vinegar

i was looking at some examples of kinetic typography and came across one from the "lye" speech from fight club (note: there is a moment of rough language). which isn't too surprising, since a) kinetic typography is the sort of assignment that would be given in an undergraduate after effects class and b) undergraduate guys tend to think fight club is one of the most profound things they've ever seen. in all probability, it likely is the most accessible exposure they've had to something philosophical (editor's note: the kinetic typography video was made by a professional graphic designer and not a college sophomore as our writer brazenly presupposed.) i think it's a great movie, but i also think there are far greater things out there. (i think it's also one of the most popularly misunderstood movies of my generation, too, but that's another post.)

for those of you not familiar with the scene, edward norton jr. plays a man who feels completely hollow, with little more than apathy filling up his life of consumer products. he meets brad pitt, a cool, confident, rebellious soap salesman who seems to be everything ed is not and wishes he could be. (again, this movie really taps into the collegiate male psyche.) in the scene in question, pitt tells ed they are going to make soap, then proceeds to scoop a spoonful of lye onto the back of ed's hand.

the only thing i (and i think most people) know about lye is that it's used in making soap and that its at the very end of the "acid/base" ph scale that we learned about in high school chemistry. ed screams in pain as brad holds him down, forcing him to stop trying to ignore the pain and to face and accept it. as the narrator continues to fight, brad explains that pouring water on it (the instinctual reaction) would only spread the burning chemical. but if he relaxes and submits to pitt and accepts his philosophy that there is nothing to life, that god has abandoned them, he will pour vinegar on it to neutralize the burn. i suspect this scene comes across as a sort of enlightenment for a lot of people.

listening to the speech this time, i was surprised at how so very close it is to the truth. ed norton is struggling in pain, crying for help, and brad pitt is there, coaching him to not deal with this pain the way he would naturally think to. instead, pitt offers to help him with what will really ease his pain, but only if he will stop fighting him and completely trust him first. heck, when he screams "you don't know how this feels!" brad actually holds up his hand and shows the scar as proof that he's been through this, too. could it be any more analogous?

instead of looking to God, the whole speech is about how God has seemingly disowned them and that they need to confront the cold harsh reality that life is cruel, dark and empty. and it seems that a lot of people really resonated with the philosophies of this movie. the irony is that the actual truth is the opposite; that instead of fighting and finally giving up to accept that there is Nothing out there, the other half of our nature continues to fight until we relent and give up to God, accepting that He is there and He will pour the vinegar on us and neutralize the burn. oddly, the nihilistic center seems to make it much more appealing to so many people than the actual divine center.

jeffrey g.'s week off

i was told to take the week off from work and haven't regretted it. even better, i haven't been plagued by boredom. i've been slowing working on storyboards from a projects. they're taking me much longer than i planned because i'm not feeling well, i'm a pretty lousy artist, and the response delay on my ipad is just enough to make it tricky but not impractical. because i don't have any of the usual "i'm sick" symptoms like aches, congestion, and the like, it's easy to feel like i'm not sick and tell myself that i can stop acting like it to fool my mom. then i try to move and yes, it's very apparent that it is possible to be ill and not have a runny nose. i've watched a lot of movies this week, but nearly all of them have been "background" movies, since i've been trying to get those darn storyboards done (still have some ways to go on them.) so, no criterions this week, sadly. i've had friends willing to run to the store and pick up things that i've needed, which is mostly gatorade. my "so you've got mono" pamphlet told me to drink plenty of energy drinks and it's been helping. and while going out and about isn't impossible (i made the effort to go watch gene kelly dance last night), it is a real bugger of a nuisance and i've been genuinely grateful for the help. the grocery store also had blueberries on sale and so i've been eating them by the cup full, just like i did from the craft services table on 127. i've learned that even a 45-minute phone conversation can wear me out and am looking forward to getting back to firefly as soon as i publish this.

a love story

my favorite cinematic romance since wall-e & e.v.e.

wes anderson's best since "the royal tenenbaums."

and a reminder of why i love to go to the movies.

if the year-end oscar season doesn't produce anything to top it, 

i'll be totally ok saying that "moonrise kingdom" is the best movie of 2012.

3 speed

just over a year ago, i posted about a couple of quotes from president hinckley. i've been thinking about them recently and i just really like them, so i thought i'd share them again.

one of the great errors we are inclined to make when we are young is supposing that a person is a collection of qualities, and we add up the individual’s good and bad qualities, like a bookkeeper working on debits and credits.

if the balance is favorable, we may decide to enter (into marriage) … the world is full of unhappy men and women who married because … it seemed to be a good investment.

love, however, is not an investment; it is an adventure. and when marriage turns out to be as dull and comfortable as a good investment, the dissatisfied partner soon turns elsewhere …

ignorant people are always saying, ‘i wonder what he sees in her [or him],’ not realizing that what he [or she] sees in her [or him] (and what no one else can see) is the secret essence of love.

and

it was you who felt that there was no one else in all the world quite like her. it was you who wished to have her forever.

sources can be found on my original post.

the stars at night are big and bright

apparently tonight is the best night
in years to see them together

i've been reading pages upon pages of heavy critical art theory for the last several hours and needed a break away from my computer and so decided to take a walk.

it was awesome.
just being outside, walking around my neighborhood felt great.
i've determined that, on an average day at school,  i spend between 45 minutes to an hour walking, but that's always with a destination, a deadline. to just be able to walk and not really think about anything particular was refreshing and soothing. so much so that i think i might make it a habit each day when i come home from school.

naturally, i found myself looking up at the stars and found myself wondering why jupiter and that other planet were so close together. then i found myself even wondering what that other planet was. and wondering if that red one that i thought was mars actually was mars. and then i remembered the google sky map app on my phone.
soon, i found myself grinning with delight in the dark as i was able to move my phone across the sky and immediately know every constellation above me. (that "other planet" was venus, by the way. duh.)
so, it seems that it might be time for an astronomy date again.


i also saw a shooting star.
and made a wish.