Return of the King ... again

An new review (BEWARE: SPOILERS) confirms that Jackson stayed true to the ending of Tolkien's book. The reviewer even said that some may claim that it was too long.

In my count, that's good. I was worried that Jackson would try and alter the ending. Perhaps make Frodo die with the Ring at Mt. Doom or something like that. However, it seems that he's going to go the full length with the movie. I'm excited. The DVD will probably be even better!

Graduation ... then What?

I think I officially "graduted" last night. I still have finals to take, and I'm planning on walking in the Spring, so I didn't think much of it. So, instead of attending the graduation, I watched Pirates of the Carribean with Kristen.

Anyhow, I'm starting the job search now, and figured that I would post something on the ACCS classifieds section. I sent off an email and, expecting that they post it, it'll look something like this:

Michael Stewart seeks a full-time Classics position that could include courses in Greek and Latin as well as Classical History and Literature. He holds a B.A. in Classics from The University of Texas at Austin, and has some experience teaching Latin and Greek. He understands and embraces Classical Christian education. mlstewart@austin.rr.com

Let us hope and pray.

Magazines

I really like reading magazines. There are a whole bunch of magazines I'd like subscriptions to. I should have thought of this last month so I could have told my parents when they were asking what I wanted for Christmas. In order by category, here are the magazines I wish I subcribed to.

News and Culture
+ World Magazine
+ Paste
+ Christianity Today

Home
+ Real Simple
+ Cooking Light
+ Budget Living
+ Southern Living
+ Martha Stewart Living

Does Islam Need a Luther or a Pope?

An interesting essay entitled, Does Islam Need a Luther or a Pope? over at Tech Central Station. When finals are over, I'll read it again when finals are over and see what I think. Until then, I'll leave you with a quote:

In short: if the problem with Islam is that it seems constantly to give rise to sects violently hostile to secular institutions, to reason, and to cultured sentiment; that the countries in which it predominates have a chronic tendency toward theocratic despotism; and that as a religion it exhibits no institutional structure that might finally impose some discipline on the chaotic and lawless spiritual impulses that it generates -- if all that is the problem (which it surely is), then it is absurd to hold that the solution is for Islam to find its Martin Luther. It has already had its Luther, not to mention its Calvin and its Henry VIII, all rolled into one: his name was Muhammad. What Islam needs is a Pope.

ESV + Apocrypha

If you are like me and waiting patiently for the ESV + Apocrypha to come out before you buy one of those handing leather/compact/pocket-sized versions, I'm afraid we'll be waiting a rather long while. Crossway Books, the American publisher of the ESV, claims on the FAQ of it's website:

Crossway Bibles won't be publishing an edition with the Apocrypha, but HarperCollins UK may. You may want to check with them for more information. As we learn more, we will post it here.

Well, I've been looking at HarperCollins UK and they sent me to Amazon.co.uk ... and it looks hopeless. Maybe in a few years. Shesh.

Can God Create A Misleading Universe?

Josh is apparently having a wild discussion on his blog about Genesis account and how one should take it. The comments were at 59 when I saw the post which means: far too many to start reading them all. However, I read a few. One poor chap asked why couldn't we take the account literally and another chap answered:

If we believe that Genesis 1 is literally true, then we must also believe that God created a misleading universe--a universe that looks to all inspection like it's billions of years old ... when that isn't actually true.

Some also get into the question of evolution, but I don't see that as necessary. I am curious about this question of God creating a misleading universe. Why this interests me is because I was recently reading Lewis' The Magican's Nephew, and when Aslan creates Narnia, animals and trees and all of creation is created fully grown. Is this not possible? Is God misleading us? I don't think he is. I think we might be misusing the text. Alas, I'll let smarter people figure that out.

Cover Story: Evangelicalism

The latest U.S. News and World Report has a lengthy article on evangelicalism and it's roots with Jonathan Edwards entitled The New Old-Time Religion: Evangelicals defy easy labels.

I am thoroughly convinced every once and a while that I can't possibly be an evangelical at all.

Bloggin' fo a Dolla'

Okay, Kristen and I are convinced that Wayne is holding his blog hostage. Perhaps giving him money will convince him to blog again. You can send checks to "Wayne O. 'the Wise'" to our place (we won't cash them) and I'll give them to Wayne at school.

If you need our address, just email me ... or something.

See Link for Return of the King Spoilers

I read a review of ROTK recently that has my hopes up. This reviewer, who saw the Academy Awards preview on Thanksgiving, confirms that there is a return to the Shire and the scene of the Grey Havens. That isn't so much a spoiler as a confirmation that Jackson didn't delete something. For more about the movie, see the link.

NCAA Men's B-Ball

I've recently started following Men's Basketball because my wife loves it. She is a Carolina girl and loves her Tar Heels. Since our two teams are relatively comparable (i.e., will be in the top 25), it is fun to watch their schedules unfold ... unlike football.

So, I've started tracking their wins, losses, rankings, etc... I also update the rankings of the opponents they will play. Once they play, their rankings will stay the same as it was on game day, but for future games I'll update the rankings. One thing I noticed was that if Men's B-Ball used Strength of Schedule to do their end of year tournament rankings ... UNC would have a high ranking as they have a number of competative folks to go against.

I suppose UT does as well ... as the Big XII is a good conference, but I count ten top-25 teams that UNC will play, as opposed to the 7 for UT. Then again, OSU is on the boarder, as is Texas Tech, which would give another four. This looks to be an interesting season for UT and UNC. Both have good teams ... and hard schedules.

More Two Towers DVD

Okay, so I stayed home sick today. Well, "stayed" isn't the right word. I went to UT Health (see, guys, what a wife will do to you!?) and they told me to stay home for a day or two. Having a massive headache, I've been mixing sleep with watching various components of the commentaries on the Two Towers DVD.

There is one section where they address the issues of going back-and-forth between the Book and the Movie, and the difficulties that "Tolkien purists" would have. They do a good job of coming across as taking these concerns seriously, and even having these same concerns themselves. After watching it, I really have a greater tolerance for the changes that they made.

One change they made was to Faramir. They came straight out and said that they needed to change him. The actor who played him had never read the book. However, when he got through the script and into the movie, he decided to finally read the books. He then discovered that what he was reading and what he was doing on film didn't match up, and he brought it to the attention of the writers. They apparently decided that Faramir's character needed to go on a journey in the Movie, and that is how they have him set up. In the books, he is the same Day One as he is in the end. They simply couldn't have this in the movie. They had a plot line showing the effects of the Ring on the various characters (e.g., Frodo, Bilbo, Gollum, etc..) they couldn't have randomly had this character for whom the Ring had no effect -- remember that Tom Bomb. isn't in the film at all!

One change they were going to make is having Arwen fighting with Aragorn at Helm's Deep. They discussed their motives when originally writing it. Namely, telling the story how Tolkien told it wouldn't have sold well with the studio execs. The DVD actually has scenes of Arwen fighting (in rough cut) at Helm's Deep. One beautiful, true-truth line by Liv Tyler, who was releaved to have this storyline changed: "What we came to realize is that you don't have to put a sword in her hand to make her strong."

I wish more women thought this way -- or perhaps, that Men allowed women to think and act this way.

Return of the King

I've been watching some of the extras on the Two Towers DVD, namely the detailed explaination of the editing process. In this segment, they showed the rough scene of the "return to Isengard" where Gandalf & Co. see the wreckage. It was, according to the interviews on the DVD, supposed to be at the end of the TT, but viewers found a seven minute dialogue after a huge battle anticlamactic, so it will be the opening scene to RotK.