Hey Everyone!
A few days ago I watched Star Trek Into Darkness with several of my friends. Up until it came out some years back I had not seen a single star trek movie, but since then I've grown to enjoy the series and most things science fiction.
I saw the movie in theaters with my dad, who is a lifelong star trek fan, and his excitement for the show turned out to be justified. Between the actors I recognized from my favorite movies, the saga my dad had told me led up to this film, and the wholesome mental exhaustion that follows after running one's eyes around a 15 foot screen, the piece stuck in my mind as one of the hallmarks of great action movies.
There is no stretch of the imagination that lets me call myself a film critic, but I found myself very resistant to some of the stabs people threw at the screen. Notes about lens flare and camera angles went over my head, as did much of the criticism of the dialogue and plot.
My first reaction was that I was simply unsophisticated, which is true, but more to the point, in many movies I watch I find myself drawn in in such a way that I ignore details that remove me from the experience the director intends the viewer to have. I'm worse at finding any technical aspect of a film than most of my friends, but I am a champion at suspending disbelief.
That phrase shouldn't suggest that poor dialogue or choppy camera work won't rub me wrong; the opposite is the case. Anything that forces me out of the scene in front of me sticks in my mind, often becoming a key takeaway from a movie, but building a tolerance or even a directed lack of focus, so to speak, and training the mind to accept the world a director or a writer creates gives me a leg up when it comes to enjoying movies or books or any creative work for that matter.
It's not hard to believe that our brains are hardwired to experience life with this disposition. If we don't over analyze a situation we can dive straight in to an imagined environment, and see our surroundings and even ourselves as whatever we want to envision for a situation. It's not until our English professors tell us to be sure to omit adverbs that our brain starts seizing up in the middle of a gloriously crafted scene an author proudly pieced together.
This is written with the understanding that if no-one was paying attention to the details no-one could sit through any movie or read any book. That said, it's far more fun to be the friend who's excited to see the movie for the sixth time than to be the friend who's uncertain about watching the movie once.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Family is for First Aid
Hey everyone!
So one opportunity of being a college student is returning from across the country as a guest in your own home. I felt out of place after spending so many months on my own schedule apart from the people who have made my life up to a year ago possible.
We went on two road trips this summer and I sat in the back of the car between my little brothers Mike and Pete. An hour or so into each trip I would stop thinking about how odd we must have looked to our parents. Mike and I top 6 feet each, and though I'm four years older, he has about 20 pounds on me. Pete is tiny, with a shock of golden blond curls; the whole time he was in the car with us he was smashed against the left door.
My brothers can make just about anyone feel at home. Pete and my youngest brother C.J. get in fights at least as often as one would expect for two brothers born a year apart. Pete wins almost every time in spite of his size, mostly because of years of experience tackling Mike and I.
Anyway, one day in June I was sitting in our dining room when I heard my brothers having a go at one another. My dad had left the house an hour before and was in the process of redoing the living room, where my brothers usually fought, leaving me in charge of keeping the house in one piece.
Normally, I let them be, but given the fresh paint on the walls I decided today that plan wouldn't work. I stood and walked into the living room just in time to catch the highlight of the summer.
Pete let CJ get back up and CJ walked to the far side of the living room. It was the third time in a row he'd been thrown to the ground and he was looking for any options he had to get an advantage. He spotted a small black handkerchief and had an idea no-one in our family has had the ingenuity or courage to imitate since. Before either Pete or I could object he blindfolded himself tightly, doing the opposite of kid trying to cheat swinging at a pinata, and then dropped to a crouch and charged at Pete.
Just before they collided CJ shouted out, "No-one can beat me I'm Daredevil." Peter got over his surprise and dove out of the way as CJ collided with the wall.
One thing I've learned growing up with brothers is that some of the people who love you the most will let you try stupid ideas, not because they don't care, but because they're curious what could be running through your head at the moment you go for a strategy no-one else was dumb enough to try.
So one opportunity of being a college student is returning from across the country as a guest in your own home. I felt out of place after spending so many months on my own schedule apart from the people who have made my life up to a year ago possible.
We went on two road trips this summer and I sat in the back of the car between my little brothers Mike and Pete. An hour or so into each trip I would stop thinking about how odd we must have looked to our parents. Mike and I top 6 feet each, and though I'm four years older, he has about 20 pounds on me. Pete is tiny, with a shock of golden blond curls; the whole time he was in the car with us he was smashed against the left door.
My brothers can make just about anyone feel at home. Pete and my youngest brother C.J. get in fights at least as often as one would expect for two brothers born a year apart. Pete wins almost every time in spite of his size, mostly because of years of experience tackling Mike and I.
Anyway, one day in June I was sitting in our dining room when I heard my brothers having a go at one another. My dad had left the house an hour before and was in the process of redoing the living room, where my brothers usually fought, leaving me in charge of keeping the house in one piece.
Normally, I let them be, but given the fresh paint on the walls I decided today that plan wouldn't work. I stood and walked into the living room just in time to catch the highlight of the summer.
Pete let CJ get back up and CJ walked to the far side of the living room. It was the third time in a row he'd been thrown to the ground and he was looking for any options he had to get an advantage. He spotted a small black handkerchief and had an idea no-one in our family has had the ingenuity or courage to imitate since. Before either Pete or I could object he blindfolded himself tightly, doing the opposite of kid trying to cheat swinging at a pinata, and then dropped to a crouch and charged at Pete.
Just before they collided CJ shouted out, "No-one can beat me I'm Daredevil." Peter got over his surprise and dove out of the way as CJ collided with the wall.
One thing I've learned growing up with brothers is that some of the people who love you the most will let you try stupid ideas, not because they don't care, but because they're curious what could be running through your head at the moment you go for a strategy no-one else was dumb enough to try.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Post the first:
Hello to my one reader from Saturday, December 13 2014!
I have no idea if that was a Saturday and this is my first time throwing my thoughts on to a webpage, but this is fun!
It's 1 in the morning, so this post will be brief. I'm not sure where the blog description shows up, but in case it's not available, this blog is a daily database of intriguing thoughts.
And the thought that someone else would be interested in what goes on in my head is a bit pretentious.
And the thought that someone else would be interested in what goes on in my head is a bit pretentious.
Happy reading!
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