New Political Forum

The original vision of this blog has been wandered from on occasion. The intent was never for this to become an angry rant blog of a political or societal nature. Thus, in an effort to restore this blog to it's purpose, which was never entirely clear in the first place, a new blog is born: Righter Writer. My political and societal observations will now find themselves on the new blog. My attractive British butler side will find itself here. His name is Victor.

The Progression of Regression

All has become far too complicated. Nothing in the recent months of my existence has transpired simply, or even reasonably straightforward. Things as simple as swinging by the store for a quick purchase, printing a document, or finding a date seem drastically over-complicated lately. The design firm I work for just adopted a new client correlation system speckled with superfluous buttons, boxes and procedures. You have to be a master of decryption to post a wretched comment to a blog anymore. Capital? Lower Case? I? L? J? sYn2XKgG . . . Close all the freeway off ramps to the same city at once?! Pin Numbers - Security Questions - 8 characters, at least one number and a capital, change it once a month - 55, 40, 65 within one mile - Credit Cards, Discount Cards, Membership Cards, Debit Cards - We live in an era of redundant wording, legal clauses and "more is better." It seems the more we advance the more complex it becomes. Can we not apply our intellectual and technological headway to create a world LESS perplexing than that of the present day? Surely a harmony between technology and simplicity is within reach! Why do we allow the lawyers, programmers and businessmen to shape the way we administer our activity? Let us synchronize the visions of the think tanks and mathematicians to those of the artists and simplicity pundits. Simplicity is the portal to the future. We'll never arrive otherwise. There'll be too many buttons to push.

Speechless over WALL•E

There seems to be a cooperative dissatisfaction among the uncultured with the lack of dialogue for a large part of WALL•E's screenplay. Would you rather have him follow the class-less trend of mainstream media and talk to himself? Perhaps Pixar was providing us with a premature lecture when Mr. Incredible and Frozone complained to each other about the silliness of monologue. Words are the lazy way out to the progress of a story presented in a primarily visual medium. Yet, nobody seems to mind, and everyone seems to revere, Pixar's traditionally wordless animated shorts that prime the audience before each feature. Have your speech-cluttered Dreamworks whose imagery is incapable of bearing a plot minus vocal embellishment, and I'll speechlessly take my Pixar whose binocular-face robot tugs out deep emotion with little more than a few sighs and whistles.

My New Favorite Movie - Review of WALL•E

    My desktop is adorned with WALL•E wallpaper and icons. My mailbox announces a charming "Waaahhhlleeee" at the arrival of a new message. I had my ticket to the midnight showing the very day they became available. I counted down the hours. I was warned by my peers that my investment may have been a little extreme toward a movie that I had yet to view. I knew my Pixar wouldn't let me down. Best $9 I ever spent.
    "Presto" the short film warm-up act was worth the price of the ticket alone. A hilarious and clever play on a magician's "hat trick" and a hungry bunny. I won't be a poor sport and spoil the fun. You're definitely in for a treat . . . or a carrot.

    No one has as much class as Pixar does. The previews trying to pitch the upcoming non-Pixar Disney films only served to re-emphasize the fact. Lame animation with same-old same-old jokes had me rolling my eyes. But with the elegance of pure simplicity and clever observation, from the get go, WALL•E is a riot. You'll chuckle at this little robot's naive perspective and clever adaptation to a world with which he is not fully familiar. You'll notice a few jabs at pop-culture products and branding - they take a few light stabs at Apple. Tattered meets sleek when Eve brings her futuristic sight into WALL•E's world, and the world's most beautiful, and innocent love story unfolds. When WALL•E joins Eve and travels to her world, a whole new satire is unlocked. It borders on a political statement against monopolies, über-convenience, and conservation but still brings a laugh (and perhaps a slight awakening). The irresistible robotic personality wins the hearts of viewers and characters alike, as he brings them to recognize what they've been missing behind their social seclusion and lack of affection. No doubt you'll leave with a cheek-straining grin and a certain resolve to simplify and enjoy.
    WALL•E is a Pixar gem, perhaps THE Pixar gem. One of the best films I've ever seen period. It reaches for your heart, then fills it with awe-inspiring possibilities, and love for a thing. I'm already scheduling in my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th viewings and many more to come.

The Great Designer

    Even in the day of pocket-sized 8.0 Megapixel cameras, our photographically-inclined family found ourselves with little but a cell phone camera to record what is truly one of the great marvels of the heavens. Sorry for the photographic injustice.
    The vivid colors barely represented in this photo spanned the sky in an unbroken arch from one pot of gold to the other.
A rainbow of the sort I've never before seen. A work of art by the hands of someone far more gifted and magical than I can ever dream of becoming. In this singular piece, is displayed a color spectrum more saturated than anything we can imitate; I don't care how many millions of colors your HD Cinema Display can replicate. How significant that we have been empowered with the capability only to create with that which has already been created. We borrow from His pallet.
    This design, however, really exemplifies the essence of art: simple and magnificent but most importantly, a shameless emblem of the loving emotions of the Creator's heart: a covenant from a Father to His children.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Modern Temples of the Lord

While reflecting upon my January 9 entry, I decided that an architectural tribute to the Latter-Day Saint temples was in order. The temples are easily some of the most fascinating historical and modern religious architecture to leave the world's sketchbook pages. They're symbolic through and through - I only wish I could tell you what it all meant (if only I knew myself). There are 122 temples built by Latter-Day Saints currently dedicated for performing the ordinances and issuing the covenants that temple-going church members hold so dear. Eleven more are on the way. Only worthy members of the church are allowed to enter, however, except during pre-dedication open houses when all who wish to enter may, in respect. The temples are simply beautiful, awe-inspiring and divine. Temples stick out majestically in darkness, and are often found resting upon prominent hills. They're hard to miss, as they are brilliantly illuminated and designed in light, reflective colors. The "golden bugle boy" is a representation of the Angel Moroni, a prominent figure in the Book of Mormon who also played a significant role in the book's recovery in the latter days. For more pictures and information visit LDS Church Temples (not affiliated with the Church) and the Church's own official website on Temples.

The Woe Begotten Non-Investor

I consider myself at this moment horrifically woe-stricken. Upon hearing of Apple's recent success in the stock market, I playfully decided to figure what I'd have made after a couple years had I acted upon the fateful consideration to invest my $2000 in Apple stock. My calculations are based upon an approximate $2000 investment, and a rough recollection of Apple's stock history over the last year or two. Even before the stock split of last year, Apple stock was once at around $17 when I contemplated my investment of $2000 which would have bought me around 118 shares. Last year, with the blazing success of the iPod, and other phenomenal announcements stocks skyrocketed to nearly $80 at which point Apple decided to split the stock, which would have granted me 236 shares at $40. At the close of the market today, Apple stock rested at a comfortable $84.29 following the release of some promising announcements at MacWorld San Francisco on Tuesday. If only you'd witnessed the wailing, moaning and gnashing of teeth as the Dashboard calculator widget presented me with an inconcievable $19,892.44 figure - an astronomical increase of nearly 1000%! And there my money sits in a secure and predictable credit union certificate that may generate, at the conclusion of two years, a meager $400.

Incredible way to celebrate the anniversary!

I've recently accepted my call to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Belgium Brussels / Netherlands Mission. I'll learn Dutch, and I enter the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on March 15, 2006. Any devoted Pixar fan will recognize that date as the 1 year anniversary of the Incredibles' DVD release. I don't mean to divert the attention of the importance of missionary service to a "worldly" concern like a movie, because missionary service is a monumental and sacred endeavor to the lives of any and all Latter-Day Saint young men, women, and senior couples who accept mission calls in the church. But, you've got to admit, of all the days for the world's number one Pixar fan to enter the MTC, that's a wicked-cool cooincidence. It's really sweet that two very important days can share the same calendar space . . . it makes it easier for me (a male) to remember the dates, not that I'd ever forget either of them. Unfortunately, the activities surrounding the mission will prevent me from watching the movie on the 15th, so I'll be celebrating a day early. So anyway, have a most marvelous Incredibles anniversary celebration. Think of me.