Today's fractal image is a pretty random choice. I chose Arrow Rainbow because of the twisted and pointy nature--and that suits the story.-Now here is a quick update on a news story I commented on some time ago. Back on March 16 2007 I wrote a post titled "It's Simply a Question of Believeability." where I commented on the trial of fromer lobbyist and Republican power-player Jeffrey Nielsen who had been accused of molesting a 14 year-old boy. Back then I thought there was definitely inappropriate conduct (and that he was probably guilty of something--but I maintained I couldn't convict him on something that may or may not have happened. The trial ended with a hung jury and the prosecutor vowing to continue to investigate.
-They did and dug up new evidence: they even added molestation charges against a second minor (this one from Virginia) Yesterday, December 5, Nielsen accepted a plea deal that will give him three years in State Prison (of which he must spend at least 80% of the sentance behind bars). He will also have to register as a sex offender when he finally gets out.-Should Nielsen have admitted it back when the whole thing came up? Probably. Would he have gotten a lighter sentance if he'd come forward when there was only one charge and less evidence? Again, probably. In the end, all I know for certain is that I feel sorry for all concerned except Jeffrey Nielsen. He deserves everything he's getting and more.
Today’s post begins with another Stained Glass fractal since I am dealing, at least tangentially, with religion. I picked Stained Glass 12 because of the predominance of red in the image: the red is important because I took part in the Ruby Jubilee (that’s 80 years) of the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa that prompted me to write this elegy. (Technically, this isn’t an “elegy” unless you count prose poems but I’m still titling the piece that way.
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Saturday evening December First Robyn and I visited a grand old lady. She is still beautiful in spite of her advancing age and slowly-growing decrepitude. Large and elegantly proportioned, she is well-kept but beginning to show her age--not really surprising for someone of eighty. Still, she presents a brave face to her community and a warm, welcoming air to her visitors. The “lady” I’m referring to is the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa: the congregation has been around 120 years and their current building was completed in 1928. I came with the Chancel Choir of Community United Methodist Church (of Huntington Beach) to participate in a Christmas Choir Festival for her “Ruby Jubilee”--in celebration of eighty years of servie. Once she was the only Methodist congregation from miles around but now the congregation is in decline.
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The reasons for the decline are many: First UMC Costa Mesa is a downtown congregation: the neighborhood has changed but the church didn’t evolved with it. Many members have moved on to newer churches which have sprung up in the surrounding areas. This building, grand as it is, lacks many of the amenities modern-day church-goes have come to expect--like easy parking. (The facility has 18 parking spots on-site and once those are full worshipers will have to cross a busy street or use an inconvenient parking structure for a nearby medical facility.) The general decline in attendance of “main-line Protestant” Churches has take its toll as well thanks to the rise of “Mega“ Churches.
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Still, I can’t but help feel a certain sense of melancholy when I think about this place. I was sitting in front of some long-term members talking about their church. One woman had been attending since the late 1960s. Back then their attendance was over 400 on a good day. Back then they had a huge choir. Now 45-55 people attend on an average Sunday and their choir number around five. Most of the membership is on the far side of 50 and there aren’t any young families present (a sure sign of a congregation in decline).
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What can be done about the decline? Frankly, I have no clue. The church is already sharing their facility with a Chinese-speaking congregation (a tack taken by many churches in the same situation) in order to help meet expenses. Maybe First UMC is simply ending the end of it’s allotted lifespan: if that is so then I will be sorry. The church has a long history and a lot of love and spirit went into the place. I’ll be sorry if I see that history come to an end. In any case, this great lady has had a great history and her community is better for her presence and she will be missed when she is finally gone..
I always pick a “Stained Glass” post when I’m ragging on religion. (This one just happens to be Stained Glass 60.) For a change though I won’t be taking on the Catholic Church: instead I’ll be talking about those wacky Roberts’ boys in Tulsa Oklahoma. (But hey, you probably figured that out from the title, eh what?)
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You gotta love them wacky “Roberts’” boys. First Oral (and I do so love that name!) Roberts tells his television audience that God would “call him home” if his viewers didn’t raise a certain amount of cash (I think it was nine million dollars) for some project or other. Oddly enough, he actually GOT the money--most of it from a Dog Track owner in Florida (with a long criminal record). Now his son Richard has decided to resign the Presidency of Oral Roberts University after being accused of financial management of school funds including multiple remodeling projects on the family mansion, allowing his daughters to use the University Jet (ORU has a university jet???), giving nonacademic scholarships to friends of the Roberts’ children and buying his wife a Lexus SUV.
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In his statement he said he had “had a long talk with God and wanted to fight the charges but God had insisted he resign--because America had become such a ‘litigious’ society.” I don’t live in Tulsa but here in SoCal we have a name for people who talk to God. We call them schizophrenics! Frankly, I don’t know what I find more hilarious--the fact that Roberts might actually believe this story or the fact that he expects us to swallow it!
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Maybe I’m not a very good Christian or maybe I simply lack understanding of God’s Plan. Maybe if I had enough faith God would speak to me. Most likely I’m just too big a cynic to swallow a whopper like this. It boggles my mind that God would insist that Roberts NOT fight the accusations (especially false ones as Roberts insists). Sorry Ricky-boy--if you ain’t fighting this battle it’s because you did something wrong! It is truly sad to think that there are people out there who will take this statement at face value and not question it in the least but that’s a post for another time. In the meantime--has God been talking to YOU?
Today’s post features a fractal called Renaissance Magic 11. The number isn’t important (other than to let you know this image comes from a larger series.) I picked the image because it seemed apropos for a review of the movie Enchanted. (The word “Magic” in the title was a good start and the swirly design and pink-peach-and-gold color palette worked well I thought.) ANYway--on with the review!
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QUESTION: what do you get when a fairy tale princess is exiled from her animated kingdom into real world New York City? ANSWER: the latest Disney Studios release Enchanted--and a pretty darn good movie it is too!
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The basic story but it goes something like this: sweet maiden Giselle lives in a cute little house in a forest where surrounded by her animal friends: she meets and “instantly” falls in love with handsome Prince Edward. Edward’s wicked stepmother Queen Nerissa is determined to keep her crown (since it seems Edward can’t take the throne until he takes a wife) so she exiles Giselle to “real world” Manhattan ("where there ARE no happy endings!") Lost and alone, Giselle finally meets Robert--a sad sack lawyer and single father who ha given up on romance. Edward follows Giselle to Manhattan find his “true love” and is pursued by Nathaniel who repeatedly tries to poison Giselle or at least keep the two lovers apart. In the end the wicked Queen gets her comeuppance and everyone else (even the chipmunk!) gets their “happily ever after.”
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Amy Addams (the best reason to see this movie) plays Giselle sweetly without the slightest trace of irony or smarminess and makes you believe in her magic. James Marseden (fresh from his supporting role in Hairspray) continues his seemingly inexorable slide toward complete and utter “pussy”-dom as Prince Edward--who’s as dumb as he is good looking. Susan Sarandon chews the scenery with great abandon as Edward’s wicked stepmother Queen Nerissa: she’s the perfect embodiment of a Disney villainess. British character actor Timothy Spall plays Nathaniel in full “villainous buffoon” mode. Patrick Dempsey departs from his “Dr. McDreamy” personae to play Robert--and has all the charm of a wet blanket. Rachel Covey is cute-as-a-button as Robert’s daughter Morgan and Idina Menzel (who made such a huge splash as the original “Elphaba“ in Wicked on Broadway) plays Nancy, Robert’s long-suffering girlfriend who has a secret bit of romance in her soul.
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True, you can almost here the clockworks turning as the plot cranks along without a single surprise twist anywhere and a cynical viewer might wonder why none of the characters wonder too much about Giselle’s character. (It’s a fairy tale so the viewer is going to need a healthy dose of “willingness suspension of disbelief” to enjoy the movie.) The animated scenes are lushly and elegantly drawn. The few songs by Alan Mencken (who scored so many of the recent “Disney“ cartoons) and Stephen Schwartz (best known for Wicked) are appropriate and clever if none-too-memorable. The live-action scenes are prettily shot and the direction never gets in the way of the actors or the story. This is a fun movie with broad inter-generational appeal suitable for the whole family. (Only a die-hard “Macho Man” or a very young child would NOT enjoy this movie!) I don’t know whether Enchanted will become an enduring “classic” but it is the best family movie out right now.
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FINAL GRADE: A-
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OK folks, follow my chain of association to figure out why I picked the fractal for today’s post. Today’s fractal is called Jemz. I named the image in honor of a 1980s cartoon called Jemm. (I don’t remember all the details but I know it was about a rock star/model who turned into a super heroine.) Like all cartoon offerings of the 1980s it spawned a line of toys--the tag line of which is “Jemm is truly outrageous.” As outrageous as Jemm may have thought she was--this story is truly outrageous! Truly, truly, truly outrageous!
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Just when you think you’ve seen/heard it all you come across a story that just make you drop your jaw. Buried in yesterday’s evening newscast (11/20) I heard a story that literally stopped me in my tracks! The Pentagon has been offering $3000 bonuses to those who re-enlist for military service then sending demand letters to wounded soldiers unable to complete their service.
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I can fully understand, even support, the Pentagon’s position if the soldier fail to complete their service through some fault of their own but going after men and women wounded in service seems completely beyond the pale. Still, thousands of letters have gone out and the feds are collecting from hapless vets under the threat of tax liens and even jail time.
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Is this some sort of weird policy error or did somebody really think it was a good idea? To me, this policy sounds like a classic case of bureaucracy run amok. Honestly, I dunno: still these instructions came form a government sending men and women off to a foreign country than not having proper resources to aid these brave soldiers when they get wounded. To me there is some sort of huge “disconnect” between the cries of “support our troops” and they way said troops are treated once they come home. What’s wrong with this picture folks? Personally, I find this particularly disturbing is the fact that this story gets about one minute’s coverage on the Evening News (and not all newscasts at that) and it hasn’t even been covered in the local paper.
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If there is a bright spot in this story it is this: a congressman (I wasn’t able to find his name) has introduced a bill to prevent the Pentagon from attempting to collect from wounded soldiers. The story came to light after Cpl Jordan Fox was wounded in Iraq by an I.E.D. He contacted station KDKA after he was billed: the Pentagon “reviewed” his case and decided (mere moments before he went on National TV) that the bill was a “mistake.” Still, one has to wonder how many other “mistakes” were made that weren’t corrected because their story didn’t get the same kind of attention.
No fractal for this post but I just ran across a bit about our embattled County Sherriff Mike Carona that was simply too dishy not to pass on to my loyal readers! Turns out way back in 1998, (December 15, to be exact) our County Board of Supervisors approved a request from our newly-elected Sherriff (that’s Mikey) to reduce the qualifications needed for the position of assistant sheriff. Sheriff-elect Carona’s request came because he wanted to “facilitate a smooth transition” in the Sheriff’s Department and to “allow the new Sheriff the necessary autonomy to select his executive management team from the broadest possible pool of applicants pool of qualified applicants.” (I found that in Frank Mikadeit’s Orange County Register column this morning and had to quote it.) The two men who eventually got the postions (George Jaramillo and Don Haidl) had some ethical questions surrounding them even before they took the jobs.
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I’m not sure why the Supervisors went for it but they didn’t put up much of a fight. (They voted 5-0 in favor.) Yesterday (1120) the Board of Supervisors undid their previous action (with another 5-0 vote and virtually no debate). Now assistant sheriffs will again be required to have a minimum of two years as a Captain before they can hold that position.
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Here’s another fun fact about the whole tawdry affair: before leaving “America’s Sheriff” placed himself on paid administrative leave (at full salary) while he’s dealing with his legal troubles. (The County Supervisors are trying to decide what, if anything, they are going to do about this.) Oh, and with all this the local Republican Party still has not yet made an official request for Carona to resign. My, my boys and girls--how positively “Democratic Party” of you…
I will be reviewing the new animated movie Beowulf so I chose a fractal called Odin. (I did a whole series of fractals representing Gods of various pantheons: since Odin is mentioned in the movie I decided to use it as my image for today‘s post.) Again, I’m stretching a bit to come up with an image for my post but I gotta do what I gotta do to put something up for you.
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Beowulf is a true “classic”. It may well be the oldest surviving work of “English” literature--so old in fact that it is written in Old English from even older oral sources. Frankly I’m surprised it took this long to bring the movie to the big screen: the story of a lusty barbarian slaying monsters and becoming king seems ripe for the big screen.
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This new animated version of Beowulf departs somewhat from the source material to flesh out and connect the two stories. King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) has just built a new “Mead Hall” to celebrate his many victories. But the celebration is ruined by the untimely arrival of the gigantic, misshapen monster Grendel (voiced by Crispin Glover speaking what sounds like old English) who uses the king’s guests as after-dinner snacks. Blond and buff barbarian Beowulf (Ray Windstone) and his men arrive to save th day, slaying the monster after a spectacular battle. The celebration after the monster’s death is ruined by another collection of grisly murders. Horthgar reveals that Grendel has a mother--and she’s angry!
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Here the movie departs from the source-myth. Horthgar has a secret (which I won‘t reveal here) but sends the hero out over the objections of his trusted advisor Unferth (John Malkovich in “high snivel“ mode). Beowulf confronts the demon mother (Angelina Jolie in a role tailor-made for her). Beowulf strikes a “devil’s bargain that wins him a kingdom and everything he could desire--including the old king’s beautiful queen Wealthow (Robin Wright-Penn). Many years later the bargain is broken and Beowulf is forced into final battle with a dragon.
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Director Robert Zemeckis uses the same “motion capture” animation technique he used in The Polar Express. Two years of new technology has made the look of Beowulf somewhat better. Still, the human figures have a rather “Barbie”-like look and their flat dead eyes are somewhat creepy. As a whole the movie is beautifully animated and the battle scenes are nothing short of spectacular. The story is somewhat predictable (even with the new twist) and the dialog is frankly cheesy. Still, it makes for a delightfully fun, if campy, romp.
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Beowulf isn’t quite a classic but well worth seeing for what it is. Some parents may be lured into taking young children to the movie because it is an animated feature. This movie though is NOT for children! It is loaded with graphic (if somewhat cartoonish) violence and brimming with (animated) nudity. If this had been shot with “live” actors Beowulf would have gotten an “R” Rating instead of “PG13”. It is not a movie for young children or those with delicate sensibilities but a lot of those who like action movies.
FINAL GRADE: A-
Today's fractal image is a pretty random choice. I chose Arrow Rainbow because of the twisted and pointy nature--and that suits the story.
