"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."

 

Now that I have you all in the proper state of mind, allow me to back track and explain myself and the purpose of this particular post.  For the past few days, I have found myself reflecting on idea of friendship and  my particular experiences with it.  Specifically, I've been meditating on what it means to lose a friend and how that has effected and impacted my life. 

Now, anyone who knows me well enough understands that I'm not the type of person who verbally expresses his feelings to, well, anyone; especially when it comes to how I feel about the people I know.  While you could conclude that this is because of a lack of strong emotional ties, it is actually quite the opposite.  It is due to the depth of feelings that I'm generally uncomfortable telling friends how much they mean to me. 

Before I continue, let me provide some context.  Unlike most people, or at least what I perceive about most people,  I have had periods of my life where I would say I had no friends.  Let me provide my definition of "friend" before you reject this statement.  For me, a friend is someone who, when I ask them how they are or what they've been up to, I'm asking out of a desire to know the answer, not out of formality (If I had to create categories to describe my relationships with non-family members I would only have three: acquaintance, friend, and brother from another mother)

From second to fifth grade I knew three guys that would meet my definition of friend. We were all homeschooled and predominately knew each other from being in the same history class.  Throughout the school year we saw each other at least once a week and had ample time to play between classes.  Our main staples were basketball, tag, and mock war games.  These were the glory days, where the amount of time spent having fun far exceeding the amount of time spent on school.  Unfortunately this carefree period of connection came to an abrupt halt at the end of fifth grade. 

One day close to the end of the semester, my mom told me that my best friend of the three would be moving back to his hometown of Reno, Nevada.  Needless to say, I was devastated.  This was still the pre-email address stage of my life and even at that age (I believe I was 10 at the time) I understood that it would be hard to keep in contact with him.  That being said, I never fathomed that I would never see nor hear from him again, which is the unfortunate reality of the situation.  To make matters worse, that very next year my history class, a symbol of friendship and consistency for the past 5 years, dissolved.  This was a tough pill to swallow as a introverted eleven year old.  It didn't help matters that I was about to enter a period of time where I wasn't particularly close with any of my siblings.

Now, I'm sure you all are thinking, "Well, Christopher, this is a delightfully depressing story but... what's the point?"   My point is this: there is a reason Aristotle said, "Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."  As human beings,  we are created for relationship; first with God and then with other human beings.  The crux of Christianity isn't obeying God, but knowing God.  To take a friend, or any relationship for that matter, for granted is to commit a crime against the very fabric of our being. 

Fortunately for my story, there is a happy ending.  I've been blessed to not only meet guys that I would call friends, but also that I would call brothers.  I can go to bed at night confident that if a situation were over to come up, I could count on them to be there for me, either in person or in spirit. 

I'll end with a few words of encouragement and a link to my favorite song about friendship. 1) To everyone who has ever lost of friend, regardless of the circumstances, there are some days when you wish (or at least I wished) that you had never known the person.  With that being said, it is far better to have experienced that depth of relationship and then lose it rather than never experience it at all.  2) To those who have been blessed enough to have grown up with friends and are still in contact with them, allow me to reiterate myself: don't take it for granted, good friends with whom you can cultivate a strong relationship over a number of years are NOT a dime a dozen.  Lastly, to all my friends out there, to my "brotha's from another mother," (you know who you are) know that I am extremely grateful to know you all and I'm a better person for having met the lot of you.  A guy couldn't have a better band of brothers. 

Well that's all for now.  As Paul always said, grace and peace to you, and remember, if you follow my advice, success shall follow you like a stray dog.

Christopher's Ten for 10: My Top Ten Favorite Posts

After 3 years and 1 month it has finally arrived, my fiftieth blog post. I'd first like to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has stuck with me for the past three years and I'd like to give a special thank you to everyone who has ever commented on a post, whether you were pointing out a grammatical error or telling me how much you liked (or disliked) a particular post.  While I write about the things that I'm interested in, my purpose for writing is largely to entertain you all; to provide some small source of relief from the stresses of the world.  Hopefully you all have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) what I write as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  Now, without further ado, I give you the final post in my ten part mini-series.  "Christopher's Ten for 10:  My Top Ten Favorite Posts"  For your convenience, I have embedded links to all these posts inside their respective titles, so once you read my summary, just click on the title to read the post in it's entirety.

To start, I'd like to highlight two posts which didn't make the top ten list, but are still worth checking out (at least in my opinion).  First we have the post, "And you thought Friday the 13th was bad.... Part 1" .  While mildly amusing, the best part of the blog is not it's humor, but that it was the first in a series, a series which I never actually finished.  It has a complete cliffhanger ending and I'm one of two people who actually knows how the story ends.  Perhaps if enough of you ask for it, I'll write the sequel.  Secondly, we have,  "Which of These Things is Not Like the Other...".  I wrote this post back in May, after  a discussion I had with my Mom.  Two things make this a must read post.  1) This is one of maybe three posts where I actually mean everything I say.  The topic covered is very near and dear to my heart and I finally got tired of allowing other people to disseminate fiction as if it was fact.  2) It references the dandruff of baby Cherubs.  Need I say more?

With those appetizers out the way, I present the main course.  Let's start with numero diez.

10.  Christopher, Christopher, come there's a snake!!!!!!!   -  Long story short, there was a snake near my Mom's car and I had to get rid of it.  Did I mention that I, like Indiana Jones, despise snakes? Yeah, needless to say, some serious stuff went down that day.  (Now, you should notice that this last sentence is a classic example of an unintentional rhyme, something that occurs quite often within my writing.  I guess you could call it a trademark.)

9.  One Day Later....  Who is Christopher Webb?  No post better answers this question than, "One Day Later...".  Written the day after my final Piedmont exam, it is an inside look at Christopher Webb, unburdened.  It's a shame we don't get to see him more often.

8.  Hello Officer...    This post recounts my experience being pulled over by a police officer whilst learning how to drive, facts not required (although they are included for contextual purposes).  Christopherisms (complex analogies and metaphors that only I really understand) abound.

7.  How To Catch Vermin: A Critical Analysis of Catching Mice, Snakes, Spiders, and Camel Crickets (devil bugs).   The first in a five part advice column, this post was an instant hit.  Humor is elegantly interwoven between actual practical advice, which makes this post a must read for all who are scared of Spiders. (Note: another title for this post was going to be "Killing Spiders for Dummies", but apparently that infringed on copyright laws or something like that.)

6. How To Catch Vermin: A Critical Analysis of Catching Mice, Snakes, Spiders, and Camel Crickets (devil bugs).  Part 2   Part two of the "How To Catch Vermin" series covered an insect unique to the Albemarle county area, the Camel Cricket.  Building on the formula put in place in the previous post, this post contains references to it's older brother to reward fans of the previous post, while still remaining accessible to new readers.  (This post contains the second and slightly altered appearance of what has since been something of a catchphrase for my blog. "And remember, if you follow my advice, success will follow you like a stray dog."

5.  How To Catch Vermin: A Critical Analysis of Catching Mice, Snakes, Spiders, and Camel Crickets (devil bugs).  Part 3 Inspired by a week long assault by mice in our house (which resulted in some late nights and grumpy mornings for those of us involved), this post might be a little less practical than the others, but what it loses in applicability, it makes up for in creativity.

4.  How to Catch Vermin: A Critical Analysis of Catching Stinkbugs  My first and only foray into satire, this post is mostly a reference to the irrational fear people have of Stinkbugs, an emotion that I can't understand.  (Plus fear should have already been purged anyway.  It's not like you're battling a Terminator or anything like that.)

3.  How to Catch Vermin: Special Edition: The Dark Side of Free Will   Part rant, part research article, this post covers my (some would call extreme) reaction to some startling news that I read about on the interwebs.  The final issue of the "How to Catch Vermin" series (for now...), this post concludes with a rousing message of courage and perseverance.

2.   The Death of the Movie Theme?   The hardest post I've ever written, and by far the most satisfying to complete.  Inspired by an article that claimed that the movie theme as seen in Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc., was dead, I spent three days on vacation explaining why this simply isn't true.  What this post lacks in humor it makes up for as an academic style  persuasive essay.  While I'll be the first to admit that this post is extremely daunting to read in it's entirety (It's probably close to 4 pages double spaced), I think it would be extremely worth it to read the entire thing.  Also, listening to the music samples included further completes the experience, as these samples provide the real meat of my argument.

1.  Drive Slowly and Carry a Big Shotgun...    Every once a while, we all do something really cool and have no idea how we did it.  For some people it's an athletic performance, for others it's overcoming a fear.  For me, it was writing this post.  To be perfectly honest, I still have no idea how I wrote something this brilliant.  And I'm not being arrogant, this post has the most views and comments of any other I have written, so my readership agrees with my evaluation.  If you were to read just one of these 10 posts in your life, this would be the one I'd tell you to read.  So what are you waiting for, get to readin'!!!

Well, thus concludes this post.  As one era comes to a close, another creeps over the horizon, peaking out behind the mountains, getting ready to shine it's light upon the dewy landscape.  If you enjoyed this post, don't just keep it to yourself.  The comments are there for a reason :)   Also, if you are a current subscriber (and by subscriber I mean someone who I email whenever a new post comes out) the let me know what your favorite post is.

That's all for now, look for more posts to come on an infrequent basis (the nature of having a blog during the school year) and also pay very close attention to any posts that come out December 2013/January 2014.  Change is coming ;)  Goodbye for now and remember, if you follow my advice, success shall follow you like a cat chasing the beam of a flashlight.

Christopher's Ten for 10: Ten Things I've Done/Seen While at VCU

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

So, I took a little longer than I thought I would to get assimilated into VCU's culture.  Sue me.  Regardless, I have returned to finish up my mini-series and finally write that oh so illusive 50th post.  Today's post will be #49 and then the big 5-O will come out tomorrow (ish).  Any who,  let's get down to business.  Without further ado, I present, "Ten Things I've Done or Seen While at VCU".

10. Get up for class before 8 on a regular basis:  Yeah, not the smartest thing for a night owl to do.  I'll admit, it has taken every ounce of my strength to get to class on time, and while I have had some close calls (most recently this morning), I'm still keeping my head above water.

9.  Watch Lie to Me - How I'd never heard of this before 2 months ago, I don't know, but this show is da fuzz.  Tim Roth is the perfect balance of crime fighter and arrogant know-it-all.  So far I've seen all of season 1 and the premiere of Season 2 and I've been very impressed. (Two notes. 1) Episode 12 of season 1 is one of the best episodes of any show I've  seen.  2) Shout out to Maddie Johnson for telling me about the show.  Big thanks).

8. Walk to get something to eat -  Pros:  You feel better about eating any type of food 'cause you know you're gonna burn it off anyway.  Cons:  If you don't feel like going anywhere you either have to suck it up, or get food a day earlier than you plan to eat it.

7.  Where a hoodie inside - At home, my house is kept at a comfortable 78 degrees.  Here, my dorm room is kept at a chilly 68 degrees.  That's not only a ten degree decrease but also a net loss of 72.573 leisure and comfort units.  On the flip side, I sleep very well and haven't had any night terrors.

6.   Read the Bible more than once a day - Pretty much the only good thing that came out of being laptop-less for a week (long story), was that all I could do was read and the Bible was the only thing I felt like reading.  Once I got the laptop back, I still wanted to read it so I've continued to read it throughout the day.

5.  Socialize outside of class- Lest I come across as a homebody, let me go ahead and say that living on campus obviously makes it easier to meet up with people spontaneously then commuting from home.  That being said, If I'd come to VCU as a freshman, I probably would be a lot less willing to trade studying for hanging out.  I've clearly matured since then.

4. Watched Dragon Ball Z and the music video, "White and Nerdy" - I'd never seen either of these before coming to VCU and clearly I only missed out on one of them.  And by one of them, I mean the one that makes you laugh, not the one that makes you want to read a textbook to regain lost brain cells.

3.  Go on a retreat -Yeah, so I'd never been on a retreat before joining VCU's Chi Alpha and needless to say, I've been missing out.  It was FAN-FRICKIN'-TASTIC.  Got to meet a ton of cool people, the large group, medium group, and small group bible studies were great, and a bevy of inside jokes were created. Can't wait to see what's coming up NEXT.  Finish this if you know how it ends, "You look..."

2. Play Ga Ga Ball - Imagine dodge-ball, but with more emphasis on body control and strategy instead of brute strength and accuracy.  Yeah, I got the same anticipation butterflies in my stomach too.  And since it takes place in a gladiatorial style arena, the action is always up close and personal.  If you've never played, look it up on YouTube, You'll end up wanting to build an arena for your house.

1.  Skype - Let's all give a round of applause for the inventor of Skype.
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Ok, stop.  Skype has allowed me to keep in contact with the folks, and see the little brothers every now and then.  It's definitely been nice to have the random conversations with the family and be able to see everyone's expressions whenever someone says something worthy of a, "Whatcho talkin' 'bout Willis?"

Thus ends the widely anticipated 49th post. Here's a preview of what's next on, "This mortal body has grown weak, I need sustenance."  Tune in next time and remember, if you heed my advice, success will follow you like a stray dog.

Post 50: Christopher's Ten for 10: My top ten favorite posts (so far).
Post 51:  Hint - Et mor chikin.
Post 52:  A look back at the Chi Alpha fall retreat (aka NEXT)

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Favorite Movies

This is it.  The one you have all been waiting for.  The extremely cliche, but also necessary, top ten movies post. I could go on and on about what I like and what I dislike about each of these films; instead, I'll simply include a trailer, and put one thing that I like about the movie, whether it's a scene, a theme, a character, etc.

10. The Ultimate Gift*
The thing that I most enjoy about this film is the authenticity of the relationships between the characters.  I think the character arcs are really well developed and the acting is top notch which leads to some really great emotional moments.

9. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark *
This is an example of one of those movies that I could watch anytime it showed up on TV, regardless of what part of the movie its at.  Also, I think Raiders is a great example of a movie that uses humor as a tool  to make a better film, as opposed to a movie that gets sucked into making the humor the point of the film.  Harrison Ford's pretty good, too.

8. Spider-man
Another example of a movie that if I see it on TV, I will almost always watch it or record it on our DVR (despite the fact that we own the DVD).  The action was extremely good for its time and Tobey Maguire does a great job displaying the weight and responsibility Peter Parker faces due to his powers.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring*
My favorite of the trilogy, the music is great and the action is intense and gritty.  Favorite quote: Frodo-  "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Gandolf- "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

6. A Few Good Men*
 Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Jack Nicholson, Kiefer Sutherland, and one of the most memorable quotes of all time.  Need I say more?
                                          
5. Man of Steel*
The special effects are breathtaking, the action is unparalleled, but the heart of the film lies with the relationship between Clark (aka Superman) and his parents; both biological and adopted. In addition, Hans Zimmer delivers a score that perfectly compliments the film, creating incredible themes for protagonist and antagonist alike.

4. Star Wars*
As I watched the film yesterday, I began to realize how much I liked this movie.  I then got to the scene in the trash compacter and realized that I was watching Tony, Ziva, and McGee from NCIS. That's when I knew it was top ten.  Plus it has my favorite Darth Vader quote, " I find your lack of faith disturbing".  The epitome of a classic.

3.  The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe*
They took a beloved childhood book and didn't screw it up.  That may not seem like much but considering the quality of the next two, apparently adapting a book accurately is harder than I thought.  Also, Liam Neeson was born to voice Aslan, no joke.

2. The Dark Knight Trilogy*
I couldn't live any of these movies out, so I am looking at the trilogy as one giant, epic movie.  I love each movie for different reasons: Batman Begins because its a great origin story and the best interpretation of Batman as a character, The Dark Knight because it has the greatest conflict/villain for Batman to face, and The Dark Knight Rises because it has the best emotional moments of the trilogy.

1. Inception*
The only movie I've ever seen that I can find no flaw with.  Simply put, it's a cinematic masterpiece and the standard according to which I compare all other films.

Well, there it is, my top ten favorite movies.  What movies do you hold in high regard?  Put a couple of your favorites in the comments, and let me know what you think about my list.  Look for posts 49 and 50 to come on Monday.

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Favorite Books/Book Series

It's post #47 which its time for yet another edition of Christopher's Ten for 10.  Today I give you my top ten favorite books/book series (plus one honorable mention),  Enjoy.

Honorable Mention goes to Ted Dekker's, The Bride Collector.  It's a tense crime thriller that never loses sight of its main theme, unconditional love.  I highly recommend it.

10. The Kingdom Series: Written by Chuck Black, this medieval themed allegory is full of references to Biblical events and characters and includes a bible study just in case you miss any of the occasionally subtle lessons.  It's chalk full of swordplay and battles, but all of the action has purpose, it's not just action for actions sake.  Finally, if you like this series, check out Black's spin-off series, The Knights of Arrethtrae, for additional stories.

9. The Cooper Kids Adventure Series: If Indiana Jones was a) a Christian and b) had kids, you would've had the Cooper Kids Adventures.  The books of my childhood, this series was never short on thrills, including Peretti's penchant for super-sizing certain things to increase the drama (see Trapped on the Island of Aquarius and The Tombs of Anak).  Although the characters never age and character growth is minimal throughout the series, the exception being Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea, Peretti delivers emotional family moments aplenty along with dramatic conflicts and revelations which should make up for the series weaknesses.

8. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi*: A book series that feels like a TV show, this mammoth, nine book series is not only in huge scope, but also in heart.  The characters aren't caricatures or archetypes, they're individuals.  Each decision, each choice, each thought that a character has is based upon where that character is at particular point in the story.  The action isn't bad either.  Ironically, one of the strengths of this is series, the individuality of the protagonists, is also one of its weaknesses as it is very easy to grow attached to one character and not to others; a problem when the character you like doesn't share any scenes with the one you don't, leaving your to trudge through entire chapters until you catch up to the story-line your actually interested in.

*Read ONLY AFTER you have read Star Wars: Legacy of the Force

7. Left Behind: The Kids:  The plot of this series is very simple.  The rapture has occurred and the only people left on earth aren't Christians.  This 40 book series (don't worry, the books are short in both stature and length and easy to read) spans a seven year period where the protagonists, those who were left behind but have accepted Christ, struggle to survive a myriad of challenges. This series stands on the shoulders of its characters, which is why its important to read the books chronologically.  Once you get to book twenty seven and the story-line goes down hill a tad, your feelings for the characters will carry you through to the end.  Trust me, it's a journey worth taking.

6. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force:  While the scale is bigger in its sequel series, Fate of the Jedi, the emotional conflict is so much more meaningful in this series.  It's family conflict with universal consequences,that will tear at your heart. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!!

5. Piercing the Darkness:  Written by renown author Frank Peretti, this novel builds on the characters and concepts established its preceding brother, This Present Darkness. Although a sequel, Peretti changes the good guy-bad guy status quo from the first book; creating a new and enthralling dynamic.

4. This Present Darkness:  Peretti's best selling novel, this book has it all: breathtaking action sequences, conspiracy, emotional conflict, redemption, grace, hope... It's just fantastic.

3. Wild at Heart: Easy to read and full of memorable of quotes jam packed with meaning, this book not only taught me a lot about myself, but also people in general.  John Eldredge  doesn't hold back when honestly examining the trails and tribulation experienced by himself and others, which only serves to make the tales of their triumphs all the better.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia:  'Nuff said.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird:  Looking at all the previously mentioned books, y'all probably wouldn't have guessed that this is my favorite.  Neither would I.  This is a case where I can't really explain why I love this book than the others, I just do.  The best way to sum up my feelings for it are with a quote from Veggietales.  "I laughed, I cried (or choked up, in my case), it moved me, Bob".

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Favorite Quotes

Truthfully, this isn't really my top ten favorite quotes, its just ten of the many quotes that I happen to like and that I also find inspirational in one way or another.

10. The price of greatness is responsibility. - Winston Churchill

9. The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. - Winston Churchill  (Tru dat).

8. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.  - Abe Lincoln

7. Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. - Abe Lincoln  (Preaching to the choir Abe, preaching to the choir.)

6. Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. - Theodore Roosevelt  (It's a shame not many believe this now-a-days :( 

5. The boy who is going to make a great man must not make up his mind merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses and defeats.  - Theodore Roosevelt

4.  Clark Kent at 13: Can't I just keep pretending I'm your son?
Jonathan Kent: You are my son. But somewhere out there you have another father too, who gave you another name. And he sent you here for a reason, Clark. And even if it takes you the rest of your life you owe it to yourself to find out what that reason is. (Makes me think of our relationship with God, how we're always learning more about him and about ourselves throughout our lives).

3. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, he's going to change the world. - Jonathan Kent (Doesn't just apply to Superman, ask Hitler or Churchill)

2. C.S. Lewis- Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.  (Ain't nobody got time for lukewarmness). 

1. We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.- C.S. Lewis  (Let us all strive to be more progressive in the areas where we're wrong)

Well, thus ends post number 46, as we rapidly approach the big 5-0.  If you have a favorite quote that you find especially impactful share it the comments, so we all may be impacted together.  The next issue of Christopher's Ten for 10, my top ten favorite books, will come out tomorrow.  Before Y'all leave, here's one last bonus quote, courtesy my benevolent generosity.


I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. -  C.S. Lewis

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Moments at Piedmont Virginia Community College

As promised here are my top ten moments from my time at PVCC.  Also, don't forget to start thinking about what your three favorite posts are.  The fan favorite post is coming up soon.


10. CSF field trip to Carter's Mountain:  BBQ sandwiches? Check.  Almost unbearably cold weather? Check. Fellowship? Check. Apple Cider? Don't remember.  Deep spiritual conversation? Ummm... No comment. On a slightly unrelated note, anything I know about the TV show Once Upon a Time, I owe to this trip.

9. Spanish 101 and 102:  Now I know what you all are thinking, "Christopher, you have publicly expressed your disdain for this class on more than one occasion and now it's suddenly in your top ten favorite moments? What gives?"  Well, let me clarify.  This class had an enormous amount of work, probably the hardest course load of any class I had to take.  Plus I was taking 17 credits and the other classes I was taking had a lot of time consuming homework, so that didn't help.  Once you get that out the way, it was actually a pretty enjoyable class.  I developed a decent bond of camaraderie with my classmates, due to our mutual apprehension of failure.  Whenever we had to do group work, such as our final, I had a pretty cool partner that made the process fun and less stressful than it could have been.  Finally, I had a great professor, who really made some of the historical stuff come alive, whether it be the details of bull-fighting or the traditions of any number of Central and South American countries.  Aside from the weekly quizzes that struck fear into the hearts of the fearless, it was a good time.

8. Working as a Student Ambassador- As a college student, its hard to find a job where you a) have a great boss, b) have great coworkers and mentors, c) get to see a game show, and d) get paid.  I got to do all this and more as a Student Ambassador.  Another great perk: having meetings in the Pace Board Room with the super comfy chairs.  Yeah, it was the life.

7.  Taking Public Speaking with Matt and Jon- One of the few classes where I decided not to sit towards the front, this was another class that had a strong bond.  This bond was a result of the shared empathetic feelings we felt for those who were uncomfortable speaking in front of others (80% of the class).  It also didn’t hurt that I was able to give speeches on superheroes and the military, an opportunity I had not had when I took public speaking in high school.

6. Playing wheel chair basketball- This past spring semester, my PE professor Steve McNerney asked all of the members of my class to participate in a basketball game versus Charlottesville’s wheel chair basketball team.  I love basketball and it would support a good cause so I jumped at the opportunity.  Obviously, my PVCC team got our derrieres handed to us (what can I say, manipulating that wheel chair was tough), but it was still a great experience and I’d love to do it again.

5.  Working on lab presentation with Jean-Marie and Anna - What do you get when you put one grumpy night owl and two perky early birds in the same location before 9 am and ask them to do school work hours before the home school prom?  6 thinly veiled sarcastic comments, 5 impromptu Les Miserable sing-a-longs, 4 lols, 3 inquires as to why all three participants had to be in the same location to work on a Google plus document that’s internet accessible, 2 grumpy cat impersonations, and a partridge in a pear tree.

4. Playing bball in the rain with Kyle and Anna- There’s something , dare I say liberating, about playing basketball with people who play for fun as opposed to win.  In what will go down as one of my most dominating performances, one where I assisted or scored on every made basket, the highlight would have to be playing whilst holding an umbrella.  Yes, I was almost carried away by the wind Wizard of Oz style (something Kyle probably won’t ever let me forget), but it was still one of the more fun (or funniest) things I did at PVCC.

3.BIO 106 Honors- The best class I ever took at Piedmont, this really was where it was at; at least for fall 2012.  Before the class, we all could have identified each other in different ways; the Student Ambassadors, the dual-enrollment students, and everyone else.  Once the class ended, those distinctions were no longer important, we were simply Mr. Willis’ last honors class.  Mr. Willis made each class fun, a rare experience in my two years at Piedmont.  Our class became so close that they probably could make a movie about it.  You have the drama of the final swan song of a beloved college professor mixed with the comedy that comes with having 11 students from all different backgrounds interacting with said professor (who’s a tad eccentric).  Now that I’m writing this, I’m already seeing a pop culture classic, not to mention several Oscars and Academy Awards.  People will be making jokes about rubber chickens and the truth for years to come.

2. PVCC Christian Student Fellowship- I had the privilege of watching CSF grow from an average attendance of seven my first year to an average attendance of 16 by the time I left.  We had great spiritual discussions, which occasionally led to some tense debates on touchy subjects, entertaining game times that allowed us to not only vent by hitting people with paper plates but also learn each other’s names, and awesome bake sales each semester that helped support a child in Africa. I found CSF especially impactful because my family was on sabbatical for a good portion of my time at PVCC and I wasn’t attending church as regularly as usual.  In addition, several of us who attended CSF didn’t have class immediately after it ended and usually hung out afterwards which led to riveting discussions about time travel, reality, personal boundaries, and finally … a legendary trip to Khor Bros.

1. Khor Brothers Trip- It was the five-cent cone day to upstage all other five-cent cone days.  A posse of CSFers consisting of Anna, Kyle, Colleen, Hannah, Dana, and myself decide to drive to Khor Bros. after CSF ended to get some frozen custard and then be back before everyone’s (except yours truly) next class at 2:20.  Now, some of you might be wondering what was so memorable about this trip.  To be honest, it’s kinda one of those “you had to be there,” type things, but I’ll do my best to paint you a picture of what happened.  On the way to Anna’s minivan, which would be the setting for the vast majority of this story, someone (I don’t remember who) decide that we were all members of a slightly dysfunctional family.  We had two mothers, which in hindsight might have had something to do with our dysfunction, three kids (two biological and one adopted, hint, I was the adopted child) and one family friend.  After the two sons (Kyle and I) were relegated to the back seat, everyone else piled into the car and we departed for Khor Bros.  In a trip that involved being submitted to sensory overload courtesy of the singer Pink blaring over the radio, we finally made it to Khor Bros. only for me to discover that my siblings had also chosen to arrive at the exact same time.  Needless-to-say, my companions, who knew nothing about me outside of our time at PVCC, demanded my siblings tell them some embarrassing story about me.  Christina folded under the collective pressure (not surprising), which led to several ill-timed cop jokes in the middle of our next CSF meeting and beyond.  Finally, at the end of our tale, we get to the part of the trip that, if it were in a movie, would be quoted by viewers till the rapture.  Our posse had returned to the vehicle and our driver (who shall remain nameless) was about to take a left turn out of the parking lot in order to return to Piedmont.  As said driver made the left turn, at a speed that was a tad bit excessive, I could feel the left side of the car lifting off the ground.  In addition, I began to feel an enormous gravitational increase of force on my body, which led me to exclaim, “G-forces! G-forces!”.  My comments led the driver to decrease their speed whilst also earning me the ridicule of the rest of my fellow passengers (whose lives I had just saved, btw).  And this is the end of my story, aside from the whole ice cream in hair situation, but that is another story for another time.

Well, this sums up my top ten PVCC moments.  If anything made you ROFL, LOL, SMH, or CTS (chuckle to self), post in the comments.

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten VeggieTales Songs

In part four of this riveting new mini-series, I introduce you to my top ten favorite VeggieTales songs.  Now, this was an EXTREMELY difficult list to come up and a lot of good songs were left off.  These final ten songs are in no particular order.  Click on the song to listen to it while you read.

10. The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas:  When I was a youth, we had the Veggietales Christmas album and this was always my favorite song on the album.  I mean, who doesn't want five whole Kielbasa for Christmas dinner?

9. The Hairbrush Song:  I think we all have that moment where we lose a treasured item or we're forced to through away a possession that we've had for a very long time (A small, extremely huggable orange pillow for example).  The emotion of this song is so raw and honest that I can't help but think of my favorite pillow and teddy bear from my childhood... I think I'm going to need a moment. *sniff*

8. I Love My Lips - Pure sillyness at its best, this is simply a classic.

7. The Bunny Song - A song with lyrics so catchy it had children singing, "The bunny, the bunny, oh I love the bunny.  I don't love my mom or my dad just the bunny."  Needless to say, an alternate version of the song was released soon after it came out.

6. The Rumor Weed Song - "Have you heard the truth about Alfred?"  Yes, but by all means tell me again.  A great song for a great movie.

5. Endangered Love (aka Barbara Manatee)- I think everyone has a Larry/Barbara Manatee moment in their life.  No?  Maybe it's just me.  Still love this song.

4. Larryboy Theme Song-  When I first saw Larryboy and the Fib From Outer Space my life changed.  It's like a campy animated version of the 60's Batman tv show, just with vegetables.  An instant classic.

3. Bellybutton-  One of the first ensemble silly songs, this song has it all. Catchy lyrics? Check.  Emotion? Check.  Rapping caterpillar/worm hybrids? Check.

1 and 2. Pizza Angel and His Cheeseburger- If you ever feel heartless, listen to either of these two songs.  That thing that you feel breaking on the inside?  Yeah, that's your heart weeping in sadness.  I mean come on, what could be worse than ordering a pizza and the delivery guy eating it.  I'd sue his pants off.  Figuratively speaking of course...

What silly songs turn you back into a child?  Go to the comments and share your favorite Veggietales songs.

Christopher's Ten of 10: My Presidential Appointees

I like to think. Well, I don't know if "like" is a good word, I kinda just do it without thinking (I think about thinking... is that even possible?).  I think about a lot of stuff, tv shows, God, playing basketball, and thinking (also known as meta-cognition) among other things.  So something that I think about, usually once a month, is what I would do if I was the president.  For this edition of Christopher's Ten for 10, I will list ten political positions and the people that I will have fill said positions.  I will also give you a glimpse into how I decide what person would fill which position. Lets get started.

10.  Vice President of the United States of America: Tre Delaura - This was a tough one for me, because the position of Vice President is extremely stressful.  Not only do you have be prepared to act as President if the President is assassinated, but also act as a babysitter when presiding over Congress.  For this reason I chose to hand this burden to Tre.  Not only is he great with kids, but if I was ever assassinated he would keep the ship on course ( and keep my office chair warm) until I was raised from the dead.

9. Secretary of the State:  Coach Delaura- The Secretary of the State must be knowledgeable in a wide variety of disciplines, able to deal with difficult people who don't always listen, and, most importantly, enjoy traveling.  Plus, if their personality might lead our enemies to believe we would handle any threat with extreme prejudice... well that's just icing.

8. Secretary of Education: Tina Webb- I know of no one better to reform the education system of America.

7. Secretary of Homeland Security: Doug Webb- With great power comes great responsibility.  I need someone I trust, with similar views on law enforcement, to crack down on crime in a such a way that criminals will tremble at the thought of encountering the DHS.

6. Ambassador to the United Nations: David Lafferty - Considering that the Secretary of the State, the Vice-President, and I will already be ticking off the international community on a regular basis, I need the U.S. Ambassador to give my administration a kinder, more polite face.

5. White House Chief of Staff: Kyle Hersey-  Essentially my personal assistant, the Chief of Staff is the doorway to accessing the President.  If someone want's to see me, they better get on Kyle's good side.  He'll also be in charge of making sure a Justice League movie is released within two years of my taking office.

4. Attorney General of the United States of America: Maria Webb- Incorruptible.  That's what I need at the top of the Department of Justice, someone firm in their convictions with a high moral compass.

3. Secretary of Health and Human Services: Sena Woodall - To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the Secretary of Health and Human Services actually does.  But, considering Sena is a nurse and has worked in human resources before I'm sure she's up for the task.

2. Secretary of Defense: Andrew Tyler - aka Risk almost-extraordinaire, aka my Star Wars Battlefront Pupil, Andrew Tyler's military background through his father should help in this position.  Plus he has a creative tactical mind, which should be helpful if its ever needed.

1. The President's Secret Service: Chafin Bryant, Josiah Bryant, Abel Cotten, Christina Webb, Jon Bannon, Colleen Talbot, and ... Dwayne Johnson.  I believe that if someone is not trying to assassinate the president, then he's not doing his job right.  With this in mind, I would need a crack team to watch my back.  Here's why I chose each member.
Chafin Bryant - a) Anyone I can hide behind is automatically qualified to protect me and b) he owes me for stealing rebounds from me while we played bball together.
Josiah Bryant - See previous comments regarding his brother + comic relief.
Abel Cotten - a) He's good at COD. b) he can repair the escape car should anything happen to it.
Christina Webb - Anyone who can kill a velociraptor with a vacuum cleaner deserves to be in the Secret Service.
Jon Bannon - In the event someone trains a bear or some other wild animal to attack me, I need someone I know is slower than me so I can outrun them and escape.  As the Bible says, there is no greater thing than to lay one's life down for a friend.
Colleen Talbot- In the event that I get wounded, I need someone a) with medical experience and b) who stays calm under pressure.  It will be my job to make sure I don't annoy to the point where she would want me dead.
Dwayne Johnson- He'd be the "rock" of the team.  Haha.

So what do you think my inner circle has what it takes to handle the hard problems that every administration must face?  Leave your comments and look for the next installment in Christopher's Ten for 10 (Top 10 PVCC moments) to show up in the next couple of days.

"Do not pray for easier lives, pray to be stronger men (and women)."

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Moments as a Member of the Albemarle Christian Cougars

In this second edition of Christopher's Ten for 10, I give you my top ten favorite moments as a member of the Albemarle Christian Cougars.  Lets get started.

10. Christina scoring 19 points in her Cougar debut:  After playing on a plethora of sub-par Y teams, Christina finally got to put her skills on display in a winning effort that started a career that would culminate in a championship three years later.

9. Carpooling with the Tylers: Usually two or three times a season the Tylers would be kind enough to give me ride to and from a game, usually to New Life.  It is during these trips that ground breaking news was uncovered; namely, the superiority of the Chalupa over the Gordita (which has since disappeared from the Taco Bell menu).  (Fyi, a Gordita is a Chalupa that can't stand up by itself, IOW, useless.)   IOW= In other words.

8. Beginning and end of the year Cougar parties:  Think family reunion, only with an agenda plus you want to see everyone there.  Also add tons of delicious food (although I've personally never been a fan of the hot-dog/tortilla combination), knock-out (the pre-pickup game warm-up), pick up games, agenda for season or honoring of graduates, and finally random hanging-out.

7. Cougar girls winning the semifinal and  championship games in last season's HSPN tournament:  I was already emotionally drained from watching our JV boys squeak out a championship victory in the final hour (more on this later), the last thing I needed was another game that went down to the wire.  This was almost to stressful for me to watch but what can I say, I love the smell of victory in Lynchburg.

6. Road trip to the far corner of the world (aka Danville): My final season as a Cougar involved both the guys and girls teams traveling to Danville to play two games over the weekend.  Here's a list of some of the highlights of the weekend.  1) Free ice cream and cake courtesy the Johnson's to celebrate Maddie's b-day, 2) a heated debate with Cat about which is more sanitary to lick: a pillow or another human (I'm still not sure how this came up but I'm fairly certain it's my fault), 3) watching The Departed with Dad in the hotel room, 4) getting chewed out by Coach Delaura during and after both games due to lackluster effort (we won both games though), and finally 5) breaking my glasses.  Yep, that's what I call a darn good time.


5. Hitting the game-tying shot to force overtime at New Life: The Bad: Tre had fouled out of the game.*  The Good: We had the ball with slightly over 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter.  Somehow I ended up getting the ball just outside the paint near the right block and I elevated into da air and made the game tying basket with something like 3 seconds left the game.  The Good: We forced overtime, another opportunity to win on the road.  The Bad: We lost.
* I remember nothing except for the game tying shot, and a knowledge that Tre fouled out and we lost.  He might have fouled out in overtime, I just don't remember.

4. Abe breaking the Cougars single game scoring record: In what is still the single greatest individual performance in Cougar basketball history* (and probably one of our greatest victories period), Abel scored 39 points on a Lebron-esque 64% shooting to lead us to a 70-62 victory over New Life.  What precipitated this scoring explosion? Abe had missed our first game against New Life (Tre was also absent), a 24-52 beat-down where Andrew sprained his ankle in the first half, leaving John, Cole, Josiah, Chafin (who had just lost 10+ pounds due to sickness the previous weekend), and I to finish the game.  I suppose both he and Tre (who scored 17 points and shot over 50% from the field in the game) wanted to make it up to us.  

* Christina, while no longer holding the overall record, still holds the girls single game scoring record with 36 points.  

3. JV boys winning the championship in the A bracket at the HSPN tournament:  After a tumultuous season which involved little winning, lots of losing and several flared tempers, the Cougar boys finally managed to win the big win.  Since we were playing the same team we had played in the semifinal game the night before, I was worried that our guys wouldn't have the needed intensity to start the game.  At halftime I regretted the fact that I was a prophet and tried to give them some advice (I wanted to pull a Coach Delaura but seeing as I was only an assistant coach I thought it would be out of place).  Fortunately the guys gutted it out in dramatic fashion, coming back to win in the last minute of the game.  I'll never forget the feeling of euphoria, or Patrick's brothers storming the court while ripping their shirts off.  

2. Sweeping the season series against New Community 3-0 my final season: To say that I hate New Community would be an overstatement, hate is a strong word after all, but I think despise and loathe are adjectives that accurately express how I felt about them.  After blowing them out 58-34 on a neutral site the first game, we were down 21-26 on our home court.  The turning point? First, two of their players told some of our fans to shut-up during a jump ball.  Second, their best player (who couldn't drive with his left hand to save his life) disappeared into a black hole when we switched from a 2-3 to a box and 1 on defense.  We outscored them 29-16 to finish the game and won by 8.  In the final game, we traveled to Sodom and Gomorrah to close the deal.  Even without our starting center, we were able to beat them 58-47 to deliver the final blow.  Our starting five played some of our best basketball during the series. Abe averaged 19.3 points, 8 rebounds and shot 49% from the field and 81% from the charity stripe; Tre averaged 16 points and 8.7 rebounds; Chafin averaged 11.5 points and 7 rebounds in the first 2 games;  I averaged 7.3 points, 6.7 rebounds  and shot 50% from the field while personally escorting New Community’s point guard to the black hole; and Josiah averaged 6.7 rebounds).  Yeah ... it was pretty sweet.  I still remember the depressed looks on their faces after that last game.  Hehehehe…  

1. Car rides with the Cottens: Aka the Chris and Abel comedy hour (or hours depending on the length of the trip), the Cotton’s suburban (and RV for one trip) was where it was at.  Fo’ sho’.  The funny thing is we weren't even trying to be entertaining, it just kinda happened.  It was as if the suburban had drug like qualities and everyone was high the entire time.  Not that I know what’s it like to be high, I’m just speculating. Seriously.  Unless were talking about sugar highs, I have had that many times.  But I digress.  Anyway, those were good times lol (lots of laughs not laughing out loud or lots of love or lying on lavatory).  With that being said, I don’t think the RV had the same mystical energy the suburban did because I didn't have nearly as a good a time on it as I did the suburban; although, that might have more to do with the speech I was forced to write for a PVCC class during the trip than anything else.  We may never find out.    

Christopher's Ten for 10: Top Ten Pros and Cons About Being Home-schooled.

This is a kinda truthful, kinda joking list of ten pros and cons of being home-schooled.  They are in no particular order...

Pro 10. Tiny Class Sizes - Why? The smaller the class, the more one-on-one interaction with the teacher. Plus you're usually the class valedictorian.
Con 10. Tiny Class Sizes - Why? Being valedictorian means diddly-squat.

Pro 9.  You can teach yourself some stuff - Why? Don't need to listen to a lecture telling you how to do homework that you could be doing as you read the textbook.
Con 9. You can teach yourself some stuff - Why? A) you can get distracted since your alone and B) you have no one to commiserate with about the uselessness of the lecture.

Pro 8. Flexible learning schedule
Con 8. More accountability and time management needed.

Pro 7. You can do school in your pajamas (although you can also do this at PVCC, lol)
Con 7. You get lazy in your pajamas.

Pro 6. Less interaction with people with foreign germs = getting sick less.
Con 6. When someone in the family does get sick, quarantine is almost impossible.

Pro 5. You don't have to take the SATs (Sometimes)
Con 5. You have to take the SATs (Sometimes)

Pro 4.  Well-versed in talking/having conversations with adults.
Con 4.  Harder to relate to people your age who were not home-schooled.

Pro 3. Random days off- Why? Perfect for spontaneous field trips.
Con 3. No snow days. - Do I really need to explain this?

Pro 2. Less  exposure to foreign substances i.e. drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol.
Con 2. More exposure to natural substances i.e. "bodily matter" i.e. diapers.

Pro 1. Spending time with the fam.
Con 1. Overexposure to the fam.

Man of Steel Review - Spoiler-Free!!! (ish)

Before I start my Man of Steel review, I have some big news to announce.  First, this is my fortieth post ( Thank you, thank you, please hold the applause).  Any who, this means that I'm ten posts away from the big five 0.  So these last 10 posts (including number 50) will be Christopher's 10 for 10: My top ten favorite things for 10 different categories.  I haven't nailed down all ten categories yet, so feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions. In addition, I plan to ask my faithful followers what their favorite posts are, so if you don't remember anything I have two comments: 1) dishonor on you, and dishonor on your cow and 2) there's an archives for a reason.  Click on it. Read it. Use it.   Well that's all for the announcements, now for the man event.

MAN... 

OF... 

STEEL... 

THE REVIEW

Synopsis:  The planet Krypton is about to explode. General Zod (played by Michael Shannon), the supreme leader of Krypton's military attempts to overthrow the current administration  in order to institute new leadership in a desperate move to save the planet.  He and his fellow conspirators fail and are banished to their prison, the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile, Jor-el (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) send their son Kal-el to Earth to escape the planet's fate.  The planet explodes, releasing Zod and his fellow prisoners, Kal-el's space ship crashes in Kansas, and then we learn about Clark's struggles to live on earth with powers through a series of flashbacks as the main story line introduces us to an adult Clark ( Henry Cavill) who is helping people and searching for his origins.  In addition, Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is searching for a mystery hero, against the advice of her editor, Perry White (Laurence Fishburne).  As you can imagine, Zod and his peoples arrive on Earth searching for the last son of Krypton, the Military gets involved, and Superman must earn the trust of the military all while being thrown into IHOPs and skyscrapers by the invading Kryptonians.  

 (17%) Music: 

Best Tracks: "Goodbye My Son" - Starts out soft and then comes to an emotional crescendo; "I Will Find Him" - Intense and gripping, "Tornado" - Invokes the urgency of the scene going on, "You Die Or I Do" and "If You Love These People"- Playing at the climax of the film, these tracks carry the emotional weight of all the stakes that been created in the past two hours of the film, "What Are You Going To Do When Your Not Saving The World?" - The Superman theme, this is a song you won't easily forget (nor will you want to).

This score is fantastic and the music compliments the plot perfectly.  9.5 

2. (20%) Acting: 

Michael Shannon had a quite intensity that made Zod intimidating before he even threw a punch.  Just like I'll never forget Terrence Stamp saying "Kneel before Zod," in the old films, I'll never forget Shannon saying (or yelling) "I will find him!!".  Henry Cavill is Superman, nuff said.  Amy Adams was terrific as Lois, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane were a great Jonathan and Martha Kent, some of my favorite scenes from the movie are just Clark and Martha scenes.  Russell Crowe.... needless to say, I have no need for Marlon Brando. Ever.

10

3. (18%) Plot: 

I thought the plot of the film was very well thought through, everything that happens in the second half of the film has a foundation in events and decisions made in the first half.  9.5

4. (21%) Execution:

Aside from one minor mistake involving the laws of physics in the film's climax, I thought the plot was executed very well.  I know some critics didn't like the pacing of the film, but I thought it was necessary in order to include everything that needed to happen.  I also liked that instead showing young Clark growing up in a linear fashion, they only show flashbacks to points in his life that had a direct relevance to a choice or decision he either had made, or would make later on in the movie; I hope they continue to use the format for the sequels, slowly revealing more of his childhood. Plus I'm for whatever gets Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as much screen time as possible.
9.5

5. (8 %) First Reaction:
Ironically, I liked Man of Steel better the second time than the first.  I think it was because I was able to soak in and really understand what was going on, as opposed to being awestruck like I was on opening night.  Nevertheless, I won't adjust my score.  9.25

6. ( 8%) Comic book-ness -
Superman was punched through a building.  That automatically got it a 9, so everything else was just frosting.  On a more serious note, the special effects in this film are incredible, Krypton looks amazing and the action sequences depict what would actually happen if two super-powered titans actually fought in the middle of big city.  And the flying..... man, I wanna fly so bad!!10

7. (8%) Faithfulness to source material-  

This is a bit of a tricky category to use because for any reviewer, including myself, it depends upon which source material you've read/seen.  There are many incarnations of Superman throughout the comics, tv shows, and movies, both animated and live action.  Now, I've read a plethora of comments by fans who say that the Superman depicted in Man of Steel isn't their Superman.  While I'm not going to doubt their love of Superman, its not my place to do so, I would say that the Superman they like is not my Superman based on everything I've seen and read.  Essentially, it comes down to this, the film was faithful to graphic novels like "Superman: Earth One" (Volumes 1 and 2), "Superman: Secret Origin", and a several other stories while unfaithful to others.  It just so happens that I'm a huge fan of "Superman: Earth One" and am delighted to have seen certain elements from the book portrayed on the big screen.  10

The Verdict

Man of Steel is, as I knew it would be once I saw the first trailer last July, one of my top ten favorite movies. EVER. (Future Post Spoiler Alert).  It's the best movie I've seen this summer and I'm looking forward to seeing it at least one more time before it leaves the theatre.  I would recommend this to my friends, acquaintances, family, and enemies.  My scoring system gives it a 96.6 out of 100, which I think accurately sums up how much I liked it.  So for all you have seen it, what did you think about it? Post your thoughts in the comments section.  And for those of you who haven't seen it yet, what are you prepared to do to rectify the situation? 'Cause if ya don't see it at least once.... 

I WILL FIND YOU!!!!!!

The Death of the Movie Theme?

DISCLAIMER ** Links to songs are embedded into green key words.  ** DISCLAIMER ENDS

Star Wars.  The '78 Superman.  Indiana Jones.  Aside from being pop culture classics, all of these films share one other similarity (two if you count  that John Williams composed all the music), their musical themes are just as iconic as their characters.  Even if you've never seen Stars Wars, Superman, or Indiana Jones odds are that you would know the theme music when you hear it.  In fact, some of you are already playing the music in your head and you don't even realize it.  Iconic and as central to the 80's as any other piece of music (In my humble opinion), these films not only started the trend of having a musical theme, but also continue to be the gold standard for what we look for in all other similar films.

With that being said, there are some people who believe that the "movie theme" not only started with these films but also died with them.  Last week, as I scoured the Interweb for reviews of the recently released film, Man of Steel, I came across a rather critical review with a very interesting take on the film's score.  In the article, the reviewer stated that the score of the film was lackluster and forgettable before jumping into a nostalgia-driven diatribe* about the lack of good musical themes (he cited the current Star Trek films and Iron Man 3 as being the only current films with a musical theme on par with the three mentioned above, which I will hereafter refer to as the Mount Rushmore of Movie Themes or MRMT.)

Now, I have been raised in a fairly musical family and consider myself to be a connoisseur of the OMPS (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).  I currently own all or part of thirty three different film scores and have  fifteen others as Spotify playlists.  After reading the previous article, it took me all of seventeen seconds to come up with an alternate conclusion to the previous article's argument.  One of the main criticisms that the reviewer had about current movie scores was that he couldn't hum them like he could the Mount Rushmore of Movie Themes.  There is some truth to this statement; of all the movies that have come out in the past twelve years that have had a central theme, only a handful are as hummable** as Mount Rushmore.  I would say that LOTR, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Chronicles of Narnia and a few other soundtracks (namely Jurassic Park) have main themes that a person can hum.

However, it would be a mistake to make a theme's hummability*** the main criteria for comparison with the Mount Rushmore of Movie Themes.  The fact of the matter is that movie themes haven't died since the 1980's, they've evolved.  Modern movie themes, especially those in movies that are part of a series ( Pirates of the Caribbean or Star Trek for example), are becoming more complex as composers are taking advantage of the fact that they have multiple films to slowly develop the theme throughout the film.  Essentially, the movie theme goes through development that mirrors the character development of the protagonist/s.  I believe that a movie theme has at least two of these 3 qualities: Its played either in the opening or closing credits (or both), it is heard throughout the film, and it evolves/develops throughout the film (or throughout out multiple films in the case of a series).

I am going give three examples of what I believe are high quality modern movie themes that are just as important to their respective films as any of the MRMT's (I will also include a couple other movie themes that I like at the bottom of this post, but I won't analyze them). First I will use The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  There is a piece of music that plays when the Pevensies arrive at Aslan's camp that I would call the "destiny" theme.  On the OMPS this track is called" To Aslan's Camp "(Theme starts at 1:30).  This theme is then repeated during the Pevensies' coronation in "Only the Beginning of the Adventure"; with what I consider to be a more majestic and royal tone  Finally, this theme is repeated in the sequel Prince Caspian in the track "Arrival at Aslan's How", this time with a nostalgic feel.

My second example is the music from the Dark Knight Trilogy, composed by Hans Zimmer.  In the Batman Begins OMPS we are introduced to a Bruce Wayne theme and we hear the development of a Batman theme throughout the film. The Bruce Wayne theme is present in the first two minutes and forty-five seconds of "Barbastella" (his parents death) and the first three minutes of "Corynorhinus" (Rachel visits the burned down Wayne Manor); the Batman theme is present in the second half of both tracks (Bruce overcoming his fear of bats and Gordon revealing the Bat-signal, respectively) and provides a foundation for the Batman theme that appears in the subsequent sequels.  In Batman's first scene in The Dark Knight we get a more developed Batman theme (" I'm Not A Hero" 0:00 to 1:40 then from 5:10 on), a reflection of Batman's experience.  The last track of the film, "A Watchful Guardian" , which leads into the credits, revisits both the Bruce Wayne theme and further develops the Batman theme.  The Dark Knight Rises continues this evolution, altering the Batman theme from "I'm Not A Hero" in the track "Despair", while also providing a slightly different version of the music present in "A Watchful Guardian", in the final track "Rise".  "Rise" features a fully developed Bruce Wayne theme in conjunction with a powerful version of the Batman theme.

My last example will be the film Man of Steel, the film score that started me down this path.  Man of Steel is also composed by Hans Zimmer and will be followed by a sequel; therefore, a similar pattern of developing a Superman theme throughout the film instead of starting with one (like the '78 Superman) is used.

**spoiler alert, I reveal the first scene of the film**

The first scene of the film shows Clark/Kal-el's birth and the features a piece of music ("Look to the Stars "(0- 2:10) that is repeated (with some variation) three other times in the soundtrack and four times in the actual film.  I would call this the "Kal-el" theme. The track "DNA" (10:03 - 10:58) also occurs while Clark is still a baby and the "Kal-el" theme sounds very similar to the previous track.  When Clark first puts on the Superman suit a more majestic version of this theme is presented in the first half of the track "Flight" (45:37 - 47:49) while a new piece of music is introduced in the second half of the track (47:00 but more on this in a second).   The track "Terraforming" (17:37-19:07), which occurs at the beginning of the main climax of the film, features another version of the "Kal-el" theme introduced at the beginning of the film.  A second theme, which I would call the "Clark Kent" theme, is introduced in halfway through the track "Are You Listening Clark?" and is expounded in the track, "This is Clark Kent" (38:56 - 42:25).

Now, here's what I think is the really cool thing.  Hans Zimmer takes the "Clark Kent" theme and combines it with a more majestic version of the new piece of music introduced in the second half of the song "Flight".  This my friends is the Superman theme and it is in the track What Are You Going To Do When Your Not Saving The World? (49:43 - 54:29).  This new theme represents how Superman is a combination of Kal-el's Krytonian ability with Clark's moral upbringing.  I would look for this theme to be developed and expounded in any sequels to the film.

To conclude, I would like to clarify and reiterate my position.  I will always love the Star Wars, Superman, and Indiana Jones' themes.  With that being said, I believe that there are an abundance of modern movies that have chosen to have a theme like these classics but the execution and presentation of these new themes are not the same as the old ones. In addition, ease of humming should not be the main criteria of whether or not a movie has a good theme ( I personally prefer to drum on the table whilst humming to get that multi-layered affect that most modern themes have).  Hopefully I have articulated myself clearly enough so that you all could understand my argument.

So...... what do you think?  Is the movie theme dead or has it merely evolved into something that is different but still memorable? And what's your favorite movie theme? Sound off in the comments if you have an opinion and take a peek at some of the additional themes below if you have time.  That's all for now and remember, if you fellow my advice, success shall follow you like a stray dog.

Here a few additional examples of movies with great themes.  LOTR is bit unconventional but I feel Captain America is a great tribute to the Mount Rushmore of Movie Themes.
The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring- The Ring Goes South (specifically from 1 minute on).
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring- Many Meetings  (from ~40 seconds on but you really should listen to the whole thing)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - The Breaking of the Fellowship (From 1:30 on but again, I love the entire thing)
Captain America: The First Avenger -  Main Titles
Captain America: The First Avenger - Triumphant Return

* SAT word
** or hum-able
*** or hum-ability

Upcoming posts:
Man of Steel Review
Vacation Recap

Star Trek Into Darkness Review: No Spoilers!

Space, the final frontier.  These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, as it begins its second foray into theaters under the command of J.J. Abrams.  Here's the plot.  Member of Starfleet John Harrison (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) attacks Starfleet and Captain Kirk (played by Chris Pine) requests to track him down and bring him to justice.  Sound simple enough?  Good, because this doesn't even begin to describe what actually goes down, including some serious S- hit the fan moments.  Lets commence the review.

1. (17%) Music: 

This was a really, really good score with some of the hits including: Sub prime directive, Meld-merized, and London calling which is absolutely ridiculous. The Star Trek theme from the '09 film gets an update that which influences the entire tone of the film. This score gets an 8.5 in my book.  

2. (20%) Acting: 

The acting was solid, there were some really good emotional scenes that worked well, and nobody screwed up.  Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto gave stand-out performances and definitely deserve the big bucks.  I'd give the acting a 9.25

3. (18%) Plot: 

I didn't dislike the plot and while it wasn't completely originally (but that's not necessarily a criticism) it was a plot that would be hard to duplicate outside of the Star Trek universe.  The plot gets a 9.

4. (21%) Execution:

Did it keep me on engaged? Oh Yeah.  Were there any twists? You better believe it.  Was it a little predictable? Yes for me, no for others that I've talked to.  It gets a 9.5.

5. (8 %) First Reaction:

This is the part of the review where I get to pat myself on the back.  When I first saw the first trailer the first thought I had was, "this is going to be the second best movie of the summer".  This was after I had seen the first Iron Man 3 trailer which I also really liked.  When I walked out the theater I thought this movie was better than I thought it was going to be, due to various reviews and comments I had read on the internet.  Note: don't trust everything you read on the internet.  Some people haven't the foggiest what they're talking about.  I digress... I give my first reaction a 9.25.

6. ( 8%) Special Effects -

 The special effects were really good, the only criticism I have is that I don't like the blue lines left in space after the Enterprise goes to warp speed (or whatever its called).  It bothered me a little bit so I'll give the Special effects a 9.

7. (8%) Character/Story Development-  

With a cast this big (the crew of the enterprise + villain) it's extremely hard to give everyone a character arc of substance.  Fortunately, some of the minor characters (anyone who isn't named Kirk or Spock) seemed to have changed from the first film which created a illusion of character development during the film.  Also, the story of the film managed to challenge aspects of the protagonists that differed from how they were challenged in the first film, which was refreshing to see.  I'll give it a score of  9.

The Verdict:

Using my extremely intricate grading system, Star Trek Into Darkness gets a initial score of
90.9.  My gut says that this is an accurate assessment of how much I liked the film so we won't average the score out this time.  I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a film with great action, great character moments, some humor, and a slightly more serious tone than a film like Iron Man 3.

Also, I may have mentioned this earlier but just because movie A has a higher score than movie B, doesn't necessarily mean that I like movie A more than movie B.  With that being said, if movie A is Star Trek Into Darkness and movie B is Iron Man 3, then yes I did/do/will like Star Trek more than Iron Man 3.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Star Trek Into Darkness = 90.9 Enterprises out of 100. 

Graduation Recap.

As the vast majority of you know, I graduated from PVCC last Friday.  This is your promised behind-the-scenes look at graduation.

3:50 pm
My mom wanted to get some pictures before I left (I had to get there early) so we had a quick impromptu photo-shoot.   It was fantastic (heavy sarcasm).

 Bought that shirt all by my lonesome.  

 What's that, you want me to look serious?  Okay.... you asked for it.

 That hat thing was awful, the stringy thing kept hitting me in the eye.

 In the background, Mom's being Mom

 When it's unzipped, it looks like a Sith robe.  

I... Will... Not... Smile.... 

So once this was done, Christina, my extremely well-paid chauffeur, and I departed for John Paul Jones arena, aka UVA's bball stadium.  When we got there, I walked in and then traveled through several dark corridors, 12 flights of stairs, seven mountain ranges, and a black hole before I found the check-in tables.
After collecting a variety of items including two yellow cords that would make a great jump rope, I was herded into a waiting room with all of the other graduates.  After waiting around with friends for about 45 minutes, some of the staff attempted to get all of the graduates into two lines.  Unfortunately, this idea was dependent on 400+ people remaining absolutely quiet which didn't exactly happen.  After this 15 minutes semi-debacle we finally were all in line.  After waiting another 10 minutes (for a total time standing up of approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes) they finally let us walk in and take our seats.  The rest of the official proceedings were your standard graduation fare, so I'll spare you all the details and you can watch the highlights by clicking this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t11YoHqGmHw&list=FLmcXAihUKFJVYT1T5wGShTA&index=1

After graduation ended, they had a reception behind where the speakers were, so I headed over there as quickly as possibly.  My mortal body was weak, I needed sustenance.  After getting some food, I took some pictures and talked with some friends before I left to go home.

Well, that's pretty much all of what happened.  Here are the pictures that I have from the reception.  Oh, and the next post to expect will be my Star Trek Into Darkness review.

 This is Me, my classmate and fellow PVCC Student Ambassador (and graduation speaker) Jesse, and my fruit plate.

 Just after I got off stage and got my diploma case.

 Me and Jon Bannon, the man personally responsible for making sure I didn't fall asleep during Humanities 202.

 Ok, before y'all freak out, I was NOT trying to flip off the camerawoman (aka Maria).  I was trying to do peace like Jon, but my index finger is holding a peace of cantaloupe.  What can you do, stuff happens (and no I wasn't going to put down the cantaloupe).    

My former bball teammate Tre, back from Cali

 Which of these is not like the other...

 My PVCC Student Ambassador boss Kemper Steele, aka the greatest game show host this side of the Mississippi. 

 My broski, who commandeered my Sith lord robe, and big sis.

 At home now

Douglas: How the heck did he get this thing on???

 Me and Dad

 Me and Dad... the sequel. 

 #1 son, #2 child; Dad; and #1 daughter, #1 child

Second verse same as the first.