So for Christmas I asked for an XBox 360. I have not had a video game console since I was in Junior High over 15 years ago. I have never really been much of a gamer, but recently Guitar Hero and Rock Band have really pulled me in. Sydnie bought me the game DeadRising and I have been playing non-stop. I come home at lunch, I stay up late, I get up early. I am loving this game. My wife however regrets ever purchasing this game. She hates Zombies and the noises they make.

I must be becoming a gamer. I have been looking up maps and codes online to learn how to play the game better. As I am writing this I keep looking at the game console and then at the clock and then back at the console. It is 12:21 AM and I am considering playing a little more, but I know that I have a very long day ahead tomorrow and should go to bed.

So what kinds of games are you playing right now?

It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to review a film and a book at the same time. I think the last time I did this was in my Film Criticism class at UCO a few years back. This week I read the book Twilight and went to see the movie with some friends on Monday night. I will tell you up front that I liked the book much more, but you probably would have guessed as much. The book is always better.

Book:
Yesterday I was listening to NPR and a listener described the book as, "smoldering." I think that is the best description as this book is pretty long and has relatively few action moments. Most of the book is spent on the relationship between the main characters Edward and Bella. One of the things that I like about the book is that it breaks some of the conventional vampire rules and spends time humanizing the vampires instead of getting wrapped up in the gory details of feeding.

I can easily see why so many girls are wrapped up within this series of books. Slightly dorky and clumsy girl meets hot and intriguing vampire, who falls in love with her and helps her escape from the reality that has become her life. A lot of the girls that couldn’t wait for the movie to come out and talked about the book on Facebook best match the description above. I didn’t feel like the supernatural side of the story outweighed the human side of the story. The majority of the book is spent on the relationship between Edward and Bella and their burgeoning love. As I told my friends as I talked them into going to see the movie, "this is a love story with a little interlude with vampires." I grew up reading Anne Rice during High School so this story seemed really tame and had very few vampire moments, but I liked what happened and where it went.

If you have the time read the book or get the audio version on iTunes, which clocks in at just over 12 hours.

Movie:
What a let down! I was expecting more from this film and would say that it delivered on nothing. The only casting choices that I liked were Edward, Bella, and Alice. The director brought out the vampires as being weird instead of just being outside the crowd, which are two different things. With very few supernatural things to create on film I thought that what we got was very hokey and cheesy.  I laughed aloud many times during the film, as did the couple sitting behind us. The film was very fragmented and seemed to introduce moments from the book without explanation. I also felt that there was too much over acting during the film.

Skip the movie if you can read the book. It will only stand to keep you away from the books, which are far superior.

*edited

• The Changeling, not Changeling
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Knocked Up
• Hot Fuzz

     I have had a full weekend of film so far. I watched The Changeling last night with John and Paige. It was made in 1980 and is destined for a treatment by the MST3000 crowd. John got scared about half way through the movie and left. Sydnie got bored shortly afterwards so I was the only one to finish the movie. Elizabeth was a great film. I don’t really get into period pieces like this, but I tossed in and was happy I did. Trying to keep things light this afternoon by watching Hot Fuzz and Knocked up. I have seen both of these like 3 or 4 times before. It is amazing how much more stuff you pick up each time you watch a movie again.

How many movies do you watch in a week?

I went to the movies with my dad twice over the weekend. We watched Appaloosa and Max Payne. Appaloosa is a western and Ed Harris’ second directorial outing. There was nothing profound or visual exciting happening in this movie. It did excite in me a desire to go back and watch The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford though. If you are just totally bored and need something to do then this movie may be able to keep you from falling asleep.

The theatre we watched Max Payne in had a brand new Christie projector in it and was probably the best picture quality I have ever seen. The movie looked incredible. Visually the film is amazing. There are scenes in the film that are breathtaking and the special effects were superb. Mark Wahlberg’s performance was weak though. There were moments when I thought he is just not mature enough to pull this scene off. Mark is the new Keanu in my opinion. Still this film was good, but not great.

The best part of the weekend was seeing the trailers for two of Clint Eastwood’s new movies. Go to www.imdb.com and check them out.

I read that Paul Newman passed away today from cancer at the age of 83. There was a great article from MSN about the actor, his legacy, and his life. As an avid film fan I have long loved the work of Newman, but did not know very much about his charitable giving. I read an article yesterday from Tim Stevens entitled "Joe Biden Ticks Me Off." In the article Stevens relates how little Obama and Biden have given to charity in recent years when compared to the giving of John McCain. But as generous as McCain and the Clinton’s have been to charities over the years, Newman proved to be one of the great American philanthropists.  All of the proceeds from Newman’s Own dressings go to charities, which have totaled more than $175 Million since company began in 1982. Newman had also started a camp in Connecticut for kids with cancer.

So how much did Biden give to charity recently? How about $995 in 2007, which was one of his most charitable years and $120 in 1999. You check out some other figures on giving here.

With corporations extolling their charitable interests more and more what role do you think the charity of our politicians will make in the coming years?

I am so excited that Heroes starts tonight. It has been a long wait. Any other fans out there? Come and watch the show with me anytime your interested. I miss hanging out with Nick and talking about the show. Hey Nick.

I am watching Peggy Olson on Mad Men going through a church committee meeting. They totally nailed what it is like sometimes as a creative. Did anyone out there see the episode?

Do you think that Peggy Olson favors Thom Yorke from Radiohead?

I am sitting at home watching Silverado on AMC. Some of my favorite westerns are:

• Silverado
• Unforgiven
• Tombstone
• Blazing Saddles
• The Searchers
• The Wild Bunch
• No Country for Old Men
• Shane (my middle name)
• Firefly
• Deadwood

What are some of your favorites?

       This afternoon I sat down and watched Ordinary People with Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, and Timothy Hutton. As the movie begins you know that something tragic has happened in the life of young Conrad that is keeping him from sleeping. Robert Redford directed this movie that won four Academy Awards in 1981 including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Timothy Hutton, which seemed strange to me because I would have put Timothy Hutton as the lead in this picture, but he never would have beat out Robert DeNiro that year who won for Raging Bull, but I also would have made him share the award with his fellow nominee Judd Hirsh who plays Hutton’s therapist.

     First of all, this was an amazing movie. It has all of the drama that Noah Baumbach is going for is his recent pictures, without all of the raunchy interludes. There are several shots within this picture between Hutton and Hirsh that prove to be the precursors for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Good Will Hunting. Hutton’s character of Conrad is going through a difficult period in his life to say the least and has a lot of people speaking into his life on their own terms and for their own benefit. What I enjoyed about the progression of Conrad’s character was that he was able to find his own voice. He learned how to express his feelings and be heard.

     What was interesting for me to see in this movie was the opening establishing shots which were underscored with the school choir singing Canon in D Major with its chorus of Hallelujahs. I finished reading Dan Kimball’s They Like Jesus But Not The Church, which I will blog about in another post, and within the last chapters of the book he talked about the new gap that we have placed between people and God. Kimball states that we are telling people that in many ways they must conform to the Christian subculture before they can even get to the place where they must deal with their sin and the gap that separates them from God. You can get a better picture of this in John Burke’s No Perfect People Allowed. Conrad’s mother seemed unwilling and even embarrassed by what was happening within this family and would rather leave than work it out. This has made me think about how far are we willing to travel down the road with someone walking on their way to becoming a Christ-follower. The church wants people to change in an instance, but that rarely happens. Discipleship and sanctification is a process and we must allow imperfect people into our fellowship so that they can see how more mature followers of Christ handle life. Discipleship is not just what you know, but it is also about how you live your life and how you react to life as it happens. I think that this has a lot to do with the lack of intimacy that has overtaken the church. When we are afraid to share life together we unable to become a body.

• How far are you willing to walk with someone on their journey?
• Are you quick to give up on someone or are you willing to travel with them?
• Think about the farthest you have traveled with someone. Can you go farther?
• Are you relationships suffering because you are afraid to open up?

     It has been a very busy copy of days for me. We had a big outreach event on Sunday and I have been getting the new web site ready for launch. We went live with the site last night and I stayed up most of the night checking things out and adding content. I normally don’t get very tired, but I have been sleepy all day.

     I went to Dark Side skate shop this afternoon to pick out a skateboard to give away at our September 9th Launch party for Skate Church Broken Arrow. It is going to be a killer time and the board is amazing. It is a Bachinsky deck with Venture trucks, Pig bearings, and Hubba wheels. I love going to the skateshop and putting a board together. Highlight of my day. Well, that and the white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies I ate. The students are going to freak over this new board.

     Currently watching The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Clint Eastwood is crawling around the desert and looking like a burnt raisin.

     Kim and Phillip came over and hung out at the house with us tonight. They are relatively new to the church. They both love to watch movie, listen to music, and go to concerts. Great people. Phillip helped me move the skate ramp I built over the weekend to the church.

Battery is running low and so am I. Chat at you later taters.