Beware of the person of one book. | |
–– Thomas Aquinas | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | What’s In Your Future? |
2014 | Light In Darkness |
2013 | How ‘Bout Just Obeying The Law? |
2012 | Or Maybe Not |
2011 | My Interval Is Too Short! |
Archive for May, 2016
Or Of One Thought
Posted in Quotes, tagged Books, People, Quotes, Thomas Aquinas on May 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Memorial Day – 2016
Posted in Faith, Pictures, tagged All gave some; Some gave all, Memorial Day - 2016, Pictures on May 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Please take a moment to remember those who’ve served and their families. “All gave some; Some gave all.” — KMAB | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | A Handful Of Reviews |
And You Can Quote Me | |
2014 | Get Wisdom |
2013 | Enjoying The View? |
2012 | Adam’s Rib |
2011 | I’m Sure I Remember That… |
Memorial Day, 2011 | |
Thinking Science Fictional
Posted in Quotes, tagged Isaac Asimov, On Change, Quotes, Science Fiction on May 29, 2016| 2 Comments »
It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be… This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking. | |
— Isaac Asimov | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Dawn Is Coming |
2014 | Back When I Was A Firebrand |
2013 | Pen In Hand |
Word Up! | |
2012 | Disturbing |
Trying To Keep Up | |
2011 | Unreliable And Selective |
2010 | Adult-Onset Athlete |
CA3: Civil War
Posted in Movie Review, Movies, tagged Ant Man / Giant Man, Avengers, Captain America, Captain America (3): Civil War - movie review, Doctor Strange, Highly Recommended Movie, Hulk, Iron Man, Must See Movie, Spider-Man, Spiderman, The Black Panther, The Guardians Of The Galaxy, Thor on May 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Captain America: Civil War (2016) – movie review | |
Okay! Last night I finally got around to seeing the latest Marvel Comics movie: Captain America (3): Civil War. Actually, this is more accurately titled Avengers 3 (Lite). “Lite” in the sense there are no sightings of Thor or the Hulk. | |
So, the premise is: what happens in the real world when aliens attack the Earth and we’re protected by “super-heroes” and “meta-humans”. The argument is that the “normal” humans (via their politicians) will try to control (regulate) the actions of the super-heroes to “sanction” their efforts to protect humanity. Team Iron Man believes there should be some regulations. Team Captain America believes you can’t trust politicians or governments and super-heroes have to be able to act on their own personal beliefs on what constitutes the best interest of humanity. | |
This is an old argument which does not need a great deal of exposition here. My personal bias is Team CA, but that’s just me. So much for plot, is the movie any good. Yes! This is probably the best “team” movie I’ve seen. The only one which comes close is The Guardians Of The Galaxy. All of the “new” Avengers are present, plus a couple of “new” heroes: Spider-Man, Ant Man / Giant Man, and the Black Panther. A whole bunch of heroes! But they all get their individual moments and nobody gets out-and-out lost. This is mostly because it’s such a LONG movie – almost 3 hours. But the thing is, if the movie had had an intermission, I would not have minded it being longer. There was a ton of action and a whole lot of story. And it all worked together beautifully. | |
If there is one problem with the movie, the bar is now set very high. My prediction: get ready for some troughs. Which will be too bad, because I’m looking forward to new singles (Spider-Man, Ant Man (2), the Black Panther, and, probably most of all, Doctor Strange. If they are even close to this movie, they’ll be pretty good. Only time will tell… | |
Final recommendation: a must see movie if you are a comic book, sci-fi, action / adventure, super-hero movie genre movie-goer (obviously I AM)! This is a must see on the big screen movie!! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | I Resemble That Remark… (5!) |
2014 | The Writer’s Dilemma |
2013 | Just Paying The Rent |
2012 | Remembering… |
2011 | A Little Farther |
I See Coincidence Everywhere
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Isaac Asimov, On Coincidence, On Probability, Philosophy, Quotes, Science on May 28, 2016| 4 Comments »
People are entirely too disbelieving of coincidence. They are far too ready to dismiss it and to build arcane structures of extremely rickety substance in order to avoid it. I, on the other hand, see coincidence everywhere as an inevitable consequence of the laws of probability, according to which having no unusual coincidence is far more unusual than any coincidence could possibly be. | |
— Isaac Asimov | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | I Resemble That Remark… (5!) |
2014 | The Writer’s Dilemma |
2013 | Just Paying The Rent |
2012 | Remembering… |
2011 | A Little Farther |
Learning, Experience, Chances or Money
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Ernest Hemingway, On Living, Philosophy, Quotes, The Sun Also Rises on May 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I thought I had paid for everything. Not like the woman pays and pays and pays. No idea of retribution or punishment. Just exchange of values. You gave up something and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid some way for everything that was any good. I paid my way into enough things that I like, so that I had a good time. Either you paid by learning about them, or by experience, or by taking chances, or by money. Enjoying living was learning to get your money’s worth and knowing when you had it. You could get your money’s worth. The world was a good place to buy in. It seemed like a fine philosophy. In five years, I thought, it will seem just as silly as all the other fine philosophies I’ve had. | |
— Ernst Hemingway | |
From his novel: “The Sun Also Rises“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | The Critical State |
2014 | Dawn, n. |
2013 | Ouch! |
2012 | Just Lookin’ Around |
Still Growing | |
2011 | But Do You Want To? |
Alas, Too Often The Latter
Posted in Quotes, Reading, tagged Gilbert K. Chesterton, On Reading, Quotes on May 26, 2016| 2 Comments »
There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read. | |
–– Gilbert K. Chesterton | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Either / Or |
2014 | Memorial Day – 2014 |
Perfection | |
2013 | Memorial Day Video |
Equal = Equal | |
2012 | Congrats, Nephew!! |
Doggie Vision Networks | |
The Flash: Omnibus | |
JLI: vol 1 | |
Flash: Rebirth | |
Burning Images | |
What Do You Believe? | |
2011 | Are We Still At War With The Poor? |
Slogging
Posted in Health, Running, tagged Health, Slow jogging on May 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I just felt like hitting the bricks for a while, so I went for a VERY slow initial jog. Hil was a bit concerned because I’ve had so many episodes of palpitations lately, but I got through it. Weighed myself this morning – 350lbs. | |
Four(4) laps around the school yard. Maybe, one(1) mile. Five minutes of stretching afterwards and twenty-five incline push-ups. Maybe a total of 30 minutes. It felt good afterwards. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow… LOL! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Memorial Day – 2015 |
Content People Love To Share | |
2014 | I Resemble That Remark |
2013 | Long Range Exploration |
2012 | UBI |
2011 | Opportunity |
It’s About…
Posted in Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged On Hacking, On Knowledge, Quotes, Steal This Computer Book 3, Wallace Wang on May 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Hacking is about exploring, extending boundaries, and searching for knowledge for its own sake. | |
— Wallace Wang | |
From the Introduction to his book: “Steal This Computer Book 3“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Memorial Day – 2015 |
Content People Love To Share | |
2014 | I Resemble That Remark |
2013 | Long Range Exploration |
2012 | UBI |
2011 | Opportunity |
Man / Man
Posted in Movie Review, Movies, tagged Adam West, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Ben Affleck, Bruce Lee, BvS, Cheung Wing-sing, Christian Bale, Donnie Yen, Ip Man, Ip Man 3 - movie review, Iron Mike Tyson, Kung-Fu, Lynn Hung, Mike Tyson, The Batman, Wing Chun on May 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Ip Man 3 – movie review | |
Over the weekend I had my first viewing of “Ip Man 3” (2015), starring Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung as Cheung Wing-sing (Ip Man’s wife), and with a feature role by Mike (“Iron Mike”) Tyson. Ip Man is a historic Chinese Boxer / martial artist who practiced Wing Chun (a style of Kung Fu) and who achieved secondary fame in the West as being the Sifu (“teacher”) of Bruce Lee. This movie is set in the late 1950’s. Ip Man has become a very popular figure in Chinese martial arts movies of late and there are many movies about him which have been released in the last ten years. I own four of the Ip Man DVDs and I borrowed this one from my brother to view it. | |
The movie has three main sub-plots: Ip Man protecting Hong Kong from an evil foreign developer (“Frank” played by Mike Tyson); Ip Man defending his status as the primary Sifu of Wing Chun; and, Ip Man’s wife dying from cancer. Of course, the main point of the movie is that the greatest fighter (Ip Man) is always the one with the purest heart. As always, the sub-plots are meant to drive the action in the movie – this is, after all, a martial arts film. And, they more or less do and the action scenes work. Of the three sub-plots, the only interesting one (for me) is the wife’s cancer and Ip Man’s reaction to it and his love for her as she is dying. It is poignant and the process of seeing her fade slowly into death is treated with a rare kindness one almost never sees in a martial arts movie (Hollywood or Chinese). In the end, this is the most memorable part of the movie. | |
The fight choreography is excellent, as usual, but seems pedestrian after so many versions in the series. My favorite scene is the weakening wife telling Ip Man that she misses hearing him practice hitting the wooden dummy. It is emotionally evocative of “this is what you do, and this is a part of what I love about you”, in a way that few movies ever reach. Final recommendation: Highly recommended. | |
The Dark Knight Trilogy #3: The Dark Knight Rises – movie review | |
This is one of several reviews of this movie I’ve made. TDKR (2012) is an enjoyable movie which I have rated “Highly” in both of my prior reviews (1010, Catching Up). This “review” is really more of an additional comment than it is a review – and it is being made post-“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and with the qualifications that I’ve only seen BvS once and that was at the theater. Generally speaking, I prefer Christian Bale much more than Ben Affleck as an actor in any role. Even understanding that the role of episode #3 is supposed to be eight years after episode #2 and Batman is supposed to have been gone the whole time, and in BvS is “probably” supposed to be somewhere in that time span, Bale absolutely looks like he could never be (or have been) Batman. Affleck, on the other hand, perfectly suits an older Bruce Wayne and looks way better in the “normal” (as opposed to the Iron Man) Batman suit. Particularly in the various shirtless scenes, Bale looks tone-less, not just “less” than super buffed / fit. I didn’t notice it at the time, or in my prior reviews, but Bale makes Batman look skinny when in the suit. He seems well proportioned when standing by himself, but next to other people, I kept thinking: “Wow. He’s skinny.” And I don’t think of Batman as skinny… I also don’t think of him as tone-less. At least I haven’t since the days of Adam West and that was supposed to be a parody (I hope). | |
Anyway, that’s my only new comment. I still find the movie solid entertainment and still recommend it highly. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Memorial Day – 2015 |
Content People Love To Share | |
2014 | I Resemble That Remark |
2013 | Long Range Exploration |
2012 | UBI |
2011 | Opportunity |
History Favors The Victor
Posted in History, Quotes, tagged Erich Fromm, History, On Statesmen, On Success, Quotes on May 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal. | |
— Erich Fromm | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | This We’ll Leave Them |
2014 | Sounds Like Faux News To Me |
2013 | Reasons |
2012 | American Libertarianism |
2011 | The Goal |
But I Have Too Many Questions
Posted in Quotes, tagged Claude Levi-Strauss, On Questions, Quotes on May 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions. | |
— Claude Levi-Strauss | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | A New Friend |
2014 | Do I Have To Fall In Love? |
2013 | More Democracy, Please |
2012 | Speaking Of Love |
2011 | Limits |
And My God For His Graces
Posted in Faith, Humor, Quotes, tagged Faith, Humor, Oscar Wilde, Quotes on May 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects. | |
–– Oscar Wilde | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | About Character |
2014 | Your Gain |
2013 | Look Up |
2012 | Count Me In |
2011 | Pirates Four, Three Songs |
Sir Charles | |
Look First, Not Last | |
2010 | Par-a-diddle |
Better Yet, Read!
Posted in Quotes, Reading, tagged Connie Willis, On Life, On Literature, On Reading, Quotes on May 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »
That’s what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them! | |
— Connie Willis | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Even If It Kills Us Slowly |
2014 | Fun To Play God |
Of Anything | |
2013 | Legal (Almost) |
2012 | Great Scots! |
2011 | The GI Bill – A Simple History Lesson |
Breaking Even | |