Holiday Posting Lull

So I haven't posted in quite some time - I'm blaming the holidays. Lame excuse maybe, but we did drive to Alberta for a week to visit my parents and celebrate Christmas. I got to see a bunch of my friends in Calgary, and Awaken's new home. I'm happy to report that there were no issues transporting the energy-efficient light bulbs across the border (or the cat) - and Awaken members were able to pass them out in their neighborhood when they went caroling. As Scott the negligent blogger said, it was net-zero energy usage - energy lost from having the door open to listen to caroling could be recouped over the next few years using the light bulbs. During our time in Red Deer I learned that a Skateboard company my friends and I started, Salvation, now has a new website (I've been out of the loop). If your wondering what I have to do with skateboarding, they needed someone to deal with the Government, you know "taxes", "accounting", and so on. I'm looking forward to getting my own profile page, complete with pictures of me in my "I got mad spreadsheets, Yo!" T-shirt and a video of me making journal entries. Michelle and I had a great trip, and it worked out really well - we got to see everyone, and it still felt relaxing. For Christmas Day Michelle and I hosted breakfast for the Ferndale regiment of the Erhard family tree before heading South to Seattle. I had a blast watching everyone exchange presents (Michelle's family can be just as funny and crazy as mine), and there was even snow falling, a bit of a rarity for Seattle. Oh, and the coffee was fantastic. I'm sure plenty more has happened that I'm leaving out, but my plan is to distract you with a bunch of links to keep you busy. Happy surfing!

PS I might post some pictures from the trip in a little while. Oh, and the links are in grey - they're kind of hard to see.

Meet the Robinsons

Michelle and I have seen this movie twice now in the last week. It's a lot of fun and here's why:

1) Goob - the funniest, best animated, best voiced character in animation history. He's stinking hilarious - and very cute. But best of all he's really kid-like.

2) Bowler Hat Guy - my kind of villain.

3) Wilbur's family - they are all totally nuts and totally accepting of one another. Happiness despite obvious and outright dysfunction. Kind of reminds me of my family.

4) Legacy - I like that this movie, or rather the people who made it, acknowledge and appreciate the legacy left to them by the man who started their company. This movie includes recognition of where it came from and it is true to Walt Disney's values and ideals. I like that a lot.

Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut

The best way I can describe Kurt Vonnegut's writing is viciously satirical. Vonnegut is considered a black comedy writer, but it's stronger than that. I admit, I certainly laughed on a few occasions (maybe 4), particularly when the continents were described as "floating on molten slurp". I also really enjoyed the hero, Kilgore Trout, a science fiction writer and a character from another of Vonnegut's novels. His method of coping with the world is to make up science fiction stories about the absurdity he finds all around him. These mini novellas are absolute gems. Finally, and most importantly, there were many occasions throughout the course of this book where I got the distinct sense that there was some connection, some symbolism, some message I hadn't quite grasped. It was these little hints amidst the chaos that made me think, hard at times, and also made me wish it wasn't over when it was. On the other hand, it would be like Vonnegut try to fool me into thinking the chaos had some deeper meaning.

At a few points in this book I considered putting it down altogether due to the extremely vulgar adult content (not to mention language). What allowed me to continue reading was the sense that Vonnegut was being blatantly honest and that the issues he raised were rooted in many people's very real life experiences. Ultimately, I was disappointed and saddened by the distinct lack of hope throughout much of the book; one bright spot was Eddie Key, a character who had the responsibility of memorizing the exploits of every member of his family for many generations into the past. All in all though, Vonnegut doesn't come across as a particularly cheerful individual; Breakfast of Champions left me thankful that I have hope.

One last comment: throughout the book Vonnegut ends paragraphs with the words "And so on." He often begins with "And..." Instead of the standard "The End" conclusion, Vonnegut's last word is "ETC". He explains that human lives don't fit the initial incident-rising action-climax-conclusion model so often used in novels - it's a big humble jumble of accidents, mistakes and chance encounters. And so on.

Certified Fair Labor

So I was listening to NPR on Black Friday and the topic of consumerism was being discussed. The host was interviewing a pollster from the LA Times and a journalist who wrote a book called "A Year Without Made in China". The pollster said that overwhelmingly people would be willing to pay a few cents more for products if it guaranteed they were manufactured under fair labor practices. However, manufacturers say that they are simply giving consumers what they want with ever decreasing prices, which puts incredible pressure on the manufacturing process to cut costs. Like labor costs. It got me thinking about coffee. There are at least three common seals placed on coffee - Fair Trade, Certified Organic, and Shade Grown. Why isn't there a "Fair Labor Practices" seal that can be put on products? Has anyone heard of anything like this? I realize that it would be tough to monitor, but why couldn't it work? I'm pretty sure that products with a seal like that would command a premium well worth the cost of getting certified.

The Holiday

Michelle and I watched The Holiday last night. Overall, it was a fun movie, especially thanks to Jack Black and Kate Winslet. Unfortunately, Jude Law could have been fun to watch as well if Cameron Diaz had been even close to believable. I don't know what it was, but she seemed awkward and out of place the whole time. Her character is generally impulsive, irresponsible and spazy - which was supposed to be against her nature. It was a tough sell. Basically, Cameron Diaz as a professional, responsible grown-up wasn't the best "fit". However, I would recommend it if only for the chemistry between Jack Black and Kate Winslet. Let me know what you thought.

Mercy, Compassion and Justice

Yesterday Michelle and I spent some time with Jeff G, the new-ish youth pastor at our church. We were having dinner and got onto the topic of short-term missions and particularly the role of relief efforts in mission. Jeff shared with us that the Covenant denomination has recently set up a new department of Mercy, Compassion, and Justice. The department head, Debbie Blue, explained that suffering in the world is like a river, and compassion and mercy are our efforts to pull people and communities out of that river; justice on the other hand is heading upriver to find out who or what is pushing these people in the river in the first place. That analogy really hit home with me, and along with discussions I've been having with Eric on his blog, inspired me to loan some money to a women in Sierra Leone through KIVA. You should consider checking it out.

City of God

I have been sitting on this movie for several months now. A friend of mine gave it to me, with high praise and recommendation. I have been kind of putting off watching it for the same reason Michelle didn't watch it - it looked way too intense. And it was. Sometimes I don't want to be reminded of how easy my life has been - sometimes I feel guilty for having two parents, plenty of friends, and not knowing anyone who has been shot. I feel guilty for not having experienced the depth of fear those kids felt. Some scenes were difficult for me to watch. The best part of this movie was that it was based on a true story - and my favorite scene was the real footage of Knockout Ned during the credits. I was impressed at how well the director had duplicated the interview. Despite the fact that it was based on a true story, I was a little disappointed that this movie felt so much like other gangster movies I've tried to watch. Most of all though, I am left feeling overwhelmed at the pain and suffering and evil in the world. I can't understand how people can be so cruel to one another - and yet I can in some ways. Last week at our monthly Missions Committee meeting a woman told us about the 60 days she had just returned from in the slums of South Africa. She had gone to try to form an idea of how our congregation can best alleviate some of the pain and suffering on that continent. Her story, and City of God, have me thinking about the importance of entering into the pain of others. It's scary and hard, and it's for fear of entering into the pain of others that I didn't want to watch this movie. I don't want to know the horrible things people are capable of doing to one another. It's incredible to me that God enters into the pain of each person on this planet, day in and day out, simply by virtue of knowing them so well. He never turns away from people in their darkest moments the way I wanted to so badly during some parts of this movie. The pain and anguish he must feel... I can't imagine.

By the way, this film is in Portuguese with English subtitles. I kind of forgot about that, but it does add an interesting rhythm and sound to the movie.