Being stuck in motels, airports and airplanes gives one the chance to see a lot of movies. Sadly most of the ones I've caught recently have been bad.
The A-Team - (2010) If this movie were to be allowed to stand on its own it would probably get a passing grade. Not great, not terrible, a fun little romp. But it's a re-make and therefore shall always be compared to the original TV series. The movie cast simply doesn't meet the over the top standards of the iconic TV cast. Quinton Jackson had to know he was holding a losing hand when cast in the role of B.A. Baracus, the role which made Mr. T. But all the others fail to make the grade as well. As per usual the moviemakers decided to hope that fancy effects and combat sequences would make up for the the lack of character and story line. At the end of the movie I was disappointed by the movie just a little sad for it.
Daredevil - (2003) The leads aren't bad (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan as the bad guys). The story is more than sufficient for a super hero movie. Fight scenes etc. And yet this movie just stinks. Flat, uninspired and never getting you to care one tiny little bit. Garner is terrible when she goes into revenge girl mode, Colin Farrell is a twitchy Barty Crouch Junior clone. Just bleah.
Mystery Men -(1999) - The story of some, shall we say, lesser super heroes who have to step in when the "real" superhero gets captured by his arch-enemy. The best part of the movie is the look, the cast (William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, Paul Ruebens, Hank Azaria, Geoffrey Rush, Eddie Izzard among others) and some of the dialogue. It's basically a parody of the superhero genre. The overall effect? Less than stellar. For a lazy afternoon with nothing better to do.
Charlie's Angels - (2000) I actually only saw about 3 minutes of this movie. It was SO awful I turned it off. The more I see of Cameron Diaz the less I understand her "stardom". The more I see of Drew Barrymore the less I understand why she's not even more highly acclaimed.
On the other hand I saw one movie that surprised me:
The Blind Side - (2009) I was prepared to be completely underwhelmed by what was obviously a heart warming, tear jerker story. Based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher the movie totally sucked me in. Sandra Bullock is fabulous as Leigh Anne Tuohy. I have to admit I don't think of her in terms of the kind of high society gorgeous she plays here. But she makes it work. Yeah it's heart warming and tear jerking and absolutely fabulous.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - Hall of Fame game
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its list of candidates for the next admission class. As always it’s an interesting list including well known, lesser known and roots of rock names. An acquaintance of mine pointed me towards the nominees and as always that started the “So who would YOU pick?” game.
This year’s nominees are Guns N Rose, Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Beastie Boys, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/Faces, Donna Summer, War, The Spinners, Rufus w/ Chaka Khan, Donovan, and Eric B & Rakim. That’s a pretty impressive list. And it represents a whole lot of not only hit music but great music. Never forget those two things aren’t always the same thing.
Now on the Hall of Fame website you can also play the game. You can vote on your top 5 nominees. When I checked last week the top 5 vote getters were - starting with number 5 - The Beastie Boys, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Cure, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and at number one, Guns ‘N Roses. Now I wouldn’t really have trouble with any of those groups and at some point I would expect all of them could be inductees. But I have to admit that this doesn’t match up with my top 5 particularly well at all. In fact the only one I would choose is The Cure for a top 5 list.
The rest of my Top 5 list would include, in no particular order, The Beastie Boys, Freddy King, Laura Nyro, and The Small Faces/Faces. I probably don’t have to explain the Beasties inclusion but some folks may not be familiar with the other three. Freddy “The Texas Cannon” King was an influential African American blues guitarist often classed with B.B.King and Albert King. Laura Nyro is an singer songwriter who died too young but who wrote lots of hit songs for the likes of the Fifth Dimension, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Three Dog Night and Barbara Streisand. The Small Faces/Faces are the two different formations of one of the most influential British mod groups of the ‘60’s then evolved into a premier psychedelic group. Over the years the band included Steve Mariott, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Woods and oh yes, Rod Stewart.
There are lots of popular and influential musicians on the nominees list. I tend to give a little more emphasis to influence over popularity. The next class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in April of next year.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its list of candidates for the next admission class. As always it’s an interesting list including well known, lesser known and roots of rock names. An acquaintance of mine pointed me towards the nominees and as always that started the “So who would YOU pick?” game.
This year’s nominees are Guns N Rose, Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Beastie Boys, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/Faces, Donna Summer, War, The Spinners, Rufus w/ Chaka Khan, Donovan, and Eric B & Rakim. That’s a pretty impressive list. And it represents a whole lot of not only hit music but great music. Never forget those two things aren’t always the same thing.
Now on the Hall of Fame website you can also play the game. You can vote on your top 5 nominees. When I checked last week the top 5 vote getters were - starting with number 5 - The Beastie Boys, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Cure, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and at number one, Guns ‘N Roses. Now I wouldn’t really have trouble with any of those groups and at some point I would expect all of them could be inductees. But I have to admit that this doesn’t match up with my top 5 particularly well at all. In fact the only one I would choose is The Cure for a top 5 list.
The rest of my Top 5 list would include, in no particular order, The Beastie Boys, Freddy King, Laura Nyro, and The Small Faces/Faces. I probably don’t have to explain the Beasties inclusion but some folks may not be familiar with the other three. Freddy “The Texas Cannon” King was an influential African American blues guitarist often classed with B.B.King and Albert King. Laura Nyro is an singer songwriter who died too young but who wrote lots of hit songs for the likes of the Fifth Dimension, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Three Dog Night and Barbara Streisand. The Small Faces/Faces are the two different formations of one of the most influential British mod groups of the ‘60’s then evolved into a premier psychedelic group. Over the years the band included Steve Mariott, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Woods and oh yes, Rod Stewart.
There are lots of popular and influential musicians on the nominees list. I tend to give a little more emphasis to influence over popularity. The next class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in April of next year.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - Dylan Controversy
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
Once upon a time Bob Dylan made the news because he chose to move from acoustic guitar to electric. At the time it was seen as a terrible betrayal of his roots in folk music. As the years went on people got over it. Well little Bobby Zimmerman is in the news again but I’m not so sure what the final judgement of history will be of this particular problem.
Last month a rare show of Dylan’s paintings went up in the Gogosian Gallery in New York City. The work was described as being a “visual journal” of the 70 year old music legends travels in Asia and as "first-hand depictions of people, street scenes, architecture and landscape". Needless to say there was a great deal of excitement about the show. Within days however people were looking at the paintings and thinking that some of them seemed terribly familiar.
In fact it appears that a half dozen or so of the paintings aren’t first hand depictions by Dylan at all. They appear to be very close copies of well known photographs including the works of such photographic giants as Cartier-Bresson. One photo copied was the cover of Life magazine.
Now let’s be clear about what the problem is here. It’s NOT that Dylan painted from photographs. Many artists will work from photographs. Nor is it necessarily a problem that he was working from someone else’s photographs either. No the problem is that Dylan didn’t give credit to the original work and made it sound like it was his own. The gallery has worked very hard to smooth over the problem but has also changed the description of the show as well.
No the real problem is that it’s a cheap and slightly sleazy move by an artist who shouldn’t have to stoop to this level. It raises the question did Dylan know that he was cheating? In which case he comes off as arrogant and cynical. The other alternative is that the creative spirit has deserted the legendary singer/sonwriter to the point that he has to pass someone else’s creative work as his own. Quoting the title of one of his early albums it’s “Another Side of Bob Dylan”. A rather sad and pathetic coda to a brilliant and unique career.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Once upon a time Bob Dylan made the news because he chose to move from acoustic guitar to electric. At the time it was seen as a terrible betrayal of his roots in folk music. As the years went on people got over it. Well little Bobby Zimmerman is in the news again but I’m not so sure what the final judgement of history will be of this particular problem.
Last month a rare show of Dylan’s paintings went up in the Gogosian Gallery in New York City. The work was described as being a “visual journal” of the 70 year old music legends travels in Asia and as "first-hand depictions of people, street scenes, architecture and landscape". Needless to say there was a great deal of excitement about the show. Within days however people were looking at the paintings and thinking that some of them seemed terribly familiar.
In fact it appears that a half dozen or so of the paintings aren’t first hand depictions by Dylan at all. They appear to be very close copies of well known photographs including the works of such photographic giants as Cartier-Bresson. One photo copied was the cover of Life magazine.
Now let’s be clear about what the problem is here. It’s NOT that Dylan painted from photographs. Many artists will work from photographs. Nor is it necessarily a problem that he was working from someone else’s photographs either. No the problem is that Dylan didn’t give credit to the original work and made it sound like it was his own. The gallery has worked very hard to smooth over the problem but has also changed the description of the show as well.
No the real problem is that it’s a cheap and slightly sleazy move by an artist who shouldn’t have to stoop to this level. It raises the question did Dylan know that he was cheating? In which case he comes off as arrogant and cynical. The other alternative is that the creative spirit has deserted the legendary singer/sonwriter to the point that he has to pass someone else’s creative work as his own. Quoting the title of one of his early albums it’s “Another Side of Bob Dylan”. A rather sad and pathetic coda to a brilliant and unique career.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Anniversary and coda
One year ago.
5.40 PM
I had a stroke.
Today I am a stroke survivor. It still feels weird to say that.
Today is that anniversary. It is also the last day of my "Lost Year". A year that has been challenging, frightening and hectic. My recovery put me MONTHS behind in my work and I spent most of the year scrambling to catch up. I did. Mostly. Nothing ever fell through the cracks but a couple things came entirely too close.
It felt like I would never fully recovered. As soon as I thought I was I'd realize that I was wrong. The physical frailty was bad. The first time I went out of the house after the stroke I needed to lean on my lady wife's arm at times. I wore down in a very short while. Hard to accept when I had been training for a 5k just weeks before. But it was the mental frailty that was really the hardest. The lurking fear of "What if it happens again?". Am I pushing too hard? The weight gain and loss of conditioning made it worse. Just weeks before the stroke I had run up hill for a block in downtown Jamestown and hadn't been breathing hard at the top. When I walked up that hill a month or two later it was slow, labored and I was breathing very hard at the top.
I've spent a lot of time this year talking about the stroke. It's begun to sound like excuse making to me and I hate excuse making. At the same time the reality is that I was sick That's not an excuse. I'm tired of talking about it and I'm tired of feeling guilty about it.
It all ends today.
The stroke is part of my history. It always will be. So is when I broke my arm, and when I broke my ribs and when I got married and when my daughter was born. I don't talk about them all the time. They don't control my life. I celebrate the anniversary of good things in my life. I note several less happy events each year in memoriam. This will be one of them. I will remember and give thanks that I survived.
Every day since then has been a gift. Every day from now on will be a gift.
It's time to move on.
Peace
5.40 PM
I had a stroke.
Today I am a stroke survivor. It still feels weird to say that.
Today is that anniversary. It is also the last day of my "Lost Year". A year that has been challenging, frightening and hectic. My recovery put me MONTHS behind in my work and I spent most of the year scrambling to catch up. I did. Mostly. Nothing ever fell through the cracks but a couple things came entirely too close.
It felt like I would never fully recovered. As soon as I thought I was I'd realize that I was wrong. The physical frailty was bad. The first time I went out of the house after the stroke I needed to lean on my lady wife's arm at times. I wore down in a very short while. Hard to accept when I had been training for a 5k just weeks before. But it was the mental frailty that was really the hardest. The lurking fear of "What if it happens again?". Am I pushing too hard? The weight gain and loss of conditioning made it worse. Just weeks before the stroke I had run up hill for a block in downtown Jamestown and hadn't been breathing hard at the top. When I walked up that hill a month or two later it was slow, labored and I was breathing very hard at the top.
I've spent a lot of time this year talking about the stroke. It's begun to sound like excuse making to me and I hate excuse making. At the same time the reality is that I was sick That's not an excuse. I'm tired of talking about it and I'm tired of feeling guilty about it.
It all ends today.
The stroke is part of my history. It always will be. So is when I broke my arm, and when I broke my ribs and when I got married and when my daughter was born. I don't talk about them all the time. They don't control my life. I celebrate the anniversary of good things in my life. I note several less happy events each year in memoriam. This will be one of them. I will remember and give thanks that I survived.
Every day since then has been a gift. Every day from now on will be a gift.
It's time to move on.
Peace
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - RIP Norman Corwin
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
A man died last week. A man that most of you have never even heard of but you should have. You probably have to be in your 70s or 80s to know the name Norman Corwin. That’s really too bad because Norman Corwin influenced a lot of the most popular entertainment media of the second half of the 20th Century. If you’ve enjoyed the work of Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry and Norman Lear then you should know the name of Norman Corwin.
Corwin, known as the poet laureate of radio, won two Peabody awards, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay adaptation of “Lust for Life” which starred Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh. That only scratches the surface of the awards over his lifetime for his work in radio, TV and the movies. He also wrote books, lectured at the University of Southern California and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
What Corwin did that deserves some memorialization is taking light entertainment and putting it to work on serious social issues. Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” often gets the nod for doing this but Corwin was doing it in the ‘30s and ‘40s. And he was doing it with quality writing that was compared to the very best America has ever produced. Corwin’s radio program “On A Note of Triumph” a show written in 24 hours for VE day, the day the Second World War ended in Europe, was called one of the all time great American poems by Carl Sandberg. Sandberg knew a thing or two about great American poems.
No longer was entertainment just for our amusement. Corwin, along with a few others of his contemporaries like Orson Welles, thought that it should make us think as well. Through all of this the incredible writing of Norman Corwin shines through. In 1941 Corwin wrote a radio program called “We Hold These Truths” in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. The writing was so good that 50 years later when NPR wanted to honor the bicentennial of the fundamental American document they simply pulled out the script and re-recorded it.
In a day when writing 140 character long messages is considered a high art form in the media we need to take a step back and take a look at what great writing really looks like. We need to remember the work of Norman Corwin.
Norman Corwin died last week at the age of 101.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
A man died last week. A man that most of you have never even heard of but you should have. You probably have to be in your 70s or 80s to know the name Norman Corwin. That’s really too bad because Norman Corwin influenced a lot of the most popular entertainment media of the second half of the 20th Century. If you’ve enjoyed the work of Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry and Norman Lear then you should know the name of Norman Corwin.
Corwin, known as the poet laureate of radio, won two Peabody awards, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay adaptation of “Lust for Life” which starred Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh. That only scratches the surface of the awards over his lifetime for his work in radio, TV and the movies. He also wrote books, lectured at the University of Southern California and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
What Corwin did that deserves some memorialization is taking light entertainment and putting it to work on serious social issues. Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” often gets the nod for doing this but Corwin was doing it in the ‘30s and ‘40s. And he was doing it with quality writing that was compared to the very best America has ever produced. Corwin’s radio program “On A Note of Triumph” a show written in 24 hours for VE day, the day the Second World War ended in Europe, was called one of the all time great American poems by Carl Sandberg. Sandberg knew a thing or two about great American poems.
No longer was entertainment just for our amusement. Corwin, along with a few others of his contemporaries like Orson Welles, thought that it should make us think as well. Through all of this the incredible writing of Norman Corwin shines through. In 1941 Corwin wrote a radio program called “We Hold These Truths” in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. The writing was so good that 50 years later when NPR wanted to honor the bicentennial of the fundamental American document they simply pulled out the script and re-recorded it.
In a day when writing 140 character long messages is considered a high art form in the media we need to take a step back and take a look at what great writing really looks like. We need to remember the work of Norman Corwin.
Norman Corwin died last week at the age of 101.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Like a wandering Aramean...
Man I am tired. I love traveling but this is starting to catch up with me.
My first trip was to Newark NJ for the Province II Youth Ministry Network followed by reporting to Provincial Council. It's a long (and fairly boring) drive from Jamestown to Newark. The meeting was good. We had two new folks from Rochester in attendance. It was some great conversation about a wide variety of issues. The Youth Ministry Network operates as an information sharing and mutual support group for those of us working at the diocesan level (or near diocesan. Both Rochester and Central New York are trying a new model). I always enjoy meeting with my fellow diocesans and hearing about the different challenges facing us all. I'm also happy to report that my report to the Council was well received. So it was a good trip.
I did a report right after I arrived at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO. The facility is beautiful but the program was even more astounding. The conference, called "Everyone, Everywhere", is a mission conference. It was held 3 years ago in Baltimore for the first time. But it wasn't a "nuts and bolts" kind of mission conference. There was some of that but the real thrust was getting people to think differently about the word "mission". It's impossible to sum up 4 days of the conference in a paragraph or two. In a nutshell mission is the essence of what it means to be God's church in the world. One speaker referred to it as a posture of living. Literally EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE. The phrase that really got me was "The church was not created for mission, the church is created by mission". I'm typing up my notes from the conference and would be more than happy to talk with anyone (individual, group or parish) that would like to think a little more deeply about mission. It's not the mission talk you it is, that's all I can assure you.
As I write this I'm in Salt Lake City Utah. My first time in that city AND that state. Since I'm in meetings from 9AM to 9 PM I haven't seen much of the city other than what I saw on my way in from the airport. From that I can say it's very clean and modern looking. It also seems to rise suddenly out of the ground. I've noticed this in a couple other cities as well. Buffalo is always clearly a city set in the middle of large urban area. Salt Lake City is kind of like Oz. The folks here are super pleasant and helpful. We're staying at the Wasatch Retreat and Conference Center which also houses the diocesan offices of the Diocese of Utah. It is an absolutely gorgeous facility (and the food is really good)! It sits right next to the cathedral. There's an historic marker out in front of St. Mark's cathedral that notes it is the oldest non-Mormon church in continuous usage in the state. Pretty cool.
Why am I here? I serve on the Standing Commission on Ministry Development which is a Commission of the General Convention. That means I'm serving with folks from all over the church. It includes 3 bishops, 4 priests and about 6 lay people. It's a very intelligent and articulate group and I enjoy the work we're doing. In preparation for next year's General Convention we are looking at a change to the canons (the laws of the church) that would offer a method for a diocese faced with extremely severe disagreements with its bishop(s) to dissolve that dysfunctional relationship. Our hope is that it would never be needed but there are a couple times when it would have been useful over the last 10 years. We are also looking at resolutions concerning the education of the clergy and a separate resolution looking at the growth and development of lay ministries as well. I chair the sub-committee on lay ministry. It's been a fascinating look at what works, what doesn't and how we should be doing a better job. It's a challenge but it feels like I get the chance to work on some important ideas for our larger church. I'd be more than happy to talk with anyone about any of these issues too.
The down side on this trip is on the first full day here I came down with a big honking cold. I'm trying very hard to not spread it among my friends here. Hopefully I can keep it under control for the 4 hour flight east on Thursday.
Back in WNY Thursday afternoon and then Diocesan Convention starts first thing Friday morning! I think I may collapse next week. It'll be good to be at home for a while (still one more trip to come! But not for two more weeks)
My first trip was to Newark NJ for the Province II Youth Ministry Network followed by reporting to Provincial Council. It's a long (and fairly boring) drive from Jamestown to Newark. The meeting was good. We had two new folks from Rochester in attendance. It was some great conversation about a wide variety of issues. The Youth Ministry Network operates as an information sharing and mutual support group for those of us working at the diocesan level (or near diocesan. Both Rochester and Central New York are trying a new model). I always enjoy meeting with my fellow diocesans and hearing about the different challenges facing us all. I'm also happy to report that my report to the Council was well received. So it was a good trip.
I did a report right after I arrived at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO. The facility is beautiful but the program was even more astounding. The conference, called "Everyone, Everywhere", is a mission conference. It was held 3 years ago in Baltimore for the first time. But it wasn't a "nuts and bolts" kind of mission conference. There was some of that but the real thrust was getting people to think differently about the word "mission". It's impossible to sum up 4 days of the conference in a paragraph or two. In a nutshell mission is the essence of what it means to be God's church in the world. One speaker referred to it as a posture of living. Literally EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE. The phrase that really got me was "The church was not created for mission, the church is created by mission". I'm typing up my notes from the conference and would be more than happy to talk with anyone (individual, group or parish) that would like to think a little more deeply about mission. It's not the mission talk you it is, that's all I can assure you.
As I write this I'm in Salt Lake City Utah. My first time in that city AND that state. Since I'm in meetings from 9AM to 9 PM I haven't seen much of the city other than what I saw on my way in from the airport. From that I can say it's very clean and modern looking. It also seems to rise suddenly out of the ground. I've noticed this in a couple other cities as well. Buffalo is always clearly a city set in the middle of large urban area. Salt Lake City is kind of like Oz. The folks here are super pleasant and helpful. We're staying at the Wasatch Retreat and Conference Center which also houses the diocesan offices of the Diocese of Utah. It is an absolutely gorgeous facility (and the food is really good)! It sits right next to the cathedral. There's an historic marker out in front of St. Mark's cathedral that notes it is the oldest non-Mormon church in continuous usage in the state. Pretty cool.
Why am I here? I serve on the Standing Commission on Ministry Development which is a Commission of the General Convention. That means I'm serving with folks from all over the church. It includes 3 bishops, 4 priests and about 6 lay people. It's a very intelligent and articulate group and I enjoy the work we're doing. In preparation for next year's General Convention we are looking at a change to the canons (the laws of the church) that would offer a method for a diocese faced with extremely severe disagreements with its bishop(s) to dissolve that dysfunctional relationship. Our hope is that it would never be needed but there are a couple times when it would have been useful over the last 10 years. We are also looking at resolutions concerning the education of the clergy and a separate resolution looking at the growth and development of lay ministries as well. I chair the sub-committee on lay ministry. It's been a fascinating look at what works, what doesn't and how we should be doing a better job. It's a challenge but it feels like I get the chance to work on some important ideas for our larger church. I'd be more than happy to talk with anyone about any of these issues too.
The down side on this trip is on the first full day here I came down with a big honking cold. I'm trying very hard to not spread it among my friends here. Hopefully I can keep it under control for the 4 hour flight east on Thursday.
Back in WNY Thursday afternoon and then Diocesan Convention starts first thing Friday morning! I think I may collapse next week. It'll be good to be at home for a while (still one more trip to come! But not for two more weeks)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Western New York's Where's Waldo?
In this case it isn't some goof in a striped shirt but your Youth Missioner who is wandering widely. Right now I'm in Estes Park CO attending the "Everyone, Everywhere" conference on Missions, sponsored by various organizations of the Episcopal Church.
View Larger Map
What, you may ask, is there in Estes Park CO? Well just outside this small town is the YMCA of the Rockies which is this amazing retreat/conference center set in the midst of Rocky Mountain National Park. The view is stunning but we're also over 8,000 feet above sea level. The air here is thinner than back home and it takes a couple days to get used to it. I feel a little out of breath most of the time right now. At the same time there is less humidity up this high so there's no haze. The view is crystal clear the whole way to the horizon. Needless to say the views are spectacular!
Yeah, THAT kind of spectacular. This is looking west towards the Rockies. Just amazing.
So why am I at this conference? A couple reasons: First because it's a chance to bring back more information on mission trips and the resources that are out there. I've signed up for workshops on:
The second reason I'm here is that through my work with Province II my costs for this trip are being picked up by outside funding sources i.e. NOT the Diocese of WNY. So for us it's a freebie learning experience.
In the meantime I've already had two close encounters with wild animals. Mule deer and a herd of elk are wandering around on the campus of the YMCA. Elk are enormous but they make this rather peculiar high pitched tiny little noise. I'm told the male elk can be quite loud and aggressive so I've given them a wide berth.
Well at this point it's only 9 PM local time but my internal clock says it's 11 PM and I've been up since just before 4 AM. So I'm going to call it a day.
See you next week (I'm HOME all week!)
Peace
View Larger Map
What, you may ask, is there in Estes Park CO? Well just outside this small town is the YMCA of the Rockies which is this amazing retreat/conference center set in the midst of Rocky Mountain National Park. The view is stunning but we're also over 8,000 feet above sea level. The air here is thinner than back home and it takes a couple days to get used to it. I feel a little out of breath most of the time right now. At the same time there is less humidity up this high so there's no haze. The view is crystal clear the whole way to the horizon. Needless to say the views are spectacular!
So why am I at this conference? A couple reasons: First because it's a chance to bring back more information on mission trips and the resources that are out there. I've signed up for workshops on:
- Transforming Worship: Energizing "Everyone, Everywhere" in Mission
- Communicating Mission: How to Share Your Mission Experiences
- Engaging Young Adults in Mission
- The 4 P's: Building a Strategy of Mission in the Local Church
- Infusion: A Model for Engaging Youth in Social Justice Issues
The second reason I'm here is that through my work with Province II my costs for this trip are being picked up by outside funding sources i.e. NOT the Diocese of WNY. So for us it's a freebie learning experience.
In the meantime I've already had two close encounters with wild animals. Mule deer and a herd of elk are wandering around on the campus of the YMCA. Elk are enormous but they make this rather peculiar high pitched tiny little noise. I'm told the male elk can be quite loud and aggressive so I've given them a wide berth.
Well at this point it's only 9 PM local time but my internal clock says it's 11 PM and I've been up since just before 4 AM. So I'm going to call it a day.
See you next week (I'm HOME all week!)
Peace
Monday, October 10, 2011
Of Books and Movies
Let's see what have we read or watched recently?
Doctor Who - (the movie) 1996 - I was all set to hate this. See being part of a cult following means that you must have decided opinions. On everything. I've been a Whovian since college and for me it is the Fourth Doctor (Whovians all discuss the various incarnations of our favorite character by their place in the overall sequence. One only refers to the actor when speaking with those from outside) portrayed by Tom Baker. He of the wild hair, the big hat and the signature long scarf. I quite like the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors as well. But this is the only appearance of the Eighth Doctor (he appears in some radio programs, novels and comics but those are regarded with a tiny bit of disdain by the mainstream Whovian). The Eighth Doctor never had a TV series which makes him unique. It also makes him one of the least known of the Doctors. So I had no idea what to expect. What I discovered was yet another Doctor that I quite enjoyed. Paul McGann does a really nice job. The Companions, Dr. Grace Holloway and Chang Lee, are quite acceptable as well. The interiors of the Tardis are everything I could hope for. We even get a brief moment with the Seventh Doctor right at the beginning of the movie. The down side are primarily the performance of Eric Roberts as the rival Time Lord The Master. Roberts chews the scenery to a degree that makes William Shatner look like Laurence Olivier. And right at the beginning there is this stupid parallel with the 1930's movie "Frankenstein" that is pointless and heavy handed. I would certainly recommend the movie to any Whovian. Newbies to the world of the Doctor should certainly bring along an interpreter.
Books
Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny - I've been a long time fan of Zelazny's so I grabbed this at the library. It's an interesting look at the concept of an archetypal road, one that extends between all timelines and the people who can wander it. The book spends more time in the specific story line of the main characters and less on exploring the concept of the Road itself. Which is too bad. That would be my only complaint. Good short read.
Two Audiobooks during my drive back and forth from Newark NJ:
Bad Company by Jack Higgins - Another story of Sean Dillon, Brigadier Ferguson, the Salters and the rest of the cast of regulars. Dillon ends up having to rescue the Brigadier from a castle in Germany. Higgins doing what he does. I always enjoy these books.
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon - Seen the movies (at least part of both) but never read the book. There's a long middle section that I found a little dull to be honest. It just seems like the whole idea that the main character has been primed to be a subconscious assassin gets dropped without a trace. Just seemed to go on for a long time without really moving the story forward. The beginning and the end are pretty good however and Condon creates one of the most vile characters I've ever come across. I'll let you discover who it is for yourself. Not bad at all.
And a couple e-books, both sci-fi and both of them available free:
Fallen Angels by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven and Michael Flynn - I did a quick review of this already. Liked it a lot. End of world story as a new Ice Age arrives and the society that grows because of it.
Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen - Part of Saberhagen's long story arc concerning the robot destroyers called the Berserkers. The story follows the "discovery" of some Berserkers left behind and inactive and the human who gains control of them. Good stuff.
Doctor Who - (the movie) 1996 - I was all set to hate this. See being part of a cult following means that you must have decided opinions. On everything. I've been a Whovian since college and for me it is the Fourth Doctor (Whovians all discuss the various incarnations of our favorite character by their place in the overall sequence. One only refers to the actor when speaking with those from outside) portrayed by Tom Baker. He of the wild hair, the big hat and the signature long scarf. I quite like the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors as well. But this is the only appearance of the Eighth Doctor (he appears in some radio programs, novels and comics but those are regarded with a tiny bit of disdain by the mainstream Whovian). The Eighth Doctor never had a TV series which makes him unique. It also makes him one of the least known of the Doctors. So I had no idea what to expect. What I discovered was yet another Doctor that I quite enjoyed. Paul McGann does a really nice job. The Companions, Dr. Grace Holloway and Chang Lee, are quite acceptable as well. The interiors of the Tardis are everything I could hope for. We even get a brief moment with the Seventh Doctor right at the beginning of the movie. The down side are primarily the performance of Eric Roberts as the rival Time Lord The Master. Roberts chews the scenery to a degree that makes William Shatner look like Laurence Olivier. And right at the beginning there is this stupid parallel with the 1930's movie "Frankenstein" that is pointless and heavy handed. I would certainly recommend the movie to any Whovian. Newbies to the world of the Doctor should certainly bring along an interpreter.
Books
Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny - I've been a long time fan of Zelazny's so I grabbed this at the library. It's an interesting look at the concept of an archetypal road, one that extends between all timelines and the people who can wander it. The book spends more time in the specific story line of the main characters and less on exploring the concept of the Road itself. Which is too bad. That would be my only complaint. Good short read.
Two Audiobooks during my drive back and forth from Newark NJ:
Bad Company by Jack Higgins - Another story of Sean Dillon, Brigadier Ferguson, the Salters and the rest of the cast of regulars. Dillon ends up having to rescue the Brigadier from a castle in Germany. Higgins doing what he does. I always enjoy these books.
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon - Seen the movies (at least part of both) but never read the book. There's a long middle section that I found a little dull to be honest. It just seems like the whole idea that the main character has been primed to be a subconscious assassin gets dropped without a trace. Just seemed to go on for a long time without really moving the story forward. The beginning and the end are pretty good however and Condon creates one of the most vile characters I've ever come across. I'll let you discover who it is for yourself. Not bad at all.
And a couple e-books, both sci-fi and both of them available free:
Fallen Angels by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven and Michael Flynn - I did a quick review of this already. Liked it a lot. End of world story as a new Ice Age arrives and the society that grows because of it.
Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen - Part of Saberhagen's long story arc concerning the robot destroyers called the Berserkers. The story follows the "discovery" of some Berserkers left behind and inactive and the human who gains control of them. Good stuff.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - Andy Rooney
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
A few minutes about Andy Rooney. America’s leading grumpy old man offered his last cantankerous commentary on the CBS news program 60 Minutes this week. It was a long a line of commentaries, 1,097 to be precise. And he covered a wide range of topics in the 30 plus years that he did it. I never realized that the commentaries at the end of the program began as a summer replacement for the old Point/Counterpoint debate segments between Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick (of which Saturday Night Live would create an iconic parody). Rooney was so popular that they soon alternated weeks and within two years Point/Counterpoint was history.
It’s worth noting that Rooney’s history should include more than just his “Few Minutes” crank fests. Rooney began as a writer for “Stars and Stripes” the U.S. military’s newspaper. As a correspondent he flew with the Air Force on the first bombing mission over Germany during the Second World War and was one of the first correspondents into the Nazi death camps. After the war he wrote for Arthur Godfrey and then for CBS News. He’s written news, documentaries and more. Rooney has 3 Emmy awards plus a Lifetime Achievement award and a Peabody award on his mantle piece.
As with anyone who makes a practice of commenting on the world at large Rooney has stepped on some toes. He’s had run ins with the LGBT and the Black communities. Rooney, a self acknowledged atheist, has taken consistent shots at the concepts of God and faith. Kurt Cobain fans took exception to his comments following the grunge rocker’s suicide.
But that comes with the territory when you offer an opinion. When Rooney went over the line he generally apologized. And that’s a good practice for a commentator too. It never hurts to be reminded that we are human. Rooney says that first and foremost he is a writer and that a writer’s job is always to tell the truth. Whether the truth had to do with doors (the topic of his first ever on air essay/commentary back in 1964), sports mascots or types of milk Andrew Aitken Rooney has brought a biting sense of satire to America’s Sunday evenings.
It’s easy to satirize America’s Favorite Curmudgeon but we are a little bit less now that we lost his three minutes of nasal, crotchety commentary.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
It’s worth noting that Rooney’s history should include more than just his “Few Minutes” crank fests. Rooney began as a writer for “Stars and Stripes” the U.S. military’s newspaper. As a correspondent he flew with the Air Force on the first bombing mission over Germany during the Second World War and was one of the first correspondents into the Nazi death camps. After the war he wrote for Arthur Godfrey and then for CBS News. He’s written news, documentaries and more. Rooney has 3 Emmy awards plus a Lifetime Achievement award and a Peabody award on his mantle piece.
As with anyone who makes a practice of commenting on the world at large Rooney has stepped on some toes. He’s had run ins with the LGBT and the Black communities. Rooney, a self acknowledged atheist, has taken consistent shots at the concepts of God and faith. Kurt Cobain fans took exception to his comments following the grunge rocker’s suicide.
But that comes with the territory when you offer an opinion. When Rooney went over the line he generally apologized. And that’s a good practice for a commentator too. It never hurts to be reminded that we are human. Rooney says that first and foremost he is a writer and that a writer’s job is always to tell the truth. Whether the truth had to do with doors (the topic of his first ever on air essay/commentary back in 1964), sports mascots or types of milk Andrew Aitken Rooney has brought a biting sense of satire to America’s Sunday evenings.
It’s easy to satirize America’s Favorite Curmudgeon but we are a little bit less now that we lost his three minutes of nasal, crotchety commentary.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - Facebook Hysteria
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
This is going to sound a little rough but I can’t come up with any other way to say it. I am astounded by the hysteria that accompanies every announced change with Facebook. A couple weeks ago I posted an e-card on my profile that reads “I am appalled that the free service that I am in no way obligated to use keeps making changes that mildly inconvenience me”. My advice for everyone is when Facebook changes - relax, suck it up and move on. I mean really, is it worth the level of angst that shows up every single time?
Some of the changes are stupid I give you that much. This new ticker thing on the right hand side strikes me as pointless and annoying. Fortunately it’s easily ignored. And I have to admit that Facebook’s head honcho Mark Zuckerberg shows every sign of major geekdom when he starts rhapsodizing about the future. The Z man sees our entire world kind of being organized through his beloved Facebook. I think this is probably a sure sign that Mark needs to step away from the computer more often. As much as he hated the movie “The Social Network” he really does sound just like the rather pitiful movie version of himself at the very end of the movie. Sitting alone in a conference room hitting refresh to see if someone accepts his friend request. Sad really.
So let’s take a look at the next idea that is headed our way and see if we can’t limit the hyperventilation a little bit. There’s a new look for your profile page coming and it’s a big change. The new concept is called the Timeline and I’ve already been trying it out for the last week or so. Here are my thoughts.
For a purely aesthetic point of view I like it. The old Facebook profile was spartan and a bit dull. This one gives you the chance to use your own cover photo and make it more your own. You get two columns of stories, the ones you post and the ones that Facebook has identified as important. Yeah, that second part doesn’t thrill me but it’s based on what I do on Facebook anyway so it’ll be interesting to see how they tweak it. The reality is that not much changes about how you use Facebook. You’ll be able to post even more nonsensical, pointless trivia about your life if you so desire. And people will be able to find all your old embarrassing moments more easily (time to do some editing for some folks).
The end result is that within six months it will seem perfectly normal to you just like all the changes before. And if you really hate it that much you can always go to Google+.
So spare us all the hysteria.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
This is going to sound a little rough but I can’t come up with any other way to say it. I am astounded by the hysteria that accompanies every announced change with Facebook. A couple weeks ago I posted an e-card on my profile that reads “I am appalled that the free service that I am in no way obligated to use keeps making changes that mildly inconvenience me”. My advice for everyone is when Facebook changes - relax, suck it up and move on. I mean really, is it worth the level of angst that shows up every single time?
Some of the changes are stupid I give you that much. This new ticker thing on the right hand side strikes me as pointless and annoying. Fortunately it’s easily ignored. And I have to admit that Facebook’s head honcho Mark Zuckerberg shows every sign of major geekdom when he starts rhapsodizing about the future. The Z man sees our entire world kind of being organized through his beloved Facebook. I think this is probably a sure sign that Mark needs to step away from the computer more often. As much as he hated the movie “The Social Network” he really does sound just like the rather pitiful movie version of himself at the very end of the movie. Sitting alone in a conference room hitting refresh to see if someone accepts his friend request. Sad really.
So let’s take a look at the next idea that is headed our way and see if we can’t limit the hyperventilation a little bit. There’s a new look for your profile page coming and it’s a big change. The new concept is called the Timeline and I’ve already been trying it out for the last week or so. Here are my thoughts.
For a purely aesthetic point of view I like it. The old Facebook profile was spartan and a bit dull. This one gives you the chance to use your own cover photo and make it more your own. You get two columns of stories, the ones you post and the ones that Facebook has identified as important. Yeah, that second part doesn’t thrill me but it’s based on what I do on Facebook anyway so it’ll be interesting to see how they tweak it. The reality is that not much changes about how you use Facebook. You’ll be able to post even more nonsensical, pointless trivia about your life if you so desire. And people will be able to find all your old embarrassing moments more easily (time to do some editing for some folks).
The end result is that within six months it will seem perfectly normal to you just like all the changes before. And if you really hate it that much you can always go to Google+.
So spare us all the hysteria.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
View From the Phlipside Radio - R.E.M. Farewell
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
It’s been a couple weeks since the rock group R.E.M. announced they were retiring. I’ve been thinking about that announcement and trying to come to grips with it in my head. It just feels peculiar somehow. Some groups end because the band can’t get along any more, the majority simply run out of creative juice. At the other extreme of course are the Rolling Stones who simply refuse to die. R.E.M. doesn’t seem to fit into the usual scenario. They seem to get along just fine and their last two albums debuted in the Top 10. “Accelerate” released in 2008 was called one of their best albums ever by some critics.
But then R.E.M. has always done it their way rather than anyone else’s.
Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills came together in 1980 without any grand plan according to Stipe. Their first gig was playing at a college friend’s birthday party. The name was chosen at random out of the dictionary. Musically Stipe and Buck were fans of punk music and with their band they would lead the way into the next wave of music. R.E.M. stands right at the birth of the alternative rock movement. It’s not that they created it but in many ways they led the way for the success of all the now many flavors of alternative. From their debut album “Murmur” they became the first recognizable name for most mainstream listeners. They had been approached by major label RCA but signed with the much smaller I.R.S. Records. It hasn’t been without a few bumps along the way. During the 1995 tour following the release of “Monster” 3 of the 4 members of the band would end up the hospital. When Bill Berry announced he wanted to retire two years later he said he would only do it if the rest of the band promised not to break up. I’m hard pressed to think of a similar situation happening with any other band.
Along the way R.E.M. made some incredible music. They tried some different things along the way, some succeeded and some not so much. They took the energy of punk and wedded it with melody and intelligent lyrics and became part of the vanguard of a vital new music style. So if they’ve decided it’s time to step away all we should really say is “Thank You”.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
It’s been a couple weeks since the rock group R.E.M. announced they were retiring. I’ve been thinking about that announcement and trying to come to grips with it in my head. It just feels peculiar somehow. Some groups end because the band can’t get along any more, the majority simply run out of creative juice. At the other extreme of course are the Rolling Stones who simply refuse to die. R.E.M. doesn’t seem to fit into the usual scenario. They seem to get along just fine and their last two albums debuted in the Top 10. “Accelerate” released in 2008 was called one of their best albums ever by some critics.
But then R.E.M. has always done it their way rather than anyone else’s.
Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills came together in 1980 without any grand plan according to Stipe. Their first gig was playing at a college friend’s birthday party. The name was chosen at random out of the dictionary. Musically Stipe and Buck were fans of punk music and with their band they would lead the way into the next wave of music. R.E.M. stands right at the birth of the alternative rock movement. It’s not that they created it but in many ways they led the way for the success of all the now many flavors of alternative. From their debut album “Murmur” they became the first recognizable name for most mainstream listeners. They had been approached by major label RCA but signed with the much smaller I.R.S. Records. It hasn’t been without a few bumps along the way. During the 1995 tour following the release of “Monster” 3 of the 4 members of the band would end up the hospital. When Bill Berry announced he wanted to retire two years later he said he would only do it if the rest of the band promised not to break up. I’m hard pressed to think of a similar situation happening with any other band.
Along the way R.E.M. made some incredible music. They tried some different things along the way, some succeeded and some not so much. They took the energy of punk and wedded it with melody and intelligent lyrics and became part of the vanguard of a vital new music style. So if they’ve decided it’s time to step away all we should really say is “Thank You”.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
This is a boring football post - you have been warned
So I'm bored and working on next week's football pool. I'm trying a more systematic approach this week and want to write it down in case it works.
The pool I'm in is a straight pick the winner so I don't need to worry about point spreads or any of that fantasy football crap. Don't even start with me about fantasy football. The complication is that I have to rate my picks based on my confidence. High confidence scores high points, most points win. So I'm trying to find a system that gives me an indication of who will win AND some way of differentiating among the games. Here's what I do:
First I use the Brother Guy quantifiers of home field advantage and better quarterback. (These are named for their creator, my brother Guy). Home field is easy. Better QB can be tricky. New England vs New York Jets is pretty easy but how do you choose between say KC's Matt Cassel and Indianapolis's Curtis Painter? Neither of them have been very good. Or worse yet what do you do about Matt Hasselbeck of Tennessee who is having a career year so far vs Pittsburgh's Ben Rothlisberger who is historically better but not this season? So I'm using QB rating for it. It's not a perfect metric but it's a standard one.
Then I go with points scored as an offensive metric and points allowed as a defensive one. Since I'm only concerned about winning it's points, points and points. Then I look at Take away/Give away differential. Finally just as a way to try and deal with overall performance I use ESPN's Power Ranking. If the difference in position on any of these is more than 5 places they score a full point, less than five is a half point, a difference of only one is a push. That's totally arbitrary. So max points is 6.
So this week here's my pool. Number in the left column is my confidence points, points on the right are the ratings from my system.
13 Detroit 6
12 NY Giants 5.5
11 Green Bay 5
10 New England 5
9 Tennessee 5*
8 Buffalo 5 *
7 San Diego 4.5
6 Cincinnati 4
7 San Francisco 44 Houston 3.5
3 New Orleans 3.5
2 Indianapolis 3
1 Arizona 1.5
Yeah the Arizona-Minnesota game scores out as majorly ugly. Virtually everything is a push.
*It breaks my heart to pick Tennessee but they are out performing my beloved Steelers on offense, defense, turnovers and at the moment I think Hasselbeck is better than a gimpy Big Ben. Meanwhile Buffalo is the major gulp inducer of the week. Right now they are on top on offense, take aways, home field and yes, quarterback. Fitz has performed a lot better than Vick. Both teams have serious defensive issues so who knows but a 8 point pick is making me sweat. We'll see how the system performs. Ties were decided by several things. Teams that scored both of the Brother Guy factors were given the edge. Otherwise I just tried to look who seemed to have the more impressive set of scores.
We'll see.
Of course if it turns out this is a winning formula I'll probably regret posting all the details here.
The pool I'm in is a straight pick the winner so I don't need to worry about point spreads or any of that fantasy football crap. Don't even start with me about fantasy football. The complication is that I have to rate my picks based on my confidence. High confidence scores high points, most points win. So I'm trying to find a system that gives me an indication of who will win AND some way of differentiating among the games. Here's what I do:
First I use the Brother Guy quantifiers of home field advantage and better quarterback. (These are named for their creator, my brother Guy). Home field is easy. Better QB can be tricky. New England vs New York Jets is pretty easy but how do you choose between say KC's Matt Cassel and Indianapolis's Curtis Painter? Neither of them have been very good. Or worse yet what do you do about Matt Hasselbeck of Tennessee who is having a career year so far vs Pittsburgh's Ben Rothlisberger who is historically better but not this season? So I'm using QB rating for it. It's not a perfect metric but it's a standard one.
Then I go with points scored as an offensive metric and points allowed as a defensive one. Since I'm only concerned about winning it's points, points and points. Then I look at Take away/Give away differential. Finally just as a way to try and deal with overall performance I use ESPN's Power Ranking. If the difference in position on any of these is more than 5 places they score a full point, less than five is a half point, a difference of only one is a push. That's totally arbitrary. So max points is 6.
So this week here's my pool. Number in the left column is my confidence points, points on the right are the ratings from my system.
13 Detroit 6
12 NY Giants 5.5
11 Green Bay 5
10 New England 5
9 Tennessee 5*
8 Buffalo 5 *
7 San Diego 4.5
6 Cincinnati 4
7 San Francisco 44 Houston 3.5
3 New Orleans 3.5
2 Indianapolis 3
1 Arizona 1.5
Yeah the Arizona-Minnesota game scores out as majorly ugly. Virtually everything is a push.
*It breaks my heart to pick Tennessee but they are out performing my beloved Steelers on offense, defense, turnovers and at the moment I think Hasselbeck is better than a gimpy Big Ben. Meanwhile Buffalo is the major gulp inducer of the week. Right now they are on top on offense, take aways, home field and yes, quarterback. Fitz has performed a lot better than Vick. Both teams have serious defensive issues so who knows but a 8 point pick is making me sweat. We'll see how the system performs. Ties were decided by several things. Teams that scored both of the Brother Guy factors were given the edge. Otherwise I just tried to look who seemed to have the more impressive set of scores.
We'll see.
Of course if it turns out this is a winning formula I'll probably regret posting all the details here.
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