War of the Worlds, War of the Old West, new rims, and a request for prayer
Personal update on a host of topics:
Watched "War of the Worlds" on Sunday with a bunch of folks. Some thoughts, in invisible ink:
The good:
- funniest quote from a reviewer: "While someone knowing a bit about Scientology might have expected Cruise to bow down to our new alien overlords..."
- most poignant quote from a reviewer: "Having Cruise scuttle underneath the table alongside his daughter makes a larger statement about parent-child relationship. What could be more terrifying to a child than to see his/her parent scared out of their wits?"
- the CG special effects served the story and not the other way around. Some examples:
- humans instantly incinerated by disintegration beam results in ash and flaps of clothing. These flaps of clothing are used to represent the swath of death without actually having to show bodies, kind of like having the red tide wash in and out of the beach in "Saving Private Ryan". Speaking of which, I found it somewhat interesting that while some moviemakers will hesitate to show women and children die on screen, there were quite a few women incinerated, one with the camera focus directly upon her. I don't recall any children though
- the destruction of bridges and buildings looked real and not green-screened
- classic Spielberg in bringing out details that most action directors wouldn't even think of. For example, "the wind is blowing towards the storm", the clotheslines ominously stop flapping wildly
- excellent acting job by the daughter (Dakota Fanning, who looked like a cross between a young Drew Barrymore and a young Jodie Foster) and a decent job by Cruise
- awesomely memorable scenes/set pieces:
- the daughter standing, horrified, at the river as first one, then hundreds of bodies float by. Such a simple effect, but so powerful - I heard sharp intakes of breath and "Oh my gosh" fill the theater during that scene. This might have been my favorite in terms of unexpected impact
- Cruise wandering through the ruins of a downed jetliner, bringing to mind some images of 9/11
- a train goes by with every car and window on fire - a bizarre version of reality
- there is one scene where the camera starts in close on the main characters driving in a minivan, then swoops out a window, rotates around 270 degrees of the van's exterior, then comes back in another window for a dialogue closeup. Never seen a shot like that before
- both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman ('s voice) show up in this movie, reuniting the stars from one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Shawshank Redemption"
The bad:
- the suspension of disbelief required is absurdly high, and there are internal logical inconsistencies galore
- the entire second half of the movie lagged greatly and mostly rehashed scenes and themes from other (and often better) movies like Jurassic Park (raptors in the kitchen chasing kids) and The Matrix (using humans as raw material)
- the ending, while filmed almost straight from the original source material, was wholly unsatisfying and left me with a bad taste in my mouth on the way out, which is not the way you want to leave your viewers. It took reading a few reviews before I remembered that for the most part, I enjoyed the first half of the movie
The ugly:
- internal logical inconsistencies like, why does the electronics-disabling EMP appear to be selectively effective against all devices except those which the protagonists are going to use?
- the red, slimy, solid ooze - what is it for?
- the aliens were disappointingly non-menacing
- the son is annoying for almost the entire movie
De-cloaking for the final thought - while I was entertained by half of it, I ultimately ended up somewhat disappointed in the movie. I suspect my expectations may also have been unfairly elevated since I greatly enjoyed the last Cruise-Spielberg collaboration, "Minority Report", which was exciting, action-packed, featured decent acting and imaginative visions of the future, and was internally consistent for the most part.
Recently, my group of friends has been getting into a relatively new group game called "Bang!" Set in the Old West, you basically have your classic story of a sheriff and his loyal deputies facing off against outlaws who want to take down the sheriff, and a renegade who wants to take down everybody. The catch is, at the beginning of the game you only know who the sheriff is, so through gameplay and dialogue you need to figure out who everyone else is. It's basically Mafia with an attack system.
I've participated in three sessions (about 9 games) so far, and I've made some observations... first, the game fits neatly into a void - it doesn't take as long as Settlers of Catan, it's more action-packed than a Taboo or Scattergories, and involves the use of more of your brain than a Sequence (naming off several other games that have had long playing lives in my sphere of influence). There is strategy in the way you play cards, there is psychology in observing, probing, and responding to other players, and there's enough variety in roles and in luck to make sure that no two games play the same way, which ensures freshness.
Thus far, we've determined that Mike P can be devious and rather astute in his character judgments, Andy Y might have the best grasp on card playing strategy, and I am super easy to read in terms of my role - I can't hide for very long what team I'm on. This usually means I'm one of the first to die. Ah well... live and learn.
After nearly a decade (since mid-college), I've finally bought a new pair of glasses. I'm quite excited about the clip-on sunglasses portion, and the fact that these are more durable - my current glasses will bend out of shape with the lightest touch. Thanks to Dr. Vivian for the hookup on a good frame and a good deal on the glasses, and to both the optical technicians who offered opinions on which frames looked good... even though I won't pick them up for a few weeks since the frame is on back-order. Hey, if it's on back-order, that must mean it's a good frame since so many people are buying it, right?
Finally, in a week and a half, I'll be heading down to Mexico for a one-week short-term missions trip with a team of combined young adults and youth from my church. For those who haven't received either a hard copy or a soft copy of my prayer letter, here it is:
Hóla! Qué pasa? Some of you I serve and fellowship with regularly, some I have not seen in a while, but God is faithful all the same. For those who I have failed to keep in better touch with, I’ve been living in the South Bay since graduating from college in 2000, working at a few different networking companies and going through two different acquisitions. Ministry-wise, I’ve been blessed to be able to serve and worship with a community of believers at Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church. It’s been a remarkable ride these last few years seeing God work in and through me, both inside the church and also in the Silicon Valley.
This August, I will be co-leading a team of young adults and high schoolers for a one-week missions trip to Mexico (July 30 – August 6). We will be partnering with an organization called YUGO Ministries, which is dedicated to serving and equipping the local church to do the work of the Gospel in their communities. We will be serving at a church in the children’s ministry and the sports ministry (focused on young men). Our team will have opportunities to build relationships with locals, teach Bible studies, play sports and games, and most of all, share the life-changing testimony of the Gospel with those we come in contact with.
I would like to invite you to prayerfully consider supporting me in prayer before, during, and after this trip (I intend to support myself financially, and prayer support is more important to me). This will be my first short-term missions experience since a particularly life-impacting two months in New York City back in 2000. Thus far, the preparation has been hectic and sometimes overwhelming, with the amount of logistics involved with co-captaining being more than I had anticipated. As such, I don’t feel as spiritually excited yet about this trip as I feel like I should be. Please pray for a closer and tighter walk with the Lord, and that through this process I might be able to hear the Holy Spirit’s promptings more clearly before and during Mexico. Also, please pray for the team – we are currently training together and gelling together well. For most of the youth, this will be their first missions experience, and I am enthused to see what kind of impact God will make in them and through their lives. We are learning how to support one another and how to be flexible, as we have little way of knowing what our host church may ask us to do, or what God may call us to do at any given moment.
If you would like to support the team and myself in prayer, please send me an email at (address to the right) with the following information by 7/25:
Name:
Email address:
I would like to pray for Bob and the Mexico team on: (circle all that apply)
7/30 (Sat) 7/31 (Sun) 8/1 (Mon) 8/2 (Tues) 8/3 (Wed) 8/4 (Thurs) 8/5 (Fri) 8/6 (Sat)
There is a memorable passage in 1 Samuel 30 where David, returning from battle to greet the men who stayed behind to guard the camp, grants a full share to each: “’The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.’ David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.” Likewise, I know that God values the work of the senders as much as the goers. Thank you for your fellowship and partnership. If there is anything I can pray for you about, please let me know in the email reply you send.
Be God’s!
Personal update on a host of topics:
Watched "War of the Worlds" on Sunday with a bunch of folks. Some thoughts, in invisible ink:
The good:
- funniest quote from a reviewer: "While someone knowing a bit about Scientology might have expected Cruise to bow down to our new alien overlords..."
- most poignant quote from a reviewer: "Having Cruise scuttle underneath the table alongside his daughter makes a larger statement about parent-child relationship. What could be more terrifying to a child than to see his/her parent scared out of their wits?"
- the CG special effects served the story and not the other way around. Some examples:
- humans instantly incinerated by disintegration beam results in ash and flaps of clothing. These flaps of clothing are used to represent the swath of death without actually having to show bodies, kind of like having the red tide wash in and out of the beach in "Saving Private Ryan". Speaking of which, I found it somewhat interesting that while some moviemakers will hesitate to show women and children die on screen, there were quite a few women incinerated, one with the camera focus directly upon her. I don't recall any children though
- the destruction of bridges and buildings looked real and not green-screened
- classic Spielberg in bringing out details that most action directors wouldn't even think of. For example, "the wind is blowing towards the storm", the clotheslines ominously stop flapping wildly
- excellent acting job by the daughter (Dakota Fanning, who looked like a cross between a young Drew Barrymore and a young Jodie Foster) and a decent job by Cruise
- awesomely memorable scenes/set pieces:
- the daughter standing, horrified, at the river as first one, then hundreds of bodies float by. Such a simple effect, but so powerful - I heard sharp intakes of breath and "Oh my gosh" fill the theater during that scene. This might have been my favorite in terms of unexpected impact
- Cruise wandering through the ruins of a downed jetliner, bringing to mind some images of 9/11
- a train goes by with every car and window on fire - a bizarre version of reality
- there is one scene where the camera starts in close on the main characters driving in a minivan, then swoops out a window, rotates around 270 degrees of the van's exterior, then comes back in another window for a dialogue closeup. Never seen a shot like that before
- both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman ('s voice) show up in this movie, reuniting the stars from one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Shawshank Redemption"
The bad:
- the suspension of disbelief required is absurdly high, and there are internal logical inconsistencies galore
- the entire second half of the movie lagged greatly and mostly rehashed scenes and themes from other (and often better) movies like Jurassic Park (raptors in the kitchen chasing kids) and The Matrix (using humans as raw material)
- the ending, while filmed almost straight from the original source material, was wholly unsatisfying and left me with a bad taste in my mouth on the way out, which is not the way you want to leave your viewers. It took reading a few reviews before I remembered that for the most part, I enjoyed the first half of the movie
The ugly:
- internal logical inconsistencies like, why does the electronics-disabling EMP appear to be selectively effective against all devices except those which the protagonists are going to use?
- the red, slimy, solid ooze - what is it for?
- the aliens were disappointingly non-menacing
- the son is annoying for almost the entire movie
De-cloaking for the final thought - while I was entertained by half of it, I ultimately ended up somewhat disappointed in the movie. I suspect my expectations may also have been unfairly elevated since I greatly enjoyed the last Cruise-Spielberg collaboration, "Minority Report", which was exciting, action-packed, featured decent acting and imaginative visions of the future, and was internally consistent for the most part.
Recently, my group of friends has been getting into a relatively new group game called "Bang!" Set in the Old West, you basically have your classic story of a sheriff and his loyal deputies facing off against outlaws who want to take down the sheriff, and a renegade who wants to take down everybody. The catch is, at the beginning of the game you only know who the sheriff is, so through gameplay and dialogue you need to figure out who everyone else is. It's basically Mafia with an attack system.
I've participated in three sessions (about 9 games) so far, and I've made some observations... first, the game fits neatly into a void - it doesn't take as long as Settlers of Catan, it's more action-packed than a Taboo or Scattergories, and involves the use of more of your brain than a Sequence (naming off several other games that have had long playing lives in my sphere of influence). There is strategy in the way you play cards, there is psychology in observing, probing, and responding to other players, and there's enough variety in roles and in luck to make sure that no two games play the same way, which ensures freshness.
Thus far, we've determined that Mike P can be devious and rather astute in his character judgments, Andy Y might have the best grasp on card playing strategy, and I am super easy to read in terms of my role - I can't hide for very long what team I'm on. This usually means I'm one of the first to die. Ah well... live and learn.
After nearly a decade (since mid-college), I've finally bought a new pair of glasses. I'm quite excited about the clip-on sunglasses portion, and the fact that these are more durable - my current glasses will bend out of shape with the lightest touch. Thanks to Dr. Vivian for the hookup on a good frame and a good deal on the glasses, and to both the optical technicians who offered opinions on which frames looked good... even though I won't pick them up for a few weeks since the frame is on back-order. Hey, if it's on back-order, that must mean it's a good frame since so many people are buying it, right?
Finally, in a week and a half, I'll be heading down to Mexico for a one-week short-term missions trip with a team of combined young adults and youth from my church. For those who haven't received either a hard copy or a soft copy of my prayer letter, here it is:
Hóla! Qué pasa? Some of you I serve and fellowship with regularly, some I have not seen in a while, but God is faithful all the same. For those who I have failed to keep in better touch with, I’ve been living in the South Bay since graduating from college in 2000, working at a few different networking companies and going through two different acquisitions. Ministry-wise, I’ve been blessed to be able to serve and worship with a community of believers at Canaan Taiwanese Christian Church. It’s been a remarkable ride these last few years seeing God work in and through me, both inside the church and also in the Silicon Valley.
This August, I will be co-leading a team of young adults and high schoolers for a one-week missions trip to Mexico (July 30 – August 6). We will be partnering with an organization called YUGO Ministries, which is dedicated to serving and equipping the local church to do the work of the Gospel in their communities. We will be serving at a church in the children’s ministry and the sports ministry (focused on young men). Our team will have opportunities to build relationships with locals, teach Bible studies, play sports and games, and most of all, share the life-changing testimony of the Gospel with those we come in contact with.
I would like to invite you to prayerfully consider supporting me in prayer before, during, and after this trip (I intend to support myself financially, and prayer support is more important to me). This will be my first short-term missions experience since a particularly life-impacting two months in New York City back in 2000. Thus far, the preparation has been hectic and sometimes overwhelming, with the amount of logistics involved with co-captaining being more than I had anticipated. As such, I don’t feel as spiritually excited yet about this trip as I feel like I should be. Please pray for a closer and tighter walk with the Lord, and that through this process I might be able to hear the Holy Spirit’s promptings more clearly before and during Mexico. Also, please pray for the team – we are currently training together and gelling together well. For most of the youth, this will be their first missions experience, and I am enthused to see what kind of impact God will make in them and through their lives. We are learning how to support one another and how to be flexible, as we have little way of knowing what our host church may ask us to do, or what God may call us to do at any given moment.
If you would like to support the team and myself in prayer, please send me an email at (address to the right) with the following information by 7/25:
Name:
Email address:
I would like to pray for Bob and the Mexico team on: (circle all that apply)
7/30 (Sat) 7/31 (Sun) 8/1 (Mon) 8/2 (Tues) 8/3 (Wed) 8/4 (Thurs) 8/5 (Fri) 8/6 (Sat)
There is a memorable passage in 1 Samuel 30 where David, returning from battle to greet the men who stayed behind to guard the camp, grants a full share to each: “’The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.’ David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.” Likewise, I know that God values the work of the senders as much as the goers. Thank you for your fellowship and partnership. If there is anything I can pray for you about, please let me know in the email reply you send.
Be God’s!
posted by Bob at
11:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home