Oct 29

The most powerful instrument

VoteI’m happily voting for Barack Obama on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Somebody who is close to me, – who votes conservative and who I dearly respect asked me the old Reagan question, “Are you better off than you were four years ago.”  The answer is, “Yes!”

If the answer surprises you, let me draw an analogy. – George Bush was like somebody who spent 8 years piling kindling and kerosene in my house – tinder that caught fire as he left office. As Obama took office, we were on the verge of our entire house burning down. So, if there is still residual smoke damage four years after he put the fire out, I’m better off than I was.

But I hope that the loyal opposition votes as well. Yes: even if you are for Mitt Romney, I hope that you vote.

I can think of few rights more precious than the right to vote and I’d like to see everybody take advantage of it.

I have a core belief that individuals and society benefit from a free exchange of ideas and that ‘bad’ ideas should not be suppressed, but rather, fairly supplanted by superior ideas through honest exchanges and real world testing.

And so I find it repugnant, treasonous even, when I hear of attempts to suppress votes.

Most recently, and close to home, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) and his ilk passed a law that required Pennsylvanias to show photo I.D. before voting under the guise that it prevented voter fraud.

But the numbers don’t support the fear mongering.  A New York Times analysis from 2007 identified 120 cases filed by the Justice Department over five years. These cases, many of which stemmed from mistakenly filled registration forms or misunderstanding over voter eligibility, resulted in a mere 86 convictions.

And yet, for the sake of these laws which are presented under the illusion that they’ll protect our republic, we would instead actually create a mass disenfranchisement of the people. In Pennsylvania, nearly 760,000 registered voters, or 9.2 percent of the state’s 8.2 million voter base, don’t own state-issued ID cards, according to an analysis of state records by the Philadelphia Inquirer. State officials, on the other hand, place this number at between 80,000 and 90,000.

And Turzai admitted to the political motivation behind this move as he mentioned the law in a laundry list of accomplishments made by the GOP-run legislature to a speech of committee members.

We are focused on making sure that we meet our obligations that we’ve talked about for years… Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation – abortion facility regulations – in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.

This is positively criminal to me and how the man (and his peers) weren’t run out of office the next day is beyond my imagination.

The good news? A judge put a halt on this, ‘law’, at least for the short term.

So what can we do? We can write our representatives and tell them that we want our right to vote. – That these modern day equivalents to poll taxes will not stand.

And most importantly, we can VOTE.

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves — and the only way they could do this is by not voting.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Oct 15

September 2012 – Quote of the Month

All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct.

— Carl Sagan

Sep 08

August 2012 – Quote of the Month

One is sorry one could not have taken both branches of the road. But we were not allotted multiple selves.

―Gore Vidal

Sep 08

Facebook and Politics

Periodically, but during the voting season in particular, some friends will post, “I wish there was a hide political rant” button, or they’ll post a snarky image about politics and Facebook.

I really enjoy your poltical Facebook posts, said no one ever. - Some Cards

They very well may be right.

It’s easy to imagine sophisticated people sitting around a table at a dinner party exchanging political witticisms (“Well said ol’ chap! >glass raised in respectful salute<) but I imagine that’s a rare thing indeed.

No, sadly, talk of politics and religion so often involve gnashing of teeth and flinging of mud that sensible people steer clear of the subject when socializing.

In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

– George Orwell

But yet, I’m guilty of talking politics (and to a lesser extent, the even more sensitive sister: religion.)

Here is what I like to tell myself: I do it because I believe successful governance requires an informed populace and a free exchange of ideas. I do it because I wish people were as passionate about ideas as they are about the latest football game.  I do it because I think the risk of offense is less onerous to our society than the risk of ignorance.

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.

– Pericles

Now, that isn’t to mean that I think I’m the purveyor of great insights and wisdom… No scratch that. – I do think think that. – And so do those who old opposition to my thoughts.  But I know enough to know that I’m not always right. And although we humans are resistant to new ideas and shedding old ones, I like to fancy that it happens from time to time and that we might actually grow in our understanding on occasion.

But I guess I could get my political input elsewhere… I could read professional articles and and pundits; no need to do it on Facebook.

Perhaps it comes down to two ideas; the first being: one of my favorite things about the internet is that it gives us all soap boxes to stand on. It democratizes the voice of the masses.

Walking downtown one day, several years ago, with my friend Teddy Carroll, we passed by a man on the street bleating political rants that neither of us agreed. Teddy made the comment that he liked that. – It reminded him of some old shaman on the streets of ancient Rome ranting. I agree: there is something pleasurable about free speech – even if you disagree with it. – Perhaps, particularly if you disagree with it.

The second reason isn’t as noble: it’s because I grow weary of the banality of Facebook. I love a good, cute, animal photo as much as the next person; I’ve been guilty of sharing dull photos of my lunch on occasion and have contributed my fair share of forgettable posts. But Jiminy Cricket! – Sometimes I yearn for for a little spice! It doesn’t have to be politics either; I just want to read something meaningful; something a little less ordinary once in a while.

So, I ask forbearance to my friends who can’t stand politics. – Hell, I’m not even always in the mood for it! (I’ve certainly banged my head on the keyboard in frustration and weariness on occasion.) And if there was an ability to tag posts with a term like ‘politics’ or ‘rant’ that you could filter out, I’d do it. Worse case: if you still want to stay connected (I hope that you do), just follow my professional Facebook account: it is political rant free.

Now having conceding to my culpability at being a rabble-rouser I leave you with this higher-minded thought:

Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

Aug 28

New Tracks

Human society has been in existence for tens of thousands of years. During the majority of that time, human achievements happened relatively slowly. For the vast majority of those who ever lived, it is likely that they did not experience a true watershed, defining moment of human endeavor. And yet, on July 20, 1969, humanity not only witnessed, but birthed an audacious accomplishment that is akin to our ancestors’ first steps towards a prehistoric fire that burned in the stump of a lightening struck tree: we landed men on the moon.

Foot imprinting on the dust of the Moon - Apollo 11, July 1969

Foot imprinting on the dust of the Moon – Apollo 11, July 1969

Our first avatar on that journey was Neil Armstrong. – By all popular accounts, a man of equal parts heroism and humility.

With that thought in mind, I’m left measuring our loss at his death this August, which seems to mark the passing of a time of high-adventure in contrast with my joy over the spectacular success of the latest Mars rover: the aptly named ‘Curiosity’, which touched down on the red planet in heart-pounding fashion on August 6th.

(Here, I must add, that I take great satisfaction that the rover’s landing site was named after the late great Ray Bradbury – one of my favorite authors.)

Curiosity's first tracks - Mars - August 2012

Curiosity’s first tracks – Mars – August 2012

I marvel and am thrilled at the tracks left by Curiosity and it is fantastic achievement not only of technology and intellect but of passion for exploration. And yet: I still dream... I dream that I’ll see a person touch boot to the red soil of Mars in my lifetime.

The regret on our side is, they used to say years ago, we are reading about you in science class. Now they say, we are reading about you in history class.

– Neil Armstrong

Space is our new savannah. – It is where lightening has struck, where the ember burns and where we must step if we are to advance.

Aug 01

July 2012 – Quote of the Month

Fireworks had for her a direct and magical appeal. Their attraction was more complex than that of any other form of art. They had pattern and sequence, colour and sound, brilliance and mobility; they had suspense, surprise, and a faint hint of danger; above all, they had the supreme quality of transience, which puts the keenest edge on beauty and makes it touch some spring in the heart which more enduring excellences cannot reach.

– Jan Struther, Mrs. Miniver

Jul 31

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie - 2012

Spidey, the Web-Slinger in The Amazing Spider-Man Movie – 2012

“Amazing” is an overstatement, but “New and Improved Spider-Man” works for me.

I finally saw the movie last night, – my second attempt. (My first attempted failed because it was the premier night of Batman Rises and the theater failed to update their listings and the fact that they closed a theater that had been showing Spider-Man. Tsk!)

I think virtually any conversation about the new Amazing Spider-Man is going to happen in context with the Sam Rami version, and my synopsis is no different. Let me start with the non-spoiler points, and then I’ll provide a warning for any plot points that I’ll reveal.

First, the overall directing (by the director with the appropriate appellation of, Marc Webb) was superior to the 2002 Rami Spider-Man. Admittedly, most of the directing for this 2012 version was just solid and workaday – not exceptional, but that is still better than Rami who (like Tim Burton), usually seem ’emotionally dyslexic’. – The emotions and feeling of the movies seem, disconnected, like the punchline of a joke told offbeat. – Hard to put your finger on exactly, but just wrong.

The storyline of the 2012 version takes some liberties with the standard Spider-Man origins story (at least as I know it – although I don’t claim to be familiar with every version of the multi-verse.) I found the changes to be subtle, but still provided a fresh take on a story that most of us know. The variations were enough to keep me wondering how the story would unfold and yet everything also felt true to the original story in spirit.

One of the chief improvements were in the characters, who were more relatable and realistic. (Although the Dr. Curt Connors character felt underdeveloped and lightweight.)

Emma Stone, playing Gwen Stacy, was a distinct step forward as a whip smart female counterpart to Peter Parker compared to the simpering Mary Jane Watson from the Rami film.

I was particularly happy that they dumped the awful, poorly motivated, cartoonish newspaper editor John Jonah Jameson and instead better served the story with the much more interesting, more dimensional Captain Stacy.

The action sequences and Spider-Man moves were greatly improved, with a greater feeling of being both fantastically dynamically, and still grounded in physics. Spider-Man was super-human but he also had mass.

These items being said, I did have quibbles with the movie, including a few contrivances including a villain that could have used some more motivational gravitas.

[notice] Spider-Man Spoiler Commentary Follows[/notice]

Many of these points are awash in geeky nitpicking. – All of which could be silly since the very movie requires a comic book level suspension of disbelief. But of course, stories still have to play in the world that they setup and where storytellers are lazy and try to take intellectual shortcuts, it can be jarring to our conscious and unconscious enjoyment.

Its like in the story Misery when the Annie Wilkes character complains about an old serial story would be ‘unfair’ because they’d shown the hero go over the cliff in one serial episode and in the next, show him having dived to safety beforehand. “HE DIDN’T GET OUT OF THE COCKADOODIE CAR!” – Broadly speaking: stories must maintain internal consistency and even minor details should feel as ‘right’ as a storyteller can make them within the restrictions of the media.

Here is a partial list of niceties and rough patches throughout the move:

  • Both the Rami and the Webb version of the movies show a lab of experimental spiders – one of which bites Peter resulting in his transformation. What bugs me (get it – ‘bugs’?), is that in original comic book story, the spider had been exposed to radiation seconds before biting Peter. – Making that spider and that bite unique thereby making Spider-Man unique. In the movies, one has to wonder how the lab technicians never got bit by one of their super spiders. (There is one tiny possibility that there was a unique spider in the 2012 version. If you watch closely, you’ll note that one of the many spiders that Peter disturbs gets shocked by the machinery. – Perhaps, we can imagine, that shock was the extra special catalyst and that was the spider that bite Peter, although the director never makes that even remotely clear.)
  • I enjoyed the scene where Peter wakes up to new found strength and accidentally breaks fixtures in his house.
  • The scenes of Peter experimenting and learning his powers with his skateboard on the grounds of a warehouse were fun, but I find it hard to believe that his first practical test of the web shooters would start by plunging off of an exceedingly tall sky scraper. Peter is a smart boy, I think he’d start with, say, a two story building at the highest. I know that the filmmakers wanted something more dramatic, but it made me think – “Well, that’s stupid…”
  • Several times throughout the movie, Peter uses his super abilities in front of other students including exacting vengeance on a bully, “Flash”, by one-handed palming a basketball that Flash can’t move with all of his might; jumping at least 15 feet through the air, slam dunking a basketball – smashing the backboard; and lifting the larger Flash into the air by his shirt. These demonstrations weren’t full-blown amazing Spider-Man feats, but they would be very noteworthy in a high-school and would certainly have people talking and changing their behavior around Peter,  – it not outright suspecting him of super abilities.
  • I enjoyed the scene were Parker finds himself in an abandoned gym and conceives of the need for a secret identity (although the roof collapsing under him felt a bit contrived). I thought that it was a clever way to provide an homage to the original wrestling / costume scene without having to repeat it. The directing in the scene was also one of the more inspired moments.
  • When one first sees the ads for a Spider-Man movie and notes the high-tech costume made by a teenager of little means, you have to ask, ‘how is it that the kid made that costume?’ He’s not a tailor – right? So, I thought that the movie’s answer of a luge speedo costume was a great solution.
  • If you put any thought into it at all, you have to conclude that non-supernatural webs from a human are going to be problematic from a physics standpoint. – And I’m not talking about the tensile strength of the web (which would be truly great if it was proportional to a human.) Rather: the issue arises as a mater of mass. Shooting miles of webbing requires a large source of material from somewhere. If the web shooters were biological – as they were in the 2002 Rami version, Spider-Man would need to consume prodigious quantities of protein and have some suitcase sized tumor somewhere on his body. And if the webbing were man made – per the original comic book and the 2012 move – than Peter would need something closer to two scuba tanks on his back to provide sufficient web fluid.

In the past, I’ve been partial to the biological web shooters, because, although the require a person to suspend disbelief about the amount of web fluid that is required, they didn’t require the additional suspension of disbelief that a high-school student of little means was able to make webbing and mechanical shooters work. (Even if Peter is a genius.) That being said, I again was pleasantly surprised by the manner in which they were introduced in the story, where Peter lifts the technology from Oscorp. I also enjoyed the subtle detail of the red lights in the shooters (although I don’t know why he’d do that) and the little white clouds of powder that the animators depicted coming out every time he shot them.

  • Why was NYC crawling in lizards? If they were somehow attracted to the villainous Lizard, it was never explained. One scene included a line of lizards marching down Spider-Man’s webbing with no reasoning provided.
  • How exactly did Dr. Connors / The Lizard, not only get his high-tech lab setup in the sewer, he managed to power it, all within less than a week? (Actually, probably less than a week – the story wasn’t clear about the timing other than we knew he had been fired and told to pack-up the next day and then telling Peter that he gave the team the week off which was why he was in the lab alone during one of the following scenes.) Nor does it seem likely that a high-tech lab in the main corridor of a sewer would long last in the horrible, wet conditions nor long elude the the inspection of sewer workers.
  • Peter didn’t have to be a genius to figure out Dr. Connors evil plans from the silly clues left behind by the doctor in his sewer lab which included a paper with an article circling a headline, a video log and an unlocked computer screen. – Clearly the story tellers were running out of time and/or were lazy and had to rush the story along at that point.
  • The low point in the movie occurs when a crane operate, who’s son Spidey had saved earlier in the movie, is watching TV and concludes that Spiderman is trying to make his way to the Oscorp building and needs help. So the man arranges for his fellow crane buddies to maneuver their crane arm’s into position for the length of many city blocks so that Spider-Man has a convenient  runway for his web-swinging. Clearly the writer / director wanted to impart a sense of returned justice to Spider-man in his moment of need, but the concept and execution are so contrived that one could hear the sound of fellow movie goers eyes simultaneously rolling back into their heads.

[important]End Spoilers[/important]

The most noise I heard about the movie came from people who felt that it was too soon for a reboot – a retailing of the origin story, and I can sympathize. However, these people are missing out because the new Spider-Man is an upgrade with better directing, writing, acting, characters, effects and overall ‘tone’. It still has its share of flaws, to be sure, but it’s a strong addition to the pantheon of super-hero movies.

 

Jul 02

June 2012 – Quote of the Month

It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

― Rainer Maria Rilke

Jun 30

Shame the devil

When CNN was first created: the idea of 24 hour news held the promise of greater, in-depth news coverage. It has turned into tabloid reporting.

I laugh when I hear people talk about the ‘liberal media’. All of these large media organizations are corporate owned and funded by other corporations. They serve the dollar, not the truth.

The bigger the information media, the less courage and freedom they follow. Bigness means weakness.

– Eric Sevareid

Both CNN and Fox, were so eager to break the story of the supreme court’s ruling on the, ‘Affordable Health Care Act’, that the both flubbed it and reported the wrong outcome.

CNN headline "The Supreme Court has struck down the individual mandate for health care. Mandate struck down" - June 28, 2012

CNN headline “The Supreme Court has struck down the individual mandate for health care. Mandate struck down” – June 28, 2012

Some eight minutes later, CNN started to get it right:

CNN headline "The Supreme Court backs all parts of President Obama's signature health care law." - June 28, 2012

CNN headline “The Supreme Court backs all parts of President Obama’s signature health care law.” – June 28, 2012

In a participatory democracy, it is crucial that we have a vigilant news media that strives (if never perfectly reaches) objectivity and accuracy. But ever increasingly, it’s about the sound bite and the horse race of who gets it first. We all suffer for this.

There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil.

– Walter Lippmann

Jun 06

The Sound of Summer Running

I learned today that Ray Bradbury, my second favorite author, died on June 5th. He was 91.

As Tolkien was to fantasy, so Ray Bradbury was to science fiction – both popularized their genres. And like Tolkien, Bradbury wrote prose like it was poetry.

I still have the old, well loved books and even now, on my reading shelf is a Bradbury book that I bought late last year, “From the Dust Returned”.

When I was a teenager, I took a month long cross country road trip with my parents. It was one of the most influential times of my life.

Ray Bradbury books - R is for Rocket, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, The Illustrated Man, S is for Space, From the Dust Returned - Photo by Glen Green

A sampling of Ray Bradbury books - R is for Rocket, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, The Illustrated Man, S is for Space, From the Dust Returned - Photo by Glen Green

And during those long hours on the road, in between the marvelous, surprising sights of America, I’d while away the miles by reading or rereading his short stories, in collections such as “The Illustrated Man”, “S is for Space” and probably my favorite, “R is for Rocket” which included classic stories, “A sound of Thunder” (which has influenced countless time travel stories since), “The Fog Horn”, “The Long Rain” and “The Golden Apples of the Sun”.

“R is for Rocket” also contains a story that I remember being read to me when I was younger, “Frost and Fire”. That story is about a tribe of people that were stranded on a planet that burned during the day hours and froze in the dark, with only the hours of dawn and twilight being fit for life outside of their caves.

What’s more, life on the planet is sped up – including those of the people, who lived only eight days. The people have ancestral memories, so from the moment of their birth they are snapped into consciousness, aware of their own speeding mortality.

The grasping, clawing, desperate nature of the people who have only eight days to grow, fall in love, bare children, age and die has only further tightened it’s grip on my imagination as I’ve grown older.

During the night, Sim was born. He lay wailing upon the cold cave stones. His blood beat through him a thousand pulses each minute. He grew, steady.

Into his mouth his mother with feverish hands put the food. The nightmare of living was begun. Almost instantly at birth his eyes grew alert, and then, without half understanding why, filled with bright, insistent terror…

,,,

..It was an unbearable planet. Sim understood this, a matter of hours after birth. Racial memories bloomed in him. He would live his entire life in the caves, with two hours a day outside. Here, in stone channels of air he would talk, talk incessantly with his people, sleep never, think, think and lie upon his back, dreaming; but never sleeping.

And he would live exactly eight days.

Carpe diem indeed!

But the story, like most of his stories, has hope. And hope is something else that I feel a greater yearning for as I grow older. Dark tales, dystopian stories, have their place, but a smart story that is also hopeful, is a rarer gem.

I hold books to be precious, but as a kid, I took the usual step of rating the stories in the book’s table of contents – in pencil of course!

Even now, I can see how I rated the stories from 1 to 5. But there were a couple that I did not like at all. One of those was, “The Sound of Summer Running” which has a penciled X through the page number – it wasn’t even worthy of a “1”!

I understand why I didn’t like it as a kid. It didn’t have monsters, or rocket ships or time travel or any other such fantastic escape. Instead, the story is about the pleasure of summer and youth, as witnessed by an old shoe salesman in a young boy who is thrilled to buy a pair of sneakers for the summer. No, it took me some years to see the magic, and the true escape told in that story. Now it is one of my favorites.

In the shoe store, the old man is captured by the boys imagination after the boy has put on his new “Litefoot sneakers”.

Mr. Sanderson leaned forward. “How do they feel?”

The boy looked down at his feet deep in the rivers, in the fields of wheat, in the wind that already was rushing him out of the town. He looked up at the old man, his eyes burning, his mouth moving, but no sound came out.,

“Antelopes?” said the old man, looking from the boy’s face to his shoes. “Gazelles?”

The boy thought about it, hesitated, and nodded a quick nod. Almost immediately he vanished. He just spun about with a whisper and went off. The door stood empty. The sound of the tennis shoes faded in the jungle heat.

Mr. Sanderson stood in the sun-blazed door listening. From a long time ago, when he dreamed as a boy, he remembered the sound. Beautiful creatures leaping under the sky, gone through brush, under trees, away, and only the soft echo their running left behind.

“Antelopes,” said Mr. Sanderson. “Gazelles.”

He bent to pick up the boy’s abandoned winter shoes, heavy with forgotten rains and long-melted snows. Moving out of the blazing sun, walking softly, lightly, slowly, he headed back toward civilization….

I hope that, in the end, Mr. Bradbury walked back towards the sound of Gazelles bouncing over the loam and the jungle grass towards adventure. And with him goes my thanks for the adventurous stories of my youth – both then and now.

Jun 01

May 2012 – Quote of the Month

It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

– J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings
The Return of the King

May 22

GlenGreenDotCom’s 11th Anniversary

Hello and welcome to the new face of GlenGreen.com.

The facelift is in celebration of this site’s 11th anniversary, since Glen Green Dot Com made its debut on May 22nd, 2001.

And while this revamped website gets established, I encourage you to peruse the legacy site here at http://Legacy.GlenGreen.com .

So, raise your glass and join me in this cheer: Happy Anniversary! – And with luck, we’ll have many more years ahead of us.

Glen Green's legacy website home page from May 22, 2012

Glen Green's legacy website home page from May 22, 2012

Apr 08

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn

The Fellowship of the Ring

I’ve seen the Lord of the Rings > The Fellowship of the Ring for the sixth time. I was driven to see the movie this last time, in large part due to the four minute trailer for the Two Towers that has been added at the end.

The following passages assumes you have seen or are familiar with The Fellowship of the Rings and includes spoilers.

The first time I saw the movie I was rather under whelmed. But I’ve grown to like the movie an awful lot. It is a flawed movie, but that shouldn’t be too surprising given it has tremendous scope. And the ways in which this movie could have failed, far and away outnumber the ways in which it could be made to work. Perhaps that is too general of a statement, a statement that would be true of many movies and many things. I only mean to imply that, given the breadth, depth and complexity of The Lord of the Rings, it was highly improbable that the movie would work. And yet it does. That being said, it is more than noteworthy that the movie has a distinctly different feel than much of the book and takes great liberties with the original source. In no way do I feel that the movie is more enjoyable than the book. It is a very good movie that echoes much of the book. I feel bad for people who saw the movie before (or instead of) reading the book.

Here are some random thoughts on the movie:

Gandalf suffered from the Worf phenomenon. (Two Towers Spoiler Alert in this paragraph, skip if if you don’t want anything about The Two Towers spoiled for you.)

Worf was the Klingon, security officer from the Next Generation Star Trek. Worf was suppose to be a scary bad ass, tough guy. But in an attempt to prove how scary any given alien was, that alien was shown kicking Worf’s ass. After a while, you never actually saw Worf do anything tough, you only saw him getting beat up.

Similarly, Gandalf is shown getting his ass kicked or failing in almost every conceivable way in this first movie.

  • Gandalf is shown old and klutzy, he bangs his head twice in Bags End.
  • Saruman is literally show wiping the floor with him.
  • Unlike in the book, Frodo solves the riddle of the doors of Moira, Gandalf doesn’t even get to look clever.
  • Gandalf is no where to be seen during the fight against the watcher in the water.
  • Gandalf is not shown actually killing anything in the Balin’s tomb scene.
  • Gandalf is shown fighting and at least partially defeating the Balrog but is then shown simply slipping over the edge instead of being pulled directly into the abyss by the Balrog.

Now the reason Peter Jackson did this is almost certainly to juxtapose Gandalf the Gray from Gandalf the White. But it wasn’t necessary. It should be relatively easy to show the strength of Gandalf the White without making the Gray look inept. Hence: the Worf phenomenon.

Many people have raved about Ian McKellen’s role as Gandalf. It has taken me several viewings before I’ve come to appreciate it. I suspect that I wasn’t doing a very good job of viewing McKellen’s acting outside of the wimpy characterization of Gandalf.

But the highlight of his acting can be found in the scene were Gandalf and Frodo discuss Gollum and the “Pity of Bilbo” in Moria.

Although Elijah Wood who played Frodo wasn’t exactly bad, he wasn’t exactly good. His acting didn’t keep me from enjoying the movie but his characterization of Frodo was rather “simpering”. Some of this might not be Mr. Woods fault, because Frodo seemed to have much of his strength of character watered down in the screenplay. The most notable of these disappointments included Frodo quickly cowering from the Ring Wraiths on Weahtertop, Arwen standing against the Ring Wraiths at the Ford of Bruinen instead of Frodo and his being “let go” by Aragorn even as the Fellowship was being attacked by Orcs. By removing these acts of bravery and will power, Frodo’s eventual loss of control will be significantly impacted. Ah well, at least Frodo got to be more clever than Gandalf at the doors to Moria (sigh).

Viggo Mortenson (Aragorn) and Sean Bean (Borimer) are my hands down favorites in the movie. Aragorn is shown with a kingly demeanor and Borimer as a complicated, tempted but ultimately good man. I found I was virtually spellbound when either was the center of attention. Their scenes together are probably the best in the entire movie. Of course, unlike in the book, Aragorn is shown as less than decisive about his mantel of leadership but it seems a forgivable alteration.

Orlando Bloom (Legolas) does a great job at the very difficult task of playing an ageless, ethereal Elvin prince.

Gimli is adequately played by John Rys-davies. The two things I didn’t like about Gimi were his plastic looking makeup and the line, “No one tosses a Dwarf!”. (I can here Tolkien spinning now).

Samwise Gamgee is played rather poorly half the time and very well the other half. Strangely, Sean Astin never seemed to get the more “yokel” characteristics of Sam down very well. While on the other hand he did a very nice job playing the stout, straight and narrow, ‘hope personified’ aspects of Sam. I simply love the scene at the end of the Fellowship were Sam and Frodo are surveying Morder as Frodo comments that they aren’t likely to ever see the others again. Sam looks at him with this wonderful expression and says, “We might yet Mr. Frodo, we might…”

Most of us could use a little more Sam Gamgee in us.

Merry Brandibuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) are played for too may laughs, they are ninety percent of the comic relief. Their acting is the most cartoonish but they both still seem to have some presence that makes you care for them. One of my least favorite scenes in the movie is at the end of the Council of Elrond where Merry and Pippin race into the council and announce that they want to join this “quest, mission, thing…”

(Tolkien is on spin cycle at this point) while the music swells pompously as Elrond (Hugo Weaving) pretentiously announces, “You are the Fellowship of the Ring”.

The council of Elrond in general failed to capture much of the important back story and robbed many of the characters of their motivation. Why was Legolas there? Gimli? Borimer? It was also a shame that Merry and Pippin joined the Fellowship in such an obnoxious way.

The Balrog was cool. Okay, he was hot. What a great depiction of “fire and shadow”. Still, it is a shame that future readers of the book who see the movie first are likely to have their own imaginations hijacked by the movie Balrog. Tolkien purposefully kept the details to a minimum any may places appealing to the imagination through evocative atmosphere instead.

There are hundreds of other details that I won’t go into now but overall the movie captured much that is good in the book and has been the most enjoyable film I’ve seen in some time.

Apr 03

Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?

This is Your Captain Speaking…

You’re at the airport. You go through extensive “security”. You board the multi million dollar jet that must function flawlessly under extremes of speed, temperature and altitude so that you, your fellow travelers and countless people on the ground are not injured. You sit back in your seat in this modern day marvel of engineering as the captain activates the intercom to relay some important information to the passengers. “Crkkkkk, myrpilet smekin, thr sms tob tcnikl prblm wi trblnc u ma shl bckl yr seet blt.”

They can make a multi ton tube of metal hurtle through the stratosphere at 400 miles per hour but they can’t make the speakers work. – My car has speakers that work!

Does this ever give anyone else pause?

Apr 02

Terror

Terror, terror, who’s got the terror?

Have you noticed that terror is the new catch phrase being used to justify all means of inhumanity, (censorship and invasion of privacy)?

How is the US defining terror? How is the US defining its policy towards terror?

Are suicide bombings against civilians terror? Hasn’t President Bush’s doctrine on global terror stated, ‘that any nation or group that harbors a terrorist will be regarded as a terrorist and potentially subject to U.S. reprisals?’

And yet…

From Major Garrett – CNN Washington Bureau – April 1, 2002:

“When asked why Arafat, whom he has repeatedly said could do more to stop terror against Israel, does not qualify as a terrorist under the Bush Doctrine, the president said:

“Chairman Arafat has agreed to a peace process. He’s agreed to the Tenet [security] plan. He’s agreed to the Mitchell plan. He has negotiated with parties as to how to achieve peace.”

Fleischer added further context, rejecting the Israeli contention that Arafat is no different from the Taliban or al Qaeda.

The situation in the Middle East is indeed different,” Fleischer said. “What makes it different is the fact that you have parties who themselves have agreed together to the Tenet accords, to the Mitchell [peace] accords, which all follows the Oslo peace process.”

Hmmm… So, if a “state” (or leader) is willing to talk about Peace (for 35 years) than they are allowed to use suicide bombings?

We have hypocrisy and Orwellian spin all around…

In an informal (and unscientific) online CNN news poll, 60% of the people didn’t think that the US should be involved in resolving the conflict in the middle east.

Like it or not my fellow Americans, we are VERY much involved in the conflict and we choose not to help in its resolution than we will reap an evil reward.

The Israelis are doing evil things, the Palestinians are doing evil things, the US is enabling both groups but particularly the Israelis. Israel would not exist if it wasn’t for US backing. I’d read years ago (in National Geographic) that Israel derives something like 70% of its economy from its relationship with the US. -Not to mention the discounted weapons we provide Israel.

Now both the Israelis and the Palestinians are using the words “terror” and “terrorism” to define the actions of the other. The Palestinians sacrifice their young because they have little recourse to the Israelis’ (American purchased) tanks. The Palestinians justify this murder with religious zeal and the imagined hope of a paradise and 72 virgins for their Martyrs.

The Israelis treat the Palestinians as little less than human in a manner that should remind even the densest of us of the way Jews were treated by Germans pre World War 2. Ghettos and torture are Israeli state policy. And by many accounts the Israelis also murder civilians (and not just as “unfortunate collateral damage”).- Irony knows no bounds.

The US is involved because of a magic, three letter word: O-i-l. If America wasn’t concerned with oil it would let Israel flatten the Palestinians. But we are concerned about reprisals from other Arab nations – all of which are playing their own games as well.

So again, if a “state” (or leader) is willing to talk about Peace (for 35 years) than they are allowed to use suicide bombings?

-We (the US) review and change our policy regarding terrorism if it will impact our access to oil.

I’m not under the illusion that this ancient hatred will easily be abolished but we must wake up to the realization that as long as we continue to back Israel that we are already involved. If we don’t want the conflict to land on our front door someday we must strive to see it resolved. Americans aren’t mustache twirling villains, but we often stomp around in foreign policy with all of the subtlety of a large Monster Truck show. Of course to be fair, other nations point fingers at our attempts at foreign policy while making no serious efforts themselves. But alas, we are accountable for our own nation’s actions.

Lastly, we need to start thinking of defense as more than just bullets and missiles. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars during the gulf war. We are already gearing up to spend hundreds of billions more in the middle east. And yet we chaff at investing in alternate energy resources. We should approach establishing alternate, renewable energy resources as the equivalent of a war effort.

We will reap what we sow.

Apr 01

The Goblet of Fire

Mr. Potter…

I finished the fourth Harry Potter book – The Goblet of Fire last night. Since last summer I’ve read all of the books and quite enjoyed them. But this fourth book has been the best since The Sorcerer (Philosopher’s) Stone. They are obviously aimed for younger readers but that said, the fourth (and latest) book had some darker undertones that made it more engaging than the previous two. I recommend the books. They’re fun.

Mar 20

Spring – Sprung

At 2:16pm, Eastern Standard Time, spring – sprung.

It also happens that this morning I noticed new, green buds on a tree outside my balcony for the first time this year.

And it’s raining. – All very appropriate for Spring.

It use to be that Spring was my least favorite time of the year due to the exceptional amount of rain. Spring also use to seem like a tease, one day it would be warm and maybe even sunny and the next it would be cold and raining again. But more and more spring reminds me that Summer is coming. (And for me, it always feels like Summer my mid to late May, even if it is still technically Spring.)

I love summer, it’s is easily my favorite time of the year and the least gray and overcast. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good moody, overcast day on occasion but Pittsburgh seems to have more than it’s fair share. And by the time Spring comes, I’m more than ready for the world to have some color in it again.

Unfortunately the day also started with three idiots.

Idiot number 1:

Driving slow in the fast lane, the moron almost made me miss my turn on my drive to work.

Idiot number 2:

As I put my turn signal on to turn into the parking lot this morning I noticed another car coming from the opposite direction with no turn signal. This morning cuts me off, without a turn signal and pulls in ahead of me.

Idiot number 3:

As I’m waiting in line to catch my shuttle into work I notice a smoker standing in front of me. As the shuttle pulls up this moron tosses her cigarette into a drain even though she is not two feet away from a trash can!*
I made sure that I spritzed her with my umbrella as I shook it off onto her.

*Note: One should never throw their trash onto the ground, and that certainly means cigarettes. Not being near a trash can is not an excuse. However, being near a trash can and littering makes an ignorant, moronic behavior, ten fold more ignorant and more moronic.

Mar 15

Not Soon Enough

The Ides of March.

It’s 70 degrees. My porch door is open. Spring can not come soon enough.

Mar 08

Computer Weary

Upgrades Can Be Downgrading

I’ve been burned out on computers for several weeks now. During the new year I added a new printer that acted like a virus and really messed my system for awhile.

Since I had to fix many printer related problems I took the opportunity to upgrade my system from 8.6 to 9.2. This upgrade did not go handily, in fact I’m still not done. The differences between system 8.6 and 9.2 are pretty fundamental and have meant that I’ve needed to upgrade most of my considerable stockpile of software as well. – I dread the idea of upgrading to OS X at this point.

My computer exhaustion was also worsened by problems I discovered on the (private) Friends and Family portion of this site after I’d spent many hours adding a new section to it.

All of this upgrading and trouble shooting has made me particularly computer weary as of late and I haven’t even been turning my computer on at nights, let alone updating my site. (Keep in mind that I also sit in front of a PeeCee eight hours a day, that alone is enough to make anyone sick of technology.)

Feb 06

Dispirit of Justice

Ash-hole Cash-hole

This is like shooting fish in a barrel, but in case you missed it: from AP – WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2002:

“(CBS) No longer will the attorney general be photographed in front of two partially nude statues in the Great Hall of the Department of Justice.

The department spent $8,000 on blue drapes that hide the two giant, aluminum art deco statues.

Attorney General John Ashcroft in front Spirit of Justice statueABC News reported that Ashcroft ordered the statues covered because he didn’t like being photographed in front of them.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Ashcroft has been photographed several times in front of the female statue that represents the Spirit of Justice. The statue has its arms raised and a toga draped over its body, but a single breast is completely exposed.

The other statue, of a man with a cloth covering his midsection, is called the Majesty of Law.

Both statues were installed in the 1930s when the building was finished, according to the Justice Department.”

Ladies and Gentleman, our attorney General at work.

Feb 02

02-02-02 The Number of the Beast

Happy Ground Hogs Day everyone.

Today also happens to be 02-02-02. I’m sure that numerologists are having a hay day with today’s date. Our primate brains are great at noticing patterns but unfortunately we also tend to try and make meaning out of those patterns where there is no meaning. Still, 02-02-02 looks neat. And it is a good day to pull large rodents out of their holes and hold them up to the light to prophesy the weather.Puxatony Phil Groundhog, February 02, 2012

Jan 12

A Passing Private Note for Friends and Family

Today is a very great day. To find out why, click here to read the Friends and Family News. (Password required).

Jan 07

Look Ma! No Cavities – I Mean, Banners!

Behold! No banner ads! That’s right, I laid down 15 buckoroos so that you – my faithful viewer aren’t troubled by distracting ads at the bottom and top of my Web pages. That’s ‘Glen Green Dot Com’ for you.

Jan 06

Under Construction – In Perpetuity

Almost any good Web site should be considered to be constantly under construction and so no apologies should be made. However, I feel that I must make some apologies for the extensive construction to be found here. As I migrate over my old content, viewers are likely to find an occasional dead or not yet active link. Please bear with me.

Jan 05

Welcome – 2002

2002 – Welcome.

Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

– JRR Tolkien

The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings

I’d have to say that I’m rather pleased with my choice of quote on several levels.

On the surface, the quote is appropriate given my obsessive fandom of my all time favorite book – The Lord of the Rings, from whence the quote came. Given my track record of loving the book and the recent Fellowship of the Ring, first installment the quote isn’t a surprise choice.

But perhaps more importantly the quote is about hope. And hope is just something that we can’t ever get enough of and a new year is as good as a time as any to remember that.

It can be faint sometimes, but I still have hope for humanity.

“For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

 

Glen Green Dot Com - World View as it first appeared in January of 2002.

Glen Green Dot Com – World View as it first appeared in January of 2002.

Dec 17

Credit Where Credit is Due

I originally credited Ron Edwards for much of the inspiration for publishing a Web site. I now need to credit Teddy Carroll* for much of the inspiration for improving my Web site. I intend to take some direct cues from Teddy, such as a note on the book(s) I’m reading, the music I’m listening and the movies I’m watching.

One of the tricks I’m still trying to solve relates to how much content I should make public and how much I should password protect. My general litmus test is, ‘What would I not want a con man to know about me or my friends?” I’m open to suggestions on the matter.

[important]* Sadly, since this essay was first published in 2001, Teddy’s site has gone the way of the dodo. A loss, I can assure you. [/important]

Dec 16

The First Redesign

I’m going to try and rework this site a bit. When I first laid it out I put zero thought into structure or design. But since I have done a fairly faithful job of updating the site I’ve decided to try and tweak the site to make it a bit less sloppy. I still don’t intend to worry about aesthetics too much but I hope that the informational structure will be improved.

During this reconstruction the majority of the site will be down. Hopefully I can update it by small but sure measures.

Clicking on “Friends & Family News” at the top will still ask you for the same password. After it has been entered you will be directed to the “Friends & Family News” page.

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