Freebad, where Bad is Free

As we get a late start to the week, I thought we could take some time to reflect on some bad reflections. Because in the race against time, there is only time to race. This weekend I watched the Fountain again. I really enjoy Aronofski, somtimes in spite of myself, but I tend to think that he has as unique a voice as is possible in the current state of filmmaking. So here's why you should watch the Fountain.

1. In some ways it conforms to somewhat specific tenets of story-telling, but in a more general sense, it defies story-telling convention. This is done in perhaps not a completely unique way (i.e. comparisons to Three Times, Science of Sleep, etc.), but it does defy the conventions of what American studios offer. Because this is the context in which Aronofsky was working, I am glad to see the funding of slightly better filmmaking in America. This is also probably why he had such a hard time keeping funding and had to restart a couple times.

2. There is almost no CG in the film. The first time I saw this, I did not know this. I knew Aronofsky had an aversion to CG, but I figured for all the sweet effects and background he had sold out. He had a budget and was making a sci-fi film. Why not use CG? I'll tell you why. Because your movie will be artistic instead of lame. But how, you ask, did we make the surreal space backgrounds. Micro-photography. All those amazing pals are chemical reactions on a microscopic level. How interesting, Aronofsky tells us to think, that microscopic reactions can believably be used as space-scapes. The universe on the head of a pin, and all that crap. Sheesh.

3. As you may know, I watch more tv and movies than I should. You may also know that I watch more American things than I should. Often, Erika gets sick of me saying when I watch such things, "We got it. You didn't have to feed it to us. Let us live in ambiguity for a second. If we don't understand immediately, we will survive. Maybe we will even have to think." There is no room for the need to reflect on what you have seen in American movies. They spoon-feed everything to you with fillers in between just to make sure you never get lost. This is why if a film is remotely mysterious, we think it is the enigma of the universe. Case in point, The Da Vinci Code. Before I saw it, countless people told me it is super-hard to follow if you haven't read the book? Really? Because what I saw was a mildly entertaining detective movie that left me wondering for about three seconds before resolving everything according to the rules of every other detective movie ever made. Back to the point, The Fountain lets you sit in ambiguity for awhile. In many ways, it reminded me of 2001, but this comparison may be too easy because of the space stuff and the last man nd birth from death and all that. Regardless, when I first saw 2001 as a youngster, I really enjoyed how it let me think. It let me draw conclusions. It didn't force itself onto my brain. The same is true of the Fountain.

Why do I post this here? Because most of you hate my movie tastes. You think that I'm lame and arrogant because I think film should be a medium for art far above and beyond a medium for entertainment. Well now we can have both. We can meet in the middle at the Fountain. That's why I want you to see it. Unless you are a stone, it will touch you in your heart-bones, but not with cheesy, over-the-top love stuff. It is beautiful in its subtleties. Does it make Aronofsky the greatest living director? By no means. To say so would be preposterous. But it is nice to see American directors who are able to navigate the mainstream studio garbage and produce stepping stones to true film-art for American audiences such as Jim Jarmusch or some Stanley Kubrick. Nevermind that the Fountain got a limited release and mostly only played in art-house theaters. So go see it. We can talk about it. We can draw different conclusions on its message and ending. It'll be nice. It'll show us how people see things differently. It will make us recognize the soundness of Jarmusch saying that his movies don't mean anything until people see them and that he doesn't control what his movies mean. Hurray Derrida.

Some Comedy

You may have seen these videos produced by a youth group. Flashbacks to Mystery Science Theatre.

Breakin'

I'm supposed to put a dislike now, but I'm not in the mood, so I'll quickly say I don't like working on my thesis. This should not come as a shock. There.

This morning at Caribou, there was a guy who is a fifth generation carpenter. That is sweet. I want to get into woodworking once I graduate. Problems: I don't have a place to do that. I don't have the tools to do that. I don't have the knowledge to do that. I don't have decent health insurance, so if I cut off my finger, we'll be out a few thousand dollars.

So I guess I won't be crafting beautiful furniture any time soon. But maybe I will someday. I think this desire may be genetic, because my father is a master woodworking craftsman. Plus, I'm really into Anabaptism, which includes simple living. The close relatives of Anabaptists are Amish, and we all know the Amish are incredible at making stuff out of wood. So I guess I'm destined to work on wood.

Personal update: I'm playing bass at Herman's Hideaway in Denver with my friend Josh Saturday night. I'm getting paid for this, which is something I was unable to accomplish in 9 years of bass playing. So that'll be nice. If you're around, come on out. The show starts at 8:30.

David Ray Griffith's Legacy

Yesterday morning, Erika asked me where the Color of Water was. I retrieved if for her because in her defense, my library system is somewhat ridiculous. The reason she needed it was that all the teachers in her school were getting their picture taken with their favorite book. This got me thinking...what is my favorite book?

First, I think the prospect of selecting one book is preposterous (a sentiment I know Erika shares). There is too much out there. Therefore, in the very least, I have to break it down into categories.

Fiction
-Without a sense of history, I can tell you that my favorite book is The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. I know this is kind of an obvious Lethem pick, but I don't care. For Lethem, I thought Motherless Brooklyn was somewhat weak. Amnesia Moon was a good time, but I've never been a monstrous fan of science fiction, even though I recognize the value of the headier sci-fi authors. But I am consistent. The Sirens of Titan is one of my least favorite Vonnegut books. Which means that when amazing authors write sci-fi, it is always one of my least favorite works. You Don't Love Me Yet was really fun, but not as brilliant. I do love As She Climbed Across the Table a great deal. So I guess Fortress of Solitude wins for the "write-what-you-know" aspect.

-With a sense of history, I guess I would say either the Plague by Camus or The Idiot by Dostoesvsky. I love existentialism very much, especially fiction. I really enjoyed Crime and Punishment, so I guess I brought those positive feelings to the Idiot. As what seems to me to be the absolute contrast to Crime and Punishment, I thought these two went well together. And the Plague cuts into the heart of humanity in an excellent manner.

Non-Fiction
-Memoir - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. Again, the obvious choice, but this beats out the rest because elsewhere Eggers has proven himself to be a literary master in all genres, not just memoirs. This is why I like him better than Sedaris or Burroughs, although I still like them very much also.

-Film - It's gotta be Movie Wars by Jonathan Rosenbaum. This book was extremely formational for me as I was in the beginning stages of taking film seriously. Plus Rosenbaum is a film prophet for our time. This pick is reinforced by his excellent film scholarship and reviews all over the web.

-Theology - Dang, but there are probably two for what they did for current theology. The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder. There are other works by Yoder on more specific aspects of peace-making that I may like more, but the Politics of Jesus has the widest audience and seems to have done the most to influence current theologians that grasp the nature of the Kingdom of God. Also, Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulen. Again, this is for what it did for modern discussions on the atonement. Everybody I love owes their theology to Aulen. Although, I guess Aulen owes his theology to Early Church theology. So I guess I'd like to take a moment to thank the Early Church Fathers and Mothers for reading Ephesians and Revelation in the context of the work of Christ. Also Process Theology by John Cobb and David Ray Griffith gets honorable mention for clearing up many of the misconceptions I held about Process Theology.

-Biblical Studies - This is a toughy because my heart has mostly checked out on biblical studies, at least as an academic discipline. So I haven't been reading much outside of thesis work. For that, Men and Women in the Fourth Gospel by Colleen Conway definitely takes first prize. Outside thesis work, there are a couple. Voices from the Margin by Sugirtharajah is a perennial favorite for a few reasons. The writings are excellent and profound. Perhaps more importantly, I think (maybe it's just the circles I'm in) it has made the task of post-colonial biblical studies more widespread. If you've talked with me about biblical studies, you will know that I think the heart and future of Biblical studies lie in two places. Post-colonial and socio-rhetorical criticism. This leads to the second mention. I guess Roman Wives, Roman Widows by Bruce Winter is my pick for this because it combines the insight of socio-rhetorical criticism with women's liberation in current and ancient understandings.

-Philosophy - Metaphysics were always my favorite subject in college and they still are. I don't much care for apologetics, epistemology, aesthetics, ethics, etc. Not that these aren't important (well, except maybe for ethics and apologetics), but I don't like them very much. So, even though a textbook is a lame pick, I will go with Time and Space by Barry Dainton. This was very enlightening for me. I didn't retain a lot from college, but I did retain most of what I learned from Time and Space, although this is probably because I returned to it.

So those are my picks. There are lots of other categories, but I don't think I'm that interested in them, so there. I guess if you gave me the classic Desert Island question, I would go with one of the books out of NT Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God Series, because a desert island is probably the only context in which I would read every word of one of those, and that would be good for me.

It's a Must

Trevor will be relieved to know that now...only one month after our epic journey, I am posting the barely legible notes from the Denver-Aurora-Huntington Voyage. While we would like to think that the primary purpose of this sharing is for the enjoyment of all viewers, it is far more likely that this will serve as an online reminder to the two of us of a heavenly host of inside jokes.

-We forgot to get directions to the hotel Trevor got on Priceline, or the Priceline confirmation number. Therefore, there are phone numbers and email info scribbled all over the notes. We called Mikkin to get the info, but it wasn't on the email. We called Erika later and she checked every email account Trevor or Michelle has ever had, and there was no info. We called Priceline but you have to have your confirmation number to talk to customer service, which is what we trying to find. In the end, we think the order was cancelled because Trevor and Michelle closed their bank account...even though they left enough in the account to pay for the hotel. But it worked our for the best because it was so rainy that we had to stop before Des Moines anyway. This leads to

-This was the windiest trip in the history of trips (including sea voyages and the boat trip in the Perfect Storm). At one point the doors of the truck almost blew off when we opened them. This also caused our truck to average 52 mph the first day.

-At one stop, we went to Taco Bell in the gas station to get lunch. When we walked in, it was empty and all the employees were sitting around the restaurant. We walked up to the counter and they looked really confused concerning what we were doing there and what possible intentions we could have. They ambled behind the counter and took our order. We continued to be the only people in the restaurant while we waited for them to prepare our meal. When it was ready, we were standing right at the counter waiting for it and the lady still yelled, "Order 158," and looked around the restaurant before handing us our meal.

-I was slouching a lot in the passenger seat, and the seatbelt attached really high, so most of the time, the seatbelt was going from my airpit to my neck and the top and across the top of my belly at the bottom. Trevor thought that was hilarious.

-We stopped at a place called "Fat Dogs"

-We made up a number of stories together that may be considered inappropriate, but the title of one of them was "The Mystic Moustache"

-We saw Jeffers St.

-Trip Theme: Passing up good exits to get farther and not having any exits after that.

-Quote of the Trip: "It's sad when you can't see the seatbelt." - Ryan

-We played tons of Settlers of Catan, but I unfortunately did not write down the final scores. I think the first night was 2-1 Ryan, second night - 1-1, and last night 1-0 Trevor, but I'm not sure.

So that is the rundown on the trip of a lifetime. We probably should have taken more notes, becuase much more hilarious stuff happened.

You Will Buyyyy Me A Terry-Cloth Robe

It's Monday morning and I'm giving myself 15 minutes of stall-time before I start up thesis work again. Blech. So last week I was trying to finish a chapter, which is why there was no bloggery, only 1 comment. Unfortunately I failed my task, but I'm hoping that the next two days will afford me the necessary time to finish that chapter. In the meantime, we are currently missing two likes and one hate. Consider this an extravaganza. I guess I'll go one hate and then two loves, so that we can all have a nice pick-me-up for the beginning of the week.

I hate Colfax events all summer in Denver. This includes events such as the Colfax Marathon, the Denver marathon, cinco de mayo, the gay pride parade, etc. Before you accuse me of hating runners, people from Mexico (this is not meant to be an all-encompassing term for Latino people, rather Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday), and gay people, let me clarify. If you're not familiar with Denver, Colfax runs from Kansas to Utah, so it is relatively infinite. Another name for it could be 15th street, because it is at 1500 North. The church we attend is on 16th street, or 1600 north. We, however, live in south Denver. This means that we have to figure out a way to cross Colfax. Every event all summer long takes place on Sunday mornings all along colfax. The only way to get past colfax is to take I-25. However, there is no good exit to get to church from 25. If you take auraria, it is too close to colfax, so there's insane traffic. If you take 17th, it takes you to Mile High at Invesco, which is sweet, but not helpful for getting to church. So you have to take 23rd, then go northeast to 17th street and go all through downtown where the stoplights are terribly timed. Ultimately, this turns a 10-15 minute trip into a 30-40 minute trip. In addition, we typically don't think to find out if such events are taking place, so we end up driving up Broadway until traffic is completely stopped at about 12th. When this happens, we usually give up and go to church at night. The ultimate reason I hate all of this is that it makes us late for church. Personally, I don't really care about that. Judge me if you want, but I don't really connect very well with singing worship. I dig liturgy and that usually comes after the word. But Erika loves singing worship time. And as you might expect, if Erika's grumpy, I get grumpy. I know this all makes me sound like a whiny Christian. Do I want events to cease? Absolutely not. It is really fun to see various cultures gather downtown and celebrate their commonality (from running to ethnicity to sexual orientation), so I certainly do not object to these things. My problem is with the city of Denver. They should build a sweet car-bridge over Colfax at various points in the city. Perhaps at every other road downtown. Or even better, there should be a car crane, where you pull onto a platform and a crane picks you up and drops you on the other side of the street. That would be outstanding.

The two things I love this week are similar but different. Both are related to coolness. Specifically, what is hip and urban these days. The first is social awareness. At least in Denver, it is becoming extremely chic to be conscious of human and global concerns. This is evident in the increasing amount of coffee shops advertising the earth-friendly, fair-trade coffee they sell. It's hip to go to the farmer's market and support local farmers instead of produce conglomerates. Even Wal-Mart is going green, which is a hilariously bad ploy to improve their image, but that's another topic. Insanely high gas prices are making people much more conscious of the amount of gas they use. I see people everywhere on bikes. A lot of the people at my church ride bikes or scooters, and the people at my church are insanely hip and urban. I don't fit in at all. It's become cool to help people. That is outstanding.

The other hip thing that I love is the evangelical embrace (in certain circles) of the Christus Victor model of the atonement. As some of you know, I have a very hard time with all other models of the atonement because of the hypocrisy of a Kingdom of Peace and Non-Violence being brought about by an act of violence that was willed by God. This discussion is infinitely beyond the bounds of any online discussion. For our purposes here, let me just say that within this framework, the Christus Victor model is both biblical and incredibly good. Especially the narrative Christus Victor (read Denny Weaver). Amidst all of this, it seems that the Christus Victor is back in style. Among evangelicals, it has not enjoyed much endorsement thanks to a combination of its adoption by Liberation Theology and a misunderstanding of it which fundamentally married it to the Ransom theory. Since evangelicals seem to not like liberationists or ransom, it was typically rejected. But now that some evangelicals realize how sweet non-violent liberationists are and that christus victor can stand free from ransom, it is back and better than ever. Case in point, Greg Boyd has championed the cause of the furtherance of Christus Victor, preaching on it at Rob Bell's church, writing books on it, naming his organization after it because it is the foundation for liberation and social activism. Also, according to David, at his Anglican church there was preaching on it yesterday, and this coming Sunday there will be preaching on it at my church. It is the hip deal as well it should be. I believe David is writing something on it, so check out his bloggery. Please enjoy Christus Victor, because it is an amazing example of God working out good from the actions of evil free humans. What beauty is found in Christ's destruction of sin and death. For now, this is outstanding.

I hope you enjoyed the marathon. You probably don't like my notions on the atonement. They are multi-faceted and require extended explanation, because particular understandings of the penal substitutionary theory are deeply ingrained for many people. Just so you can breathe easier, I do believe in penal substitution, but the manner in which it took place and the definition of various aspects of it vary from orthodox notions. But that's another day and another dollar. And I have to get to work.

How to Respond?

I'm interested in some input on something. On my other blog, Infuse, my friend Cory did a post called "Reimagining Evangelism" and then someone left a comment I had some serious problems with. I tried to respond without personally attacking and it went two more comments from there.

So here's my question--How do we respond in situations like this? Situations where there is a disagreement between two believers. If you take the time to look at the comments how would you have responded? I'm not really interested in taking one side or another. Maybe a better question is how would you have responded to me if you took the other guy's position. I'm just trying to think through how these things could be beneficial instead of combative and patronizing.