Hey guys,
Sorry that it's been some time since my last post.
Things have been going well, I think: I am already up to the B Levels on Chart 2 for 5BX; my fastest mile run so far has been 8:12; my work at 4J is nearly done for the school year; and we started rehearsals for The Merry Wives of Windsor. I already have my summer schedule for Nearby Nature, which I need to start working on curriculum in the next month.
Things have been good, but there have also been a few rough patches. About a week ago, I went to the ER with a fever of 103. Turns out I had the flu and stayed home from work two days. With the ER visit comes the ER bill, which I need to apply for the hospital's financial assistance program. Having no medical insurance can be a real bear sometimes. My car is also having a few issues (it's slow to accelerate, effectively cutting my gas milage in half...among a few other things) and I've got a tax bill from the State of Oregon to take care of.
I think most worrying of all is my back and lower right leg. I had my microdiscectomy three years ago for my herniated disc and have worked on trying to prevent a relapse. However, at rehearsal last night, I twisted to my left side to grab something behind me and felt a "pop" in my lower spine. Within minutes, I felt a constant dull pressure in my lower right leg...the old sciatica spot. It doesn't hurt, but "sleeping it off" didn't do anything either as I still feel some pressure this morning. I hope it's nothing, but I'm also fearful that could get worse. I'm still going to exercise, but I'll also be taking it easy and watching my posture in the coming days and weeks.
That's about it so far. I've been wanting to write these past couple of weeks, for which I've had a few ideas. If the same muse strikes again, I'll be here.
Take care.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review
Tonight, my girlfriend and I went to see the new Batman movie...or Superman sequel...or crossover...thing. Ever since it was announced that Ben Affleck would don the cowl and play the Caped Crusader, we have been anxiously awaiting this film's release to see what would happen. Now that it came out, we decided to go and see what kind of film DC and Warner Bros. made to compete with Marvel's own Cinematic Universe. Here is my review of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The Good:
One thing that really struck me was the dark overtones of the plot (Frank Miller was even given a "Special Thanks" in the credits). The film begins with Bruce Wayne witnessing firsthand the destruction and chaos that was the battle between Superman and General Zod at the end of Man of Steel. This makes for a surreal allegory to the September 11th terror attacks where citizens of a large city were witnessing their home come under attack, all while adding a HUGE boost of character development to Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne and why he is determined to take out Superman (a man with unlimited power and one bad mood can destroy everything on earth). It made the DC Universe a dark and scary place, but it offers potential for superhero stories. On that note, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne was good. Ben Affleck as Batman? Well...he was better than George Clooney (so, yay?). One character that stole the show for me was Alfred, played craftily by the criminally underrated Jeremy Irons. Gal Gadot was in the movie for a grand total of about MAYBE twenty minutes as Wonder Woman, but she shined in that short period of time. I really liked when conversations about philosophy and moral obligations came up, citing Greek mythology and other stories. The cameo by Neil deGrasse Tyson was wonderful as he discusses how humanity's sense of self changed over the years from Copernicus to Darwin to Superman. The final battle (not the Superman vs. Batman fight) was CGI-porn, but it was exciting.
The Bad:
Ben Affleck was decent and Jeremy Irons was sublime, but I did not like Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor. Instead of Luthor being a ruthless businessman and scientific genius, this Luthor was a spoiled rich kid with a bit of political leverage, a cathartic sense of destruction (plus Daddy issues), and maybe a doctorate in cellular biology with a minor in human and kryptonian psychology. As good as the themes and overtones were, the overall plot felt hastily and haphazardly put together. It's like there was a list of great ideas that would each have made for a good movie on their own, but Snyder and Co. decided to try and stuff them all into one film with everything coming out half-baked.
The Ugly:
Marvel hit a home run with it's Cinematic Universe, but that project's slowly been put together for the past eight years, with many of the characters getting at least one whole movie to themselves (even Ant-Man!) to focus on character development. With Batman v. Superman, DC is trying put something comparable together in a much shorter time span. To be fair, Wonder Woman is getting her own film (and we did get a snippet of her backstory in the third act) with The Flash and Aquaman each getting a film later, but we're getting these after the fact whereas Marvel introduced each of its characters one post-credits scene at a time (AFTER the main character's story was done). DC did the opposite with a scene in the movie where we are watching videos of other future Justice League members The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. As fun as they were to watch, they didn't add anything to the Batman and Superman story and mainly served as advertisements for future films. Batman v. Superman has already made Warner Bros. twice its money back and more ($581 million as of 4/3/2016 on a $250 million budget) based on hype as opposed to substance...and that's the problem I'm having. While Marvel's hit a home run (so far), DC is desperately swinging for the fences with its own cinematic universe and it's already strike one. I feel like I am getting more developed stories with the DC television universe (ie: The Flash, Green Arrow, and Supergirl), because writers are taking their time and building these characters up (to be fair though, developing a character over a thirteen hour story is easier than a two hour one). But I digress, we will see how the other movies play out, including the upcoming Justice League movies. That being said, Batman v Superman wasn't terrible as a popcorn flick. It really wasn't, but it could have been a whole lot better, especially with two of DC's biggest franchise stars prominently in the middle of it.
The Other: So how was Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Laurence Fishburne as Superman, Lois Lane, and Perry White? Well let me ask you this: How did you like Man of Steel? ... There you go, though I was a little bummed at no mention from Perry of "Great Caesar's Ghost".
Moment of Zen:
Download this for FREE at www.archive.org! Superman shorts from the 1940's are in the public domain!
The Good:
One thing that really struck me was the dark overtones of the plot (Frank Miller was even given a "Special Thanks" in the credits). The film begins with Bruce Wayne witnessing firsthand the destruction and chaos that was the battle between Superman and General Zod at the end of Man of Steel. This makes for a surreal allegory to the September 11th terror attacks where citizens of a large city were witnessing their home come under attack, all while adding a HUGE boost of character development to Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne and why he is determined to take out Superman (a man with unlimited power and one bad mood can destroy everything on earth). It made the DC Universe a dark and scary place, but it offers potential for superhero stories. On that note, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne was good. Ben Affleck as Batman? Well...he was better than George Clooney (so, yay?). One character that stole the show for me was Alfred, played craftily by the criminally underrated Jeremy Irons. Gal Gadot was in the movie for a grand total of about MAYBE twenty minutes as Wonder Woman, but she shined in that short period of time. I really liked when conversations about philosophy and moral obligations came up, citing Greek mythology and other stories. The cameo by Neil deGrasse Tyson was wonderful as he discusses how humanity's sense of self changed over the years from Copernicus to Darwin to Superman. The final battle (not the Superman vs. Batman fight) was CGI-porn, but it was exciting.
The Bad:
Ben Affleck was decent and Jeremy Irons was sublime, but I did not like Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor. Instead of Luthor being a ruthless businessman and scientific genius, this Luthor was a spoiled rich kid with a bit of political leverage, a cathartic sense of destruction (plus Daddy issues), and maybe a doctorate in cellular biology with a minor in human and kryptonian psychology. As good as the themes and overtones were, the overall plot felt hastily and haphazardly put together. It's like there was a list of great ideas that would each have made for a good movie on their own, but Snyder and Co. decided to try and stuff them all into one film with everything coming out half-baked.
The Ugly:
Marvel hit a home run with it's Cinematic Universe, but that project's slowly been put together for the past eight years, with many of the characters getting at least one whole movie to themselves (even Ant-Man!) to focus on character development. With Batman v. Superman, DC is trying put something comparable together in a much shorter time span. To be fair, Wonder Woman is getting her own film (and we did get a snippet of her backstory in the third act) with The Flash and Aquaman each getting a film later, but we're getting these after the fact whereas Marvel introduced each of its characters one post-credits scene at a time (AFTER the main character's story was done). DC did the opposite with a scene in the movie where we are watching videos of other future Justice League members The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. As fun as they were to watch, they didn't add anything to the Batman and Superman story and mainly served as advertisements for future films. Batman v. Superman has already made Warner Bros. twice its money back and more ($581 million as of 4/3/2016 on a $250 million budget) based on hype as opposed to substance...and that's the problem I'm having. While Marvel's hit a home run (so far), DC is desperately swinging for the fences with its own cinematic universe and it's already strike one. I feel like I am getting more developed stories with the DC television universe (ie: The Flash, Green Arrow, and Supergirl), because writers are taking their time and building these characters up (to be fair though, developing a character over a thirteen hour story is easier than a two hour one). But I digress, we will see how the other movies play out, including the upcoming Justice League movies. That being said, Batman v Superman wasn't terrible as a popcorn flick. It really wasn't, but it could have been a whole lot better, especially with two of DC's biggest franchise stars prominently in the middle of it.
The Other: So how was Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Laurence Fishburne as Superman, Lois Lane, and Perry White? Well let me ask you this: How did you like Man of Steel? ... There you go, though I was a little bummed at no mention from Perry of "Great Caesar's Ghost".
Moment of Zen:
Download this for FREE at www.archive.org! Superman shorts from the 1940's are in the public domain!
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Running the Block vs Running the Track
Chart 2 of the 5BX exercise program gives me the option of running one mile for my cardio workout. Since I've started the chart, I've elected to run around my block four times to make a mile. This was convenient as I could get all of my exercises done at once instead of breaking up the workout where I do calisthenics in the morning and then cardio in the afternoon. In the past few days, however, my run time got progressively worse and worse. I owed it up to my body just breaking in the mile and left it up to time for things to sort themselves out. Out of curiosity last night, I opened Google Maps and retraced my block on two seperate devices. My laptop measured my route at a mile. My tablet measured it at 1.15 miles. Google Maps gave me two different answers, so either it was a software issue (unlikely) or I was measuring wrong (more likely). To answer this, I decided to go to a track and run a proper mile.
On this beautiful Saturday in Eugene, OR, I elected to go to the track at Sheldon High School. In the next field over, students were playing a lacrosse match with a rival school. During my run, I didn't push myself too hard, being conscious of any discomfort in my right leg. All the same though, it felt good being back on the track. I didn't have to worry about many other people to avoid, breaks in the sidewalk, or any other possible obstacle (ie: dogs). It was just me, a measured oval, and what my body could do, (though the sounds of lacrosse were a welcome distraction). It was convenient. On the other hand, I lost out on the sounds of a city awakening, the sensation of Eugene's sidewalks greeting the bottom of my Merrells and creating an urban heartbeat, the smells (mmm...fresh Voodoo Donuts), and overall ambiance of downtown Eugene in the morning. Still, the point of this was to compare running in the city versus running on the track.
I'm happy to say that at the end of the run, I was an entire minute UNDER my previous two run times. It was good enough that it would have passed at the A+ levels! With that in mind, I might take up running again at the Middle School in between my shifts (so long as the gym class isn't using it) and doing the block if I can't find an available track that day. I'm not opposed to finding another mile-long route. A part of me feels it redundant that I'm relying on a track just to run, especially when the point of 5BX was to get a work out without needing any equipment (I know the default cardio exercise is a stationary run interspersed with other actions, but I feel I get much more out of running a mile). But I digress, I'm sticking with my track until I find another route...preferrably one where I don't need Google Maps to figure out how far a mile is.
On this beautiful Saturday in Eugene, OR, I elected to go to the track at Sheldon High School. In the next field over, students were playing a lacrosse match with a rival school. During my run, I didn't push myself too hard, being conscious of any discomfort in my right leg. All the same though, it felt good being back on the track. I didn't have to worry about many other people to avoid, breaks in the sidewalk, or any other possible obstacle (ie: dogs). It was just me, a measured oval, and what my body could do, (though the sounds of lacrosse were a welcome distraction). It was convenient. On the other hand, I lost out on the sounds of a city awakening, the sensation of Eugene's sidewalks greeting the bottom of my Merrells and creating an urban heartbeat, the smells (mmm...fresh Voodoo Donuts), and overall ambiance of downtown Eugene in the morning. Still, the point of this was to compare running in the city versus running on the track.
I'm happy to say that at the end of the run, I was an entire minute UNDER my previous two run times. It was good enough that it would have passed at the A+ levels! With that in mind, I might take up running again at the Middle School in between my shifts (so long as the gym class isn't using it) and doing the block if I can't find an available track that day. I'm not opposed to finding another mile-long route. A part of me feels it redundant that I'm relying on a track just to run, especially when the point of 5BX was to get a work out without needing any equipment (I know the default cardio exercise is a stationary run interspersed with other actions, but I feel I get much more out of running a mile). But I digress, I'm sticking with my track until I find another route...preferrably one where I don't need Google Maps to figure out how far a mile is.
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