Review: Star Trek

Ok. This is gonna be a tough one, because I want to tell you all the gory details and I know in a good review you can’t do that.

But I want to, because the movie is unquestionably that good.

I’ve waited for the release of this film for over two years and it was well worth the wait.

For those of you who are not Star Trek fans, yet are fans of summer adventure movies, get ready. You are about to experience the summer action movie as it was meant to be.

Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and directed by J.J. Abrams, the movie succeeds in capturing all the characteristics of the original series, while at the same time introducing elements that open the Star Trek universe up to a whole set of new stories.

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Daring the Mighty?

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

Courage faces fear and thereby masters it. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. – Theodore H. White

If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster. – Anonymous

Do me a favor for a moment, would you please? Take the next minute or two and think of someone you most admire. You know the one who really grabs you, inspires you and causes you to go “Wow.” It doesn’t matter if you know them personally or from a distance. What matters is that they have to be a deep inspiration to you. Got some one?

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SNJ05-02-09: More Trumpeters

Always loved trumpet. Wanted to play it in band, but the music instructor convinced my mom and dad that my jaw and lips were better formed for the trombone, so that’s what I ended up with. Don’t get me wrong, I love the trombone too. Oh let’s just face it. I love jazz in what ever form it comes. But for tonight it’s trumpets. So lets start with a bit of contemporary goodness.

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What Does “Individualist Freedom Lover” Mean? (Part 1)

“The man who lets a leader prescribe his course is a wreck being towed to the scrap heap.” — Ayn Rand

To say “I love you” one must first be able to say the “I.” — Ayn Rand

The other day I was sent a direct message on Twitter asking me what I meant by the phrase “Individualist Freedom Lover”. Well, I sent a message back trying to explain just exactly what I meant. Twitter, however, isn’t really the best tool to use when explaining such a concept. 140 characters just doesn’t cut it. So I thought I’d introduce my Freedom Friday columns with a more complete explanation, starting with the word “Individualist”.

If you look up “Individualist” in the dictionary you get the following: a person who pursues independent thought or action. On the surface that is an accurate definition. However, my use of the word goes a little bit beyond that.

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Review X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Well, it’s started. The season of the way-over-the-top action adventure movie is upon us once again. Ya gotta love it. Popcorn, soda and mind-numbing explosions for 2 hours out of your weekend. Who can’t appreciate that?

Unlike last year, the 2009 monstrously mindless summer movie season started with a bang (no pun intended — well, OK, maybe a little). May 2nd saw the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and boy-oh-boy what a movie it was. Everything you could possible want in a summer movie was packed into this 1 hour and 47 minute jaunt into fantasy land. Nothing, not even the kitchen — er, in this case, the bathroom — sink was left out of this fun and enjoyable movie.

First of all, I need to set the record straight. I’m not an X-Men fan-boy. I’ve always preferred Marvel comics to DC (except in the case of Superman, for whom the term fan-boy, could loosely be applied). However, I’ve not really followed the X-Men in detail. I’ve read some of the comics and am familiar enough with Wolverine to know he has his own set of fans. All that to say if you don’t know much about the X-Men or about Wolverine, don’t worry. The movie will still make sense — at least as much as these kind of movies ever do.

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Are We There Yet?

“Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.” — Nikita Koloff

The quote above is not original, nor is it particularly profound. It does, however, contain a truth that can free you from one of the world’s most effective killers. Stress. According to the AIS, “Contemporary stress tends to be more pervasive, persistent and insidious because it stems primarily from psychological rather than physical threats.”

I believe that one of the major contributors to contemporary stress in life is the myth that life is about destination. Listen to any ad put out by modern media (even on the web) and what do you see? You see appeals to possess and encouragement to accumulate. You see comparisons to standards very few of us can or will ever meet. All promoting the belief that life is about the end result. “He who dies with the most toys wins.“

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SNJ050209 — Portrait Of Jenny

I thought I’d try an experiment tonight and see how you all like it. The experiment is based upon something I saw back in the mid-70’s. Back then I used to live in Palm Desert, CA. There was a little hole-in-the-wall record shop there that specialized in jazz. Once a month the owner would have a wine tasting/listening social in the early evening. You could go there, have a glass of wine and listen to the new releases for the coming month and pre-order what you liked. It was really fun and I looked forward to that event every month.

One time while I was there the owner showed me a tape that had been made for her as a gift for her birthday. It was filled with music, but every song on the tape was the same song. The difference was that each song was by a different artist. The song was Here’s that Rainy Day, a beautiful jazz ballad. I was fascinated by the different interpretations each artist brought to the song. I really liked that tape, unfortunately I couldn’t buy one.

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Some Immediate Changes and One for the Future

The problem with the “Do it, then fix it later” philosophy is that there are always things you have to fix. I’m kind of facing that situation right now.

I love blogging. I love writing this blog. There are, however, some things that I started here, that I believe I shouldn’t have. I realize that I started this blog a little bit before I was really ready. For instance, being an enthusiastic fan of both Twitter and FriendFeed, I jumped in with both feet, trying to teach and learn at the same time. After some reflection, I had to admit that I’m not near the expert I thought I was. I came to the conclusion that it isn’t fair to you to be teaching out of my ignorance.

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