Catching up on the podcasts I missed while on Christmas vacation, I recently listened to Terry Gross's discussion with TV critic David Bianculli. Toward the end of their conversation they talked about the problems facing the television industry, including the issue of how to make Internet distribution of TV shows profitable.

Basically, with people either watching shows on TiVo, watching clips online, or downloading illegally, it is getting harder and harder for the networks to generate ad revenue for their content. Bianculli rightly believes that the future of TV entertainment is in the Internet, but he says that nobody has yet found a way for it to pay off financially.

Though I am a public school teacher with no experience in the television industry or in advertising, I think I may have a solution.

First, we have to assume that TV as we know it will soon be history, and that's okay. Television is merely a means of transmitting audio and video information into people's homes. The Internet now does the same thing, only far better. But with Internet distribution comes the same problem that the music industry has been dealing with: when a product is in a digital format it's impossible to keep people from downloading it without paying for it.

Many attempts have been made to cope with this problem, but they have not been very effective.

One solution is to create technology that prevents illegal copying. This is futile. No matter what steps a company may take to encode their product someone will find a way to decode and copy it.

Another solution is to sue or prosecute the illegal copiers. This has also failed: Internet filesharing is so widespread it's impossible to catch everybody, and the risk of getting caught is obviously so low that people continue to do it without fear or reservation. The sue-the-consumer approach has been so ineffective, in fact, that the RIAA has recently announced that it will cease lawsuits against individuals.

The final attempt to curb unauthorized filesharing has been to appeal to people's consciences. You've probably seen those ads that compare copying a movie to stealing a car or some such nonsense. Most people, though, are bright enough to spot the difference between those two very different types of stealing, and I doubt those ads have done anything to stop people from downloading.

So the reality we're faced with is a population of consumers who don't think they ought to pay for entertainment and can easily obtain it through illegal means. I think that over time the percentage of consumers who do this will only grow: the generation that has come of age post-Napster will be even less willing to pay for music and television than those of us who once had to pay for every CD we owned.

Some people think this is just fine, that information wants to be free. That's all well and good, but it still leaves a very big question of who is going to pay for it. After all, television shows aren't produced for nothing, and if advertising money is dwindling and consumers refuse to pay, then the money will run out. In the context of our private advertisement-drive television industry, this may seem like an impossible problem, but I believe the solution is something that has been practiced by our cousins across the Atlantic for decades.

Throughout its history the BBC has been funded by television licensing: Any household that wishes to receive TV or radio broadcasts must pay a flat fee, which is used to pay for all programming expenses. It would be very easy to enforce because anybody who uses the Internet must have an account with an Internet Service Provider. The government could simply require a fee for every account in the nation to be distributed among the television and music industries.

I think that such a system would reap many benefits in terms of quality of programming. I wrote once about the problem of ratings-driven media. I've often heard TV critics lament the fact that the best shows are often canceled due to poor ratings, or that the most popular programs are the ones that appeal to the lowest common denominator. If TV were freed from ratings demands, opportunities would open up for lots of great shows that otherwise would not stand a chance. The scenario starts to look even better when you consider the other remaining revenue source for TV shows: DVD sales. What is likely to make more money: the complete series of Freaks and Geeks or a DVD set of Dancing With The Stars? (Okay, I realize that DVDs are probably on their way out as we inevitably approach download-only distribution, but this would at least help in the short term)

And since we're talking about all media here, what about music? Wouldn't it be unfair for musicians to not be compensated for high album sales? As you have no doubt heard, major-label musicians actually see very little of the profits from their albums (it's only the Metallicas of the world that are able to get really wealthy). Most musicians, in fact, support downloading because they know it broadens their fan base and increases attendance at their concerts, where they really make their money. Their situation would actually change little if what I propose were to happen. The record labels, instead of drawing their income from album sales, would instead be compensated with more of a guaranteed income from the ISP fee I've suggested, which may not be a bad thing for them, considering how music sales have been going the last several years. And again, if high album sales no longer mattered, consider the defunct system that would go with it: top 40 radio, payola, pop divas. Record companies would have no incentive to engage in such sales-boosters, leaving the field even more open for lesser-known artists to get a start.

This seems like a very unlikely scenario. After all, I'm talking about a total reconfiguring of our entertainment industry, but I really see this as the only way to finance television and music in the future. One day television sets will be totally obselete, as will CDs and even DVDs. When all media is downloaded (which it someday will be) and when even more people think they are no obligated to pay for their downloads (also inevitable), I don't see any other option.

I always enjoy reading Kyle's year end Top Ten posts and his Top Ten of 2008 is no exception. I would especially agree about Portishead's "Third," Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, and The Dark Knight. I'm going to have to go over this years musical releases in order to really give my best of 2008 but I can definitely say that The Graveyard Book was my favorite book I read this year. It's such a lovely story. I laughed, I cried, I just loved it. Gaiman paints such a vivid picture and is truly a master storyteller. One of my highlights of 2008 was definitely watching Gaiman read one of the chapters in person at New York Comic Con.

On the movie front I am severely lacking, as I've said before. I'm sure I will absolutely love The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which sounds right up my alley. I guess one of my resolutions this year is to try and get over my hatred of movie theaters and enjoy watching something on the big screen again. I knew all along I was going to love The Dark Knight so I'm going to have say the biggest surprise for me this year was In Bruges. I'm not a big Colin Farrell fan and he absolutely blew me away in this. After watching the trailer I thought it looked like a Guy Ritchie rip-off. I couldn't have been more wrong. While there was definitely a comedic element, this film was also touching and poignant. Add the always great Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes to the mix and you have one of my picks for best of 2008. Definitely check it out if you missed it.

I started a conversation in the Geek Group about my Geek Resolutions for 2009. I figured I would share them here as well:

1) Play a game of D&D, finally.
2) Catch up on Battlestar Galactica.
3) Make the Geek Group as awesome as it can possibly be.
4) Play more games online with friends instead of just solo.
5) Blog more and beyond just "Here's what I've been doing this week..."

That's all I got. If I had to come up with a sixth it would probably be don't get too upset over this Watchmen lawsuit business.

My only other real resolution for 2009 is to find a job that will actually stick this time. I wish all you guys a very happy new year and thanks for making 2008 great. I know my blogging has been quite lax this year but I think we're still a pretty awesome community and that makes it all worthwhile. Here's to an even better 2009!

"Irreverence is another person's disrespect to your god; there isn't any word that tells what your disrespect to his god is."

-- Mark Twain

Each year I join in the sacred blogging tradition of creating year-end lists of favorite entertainment. I never seem to be able to expose myself to enough new movies, books, or music to devote separate lists to each one (a problem that has only grown worse since I've had kids), so I opt instead to create one master list of all my favorite things from the year. This is not supposed to be a definitive list of the best entertainment, yadda yadda yadda... It's just my own personal, emotional reaction to some of the things I took in this year.

10. Christmas on Mars

I actually didn't expect this one to make the list, but when I was ranking things I found myself moving it up past several other things I saw or heard this year. I guess that despite my disappointment with the ending, the Flaming Lips' amateur film still brought me a great deal of joy. For one thing, it was nice to finally see it after so many years. Besides, it's the Flaming Lips! How could I not love it in spite of its flaws? Plus it gave us a whole new CD of original music, which is always welcome.

9. Keanoshow

This is one of many releases I never got around to blogging about. Keanoshow is a collection of short films, music videos, and other miscellanea by Dave McKean, artist, illustrator, photographer, director, and frequent collaborator with Neil Gaiman. If that doesn't mean anything to you, go ahead and skip to the next item. This DVD is another release I have anticipated for a long time, and it did not disappoint. Keanoshow collects mostly experimental film pieces, and some of them don't work so well, but others are terrific. In addition to the films themselves, there is a new retrospective documentary, directed and narrated by McKean himself, that contains even more of his earliest work. It's about the most comprehensive collection of the man's short film works that one could ask for, and must-have for an obsessive fan like me.

8. Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!

Speaking of collections of previously unavailable early works, Art Spiegelman released a collection that requires some explanation. It's actually two separate works, beginning with the most recent, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!", an autobiographical comic strip that was originally published in the Virgininia Quarterly Review. Here it serves as a lengthy introduction to the primary content of the book, a facsimile reproduction of Breakdowns, a long out of print collection of his earliest experiments with comics art. I've long known these existed because Scott McCloud makes reference to them in Understanding Comics, but they have been unavailable to most readers until now. Finally, the book closes with an afterword that does much to illuminate what, exactly, he was going for in his early work. It also goes a long way to explain how such an idiosyncratic underground artist went on to create Maus, one of the most influential and successful graphic novels of all time.

7. Modern Guilt

I have to remind myself to listen to Beck's new album once in a while. It just seems to get lost among the other music I bought this year, even though it's a pretty solid album.

6. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

I'm glad this is a blog and not a podcast, so I don't have to attempt to pronounce that album title. Sigur Rós makes beautiful music that I can only vaguely describe as orchestral rock. This new release was hyped as a change in sound for the Icelandic band, I think mostly because of the upbeat opening track, but it still sounds to me very much like the band I've grown to love for their previous five albums. This new release also features the band's first song sung in English, which, it turns out, is about as easy to understand as the rest of their songs.

[update] Hmm... Photobucket says the album art violates their terms of use. I'm guessing it's the naked buttocks. I replaced it with a link to Wikipedia's file.

5. Third

In case you haven't heard, influential trip-hop group Portishead came out with a new album this year, which was a big deal, seeing how it's their first studio album in 11 years. It's just as great as everybody says.

4. WALL·E

I didn't get out to the theater much this year, and I missed seeing Pixar's latest film when it was released, but I did finally catch it on video last week. From all that I had heard about WALL·E, I was really expecting something extraordinary. As expected, the first third of the movie is delightful. The latter part, which I had heard so much about, proved to be neither as controversial, unusual, or disappointing as I had been led to believe. Actually I think it turned out to be a pretty standard Pixar movie, which is to say, excellent.

3. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

I'm a rather casual Nick Cave fan: I really like his music, but I haven't yet reached that fanatical point where I buy every release. So when I heard on various music podcasts this new album described as a huge comeback for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and perhaps the greatest of their career, I had to check it out. It's rough, nasty, and wonderful. The title track, which is the one I always heard promoted in interviews and reviews, is actually one of my least favorite songs on the album. We Call Upon the Author, which takes the Creator to task for the state of the world, is a lot of fun to listen to, and Hold On To Yourself is the most achingly beautiful song I've heard this year.

2. The Graveyard Book

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this once yet. That just shows how much I've let the blog go. So Neil Gaiman came out with a new book this year, and I think it may be his best new work since American Gods. Iit's that good. The Graveyard Book is a take off of The Jungle Book, and is about a living boy whose parents are murdered and who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard. It was written for children or young adults, but there's nothing to keep us fully-fledged adults from enjoying it too. It's a simple concept and the story doesn't really hold any surprises, but it's filled with such delightful characters and is so well-plotted that you just may want to read it all in a single day.

1. The Dark Knight

Could this movie possibly be anything other than number 1? I've already said pretty much all that I can about it. As soon as the movie was over I was already looking forward to when I could see it again.

Step Brothers

Grandma's Boy

I had a wonderful Christmas in Modesto with my brother and his girlfriend Courtney's family. They were really nice and even bought me some stuff. No movies this year, which is probably the first time in ages. We were too busy to go on Christmas day and then when I got home I decided that from a financial standpoint it would probably be a bad idea. So that's sort of a bummer since there are a bunch of movies I want to see but then again my disdain for movie theaters has only grown in the past year. I guess my Christmas wish this year is that they would open an ArcLight down here.

Now I have my last three days of work to get done then I will be celebrating the new year with Justin. After that I will be filing for unemployment and continuing the job search. Thankfully I have a couple freelance gigs lined up and some money in the bank so I'll be fine. It's not exactly how I thought I'd be kicking of 2009 but it could be worse so I'm not going to whine about it. I hope all you readers out there had a great holiday and have a wonderful new year.

The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Plain View #96 - Nov 5, 2008

Election Decision & Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Pan's Labyrinth an Violence

Whatever happened to Tuck Everlasting

Never Sleep Without Your Socks

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The Darjeeling Limited

Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns

The Golden Compass

I heard some so-so reviews of Changeling, and I was busy planning a trip to the UK at the time, so I waited to see Changeling at the dollar theater. I somewhat regret that due to the couple that consisted of a woman who was bilingual and a man who only spoke Spanish who decided to sit in the row in front of me and felt free to talk about what was happening during the entire movie. But on the other hand, Changeling was a good but not great movie, and I'm not sure I would have been satisfied with paying full price to see it had I done so.

In case you hadn't heard the story, it's based on real people, and focuses on a mother (Angelina Jolie) whose son disappeared. The Los Angeles police at the time did not have a very good reputation, and so in order to boost it, they returned a different boy to her and claimed that it was her son. When she tried to dispute it, they claimed she was crazy, and at one point she even gets placed in a mental institution because of the trouble she stirs. Thankfully, she has a friend in a local minister with a radio show (John Malkovich) who assists her in her quest to find her son.

The number one problem I had with this movie was the repetition of the phrase, "my son". One day I anticipate there will be a clip on youtube with all of the instances of this phrase, much like the ones of Michael from Lost, who yelled "Walt!", "My son", and "My boy" a lot. Coincidentally, this woman's missing son is named Walter. So, there are two parents with kids named Walt who just can't stop saying the same phrases. Maybe it's a traumatic condition that happens to parents of missing children.

I also didn't care much for the overemphasized contrast in lighting in this film. It may have looked nice in one or two scenes, but it felt heavy and too pronounced. I'm not sure I ever felt like we had a decent look at Jolie's face, because even in the light scenes she was wearing a hat that shaded her features. I

But those are minor qualms, I suppose. I guess the only real problem I had was the lack of emotional impact the majority of this film made. Perhaps it was because the main character cried and yelled so much, which made me unable to figure out which scenes I should actually be moved by. Perhaps it was because the story, while based in reality, followed several cliches I've seen in other movies. At last, though, the ending did have a little bit of punch, although it was a character I had never noticed before that I actually felt a connection to. That's not to say that Jolie doesn't do a good job. I actually think she's a capable actress and thought she disappeared into this role quite well.

Overall, the movie followed a line that felt too familiar for a long time, but as it finally progressed in its final quarter, it started to make more of an impact. I think it might have benefited from some good editing choices, but still thought it was a well-made movie. It may not be earth shattering, but it's good, and certainly worth a couple of dollars. :)

I just don't feel like uploading a ton of photos today, so click here for some great December highlights! It has been a great month, and these are only some of the things we did!

I'm off to Modesto tomorrow to visit my brother and his girlfriend. Here's hoping for safe travels and open roads. I wish all of you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and a happy Festivus. As a holiday gift, enjoy this Flash version of Doom. Doom turned 15 a few weeks ago, which is really nuts. More on that later hopefully.

Lincoln Danger, born December 19, 2008 at 9:20 pm. 8 lbs., 3 oz., 21 inches long. We are pretty fond of him!

Click here for a whole album of Lincoln!

I hope all of you out there are surviving your Christmas season. I also hope that you're having fun with it and not just worrying about all the little details. We've been doing so many fun things, especially around work. I'll have to post some photos. Well, the worst of the preparation part is over for me! All I have to do is wrap some gifts and I'm good to go! This last weekend was a piece of cake compared with the higher-paced weekends we had earlier this month.

On Friday, we had graduation here on campus, which is my one opportunity to meet students from my program. I went to the breakfast for the graduates and remembered why the program I work for is actually a cool thing and helps a lot of dreams come true. That evening I can't quite remember what Ric and I did. I do remember that after whatever we did, we drove to a special liquor store the boys like in Yorba Linda only to find that it was already closed. Oh well!

Saturday I got to sleep in a few hours at least, then headed up the hill to Ruth's house. She had a Christmas tea for the ladies at work. There were many fine sandwiches and little edibles, and even a cranberry-apple tea that I actually liked (not usually much of a tea drinker). It was a beautiful day and the view from the hill was great. We had a great time eating and enjoying each other's company.

Afterwards, Ric and I drove out to Universal Studios because we had tickets we needed to use before the end of the year. We got there pretty late and it was closing early (7pm!), so we headed straight for the Simpsons ride, which had a long but entertaining line - they had some great video clips from episodes of the show that featured amusement parks, as well as new clips made specifically for the ride. The ride itself is a simulator, as if the people in the ride are in a runaway roller coaster seat that bumps all around Krustyland. It was entertaining, although I was surprised how convincing the first roller coaster dip was to my stomach. We hit up the T2 show, which kind of sucks by today's standards, and then looked around and realized there wasn't all that much we were interested in that wasn't already closed for the night. We just left the park and went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner, which was pretty good but not great and far too much money for how much you get to eat (at least if you order the stuffed trout). And apparently we are not even close to being up on our Forrest Gump trivia. Once back in town, we hit up Vons for a couple things and relaxed around the house for the rest of the night.

Sunday, we went to church and were really surprised and happy with the choir's classical performances, and we went to Sunday School with the Andersons and chatted with them for a while after services. We headed straight home to start work on the condo. I painted more trim in the downstairs bathroom and started prepping the kitchen drawers and doors for the new hardware I bought. We got an unexpected call from my sister to go eat dinner with her and her boyfriend (he's in town from his home in Tokyo) and we rushed to meet them at Stubrik's and hang out for a while. Back at the house, I started the long task of wrapping gifts while watching the documentary Dear Zachary. I got so caught up I didn't realize how late I was up considering work was waiting for me in the morning, and hit the hay around 1:30.

Up this week: I've got grocery shopping and wrapping to do, I'm hoping to catch The Secret Life of Bees at the dollar theater if I can, Wednesday I'm going to try to meet up with the Andersons at the park in the morning to watch them launch some rockets, we celebrate with my family on Christmas Eve evening and on some of Christmas day, and depending on the in-laws' flight status we may spend some time with them on that day as well. Then, until the following week, I've got nothing planned but working out and watching movies! It should be a good week.

I've read several books about atheism, but my most enthusiastic recommendation to date goes to Guy Harrison's 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God. This book doesn't narrate the author's loss of faith like Dan Barker's books, nor is it a provocative and artful attack against Christian belief like The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, nor yet is it a scientific examination of religion as a natural phenomenon like Dan Dennett's Breaking the Spell. I recommend this book to believers and nonbelievers alike because it is a straightforward and respectful evaluation of the reasons that normal people (not theologians) give for believing in a god.

The book is organized into 50 stand-alone chapters that average about 7 pages each. I read the book cover to cover, but you could skip around to the chapters that interest you the most. If you believe in your god because he answers prayers, then jump right to chapter 14 and read the author's response to that reason. This organization makes the book very approachable.

One of the things that sets this book apart is that it does not focus on Christian belief exclusively. Very often, the debate is between belief in Yahweh and belief in no god at all. That makes the Christian's task seem easier than it really is. Harrison points out that the Christian God is only one of thousands of gods and goddesses. Throughout the book he spells "god" with a lowercase g and gives examples from several world religions. He doesn't attack any one religion, but shows that they make similar claims for many of the same reasons and all share a lack of evidence. The assertion that Yahweh has impacted a person's life loses most of its force when we're reminded that people say that their lives are impacted in the same ways by Allah, Ganesha, Isis and ancestral spirits.

The best thing about this book is its tone. Harrison is uncompromising in his skepticism, but he never stoops to mockery. He acknowledges the benefits of faith and religious community. He shares experiences of being moved by music and rituals from various traditions. He pays respect to the important role that religion has played in the history, culture and personal lives of believers. He simply points out that there's no evidence that any of these gods exist and there are often simpler explanations. Believers can read this book without being belittled or offended.

But why would a believer want to read what an atheist has to say about faith? I think it's good to understand both sides of important issues. That's why I've read several books by Christians since I've become an atheist. Perhaps I'll learn something I didn't know and reconvert. Or perhaps I'll better understand why people believe and that will help me to appreciate them (and debate with them). Believers should understand nonbelievers for the same reasons. It will help you understand that we have reasons for not believing. It will help you examine the roots of your own belief, which may strengthen your faith. You'll be more equipped for debating with atheists, too.

You can buy the book from Amazon here or do like I did and check it out from the library. Guy Harrison was interviewed about the book on the Point of Inquiry podcast.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives) by Bill Bryson

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Today is Lucas' birthday! You all probably remember from last year that Lucas only turns 23 each year, refusing to get any older than that. Some quick math can tell you his true age, although in the interest of being fair to Lucas, let's make it a bit harder...don't laugh at what I consider to be "harder" math. Maybe we should just call it "takes longer" math. Lucas is the engineer in this family.

I don't want to admit how long that took me to check.

Happy Birthday Lucas!
love, your mathematically challenged wife.

Here's a recipe we've always made in my family that's always loved by everyone. It's sweet, salty, and a little bit of spicy, and definitely feels like winter!

Recipe
2 sticks margarine
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark molasses
2 eggs
1 t. cloves
1 t. ginger
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1-1/2 t. baking soda
1-1/2 t. baking powder
4 c. flour

Roll in 1-inch balls (seriously, keep them small because they expand a lot) and roll in granulated sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Tip: Spray your hand with a little Pam and rub hands together; the dough won’t stick as badly. Also, it may be helpful to refrigerate the dough in between batches so it's easier to handle.

These cookies puff up a lot in the oven, and when you take them out, they'll flatten a bit. They never quite come across completely done when looking at them - they should be chewy, so don't over-bake them.

Phil Vecchio is 30 today! My first night at Biola over ten years ago I was wandering around the dorm with my roommate Steve since our other roommate went to bed at 7 PM (!) and we ran into Phil and his friends watching Ferris Beuller's Day Off in the lobby. They invited us over and we've pretty much been best friends since then. Phil is pretty much the older brother I never had and, as those who know him can testify, an amazing guy. I know he reads this blog every now and then so here's to you, man!

It looks like Sufjan Stevens is back to distributing unofficial Christmas CDs to friends and family...who then share them with the rest of us. You gotta love the Internet.

After giving volumes 1-5 an official commercial release, Sufjan has apparently skipped 6 & 7 (unless they're still loose in the wild) and has come out with volume 8: Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage.

Grab it here while you still can.

Hat Tip AllGoodNaysayers.net

We had a cookie exchange at work yesterday and Ruth made some great cookies I would recommend. These are heavier on the spices, so if you like a more mild flavor, I'll post my molasses cookies recipe later on. I thought these were great, though, and they look great and wintery for the holidays too!

Recipe
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ucloves
1 cup butter (cut into small cubes)
2 eggs
1/2 cup strong coffee, cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional - I would opt out!)
Powdered Sugar Drizzle

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbles. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, cooled coffee, and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in nuts, if you're using them. If necessary, cover and chill dough 1-2 hours or until easy to handle.

3. Pre-heat oven to 375. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. (Cookies may still appear soft. Do not over-bake!) Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

4. Powdered Sugar Drizzle: In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup of powdered sugar and enough milk (1-2 tbsp) to make icing drizzle consistency. Drizzle the cookies and let them dry. Makes about 36-40 cookies.

To Store: Place cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to three days, or freeze unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months; thaw and frost.

La Dolce Vita is my third Fellini movie, and probably the most accessible one for me that I've seen. The spirit of Rome and and Italian attitudes are the building blocks for this movie about Marcello (played by Marcello Mastroianni), a tabloid journalist whose experiences we follow for the movie's entirety. He has a girlfriend and seems to love her, but only sometimes, and he's easily obsessed with any beautiful girl who glances at him. He's a romantic and is swayed by the lifestyles of the eccentric crowds he reports on and befriends. Throughout his experience, the movie covers several ideas about love, life, death, and the usual array of questions that arise having to do with those subjects.

This is obviously a movie that I will have to visit more than one time, because the quick-talking Italians and the well-matched subtitles flit by rapidly. There's hardly enough time to read the words, admire the picture, and listen to what they are saying, so it's impossible to have time to ponder the meaning of them all. Suffice to say that there are a lot of interesting topics brought up. Some are pretentious and some are sincerely thoughtful. My favorite character of the film is Marcello's friend, Steinman, who is one of the few characters our protagonist spends time with that doesn't come across as entirely shallow.

Most notable of Marcello's encounters is that with an actress, whom he escorts about town wherever she wishes. She's not necessarily enchanted by Rome, but she makes Rome an enchanting place wherever she goes. I loved her scenes, especially the one pictured above, when she wades through the Trevi Fountain. Having been to Rome on my honeymoon, I know it's a beautiful place, but there's something about the way it's seen in this scene that seems to capture what I didn't see when I was there. Maybe it's an era, but the mood here is so perfect.

I think one could probably go online and read a million different ways to read several of the scenes in this movie. Some are poignant and some are really stretching it. I think I'll have fun learning more about this movie as time goes on. I really enjoyed the spirit of it--the beautiful city full of beautiful people contrasted with deeper issues.

I think this book is exactly what I need right now.

The more widely I read on Christianity, Judaism, and the Bible, the more questions and doubts I seem to end up with. This has been going on for years, ever since I first realized that a fundamentalist approach to Christianity is not consistent with what we know about the origins of mankind.

I sometimes become frustrated with my own questioning and at times I've been left picking up the pieces of my faith and trying to figure out what, exactly, I do believe after all.

So I was excited today when I saw the cover of David Dark's new book:

With his previous two books Dark has played a vital role in showing me the harmony that exists between Christianity, pop culture, literature, folk traditions, and populist left-wing politics.

I can't wait to read what he has to say in his new one.

How am I already two weeks behind on the movie reviews?! Well, two weeks ago we had a movie night at the Agadoni home and it was Amy's pick, so we watched Danny Deckchair. I had always meant to see it, so I was happy she chose it! Danny is played by Rhys Ifans, and is a man with kind of a boring life whose girlfriend has belittled him and taken him for granted for a long time. He's always doing goofy things, and one day one of his goofy things is to tie a bunch of giant auto lot balloons to his deckchair. He takes off up into the sky and travels from the city to a secluded town across the country.

No one knows who Danny is, so he is free to be adventurous with his life and wins the hearts of the townspeople. Meanwhile, all of the people back home are wondering where he has gone, since he was very visible in his departure. His girlfriend is enjoying the media attention she is receiving, especially since a local newsman is expressing interest in her.

Danny lands in the tree of a conveniently pretty, agreeable, and single girl named Glenda, who is played by Miranada Otto (that's Eowyn, folks). They hit it off, but she's got some issues to get over. Slowly but surely, they fall closer together. Ifans and Otto are as unlikely a pair as I would expect. He's not exactly what people would call a hottie, although a lot of the ladies in the small town seem to think he is. She's an interesting girl, not always portrayed as beautiful as she is in this movie. Yet both of them have a charm and generally friendly manner, so instantly it's easy to see that they fit together. I like the pairing.

I don't really have any complaints about this movie. It's not a movie you would expect to win any major awards, but it's just a feel-good movie about living life as an adventure and being open to new possibilities.

Glad we watched it!

Ever want to whip up a cake without putting much effort into it? Well now you can go from mixing to microwave to mouthfuls of cake in about five minutes.

My mom got this recipe as a forward and I tried it as soon as I got home just to see if it would work. The photos are from the email, but it worked perfectly for me. It doesn't matter what size the mug is, because even if the mug is small, the cake will just expand upwards and maybe flop over a little, but it won't spill or make a mess in your microwave. The cake is thick and moist. I would probably add slightly more cocoa powder next time. And when it says a splash of vanilla, make that a small splash, since you're making such a small portion. I'd also recommend regularly keeping some frosting handy in your pantry, or you can mix this with fresh fruits or sprinkle it with powdered sugar, or eat it with ice cream, and it's great.

Recipe:
4 tablespoons flour 
4 tablespoons sugar 
2 tablespoons cocoa 
1 egg 
3 tablespoons milk 
3 tablespoons oil 
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) 
A small splash of vanilla extract 
1 coffee mug 

- Add the dry ingredients to the mug and mix well. 
- Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
- Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
- Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. 
- Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes.

You can eat straight out of the mug or plop it on a plate:

This serves about 2-3 people, I would say. If one person eats it, they should be aware that my mom counted up the calories and one mug cake is almost 1100 calories.

Enjoy!

If you go here you can check off which movies from imdb's top 250 movies to see what percentage of them you have seen. I scored 80.4 percent, thanks to a lot of the movies I have seen this year. I also have most of the ones I haven't seen in my queue. I have some issues with certain movies even having made it to the top 250 (Into the Wild, really?!), but overall, I think it's a pretty good list for people to look at and be able to rent a good variety of movies.

This one's for the big movie lovers, since it's got plenty of foreign flicks. I'm pretty sure I know one or two people who will score higher than I did.

I was informed on Monday that as of January 1st I will be out of a job. The temp agency also doesn't have any positions available right now due to the horrible economy. So I'm now scrambling to find a job. If anyone in the LA/OC area knows of anything or has any work available, please let me know. Thanks.

Kelly said I should write a post. I reluctantly agreed, even though I prefer to take our readers for granted. All three of you. For granted.

Work has been crazy busy. I've got a software bug that I can't get to the bottom of. I know what you're thinking - "Man, that is insanely exciting! I wish Lucas would write more about software." To that I say, be careful what you ask for. Work really has been busy, in all phases.

Today, I was in our lab with some co-workers and heard that the lunar rover was driving around the quad in front of the building. I went out there and snapped some photos with my never-reliable T-Mobile phone. It honestly took over 1 hour for the phone to send the images to my album online. Ugh. So, now I'm going lazy on your behinds and just slapping the photos in here with no effort made toward aesthetics.

Whew! Well, today's been a day. It's been a week, really. It's all fun, but it's long and tiring. And in usual fashion, I've been overdoing it and am now totally tired out.

Last Thursday night I booked to the dollar store for office Christmas decorations and then headed to Disneyland to meet up with my sister and the family she nannies for. It was almost parade time and they had been sitting for an hour in a good spot, so I ran to get there in time. I ran all of Downtown Disney. I probably shouldn't have done that. We went to check out the castle as it lit up, saw Small World and went on the Christmas version of it (looks cool!), and hung out for the fireworks show.

Friday we had breakfast brought in at work to celebrate our awesome graduation counselors, a birthday party at work, and then our family went out to eat at the Spaghetti Factory to celebrate my dad's birthday. He's old. Haha.

Saturday, we met up with the Hutchinses for breakfast at Denny's before heading out to a Kings game, and we won 3-1! That evening we got home and Ric took a nap while I went shopping for household and Christmas decorations. I taped and painted and did work around the house (I'm on the downstairs bathroom trim now) for a few hours until I had pretty much done my back in. I had a stomach ache from the food I ate earlier and just went to bed.

Sunday I still didn't feel well and skipped church. I needed the sleep. I spent the whole afternoon baking cookies for work parties, and then Ric and I headed out to buy a new router and monitor for our office. We got a call from Ric's parents that we could eat free food if we came over, so we went over to their place to chat and have some spaghetti. Afterward, Ric and I drove around to a few places and eventually settled on Target in Fullerton to buy our Christmas tree. We got a taller one, since our new place has vaulted ceilings. I started decorating and cleaning the house but eventually crashed again.

Even yesterday, I just barely made it through work and had to come home to work on cleaning because we were supposed to have a contractor over to look at a few things we want done in our place, but of course, all that work and he didn't show. Ric banished me to the couch because of my back, and there I stayed for the whole night, and so I watched some tv and a couple of movies, including the original Nutty Professor and It Had to Be You. Before it started raining, I got a few pictures of Pip making a new friend with the cat across the way. I'll have to post those later.

Amy and I have been planning our office Christmas party and have put a lot of time into it. I was going to work on a few more things this morning to finalize everything, but as fate would have it, the power went out early in the morning at the university. So a lot of the party wasn't exactly as planned, but it went off well enough. We had a good time and good food, and that's what matters. I am tired though. I need to go grocery shopping and decorate our house for Christmas before Christmas is over! Anyway, power finally came back around 1:30 this afternoon, but half our network is still down, so I can't get a lot of what I need to do done.

Up this week: decorating and shopping when I'm able, movie night with the Agadonis on Wednesday, hopefully seeing The Changeling at the cheap theater on Thursday, graduation at work on Friday, and a tea at Ruth's on Saturday.

Last night I heard those five little words that every new parent longs to hear:

"I pee in the potty."

I have waited anxiously for six months to hear these words come from my son's mouth. Six months of reading toilet-training books. Six months of encouraging, urging, bribing, and near-pleading. Six months of sitting next to Daniel in the bathroom as he disappointedly reports "I not pee."

To be honest, I have heard those words, "I pee in the potty" many nights before now, but it has always been in the sense of "I want to pee in the potty," soon followed by the request, "Daddy help me." I've had to tell Daniel each time that I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help him, that this is something he can only do on his own.

Then last night (O, glorious night!) as we prepared for bathtime Daniel requested once again, "I [want to] pee in the potty." I sat him down and, prepared for another fruitless night of waiting, I went to fetch a book for myself. From the other room I heard my son yell, "I pee in the potty!"

When I arrived in the bathroom, Daniel was standing, with the toilet paper completely unrolled, and I could see that what he had really meant was, "I peed in the potty!"

I yelled his name so loud that for a moment I was afraid I may have scared him, but he turned toward me with a huge grin on his face, and we both laughed with joy. I'm not sure who was happier (When Erika and I discussed toilet training, Erika said at one point that the first time Daniel would go on the potty we would have to act very excited for him; I told her that if Daniel ever finally went on the potty, there would probably be no need for acting on my part).

I yelled the news to Erika through the house and she came running so that she, too, could marvel at the pee in the potty.

I feel I must apologize to the non-parents reading this, who may not realize that when you become a parent discussions of bathroom behaviors tend to dominate a disproportionate amount of adult conversation. You also may not understand how the simple act of urination can be such a source of joy. I'm afraid it's one those things in life that must be experienced first-hand to be fully understood.

I'm really not exaggerating when I say that last night was the most exciting night we have had in many months.

Now I am looking forward to when I hear five even more wonderful words:

"I poop in the potty."

That will be a wonderful day.

The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2 by Neil Gaiman

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

London: City of Disappearances edited by Iain Sinclair

(via Unreasonable Faith)