Two Weeks Worth of What Goes on in My Head
Life got a huge running start and then tackled me. Rough tests, weeks flying by, and trying to keep up with the different aspects of college (eating, sleeping, laundry, major preparation, clubs (joined the chem club, dropped the math club), and trying to get the kind folks at the U to talk to the folks at St. Thomas about transfers). On top of this, it has been raining for over two weeks straight (if you discount two or three gorgeous days, one that topped 70 degrees). The fall colors down Ford Parkway were absolutely gorgeous this past Saturday evening, a vivid yellow glow seemed to come from the trees and flow down the side streets. Fall really is a beautiful time of year.
A major form of relaxation lately has been consuming movies. I say consume, because they are not really helpful, thought-provoking, or relaxing unless one enters into their world on their own terms.
First, The Butterfly Effect was actually far better than I expected it to be. A dark, brooding movie, it makes you think about how delicate the connection between everyone’s actions is. A simple tweak in your past can alter your future an incredible amount. Not that we can ever know how profound the little things we do are, but it is an important thing to keep in mind. I’d recommend the movie. Next, there is The Day After Tomorrow, which had the potential to be some kind of Armageddon, but was better. I think it was better because there were fewer explosions, less Bruce Willis, and no rock-ballad sprayed all over the pop airwaves; some parts were just as unbelievable though, pop-science never is very convincing beause movie producers are forced to condense complex ideas into 30 second soundbites. Naw, I did not dislike Armageddon that much, but watching The Day After Tomorrow reminded me how nice it is to be warm and safe on a futon while watching others struggle to survive in a massive climatic change oncoming iceage-type setting. Now then, The Grudge was difficult to watch. Almost as difficult as seeing a condom fall out of Markoe’s wallet (he doesn’t live a lifestyle requiring condoms, it was there as a joke) when he was out with us, getting to know Emily. Anyhow, I am never “ready” to watch these horror films, so I end up covering the screen during scary parts for most of the movie. I have a crazy imagination and a photographic memory (which, unfortunately, never seems to step up for tests), so I need some horror film watching practice. Mykala filled me in on the parts that I missed, and it seemed like a pretty good film. I would have liked a little more intrigue and less with the immediate death stuff. There were people screaming in the theaters, though, so that’s a good thing. After that, (not immediately, but sometime after), I watched an equally gritty but less scary film called Memento. This backwards-told, memory-messed, make-you-think thriller left me guessing until the end (cliche as that sounds). First words out of my mouth as the credit began to role were “no way … yeah right!” All of this was lightened up with a viewing of [Beauty and the Beast][7], in anticipation of it coming out on “Disney DVD” soon. Yes, our lives do occasionally need to be broken up by some animated song and catchiness in that classic style. The nineties were the glory days of Disney animation, when each year promised a full length animated feature film. I think Pixar has taken over that slot now, and I certainly look forward to seeing The Incredibles. Finally, just last night, I saw Man on Fire, which returned me to the gritty movie theme, but was also a little long. As an action movie, I think things should have charged along a little more quickly, rather than hanging back as they did. I did get a little misty eyed at the end though, which I can owe to being tired or feeling something because of the movie. The best of all of them? Probably Beauty and the Beast.
[7]: (imDB info for ) Ok, three more movies (I know, but I have to write all this down before I forget it). Saw has been recommended to me by two folk (both who had not yet seen it). Ebert reviews it as a run-of-the-mill psychotic-evil-genius horror flick. He notes that “A movie that conceals the identity of a killer is of a lower order, in general, than one that actually deals with him as a character.” Ebert does point out, however, that people will be willing to set these plot shortcomings aside for the frightening and grostesque situations that this genre is known for. Next, Birth is a movie I am quite interested in, but had not yet heard of until today. My trusty Ebert review yielded 3.5 stars, but that is not why I am curious. It is the fact that the improbable (a dead husband of a woman meets her again as a ten-year-old boy), is treated “as intelligent, skeptical adults might. They don’t believe in reincarnation.” I would pay money to see this psychological mind bender. I think I am movie’d out for a while, though. Which is why I do not want to see Ray, a biographical movie of the tough part of Ray Charles’ life before he hit the “big time.” I’d prefer not to watch a celebrity suffer like this when I can look to my own life for an emotional rolleroaster. Thank you, I think I’ll stay in the real world for a while.
Interestingly enough, two of my “I’ve been meaning to’s” have collided in the same post. The second one is “art history nuggets of inspiration.” Yes, six amazing pictures that have blown me away in one way or another throughout my studies in Art History 151 so far.
The guy you see above was carved in 2500 BC. Art around the world at this time was not this advanced. Static, yes. Formulamatic, yes. Let me give you some context. This is Khafra, the guy who is on the Sphinx, and the one with the second largest pyramid at Giza. These pyramids were cased in white limestone, which was pure white at the time of construction. Imagine coming through the desert and seeing this absolutely massive, perfect (quite literally), pure white geometrical form rising above the sands in front of you. This statues is one of many ka statues within the temple near the pyramid: “The statue was carved in an unusual stone, northosite gneiss, imported from Nubia. This stone produces a rare optical effect: in sunlight, it glows a deep blue, the celestial color of Horus. Through skylights in the valley temple, the sun would have illuminated the alabaster floor and the figure, creating a blue radiance.” I wish I could have been there.
Ok, this is famous. Who has not seen the Parthenon? Nevertheless, the proportion (based on the “perfect” proportion that makes a natural spiral), is so … well, cool. The whole architectural style is so timeless. I would not want my house to look like this, but for a powerful and authoritative architectural style, you just can not beat this.
Which brings us to the same construction theme, on a massive scale. The distance from the bottom to the top of those columns is over 6 stories (57 feet). Imagine building a column straight up, that tall, in 132 CE! True, our skyscrapers nowadays are amazing, but I do not cease to be amazed by the monumental challenges Greek and Roman architects overcame to build what they did. Look at the modern day structures at the lower left (they’re tiny!)
This is emperor Caracalla. Look at the facial hair rendered in marble. That’s ridiculously cool.
Another classic, this 143 diameter dome helped form the largest enclosed space in the world until the great gothic cathedrals began to rise in Europe. Once again, this is simply amazing: imagine looking up at this thing when it was completed. My mouth would be as round as the open oculus at the top. True, it’s hard for a big dome to speak to you on an emotional level, but this one gets “wow” points.
Called “architectural lace,” the many small insets into the roof gives the impression that the roof simply floats overhead. LOOK AT THAT. That is so cool. If you do not think that is cool, you are hopelessly jaded by sensationalist pop culture. It is practical, too; large surfaces reflect sound and echo it back repeatedly, yielding horrendous acoustics. Many varied, small surfaces absorb sound and reduce echo; it’s like you are in a forest, except the leaves are stone - this was done intentionally so music could be formed live.
Wow. That is everything factual I wanted to say. I’d like to post more about life lately; many good things have been happening. If you read all this, post a comment to say how long it took, because I think I’ve got the beginnings of some mind-numbingly boring novel up there.