|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Thursday, 27 July 2006 |
Nothin' Special
The Ice Harvest is nothing special. It's in the same genre as other movies like Wild Things, Confidence, and A Simple Plan. There's some money, a few people want sole control of this money, and the situation quickly escalates.
Typecasting
Cusack and Thornton play the roles you expect them to play. Billy Bob's character is a fast-talking untrustworthy southern-type guy. John Cusack plays a very likeable protagonist. Even though he has done a bad thing and is awful to his kids, you feel for him.
It's Not Bad...
I would like to write more about this movie, but there's really nothing to say. It's entertaining. The acting is good. It's shot well. The story keeps you guessing. If you like the movies I outlined above then you'll like The Ice Harvest.
Tiny Market
There's no reason not to watch it, but on the other hand everyone has already seen similar movies before. So it's really only going to attract the type of people who are fans of specific actors in the movie or fans of the genre. That's really the most damning thing I can say about The Ice Harvest.
I would file this under the heading of liking it while I was watching it, but ultimately being disappointed that it wasn't really a new experience in any way.
|
|
|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Thursday, 27 July 2006 |
Sex and Evolution in Education
There are currently 2 very popular debates being had in many school systems around the country. The first is about whether or not intelligent design should be taught in science class. I put an emphasis on it because it's a very technical sounding euphemism for, "somebody may have created everything."
The second debate is slightly different. It is about whether or not we should teach students in health class anything more than, "don't have sex."
Undeveloped Ideas
The interesting thing about both of these debates is that deeply religious people are championing situations where there is nothing to teach. Intelligent design can be explained at length in 5 words. I said it before, "somebody may have created everything."
At least in the instance of intelligent design they're saying that it should be stated along side competing information; the theory of evolution. But in the case of abstinence-only education it's the belief that students should specifically not be given information.
Simplicity and Probability
Really what these religious people are in favor of is teaching nothing. Well, nothing but religion thinly shrouded in technical speak. Intelligent design is not more complicated than, "somebody may have created everything." Abstinence-only education is not more complicated than, "don't have sex."
Evolution is, on the surface, pretty simple also. It's natural selection over time resulting in adaptations favorable to the surrounding environment. I think that's as concise as I can make it. However, I do find it more probable that life on earth was created in more than 7 days. Rome wasn't built in a day. How could life on earth be built in six?
A Failure to Educate
Abstinence-only education is a more egregious failure to educate young people. We send our young to schools to be educated. Much of what they learn is not directly applicable. The people who favor abstinence-only education want to remove the one class that does impact the life of every student who walks through the doors in the morning.
Choosing not to educate students on how to protect themselves is wrong and perpetuates the consequences of sexual activity that abstinence-only educators stand by as evidence. I care less about the morals of my child than I care that my child is not going to contract HIV, and then die. I want my children to be taught how to be responsible in making their own decisions, because that is all I can do. They are separate people.
Mislabeled Philosophy
I do think intelligent design should be taught. It should be taught in philosophy. Intelligent design is not scientific. It doesn't change over time in response to collected data. It was not derived through the scientific method. It cannot be tested. It has no place in a science book or class.
Combatting Ignorance
Less education is never the answer to any problem. Ignorance perpetuates many of the problems we have in society; such as intolerance. I do not understand how anyone can stand up and say that not informing is better than informing. I do not understand how anyone could so extensively misunderstand the scientific method to say that intelligent design is science.
[tags]Intelligent Design, Evolution, Abstinence-Only Education, Education, Philosophy, Science, Politics[/tags]
|
|
|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Wednesday, 26 July 2006 |
Federal Inconsistency
In the United States we have a government that is amazingly inconsistent. The most pronounced example that I can think of offhand would be drug laws. There's an arbitrary line that's drawn through law that says some drugs are good, while others are so bad that they require explicit banning at a federal level.
Drink Some Alcohol
Alcohol is a good drug. You can be poisoned to death with it. It can be very addictive for people who have a genetic predisposition for addiction. It's involved in quite a few deaths on the road each year.
On top of that, anecdotally a great many people attest that alcohol has an affect on behavior such that it makes many people more aggressive. Go ask cops how many people they've had violently resist arrest who have not been drinking alcohol.
How Dare You Smoke Weed
Marijuana is a bad drug. There has never been a single case where a person has died of a marijuana overdose. It is addictive in exactly the same ways alcohol is.
Anecdotally, people will attest that marijuana almost never makes people more aggressive than they were otherwise. We derive the stereotype of the pot-head from the fact that marijuana typically tends to make people more docile.
Logic
These are the facts. Forget legalizing marijuana. If you throw out the anecdotal evidence, from a health standpoint, alcohol should be illegal. That is simply the logic of it. Yet, there are people within our government who would proudly stand by these statements:
1. Marijuana and all those other bad drugs should be illegal, because they're bad.
2. Alcohol should be legal. It just should be.
3. Cigarettes should be legal, it's a personal freedom issue.
One of them, for a fact, we know has had experience with both of these substances; our president. What gives?
It Doesn't Affect Me
It should be noted that this issue doesn't affect me one way or the other. I don't drink. I don't smoke marijuana. I do not use recreational drugs. However, I personally believe that it is a person's human right to put whatever they want in their body. Anything restricting this is simply someone taking the easy way out and legislating based on their gut reaction.
Finale
I'm not saying that states should have the same laws across the board. Those are separate governments. The Rhode Island government is different from the California government.
I'm saying that each individual government should be able to explain itself logically to the people that give it power. There needs to be logical accountability. Drug laws aren't the only example. They're just the easiest to point out at the this time.
Logic is inevitable. The government can only get away with this doublespeak until times change and we forget why we enacted it in the first place. When that happens we'll all wonder why things were the way they were, and we'll find no good reason not to enact the most logical conclusion.
Can't we just use logic now?
[tags]Drugs, Government, Politics[/tags]
|
|
|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Tuesday, 25 July 2006 |
A Negative Story
A Scanner Darkly is a tough movie to watch. It's not that the imagery is disturbing or the story elements are overly depressing. The movie has to tell an intricate story in a short amount of time while still maintaining the pacing and character development.
The story in A Scanner Darkly is told as much by what you see as what you don't see. It's a story told in the negative space. You see every 3rd important moment, and your mind fills in the rest. This makes the fairly tiny world the movie takes place in with about 7 characters feel very alive.
Creepy Cartoon Visuals
Visually, A Scanner Darkly is engaging and interesting. At first it seems like a cop-out thing, but then you realize that they're selective and they use it like any other tool in their toolbox. They only use it where they know it's going to be effective. It was constantly interesting to study the screen during this movie.
Oscar-Worthy Performances
I feel I should talk especially about the actors in A Scanner Darkly. A few of them you might assume would not give good performances. However, every single person in this movie gives an amazing performance; Oscar-worthy in many instances. There hasn't been a movie in recent memory to capture the rapid-fire paranoid thinking of people on speed.
I don't think it's a coincidence that many of the people who give the best performances in this movie have been known to abuse many substances in their private lives. Most notably, Robert Downey Jr. His performance was just endlessly compelling. He stole every single scene he was in; even scenes where he just sits in a chair and cleans his pipe.
Missing the Specifics
I really liked watching this movie. Unfortunately, it's tough to figure out what the hell is going on for most of the movie. It's also tough to figure out how the world in the movie came to be, and what the infrastructure is like. Finally, it's tough to figure out the specifics of Philip K. Dick's message at the end.
Perceptions of the Future
I can see this movie going in to my collection to be watched and enjoyed once every 3 years. I anticipate most other people who see this movie will not find it super enjoyable. It's easy to see why the movie did not attain number one status at the box office.
It's going to be more of a cult following. Certain groups of people are going to like the movie for very specific reasons. The general public will remember it as that weird animated movie with Keanu Reeves that they couldn't figure out. Both sides are equally valid.
[tags]Entertainment, Movie Reviews, A Scanner Darkly[/tags] |
|
|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Monday, 24 July 2006 |
Happies Dating?
According to the American Social Health Association, 50% of Americans already test positive for Herpes Simplex, Type 1 by age 13. Most people don’t know cold sores are actually a form of the herpes virus; the very same as genital herpes.
A simple Google search for 'herpes dating' reveals a startling number of sites devoted to hooking people up who have this specific STD. This seems like a good idea until you realize that it's really unnecessary for there to be specific dating sites for people who have a skin rash on a certain part of their bodies.
Occurs Everywhere, But Can't Kill You
Herpes cannot kill you, but it can affect newborn children. Herpes simplex occurring in babies is fatal in only 1 birth out of every 100,000 births from mothers who have it, and it is not passed along 100% of the time. Not to mention the fact that the whole issue of herpes in newborns can be sidestepped by using cesarian sections.
Herpes is transmitted through direct skin contact. Many people don’t know they have it. The rash that appears doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. In most cases it looks like little cuts or normal chafing. Doctors who screen for STD's actually consider most rashes on the genitals to be herpes until proven otherwise.
Herpes occurs in outbreaks about 4 or 5 times a year, but the number can be affected by things like stress. A fever with flu-like symptoms can accompany the first outbreak. The initial outbreak is usually the worst outbreak.
It's All The Same
Doctors used to think that the virus on the mouth was different from the one that occurred on the genitals. This is reason for the Type 1 and Type 2 distinction that you might have heard about. According to Dr. Drew Pinsky the medical literature clearly shows that both can occur in either place.
Treatment & Prevention
There is no cure, but herpes can be very effectively contained through the use of antiviral medication. The medications reduce the amount of virus that's produced which reduces the risk of transmission, makes outbreaks less severe, and reduces the number of outbreaks per year. With proper diagnosis and treatment, herpes becomes a condition that can be controlled and lived with.
Most commonly, herpes is transmitted through sexual contact. There is no truly safe sex, but the risk of transmission can be lessened significantly. A condom should be worn in all sexual encounters. Since herpes can occur both around the mouth and on the genitals, herpes can be transmitted through unprotected oral sex.
A condom works very well for oral sex performed on men. A dental dam(a flat sheet of latex) can be used for performed on women. Since dental dams are not widely available, a condom can be cut lengthwise and unrolled to be used.
Even though condoms are good, care should be taken to not have sex during an active outbreak as this is when a person is most contagious.
Plaguery
There should be no stigma about herpes. It is a reoccurring skin rash, nothing more, nothing less. It can be treated very well with medication. It is easily preventable with condoms.
Even though these are the facts, 82% of people with herpes experience depression along with their first outbreak. According to the Canadian Journal of CME in June, 2001. Let’s get rid of this stigma. Can we stop treating people who have this affliction like they have some sort of plague?
[tags]Science, Health, Sex, Internet Dating[/tags] |
|
|
Written by John Rozewicki
|
|
Monday, 24 July 2006 |
Personal Development Carnival
I entered yet another post from a few months ago in a carnival. This time it is Are You Chasing Dreams That You Don't Really Want? (Hint: You Might Be) in The Personal Development Carnival that was posted over at Creating a Better Life.
I chose that post for the carnival because it's a post that people tend to like. I thought it was pretty good at the time I wrote it, but I didn't expect it to take off the way it did. That post is actually the most popular post I've ever written for this site. I still get a significant number of referrals each day from places that have linked to that post. The only thing since that has really come close to it is the article I wrote concerning Steve Pavlina; The Ministry of Steve Pavlina.
Submitting my article to the personal development carnival is kind of a double-edged sword. It's not that the subject of personal development is bad by definition, it's just that stuff that's actually worthwhile to read in the vein of personal development is drowned out by so much garbage. You don't often get a post like mine that specifically tells lots of people to give up on their dreams.
Everyone interested in circlejerking about personal development should definitely go over to Creating a Better Life and check it out. There's bound to be a few articles in there worth reading and taking something from.
Carnival of the Capitalists
A more recent post that I'm pretty proud of, How Building a Giant Mansion for Yourself is Better Than Charity; Biltmore Estate was included in the Carnival of the Capitalists put on this week by Names@Work. The reception there was not as warm as I had expected, but at the very least the person putting on this week's carnival is evolved enough to put things in the carnival that he might not necessarily agree with entirely. I can always respect that. |
|
|
