Tribunus Plebis - Tribune of the Plebs

"...Couldn't put him together again..."

2006-10-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

So, we can call these updates semi-weekly. Now that I've squared away that (or rather, pushed under the rug silently and not talked about until I trip on it later.) let us talk about the movies.

This Sunday I got to see the recent film, based on the book, "All the King's Men". First, I would like to say that the negative reviews of the movie that where abound in the newspapers seemed too unfairly harsh after having seen the film. That isn't to accredit with being a good movie but it wasn't terrible. If you've read the book you are in for a treat: the drifting thought process, chronologically mixed method of storytelling is maintained in the film. The movie is for the most part accurate to its literary forefather but what really makes the book an excellent work is missing from "All the Kings Men". Jack Burden.

For me what made the book wonderful was the journey and internal struggles of Jack Burden. Jack's thoughts and philosophical struggles do come through in the film but they are not prominent and because of this the film becomes the story of Willie Stark. Sean Penn does an excellent job playing Willie Stark, he is just as angry and charismatic as I pictured him in my mind while reading the novel but this performance is not what it could be because the movie lacked one pivotal scene: (Spoiler Text) Willie Stark's confession, in the hospital, on his death bed, telling Jack how it might have been different.

In short: Don't spend your money on this film unless you've read the novel, or seen the 1949 version first and you can get it at Matinée prices. More in weeks to come.

Weekly update?

2006-09-21T20:21:00.000-05:00

I didn't quite update in exactly one week. Oops.

So, the Ohio govenors race. I've seen two debates via video concerning in and I've come to at least two conclusions. I do not like Kenneth Blackwell. Kenneth Blackwell wants to cut taxes, but he wants to spend more money. He wants to lease the turn pike. Not a bad idea, but somehow I'm sceptical that will solve all of our ohio financial problems. He also insists he is for change, and represents part of a new administration, not the current corrupt now. He is part of the current adminstration, however.

http://www.kenblackwell.com/ -His Website.

I tried to find information on Third Party Candidates. I will emphasize that I tried, because there is little to find, insofar as I can tell. I did find on http://wikipedia.org and article on the race and that there where several other minor candidates none of whom look particularly important.

Which leaves one with Ted Strickland, whom I will research more later, but in his debates he tended to be more on the defensive against Blackwell's attacks so a definitive opinion is not yet to be made.

http://www.tedstrickland.com/

Reflection on 9/11 & A Quiz

2006-09-12T09:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the attacks on the United States by fundementalist terrorists. Here at college we have something like fifty basic cable channels and at any given time during the day I could probably have viewed 20+ channels that where discussing the event in one manner or another, and it made me think that this event could serve as the actual catalyst that helps us understand the culture that attacks ours so much, if we pay attention.

Five years after the event, this anniversary permeated our media and the public conciousness for at least a day. I've heard it often said that Midde Eastern culture remebers things much longer than we do. Our 'enemies' can still be worked into a frenzy about the crusades, and events that happened centuries ago whereas we have difficulty, especially the younger generations, remebering our frevor over something that occured decades ago. I would propose, and hope, that we remeber 9/11 no matter how much the amount of news coverage annoys some people (read: me) so that not only what happened that day be remebered but also so that we can gain even the slightest insight into a culture that does a great deal of remeberance.

In a lighter turn of fancy, I took this little political quiz. It doesn't allow a neutral or undecided view though, so I feel the results are slanted a little more toward the left than I am comfortable with...

http://www.okcupid.com/politics

I'm labeled as a strong democrat but I'm having trouble getting the image to work properly in my blog.