Back to Earth

10 days felt like 10 months, but it also kinda flew by like 10 minutes.

I just finally got caught up on sleep after an eventful, tiring, AMAZING summer scholars trip at Lipscomb. I talked about how psyched I was a few weeks back (that was actually my first post here, so hopefully some of you read it). I was SUPER pumped and a little nervous, but I had no idea what to expect! I was excited about the Grand Ole Opry and trampoline place and the Escape Game, but I had no idea what to think about the class or the rest of the trip.

My expectations were blown out of the water! We did SO MANY activities from canoeing to indoor go-karting to solving a murder mystery all over downtown. And all of that was fun! The work load for the class seamed pretty heavy at first, but my class mates were all super smart, so we worked together, reviewed each other's speeches, and got it all done! I was actually really surprised by how smart everyone there was! I felt like I could be myself without being judged, even though everyone there was so wildly different. I made some great friends and we had a blast "adult-ing" together. 

I hope to see most of the students again next year, along with my professor Mr. Burtch and my councilors! I'm pretty much sold on Lipscomb if I can afford to go. I wish I could stay, but I also miss Alabama! Still glad to be FINISHED!

So does that mean I'm done with this blog? Well I'm glad you asked hypothetical person I made up to justify changing the topic. Although I am DONE with this class, I've learned a lot about communication, so I'm still going to keep blogging. I love sharing my thoughts with the handful of people still reading them, so as long as I still get a steady 5-10 hits a day, I'll keep posting,.

So SUBSCRIBE and share and what not... And check out Lipscomb too, it's a great school. Thanks!

- The Noah

Books or Movies

Comparing a book to a movie is ridiculous! It's an "apples to oranges" comparison.... Come to think of it that saying doesn't make a lot sense. I can pretty easily compare apples and oranges in a broad sense. For example, oranges always have more vitamin C, potassium and protein, while apples have been known to lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar (not to mention they keep the doctor away).

 

No matter how many ironic compare and contrast papers, pictures and blogs we write, that obviously was not the point of the saying. I think a more clear proverb than "you can't compare apples to oranges" would be "you SHOULD'NT compare AN apple to AN orange." You can't take ONE apple and ONE orange and decide which is "better". If "better" means which one is the tastier fruit, than the orange will probably win if you prefer oranges and the apple will win if you prefer apples. The orange is inherently better at having the characteristics of an orange! And the apple is inherently better at being an apple. Enough talk about fruit, let's get back to books and movies.

 

When people compare a book to its movie, it's just like comparing an apple to an orange. The book will always be better at being a good book, and the movie will always be better at being a good movie. So why do people rate films based on novels by their "accuracy" to the novel, rather than their quality as a piece of cinema?

 

Books and movies are entirely different outlets of media, just as dissimilar as songs are to videogames or blog posts. I go to a book to enter a world through the writers view. Books are careful to express every emotion, thought, and scene, with clear diction so that the reader understands how the characters interact. In a movie, the director has to use action to show who their characters are in a much shorter time.

 

For a movie to feel like the book, it may have to put the characters into different situations, change their appearance to make them fit better on screen. Movies are billion dollar investments so each adaptation or diversion from the source material is deliberate and intentional.

 

The Lord of the Rings books AND movies (not including the recent Hobbit films) are pretty universally accepted, but the movies still made a LOT changes from the books. For example, in the books, Orcs had more human characteristics, and there is a chapter in which a few Orcs express their desire to win the war soon so they can return home to their families. Painting the Orcs in this light gave a new layer of meaning to the book as the reader had to pause and consider the warrior's dilemma. In the film, the human characteristics were all but completely cut from the disgusting orcs, so that the audience wouldn't be confused about whose side they should be on. 

 

My point is the books were better AND the movies were better because of some variations. If we keep punishing movies for diverging from the source we are only hindering writers and directors from improving films. Instead of forcing oranges to be as apple-like as possible, let's appreciate both for what they are.

 

 

Thanks for reading this blog post and commenting below! I know it isn't as good as the song "Dead Come Alive" by Tyler Joseph, but it's still better than the live action Super Mario Brothers movie. ;) Enjoy your media.

 

- The Noah





(Bonus: link to "Dead Come Alive" by Tyler Joseph, with a mind blowing animation - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj-nrLKo93NAhXBkh4KHRYeDwEQ3ywIHzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-FHYI3kdK_g&usg=AFQjCNFTWB4nzQ66XveoloE15Y8LLLtaAw&sig2=c4qMaiX3BZMxy-rqblR5jQ)

 

Most Partiotic Blog Ever!

Happy AMERICA Day! Celebrating our God given right to blow stuff up!

Okay, It's July the Fourth and I'm honestly proud to be flag waving, bacon burger eating 'Mercan. But I've noticed that a lot of my fellow Americans think of this beautiful land as less than the greatest country on Earth. That makes no sense to me!

Conservatives tend to talk about the country the way we would talk about a really nice cruise ship that's on fire... It was really nice at one time, but now the whole thing is going down and there isn't much we can do about it. A lot of people around here are proud of America's history, but not our present.

On the other hand, a lot of liberals are proud of the country right now, but ashamed of our past. They point to slavery, sexism, and religious intolerance as proof that our country just isn't as great as some of the glorious lands of "Non-America"

First of all, I think we have a lot to be proud of right now! In America, our poorest are wealthier here than anywhere else, we have more freedoms than any other country, and we have done more to protect our equality of rights for everyone than any other country has.

As for our shameful history of slavery and intolerance, they rest of the world was made up of sexist slave owners too! Vermont was the first Sovereign State to abolish slavery IN THE WORLD in 1777! We had to fight a war that tore our country apart, but by 1862, slavery was completely abolished, despite the difficulties it caused to our economy. We were the twelfth country to give women voting rights (years ahead of Britain, Ireland, Spain, or France.) We've give more aid to other countries than anyone else in the world!

America hasn't always been perfect, and the system today is still pretty flawed. But it has still been BETTER THAN EVERYWHERE ELSE!

Happy 4th!


Thanks for commenting and sharing!

-  The Noah

100,000 lbs of Vulcan

Sorry for no posts in a couple days, I've been having some trouble with my computer...

Anyway, Yesterday, I went to see the VULCAN (You know? The big cast iron monument that people visiting from out of state always visit and locals visit maybe once then forget it's there.)  Anyway it's the largest cast-iron statue in the world (that's a surprisingly specific world record but I'm still proud of Alabama for it) and it really got me thinking about the unquantifiable.


The statue is 100,000 lbs. of pure iron, and throughout my day, I kept trying to imagine myself lifting something that weighs 100,000 lbs. I just can't wrap my head around a number that large, so I tried to break it up.

100,000 lbs. is the same as 50 tons. That's a smaller number, but it doesn't mean much to me, so we'll have to try something else.

100,000 lbs. is also about the weight of 30 midsized cars with overweight drivers

I love the Internet, because I found a picture of exactly 30 cars:

Still having a hard time wrapping my head around picking up a street load of cars. Let me try a new angle....

100,000 lbs. is the weight of an 18-wheeler, semi truck loaded with the maximum legal limit of microwavable bacon plus 73 liters of marshmallows (Okay, that didn't help at all, and anyone who reads my Google history will be really confused).

I guess I can't imagine what 100,000 lbs. feels like, and that's kind of like God's love. When we talk about God in worldly terms (for example: He is a loving father, a perfect Judge, the highest King, etc.), we are only speaking in analogy. We can't wrap our heads around God because He CREATED us; we didn't create Him. God's love is so amazing, He gave us the ability to worship Him or hurt Him, fully knowing we would all choose the latter before a few chose to worship Him. He then sent His OWN SON to die in our place so that we could be with Him without owing any debt for our crimes. Just for good measure, God inspired the Bible, guided its preservation, then sent His spirit to live in each of us, to guide us down the paths which are both righteous and beneficial.

God's love is bigger than a 100,000 lb. statue, and although I can't understand it, but I can admire it.


Thanks for reading and commenting!

- The Noah