Sunday, August 30, 2009

"Fields of Bliss"

So I just found a bunch of poems I had to write for creative writing class a few years back. I hated writing them, but some of them are kind of decent, so I figured I would post some for fun. And the funny thing is, they are all either about God, film, or the Yankees. Go figure. Here's the longest and my favorite. I'll post some shorter ones some other time.

“Field of Bliss”

The field is green with perfect blades;
The paths are carved into the earth;
The painted lines are white and straight;
For the sprint from home to first.

The sun shines down warm and clear
Upon the picture-perfect view;
And unfurls in the breeze
The brilliant hues red, white, and blue.

The stands fill up and cheers do swell:
Out come the heroes on the field
Like gladiators of this age,
But wooden are the swords they wield.

“Play ball!” The cry rings out so clear,
Throughout the place it does resound.
The batter steps towards the plate
As the pitcher climbs the mound.

The first duel begins in such a way:
The pitcher stares in for the sign.
The batter swings his club around;
Living for this very time.

All watch and wait for one to throw
The white sphere at reckless speed.
From the front to third deck up
All eyes follow that small, white bead.

In heaven are fifty thousand fans
In the time that follows this.
Watching the battle on the field
Is for them three hours of bliss.

On this field are legends made,
And on this field is sorrow felt.
Tears of loss do stain the dirt;
And shouts of triumph do ring out.

Times of joy and times of pain
Are what many must endure.
But in these trials is there found
A bliss of sport, oh so pure.

The field is torn and is now brown;
The blades of grass have gone amiss.
For this is the price it pays
To become a field of bliss.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I made a wallpaper...


So I was bored and looking for a new wallpaper for my computer. All the ones on the google were either lame or weren't widescreen, so I cracked open Photoshop and made this one. I just desaturated it and made the font, but it came out pretty good. At least I think so anyway. Latika is no longer my wallpaper, but she will always be the background of my heart...

That made no sense at all. Whatever. If you haven't seen The Hurt Locker (or Slumdog for that matter), go see it.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Hurt Locker and other stuff

THE HURT LOCKER
Finally saw The Hurt Locker last week. It was intense and awesome, but also a bit different. First of all, there was pretty much no conventional plot. Just three soldiers defusing bombs in Iraq. Although it may have gotten bogged down a few times in between action scenes, that can mostly be blamed on waiting for next adrenaline rush, which is totally worth it, as director Kathryn Bigelow will have you gripping the armrests for most of the film.
Also, it wasn't really about the Iraq war. After the crapfest of Iraq war movies the past few years, it was nice to see a modern war film that didn't make a political statement. In that way, it is similar to Saving Private Ryan. Although that is a superior film to The Hurt Locker, both use the wars they are set in as a backdrop for in-depth looks into what causes a soldier to go to war and what keeps them going as they live through what could be the closest thing to hell on earth.
The film also confirmed what a film nerd I am. I thought the music sounded a lot like the score from 3:10 to Yuma, so I wasn't surprised to see in the credits that it was the same composer. And when the main character, Sergeant James, was shopping for cereal in the grocery store, was I the only one who noticed the camera pan from Life cereal to Lucky Charms? The scene says more in one minute than all of Michael Bay's movies combined.
Bigelow made what many are calling a masterpiece and there are numerous scenes like the one I mentioned above that speak to the level of quality filmmaking this movie reaches. I wouldn't be surprised to see it listed in the future with movies like Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan as one of the great war films of all time.
Dan-o-Meter: 9 out of 10

Other stuff...
I think Joba read my last post. He is on a tear since the all-star break. Hopefully we can beat Boston this weekend and hold on to 1st place. No comments on Big Needle-y, I mean Papi, except to say that I am not at all surprised, and to be honest, don't really care. It's always fun to make fun of Red Sox fan's though, so I won't say a part of me didn't enjoy the news...