Entertainment These Days....

Just got home from seeing Avatar (playing in a theater near you). This was a visually stunning and generally fun movie; escapism at it's best. However because it was escapist, it failed to strike any kind of resonance. Which in my opinion is the problem with movies these days.

Instead of aiming high and telling a story for the ages the industry settles for something that will draw a crowd. I am not saying that there aren't new and original stories out there. There are plenty of great, interesting writers. But those movies are usually attached to a low budget and carry the word "independent" in the trailer. The art of true storytelling is not often coupled with the money that is thrown at blockbusters.

I believe that good stories only become blockbusters when a big industry name backs it (see Schindler's List, Cast Away, Dark Knight) or someone is truly committed a la Lord of the Rings or Titanic. But too many movies these days pander to the masses and fail to be great or even good. Deep down we want to be inspired, too come away from a movie thinking or wanting too be more.

Escapist movies are like popcorn. Sure it tastes good but it doesn't fill you up.

Stay tuned for a much longer diatribe on how the Hollywoods has destroyed sci-fi.

The Enemy of Good Enough

I love the quote "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough." Because while there is nothing wrong with striving to be perfect, too often it becomes a road block. I like this post on Get Rich Slowly, in it J.D. relates this principle to financial planning.

The same applies in life. When we beat ourselves up for not being perfect we fail to see that we are good enough.

And good enough is a heck of a lot better than nothing at all.

In B flat

This is one cool webpage. As the website says

"In Bb 2.0 is a collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls, and developed with contributions from users.
The videos can be played simultaneously -- the soundtracks will work together, and the mix can be adjusted with the individual volume sliders."

If you are interested in music I suggest you click on over.

I really had fun.

Space.. the Final Frontier

This awesome picture depicts the history of man's (read America)exploration of space (read our solar system). Thought it was pretty cool.

See more by the creator here

Flying

I am going to be flying again in the next couple days. I feel like since I graduated from college I have done a lot of flying. I prefer flying to driving any day! Well technically I prefer flying alone to driving alone. Apparently I am alone in this thought. This article on "Why People Aren't Flying" is an interesting look at the numbers of people flying and motivations behind the drop.
I especially like what he says about riding the train. Having done my share of train hopping in Europe I can honestly say I think train travel is fantastic. If America was smaller and trains cheaper I would take them all the time.
As for the other argument on the hassle of air travel. Well I don't really see it. Of course I always pack light and carry on. Plus I print my boarding pass and check-in before hand. Then all I really need to do is hop on the plane. I have found that to be pretty easy. Almost as easy as the train!

Book Of Odds

The Book of Odds is a compendium of statistics that is supposed to make it easier for us to understand statistics... Okay so my college Statistics class was hands down my lowest grade EVER. But this is actually interesting and fun. You will have to register for the more advanced stuff.

Some examples:
The odds a child 5 - 17 living with a single parent is unhappy or depressed are 1 in 17.24
The odds a married female 15 - 44 has given birth once are 1 in 4.44
The odds a never-married female 16 or older will volunteer in a year are 1 in 4.44
1 in 26.15 registered motor vehicles have vanity plates

Women's Happiness

Being single and working I found this paper entilted "The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness" very interesting. The authors abstract states:
The lives of women in the United States have improved over the past
35 years by many objective measures, yet we show that measures of
subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined
both absolutely and relative to men. This decline in relative wellbeing
is found across various datasets, measures of subjective wellbeing,
demographic groups, and industrialized countries. Relative
declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness
in which women in the 1970s reported higher subjective well-being
than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap
is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.

I plan on reading this eventually. I feel that it is just one more proof that the Gospel is the way to go. I also have a feeling that my sisters will find this an interesting read. If you read it tell me what you think!