is back in. How is this game not locked up yet? Think it's about time to wrap things up early.
Post-Game Thoughts
Well, that wasn't competitive at all. No real coaching adjustments made, the Lakers just went out and played far better on both ends of the court. Game 7 it is.
1st quarter
12:00 - Just realized that the Lakers gold/yellow and the Celtics green is the same color combination as at Sam/Sarah's wedding a few weeks ago.
10:38 - 2 possessions in and the Lakers' spacing is already worlds better than in game 5. Ball is zipping around and no one looks scared.
8:04 - The Celts are still taking advantage of the offensive sets that put Allen right underneath the hoop for a quick catch and layup. The Laker guards are too used to chasing Allen that they can't deal with him when he stops. Since Kobe isn't playing up on Rondo, it's an easy lob pass.
5:24 - Perkins is down with a knee injury - those are never good, especially for burly guys coming down on fragile ligaments.
2nd quarter, Lakers up 10
10:00 - Looks like Robinson learned the "run into the guard after a rebound and fall down" flop from Pierce to draw fouls.
8:03 - Nice hustle play by Farmar to dive for the loose ball, ironically from Rondo, who did the same thing against Orlando and became a folk hero in Boston
7:19 - Better off-the-ball movement by the Lakers already - maybe Kobe won't need to score 50.
7:16 - One of the problems with being a celebrity hangout is that Laker crowds are just not going to be as insane as at other arenas. The Boston crowd would have blown the roof off by now with this lead. All the good Laker fans are priced out of being at the game.
5:33 - Farmar just dunked on the break before KG could chase him down. The Laker bench plays superbly when the Lakers are ahead, not so much when they're down and scared. Lakers up 18.
3:55 - You know it's the Lakers' half when Artest does his "dribbling across the entire key and shoots a 23 foot jumper" routine, there are no gasps of horror from the crowd before the shot goes up, and it goes in.
1:43 - Rondo blows a baseline dunk - this team can't make anything. He makes up for it by forcing and winning the jump ball against odom though.
1:01 - Lakers doing a nice job of interior defense so far - Odom and Gasol are able to use their length, and the refs are letting them play.
Halftime
- The Celts are seriously missing Perkins. If he can't come back in the second half or in game 7, they'll be in serious trouble.
3rd quarter, Lakers up 20
8:47 - Big Baby just flew into a scrum going for an offensive rebound on a shot that actually went in. The way he throws his bulk around, I'm afraid he'll land on someone and snap their spine.
7:05 - Tough drive by Kobe for the and-1, absorbing the bump from KG. I was watching some youtube clips of Jordan in the finals against the Suns in 1993, and it struck me how most of his points were coming within 15 ft from drives, layups, jumpers, while Kobe can catch fire from outside but they all seem like harder shots. Kobe is really working the boards, though.
1:09 - Despite some solid shooting by KG, the Celtics can't cut into the lead. After Rondo hit Artest's forearm with his face, 3 by Vujacic to put them up 22 - this game might be over.
0:00 - 51 points by Boston through 3 quarters?
4th quarter, Lakers up by 25
10:46 - Starting the 4th quarter, all the Celts' Big 3 are out and Kobe/Pau are still in.
8:55 - Love how Gasol keeps the ball high on the offensive rebound and quick-dunks it back in. Nate Robinson was skying for a potential block there, which he may have gotten on someone like Dwight Howard who likes bringing the ball all the way down before going back up again.
6:31 - Lead down to 21 after Allen's free throw on Kobe's technical. Big 3 is back in. How is this game not locked up yet? Think it's about time to wrap things up early.
Post-Game Thoughts
Well, that wasn't competitive at all. No real coaching adjustments made, the Lakers just went out and played far better on both ends of the court. Game 7 it is.
God's "still, small voice"
A bit late with my daily posting today...
My thought for the day comes from some contemplation on Scripture at the Internet Monk on the Christian cliche, God's "still, small voice" from 1 Kings 19:11-13, where the prophet Elijah, after doing some miracles and being chased/persecuted for several days, finds himself at the same mountain where Moses encountered God face-to-face. Depressed, frustrated, and lonely, Elijah complains about his plight to God, whereupon God responds with fabulous displays of power - a mighty wind, a powerful earthquake, and a raging fire, but "the Lord was not in the _______." Then after these, there is a still, small voice.
The common church interpretation/teaching of this passage is usually something along the lines of, we need to tune out the noise of this world to listen to God's still, small voice for direction, comfort, and assurance. However, the article writer does an interesting job of presenting an alternative perspective: rather than revealing a way that God speaks to us, the passage is instead a story about how God will typically not use spectacular displays of power to give us a "mountaintop experience" when we're depressed and down about life circumstances. Instead, it is "a call to simply go back to work, doing what God has called us to do, relying on his promises; trusting that the work is his and not ours to define and achieve."
I appreciated the challenge in the reading to consider context and the bigger story more deeply rather than locking in a particular phrase and adopting it as my own, and this particular call to go back to work that God has called me to do, trusting that the work is his and not mine, is an encouragement in the midst of what has been a difficult year.
My thought for the day comes from some contemplation on Scripture at the Internet Monk on the Christian cliche, God's "still, small voice" from 1 Kings 19:11-13, where the prophet Elijah, after doing some miracles and being chased/persecuted for several days, finds himself at the same mountain where Moses encountered God face-to-face. Depressed, frustrated, and lonely, Elijah complains about his plight to God, whereupon God responds with fabulous displays of power - a mighty wind, a powerful earthquake, and a raging fire, but "the Lord was not in the _______." Then after these, there is a still, small voice.
The common church interpretation/teaching of this passage is usually something along the lines of, we need to tune out the noise of this world to listen to God's still, small voice for direction, comfort, and assurance. However, the article writer does an interesting job of presenting an alternative perspective: rather than revealing a way that God speaks to us, the passage is instead a story about how God will typically not use spectacular displays of power to give us a "mountaintop experience" when we're depressed and down about life circumstances. Instead, it is "a call to simply go back to work, doing what God has called us to do, relying on his promises; trusting that the work is his and not ours to define and achieve."
I appreciated the challenge in the reading to consider context and the bigger story more deeply rather than locking in a particular phrase and adopting it as my own, and this particular call to go back to work that God has called me to do, trusting that the work is his and not mine, is an encouragement in the midst of what has been a difficult year.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Baby media
With an ever-increasing number of my peers entering into the realm of parenthood, I've been around babies and toddlers more and more. With that exposure comes a corresponding rise in the amount of "baby media" I run into - songs, TV shows, movies, books, etc.
I can see the value in these. Exposing kids to music, words, and images can help them learn, develop, and so on. If and when S and I are able to start a family, though, I will have to confront a difficult truth - my brain has a hard time dealing with a lot of baby media.
Apparently babies will often request the same kiddie song to be played over and over again, especially to be well-behaved in the car. I may need to invest in earplugs in the car, or just have earphones plugged into my iPod rather than listening to VeggieTales on repeat.
I may go crazy having the same kiddie TV shows showing over and over again, unless I'm able to distract myself somehow by playing something else on the screen in my brain, or maybe I'll try to be productive and memorize Bible verses or something.
I know, I know - if we have a kid, the baby will probably get what he wants. But I'll try my darndest to get him at an early age to listen to U2, hymns, and Mozart; learn the nuances of the NBA, and think longingly to the days ahead when I can finally read out loud The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.
I can see the value in these. Exposing kids to music, words, and images can help them learn, develop, and so on. If and when S and I are able to start a family, though, I will have to confront a difficult truth - my brain has a hard time dealing with a lot of baby media.
Apparently babies will often request the same kiddie song to be played over and over again, especially to be well-behaved in the car. I may need to invest in earplugs in the car, or just have earphones plugged into my iPod rather than listening to VeggieTales on repeat.
I may go crazy having the same kiddie TV shows showing over and over again, unless I'm able to distract myself somehow by playing something else on the screen in my brain, or maybe I'll try to be productive and memorize Bible verses or something.
I know, I know - if we have a kid, the baby will probably get what he wants. But I'll try my darndest to get him at an early age to listen to U2, hymns, and Mozart; learn the nuances of the NBA, and think longingly to the days ahead when I can finally read out loud The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Voices in my Head
Link for the day - "Is This Noise Inside My Head Bothering You?", from Seth Godin's blog. Specific excerpt:
"I think these voices (and a few I missed) determine which career we choose, how good a job we do, where we shop and what we watch. Here are a few:
Interesting list. How would you rank these voices in order of the loudest to softest in your head?
Mine would probably be something like...
"I think these voices (and a few I missed) determine which career we choose, how good a job we do, where we shop and what we watch. Here are a few:
- The ego--seeks applause and recognition.
- The lizard--seeks safety, wants to fit in and not be rejected or criticized.
- The artist--wants to be generous, creative and make positive change with impact.
- The boxer--wants to poke and be poked, seeks revenge and ultimately victory.
- The zombie--wants to turn off and be entertained.
- The carpenter--seeks to do useful work, and finish it well.
- The philanthropist--wants to help, anonymously.
- The evangelist--wants to spread an idea.
- And the hunter--wants to successfully track and bring down a target."
Interesting list. How would you rank these voices in order of the loudest to softest in your head?
Mine would probably be something like...
- zombie
- carpenter
- lizard
- evangelist
- philanthropist
- artist
- ego
- hunter
- boxer
Maybe in a future post I'll try to explain why...
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
On sports "hating" and the NBA Finals
In today's knee-jerk instant-judgment internet world, it's very easy to apply labels that ultimately stick because most people aren't going to take the time to really get to know someone and their interests. So, if I root for the team playing against, say, the Lakers, I'm automatically a hater. If I criticize someone's viewpoint or someone's performance, then I'm a hater.
In this ESPN article, the writer makes the point that because of the Lakers continued success over the last decade (making the finals 7 times since the year 2000!) they've become the most hated franchise in the NBA by anyone except for the Southern Cal region, LA expats, and bandwagon fans. Even traditional hate-doms like Philly fans are pulling for the rival Celtics because they loathe LA. Hate in sports, it seems, is primarily a function of "jealousy and the fatigue of losing."
As a diehard NBA fan, it makes watching this Finals series a bit tricky. Frankly, I don't like either of these franchises, because on my human sports fan level, I am jealous of them and fatigued by all the losing on the Warriors' part (the Spurs are still decent but no longer contenders). On top of that, the injustice of the Gasol trade, embarrassment of riches that each team's roster contains, and the general thuggish Celtics attitude rub me the wrong way constantly.
On the other hand, I can't say I'm rooting against either squad either. I'm a big fan of Gasol's and Allen's games and professional, team-first demeanor. As a basketball junkie, I love watching the triangle offense run to perfection, the double-high-pick and roll that the Celtics have been running, Allen's jumper, Gasol's spin moves and hooks with either hand, KG's help defense, Rondo's quickness to loose balls, Kobe's footwork.
So, I guess I'm just rooting for a series that goes 7 and leaves me with a load of snapshots of memorable basketball, like Allen's 7 3s in game 2, Fisher taking over the 4th quarter of game 3, etc.
In general, on hating, the last NBA team I truly hated were the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. So much arrogance and thuggishness (Shaq and Fox) on one squad. There have been plenty of other players I dislike for being general knuckleheads.
In this ESPN article, the writer makes the point that because of the Lakers continued success over the last decade (making the finals 7 times since the year 2000!) they've become the most hated franchise in the NBA by anyone except for the Southern Cal region, LA expats, and bandwagon fans. Even traditional hate-doms like Philly fans are pulling for the rival Celtics because they loathe LA. Hate in sports, it seems, is primarily a function of "jealousy and the fatigue of losing."
As a diehard NBA fan, it makes watching this Finals series a bit tricky. Frankly, I don't like either of these franchises, because on my human sports fan level, I am jealous of them and fatigued by all the losing on the Warriors' part (the Spurs are still decent but no longer contenders). On top of that, the injustice of the Gasol trade, embarrassment of riches that each team's roster contains, and the general thuggish Celtics attitude rub me the wrong way constantly.
On the other hand, I can't say I'm rooting against either squad either. I'm a big fan of Gasol's and Allen's games and professional, team-first demeanor. As a basketball junkie, I love watching the triangle offense run to perfection, the double-high-pick and roll that the Celtics have been running, Allen's jumper, Gasol's spin moves and hooks with either hand, KG's help defense, Rondo's quickness to loose balls, Kobe's footwork.
So, I guess I'm just rooting for a series that goes 7 and leaves me with a load of snapshots of memorable basketball, like Allen's 7 3s in game 2, Fisher taking over the 4th quarter of game 3, etc.
In general, on hating, the last NBA team I truly hated were the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. So much arrogance and thuggishness (Shaq and Fox) on one squad. There have been plenty of other players I dislike for being general knuckleheads.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
TV Unplugged
I have some unfinished thoughts on the Lakers-Celtics series that will go up tomorrow. In the meantime, wanted to ask the larger community about an issue that many of us might face...
After getting married, we've intentionally been going without TV for the last 1.5 years. No antenna, basic channels, cable, etc. For the first time in many years (college days?), I don't have the ability to flop down on the couch after work and veg away hours of sports, reruns of movies, foodie shows, etc.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. I recommend it for anyone getting married in the future - not having TV removes an easy excuse not to talk to your new spouse, and it's a good thing to try for a year. However, we've noted that even just being able to get broadcast channels (stuff we could get over an antenna) would help us work out more (we both have habits of exercising while watching, like situps/pushups/pullups during commercial breaks) and sometimes it's nice to watch major network shows on a larger screen than on a laptop playing Hulu.
So, we've been trying to figure out how we could best partake in media now that we've moved into our new house. We're tentatively thinking of installing a rooftop antenna around the time that we replace our roof this summer. However, some hanging questions include:
- Can we go without paying for TV and rely on DVDs/Hulu?
- What will I do for NBA purposes? Should I sign up for League Pass online?
- If we don't have cable TV, is it really necessary to get a nice big flatscreen (once our CRT burns out) primarily for video games and DVDs?
- Are there TVs that we can hook up laptops to, or that can play directly off the Internet?
- Is it worth looking into streaming media like Netflix online? If so, how big of an internet pipe is needed for good performance?
- Is there any truth to the rumors that with so many people hopping off of cable plans that run from $40-$100 a month, cable companies will eventually need to cave and go to a pay-per-channel model?
Some links I've skimmed but haven't researched in depth yet:
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/01/04/paying-for-tv-one-way-or-another
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/01/your-guide-to-cutting-the-cord-to-cable-tv008.html
After getting married, we've intentionally been going without TV for the last 1.5 years. No antenna, basic channels, cable, etc. For the first time in many years (college days?), I don't have the ability to flop down on the couch after work and veg away hours of sports, reruns of movies, foodie shows, etc.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing. I recommend it for anyone getting married in the future - not having TV removes an easy excuse not to talk to your new spouse, and it's a good thing to try for a year. However, we've noted that even just being able to get broadcast channels (stuff we could get over an antenna) would help us work out more (we both have habits of exercising while watching, like situps/pushups/pullups during commercial breaks) and sometimes it's nice to watch major network shows on a larger screen than on a laptop playing Hulu.
So, we've been trying to figure out how we could best partake in media now that we've moved into our new house. We're tentatively thinking of installing a rooftop antenna around the time that we replace our roof this summer. However, some hanging questions include:
- Can we go without paying for TV and rely on DVDs/Hulu?
- What will I do for NBA purposes? Should I sign up for League Pass online?
- If we don't have cable TV, is it really necessary to get a nice big flatscreen (once our CRT burns out) primarily for video games and DVDs?
- Are there TVs that we can hook up laptops to, or that can play directly off the Internet?
- Is it worth looking into streaming media like Netflix online? If so, how big of an internet pipe is needed for good performance?
- Is there any truth to the rumors that with so many people hopping off of cable plans that run from $40-$100 a month, cable companies will eventually need to cave and go to a pay-per-channel model?
Some links I've skimmed but haven't researched in depth yet:
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/01/04/paying-for-tv-one-way-or-another
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/01/your-guide-to-cutting-the-cord-to-cable-tv008.html
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/01/espn_on_xbox_360_tipping_point_for_cable_workarounds.html
http://lifehacker.com/5475091/how-can-i-ditch-cable-and-watch-my-tv-shows-and-movies-online
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/03/26/155255/Whats-the-Best-Way-To-Get-Web-Content-To-My-TV
How about the rest of you? What do you do for media intake on the small (computer) or big (TV) screen? In particular, what do you do for live sports?
http://lifehacker.com/5475091/how-can-i-ditch-cable-and-watch-my-tv-shows-and-movies-online
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/03/26/155255/Whats-the-Best-Way-To-Get-Web-Content-To-My-TV
How about the rest of you? What do you do for media intake on the small (computer) or big (TV) screen? In particular, what do you do for live sports?
Monday, June 07, 2010
"Lost" reflections
Why did I faithfully watch Lost these last 6 years?
One of my personality quirks is that I tend to be too much of a loyalist. I don't easily drop my fandom of something, and I give a lot of grace - perhaps too much so - for subpar efforts and mistakes. This might explain why I'm still a Warriors fan. Combined with being a completist, I've "stuck it out to the bitter end" on various things that, in retrospect, weren't entirely satisfying.
Having been a fan of Abrams' Alias, I was fully aware that Lost could very well fall into the same trap - come up with intriguing mysteries without any solutions, ending on a hand-wavey whimper and no sense of resolution. However, after the creators of Lost were able to negotiate an end date to the show, and seasons 3-5 were more tightly plotted, I had a bit more hope.
How did I feel after the finale 2 weeks ago? The best way to describe it would probably be to draw a contrast with another sci-fi story - the Matrix series. In that trilogy, they started with a tightly plotted action movie with a mythology that wasn't exactly original, but was pretty intriguing and had a sense of closure. When the movie succeeded at the box office and the creators were contracted to make 2 more movies, they proceeded to inflate the mythology way too big in the 2nd movie (remember the conversation with Colonel Sanders at the end?), and eventually weren't able to resolve all the big mysteries in a very clear way, so ended with an unsatisfying conclusion.
The reason why I left the 3rd Matrix movie with a bad taste in my mouth was because while the action was good, the mythology ended up being a dud of sorts, and I didn't care enough about the characters to ultimately redeem the trilogy (I figure you need to be positive on at least 2 out of those 3 areas for sci-fi/mystery to consider it a success).
Contrasting this with Lost: while ultimately the mythology ended up falling prey to over-inflation and leading to a personal sense of dissatisfaction at the end of the entire series due to unanswered questions, the fact remained that I cared about the people. After 6 seasons of character development, drama, tragedy, flashbacks and flashforwards, I genuinely wanted to see closure for the people, and for better or worse, that's what we got. As mentioned elsewhere on the interwebs - it was basically an emotionally satisfying cop-out.
I am kind of disappointed at the number of unanswered questions, but listening to interviews with the creators and writers, I can understand some of the reasons - needing to be set up for an unknown number of seasons, actors leaving the show (they had a big plotline planned for Mr. Eko), and other uncontrolled circumstances can play havoc with your story. Anyway, for the real Lost geeks, here are a few links I've found chronicling the unanswered questions, as well as one guy's stab at coming up with reasonable speculation for answers that I found pretty sensible.
"The Idiot's Guide to Lost":
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b183078_idiots_guide_lost.html
"Unannswered Questions in Video Format"
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291
One of my personality quirks is that I tend to be too much of a loyalist. I don't easily drop my fandom of something, and I give a lot of grace - perhaps too much so - for subpar efforts and mistakes. This might explain why I'm still a Warriors fan. Combined with being a completist, I've "stuck it out to the bitter end" on various things that, in retrospect, weren't entirely satisfying.
Having been a fan of Abrams' Alias, I was fully aware that Lost could very well fall into the same trap - come up with intriguing mysteries without any solutions, ending on a hand-wavey whimper and no sense of resolution. However, after the creators of Lost were able to negotiate an end date to the show, and seasons 3-5 were more tightly plotted, I had a bit more hope.
How did I feel after the finale 2 weeks ago? The best way to describe it would probably be to draw a contrast with another sci-fi story - the Matrix series. In that trilogy, they started with a tightly plotted action movie with a mythology that wasn't exactly original, but was pretty intriguing and had a sense of closure. When the movie succeeded at the box office and the creators were contracted to make 2 more movies, they proceeded to inflate the mythology way too big in the 2nd movie (remember the conversation with Colonel Sanders at the end?), and eventually weren't able to resolve all the big mysteries in a very clear way, so ended with an unsatisfying conclusion.
The reason why I left the 3rd Matrix movie with a bad taste in my mouth was because while the action was good, the mythology ended up being a dud of sorts, and I didn't care enough about the characters to ultimately redeem the trilogy (I figure you need to be positive on at least 2 out of those 3 areas for sci-fi/mystery to consider it a success).
Contrasting this with Lost: while ultimately the mythology ended up falling prey to over-inflation and leading to a personal sense of dissatisfaction at the end of the entire series due to unanswered questions, the fact remained that I cared about the people. After 6 seasons of character development, drama, tragedy, flashbacks and flashforwards, I genuinely wanted to see closure for the people, and for better or worse, that's what we got. As mentioned elsewhere on the interwebs - it was basically an emotionally satisfying cop-out.
I am kind of disappointed at the number of unanswered questions, but listening to interviews with the creators and writers, I can understand some of the reasons - needing to be set up for an unknown number of seasons, actors leaving the show (they had a big plotline planned for Mr. Eko), and other uncontrolled circumstances can play havoc with your story. Anyway, for the real Lost geeks, here are a few links I've found chronicling the unanswered questions, as well as one guy's stab at coming up with reasonable speculation for answers that I found pretty sensible.
"All the Lost Mysteries - Answers, Reasonable Conjectures, Nitpicks, and Missed Opportunities" - well worth the time to read
"The Idiot's Guide to Lost":
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b183078_idiots_guide_lost.html
"Unannswered Questions in Video Format"
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291
Friday, June 04, 2010
Another year older and deeper in bad habits
I used to write on this blog relatively prolifically in the first half of this decade. I realized recently that my decline in writing corresponded with the era where it became supremely easy to waste 10-15 minutes at a time on the internet - through youtube, through digg, through countless sites providing top 10 lists and interesting (but ultimately irrelevant) content.
Being an input junkie and a fast reader, I loaded up my RSS feeds and began consuming tidbits of information in bite-size chunks at all hours of the day, leaving little time for contemplation and the personal wrestling on life that inherently need large chunks of time.
I kinda miss the me that would write, back in the day.
So, as I begin my next year of life, I'm going to be a bit ambitious and aim to write a post each weekday for the rest of the month of June, to see if I can get back into a habit. I'm trying to give myself the freedom to not be particularly polished, especially starting out. I'll try to write about life, faith, interesting things, questions, and a list of other stuff I've archived but haven't really processed.
Hope you'll join me, but I won't be offended if you choose to block me from your feeds. It might do you some good to reduce the amount of input in your life too.
Being an input junkie and a fast reader, I loaded up my RSS feeds and began consuming tidbits of information in bite-size chunks at all hours of the day, leaving little time for contemplation and the personal wrestling on life that inherently need large chunks of time.
I kinda miss the me that would write, back in the day.
So, as I begin my next year of life, I'm going to be a bit ambitious and aim to write a post each weekday for the rest of the month of June, to see if I can get back into a habit. I'm trying to give myself the freedom to not be particularly polished, especially starting out. I'll try to write about life, faith, interesting things, questions, and a list of other stuff I've archived but haven't really processed.
Hope you'll join me, but I won't be offended if you choose to block me from your feeds. It might do you some good to reduce the amount of input in your life too.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Weekend in (Brief) Review
Took Friday off and we headed up to Tahoe with a bunch of Shally's longtime friends from high school - rented a 5 bed, 5 bath place in Truckee. Lots of Olympics watching, playing with two of the babies, cooking meals and eating snacks, learned how to play Citadel, and watched everyone play "Wii Cheer".
We headed to Northstar on Saturday for the slopes in the midst of big crowds and a constantly falling snow that ranged from light and fluffy to hail (hail hitting your face at high speed isn't pleasant, I'm glad I had a ski mask!). I think that in general, because of my anxieties about my knees (and how a knee injury would hamper my ability to play basketball), it'll be hard for me to enjoy skiing anything above a blue slope, but I did feel pretty good about starting to get the hang of weight transfer on turns and keeping the skis parallel.
On the drive back, we hit up the Davis Sushi Buffet for lunch, then relaxed and unwound with one of Shally's favorite romantic comedies, "French Kiss" (with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, as well as Jean Reno, the quintessential French-looking actor).
Fun conversations:
We headed to Northstar on Saturday for the slopes in the midst of big crowds and a constantly falling snow that ranged from light and fluffy to hail (hail hitting your face at high speed isn't pleasant, I'm glad I had a ski mask!). I think that in general, because of my anxieties about my knees (and how a knee injury would hamper my ability to play basketball), it'll be hard for me to enjoy skiing anything above a blue slope, but I did feel pretty good about starting to get the hang of weight transfer on turns and keeping the skis parallel.
On the drive back, we hit up the Davis Sushi Buffet for lunch, then relaxed and unwound with one of Shally's favorite romantic comedies, "French Kiss" (with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, as well as Jean Reno, the quintessential French-looking actor).
Fun conversations:
- In living with other people, when dealing with shared food items, how do you deal with "protecting" your favorite food items from casual grazing by your spouse/partner? It's not as special to your other half, and it's disconcerting to look forward to something you buy to find out that it's been eaten. This is a surprisingly common experience.
- Career ambitions... we're reaching the age where we should be more senior, able to mentor newbies and have an idea of where we're going professionally.
- Two new Winter Olympics events we proposed:
- they should combine the biathlon and cross-country skiing to make a new sport where you ski into the woods with a rifle and fire at targets while on the move. I would totally watch this.
- they should include a figure skating event where a competitor is given 2 minutes to complete as many aerial rotations as possible. I would totally watch this too.
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