James Kirk

I had so much fun doing the last animation for XKO (a MMA event in Arlington, Texas), that I had to whip something up for the next one, which happened last Saturday. Unlike before, I only gave myself two days to complete this, two days in which I already had a lot going on. I’m actually going to make some much-needed tweaks this week, mostly with the fire dynamics, and I’ll be sure and post the results. The fire is particle-based using sprites.

Rating: 6/10

Wow, this was an impressive little film. Enid and Rebecca are two best friends who have just graduated high school. They seemingly spend their days cynically viewing and mocking the status quo around them. When they decide to play a prank on a lonely middle-aged man, though, it begins an unlikely friendship for Enid, forcing her to reexamine her ideals. The relationship between Enid and the man, Seymour (played by Steve Buscemi), is awkward and dynamic and kind of uncertain - not unlike actual relationships outside the movies. I think this film is ripe for some heavy analysis, but it’s been too long since I watched it, so I don’t feel up to the task. Maybe after the second viewing.

Rating: 8/10

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks. I just got back yesterday from the first-ever Intervarsity Greek Conference west of the Mississippi. I was a volunteer, leading a small group in the Greek Ministry program. The college kids in my group were amazing. They seemed passionate, driven, and mature in their faith and outlook. As usual, I think I learned more from them than they did from me. The teaching in the Greek Ministry track were great, too. On Saturday morning we heard from a charismatic and wise author and ministry leader by the name of Doug Schaupp. Really, I wish I could have heard a teaching like that when I was an undergrad in a fraternity house. Then, in the afternoon, there was a great teaching by the incomparable Andy Bilhorn. For those who don’t know Andy, he was a friend and spiritual guide throughout my college years. It was awesome to be able to chill with him at this conference.

Sunday was interesting. Andy was supposed to go to lunch (alone) with a female before we hitched a ride back to my place and did some surfing. Things didn’t work out that way, though, and it ended up being four of us at a nice Mediterranean place on Venice. I tried playing wingman, probably a little too much. By the time we finished eating, the sun was low in the sky. Instead of surfing, we went down to Manhattan Beach and hung out with Gene Lee, an awesome guy I ought to hang out with more.

Now I’ll jump back to last Wednesday. It was great. I asked this beautiful, intelligent, and charming girl if she wanted to go to a show at the Troubador, and she agreed. We went to see Ben Lee, who my coworkers swear is gay. That is ridiculous, I point out, he dated Claire Danes. He’s got to be a stud. Anyway, it was a fun show, and halfway through Ben’s set, I look beside us and there’s a guy with hair hiding most of his face, except for his nose. I recognized that nose. Except this guy was shorter than the guy I was thinking of, or at least shorter than I thought he was. After someone greeted him “hey Jason!”, I leaned forward and examined his face. After building up enough confidence, I turned to him and asked, “Are you Jason Schwartzman?” “Yah,” he replies. Cool. Said a few things, but as my friend later pointed out, I never introduced myself, and he was probably waiting for me to. How rude I am.

A few weekends ago, I had a great time hanging out with another old roommate from Chicago, Jim Kirkpatrick, along with his wife Thanh and their 2-year-old cutie Katriona. It was so good to see them again. I had a great time building sand castles with Katriona, but for some reason she liked to knock mine over.

In addition to all of this, I’ve had a dinner party over at my house, went to Patrick and Whitney’s game night, and got a bad haircut. I wish Mykel was down here to cut my hair

This weekend, I saw my first Hollywood star. I was rock climbing at Point Dume, when up the beach walks none other than Scott Bakula. I looked at him, thinking “that can’t be Scott Bakula.” He looked at me as if to tell me, “Yes, I AM Scott Bakula. Recognize.” Then I turned away, and when I looked back, he was gone. I think he Quantum Leaped away, scared. He couldn’t handle the sight of the real Captain of the Enterprise…

The Fog of War is based on an interview (or possibly a series of interviews) with Robert McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and LBJ. As my roommate Matt put it, “he’s basically leaving his legacy” about WWII, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam. The depth of wisdom that McNamara has gained over the years about conflict and organizational influence is astounding. What struck me most, though, about this film was how McNamara explains the chain of cause-and-effect that created the Vietnam War as we know it. It was thoroughly enlightening, and helped me to get perspective on a war that I really didn’t learn too much about in high school history. I would highly recommend this documentary to anyone interested in history, American politics, the military, or even simply how to deal with people. The only thing left unclear to me was, considering how hated McNamara was during Vietnam, whether he used this opportunity to “revise” his place in history.

Rating: 9/10

Directed by
Errol Morris

Genres
Documentary, Biography

Cast
Robert McNamara