Recent Movies
I saw An Inconvenient Truth and I was surprised at how low-key it was. The movie is like one big long powerpoint with sidebars. It is much less alarmist than it could have been.
I saw Bowling for Columbine, partly to have a point of reference for some more liberal friends. Moore is at his best when he's trying to embarass people or capturing them doing and saying really comically stupid stuff.
I enjoyed The Queen, although I couldn't get the tabloid image of Diana on the diving board out of my mind, in connection with the eiree music they used in the soundtrack.
My wife enjoyed Briget Jones and I like it better second time around.
I really enjoyed Match Point. It is certainly Woody's best film. The use of Verdi's Otello in the climactic scenes was a masterstroke. It was fun to watch Scarlett Johansson play... herself. The genius of the film is that it subverts your expectations and drives you into a killing frenzy towards the main character by the end. Almost Grecian in the sort of emotion you are left with. I shoul really buy a copy but then again I don't know if I can bear to watch the film over and over again. Too intense.
Ambrose likes the Raffi concert DVD. I think Raffi is really great and I like the way he weaves subtle religious motifs into his work.
I love the early 1980s Dune and find myself watching it even more than the Sci-Fi channel miniseries, which was my old "finals week" ritual starting with law school December 2000.
The Last King of Scotland is a chilling film. When I was a kid, I was scared of Christopher Plummer as Capt. von Trapp. As a 33 yo, I'm scared of Forest Whittaker as Idi Amin. It's a very intense portrayal.
Do y'all know that Antonioni and Bergman died on the same day in July? Huge. Go watch L'Avventura and Persona back to back. Read Paglia's column on Art Film R.I.P. Weep.
7.29.2007
6.17.2007
Fear of Whales
My parents gave me a wonderful book on Whales for my birthday this past week. It's called Cetacean Societies and you can find it by searching StuffBooks. Fortunately, the book has not very many underwater pictures, and lots of maps and tables and text. ("Very scientificy," said Marsha.)
For those of you who don't know, I have an acute fear of whales. Just this weekend, I discovered that "I am not alone" (!).
Edward over at Obsidian Wings writes in tones that come very close to my own experience:
hat do you irrationally fear? I know I should not admit this in a public forum, but I have a near paralyzing fear of whales. There. I've admitted it. Whales scare the bejesus out of me.
I think I always knew this, but never having encountered a whale, it didn't become clear until I watched the Japanese film Dr. Akagi. There's a scene where a man and woman row out into the sea in a tiny row boat and there's this amazing aerial shot of a massive whale swimming right below them, dwarfing them. I nearly had a seizure, and even now, just visualizing it makes me shiver.
There's a scene in 20000 Leagues Beneath the Sea where Captain Nemo opens the portal covering in his submarine and you can look out into the deep abyss. As a kid watching that film, I nearly freaked out during that scene. I used to think it was the wide open space I was afraid of, but now I believe it was simply a sense that "that's enough room for a whale to come along in."
This will prevent me from ever taking up scuba diving seriously. Even now when snorkeling, as I love to do, if the distance between the ocean floor and the top of the water becomes, er...well, whale size, I have to turn back. I just know that if I stay, merrily enjoying the adorable (i.e., smaller than me) marine life around me, I'll bump into this wall that I swore wasn't there a moment ago, and just as I being to explore the barnacles and bumps on its surface, the really large one will open to reveal a giant eyeball as big as my whole head and I will die right there, on the spot. I can't explain it.
Joye over at her blog writes:
Is there an image that immediately evokes fear in you? I don't mean a still shot from The Nightmare on Elm Street or a graphic photo depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. Just an innocuous, unobjectionable image? Say you were flipping through the pages of a magazine and that image was to suddenly appear on the page, would it cause a tightening or sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach or a slight ringing in your ears?
I've never seen a photo, drawing, or television scene of a whale without having those responses. Especially seeing a whale in the deep of the ocean can induce an uneasiness; an irrational fear. I suppose it would be categorized as a phobia, although I don't have to flee the room like people do on talk shows when they're confronted with their phobias. But, yes, I think whales are frightening creatures. They're big, scary, sea monsters. There. I said it.
I can't imagine that any fear is completely unfounded. It must have its roots in something, even if only a wrong perception in one's mind. My fear of whales is probably a throwback to the first time I saw Disney's Pinocchio at the theatre. I do vividly recall the scene with Monstro the Whale barreling through the deep water, a great menacing leviathan crashing down upon Pinnocchio and devouring the tiny puppet. I hated the movie. I still don't like the story, either. It's creepy.
Some comments on Joye's post followup with the Pinnochio experience, which is part but probably not all of the source for me:i have the same fear and i also believe it originated when i first saw pinocchio! your description of it as a barrelling leviathan perfectly encapsuled my fear. ugh. Joye revisited the topic a few months later and got a lot of comments from other who suffer from the fear as well. Some of these really struck a chord with me:I had absolutely NO idea there was anyone else out there. If I even happen to come accross a photo of a whale, I need medication my panic attick is so bad. So believe me, you are not alone! My parents even tried to get my to see a therapist regarding it, but I researched the tactics therapists use to help with phobias and I think I may die with some of them; so I choose to just avoid at all costs!
* * *
i am absolutley terrified of whales too!! videos of whales, pictures, even painted or drawn pictures of whales freak me out. when i went to see happy feet, i almost started crying because of the whales-- and the scary noises they make in finding nemo. and has anyone seen the preview for surfs up? wayyyy scary. you will not find me near a whale watch if i have anything to do with it.
There are more good comments at an entry on another blog about Sarah's whale phobia:
No, no, I am only afraid of the huge ones. Blue whales, sperm whales, humpback whales. Blue whales in particular though, since they are the super huge ones. The thought that they even exist literally makes me shudder.
* * *
I’ve been uncontrollably afraid of whales for as long I can remember - I’ve never even seen one. It doesn’t stop there though, anything underwater tends to make me cringe, panic, or hide. I generally won’t go in large bodies of water, and definitely not water I can’t see to the bottom in. It’s really saddening to see people joke about this. I constantly find pictures of whales left for me because people think it’s funny to see my reaction.
* * *
OMG! I have whale-phobia too. (IM NOT KIDDING) I’m always having these dreams where I am in the ocean and a whale comes up and tries to kill me, I always wake up trembling and drenched in sweat. I can’t even look at a picture of a whale without having to look away, they are so scary. I’m not scared of dolphins or other fishes, only whales and especially the big, nasty ones, like the blue humbacks. Everytime I told someone of my fear they laugh and say whales are the least scariest thing on the planet, but I beg to differ. I’m relieved someone shares my fear as I thought I was the only one in the world.
Brian O'Malley has a column about his fear of whales. Like many other people, he is petrified of whale pictures.
When is was in first grade, there was a photo in one of our science books that showed a group of guys in a row boat, just feet away from a blue whale's tail sticking vertically out of the water. It scared the heck out of me. I couldn't look at it anymore.
After that I only noticed it every once in a while, but in the last five years it's gotten worse. It's at the point where I'll see a whale on TV and my eyes will close and my head will jerk away from the screen without my control. It's a natural reaction. And sometimes, if I get a good look at a whale, I get these wicked shivers through my body.
I know what you're saying. "You never have to worry about whales." It's true. And for that I'm fortunate. It would be pretty hard to accidentally run into a whale.
But that doesn't stop it from being true. There is no name for a fear of whales, but I have it, so it exists. One site informed me that a fear of whales is a subcategory of thalassophobia: a fear of the sea.
I am pretty sure many other people have fears that just sound ridiculous like mine. I have friends who have some off-the-wall fears as well. Just about everybody has one thing out of the ordinary that freaks him or her out.
For the longest time, I didn't tell too many people about the whole whale thing, but lately everybody I know has found out one way or another. So now I hear whale references daily. One of my coworkers and I bought some fish to put into the newsroom. It didn't take long before the whale comments came rolling in.
Well my fear is out in the open and I'm not ashamed of it. Should I really be ashamed of being afraid of the largest living things on Earth? I don't think so, either.
Like I said before, I didn't chose to be afraid of whales, I just am.
My name is Joshua Wiley and I approve of, or at least strongly sympathize with, these messages!
My parents gave me a wonderful book on Whales for my birthday this past week. It's called Cetacean Societies and you can find it by searching StuffBooks. Fortunately, the book has not very many underwater pictures, and lots of maps and tables and text. ("Very scientificy," said Marsha.)
For those of you who don't know, I have an acute fear of whales. Just this weekend, I discovered that "I am not alone" (!).
Edward over at Obsidian Wings writes in tones that come very close to my own experience:
hat do you irrationally fear? I know I should not admit this in a public forum, but I have a near paralyzing fear of whales. There. I've admitted it. Whales scare the bejesus out of me.
I think I always knew this, but never having encountered a whale, it didn't become clear until I watched the Japanese film Dr. Akagi. There's a scene where a man and woman row out into the sea in a tiny row boat and there's this amazing aerial shot of a massive whale swimming right below them, dwarfing them. I nearly had a seizure, and even now, just visualizing it makes me shiver.
There's a scene in 20000 Leagues Beneath the Sea where Captain Nemo opens the portal covering in his submarine and you can look out into the deep abyss. As a kid watching that film, I nearly freaked out during that scene. I used to think it was the wide open space I was afraid of, but now I believe it was simply a sense that "that's enough room for a whale to come along in."
This will prevent me from ever taking up scuba diving seriously. Even now when snorkeling, as I love to do, if the distance between the ocean floor and the top of the water becomes, er...well, whale size, I have to turn back. I just know that if I stay, merrily enjoying the adorable (i.e., smaller than me) marine life around me, I'll bump into this wall that I swore wasn't there a moment ago, and just as I being to explore the barnacles and bumps on its surface, the really large one will open to reveal a giant eyeball as big as my whole head and I will die right there, on the spot. I can't explain it.
Joye over at her blog writes:
Is there an image that immediately evokes fear in you? I don't mean a still shot from The Nightmare on Elm Street or a graphic photo depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. Just an innocuous, unobjectionable image? Say you were flipping through the pages of a magazine and that image was to suddenly appear on the page, would it cause a tightening or sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach or a slight ringing in your ears?
I've never seen a photo, drawing, or television scene of a whale without having those responses. Especially seeing a whale in the deep of the ocean can induce an uneasiness; an irrational fear. I suppose it would be categorized as a phobia, although I don't have to flee the room like people do on talk shows when they're confronted with their phobias. But, yes, I think whales are frightening creatures. They're big, scary, sea monsters. There. I said it.
I can't imagine that any fear is completely unfounded. It must have its roots in something, even if only a wrong perception in one's mind. My fear of whales is probably a throwback to the first time I saw Disney's Pinocchio at the theatre. I do vividly recall the scene with Monstro the Whale barreling through the deep water, a great menacing leviathan crashing down upon Pinnocchio and devouring the tiny puppet. I hated the movie. I still don't like the story, either. It's creepy.
Some comments on Joye's post followup with the Pinnochio experience, which is part but probably not all of the source for me:i have the same fear and i also believe it originated when i first saw pinocchio! your description of it as a barrelling leviathan perfectly encapsuled my fear. ugh. Joye revisited the topic a few months later and got a lot of comments from other who suffer from the fear as well. Some of these really struck a chord with me:I had absolutely NO idea there was anyone else out there. If I even happen to come accross a photo of a whale, I need medication my panic attick is so bad. So believe me, you are not alone! My parents even tried to get my to see a therapist regarding it, but I researched the tactics therapists use to help with phobias and I think I may die with some of them; so I choose to just avoid at all costs!
* * *
i am absolutley terrified of whales too!! videos of whales, pictures, even painted or drawn pictures of whales freak me out. when i went to see happy feet, i almost started crying because of the whales-- and the scary noises they make in finding nemo. and has anyone seen the preview for surfs up? wayyyy scary. you will not find me near a whale watch if i have anything to do with it.
There are more good comments at an entry on another blog about Sarah's whale phobia:
No, no, I am only afraid of the huge ones. Blue whales, sperm whales, humpback whales. Blue whales in particular though, since they are the super huge ones. The thought that they even exist literally makes me shudder.
* * *
I’ve been uncontrollably afraid of whales for as long I can remember - I’ve never even seen one. It doesn’t stop there though, anything underwater tends to make me cringe, panic, or hide. I generally won’t go in large bodies of water, and definitely not water I can’t see to the bottom in. It’s really saddening to see people joke about this. I constantly find pictures of whales left for me because people think it’s funny to see my reaction.
* * *
OMG! I have whale-phobia too. (IM NOT KIDDING) I’m always having these dreams where I am in the ocean and a whale comes up and tries to kill me, I always wake up trembling and drenched in sweat. I can’t even look at a picture of a whale without having to look away, they are so scary. I’m not scared of dolphins or other fishes, only whales and especially the big, nasty ones, like the blue humbacks. Everytime I told someone of my fear they laugh and say whales are the least scariest thing on the planet, but I beg to differ. I’m relieved someone shares my fear as I thought I was the only one in the world.
Brian O'Malley has a column about his fear of whales. Like many other people, he is petrified of whale pictures.
When is was in first grade, there was a photo in one of our science books that showed a group of guys in a row boat, just feet away from a blue whale's tail sticking vertically out of the water. It scared the heck out of me. I couldn't look at it anymore.
After that I only noticed it every once in a while, but in the last five years it's gotten worse. It's at the point where I'll see a whale on TV and my eyes will close and my head will jerk away from the screen without my control. It's a natural reaction. And sometimes, if I get a good look at a whale, I get these wicked shivers through my body.
I know what you're saying. "You never have to worry about whales." It's true. And for that I'm fortunate. It would be pretty hard to accidentally run into a whale.
But that doesn't stop it from being true. There is no name for a fear of whales, but I have it, so it exists. One site informed me that a fear of whales is a subcategory of thalassophobia: a fear of the sea.
I am pretty sure many other people have fears that just sound ridiculous like mine. I have friends who have some off-the-wall fears as well. Just about everybody has one thing out of the ordinary that freaks him or her out.
For the longest time, I didn't tell too many people about the whole whale thing, but lately everybody I know has found out one way or another. So now I hear whale references daily. One of my coworkers and I bought some fish to put into the newsroom. It didn't take long before the whale comments came rolling in.
Well my fear is out in the open and I'm not ashamed of it. Should I really be ashamed of being afraid of the largest living things on Earth? I don't think so, either.
Like I said before, I didn't chose to be afraid of whales, I just am.
My name is Joshua Wiley and I approve of, or at least strongly sympathize with, these messages!
5.23.2007
Grape! Mango! Which?
Handel's Ice Cream started featuring grape ice cream as a seasonal flavor last week. That's a full rich Concord grape flavor that makes a fine milkshake.
Tonight, I went there looking forward to my grape ice cream fix, but found to my great suprise and consternation that Handel's was offering not only grape but mango.
For those of you who may know know, mango by Handel's is unique flavor and probably their very best. It even includes lots of mango pureé! The only better flavor I've had are the grapefruit gelatos in Italy and Hungary.
I had Mango.
Handel's Ice Cream started featuring grape ice cream as a seasonal flavor last week. That's a full rich Concord grape flavor that makes a fine milkshake.
Tonight, I went there looking forward to my grape ice cream fix, but found to my great suprise and consternation that Handel's was offering not only grape but mango.
For those of you who may know know, mango by Handel's is unique flavor and probably their very best. It even includes lots of mango pureé! The only better flavor I've had are the grapefruit gelatos in Italy and Hungary.
I had Mango.
Lions and Tigers, oh my!
Tigons and Ligers are real! But very diferent. What is interesting what a difference the mothers' species make.
My wife and I were speculating—or, rather I was bsing her—that tigers and lions probably have racist attitudes towards the halfbreeds, and probably need sensitivity training.
Tigons and Ligers are real! But very diferent. What is interesting what a difference the mothers' species make.
My wife and I were speculating—or, rather I was bsing her—that tigers and lions probably have racist attitudes towards the halfbreeds, and probably need sensitivity training.
5.07.2007
Haunting, Amazing, Evocative
When I was a kid, I loved the atmosphere of the inner "Charn" chapters in The Magician's Nephew. Well, Ukranian woman's motorcycle journeys through the exclusion zone around Chernobyl certainly remind me this.
The woman writes that This town might be an attractive place for tourists. Some tourists companies have been trying to arrange tours in this town, but the first group of tourists found the silence unnerving and downright SPOOKY. And it is. They charged 1200 hryvnas for a 2 hour excursion and after some 15 minutes, they wanted to flee to the outside world. The silence here is deafening.
When I was a kid, I loved the atmosphere of the inner "Charn" chapters in The Magician's Nephew. Well, Ukranian woman's motorcycle journeys through the exclusion zone around Chernobyl certainly remind me this.
The woman writes that This town might be an attractive place for tourists. Some tourists companies have been trying to arrange tours in this town, but the first group of tourists found the silence unnerving and downright SPOOKY. And it is. They charged 1200 hryvnas for a 2 hour excursion and after some 15 minutes, they wanted to flee to the outside world. The silence here is deafening.
5.06.2007
Congratulations to Mr. Sarkozy!
The NR blog linked this pair of contrasting images. It will be interesting to what happens to the French left now. If only politics in this country were as . . . interesting.
The NR blog linked this pair of contrasting images. It will be interesting to what happens to the French left now. If only politics in this country were as . . . interesting.
5.05.2007
Summer 2008 is a long ways off but if present trends continue, it strikes me that this sort of thing has some merit. If Bush persists in his policies through the summer of 2008, and if no strong Republican candidate emerges and is able to gain traction against that backdrop, then the real election may be taking place in the California primary and the choice will probably be between the two junior senators.
5.04.2007
Ahmedinejad's letter to Bush is a fascinating apologetic document. He pretty much ignores the claims of Islam as such and tries to appeal to Bush on the basis of his professed Christianity. Many commentators have seen the letter as a simple propaganda piece, but I consider that it is really proof that Ahmedinejad lives or tries to live, much as I myself used to try, in a medieveal world where the ideas are real things and not merely traditions or conventions to which men are obliged to pay lip service. There is something of Charles Williams in this letter—I am thinking of The Place of the Lion—although seen from the other side.
4.29.2007
Buena Vista!
Drove from Springs to Buena Vista today. I loved the progression from red-rock to rocky scrub over Ute Pass, and then to high arid grasslands after crossing over the next pass. I probably liked the "South Park" area around Hartsel the best--it has endless expanse of grasslands in a 60 mile-wide huge bowl rimed with snowcovered mountains. It reminded me of the MacKensie country in NZ.
Buena Vista itself exceeded my expectations, at least as far as sweeping good views is concerned. Coming from the east, a long valley opens before one, with a string of Fourteeners stretching north to south as far as the eye can follow. We tried to drive up to Cottenwood Pass, but it was closed a few miles before the actual pass.
July 9, 1984 was a long time ago now, but I passed Fairplay about 17 miles to the south today, and very nearly turned north to try to see Windy Ridge. I'm glad I didn't, though; Samuel said that the actual road was not all that passable without a 4x4. Given the time of year (late April), I'm sure I would have gotten nowhere near the timberline.
Drove from Springs to Buena Vista today. I loved the progression from red-rock to rocky scrub over Ute Pass, and then to high arid grasslands after crossing over the next pass. I probably liked the "South Park" area around Hartsel the best--it has endless expanse of grasslands in a 60 mile-wide huge bowl rimed with snowcovered mountains. It reminded me of the MacKensie country in NZ.
Buena Vista itself exceeded my expectations, at least as far as sweeping good views is concerned. Coming from the east, a long valley opens before one, with a string of Fourteeners stretching north to south as far as the eye can follow. We tried to drive up to Cottenwood Pass, but it was closed a few miles before the actual pass.
July 9, 1984 was a long time ago now, but I passed Fairplay about 17 miles to the south today, and very nearly turned north to try to see Windy Ridge. I'm glad I didn't, though; Samuel said that the actual road was not all that passable without a 4x4. Given the time of year (late April), I'm sure I would have gotten nowhere near the timberline.
4.27.2007
Colorado
Marsha, Ambrose, and I are in Colorado Springs for a friend's wedding. Today, I took the opportunity to drive most of the way up Pike's Peak (the last five miles were closed due to a large ice wall) and to wander around the Garden of the Godsies.
I took the opportunity to drive around Manitou Springs, and to drive by Summit Ministries. I nearly ran over David Noebel crossing the street in front of Summit. Although it was like 75°F outside, he looked a good fundamentalist in long-sleve white shirt and tie. :)
Colorado reminds me more of Italy than of NZ.
Marsha, Ambrose, and I are in Colorado Springs for a friend's wedding. Today, I took the opportunity to drive most of the way up Pike's Peak (the last five miles were closed due to a large ice wall) and to wander around the Garden of the Godsies.
I took the opportunity to drive around Manitou Springs, and to drive by Summit Ministries. I nearly ran over David Noebel crossing the street in front of Summit. Although it was like 75°F outside, he looked a good fundamentalist in long-sleve white shirt and tie. :)
Colorado reminds me more of Italy than of NZ.
3.11.2007
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