Michael Jackson 1958-2009

The biggest icon of my childhood, Michael Jackson passed away yesterday apparently of cardiac arrest. Although his reputation in recent years has been tarnished in allegations of child molestation, he remains an larger than life (albeit a strange one) person who seemed indesctructible. Even though he was aquitted of all charges related to the molestation accusations, he was tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion. Even though I personally thought he was rather a freak, I was one of his most ardent supporters during legal problems. Due to circumstances in my life, I could relate to him in a way most people couldn't and I understood what it meant to be found guilty until proven innocent.

If you were a child in the 80's you could not go very far without seeing moonwalks, white gloves, red "soldier" jackets or the like. Jackson was everywere. Whether you turned on the radio, MTV, or the Super Bowl you were likely to see Michael making an appearance. My heart goes out to his family and especially his children who now must grow up in a world without their dad. The rest of us never knew the man, but we know his music. And we will be fortunate to have that for generations to come.

Some of the response I have heard from people about his death are disturbing. To say that the world is better off without him is to not only take away what the man meant to his children, but it denies what Michael was in the eyes of God. He was a freak in most of our eyes, but he was a child of God, one whom Jesus died for. Let's not forget that. Let the man rest in peace.

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Up in 3D

The fam had the chance to take in a flick yesterday at our local cinema. After much deliberation between the new Transformers movie and Pixar's Up. I decided on Up. After comparing reviews, Transformers (unfortunately) seemed like a movie I would rather spend $2 on rather than $50.

So, my family and I trekked into the local Edwards cinema and purchased the pricey ($64 for my entire family) 3D version of Disney-Pixar's Up.

The first twenty minutes was an impressive attempt to show the potential of this new type of 3d entertainment. In fact my son commented afterwards that the commercials were more impressive than the movie itself. The 3d did add tremendous depth to the movie. It felt 3d in that area. But if you have been to any of the Disney 3d theaters in their theme parks, you will be disappointed by this 3d experience.

The movie is preceded by a cute (and typical) cartoon short by pixar about a gloomy cloud that creates dangerous creatures for an unlucky stork to deliver. It was an engaging piece and should be up for an animated short oscar.

The movie itself opens up with a young boy pretending to be his explorer hero, when he runs into a little toothless girl who shares the same interests. Thus begins the intro to the movie following the two from marriage to the end of the girl's (Ellie) life. This touching segment has no words but sets the theme for the whole movie. The adults in the audience will find it hard to maintain a dry eye.

After the audience is informed of the goals and aspirations of the couple we are brought to present day where we find our "hero", sitting on the porch of his house while high rises are going up all around him. It's at this point our adventure begins. We see the balloons come up and our hero takes off into the wild blue yonder.

The movie has typical Pixar slapstick comedy with wonderful animation and great dialogue. As with all Pixar movies, this movie is filled with many wonderful qualities that are sure to make parents happy. Love, honesty, loyalty are but a few character traits that are presented in this fine animated piece.

If you are looking for quality family entertainment that is fulfilling whether you're 80 or 8, give Up a try. Compared to most of the summer fare out there this year, Up is quality and well worth the investment. Save the other "blockbusters" for you Netflix que.

Nate's Rating
4 out of 5 nateys


ratings info
1=better used for trash liners
2=okay but not great
3=good and average fare
4=excellent and worthy of many awards and a trip to the theater
5=Simply Divine

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Men=War?

Recently I have been reading the book by John Eldredge entitled "Wild at Heart". Although I don't believe in a lot of things that Eldredge espouses in his book, the premise of the church losing it's masculine identity, I can definitely agree with. We as a church have let the popular culture make our saviour( and hence our men) weak and frail. Meek and mild, is not weak and frail. We as men need to stand up and reclaim our house, and our church and become men that are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what is morally right.

Having said that, I have been subscribing to a blog published by the "Council of Biblical Womanhood and Manhood". Many of the articles I receive on a daily basis are well written and have a very valid message. But one recent blog made me rather upset. The title of the blog was "A Man's Summer Reading List..." When I first saw the title, I thought that this could be interesting and was excited to see what books were out there that might be a good read for a hot summer. When I began to read the blog, I was stunned by what I saw. Every single book that was recommended for "manly" reading was based around military generals, war, battles, or murders. One of the war books even tried to use Isaiah in its title to invoke some sort of "God's service" in the battle.

Now I like a good war book, and have read many. I even like learning about 1920's mafia and the like. But I take offense that this is the type of subject matter that has to be in books to make them a "manly" read. How about books talking about humility and servant hood. Or, if you want adventure, even a good story about some missionary?

The church needs to figure out what true biblical manhood really is. But in doing so we need to make sure we don't fall into the same trap as everyone else. In stereotyping genders, we are causing just as much harm as we would if we are trying to homogenize the genders.

If you would like to read the blog for yourself, here is the link.

http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/A-Man-s-Summer-Reading-List-Completely-Portable-Pleasure-Part-1

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