The Book of Eli-a Movie Review

**Warning: Spoiler Alert**

I saw the movie "The Book of Eli". We got to the theater at 2:30 and realized it had just started, so we went in not to miss anything. But I did miss out on the popcorn and large diet coke I usually get before a movie. Oh well. 
The movie is shot in what I would call "end of the world" colors like grays and sepia. And the feel is one of desolation. I got this eerie feeling of lostness.

One man by the name of Eli (Denzel Washington) was in possession of the Bible-the only remaining copy. The movie was a mix between "Mad Max" and "Lord of the Rings". Eli needed to go west and deliver this prized book to a place where it would be valued and re printed for future generations. 
During his travels he encountered bands of people all surviving for themselves. The world was a place of anarchy and all civilized restraint was removed- humanity and water were rare and both were held captive by evil men.

But there was a deep longing for the book Eli had. One guy who wanted it was a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman ). But he wanted the book to control people. Carnegie and Eli had one thing in common, they both knew the power of the words in the book and how it can transform a person. 
It's hard to imagine, not having access to a bible. I mean I could swing a dead cat in any direction and hit a Bible or someone who owns one.

The movie had conflicts that symbolized some spiritual lessons:

• Eli knew the bible can set people free-Carnegie knew the bible could control people. One used it for good and the other used it for bad.
  
• Eli was physically blind but spiritually he could see. Carnegie could physically see but was spiritually blind.
  

The Pharisees were the "spiritually blind" in Jesus day. They used the bible to condemn people and control them. This "condemning" spirit lives in our churches today. We call it legalism. A "legalist" is an angry person who has a knee jerk response to condemn people-and in doing so they condemn themselves. 
Carnegie eventually get's the bible from Eli but finds out he can't read it. Since Eli was blind the copy Eli had was in Braille. The word was in Carnegie's hands but not his heart.

During the movie we meet a young woman named Solera (Mila Kunis). She is taught by Eli the value of the word and its power to use for good. At the end of the journey, Eli recites the entire bible by memory to a Scribe so that the words are forever kept. But Solera takes the "Book" and returns to the world where she came from, but with the power to set people free.

Pirateway's TOP 10 Bassists

I listed my top 20 guitarists a while ago (see my notes) now I would like to honor those who bring the bottom: the underrated but VIP bassists: here's my top ten:

1. John Paul Jones/Led Zep

2. Flea/RHCP

3. Jack Bruce/Cream

4. Les Claypool/Primus

5. Tim Commerford/RATM-Audioslave

6. Cliff Burton/Metallica

7. John Persh/Rare Earth

8. Robert Trujillo

9. John Entwistle/Who

10 Geddy Lee/Rush

Up and coming: Josh Abair/Sky Beneath Diary...

Pirateway's TOP 10 Drummers

1.Neil Peart
2.John Bonham
3. Carmen Appice
4. Lars Ulrich
5. Ginger Baker
6. Buddy Rich
7. Mitch Mitchell
8. Charlie Watts
9. Peter Rivera
10. Phil Collins (Hon. Mention)

Pirateway's TOP 35 Male Rock Vocalists

OK, this was the hardest list to compile because vocal talent is in the ear of the beholder. So I started  with a loose criteria of influence, uniqueness and variety. I went back to the 60's rock scene and covered contemporary genres. Take a look and see if your fav is on the list if not tell me who you would've added.

1. Paul Rodgers
2. Robert Plant
3. Chris Cornell
4. Steven Tyler
5. Freddie Mercury
6. Geddy Lee
7. Steve Perry
8. Ronnie James Dio
9. Don Henley
10. Michael Sweet
11. James Hetfield
12. Rob Zombie
13. Bon Scott
14. Bruce Dickinson
15. Ozzy Osbourne
16. Axl Rose
17. Jonathan Davis
18. Roger Daltrey
19. David Lee Roth
20. Kurt Cobain
21. Rod Stewart
22. Eddie Vedder
23. Sebastian Bach
24. Philip Anselmo
25. Zack De La Rocha
26. Ray Davies
27. Scott Stapp
28. Jon Mica Sumrall
29. Layne Staley
30. Claudio Sanchez

***Revised addition: adding 5 to the list above-these vocalists could be added from #13 on down:
1. Greg X Volz
2. Geoff Tate
3. Bono
4. Bob Seger
5. Dale Thompson

10 Words you will NOT find on a Tattoo

Words , phrases and verses that portray strength, love and hope are common for Tattoo's. Chinese symbols just look cool, no matter what the words mean. But here are 10 words that you will never see on a Tat:

1. Fussy
2. Irritable
3. OMG
4. Anxious
5. Nincompoop
6. Snazzy
7. Viagra
8. Meanie
9. Math Wiz
10. Ringworm

What If

Imagine a world of possibilities and the freedom to pursue them. Ask yourself "What if" then begin to fill in the blanks. Dream, hope and move forward.

Here are some of mine:

• What if I could put aside my agenda and understand what you're really saying?
  

• What if I could love the unlovable?
  

• What If I could see life thorough my son's eyes?
  

• What if I lowered my expectations and appreciated what came my way?
  

• What if I could tell you "I love you" without saying words?
  

• What if Jesus spoke to you right now what would he tell you?
  

Every day I want to ask myself one "what if" and then begin the quest to answer the question. These are mine what are some of yours?

“Long Live the Dream” The New “Post Racial” Storytellers

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Martin Luther King Jr. August 28^th 1963

On August 28^th 1963, Rev Martin Luther King Jr. told us he had a dream-a dream that transcended race: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm. Today I wonder what happened to the dream. Dr King's words were borne out of the bloodshed of a moral revolution where laws were changed and people marched in the streets to bring justice to black Americans.

These early foot soldiers were tearing up the "old racist" narrative of white privilege and power and they were writing a new story in which ones skin color would no longer be the measuring rod of a person's worth. The "story tellers" were of all colors and shared a common objective that justice is colorblind.

But then something happened-the children of the foot soldiers, the baby boomers-of which I am a part-found that "skin color" brought power, prestige and tenure in the University. And we began writing a new narrative with old racial stereotypes-in which a person is identified by their pigment. People began hyphenating themselves-They'd say "I'm a (insert ethnicity here)-American; groups formed around skin color, Universities had Ethnic Studies.

I once let slip the word "colorblind" around some boomers and it was as if I dropped the "F" bomb. The dream that was fought in bloodshed was being re-written. And we were becoming a polarized people.

Narratives are powerful things-they're windows into the soul of a culture. Narratives are protected by the one telling the story. The "storyteller" wants to keep the narrative alive because to lose the story is to lose power and purpose. But narratives do change over time and over the horizon is a new group of storytellers who are writing a new narrative-one that is "colorblind"-a post racial narrative- a narrative that will bring Dr King's dream closer to reality. Who are these new storytellers?

The new storytellers are the Gen X'rs (28yrs to 47yrs) and the Millennials' (18yrs to 27yrs). A major study was done on the Millennials who are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation to enter our American life.

The Millennial Project http://mass.arizona.edu/millennial/aboutstudy.html is a 4-year mix method longitudinal study launched in the fall of 2005 and followed the class of 2009, assessing the students' perspectives on diversity and following their development. The results give us hope-that one day a person will be measured by the content of their character and not by the old racial stereotypes of skin color. The study tells us that the "Millennials" have the most demographically distinct characteristics and they bring with them new ways of thinking about diversity issues:

"This wave of youth embarking on the shores of academe has been protected from harm and exudes optimism about their future (Howe & Strauss, 2003). These students are rule followers and team players, driven by a need to achieve and pressure to perform (DeBard, 2004). They are arriving with new ideas, values and beliefs that for the most part are in contrast to the generation before them. One of these changing views is diversity. Diversity has expanded from a critical (race) perspective to a post-modern perspective whereby diversity includes not only race and ethnicity, but also factors of gender, sexual orientation, ability, college generation status, age, religious affiliation, political affiliation and socioeconomic status. This inclusive, social justice view of diversity, projected through pre-college experiences and defined by the media has shaped Millennials' attitudes and behaviors toward broader elements of diversity. Race and ethnicity are no longer the central tenets of diversity".

The researchers point out that "Diversity has become so inclusive that it is diffuse, almost diluted back to a melting pot of mankind (Schlesinger, 1999). Students assessed as having a postmodern perspective have a broad definition of diversity and value harmony" and the Millennials
have "Meritocratic values that focus on achievement rather than on issues such as race or gender".

The study also recognized that the old narrative that focuses solely on race was insidious: "the social construction of race is insidious in today's social actions and therefore, race should not be relegated to the margins as several legal contentions have successfully or unsuccessfully argued (e.g. Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger)"

So, if the narrative is formed by the one telling the story-we are in hope of one day seeing Martin Luther King's dream come to fruition. Dr King unfortunately was taken from us too early but his dream lives on.

I have a dream today!

WWJD about Haiti

Pat Robertson has a wonderful organization called "Operation Blessing" http://www.ob.org/haitiprojects/index.asp OB is doing God's work in Haiti. Too bad we missed that point with an odd and irresponsible remark by Pat see link: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/Robertson_Haiti_cursed_since_Satanic_pact.html

My advice to Pat would've been-give out the 800 # for Operation Blessing-ask people to pray-invite folks to give and then go to commercial break. The "pact with the devil" story was out of place and irrelevant. And it doesn't help with a media, who is more than willing to jump on this remark and paint all believers in a bad light.

Look, Pat Robertson is a good man and has blessed millions with the "700 club". I'm irritated with Pat because he's a brother and people do listen to what he says. But in the last few years it seems he has this need to link tragedies with God's punishment. This is not the heart of God. Yes God is a just God and there are biblical teachings that talk about "generational sins" and the "blessings and curses" of nations. What happened in Haiti is not God's retribution. When God makes His presence known in human history there will be no doubt. What happened in Haiti was a devastating earthquake that hit an impoverished nation-nothing more-nothing less.

When human tragedy strikes, God's heart breaks. And compassion isn't just a characteristic of Christians-as if Christians are more compassionate than non Christians. I don't know his faith but George Clooney put his money where his mouth is to help the people of Haiti. God bless his efforts.

Compassion is a universal characteristic shared by all. But before the earthquake that got the world's attention, Christian's were quietly doing God's work in Haiti-feeding the poor, caring for the sick and finding homes for the orphans. What Would Jesus Do? The answer is seen in his followers who answered the call to one of the most impoverished places on earth to love their neighbor. This is what Jesus would do. This is what his followers are doing and will do long after this crisis.

So we could talk about scriptural laws that may or may not point to God's judgement on a nation but for now and until Jesus comes the only law that animates the believer is the law of Love-as expressed in "Love your neighbor"- and those that are suffering in Haiti are my neighbors.

Is Your New Year’s Resolution SMART?

A friend of mine once said "Making a New Year's resolution is like shooting at a target a mile away-It's out of reach and out of sight." Good point and for most of us our New Year's resolutions never hit the target. But I take a different approach to resolutions, for me it's making a smart one. A smart resolution needs to be: 


Specific-Measurable- Attainable- Realistic and Time limited.

So before I go out and purchase the Elliptical machine, I need make sure my goal is specific and not too broad-can it be measured? Can I attain it this year? And is it realistic? For example
I'm short and
growing three inches is not realistic for me. If my goal is not SMART, the Elliptical machine I buy will turn out to be another coat hanger along with the Stair Stepper and the Bow Flex. BTW if you need a nice Bow Flex, I'm posting it on Craig's list.

The other night my wife and I were eating at a fine dining establishment with some friends. As I was putting the finishing touches on the garlic mashed potatoes, I made the grand pronouncement: "I'm going to lose weight this year. The words just hung in the air among the laughter. Obviously it wasn't a smart goal. But if I applied my SMART rule, my goal would look like this:

Specific: It is my goal to lose 15 to 20 pounds this year. I will accomplish this by counting calories and working out at the gym 3 to 4 times a week.

Measurable: I will track my progress by weighing myself on the scale and also note subtle changes like being able to tie my shoes without losing my breath.

Attainable: Losing 15 to 20 pounds is attainable in one year. There is a goofy saying "inch by inch is a cinch-but yard by yard is hard." So if I plan to lose the 15 pounds in one year, I can do it.

Realistic: I may not be able to have a full set of hair or grow 3 inches or become an astronaut but I can lose the weight, that's realistic.

Time limited: I'm giving myself one year to lose 15 to 20 pounds. I also can break this down to smaller increments like 5 pounds a month or whatever time frame is doable for me.

Now let's put it all together: It is my resolution to lose 15 pounds by December 31, 2010. I will accomplish this by working out 4 days a week at the gym; count my caloric intake and decrease the amount of junk food. I will follow my progress by weighing myself and note subtle changes such as being able to tie my shoe without heavy breathing. I can achieve this goal if I follow the plan I have set for myself.

Now that is a SMART goal and next New Year I will write a post being 15 to 20 pounds lighter. Happy New Year.