My Stint in Canada at 11:26 PM

OK, so I recently spent a week and a half staying with my Bro in Canada to help him with his business marketing  and stuff, and I thought I'd post the videos that I made!

Ryan's business is a music school called Resound, so I made him a custom Youtube channel and uploaded all the videos I made.

If you didn't quite catch it that the text above is a link, click here to go to the channel :)

Anyway, I thought they're pretty cool (especially the chalkboard one) so I just wanted to share.

Hope Y'all had a very merry Christmas!

-Graydon L

The Fun Theory at 10:27 AM

OK so it's been a while since I posted and I just wanted a cool video... so here you go :)



More videos here.

Enjoy!

-Graydon L

Getting a haircut at 9:13 PM

I've been begging my mom for a haircut for like... a month and a half now, and she finally gave in and sqeezed me into her oh-so-busy schedule. But I had one condition that had to be met...

Check it out:



Mohawk! Rawk Own, DUUuuud!

-Graydon L

New template! (and other things) at 11:49 AM

OK, so I've gotten lazy. I haven't posted in a week. Sue me.

...well, not really... getting sued would kinda stink :)

Anyway, The first thing you've noticed (I'm sure) is the new template! My old one was giving me issues, such as the header dissapearing, so I scrapped it and got a new one! I had it narrowed down to this one and another one that resembled the Mac OS sort of layout, style, dealeo thing, but I couldn't get it to work :P

So, I got this one from a place called InstantShift.com. They had a big long list of the top 120 blogger templates, so I took a look! If you're tired of the plain ol' blogger template you've got, check it out.

Unfortunately, getting a new template in the manner I tell you below WILL DELETE YOUR SIDEBAR ELEMENTS! Keep a record of the ones you want, or copy the nescessary code to your clip board or something, but be aware, they WILL be deleted!

After you pick out the template you want from InstantShift's list, jut hit the download button. Usually it comes in a ZIP folder, but all you have to do is extract it. No biggie.

After that, go on Blogger, click on the "Layout" tab, select the "edit HTML" sub-tab, and you see where it says "Upload a template from a file on your hard drive:", well just hit "browse" and then navigate to where you extracted your template file. After you select the template file, the file's address should show up in the white field to it's left:


Next, just hit upload, and after Blogger asks you (in scary red text) if you're sure you want to delete your sidebar elements, and you say yes, just save and view your blog!

That's how I did mine! If you've got any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Another really cool thing I just got recently, was DropBox. It's a free, downloadable program that basically is just a folder that you get to place anywhere on your computer! Once downloaded, all you have to do is copy and paste a few files into your DropBox folder, and they're automatically uploaded to the DropBox site, available to you from any computer! Also, if you download the program on multiple computers and sign in to the same account on both programs, when one computer has a file placed in the DropBox folder the other computer sees them almost instantaniously!

As you can probably tell, this is a fantastic way to transfer files from computer to computer in a work group, online seminar, or just to replace those pesky email attachments!

As I said, the DropBox program is free, but it only comes with 2GB of space. This is fine for just transfering files from PC to PC (I actually shouldn't say that, it works on Mac and Linux as well), but if you want to juggle large files, or keep your entire hard drive on it, you will need to upgrade. Upgrades are $5/month for 10GB, $10/Month for 50GB, and $20/Month for 100GB space.

To learn more about DropBox and watch their video tour, click here.

Well, I hope this upadate has been helpful at least, I know I'm exited about my new template. If you have any questions about what I've mentioned in this post, feel free to comment, and I'll try to answer your comments as best I can.

-Graydon L

The story of Jack Lucas at 11:46 AM

He'd fast-talked his way into the Marines at fourteen, fooling the recruits with his muscled physique... Assigned to drive a truck in Hawaii, he had grown frustrated; he wanted to fight. He stowed away on a transport out of Honolulu, surviving on food passed along to him by sympathetic leather-necks on board.

He landed on D-Day [at Iwo Jima] without a rifle. He grabbed one lying on the beach and fought his way inland.

Now, on D+1, Jack and three comrades were crawling through a trench when eight Japanese sprung in front of them. Jack shot one through the head. Then his rifle jammed. As he struggled with it a grenade landed at his feet. He yelled a warning to the others and rammed the grenade into the soft ash. Immediately, another rolled in. Jack Lucas, seventeen, fell on both grenades. "Luke, you're gonna die," he remembered thinking...

Aboard the hospital ship Samaritan, the doctors could scarcely believe it. "Maybe he was too d***ed young and too d***ed tough to die," one said. He endured twenty-one reconstructive operations and became the nation's youngest Medal of Honor winner - and the only high school freshman to receive it.

Excerpt from James Bradley's Flags of our Fathers. Taken from John Pipers Don't Waste Your Life

Homemade Flu Vaccine! at 4:19 PM

Ever wondered what's in a Flu shot? Well this video made in Canada, not only tells you what's in it, but how to make your own! Yummy :)



-Graydon L

How to Download and Install Adblock Plus at 4:16 PM

OK, so I just got the idea for this video and I'd thought it might be fun. If you are not using Mozilla's Firefox browser you need to! There are a million-and-one awesome ad-ons that Mozilla offers as downloads that can really enhance your browsing experience. I used to like Google Chrome, but I've spruced up Firefox so much I can't stand Chrome now :)



Other ad-ons I use are:

Aviary (screen capture and image editing)
Colorful Tabs (makes your tabs different colors so they're easier to distinguish)
Fission (progress bar is inside the address bar Safari style)
Personas for Firefox (allows you to change the "skin" of your browser in only two clicks)

And there a thousands more that you can download! From asthetics to spyware-blocking, if you want it, there's an add-on for it! Check out the directory here.

-Graydon L

So This is what he does in his spare time... at 9:53 AM

Well, I don't know if you all saw, but Jonny, who is supposed to be doing responsible things at his internship in North Carolina, hacked into my blogger account and changed the colors of my blog. This is what it looked like BEFORE I figured out what happened:



You can even see the post he made right below this one. He didn't make the text pink in his post, but as a reminder to myself to be more careful in future, I changed to pink for him.

This particular prank was very frightening to me, because as you know, my background is a custom one that blogger does not offer so the colors are not the same as the blogger colors. Which means, I had to take a screen capture snapshot of my blog, open it in a picture editing software, use the eyedropper tool to find the HTML code of the color I needed, and then apply that to my blogger color settings.

If this hadn't worked, I would've had to make an entirely new background which would've deleted all my sidebar elements... and then I wouldn't be so forgiving.

btw, Jonny, THIS MEANS WAR!!!!!!!! I encourage you all to view Jonny's blog now, I'm sure after my few minor tweaks it's much more interesting: www.jonnysmeltingpot.blogspot.com

-Graydon L

Hello this is Jonny

I found out that Graydon didn't log out of his blogger account on this computer so now I can completely mess with your blog.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

My New Airsoft Gun! at 1:09 PM

OK, so I ordered a new gas blowback pistol from Airsoft GI last week and it came just yesterday! If you don't know what a gas blowback pistol is, basically, the magazine not only holds BBs, it holds a type of gas called greengas (or redgas or propane). When you pull the trigger, the mag releases the gas into the chamber and it fires the BB.

These are the most common types of side arm amongst serious airsofters, and I thought I join the ranks :)

I got the KJ Works replica M9 pistol simply because it was the highest rated gun in my price range. If I had the money I would've gotten a Tokyo Marui brand gun because they're the best gas blow back guns out there, but I didn't, so I couldn't :P



btw, the video wasn't working for me on the blog, so here's a link to youtube where you can watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKIF9RHag7I

Hope y'all liked it!

-Graydon L

My 300th post and other things at 12:42 PM

Hey everybody! Whattup?

It's been quite a while since I've posted and quite frankly, you can blame Facebook for that :)
I used to have a life, but Facebook ate it - Unknown

Anyway, just a couple of general updates, I've added another song to my Playlist (OK so I added a lot of songs, but just one in particular) called "Trigger Happy" by Weird Al Yankovic. I think it's hilarious, and chances are you will too!

Also, as you may have noticed, this is my 300th post! Yay, let's party, bring out the confetti... that was fun. I'll be done now.

Aaaand, something else I'm really jazzed about is this wicked new site called YearbookYourself.com. On this site you can upload a picture of yourself and then look through the years at how you would look from 1950-2000

Here's a Picassa album of my Yearbook pictures from Yearbook Yourself. Hope you like 'em!



-Graydon L

PS I hope y'all like my new Profile Pic!

Time to welcome someone new! at 8:43 PM

That's right, we have a new member of the blogosphere: Sophia H. She just started her blog a few days ago and has already made several posts (including detailed descriptions of Fort Nisqually activities, which are always a plus, and also some pictures). She asked me to plug it for her, so that's what I did! Check it, homies:

http://revolvingattwospeeds.blogspot.com/

-Graydon L

I definitely need to get another hobby at 8:15 PM

OK, so I created another one. Yes, it's yet another LEGO Transformer! As before I wanted to try new techniques and I did in the end. My goal was to refine the hood-of-the-car-becomes-chest-of-robot system and I did an average job. It kind of left a lot of stuff hanging off the back, but I made it look OK by changing it into a jetpack, which you'll see later.

Well enough talk, time for pictures and video!



As you can see, it would be cooler if it had tinted windows, but it's not exactly possible with LEGO so I had to do without :)




I just added the spoiler this morning. At first it was one piece, but that didn't work, so I split it into two pieces and attached them to the legs.


And now, the transformation video! I sped up the middle because it would've taken far, far to long to do and there was a lot of tedious, small-piece work to do which wasn't very interesting, not to mention impossible to see!




Here are the pics for after the transformation:



Here's the jet pack from above, It's basically just a jet engine with flappy thingies hanging over it.




A close-up of the head. He actually looked a lot better than I expected when I was trying out different designs. This design really makes him look evil!



On the left of this picture you can see the rocket/missile/thing (it's that big roundish black blob under his hand) attached to his lower arm. It actually fires, which was a plus for me!

Well that's all for now, I do have another idea for a different transformation style that is used many times in the movies, but I think I may try to make a jet first :)

-Graydon L

LEGO Transformer: Swerve at 6:22 PM

OK, so I'm sure you thought that the LEGO Transformers that I last posted about were pretty cool, but this one blows those two out of the water!

I built the first version yesterday and late last night, but he looked rather... fat... to say the least. So I made several modifications and basically slid the belly fat up and made it into a chest (I guess he started working out!), added some guns, moved the head lower down on the body, and jacked up the wheels to give it more clearance when driving in it's car mode.

Another one of my goals was to copy another robot from somewhere else to test my skills at building with LEGOs. I would've copied from the movies, but good detail videos were hard to find and there were plenty on Youtube of other ones, so that's what I went with.

Here's my favorite, and the one I did most of my 'research' from. It's one of a series of ads for a German made car called the Citroen C4.



Pretty funny, huh?

And now, some pictures of the Robot in it's car-mode.

I named it 'Swerve' because (according to the all-wise name generator on Facebook) that's my transformer name :)



A (blurry) close up of the seats and roll bars.



From the front, with a good view of the steering wheel!



It's riding so low because it's on carpet, on a hard surface it's got about a quarter inch of clearance.



$0 down! 0% financing! Pay $0 for 6 months! Or lease one now for only $599/month!


And now it transforms!




It stands up on it's own!



I like this one, it makes his head look cooler!



Have a piece of THIS!



Swerve wants YOU for the Autobot Army!


-Graydon L

Atheism. It makes perfect sense at 10:30 AM

-Graydon L

New LEGO Transformers! at 10:35 AM

In Honor of the new Transformers movie, I have created two new LEGO Transformers! I wanted to post them because, quite frankly, there is a great lack of mid-sized LEGO Transformers on the Internet and I also haven't posted in a week :-)

This one is supposed to look like an F-22 (My favorite Airplane), but as always with Transformers and LEGO, it looks more like a cross between a MiG-29 and an F-22. Oh-well.


For scale against my hand in it's Airplane mode.


From the side. At the back there underneath the tail fins you can see the "Engine exhaust nozzle" which become a Gatling cannon.


A closer look at that Exhaust nozzle that becomes the Gatling cannon. Keep an eye out for that cannon in the video when I transform it. It will end up above the robots head.


Here's a video of me transforming it into Bot-Mode. Newbies, pay close attention :-)




This Next one isn't supposed to look like any particular airplane, but it ended up looking like a Su-37. It's the forward ailerons that add to this look.

From the side.


As you can see, it's a good 2 inches shorter than the F-22!


And of course, a video of me transforming this one.



Well, aside from their obvious fragility (if that's a word), they're some pretty good robots! If I get enough requests for instructions on how to build it (unlikely), I'll do that.

Signing off, Graydon L

MRM - Marley and Me at 4:56 PM

Directed by: David Frankel

Written by: Scott Frank, Don Roos

Starring Cast: Owen Wilson (John Grogan), Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Grogan)

Supporting Cast: Eric Dane (Sebastian), Clarke Peters (Editor)

What's it Rated?: PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

Genre: pets, memoirs, romance

Synopsis: John Grogan buys his wife a dog in hopes to delay her desire for children, but they soon find out that the dog was far worse than expected.

My Take: In all my born days I have never seen an more mis-rated movie ever!!! The repeated use of foul language, references to and explicit sexual content, humanistic worldview and generally immoral behavior was SICKENING! I never thought I'd ever have to skip a scene in a PG rated movie, but we skipped two!!! Normally I add what I think needs to be added to the rating in parentheses, but this time there is just too much to add.

Seriously!

OK, I've calmed down a bit now... IF you were OK with the above items, and IF you though you would like this movie, this is what I say about everything else:

Good story, truth truly is stranger than fiction as illustrated by the "book-to-film" of the Grogan family memoirs. The adventures of an incredibly neurotic dog are hilarious sometimes, but not others. In the end it felt rather long as the exiting wore off and the mundane set in, but all in all, an OK story.

As I said above, funny in parts, absolutely not in others. The repeated use of suggestive humor was a real killer for me and the rest of the family watching this movie.

Overall, Not recommendable at all. Don't be fooled by the marketing as a kids film, it's not. The characters deal with some complex issues and predicaments and some are not handled well. (there were two that were better, Sebastian asks John if he and Jennifer are getting divorced, and he balks at that saying: "Mend it, don't end it" stating a more committed view of marriage. Also, Jennifer Grogan decides to be a stay-at-home-mom and says later: "... I made a choice. And even if it's harder than I thought--I don't regret it!")

Story: 6.5 out of 10

Humor: 4 out of 10

Action/Suspense: N/A

Overall: 2 out of 10

-Graydon L

MRM - Paul Blart: Mall Cop at 8:53 AM

Directed by: Steven Carr

Written by: Kevin James, Mick Bakay

Starring Cast: Kevin James

Supporting Cast: Jayma Mays (Amy), Keir O'Donnell (Veck Sims), Raini Rodriquez (Maya Blart)

What's it Rated?: PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language. (Plus mild nudity, and multiple mild sexual refrenses.)

Genre: Comedy, Kids, Thriller

Synopsis: Paul Blart is a mild-mannered, dutiful family man who works as a security guard in a New Jersey mall. For years, he has applied to become a cop, but he always fails the physical exam because he is overweight. One day, a gang of organized criminals put the mall under siege and take hostages. Blart becomes trapped inside, and because of his sense of duty, refuses to leave. He thus becomes the police department's eyes on the inside and attempts to stop the criminals on his own.

My Take: It's hard to say a lot about this movie, but I'll see if I can tackle this one and not make it seem as if I"m brushing off my "duties".

The negative elements are obviously first and foremost, so I'll nail those up front. The language is the first thing you notice obviously, but some violence and sexual references rise quickly to make you switch from "hmm, this movie is OK" to "This movie is stupid" and right back again. The fact that these things don't mix with the comedy and slapstick genre very well, turned me off more than made me like the movie more.

There is also one scene in a grill and bar in which the main character gets hopelessly drunk when he drinks a pitcher of margaritas when he thinks it lemon aid. However, this is almost "justified" (if you will) because he loses the respect of several other characters, and gets several tattoos, illustrating that many things that you do when under the affects of alcohol are impossible to reverse. I was a little more comfortable with this scene because it does portray alcoholism in a more negative light than most films--however, it was still alcoholism.

There is a silver lining though! Paul Blart does place high value on respect and good fatherhood and isn't portrayed as a complete ditz when it comes to family matters. This is, quite frankly, welcome relief from the typical war against Dads in Hollywood movies.

As far as humor goes, some is crude, but generally speaking stays away from the Shrek-type crude humor and for the most part stays with "fat jokes" more than stereotypical rude jokes.

Overall I'd say this movie wasn't really recommendable. The story was rather weak, and there were some inappropriate scenes that definitely could have been left out.

Story: 4 out of 10

Humor: 5.5 out of 10

Action/Suspense: 6 out of 10

Overall: 4 out of 10

-Graydon L

The Evolutionists keep working... at 6:04 PM

Here's a couple of articles I found in the Creation Magazine that we get from Creation Ministries International. I thought they were pretty disturbing.

Computer Game Spore: deception as a means to an end

Spore, a computer game released in September 2008, allows players to replicate the evolution of a creature from a single-celled organism to a space traveling civilization. Depending on the goals of the player, the creature can be a carnivore, herbivore, peaceful social networker, or a conquering predator

Designer Will Wright, best known for creating the Sims series of games, claims that the game is a 'philosophical toy' intended  to change the way people think, and cites science fiction, SETI [Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence], and 'astrobiology' as a sourced of inspiration for the game, and admitted certain aspects of the game are 'very Darwinian'.

In a New York Times article, scientists praised the game for getting evolutionary ideas across,  but criticized the simplistic and in some cases misguided way that evolution is presented. For one thing, player can 'intelligently design' their creatures to some extent.

However, Dr. Thomas Near hope that the game will cause people to accept evolution: 'This may be totally off about how evolution works, but I'd much rather be dealing with a student who says, "OK, I have no problem with evolution; I think about it the same way I think about gravity." If it does that, it'll be great.' He is not the first to condone deceiving students as long as they end up accepting the evolutionary worldview. (see, www.creation.com/deceive)

Christian parents should be aware of the evolutionary indoctrination even extending to computer games, so become increasingly vigilant to make sure that the messages that their children absorb are consistent with the true (Biblical) worldview. For more information see www.creation.com/spore

The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/science/02spore.html

_______________________________________________________

Atheists advertise on British buses

The British Humanist Association (BHA), with the support of prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, has launched a 'No God' advertising campaign on UK buses. They have raised more than 36,000 Pounds to pay for posters on both the inside and outside of London buses with the slogan: 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.'

The BHA is considering extending the campaign to other cities, including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.

According to Dawkins, this campaign 'will make people think--and thinking is anathema to religion.'

Dawkins may well be right in relation to false religion, but he's wrong when it comes to Christianity. The one true Creator of the Universe has instructed that we are to 'Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength' [emphasis added] (Mark 12:30). And He has instructed Christian believers to 'be prepared to have an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have' [emphasis added] )1 Peter 3:15, q.v. Isaiah 1:18) that other people might become believers while there's still time. 

Now that's something worth thinking about.

BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7681914.stm  21 October 2008

______________________________________________________

-Graydon L

MRM - IOUSA at 6:09 PM

Directed by: Patrick Creadon

Written by: Patrick Creadon, Christine O'Malley

Main Interviewees: David Walker, Robert Bixby, Warren Buffet, Ron Paul, Alan Greenspan, 

What's It Rated?: PG for some thematic elements

Genre: Documentary, Economics, Government

Synopsis: I.O.U.S.A. examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. As the Baby Boomer generation prepares to retire, will there even be any Social Security benefits left to collect? Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions. 

My Take: EXCELLENT! Finally a professional, well made documentary that highlights the problems in the government that NOBODY IS RECOGNIZING!!! The Trade Deficit, the National Debt, the demise of Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare are well presented in an easy to understand format that anybody and get fairly quickly! I highly recommend this film for everyone in the entire country to watch. 

'Nuf said.

PS, It did feel a tad long the second time a watched it, but that's a small price to pay for the message it presents. 

Story: 6 out of 10

Humor: (Not really applicable, but some interviews with the public can be a little humorous)

Action/Suspense: N/A

Overall: 10 out of 10 (A MUST SEE!)

-Graydon L

First and IPod. Now This?!?!?! at 1:54 PM

You've all heard about how Barack Obama gave the Queen of England an IPod loaded with all of his speaches, but wait till you hear about Lizzy's latest modern gadget... with some ol' school style wrapped around it... literally. Article found on Yahoo! Games.

The Royal Wii

Bu Mike Krumboltz

The Nintendo Wii has positioned itself as the gaming console for everybody. As it turns out, that includes the Queen of England. Well, sort of. It's not like Her Royal Highness went down to Wal-Mart and bought one with her summer job savings. Rather, she was given a special version by gaming company THQ.

What makes the Queen's "Royal Wii" different? It's gold-plated, sucka! None of that lame white plastic for Buckingham Palace — the Queen needs her bling! Gaming blog Joystiq reports that the gaming company is hopeful that the PR stunt "will amuse Queen Elizabeth."

Meanwhile, Geek.com writes that the gift is actually meant to build awareness for the upcoming game, Big Family Games. An ulterior motive? What?!? As the geeks put it, "for a game that is meant to include the whole family from kids to grandparents what better family to send it to than The Royal Family in England."

According to Game Revolution, Big Family Games is a collection of mini-games, including "golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce," and more. So far, search interest is rather scant. However, should the Queen declare her love for the gift, expect the title to get a right honorable boost in the Buzz. Silly as that sounds, it's not out of the realm of possibility -- according to insiders, she was "addicted" to playing Prince William's Wii last Christmas. Now she'll have one of her own.

________________________________________________________________

To read the original article in it's original page, click here (Yahoo! Games: Plugged In)

-Graydon L

My K'Nex Rubber Band Guns at 12:25 PM

I was fooling around with my massive K'nex collection a while back, and I accidentally stumbled upon a design for a repeated fire rubber band gun! I'd seen many wooden rubber band guns in the past and I've always wanted to make one based on the same design, but I never figured it out... until now... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (sorry, that' wasn't supposed to be out loud)

Anyway... I now had a fully functioning lock and I quickly built a pistol around it. After that I built another gun with two locks side-by-side, effectively building a double barrel rifle. I was happy with this for a while but soon wanted a shot gun, so I slightly modified my lock design to be tougher and to handle a heaver load and then attached that to a 5 barreled short-rifle frame design. This allowed me to load 5 rubber bands onto the one lock for a single-shot of 5 "bullets".

This is the pistol. It has three little black clip thingies up on the end so I can load three rubber bands simultaneously plus more underneath them to be fired later :-)

The double-barreled rifle. Each of the two locks can hold two shots for a total of four consecutive shots.

All those rubber bands on the side are extra ammo. If you look closely at the top you can see the two side-by-side wheels (they're the white things sticking up on the top) that the rubber bands are loaded onto.

Aaaaaaaim... aaaaaand..... FIRE!

This is the shot gun. It has 5 hooky thingies on the end and one lock so I can fire 5 shots at once. at about 30-40 feet out I get a body-sized spread of bullets. Unfortunately, the combined elasticity of more than 5 rubber bands would break the lock if I had more than one load on, so I made this gun only capable of carrying one load at a time.

All three together for size comparison. Each one carries at least three loads of extra ammo attached to it's side. The Pistol has 3 extra loads, the Rifle has 9 extra loads, and the Shot-gun has 6 extra loads.

Here's a video of me explaining how the lock works:

-Graydon L

MRM - Star Trek at 2:53 PM

Directed by: J J Abrams 

Written by: Roberto Orci

Starring cast: Chris Pine (James T Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock)

Supporting cast: Karl Urban (Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy), Zoe Saldana (Nyota Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Old Spock), Eric Bana (Nero), Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Pike), Simon Pegg (Montomery Scott), John Cho (Hikaru Sulu), Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov)

What's it rated?: P-13 for sci-fi action, violence and brief sexual content (Not to mention language and some sensual scenes as well)

Genre: sci-fi, remake, origin story, action, adventure

Synopsis: Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. 

My Take: As usual, the caveats first: The most obvious caveat that lends itself to this movie is the genre itself: Sci-fi. This genre has been denied access into many Christian homes and quite frankly, I can understand why. The prevalence of one-world orders, total denial of God, and presentation of Aliens as a fact are some pretty good reasons not to watch any of the "classic" sci-fi movies and TV shows. I understand what these movies are; Fiction (no more) and therefore don't have as many issues with them, but if you do, Star Trek isn't for you.

As you noticed from the rating, there is one very offensive scene to be skipped. I can't remember where it starts, so I can't really help you out there, so just be forewarned this is not for young audiences. Another very crude line is in the very beginning where Kirk is talking to Uhura in the bar. Kirk tells her what her job description means (in answer to an insulting, quiz-type question) and what she says after that, quite plainly, needs to be muted.

Also, the worldview is somewhat skewed (that's Hollywood for ya'). The basic premise is that you control your entire life and you should just do what feels right. In the movie there is nothing wrong with this in it's correct context (Spock's father speaking to Spock. Spock has some feelings, but as a Vulcan he suppresses them, and his father is telling him to use them for some decisions) however, it is easily taken out of context and therefore applied to real life.

Now on to the good stuff. The story was excellently organized, presented and supported with few goofs or confusing facts. It's throwbacks to the old TV show and it's following movies are going to be a thrill for die-hard "Trekkie's" but isn't so confusing that a newbie (like me) wouldn't understand it. Basically, the hardest part to remember is the names of the languages and different cultures. Romulans, Klingons, Vulcans... you'll figure it out eventually :-)

Also, the Action and suspense were fantastic as well. Not just blood and gore flying everywhere but lots of adventurous events and situations, as well as some humorous ones! This action is very well complemented by the use of amazing computer graphics and artistic backgrounds.

All factors taken into account, I think that Star Trek is a great movie for more mature audiences, with lots of action and adventure.

Story: 9 out of 10

Action/Suspense: 9 out of 10

Humor: 8 out of 10

Overall: 8 out of 10

Next week on Movie Review Monday: I.O.U.S.A.!

-Graydon L

An Unimportant Post (You Don't Have To Read It) at 10:03 AM

This is not an important post. I'm just posting a picture of my blog on my blog so that when I link to it in Facebook, I can make the link's thumbnail a picture of my blog. 

-Graydon L

House Resolution No. 29 at 8:17 PM

I know most of you have already seen this, but I wanted to post it for all of you who haven't seen it yet. It helps to have seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite, but even without, it's pretty ridiculous. Check it out.

______________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29

BY WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION STATING LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND COMMENDING JARED AND JERUSHA HESS AND THE
CITY OF PRESTON FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THE MOVIE "NAPOLEON DYNAMITE."

Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:

WHEREAS, the State of Idaho recognizes the vision, talent and creativity
of Jared and Jerusha Hess in the writing and production of "Napoleon Dynamite"; and
WHEREAS, the scenic and beautiful City of Preston, County of Franklin and the State of Idaho are experiencing increased tourism and economic growth; and

WHEREAS, filmmaker Jared Hess is a native Idahoan who was educated in the Idaho public school system; and

WHEREAS, the Preston High School administration and staff, particularly the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention; and
WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's most famous export; and
WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered multiethnic relationships; and
WHEREAS, Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics; and
WHEREAS, Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard promote better air quality and carpooling as alternatives to fuel-dependent methods of transportation; and
WHEREAS, Grandma's trip to the St. Anthony Sand Dunes highlights a long-
honored Idaho vacation destination; and
WHEREAS, Rico and Kip's Tupperware sales and Deb's keychains and glamour
shots promote entrepreneurism and self-sufficiency in Idaho's small towns; and
WHEREAS, Napoleon's artistic rendition of Trisha is an example of the importance of the visual arts in K-12 education; and
WHEREAS, the schoolwide Preston High School student body elections foster an awareness in Idaho's youth of public service and civic duty; and
WHEREAS, the "Happy Hands" club and the requirement that candidates for school president present a skit is an example of the importance of theater arts in K-12 education; and
WHEREAS, Pedro's efforts to bake a cake for Summer illustrate the positive connection between culinary skills to lifelong relationships; and
WHEREAS, Kip's relationship with LaFawnduh is a tribute to e-commerce and Idaho's technology-driven industry; and
WHEREAS, Kip and LaFawnduh's wedding shows Idaho's commitment to healthy marriages; and
WHEREAS, the prevalence of cooked steak as a primary food group pays tribute to Idaho's beef industry; and
WHEREAS, Napoleon's tetherball dexterity emphasizes the importance of physical education in Idaho public schools; and
WHEREAS, Tina the llama, the chickens with large talons, the 4-H milk cows, and the Honeymoon Stallion showcase Idaho's animal husbandry; and
WHEREAS, any members of the House of Representatives or the Senate of the Legislature of the State of Idaho who choose to vote "Nay" on this concurrent resolution are "FREAKIN' IDIOTS!" and run the risk of having the "Worst Day of Their Lives!"
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring therein, that we commend Jared and Jerusha Hess and the City of Preston for showcasing the positive aspects of Idaho's youth, rural culture, education system, athletics, economic prosperity and diversity.

______________________________________________________________

Tax dollars at work :-)

-Graydon L

PS. I saw the movie Star Trek the other day, and I know I'm a little late on my review, but I was busy wrapping books to be shipped today, at the Frog Hunt yesterday, and traveling home from Uncle Bob's the day before that :-) It's coming tomorrow!

MRM - The Dirty Dozen at 10:22 AM

Directed by: Robert Aldrich

Written by: Nunnally Johnson, Lukas Heller

Starring cast: Lee Marvin (Maj. John Reisman), Charles Bronson (Joseph Wladislaw), Jim Brown (Robert Jefferson), John Cassavetes (Victor Franko), Trini López (Pedro Jiminez), Telly Savalas (Archer Maggott), Donald Sutherland (Vernon Pinkley), Clint Walker (Samson Posey), Tom Busby (Milo Vladek), Ben Carruthers (Glenn Gilpin), Stuart Cooper (Roscoe Lever), Colin Maitland (Seth Sawyer), Al Mancini (Tassos Bravos)

Supporting cast: Ernest Borgnine (General Worden), Richard Jaeckel (Sergeant Bowren), George Kennedy (Major Max Armbruster) Ralph Meeker (Captain Stuart Kinder), Robert Ryan (Col. Everett Dasher Breed), Robert Webber (General Denton), Robert Phillips (Corporal Morgan)

What's it rated?: Not Rated (I'd give it a PG-13 for intense moments of terror, violence, blood, gore and some language)

Genre: Action, War

Synopsis: Major Reisman already has quite a reputation as a rough-and-tumble, crude, unrefined soldier and when he's "volunteered" to train a group of military criminals to the meanest commandos in the military, things can only get worse for him.

My Take: As usual I have to start of with a disclaimer. Basically, not only does this movie paint the military in a bad light in several locations, but the biggest thing is that one of the Dirty Dozen claims to be the administer of "God's judgment" and, of course, he is a murderous racist bigot.

After that, if you like a great action movie with some pretty good humor thrown in, the Dirty Dozen is for you.

In my opinion, the story was pretty good. It was a little long because of the first training mission at the War Games, but pretty good overall. The humor was OK. It wasn't supposed to be funny lines or actions, but more situations. They try to make you laugh at the methods that the Dirty Dozen use in their training and in their missions.

Well, that's pretty much it. Once again, beware of the anti-God Hollywood message in movies.

Story: 7 out of 10

Action: 8 out of 10

Humor: 6.5 out of 10

Overall: 6 out of 10

-Graydon L

I <3 Macs! at 10:23 PM

I love Macs!

At The Tacoma City Of Destiny Awards at 10:54 AM

As most of you know, the Fort Nisqually Apprentice Interpreter program, of which I am a "member", won yet another award. We were selected as the "Youth Volunteer Group Of The Year" by the City Of Destiny Awards committee and (almost) all of us were at the awards ceremony last night to be congratulated.

Here's some pictures Mom got from the "grandstands" :-)

The Masters Of Ceremonies (I can't remember their names. Carol and Don or something...)

Before we got up on stage to accept our award, they showed a video on the screen of footage from around the Fort. Here's Jon and Dave.

We were all in Jonny's hands when he gave his little acceptance speech! It was a little scary, but he did better than I though he would. He also plugged the Queen's Birthday event this Saturday :-D

Afterwards was of course, a photo-op. We had to have our pictures taken with a bunch of politicians :-P

And, naturally, Mom wanted one of Jonny and I holding the award. It was made by the glass blowing class at the school where they held the award ceremony.

-Graydon L