News Oddity of the Week

With a name like Scheppler, I think this is the least of their worries

News Oddity

Chewin' the Veggies

With the fairly conservative Christian vibe (although that certainly isn't an absolute nor should it be here) I get from most of the comments here in The Realm, I probably already know the answer to this one. However, I want to throw this one out there, for posterity's sake if nothing else.

Veggie Tales - Pro or Con

Why or why not? And is their day done? If so, anyone in the know have an idea what the next big thing Christian retailers are going to put out our way for our children? I don't frequent Christian bookstores much, so there might already be something I haven't heard of. Let me know.

Consider me interested.

Veggie Tales

DETECTIVE Work on Some MARVELous Movies Based on COMICS

Slinging around the web, I've unearthed some sinister plans about some of our friendly, neighborhood heroes that may be just crazy enough to work.

WARNING: Some Spoilers Contained in the Tidbits Below and at the Links

X-Men –2006

• Titled X3: The Last Stand
• Includes Psylocke, Angel, Juggernaut, Jubilee, and Omega Red
• Also Dr. Frasier Crane as the gruff, but loveable Beast

Spiderman –2007

• Co-starring Thomas Haden Church as Sandman
• And Topher Grace as Venom
• And… Opie’s daughter as Gwen Stacy

Fantastic Four –2007

• Rumors of Silver Surfer and Galactus
• Dr. Doom and Alicia Masters to Return
• Tim Story back as director

Ghost Rider –2007

• Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze
• Also starring Sam Elliott and Peter Fonda

Captain America –2009

• Road to Perdition and Thirteen Days writer working on script

Iron Man –20??

• Marvel takes rights back
• Looking for a new script (What do you think, Rich?)

Superman –2006

• Wolverine’s surprise appearance as Superman’s father
• Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor
• Superman’s return to find Lois with a kid

Batman –2007

• Rumors that Paul "Chaucer" Bettany may play the Joker
• Christian Bale and Michael Caine to reprise roles

More details about all these upcoming movies and more can also be found at Superhero Hype!, a cool site that tracks all the news about superhero-related movies, including Aquaman, Transformers, and more with daily updates.

Heard any other rumors??

Comics
Movies

Has Anyone Else Noticed...

...that the Jack Johnson Lyric of the Day over on the sidebar is turning into the Lyric of the Month? It may well turn into the Lyric of Quarter, then the Lyric of the Year, and finally the Lyric of This Blog Site's Life unless someone takes drastic measures. Now, I'm a Jack Johnson fan and a couple days of a Johnson quote isn't too bad a thing, but if we're going to have a Lyric of the Day - sort of like other more respectable blogs have banner's across the top of their sites with pithy quotes of the day - then maybe we should actually have a lyric each day. Else, let's call it what it is, which is basically a Lyric on the Sidebar Until Someone Gets Off Their Lazy Rump and Changes It.

I think we can already hear Ken's response to this post -- "Let's just take it down altogether as the Lyrics of the Day were a bad idea to begin with. Bad on the sidebar -- and no one reads the sidebar anyway -- and worse as actual posts as they are not really posts at all. And whose idea were those, Rich?"

Does that sound like something Ken might say? I think so, too. I better start formulating my response to that exact question. Also, I probably ought to find another picture of a horse's patoot and start my apologizing all over again.

Of course, I was probably the only fool who noticed anyway.

Round Table

In case the three of you guys didn't notice -- I just did -- Ken has linked:

Dugalug's,
B's, and
Codepoke's

blogs on our sidebar. Hopefully, that's okay by you three. If not, the name "Ken Story" is a good one to yell at, curse, or otherwise slander, libel, or print out, cut out, and throw darts at. If it's acceptable, then you really don't have to say anything. If you're altogether delighted, then you can thank me and think for all you're worth that I'm the one that told Ken to do it. If we've missed anyone, first of all we apologize - just let Ken know and he'll consider your request for us to link your blog at great length before deciding what to do about it. Or you can tell me, and of course I'll tell Ken, who will consider the request for us to link your blog at great length before deciding what to do about it.

Okay then, thanks for listening.

Chameleon Me (Pin My Hope) - SQOTW

And now for something a little more hopeful instead of my notorious moanings and whinings:

You said, "Hold me that way I know you won't forget."

You were visibly upset, and I was the reason.

I said, "Yeah, you're right, but I believe in happy end-ings,

and those million new beginnings that are ours just for the asking."

-- from Chameleon Me (Pin My Hope), Bill Mallonee's Dear Life CD

This song just as easily could have been on the Friendly Fire CD, and as I understand, most of the songs from Dear Life and Friendly Fire were made together. There had been talk of a double-album, but I don't think the cost-benefit would have been as effective for Bill Mallonee, so that idea was scrapped.

Regardless, what an awesome sentiment. Ken posted a day or two ago on wondering about happy endings. Ken's post ended saying "One day." Here, we see that same belief set forth in the song probably not long after the song's protagonist (if I can use that word for a song) has hurt the person he loves the most, his spouse. She has forgiven and is asking for him to hold her. Then he mentions the happy endings -- and following that, my favorite line in the song:

"and those million new beginnings that are ours just for the asking."

What a wonderful expression of the forgiveness seventy times seven notion.

I think it was Peter that came up and asked Jesus, "How many times should we forgive our brothers if he sins against us? Up to seven times?" And how like me that question is -- "Christ, exactly how many times do I have to forgive my wife/friend/brother/co-worker before I can stop and let him have it? Because if it's seven, then they've already exceeded my limit." But no, Jesus, with God's view of things, turns our own pettiness upside down. "No, not seven I tell you, but seventy times seven." In other words, it doesn't end. You keep forgiving. And each time, there is renewal. In the same way, we can come to God and ask him for forgiveness of our million sins. Each time, we get those million new beginnings that are ours just for the asking. Oh, and what a relief that is.

In theory, it should work this way in all of our relationships. If we forgive as God does, it works in practice as well.

Is forgiveness easy? For any of us? Is it easy for God? I think we need look no farther than the Cross to ask if it was easy for God. Which means for us, sometimes it's going to be the hardest thing we ever do. It is going to grind your guts out sometimes, and you're going to have to wrestle with everything in you to do it. And then to do it over and over? Well, if Christ is our model, and we are to put on Christ, then yes. It may not be what we want to offer the majority of the time. But on the other hand, most of us know what it's like to be forgiven at some point in our lives, whether by God, parents, people in our family, at our works, at our schools. When someone truly forgives you, what a burden it takes off! In the same respect, what a burden you can lift from others when you forgive. How important is it?

The result of forgiveness, I'd say, is the happy endings that we're all looking for. Every single last one of us.

Bill Mallonee

78th AAAs

Let's go ahead and get this one out of the way. It might be more fun a little closer to award night (but the post will live on through then, so you can chime in anytime you want), but here in The Realm, we can go ahead and dish out the Academy Awards beforehand. In the chosen categories below, let us know who you think will win and who you think should win. Any explanation is gravy, but as everyone here knows, nothing tastes better when handing out the award biscuits than a little red-eye. Here we go:



Best Original Screenplay
1) “Crash” Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Story by Paul Haggis
2) “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
3) “Match Point” Written by Woody Allen
4) “The Squid and the Whale” Written by Noah Baumbach
5) “Syriana” Written by Stephen Gaghan

Best Adapted Screenplay
1) “Brokeback Mountain” Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
2) “Capote” Screenplay by Dan Futterman
3) “The Constant Gardener” Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
4) “A History of Violence” Screenplay by Josh Olson
5) “Munich” Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
1) “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
2) “King Kong” Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
3) “War of the Worlds” Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra and Daniel Sudick

Best Achievement in Makeup
1) “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Howard Berger and Tami Lane
2) “Cinderella Man” David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
3) “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley

Best Achievement in Costume Design
1) “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Gabriella Pescucci
2) “Memoirs of a Geisha” Colleen Atwood
3) “Mrs. Henderson Presents” Sandy Powell
4) “Pride & Prejudice” Jacqueline Durran
5) “Walk the Line” Arianne Phillips

Best Achievement in Cinematography
1) “Batman Begins” Wally Pfister
2) “Brokeback Mountain” Rodrigo Prieto
3) “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Robert Elswit
4) “Memoirs of a Geisha” Dion Beebe
5) “The New World” Emmanuel Lubezki

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
1) “Howl’s Moving Castle” Hayao Miyazaki
2) “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” Mike Johnson and Tim Burton
3) “Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” Nick Park and Steve Box

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
1) Amy Adams in “Junebug”
2) Catherine Keener in “Capote”
3) Frances McDormand in “North Country”
4) Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener”
5) Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
1) George Clooney in “Syriana”
2) Matt Dillon in “Crash”
3) Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man”
4) Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain”
5) William Hurt in “A History of Violence”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1) Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote”
2) Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow”
3) Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”
4) Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line”
5) David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
1) Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
2) Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica”
3) Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice”
4) Charlize Theron in “North Country”
5) Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line”

Best Achievement in Directing
1) "Brokeback Mountain” Ang Lee
2) “Capote” Bennett Miller
3) “Crash” Paul Haggis
4) “Good Night, and Good Luck.” George Clooney
5) “Munich” Steven Spielberg

Best Motion Picture of the Year
1) “Brokeback Mountain” Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers
2) “Capote” Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers
3) “Crash” Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers
4) “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Grant Heslov, Producer
5) “Munich” Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers

Obviously, probably no one in The Realm has seen every single one of the movies listed, but that's okay because from what the word on the street is, neither have the members of the Academy. Just use your best discretion and pass on any category that you don't want to pick for whatever reason. And feel free to cheat in whatever way you need to make some kind of semi-informed prediction. I'll leave my winners in the comments.

And the winner is:

Academy Awards

Reader's Digest Weekend and Note to Self

Sick kid # 1. Sick kid # 2. Sick kid # 3. Movies: Tarzan 2, Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, Radio, War of the Worlds, and Just Like Heaven - nothing great, nothing horrible (that I saw). International Day at their school on Saturday. Sleet. Sleet mixed with snow. Housecleaning. Reading to kids. Up a lot of the night with sick baby girl. More sleet. Sunday school by myself. More housecleaning. Crying and whining. Short naps. Men's Bible Study. Skip AWANAs. Hooked on Phonics. More reading to kids. Finally got around to writing at 10:00 p.m. but called at 1:00 a.m. to watch Awake-Girl again. Sleep at 3:30 a.m. to 7:30. Up for work. Kid's school closed "Due to Weather" rather than President's Day like everyone else's (yet they had International Day in the Sleet - sense? I think not.) At work. No one's here, but a couple of us to move stuff from "The Dungeon."
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Dear Electronic Diary,

Does anyone else feel like they're just living through one day with the only goal to get to the next? It's no way to live, and it's depressing as... well...

The goal has to be higher or life just isn't worth the living. It has to be.

Signed,

Searching but don't know the way

Blanket This

Lately, I've been a real jerk to quite a few people, some really, really close. One is Ken, but there are others, and some of them read this blog. So for all of you, here am I:



Please accept my apologies.

Happily Ever After

"Beauty is fleeting."

"All good things must come to an end."

"If it sounds too good to be true, it is."

Sage words for a lost and dying world. But everytime we find these maxims to be true, everytime their point is driven home in our lives, a little piece of our heart dies.

We ask ourselves, "What's the point, then?"

Our heart hardens through an instinctual desire to protect itself. Even those of us with faith... quaver.

We believe true enough that the wages of sin is death, but why must it be so? Why is this the world that we live in? Why must these platitudes mock us?

Truly, all but the most hardened of us really only want the life we were created for, the life that we dream about, the life that we have tasted in crumb-sized morsels, the life of a fairy tale come true... happily ever after.

One day.

Hope