Movies / Films / TV

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Spoon

March 22, 2010 in Movies / Films / TV, Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead… only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon. Then you’ll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Spoon Boy, The Matrix (1999)

This is still one of my favorite scenes in a movie. What is the nature of reality probably is my most favorite topic for several reasons. First, the ideas about it are diverse and often reflective of the philosopher more so than reality itself. Second, because there are so many ideas there are many books dabbling into the concept from physics, psychology, evolutional biology, philosophy, metaphycis, mythology, and religion. Third, us trying to understand reality is like an ant trying to understand the lawn. Fourth, because all this above our heads, we try to simplify the concept to a metaphor which by simplification loses part of the concepts.


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Interesting

March 11, 2010 in Fashion, Geek / Nerd / Dork, Movies / Films / TV by Ezra S F | No comments

in*ter*es*ting

in*ter*es*ting

Research on gender and education suggests boys might compete to answer questions to show they are “better” than their peers in the room. You know like they compete playing video games, athletics, etc. Geek boys strive to be the center of attention by having the rarest toys or knowing the rarest facts. Geeks make interesting a commodity.

I want this teeshirt!

Number three is from Serenity:

Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburn: This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Define “interesting”.
Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburn: [deadpan] Oh God, oh God, we’re all going to die?

Not everyone just… Nevermind. If you haven’t seen the movie, then you probably should.
:)

But Sci-Fi movies with quippy dialog are like Smarties for geeks like me.


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Every Movie Geek Needs His Quotes

January 15, 2010 in Movies / Films / TV, Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

GeekDad published a list of top 100 Geek quotes. I happen to like movies and quotes. However, this list seems lame. None of my favorites even made the top ten.

  1. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Obiwan Kenobi, Star Wars. Of course, I got more attached to this quote when a coworker used this to perplex our boss. I’m sure there are days he regretted hiring so many twenty somethings.
  2. “Half of writing history is hiding the truth.” Mal, Serenity.
  3. “I’ve done far worse than kill you. I’ve hurt you. And I wish to go on… hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her. Marooned for all eternity, in the center of a dead planet… buried alive. Buried alive.” Khan Noonien Singh, ST:TWOK
  4. “I must not fear. / Fear is the mind-killer. / Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. / I will face my fear. / I will permit it to pass over me and through me. / And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. / Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. / Only I will remain.” – Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune
  5. “How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn’t you say?” Captain James T. Kirk, ST:TWOK
  6. “Do or do not. There is no try.” Yoda, SW:TESB. Yes, I have a teeshirt about this.
  7. “Raspberry. There’s only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Star!” Dark Helmet, Spaceballs.

What are your favorite movie quotes?


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Blinded by Money

December 24, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV by Ezra S F | No comments

In order to get my grandmother out of the house, Mom and I took her to see the Blind Side today. This is the classic horrible life until someone provides a opportunities and assistance. The helpers benefit by seeing how the helped improve. Annie in this case is a 6’6″ 320 pound black guy whose birth mother is a crack addict and former neighbors are gangsters. His suffering from having to deal with the old neighborhood reminded me of this shooting in Valdosta.

When it comes to the NCAA concerns the Tuohys, as “boosters”, removed him from the squalor in order to get him to play for Ole Miss, I wonder. The movie suggests this was just because there was an unfounded concern the Tuohys made Michael pick Ole Miss. It also suggests other boosters might start taking good prospects out of subsidized housing, adopt them, and have them enroll at their university. Kids from horrible neighborhoods go to schools which don’t have athletic programs and don’t get kids into college. So getting the kids into a place where they actually have a shot at having a good life seems like a good thing even if for the wrong reasons. As long as the kids are not being mistreated, I say go for it.


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Bayeux Tapestry

October 20, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV by Ezra S F | No comments

At least a couple years ago I read 1066: The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry which is a great book. It has all the great elements of an epic story. Betrayal, decapitation, romance, impalement, and prisoner exchange make appearances. The Battle of Hastings amuses me just setting the stage for the merging of Frisian and French. Of course, my brother was named somewhat for William the Conquerer.

Elizabeth posted this well done Youtube video.

Animated version of the Bayeux Tapestry. Starts about halfway through the original work at the appearence of Halley’s Comet and concludes at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.


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TED Talks: Social Bacteria

August 23, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV, Science by Ezra S F | 1 comment

We have 10x bacteria cells on or in our bodies as human cells. By far most of those protect us. Soap which kills 99% of bacteria kills both the good and the bad. This video by far gives an idea as to how cool bacteria can be.

Bonnie Bassler here says bacteria use produce chemicals which attach to receptors to communicate with each other to know when they have enough presence to do their joint action called quorum sensing. The human brain acts similarly. Vasopressin, oxytocin, dopamine, adrenaline, cortisol, etc. all influence brain cells with the right receptors. Really most if not all human cells are operate in unison by chemicals attaching to receptors. Of course, our cells are super-specialized descendants of bacteria, so why not use a known efficient communication method?

It seems like bacteria intending to attack a human would have been selected for two contradictory points:

  1. Large enough numbers to overwhelm the body.
  2. Small enough numbers to prevent white blood adapting and increasing their own numbers to fight off the infection.

Interrupting the quorum sensing used by bacteria to delay the attacks ought to violate that second selection point. If so, then this might create selection pressure for bacteria which launch their attacks with smaller numbers. This might be even better for us?

I also like how she gave credit to her team of people who did the real work.


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Movies A-Z

July 28, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV by Ezra S F | 1 comment

Some friends, Britt and Adrianne, are watching their ~480 item movie collection from Π to Zoolander and blogging about it at A to Z Movie Watching Adventure. This may not be ideal for any of you readers think almost all movies suck.
:)


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Superhero Economy

July 26, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV by Ezra F | No comments

Watched a number of episodes of Justice League Unlimited today. Buildings, roads, and machines get pulverized by the violent actions. Someone rebuilds all the destroyed stuff because in the next episode, everything is pristine to get pulverized again. So much rebuilding must suck for insurance premiums. However, it does ensure lots of construction employment, material sales, structural engineering services, and designers.

:)

… And you thought they were just weekend morning cartoons!


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Loving Day

June 7, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV, Race / Racism by Ezra S F | No comments

guess_whos_coming_to_dinnerLast year, I blogged about Loving Day. To recap:

Loving Day is an educational community project. The name comes from Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. Loving Day celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the Loving decision every year on or around June 12th.

There is a list of Loving Day celebrations around the world. The Georgia one happened last month? Oh, well.

Do you have any plans? Maybe I can find a copy of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by then?


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Torchwood Returns

May 29, 2009 in Movies / Films / TV by Ezra S F | No comments

This is a test of the George blog watching system. If George in facts reads my blog, then he will see this trailer for a show he likes. If George actually had read my blog, then he would have made comments on previous posts. Thank you.


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