Oh Those Crazy Cubans...What'll They Think Of Next?

I've heard of someone having a forked tongue, but a forked nose?

This, in case you didn't know or weren't entirely sure what it was, is a picture of a Cuban man apparently inserting a fork into his nose. Now, I'm not sure why he would ever want a sharp metal object in his sinus cavity, but there it is. What do you think is happening here? Is this man insane? Is there a pea jammed up in there that he's trying to get out? What's going on?

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

My apologies, loyal readers. I took a vacation this week and didn't post anything. To make up for it, A Day In The Life Of An Average Guy (henceforth known as ADITLOAAG) will have not one, but two posts today. The first is serious, the second... not so much.

Let's begin.

One of my all-time favorite bands is Coheed and Cambria. They're an extremely interesting and talented group, and I highly recommend them. I enjoy their music for a variety of reasons; the backstory behind it, their distinctive sound, the melodies and rhythms. I was recently listening to a Coheed song called "When Skeletons Live", when one line of the lyrics struck me. It said, "The truth is relevant, but not for long." It really got me thinking a lot about truth, what we see as true, and what actually is true. Think about that statement a little bit. On the one hand, there are certain physical, inherent truths. Take gravity for instance. What comes up, must come down. It is the way that things are. It is true. Yet on the other hand, there are things that people have long believed to be true that turned out to be false (the concept of the Sun revolving around the Earth, for example). Now to bring it closer to home, in this day and age we are surrounded, permeated by, and bombarded with all sorts of "truths". Some are true, some are partly true, some are blatantly false. Think about the world of advertising. If every single ad that you saw on television or in a magazine portrayed the truth, companies would lose a ton of money on their products. Why? Because we as Americans don't want the truth. We'd rather have the "great American Dream". You know what I'm talking about: nice job, fast car, beautiful wife/handsome husband, two and a half kids, suburban house with a white picket fence. It's what everybody wants, right? We deserve it.

Or do we? Let me float a rather radical idea past you. We don't deserve much of anything. Actually, according to Bible, what we do deserve is death. So I think we should be thankful for not getting what we deserve. (but that's a different story).

Back to the main idea: life is not always handed to us on a silver platter. In order to discover what is true and what is false in this world, we have to have a standard to compare it to. Do you know how banks train tellers to find counterfeit money? They have them handle the real thing, over and over, until they can almost instantly tell the difference between a true bill and a false one. I propose that we take the same approach to life. In a world filled with half-truths and even outright lies, it can sometimes be a little hard to tell what is good and pure, and what isn't. Fortunately, we have a standard to compare everything to. God's Word. If you are a Christian, then you believe that every word printed in the Bible is inherently and unfailingly true. If that is correct, then we can take what we learn and read, and apply it to our daily lives. In order to find our way to the truth in this world, we need to spend time in God's Word. Read it. Pray about it. Think about it. Talk to people about it. The more time you spend in the truth, the easier it will become to spot what is false.

Good Morning, Yesterday

So I've been in a melancholy, musical mood lately, and it got me thinking. If you could go back and relive one day, any day in your entire life, with no consequences, which day would it be? What would you do? What would you do different? Think about it.

Sunlight and Marbles

So...this past week has been absolutely GORGEOUS. Heat, sun, no humidity, just clear blue skies and lots of warmth. There is almost nothing more beautiful than watching the sun come up on a warm spring morning...I love it. The other day I took a walk through the woods while listening to U2's "Beautiful Day" and it was amazing. I recommend that everyone get out there and enjoy this awesome weather while it lasts.

I was reading a book today, and it told a story called "A Thousand Marbles". It was about a guy was worked a lot, took too much time and didn't really enjoy life. One day, a family member of his gave him two jars filled with about 1,600 marbles. He said, "These are for every Saturday for pretty much the rest of your life. I want you to take one marble out of the jar every Saturday, and think about whether you spent that Saturday well, instead of wasting your time." I was kinda inspired by this idea, and I decided to spend more days out with my friends and family, just enjoying what God has given us. So get out there, and use your marbles wisely! You are only given a set amount of Saturdays...use them well.

Poeticness

I recently discovered a pretty interesting poem that I thought I'd share. It's by Elizabeth Bishop and it is called Anaphora. Enjoy.


Each day with so much ceremony
begins, with birds, with bells,
with whistles from a factory;
such white-gold skies our eyes
first open on, such brilliant walls
that for a moment we wonder
"Where is the music coming from, the
energy?"
The day was meant for what ineffable
creature
we must have missed? Oh promptly he
appears and takes his earthly nature
instantly, instantly falls
victim of a long intrigue,
assuming memory and mortal
mortal fatigue.

More slowly falling into sight
and showering onto stippled faces,
darkening, condensing all his light;
in spite of all the dreaming
squandered upon him with that look,
suffers our uses and abuses,
sinks through the drift of bodies,
sinks through the drift of classes
to evening to the beggar in the park
who, weary, without lamp or book
prepares stupendous studies:
the fiery event
of every day in endless
endless assent.

Twitch, Much?

Today's post is not going to be a ramble about social injustice or some deep metaphysical concepts... to be honest, I'm tired so I decided to keep it simple. Today's post is about one of the most adorable things on Earth: puppies. I was cruising the internets when I came across this hilarious video of a cute lil' puppy, and I thought I'd share it with you. The camera's a little shaky but just bear with it, it's worth it. :D

Hollywood Hash: The Facade of the Film Industry

I've noticed a slightly disturbing trend in the film industry lately. There seems to be a huge recurrence of re-makes and movie adaptations, and a certain lack of "new" or original movies. Here's a look at the top 15 best-grossing movies of 2009:

1. Avatar

2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon

5. Up

6. The Hangover

7. Star Trek

8. The Blind Side

9. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

10. Sherlock Holmes

11. Monsters vs. Aliens

12. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

13. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

14. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

15. 2012

Now, look at these popular films. 7 out of 15 are remakes: Transformers, Harry Potter, Twilight, Star Trek, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sherlock Holmes, and X-Men Origins. Each of these films was adapted either from a book, comic, or TV show. None of them are original, in the sense that someone sat down and wrote a screenplay with completely new characters and concepts. What does that say about Hollywood?

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE going to the movies. I've seen almost all of the films on the list, and I enjoyed almost every one (barring G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.....terrible, terrible movie. Almost as bad as The Haunting of Molly Hartley. And that's saying something).

What I'm wondering is this: why can't Hollywood come out with anything truly original anymore? (Granted, Avatar certainly is quite unique, but then again, it's James Cameron. Come on.) What's wrong with just making a good movie? Why are so many directors and producers being compelled to rewrite old material? I recently saw Repo Men in theater, and while it was a fairly good movie, I couldn't help flashing back to the original, Repo: The Genetic Opera. Even Tim Burton's latest film, Alice in Wonderland is a remake. I'm a little disappointed. Burton is indelibly etched in my mind as an original thinker. His movies, while a little freaky at times, are (for the most part) uniquely his.

So what's the point? Is there really such a draw for remade or re-written films? I grant that there is a certain appeal for older viewers (example: fans of the original Transformers TV series would probably be drawn to see the new movies). And obviously the movie version of a hugely popular book (Twilight, Harry Potter, anyone?) would attract the book's considerable fan base. On a side note: I can empathize with that. Many movie-book adaptations turn out to be absolute bombs (Eragon stands out in my mind) yet many can be done and done well, such as the Narnia and Lord of the Ring series.

Back on the main train of thought here: why the obsession with remakes? Is it simply to attract more moviegoers (and therefore more money)? If I had any say in the matter (which I don't), I would challenge filmmakers to create new movies. Original, untainted, unique works all their own. Look at Taken. Or Wall-E. Or Star Wars!!! Come on, people!