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Last night I watched 300, which was, surprisingly, quite good. After watching it, I visited the Wikipedia entry and found it laughable that some notable professors detested the film because of its historical inaccuracies. Give me a break. The film (don't know about the Frank Miller graphic novel -- haven't read it) never claims to be a historical document of the Battle of Thermopylae. Is the name "Thermopylae" even mentioned in the film? I'm sure some kids came away with a false impression of the Battle, but those who were truly intrigued would've done their own research to separate fact from fiction. Leave it to the overeducated to suck the fun out of a gritty action flick. Eggheads aside, 300 utilizes the same CGI effects that made the film adaptation of Miller's Sin City look so dazzling. Director Zack Snyder could have drowned the film with excessive effects, but he didn't. 300 strikes the perfect balance between stylized action sequences and artistic flair. Also, Gerard Butler as King Leonidas was perfect. Gave it five outta five.
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In just a couple of days PB and I will be spending three days and two nights camping for the two-day Phish extravaganza at Verizon Wireless in Noblesville. I can't wait. It's been a decade since I last saw The Phish. This time will definitely be different though; I never camped for any of the previous shows. I'm already giddy with excitement. Can't wait.
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I've been patient with Arcade Fire's critically praised The Suburbs, and it's certainly beginning to grow on me, but I can't seem to make the connection with it that I've made with other albums I love. The stunning High Violet by The National is still atop my best-of-2010 list.
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Interesting study: "Experiments by Paul Piff and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, reported this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, suggest ... it is the poor, not the rich, who are inclined to charity."
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Interesting book (that I wish to read soon, er, sometime): Confession of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led.
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Twenty-five seconds of pure win can be found here.
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That is all.
xx
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