Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Atonement
Ever since I saw Atonement, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out if I have ever seen a sadder movie. I haven't. This movie is not only sad, it is tragic. Schindler's List at least had some redeeming moments. The Shawshank Redemption had many redeeming moments. I thought with a title like "Atonement" that this would be a movie with a happy ending. It does have a happy ending, sort of, but a tragic happy ending. I can't say more without ruining the movie, but just be prepared. Fortify your emotions. Eat some breakfast of champions. Go with someone you can grip hands with. Go with someone you can hug afterwards. You'll be too sad to cry, because you'll know the movie is real life, and it can't be changed. Or can it?
The previews mention a lying child. There is a reason one of the 10 Commandments says "Thou shalt not bear false witness." There is little that is more sinister. You might be mad at the end of the movie. I guarantee you will be sad. You will be stricken. I can't say it enough. But it is an excellent movie. Sad. Tragic. Excellent.
The previews mention a lying child. There is a reason one of the 10 Commandments says "Thou shalt not bear false witness." There is little that is more sinister. You might be mad at the end of the movie. I guarantee you will be sad. You will be stricken. I can't say it enough. But it is an excellent movie. Sad. Tragic. Excellent.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Quote for the Evening
"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side."
-- James Baldwin
U.S. Author (1924-1987)
-- James Baldwin
U.S. Author (1924-1987)
Seattle Social Police
Didn't it seem innocent when they forced us to buy "efficient" toilets that wouldn't waste 5 gallons a flush? Nobody cares that you have to flush the new toilets many times to get them empty, and nobody cares that my 89-year-old dad plugged the toilet many times, and stood there in his confused adult-onset-dementia state and flushed, and flushed, and stared perplexed at the flooded floor.
Then it was water-flow reducers, that make you take a 15 minute shower that used to take 7 minutes because it takes longer to wash off all the soap suds with the reduced force.
Garbage cans became Seattle's next target, with recyclable materials outlawed from your trash can, complete with garbage police to inspect and reject garbage cans with more than 10% recyclable material by volume. There are two warnings before a $50 fine.
Table scraps were the next feast for the newly-monikered Seattle City Clowncil. All except meat and diary products are also outlawed from the garbage can, and have to be put in the yard waste container. And beginning in 2009, residents will be charged for their work.
Now the city is proposing a 20-cent tax if you use a grocery store's plastic or paper bags. And they want to give part of the money to stores for having to collect it. Not to mention that the stores will save "hundreds of thousands" in bag costs, according to the local news broadcast.
Proposals are also in the works to tax un-green things like disposable diapers and plastic bottles.
When do you think the social engineering will stop? I think they'll soon charge $5 a gallon for water, $10 a gallon tax on gasoline (to encourage conservation, of course!) and a dollar-a-day for the air we breathe.
Oh, and the Seattle Social Police will just want to be called the SS.
Then it was water-flow reducers, that make you take a 15 minute shower that used to take 7 minutes because it takes longer to wash off all the soap suds with the reduced force.
Garbage cans became Seattle's next target, with recyclable materials outlawed from your trash can, complete with garbage police to inspect and reject garbage cans with more than 10% recyclable material by volume. There are two warnings before a $50 fine.
Table scraps were the next feast for the newly-monikered Seattle City Clowncil. All except meat and diary products are also outlawed from the garbage can, and have to be put in the yard waste container. And beginning in 2009, residents will be charged for their work.
Now the city is proposing a 20-cent tax if you use a grocery store's plastic or paper bags. And they want to give part of the money to stores for having to collect it. Not to mention that the stores will save "hundreds of thousands" in bag costs, according to the local news broadcast.
Proposals are also in the works to tax un-green things like disposable diapers and plastic bottles.
When do you think the social engineering will stop? I think they'll soon charge $5 a gallon for water, $10 a gallon tax on gasoline (to encourage conservation, of course!) and a dollar-a-day for the air we breathe.
Oh, and the Seattle Social Police will just want to be called the SS.
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