My take: Best movies of 2007

In all the rush of doing other things, seeing movies slipped dramatically down the list of priorities. As it did, so did my reviews of them. So here 'tis, my year end movie review of what I consider to be the best movies worth your time and money (if you haven't already seen them).

First are the honorable mentions. These are movies that, for one reason or another, will most likely not wind up in my DVD collection. Some of them are good, some not so much:

• The Departed - Okay, so technicially this was released last year, but I didn't get around to seeing it til this year. Straight-up modern gangster flick that plays out as a cat and mouse game that leaves you on the edge of your seat til the very end. The reason it's not getting added - just too rough of a movie to watch more than once or twice.
  
• Catch and Release - Decent little rom-com-drama, though a little uneven. Worth a rental.
• Shooter - kinda blah, full of Mark Wahlberg, who supposedly hates guns, posing as a decorated sniper.
  
• Spiderman 3 - my biggest disappointment of this year. Cool action sequences and special effects, but too much story and the bad guys were given the Batman Forever treatment - too many, too shallow, too uninteresting.
• Knocked Up - I didn't like 40 Year Old Virgin. Barely liked this one a little more than that one.
• Evan Almighty - Much better than I expected, but I didn't have high expectations. Steve Carrell is a funny, funny man, though.
• Ratatouille - Good, but not Cars. Plus, they're rats. In a kitchen. [Body shiver]
• Hairspray - it was a choice between this and Underdog. I chose wisely - the tunes are kinda catchy. I just don't go for dancing movies.
• Halloween - John Carpenter should unleash every demon, serial killer, and possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury on Rob Zombie for making this turd of a remake.

Next up are the movies that will most likely be bought and watched a handful of times:

• Shrek the Third - better than I expected, but pretty uneven. Ending lacks what the first two had.
• Pirates: At World's End - far better than the previous installment, though the acid trippy sequence with multiple Capt. Jacks was pretty weird.
• Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix - I enjoyed this one at the theater only slightly less than I did the previous movie, but it was still fun. Liked the anti-political-correctness angle, too.

And finally, the three movies that I think are the best of the year, in no particular order:

• Transformers - this was a childhood dream done really, really well. They're robots that change in to cars, planes, and tanks and then back in to robots to blow stuff up. What's not fun there?
  
• 300 - quite possibly the manliest movie of all time. This movie drips with testosterone from beginning to it's glorious (and bloody) end. Molon labe.
• The Bourne Ultimatum - James Bond, meet your daddy.
  

Times are a-changin'

For the last half of this year, I have become involved with a group called GeorgiaCarry.Org, a group of firearms enthusiasts who primarily work toward changing Georgia's gun laws. The first question I normally hear when I say that is "Why? Georgia has some of the most liberal and lax gun laws in the nation?" To which I answer: bull-butter.

Surprising to many is the fact that GA's laws regulating firearms carry, sales, and transportation are some of the most strict in the nation, especially astounding for a southern state. California (yes, that California) is less stringent; Oregon, too. In both states, a person with a concealed-carry permit (sometimes called concealed weapon permit) can carry on public transportation, in bars or restaurants that serve alcohol for immediate consumption, churches or other places of worship, entertainment and sporting venues, and college and university campuses. Those are some of the looniest, anti-gun states in the nation... and Georgians are not legally allowed to carry in any of those places.

Furthermore, Georgia has it's own little unique clause known as a "public gathering." Take a minute and think about that - what exactly constitutes a public gathering? You and a buddy in your front yard? A grocery store or mall? City sidewalk? The answer? Well, there really isn't one. Ask a cop, get an answer; ask another one, and you'll get something different; ask a judge, and you'll get a third; and on, and on...

Georgia's laws on firearms are some of the most confusing to read in the nation. Thus the reason for different answers and opinions, even judicial ones. How did it come to this? Enter Jim Crow...

Here's an excerpt from a report written by Michael Menkus, a fellow GCO member:

On September 19, 1868, several hundred blacks and Republicans, nearly all
armed with muskets and shotguns, marched 25 miles from Albany to Camilla Georgia to protest the General Assembly’s expulsion of 32 newly elected black legislators. The elected black legislators were expelled on the grounds that the right to vote granted in the state constitution did not include the right to hold civil office. As the marchers arrived at Camilla’s courthouse, they were ambushed by a posse of white townsmen organized by Mitchell County Sheriff, Mumford Poore. The Sheriff's posse continued its assault on the marchers as they fled into the surrounding woods, killing and wounding them as they tried to escape. One of the fleeing blacks, Daniel
Howard, was struck in the head with the butt of a gun while fleeing. He was forced to return to Camilla where he overheard the whites lamenting that if only the freedmen had come without arms, the whites would have surrounded the blacks and killed them all. Over a dozen blacks were killed and more than 30 were wounded in the massacre.

At the time of the Camilla Massacre, voting age black men outnumbered white men in 65 of Georgia’s 137 counties.18 19 Blacks represented 44% of the population of Georgia. 20 The vision of armed blacks marching into Camilla sent fear into the outnumbered white elite...

With the ratification of the 14th Amendment by Georgia in 1868, the legal construct that blacks were not entitled to the rights of citizenship was destroyed. In response, the General Assembly enacted, in October, 1870, a seemingly race-neutral law that they had intended to apply only to blacks. The law said, “no person in said State of Georgia be permitted or allowed to carry about his or her person any dirk, bowieknife, pistol or revolver, or any kind of deadly weapon, to any court of justice, or any election ground or precinct, or any place of public worship, or any other public gathering in this State, except militia muster-grounds.”

And there it is, the proverbial shot heard round Georgia. Reading the whole article, it starts to make sense how the laws got in to the state they're in now, doesn't it?

It's now time for a change. Yesterday morning, HB915, called the "Second Amendment Protection Act of 2008" was prefiled in the Georgia General Assembly. Simply put, it is a total rewrite of Georgia's gun laws. Less restricitve, allowing permit-holders to carry in places that are already allowed in other states (as a matter of fact, the majority of the bill was written using the exact language used in Colorado and other states). More concise - no hopping around from section to section to figure what's legal and what's not.

If you live in the state of Georgia and have a weapon for self-defense, whether you carry it or simply have it at home, I urge you to do two things. One, join GCO; it's $15 well spent, and it gets used right here in Georgia to support things just like this. Two, contact the state senator and representative for your districts - don't assume it's already been done!

Merry Christmas all!

Magnificent Spendor - a trip to the Biltmore

After getting through graduation weekend, the wifey-pooh and I decided to kick the family out of the house (and town) and head for the mountains of Asheville, NC to spend some Christmas time with the Vanderbilts of 1895. While my wife had been when she was younger, I had never been, so the first two words that came to my mind when I saw the house is also the title of this post - magnificent splendor.

First of all, as you will notice in the slideshow, we arrived in Asheville to the beginnings of a rare snow flurry. I say "rare" because everybody we talked to that lived there was surprised to see it. By the time we left the Crown Plaza Resort for our candlelight tour, it was full on snowing (but thankfully not sticking).

The candlelight tour was amazing, and really changed the way the interior of the house looked. Several of the hallways would've been downright spooky before electricity or without a candle; most would've been pitch dark. Alas, you will not find any pictures of the interior in the slideshow - photography was frowned upon. And by frowned upon, I mean they would beat you with a large stick if you snapped a photo.

Outside, however, was a different story. While the nearby gardens were not even close to blooming, the greenhouses bore flora and fauna that were in full and gorgeous bloom. Poinsettas of every different color; palm trees with leaves larger than my (sympathy weight induced) belly; irises, orchids, even "shrimp plants"... all were beautiful and fragrant (achoo!).

A short (but bitterly cold) walk down sat the Bass pond, full of geese and a few ducks. A couple of them were quite friendly guys, probably used to being fed by other bi-peds; apparently, my wife's reputation for "animals don't eat people food" has not reached the mountains. Anyhoo, we hiked and strolled til we could hike and stroll no more in the frigid weather, then made for the local farms to check out the animals.

In all it was really a fantastic trip that I highly recommend anybody to take. Even if fancy houses, history, flowers, and such aren't your thing, there's still plenty more to do including hiking, horseback riding, even a Land Rover adventure course. Enjoy the slideshow.

I'm graduating

And that's really all I have to say about that.

Heroes

I started this post as a snarky commentary on gun laws, something to the effects of "who needs a gun at church?"

Then I jumped tracks, recalling Albert Mohler's and John Piper's words regarding women in combat - not to say that I completely disagree with them, mind you; I think they hit some valid points, just not a 100%. They at least make for compelling reads, thus the reason I've provided the links.

I then just decided to let the story speak for itself, for I fear it's one that the media doesn't want to tell. Everybody has heard about the tragic circumstances of the Colorado church shootings, but mostly all that has been heard in the media is that an armed security guard stopped the violent events of that day. While true, it's only a blanket statement; in the words of Paul Harvey, here's the "rest of the story":

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he's ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church, watched as a security guard, a woman later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

"She just started walking toward the gunman firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender,' walking and shooting the whole time."

Bourbonnais, 59, had just finished up a hamburger in the cafeteria on the sprawling church campus when he heard gunfire, he recalled.

He headed in the direction of the shots as frightened people ran past him looking to escape to safety.

"Where's the shooter? Where's the shooter?" Bourbonnais kept yelling, he recalled.

Near an entryway in the church, Bourbonnais came upon the gunman and an armed male church security guard who was there with his gun drawn but not firing, he said.

Bourbonnais said he pleaded with the armed guard to give him his weapon.

"Give me your handgun. I've been in combat, and I'm going to take this guy out," Bourbonnais recalled telling the guard. "He kept yelling, 'Get behind me! Get behind me!' He wouldn't hand me his weapon, but he wouldn't do anything."

There was an additional armed security guard there, another man, who also didn't fire, Bourbonnais said.

Bourbonnais yelled at the gunman to draw his attention, he said.

"First, I called him 'Coward' then I called him 'S---head' " Bourbonnais said. "I probably shouldn't have been saying that in church."

That's when the shooter pointed one of his guns at Bourbonnais and fired, he said.

Bourbonnais ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by a bullet and fragments of the pillar.

At about that moment, Assam turned a corner with a drawn handgun, walked toward the gunman and yelled "Surrender!" Bourbonnais said.

The gunman pointed a handgun at Assam and fired three shots, Bourbonnais said. She returned fire and just kept walking toward the gunman pressing off round after round.

After the gunman went down, Bourbonnais asked Assam, a volunteer security guard with the church, how she remained so calm and focused.

Bourbonnais said she replied:

"I was asking the Holy Spirit to guide me the entire time."

A volunteer guard is just a civilian with a permit. An armed female volunteer and an unarmed veteran took this man down. There were three guards on the scene with guns, and the only ones that had the courage to do something about it, that weren't paralyzed with fear, was the armed woman and the man who wouldn't sit by and "let" something happen.

Batting 3rd

In baseball, it's the manager's job to set the lineup. The general thinking is to put forth the best possible scenario to score runs in the first inning, grab the lead, and hold the other team off. To that extent, each part of the order is usually carefully crafted to maximize the individuals best talents with those of his teammates batting before and after him.

The leadoff man is usually the speedy, but of more importance is his ability to get on base - power isn't necessary, but a good eye and bat control are. The second batter should be as good as if not better at bat control than the leadoff man; his job will be to either get on base himself (should the leadoff man not be able to) or watch enough pitches to give a runner a chance to steal. Guys in this role are table-setters for the ones to follow, and usually have to be pretty cool customers, not panicking when they have two strikes.

And then there's the number three batter, usually the stud of the team. This is the guy most managers want hitting with the game on the line, and they definitely want him getting a swing in the first inning, regardless of who's on base. These guys can be rendered slightly less effective if there's not a scary enough clean-up hitter batting fourth, somebody who may not hit for a high average but usually has the ability to make the pitcher pay if he tries to pitch around the third batter. The rest of the way down the lineup is generally not "type" specific, but a scatter-shot of guys down to number 8 (in the National League), generally considered the Worst Hitter on the team.

In my baseball career (read: little league), I was a nifty little leadoff or number two guy - I rarely struck out and slapped the ball all over the place. I had just enough power to punch the ball over the infielder's head, but not enough to get it past an outfielder. However, I didn't have the speed of some other kids, so I spent a lot of time batting 8th. But that was cool - I knew what I could and couldn't do and didn't try to be something I wasn't.

In the vein of "everything I learned I learned from baseball", I've translated much of my thought process from the diamond to the classroom, especially it comes time for group presentations. In my school career (and when you've done it as long as I have, you can use that word), I've been the first on the dozen or so speeches every time but twice. Grabbing the audience's (or professor's) attention and then transitioning to somebody else has always felt natural to me. I've just always assumed that God gave me a talent and I'd better use it.

This past week, my group had to demonstrate our senior project. Because others in the class were leeching off of smarter lab partners, my professor decided to do individual demonstrations - not the whole group. I was completely okay with this... until I saw that I wasn't first. Nor second. I was batting third. What followed was a masterful plan drawn that could only be drawn up by the Master Coach.

By the time it was my turn to bat, the professor had already seen what worked - now it was time to explain what didn't work, why it didn't work, and what could be done to fix it. I was facing the equivalent of a curve ball, screwball, an Eephus pitch back-to-back-to-back, and I couldn't help but to smile internally. It was one of those moments when the ray of light shines down, showing the path of the ball, and you realize - God has put you there, in that path, for a reason; even though it seems unfathomable and uncomfortable to you that He would do such a thing, He did. And He's right there with you.

I've wondered for years (ten, to be somewhat exact) why God sent me back to school at the age of 26, the age when most people are settling down, getting married and starting families. Why was my life - and to an extent, my wife's - to be put on hold? I'm not sure I've got the answer to that question yet - may never have it. But this past Tuesday, God revealed more to me about myself and Him than I could have ever imagined. His timing and plans are perfect; He sets His lineup to succeed - you've just got to trust Coach.