The Seven Minute Difference

I have to say, whenever I see something that looks like a self-help book, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to buy the book and get started. But after getting a little ways into "The Seven Minute Difference" by Allyson Lewis, I realized that that was not what the book was at all. This book isn't your typical "Twelve steps to feeling amazing" or anything like that. This book is about what one person found to genuinely help them get motivated and focused. It's not about improving yourself and finding ways to augment what you already do - this book is an effictive tool for making you more efficient. It doesn't give you new ways to radically change your entire lifestyle. What it does give you is the insight you need into your own goals and motivations to get up and get going. Along with the Seven Minute Daily Planner, this book will help you clearly lay out the goals you need to help you get the most out of your abilities and efforts.

Don't get me wrong - this book can't tell you everything you need to know. It is short and sweet, and while it doesn't have enough content to cover your entire financial, personal, and work lives, what the book can do is show you how to organize your daily life and life goals in a quick and easy manner. It's a great starting point for a larger journey - discovering what you need to make yourself successful and happy and figuring out how to prioritize for getting the most out of your days.

I haven't completed the entire planning process, since the book has just been released, but I must say that after reading the book and writing our some of its recommendations, I have found myself with more clear goals for the future and a way in mind to complete those goals. This book will really help to get you motivated and seeing how to maximize your efforts, and I highly recommend it.

Yep: Lost

Well, I haven't posted in about forever. I just felt that I needed to after watching the series finale of LOST. There's a lot of hubbub about the final episode of the hit show, and I thought I would offer my thoughts to the 1 or 2 people who might stumble upon this.

First of all, a lot of people have been griping and moaning about how the final episode did not answer all of their questions. Let me just say this: if that is the case, you have been asking the wrong questions, and weren't really thinking or paying attention during the finale. Sure, it would be great to get a detailed analysis of the island's origin, where the big light came from, who that crazy lady from Juno was, etc. But that isn't what the show was ever supposed to be about. This finale showed that it was about the people, and instead of just the facts and what it all literally means, it was about the people on the island, their journey, and who they became through all of the trials they went through on the island.

I see people saying "Wow, WTC ZOMGOSH Lost just wasted 6 years of my life!" Really? This show provided 6 years of not only quality entertainment, but a truly well done and moving way to connect with more characters than any television show has ever seen. It was a JOY to watch, and even if you don't agree with the perfectly good open-for-interpretation, artisitic, and wonderful ending, get down off your high horse and deal with it. It was incredibly well done, and despite the fact that you think you are entitles to the exact ending that you wanted, the writers intended everything they did from day one and, if you EVER paid attention or watched during the show for the past six years, you would notice all of the ways they set up this ending. It was fantastically done as an entire series, including the finale, whether you liked the ending or not, saying that the entire show was a waste just because your unintelligent questions weren't directly addressed is a ridiculous and pathetic statement that should be kept off of the Internet and out of your conversations.

All that said, I'm not really that angry of a person, and this was more just a rant on my part than anything serious. I enjoyed it a lot, and hope everyone else did, too. Maybe eventually I will post my thoughts on the actual show and what it meant.

Who ya gonna call?

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year's, etc. Got some news on the video game front, but for the most part I've just been sitting around the house, taking a break from school. The break went by way too quickly, I only have about 3 or 4 days left. Going to enjoy this short half-week to the fullest.

I got some awesome stuff for Christmas, including some excellent clothes and such, movies and TV shows on DVD (hecks yeah for Arrested Development), some computer accessories, and last but certainly not least, Prototype for the PC. Let me tell you, it has an incredible amount of violence and I assume language (I play on mute just in case and because I play in the living room while watching TV), but let me tell you, it is one of the most fun games I have played in a long time. Totally open, all kinds of super fun powers, an almost perfect recreation of NYC, and an interesting story (even without sound). In addition, I picked up Ghost Busters: The Video Game. It is an outstanding addition to the movies, and they really make you feel like you are participating in a Ghost Busters movie, and although it's rather short, it is an amazing recreation that is a lot of fun to experience and well worth the measly 20 bucks. Especially with such unexpectedly good graphics - you can see the acne scar pits in Bill Murray's face! Who wouldn't want to pay 20 bucks for that?!

Also, I saw both Avatar and Invictus. Both movies were outstanding. First, Avatar's CGI and animation were AMAZING. Particularly, the 3d made the really well done imagery stand out, from the people to the amazing luminescent environments and scenery. It did have some obvious underhanded political statements but, coming from James Cameron, it's to be expected. Aside from that, however, it was a really well done, beautiful, interesting movie that, surprisingly, DID have a real story and interesting commentary on humanity. Invictus, on the other hand, obviously didn't have a lot of CGI, but it did a great job of telling a historical story about South Africa and their Rugby team, and how it helped inspire their country. There were a lot of interesting deep parts, and while I'm not Matt Damon's biggest fan, he and Morgan Freeman did an outstanding job on this movie. I highly recommend both to everyone, GO SEE THEM! I'm hoping to go see Sherlock Holmes soon, and I'll be sure to make a post about it after I do.

Hope everyone has a great rest of their break (if you have on), and good luck with either school or work. This has been a weird post because I feel like I don't have much to say, but I'm bored and felt like making one.

P.S. Iron Man 2 trailer:

We have a title!

When I started the blog, I was in a serious and, apparently very long, creative slump. A few hours ago, it finally hit me - there are like 100 things to do with "Street." Street talk passed through my head, but I landed on "Word on the Street." YAY for puns!

In other news, midterm exams were HORRIBLE. Don't even ask me.

I don't even KNOW

So I'm going to go with the old standby and separate my 100% random thoughts by number. If I switch to letters, though, don't be surprised. I do that a lot.

1. If you are reading this and are my facebook friend, PLEASE be my FarmVille neighbor. I only need ONE DANG MORE to expand my farm. It won't HURT you, you don't even have to LOOK at it, just add it!

2. DTH editor letters. 1st, there was an article about a transgender who had been kicked out of his/her church. Someone commented on it online, which was published in the paper (see 1 post earlier on here). I sent in a letter on that. Here's the news. Yesterday, the transgender in question responded to ME PERSONALLY in the letter to the editor section. From there, 2 other letters were in today, one of which told me I didn't know what a transgender was (?), and one who used Biblical evidence to counter-point the 3 unquestionably shaky points the transgender sent in. I've gotten dozens of emails, facebook messages, etc., so as you can imagine, this has not at all decreased the stress of an already crazy 2 (3?) weeks. I did not at all mean to cause all of this...guess I shook up the hive a little. Go google the Daily Tarheel website to read more on the opinion page.

3. Speaking of crazy weeks, I had a Physics exam today, I have a Calculus 3 exam Thursday, and a Comp Sci one on Monday, not to mention 3 homework assignments and a lab report due this week. I might cry.

D. Left 4 Dead. This game does not cease to amaze me. It actually hasn't been working for the past month or so, so I did a clean wipe and reinstalled it, which apparently fixed the problem. Now, I was browsing through L4dmods.com, and found an AWESOME shredded skin for the Tank (not to mention a mod that turns all of the common infected into Teletubbies - WHEN WE THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET ANY CREEPIER). Get this game. Just...just do.

5. North Carolina has been disappointing me a little this week. UNC - sad. Panthers - pitiful. We need to step it up. Hopefully crushing Virginia this weekend will raise the morale for the Tarheels.

6. This 2 weeks makes me want to switch to an English and Religious Studies major. These tests are THAT BAD. I'm starting to get sick of math which, on my career path, does not foreshadow a happy 50 years of work coming up. I need something to make me UN-sick of math, 'cause I'm gonna have to use it for a long time to come.

Guess that's all...I'm really just posting because I'm bored and the Calculus teacher is reviewing things I already know right now, and this amount of typing makes people think I'm busy writing a paper (ugh, gotta do that, too). Basically, it's one of those test days where I STILL have homework on the subject I got tested on and a monstrous Calc exam coming up - goodbye to recreational, fun, and social activities for a while.

DTH Letter to the Editor, New Shows

So, I was recently published in the Daily Tarheel, the UNC Chapel Hill official newspaper. I wrote a letter to the editor, which surprisingly made it through. Here's the article:

http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/bible-lays-out-what-sinful-behavior-and-what-not

This sparked some interesting Facebook, email, and comment conversations, and I would like to take this time to clarify some apparently confusing points:

1) When I mentioned transgenderism being a sin, I obviously don't mean that the Bible says that (the operation apparently was NOT readily available 2,000 years ago). When I discuss this, I obviously don't mean any genetic special cases...I am talking about when a person believes they are homosexual and decides to have their...stuff...switched. This, homosexuality and transgenderism due to it (or just due to being weird) is the sin that both the original article and I are referring to.

2) A lot of people are throwing the word hate around about this. I tried to make this clear in the article, but either I didn't or people can't pick up on this point, so I'll say it how you CAN'T miss it. GOD loves EVERYONE despite their sin, I love EVERYONE despite their sin (sometimes a bit more difficult and difficult to show, however, for me. I ain't perfect ;)). There is absolutely no hate here - as Christians we are called to love EVERYONE and our entire community.

3) Out of this, it is important that we as Christians point out our fellow Christians' sins in a loving way. Someone pulled out the "plank in your own eye" argument, but I believe that that was a bit more specific. Someone struggling with a sin obviously should not give spiritual advice about that sin to other people, otherwise they could cause that brother or sister to stumble. That's what I think that passage means...and I think it is important to note Matthew 18. We are CALLED as Christians and as Christian communities to approach people about their sin and try to help them...if they refuse after everyone has confronted them (the church being the last step), we are to treat them as "pagans and tax collectors (tax collectors being worse then than it is now)." This is what happened that the original article is in response to. The most opposition I have encountered on this article is that people apparently think that we cannot judge others. Obviously, that's true, it goes to God and God alone to judge people's hearts...but we are COMMANDED as Christians to lovingly point out sins to a fellow Christian, and if they do not listen to you, their friends, and their church, they are to be treated in a way that tells them that their sin is wrong. Refusing to acknowledge something as a sin when the church clearly points out Scripture that says it is is when I believe that the church is in the right to kick out that member until they admit - it is a sin, they struggle with it, and need help to confront it. Dismissing it as not a sin and continuing is when the real problem shows up.

There really isn't time in the world to discuss this all the way through, so I'll stop trying now, and if I need to add stuff later, I will.

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On a lighter note, some new shows or new seasons to watch(I am), on Hulu and ready to go:

Community

Glee

Office (continuing)

30 Rock (continuing, coming soon)

Monk (continuing)

Psych (continuing)

White Collar (new, coming soon, looks good)

Lost, Geza Vermes, etc., etc.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm sure all one or two of you aren't too heartbroken.

First things first. I just finished LOST seasons 1-5 on Hulu, and just let me say.

IN. TENSE.

(1 word there. Just...take out the periods)

The last part of that last episode...all I can say is...BOVINA SANCTA. Which is Latin for HOLY COW. Let me take a few sentences here to just rant about how AWESOME this show is.

A) Character development. With flashbacks, flash forwards, and Island happenings, I have to say that this show has accomplished things far beyond anything before it. Never has a show so well made you care about each and every character, and done it with SO MANY. Just...just go watch the show. You'll see what I mean.

B) Realism. While this may seem to contradict my next point, this show could (minus some[SOME] of the sci fi stuff) be entirely real. Each character, their reactions to situations, everything, I can all see happening with real people in real life. All I can say here is, good acting, good writing, good directing, and good camera...ing.

C) Science fiction. A lot of the stuff in this show is RIDICULOUS. What you might think to be a totally down to earth, regular, standard mockumentary actually turned into a, while still realistic to a degree, really fun to watch never-know-what'll-happen-next crazy show. Good times.

4) Suspense. This one is a number, not a letter, just to keep you on your toes. Anyways, as far as suspense, all I can say is go watch seasons 1-5 except for the last one. Stop for a few minutes, take a break, go use the bathroom, then watch that last episode. Even though you JUST WENT, you will STILL POOP YOUR PANTS. Wow.

E) Other stuff. Back to letters here. EVERYTHING ELSE is awesome. Great casting, great location, intense mysteries yet to be solved, all KINDS of crazy stuff. Go watch the show.

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Now on to less serious things. We had a guest professor this week in Early Judaism, one Geza Vermes who happens to be the world leader in dismissing the Bible. This guy was a Jewish Hungarian (?), who converted to Roman Catholicism for a little while before becoming an atheist and attacking Christians everywhere. He hides behind things like saying he is "objective," while any self-honest person who reads his stuff can completely see his intense bias against the Bible. He clearly already made up his mind, and is now stretching as many facts as possible to get "history" to match up to those conclusions. Hopefully, my papers on the subject saying these things won't bring my grade down too much :D. To make matters worse, secular people seem to see him as the next (insert some revolutionary guy here who is actually wrong when people think he's right...Hitler, maybe? Dunno). The point is they really really like him. And his "facts" have the leisure of, apparently, no one checking up on them for him before he writes his books. He uses several of what he calls contradictions in the Bible to try and prove that it is an unreliable source. Each of his contradictions is EXACTLY this: he sees something mentioned in one Gospel, but not mentioned in the other three. This, apparently, makes all of the Gospels wrong, because, hey, an omission of any MINOR detail in one to three of the Gospels means they couldn't POSSIBLY be true! This guy makes me want to go into apologetics for a career, so I can point out that his logic has more holes in it than the plot of Donnie Darko (never actually saw it, but if you get that reference to an obscure online comic, you get 9000+ points [another 50 if you get that one]). I don't want to rant any more, but if you want to talk about it/for me to tell you what on earth I'm talking about, shoot me an email (streetg@email.unc.edu). I'm happy to.

The etc., etc. that you may or may not have noticed in the title was just so the two-topic title would look more...fulfilled. Although I guess I technically filled up the alloted "etc., etc." space explaining my "etc., etc."

Good work self. (That was actually the second etc.)

Lost has been Found!

So, Hulu just posted the entire first 4 seasons and some of the 5th season of Lost. I gotta tell you, I gave the show a chance a while back, but because I had never seen any of it before, it all made no sense and I quickly gave it up. But I have to tell you, starting from the beginning, the show is honestly great. Now here's what I think of it: as far as special effects, action, and story, it's a lot like a bunch of installments of a made-for-TV sci-fi movie. However, when you get down to the acting and the presentation of the story, and how each character's struggles, past, and personality are shown, this show is top-notch. I highly recommend hitting up Hulu and trying out the first few episodes - I love a good story, one that is new and well-told, and Lost does a great job of that. Get in there now, though, because there are a lot of episodes to watch (90!!!) and who knows how long they'll be up!

G.I. Joe: A Real American Movie

I have to say; unlike the rest of the nation, I was thoroughly satisfied with the film. On some levels, as just a standalone film, it wasn't astounding. However, it REALLY fits the American standard for filmmaking, especially in recent years. On this comic book/older TV show remaking kick, America has really lowered it's standards for what makes a good story. While most of the movies do a great job of maintaining the feel and essence of the original, almost every detail of the movie is incorrect. Here are a couple of examples that, in the past, I have gotten very angry about as a purist:

Lord of the Rings - Most people don't realize, but while these were astounding movies, they got almost everything wrong and what they didn't state incorrectly, they left out of the films.

Fantastic Four, esp. Rise of the Silver Surfer - This movie got everything but the Silver Surfer's name wrong. As a huge SS fan and owner of EVERY issue since 1966, this movie made me incredibly angry.

Every remake film of the last 10 years has fit this template to the letter. G.I. Joe is NO exception. Almost every part of the story has changed like CRAZY, especially from the 80's cartoon I used to love watching. However, G.I. Joe is an exception to my anger because, from the original toyline, to the cartoon, to the multiple comic book series, to the original movie, the story has changed so many times, there's really no one official canon. It's really just like adding another continuity to the countless others. Apart from story, details, and the untold left out characters, I LOVED the movie. There was more story than I anticipated, and while it was totally anticipatable, the style of delivery was just like that of the original Joes. While on the subject, the entire film really managed to capture that spirit. Absolutely cheesy and predictable dialouge, unrealistically futuristic weaponry, and the classic good vs. evil was really well done. With some story modifications to fit it more to the original, a lot more of the original characters, and a different mask for Snake Eyes would have made this an almost perfect film as far as being a true G.I. Joe movie. The action was intense and almost completely non-stop, and both the stunts and CGI were absolutely astounding. Don't let others talk it down; this movie is action-packed and ABSOLUTELY worth seeing.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, Monk, Psych

Just finished the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo. Actually very un-disappointed (I'm...appointed?) with it. They finally DIDN'T go with the dumb Christian Bale voice and got the original voice from the 90's TV show/Justice League/Batman:Vengeance. Joker's voice and everyone's appearances were nice - back to the original, at least somewhat. They did a good job of mixing the original gothic style, the darker themes, and the modern techonology (Batman's armor, etc.) After prices drop, I'll be sure it buy it.

The combat system, while simple, isn't awful and isn't the entire game. Stealth, thinking, and setting up cool traps is actually all part of the game. The demo did end too soon to determine how boss fights are going to be, but other than that, it was fairly comprehensive and very fun :D It's one of those demos I might keep installed a few days. Too bad you don't get to drive the Batmobile in the demo, but that's another thing. Everything in this game, down to the Batarangs, is a cross between the comics from the 80's/90's, when it was really good, the newer movies, and a sleek modern look. The Batmobile is a good example. It isn't a dumb, stupid, idiotic, garbage, stupid TANK (I really dislike that about the new movies), but it is a bit bulkier than the original. At the same time, it keeps the good, nostalgic Batmobile style that I loved. I really recommend visiting the game website and downloading the demo if you have a decent PC.

On another note, new episodes of Monk and Psych tonight! w00000t! They were epic. Psych finally used it's wit to point out the fact that The Mentalist 100% copied it. Good times.