Episode III

Now that everyone has seen it, I will post my thoughts of Revenge of the Sith. My major problems with the movie are as follows:

1) Why can’t Artoo fly anymore?

2) So wait, you’re telling me that Obi-Wan Kenobi was there for the delivery of both Luke and Leia, but he forgot that Leia was Luke’s sister in Episode V? (He clearly knew who Leia was, as she sent him that famous “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!” message that we all know and love.) There’s senile, and then there’s senile.

3) Jar-Jar Binks lived and Mace Windu died.

4) Gravity? I suppose that’s my problem with Star Wars in general. Light Sabre fights would look much cooler in zero gravity. Then we’d see all of these severed limbs floating throughout the movie.

5) Jar-Jar Binks lived and Padme Amidala died.

6) The “romantic” dialogue. Shakespeare Lucas ain’t, and Romeo and Juliet this wasn’t. The biggest reason this was a problem for me is that Skywalker’s betrayal of the Jedi and turning to the Dark Side is supposed to be driven by his forbidden love for her. An example would be:

Anakin: You’re so beautiful
Padme: It’s only because I’m so in love.
Anakin: No, its because I’m so in love with you.
Padme: So your love blinds you then?
Anakin: That’s not what I meant.
Padme: No, probably not.

So begins the destruction of the Jedi order. And my intelligence.

7) While Mace Windu indeed did not “go out like some punk” as per Mr. Jackson’s request, every other Jedi did. SPOILER: The lightsaber fight put up by the three Jedi with Windu as he tried to arrest Palpatine was pitiful at best, and with the exception of perhaps Master Voss, all of the others were dealt with in a way that is pretty pathetic if you consider that they are supposed to be in tune with the Force so that they can avoid getting shot in the back by a stormtrooper. I can only assume that they got their Jedi skills from the same place that teaches the Imperial forces how to shoot people.

The point at which Obi-Wan declares that “only the Sith deal in absolutes”, [fantasy] at which point the irony police come in and arrest him for denouncing absolute statements using an absolute statement. [/fantasy]

9) Jar-Jar Binks lived and Count Dooku died.

10) That had to have been the most ridiculous opening crawl of all six movies.

There was also some pretty good acting. Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid both did wonderful jobs. If what McGregor did wasn’t Oscar caliber, then it was pretty close to it. I really loved the scene at the end where he laments Vader’s crossing over to the Dark Side. Natalie Portman, sadly, got short changed, since the only lines she got to say, for the most part, were Lucas’ dreadful imaginings of what romantic dialouge is. She did do the best she could with what she had, however, and was rewarded with one of the best lines in the whole movie: “So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.” Any faults in her character development I blame on the script, and not the actor. Hayden Christensen, however, has no such excuse. Let us all be thankful that by the end of it all he was covered from head to toe with Vaderwear, and no longer had any lines of his own (James Earl Jones came back for the voice of Vader.)

When the emperor said to Anakin “Good is a point of view, Anakin. And the Jedi point of view is not the only valid one.” the first thing that came to my mind was Pope Benedict’s line about the “dictatorship of relativism.” That’s probably about as literal an example of that as you are going to get this side of Paradise. Also the follow up line to that:

Obi-Wan: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil.
Vader: Well from my point of view, the Jedi are evil.
Obi-Wan: Then you’re lost!

Overall, a pretty entertaining flick. About two and a half hours in length, you may want to make a run to the bathroom either before the movie starts, or whenever a scene occurs where Anakin is getting all googley-eyed with Padme.

Sleep all day

Since I’ve been home, I’ve slept a lot. I think that this past semester I’ve been the most sleep deprived as I have ever been. I didn’t pull any all-nighters, but I definitely pulled late-nighters 4/5 days in the week. Hopefully next semester will be a little less stressful (if applying to graduate school can be considered non-stressful).

I read The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis over the past day. It was a fascinating read. I find it hard to believe that it was written in 1944, as it applies even more to the modern world. It details the dangers of moral relativism, which is the belief that moral principles have no objective standards (ie, nothing is inherently right or wrong, good or bad). He states that when humans are stripped of a concept of right and wrong, they’re also stripped of their humanity. An attempt to control how man should or shouldn’t view concepts of right and wrong takes away the very thing that makes us human: our chests. We lose our chests, that which connects our intellect and ability to reason (mere spirit, or spiritual awareness, for lack of a better word) with our savage appetites (bellies). The second chapter states that there is a universal moral code that applies to all people, all cultures, and further, is the root of all so-called “novel” moral codes that we try to develop on our own, as well as the moral codes of our religions. In the absence of this universal moral code (the Tao). The Tao offers us a lens through which we are able to experience this world. Those who try to step outside the Tao to criticize it are simply destroying the basis of their own beliefs.

The final section of the book states that mankind’s conquest of Nature is really only the conquest of some men by other men. What we think is controlling nature is simply controlling things that we have designated as “nature.” We believe we are progressing, becoming more powerful, improving the race, but we are not. We fail to factor in time to our equations, and fail to forsee its consequences. We may think that we’re able to control posterity by means of contraceptives, abortion, IVF, cloning, things that man has been unable to do in all of early history. We think that we’re opening the doors for our prosperity to have more choices and freedom, when in actuality, we’re limiting their freedom and values. We fail to recognize our own limits. When we build too high on too shallow of a foundation, the only possible result is a total collapse, the abolition of man.

Is there really no plurality in morality? What are the absolute morals? Where did things go wrong? Is moral relativism always wrong?

Heading home

Today was my last exam! I think I did alright. I’m so unbelievably exhausted right now. I can’t believe I had enough energy to pack all of my stuff. But its all packed (except for my computer, obviously). I will be spending a month at home, then heading to Cincinnati to do summer research.

I’m determined to keep this blog updated!

Last day of classes

Today is the last day of classes The exam schedule this year is very different from years past. For starters, exams begin on Friday, instead of Sunday. We have an actual reading day, on Thursday, rather than on Saturday. The last day of exams is Wednesday, rather than Friday (which makes things difficult for any student who doesn’t have their own car and have to arrange for parents to pick them up). But other than ending in the middle of the week, I like the changes.

I will have two actual sit down exams: microbiology and biochemistry II. I am not very worried about either, as I plan to give myself 2-3 days to cram for each. I have a take home exam for differential equations, which shouldn’t be a big deal. Then I have two take home finals for Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (yes, you read that correctly). This is the only class I’m really worried about, and considering that it is open note, open book, that says something about its difficulty.

I need a nap.

glucose love song

I did not write this, but I find it hilarious… and a useful study guide for my biochem final

Glucose — ah, sugar sugar –
You are my favorite fuel
From the blood-borne substrate pool.
Glucose — monosaccharide sugar –
You’re sweeter than a woman’s kiss
‘Cause I need you for glycolysis.

I just can’t believe the way my muscles take you in.
(For you, they’ll open the door.)
All it takes is a little bit of insulin
(To upregulate GLUT4).

Ah, glucose — ah, sugar sugar –
You help me make ATP
When my predators are chasing me.
Ah, glucose — you’re an aldehyde sugar,
And you’re sweeter than a woman’s kiss
‘Cause I need you for glycolysis.

I just can’t believe the way my muscles break you down.
(My glycogen is almost gone.)
A few more seconds and I’ll be rigor mortis-bound.
(Acidosis done me wrong.)

Your sweet is turning sour, baby.
I’m losing all my power, baby.
I’m gonna make your muscles ache.
No, no, no!
I’m swimming in lactate, baby.
Yes, I’m swimming in lactate, baby.
Now I’m drowning in lactate, baby.
I’m gonna make your muscles ache.
No, no, no!
I’m drowning in lactate, baby.

Ah, glucose — ah, sugar sugar –
I used you up and you left me flat;
Now I’ll have to get my kicks from fat.
Oh, glucose, glucose, sugar, sugar,
The honeymoon is over now.

Think different.

CNN is reporting that iPods are to blame for the recent increase in crime on the NY subway system. Darn those iPods! iPod blamed for spike in subway crime Of course, it would be wrong to blame criminals for the increase in crime ….after all, the iPod made them do it.

New blog

Prepare yourself for total randomness…