Behold the Power of Cheese
Here's another quiz from Christopher — he really picked a cheesy quiz and even made a cheesy joke about it.
Cheese Test: What type of cheese are you?
Interesting.
Trying OneBase Linux
I've been meaning to try a source-based Linux distribution for some time. For those of you who aren't sure what that is, it's a distribution where you build all of the software from the source (and thus it is all optimized for your hardware). Josiah is a big fan of Gentoo, which is one such distribution.
My problem with Gentoo and other previous source based distributions is that they leave all of the configuration work for you to do yourself. I never have that much time. I'll admit it — I like my operating system to do most of the work for me. I'll tweak things when and if I have time, thank-you very much. Thus, up until today, I never even bothered trying a source-based distribution.
Then I started reading about OneBase Linux. OneBase is a source-based distribution that autodetects most of your hardware for you. It allows you to choose between source and binary packages at any time. This sounds pretty nice, I think. So, I fired up my test box (the Shuttle XPC I mentioned last fall) and gave it a freshly burned OneBase 2004-R2 CD. I booted the system up just about three and a half hours ago. The initial installation and compilation process took about two and a half hours. A few minutes ago I told it to start the next set of compilations (insanely simple to do — I want GNOME, so I typed olm -s gnome, and it does the rest).
At any rate, I'm anxiously awaiting the finish of these compiling tasks to see how usable this system turns out to be.
Life Mimicks Humor
Remember last year when I joked about being Dan Richardson? Well, now I'm in trouble. It seems like the real Dan Richardson read that post and is suing me now for tarnishing his name. Here's the letter I got today from his attorney:
Johkin, Laffen and Funknee, LLP
Dear Mr. Butler:
Our client has notified us that you have engaged in acts of impersonation of his identity on your site. Our client has since received questions from potential employers who found this information when searching the Google search engine about him. We have calculated a net loss of over $28,000 in actual damages since you posted this message last year.
This is your official notice that our client is filing suit against you and shall attempt to retreive the $28,000 plus punitive damages for this disgraceful action on your part. If you are interested in settling this dispute, our client is open to accepting $26,000 upfront to drop litigation.
Thank-you,
Arntu Laffen
Johkin, Laffen and Funknee, LLP
Count+Stat Remote
The referer script is finished. Only it isn't just a referer script anymore. And to represent that, it has become heir of the name that I gave my first published CGI script. Count+Stat is hopelessly outdated these days, so bring on Count+Stat Remote!
Here's what this puppy can do:- Show a list of referers.
- Adjustable minimum to display (one referral, two referrals, etc.)
- Adjust whether the information just comes out as one referer per line or as a nicely formatted HTML list.
- Choose whether to show non-referred hits in the list or not.
- Hide referrals coming from your own page and/or site.
- Keep a separate count and list of referrals for each page or unify all of the information on a per-domain basis.
- Show a text counter of hits and visits.
- Show both at once.
- Be an almost invisible little box that just tracks the stats for your private perusal.
- Turn all of this information into an interesting statistics page.
- And even more… This is the kitchen sink of referer list tools.
Thoughts? Problems? Successes? Please post 'em below. If you have suggestions for improvements I will try to implement them if they are feasible within my time limitations.
Update: I forgot to mention that you can find a sample of the script in action at the bottom of my blog pages. I have it set to show two days worth of referrals formatted as a list, without self-referrals, with non-referred hits, a two-referral minimum and the counter.
Referer System
Yesterday was one of those days. I spent most of the day answering phones (I think I was in phone central) so inbetween, rather than start some important project I'd keep getting interrupted on, I decided to write a JavaScript referer system like I has said I would do over on Michael's site. After I started I noticed someone posted a URL to an existing replacement script, but I was undeterred — instead of stopping I just added more functionality to my script.
For the moment I'm setting it up so that you can use it just by inserting a little JavaScript (like the old system). I'm also contemplating releasing the backendcode under the GPL for anyone who might want to install the entire system on their own server (as opposed to using JavaScript), but I'll worry about that later on.
I'll post more information about it soon for anyone interested.
Server Migration Moves Slowly
Well, I got asisaid moved over to the new server, as I noted a few posts ago, but I haven't gotten much further. I made a copy of the rest of my sites last weekend, but this past week was so busy that I didn't make the switch over. Now the copy of the sites I made is outdated. sigh
I'm hoping to get OfB and company moved early this week so that posting can resume (and I can stop be billed from two web hosts). It appears that OfB operated mailing lists have quit working, so the sooner the move the better.
Trip Down Memory Lane
Perhaps it was the fact that, despite forgetting to write about it, my blog turned two on March 4. Maybe it was something else. But, I spent a little while tonight browsing the Internet Archive's WayBackMachine looking at some of my favorite blogs back when I first discovered them. In particular, I was looking at the two blogs I've been reading the longest that still exist: Sakamuyo and What in Tarnation!?!?!?.
It was interesting to look back into what Kevin and Christopher were saying in 2002. It was interesting to see what the respective sites looked like at the time. Sakamuyo was still in its green theme with Kevin talking about his new hard disk on which he was going to install two or three GNU/Linux distributions (Kevin has since betrayed the PC world and switched to Mac). On the other hand, I took a look at WIT as of November 2002, when I first started reading it, and Christopher was answering a Friday Five about thanksgiving (incidentally, that post was the first one I commented on at his site).
That's definitely one of the great things about WayBackMachine — it's really neat to get a snapshot of the way things were a few years back. Maybe reminiscing about web sites is a geeky thing to do, but when you've come to think of the people behind the sites as friends, maybe its not. It is sort of like a blending together of a photo album and old news paper clippings. Or something like that. A nice thing to do on a Saturday afternoon when nothing else terribly urgent had to be done.
The Passion of the Christ
By the sound of some reviews, such as the two in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, one would think that it gloried in what the one review called “NC-17 level” violence. Now, crucifixion is a horribly violent act, the question was if the movie portrayed the violence in a way intended to provide insight or simply to be violent. If you believed the P-D critics, the latter option is the case (of course, one should always be wary of what the Post-Dispatch says, but that's another story).
After seeing the movie, I am glad to say that I can call the Post-Dispatch view of the movie completely off base. I can truthfully say that the violence, whilst very graphic and agonizing, was not violence for the sake of violence. Instead, it seems truly to have been arranged by Gibson in an attempt to make the viewer experience a very small bit of the suffering involved (obviously only a small bit since one is sitting comfortably in a theater). Sometimes that kind of thing is necessary - especially in the case of Gospel portrayals, dozens of which have provided a sanitized version of events that simply do not lend themselves to appreciating the magnitude of what is going on.
This movie is stunningly powerful. It was physically exhausting to watch, and, as I said, agonizing, but for a purpose: it pulls the audience through the experience of the crucifixion in a way that I do not believe any passion play or “Jesus movie” has ever accomplished. While virtually nothing in the movie is “new” to anyone familiar with the Gospels (and that's a good thing in a case like this), it allows you to experience the narrative of Christ's suffering and death in a whole new light.
From Jesus' praying in Gethsemane at the beginning, to Pilot's conflicting motives and desires, to the actual torture and crucifixion, the Passion is really an experience that immerses you in itself. The beauty of the film is that it makes one reflect on the familiar because seeing it in realistic detail makes it seem new again.
There were a few moments that were especially poignant, I thought. Exquisitely drawn out from the Gospel of John was Jesus' confrontation with Pilot. The way it was done didn't excuse Pilot in anyway, but showed the conflict within him as he fought to figure out what to do before finally taking the easy way out by washing his hands of the matter. When the film cuts back to Pilot during the earthquake after Jesus' death he appears to be reflecting on what has just happened - maybe not completely understanding it, but at least realizing some of it.
Also, as Jesus is carrying the cross, the scene between him and Mary was a hard one to watch. As he falls again from the weight of the cross after the brutal scourging, she rushes through the guards to try to help him. Yes, I know that isn't in the Bible, but certainly it seems like something that could have reasonably happened. He looks up at her and says “Behold, mother, I am making all things new” (that's from Revelation 21:5) - it communicates so perfectly exactly what Jesus was doing, and that, even in the middle of some of the worst torture that could be inflicted on anyone He still had His desire to make us new on his mind.
I think the choice to film in Aramaic and Latin was also wise, despite the fact that the decision essentially requires most people to read subtitles, rather than just watching the film. While the manuscripts of the New Testament available to us are in Greek, translating the words back to Aramaic adds to the environment of the film. The sound - the character - of the Semitic language being spoken lends itself to the effort to create an authentic environment for the film.
The movie is also rich in great symbolism that allows anyone looking for it to experience an even more in-depth narrative. Gibson did a stunning job of tying Jesus' life and Bible prophecy into other parts of the Bible. Early on, the reference to Genesis 3:15 is perfect for the scene before Jesus begins the sacrifice that will ultimately lead to the crushing of Satan forever. During Jesus' torture, the devil appears again, this time with a baby, presumably the anti-Christ. Even as Jesus is winning the battle, Satan is “previewing” his (well, in this case, her) last plan to take as many souls as possible. Finally, toward the end of the film, right after Jesus dies, the “tear of God” is a unique and dramatic interlude before the earthquake rends the curtain in the temple, ending the separation between God and man.
Finally, I thought the brief scene of the resurrected Jesus was extremely powerful. When the scene fades in, after the camera pans over to Jesus, you have the excitement of the resurrection, but also the expression that what he just went through was excruciating. Its one last reminder, just incase the rest of the movie wasn't able to drill it in enough, that Jesus' sacrifice wasn't easy, it came at a terrible cost. This was a case of less being more, I know some people thought more of the resurrection should have been shown, but I think that would have shifted the viewer's focus completely to the joy of the resurrection and have diluted the picture's message. Everyone likes to think about the resurrection, the crucifixion is much less comfortable but no less important to remember.
I've spent a number of hours since seeing the film trying to write this and I find it is almost impossible to really put the experience into words. The Passion of the Christ is a unique and breathtaking rendering of the Gospels. No, it may not cover every part of the Gospels, but what it does include it includes in a way that seems faithful in every way to the Gospels.
This is one movie that truly uses every resource the medium of film offers to provide a better understanding of God's sacrifice for us. On Wednesday night at the Lenten service, one of the hymns was What Wondrous Love is This, a hymn that I always find especially moving.What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
Seeing the Passion the week before, I couldn't help but really dwell on the words “dreadful curse.” Again, even though I knew the kind of things Jesus went through, the experience of actually witnessing what it might have been like only amplified the words to that great hymn.
The Passion, in my opinion, accomplishes its goals perfectly. It is one of the most masterfully produced films I have ever seen (if not the most), and the only one that truly shows the extent of suffering Jesus was willing to go through for me and for you.
RATING: *****
Really, I'm Not Joking
I will review the Passion. I just didn't want to do a quick review, and it seems the only time I get time for this is around this time of night when I'm just too lazy to do anything other than a short post complaining about how I don't have time to write anything.
Feel like a joke? Good, because if you didn't, you'd still get one.
A physicist, a chemist and an economist are stuck on a desert island. All of a sudden a sealed can of soup floats onto the short. The physicist says, “Let's bash it open with some rocks and grab the condensed soup as it flies through the air.” The chemist says, “No, let's put the can over a fire and heat it up.” The economist says, “Assume there was a can opener.”
G'night all!
