From the way fans describe this movie, you could almost swear the director was a Wal*Mart greeter. Fans of Star Trek love to rant about which movies they hate, and this is usually near the top of the list. I don't know: from what I remember of The Journey Home, I actually prefer this. It has its charm, and something to fall in love with, although it's definitely not one of the best ones out there. It's primary fault is that it feels more like an extended episode with a high budget. Chief a
In recent years, Superman has had a bit of a makeover. On one hand, there's the version I really like from the New 52, which is exactly how I think Superman's costume would look like. Heck, if I has Superman's powers I would actually wear the same costume while going off to save the world: What you can't see, of course, are the boots. They're there. The back of the cape also has a black S Shield on it, which is the only real issue I take with it, because it should either be yellow of
Just when I thought I couldn't love this film more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC83NA5tAGE I think that this goes to show the standard Disney holds its films to. That it's been tailor-made for 25 different countries and dialects shows that their movies truly are event films. They are universal, and they unite people. Looking back at what Disney himself said about his films, I feel that the company has used their animated movies to continue the spirit of Disney animation, which
(since the thumbnail and images in general aren't working, click here instead) In celebration of this once-in-a-century moment, decided to this old piece of art I pursued when I was a junior taking Independent Art. Free to do whatever I pleased, I did nothing but large portraits of figures whose presence I found powerful, as well as various art commissions. This one, Deo et Maria, was completed on Easter morning at my mother's house. Many people assumed that, given that my mother is C
Our colony of BZP is ready to accept new sovereignty, and two emperors seek to annex it into their expanding empires. Emperor Whenua has promised that, if crowned, he will fix the busy sever problem by eliminating avatars altogether. This is a monstrous move defies members' right to distinguish himself as an individual. Emperor Whenua has also vowed to ban all banner use. To make things easier for the moderators, he says that he will remove signatures completely so that people won't be tem
Reentry WE WERE IMMORTAL, BUT IT WASN'T A BLESSING. My name is John Silver, and I have been John Silver for a while. The only friends I have are old friends. It’s very difficult to find anything to do anymore that seems worthwhile. Yeah, it’s that sort of lifestyle. ..........The room was half lit and felt romantic. I was relaxed, sitting next to the fire, politics in the back of my mind. Beside me was another John, this one John Smith. I had known him since the war of 1812. Good tim
The above thumbnail links to a much larger image that counts as my first piece of artwork here in a very long time. It took about eight hours between the dates of 11/17/12 and 11/18/12. The dimensions are 11"x16". Also, while I usually listen to music while doing my art, this time around my audio diet was a bit anorexic, although I did listen to some Don McLean. It's interesting, because even though I titled this piece "That's Love!", I never met the people who commissioned it because a thi
How to watch this: Wear a Starfleet shirt Wear Vulcan ears (or Shatner's old toupee) Watch The Wrath of Khan first Make sure you go to a theatre with a large silver screen Rinse and repeat Don't let the name fool you - this isn't a dark movie. In fact, though there is more emphasis on the villain's character this time around, I would consider 2009's Star Trek a darker film. I had several misconceptions going in that perhaps foiled my ability to fully appreciate this. For example, the tr
"ARE YOU THERE?" .........."No, to your right a bit." .........."There?" .........."A little more." .........."Wait, I see you," said Monosmith. Buzzy's bright chartreuse uniform stood out from a half a mile away, even when it was mostly blocked by tree branches. He was seated halfway up the opposite hill. There was a river in between them, so one of them was going to have to get wet. "You stay there. I'm coming to you." .........."Hurry, that light caught a bit of attention." ..........That was
There's this thing called the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI for short. It will start next July on the 21st, so last Wednesday I decided to prepare for it. So here's what I did: for fifty miles, I biked from my home to Sioux City. I was surprised to find myself getting sore the first few miles out. The bike also broke down at least half a dozen times for the first half of the ride alone. The bike wasn't the only technical problem. In my backpack, I had a bunch o
Congratulations to me? Absolutely! Yesterday I took a trip down to Wal*Mart and made a large purchase. I was fortunate enough to get four Agori, three Glatorian, and a box set. I'll tell you how I feel about each of them. First, however, let me make a generalized statement. Their joints were the firmest I've ever seen in a set. They are definitely not floppy. I like that. Second, the Iron Man heads. They are definitely like Iron Man's helmet, and they are definitely cool looking head
Just as I predicted, this movie was twice as good as the original purely by the virtue of having more famous names. How is that supposed to be right? Star power shouldn't be what drives a movie forward, but rather a good plot, and movies that cramp in too much star power are almost always destined to fail by putting together a half-baked plot with too much emphasis on cameos for actors who aren't even going to do the characters justice because their faces are too famous to keep willing suspens
You know the most popular constructed language in the world, created with the hope of unifying all of the peoples? Yeah, I hate it. L.L. Zamenhof designed it to be easy to learn, particular for people in his environment, and in that area, thee language succeeds. It is definitely easy to learn, due to its simplicity and familiarity, but in every other regard, I hate it. First of all, it often sounds like someone just spoke Latin and then intentionally mispronounced everything. Seriously, wh
4 - Mr. Saavik A half-Vulcan, half-Romulan woman? Not to mention extremely attractive when played by Robin Curtis. My nerd senses went squeeling. You know I'm a nerd when I consider one of my favorite make-out scenes of all time to be when young Spock and Saavik engage in their Vulcan version of a kiss during Spock's pon farr. I ship that relationship all the way. Especially since Mr. Saavik conceals even more emotions than he does. Yeah, I guess some of my other screen-crushes wer
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
One does not simply walk in the shoes of Lincoln. He is not a role like Luke Skywalker, who was an original creation that one could cast anyone before because we had no idea what a Luke Skywalker was. No, this is the man whose face we literally see every day on the faces of five doller bills and pennies. Many actors have come and gone playing him, but the part of Lincoln has, as far as I can recall, always been a supporting character in civil war movies, someone whose presence was limited bec
Character is Key. Character is King. To follow up on my last entry, it is necessary to spend more than a brief paragraph describing the most important quality in any spouse. I believe that adults who choose to engage in the act of marriage should be ready for the supreme test of maturity that it entails. It is at this point where people have to remember that the most important thing they can look for is content of character. Let's face it. Marriage starts off exciting, but then gets bori
He mentioned Atticus Finch. Incidentally, my students are reading To Kill A Mockingbird right now, and they don't quite appreciate yet its relevance. I daresay, though, when the president mentions the book in his historic final speech, I think that it gives you an idea of just how influential the book is. I guess the kids don't pay much attention to politics, but it still made a nice talking point. 24601
A lot of people seem to rate people on their looks, and there's nothing bad about that, except they go about it all wrong. They throw out their numbers with little thought, and higher scores don't have that much meaning. So I'm going to give you some quick tips: There are two factors that go into rating someone, their looks alone, and then the context of their looks. It is possible to say that someone is a 7 based on her looks alone, but then you find out that she's an alcoholic single mothe
Why not? Valentine's Day is a stupid holiday. Always thought so, always will. It wouldn't make a difference if I was in a relationship, because the things I value in a relationship transcend hearts and chocolate (although to be fair to chocolate, it is one of the greatest inventions ever). I mean, to have society try to associate your relationship with such a commercialized event that has seemingly nothing to do with relationships when you two are too busy doing something that's actually im
This controversial film is something that people seem to either love or hate. I have encountered people who think that it's not a Bond film, while I, with my limited experience with Bond films, feel that it's a Bondier film than any ever made. Certainly, it has a new feel, and it definitely stands out, because there's something different about this one. There's something special and unique. Since I don't know where to start, I might as well begin at the beginning. It sets the tone with a u
I think that I should clear this up, since I'm not sure how many people think that I'm serious when I make jokes about Canada. First of all, I really like Canada. I've been there, and half my friends are Canadian. I have multiple Canadian pen-pals whom I exchange actual physical letters with, complete with illustrations on every page. If you asked me off the top of my head to list ways in which Canadian identity is unique and distinct, I could list perhaps ten. If you gave me time and a sheet
A common term thrown about in the contemporary world when it comes to worldviews and analyzing the opinions of others is "radical". This word applies when one person holds views that end up on the extreme end of a spectrum. Now personally, I feel that when someone holds a basic philosophy that if they truly believe in it they will follow through on it to the extremes of its implications. This is called being purist. There's nothing wrong with that, other than that sometimes a purist is forc
Surely I can't be the only fan on these forums. I have a few that I really like, actually, so this is a hard one for me. I like "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "Longest Time", "River of Dreams", "Downeaster 'Alexa'", "Angry Young Man", and "Moving Out". However, I think I can narrow it down to either "Piano Man" or "My Life". Yeah, I know, those are the usual suspects, but they're just so good. My sister's favorite is "Goodnight Saigon". 24601
LIONEL LUTHOR CLOSED HIS LABTOP WHEN LOIS ENTERED HIS OFFICE. She closed the door behind her, keeping in touch with the ritual. .........."It's good to see you, Miss Lane," he said. .........."Cut to the chase. What do you want?" .........."Well, if you're going to be that way, I suppose there's no point in being subtle," said Lionel. "Take a seat. Right next to me - there's no point in us letting this desk separate us. They view is too brilliant to enjoy alone." He swiveled his chair back
