The Rite Stuff

The abridged version of the Rite: Everyone gets possessed and has to fight a demon while fighting their own personal demons.  There are winners and there are losers.

The movie wasn’t exactly the best movie I’ve ever seen and there are some cheap, startling moments.  I hate when someone is glancing out of a window and something pops out at them – unnecessary. Also, Anthony Hopkins does creepy well. If I would believe anyone in that movie was possessed it would be Mr. Hopkins.  For a man his age (he’s 73), he looks like he’s been that age for forever.

Movies like this are always a good jolt to my Catholic conscience.  I have been a scholar (I use the term loosely here) of Catholicism since I was a young kid, and as I have matured, my interest in Catholicism moved from spiritual learning to anthropological learning.  Through the years, I’ve learned enough about the popes, the bible, and Jesus to make your head spin, but movies like this spark a different feeling.  It’s almost a longing for a faith I’ve lost a child. A footnote here is that as an 8th grader I considered a seminary preparatory school for boys to enter the priesthood (luckily, that’s not the route I took).

The funny thing is that this movie wasn’t very good, but I would compare it to a nostalgia inducing video playing “Good Riddance (Time of my Life)” while pictures of college/high school scenes float by.  Sure, you may not have had a typical high school/college experience (or even liked your typical hs/college exp), but it will not fail to make you long for yesterdays.  This movie works similarly.  Not that I long  for my days as an exorcist and battling Satan, but I am jealous the priests acquires his faith through a tangible experience (pff – how fortuitous for him – the rest of us work on faith alone).

Granted, I wouldn’t want the experience of watching someone become a possessed mess and then have it be my duty to de-possess them.  I barely want the responsibility of depossessing a copier from a paper jam.  With that, the movie made me think as a Catholic man, but without that foundation, I doubt I would have found this movie any more interesting than the Last Exorcism (which would get a C- on my rating system that is completely arbitrary and has no real definition).  The issue with the Last Exorcism was that the preacher was a protestant cheat. Once again, that gentleman had his faith solidified after a traumatic experience with Satanism. The Catholic priests in these movies don’t seem to be cheating anyone – they just lack faith (think the Exorcist).

With Catholics, it’s all about the rite stuff – and it makes for good movies. Solid B for creepiness and making me think.

JJRC

Up in the Air

Netflix is a magical thing.  In the past 9 months that I have lived outside of my parents house – I have seen hours of movies.  I’m not exactly sure how positive that change is, but it is most definitely a change.  Also, this change has allowed me to remain somewhat up-to-date in some pop-culture references.  Given this, I will refuse to watch Star Wars and a few other classics – mostly on principal (which I have yet to be able to articulate, but maybe one day)

With Up in the Air, I have seen 4 of the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture in 2010… which would have been more than half had those four been part of the normal 5 chosen – an all time high for JJRC.

Up In the Air was actually very charming.  Considering it’s about people who are going through momentous occasions in their love lives – through the eyes of a man who has fleeting moments that disappear with the swipe of a card and the roar of a jet.  The movie made me realize a few things about myself.  1 – I am a single man in New York with no desire for a long, lasting and serious relationship. 2 – It’s probably really nice to go to a wedding with someone you “love.” 3 – What kind of company hires people to do their firing in mass like that. 4 – I went to Cornell and cannot quit my job at the drop of a hat and fly to San Francisco to pick up a new job like it’s a thing – trust me.

The movie was nice and kind of heart-warming in the way that I wish I was Ryan, the nomad.  I was filled with a longing for a life on the road.  Though I would have to be doing a completely different job, there is something liberating about being on the road continuously and having “home” be an idea as opposed to an actual location.  One thing I could not get past was why this company (CTC) did not have satellite offices around the country. I’m sure the company would have saved millions by opening four offices near four major hubs (Dallas, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles).  Instead of having hosts of agents fly out of Omaha – they could fly out of more convenient locations, limit lay-overs, and minimize time flying. Also, firing people over video chat just seems like a very scarring experience which would ultimately nullify their purpose – to ease the transition process from employed to new couch-potato.

I’m going to pull myself back into suspended reality at this time.  If movies explained the minutiae of the companies in them, they’d all be 3 hour epic films of boredom. I  do appreciate this movie let me come up with my own business plan for it while watching the characters develop into full, likable people (except for Alex – wow).  Spoiler!!! At the end, the married couple get their dream honeymoon.  The young professional gets to live her life for herself.  The nomad gets to go back to the road, and Alex leaves unscathed with her family and perfect life intact.  Just like life, it’s not fair, but it’s just how it goes.  Not bad.

I give this movie an A- *

JJRC

* This grade is given out arbitrarily and completely depended on my mood while watching. Avatar was not as lucky as Up in the Air.

Old Man Walking (To and From the Doctors)

I am not an athlete (unless you count power eating a sport – in which case – I am an athlete), but I don’t think I’m in too bad of a shape (round is very nice).  So, I was surprised to find myself incapacitated by searing back pain last New Year’s Eve.  A simple jog across the street became a game of crippled Frogger.  Imagine my surprise when my back gave out after starting a slow sprint across the street on a yellow light.  Needless to say, the light turned red, and I was the subject of ire for every car I blocked.

I was not disappointed with the lack of wine I had because of the ibuprofen I took or with my commute in serious back pain on the way home.  I was most disappointed with my doctor’s reaction and assessment. I spoke with my friend via text regarding my situation.  She’s an MD down in Philly, and she suggested I take two ibuprofen every 6 hours until the inflammation goes down and to see my regular doctor if the pain continues.  I went to see my doctor after day 4.  He told me to take 2 ibuprofen whenever I ate and that my back should be fine in 6 weeks.

I was surprised that he never touched my back but simply asked me the same series of questions as my Philly friend did.  I paid my doctor his $30 copay, scheduled my next physical and went on my merry way (slowly since I still couldn’t walk, stand or sit comfortably – laying down was alright – but I wasn’t going to get anywhere lying down… I digress).

Just last Friday after one too many drinks at a bar with karaoke, I tiptoed home with the sun above my head.  I don’t know if it was my slight inebriation (too many drinks = slight inebriation), but I manage to let my leg get out from under me on some black ice, and I fell hard in a seated position (most fun I’ve had in 2011 – for real) and my back pain started acting up.  Luckily (I thought), this was only 2 days before my physical.

After seeing my doctor today, he has touched my back a grand total of 0 times and keeps telling me my back should be fine by the end of February.  I hope/pray the doctor knows what he’s doing because these copays are killing me, and I can’t really afford a second opinion.

Meanwhile, will I ever be able to walk to my favorite athletic event (dinner) in comfort again? I don’t know, but if this is what getting old is all about – I want no part of it.

JJRC

The Faster you are…

I never understand fasting as a form of fundraising.  The self-starvation of a person who is not in a position where they would normally go hungry seems kind of wasteful – especially when the food they would have eaten is still waiting for them – and doesn’t make much sense.  I suppose the correct way to do it is to fast and donate any food or money to be spent on food to your preferred charity/cause (logically – I would assume the cause is food or quality of life related).

The idea of fasting for a cause make no more sense than not showering to preserve rain forests or not wearing underwear to save the whales.  Unless you’re giving away your bath soap or handing out your underwear or dying  - it’s almost meaningless.  I’ll give Movember a pass since it’s also a raising awareness campaign and since I’m a man – though I didn’t like it at first.  Hunger strikes fall under a completely different category – though technically a fast.

A friend of mine in Nicaragua is currently working in Nicaragua for eight months.  Her co-volunteers were suggesting a fast to raise awareness of hunger and those that go without.  It turns that there was no initial fundraising component – and thus she recommended one be added.  So, with that being said, the fasting group will serve food to those without…. while fasting.  It’s craziness, but extremely noble.  Go you, Mandy the Decimator and her volunteering crew!

This whole thing actually got me thinking about the few times a year I fast.  As a Catholic, we’re asked to fast as a way of recognizing those who go without and the sacrifice of Jesus during the Lenten season. Next time I do that (Ash Wednesday is coming up – Which means so is Mardi Gras – woot!) I’ll donate my food to a reputable organization that fights against hunger.  It only makes sense to put my money where my mouth is (And my food isn’t).  Consider it too.

JJRC

Peruanos for a night

There was once upon a time that I wanted to educate the general population about Peruvian culture and cuisine.  Of course, I am one man and a man cannot move rivers, but Cornell had a very small, but surprisingly active Peruvian enclave.  We united and produced a group that I believe still exists.  This was my ticket to getting my cultural roots exposed to the greater world.   Cornell was one of those places that allows students to run free with their ideas.  I was also wrapped into a group that promoted hookahs and their valued cultural significance.  The hookah group dissolved once the university refused to let us smoke inside… regardless of the cultural significance (valued or otherwise).

I digress.  The group of loosely associated Peruvians managed to get a dining hall in on the action.  There was a featured Peruvian foods night where they dining hall catered Peruvian favorites like lomo, tacu tacu, chicha morada and mazamorra.  Needless to say these were all disgusting due to a severe lack of trying, and it probably let students unfamiliar with Peruvian cuisine thinking that it’s a miracle anyone celebrated Peruvian food.  The night ended with a piñata (how Peruvian) with the word Peru across it being beaten to pieces by my history professor’s beautiful, white toddler.  The symbolism was lost on most but not on me.  It was the serious highlight of the evening….

This was probably my last venture into public education.  I still find glowing embers from that major crash and burn in my memory.  At least the Peruvian music blaring over the speakers could not be ruined…. Lest the speakers themselves gave out (which they didn’t for some reason since everything else had gone to shit).  Since then, I’ve managed to bring three friends to Peru to view its beauty, sample its food and become temporarily paralyzed with stomach illness.   The illness adds to the realism of Peru – thus its a requirement.  I feel this is a more effective way of getting people to fall in love with Peru.  Though it’s time consuming, it is indeed more fun and far  less embarrassing.

JJRC

 

The Moving Target

It was my goal in May 2006 to move to Chicago.  Young, 21 year old JJRC was hoping to start over.  In 1999, he started high school alone.  None of my friends from my elementary schools made it into my high school. I started over in 1999.  In 2002, I went to Cornell mostly alone.  It was a second renaissance.  With each new chapter, I would change for the better.  It has made me the man I am today (I’ve only recently started referring to myself as a man), but is this the man I want to be when I’m 30?

There were two things holding me back  that summer (aside from my relenting fear of taking such a leap), I had a very small amount of savings and would no source of income once I arrived to the Windy City.  I spent the summer in Ithaca and worked with the Cornell Hotel School.  In the fall of 2006, I moved back with my parents who were getting a very civil divorce.  Since then, I have felt the pangs of desire rise up in me from time to time.  They were mostly in quiet evenings where I sat pensively staring at something that was mundane but beautiful (have you ever noticed the beauty of a crack in an otherwise perfect pane of glass?).  It’s the mindset I’m as I doodle this now.

I feel the time has come to consider making another move – either literal or metaphorical.  My life has not been this static for this long since I was 13.  I am almost 27, and I feel that my target, my career, my ideal life is shifting and moving away.  I might have to follow it because it feels right.  Will I let my fears get the best of me?  We’ll have to see.  Fears are our “Reality Check,” but that reality may not always be real.  Taking a leap sucks.

JJRC

 

Failure begets success

I’ve done this blog wrong.  Due to my busy schedule and general apathy, I have failed you all – all three of you readers.

This blog is four years old – amazing.  I can probably go back and be terribly embarrassed about post 1.  I have a strong sense that I shouldn’t stop.  Hopefully, I can keep this thing around until I’m incredibly old – like Doogie Howser’s computer journal will always exist in the interwebs.

In other news, interwebs is not deemed incorrect by my web browser, and I just noticed I don’t use my right pinky when I type.

In closing, we’ll see what comes up in the next few days.

JJRC

Gleek That

I get concerned when one of my co-workers begins talking about Glee because I will ultimately get asked if I have seen it.  The answer is no, not actively.  You read that right – I’ve seen various episodes of Glee in a sense. My roommate is a follower of the show – though not a self-proclaimed Gleek.  I’d have to find a new roommate if it ever came to that.

I will probably never understand the premise of a musical show.  The reason a musical works is that the songs are all relevant and poignant (or funny – but still have a point).  Here, it doesn’t really make much sense.  The songs are forced into scenarios and are loosely based on the plot of the show.  Sure, Pokerface was a hit, but is it really appropriate for a mother to sing about “muffin bluffing” with her teenage daughter?  No, not even in a porno.

Meanwhile, I’ve also seen the kids randomly show up in a library and perform Can’t Touch This after having performed Ice Ice, Baby with their music teacher earlier that week.  Where do these kids actually find the time to choreograph this crap and make their costumes?  If I had that kind of time in high school, I certainly wouldn’t have wasted it sewing parachute pants.

As the story progresses – I usually become less interested.  I saw the episode where the music teacher finds out his wife was faking her pregnancy…. yikes.  That was actually kind of interesting an interesting idea.  Then it switched to the kids filming a commercial for mattresses in the most elaborate set-up I have ever seen a “low-budget, local” company execute.  When I think low-budget and local – I think Fucillo Automall (Central New York – holla!).

Since then – it appears things have been spiraling out of control with ridiculous premises.  I saw an episode where they crammed in Olivia Newton John.  In another episode they shoved as many Madonna songs as possible.  I also managed to watch them ruin “Loser” by Beck.  Why do they have that jock sing so often?

Next thing you know – there’ll be a Kesha espisode , and really that should be the beginning of the end for them.

JJRC

Why mosque we make this an issue?

I’m surprised that this has become such a national issue.  A mosque (more correctly an Islamic Cultural Center – similar to a YMCA) will exist 2 blocks from the World Trade Center site.  Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and other neo-conservatives have made it their personal mission to disrupt communities of lower Manhattan and make this into a global issue that could potentially endanger the troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and every other place where our troops are stationed.

I’m not a diehard, bleeding liberal.  I’m actually incredibly conservative in certain aspects (mostly fiscal spending).  What kills me is really the throwing around of the Constitution…. is nothing sacred?!  In this instance – both sides are having their religious freedoms infringed upon along with their freedoms of speech and right to assemble.  Technically, the FBI should be doing a good enough job protecting us from the terrorist.   Wouldn’t you want to all the “terrorist” together in one building?  Obviously conservatives have this all wrong.

JJRC

Your Brain on Blackberry

As everyone returned to the hotel, we settled into our beds and chairs.  It was a reprieve from the walking and malaise that comes with hours of touring historical sites.  I ask a question, “Is anyone hungry?”  The response is complete silence.  Since I had slumped down in a chair, I popped up to gander at my fellow NOLA Tourists.  They are engrossed in their blackberries.  One is chatting with a cousin about whatever you talk to your foreign cousins about, another is checking facebook, and the third has passed out.  The two on their blackberries were so involved in their cyber-excursions that they had actually not heard my question.

Due to this blackberry obsession, I actually felt like I was alone in the Big Easy – which helped me notice my techno-dependence.  Since I have an iPod Touch with WiFi – I would leave my the iPod at home, and when I didn’t leave it at home, I would avoid locations with free wireless.  My hermitude proved to have a positive effect on me – as I really relaxed.  I also realized that nothing was so important that I needed to know ASAP.

It appears that technology has serious hindered our ability to disengage and simply exist.  I took this 4 day trip to remove technology from my life as completely as I could (except my phone – of course).  My email went unread.  My twitter and facebook collected cyber dust.  My laptop served only to play music and charge my iPod (my alarm).  Meanwhile, my friends remained connected to New York while walking around New Orleans.  Every moment we stopped, they all placed their blackberries in front of them.  Whenever it chirped, vibrated or illuminated, its owner would reach over and respond or laugh quietly to whatever was on the screen.  If someone was not being spoken to for a little as 30 seconds, their hands would wander to their blackberry to check on the rest of the world.

It states something about my generation.  I’m aware that I have this addiction to a certain degree as I pound away at my keyboard in a terminal loaded with people.  Out of about 50 – only two people are reading magazines (they’re actually older folks).  A blonde girl chats idly about being stuck at the airport.  Most people have their eyes attentive to small screens that they pokes gently with their fingers.

I think I need to work harder at being less involved in the internet and more involved with the world at large.  I’m only this young once, and I’d rather not fall victim to my electronics.  I own them – they don’t own me.

JJRC