One of the big issues between creationists and evolutionists is the age of the Earth. Adding up all of the “who begot who” in the bible has the age of the Earth being around 6,000 years old. Science tells us that it’s at least “a bit” older than that.
Many of our notions about the Earth’s history are shaped in our early childhood. I think we can all recall toys, stories, and cartoons depicting “cavemen” coexisting (often not very peacefully) with dinosaurs. I mean really–the Flintstones even employed dinosaurs as household appliances. It’s no better today. My son has some toys called “B.C. Builders” built on this very premise. I am trying to figure out how to expain that dinosaurs and cavemen were not around at the same time. How is my 3-year old son to realize this major historical inaccuracy when he doesn’t even appreciate the irony that his plastic parasoralphous is derived from actual dinosaurs? Irony is wasted on toddlers.
Things haven’t changed much since we were kids–except maybe that the Brontosaurus is now the Apatosaurus. And although there actually were flying dinosaurs called Pterodactyls, all I hear about is the Pteranodons. What’s up with that?
I am ready if I every get asked why Noah didn’t bring any dinosaurs on the ark–”there wasn’t enough room.”
Having two little boys under the age of four, sadly, I haven’t gone to see a movie in a few years. Also sadly, I chose to see Ghost Rider this weekend.
Ghost Rider is yet another adaption of a comic book, but not an immensely popular one. I remember reading about Johnny Blaze’s fiery skeleton motorcycle riding and still even have a collection of these comics somewhere in my basement. The comic book was brought back to life in the late 1980’s, and although I found it interesting, I never thought that Ghost Rider had anywhere the audience or appeal as comics like Superman, Spiderman, X-men, et al.
I was supprised to learn that Ghost Rider was number one in the box office as it opened this past weekend, but when choosing what I should commit my precious movie viewing opportunity, there wasn’t much to choose from.
The special effects were fantastic. The transformation of Nicolas Cage to the flaming rider was smooth and believable. What wasn’t believable was the shallowness of the characters and the script itself.
Johnny learns about his curse of the Ghost Rider and reads in some authoritative book on the subject(?), that the “fire within him can be controlled with extreme concentration.” He then concentrates (extremely) and speaks to the fire within him and controls it. That was easy!
There are also a number of devilish foes which the Ghost Rider defeats so easily I never really feared for him at all. A precious contract of evil souls is given up at the mere asking, and the love interest lets him go, wants him back, and lets him go without any emotion.
Nicolas Cage, now in his forties, also makes use of the special effects to appear to be in great physical shape, although his hair piece could use a little more work. He also seems a little goofy with the prosthetic teeth for this role, probably there to add some continuity when he is portrayed as a flaming skull. Cage’s allure for Elvis again seems to manifest itself in this role in Blaze’s mannerisms and fashion sense. However, I remember the characters in the Ghost Rider comic book being about as young as the nameless actors portraying Blaze and Roxy in the beginning of the film. I suppose having a less than A-list comic with a less than A-list actor and a less than C-list script would not have gotten much draw.
Perhaps my expectations were too high — not seeing a movie for so long, and having “read the book.” My wife enjoyed it however, commenting “I didn’t have to think too much,” but I am guessing her expectations were simply to get out of the house.
Like most people that have one–I love TiVo. It’s hard to imagine watching television without one. Record the shows you want, watch them anytime, fast-forward through commercials. Sure it is mostly like a VCR of old, but it is so easy to incorporate into your life: ease of programming, season passes, no tapes, etc. A 1-hour show like American Idol can be watched easily in less than 30 minutes. See my review of TiVo from last year.
Since we had not be living in our house for the past 9 months, TiVo was packed away in the basement. Without TiVo, I watched very little television during that period and found I really didn’t miss it that much. But now that we have moved back in, a priority was to setup the TiVo. It was great in the first few days as we were without cable and Internet–all of the shows that had been recorded (mostly kid shows) were still there and watchable. My trouble started once the cable and network were back up and I needed to connect back to TiVo’s home base. (more…)
We have just moved back into our house after nine months of major renovations. Almost every aspect of the house has been changed in some manner, including a new kitchen and bathrooms. The two upstairs bathrooms both have brand new tubs: a traditional tub/shower in the hall bathroom and a whirlpool tub in the master bathroom.
Although I wasn’t ready to venture into the whirlpool, I did want to check that it at least worked, so I filled the tub with water. As it filled up to about six inches, necessary to operate the jets, I started noticing that the water was a very pretty bluish color. I didn’t think too much of it, focusing on the operation of the tub. The tub worked fine, creating frothy cauldron of water. I turned my attention back to the blue water and considered its source. Perhaps the internal plumbing of the tub has some kind of anti-freeze or lubricating residue that would be washed away. I didn’t think that it was the water as I never noticed this before. The water in the toilets, also white, had no blue appearance, although there is much less water in a toilet. (more…)
A cell phone caught fire in the pants pocket of a California man burning him and causing damage to the hotel room where he was staying. The brand of phone was not mentioned, but I don’t expect it to be any of the top brands as the man was wearing “nylon and polyester clothes” and staying in a residential hotel where the furniture consists of a “plastic chair.”
Here is a cool item I just discovered. Part game, part experiment, part cult, is Line Rider. The object is simple enough: draw lines for your digital sledder to ride. Some basic physics are programmed into the environment, so your lines must keep him moving and prevent him from crashing or falling into the abyss of infinity.
It’s probably best understood by watching what some have already done…
Casual games are generally defined as simple to play games that are engaging with no long-term commitment. The classics solitaire and minesweeper are popular examples. Start playing — have some fun — play again — repeat until your eyes are bleeding, fingers are sore, or you just cannot avoid doing what you are supposed to be doing any longer. (more…)
Here is a great original creation posted on YouTube. Two guys using stop-action animation for some neat effects. Makes you wonder how long it took to make, and how difficult it is to hover in midair.
Oprah Winfrey was not invited to Tom and Katie’s wedding this weekend. Oprah says she understands there are a limited number of people invited. That limit could be 1,400 based upon the capacity of the Italian castle where the wedding is expected to take place.
I think Tom has some mixed feelings about Oprah ever since his couch-jumping, arm-wrestling appearance on her show. A stylized rendition of that appearance appears below:
The verdict is in, and a Massachusetts judge has ruled that a burrito is NOT a sandwich, thus allowing a Mexican restaurant to peacefully coexist in a mall with a traditional sandwich shop.
Many of our notions about the Earth’s history are shaped in our early childhood. I think we can all recall toys, stories, and cartoons depicting “cavemen” coexisting (often not very peacefully) with dinosaurs. I mean really–the Flintstones even employed dinosaurs as household appliances. It’s no better today. My son has some toys called “B.C. Builders
