A night of John Williams music with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and Michael Krajewski

It all started several weeks ago when Eric Wilson asked if I knew of any concerts featuring the music of John Williams: the composer of music for the Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy), Jaws, some of the Harry Potter films and too many other things to mention. I told him that I knew Williams sometimes conducted concerts featuring his work but I didn't know of any around here off the top of my head. I did attend a concert of Star Wars music performed by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at Star Wars Celebration II and I told Eric that it was quite a treat, especially when they played "Duel of the Fates".

As it turned out, Eric was madly doing a Google search for such a concert. And he found one! And lo and behold, there was one scheduled for May 10th!

So long story short, two nights ago Lisa and I, along with Chad Austin and his girlfriend Koren, hooked up with Eric and his wife Kira and their two sons Jake and Ben for dinner at the Red Robin near the new Target store off New Garden Road in Greensboro. And then we headed off to Westover Church to enjoy "The Music of John Williams" performed by the the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Michael Krajewski.

The concert began at 8 p.m. Greensboro Symphony CEO Lisa Crawford took to the stage and welcomed everyone and thanked those who worked to make this concert possible, and she especially made mention of "the 501st Legion" which probably didn't register with a lot of folks in attendance...

Mr. Krajewski noted that 2008 is an Olympic year so it was fitting that the concert started off with the "Olympic Fanfare and Theme", which Williams composed for the 1984 Summer Olympics (and which has subsequently been used for every television broadcast of the Olympics). This was followed with the overture for 1972's The Cowboys (one of John Wayne's later films). And already, we were thrilling to hearing John Williams' music performed by such an amazing orchestra... and a terrific conductor! We all agreed afterward that Michael Krajewski not only did a beautiful job in conducting the concert but he brought a lot of wit and humor to the show as well.

After the music from The Cowboys, Krajewski remarked that the next John Williams piece became world famous for only two notes from it, and how since he lived not far from the beach that every time he came near the water he - along with everyone else who has seen the movie - hears those two notes in his head and thinks of sharks. So it was that the orchestra began playing the theme from Jaws, and for emphasis the two giant screens in Westover's sanctuary were displaying that still from the movie where the shark breaks the surface as Brody is tossing chum into the water.

Following the "Theme from Jaws", Mr. Krajewski discussed the history and importance of music in motion pictures, beginning with the live piano that was often played during silent movies. He also related the anecdote about Hugo Friedhofer, the composer for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, who was told during production that there would be no need for his music after all because "where would the music be coming from in the middle of the ocean?" Friedhofer told the producer to go ask Hitchcock about "where would the cameras be coming from then?"

The next piece of the evening is one that Krajewski noted is the one that Williams has regarded as his single favorite bit of composition from his long career: the "Flying Theme" from E.T. the Extra-terrestrial. And you know how you gauge how well an orchestra is playing? It's if they succeed in making your eyes well up with tears. Folks, I have to declare that this indeed happened to me during the E.T. music: that particular score has always been very moving for me to hear, and to enjoy it in a live performance was especially overwhelming.

Krajewski then addressed the audience again, and said that there was something he never understood about when George Reeves played Superman on television: it wasn't just the fact that bullets bounced off of him but then he ducked whenever the bad guys threw their empty guns at Superman (I never thought of that before). It was also that nobody - not even Lois Lane "who's supposed to be this ace reporter" Krajewski noted - ever figures out that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person! "I tried this with my wife once," Krajewski told us, and said he tried putting glasses on and passing as a whole different person but "it didn't work".

And with that, the orchestra began playing the "Love Theme" from 1978's Superman. Can you believe it's now been almost 30 years since that movie came out? The screens then showed the Superman-garbed Christopher Reeve, who really did make us believe that a man can fly. This is another piece that I've always enjoyed over the years, and was thrilled that it was included on the program.

Fast-forward twenty-three years, and we came to the next bit of John Williams music: "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A terrific performance in its own right. But then an actress dressed as Hermione Granger casually walked on stage as the music played, before getting chased through the sanctuary by Dolores Umbridge and Argus Filch! A very neat touch, and that was only the beginning...

Now the concert shifted gears dramatically, and the strings section got a chance to shine with what there is little doubt is the most haunting music that John Williams ever composed: the theme from Schindler's List. Mr. Krajewski remarked that this was not only a film that many people doubted Spielberg could pull off (because he was famous for considerably lighter fare about aliens and dinosaurs) but there was also wonder about what Williams would do with such a powerful film also. It didn't get mentioned during the show, but I've heard Williams say in an interview that Schindler's List was the hardest film he ever scored and also the one that moved him the most to work on.

Now, this one, "Theme from Schindler's List", it breaks me hard every time. And you wanna know why? I'm not gonna share the details here 'cuz that's not the point of this post, but at least twice in my life I've encountered Schindler's legacy... including meeting (long before the movie ever came out) one of the Schindlerjuden. And yes, I know that there were some historical liberties taken with the film Schindler's List. But so far as conveying the tragedy of the Holocaust, I still know of no other film that has ever come close. And the score by John Williams, with its Eastern Europe style that is both mournful and brimming with hope... has there ever been a film score so profoundly moving? I honestly don't know if there has been. This is at once John Williams' finest and most definitive piece, and also the one beyond all reckoning with anything else from his repertoire. Just as Schindler's List stands far apart from anything else of modern filmmaking, so too does its musical score. And I don't know if that's ever been said nearly enough. Mr. Krajewski and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra got extra-hard and well-deserved applause for their performance of this piece.

Then the tone of the show tilted wildly. Eric and I could hardly believe this next one, 'cuz just a few hours earlier he was telling us how he always loved Spielberg's movie 1941: a film that I've always thought has been horribly misunderstood. Well, the next piece of the evening was "March from 1941"! Me and Eric could hardly contain our giggling at getting to hear this performed live. Incidentally, Krajewski told us that in spite of how poorly 1941 fared in contrast to his other films, that Spielberg regards this as his favorite Williams-composed march. As the orchestra played the screen filled with the image of "Wild Bill" Kelso chomping on a cigar. Think about that: John Belushi's huge mug glowering down from the front of a church sanctuary. Definitely a sight that will be forever etched in my gray matter...

Then came the intermission. We took the time to stand up and stretch, and we talked about how good a show it had been already. About ten minutes later the lights dimmed again. Mr. Krajewski took to the podium and without warning, the orchestra launched into the "Raiders March" from Raiders of the Lost Ark! Not long after they started playing, none other than Indiana Jones - complete with bullwhip - crept his way onto the stage and among the musicians. It wasn't long before he hefted aloft the famous golden idol from the South American temple at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Everyone cheered! And I was seriously expecting to witness some half-naked Hovitos chase Indy across the stage. That didn't happen and I didn't see any snakes, either :-) After the piece finished, Krajewski reminded us that a new Indiana Jones movie was about to come out: "I think it's going to be called Indiana Jones and the Search for Medicare", he joked.

The next bit of music is one that most people have never heard of in its entirety but everyone has listened to part of at least once: the theme music for NBC Nightly News. It's actually called "The Mission" and Williams it turns out has always appreciated having it enjoyed in its entirety. It's a very good piece in the classic John Williams style, and maybe someday there will be a broadcast of NBC Nightly News that features this entire score and not so much bad news: an event that John Williams has said would be "a good news day".

Then came the part of the evening that I think it's safe to say was the highlight of the evening: the music that Williams has composed for the Star Wars movies. Krajewski informed everyone that across the span of six movies and almost thirty years, Williams wrote more than 14 hours of original music for George Lucas' epic space opera: "So I hope you went to the restroom during intermission," Krajewski quipped. He then said that in addition to six movies that there might be a seventh Star Wars movie coming out called "The Sith Hits the Fan". Some mild groaning at that one, heh-heh... :-)

The "Main Theme" from ever Star Wars movie was the first bit of saga music to be performed, followed by "The Flag Parade" From Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. "Anakin's Theme" came next, and then the piece that Eric said weeks ago he was most giddy about hearing performed live: "Duel of the Fates". Even without a choral accompaniment, it's plenty powerful. During "Duel of the Fates" an actress in Princess Leia's outfit from Episode IV: A New Hope - complete with hair buns - made an escape across the stage from fully-armored Imperial Stormtroopers, who then engaged in a blaster fight with Rebel soldiers. This was the first appearance by the 501st Legion during the show and judging from the reaction, it was a huge crowd pleaser.

Then came "Imperial March". The Stormtroopers returned to the stage. And then none other than the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader, angrily strode across the stage, stood on the conductor's platform and stared down Michael Krajewski. Vader personally conducted the final strains of "Imperial March". And it must be said: Darth Vader is not only dangerous with a lightsaber, he's pretty adept at conducting an orchestra too!

When Krajewski finally regained his position (because nobody is going to dispute when Darth Vader wants something) he led the orchestra with "Yoda's Theme" from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and finished the Star Wars portion of the program with "Throne Room" from A New Hope. As "Throne Room" was winding down, a wild assortment of Stormtroopers, Jedi, generic Mandalore Supercommandos, TIE Pilots, Royal Guards, and Imperial Officers arrived for the finale...

But that still was not the end of the show! After Mr. Krajewski had taken a bow, he left and just as quickly returned, and in an encore led the orchestra in a performance of the "Theme from Superman". During the main chords of it a guy in a Superman costume leaped from the stage, ran to the back of the sanctuary and returned with a "damsel in distress" in his arms.

I'd say that between the musical talent of the Greensboro Symphony, the conducting skill and good banter of Michael Krajewski, and the theatrics by the 501st and everyone else, this turned out to be quite a show. I told Lisa on our way home that it was by far one of the best evenings that I'd enjoyed in quite a long time.

'Course, having good friends to share it with certainly went a long way, too! Here we all are after the concert (in front of what Chad and I realized after this pic was taken is the baptistery of Westover Church)...

(left to right: Eric, Jake, Koren, Chad, Ben, Kira, Lisa, me)

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A philosophical problem

What if there was a way to really have physical immortality?

Would you want that? Would you choose to accept it?

What if you wound up with immortality, and found out too late that it was more a curse than it was a blessing? Would you then spend the rest of your existence trying to find a way to be mortal again?

Three thoughts on the subject: the first is that immortality is possible but it's not something meant for this material realm. 1st Corinthians 15:50 teaches us that "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". I'm now taking this to mean that physical immortality in the state of matter as we know it is something fully counter to God's intended order for the cosmos and concordantly, the pursuit of such a condition would be abomination. What then would be the ramifications of actually achieving this very thing?

The second is that the moment a person might become immortal, he or she would cease to be a part of the human narrative and experience, and would become something completely unnatural and alien.

And of course the most damning thing of all about immortality: it would probably happen in such a way that you could not let others share the "gift", and if there are a lot of people in your life then you would be condemned to watch them all pass away, to whatever is waiting on the other side, while you have to remain here and never be able to join them. Your own life without real fear of having to ever taste death, weighed against ultimately being alone and never seeing your loved ones again...

Would you choose to live for yourself in this carnal plane until the end of the Earth, or would you choose to die in the course of time and so ultimately move on, to where the ones you care about are waiting?

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"The Doctor's Daughter": New DOCTOR WHO episode a mixed bag

Usually I post some choice quotes from whatever new episode of Doctor Who (the ones that I'm watching courtesy of good chaps who post 'em for download right after they premiere on BBC One in Great Britain) that I'm reviewing. I'm gonna forgo doing that this week, mainly 'cuz (a) I've a few more projects on my plate this evening and (b) I'm still trying to decide how much I actually liked "The Doctor's Daughter" ...

This episode picks up where last week's "The Poison Sky" left off: with the TARDIS veering off without warning to parts unknown while the Doctor, Donna and Martha get knocked around inside. It lands on the war-torn planet Messaline, and upon exiting the TARDIS the trio is promptly captured by armed militants. These guys immediately take the Doctor at gunpoint, force his hand into some weird machine which takes a tissue sample, and it spits-out a fully clothed young woman. "She's my daughter," the Doctor tells his companions. "Hello Dad," says the yet-unnamed offspring.

All of this happens before the title sequence happens, mind ya.

In general, I thought that "The Doctor's Daughter" lacked too much to bring it into the realm of a solid entry in the Doctor Who mythos. The plot has many gaping holes and the idea of the Doctor having family (which is touched upon here for any fans of old-school Doctor Who) is notably wasted. However, I must admit that there are some elements of classic Doctor Who greatness in this episode. The story features a very neat twist - almost like an M. Night Shyamalan film - that redefines the viewer's understanding when it comes. And then there is the Hath: one of the best-realized and most alien of the non-human species that I've seen during Doctor Who's revived run. Whatever else that "The Doctor's Daughter" lacks in, the make-up and prosthetics used on the Hath merit an award nomination somewhere.

David Tennant continues to shape his incarnation of the Doctor as a curious combination of brash Bohemian and dark warrior: sorta like Sylvester McCoy and Christopher Eccleston's Doctors. Donna feels a bit out of character in this episode but Catherine Tate is still fun to watch in the role. Freema Agyeman as Martha makes a great appearance (especially in a number of scenes that reminded me of the movie Enemy Mine) before bowing out of the show for the time being. Fans of the movie Excalibur will recognize Nigel Terry as General Cobb. And ironically Georgia Moffett - the daughter of Peter Davidson who was the fifth Doctor on the original series - plays Jenny, the "Doctor's daughter" of this episode.

I'll give "The Doctor's Daughter" 2 and 1/2 Sonic Screwdrivers out of 5. It's an "almost" good episode of Doctor Who: nowhere as good as "Partners in Crime" or "Planet of the Ood" but it's also not a horrendous mess like "Fear Her" or "Love & Monsters" were either (and anything would be better than "Love & Monsters", right?). But there are enough positive elements in "The Doctor's Daughter" to make it worth watching at least once.

Next week: a mysterious mansion, a murder mystery... and Agatha Christie! "The Unicorn and the Wasp" on BBC One and then bootlegged for everyone else right after.

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Devilish coincidence

Today was the day that the estimated world population was set to hit 6,666,666,666.

(On a related technical note, today was also the day that available IPv4 addresses were going to number 666,666,666.)

So what movie did AMC just start running in the past few minutes? Heh-heh...

The original version of The Omen.

I honestly have to wonder if someone in AMC's programming division intentionally planned for this :-)

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STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS trailer and why I'm not at all crazy about it

For awhile I've been wondering: is it even accurate to refer to the six Star Wars movies as "Star Wars Episodes 1 through 6" anymore? I mean, the Star Wars saga is now way more than the story presented in George Lucas' original films, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars will only muddle the waters further. Perhaps Lucas should amend the titles of his movies to a scheme like "Star Wars: The Skywalker Cycle Episode I: The Phantom Menace". And doesn't "The Skywalker Cycle" have a nice operatic ring to it? Sorta like Wagner's Ring cycle.

Well anyway, here's the link to where you can watch the new trailer for The Clone Wars...

I must admit: for the first time in my life, I'm not jazzed at all about seeing a new Star Wars movie in the theaters (no doubt all of Chris Knight's friends will gasp in disbelief at reading that). To its credit, The Clone Wars looks amazing. But it seems too much like a waste of good technology. The Clone Wars is already the most extensively chronicled single period of Star Wars lore. I mean, this is three years of story time that we've seen documented over the past six years of real time by way of dozens of novels, comics, many video games, and Lord only knows what other media. And there was already a superb animated series devoted to it. Right now I'm feeling like if I were to go see The Clone Wars at the theater it would only be out of longstanding loyalty to Star Wars, not because I'm enthused about this movie itself.

Do we need the new The Clone Wars movie and computer-animated television series? I'm not sure that we do. Because if this kind of effort and financing is going to be poured into bringing to life new tales of the Star Wars saga (something which I'm not against at all) I would much rather it be spent toward showing us parts of it that we haven't seen before, or at most barely hinted at. Heck, the era of 4,000 years prior to the events of the movies that is portrayed by the Knights of the Old Republic video games would be absolutely fertile ground for developing the saga further. There is something like 25,000 years of Star Wars history that we know is there, and most of it is getting ignored. To focus on a narrow 40-50 year slice at the cost of everything else in this rich mythology is too big a waste of potential to just let it slide by unprotested.

I really hope that somewhere in Lucasfilm, that plans are on the table to further develop the Star Wars universe well beyond the confines of what we've come to expect of it. The Clone Wars could be an excellent test-bed for the technology that could keep this a viable franchise for many years to come. It would be a shame to let it go to waste just to keep milking a proven cash cow.

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Last night's storms, and this week's LOST

Last night north-central North Carolina got severely thrashed by a line of thunderstorms, and that might be putting it too mildly. It was more like a series of supercells that rolled through the region. There were numerous reports of tornadoes that touched down, particularly in Guilford County directly south of us and there's been at least one death reported there. The local television stations were providing live coverage well into the early morning hours, including Reidsville's own WGSR Star 39: major props to Matt Smith, Mark Childrey and Charles Roark for all that they did to keep the viewers in this area informed.

For most of the evening our TV was tuned to WXLV, the ABC affiliate out of Winston-Salem, so we could catch this week's Lost. The teasers had implied that it was going to be a Locke-centric episode, which always means that it's going to be a good one. However due to National Weather Service bulletins breaking into the audio, the broadcast last night was darn near unintelligible! Not complaining mind ya: if it helped to save lives, then it was worth it. But the day after, with a few things behind me at the moment I decided to see what I missed, so I went to ABC's homepage and started the streaming high-def video of the latest Lost episode: "Cabin Fever".

I thought that the producers might have crammed a bit too much into this chapter, especially with regard to the action aboard the freighter. But the Locke flashbacks and everything that happened on the way to Jacob's cabin more than made up for any flaws that "Cabin Fever" had (and it was darned near flawless at that). The return of Nestor Carbonell to the fold of Lost's cast as the seemingly-immortal Richard Alpert was wonderful, and I actually screamed when I saw him looking through the window in the hospital. So too was the re-appearance of Matthew Abbadon (played by Lance Reddick), who became a disturbing presence on this show in the season premiere with that spooky-delivered "Are they still alive?" he asked Hurley.

So about that last thing that Locke says, right at the end of the show: was that not the most bizarre sentence ever uttered by a character on Lost? How are they going to do this?! One idea comes to mind, and it has nothing to do with physical relocation at all. If you ever read the original issues of Marvel's G.I. Joe comic then you might understand what I'm talking about. But I'm just gonna wait and see what happens over the next few weeks, and see if I'm right.

All in all, "Cabin Fever" is a very good episode that tremendously deepened the mythology of one of the most intriguing aspects of this story. And weren't the child actors who portrayed the younger John Locke perfectly cast? The teenage one looked exactly like how I would imagine Terry O'Quinn did around 14 or 15 years old... and he nailed Locke's attitude to a "T".

Now I get to watch this with Lisa, and enjoy seeing her reaction to it :-)

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Prepare for sparse postings

Now's a good time to let everyone know that for possibly the next several weeks, I'm going to be cutting back on writing for this blog. It's not going to be a complete sabbatical: I'm certainly having too much fun posting reviews of new Doctor Who episodes to give that up, and there are a few other things that I'd love to work on for this blog too.

But there are also a few other projects beyond the scope of The Knight Shift that I need to focus on as well. Some cool stuff that I'd love to give a bit of effort toward. So if y'all see only two or three posts a week, don't fret: I'm just here and yonder doing other things, and will be back to regular frequency as soon as possible :-)

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Mr. Knight's Dark and Twisted Day of Substitute Teaching a Second Grade Class

Today brought an experience that I haven't enjoyed in a number of years: substitute teaching a second grade class at a nearby elementary school. I heard yesterday afternoon that they needed someone to fill-in for a teacher, so I promptly called and volunteered for duty. Subbing is something that I've been doing for a month or so now, one reason is that I'm seriously thinking about teaching full-time and am sorta giving it a "trial run", you could say.

So I arrived a little after 7 this morning, the kids were in the room by 7:30 and their regular teacher had everything planned out. And I had an awesome assistant that I got to work with. We followed things per the instructions... but I also couldn't resist "improvising" a bit.

F'rinstance, when it came time to do Math, here was a written problem that the students had to figure out:

We drove for 2 hours, stopped half an hour for lunch, and swam at the lake for half an hour.

How long did it take to get to the campsite?

The kids were supposed to raise their hands and give an answer, if they calculated it. I let some of them respond, and a few got it right.

But then I exclaimed:

"You're wrong. Because these people didn't get to their campsite! And do you know why?! Because they're dead! Look at the problem again. It says that they ate and then went for a swim in the lake. Everyone knows you never swim right after eating a meal! It increases your chance of getting cramps. These people ate lunch and then went for a swim and got cramps and couldn't swim for shore, so they drowned! Their dead bodies are at the bottom of the lake. They didn't get to camp after all. The end!"

No, seriously, that's what really happened.

All of the students thought it was funny :-)

But since this was a math class, a more rigorous and concrete answer was expected. So don't worry, they all figured that out. Speaking of which, the answer is 2 hours since they're already at the campsite when they eat.

Then came reading time. My original plan was to read the kids a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, but more experienced minds suggested that this might not be the best of ideas. I can see it now though: some little girl arrives home after school and asks "Mommy Mommy, what's a 'shoggoth'?" or a boy says "Hey Dad can we sacrifice the dog to Nyarlathotep?"

Yes, a guy who considers reading Lovecraft to second graders. I say again: when Lisa and I start having our own children, that's gonna be one strange growing-up experience for them :-P

Instead for the first reading period I read them The New Kid from the Black Lagoon (which has nothing at all to do with the classic 1954 Universal monster movie) and The Signmaker's Assistant (pictured at left) for the second reading period just before school ended for the day. It's a terrific book for young readers about the danger of doing something just because a sign says to do it. And after we finished reading it together I asked them about the moral of the story, and got into how this might just have been a children's book... but that this same thing happens to grown-ups in the real world every day and it's never as funny as how things happen in The Signmaker's Assistant. From this I told the kids that they should learn to think for themselves, instead of just doing what a sign or a book or a movie or television tells them. Why? Because, I alluded without going into specifics, the worst historical event of the past hundred years happened because people did what they were told, without stopping to think, and they wound up doing very bad things that they otherwise would never have done.

A lot of the students raised hands to talk about examples in their own lives of what happened in the story. It definitely got 'em thinking. Which was the whole purpose of the story. I'd definitely recommend The Signmaker's Assistant if you're an elementary teacher. It not only provides a lot of good matter to think about, it's also a very funny book :-)

So that's what I did today. I thoroughly enjoyed corrupting teaching these kids, if only for a little while. Lord willing, maybe I'll get to do it again sometime soon.

Maybe then I can read The Call of Cthulhu to them :-)

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Post-North Carolina primary results: Eric Smith comes in 2nd (and about some other races)

Lisa and I had an unusual perspective from which to watch the returns of yesterday's North Carolina primary election: since I've been treasurer for Eric H. Smith's campaign for statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction, we spent the evening at "campaign headquarters". That being Eric's house.

We had a very fun time! In addition to getting to play with Eric's eighteen-month old son there was also good food courtesy of Eric's wonderful wife Kelly. We had their high-def television tuned to one of the regional stations while Eric's computer fed us constant returns from the North Carolina Board of Elections website.

When all was said and done, Eric came in 2nd in the Republican primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction, with 25% of the votes cast. Richard Morgan will go on to the general election in November with 51% of the votes.

So are we disappointed? If we were, I didn't sense it by the time we left Eric's house last night. He did great in spite of some things, and a number of well-wishers have passed along word that they're glad he gave it this shot.

Yes, it's possible to not win an election and still feel very proud of one's self for running. I found that out a year and a half ago on the night of the 2006 election, when I didn't win a seat on the local school board after my own campaign. When you see that amount of people who've still heard your message and agreed with what you're saying, it's hard to feel disappointed. None of this has ever been about winning any single election: it's about engaging in a process, and staying consistent with your principles throughout that process. "Conventional wisdom" would demand that people in our position were "losers" after tonight. But people who hold to that were never out to win for the right reasons anyway.

I think Eric will run again for something. What that is, I don't know to speculate right now. But he probably will and he will no doubt do better next time. If he does ever run, I've already told him that he can expect my support.

Everyone already knows that Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Democrat primary for President here. Doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. Nor does it that John McCain won the Republican primary for President. I still got to vote for Ron Paul, and I'm more than content with having done so.

Bev Perdue won the Democrat primary for Governor and Pat McCrory won the Republican primary. I'm still not voting for Perdue because of her previous negative ads (and I haven't heard that she's resolved to not run any more for the general election either). So far as I know, McCrory has been consistently upbeat and positive in his campaign and if he maintains that, he'll certainly keep my respect enough for me to strongly consider giving him my vote in November.

In regards to the Rockingham County Sales Tax Increase: this was one of the bigger surprises of the evening, considering that in most other places in the region various tax increases and bond referendums were approved. Instead the proposed 1/4th percent sales tax increase in Rockingham County went down in flames 69% to 31%.

I don't mind saying now that I did not vote for this tax increase, but I did not vote against it either. It was supposed to be used to fund the construction of new schools in Rockingham County... which is an extremely dire need to be sure. Believe me, you won't find very many people who believe more in new school construction here than I am. The problem though is that this was a non-binding resolution: the sales tax would go up but there was no guarantee that the money would be used for new school construction at all! It wasn't even mentioned on the ballot: just that this was for a sales tax increase. It would be money that could go for anything at all and folks, let's be real here: Rockingham County government is not respected for its fiscal restraint. There is waste everywhere, and I couldn't vote for this knowing that a tax increase would just be feeding the beast.

So I did not vote one way or another for this measure. If and when it ever gets put on the ballot again, in a way that spells out in no uncertain terms that this would be for new school construction, then I'll absolutely support it. But this one was just too vague for me to feel anything but likewise ambiguous about it.

There's one more thing that I'll comment on before turning in, although it wasn't something that I got to vote on personally. This was an issue that the citizens of Mayodan in the western part of the county had on their ballot: the matter of whether to approve "liquor by the drink" within Mayodan's corporate limits...

The women's auxiliary of West Side Baptist Church in Mayodan, North Carolina vent their displeasure at the prospect of liquor by the drink in this undated file photo

(Okay, so that's not the "womens auxiliary" of West Side Baptist Church... but the photo was too funny not to use! Thanks to my friend Bmovies for finding it :-)

The Mayodan mixed drinks referendum passed 59% to 41%. I thought it was worth mentioning because West Side Baptist Church fought against this measure by distributing a flier throughout the community that was a huge pack of lies. This church (pastored by Paul Sisk) was laying the blame for pretty much everything at the feet of alcohol. It was a shrill and petty screed that had no factual basis, and I can't help but think that going about it this way hurt whatever testimony that West Side Baptist was supposed to have rather than build it up. Paul Sisk and his church weren't fighting against liquor by the drink because it was the "Christian" thing to do. They were fighting it because they wanted to feel like they could throw their weight around... which too many Christians do already and for reasons that have nothing to do with giving glory to God.

But tonight, the people of Mayodan approved mixed drinks within city limits. No doubt that West Side Baptist's tactics backfired big-time. I hope that other churches might take the hint: that if they don't engage in this sort of thing with the right motive to begin with, that God cannot bless their efforts. They were fighting this more for themselves than for His sake. Doesn't surprise me at all that their opposition was defeated.

I do feel obliged to comment that there was a heavier than usual turnout at the polls throughout Rockingham County yesterday. My cousin, a police officer with the City of Reidsville, told me that there had already been a lot more people than he's used to seeing who came to vote when I cast my ballot that morning. Whatever the reason was, and however anyone felt about their vote, if they were sincere in their reasons then I'm delighted to see such strong interest in an election.

It's also worth noting that to the best of my knowledge, no political candidates were caught stealing campaign signs during this election. I'm especially glad for that because it means that I probably won't have to worry about getting deposed in a lawsuit again anytime soon.

Okay, the campaign treasurer is turning in now. G'night!

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Proof that I voted for Ron Paul in today's North Carolina primary

My precinct is at Reidsville Middle School. I just returned from there. Here is a photograph that I took of my ballot in today's North Carolina primary election. As you can see I cast my vote for Ron Paul for President... and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed having so clean a conscience in voting for a presidential candidate! None of that "hold my nose and pull the lever" here.

How many other people will be able to say that? Not nearly enough, probably.

I also voted for Eric H. Smith for statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction. But since I'm his campaign treasurer, y'all probably knew that was a given, too.

There may or may not have been other candidates and/or measures that I gave consideration toward. Parse that however you will.

On an ironic note, someone has told me that over at Free Republic there are many North Carolina voters who are bragging about having cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton! It was a little over five years ago that I was banned from that site for admitting that I would vote for Erskine Bowles for Senate because between he and Liddy Dole, only Bowles was the real North Carolinian. I knew that Free Republic had gone down the tubes, but I didn't know it was that bad. I have to laugh.

But as for myself, I cast my vote based on my principles and my convictions, without regard to party loyalty or childish chicanery. Which means that there might have been some races or issues that I did not vote at all. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've never played games with my vote. Even the ones that I cast that in hindsight were less than wise, I cast them only out of sincere belief in either the candidate or the referendum. Too many men and women have died for that right than to cheapen it otherwise.

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Striking while IRON MAN is hot: Marvel announces 2010 sequel and Avengers movies

Good friend of this blog Crystal is the first to pass along word that Marvel Comics has already declared that Iron Man 2 will hit theaters in April 2010. No doubt that a $100-plus opening weekend helped expedite the matter :-)

In addition to the further on-screen adventures of Tony Stark, Marvel has also announced Thor for July 2010 (I was wondering the other day if they'd make a Thor movie and if so how could this possibly translate into a big-budget feature), and The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers - which has no relation to that strange 1998 movie of the same name - for 2011. Cinematical is hinting that Samuel L. Jackson's appearance as Nick Fury in the post-credits scene from Iron Man was far more than a mere cameo and with this slate of upcoming films it does indeed look like Marvel is going to be building a cross-brand franchise: something that's never been done before with big-budget comic book movies so far as I can recall.

Cinematical also claims to have a source in the know who reports that in the sequel, Iron Man will take on the Mandarin (not really a surprise: they set that up in the first one with The Ten Rings terrorist group) and that Mandarin will set Fin Fang Foom on his titanium-clad nemesis (doesn't seem likely to me, but wackier things have happened). No doubt we'll also see James Rhodes put on the spare armor and become War Machine too 'cuz that was set up nicely in the first movie. Maybe even an adaptation of the "Demon in a Bottle" story too, which some consider to be the definitive tale of Tony Stark.

Oh yeah, Marvel also said they're doing an Ant-Man film too. If they're this serious about making Avengers movies, maybe they should go ahead and cast Kang the Conquerer? I nominate Michael Emerson, AKA Benjamin Linus from Lost!

(By the way, in case ya missed it here's my review of Iron Man from a few days ago :-)

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Did CLOVERFIELD's "Roar!" vanish from iTunes?

A number of people have been writing in to report that "Roar!", the track that Michael Giacchino composed for the hit monster movie Cloverfield, has disappeared from iTunes just days after it finally became available for download. Here's my post about when "Roar!" first appeared on iTunes.

I did a search on iTunes also, and "Roar!" isn't showing up either in results or on Michael Giacchino's page. However, if you go to the original URL that links directly to "Roar!"'s page on iTunes, as of this writing it's still showing up as being available. And for $0.99, the same as most other tracks on iTunes (it was originally selling for $1.99).

It's probably just a glitch in the iTunes database. I can't think of any other reason why a track that was in such wild demand would be yanked so quickly, or even at all. Anyhoo, if ya go to this link you should still be able to get yer "Roar!" :-)

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CHILDREN OF EDEN Update: 46 Days to Opening Night

It was a week ago tonight that I found out that my longtime dream of being in a production of Children of Eden was about to really happen. The cast came together for the first time a few nights later. We've now had three nights of practice and in that time we've done work on many of the major songs from the show ("Let There Be", "The Naming" and a few others).

One thing about Children of Eden that makes this an interesting production is that a lot of the melodies repeat, with a number of reprisals in Act II especially. This is well in keeping with the overarching theme of Children of Eden's story: that each new generation often faces the same ordeals as the one that sired it. But also, that every generation - and the individuals that make it up - has a choice, and it's up to each person to find his or her destiny. That's what I've thought of most as we've practiced the show's final song, "In The Beginning".

This is fast shaping up to be quite a terrific production! Already it feels like the cast is becoming a family in its own right... which is fitting, given the nature of Children of Eden.

I won't be able to practice tomorrow night ('cuz I'll be doing other duties in the capacity of treasurer for Eric H. Smith's campaign for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction) and I'm gonna certainly miss it. But Wednesday night we're going to start work on my most favorite song from the entire show... and I can't wait!! :-)

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Microsoft and Yahoo: Anyone else thinking this?

That Microsoft withdrawing its bid to acquire Yahoo and the subsequent devaluing of Yahoo's stock was a calculated move by Microsoft (I'm terribly tempted to suspect Steve Ballmer especially) to make Yahoo more vulnerable - and far cheaper - for purchase later on?

This might go down as the most classic maneuver that Microsoft has ever made, if that turns out to be true.

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Classic SESAME STREET: Bert and Ernie go fishing

It's spring: the perfect time for a lazy afternoon of fishing down at the pond. Bert has his pole and Ernie... has his own methods.

Originally aired during Sesame Street in November 1982, here is the Bert and Ernie "Fish Call" sketch...

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Television in North Carolina one day before the primary

Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Hillary Obama Hillary Obama Hillary Hillary Hillary Obama Obama Obama Obama Obama Bev Perdue Bev Perdue Richard Moore Richard Moore "Positive Campaign" Andy Griffith ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

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New THE DARK KNIGHT trailer strikes online and it is EPIC!

"This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm going to give it to them."

This may be the greatest trailer for a comic book movie ever. I've never seen two and a half minutes of live footage so perfectly capture the tone and essence of a graphic novel.

Not much more to say about it, other than click here for the new The Dark Knight trailer.

Thanks to Phillip Arthur for the heads-up!

EDIT 1:10 p.m. EST: I would never have believed it, but they actually put Harvey Dent after his transformation into Two-Face in this trailer. You see it at 2:03 into the thing. Here's a pic...

You can barely see some grisly scarring on the left side of his face, and looks like his suit is radically different on that side also.

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ATMOS-Fear: War beneath "The Poison Sky" in new DOCTOR WHO episode

I guess there's no point in denying that I'm a longtime fan of the British science-fiction series Doctor Who, what with these reviews that I do of the new episodes even before they broadcast here in the states. Just wish that I could have done last season as much as I'm doing this one or the 2006 season.

So this weekend most Yanks got to see "The Fires of Pompeii" via the Sci-Fi Channel. While the Brits were enjoying the premiere on BBC One of the conclusion of the two-part story that began last week with "The Sontaran Stratagem".

Cue the standard screengrab and select non-spoilerish quotes...

"It can't be stopped. It's everywhere. The whole planet."

"Look what happens every time that Doctor appears!"

"Good work for a female."

"I'm stuck. On Earth, like an ordinary person. Like a human! How rubbish is that?! Sorry no offense but COME ON!"

"My God, they're like trolls!"

"Its official designation is Castor 36. I like to think of it as Earth Point Two."

"It is being likened to a biblical plague. Some are calling this 'the end of days'."

"How can one man stop all that?"

"The planet is going nuclear!"

"He wasn't 'Greyhound 40', his name was Ross. Now listen to me, AND GET THEM OUT OF THERE!!!"

"This isn't war! This is sport!"

"Unfortunately he's stranded in Peru."

"For the billionth time YOU CAN'T FIGHT SONTARANS!"

"Wonderful."

"I've got to give them a choice."

"Sontar... HA!"

"The Poison Sky" picks up right where "The Sontaran Stratagem" left off, with the ATMOS devices spewing their toxic exhaust into Earth's air and the Doctor trying to rescue Donna's grandfather. UNIT's technicians have found that the gas is dangerous but not lethal: it must take up 80% of the air's density before it begins actively killing people. The Doctor realizes that simple mass extermination of humanity isn't the Sontarans' plan: they possess more than enough firepower aboard their ships to destroy all of Earth. So if the gas isn't designed for wholesale genocide, what is it for?

"The Poison Sky" is a wildly satisfying episode! The true purpose of the ATMOS devices is revealed to be absolutely diabolical, and it's a credit to Staal and the other Sontarans that they came up with such a plot. And speaking of Sontarans: this episode we finally get to see them in true fighting form. You can call them "poo in a spacesuit" if you like but after "The Poison Sky" there will be little doubt that the Sontarans are the definitive race of proud warriors in the Whoniverse. The action scenes with them might be some of the best choreographed from the entire forty-five year history of the series.

There's little else that I could say about "The Poison Sky" without it going too far into spoiler territory, and if you've already seen "The Sontaran Strategem" then you owe it to yourself to go into this one pretty unawares. I will say though that the producers of Doctor Who deserve major props for how they tie this episode into previous continuity... and especially for the reference to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart! No, we don't get to see the Brigadier in action again, but we do find some delightful news about him that (I hope) might lead into an eventual return of the character.

Oh yeah: I think "The Poison Sky" is a monumental episode in that it it firmly establishes that the Doctor Who saga is a component of the Marvel Universe, because UNIT has its own S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier! This is turning out to be quite the weekend for Marvel Comics, what with the Iron Man movie and now this :-)

The only thing that I thought was a bit weak about "The Poison Sky": when Rattigan - AKA the evil clone of Sergey Brin - goes into "Marshall Applewhite mode" and tries to get his students to make like Heaven's Gate. Was that supposed to be deliberate? I mean, they're even wearing sweat suits. Didn't really care for that part of the plot.

But otherwise, "The Poison Sky" is a solid Doctor Who episode. David Tennant is terrific as ever as the Doctor and companions Donna (Catherine Tate) and Martha (Freema Agyeman) both have some choice scenes for their characters. The Doctor saves the day in classic fashion, and there is one last scene in the TARDIS that without warning jolts the Doctor and his friends to... somewhere else.

"The Poison Sky" gets 4 and 1/2 Sonic Screwdrivers out of 5.

And the teaser for next week's episode promises the old-fashioned sort of trouble for the Doctor. Here are two words from it: "Hello Dad."

"The Doctor's Daughter" on BBC One next Saturday. And everywhere else via torrent download for those of us who are too impatient.

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Ron Paul endorses Eric Smith for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. Plus: I got to meet Dr. Paul!

Ron Paul, Republican candidate for President, spoke at Carmichael Auditorium at UNC Chapel Hill yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Also speaking on the program - having received Dr. Paul's endorsements - were Eric Smith, who is running for North Carolina's Superintendent of Public Instruction and B.J. Lawson, candidate for North Carolina's 4th Congressional District. Since I am the treasurer for Eric's campaign, and also 'cuz I've always wanted to meet Ron Paul, I absolutely had to attend! :-)

It was just as noon hit that I was leaving Reidsville, and on the way I stopped at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington to buy a copy of Dr. Paul's new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, currently ranked #1 on Amazon. It was the only copy on the shelves and one of the associates told me that it had been "selling hard". When I got to Chapel Hill I spoke to Eric via cellphone and he told me that he had stopped at that very store to get a copy and we figure we'd missed each other by less than 20 minutes!

Lots of people showed up to hear Dr. Paul. One guy told me that he'd driven all the way from Asheville (which would be around 4 hours drive time). The program for the event had a Photoshop image of Ron Paul as Iron Man from the new movie (complete with stylized "Ron Paul" done like the Iron Man font).

I must apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. The lighting in Carmichael Auditorium seemed to be strange: some pics turned out great and others taken from the same spot, I had to do some work with image levels etc. to make them better because they were so dark.

The first to speak was Paige Michael-Shetley, the Chairman of UNC Students for Ron Paul:

And then Eric Smith got up and spoke for a few minutes about the platform he was running on as candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction. It was much the same speech as he gave at the Wake County Republican Convention a few weeks ago:

Eric was followed by B.J. Lawson, who spoke much about how he ended up running for Congress after hearing about Ron Paul and what he stands for:

And then, following Lawson's remarks, Dr. Ron Paul himself took to the podium!

Ron Paul spoke for about 45 minutes on a number of subjects, but especially foreign policy and economic freedom. The kinds of things that - though I'm admittedly a Ron Paul supporter I have to candidly observe - I've never heard John McCain or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or George W. Bush discuss. Certainly not with such eloquence and uncluttered presentation as Ron Paul did yesterday. It was like listening to one of the Founding Fathers, the way he spoke of individual liberty and why there needs to be less government as opposed to more.

Here are some shots of the crowd that came to listen to Ron Paul. This was a very enthused bunch but you know what? I don't know if it's because they were stoked about Ron Paul himself, or if it was more about his message of individual freedom that brought them here. Compare that to the footage we've seen of rallies for Obama and Hillary: those seem more like demonstrations of egotism. In contrast, Dr. Paul came across as probably the most humble candidate for high office that I've ever seen.

After Dr. Paul concluded his remarks, there was a "meet & greet" session where everyone could get their photo taken with him and he could autograph their books or yardsigns or whatever. While we were in line I couldn't help but take a picture of my feet standing on the floor at Carmichael Auditorium, 'cuz this is the same floor that Michael Jordan used to play on...

Here's Eric Smith along with Ron Paul:

And then finally, after wanting to meet him for a way long time (we're talking at least ten years now) I got to shake hands with Ron Paul! He also signed my copy of The Revolution:

On the way back home I couldn't help but think: more than seven years ago I almost met George W. Bush. That was the night that I saw first-hand how much an arrogant control freak Bush really is. Bush has since gone on to be the most wasteful and destructive President in American history. Yesterday I got to meet someone who couldn't be more a polar opposite: Ron Paul, who not only speaks of having less government and more individual opportunity, he believes it.

George W. Bush and Ron Paul. One is destroyer and the other is liberator. One is pro-war and the other is pro-life. One is a big-government socialist and the other is a classic capitalist. One believes in an American empire and the other believes as the Founders did that we don't go looking for fights. One preaches fear and the other preaches hope.

I certainly know which man I respect the more!

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Review of IRON MAN

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."

-- The apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 13:11

And when you go see Iron Man at the cinema (and you really should) you'll understand why I chose to open this review with that bit of scripture.

Iron Man now ties with Spider-Man and Batman Begins as my all-time favorite comic book movie. I caught it yesterday evening during a stop in Burlington, on the way back from a political trip to Chapel Hill (I'm treasurer of a friend's statewide election campaign, if anyone's just now coming to this blog). Lisa was out having dinner and a movie with a friend from school. With things going especially well on several fronts in my life lately and since I can't remember the last time I did this, I opted to treat myself to a movie.

I went into Iron Man only knowing that Robert Downey Jr. was playing Tony Stark/Iron Man, but that's it. Search through this blog: you won't find any previous reference to this movie, it's been so far down my list of priorities... and I'm pretty familiar with the Iron Man saga, too. But the buzz has been too great for this movie and I had to see what it was about.

I hope that I can be blissfully ignorant about other movies in the future, if they can pack the same unexpected wallop as Iron Man did!

Iron Man is one of the most faithful adaptations of a comic book that I can recall ever being produced. Just about all of the classic elements of the Marvel comic are here and if they're not, they're subtly set-up for future installments (of which I hope there will be very many).

There are two ways to make a comic book movie: either make it as a geeky love-letter to comic book fans... and sometimes this goes too far and alienates the rest of an audience. Or make it for everyone, and run the risk of compromising on the source material. With Iron Man, director Jon Favreau has pulled off the nearly-impossible and done both, with no shortcomings at all. He and everyone else who produced this movie "get" that Iron Man, at its heart (was that a pun?) is far more about the human strengths and weaknesses of its characters more than it is about nonstop action.

But you'll still get plenty of both with Iron Man.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the owner of Stark Industries, a major weapons supplier for the United States military. During a trip to Afghanistan where he's demonstrating his company's latest bit of destructive technology, his convoy comes under attack and Stark is seriously wounded, then taken hostage. Shrapnel from the attack threatens his heart and only a powerful electro-magnet provided by a kind fellow prisoner keeps Stark alive. His captors then demand that Stark provide them with the weapon system he had been demonstrating.

But Stark, a born genius in the fields of engineering and computers, has other ideas.

I won't spoil what happens but you can probably figure it out. The fun then comes with seeing how this event changes the rest of Stark's life. And in that regard, Iron Man succeeds better than most comic book movies as a morality tale...

You see, Iron Man is a movie about "putting childish ways behind" and finally having to grow up. But it's also about realizing that to embrace that growth does not mean an end to life. Rather it's the true beginning of it. Tony Stark has it all: fathomless wealth, high society connection, government contracts, lots to drink, and a non-stop parade of women that he can be as fast and loose as he wants to be. He's like Howard Hughes magnified to the nth degree. Tony has everything that this carnal world could possibly provide... and yet he has nothing, as one character observes.

I think it could even possibly be said that Iron Man is, in some ways, a profoundly Christian movie. Just as Paul had a spiritual transformation and became a very different person, Tony Stark experiences his own "Damascus Road" and even a kind of "baptism of fire". It takes a tragedy to force him to confront both human frailty and his own moral shortcomings. He resolves to make the rest of his life count for something more than the money and the constant party. And so it is that in the end, Tony Stark stops being a child. But that doesn't mean that as a man he doesn't have some pretty cool toys, either.

I thought when I heard the news about casting that it was a brilliant choice to give the Tony Stark role to Robert Downey Jr., because in many ways he already knows what this character has to struggle with and Downey could bring that to the role. He does at that, and I seriously think he deserves Oscar consideration for how he uses his personal vulnerabilities to have such a convincing portrayal of Tony Stark. The rest of the cast is just as well-considered: Terrence Howard as James Rhodes and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts (and look for director Favreau as Stark's chauffeur Happy Hogan) do a beautiful job in establishing Stark's circle of friends and colleagues. And they contribute terrifically to another aspect of Iron Man that has translated well onto the big screen: the virtue of loyalty to those that one loves. Probably the biggest surprise in terms of Iron Man's acting is Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane: shaving his head and growing a goatee has brought something positively insidious out of Bridges that we never knew was there before. The result is that Bridges delivers one of the best villains of a comic book movie that I've seen in recent years.

The action sequences in Iron Man are nothing less than staggering. From the very beginning, this is a film about high-octane thrills and glorious eye candy as much as it is about human nature. And the producers and effects team obviously obviously had some fun with this movie. I thought it was especially hilarious to watch Stark's early attempts at fine-tuning his Mark II armor.

Anyone with small children will delight to know that Iron Man is a fantastically "clean" movie: I can't remember hearing a single profanity during the entire two hours of the film. There is one very brief romp in bed for Tony that we see, but it's handled with considerable taste and no suggestive innuendo. I wouldn't have any problem with a kid seeing it and in fact even that little bit works to establish the fast and loose morals that Tony has before his moral metamorphosis.

I'm already hoping to catch Iron Man once more before the weekend is out, if that's possible. Iron Man was the most absolutely perfect way to kick off the 2008 summer movie season. With a Batman movie, an Indiana Jones movie, a Hulk movie and even (after a fashion) a new Star Wars feature, this is shaping up to be the best year for solid blockbusters in a very long time. I can't think of a better way to get this party started than with Iron Man.

By the way, look for Stan Lee playing a Hugh Hefner-type at a glitzy party. And don't leave when the credits roll, because there is one more scene yet to watch, which figures into Marvel's scheme to tie all their comic movies together (it also features a very cool cameo appearance by both a longtime Marvel staple and a well-known actor :-).

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Very cool day today

And I'd love to write about it but I'm way tired at the moment. Going to recoup, and then will tell y'all all about what went down.

Including how I got to meet Ron Paul :-)

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Obama's disastrous fuel tax proposal

Barack Obama is suggesting a $15 billion tax on the profits of oil companies. That would allegedly be used to provide $1000 of tax relief for families and other "assistance".

This is a worse idea than George W. Bush's "stimulus" package... and that's already the most irresponsible and foolish bit of enacted legislation that I've seen in Lord knows how long.

Does Obama believe that his proposal is going to slash the cost of fuel, which is soaring well past the ability of most people to easily afford? If anything it's going to make those costs increase even more dramatically. The oil companies will simply pass along the expense to their customers.

Obama's only motivation in forwarding this idea is that he wants to tap into the seething rage that many people are now feeling toward the oil companies, which are enjoying record profits. It's just a gimmick he's pushing to further his chances at getting elected President. But I wonder how many of the people he's aiming this proposal toward would understand that much of that extra "profit" is only because of this government's reckless financial policies, which have resulted in an over-inflated dollar. I'm inclined to believe that there is very little here that could seriously be attributed to "greed" on the part of the companies, for which they must be "punished".

But if Obama were to see this policy enacted, it would be the consumers and not the oil companies that would suffer.

I've already written here about the diminishing value of the dollar. In addition to shoring-up our currency, a wise energy and economic policy should entail...

1. Dramatically reducing fuel taxes

2. Not just allowing but also actively encouraging domestic petroleum production

3. Building more refineries, especially those that can readily process "sour" (sulfur-rich) crude

4. Offering financial incentives to corporations to actively research new potential sources of petroleum, such as the promising work regarding oil shale and bacterial-produced synthetic crude

5. Recognizing that for the foreseeable future, that ethanol and other so-called "biofuels" are not commercially viable and in fact have a deleterious impact on available food supply

Those are some of the bigger things we could be doing to improve both our economy and our fuel resources. But they require some long-term vision and commitment. Not knee-jerk emotionalism and election year duplicity.

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"Something Nice Back Home" : Reaction to new LOST episode

Only thing that's bugging me about this episode: aren't appendectomies, even those done on remote tropical islands in less-than-ideal sanitary conditions, supposed to leave scars?

But then again, this is Lost and like Rose said at one point tonight, people don't get sick on this island, and even get better. So I'll let that one slide.

Last week's episode "The Shape of Things to Come" was one of the most intense that Lost has ever delivered. And it's usually the pattern of this show to follow-up the chapters that most further the mythos with one that feels a little lacking. And tonight's was a Jack-centric episode too... which many people will argue is a red flag for mediocre story (in spite of "Through the Looking Glass", which still stuns to think about almost a year later).

Instead, this week's installment, titled "Something Nice Back Home", was about as perfect a "come-down" episode as one could hope for after what we saw last week, while also providing a lot of development for several threads of this story. I've tried to like the character of Juliet ever since she was introduced: tonight's story finally convinced me that she's earned her spot in the Lost tapestry, and I think that I can appreciate her more from now on. I'm also convinced afresh that Daniel, Charlotte, Miles (yes even Miles) and Frank - and especially Frank - are not aligned with the rest of the freighter crew. I enjoyed seeing Bernard in action, given his background in medicine. The scenes with Sun and Jin were a pleasure to watch... which Lisa will no doubt enjoy when she gets to watch it tomorrow, 'cuz she's a huge fan of Sun and Jin :-) And is anyone else having fun watching Sawyer, who seems to be relishing his change from hopeless scoundrel to noble warrior?

But the heartmeat of this episode is about Jack and Kate and Hurley, and what we saw of them from Jack's flash-forward.

Ever since last year's season finale, we've known that at least some of the Flight 815 passengers made it off the island. This season has revealed who exactly got away. But after this episode, not for the first time I have to wonder: at what terrible price did salvation come? And what are they going to do to find peace with themselves for it?

Is there anyone who doubts that Lost is not only the best show on television right now, but is one of the finest fictional stories... ever? Because this show is consistently hitting on all the right cylinders and it doesn't look to be letting up at all.

Next week: rumor is that we're getting a Locke flashback and that Richard will be returning (because CBS canceled Cain and Nestor Carbonell needed the work :-P).

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White House gall: Why suggesting that Ramos and Compean should ask for clemency is wrong

WorldNetDaily is reporting that the Bush Administration has stated that if Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean want to go free, they should ask for clemency.

Ramos and Compean are the two former Border Patrol agents who were sent to prison by spineless George W. Bush lackey U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Their "crime": opening fire on a Mexican drug lord, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who was later given immunity for prosecution in exchange for testifying against Ramos and Compean. Aldrete-Davila later admitted in court to smuggling marijuana.

The Bush Administration has been a pack of complete bastards in regard to its treatment of Ramos and Compean: two good men who were doing their job, in a time when too many others in this government don't give a damn. Although the Bush Administration is usually a pack of complete bastards on just about everything else, but on this issue they are particularly vile.

Here is what White House spokes(terminology for female dog) Dana Perino had to say during today's press briefing:

The two former U.S. Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to prison terms of more than a decade each for shooting at a drug smuggler who dumped a load in the United States, then fled on foot back into Mexico rather than be arrested, must ask if they want clemency in their cases, according to the White House.

"There is a process under which anyone can apply for a pardon or a commutation. And if they want to take advantage of that process, they're absolutely welcome to," Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, told WND today.

She was responding to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, about the case involving Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. It has been a subject of dispute among border control advocates ever since the two were arrested.

(snip)

"Now that Mr. Aldrete-Davila, the drug smuggler in the Ramos-Compean case, has admitted running drugs and conspiracy, will the president review his decision against a pardon, commutation or other clemency for the two Border Patrol agents jailed for shooting at this drug smuggler as he fled back into Mexico after abandoning a load of drugs in the United States?" Kinsolving asked.

Perino said she would "encourage anyone to look at the facts in the case as laid out by the attorney general – by the county – district attorney – I'm sorry, the U.S. attorney in that area."

The U.S. attorney in question, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, has been described by President Bush as a "dear friend."

Here's why it's not only wrong, but a damned insult for Perino, as official White House spokesperson, to suggest that Ramos and Compean should apply for clemency: doing so would automatically and legally be understood that they are admitting guilt in this matter. When they in fact have nothing to be guilty of at all.

Dana Perino and the Bush Administration just flipped the middle finger to not only Ramos and Compean and their families, but to everyone for whom the negligence of our borders has been a major concern.

God help us. The bunch in the White House now actually makes Bill Clinton's gang look like an avatar of responsibility. Who ever thought that would be possible?

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Mario Kart Wii versus Grand Theft Auto IV

Mario Kart Wii just came out and I got it for Lisa for her birthday. And then Grand Theft Auto IV went on sale two days ago, and I picked up a copy from the local Wal-Mart that afternoon. Suffice it to say that in between the work we both do (and now my being involved with a production of Children of Eden) Lisa and I have been compensating for outrageous gas prices by doing a lot of virtual driving lately.

Right now on Amazon.com, Mario Kart Wii is the #2 top-selling game (after pre-orders for Wii Fit) followed by the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV.

So... which one is the better game?

Now that I've gotten used to the controls (although still struggling to maintain my convictions as I wrote about yesterday) I'm certainly enjoying the deep narrative - especially having to choose when faced with moral quandaries - that comes with Grand Theft Auto IV. However when it comes to sheer fun, Mario Kart Wii is the hands-down winner. This is also best-handling Mario Kart game to date: when using the Wii Remote with the Wii Wheel, driving a vehicle in this game feels very convincing and realistic (at least if driving through psychedelic landscapes filled with giant mushrooms is your idea of "realistic"). There's also the fun that comes with multi-player competition in Mario Kart Wii, in a way that I can't see a game like Grand Theft Auto IV ever providing.

So if you've somehow wound up with both a Wii and either an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, and have enough money for one game and don't know which one to get, I'd suggest going for Mario Kart Wii. Definitely a lot more sheer fun in this one, without the moral conflict... unless you genuinely feel bad about throwing turtle shells at your opponents :-P

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A "motivational poster" we can all appreciate

Although the depiction of Cobra Commander did not originate with him, Phillip Arthur spotted it and couldn't help but make it even better :-)

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Lee Spievack: The man who re-grew his severed finger

Lee Spievack, a 69-year old hobby store owner in Cincinnati, accidentally chopped off a huge chunk of his finger on the blade of a model airplane. He never found where the missing piece went to. Under any other circumstance it looked hopeless. And then Lee's brother Alan sent him some "pixie dust", which was an experimental extra-cellular matrix. Lee Spievack applied the powder to his wound.

In four weeks, he had re-grown the entire finger, complete with nail, fingerprint and nervous reaction. Here's the photo of him after his ordeal, along with the model airplane that started it all...

You can read more about it at the Daily Mail's website and BBC News hosts some considerably graphic video of the severed finger and various stages of its regrowth.

Just when you think you've seen it all. Amazing that we now seem capable of doing something like this. And on a lighter note maybe there is hope for Dr. Curt Connors after all :-P

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The Gremlins are back!

In a commercial now running in Great Britain for BT Business. In addition to the psychotic beasties from Gremlins (including what looks like Mohawk leading them) it also stars Peter Jones of Dragon's Den...

Man, I loved the Gremlins movies! Mom and Dad took my sister and I to see Gremlins in 1984, and it totally freaked Mom out! Around the holidays, I'll often joke that it's "my favorite Christmas movie!" especially if it happens to be on television. I also caught Gremlins 2: The New Batch when it ran in theaters. And some may disagree, but I thought in many ways that it was one of the few sequels that was actually better than the original.

Wouldn't it be great if Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg were to make a third Gremlins movie? Even if that never happens, it's good to see them in in fine form again in this BT Business commercial :-)

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Back from first meeting of the CHILDREN OF EDEN cast

We met for three hours tonight in the auditorium at Rockingham Community College. I got to know quite a few of my fellow cast members (Children of Eden demands a fairly large number of people for this show, which is one of the reasons why it hasn't been run on Broadway yet). As one of the principles I got to bring home a script, but it's not mine to keep and in order to have this copy I had to leave a security deposit. That gets returned to me at the end of the show, when I give the script back.

Then all the principles and some of the kids who'll be portraying animals listened to the 2-disc soundtrack of the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Children of Eden, the one that gave this musical its final form. For a lot of the cast this was the first time they had ever listened to the music from the show. Since I've been listening to this same soundtrack for almost eight years now, I knew the songs by heart and couldn't help bopping along to the beat, especially when "Generations" started playing :-)

During the listening session, we were each called out of the auditorium to get measured for our costumes. I've no idea what mine is going to look like: all that happened in that regard tonight is that my height was measured along with my chest size and a few other dimensions taken. But since I'm playing Seth and he only shows up toward the end of Act I, I'm thinking it'll probably be something more than the "skins and rough fabric" that Adam and his family wear after the expulsion, but nothing like the colorful pageantry that we see a thousand years later at the beginning of Act II either.

Right now we're scheduled for six performances in June: one each for Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the final weekends of that month. It could go into another weekend, if there's enough demand (and I'm hoping there will be).

We meet again tomorrow night, when we go over the first and last songs for Act I.

Did I say that there are a lot of wonderful people in this production, and that it's a great honor to be working with them?

This is gonna absolutely rock!! :-)

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THE INCREDIBLE HULK trailer wrecks great havoc!

The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton is a movie that I really haven't cared too much about. Due in part no doubt to my being among the minority that thought there was nothing at all wrong with the 2003 Hulk film. Personally, I thought that Ang Lee's approach to the Hulk and his world was brilliant and engaging. And that scene toward the end where Bruce and his father have their "meeting", the one that plays out like some bad community theatre performance, is one of my favorites from any comic book-based movie. I also thought the casting in that one was perfect, especially Sam Elliott as General Ross.

Okay well, after watching this new trailer for 2008's The Incredible Hulk (due in theaters on June 13th) consider me not only sold but very excited about this redo/relaunch/revamp of the Hulk's cinematic incarnation!

Looks like it's going to be not only faithful to the original Marvel Comics material but also a great homage to the television series (including the haunting "The Lonely Man" theme).

Mash down here for The Incredible Hulk trailer in Quicktime format!

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"Ewoks" Star Wars gospel song

Ewoks, a United Methodist choir and Billy Dee Williams himself. Could this possibly be the greatest Star Wars-themed video ever hosted on YouTube?!

Thanks to Geoff Gentry for passing this along! :-)

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Remember that eBay auction we did for the signed copy of TRANSFORMERS: THE SCORE?

The one that we did back in the fall of 2007? Transformers composer Steve Jablonsky gave us a signed copy of score CD and we put it up on eBay, with the understanding that 100% of the proceeds would go toward music education here in Rockingham County. When all was said and done the sale netted over $300!

So, wanna know what the money went toward?

The original plan was to assist the funding of a special concert for the elementary students because at the time we didn't know if we would be able to have it this year. Fortunately that was taken care of. But we were still able to put the proceeds to some good music use.

This is what's called an Orff Xylophone. Its specially made for use with the Orff Approach to music education. Most of the funds from the auction went to purchase this for Monroeton Elementary School in Reidsville.

In the end, just as we'd stated, 100% of the proceeds from the auction got a lot of nice materials for music education here in Rockingham County. I just wanted to make a note of it here, for disclosure's sake (because lately I seem to be doing nothing but disclosure of finances since I'm treasurer of a political campaign and I might as well be on a roll :-)

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