Just a book... movie... ?

Memorial Day is past, the weekend is over. I went to the drive-in Sunday night and watched X3 (official title is "X-Men: The Last Stand"). My girlfriend wasn't really interested in watching X3, but she went with me anyways. Isn't she sweet! Anyway, on the next screen over from X3, The Da Vinci Code was playing at the same time. From our car we could see both screens, so she used a portable radio and a headset, and with a new found joy from the fact that she didn't have to watch X3, she relaxed and watched The Da Vinci Code. While I watched X3, I would glance over every now and again at her movie, because to be honest, I wasn't really enjoying my movie. I noticed that both our movies had the same actor, Ian McKellen. He plays the super bad guy, Magneto in X3, and she told me that he plays the bad guy in her movie as well. I thought that was kinda funny, as I could hear his distinctive voice from her headset while I was listening to my movie. As she was watching she would occasionally jump at some unexpected event, and occasionally she would gasp or click her tongue. These are usually signs that she is following the movie, and presumably enjoying it. X3 ended about 15 minutes or so before Da Vinci Code, so I watched the ending with her, and thought it was a very "slow" ending... not very climatic... but I didn't see the rest of the movie, so who am I to judge. When her movie was over she said she didn't enjoy it. She said it was hard to understand and confusing, and not very enjoyable. She then asked the gentleman sitting in front of his car (remember... "drive-in") next to us, and he said he didn't understand or enjoy it either... Now neither of them are critics, but rather the "every day person", and tons of other "every day people" said they enjoyed it. Tonight she told me that her cousins had all watched the movie, and enjoyed it, so it must have some appeal. Josh commented on my last blog entry that, to him The Da Vinci Code "... seems like a good book, and that's all, a BOOK" (I added the underlining). Vicky also commented... (Thanks for the comments by the way!) about the protests happening at the theathers around her area agains the move. She said, "Its supposed to be art and art should remain free". I agree with both Josh and Vicky... The Da Vinci Code IS just a book (now a movie as well), and art MUST remain free and uncensored, and people MUST be allowed to read/watch or not read/watch whatever they choose. That is as long as your are an adult, if not then parents should decide for their children. HOWEVER... Just a book doesn't mean it's not influential. I mean there are tons of books that have influenced society and history... Let me name one for example: The book of John from the Bible. I could also site any of the the other 65 books found within the Bible... Those books often contain fiction, but those fictional stories (often refered to as parables) have messages, and taught lessons. The books are also repleat with fact... and put together, the fiction and fact produce a work of truth, in the instance of the Bible divine truth. The Da Vinci Code is just a book, and it is a work of fiction, but that doesn't mean it's not sending a message, or trying to teach what the author thinks is truth. I will refer you to my previous post where I have a link to the audio of Dan Brown stating that he feels that everything in the book is true, except for the character Robert Langdon. I also agree with Vicky that a strong Christian, that is well grounded in their faith will not be shaken by this or any other book, but a person who is on the fence may find themselves pulled away from the truth, which is why many Christians are protesting. Anyway, I have "Rambled Along" way too much... Thanks again Vicky and Josh for the comments, and also for the compliment on the title of my blog... It was very kind!... So until next time... Keep reading, and keep watching...

Memorial Day Weekend

So it's a three day weekend. I went to a skating party for my girlfriend's son. He just became a teenager. I am going to watch the movie X3 tonight. Tomorrow I am going to Hookstown to watch the Memorial Day Parade and gather with lots of fellow Laughlins at my uncle's home. I think I may be able to squeeze in a nap, but it will have to be a short one... Maybe they should make Memorial day a four day weekend, so there is time for rest and relaxation! :-) Thanks to all the soldiers and vets who have put their lives at risk to help our country and this world be free!

Movies

Hey it's getting close to the Summer Movie extravaganza, where there is at least one good movie every weekend, sometimes more than one. I really enjoy going to the movies, but I don't like the cost, but then again, who does! Anyway, I post my opinions about movies I have recently watched here on my blog (in the column on the right, near the bottom), so I won't rehash those opinions here. What I wanted to talk about is the media play that some movies get, especially the current top seller "The Da Vinci Code". Is this movie that much better than many of the other movies playing or going to play this summer? Is it getting the publicity because of the well known actor, Tom Hanks, the respected director Ron Howard, because the movie production and marketing has spent tons of money advertising the move, or because of all of the controversy over the content? The story is a work of fiction and it states as much in the inside cover the of the book:

"This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental."

However the author, Dan Brown, has built the story around, actual people, places, items, and events which completely goes against the "fiction" disclaimer, and which blurs the lines between fiction and reality. I read a review of another of Dan Brown's books called "Deception Point" on Amazon by Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" where she said:

"... After completing each of Dan Brown's books, the reader usually comes away from the experience having learned much more than a storyline."

This is the part that creates the controversy, people who read his books believe he is teaching them facts about the real world we live in. What blurs the lines even more are statements by Dan Brown himself. When asked in an interview broadcast on the Today Show on 6/9/2003, "How much of this [The Da Vinici Code] is based on reality?" He says "Absolutely all of it. Obviously Robert Langdon is fictional, but all of the art, architecture, secret rituals, secret societies, all of that is historical fact." So it's no wonder people who have studied history, who have spent their lives researching the topic of Christian beliefs are so up in arms. What I don't understand is why our culture, of which the majority of people claim to be Christian, are reading the book, and watching the movie. Is it because they honestly believe this is a complete work of fiction, even against the author's own statements? Is it because they like the intrigue of secret organizations? Is it because they want to "learn something" in the context of an enjoyable story? What is it? Personally I can't seem to get away from all of the publicity and media hype of this story. My kids are asking me about it. My coworkers are reading the book, attending the movie, discussing it at lunch. Even my girlfriend is now reading the book. I listen to talk radio, even Christian talk, and it seems the movie is all everyone seems to be talking about. The magazine, Newsweek, has had the movie/book as a cover story twice already this year, and this year has only had 21 weeks. (That's almost 10% of the time!) So am I missing out? Am I missing something? How can I avoid it? Should I? Too many questions, not enough answers, so I am going to just go along with the tide, and read the book. Yeah, I bought a copy, and I even though I disagree with the author, I paid $4.99 and I am going to give up some of my time to read it. I will let you know what I think when (or if) I finish it. If I like it I might watch the movie when it comes out on DVD!

360°

I haven't posted here in like... forever... Ok, so, forever is a little longer than 2 months. But no matter how you define "forever", it's been too long for me to not write something here. I am sure that like many other 100's of 1000's of people I get discouraged when no one seems to be reading my Blog. The fun of a Blog though is realizing that you aren't really writing it for someone else to read, but for you to write, and express yourself. But blogging is not the same as a diary, or a journal, which you would keep private, because you know other people can and hopefully will read it. So I don't share very personal, private thoughts and feelings here, because if I did, I would probably embarrass my kids. However, I bet if I was to write about some of that stuff, I would probably attract a little more readers! So some sense of privacy, and descreetness lingers still for me... Anway to the point of today's post... Up until this week I haven't really spent a lot of time using "yahoo.com". I know it has a bunch of features, but I have for some unexplainable reason, just not really used it. I suppose you would say I am a "google.com" person. Anyway, I went to their site looking for something about a new "media center" that they aquired from another company (name escapes me a the moment) and I found this thing called "Yahoo!360°" This "Yahoo!360°" is an online blogging community much like MySpace.com, but it seemes to be a little more family friendly. Of course it still has a few people that breaks the rules, but for the most part it's pretty respectable. I tried another community based site called "tribe.net", but it wasn't as family friendly and if you typed "tribes.net" (with the s) things got a little graphic. So I sent out about 28 invitations to people I know to join "Yahoo!360°"... Hopefully I will get a little response. I already found two people I know that I haven't talked to for years from my high school. Maybe I will find a few others as well?