BrockLi Soup

Honestly, if you haven’t seen Children of Men, just go buy the DVD. It came out today, and it’s worth it.

I saw it in the theater back in January and never got a chance to see it again while it was still on the big screen, so I had been looking forward to today. I picked up the DVD on my way home from work and watched it tonight, and I assure you, it’s just as good the second time around.

First off, the movie is fantastic. There are a couple shocking scenes early on that keep you on edge for the rest of the film (and rightfully so). It’s the kind of movie where you would never think, “Is this almost over yet?” or, “I need to pee.” Granted, I stopped for a smoke halfway through this viewing, but only because Clive Owen smokes so much (see also: Is It Safe Yet, particularly the bit about Way of the Gun).

The story telling is great, but I left the theater raving about the cinematography. Honestly, I can’t think of a movie that was more impressive in this regard. There are at least three long scenes without a cut, and when I say “long scenes,” I mean a good five minutes each. As anyone who has seen it can tell you, the movie is almost a series of climaxes, but the climax scene - I don’t want to spoil it, but you know the one I mean - is a nine-minute uncut shot. And we’re not talking about an endless monologue; it’s the most intense nine minutes of the film (which is pretty intense as it is).

After seeing it the first time, I read an article saying that the shot was actually five takes spliced together digitally, but now I can’t find it. The IMDB FAQ for the movie links to an article on Access Atlanta (why Access Atlanta?) that says it was all done in one take, and some blood splatters on the lens were digitally removed after the fact (I didn’t notice the blood in the theater, but I was watching carefully for cuts this time through). I was a little less impressed when I heard it was a spliced-together shot, so it’s heartening to learn that the scene really was a single take. For those of you who have seen it - and I wouldn’t recommend this for those of you who haven’t, because you should watch the whole film - the first six minutes are up on YouTube, at least for now.

Also, I added the DVD to Delicious Library, and it gave me some ridiculous “similar to” titles. I’m sure they’re all wonderful, too, but you should start with Children of Men.

If you’re ever feeling just a little too special, take a couple minutes to imagine the unfathomable size of the universe, the sheer enormity of its history, and your quaint, insignificant little place in the here and now.

Have you ever really thought about the history of just the Earth? Whether you believe in a god or not (we all know I don’t), I think we can all agree that Earth is a lot older than six thousand years. We know that human-like beings roamed the Earth millions of years ago, and we know that our recorded history only goes back a few thousand years (excellent article on this). Before that, before humans even came on the scene, there were billions of years of evolution from a single cell, to a tiny bug, to a little fish, up to giant dinosaurs, and back down to primates. Have you ever considered the incredible series of luck and chance that allowed this line of evolution to happen (this is where you God-fearing folks can chime in)? At some points during our evolution, a strong wind could have snuffed it out. Billions of years of tiny genetic changes, and we’re poised to boil it to death in the course of a few meager generations.

And this is just the evolution on our planet. How much existed before our planet, and for how long? I’ve always held the belief that there is other life Out There, that there must be - I don’t buy into the “God made us in his image” crap, and with the seemingly limitless supply of planets out there, surely one of them has birthed an intelligent species of its own, or is in the process thereof. But when you consider the incredible odds against that one cell becoming a functional, sentient being, you really have to wonder. But, infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters…

Consider your place among the six billion people on Earth today. Consider the place of those six billion people among the millions of years of human life that preceded them. Consider the billions of years of toil and luck that got us even that far. Consider the countless other planets hosting their own version of this time line. Consider the immeasurable period of time before those planets even existed. Consider this against the comparable nothingness of our race’s recorded history. Just how special do you think you really are?

Now, consider the insignificant minutiae that seems so important in your daily life. Is it really worth the effort to get pissed at the slow driver that got you stuck at the red light? Does it really matter that much if the barista messed up your latte? Do you really have to put off playing with the kids so you can get those taxes filed? Probably not.

It’s become apparent that riding the bike a few times a week isn’t going to cut it - I need to start working on my upper body. I usually spend about half an hour on the bike, but someone else was using it when I went to the gym Tuesday. I did a little time on the elliptical (I hate that thing) and lifted some weights, then used the bike when the other person was done. I was fine yesterday, but I tell ya, my shoulders have been aching all day today. Guess it’s time I start evening things out.

My boss was in the military and still uses 24-hour time for everything. He recently sent me a schedule for some conference calls, but he’s in California and put them in his time.

See how long it takes you to figure out what 1430 - 1600 actually means when it’s three time zones over.

It weirds me out when random Flickr users with no photos or profile favorite my photos. It would be one thing if it was a funny picture of a cat hiding a walrus or something, but when it’s a picture of my brother and me at a party, it’s just weird.

It was pretty rainy all day yesterday, so I used the tunnels to walk to work. Along the way, I came up behind a woman who was wearing open-back, slip-on shoes that looked like the bottom part of galoshes. Each of them was like one-sixth of a galosh, and I couldn’t help but think they’d be pretty useless on a rainy day like that. The lady was meandering along pretty slowly, and since we were close to the Metro, this flood of more-hurried people behind her kept trying to get past without running into the people coming from the other direction.

She was wearing a FEMA Evacuation Team windbreaker, and I couldn’t imagine anything more appropriate.

• Poop jokes are still funny. From one of my recent favorites, Dethroner.com (”Where every man is king”): A Brief Guide to Public Restroom Etiquette.
• This evening I watched Kicking and Screaming, which was very much like someone predicted, ten years ahead of time, my first year after college.

  I’m nostalgic for conversations I had yesterday. I’ve begun reminiscing events before they even occur. I’m reminiscing this right now. I can’t go to the bar because I’ve already looked back on it in my memory… and I didn’t have a good time.

• This past weekend was Shamrockfest, and I had a full house for it: BP and JL came Thursday night, Eric, Tasia, and Fonny on Friday, and Dan came Saturday morning (in addition, of course, to Mel, Jym, and myself). The actual festival was a lot of fun, but the rest of the weekend topped even that. The thing I miss most about college is the ease with which I could pull together a dozen close friends for a weekend-long party at the drop of a hat.
• That’s about it. Now that this past weekend is behind me, I’m back to being busybusybusy, and probably will be for another month or so.

The past few weeks have felt very much like treading water. Treading water while you’re holding a bowling ball. And also, you’re trying to feed an infant. And there’s a shark.

I kept telling myself, “Just get through this week,” but it kept turning into, “OK, now just get through THIS week again.” For a couple days, it was, “Just get through this month,” but now I’ve seen what next month will entail, so it’s, “Just get through this month, and then the one after that, and then? Then you can sleep for a couple days.”

The air is starting to clear a bit, for this week anyway. This weekend is Shamrockfest, and we’ve got at least five people coming down for it, and a half-dozen more that are already in town, so it’s going to be a rowdy good time. It’s exactly what I need right now, and Friday night can’t come soon enough.