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I just got back from watching The Mist. Since Stephen King has threatened to hang anyone who reveals the ending, I shall not do so for you. But I will say this about it: Frank Darabont’s adaptation is straight out of Richard Bachman’s head, which is precisely why Stephen King loved it.

This wasn’t King’s best story. Also, I disagree with him because I do not think it’s the scariest thing he’s written (then again, it’s been roughly 15 years since I read the novella, so maybe re-reading it will change my mind). But the characters are refreshingly real, except for the religious nutbag. (I found myself wishing I could jump on the screen and throttle her by the neck screaming, “Learn some stinkin’ exegesis!” whereas the rest of the audience simply wanted her to die a painful and horrific death.)

In other words, this was no Thirty Days of Night where characters consistently make the absolute stupidest decisions possible. No, here even when characters make dumb decisions there’s at least a little bit of a rationale behind their decision. They don’t go screaming through the middle of the parking lot; they leave because (in one instance) they doubt that anything that’s happening is actually real–it’s just hype.

On to the grades: the script scores a B+ in my book, possibly an A- since the movie is interesting enough that I’ll want to watch it again. However, there were some things about the script that were annoying, and I’m not sold on the ending. Some bonus points do go to Darabont for incorporating part of the King Universe into the movie. For example, the main character, David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane) is an artist who is painting a picture of none other than the gunslinger, Roland of Gilead. Other posters on the wall included The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile (but that’s to be expected, given Frank Darabont did both of those movies too). In this case, instead of looking like cheesy product placements, it fit King’s use of intertwining stories among other stories inside his universe, especially the Roland pic (as those who know anything about the Dark Tower series will understand).

The special effects for the movie were also top notch, and as usual with King’s material the actors had enough material to do a great job looking and sounding real. The only real let down from the technical side came from the music, composed by Mark Isham. There were large chunks of the movie with no music at all, which fit the mood perfectly. Unfortunately, it meant that when the music did play it was quite noticably bad.

Other than that, as I mentioned earlier with the script, the film scores a solid B+, possibly eeking out to an A- if I watch it again.

As I believe I have mentioned before, my parents are missionaries. Currently, they are back in the States for some physicals, etc. In any case, in one of the conversations I’ve had with my father since they got back earlier this month, he mentioned a man by the name of Gleason. I believe it was Ron Gleason, but my memory is not perfect (I blame Bush)!

In any case, my father said he stopped by Gleason’s church when raising support for missions and said after he heard Gleason pray, he turned to my mom and said, “Even if this church doesn’t give us any money at all, I want that man praying for us.”

I bring this all up because, via the magic of the internet and clicking on buried links in the middle of nowhere, I have come across this quote from a Ron Gleason:

For the life of me, I cannot understand why any real Christian would find anything attractive about the lack of exegesis, lack of use of Scripture, and constant use of vague platitudes in the Emerging chit-chat. It is, quite possibly, the most superficial theology to date.

I of course should mention that I don’t disagree with everything in the Emerging Church Movement (although that’s kinda like saying I don’t disagree with everything Algore has ever said). I do think the postmodern attitudes infiltrating the church are a bad thing though. Not only due to theology, but because I’m a writer.

Can you imagine a more pointless existence than to be a postmodern author? You write words trying to convince people of things that cannot be conveyed by words, and yet still you write. This seems to me to be madness.

Oh well. Even if this Ron Gleason isn’t the same Gleason my parents talked about, I’m glad I found his blog.

Well, three things combined today to make for an interesting afternoon. First, it’s the day after Thanksgiving (known as Black Friday because of an obvious Druidic reference to Ishtar (if you don’t believe me, pretend you’re public schooled (besides, how can you not believe sentences that have this many parentheticals (i.e. this) in them?))). Secondly, it’s cold outside. You know, pretty much the exact opposite of what Algore said it would be!!! Finally, I opened the fridge and discovered I have like a cup of yogurt and a bunch of empty space.

All this meant that I had to hike down and go shopping (see points 1 and 2 above and vote for me to get a Medal of Honor or something). I should point out that on a normal day shopping ranks just barely above oral surgery on my list of things I’d enjoy. It quickly plummets when the stores are filled with stupid incompetant people, long lines, and sales clerks who were friendly when they started their shift fifty-two hours ago but who are now looking to kill everything in sight. However, shopping under those circumstances does just barely rank higher on my list than experiencing starvation, so I persevered.

And you only thought I was joking about the Medal of Honor.

Since I can’t convert these midi files to mp3 on my current system (have to wait until I get my old computer back), I can’t add digital effects and stuff like that. But that doesn’t stop me from writing new stuff! This time, I have:

Winter Night.

It’s an arrangment of piano and strings in e minor, more of a melodic and heart-felt piece. I wrote this over the last hour or so, and it doesn’t have any special meaning other than that it sounded cool as I came up with the theme. The title is because it’s approximately 13 degrees inside my room and it is dark outside. Other than that…well, listen to it and you tell me :-P

Well, it’s now past midnight and officially Thanksgiving. Everyone have a wonderful holiday! And that’s not a request!!!

While most non-atheists do think I’m a fairly intelligent person, I am the first to point out that I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor the brightest bulb in the socket. Even if I were the smartest person in the world, as I was recently given permission to be, most Christians would fully agree that God must be much, much smarter than I. Or me. (God would know which word to use there, for instance.)

But if the Arminian God happens to be the real God, it turns out that God isn’t really all that intelligent after all. Our recent discussions with EgoMarkarios have highlighted the importance of freedom in the Arminian universe, and I won’t go over those details again. Instead, I will now point out a few simple things, starting with an analogy.

Suppose there is a young college student, Bill, who is studying in the library one day when he spots a young female college student likewise studying. Bill is immediately attracted to this woman, and he goes over to introduce himself. Since he’s never seen the inside of a Gap and is instead wearing a John Loftus cowboy hat, she naturally tells him to get lost.

This obviously disappoints our poor college student, but he’s a clever individual. He sees that the young woman’s friends are with her and he recognizes one of them as someone from his 20th Century Postmodern Feminist Shakespearean Hermeneutics class. He meets with the friend of his crush the very next day and asks her for details on the woman, who’s name turns out to be Sue (only fitting as she is a lawyer). It turns out that Sue prefers men who bring her flowers, who dress in Armani, and who believe Dennis Kucinich really saw a UFO.

Bill really wants to go out with Sue. As a result, he ditches his Loftusian cowboy hat and buys an Armani suit. He purchases a dozen roses, and he tries as hard as he can to believe Kucinich saw a UFO. He gives up and decides that he can at least lie about that. Bill returns to the woman.

Sue rejects him yet again, but this time she says, “Nice try” without the sneer.

“What more can I do to get you to like me?” Bill asks.

“You can help me with my Abacus class.”

Bill doesn’t know anything about abacuses, but he decides right there that by the next day he will be the world’s expert on abacuses. And sure enough, he succeeds. Sue gets an A on her test, and slowly she begins to realize that Bill is a nice individual after all.

Eventually they marry, have 2.3 kids, and live happily ever after in a house with 1.7 bathrooms.

Class Discussion: In what way were homosexuals discriminated against in this example?

Now as ought to be plain to see, Bill really wanted Sue to fall in love with him. But Sue initially rejected Bill. If Bill were the Arminian God, he would have given up at this point as Sue’s free will could not be overcome. Instead, Bill reasoned that he could present himself attractively to Sue until she finally saw that he was exactly what she wanted in a man. So he did just that.

Bill learned things about Sue from Sue’s friend, and he used what he learned to slowly change Sue’s mind. Sue’s will was originally to shun Bill forever, but eventually she became persuaded to marry him. Bill could do that…why can’t God?

In fact, doesn’t God know who we are even better than we do ourselves? Isn’t it true that the Creator who formed us in the womb and knows us intimately would know exactly what was needed to convince us that He is real? Ask atheists and most of them will say, “If God rearranged the stars in the sky to spell Jesus Is Lord, I’d believe.” Yet God doesn’t do so.

Why not? God has the power, and simply acquiescing to such a request would not be a violation of the atheist’s free will. He would, in fact, be doing what the atheist requested of his own free will, wouldn’t He?

Now surely if I am smart enough to see this is true, God must know it too, for He is wiser than I am. He knows what everyone needs, and He is able to present Himself to everyone exactly as they are needed. Why, then, doesn’t He do so?

Apparently the Arminian God is either too stupid to understand this…or He doesn’t actually care about saving all (means all!) the world after all (still means all!). Surely God isn’t an omnipotent Forest Gump, so what’s the explanation?

Perhaps men are simply so evil that God knows rearranging the stars wouldn’t convince atheists He existed…but no, that’s too much like total depravity, and we can’t have that if we want to preserve freedom.

So we must conclude that the Arminian God really is just plain ol’ stupid is as stupid does.

WHEREAS Libertarian Freewill (LF) followers maintain that the ability to make a free choice is the most important moral attribute that God has given man, such that it is more important that man be free than that God’s will be done upon Earth;

WHEREAS God refrains from interfering with man’s LF because it would be sinful for God to put restrictions upon man;

WHEREAS God furthermore calls us to be like Him, to be Holy as He is Holy, and to derive our moral precepts from Him;

AND WHEREAS Egomakarios claims LF

I HEREBY DO PROPOSE that sanctions be set forth against Egomakarios for violating LF concepts, as demonstrated:

1. When comment moderation is in effect, man’s free will to post whatsoever he chooses to post is infringed.

2. If it is a sin for God to restrict freedom, it is likewise a sin for man to restrict freedom.

3. Egomakarios is therefore sinning by placing comment moderation on his blog (http://egomakarios.blogspot.com/) for he restricts man’s ability to post in freedom on his blog.

FURTHERMORE, WHEREAS Compatiblist Freewill (CF) is consistent with the idea that man can be free to do some things so long as he is not in conflict with a will that trumps his own;

WHEREAS Egomakarios imposes his will in a manner that trumps LF;

I HEREBY DO PROPOSE that Egomakarios no longer be considered a LF at all, but instead publicly admit he is CF like every other rational person.

FINALLY, I HEREBY DO PROPOSE that if Egomakarios does not submit to this proposal the Committee to Form Proposals prefix his name with “the liar” such that all references to Egomakarios from this point on would be “the liar Egomakarios.”

So Neil Diamond has told us who “Sweet Caroline” was about. It’s Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK.

Let’s do some quick math. Kennedy was born in 1957. “Sweet Caroline” was released in 1969. Do the math there.

My question: am I the only one concerned that Diamond wrote a song with lyrics that include “Touchin’ me, touchin’ you” and “Look at the night // And it don’t seem so lonely // We fill it up with only two” about someone who couldn’t have even been twelve years old at the time???

I’ve come up with a scientific correlation.

Estrogen dissolves logic.

It’s obvious after having our lame meeting earlier, after almost being run over this morning, and now by the latest phone call I just received (not counting the one I got while I was typing this sentence). It went like this:

Female Caller: I need to talk to you about my TPS Report. [Not really, but it's basically the same thing.]

Me: You’re going to need to talk to Field Accounting.

Caller: It’s the same report I look at every month. It’s a ABAR.

Me: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Caller: (loudly) How long have you worked there?

Me: 11 years.

Caller: Then you know what I’m talking about.

Me: (Thinking) Yeah, that’s why I said I have no idea what you’re talking about. (Spoken) I’m pretty sure that’s still going to be Field Accounting.

Of course, to sum it all up, her question had NOTHING TO DO WITH HER REPORT IN THE FIRST PLACE! Instead, she was looking to see if we had received two things that had been mailed back in September and October. I’m thinking, How very prompt to ask NOW….

GRRRRRR!!!!!

Okay, I admit off the bat that I’m not in the best of moods this morning. I suppose I should have taken the hint this morning when some biddy who was too interested in blabbing on her cell phone to watch where she was driving tried to run me over when I was A) in the crosswalk and B) the only one of us who on the road legally. But that’s okay, because she had the gall to yell at me too.

Oh well. I can get over that (after all, I didn’t end up like Stephen King). But we just had a meeting that was supposed to last 10 minutes and stretched into 50 minutes largely because, I’m convinced, it was a scientific experiment to see how many times the same person could ask the same question, get the same answer, and then ask the question again.

Not to mention then EVERYONE had to put their input into it about how they agreed/disagreed with the question that had already been answered earlier, at which point they had already stated their original agreement/disagreement with said proposal that had already been asked and answered and discussed earlier. I swear, someday I will write a book about this sort of thing. If you want to know the general gist, it worked like this: “What should I do for the rest of the day?” The question is answered, then debated. Then: “What should I do when I get back to my desk then?” Now maybe it’s just me, but I seem to think that “when I get back to my desk” happens to be during the same time frame as “the rest of the day.” But no, we had to discuss that too (even though it was the same answer). THEN we got: “What should I do now then?” (My answer would have been: shut up and go to your desk and start doing what you were supposed to do…but thankfully I’m not in charge and wasn’t conducting the meeting, so I’m not fired.)

Sooo…grrr. It’s bad enough to be behind without adding incompetance to the mix. Then it’s too much like Federal Government.