Grains on a Beach, Drops in an Ocean, and other Comparisons to Humanity

Faces in a crowd. Who's that cute brunette? What's that guy's problem? Why must that group insist on blocking the hallway to talk? What is that couple thinking, they're in public! Questions you may have thought in your head walking through a crowd. Everyday we come in contact with hundreds of people, but generally they act as nothing more than extras in our own life's story. It is always something of an eye opener to remind yourself that they are not simply background characters, "walk-on-roles", they are actually people. That guy in the red shirt who has a habit of getting killed on the Enterprise, believe or not he has a last name. A back story. He is more than an expendable crew member so that Star Trek can have the drama of losing a crew member with out jeopardizing the main cast. What about the Red-Shirts in our own lives? I could get the attention of the guy sitting across from me in the computer lab and ask him his mother's name. What? Character development? It can be difficult to remember that we are not alone in this story that is our life. There are more than just main characters and Red-Shirts in our lives. Every Red-Shirt is a real live person who has their own story. What does that make me to them, a Red-Shirt? I don't welcome the idea as acting as an unimportant but still dramatic death in a stranger's life. So perhaps I should not look at others as if that is what their purpose is. The girl sitting next to me, what's her name? Is the paper she's writing important. Is she rubbing her eyes because she was up late last night comforting a sick roommate? One will never know. I suppose the message I am trying to express is simply this: People are real. Wow, what a concept! When I was younger I would look at the cars driving next to my mom's 2001 Honda Oddessy (represent!) and imagine what stories the drivers of the other cars had. It can be very difficult to see other cars on the road as anything more than a nuisance sent to obstruct your journey. But remember, to them you're a Red-Shirt. As I have started a blog I have noticed myself doing something similar, I click the next blog option at the top of my home page and read a little bit of the random blog it pulls up. I have never met these people, nor will I ever probably. I once read the musings of a world traveling principle. Until then he had just been a face in the crowd. After ten minutes of reading he had gone from Red-Shirt to a loving father, a mourning son, a caring friend, and an all around funny guy. Another time I found a man who had dedicated a year of his life to a social experiment. He believed that The Wizard of Oz was so ingrained into our society's culture that a reference to it could be found every day. He was right. It's truly amazing what deep and complex lives that Red-Shirts lead. Is Bender (below) just a punk bully psychopath, or a young man who is terrified at the thought of having to join the real world? I do love The Breakfast Club, it is a wonderful example of the Red-Shirt complex, or seeing everyone else as background characters and then having your eyes opened to see them as they really are. Did I watch this movie recently? No, I just felt it fit with my musings. If someone is like me and is skimming this despite not knowing me, thanks for taking the time to remove my cheesy Red-Shirted uniform, it is awfully uncomfortable...

HEY YOU GUYS!!!!

Last night I got to watch one of the greatest movies ever, The Goonies! For those of you who have not had the pleasure to watch this, go do yourselves a favor and pick it up. It has been 7-8 years since I lost watched this, so apart from the knowledge of the general plot line I pretty much got to watch it with fresh eyes. I was lucky enough to get a DVD copy of it for free over summer term. One of my roommates bought it for his brother but he already had it so I got it. Huzzah! Anywho, this movie rocks. As the kids might say these days it's the bee's knees. It is a classic 80's flick about kids trying to find buried treasure. I love this movie. By the end of it you really remember all those things that would go down with your group of friends during summer vacations back when you were young. The adventures you would go on. Your infatuation with the older girl. Your first love. And above all just kickin it with your closest buds. Marvelous.

Curious and Curiouser

I went to the midnight showing of Alice in Wonderland last night. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has always been one of my favorite books, and by far my favorite classic Disney movie. So naturally I was very excited for this new more adultish version. And who better to give this beloved classic a new dark twist than Tim Burton? Perhaps Guillermo Del Torro, but he has bigger fish to fry currently, (I do not like you Peter Jackson). Moving on. I loved this new version. When I first learned about it over the summer I became very excited, but then everything I saw related to it focused on Johnny Depp's character the Mad Hatter. This greatly upset me because, although a very important character, the story does not revolve around him. He is in two scenes as I recall. But then with further investigation I found out that this movie is more of a sequel to the book, Alice's return to Wonderland (or Underland as it is referred to in this movie) and its subsequent liberation from the red queen's reign of terror. Back to why I loved the movie. It is full of sly winks to the original disney film and more so the literary masterpiece that Lewis Carroll crafted a century ago. It turns the infamous (I say infamous because it is a riddle that Lewis Carroll wrote, a riddle who's pun was that there was no answer but he received so many inquiries about it he had to write a few possible answers) line "Why is a Raven like a writing desk?" into almost a tragic representation of the various character's (and especially the Hatter's) inability to find logic reason or control in their lives. It is not until Alice finally asks for the answer at the end of the film and the Hatter's response of having no idea, with a smile on his face, that you can see that despite the lack of control that we have of our lives, they can still be good. One thing that was a little bit disappointing about it was the publisher was Disney. Throughout the movie you can feel Burton straining against the child targeted company in his attempt to have artistic freedom, but ultimately the corporation wins that battle. That is not to say however that this movie is good for the little kiddies. I would not take my nephew to go see this. There is definitely an age restriction for this one. For example, a shrunken Alice must gain access to the Queen of Heart's castle, but the only way to do so is to cross a blood filled moat using the Queen's victims' heads as stepping stones. Or when Alice uses a creature's eye (previously stabbed out by the Door mouse) as a bartering tool to get it to cooperate. Let me just say again, I very much liked this movie. It was extremely engrossing to see what happened to the characters after Alice left. She returns and everyone has become a soldier, she herself sports very battle appropriate armor at the end of the film as she battles the Jabberwocky. The Mad Hatter becomes a prisoner of war and it is truly fascinating to watch him battle with his own insanity as on one hand he acts silly and foolish, and then to immediately shout "Down with the bloody Red Queen!" And march heroically to the chopping block to meet a martyr's death. Go see it. You may think I spoiled stuff. I didn't. It rocked. 3D didn't really add too much to the movie, it will be visually stunning regardless of which version you see. I cannot wait for it to hit the dollar theater so I can go see it a few more times.

The Troubles of Acting

Well, rather than outline a discussion for my Mission Prep class I am writing this. Wow, it has been a long time. Two, three weeks? Regardless, my apologies to my avid readers....right. Well since last time plenty has happened, I don't recall if I had previously mentioned that I went to a big audition for a bunch of student films. It was a pretty fun audition. And apparently I did very well, because I was just offered my third part, so that's three student films that I am in this semester. Not to mention the play I am in for my theater class. It is pretty exciting. This will be a great semester as far as getting experience goes. And experience is what I need currently. This third film I am in presents a challenge though, it will require that I cry. For those of you who knew me at home it is no secret that all you had to do was put me behind a microphone at fast and testimony meeting to get me blubbering, which is why I cannot recall the last time I did so. But other than that, I don't cry. I'm not saying I am Mr. Macho (I mean I am, but I'm not bragging about it) I just don't like doing it. It is not my natural response to things. So, I am going to need to find something that does it for me, but the question is what is it? Obviously there are the natural assumptions like imagining the death of a loved one or something. Anyone got any suggestions? But regardless, I am looking forward to it, because in this field of work that's something I need to know how to do. It is kind of funny, children fall or become upset and they respond by crying. Boys at a certain age learn that it is no longer appropriate so they teach themselves not to cry. It takes a while but they do it. Now I have to reteach myself how to cry. Some kind of irony or something...