The End of Lost

Six years after it began, the end of Lost finally rolled around. I watched it down in Orlando, after having gone to Cocoa Beach during the day. (I thought that a fitting way to celebrate the end of the beach-centered show.) What did I think about it?

I loved it. I honestly don't believe they could have done a better job with the ending. It answered many questions, leaving others open to interpretation--just as a show like Lost should have done. (There are people still whining about not getting enough answers, but I think they wouldn't be satisfied unless the finale had been a Powerpoint presentation running down all the different answers one by one.) To those of you complaining, you only have to look to another of JJ Abrams' shows to see what could have been--Alias was an awesome show for the first three seasons or so. Then they started giving answers to mysteries, and those answers sucked. Lost could have totally dropped the ball at the end, but it didn't just not drop the ball, it made a beauty of touchdown.

SPOILERS AHEAD

There's not much else I want to say, and I'm going to avoid talk about most of it, but I wanted to add that one of the things that got me thinking quite a bit was Lost's version of the afterlife. I found some parallels to Mormon theology, and I'm imagining that if I were grounded in a different religion, I would have found parallels to that theology, as well. My hats off to the producers and writers for making it so inclusive.

Thoughts on a Quaker Wedding

I don't typically do weddings. I can count on one hand the number of weddings I've been to. Receptions . . . a few more. But weddings and I don't usually get together. A lot of this isn't due to a particular dislike of weddings on my part. I have nothing against them, but people seem to tend to get married when I'm out of the country. Three sibling weddings happened when I was either in Jerusalem or Germany. Another friend got married when I was in Slovakia. Other times, people get married in far off places, like Illinois, or California. This comes into conflict with the Bryce Can't Afford Going to Far Off Weddings side of me, so I miss those weddings, as well. This is all just a long way of saying that when a good high school friend of mine decided to get married--and invite me to see it--and I wasn't going to be out of the country, AND she was getting married in my home town . . . well, let's just say that when I'm invited to weddings that occur in my home town when I'm not out of the country, I always go. Always. :-)

The first leg of my May vacation was centered on attending this wedding. While there, I said I'd blog about it, and here's the promised blog entry (albeit a tad late). Note: I also have a great picture of the lovely couple, but that great picture is on my iPhone, which for some reason has decided it doesn't like to email things. Since I'm on vacation, I decided I wasn't going to troubleshoot it more than a half hour, which I did--it's still on strike. So you're not getting the great picture of the lovely couple. My apologies.

Anyway.

Becky's wedding was a Quaker service, which I really enjoyed. I'd never been to anything Quakerish before. Have you? The service consisted of a lot of silence (on purpose). It started with an overview of what would happen: Becky and Aniel would (after some silence) stand and tell each other their vows, and then (after some more silence), the wedding certificate would be read aloud. After that, people were free to stand and say whatever they wanted to the newlyweds. (Silence was encouraged between each of these, as well.) The silence was there to allow people to think about what had been said. After about an hour, the service was over, and we all signed the marriage certificate.

One of the things I liked most about this was its simplicity. Mormon weddings are also pretty darn simple affairs, when you get down to it. I'd say Mormon meetings could learn a thing or two about simplicity from Quaker meetings, as well. I will say I was surprised there wasn't more talk of God or Christ, but poking around some on the internet afterward (a stupid way of finding out information about a religion, granted), cleared some of that up for me. Quakers seem much more accepting of a variety of religious views, depending on the sect or branch of Quakerism.

(I had other thoughts on the wedding ceremony, but those branch off into personal religious philosophizings, which I try not to get into too much on this blog. Bottom line: I enjoyed the service.)

The reception afterward was way cool, too. I was really happy to see that there were so many varieties of cool sodas on hand. Black cherry, root beer, cream soda, orange . . . and snazzy brands, too. None of this A&W stuff. :-) The food was great, there was live music, and it was capped by an evening showing of the Princess Bride.

Denisa and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and it was a great way to start off the vacation. Thanks for a fun time, Becky, and best wishes!

Vacation

Sorry I've been out of touch for the last while. I'm off in Florida, and I don't exactly have a ton of time to post. All is well, though. Just want to really take a vacation from everything this time--I'm not even writing. I needed the break. All work and no play makes Bryce go something something. Toodleoo!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Help Me Name My New Library Blog

Because I clearly have so much free time on my hands, I've decided to start a second blog--this one more work related. Yes, folks--that's right. Soon, you'll have the opportunity to get all my detailed views on librarydom. Well, they won't all be mine. I'm going to be coauthoring the blog with one of my coworkers, so half of it'll be mine. What will we be blogging about? Library news, tech news, local library events, general librarian information, and book and movie reviews. (There will probably be some bleed over in the reviews section between my blog and the library blog.) Sounds thrilling, don't it?

It should start up in June sometime, assuming I ever get unearthed from the piles of to do lists mounding on my desk. In the meantime, I'm looking for good ideas for a name for the library blog. It'll be for Mantor Library at the University of Maine at Farmington. Mascot: the Beavers.

Suggestions?

The Only Problem with Taking a Long Vacation

Is all the stuff you have to do to get ready for the long vacation in advance. (And all the stuff you have to do to catch up when you return--I guess that makes two problems, then . . .) No time today for you, folks. So instead, I shall give you a YouTube video. Enjoy. (How does this relate to me? Well, I'm sort of like the rabbits, and all the stuff I have to do is sort of like the monster.)

Movie Review Hodgepodge

Sort of a backlog of movie reviews for you today. Quite the variety. Not a whole lot of time to give them a great deal of attention. I'm going from worst to best here, so those of you who are willing to hang around the post long enough will be rewarded.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes--We'll start off with a Marilyn Monroe bit--the film where she did her Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend schtick. Nothing too remarkable about this one. Marilyn plays a girl who wants to marry a man for his money, but she's attracted by money wherever she sees it, and the man's father is suspicious. Jane Russell, a cruise, the American Olympic team and blackmail ensue. A fun movie, but just okay, despite being directed by Howard Hawks. Two and a half stars.

How to Marry a Millionaire--Another Monroe flick, and vastly superior. For one thing, it has Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable. How can you lose? The three of them play girls aimed at (surprise surprise) marrying millionaires. Naturally, things don't go as they plan. A delightful romantic comedy, which Denisa and I thoroughly enjoyed. Three and a half stars.

Sherlock Holmes--The most recent version, with Robert Downey Jr. Holmes and Watson are much younger and more physical. This movie almost got four stars from me. I enjoyed every bit--there were just some small details here and there that held it back from true perfection. Still, a great film and lots of fun. Fantastic soundtrack by Hans Zimmer helped, too. Three and a half stars.

Inglorious Basterds--There are people in this world who love Tarantino movies, and people who don't. I love them. This movie was incredible, but if you're not a fan, it's probably not for you. You already know if you want to see this movie or not, and nothing I say will change your mind. Four stars.

Bubba Ho-tep--And my personal favorite from the recent past, Bubba Ho-tep has what has to be one of the best plot descriptions on IMDB ever "Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy." Folks, it doesn't get any better than this--especially when you've got Bruce Campbell (of Evil Dead fame) as Elvis, and Ossie Davis (the limo driver in Joe vs. the Volcano) as JFK (yes, JFK is black in the film). It's rated R (for some language, sensuality and a bit of violence). But it's one of the coolest movies I've seen in a long time. Right up my alley. Four stars.

So that's it for this round--any of these movies strike your fancy? Seen any? Loved 'em? Hated 'em? Do share!

Testing My iPad

This is just a test to see how easy it is to post to my blog from my iPad. The answer pretty slick. Much better than from my iPhone. Last night I read to TRC from the iBooks app--a pretty sweet experience. Denise and I watched some Netflix streaming on it, and color me impressed. Every now and then, I see a new bit of technology, and it makes me feel like I'm living in a science fiction movie. This is the most strongly I've ever had that feeling. Anyway--glad to see it's so easy to type on this thing. Makes me think I might end up getting the Pages app for it, and use this to do some writing now and then. Happy Saturday everyone. I have to go prepare for a troop of six year olds to invade my house. TRC is finally getting his friend birthday party.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

I Have Been to the Mountaintop

My friends, I saw the light.

I drank the Koolaid.

I bought an iPad.

And it is awesome.

That is all I have to say right now.

Insanely Busy

The title says it all, folks. Too busy to give you a decent post today, so I'll give you . . . a movie quote challenge!

"You'll get nothing. And like it!"

Name that movie. No using Google or IMDB.

Potty Training

First off, let me state that I take 0% credit for the following achievement. That said, by grace of Denisa, DC is officially potty trained. Well, when I say "potty trained," I mean that she can go when she's awake. When she's asleep is an obstacle that will be conquered in due time. In any case, last Friday, Denisa spent the entire day working with DC to teach her how this whole thing functions, and she's been working with her since. This morning, DC went and did her business entirely on her own for the first time--not even telling Denisa what was going on.

Needless to say, we're very proud. (If only my ability to not wet my pants (over 20 years--and counting!) inspired the same level of pride in me, my wife and my friends and family.)

For those of you wondering, the approach Denisa uses is the one found in this book. She used it for TRC, and it worked then, as well. She wanted to get DC trained earlier, but that whole broken arm thing kind of threw her off schedule. This way, when we go on vacation, we will be able to pack that much more lightly. Plus, no more diapers! (That's a huge reason to celebrate right there.)

In any case, many congratulations go out both to my wife and my daughter. Great job!

My Favorite Part of Summer (What's Yours?)

Spring sprang early up here in Maine this year, which means I'm already dreading summer. I know for many of you, summer is a happy time. Lazy days and sunshine and all that rot. Not for me. Summer means hot, and hot means an unhappy Bryce. Plus, there's bugs, and bugs mean an unhappy Bryce, too. It's a recipe for disaster, and I have to mow my lawn twice a week on top of that. Remind me why I'm supposed to like summer?

Ah yes.

The movies. :-)

Summer means blockbusters, jaw droppingly awesome effects, and time for matinees now and then. Really, if it weren't for all the kewl movies that come out in the summer, I might just move to Alaska. Or Brazil. I've heard their summer is winter down there. Australia, too. That's gotta be pretty nice. And I could fly up to Maine for the winters, so that winter is winter, and summer is winter. I'd stay in Maine for spring and fall, and life would be pretty much ideal: spring, winter, fall, winter, spring, winter, fall, winter. Nice.

How about you--what's so great about summer? Convince me. I'm willing to listen to other opinions about this one.

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon

I went with TRC to the movies to see How to Train Your Dragon today. I thought it was fantastic--superbly done. The animation, 3D, story, characters, score--really, there's not a thing I can find wrong with the movie. Best of all, it's a 100% fun time. Go to it if you want to enjoy yourself thoroughly. Four stars. But don't just take my word for it. Here's guest reviewer TRC with his take on the subject:

I thought it was AWESOME! But best of all, the huge dragon, well . . . that dragon was kind of cool, but at the beginning, it was kind of scary, but it was really loud, but I plugged my ears and I could still hear, but the characters and a funky ball looked like they were actually coming at me. The ball was like boing boing boing. Getting closer. I also liked when they were riding the dragons. It was so cool that I could have popped my head off. You should see it yourself. It is really really really really really really really reeeeeeeeeeally awesome. So if you want to see it, you should take your kids. They would really like it. But if you just want to go yourself, make sure that if you have two people going, that you have $10 if you're going to How to Train Your Dragon. And we had $10. We were fine to go in. I liked it when we came home, because I got a snack. A tiny snack and a cookie. They were yummy snacks.

by TRC.