According to the first pages of Action Comics #1, Clark Kent's "physical structure was millions of years more advanced" than the ordinary human's. His strength was explained right away as being analogous to that of an ant's, which "can support weight hundred of times its own." His strength was, therefore, explained to be more a part of his "advanced" genetics rather than being tied to the physical demands of living on Krypton, which his species would have adapted to even when they were in thei
The movie lives up to the trailers, and Loki, thank Odin, is better than ever. The Dark World solves many of the problems I had with the first movie in the Thor series, which was a thurrough "meh." It also avoids many of the problems in Iron Man 3, in which Tony Stark didn't spend much time as his alter ego and the villain was a disappointment. So what did it get right? The Dark World takes place on an epic scope, spanning many battle locations and featuring a lot of destruction. There was
"Do not grieve, Admiral; it was logical. The needs of the many outweigh..." "The needs of the few." "Or the one. I never took the Kobiyashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?" "Spock..." "I have been and always shall be your friend. Live long...and prosper." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DWdaMvUQhg When Spock died, I did not cry. I was aware, from a logical standpoint, that it was genuinely as sad as fictional deaths come and that the execution was perfec
People will tell you that all you need is to be confident and good things will happen. Your plans will turn out the way you plan them. Your prayers will be answered. You'll ace your job interviews. You'll pass your test. You'll win the game. Others will like you and hang out with you instead of the other way around. I'm a manic depressant and an Aspie. I thought that being secure with myself was some grant life principle, the secret to all success. Especially when it comes to any and
I don't find How I Met Your Mother funny (though I would turn my head to watch whenever Cobie Smulders was onscreen) Joss Whedon isn't that good of a director. Even his ability to write characters is overrated, since there are plenty of people who have done an even better job than he does, such as the marvelous people down at Pixar. I don't like Mal Reynolds. I don't enjoy Nathan Fillion as an actor, or at least with the acting choices he's made so far. I don't like Game of Thrones. I
Knowing ahead of time that Rocky is a classic, I had certain expectations. For example, I had seen clips of the various other Rockymovies and knew that they included inspirational work-out routines with the music to go with it. This is, after all, the franchise that spawned "Eye of the Tiger". I also knew that my high school track coach, during his inspirational speeches about working hard and constantly pushing the envelope to make exercise a truly sacrificial art, would reference this film
Gravity is a very good film, as any critic will not hesitate to say. Just look at the 98% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Not too many movies get such a positive reception. People had their doubts, but I was never one of them, as I am an avid follower of Alfonso Cuarón and have been keeping track of this movie for a year. Cuarón is known for his dreamlike, pristine cinematography, and pat of how he gathers this feel is by combining elegant camera strokes with rarely practiced long cuts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog When I was a little boy, my father had two things in the basement. The first was a whip hanging from the ceiling rafters. The second was a personal library filled with old books, with yellowed pages feeling soft and tender under my fingers. Among those books were classics from Jules Vern, books about science, history books, and so on, but as I write this I vividly remember pulling out an Indiana Jones chose-your-own-adventure book from eye-level
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8RCQDDsMpU Let's reword that statement: "If you strike me down, I will become more MANLY than you could possibly imagine." Ever since Princess Leia pleaded over hologram message "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi; you are my only hope!" he has become a household name. When he first appeared, he had just that right amount of mysteriousness about him. In so many ways, it was certainly human, and looking back I think Alec Guiness did a better job than even most fans ga
Last year I wrote a series of articles on female characters I considered beautiful. I was, in part, judging based off of physical beauty and not just beauty of character. This was a clarification I made from the onset because the list was of the "most beautiful" female characters, specifically onscreen, and not merely my favorite, otherwise characters such as Ellen Ripley, Wonder Woman, and Princess Leia would have been guaranteed finalists. However, I was never drawn in by these characters i
Come with me, Zachary Into the depths of the abyss Into the darkness of the woods Let us walk as brothers For I have not forgotten that I was once like you You and I are of the same flesh and of the same dirt From dust we have come and from dust we shall go And we share the same ultimate destiny With all the same shames Let us rest in the shade, Zachary And set our tent up amid gravestones Where the dead sleep silently and wait for us Then we shall know how dead we ar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXRmJyIyJbM For some time my favorite Johnny Cash song was "A Boy Named Sue" until in 2010 my history teacher introduced me to this. Mr. Lehman wasn't a very sentimental person, but he was very sincere about a lot of things. Behind all that cynicism was a man who cared a lot and, in spite of his low opinions of everyone, valued them dearly and believed in doing the right thing. In a similar way, I balance an ongoing disappointment with humanity with a belie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNSsv86lsok When Steven Spielberg approached his longtime partner John Williams to compose Schindler's List for him, John Williams said he would need a better composer than him. "I know," said Spielberg, "but they're all dead." For one, it's interesting to hear John Williams, composer of all composers, to say something so humble. I've put him up on a pedestal before, and I continue to do so, but then I'm reminded that there are things in life bigger than o
It was never a temptation I struggled with. The fear of death and of the unknown always outweighed the fear of life's struggles. It was a permanent "solution" to a temporary problem. Suicide was an escape route that never seemed worth the price of admission. Somehow, other people struggle with it. I don't fully understand; I will never be in their shoes. My personality is just different that way, because I always had the drive and the stubbornness never to give up. Yet, some part of me d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqwhF6vcylg For some time my favorite Johnny Cash song was "A Boy Named Sue" until in 2010 my history teacher introduced me to this. Mr. Lehman wasn't a very sentimental person, but he was very sincere about a lot of things. Behind all that cynicism was a man who cared a lot and, in spite of his low opinions of everyone, valued them dearly and believed in doing the right thing. In a similar way, I balance an ongoing disappointment with humanity with a belie
One Thursday evening, the exact time and date being 5:30 PM, October 25, 2012, I saw headlines on the internet about something called Star Wars Episode VII. Preposterous. Well, after I saw enough headlines, thinking for a while that people were running off of some sort of joke, I realized that something was up. I had always thought this was impossible. Star Wars was done. The trilogy was complete. Nothing more needed to be added. I had witnessed the completion of the saga within my life
At the insistence of Tekulo, I present to you this music for the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAI3N61zY9k It's okay, BZPower. It's perfectly normal if you all start feeling like children again. 24601
Tomorrow (perhaps even tonight) you will skim the blogs and see this title. Your name will stand out to you, and you will feel compelled to click the link that leads to this entry. I could speed up the process by sending you a message to check out my blog, but I would prefer to let this happen normally. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmLRTVYgEq4 This is my way of saying I love you. 24601
1. Oh wait, you see where I'm going with this, don't you? Fine, fine, I'll just go ahead and skip the rant so you can see the next picture. 2. WHERE ARE THEY? . . .WERE ARE THEY? But wait, there's more... 3. WHERE'S THE TRIGGER? WHERE IS IT? Now, a recent announcement was made, oh, a month or so ago, that Goyer and Snyder intend on expanding upon Man of Steel with a Superman vs. Batman kind of sequel, and since this whole expanded DC cinematic uni
If I am going to set precedent and post a video on this blog, there is one and only one video on all of Youtube worthy of being the proverbial golden spike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfCJgC2zezw One day, I promise, I will write a song stylistically similar to this dedicated to the derivation of the quadratic formula. And I will use it as a love song to flirt with the woman of my dreams. 24601
Last night I suffered my worst nightmare. This is no figure of speech; I just had my worst nightmare, far exceeding any I have ever had before and eclipsing any I am likely to have since. My grandmother is a lovely lady who has been providing and comforting me for a long time. I'm very sad that I often do things wrong around her, that I often mess up her place and act immature around her when she wants the best for me. I hate myself when I don't succeed in my life because I know that she wa
A few weeks ago was RAGBRAI, for which I embarked on my own unofficial tour of the state of Iowa in salute to all of the people who officially took part in this event. I couldn't afford to be in it for real, so I started half a week early on a Wednesday, specifically July 17. I would stop at Sioux City on that day, and I figured that so long as I was there I might as well organize a Bible study with some friends. The results of that outing were actually the most interesting of all the things
I've known about you guys dating for a while, though I never knew you guys got engaged. It's totally weird to think about it. I can't remember if Turakii was my age or not. I always assumed you were, so I guess I didn't suspect anything. Then again, a bunch of my friends are getting married. It feels a little weird. It just feels a long way off for me. I just know I'm definitely not going to meet my future wife over BZPower. But I'll tell you what, guys. The when I get engaged, I will
There is a conversation I really need to have with my father. Mainly, I will be travelling down to Sioux City a week from now, and I want to take a car so I can bring my sisters with. There's someone I want them to meet, and vice versa. I don't have a car; my father does. Ever the compliant one, he absolutely will not let us use his stuff, and gave a flat "no." I wonder if I should explain to him exactly what's going on, but I'm afraid. See, a couple of days ago I mentioned the term "clo
