Good Movies

Recently I've had the privilege to see some of Hollywood's recent releases, and I must say, well done, bravo and kudos.

On May 22, opening night, my wife and I, as two big fans of the franchise, went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This movie has received so much publicity before it came out from attractive trailers to advertisements on Dr. Pepper packs and M&M's. Everyone knew about it, the advertisers made sure of that.

I'm no movie critic, but as an avid movie goer and somewhat of a movie buff, I'll give a review a shot. Harrison Ford, though 60+ years old, looked very comfortable back in his ond costume of a gray button up shirt, shoulder bag, leather jacket and iconic Indiana Jones hat. He took the role in stride, and apart from a few well placed jokes about his age the almost senior citizen simply did great.

The plot reflected the past movies and took viewers to a myriad of different exciting locations. The only plot complaints I've heard regard the supernatural turns toward the end of the movie, "they went just a little too far for an Indy film. " If I do recall, Raiders of the Lost Ark included a scene where spirits flew out of the Ark of the Covenant and killed a small militia. In the Temple of Doom Indy drank mystic blood which bewitched him beyond his control, and another mans heart was removed by hand. In The Last Crusade they discovered a Templar night centuries old guarding the cup of Christ which gave eternal life when drank from. That says it, the supernatural is part of Indiana Jones.

Overall, the move was a strong finish to the story of the adventurous archeology professor. It didn't blow your hair back or change your life, but it was nothing but fun and thrilling. Definitely worth the watch.



Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia series was also a hit. The same four children from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe are brought back to Narnia for another adventure. Upon their return the find Narnia 1,000 years older and quite different from when they left it before.

The movie follows the book fairly well. There are some changes in the basic time line of the book in a few places, but overall everything that happens in the book happens in the movie...and then some. Like in the first movie the filmmakers embellished a bit and added to the story. Personally, I thought this was less than desirable, but it did add some interesting aspects to the character dynamics.

Overall, the move was exciting, and is a must see for anyone who has grown up reading the Narnia series or read it as a grown up.

AVPR

Being a movie buff, I've seen some bad movies in my time. The trick to watching a bad movie is simply knowing before hand that it is bad. A low expectation often makes a bad movie suddenly seem reasonable.

If you are a fan (like me) of the old Alien movies, and if you are a fan (like me) of the old Predator movies, there is a good chance that you enjoyed the 2004 release Alien vs. Predator, directed by Paul WS Anderson. The movie played on strengths of both the Alien and the Predator franchises. Though I can't say it was a world changing movie it was pleasantly entertaining for fans of the dark horror monster genre.

Because the movie makers profited enough from the first "verses" film they decided to make a second--AVPR. The "R" stands for Requiem, though it ought to stand for "rubbish." I must admit, after reading the reviews and hearing other opinions I wasn't expecting much of the movie, yet I got even less.

In one word the movie is--horrible.

The plot, and acting are equally sub-par. There was a moment during the film when I was ready to reach the remote and turn it off. It seems to have been a cheap attempt by some in Hollywood to make a quick buck off the success of the first AVP movie, which was itself a stretch but satisfying in the end. Luckily we only paid $1 to rent it.

So if you're an Alien and/or Predator fan thinking of indulging your love for the tenured monster genre once more, save your money and time. The movie had the same effect on its viewers as Billy Madison's speech (about the puppy who lost his way) had on its hearers. The school's principal replied, "we are all now dumber."

Worst Foods in America

I recently ran across this article that might interest you. It certainly makes me want to cook at home a little bit more. Enjoy.

Restaurant food is bad for us. You may assume that anything you order at a drive-thru is less than sterling in a nutritional sense, but, in fact, the majority of what we eat at restaurants — even ones with helpful waiters and real tablecloths — is worse for us than we might ever imagine.

A study from the University of Arkansas that found the average diner in this country underestimates his or her caloric intake by up to 93 percent when eating out. Translation: Every time you eat at a restaurant, you're probably eating twice as much as you think.

The scariest part is that it isn't our fault. By expanding portion sizes, spiking our foods evermore with added sugars and dangerous fats, and slapping misleading labels on menus, the restaurant industry has made it nearly impossible for consumers to accurately gauge the caloric heft of, say, a plate of spaghetti and meatballs or a tropical fruit smoothie.

Some studies even show that nutritionists — the PhD-packing "experts" — can't get their calorie counts right. So how can you be expected to?

In researching our book "Eat This, Not That," and to help combat the problem and give people a better idea of how perilous a simple dinner out can be, we spent months reading nutritional info, analyzing food, inspecting menu boards, and, yes, even eating some of these industrial-strength calorie bombs to come up with a list of the restaurant industry's worst individual offenders. Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it's the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium.

The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America.

Worst Drink
Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
900 calories
10 g fat
183 g carbs
166 g sugar

Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milk shake. In fact, this beverage contains more sugar than 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's Butter Pecan ice cream.

Worst Supermarket Meal
Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
1,020 calories
64 g fat
86 g carbs

The label may say this pie serves 2, but who ever divided a small pot pie in half? Once you crack the crust, there will be no stopping.

Worst Mexican Entree
Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito
1,179 calories
47 g fat
125 g carbs
2,656 mg sodium

Despite a reputation for using healthy, fresh ingredients, Chipotle's menu is limited to football-size burritos, overstuffed tacos, and gigantic salads — all of which contribute to a humongous waistline.

Worst Kids' Meal
Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese
1,210 calories
62 g fat
3,450 mg sodium

It's like feeding your kid 1½ boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese.

Worst Fish Entree
On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans
2,100 calories
130 g fat
169 g carbs
4,750 mg sodium

Perhaps the most misleadingly named dish in America: A dozen crunchy tacos from Taco Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

The Worst Food in America
Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
2,900 calories
182 g fat
240 g carbs

It's the caloric equivalent of eating 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, before your dinner arrives. Even if you split this "starter" with 3 friends, you'll have downed a meal's worth of calories.

For a complete list of the 20 Worst Foods in America, and details on how to disarm the restaurant industry's weapons of mass construction, check out these rankings and nutrition secrets.

Bring'n the music back

The South Point Mall in Durham is the largest mall east of the Mississippi River. And one of the mall's greatest attractions used to be the local street performers that often populated the outside portion of the mall. Yet recently, since the mall came under new management the street performers were canceled. This meant that the South Point faithfuls would no longer get to enjoy Juggle Boy, the magic kid, or my personal favorite and good friend Gary Mitchell, musician.

"With a background in percussion, piano and guitar, Gary graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, a man with a mission. Yet another local musician fed up with the low quality and horrendously immoral message of popular music, Gary strives to create and perform great music, played very well, that celebrates life and points people to their loving Creator in a way that makes you groove and sing along."

Gary has been a church worship leader, youth minister, and he voluntarily leads a Bible study at one of Chapel Hill's local high schools. He regularly plays gigs around the Triangle area and has recently put out a new demo, Enough for Me, which I bought as soon as it came available. It's awesome. You can find it at CDbaby.com.

This is one inspirational dude.

The good news is that the project manager at South Point Mall is currently working on a contract to get the street performers back out doing what they do best.

Hopefully this will happen soon. The place just isn't the same without Juggle Boy, who is always sweating profusely from juggling anything from swords, fire sticks, or 7 balls at once while doing a balancing act. Don't forget the young kid who does magic tricks: he looks to be about 11 years old from my perspective and mostly entertains other youngsters, yet is doing a great job and keeping the streets fun. It's also not the same without ol'e Gary who keeps the groove alive with a twist of what I like to call "spiritual funk."

SMILE

Studies show that people who smile more are happier. (What a surprise?!)




There's something about a cute animal picture that always brings a smile to your face, even when you're down. So here's a few.




This was sent to me by a friend. It's a good'n, because I used to love Pez.




Some of my favorite cute pet pictures are, of course, of my own dog, Dakota. Heather and I "adopted" Dakota when she showed up in my driveway almost three years ago. She was only 12 pounds when we found her.

But she's gotten bigger.


A few others for your enjoyment. Hopefully, these will serve their purpose: to make you smile.

Regular day clothes.

Super hero cape!

Which Bible translation do you use?

Recently, as a project for my Greek class, I have been translating the book of Colossians. To say the least this is a tedious and arduous process that requires more patience than I generally keep in stock. But nonetheless, I shall persist. After struggling through many theologically dense and grammatically...well...long, Pauline sentences I began to get the joke that all Greek professors must be playing on their students: I'm never going to be a Bible translator.

You may have stumbled across at some point one of those silly little articles called "If kids wrote the Bible," or "If college students wrote the Bible," or some other sorts of Bible jokes. These are usually good for a chuckle and typically lighten my day. But here's a new question, What if Greek students wrote the Bible?

While trudging through Colossians I have translated a number of verses that don't exactly match the NRSV...or KJV...or any other translation for that matter. Feel free to check my translation against your own Bible, you might just have a laugh.

What follows are a few verses that I for some reason just didn't get.

"In order that in him might be good pleasure all the fullness to dwell." Col. 1:19

"And you at one time were being alienated and an enemy of the mind in the works in wickedness, but now he reconciled in the body of his flesh through the death to stand beside you holy and faultless and blameless in his sight, but if you might continue in the faith being grounded and steadfast and not being moved from the hope of the gospel which you heard the one having been preached in all creation the one under heaven which was made I Paul a servant." Col. 1:21-23

"For if and in the flesh I'm absent but in spirit I'm together with you rejoicing and seeing you the dignity and the steadfastness of in Christ your faith." Col. 2:5

To quote the words of Paul of Tarsus:

"Εἰ οὖν συνηγέρθητε τῷ Χριστῷ, τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, οὗ ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ καθήμενος."

Yep, I don't know what he's saying either.

Needless to say, even though studying Greek has been fun, I think I'll just stick to my NIV for now.

Got gas?

I remember road trips with my family, they were fun. One memory is of my parents who would often get very excited to travel into SC to buy cheap gas: 80 cents/gallon. By the time I had my first car I was paying approximately 1.50/gal for gas. Of course, those older than me can remember gas even cheaper than that, but oh how we miss the good old days.

A news article today says gas prices may reach $4 this summer, "Retail gasoline prices pulled back slightly from record levels Tuesday and gave some consumers a small break, but a new government forecast said gas could reach as high as $4 a gallon during the summer driving season."

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported this month that, "monthly average pump prices will peak near $3.60 a gallon in June, but could rise as high as $4 a gallon at times." Most experts, including the government are predicting that the higher prices will have an impact on demand during the peak time of the summer...well duh!

Diesel fuel is also going up in price. Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. says "we'll set a new record this week" for diesel prices. This is alarming, because diesel fuel transports most of our food. So we ought to expect food prices to increase, yet again this year.

If these increases continue, eventually America (and other countries) are going to have to make more drastic changes in our oil consumption. Recently there's been many more hybrid cars developed and marketed in the US. The Toyota Prius is the #1 hybrid right now, but it still doesn't get that much better gas millage than my two door Saturn coupe. However, this is balanced out by our rarely driven gas hog, Stella (right).

Something is going to have to be done soon. If gas prices continue to climb, more and more lower income citizens won't be able to afford a car. This will effectively drive a larger stake between the upper and lower classes.

I look forward to a time when oil isn't our best and primary source of transportation energy. But for now, we must simply learn to be more efficient with what we have and make Al Gore proud.