Friday Poetry – indomitable

October 31, 2008 under poetry

heart of mighty oak
will not bend or break or tear
you can’t keep me down

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One fantastic site

October 30, 2008 under curios

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

It’s funny ’cause it’s true.

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Bored Young Skript Kiddies

October 28, 2008 under technical

From the article,

Chris Boyd from FaceTime said many of the young criminal hackers were undermined by their desire to win recognition for their exploits.

In other news, small boys and teenagers turn to whatever means are available to them in an attempt to prove their manhood.

Different cultures and societies measure manhood in different ways. Traditional metrics involve women, work and provision, and killing things. Various other factors may be considered such as facial hair or other physical attributes.

Depending on the situation and metrics used, a boy can satisfy the requirements of manhood at 14 or 15. Such a man might not be the wisest or most mature man, but he’d make the cut. Regardless, 11 or 12 is not too young to desperately desire manhood, and every small boy does just that.

If youth don’t have a suitable definition of what it means to be a man, if they don’t have suitable challenges from which to learn how to be a man, and if they don’t receive recognition for their struggles and victories, what will happen?

They’ll strive for the wrong goal; they’ll follow the wrong avenues, and they’ll kill themselves (and others) trying increasingly desperate things, just to find the recognition and acclaim they need.

Sure, you can legislate teenage hackers into your prisons, but I fail to see how that solves the problem.

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Monday poetry

October 27, 2008 under poetry

life on the hot seat
wed to the critical path
don’t scorch your trousers

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What an awful headline

October 26, 2008 under Uncategorized

‘Let the baby go,’ Jennifer Hudson’s sister says of missing son

What, she doesn’t have a name of her own? And who would file this story under “Arts & Entertainment?”

If the story isn’t noteworthy in and of itself (and it isn’t – it’s tragic, but not noteworthy) then don’t run it. If you find yourself miscategorizing it (it’s not about arts and entertainment) then don’t run it.

If you’re going to advertise the grief of a hysterical mother, at least grant her the dignity of calling her by name. Julia Hudson deserves at least that much.

CBC – Be ashamed.

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Somewhat old timey movie review – One Eyed Jacks

October 25, 2008 under Uncategorized

If you only ever watch one movie directed by Marlon Brando, watch this one.

Why? Because Wikipedia tells us he’s only directed this one. Oh, and he took over from Stanley Kubrick. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Yes, that 1961 classic, “One Eyed Jacks” directed by and starring (come on, you knew this was coming) Marlon Brando.

Marlon Brando plays a tortured, dark, ‘bad-boy’ hero who is torn between the woman he loves and his burning need for revenge. At least… I think he does.

I’d know for sure if he didn’t mumble his lines all the time.

The plot for this one is solid, but I’d hesitate to call it original. Strangely enough, there’s another film on my old timey movie review list dating from 1961 with another tortured, dark ‘bad-boy’ hero who is torn between the woman he loves and his burning need for revenge: “The Deadly Companions”, starring Brian Keith.

Strangely enough, “The Deadly Companions” was directed by Sam Peckinpah, who worked on the screenplay for “One Eyed Jacks” before Stanley Kubrick fired him.

What a small world we live in.

There’s not a whole lot to set this film apart from your average tortured-dark-badboy-hero film. I’ve no complaints about the acting, and the script-writing holds its own. There’s even one or two lines I’d quote for cheesy cliche value. Overall, “One Eyed Jacks” is quite enjoyable to watch, although I’d hesitate to say I was captivated.

There’s a reasonable amount of intrigue, a reasonable attempt at romance, and a reasonable dose of gun-slinging. As with most old timey films, you’ve seen all this before, but it’s somehow different. The roles and lines are the same, but they’re not so pat as the ones you remember. They’re missing 45 years of polish.

Looking at old stuff with young eyes is fun. In some ways, the new stuff is genuinely better (stage-fighting, special effects, scenery). In some ways, the new stuff is tired and the old stuff is fresh.

If Hollywood remade this film for 2009, it would star a good looking piece of meat who couldn’t act as the lead. The sex would be explicit, the blood would flow more freely and there would be explosions. I suspect the 2009 “One Eyed Jacks” would be similar in feel and quality to “The Italian Job” – a run of the mill action/adventure film with some star power but nothing to raise it above the ordinary.

Hmm… Better stick with Brando. He might mumble a bit, but that’s not always a bad thing.

This one is hilarious

October 22, 2008 under curios

I apologize, because you’ll first have to watch this one to gain the necessary background knowledge.

But after you’ve finished watching it… watch this one.

I found it revelationary.

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I know they’re all sad, but…

October 19, 2008 under theology, wholenessinreallife

This one is sad. 

The parents defended their son’s decision, saying he was “an intelligent young man of sound mind” who was “not prepared to live what he felt was a second-class existence”.

It doesn’t always matter whether or not we’re intelligent or of sound mind.

The article titles him as a “paralyzed rugby player”.

Now if, when you asked him who he was, he would say, “I am a rugby player,” then what choice did he have once he lost his body? For a rugby player, being paralyzed is a second class existence.

But if he had said, “I’m a man, created by God to serve him,” would he have had another choice? Being still a man, still created by God, and still having the opportunity to serve him, would he still consider his existence before God to be ‘second-class?’

If we don’t actively protect our own perception of our identity, we will lose it. It will be swallowed up by the things we do and the things we care about. It will be corroded and gobbled away until we’re left as the meagre sum of our experiences.

Every hour I program, I understand myself more as computer programmer and less as what I was before.

I guess I’m even a little scared, because so much of how I see myself is tied up with my mind. Were I to lose that, would I have the strength to resist saying “I have lost everything.” ?

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Bored young terrorists?

October 10, 2008 under theology

People turn to terrorism for social solidarity.

I’ve blogged about bored young men before.

But here’s a funny thing: If people turn to terrorism for social solidarity, because they are bored and alone…

What does that say about effective strategies for dealing with terrorism? Prayer might work.

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Where do your namesakes live?

October 6, 2008 under curios

Apparently, you can find out at the World Names Profiler.

This is a nifty idea. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about my surname (nearly exclusive to Great Britain and its colonies).

On a whim, I plugged in “Boateng”. Great Britain came up first. Who knew?

“Mensah”. Same thing.

Apparently West Africa is a giant hole in the surname map. As it turns out, their results are based off of data from 26 countries…

Well, garbage in, garbage out, I guess.

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