This is for all the folks who are part of the second hand smoke debate on facebook. I was going to write a big blog and pull out all the guns about some of the myths behind second hand smoke. But I am tired and I really don’t feel like it right now. All I will do is leave you with these four websites. You read and you decide. I’m going out to smoke my pipe.
The Facts About Second-Hand Smoke by Dave Hitt
In Defense of Smokers by Lauren A. Colby
Forces International Evidence Archive - A compilation of interesting information.
Here is an excerpt from the book Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking reveals the anti-smoking movement’s ultimate motive” By Stephen A. Ross http://www.pt-magazine.com/home.php?id=119&cid=630&article_id=10303
Posted on January 12th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Creative Writing, Uncategorized, average joe, books, political, writing | No Comments »
So, have you heard about the latest James Cameron movie, Avatar? If you haven’t, then you either live in a monestary, or in your parents basement. No. Scratch that. If you live in your parents basement, then you were probably first in line, dressed like an alien smurf.
I have always liked James Cameron. With “Terminator 2″, “Aliens”, “The Abyss” and, of course, “Titanic” (keepin’ my man card, thank you!) as some of my favorite movies. So it was with a mixture of curiosity and a strong track record, that I decided to venture out into the, eh hem, dark abyss of the local movie theater.
Now, you may be asking yourself why my review of Avatar is worth reading. I mean, I’m no Roger Ebert. (Thank God!) But, I am someone who is a fan of movies. Plus, I’m just a regular schmo. And with a seventeen month old, and another baby coming in two weeks, I have to really want to see the movie if I’m willing to give up two and a half hours of my life. But, I digress.
I had to go into the theater with a somewhat open mind. I had read a little here and there about the movie, and some of what I read really got on my nerves. Roger Ebert, for one stated, ” It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message.” Not to mention the first time I saw the trailor, I thought, “Lord, here we go again…this is another green movement/look what the white man did to the indians movie.” And part of it was, but I will get into that later.
First, the good stuff. The special effects were AWESOME. I was fortunate enough to see it in 3D. And one thing Avatar did not do was rely on 3D as a gimmick. There was none of the standard, “Look, that branch is coming right at my face!” scenes that are typical of these movies. The 3D did not distract from the movie, but enhanced the experience. It was like looking through a window into another world.
The setting on Pandora was breath taking. I mean, how cool would it be to see floating mountains! Just like “Lord of the Rings” and “Dancing with Wolves”, the scenary was not just a back drop, but a supporting character.The CGI of the N’avi was the most real I have seen. It was the little things that made them real. The way the moved. Their facial expressions. Even their hair looked real. In close up shots, you could actually see individual strands of hair. I have often heard the phrase, “Craftsmanship is in the details.” My hats off to Cameron and his entire CG team for being master craftsmen.
Now, for the negative. I wouldn’t agree 100% with Mr. Ebert that “Avatar” is a green/antiwar movie. Especially when the climax of the movie has the natives fighting off the military in defense of their homeland. In fact, there are many pro-America dogmas in “Avatar”. Defending ones home. Having a strong family unit. Sacrifice and honor. And doing what is right, no matter how hard it might be.However, there is some green preaching in the movie. The N’avi are “at one” with their land. There is a harmony between all living creatures.(although everything on Pandora wants to eat you, and in turn you have to eat them to live.) The N’avi can literally plug themselves into everything on the planet to communicate and “download” their thoughts, feelings and what not. There is talk that the “sky people” (earthlings) have already destroyed their “mother” (earth) and want to do the same to Pandora. Also, Sully (the main character) plugs himself (literally) into a tree and pleads with “Mother Earth” to come to their defense in stopping the sky people. (I’m sure the wack-os on “Whale Wars” would love to see humpbacks beating the snot out of sailors!)
James Cameron makes no attempt to hide the fact that the main story of “Avatar” is the white-man relocating the indians. And he is very preachy about it (a colonel sipping coffee while giving orders to fire hundreds of rockets into the N’avi’s home.), and it really annoyed me. However, history repeats itself. And I am sure that if we found life on another planet that had something that we needed, we would do the same. Governments do the same thing to this day. All one has to do is read the headlines of the day to see this. And the fact remains that the sins of the father are passed to the son. And although generations die out, sin lives on.
In conclusion, despite some hippie doctrine (sitting around a tree, swaying side to side and singing “kum-ba-ya”), “Avatar” is a movie worth seeing. For me, the point of going to the movies is to escape from reality, and have myself whisked away to another world for an adventure of a life time. “Avatar” does just that.
Posted on January 9th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Movies, Uncategorized, adventure, aliens, avatar, average joe, james cameron, movie review, n'avi, pandora, political, scifi, syfy, writing | No Comments »