Coraline Movie

The animated Coraline movie is coming out soon. It's being developed in Portland at Laika Studios by the guy who did James and the Giant Peach. So that's a mark in its favor already. It looks like a great adaption of one of my favorite kids' books ever. Here's a clip: If you can't load the movie in this window, then go to this link.

Sweet 16-0

Beyond the Gates

After seeing Hotel Rwanda I was pretty sure I didn't need or want to see another movie about Rwanda. Hotel Rwanda was hard enough to watch and, I felt, informative for people who like the UN.
We got Beyond the Gates from Netflix and I was fairly determined not to watch it; then my shallowness struck when I realized that Hugh Dancy was in it and I decided what the heck.

If it was harder to watch than Hotel Rwanda, it was also more thought provoking. It told the truly heroic story of a modern Catholic priest that I had never heard of, which is reason enough to see it. It also was about one hundred times harsher on the UN than Hotel Rwanda was, which is another huge mark in its favor. I don't think I want to see it again, but I would highly recommend it.

ginger men

Yesterday the ancient practice of decorating gingerbread men in as strange a fashion as possible was carried on, possibly for the last time. Mom isn't as into original characters as her children. So this year we had Al Gore, Julius Rosenberg, Rambo, Elton John, Red Shirt Guy From Star Trek, Man Who Was In An Accident, Hairy Man, Cardinal Wolsey, among others. I was going to recreate the Italian Olympic swimmer I made about eight years ago, but forgot.

college quest part III

Then I went to TAC.

That chapel's looking less like a chapel and more like a cathedral all the time. But anyway...it was lots of fun to mess about with Stephen and his crew and see Fr. Paul and take walks around the campus. Which is pretty awesome if you're into Spanish mission style stuff. As far as the classes went....well. I went to toooooo many. Their plan is to make you hop from class to class so you can see as much as you can. As luck or fate would have it, I went from dud to dud to dud. Meaning that before I came, I thought of seminar method as this lively debate, spirited conversation, enraged passion, tearing of hair and rending of garments, and I thought that even if it was annoying that the tutor won't let you know what's going on, at least it's entertaining.

But no. Tutor asks question. Students look at the ceiling, at each other, at the floor, at their hands....one brave soul ventures a response. Most others nod in faint support, perhaps one other dares to contradict in a voice that carries as much conviction as an invalid on his deathbed. I thought to myself, I've been had! But then after every single class, students come up to me and say, so sorry you came to this one, it was the worst we've had all year.

Well, if nothing else, TAC's showers take the cake.