Changes

I see it's been about five months since I last posted something... That was partly because I was doing school work and graduating from university. And partly because I was making big life decisions and moving to a new town (which is where I am now). But it was also because I've just gotten out of the habit of blogging. University (which monopolizes my reading and writing time) and Facebook (which fulfills my strange need to tell the Internet what I'm up to) are the two main culprits there. Over the summer I guiltily thought about blogging many times, but just never did.

Furthermore, I've begun to feel a bit more paranoid about posting my life's story out in the open on the Internet. Anyone who Googles my full name will quickly come across this blog, even though I don't use my full name, and in the past I've posted some fairly personal stuff, as well as expressed some opinions I probably don't even agree with any more. On the other hand, I do have a soft spot for this blog, as well as my little network of blogquaintances. I do still have ideas about religion in science fiction and fantasy when I read books, watch movies, and so forth. And apparently some people (11!) have cared enough to add me as followers. So here's what I'm going to do: In two or three weeks, I'm going to switch the blog over to the setting that only allows "followers" to see it. If you happen to actually read this, and you would like to read more in the future, and you're not already a 'follower,' please sign up. Or if you don't like signing up for things, post a comment to this post and I'll see what I can do. In return, I'll promise to be a bit more proactive about posting sf/f-related thoughts and recommendations instead of just thinking "Hey, I should post about that" and then forgetting.

In more topically relevant news... I finally got around to watching the original Tron and was mildly amazed. I watched it because there's a sequel coming out. Now, I remember being a kid and finding Tron toys in my cereal, but I somehow never watched the movie until this year (when it first came out my parents weren't big on letting me watch that sort of thing - just like Star Wars). It's aged pretty well - yes, the technology and hairstyles are dated, but the stylized graphics of Tron-world are still cool. And I'm sure this is old hat, but why did no one ever tell me how darned theological this movie was? I mean, they play the computer-user-as-incarnate-God-who-is-saving-the-world angle so hard it almost becomes annoying (but not quite). It'll be interesting to see what the new movie, Tron Legacy, does with the concept. The trailer features the line "He said he was going to change everything: science, medicine, religion!" So I'm expecting at least a nod to those themes. Speaking of computer-user-as-God, you should all go and watch the final episode of ReBoot season three. Heck, just watch the whole season.

I also watched The Book of Eli. [Spoiler warning] I don't think it's much of a spoiler to reveal that the book in question is a King James Bible. Eli (Denzel Washington) wanders a post-apocalyptic world on a mission which he believes is from God, trying to find a safe haven for his book, which is possibly the last surviving copy. I agree with Mike Perschon's assessment that it wasn't a great movie, or even a very good movie, but that it was somewhat better than the bad reviews might lead you to believe. The twist ending is mostly ridiculous, it's all more gory than it has to be, and Eli is rather unbelievably good at dealing out death (not to mention avoiding it). But the visuals and atmosphere are quite striking, and the clash between differing uses of the Bible is very interesting. The villain (emaciated old man Gary Oldman) really wants a copy, so that he can use it to rule and manipulate his people. Eli wants it preserved, but for other reasons. In the end, though (or maybe because) Eli has total faith that his mission is God's will, he's content to pass the Bible on to a kind of militant librarian/curator society that is gathering and preserving knowledge and culture of all sorts. (Like in A Canticle for Leibowitz, but pluralist or secular.) At the end we see the Bible placed on a library shelf among other books. Eli's faith is such that he is confident that the sacred text can speak for itself. Oldman, by contrast, cares nothing for other books and has them burnt when he finds them; he prizes the Bible alone, but for the wrong reasons. Oh, and also Tom Waits has a role and there's a great scene where he and Gary Oldman appear together and try to out-haggard each other. I kind of imagine them saying "I look like a homeless alcoholic!" "Oh yeah? Well, I look like a dying heroin addict!" So it's worth watching, if you can stomach the outlandish violence. For martial arts enthusiasts: Washington was apparently trained for the role by Dan Inosanto and Jeff Imada. The fight choreography features eskrima.

OK, I'm going to sign off for the time being. I seem to remember there were some books I wanted to mention but I'll save that for another post.

PS: If you like video games, comics, or humour, go see Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. I thoroughly enjoyed it.