Greetings, everyone - New Years is over. My last thing of 2009 was to see Avatar in theatres, in 3D. It was, pretty much as the title says, tech porn. Like porn, it was pretty to look at, but the plot and characters left a lot to desire. I give it a 6 out of 10. It did some things very well, but other things were bad.
The technological aspects were fantastic. This is a beautiful movie. Everything was gorgeous. The planet was gorgeous, the Na'vi were beautiful, the critters looked awesome. It was a beautiful movie, with fantastic effects.
The plot was incredibly guess-able. I knew, pretty much from the start where everything was going. You knew who the baddies were, you knew who the good guys were. Also unfortunately, they remained pretty much who they were from the start. Very little plot and character development.
Also some very odd things I question, like the biodiversity of Pandora. Yeah, I know, I'm not supposed to be questioning scientific things in a movie, but hear me out.
Everything, except the Na'vi, had two pairs of front limbs and a single pair of rear limbs. It seemed to be a very good thing for purposes of running through the trees and keeping balance. I found it very odd that the Na'vi were the sole creature on the planet with a single pair of arms.
So yeah, besides that little peeve, and the plot and characters, it was a fantastic movie. If James Cameron applied this technological wonder to a movie with an actual plot... then that would probably be the top movie of the year. Avatar is better than other movies I've seen recently, but it's not a masterpiece of modern theatre.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Scale
Here at Critically Skeptic, we employ a simple scale of 1-10 for our future movie and video game and book reviews. The following is a short, yet detailed explanation of this scale how it will be used for movies:
- A Movie I Will Never See - I have no desire to see any movie I rate at a 1. These are movies that are either stupid, brutally violent, or childish. Hostel and its ilk, any of the Scary / Sports / Epic / etc. Movies, and anything by Uwe Boll are in this category.
- A Movie I Shut Off or Left - These movies are ones that I chose to watch, but either turned off or left the theater. They might be over-violent, incredibly dumb, or just poorly advertised. Untraceable, Big Momma's House, and Good Luck Chuck are in this category.
- A Very Poor Movie - I will watch these movies. I will laugh at how bad they are, but I will likely make it to the end of the movie without turning it off, but never watch it again. 2009's G.I. Joe is in this category, as well as any movie that's made it to MST3K.
- Typical Hollywood - I rate the vast majority of anything Hollywood puts out as a 4. Movies of this category are in some way sub-par - acting, story, direction. Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars, Chronicles of Riddick, and Star Trek: Nemesis, Generations, and Insurrection are 4s.
- Average Flick or So Bad It's Good - While most movies are typical Hollywood, there are two ways I rate them a little better than standard. They either do things better than Hollywood normally does, or they are so bad that I simply must watch them. Batman with Adam West and Changing Lanes are both 5s. If cheap, I will purchase these.
- Better Than Average - Something about these movies stands out, these are the sorts of movies that if I flip past them when channel surfing, I will stick with them. Galaxy Quest, Mystery Men, and Men in Black are all 6s. I will buy these movies if they're cheap.
- Very Good Flick - These are the kinds of movies that I will always enjoy, and I tend to watch them when I have downtime or am in the mood for a film. I will actively go out of my way to watch these if I know they'll be on TV. Any Mel Brooks film is a 7. I will buy these movies regardless of price.
- Fantastic Film - An 8 is the sort of movie that I will probably rent or get on pay per view. These movies are very good, and the sort that I will dedicate time to watch. Silence of the Lambs, the Lord of the Rings films, and Die Hard are all 8s. I probably own these.
- Outstanding Quality - A 9 is very hard to get. These movies are nearly flawless in my eyes, and they are the type of film that I will be sure to see regularly. I tend to watch these at least once a month if I have the time. Anything by Pixar, Pitch Black, and Anchorman are all 9s.
- My Favorite Movies - Very few films fall under 10. These movies are ones that I absolutely adore, they share top billing in my folder, and will be watched often. Any potential wife of mine should appreciate these films. The Princess Bride, Emperor's New Groove, the Green Mile, and the Secret of NIMH are all 10s.
So there you have it. While this example applies to films, you can assume that video games, TV shows, and books also fall in this same sort of scale. The majority of my ratings will likely fall in the 4, 5, 6 range, but some may (game - World of Warcraft) pass to 10s or others (book - Twilight) will go to a 1.
Anyway - have a great day.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I have trolls! Also X-mas stuff
Wicked. I got my first troll! ^^
Course, it was strange because it was put up on my most recent post, which is a review post - rather than the previous ones that thoroughly detail my atheism. Very odd...
Anyhow - the Holidays have come and gone. My family's personal brand of silly religious ritual is Christmas. Through a little finagling of scheduling, I managed to get Christmas Eve off of work and went home late on Wednesday instead of noon Thursday (which would have been a hassle.) I got home about 9ish (traffic was murderous) and surprised my mother and father, who both thought I would be arriving on Thursday.
My brother, his wife, and my nephew were there too (and my nephew is frickin' adorable! He's only 9 months old but incredibly smart.) Though I had to sleep on the couch, I was okay with that. Basically we spent the days talking, watching the baby, and playing games (my brother and I both play WoW, and we were playing together on our separate characters.)
Christmas Eve got a little touchy. I still haven't told my family that I'm an atheist (very uncomfortable doing so and I didn't want to cause drama over Christmas.) I didn't go to church and my parents joked about me being a heathen - to which I acknowledged - and they were so shocked thinking I was joking that I didn't dare keep going.
Christmas we did our family presents gathering, and most of what I got was stuff for my apartment - cooking tools, a big-screen TV, a couple really nice ties and a button-down shirt. Saturday we had a really odd Christmas murder mystery dinner, it was bizarre, but fun.
Overall, I had a good time. It really wasn't bad. I have yet to tell my family that I am an atheist, but I'm sure it will come out sometime this year. Consider it my New Year's Resolution - to let my family know that I no longer believe in their silly religion.
Oh, and to any trolls - I won't turn on comment moderation, but I will check out any comments that are put on this blog.
Course, it was strange because it was put up on my most recent post, which is a review post - rather than the previous ones that thoroughly detail my atheism. Very odd...
Anyhow - the Holidays have come and gone. My family's personal brand of silly religious ritual is Christmas. Through a little finagling of scheduling, I managed to get Christmas Eve off of work and went home late on Wednesday instead of noon Thursday (which would have been a hassle.) I got home about 9ish (traffic was murderous) and surprised my mother and father, who both thought I would be arriving on Thursday.
My brother, his wife, and my nephew were there too (and my nephew is frickin' adorable! He's only 9 months old but incredibly smart.) Though I had to sleep on the couch, I was okay with that. Basically we spent the days talking, watching the baby, and playing games (my brother and I both play WoW, and we were playing together on our separate characters.)
Christmas Eve got a little touchy. I still haven't told my family that I'm an atheist (very uncomfortable doing so and I didn't want to cause drama over Christmas.) I didn't go to church and my parents joked about me being a heathen - to which I acknowledged - and they were so shocked thinking I was joking that I didn't dare keep going.
Christmas we did our family presents gathering, and most of what I got was stuff for my apartment - cooking tools, a big-screen TV, a couple really nice ties and a button-down shirt. Saturday we had a really odd Christmas murder mystery dinner, it was bizarre, but fun.
Overall, I had a good time. It really wasn't bad. I have yet to tell my family that I am an atheist, but I'm sure it will come out sometime this year. Consider it my New Year's Resolution - to let my family know that I no longer believe in their silly religion.
Oh, and to any trolls - I won't turn on comment moderation, but I will check out any comments that are put on this blog.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
I've Been Misleading!
A big apology to anyone who's watching me right now (quick glance to the sidebar, no followers yet.)
I've called this site 'Critically Skeptic' and have yet to actually critique anything!
So, let's go, mega-critque away!
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - A fun game, slightly more repetitive than I would enjoy normally. Near the end of the game, I just did the bare minimum instead of bothering to do everything I could, just because of how boring it was. The story left with a cliff-hanger, but I have AC2, so it's not a big deal.
Dean Koontz Books - Over the last month or so, I read the entire 'Frankenstein' series and 3/4 books of the 'Odd Thomas' series. Dean Koontz is a very strange author. He writes a bit predictably, and writes very short chapters - a page, page and a half seems to be standard. The thing about his books is that you don't know what to expect. There's huge 'holy crap' moments in his stories, and they kept me reading constantly.
Aside from World of Warcraft and AC2, I haven't played anything else. I haven't read anything since the 3rd of the Odd Thomas books. No new TV shows have been put up. I'm waiting to see Avatar in theatres when I go home next week to visit my family.
Anyway - that's about as much as I can do for now.
I've called this site 'Critically Skeptic' and have yet to actually critique anything!
So, let's go, mega-critque away!
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - A fun game, slightly more repetitive than I would enjoy normally. Near the end of the game, I just did the bare minimum instead of bothering to do everything I could, just because of how boring it was. The story left with a cliff-hanger, but I have AC2, so it's not a big deal.
Dean Koontz Books - Over the last month or so, I read the entire 'Frankenstein' series and 3/4 books of the 'Odd Thomas' series. Dean Koontz is a very strange author. He writes a bit predictably, and writes very short chapters - a page, page and a half seems to be standard. The thing about his books is that you don't know what to expect. There's huge 'holy crap' moments in his stories, and they kept me reading constantly.
Aside from World of Warcraft and AC2, I haven't played anything else. I haven't read anything since the 3rd of the Odd Thomas books. No new TV shows have been put up. I'm waiting to see Avatar in theatres when I go home next week to visit my family.
Anyway - that's about as much as I can do for now.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Why I left the church
Well, I know I posted a huge thing about it the other day, but here we go again, a living example. This article talks about the hypocritical and hateful Catholic Church. Though I was never Catholic, I know that if it was the same situation with, say, my church, I don't think the end result would be any different.
Basically, the Catholic Church runs a bunch of charities in DC. The language of the new same-sex marriage bill up for proposal has some anti-discrimination clause in it, understandably one cannot discriminate against a married gay couple for hiring.
The Catholic Church has since begun whining and crying and bitching and moaning, saying they shouldn't have to follow these laws, and if they have to follow this anti-discrimination policy, they are going to close their social services and breach a contract with the city.
Now, the social services they're providing have nothing to do with religion. The bill does not state the Catholic Church has to provide same-sex marriages or stop preaching their hateful biblical teachings. The only thing the bill says is that the Catholic Charities cannot discriminate against a gay couple if said gay couple wants to help pass out soup to homeless people.
The Catholic Church is denying one of the three prime virtues of their religion - charity - just to shove it in the face of the lawmakers that they don't like gay people. Honestly, that just makes me sick. It makes my blood boil how hateful and angry the Catholic Church is being, hurting the poor and needy in order to make a point.
You know what, Catholic Church, go ahead and stomp and whine. If you want to play politics, then play politics, but don't be whining when your massive amounts of land and goods get taxed up the wazoo.
Basically, the Catholic Church runs a bunch of charities in DC. The language of the new same-sex marriage bill up for proposal has some anti-discrimination clause in it, understandably one cannot discriminate against a married gay couple for hiring.
The Catholic Church has since begun whining and crying and bitching and moaning, saying they shouldn't have to follow these laws, and if they have to follow this anti-discrimination policy, they are going to close their social services and breach a contract with the city.
Now, the social services they're providing have nothing to do with religion. The bill does not state the Catholic Church has to provide same-sex marriages or stop preaching their hateful biblical teachings. The only thing the bill says is that the Catholic Charities cannot discriminate against a gay couple if said gay couple wants to help pass out soup to homeless people.
The Catholic Church is denying one of the three prime virtues of their religion - charity - just to shove it in the face of the lawmakers that they don't like gay people. Honestly, that just makes me sick. It makes my blood boil how hateful and angry the Catholic Church is being, hurting the poor and needy in order to make a point.
You know what, Catholic Church, go ahead and stomp and whine. If you want to play politics, then play politics, but don't be whining when your massive amounts of land and goods get taxed up the wazoo.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Atheism != Amorality: Deconversion story
Kind of a repost from BadAstronomy but I figured I might as well post this up here, too.
I am an Atheist. I've already stated that in my first post, so let's get that much out first. Back when I was much younger, my parents weren't Christian. It took the death of my grandfather to change that.
From all I remembered of my Pop-pop, he was the kindest, most selfless man I've ever known. My sister, brother, and I were brats, and would ask him to take us mini-golfing or to the movies or the park. He had severe rheumatoid arthritis, to where he was in pain constantly. We didn't know how much it hurt him, but I look back on it now and see that he truly loved us, to where he would be happy to take us out, even if he was in as much pain as he was.
Due to bad medicine (note: I am not hating on hospitals, doctors are necessary, but this was a POOR job) he died. He went into the hospital for surgery, and was put in a room with a sick person, and the doctors gave him the wrong medicine. The hospital made a critical error, and basically killed him.
At the memorial, we had a great Christian speaker talk about how wonderful a man my Pop-pop was, and all the Christian rhetoric. I was still young, but my parents quickly converted to Christianity because of that. They took my siblings and myself to church for several years, and though I was still unsure, I eventually decided that the Christian thing was good for me.
I prayed and became 'saved.' We moved back to where my grandparents were and I became close to the church, joining it, and helping out during the lessons. I helped my mother at the 2-year old nursery. I attended the greatest bible study of all time - and despite my Atheism, I would still gladly attend that study because the pastor did such an excellent job of dissecting the bible without being massively preachy about it. He got into history, etymology, and deep into the bible itself.
However, my church has a thing where they kick people out for 'sinning.' This pastor was in immense back pain. We could tell every time we were there in the study. It must have gotten beyond the point where he could handle it, and he jumped back into a long-gone drug habit to help his pain. This pastor was kicked out of the church and replaced by a sub-par pastor.
This is where I began truthfully questioning the church. I realized exactly how much they were hypocritical. I understand the idea behind the whole sin thing, but they make such arbitrary rules it's ridiculous. A homosexual - unless they denounce their preference - can be kicked out. A pregnant, unmarried person can be kicked out - regardless of the reason (a broken condom got a friend of mine booted from the church.) Drug addicts and alcoholics can be kicked out of the church.
I started seriously questioning this practice and realized that my church wasn't interested in helping those who truly needed what they were giving. They were preaching an image. They were trying to look puffed up and holy in front of the world. I fell out with them about a year ago.
Since that point, I began looking more into things about science and the world around me. I still was a Christian, I just denounced any affiliation to a church. For the next few months I wavered between ideas about religion and Christianity. I rationalized the Christian essence away from my life, but still called myself a Christian.
It took a post on the BadAstronomy website - which I already linked to - to suddenly make me realize the truth of the matter. I had been browsing the blog since the Apollo 11 anniversary. It was full of great facts, and linked me to many different web-blogs that held great science and good understanding of the world.
One day on the site, Dr. Plait posted a topic that I had to respond to related to Christianity. Over the course of the day, I spoke with various people about how my morals were from god and the bible and Jesus. The rationalizations I had given for my religion returned, and I kept on trying to defend my Christian identity, until someone posted the following, paraphrased:
My mind made the connection, and I realized it was so truthful. Science was right. I love science. I love the universe. I love nature. My church, the bible, my parents and family are wrong about it. Though I love them, they're still misguided. I'm not going to force them out of it. It took a year for my to realize the truth, so maybe they will in time.
So now, I am a 'heathen' atheist. I don't believe in god. I don't believe in the infallibility of the bible. I do believe Jesus was a real person and had some great ideas about treating each other nice, but I don't believe he was god or resurrected from the dead or did miracles. I believe in science, I believe in evolution, and in the big bang.
I don't consider those years of Christianity as wasted. I think it was a learning experience and just what I needed to become the person I am today. It was because of my faith in the bible back when I was younger that shaped me into the kind person I am now. My life will continue to be shaping towards what I remember of my Pop-pop. I will be the kind, selfless man he was. When my grandchildren need me, I will be there for them. I do not need to be a Christian and believe in god to do that though. Good people are good people.
Atheism does not equal amorality, and I'm sure to show that to everyone who ever asks.
I am an Atheist. I've already stated that in my first post, so let's get that much out first. Back when I was much younger, my parents weren't Christian. It took the death of my grandfather to change that.
From all I remembered of my Pop-pop, he was the kindest, most selfless man I've ever known. My sister, brother, and I were brats, and would ask him to take us mini-golfing or to the movies or the park. He had severe rheumatoid arthritis, to where he was in pain constantly. We didn't know how much it hurt him, but I look back on it now and see that he truly loved us, to where he would be happy to take us out, even if he was in as much pain as he was.
Due to bad medicine (note: I am not hating on hospitals, doctors are necessary, but this was a POOR job) he died. He went into the hospital for surgery, and was put in a room with a sick person, and the doctors gave him the wrong medicine. The hospital made a critical error, and basically killed him.
At the memorial, we had a great Christian speaker talk about how wonderful a man my Pop-pop was, and all the Christian rhetoric. I was still young, but my parents quickly converted to Christianity because of that. They took my siblings and myself to church for several years, and though I was still unsure, I eventually decided that the Christian thing was good for me.
I prayed and became 'saved.' We moved back to where my grandparents were and I became close to the church, joining it, and helping out during the lessons. I helped my mother at the 2-year old nursery. I attended the greatest bible study of all time - and despite my Atheism, I would still gladly attend that study because the pastor did such an excellent job of dissecting the bible without being massively preachy about it. He got into history, etymology, and deep into the bible itself.
However, my church has a thing where they kick people out for 'sinning.' This pastor was in immense back pain. We could tell every time we were there in the study. It must have gotten beyond the point where he could handle it, and he jumped back into a long-gone drug habit to help his pain. This pastor was kicked out of the church and replaced by a sub-par pastor.
This is where I began truthfully questioning the church. I realized exactly how much they were hypocritical. I understand the idea behind the whole sin thing, but they make such arbitrary rules it's ridiculous. A homosexual - unless they denounce their preference - can be kicked out. A pregnant, unmarried person can be kicked out - regardless of the reason (a broken condom got a friend of mine booted from the church.) Drug addicts and alcoholics can be kicked out of the church.
I started seriously questioning this practice and realized that my church wasn't interested in helping those who truly needed what they were giving. They were preaching an image. They were trying to look puffed up and holy in front of the world. I fell out with them about a year ago.
Since that point, I began looking more into things about science and the world around me. I still was a Christian, I just denounced any affiliation to a church. For the next few months I wavered between ideas about religion and Christianity. I rationalized the Christian essence away from my life, but still called myself a Christian.
It took a post on the BadAstronomy website - which I already linked to - to suddenly make me realize the truth of the matter. I had been browsing the blog since the Apollo 11 anniversary. It was full of great facts, and linked me to many different web-blogs that held great science and good understanding of the world.
One day on the site, Dr. Plait posted a topic that I had to respond to related to Christianity. Over the course of the day, I spoke with various people about how my morals were from god and the bible and Jesus. The rationalizations I had given for my religion returned, and I kept on trying to defend my Christian identity, until someone posted the following, paraphrased:
Maybe your good morals and ideas are all you.It hit me like a train. It was something I had been trying to rationalize for the entire year. I had continued to call myself a Christian, but I didn't believe in Christianity. I found fault with the church, with the bible, with god, with Jesus. I looked at the book I had been shackled to for years and then at these brilliant minds and science and realized nothing added up right.
My mind made the connection, and I realized it was so truthful. Science was right. I love science. I love the universe. I love nature. My church, the bible, my parents and family are wrong about it. Though I love them, they're still misguided. I'm not going to force them out of it. It took a year for my to realize the truth, so maybe they will in time.
So now, I am a 'heathen' atheist. I don't believe in god. I don't believe in the infallibility of the bible. I do believe Jesus was a real person and had some great ideas about treating each other nice, but I don't believe he was god or resurrected from the dead or did miracles. I believe in science, I believe in evolution, and in the big bang.
I don't consider those years of Christianity as wasted. I think it was a learning experience and just what I needed to become the person I am today. It was because of my faith in the bible back when I was younger that shaped me into the kind person I am now. My life will continue to be shaping towards what I remember of my Pop-pop. I will be the kind, selfless man he was. When my grandchildren need me, I will be there for them. I do not need to be a Christian and believe in god to do that though. Good people are good people.
Atheism does not equal amorality, and I'm sure to show that to everyone who ever asks.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Yargh
So, my television is out, so during the time I'm bored, I guess I'll post up a few irritations from today I saw on blogs.
First: Via Phil Plait's BadAstronomy and Skepchick we have the stupid of the Iraq police. Apparently there's a super-expensive 'bomb-detection device.' That detects bombs through... well apparently magic.
The report comes from this NY Times article. It's sad because the Iraqi police believes in this device, and yet they miss dangerous bombs that make it into the center of Baghdad and blow people up.
Dowsing doesn't work! James Randi has proven this time and time again. Magical bomb-detecting dowsing wands are stupid, and the Iraqis are going to get people killed because they believe in the stupid.
Second: Via Respectful Insolence we have Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan joining the anti-vaccine bandwagon. I'm not a parent so I don't understand the fear that these parents might have for their children, but when you're a celebrity, you hold clout. You hold peoples' interest and they listen to you. You do more harm than good being advocates against something you don't understand.
So, that's that for now. My TV still isn't working, so I can't watch Top Chef. Oh well... I'll just do writing or something.
First: Via Phil Plait's BadAstronomy and Skepchick we have the stupid of the Iraq police. Apparently there's a super-expensive 'bomb-detection device.' That detects bombs through... well apparently magic.
The report comes from this NY Times article. It's sad because the Iraqi police believes in this device, and yet they miss dangerous bombs that make it into the center of Baghdad and blow people up.
Dowsing doesn't work! James Randi has proven this time and time again. Magical bomb-detecting dowsing wands are stupid, and the Iraqis are going to get people killed because they believe in the stupid.
Second: Via Respectful Insolence we have Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan joining the anti-vaccine bandwagon. I'm not a parent so I don't understand the fear that these parents might have for their children, but when you're a celebrity, you hold clout. You hold peoples' interest and they listen to you. You do more harm than good being advocates against something you don't understand.
So, that's that for now. My TV still isn't working, so I can't watch Top Chef. Oh well... I'll just do writing or something.
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