Cooler Dirt

We had an interesting discussion the other day about horror movies.  More specifically, the Zombie Movie.  One of us recently read the Max Brooks book World War Z, about a future where zombies almost wipe out the human race and the leftover people have to fight back against them.   Though we all liked zombie movies to one extent or another, we did come up with an interesting observation about the zombie genre in particular.

1.  Zombie survivors make shelters: In pretty much every zombie movie we’ve seen, the non-zombie people wall themselves up, bar the doors, build barricades or otherwise create a fortress to keep the hordes of zombies from getting inside and eating their brains.  (Or something.)

2.  Zombie survivors have immediate needs: Apart from food, shelter, weapons and maybe a zombie-escape-mobile, zombie survivors don’t really have a lot to do.  They don’t have to pay bills, don’t have to study, don’t have to worry about getting the girl.  It’s pretty much basic survival needs with none of the complications of modern life and socialization.  Conversations revolve around how to get away, where the ammo is and what needs to be done to stay alive.

3.  Zombie survivors use violence: It goes without saying that if you are attacked by a zombie, you’re going to defend yourself using whatever you have available.   Chainsaws, swords, bats, and of course, as many guns as you can get your hands on.  If you are cast into a world of zombies, you gotta fight, and fight well.

As we see it,  zombie movie people use violence, build forts and think of nothing other than meeting their immediate survival needs.  Does this sound like anyone you might know?  Or, to be more specific, is there a certain group of people who’s desires closely match those of the people in zombie movies?

How about pre-teen boys?  How about teenage boys, or those on the verge of sexual maturity?  In other words, are zombie movies fantasies of the pre-teen boy inside of all the fanboys, film makers and otherwise adult men who flock to them?

Look at it this way:  If you survive a zombie attack, you have to build a fort to wall yourself off from the outside world. (Very boyish).  You have to find all the weapons you can.  (Ever seen boys play war?)  You have to get food and concentrate on staying alive.  You don’t have to deal with school, or parents, or complicated relationships,or, god forbid, sex! (Sure, there are sexy women in these movies, but aren’t they too just fantasies?)

The zombie fantasy offered by these films caters to the regressed or psychologically stunted impulse to wall yourself off from the world and not grow up.  You don’t have to worry about any big, emotional, complicated stuff that adults have to deal with.  All you have to do is play soldier and stay alive.

Of course, we haven’t found any direct evidence that the people making these films or books believes this, or is using the zombie setting as a metaphorical tool to explore these ideas.  We could be completely wrong about it.

But we don’t think we are.   After all, who are the biggest fans of zombie movies?  When the next zombie movie comes out  (the movie version of World War Z is set to be made soon), go see it in the theater.  Pay attention to the ratio of men to women.  We’re guessing it’s going to be fairly male heavy.  We’re also guessing those men are either adolescents or a little regressed.

(Photo courtest Ateo Fiel’s Flickr site through Creative Commons.  Thanks, Ateo Fiel.)

Books, Movies, TV, Music and Art book, books, brain, conversation, conversations, life

It seems like every time we start talking about movies, someone brings up the Academy Awards.   We like the Oscars, we do.  We like to think about what movies were good, what movies were bad, and which ones we think were better than the rest.  (Though we don’t really think all movies are equal, or should be judged equally.)

Our problem with the Academy Awards though, is not about them specifically.  People can make up any award they want.  Super.  Have at it.  Go nuts.

No, what troubles us about the Oscars is the impact it has upon discussing movies.  Here’s what we mean;

1.  Sycophantic Explosions: Movies are great entertainment. They are art. They are enjoyable, thought provoking and capable of changing the way you view the world.  They are also the surest way to get someone to claim that a person involved in the film industry is astonishing/amazing/unbelievable/brilliant/tremendous/possessed of unearthly intelligence/a once in a century genius, etc.  Our point is this: why do we pile praise upon films, or actors, or those involved with film making so effortlessly?  Why do some people feel the need to adore and gush over actors or filmmakers?  Why does an actor’s performance or a director’s work have to be praised with ‘I hope they get an Oscar‘?  Isn’t it enough to say you enjoyed the movie, or that it made you think, or cry, or laugh?

2.  The End of Existence: Discussing what is good or bad about a movie, what you like or don’t like, all that makes for wonderful conversation.  But when someone wins an Academy Award, this fact is often brought up as if it is the single greatest achievement in human existence.  “Well, they did win an Oscar.”  Congratulations to them.  Being recognized is wonderful, and as movies are such a popular medium, we can see why the Oscars get so much attention. But is there nothing a person can do or achieve that will bring about a sense of awe in the faces of their peers as winning an award for making a movie? Is this the ultimate achievement, so much so that it has to be treated with almost reverential awe?

3.  The Removal of the Personal: Movies, books, music, any art is experienced on a personal level. That one person gets something from it is one thing, that the work reaches a wide audience and resonates strongly with it is another.  The only way to evaluate a film is by what you think of it, what effect it had on you.  That awarding an Oscar to an actor or movie often causes people to think differently about that film, even if they’ve seen it and already formed an opinion, seems ridiculous.  If authority has be given from on high, you should now like/dislike/fawn over the movie in questions?   Rubbish. Saying a movie was great because it won an Oscar is like saying a meal tasted great because the chef said it did.

It may sound lie we’re down on the Oscars, but we’re not.  Not at all.  But it has been our experience that people who use the Oscars as basis of their conversations about film usually leave us wanting.  Be it layman or professional film reviewer, we’ve found that best film conversations come from those who watch the movies on their own terms, not on those of the people who vote for the Academy Awards.

(Photo courtesy hellochris’s Flickr page, through Creative Commons  license.  Thanks, hellochris!)

Books, Movies, TV, Music and Art book, books, conversation, conversations, music, personal

We forgot who came up with it, but we once heard a rule about evaluating whether or not how women are portrayed in movies, film or TV was realistic.  It went something like this:

If two or more women are in a scene and they only talk about men, it’s no good.

At first glance, it seems fairly simplistic.  But take a look at all the shows, movies or books where women  talking about men (or more specifically, their romantic interests or partners) takes up a lot of the dialogue.  Jane Austin? Sex and the City?   Pretty much any romantic comedy ever made?

Where are the conversations about art or politics or the lesser works of Ovid?  Of course women have these conversations in real life, but they seem to be far less represented in fiction and film.   Think about all the TV shows, movies and books where every conversation is about men; finding them, looking at them, evaluating them, living with them, thinking about them, etc.

It was also pointed out that while this may be how women are portrayed, it may not be far from the truth.  Do women spend more time talking about relationships than men?   Yes.  Do they spend more time talking in general?  Perhaps.  Is the majority of that time spent talking about men?  More importantly, is that what they think about?  Is the conversation merely an expression of their inner thoughts?

A lot of women respond negatively to these ideas.  But that doesn’t mean they are false, does it?  And if they are true, why is that a negative thing?

(Photo courtesy idoherty81’s Flickr page, through Creative Commons.  Thanks, idoherty81!)

Books, Movies, TV, Music and Art book, books, conversation, conversations, life, politics

A conversation came up the other day about DVD’s.  Specifically, why do we own them?

You may have experienced the following phenomena:  You are watching television when you come across a movie that is just about to start.  You happen to own the movie on DVD, but for some reason you sit and watch it anyway.

Why? In your mind you know that you can watch it at any time.  Why watch the movie now?

After a brief discussion, we came up with the following reasons:

1.  It’s easier: Yes, it isn’t very hard to get up and go to your DVD player, place the movie in the tray and hit play, but it is more than pressing the channel button.

2.  It’s disposable: Something on TV isn’t permanent, it’s disposable.  You can turn it off and not give it a second thought.  If you stop the DVD, you have to get up, remove it from the player and place it back in its case/rack, etc.

3.  You don’t feel obligated: If you take the time and effort to pick a movie out of your DVD collection, place it in the player and start it, you feel an obligation to watch it.  Yes, you can pause it at any point, but you’ve gone through all the work and built an expectation in your mind that ‘Yes, I am going to commit to watching this now.’   It’s very different than finding a movie on a channel and setting the remote down.

All of this brought up another point: the digital revolution.   With the advent of digital technology (the access and recording of information into a digital format), all manner of media is becoming easily transferable and more portable.  Music, movies, books, photographs, you name it.  You can have it all on your computer, your Ipod, your cell phone.

How long will it be before you carry all of this on a Star-Trek like handheld device?  You may only have to carry around something like your cell phone to have access to all of these things.  You could play your movies wirelessly on your TV screen, or send your music to your stereo, or have your picture frames show changing images of your children.    With sites like HULU, you might be able to go online, click on the movie you want and watch it instantly, anywhere in your house.

So will DVD’s go the way of the 8-track or laser disk?  Clearly, yes.  But what they, or their successors, may be replaced with is…nothing.  At least, nothing physical.  With data being conveyed digitally at an increasing speed and with more and more ease, how long will it be before we all have personal tricorders that have access to every piece of media ever created?

And what happens after that?

(Photo courtesy john a ward’s flickr page through creative commons license.  Thanks, john a ward!”

Books, Movies, TV, Music and Art, technology book, books, conversation, music, personal, tech, technology

We had a discussion the other day about encounters with the police.  (See this great series of YouTube Videos on the topic.)  Most of us get the occasional parking ticket, or traffic ticket, etc.  Occasionally, you might be involved in something else, like being around a bar fight or something like that.

When the police get involved, it is serious.  Always.  Why?

• They have guns.

• They can arrest you.

• They can detain you, intimidate you and make your life hell.

In short, the police have more power than you.  They are not your equals.   Because of that, we came up with the following reasons for why you should never, EVER talk to the police.  (At least in the Unites States.)

REASON 1:  IT NEVER HELPS: Lots of people like to think they can talk their way out of getting arrested.  Maybe you can.  But if you are charged with a crime, talking to the police hurts you.   What you say can be used against you, but it isn’t going to be used to help you.

REASON 2:  YOU CAN TALK LATER: If you are guilty and want to confess, wonderful.  You are a good person.  But confessing has consequences, and you need to be aware of them.  Not only that, but you only want to confess to what you did, and you need to be sure of what you say. Think first.  Talk later.

REASON 3:  NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD: Nothing you say to the police is out of bounds.  Even if you agree to keep it ‘off the record’ or ‘just between us’, it isn’t.  It’s going to be used, recorded, remembered and used against you at every opportunity.

REASON 4:  COPS CAN LIE.  YOU CAN’T: If a cop lies to you, it’s fine. They can do that.  If you lie to the cops, you commit a crime: obstruction of justice.  Not only that, but you will be seen as a liar and the rest of what you say is worthless.

REASON 5:  EVEN AN HONEST MISTAKE IS BAD: Everything you tell to the police has to be true.  Even if you make a mistake, this can be construed as a lie.  If you have to testify and what you said to the cops is brought into court and it’s full of holes, you are going to look bad.  NOT something you want to happen.

REASON 6:  YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING: Did you know it’s illegal to own a lobster that is below a certain size, or that you can’t play dominoes on a Sunday in Georgia?  If you don’t already know every law on the books, you may admit to doing something you didn’t even know was illegal.  And yes, there are a lot of things that are illegal you don’t even know about it.   How many?  About 10,000 or more federal criminal statutes alone. And that doesn’t include local and state laws, and or regulatory rules.

REASON 7:  THE 5TH AMENDMENT PROTECTS THE INNOCENT: The Supreme Court has said this themselves.  The 5th Amendment is there so innocent people don’t get caught up in the very serious, stressful process of a criminal investigation.  Innocent people are worth protecting. That’s why the 5th Amendment is there.  Use it.

REASON 8: THE POLICE AND WITNESSES CAN BE WRONG: If the police get it wrong and you suddenly find yourself having to say X and the cop says Y, who is going to believe you?  You are accused of the crime.  Everyone expects you to lie, even if you are not lying and never did anything wrong.

REASON 9:  EVERYONE THINKS YOU DID IT: Innocent until proven guilty is a nice idea, but it isn’t quite real.  Think about it, how many times do you see or hear of someone being arrested and think “It has to be proven they’re guilty.”  Never. And everyone is just like you.   If you have to go in front of a jury, they already think “They’re probably guilty.”

REASON 10:  THE POLICE HAVE THE POWER: Let’s say you and a friend get into a scuffle.   Your friends says he won’t “press charges” and neither will you.  Super.  But your friend never could “press charges” even if they wanted to.  Only the police and prosecutors can, even if no one wants them to.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should report a crime or not call 911 if you are in trouble.  But it does mean that if you get pulled over for a ticket or get into a car accident, you should probably just say “No thanks, I’ll get back to you later.’

(Photo courtesy pena2’s Flickr page, through creative commons license.  Thanks, pena2!)

Uncategorized book, books, friends, justice, law, life

True love.  Is there anything better in the whole world?   (Perhaps a nice MLT, a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich.  We love that.)

Well, according to research, about 10% of married couples actually do experience this romantic ideal.  That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE!

Previous research indicated that romantic relationships follow a distinct pattern: 10 to 15 months of infatuation and then the love goes away.  By the 7-year itch, it’s pretty much gone.  But, if it gets past a decade, you and your partner may be headed for the story books.

Which makes us wonder: why? Why do some people find it and not others?  Is it hardwired? Is it about finding that right person?

Is it an odor?

(Photo courtesy fe’s flickr page through creative commons.  Thanks, fe!)

Relationships book, books, love