Surprise!!

Where the Wild Things Are - A Review

Where the wild things are is a fanciful tale confronting the insecurities of both parents and children in way that is both confrontational and introspective. Immediately after watching the movie I feared that the narrative was to mature for a ten year old to grasp, but knowing that the visuals would provide a story that children would long remember and identify with almost immediately. After digesting the film for a while I now believe that Spike Jonze hit the nail on the head. Without providing a synopsis, I wanted to point out that the screen adaptation differs from the book a great deal. While the book has fewer than ten written lines of text, the film has much a more robust story line.

The original book allowed a great deal of imagination which was great for reading with your children, allowing them to explore the illustration and to think creatively to craft an entire world to better understand Max’s world. The film is much more explicit in defining Max’s frustration with the world’s inability to understand his experience and his world. Max is a self pronounced explorer who experiences the world through his imagination and attempts to address others from his perspective. Unfortunately this seems to backfire and those around him define Max as disruptive and at times destructive. Max has as brief moment of introspection after storming his sisters room, however following this moment of self reflection Max ignores his insight and continues pursing his own desires and the inclinations of his imagination.

After a catastrophic interaction with this mother where he attempts to garner her attention over that of her boyfriend, Max rejects the world around him and runs from his problems, ultimately shunning the confines of our world to escape to a world which better conforms to his experiences. It becomes clear as Max arrives at this new place Where the Wild Things Are that he must take control and responsibility for his actions, and he is immediately presented with an important decision where must choose how he will interact with a world that he does not understand. Shortly thereafter he becomes aware of the consequences of his decision and must again find a creative way to reconstruct his image. What at the time appears to be a great decision where Max lies, and makes it clear that he is a person of great power and authority soon becomes a nightmare where Max again must confront the fallout from his actions and decisions. He again takes this moment to reflect and finally comes to terms with a better understanding of how his actions affect those around him. Along his journey he forms a conditional friendship with Carol the giant who he soon learns is also misunderstood and similar to himself does not grasp the implications of his actions. Carol serves as a mirror for Max, finally allowing Max to see how his construct of a world or place better than his own can shroud your perception of the reality he is confronted with. The idealism of a utopia where problems do not exist and there is no sadness offers a great juxtaposition to the stark reality where real problems do exist and where you must take responsibility for your actions.

When Max arrives at the decision to leave this world Where the Wild Things Are and travel home, the maturation he has experienced is again mirrored in Carol’s character as he now fully grasps that not all things are perfect, but that you can have a great effect either positive or negative on those around you, and that you must be in the present and not lost in some alternate reality. This is a great film intended for all ages. A film full of imagination, best intentions and lessons learned. Spike Jonze directed another wonderful film. Similar to Being John Malkovich we are lost in some other possible reality that is beyond our grasp, an alternate reality that we fashion as an escape from the world in which we live. I think that both adults and children of all ages can walk away from this film with a better understanding of the effect of their actions on those around them, and how to better cope with the realities of this world. I think this may be one of the more creative and perhaps best adaptations I have seen of children’s story in some time. Absolutely recommended.

First off, Amazon needs to add some depth to their ratings system. There seems to be a vast chasm between 3 and 4 stars, similar to the difference between a 60% D and a 80% B. If it were up to me I would give this album 3.5 stars or roughly a 70% C. This album is not a failure by any measure, as a matter of fact I liked this album overall.

What an unexpected treasure. After digesting his freshman effort "These Streets" over the last several months "Sunny Side Up" came as quite a surprise. On the first album he shied away from his native heritage vocally while honing his focus on a great story telling dynamic. He discussed his insecurities surrounding women, relationships gone wrong and his abiding faith in the opposite sex. Not to mention his passionate desire to love and be loved. Not to say his voice was anything to turn your nose up at, quite the contrary. The carefully crafted lyricism mixed with catchy folk hooks makes this album both enchanting and irresistible. I loved that album and will continue to listen to it for years to come.

The first thing that strikes me about "Sunny Side Up" is the return to his roots as a Scotsman in his vocal intonation. You can tell within a just a few moments where he cut his teeth. This is a good album, with some great individual songs. what it is missing however is a sense of cohesiveness. There are several amazing songs but they fail to execute on a consistent narrative. While he continues his theme of passion for women, the over all message is delivered using a different approach, tragically it comes across delivering mixed signals. In terms of an epic album this doesn't quite fall into the amazing category, however I would definitely recommend you give this album a spin. "Candy" sticks out to me as an extremely bright spot on this, his sophomore effort, however I think that "These Streets" is a more cohesive effort album for your money.

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Ahh fall. The morning air is a bit more crisp, the sun begins setting a bit earlier each day and new installment of Guitar Hero looms on the horizon. Oh yeah...and football. The first week of September ushers in the beginnings of the college football season, and the mighty University of Utah Runnin' Utes are off an running. The first game of the season has already come and gone and the streak continues 15-0. There is some talk of the Utes moving to the Pac 10 conference after leaving the Mountain West. One of the great things about being a BCS busting team is that we automatically garner more attention. The Mountain West is no where near a BCS conference and does not come with a bowl bid and yet we have been to two BCS bowls in 5 years with two wins. We have a great schedule this year and hopefully as we develop a new offensive weapon in Terrance Cain the Runnin' Utes can stay on top.

Im looking forward to a great season in College football, and now the NFL has started its season as well. A great opening game this thrusday between the Titans and the Steelers was a great begining to the NFL season even if it was headlined with a Tim Magraw concert. A great defensive battle was fought out on the gridiron as it should be, however the first game of the season went into overtime ending on a field goal. I love this game and am so happy that we have reached the best time of the year!

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 review

To be fair I don't like this rating system. Its not fair to say that 3 stars for Jay-Z is the same as 3 stars for other crappy albums. At the same time this album is not a classic and my rating reflects that. The reason I am rating this album so low is because my expectation is so high. Hova was recently on Real Time with Bill Maher where he explained how his perspective has changed not only through his own monetary success but also due to his age. His music has become more adult over time. Evolving from his younger years posting up on a corner to creating his own businesses and clothing labels. This is exactly what he set out to do, unfortunately he has lost his hunger for the rap game.

The Blueprint was supposed to be just that, a blueprint to the rap game. If the rap world collapsed and someone came across this series they would have the ability to understand where the heart and soul of rap came from and why it existed to begin with. Unfortunately this album is not cohesive, delivers no clear message and appears to be a best of the B-SIDES album. Man does it hurt to say that! There are a few examples of his previous greatness such as Empire State of Mind and So Ambitious, but for the most part this is a solidly disappointing album. I'm sure people will say I'm hating on Hova. Not true, I just expect so much. He does integrate the current state of the world into his rhymes and production style as well, discussing the state of the war in the Middle East and current pop infatuation with Auto-Tune. Death of Auto-Tune was a song with so much promise; starting off by proclaiming himself "chairman of the board" unfortunately he fails to deliver.

Would I recommend this album? Absolutely. Jay-Z is one of the best who's ever been in the game. He has had an incredibly long career and I think his body of work should speak for itself. You cannot understand the hip-hop game without understanding Jay-Z. More than music he realized the limitations of simply rapping and spent his time focusing elsewhere crating businesses and a long sustainable legacy. Unfortunately his lack of focus on his music shows through with this effort.

OMFG!!

Al Franken was right, Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

My Review of REI Venturi 30 Pack

REI

Reach for the spry REI Venturi if you're fitting a long hike into a single day. This lightweight pack boasts high ventilation and weather resistance.

REI Venturi 30 Pack

Great daytrip bag.

Alaskanwonder Salt Lake City, Utah 3/22/2009

 

5 5

Gift: No

Pros: Lightweight, Easy To Load, Comfortable, Good padding

Best Uses: Day trip, Hiking

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

What Is Your Gear Style: Comfort Driven

What a great bag! I use this bag almost every weekend for short 3-7 hour dayhikes in Utah's Wasatch mountains. There is more than enough room for any gear that I may need, but more importantly enough room for my wife's gear and items for my dog as well. I've taken this bag cross country skiing, snow shoeing and hiking it its been great for every activity. There is a great hydration feature as well. I would recomend this as a daypack for anyone who likes dayhikes, but I wouldnt recomend it for any overnight trips.

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Sunday Morning in Washington...and other thought on News.

I have been consistently frustrated with the availability of information to the average American citizen by the many sources of media and the partisan nature of reporting in this country today. I have wanted to discuss this issue at length for some time, and from time to time I offer my sound bites and opinions while sharing a beer with a friend or over a cup of coffee. There are several forms of media that we consume: TV, Printed Media, Radio and Online Content. I would like to begin this dialogue by tackling the televised segment of our media consumption. In the future I will continue to tackle the others as well. Surely this is a time altered opinion, and hopefully something that I will be able to speak about these and many other political topics at length in the future.

Every single day I sit at my desk speaking with clients of "The Firm" about the state of the economy, the state of the market and the vast array of information (CRAP) on TV which calls itself news. Whether you watch your local evening news, or if you focus on Nationally syndicated broadcast news on any of the major networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOXnews) its all a bunch of crap. If it bleeds, it leads...it’s that simple. Each of these networks is in business to increase their market share and make more money. They do this through creative marketing, focusing on the negative stories in the news and engage in a constant game of one upsmanship.

If you really want news...real news. There are several sources available. In my opinion you can learn more in the several hours of the Sunday Morning Washington talk show circuit than you can in a week of CNN, MSNBC, FOXnews ect. Now while I love to watch Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews carry forward the policies and thought processes that I agree with, in the same breath Sean Hannity & Bill O'Reilly do the same to further the conservative (Neo-Conservative) agenda. While it is certainly entertaining there is little to be gained other than some simple sound bites and concise criticisms of any alternate agenda. If you want to dig beneath it all you need some source of balance in your political diet, some way of reaching beyond the punditry professed by the majority of "News" networks you need to dig deeper.

On a daily basis there is a great deal of actual news available on PBS on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. PBS is a not for profit institution funded by the American tax payer. Wow! What a thought! Bipartisan tax monies offered to a not for profit agency to provide non-partisan/bi-partisan news to the public. Additionally Frontline offers a weekly documentarian insight to what is going on in the world around us, it provides a uniquely in-depth insight with interviews and concise information concerning what is going on in the world...again....in a non-partisan way.

Each an every Friday night I begin my weekend with Washington Week with Gwen Eiffel on PBS as she wraps up the week in sound bites and new clips paired with particular points of view offered by other news editors and news columnists in many of the major publications in the world. Sunday is like Christmas to me. Face the Nation, Meet the Press, This Week and Fox News Sunday. These shows provide a great deal of insight into the political psyche of our county on a weekly basis. Surely each network has a particular focus and agenda that they intend to get across to the American people, however if you watch even one of these shows you will gain an insight into the specifics in a way that no network news show intends to provide on a nightly basis.

If you waste you time aligning your exposure to the media which is most in line with your political stream off consciousness you will never be capable of furthering your political scream of consciousness. If you are a raging conservative and watch only Fox News.....you will never understand the thought process of Democrats/Liberals. Like wise if you are a raging liberal and choose to only watch MSNBC you will never be able to understand the Republican/Conservative thought process. Yet by absorbing several sources of media, several perspectives on one political topic you may be able to further your ability to understand the problem more thoroughly and address is more succinctly.

So there you go. There are some great media offerings out there that are far more informative than the forms of media that we seem to ingest daily. Crap in.....crap out. It’s a simple formula.

The Political Meliu

On January 20th 2009 when President Obama was sworn into office America entered a new period in our political evolution. Clearly the Republican party is falling apart, seemingly held together by the glue provided by Rush Limbaugh. The same party that is brought together by the mantra "Drill Baby Drill" is the same party that simply has no solutions....no answers....no change. Obama swept into office carrying the banner of change and has no intent to back down from his ambitious political track. To be sure his plans have been vast and extremely ambitious. Yet there is a great deal of disagreement over the mandate of his policies on such topics as earmark reform, healthcare, food sourcing, clean renewable energy, education and a host of other policies. Over the last 8 years we have wasted the political capital that was so entrenched when George Bush was voted into office. The party of small government simply became larger. The military expanded far beyond the role of national defense and comfortably stepped into the role of world police. The Republican party has clearly entrenched their belief structure within thier supposed party leadership of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Lindsay Graham and to a great extent Rush Limbaugh. Somehow the head of the GOP R-Michael Steele has been hung out to dry for being more than the party of "NO". Michael Steele is in my opinion a wolf in sheeps clothing. It seems to me that he subscribes to some abject moral imperative far beyond the Christian ethic. Perhaps he should consider aligning himself with the conservative democratic coalition, The Blue Dog Democrats.

President Obama has created a Dynamic stream of consciousness that clearly the Republicn Party cannot grasp. Once again....to be sure. We are spending a great deal of money, more money than anyone can firmly understand. Over the last 45 days since President Obama's Inauguration the Republicans have paraded before both houses of congress with some very colorful posters comically showing how large the stimulus would be in terms of 100 Dollar bills stacked one atop the other. Then going further to explain how many times we could encircle the earth......HOW IS THIS USEFUL? Answer....its not. This is what I am talking about, the Republican party is simply the party of no. The party of temper tantrums, such as John Boehner dropping a copy of the stimulus plan on the floor at the house, such as Lindsay Graham heralding the end of the American dream.

My hope is that the White House doesn’t confuse "The American Dream" with "The American Promise". There is no American promise, you must work hard, make tough decisions with the hope that you can watch your children do better than you have. Obama is an exemplary model of "The American Dream". Born to a single mother who traveled around the globe, raised by his Grandparents and with no stable father figure in his life beyond his Grandfather, sent to the best schools through his academic achievement. Attained his Law Degree from one of the best Law Schools in the country, and became the first African American editor of The Harvard Law Review and yet gave up some clearly extremely lucrative job prospects to work as a community organizer. He worked his way up from the bottom...he had nothing and came from nothing. He became a state Senator.....a US Senator...and ultimately President of the United States of America. After 8 long years I am finally proud to call myself an American again, proud of our President.

The Republican is simply the party of no....a party with no new ideas, the party of old ideas who can’t see the future. They are simply holding on to failed dreams. Simply attempting to stay on message at a time when they offer no alternative. This is not the Republican Party, this is the Rebupli-Can’t party. Political Party

An interesting video from the office of Nancy Pelosi