This time I’m going to talk about another movie that I still love to this day. I used to watch the movie over and over for the battle scenes. During my Senior year in high school, We read the book for English and although I knew the movie wasn’t the best quality movie ever I came to realize how terrible it really was. The movie I’m talking about is Dune, and a lot of sci-fi fans like it....hey, I’m one of you, but you have to admit that this movie is disaster, and by disaster, I mean that Carter has made a better script come of out his diaper. Without reading the book, you can probably get through the movie and say “Well, I think I know what that movie was about, but it’s freaking 4 hours and I’m not watching it again.” That is unless you’re a sci-fi geek. If you read the book then you sit there and say “Did I just waste 4 hours of my life on this piece of crap? I want those hours back…..thank you Dune for taking those hours away from me forever.” This was truly a book that didn’t translate well onto the screen at least in this version.
Normally when a book is adapted into movie form, they take things out and then fill in the plot so that you can get a movie that seems to flow through like it was never a book and if you’ve read the book you’re thinking…that was good, but I thought they would show this or I thought this was better in the book/movie. Case in point for missing things completely in the books…..the Harry Potter movies are pretty true to the books, but you can’t have everything in a 700 page book be put into a 2 ½ hour movie, which is why you’ll wonder why they don’t show more quidditch or it seems like Ron and Hermoine’s parts are getting smaller, even though in the books their more vital than ever.
The problem with Dune is that even in a 4 hour movie you could still never fit everything into it….and that’s understandable Frank Herbert’s book is an fully grown sci-fi book, with a lot of subplots, it’s what makes the book one of the best sci-fi books ever written, and why Herbert’s influence along with a few others have really founded our modern Sci-Fi/Fantasy Genre of books. Where you get into trouble is that original movie of Dune just adds a subplot that was in the book without the explanation. It’s like the writer’s are saying…oh wait the audience isn’t going to understand this point in the end if we don’t add a character, but rather than spend the time to develop the character so that you take the information as being important they just plop someone in the movie for 30 seconds and then they leave. Do the characters: Duncan, Liet Kynne, The Emperor, or any of the spacing guild play the roles in the movie like they do in the book. What about some key subplots like: Why do the Harkkonen’s hate the Atreides? Why is the Emperor so concerned that spice production on Arakkis is having problems? What are Sadukar troops and why would that be a big thing if the Emperor is sending them? Then the space guild…..ummm….wtf….they kind of show up in the movie sound like idiots, look like idiots, and then they leave. These guys are more powerful than the emperor…..they’re the ones that run the show….without them the whole empire doesn’t work.
This post is already longer than I wanted so next time I’m going to continue my Dune rant and post some things about the movie that just don’t make sense or in some cases I’ll explain things that I’ve mentioned in this post…because unlike the writers of the screen-play….I’m all about clarity and explanation for this post at least.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Can I get a side salad with my Caesar Salad?
I’ve been doing a diet for nearly 6 weeks now. I only committed to do it for a month, but it’s working so I’m going to keep doing it until I stop losing weight on it. So far it’s been 42 lbs.
Some diet’s are weird to me, I know that I need to eat better and that my habits need to change, but I would much rather just kick my butt in the gym and then consciously try to make better food choices, rather than completely shut off every food I love. That is the way I have typically been able to lose weight and be happy by having a free day or meal, but that is also the same philosophy that got me to the way I am/was. So far on this diet, I’ve only worked out once and I’m on my way down in weight. The diet….Medifast, which is kind of like Nutri-System in that they send you meals that you eat throughout the day, however on Medifast you get to eat a Lean and Green meal every day. Sometimes when I’m feeling really hungry on the diet I’ll have two Lean and Green meals a day.
At first this Diet was pretty hard and now it’s just normal and some days really easy. Others….I have the number for a Pizza delivery ready and I’m just waiting for Kenna to want to cheat with me. I can tell you it’s weird shifting from working out weight control to just losing weight from a structured diet (I know you should ideally do both, but the time I went and worked out on this diet was the least satisfying workout I’ve ever had in my life….I think it’s a calorie thing and the fact that I’m now eating probably 1/3 of the normal calories I use to eat), I’ve been a gym rat before in my life…I put on 30-40 lbs of weight from the beginning of my Junior year in High School to the end of my Senior year, and for the most part that was solid muscle. I used to subscribe to bodybuilding magazines and although I was never hardcore into getting muscles to stick out in weird places….I enjoyed working my body out to the brink of exhaustion and then seeing it recover and come back stronger. It was a game of making my mind stronger than my muscles and pain. The only thing is that this is really working now and in 25 lbs….I’ll be at the weight I was when I graduated High School. Holy Crap!!! That was 12 years ago. My Goal weight would be a weight that hasn’t graced my body since I was 15 years old….and I’m pretty sure I’ll wear it better now than I did back then. Not that I was a fat kid but I was always “Broad Shouldered” or “Husky” which are just gentle ways of telling a fat guy he’s big/fat without making it seem rude.
Hopefully in 4-6 months I’ll post a before and after picture with results that will be something like the biggest loser winners. We’ll see, for right now, I’m just drinking a lot of Diet Drinks to get my sweetness fixes, and I order side salads at restaurants with my Salad. Why do you ask? Because when the others around me order their appetizers, I have something to eat that won’t really be cheating and I’m not tempted. Will I be able to continue eating like this? I’m not sure, but the older my son becomes I realize that I don’t want to leave him when he’s only 24 years old, newly married and filled with questions about life, fatherhood, and being a husband like my dad left me. In order to do that I’ve got to stop the same habits I learned from my dad.
Carter Moment of the Post:
Carter has decided that the dog is his new best friend. The only problem is that he likes to play ‘konk’ with the dog. If our dog were a larger size this might be okay, but on a Chihuahua it’s a big deal. For those of you not in the know on the game ‘konk’….it’s basically a game where your son (maybe little girls do it too, but I’ve only heard of boys doing it) will head butt you over and over and over. Sounds fun huh? It works because he’s hitting you with thick part of the top of his head so he’s not really hurting himself, however the game of ‘konk’ when you’re not watching can be devastating. I have a sister that broke her nose when her 18 month son decided it was time to play and she wasn’t ready. The key to the game is to get them to say ‘konk’ when they are going to do it so that you have a warning. Well Dino is often times not ready and Carter is pretty good at trapping our dog to either ‘konk’ him or to squeeze the life out of him with one of his other new things….hugging. We love that one……Dino at 6 lbs….not so much.
Some diet’s are weird to me, I know that I need to eat better and that my habits need to change, but I would much rather just kick my butt in the gym and then consciously try to make better food choices, rather than completely shut off every food I love. That is the way I have typically been able to lose weight and be happy by having a free day or meal, but that is also the same philosophy that got me to the way I am/was. So far on this diet, I’ve only worked out once and I’m on my way down in weight. The diet….Medifast, which is kind of like Nutri-System in that they send you meals that you eat throughout the day, however on Medifast you get to eat a Lean and Green meal every day. Sometimes when I’m feeling really hungry on the diet I’ll have two Lean and Green meals a day.
At first this Diet was pretty hard and now it’s just normal and some days really easy. Others….I have the number for a Pizza delivery ready and I’m just waiting for Kenna to want to cheat with me. I can tell you it’s weird shifting from working out weight control to just losing weight from a structured diet (I know you should ideally do both, but the time I went and worked out on this diet was the least satisfying workout I’ve ever had in my life….I think it’s a calorie thing and the fact that I’m now eating probably 1/3 of the normal calories I use to eat), I’ve been a gym rat before in my life…I put on 30-40 lbs of weight from the beginning of my Junior year in High School to the end of my Senior year, and for the most part that was solid muscle. I used to subscribe to bodybuilding magazines and although I was never hardcore into getting muscles to stick out in weird places….I enjoyed working my body out to the brink of exhaustion and then seeing it recover and come back stronger. It was a game of making my mind stronger than my muscles and pain. The only thing is that this is really working now and in 25 lbs….I’ll be at the weight I was when I graduated High School. Holy Crap!!! That was 12 years ago. My Goal weight would be a weight that hasn’t graced my body since I was 15 years old….and I’m pretty sure I’ll wear it better now than I did back then. Not that I was a fat kid but I was always “Broad Shouldered” or “Husky” which are just gentle ways of telling a fat guy he’s big/fat without making it seem rude.
Hopefully in 4-6 months I’ll post a before and after picture with results that will be something like the biggest loser winners. We’ll see, for right now, I’m just drinking a lot of Diet Drinks to get my sweetness fixes, and I order side salads at restaurants with my Salad. Why do you ask? Because when the others around me order their appetizers, I have something to eat that won’t really be cheating and I’m not tempted. Will I be able to continue eating like this? I’m not sure, but the older my son becomes I realize that I don’t want to leave him when he’s only 24 years old, newly married and filled with questions about life, fatherhood, and being a husband like my dad left me. In order to do that I’ve got to stop the same habits I learned from my dad.
Carter Moment of the Post:
Carter has decided that the dog is his new best friend. The only problem is that he likes to play ‘konk’ with the dog. If our dog were a larger size this might be okay, but on a Chihuahua it’s a big deal. For those of you not in the know on the game ‘konk’….it’s basically a game where your son (maybe little girls do it too, but I’ve only heard of boys doing it) will head butt you over and over and over. Sounds fun huh? It works because he’s hitting you with thick part of the top of his head so he’s not really hurting himself, however the game of ‘konk’ when you’re not watching can be devastating. I have a sister that broke her nose when her 18 month son decided it was time to play and she wasn’t ready. The key to the game is to get them to say ‘konk’ when they are going to do it so that you have a warning. Well Dino is often times not ready and Carter is pretty good at trapping our dog to either ‘konk’ him or to squeeze the life out of him with one of his other new things….hugging. We love that one……Dino at 6 lbs….not so much.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Church of Steve Cont'd...
So on previous posts, I've talked about Tomatoes, Dried Fruit, and then Pickles. Now it's time to talk about something that I kind of like the taste of, but I can't stand the texture. So without further ado:
That shalt not partake of Apricots / Peaches
This might also be the mushy fruit rule. To explain this better I going to take you back to when I was young. My parents had apricot trees, and I actually used to eat Dried Apricots a lot. What ruined it for me was seeing the nasty apricots that fell from the tree and became mush. Every time I eat something mushy, my brain goes back to nasty apricots on the ground, just sitting there rotting.
Although we didn't have Peach trees, they're really close to apricots and they tend to be really mushy. Again....I know this doesn't make sense, because I like other mushy fruits....like bananas. I don't know why one works and the others don't, but they only consistent fruits are apricots and peaches so they have to be banned by the CoS.
Carter moment of the day:
So Carter is trying to learn how to climb the stairs....but he's kind of lazy about it. It doesn't matter if he's fully awake or tired....he'll get halfway up the stairs and then he gets pissed. The funny thing is that he is excited and then he magically hits a step halfway up that turns all that excitement into rage at the fact that there are still stairs left up and down. I'm sure he'll make it up all the stairs eventually, but I've never seen him get so mad about something. He literally sneers at you, until you pick him up. It's funny to see him start to get some personality....hopefully this doesn't become a trend.
That shalt not partake of Apricots / Peaches
This might also be the mushy fruit rule. To explain this better I going to take you back to when I was young. My parents had apricot trees, and I actually used to eat Dried Apricots a lot. What ruined it for me was seeing the nasty apricots that fell from the tree and became mush. Every time I eat something mushy, my brain goes back to nasty apricots on the ground, just sitting there rotting.
Although we didn't have Peach trees, they're really close to apricots and they tend to be really mushy. Again....I know this doesn't make sense, because I like other mushy fruits....like bananas. I don't know why one works and the others don't, but they only consistent fruits are apricots and peaches so they have to be banned by the CoS.
Carter moment of the day:
So Carter is trying to learn how to climb the stairs....but he's kind of lazy about it. It doesn't matter if he's fully awake or tired....he'll get halfway up the stairs and then he gets pissed. The funny thing is that he is excited and then he magically hits a step halfway up that turns all that excitement into rage at the fact that there are still stairs left up and down. I'm sure he'll make it up all the stairs eventually, but I've never seen him get so mad about something. He literally sneers at you, until you pick him up. It's funny to see him start to get some personality....hopefully this doesn't become a trend.
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