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skillerified
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Name: Jess
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: Fort Worth
Birthday: 6/3/1981
Gender: Male
Interests: Movies (particularly classics and foreign films); Japan and Japanese language, culture, art, history; foreign languages in general; music, mostly rock and alternative; various different kinds of craft beers; and taking the best possible care of my wife of course
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  skillerified
Member Since:
2/6/2005
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| I haven't done one of these in a while, but something about this film just grabbed me and I started writing as the credits were rolling. Ostensibly I wrote this for the Netflix crowd, but once I finished it (and it turned out to be a tad too long for NF anyway, I had to cut out the final paragraph), I figured why not throw it out here too? Enjoy! Scarface (1983) As I watch the credits roll, I can’t help but be surprised at exactly how terrible Scarface is. Somewhere there really needed to be another character who could bring the film back down to earth after Pacino’s notorious and brilliantly absurd explosions of emotion. I don’t know if you could call his performance technically sound, but Pacino’s charisma is enthralling. It’s like he took the method acting theory and put it on, well, cocaine I suppose would be an accurate metaphor. Ultimately, his performance is this film’s only saving grace and the only reason why it needs to be watched. Beyond Pacino, there is literally almost nothing here. The writing is bad; the music is terrible and very much designed to create artificial emotions in the viewer (particularly notice the funereal strains played over the late scenes leading up to the big battle); there are major plot holes; the acting is extremely melodramatic. Sadly there are also stronger ideas that are never fully realized: is Tony’s protection of Gina incestuous or paternal?; the political angles; social commentary (in the contrast of Tony’s crimes and the banker’s crimes, for just one example). The thing is, I had seen most of this film at different times, generally in the edited television version, and really liked it. In bits and pieces like that, the film holds up as reasonably entertaining because of the strength of Pacino’s work. That said, after finally taking the time to sit down and watch the whole film from start to finish, I have to say that it never really adds up to the sum of its parts. The film really ends up being little more than a fluff gangster soap opera. Violent at times, yes, and certainly vulgar throughout, but those aspects never really drive the story. They simply sit in the midst of it all as scenery and little else. One final thought, I do have to wonder how much Oliver Stone (as writer) modeled the basic plotline off of the classic Greek tragedy. A flawed but somewhat virtuous character climbs to the top, gets high on his own supply of hubris, and ends by losing everything. Sound familiar? Tony’s adamant affirmations of his own set of ethical standards clearly mark him as a “virtuous” character. The first scene with Sosa, the famous “say goodbye to the bad guy” speech, and his actions in the situation in New York all immediately come to mind as examples of Tony’s self-made ethics shining through even as he’s making a drug deal, drunk and verbally accosting a restaurant of innocent people, and killing an associate. I can’t help but find the idea of turning the classical tragic hero into an anti-hero a bit interesting. Yet this little trick also seems to take the bite out of the basic idea of tragic storytelling: I don’t feel bad for Tony at the end of the film as I do for Oedipus at the end of Oedipus Rex, for example. In that way, there’s very little cathartic to be found in a film like Scarface. | | |
| Hmm... April 25. Not too bad.
Edit:
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| I didn't think I did this kind of thing. One day I up and decide to go back to school. Six weeks later I'm there and earning an A in my first class, doin' homework, writin' papers and all that. Just so fast. Not my style. Not the well thought out, long time coming, but rock solid once I get there sort of decision making that I'm known for.
On March 15th, my brother in law brought over his new motorcycle, a 2006 Yamaha FZ1. 1000cc's of "Hell Yeah!" I just don't know how else to describe it. To put it in perspective, the bike has about as much power as my old Focus had. The Ford weighed about 2500 pounds. The bike... ~400. You do the math. And they're oh so pretty.
On March 25th, I traded my love/hate Jetta for an '02 Chrysler 300M and cut my car budget in half.
On March 29th, I registered for my motorcycle rider training class.
On April 3rd, I bought my first pair of motorcycle gloves.
On April 17th, I will begin said rider training class.
On April 18th, I will finish said class.
On April 19th, I will be buying a motorcycle.
Not really. It'll probably be sometime in May in all honesty, but still...
I wouldn't put it past me. | | |
| Since my last post, I've made considerable progress toward the direction I've committed myself to. For those who are interested (and myself, I suppose), thought I'd give a quick run down of progress:
- I have applied to and been accepted into the local community college (TCC), where I intend to take my early classes
- Requested a transcript from my one semester of community college back in 1999 and started the evaluation process for that at TCC
- I have registered for my first class, English Comp II - I took Comp I eight and a half years ago - considering that II is a continuation of I, this should be interesting - the class begins March 10
- I've decided on UTA as my intended destination for finishing my BA
- I've put together about 3/4 of my degree plan, which is a bit of a chore considering that I'm combining two plans into one (Philosophy and Political Science) - most of the basics are decided upon - the two biggest questions still remaining, in my opinion, are which language I want to study (French, German, Greek or Latin) and which upper level electives I want to take, which I probably don't need to decide on entirely until I start getting ready to apply to UTA - more on both of those questions in a minute
- I bought a laptop - Diana and I had already had some discussions of replacing the desktop, so when I made the decision to go back to school, we knew that old thing wasn't going to cut it - it's a Dell, 15.4" screen, 2GHz/800 MHz FSB Intel chip, 2GB RAM, 250GB hard drive (I have a lot of music), XP (I've found Vista pretty unimpressive) - I like it a lot thus far - also got a backpack laptop bag, a nice mouse (notebook mice are so helpful) and a little USB number pad
- I've done some of the financial aid work as well, but since I can only take that one class between now and May (nothing else I need is offered for that short semester period), I've sort of put that on the back burner until I get a little further in
It's really unusual for me to pursue something this aggressively. I hope my efforts thus far are a reflection of how much I really want to do this.
As for the language question, it turns out that both Philosophy and Political Science are relatively popular pre-law degree plans, so in my research I've come across a lot of info on pre-law plans, the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and law school in general and, I have to admit, it sounds interesting. Not interesting in the sense that I want to be a lawyer, that sounds kind of boring actually, but law school itself sounds interesting. The challenge of it alone makes it sound interesting to me. If I was to go that route, Latin would be the clear choice as so much of the law terminology is in Latin. I'm really not ready to commit to that just yet though. I'd have to figure out something to do with the law school experience and, as I said, being a lawyer doesn't really interest me. I find the idea of being a judge a little interesting, but I don't know what's all involved in that. Probably many years experience as a lawyer, if I had to guess.
What I have come to realize through this process is that a lot of the things that interest me most are things that sit pretty firmly at the intersections between religion, politics and philosophy. I didn't really consciously realize this until after I had made the decision to go back to school and knew what I was going back for. I'm not one who likes to spiritualize things much, but when I think about how this all came about and run back through some of the thought process that have lead me to this decision, I can't help but feel a touch of divine guidance through the process.
The most common question that people have asked me about this decision is "What are you going to do with it?," which I take to mean as "There is no philosophy career path and going into politics seems about as likely as becoming a movie star so why would you want to do that and what will you do for money when you're done?" I didn't have a really good answer the first time I was asked. I won't say I was caught off guard, I pretty much knew it was coming (and from who it was most likely to come from), but I didn't have a great answer outside the most truthful one, which was that it didn't matter to me what I did and I'd be better off for having gone regardless of what I do when it's over. Lately though, after coming across much info in various researching into degree plans and universities, I've come to realize that the philosophy degree is a great plan for almost any path. Philosophy majors are more or less taught skills - primarily critical thinking and logic with a strong emphasis on communicating the results of your critical thinking and logic - rather than a specific field of study. I feel like, based on my experience in business, these skills are in particularly high demand in every facet of business in America today. I'd guess it's not much different overseas either. As for the political science aspect, there is so much you can do with this knowledge and experience that doesn't involve running for any kind of office. The pre-law stuff I mentioned above is really just one idea. It could apply in so many areas - management, public relations and international business immediately come to mind. Despite all that, unless I just really hate going to school, which I seriously doubt will happen, I'll likely be looking at Graduate work of some sort anyway.
Oh, and regarding the music: 8081 tracks (over 37GB) and counting. I'm almost done compiling it all - it's been nearly a week long process - but I have more coming all the time. | | |
| How strange it is to find yourself cruising along and suddenly realize that you're not exactly going where you want to be going. What to do then? Some just continue on, assuming changing directions to be too costly (they're not uncomfortable after all). Others over-correct and still miss their mark in the end, maybe making a real mess of things in the process. How to find the sweet spot of gentle adjustment now with maximum end results?
My job is fairly stable and certainly provides ample opportunity for growth, in terms of experience at least. Yet since attending an industry conference in October, and upon meeting and talking to other individuals with similar jobs, I've come to the point of feeling severely underpaid for the work I do. That's understandable since I work for a non-profit organization, but there are always limits. Add in a corporate culture that I find myself increasingly at odds with and it's beginning to sound like time to move on. So, I slowly began the process with the intent to begin a full search effort after the New Year.
It's funny how simple, quiet conversation can shift whole paradigms. Whole structures and outlines for life can be rewritten over the course of one day. Maybe one hour even. Your viewpoint changes just a little and suddenly the obvious isn't so obvious anymore, the impossible isn't as impossible. What's more startling is how things that once didn't make sense are now perfectly clear. Purpose is redefined.
My father is pretty close to an expert on changing jobs. I went to nine different schools in three different states over the course of my thirteen years of primary and secondary education. His pattern of working hard, demonstrating intelligence and displaying sheer charisma to get promoted, then cashing in on the new experience elsewhere has brought him a comfortable income and executive positions for years now, even with little formal education. It may sound crude, but I've already achieved steps one, two and three (except for the charisma part, which I almost certainly didn't inherit from him). Time to cash in, right?
"...[A] strolling Indian went to sell baskets at the house of a well-known lawyer in my neighborhood. 'Do you wish to buy any baskets?' he asked. 'No, we do not want any,' was the reply. 'What!' exclaimed the Indian as he went out the gate, 'do you mean to starve us?' Having seen his industrious white neighbors so well off,- that the lawyer had only to weave arguments, and by some magic wealth and standing followed, he had said to himself; I will go into business; I will weave baskets; it is a thing which I can do. Thinking that when he had made the baskets he would have done his part, and then it would be the white man's to buy them. He had not discovered that it was necessary for him to make it worth the other's while to buy them, or at least make him think that it was so, or to make something else which it would be worth his while to buy. I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture, but I had not made it worth any one's while to buy them. Yet not the less, in my case, did I think it worth my while to weave them, and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them. The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?" - from Walden by Henry David Thoreau
To that I would add:
"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that." - Lloyd Dobler
I'm not really foolish enough to think that such a lifestyle is entirely reasonable (neither was Thoreau; Dobler?), but I have made a decision. A course correction, so to speak. I am going back to school. Starting as soon as possible, and I haven't exactly determined how soon that is, March or May it looks like, I am going to begin studying for a Bachelor's degree with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science. It's still very early and I don't want to think about it too much too early, but graduate level work beyond that doesn't seem far fetched either.
After a simple lunch-time conversation with my wife, paradigms shifted and I realized that not only can I do this, but I want it almost as much as I want anything. I've wanted it all along, just couldn't see it clearly enough. She saw it though (Psychology major indeed!).
Some of you know me pretty well (surprisingly well, as has been recently demonstrated). I'm really curious to hear your reactions, on me in school in general and on my choice of program(s).
In regards to Walden, I feel like I'm getting a big steak dinner after eating nothing but sweets and vegetables for a while. The last two books I read weren't exactly light reading, the first four chapters of Origin of Species (the argument part, the remainder being evidence; not that I intended to stop there, just got a little bored (veggies-yuk!), I'll come back to it later) and the first edition of Whitman's Leaves of Grass (which was wonderful at times, but a little too abstract far more often leaving me feeling like I was unwrapping candies and only really liking maybe one in three.) I think I was reading them simultaneously too, which probably didn't help the impact of either of them. Thoreau, on the other hand, seems to have something to say on every page. Walden comes across as interesting and full of wit; flawed, at points, for sure, but still thought provoking even in it's flaws. Despite the genre, I find it hard to put down at times. | | |
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