Cinememories

Last night, I watched Mary Poppins. I hadn't seen it in a long time, so I was hoping to have a fun moment of nostalgia. I've got to admit, it was fantastic. Now, I confess that I do like musicals, so I am kinda biased from the start, but the movie overall is great. It is a Disney movie, of course, so it's not heavy on social commentary or suspense or, well, much of anything, but its theme is presented in a straightforward, heartfelt way that really resonates. And, you can't help but love Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

Plus, I can't leave out the nostalgic aspect of the film. I remember watching Mary Poppins way back when I lived in Grenada...gosh, that's almost 20 years ago. :( Anyway, we had one of those monstrous back-yard satellite dishes that moved according to the signal, with a descrambler in the house. That was when the Disney Channel wasn't a free channel, so my parents made sure we got our money's worth of it. I watched it all the time--"Mousercizing" in the morning, cartoons in the afternoon, and movies like "Mary Poppins" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" in the evenings. Good times.

Children's movies today usually win over adult audiences by including subtle humor that goes over kids' heads--and I've got to say I enjoy those movies, too. But, movies like that end up having a different impact on their audience; they make you laugh, but they don't make you smile.

What movies make you smile? (I do understand that having nostalgic memories help on the smile factor, but you don't have to completely restrict your responses to by-gone children's films.) I want to see more movies that leave me feeling good in the end.

Quartz Movement

Time is one of those things you can't ponder too much, lest you get a headache. For all of us, it's such a certainty, but because it's so certain, it's hard to think outside of it. Usually, you don't have to think outside of it; as a matter of fact, life on Earth requires you to think completely inside of it...especially in the U.S., where productivity and scheduling and time management are so revered. And, on top of that, time spills over into the petty niceties of life, where punctuality is translated into courtesy; after all, people's time is valuable. So, Time is seen as both reliable and precious. We've obviously placed it on a pedestal.

And this is where things get tricky...at least for me. Time is one of the boundaries in life that I count on; it gives me a framework upon which to build my life. It's not too long before it's clear that time gets too much of...well, my time. I'm guilty of putting lots of things before God, but when I think about such things, it's always things that are more tangible--work, play, laziness, myself, etc. But, until now, I don't think I've ever placed Time itself into that category. However, if you want to talk about the things that confine us while we're on Earth, the things that keep us so stifled that we can't breathe, you've got to talk about Time. Each of us has made our own set of time shackles, and we spend our whole lives trying to live inside the boundaries of those shackles--crying out in frustration and pain when we try to stretch beyond them. And, those cries of pain probably should be the first indication that something's awry.

It's a tough thing to think about, because I don't know how to fix it. You can't quit scheduling times for groups to get together. You can't just ignore the framework of time, because it's such a fixture of our lives. Nonetheless, you can't be a slave to it either. And, I'm not talking about, for instance, letting obligations eat up your available time for God; I'm talking more abstract than that. It shouldn't be about having time for God or not having time for God; it should be about living and breathing God, period, and letting time work itself out.

Wow, even typing it seems weird..."letting time work itself out"--it's seems like lunacy. Time is just...time. You deal with it, you manage it, you move on. But, I just can't shake that maybe that's not it. How should it all go? I have no idea. I mean, seriously, I don't have a clue. At this point, I'm still in the time framework. My life still works that way. But, I think that I should be thinking of ways that it shouldn't.

So, a new establishment has opened up in the metropolis of Ripley, MS; I thought I would help bolster the town's economy by posting a picture of their newly erected sign online--you know, free advertising.

Is it just me, or is this sign made in a way that inaccurately communicates what these folks are trying to sell? Maybe it's the odd combination of pieces of words together in my mind that's getting me sidetracked.

Various Sundries of Sundry Variety

So, here I am at work, waiting for a huge demo software package to download. I think that means it's the perfect time for a blog post during work hours. :)

However, having the perfect opportunity does not exactly mean that the perfect blog will result. I can't come up with anything good to type about. I mean, I know the blog isn't supposed to be the forum for strictly intellectual, philosophical discussion, or the forum for only humorous statements either, but it would be nice if what I typed had some interest to it.

Hmm....I guess I'm just gonna have to talk about random things until something good comes along. And, if it doesn't, then so be it.

First of all, I was shocked when I opened my canister of powdered gatorade mix this week. Up to now, I've just bought the pre-made kind, but I figured the more prudent choice would be to buy the powdered kind, as long as it tasted the same. Luckily, it does, by the way. Anyway, I don't know what I was expecting, but when I opened the canister, the powder was practically fluorescent. I drink the lemon-lime flavor, which is a bold chartreuse color, but I didn't exactly expect the powder to look radioactive. I mean, kool-aid powder isn't typically as brightly colored as the finished beverage--this powder really looked like a cross between solid sulphur and a cartoon depiction of nuclear waste. I guess the dyes are just uber-powerful.

Speaking of which, one of the dyes in lemon-lime gatorade is Yellow-5. Do you remember the urban myth (well, in my case, rural myth) about Yellow-5? It became popular when I was in middle school. Wait, come to think of it, maybe it's just something silly students come up with in middle school--like, 7th graders right now are talking about Yellow-5, instead of, say, 1994 being the "year of the yellow-5 scare." No matter...the lore was that males should drink Mountain Dew, or any other consumable with Yellow-5 in it, because the dye had...um, a detrimental effect on the male anatomy. I think that's hilarious. Of course, who am I to say it's not true--it's not like I want to do a study on it. Hmm...now I have planted doubt in your minds...now you're scared. Well, if you're male. If you're female, you're probably trying to figure out how to use Yellow-5 to usurp power from all the chauvinistic men that try to run you over in life. And, good for you!

Oh, speaking of chauvinistic men (the stream of consciousness is really working today), I read a news story today about how the Japanese government is considering allowing women to become impresses. As it is, only men can assume the emperorship (as per a 1950-ish law); unfortunately, the emperor's lineage hasn't produced a male heir since 1969--tough luck, so they've had to kinda skimp on the direct lineage thing, leading to concerns that the lineage will continue to be fudged. Anyway, the result is this proposed change in law, which would make a 4-year-old daughter of the current Prince Regent (acting as the emperor, since there haven't been males to actually be emperor) the new impress. Of course, the Prince would still be the regent ruler until she turns whatever age the Japanese culture sees as "adulthood." Anyway, to the chauvinism part: during the debate over the law, one of the legislators against the law said that he would prefer, instead, to reinstate the use of concubines, to allow for more opportunities of a male heir to be born. When I read that, I was like, was he being serious? And, apparently so. I mean, I'm a middle-of-the-road guy in terms of political idealogy, but I think it's safe to say this man was a little behind the times. ;)

Behind the times...it seems like I could stream-of-conscious myself into another thought. But, I'll stop for now. Hooray for the impending weekend!

A Second Chance to Make the Same Impression

Do you remember the silly politics from high school? Do you remember that there were kids who got stuff and kids who didn’t get stuff? And there were teachers who had their favorites? And parents who weren’t afraid to jump into the mix when things didn’t go their child’s way? I hate to tell you this, but it’s still the same. :(

And, how did a young, single 24-year-old like myself stumble upon such a depressing piece of information? I’m glad you asked. Since moving back to my childhood home (and, for those of you who don’t know, it was a God thing—I was set on the idea of not returning here except for holidays and, maybe, retirement—of course, God’s working it out, like He always does), I had stayed away from things of a civic nature...until last week, when I agreed to be the pianist for the high school musical, Annie Get Your Gun. (Great choice, ay? In rural Mississippi, the standing rule is apparently to avoid all musicals that post-date, say, 1964...though this is the remake. I bet they don’t know that. Anyway, probably has something to do with defending the ears of innocents against that pollutin’ liberal thought. There will probably be gasps from the audience when they hear one of the characters is half-Indian, half-Irish. “Can you believe that? Irish!”)

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. I agreed to be the pianist which entails all the rehearsals and the performances—it will consume some time. At the last minute, I got pulled in to the auditions, and believe me, I would’ve stayed home if I had known what that would get me involved in. So, to shorten the already lengthy story, a girl who was trying out for Annie didn’t get Annie. The way things played out, it definitely gave the impression that the teacher/director was being partial to other students, so the girl’s parents wrote a letter to our version of a PTA, as well as the school board, expressing their disgruntlement.

Because I was at the final audition, I was listed in the letter as a knowledgeable individual who could potentially object to the director’s casting decisions...at least that was what was implied. I, of course, did not give me permission to be listed in said letter, nor did I allow them to INCLUDE MY WORK TELEPHONE NUMBER for people to call me!!!

So, between actual work tasks, I spent a large portion of my day proclaiming my neutrality on the issue. I told the parents I sympathize with their situation, but it wasn’t respectful to rope me in like that. And, I told the director I’m not on the side of the parents and I’m still committed to the musical; however, the tryout process was performed in such a way that they can’t prove what they did was legitimate. I mean, goodness gracious, Switzerland doesn’t have to proclaim its neutrality! Why can’t they just assume I’m neutral until proven biased!

The end result, of course, is that there aren’t very many winners...really, no winners. That’s the sad part of it all. Nothing was accomplished by all these inconsiderate actions by so many people. It just showed people will get worked up about anything if they want to.

It also brought to light a little bit of irony. When I was in high school, all I wanted to do was to be seen in a positive light by my fellow students. It didn’t matter to me a whole lot that all the adults had great things to say about me, I just wanted that affirmation from my peers. Now that I’m thrust back into this setting, I’m on the other side of the fence. I’m an adult now, and I’m also well respected upon my “peers,” the other adults. But, you know, I still don’t care about the adults, even if they are my peers now. I’d rather have the appreciation of the students.

Why is that? The psychologist in me says it’s because I’m trying to fill a void that has been empty ever since I was in high school. The spiritual person in me wants to disagree. If you look into the eyes of an adult, you don’t see the same thing that you see in the eyes of a kid, even if the kid’s a teenager. Adults are so much more tainted...they have so many more agendas, and their eyes tell that tale. So, if you want to get an earthly glimpse at the eyes of God, you’re less likely to find them in an adult’s eyes.

I love it when God throws human logic on its ear. In this case, human logic dictates that an older, wiser people have more knowledge and wisdom to share than younger people. And, though that is sometimes the case, at other times, God’s most powerful teachers are children. (Not at all times, mind you, sometimes kids truly are mean!)

Switching gears, am I the only one who feels like Doogie Howser when I post a blog? I’m guessing he was the first blogger (i.e. the first person to type his thoughts on a computer screen for everyone in the world to read), right? Go figure.