I intended to skip this when Rob Llama posted it yesterday, but it makes such cheap filler, I can't avoid it. Bold for ones I've seen, and italics for ones I plan to see (for the first time or again).

2001: A Space Odyssey (196 - here's the big deal for me, Rob: this movie contains perhaps the best soundtrack yet for an SF film, combined with ultra-realistic portrayals of hard-science-based space travel. Forget the acid-trip ending, and you have a genre-defining film that has not yet been outdone.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
All That Jazz (1979)
Amadeus (1984)
Animal House (197
Annie Hall (1977) - I can't stand Woodie Allen. I was made to watch this in a class for school.
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Awakenings (1990)
Back to the Future (1985)
Barbarella (196
Basic Instinct (1992)
Batman (1989)
Benny & Joon (1993)
The Big Chill (1983)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
The Blues Brothers (1980) - "I hate Illinois Nazis..."
The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes (1970)
Creepshow (1982)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
The Crow (1994)
Die Hard (198
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Doctor Doolittle (1967)
Dogma (1999)
The Doors (1991)
Ed Wood (1994)
Fargo (1996)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Fatal Attraction (1987) - I won't see this again, as I can't buy the premise. What sane man would risk cute-but-beautiful Anne Archer for skanky Glenn Close?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (199
Field of Dreams (1989)
A Fish Called Wanda (198
The Fisher King (1991) - One of these days I will have all of the Terry Gilliam ouevre on DVD; I plan to have a Gilliam-a-thon when done.
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Ghost (1990)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Gods and Monsters (199
The Great Escape (1963)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Heaven Can Wait (197
Help! (1965)
Highlander (1986)
The House of Yes (1997)
The January Man (1989)
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
Little Man Tate (1991)
Mad Dog Time (1996)
Man on the Moon (1999)
Manhattan (1979) - bleh, another Woodie Allen flick.
M*A*S*H (1970)
The Mask (1994)
The Matrix (1999)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Will see this yet again (it's part of our standard Christmas film repertoire). The scenes with the company psychologist are just as funny everytime.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
Night Shift (1982)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Police Academy (1984)
Poltergeist (1982)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rain Man (198
Raising Arizona (1987)
The Rapture (1991)
Repo Man (1984)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Scream (1996)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
Shine (1996)
The Shootist (1976)
Sliver (1993)
Somewhere in Time (1980)
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999) - I can't wait until my kids (esp. my boys) are old enough to watch this with me, since my better half simply doesn't get the humor.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - Ditto Rob's comments.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Starship Troopers (1997) - I won't see this out of principle, having read the reviews. It seems that Verhooven made the mistake of reinterpreting Heinlein's thought-provoking story about what full voting citizenship is worth (i.e., what it should cost) as a fascist bug hunt.
The Sting (1973)
Striptease (1996)
Superman III (1983)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Tombstone (1993)
Top Secret! (1984)
Total Recall (1990)
Twelve Monkeys (1995) - See above comment about Gilliam film fest.
Up in Smoke (197
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Walkabout (1971)
Westworld (1973)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (198
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) - This movie, a favorite from childhood, gets sooo much better after you have kids.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The World According to Garp (1982)
Yellow Submarine (196

That's a lot of movies!

Posted by: JohnL at 10:02 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I would like to thank those readers (including the best kind -- those I haven't heard from before) who have replied to the questions on religion I posed yesterday.

If you haven't read or replied yet, please take a few minutes to do so.

Thanks.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear Swedenburg v. Kelly and Granholm v. Heald, regarding interstate shipment of wine (for more links, see here).

I have to confess a personal interest in the outcome of the case, as my wife and I have been getting into wines. The ability to order directly from out-of-state wineries would be wonderful.

But of course our country has almost as complicated a history with alcohol as it does with race. The Pacific Research Institute has an excellent overview of the issues: Wine Wars: Defending E-Commerce and Direct Shipment In The National Wine Market.

I hope the Supremes take a strong stand for capitalism and free trade and against these unsavory vestiges of Prohibition.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Like Michele (and unlike Reactionary Scrooge Robert), I like adding some color to my Christmas light displays:

I finally settled on this format last year, when I measured the lengths of the sidewalk borders, went to the local Elliott's Hardware store, and cut a custom length of C-9 socket cord. I then got a few boxes of red, green, and white C-9 bulbs, some sturdy metal stakes, and a few hours of labor later, my sidewalks were done. This year, it took about 2 hours to do everything -- the Yaupon trees are strung with basic small mixed lights (white and red or red and green) and I have everything run to switched outlets, so I can turn them on or off with the flick of a switch in the house.

I like Rob, so I think I'll get him a really nice Christmas present this year. What do you think about this? Maybe this, too?

Posted by: JohnL at 09:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This week's serving is yet another X-plane, the Bell X-5. This was the first plane to have a variable-angle wing, making it the forebear of the F-111, F-14, and B-1 aircraft (which will likely make future appearances here):

Posted by: JohnL at 10:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sorry for the cryptic nature of this quiz, and the lack of much context, but I've been giving a lot of thought to what will be a fairly lengthy essay on religion. If you wouldn't mind posting a comment or sending me an email on the following questions, I would appreciate your input (if you want to remain anonymous, please let me know). Even if you're an atheist, your input is welcomed and encouraged on many of these questions.

Note to regular readers: please spread the word on this and point as many people here as possible - the larger the sample set, the better, even though I have no pretensions of this being a formal survey.

1. Do you believe in God/gods?
2. What religion/philosophy/tradition, if any, were you raised in? (If your answer to question 1 was "no," you can now skip to question .
3. What religion, if any, do you currently observe/practice?
4. If your answer to 3 differs from 2, please explain why you changed.
5. How frequently do you pray?
6. How frequently do you attend church/temple/synagogue/mosque?
7. What is the object of your religion (i.e., why do you believe what you do, what do you hope to get out of your belief)?
8. What do you think is the purpose of religion (broadly defined as an organized faith in the supernatural), in general?
9. Describe your understanding of the basic principles of Christianity.
10. Describe your understanding of the basic principles of Judaism.
11. Optional: Describe your understanding of the basic principles of your religion (if neither Christianity nor Judaism) or of any other religion that you would like to comment upon.

Update: Just to be clear, there's no obligation to answer all 11 questions - answer whatever you're comfortable with. I'm most interested in general comments on 9 and 10, and asked the others mainly to frame those two questions.

Posted by: JohnL at 07:20 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 1. yes, I believe in the triune God of classical Christianity. 2. I was raised as a Southern Baptist in Texas. 3. I'm an evangelical Christian and a member of a Baptist Church. 4. N/A 5. Many times a day. It's part of my mental landscape. 6. Weekly. 7. To know God, to love Him, and to serve Him. 8. For Man to be reconciled to God and for creation to be redeemed and live in peace and joy. 9. Mankind is separated from our Creator by original and individual sin. God has worked in history to redeem mankind, first through the Jewish people and nation, and more recently by stepping into history in the person of Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin; gathered disciples, worked miracles which attested to His divine origin; sinless; suffered and died under Pontius Pilate; was raised from the dead on the third day, appeared to his disciples; and gave them and us the Great Commission. He lives forever in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. He grants His Holy Spirit to His disciples, is with us forever, and will return to judge the living and the dead. He is the head of His family, the Church, and He inhabits and works through the Church and His followers. The Good News is that each of us can be reconciled with God by Jesus' death and resurrection, and that reconciliation is the basis of the new life in Christ. We become members of His family when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord. 10. God created the universe. He created Man in His image, and placed Man and Woman in a garden where they could walk with Him. Man was cast out of the garden by the credulousness of the woman and her luring of the man to join her in sin. God did not abandon Man, saving him through rightous men like Seth, Noah, and Abraham. There was always a rightous remant, faithful to God. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and became the God of the Jews because of the patriarchs' obedience to the covenant. The Jews were enslaved in Egypt, freed through God's power by Moses, wandered in the wilderness, conquered and settled in Canaan--the promised land-- and established Judaism in this setting. They were ruled first by judges, then by kings, and are God's chosen people.

Posted by: TwoCents at December 05, 2004 08:54 PM (84N2P)

2 My answers are up. I went for basic priciples, not an affirmation of faith. http://owlishmutterings.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Owlish at December 05, 2004 10:27 PM (KP3t9)

3 1. No 2. Anglican/Church Of England 8. I think religion is an attempt to understand death and to allay fear of death. 9. Be excellent to each other. 10. Be excellent to each other while wearing a funky hat. 11. I'm an atheist. The underlying principle of my religion is that there's no such thing as an afterlife, so you may as well accomplish all you can while you're alive.

Posted by: yobbo at December 06, 2004 09:44 AM (QlbgP)

4 1: No. Atheist 2. Catholic. I actually think that if the answer to #1 is "No," it would interesting to track the answers to #2. 8: Religion was designed to provide a common comfort to early cultures. Since then, they have organized in an attempt to accumulate power and money. With the exception of some orders of monks and storefront Gospel churches, religions act as businesses and power brokers. 9: Christianity-immortality via Heaven and direct access to the love of God is attainable only through accepting Christ as your saviour. This is because Christ was God's sacrifice to redeem the sins of man. Accepting Christ is do-able only through observing a set of rules. The rules differ. Widely. 10: Judaism. Man's role is to make the universe a better place. Once again there are rules.

Posted by: Jeff at December 06, 2004 12:51 PM (AvBig)

5 1.yes 2.mild protestant 3.agnostic 4.read a lot of Robert Heinlien, especially 'Job, a Comedy of Justice' 5.heart felt prayers maybe twice a year 6.never 7.my belief is a lot like a vestigial organ, I don't really use it for anything but it's still there 8.I firmly believe it was a way for early man to come up with rules to protect society and peoples health 9.do unto others as you would have them do unto you 10.see #9 above except with limits on yummy pork and shellfish 11.agnosticism is basically a lazy persons religion, we don't put any effort into it but occasionally pray on the off chance it will do some good. sorta covering the bases as it were.

Posted by: Brass at December 06, 2004 03:13 PM (6TLEO)

6 1. Yes. Sh'ma Yisra'el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. 2. Judaism 3. Judaism 4. No Change 5. Varies, but no less frequently than weekly. 6. Roughly once a month 7. Spiritual well-being 8. To understand the spark of life, the unquantifiable essence that not only makes us "alive" but "human" as well. 9. Rooted in Judaism, the founders of the Christian (possibly just the Diciples, possibly others as well) movement sought to "simplfy" the system by replacing the Torah with a (singluar) "new law" which was much easier to follow. They succeeded, but injected a notion of "one way is the right way" interpretation on G-d's instruction to "Be a light unto the nations." (Nutshell version) (Humorous answer: Jewish joke gone awry - 'How do you know Jesus was Jewish? His mother thought he was G-d.' ) 10. A system of laws, positive commands and (negative) prohibitions to better guide the morality and health of the Jewish People. A "light unto the nations" but not the only path to G-d. (Nutshell answer.) (Humorous answer: Can someone else be the "Chosen People" for a decade? We need a breather! ) Lysander

Posted by: Lysander at December 06, 2004 10:43 PM (ht9UE)

7 Mine are basically the same as stated in TwoCents comment, and I couldn't improve on the way it was phrased.

Posted by: hatless in hattiesburg at December 08, 2004 06:12 AM (A6UZ4)

8 1.YES! 2.Catholic 3.Nothing formal, for the most part. I sometimes attend Mass, sometimes attend Protestant (Methodist) services. 4.I had a crisis of faith when I was 15, I'm 50 now, and still wrestling with what I believe, other than a firm conviction that there IS a God. 5.Every day at the least. 6.Varies. From once or twice a month to months without going at all. 8.Religion is mans attempt to make sense of the universe, his place in it, and his relationship with God. 9.All men are fallen short of gods plan, and it's only through the grace of God through following the Commandments and teachings his Son that we may be redeemed through hi blood sacrifice for the remission of sin. 10.A system of laws and proscriptions designed to make the people more pleasing in the sight of God, and to be as a beacon for the world to show God's will. 11.For myself, I believe that there is a God, that He does care about us,and that every religion is Gods voice trying to show us the way. I do believe that there is some sort of afterlife, but I'm not so sure that the conventional concepts of Heaven and Hell are what it's like. I look forward to reading your essay.

Posted by: delftsman3 at December 09, 2004 04:30 PM (Eo+PQ)

9 1. I believe in the possibility of a God, but it's not really important to me. 2. Christianity 3. Buddhism 4. Christianity did not make sense to me, the Buddha's teachings do. 5. I don't "pray" but I do meditate at least once a day. 6. I visit my Sangha a couple times a week. 7. Ultimately to reach Nirvana, but Buddhism also teaches how to we should live and treat others in this world. 8. To give people a framework by which to live their lives. 9. The most crucial beliefs in Christian teaching are Jesus' incarnation, atonement, crucifixion, death and resurrection to redeem mankind from sin and death. These events are believed by Christians to be the basis of God's work to reconcile humanity with himself. Many Christians believe that this emphasis on God giving his beloved Son for the sake of humanity is an essential difference between Christianity and religions where the emphasis is instead placed solely on humans working for salvation. God is a Trinity, a single eternal being existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is both fully God and fully Man, two "natures" in one person. Mary, the mother of Jesus, bore in her womb and gave birth to the Son of God, who although eternally existent was formed in her womb by the Spirit of God. From her humanity he received in his person a human intellect and will, and all else that a child would naturally receive from its mother. Jesus is the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the heir to the throne of David. He reigns at the right hand of God with all authority and power. He is the hope of all mankind, their advocate and judge. Until he returns at the end of the age, the Church has the authority and obligation to preach the Gospel and to gather new disciples. Jesus was innocent of any sin. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, believers are forgiven of sins and reconciled to God. Believers are baptized into the death of Christ. Through faith, they live by the promise of resurrection from death to everlasting life through Christ. The Holy Spirit is given to them, to bring hope and lead mankind into true knowledge of God and His purposes, and help them grow in holiness. Jesus will return personally, and bodily, to receive the faithful to himself, so they will live forever in the intimate presence of God. 10. According to religious Jews, the Biblical patriarch Abraham was the first Jew. Rabbinic literature records that he was the first to reject idolatry and preach monotheism. As a result, God promised he would have children, starting with Isaac, who would carry on his work and inherit the land of Israel (then called Canaan) after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Egypt; after they eventually became enslaved, God sent Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery. After the Exodus from Egypt, God led them to Mount Sinai and give them the Torah, and eventually brought them to the Land of Israel. God set aside the descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother, to be a priestly class within the Israelite community. They first officiated in the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their descendants officiated in the Temple in Jerusalem Once they had settled, the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years during which time God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation after he sent enemies to attack them. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle in Shiloh. The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached the point where they needed a permanent king like other nations had. God knew this was not best for the Jews, but acceded to this request and had Samuel appoint Saul, a great but very humble man, to be their king. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Once David was established, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build a permanent temple. As a reward, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the temple and the throne would never depart from his children. David's son Solomon built the first permanent temple according to God's will, in Jerusalem. After Solomon's death, the kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Israel had a variety of kings, but after a few hundred years, because of the rampant idolatry God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people. The kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem and contained the temple, remained under the rulership of the house of David. However, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylon to conquer it, destroy the temple which had stood for 410 years and exile its people to Babylon, with the promise that they would be redeemed after seventy years. After seventy years the people were allowed back into Israel under the leadership of Ezra, and the temple was rebuilt. This second temple stood for 420 years after which it was destroyed by the Roman general (later emperor) Titus. This is the state in which it is to remain until a descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel (the current existence of the Islamic Dome of the Rock doesn't matter to the Rabbinical view). The Torah given on Mount Sinai was summarized in the five books of Moses and together with the books of the prophets is called the Written Torah. The details which are called the Oral Torah were to remain unwritten. However as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, they were recorded in the Mishna, and the Talmud, as well as other holy books. 11. Basics of Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfactory because of craving, but that this condition was curable by following the eightfold path. This teaching is called the four noble truths: 1. Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing suffering. 2. Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha) rooted in ignorance. 3. Nirodha: There is an end of suffering, which is Nirvana. 4. Marga: There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path In order to fully understand the noble truths and investigate whether they were in fact true, Buddha recommended that a certain lifestyle or path be followed which consists of: 1. Right Understanding 2. Right Thought 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration Sometimes in the Pāli Canon the Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a progressive series of stages which the practitioner moves through, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another, but it is more usual to view the stages of the 'Path' as requiring simultaneous development. The Eightfold Path essentially consists of meditation, following the precepts, and cultivating the positive converse of the precepts (e.g. benefiting living beings is the converse of the first precept of harmlessness). The Path may also be thought of as a the way of developing śīla, meaning mental and moral discipline. The Five Precepts Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids on the path to coming into contact with ultimate reality. Laypeople generally undertake five precepts. The five precepts are: 1. I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures (killing). 2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing). 3. I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct. 4. I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat). 5. I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.

Posted by: Bodhi at March 18, 2005 08:23 AM (M8aIv)

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Comrade Rob!

Do not subject rug rats to Disney Kingdom of Kapitalist Kitsch, take them to real khorosho People's Park! Learn glorious peoples' history of Uncle Joe! Admire gardens of party-approved workers' art!

Arise ye butcher from your slumber!

(Apologies to Kommissar for nationalizing his schtick).

Posted by: JohnL at 12:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Annika has an amusing poem up this week.

A word of warning to married men, though. Do not laugh out loud at this one anywhere within earshot of your [perfect-in-every-way-love-you-very-much-dear] wives.

All I can say is that I am truly glad I'm not married to the stereotypical nag. My wife is more of the "Very Cool" wife model, according to Ted.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Country Pundit provides an interesting history of the Virginian Railway.

I only have so much time to become consumed with a hobby, and SF, music, gaming, writing, and the Internet already completely consume my non-committed free time. But if I could score some Provigil and take on an extra hobby, it would be trains.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:26 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Via Ace (who's trying to find his groove), a not-safe-for-work video montage set to the awesome Team America song, America, F--- Yeah!

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Via Naked Villainy, a frightening picture of Paris Hilton at The Mirthful Ones.

Now Ms. Hilton was never really my type. But at least in her blond-ditz Simple Life incarnation, she was pretty in a blond-ditz sort of way. But give her trout-pout collagen lips and a stark black wig (or is that a bad dye and cut?) and she looks simply awful.

I wonder how long until her entries at Awful Plastic Surgery are updated?

Posted by: JohnL at 08:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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