Thoughts and musings about the world from someone on 4 wheels. From politics to movies to pop culture and sports, I've got an opinion on them all. Why keep those opinions to myself when I can share them with the world. Tell me I'm right, tell me I'm wrong, just comment with something.
It’s been remarkably too long since I’ve written anything,
but I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to write just for the sake of
writing. I actually wanted to be writing about something that I was inspired
about. Well, clearly inspiration has been lacking lately, but tonight it was a
little different. It’s amazing what a nice glass of Honey Whiskey and a couple
of episodes of The Newsroom will do.
First off, if you haven’t watched The Newsroom you might not
want to continue reading. Just fair warning.
It’s difficult to be romantic about America lately.
Negativity and polarization reign supreme, the rich get richer and the poor get
poorer, and the idea of the middle class has become an endangered species. It’s
hard to find reasons to be hopeful and challenge the status quo. The system is
so deeply ingrained in the expectations of society that we are no longer
surprised by its unfairness. It’s easier to say, “Nothing is going to change,
why even try.”
But that complacency is exactly what is killing the country.
In the season finale of The Newsroom, the entire episode is about Will McAvoy
being called The Greater Fool. He sees the term as an insult to his crusade to
change the mentality of news. He sees it as a failure of his mission to bring
dignity and truth back to journalism. It is not until the end of the episode
that he realizes that The Greater Fool is one of the most important members of
our American society. The Greater Fool is, as Sloan Sabbith puts it, “someone
with the perfect blend of self-delusion and ego to think that he can succeed
where others have failed. This whole country was made by greater fools.”
We are sorely in need of more Greater Fools in this country.
We no longer believe that magnificent things are possible. We no longer believe
that is worth reaching for the stars just for the sake of reaching. Now, there
always has to be a reason or an endgame. People don’t do things just for the
benefit of doing them anymore. The idealism and interest in making society
better is gone and has been replaced by an interest only in the self.
So, how do we change society? It truly must be a Greater
Fool who thinks they can change an entire country, but with enough of them, The
Greater Fools can win. We can rise up and change the way society thinks. The
challenge for us is to stop accepting the status quo.
If you consider yourself to be a Greater Fool, take the
small steps every day to stand up to the unfairness and idiocy that is
witnessed everyday. Don’t let things just slide anymore. Period.
So, I just got picked up to do my first music video and it's a little intimidating. The band I'm working with, Redemption 1:7, is really amazing, and they have brought a lot to the creative process. They really are that perfect mix between giving feedback, but still letting me own creative control. It really is starting out as a great working relationship.
That being said, this is my first music video ever and the story that we have going so far is going to require a ton of intense planning and coordination. If everything goes the way we hope it will, then I will end up with 50 or so extras on set… At night. It's a huge undertaking for anyone doing their first music video, but even larger considering the amount of light, or lack thereof, I will have at my disposal. It really is going to be a challenging, but exciting opportunity for me to test myself as a filmmaker and as a leader on set.
There are no words that will ever be able to comfort the families in Newtown, Connecticut. There's nothing anyone can offer. There is nothing anyone can do. All we can do is let them know that we are thinking of them and mourn with them. I can say that for me personally I am having a hard time feeling anything right now other than numbness. These children, these babies, had their whole lives ahead of them. They had everything to look forward to. Not only did they lose their lives, but we lost their lives. We have no idea what those children might have had in store for the world. There could've been a cure for cancer waiting to be discovered in one of those children. There could've been the next Picasso or Mozart. There could've been a future president.
In the coming weeks and months there will be the obvious discussions about gun violence and possible bans on assault weapons. We all have strong feelings about these issues. We have to balance the Second Amendment with senseless violence carried out by psychopathic killers that use ridiculously powerful assault rifles and handguns that are manufactured to kill. That debate is something that needs to take place, but it will take a long time for that debate to evolve into any sort of policy. What we can do right now to help protect our children is institute safety measures on the front lines of schools. We need to be incorporating metal detectors and more strenuous check in procedures for everyone that enters our schools. We need to be focusing on making our schools and public areas safer with things that can be done right now. Our policy debates cannot be allowed to get in the way of making common sense decisions that will make our country's children safer.
Two of my great loves, film and history, came together in one of Steven Spielberg's most important and what may end up being his most underrated film, Lincoln. There are too many things that I love about this film to fit into one review. Lincoln deserves a frame by frame breakdown to give it justice. I'm sure that in the coming months and years there will be countless academic essays and articles written about the choices and style used by Spielberg, Lewis, Jones, and Field, but let's stick with general strokes for right now.
Normally I would start with Spielberg and his choices in the film, but I have to put that off to laud Daniel Day-Lewis for his original and, by most scholars's opinion, historically accurate depiction of our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. The first and most noticeable difference between Lewis's depiction of Lincoln and other characterization is the voice he chose. In nearly all other depictions of Lincoln his voice is deep and robust, commanding attention with sheer force. Lewis, however, makes the very conscious choice to give Lincoln a softer, almost high-pitched tone, without sacrificing any command of a stage or room in which Lincoln speaks. His ability to convey a sense of power while maintaining an almost tender vocal tone is further added to in the few moments when Lincoln does raise his voice. The most notable scene that illustrates this point takes place when Lincoln is receiving counsel from his Cabinet that he should withdraw his push to get the 13th Amendment passed. After hearing their pleadings, Lewis casts off his tender toned Lincoln and wraps himself in the Titan like imagery and sound that is always associated with the power and awe of Abraham Lincoln. The audio below is an edited excerpt from the response Lincoln gives his Cabinet.
Compare that audio with this short monologue from Lewis's softer side of Lincoln.
Even the way Lewis characterizes Lincoln's walk is unique. It is somehow cumbersome and graceful at the same time. He seems to almost fall onto his front foot, instead of stepping. And even in this slight awkwardness, the gate of his steps is actually able to convey a sense of power as well. Literally everything about the character is a larger-than-life, but remarkably relatable at the same time. It is truly a performance of a lifetime.
Spielberg is as good as ever in his direction of the picture. However, while I recognize the very distinct and conscious choices he made in story and composition, I have this terrible feeling that this film could possibly go down as one of his most underrated and underappreciated works. For example, the film chooses to focus on essentially a one-month timeframe leading up to the vote on the13th Amendment. There is almost no reference to how Lincoln was elected to his first term, nothing at all about his life before politics, and only passing references about some of the most historically important actions of his first term like the Emancipation Proclamation. Not even the Gettysburg Address is viewed directly. Instead, Spielberg uses soldiers who were inspired to join the military after hearing the address to recite the speech back to Lincoln while he is visiting with them at the beginning of the film. In my opinion, it would have been impossible to make a film about Lincoln without hearing the Gettysburg Address. But because of the time frame in which the story is told it would have been possible to actually witness Lincoln delivering the speech at Gettysburg. Others have commented that this introduction felt clunky and somewhat misplaced, especially as it is the first speaking parts of the film, but I have to disagree. For me, it was an absolutely genius way to introduce one of the most important speeches ever given by a politician, even if it was impossible to actually see that speech being given.
I could go on and on about the exemplary supporting performances from Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and Joseph Gordon–Levitt, but I will just keep it simple and say that all three of them deserve Oscar nominations at the very least. Sally Field brings a fresh take on the often insanity filled representations of Mary Todd, Lincoln's wife. Tommy Lee Jones is nothing short of magnificent as Thaddeus Stevens, a spitfire abolitionist who, in a time when it was considered political suicide, publicly espoused complete equality of all men under the law and considered no race to be above or superior to another. Mr. Stevens was a man literally 100 years ahead of his time, and Jones pulls off this character masterfully. Joseph Gordon–Levitt plays President Lincoln's oldest son, Robert Lincoln, with a fire and verve that is not completely unexpected, but is still pleasantly surprising. Robert Lincoln doesn't appear until about halfway through the film, but when he does you are fully aware of his presence as Gordon–Levitt commands the attention of the audience.
Overall, this is personally my blockbuster of the year. I understand that many do not have the passion for history or complete and total reverence for Abraham Lincoln that I do. I know that I am somewhat “odd” in the extent to which I try to emulate Lincoln, which leads me to question whether the film will stir up passion in others like it has done in me. Nevertheless, one does not have to be obsessed with Lincoln to recognize the beauty of this film. Spielberg puts history in motion and makes it accessible to all.
At 12:45am Central Time President Obama gave his victory speech to a Chicago crowd of approximately 10,000 supporters. It was much more intimate than the nearly quarter million size crowd at Grant Park in 2008. The President was surrounded on all sides by supporters as he delivered his victory speech to the nation. His remarks were inspirational, but he was also realistic about the challenges that lay ahead. He called for bipartisanship and compromise in Congress and among the American people. He called on Americans to find common ground to start from. See the video below.
At approximately 11:55pm Central time Mitt Romney took the stage to concede the race for President to President Barack Obama. Governor Romney was succinct, cordial, and full of class in his congratulations for the President and call for bipartisanship in Washington to face our nation's challenges. His speech is below.
