When someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!
As much as I hate to give him the press, I must direct your attention to Kevin Federline’s new site.
Has no one told this guy that the only reason he’s relavent is because he knocked up Britney Spears?
For crap’s sake, the man (barely) made a living as a backup dancer for a sugar pop star. Now he thinks he’s a gang-star rapper?
If it weren’t so damn funny it would make me sick.
This is mirrored from my brother’s site. He’s right, some things are just missing this Christmas. But it’s still a good one.
They’re singing ‘Deck the Halls’ /
But it’s not like Christmas at all /
I remember when you were here /
And all the fun we had last year.
I know this is kind of about a guy and a girl, but ’tis how I feel.
There’s honestly nothing I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said better and a thousand times over. But I’d never read, or at least finished, this “classic” until now.
What I will say is that I probably don’t “get” it. The book is slow. If it hadn’t been so short, I’m not sure I would have gotten through it at all. Dont’ get me wrong, I recognize the artistry in the prose, the writing style that defines the narrator, Holden, as much as, if not more, than his actions.
Holden sees 99.9 percent of the population as being “phony.” Honestly, the only person he really likes is his sister. So what does he do? He gets frustrated, and finally seems to come the the realization that there’s not much he can do about it.
I guess despite the fact that I appreciated the writing style and level of depth given to Holden, when I finished the last page of the book and closed it, I wondered what all the fuss was about all these years. I really did.
The local couch-and-beer theatre, McMenamins, is showing “Jarhead” this week, so Michelle and I decided to splurge on the six bucks and catch a Friday night screening.
First of all, I should have seen the movie earlier, since I read the book earlier this fall in anticipation of the film’s release. I guess I just got busy doing other things.
But I’m glad I saw it. I’ll start with my biggest complaint. They had to leave out too much. If you’ve read the book, the film comes across as a quick skim of everything author Anthony Swofford had to say. But that’s not to say they got it wrong.
What I really came away from the book with was the fact that, while most people in the armed forces consider what they do “their job” and that they should keep their own politics out of it, Swofford really seemed to struggle maintaining that separation. Which, honestly, I hope is true of many more soldiers and Marines than would like to say. Because the military shouldn’t require you to surrender your humanity at the door. This theme doesn’t come out as much in the movie. Sure, the film’s Swoff expresses his regret for being dumb and signing a contract, but we lose the inner thoughts and convictions expressed in the text.
I was afraid it would come across as a pro-military movie based on the marketing campaign. The book is mostly neutral, although it describes in great detail what sucks about “The Suck.” Thankfully, Sam Mendes didn’t make it into a war movie. Instead, it’s about the frustration and futility felt by warriors in waiting, trained to a sharpened edge yet unable to use their training.
Although the military’s not for me, I do have a fascination with military history. And while I’m more-or-less a pacifist, I love reading and watching uncensored stories by those who were “there,” whether there is France, Vietnam or Iraq.
“Jarhead” is a faint reflection of its source material, but it is a fairly accurate reflection, so I think it works.
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