The book or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust in them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things–the beauty, the memory of our own past–are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Lewis.
Stone carving of Queen Suriyothai in battle. Kinnaree Restaurant, Fremont, CA.
Armored elephants appear in battle in the movie Alexander, which starts today. In last year’s Return of the King, we saw charging oliphants trample men on Pelennor Fields. In the 2001 Thai epic film The Legend of Suriyothai, the Siamese army goes tusk to tusk against Burmese invaders.
What would be the next movie to feature battling behemoths? Could it be this?
My wife just reported that she’s first in line to buy the new Nintendo DS at Walmart. Most stores start selling it tomorrow morning. This 24-hour Walmart has it available at midnight tonight. Woo-hoo! Can’t wait to *ahem* test the unit for my son.
I actually published the above entry around 12 midnight on November 22, then pulled it. The wife called me half an hour after I posted the entry saying that Walmart didn’t have them until the 26th. Someone at the electronics department had given her and the dozens of people behind her the wrong information. They all left disappointed. But that didn’t stop my wife. She was up at 5 a.m. and first in line at the local Target. A line formed behind her again. She came home with the unit just in time to get ready for church. I stayed home with the baby who was still recovering from another bout of ear infection. You’re thinking I probably stayed home so I can play with the Nintendo DS all morning, huh? I didn’t have the heart. I had to wait until son no. 1 came home.
Quick first impression of Nintendo’s newest handheld system:
I’m not much of a gamer. Our eldest is turning out to be a prolific one though. We got the Nintendo DS for him as an “early” Christmas present. But after today’s Parent/Teacher conference we should’ve probably made him earn it much more deservedly.
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here
Those are lyrics from Dare You to Move by Christian crossover band Switchfoot. The song’s music videos are in heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. I say “music videos” because there are two versions of the video out there. The first one, which came out earlier this year, basically shows a young man “going against the grain” by running through an alley and avoiding a swarm of people going the opposite way. The second one, which can be viewed here, is about a young surfer who is being resuscitated on a beach (in San Diego no doubt - the band is from there). It shows a series of flashbacks going back to the young man’s childhood where he has had to “rise” from adversity in the literal and figurative sense.
Switchfoot’s guitarist/keyboardist, Jerome Fontamillas, talks about the band, surfing, and his supportive Filipino parents here.
Shadowlands comes highly recommended in this post at Rhesa’s blog. I saw it a few months ago on DVD. The 1993 movie stars Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis, the Oxford don and writer, and Debra Winger as Joy Gresham, an American fan of his whom he weds in a marriage of convenience. He realizes his deep love for her when she becomes terminally ill. The film got a 100% Tomato Meter Rating. Do check it out.
On a related note, I regret missing the PBS special The Question of God which aired last September. It compares C.S. Lewis’s deep religious convictions to Sigmund Freud’s scientific skepticism. I wonder where I can rent the DVD?